It was a surprise…

 … to see a hearse with casket on board drive out of our Rossaveel accomodation this morning. 

Had a quest died overnight or was our host a funeral director? 

We will never know but what we do know is that neither of us were taken for our last ride!

We moved to Sligo today.

The drive along the Wild Atlantic Way back towards Galway gave picture perfect views of Galway Bay, the sea was flat calm, the sky almost cloudless, the sun shining - it was stunning.

After morning tea just out of Galway we stopped at Claremorris for a leg stretch and lunch. 

Claremorris is a delightful town in County Mayo. 

As soon as we had entered Mayo there were flags flying on residential properties right through to Claremorris which was festooned with the county flag , bunting in the county colours and numerous shop front signs all in support of team Mayo who play in the Gaelic All Ireland football final this weekend against Kerry.

Once we entered County Sligo the flags were nowhere to be seen- it is quite striking how supportive counties are of their teams playing in these Gaelic games, football and hurling.

Another “novelty” we noticed in Claremorris was that the electrical supply boxes on footpaths had all been painted so brightening up the streets.

Arrived at Sligo around 2.30 so parked a little way out of the city and walked into the centre and got a feel for what was on offer.

Found our accommodation and met our hosts Xavier & Sacha who own a large property and provide a very comfortable and spotlessly clean apartment which from the front door also gives a view out over Sligo Bay

There are 32 counties in Ireland and Northern Ireland and so far we have driven in 14 of them:

Dublin, Wicklow, Carlow, Wexford, Kilkenny, Waterford, Tipperary, Cork, Limerick, Kerry, Clare, Galway, Mayo and Sligo

The following are painted electrical boxes

Our accommodation and long range view

Let me entertain you!

 Sherry and Jodi were in Galway a year ago and both were taken with the place so we spent today there with Sherry being the guide.

On the way to Galway we stopped at Salthill and walked along the promenade as they had done - if there was a Rangitoto out in the Bay of Galway you could almost have been walking along the Mission Bay/St Heliers Bay waterfront.

We then found the Docks carpark and put the Sportage away for the next 9 hours while we walked the city, following a suggested walk we found online.

Starting at Eyre Park we then went down Shop St (be assured it is not anything other than what the name suggests) onto High St and down Quay St - these three streets were crowded with folk, there were buskers spaced so that as the music faded from the one you had just passed you started to hear music from the one coming up, the buildings and buntings looked splendid. You could spend many hours, if you were so inclined being entertained by the buskers, some very good, some good and some well not so good but each of them was earning some coin.

On we went to the Spanish Arch and then crossed the River Corrib to view the painted houses along the Pier and we then followed the riverside path back to the area of the Cathedral.

By now with all of our stops to look in shops, view sights, rest up and stay watered and fed it was nearing 6pm so we made our way to the Galway Girl Restaurant in The Quays pub Sherry and Jodi had dined at and we had the same meal that Sherry had had 12 months ago. With the restaurant being at level -1 we could hear the music coming from the floor above so after eating we went upstairs and were entertained with a couple of traditional Irish songs before starting back to the car.

On the way there was a full band set up in the middle of the road playing to an ever increasing crowd and they entertained us for a few minutes as well.

Buskers were still playing in both High St and Shop St but the style had slightly changed as there was for example a violinist playing and at another spot a young lad playing the harp - nevertheless they too were providing free entertainment.

A great day in Galway today

Things went a little awry on the way home however as a 35km trip turned into 70km trip due to not following one’s instincts but instead following the incar GPS that had been set to a place with a very similar spelling to the place we thought we had set it for.

Some photos from today

Our accommodation at Rossaveel 

Salthill

This busker was excellent knocking out tunes on drainpipes

Views of the streets and atmosphere 

The Bayview Gal with the Galway Girl

A 3m sculpture by Sean Henry - it’s so well done it’s almond lifelike

Galway’s version of the Copenhagen iconic image 

Another Sean Henry lifelike sculpture 

The Galway Girl restaurant 

The band at the pub

The full band performing in the street

Barren but Beautiful

 I omitted to mention in yesterday’s blog that on the way to Rossaveel we drove in the area of The Burren which is a globally unique 530 square kilometre limestone landscape with extraordinary biodiversity, glaciokarst terrain and rich archaeological history. Despite its barren appearance it supports over 70% of Ireland’s native flora, where Artic, Alpine and Mediterranean plants grow side by side.

Looks like all greenery has been shaved off the landscape

There are three islands in the heart of the Bay of Galway a 40 minute ferry trip from Rossaveel, Inis Mor, Inis Marin and Inis Oirr, which make up the Aran Islands. The islands date back more than 350 million years and while they are renowned for their well-preserved Christian and Celtic monuments, and over 4800 kilometres of dry stone walls they are equally renowned for being the home of the woollen Aran sweater or perhaps more accurately the ancient Celtic stitch patterns (9 in all) that are used to knit an Aran sweater.

Our sole purpose in staying in Rossaveel was to take the ferry from there to the islands, in fact to Inis Mor the largest of the three so having purchased the tickets before leaving NZ we arrived at 10.00 at the wharf for the 10.30 ferry. We showed our tickets and without delay were ushered on to the ferry which was full and which left the wharf immediately at around 10.05.

We can only presume that those arriving later for their booked 10.30 sailing were taken to the island by another vessel - by late morning we had seen 3 ferries each with I guess 250-300 folk onboard arrive at the island and disgorge the passengers however given the size of the island (15 kms in length and 5 kms in width) it didn’t feel crowded as there were hop on hop off vans, jaunting carts and about 3 bicycle hire places which soon dispersed the people all over the island.

