Day 35 - You know you've made it when....

Well, this is me, at the official end point of the Wild Atlantic Way ! 

I arrived in Kinsale, decided that as this was my last night on the Wild Atlantic Way, I would throw caution to the wind, treat myself to somewhere really nice to stay, blow all the remaining Euro on my pre-paid Euro Mastercard ! After some research I concluded the www.perryvillehouse.com was the place to stay...

It wasn't many minutes after checking in that I concluded that I had made the absolutely right decision, the wonderful architecture, incredible interior decor, art work, beds you just don't want to get out of, but most importantly the wonderful people that were making the place tick....whilst on a much smaller scale, it reminds me of the Mount Nelson in Cape Town, which anyone who knows me will know, I believe is the best hotel in the world ! 

Last night was spent relaxing and reflecting on what has been an incredible 35 days of driving ! 

I awoke this morning, wandered into breakfast......

....not only does this place get 10/10 for all the things I mentioned earlier, it's also, at the very last minute, won the prize for best breakfast of the trip, simple, but the taste was out of this world, all local produce ! 

So, I mentioned the other day, one of my inspirations for this trip was Pete Macarthy, after I read his book, the other inspiration has to be Tony Hawks, after reading his book, round Ireland with  a fridge 

a mad cap adventure about a bet that he couldn't hitch hike around Ireland with a fridge ! As he progressed along his journey people began to ask him "you are the fridge man, aren't you??"....so back to the title of today's blog....." As I left breakfast this morning the owner of the hotel, who I'd not met, came over, she said to me "You're the Wild Atlantic Way man aren't you ?"......now I know I've made it !!!! 

It just leaves me to say a huge thanks to everyone I've met along the way, fellow travellers, hoteliers, publicans, bar staff, drunks at the bar, ferry operators, shop keepers, even mad American's I've been stuck in a public toilet with......but also a big big thanks to you guys who've been keeping up with the blog ! 

This won't be my last road trip, I've got the taste for this now....so until next time ! 

Good night, and God bless......

James (AKA - The Wild Atlantic Way Man) 

Day 34 - Clonakilty & The hunt for "Chicken George"

As often at the start of the blog I take you back in time, normally to the night before, but today I need to take you back to 1996, to help jog the memory, The Spice Girls had just released their debut album, Nelson Mandela had just stepped down as President of South Africa, the 96th US Golf Amateur Championship was won by Tiger Woods, but more importantly that all that Mick & Pat Weston were the Landlord and Landlady of the Railway at Shenstone, my local pub !

The relevance of that last fact, is this is when my love affair with Ireland began..... It was late July / early August 1996, I called into the Railway for my usual lunchtime pint (wouldn't dream of drinking at lunchtime nowadays, but it was the norm back then).....Pat says "Hi Woz, how's things ?"....."not bad Pat, just a stressful week work-wise, could do with getting away for a few days"....."why don't you go and see Jodie (her daughter) in Ireland ???? you said you would go visit !"  

Now, let's remember there was no internet like we have now, so I phoned my travel agent to see what he could do, an hour or so later I got a call back, flight to Dublin booked, £222 return..... now back then a pint was £1.60, if we compare how prices have gone 20 odd years later I can get a return flight to Dublin for £22, so surely a pint should now be 16p ?? I wish Michael O'Leary had gone into the pub game rather than aviation !! 

Anyhow, off to Dublin I go, my plan was to hire a car when I got there, I was 22 now, you can hire a car in the UK once you are 21, so I've my driving licence and shinny new AMEX card.....I get to Dublin Airport, sorry you can't hire from us....why not...you have to be 23 in Ireland to hire a car....I was 2 weeks off my 23rd Birthday....aghhhhh....what should have been a simple 3 hours drive, turned into a bus & train journey which took well over 6 hours ! Eventually I got to Clonakilty, but when I got there WOW ! what a place.....it was about the size of the village I lived in, but "Clon" had 23 pubs ! everything in the village was based around live music & pubs..... 

My first day there was a haze, but on day 2 I remember meeting "Chicken George"....so named as his name was George, and he worked in the Chicken factory just outside with village.....He worked nights....I walked into the bar where Jodie was working around mid-day, sat at the bar, a few bar stools down was a man asleep, head on the bar, with an old fashioned wind up alarm clock in front of him, after a few minutes a pint was put in front on him, then about a minute later the alarm clock went off, the man awoke, downed the pint, forwarded his alarm clock on 15 minutes, then promptly went back to sleep, (the process repeated it's self for several hours), this man was "Chicken George"...... he lived on the high street in a builders skip with a tarpaulin over it......fair to say, an interesting character....

