WEEK THREE

It seems ridiculous that we are already writing a post for Week Three but here we are! We left Australia a month ago and it feels like time is flying (for a select few back home we doubt this is the case haha).

This week started with a visit to Blarney Castle. It was €15 each to enter the castle and gardens and kiss the fabled Blarney Stone (which is meant to give you the gift of the gab). Kissing the stone was super touristy but we had paid the entry fee, lined up for close to an hour and slowly climbed the stone spiral staircase so there was no turning back.

We left Blarney and drove to Killarney where we picked up Nick (the Cousin) for a few days of family fun. From here we started The Ring of Kerry which is a 179-km-long circular tourist route in County Kerry in south-west Ireland.

We passed through lots of small towns and stopped at many lookouts which highlighted just how incredible Ireland’s countryside is (proof below). The Wild Atlantic Way is also another tourist drive that covers nine counties and we seemed to alternate between the two.

We made it about half way around The Ring of Kerry before pulling up at Ballinskelligs for the night. We free camped in a car park next to the beach which luckily had public toilets that the ranger happily left open for us to use overnight because we were ‘genuine’ travellers. We were happy to be by the ocean and explored a little before calling it a night.

We continued along The Ring of Kerry / Wild Atlantic Way on Day 13 until we reached Liscannor and the Cliffs of Moher. The cliffs were incredible and photos didn’t do any justice at all.

Fun Fact: The scene in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince where Harry and Dumbledore go to the cave to fetch the third horcrux was filmed here.

Note: We unknowingly fell for the tourist trap and paid €6 each to park and view the cliffs (which we found absurd but didn’t question). What they don’t tell you is that you aren’t required to pay to view the cliffs if you park elsewhere and walk. Lesson learned!

We then drove to Galway and camped at the port overnight (€4 to park, no facilities). We wandered through town and had a pint at a small pub before meandering through the alleys to find some traditional Irish grub for dinner. At dinner, we experienced our first ‘Irish Coffee’ which was amazing and we can now highly recommend. We also got gelato (because treat yo’ self) and so the quest to find the best flavour commences.

We left Galway nice and early on Day 14 because the €4 overnight parking ticket was only valid until 8am and we had things to see.

We headed north west to Connemara National Park to climb Diamond Hill. The weather was cold but rather ideal for mountain climbing which was a relief after a few warm days. The hike put us into the clouds (spoiling the views) and took about 2 hours to complete the 7km loop with 420m elevation.

After the climb, we continued heading north because we had included so many things on our hit list that were seemingly scattered all across the country.

We wound up at Strandhill Caravan Park (€25 for the night plus €1 for a 5 min shower). It was a little beachside town with one pub, one store and of course, gelato (didn’t take a picture, but flavours were Nutella and Bounty).

We drove across the border to Northern Ireland early on Thursday morning with our first stop being Giant’s Causeway.

This area has about 40,000 interlocking basalt rock formations thanks to an ancient volcanic eruption (or a giants doing, who knows?). We decided on the ‘Red’ path which takes you above the formations with a nice birds eye view and ultimately leads down to the rocks themselves for a closer look. This path included A LOT of stairs so choose wisely.

Note: If you park in the dedicated car parks, you will be told you need to pay £10.50 per person which includes parking and entry to the Visitor Centre etc, HOWEVER, if you park further up the road, you are not required to pay ANYTHING because viewing the rock formations is completely free – another tourist trap busted (thanks to savvy googling after the Cliffs of Moher incident)! We noticed the pattern emerging.

After meandering around for a while, we jumped back in the van and drove along the coast to Carrick-a-Rede. Here, a suspended rope bridge hangs 30m above the sea, connecting a small island to the mainland (originally built by/for fishermen) that you can walk across if desired (the bridge was closed when we arrived but you could still walk to the viewing platforms, plus the cost when open is £7pp).

The rain then decided to make itself known again so we headed to Ballycastle and wild camped by the beach for the night.

We got moving early on Friday morning and stopped by The Dark Hedges en-route to Belfast. The street is lined with 18th century beech trees that have bent over time and the top branches have interconnected creating a mystifying tunnel. The street has been made famous largely due to being used in Game of Thrones but we were lucky enough to avoid the crowds due to the early hour. It’s true when they say the early bird gets the worm!

We continued on to Belfast where we said goodbye to Nick and hello to a little more room in the van. The morning was slow because it turned out to be one of those days and we spent a bit of time trying to fix our GoPro which isn’t charging and now, needs to be sent back 🙁  We have such mixed reviews of the Hero 5 Session and are gutted that we can’t use it at the moment.

After much fussing around and since we were headed back to Scotland in the morning, we decided to stayed at Carrickfergus Port carpark overnight (free and with public toilets nearby – winning).

The ferry back to Scotland was as riveting as one who loves boats could imagine (please remind me to never, ever go on a cruise).

Once back on dry land, we headed south with no particular destination in mind. We pulled over at one of the service centres on the highway (like the twin servos between Newcastle and Sydney) when Jack had enough of driving and for £12 you are able to stay overnight. The centre is open 24 hours so you have access to toilets and there was also showers (plus junk food and coffee).

On day 18 we continued our journey south to Bath and are so glad we did. We found the Bath Marina & Caravan Park straight away (£23.50 for the night plus £4.50 for a much needed load of washing) and got organised before heading into the city.

We biked along the canal and although there were tonnes of tourists, the city was vibrant – think Hunter Street Mall but about 10 times bigger, older, nicer, more interesting and actually filled with people & buskers.

The Roman Baths and Abbey are in the centre of town but we gave the Baths a miss because entry was £15.50 per person (with no swimming allowed). So instead we wandered the alleys and found the Fudge Factory so indulged a little. Only once full of sweets did we bike back to the caravan park for dinner and a much welcomed shower.

Until Week Four…. Bye x