We went to the tourist information office and got advice of some walks and then set off from Kilronan, where the ferries arrive, along the foreshore and around the/a lake before returning to Kilronan. What struck us were the numerous rock walls running in all directions and the barrenness of the landscape  (reminded of travelling along the Desert Rd) which created a beautiful environment to look at.

At Kilronan there were cafes, restaurants and retail shops selling among other items Aran sweaters of all size, colour and design. We had lunch at one of the pubs, walked the shops and then started walking a different route than in the morning all the time admiring the beauty around us.

As the ferry we were booked on was scheduled to depart at 4.00pm we got ourselves back to the pier at 3.30ish and left the tranquility of Inis Mor bang on 4pm in a full ferry.

Back to our accommodation, checked locations for a reasonable meal “locally”, and found one 30kms away so it was back in the car and to Bearna for a very acceptable pub meal in a nice environment.

A very enjoyable day in a barren but beautiful environment.

Glamping 

An example of the rock walls

Ferries waiting to take the tourists home

A jaunting cart

Looking inland

Looking back to Kilronan

Geese on the lake

Some folk playing in the water at Kilronan 

Picture Perfect

 Packed up and left Bunratty by 8.30am this morning to relocate to Rossaveel, a rural location around 30kms west of Galway.

En route we stopped to view the Cliffs of Moher -it was spectacular as were the views across the flatlands as we neared Moher.

The set-up is second to none; an extensive parking lot where you pay for both your parking and access to viewing areas for the cliffs, well defined pathways to the cliffs and the cliff walks, mobility vehicles for those that couldn’t walk out to the cliffs but most impressively the usual merchandising shops, cafe and restaurant were all built into the hill so as not to detract from the environment.

In the distance, 20.5kms away were the Aran Islands, and there were a couple of ferries which appeared to be out of Doolin heading to and from the islands.

A large rock, The Stack, was also an impressive sight just off the cliff particularly when caught in the sunlight.

We spent a couple of hours there as we ambled across the cliff tops stopping every so often to admire what was on show. It is a popular tourist spot- when we arrived there were no more than 5 buses in the bus park but when we left there must have been 30 of them - but because of the available space it didn’t seem crowded.

Spectacular as it was I would imagine that it would be even more spectacular in the afternoon once the sun has come across and the cliffs are no longer in the shadows.

Aran Islands 20.5kms away

The Stack

Some of the cliffs

The tower at the start of the walkway

The Cliffs in the shadows 

The buses as we left

The cafes, restaurant etc. built into the hill

A view of the environment both approaching and leaving the Cliffs which are on the Wild Atlantic Way

We left what for us has been one of the trip’s highlights and drove to Doolin for lunch and found a cafe (not an easy feat) which provided nice plates but at a cost

Open smoked salmon sandwich 

Open ham sandwich

Doolin scenes

The NZD$ cost of those two plates was approximately $90

It was then onto Rossveel and our accommodation but that is when the fun, said euphemistically, began as neither the GPS nor Google maps could find the accommodation using the only address/reference we had - the EIRcode - and we went around in ever increasing frustrating circles but ultimately we did find the location.

After unpacking we then went looking for a pub for a meal but that too was a frustration as the pub at Carraroe, 5ks away, did not have a kitchen and told us the closest (other than the local Chinese restaurant) would be in Spidall some 19kms away. We had seen another couple of pubs in the general Rossaveel area but they too couldn’t feed us as at one the kitchen had closed and the other didn’t have one - an Irish pub without food was a big surprise- so we continued on to Spidall and had a meal at the only restaurant in the town! An extra 50kms driven on top of what we had already driven for the day put a slight dampening on an otherwise excellent day.

The temperatures are starting to drop and we are expecting far cooler days for the rest of the trip

Medieval Frivolity

 After speaking with family back home we then walked into the village to visit the Bunratty Castle and Folk Park. As we walked down the hill we got that feeling that one gets sometimes- we might be overdoing this as after we have walked around the approx. 30 acres park we have to walk back up this bloody hill.

The park is a living reconstruction of the homes and environment of Ireland over a century ago. Rural farmhouses, a village street complete with shops and Bunratty House with its gardens recreated as they would have appeared at the time.

The significant building however is the Bunratty Castle built circa 1425 and which was the stronghold of the Earls of Thomond. It consists of a central block of three floors with four towers, one on each corner, each tower having 6 stories.

After the 600 years of its existence it remains in very good condition 

We have seen and clambered through numerous castles however this one would be one of the nicest that we have visited 

The castle with a pub as a neighbour

Bunratty village which is across the road from the castle 

Looking down on the village from one of the towers 

After completing a tour of the park we started back to the apartment and surprised ourselves that what we dreaded didn’t actually kill us as we did the hill walk only about 7 minutes slower than the time it took to go down.

Relaxed in the sunny and hot lounge watching some of the hurling final before early evening driving back to the Castle to enjoy a “medieval banquet” in the Great Hall it being a generous Christmas gift (thanks Jodi) 

There were around 130 folk at the banquet which began with gathering in the Grand Hall where we were all greeted by the MC offered a glass of mead and a couple were called out to be the Royal hosts for the evening.

We all then moved down the 35 stairs to the banquet hall where the meal was served - first course parsnip and vegetable soup, second course spare ribs, third course chicken and vegetables and finally a desert dish - all eaten with a dagger and your fingers.

During and after the meal the serving staff performed various musical items accompanied by clapping and table slapping by the guests

A different but enjoyable night out shared at our table amongst others with an Irish couple on an anniversary celebration and also an Australian couple on a lengthy holiday.

Congratulations also to Ryan Fox on the most significant win of his career