I went back to "Clon" many times during my twenties, but today I set foot back in the town for the first time in about 15 years, so let me walk you round the town, lets see whats changed, and let's see if "Chicken George" is still around.....

Let me start you at the top of the high street, Mick Finns, being the start of the high street, this was always our first port of call on any pub crawl, always a good craic in here, the pub still looks exactly the same as it did 20 years ago ! 

Over the river now, to the Emmet Hotel, often our residence when we stayed in Clon, mainly due to the night club that was in the hotel ! 

Entrance to said nightclub......this place has been the cause of many a lost brain cell for the inhabitants of Shenstone over the years.....

Then it's back over the river to O'Donovan's Hotel, once again often a residence for the Shenstone Mob when in town, I had my 25th Birthday in here, I remember the singer did covers of Elvis, Dean Martin, and Frank Sinatra, when we got there around 11pm the place was just full of pensioners quietly watching the music, the 4 of us decided to liven things up, so we all asked one of the  pensioners to dance, within 10 minutes the whole place was up, by 1am I had bribed the singer to do another hour and bunged the bar staff to stay open, when they tried to close the bar at 2am there was nearly a riot, not us 20 somethings, but the pensioners, they were not having their night bought to an early close ! 

Next on the road was De Barra, this place is world famous in music terms with the likes of Noel Redding (The Jimi Hendrix Experience) and Paddy Keenan (The Bothy Band) together with folk singers like Christy Moore & Roy Harper often playing.....

So far very little has changed, well almost nothing in fact, until I round the corner to "ConaMarras" where we always used to play pool, I thought to start the pub had closed and was now a tat shop, but in fact the pub is still there, they have just let out the side passage to a fella selling.....

Sadly the newspaper shop where we always went to get our Sunday papers whilst waiting for the pubs to open has closed down.....

I wake a little further down the main road, to where I think Jodie had her first Clon job, and it reminds me there is where I met "Chicken George" I'm meant to be trying to find the great man, but in my amaze at all the pubs it's slipped my mind.....I will head to "The Pub", it was a pub called "The Pub" people in there are bound to know! 

Very sadly this is where I discover the biggest travesty of my visit to Clon, what used to be a real proper Irish Boozer, has turned into a funky coffee shop selling cappuccino's and falafal wraps !

I pop into Caseys, not all the Shenstone crew will remember this one, but it was the pub closest to Boyle Sports where we used to put our bets on.....I need to ask about Chicken George......I look round the pub, spot this fella, he is bound to know...

What an interesting bloke this guy turns out to be, he's 79 and just bought himself a new tractor, he's off to the Nottingham Agricultural show today to check it out !  Turns out he know's Chicken George, he's alive & well.....he retired from the Chicken factory at 65, set himself up a gardening round, he's 76 now and busier than ever, can't drive anymore so he carries his tools and mower around on a Honda 50.....(how that can be legal I don't know).....

I never managed to track down Chicken George, however it's great to know he's still going, but just as I was leaving the pub I heard a song that I've never heard before, and I think it was a sign..... you've got have a listen to this.....

Day 33

I spent last night in Skibbereen, A few days before I had received a call from "The Bull" asking of my plans and whereabouts, when I mentioned I was likely to be in 'Skibb" in a few days he remarked that the West Cork Hotel was the place to stay & eat, given "The Bull" is rarely far out when it comes to matters appertaining to licensed premises I took his advice, treating myself to hotel room rather than a B&B for the evening ! It was time to head to the bar for refreshments, I was welcomed with open arms, a pint duly poured, off to find a seat outside....

Outside the hotel is a bridge, which is no longer in use (given there is a hotel at the end of it, but from pictures I've seen in the hotel about 100 years ago, there was no hotel and trains were running over this, now it serves as a very pleasant way to pass the hours sat above the river with a nice pinty)  As I boarded the bridge, there was a Swedish chap reading a book on the first table, I bid him "Good Evening", but received a very short "yes" in response, I continued along the bridge a little further, selected a spot, sat down to enjoy by beverage.  

