We left John O’Groats early Monday morning and headed south west to the Isle of Syke. The drive was long and the weather was terrible.
We finally arrived (after a pit stop at Eileen Donan Castle), had a pub feed and decided to stay at Sligachan Caravan Park (£15 with facilities).
The next day we were planning to explore Skye, but the weather had other ideas. We didn’t have the proper equipment or clothing to hike so sadly, left and drove to Fort William where we camped for free in a car park and the rain continued.
Day 7 welcomed us with overcast skies but no rain – hooray! We left the campsite and headed into Fort William to catch up on everything because we hadn’t had any internet access since we left (hello a million and one Instagram posts – sorry, not sorry).
We wandered through town before heading to Glencoe. A few years ago, Jess’ parents bought each sibling a small plot of land in the Glencoe Woods which helps conserve the national parks (see www.highlandtitles.com) and coincidentally makes you a Lady, Laird or Lord of Glencoe. It was really cool to visit the site and wander through the super creepy woods.
Our day ended in the Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park where we camped again for free beside the ‘beach’.
We woke early on Day 8 to climb Ben Lomond which was a mountain on the other side of the Loch to where we were staying. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had different ideas (again).
We instead drove south to Stranraer to prepare for our early departure the next morning to IRELAND! We stayed at Aird Donald Caravan Park for £17 (plus 50p to use the showers). It felt like we were in a secluded meadow with fields and trees and wild bunnies everywhere.
We departed on the Stena Lines car ferry early on Day 9 (£300 return from Port Ryan to Belfast) and the journey took just over two hours. The whole process was super simple but we are guessing this was mainly because we were going to Northern Ireland which is part of the United Kingdom.
We arrived in Belfast around midday and wandered around the city, finding heaps of hidden bars, murals and ancient buildings (no high rise).
We left Belfast and headed south to Dublin. Note: Dublin is in The Republic of Ireland which in not part of the United Kingdom and the currency changes from pounds to euros (nice and easy, right?). Typical us, we had no euros so luckily avoided the toll roads (thanks google maps) and took the back streets.
We had already decided on a camping spot so headed straight there but not before stopping in at Deer Park Golf Club for a quick round of Foot Golf (i.e. golf but with a soccer ball and your foot).
We drove two minutes down the road and free camped for the night at the pier in Howth, a small (ridiculously cute) fishing town. Had deeeee-licious fish and chips for dinner before walking around the harbour.
Day 10 involved a lot of beer and burlesque. First stop – the Guinness Factory with Nick (Jack’s cousin) and Ger (Irish Australian). Seven floors of beery goodness, where you learn how to pour your own pint and get to drink it with a birds eye view of Dublin.
Second stop – the Button Factory for ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream Spectacular’ burlesque style with more of Nick’s friends. Amateur to say the least, but hilarious.
We then ventured out and absolutely nothing beats going out with locals, so grab every opportunity. We stumbled back to Howth at around 3am where Peggy was patiently waiting with all her new friends.
We bid ado to Dublin on Day 11 and drove south to Cork. Arrival was late because we were late getting up for obvious reasons. We stayed at Blarney Caravan Park (€22 with facilities) and that was the extent of today.
Bye Week Two – stay tuned for Week Three! Slán x
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