Ireland

Thursday 7th April 2016:

We arrived at Dublin Airport and were lucky enough to be picked up by the Celtic Campervans shuttle and transferred out to the depot to collect our van. After being given the full rundown on how to operate everything and empty the waste water, Brendan was entrusted with the keys, Roslyn with directions, and we hit the road bound for Blarney. 

Actually making it out onto the motorway was more difficult than it should have been. We spent the first 15-20 minutes driving around in circles. We were on the motorway, then took an off ramp that somehow turned us back around to where we came from. Having taken the long way round, we eventually ended up where we were supposed to be.

A little under three hours later we arrived at our accommodation, a patch of gravel at Blarney Caravan and Camping Park. Brendan found the Fiat bed-on-wheels smooth and easy to drive like a normal car, but this almost created a false sense of security because the thing was indeed significantly longer, wider and higher than a car. Our single minor wipeout occurred on the drive into the village of Blarney to stock up on the necessities, smacking the passenger side mirror into a light post. Fortunately, the mirror was already pretty scratched and nothing broke so we ended up getting away with that one. As this was our first night, we weren't quite sure just how warm we'd be and during the night certainly regretted having not bumped up the heater 

The following day, Friday, we explored the Blarney Castle and Gardens. The current castle is the third incarnation of a castle on the site, and dates back to 1446. Over the last few hundred years, millions of pilgrims have climbed the narrow stairs of the castle to gain the gift of eloquence by kissing the Blarney Stone. The stone is set at the bottom of the wall below the battlements, and to plant a peck on the rock one has to lay down on the edge of the walkway and hold onto iron bars, while dangling headfirst towards the ground. All four of us made it to the top and nervously hung from the edge to kiss the stone. 

As to whether we've actually become more eloquent, we will leave that for you, the readers of our blog, to be the judges. Next we went across to have a delicious pub lunch, then back in the van and onwards to the famous seaside Cliffs of Moher. Along the way we passed by some remarkable scenery, including an amazing seaside, cliff top golf course. At the Cliffs, the extreme wind so powerful that it made it hard to open the doors of the van, and once we did the icy temperature made us thankful for having brought our heavy jackets.

The Cliffs of Moher are Ireland's most visited natural attraction, and stretch for 8 kilometres along the Atlantic Ocean on the west coast of Ireland. At their highest point, they are 214 metres tall. From April through to late July, the Puffin (the icon of Iceland) nests at the cliffs although we didn't manage to see any.

Back onto the narrow winding coast roads, we headed around 15 minutes north to Nagle's Doolin Camping and Caravan Park. The manager at this park was fairly useless and not very welcoming. On pulling up at the check in office, there was nobody there and a handwritten sign on the window to say call this number. All well and good except that there was absolutely no phone signal here. The manager suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and when Brendan said he tried to call but had no signal was told "yeah, that happens". He was also less than impressed that he'd waited for us "all day". 

Located alongside the sea adjacent to the Doolin Pier, and with ocean vistas in one direction and rolling green hills in the other, this felt a little more secluded.  Lucky we'd stocked up earlier at the supermarket in, what we thought was a small village, Blarney because there really was nothing out here. The storm that we experienced during the night was fierce and loud; the camper swayed in the wind and the heavy rain/hail awoke Brendan. In his half asleep state of mind, he had to look outside the window to check that we hadn't been washed into the sea and it wasn't waves crashing against the van.

We packed up and departed the park on Saturday morning, and on our journey discovered that not far from Doolin it had actually snowed during the night. 

We stopped in at Galway for lunch, a university town, where the sun was shining and the temperature was quite pleasant. In the pub we entered an elderly man had dozed off while eating his burger, using the bun as a pillow of sorts.

Back into the van and we cruised on to Dublin, pulling in at the Camac Valley Tourist Caravan and Camping Park around two hours later. The following morning, Sunday, we left the van behind, and boarded a bus into the city. We set off in search of the Moore Street Market where Agnes Brown has her stall on Mrs Brown's Boys D'Movie, but sadly there were no stalls set up today. With poor weather looming we wandered off to one of Dublin's major attractions, the Guinness Storehouse. 

From 1904 right through until 1988, the Storehouse was the fermentation plant and is designed in the shape of a giant pint glass that if full, would hold 14.3 million pints. We learnt about the brewing process, the correct way to "taste" Guinness, viewed historic advertising material, before finally learning how to pour the perfect Guinness and graduating from The Guinness Academy. The glass encased circular seventh floor houses the Gravity Bar, presenting fantastic views across Dublin, although you really have to fight for a seat near the window.

Our Irish road trip came to an end on Monday, packing up and returning the van then heading back in the shuttle to the airport. At the airport, we swapped to a taxi into the city and found a local pub for lunch before it was all over and time to head home.

Highlights:

- First Campervan experience

- Blarney Castle and Gardens

- Kissed the Blarney Stone

- Seaside, cliff top golf course.

- Cliffs of Moher

- Doolin Pier

- Fierce storm

- Snow

- Stopped in at Galway for lunch

- Moore Street Market

- Guinness Storehouse