Shortly after an Irish Lady boarded the bridge and sat on the next table to the Swede..... To truly appreciate what happened next you need to visualise a scene, imagine the life long family pet, a golden labrador, say about 12 years old, he sitting in his favourite spot having a nap, eye's closed, (this character is the Swede), then in front of him comes the young upstart, the new family kitten, all it wants to do is play, so it sits right next to the dogs nose, (this is the Irish lady) and about once a minute it gently taps the dog on the nose to try and entice it to come play, each time the dog opens it's eyes, raises it's eye brows in distain, then closes it's eyes again and tries to regain composure.....OK, got that in your mind, the conversation went like this.....

Lady - "Good Evening" 

Swede - "Yes" (as short as he was with me)

About a minute passes (first swipe of the kittens paw)....

Lady - "Are you reading a book ?"

Swede "Yes" 

another minute passes 

Lady "What's the book called ? "

Swede "It's Swedish"

about 2 minutes pass this time (He's lulled into a false sense of security by this) 

Lady - "What's the book about?"

Swede - "Murder" (there's anger in his voice now)

back to a 1 minute silence 

Lady "It's a lovely evening to be reading a book" 

BANG ! The Swede looses it, slams his book closed, picks up his drink and storms off.......the kitten mean while turns round, a young couple have sat on her other side, someone new to play with.....

This morning starts with more glorious sunshine, and more wonderful driving along the amazing roads of County Cork.

Soon it was lunchtime, all this wonderful scenery works up an appetite, this place advertised "The Best Fish & Chips in West Cork"..... I have to say, I think they were right ! It was delicious 

Now many of you will be aware that I am a frequent visitor to South Africa, partly as it's an amazing place (and the beer is about £1 a pint), but partly as I'm a supporter of an amazing education programme out there. For more than ten years LEAP has worked with marginalised children through the only network of independent, no-fee schools in South Africa. Our results show that 95% of our students have passed matric and 79% of LEAP students have degrees or diplomas or are continuing with higher education. We are proving the impossible: that no matter how deprived, any child in South Africa can graduate from high school, obtain a tertiary qualification and look forward to a fulfilling future.  Given I've had a pretty captive audience with the blog for several weeks, I've been trying to work a way of weaving in a plug, but haven't really found the right place to do so, well until today, you can't imagine my surprise & delight when I discovered this was one of the town's I would drive through today....

For any of you who have been lucky enough to have visited Cape Town, isn't it amazing how the houses in Leap in Ireland resemble the colours of the Bo-Kaap 

The charity was established 15 years ago, by 2 inspirational people, who have since become great friends, John Gilmore and Jenni Copeland. They work night and day often 7 days a week to ensure the kids in some of the poorest townships in South Africa can get a great education.

If you have enjoyed the blog to date, and are in a position to make a small contribution to the school, I know that not only I, but John, Jenni, and most importantly the kids will be extremely grateful.

We have recently established a fund within the London Community Foundation for LEAP, which allows people to donate here, rather than having to try and get a South African credit processed on your credit card, and it also qualifies for gift aid ! Link Below 

https://giving.londoncf.org.uk/cf/LEAP

Thanks so much if you can help !  Until tomorrow my friends ! 

James 

Day 31 & 32 - Punctures, Pictures & Pints !

So, it feels like an age, but I'm back, back on the Wild Atlantic Way, what a contrast in weather, gone is the old faithful bright yellow coat, out are the shorts & sunnies ! 

I arrived yesterday morning circa 10am following my brief hop with Aerlingus from Birmingham, I take the "short walk" to the long stay car park, track down the car, what do I find....

Agggghhhh flat tyre ! I had had to top that tyre up on the way to Cork airport a few weeks ago, so feeling pretty confident now that I have a puncture ! 

So, it's off to the boot, try to work out what to do, I wish cars had a spare wheel like in the old days ! There's some gooo, to put in the tyre and a compressor to blow it up ! 

I decide I need to visit a tyre centre, but it's Sunday morning......after some Googling, a few phone calls, I find one the other side of Cork, so we limp off nervously across Irelands second city.

Dessie seemed pleased to see me, within minutes the tyre was off, puncture located....."It's right on the tyre wall, can't be repaired I'm afraid, it's gona need a new tyre !" now normally the first question in your mind when faced with this is "Jeeez, what this going to cost ?"....but I had a far more worrying question....."Have you got one"..... I've not seen another car the same model as mine since I left Dublin and to compound matters it's a Sunday....I have visions of me spending the next 3 days stuck in a B&B on the outskirts of Cork waiting for a tyre to be shipped in, but my luck was in (if you can look at it that way)...."yeh, we've got one"....Dessie quickly liberated my bank account of 228 Euro's and within minutes the guys were on the case !

As I watched, it occurred to me that my car was in a pretty grubby looking state, mud, dust, and heavens knows what all over it, so given there was a car wash next door, I decided to treat the car to a proper wash before I set off......

Got to love this....only in Ireland can you have a price list which contains no prices ! 

Then it's off back to join the Wild Atlantic Way....

It's a good hour n a half drive from Cork to where I re-join the way, but that flies by, soon I'm back on little roads, with great view, roof down, life is good ! 

I have to say, this sign wins the award for the "Most pointless No Overtaking sign"....given it's a single track road !!

It's not long before I'm opposite Dursey Island, which is the destination for Irelands only cable car.... I watch for a few minutes whilst I ponder taking the trip, I soon conclude that given it's fragile looking construction, incredibly slow speed of operation, combined with my mixed success with visiting deserted Irish Islands, I'm going to give this one a miss ! 

I overnight in Castletownbere, which is the location of a certain "Macarthy's Bar"   A number of people have asked was there something that inspired me to do this trip, if I look back I would have to say reading the book Macarthy's Bar was probably the initial seed of an idea.....It's a great book, this pub is the front cover of the book, if you haven't read it I would highly recommend ! 

Today has been a good long drive, with many many incredible scenic roads driven......I will leave you with a few images, the weather is making me very thirsty, so James is now off for a pint ! 

Day 30

Today will be the briefest of blogs, my laptop keeps showing messages of memory full, and disk error, all of which make me quake with fear !  It won't even upload a photo ! So I'm off to try and find the Irish Apple Shop in Killarney ! Wish me well, with any luck I can bring you up to speed tomorrow with how brilliant the Smugglers Arms was, together with todays fantastic drive through the Killarney National Park ! 

Day 29

Now, lets first wind back to last night, Sunday in Dingle ! What could possibly go wrong ?? Well, the answer nothing ! After a good days drive I headed out for a pint, ended up in a hardware shop that also sells pints, got chatting to the bar man, "want to see the menu" , "why not" I replied ,more out of courtesy, I hadn't planned on eating in a hardware store..... "any recommendations" ? ....."The Thai Green Chicken Curry, it's our chef's speciality, we have it every week, it's amazing"..... never one to be put off by such a strong recommendation I steamed in.....Have to say WOWZER!!! it was stunning ! 

From there, my plan was another swift pinty, then an early night....got to the pub on the corner, 2 guys playing an acoustic set, (funnily enough the same 2 guys I'd seen in a different pub the night prior, these pubs do keep these young musicians busy with work, which is great), as I take the first sip of my pint they finish up, off to another gig, but say someone else will be on in half an hour....I approach the end of my pint, and there's a guy and a girl setting up, can I be bothered to wait, I'm tired, but I decided why not, I will have one more, see what they are like......What a decision ! From the end of the first line I knew this was an amazing voice ! the hairs on my arms pricked up, there was a magic, this want just a pub singer, this was something else.... for the next 2 hours I was just taken in by the voice....pleased to say she was also selling her CD's so I have been listening to that all day... If this young lady doesn't make it, I will eat my hat !  Check out "What you are" by the amazing Riona 

So, back on the road this morning.... after dingle, the next interesting place I get to is...

Australians would give a XXXX for anything else !!

From there it was on to the ring of Kerry, now for the first half hour of the drive, I was wondering what I could show you of this, the scenery is amazing, but you need to be here to appreciate it, its wonderful, but it's 365 degrees, and there's no where to stop on the roads to take pictures, so my plan was to just tell you, that you need to come over and drive this, but then I got to Bray Head, and now I have something I can show you....

Driving up here reminded me of the scene from "The Italian Job" where they drive the mini's up onto that strange building...if you know the film you will know what I mean...

I've ended the day in Waterville, at a wonderful place called "The Smugglers Inn" more about that tomorrow.... in the interim, I will leave you will my thought for the day...

Day 27 & 28

So, after last nights fun & games here's a bit from the WAW from the past 2 days....

The morning starts on the Killimer to Tarbert ferry, before a left turn as your get off the ferry down to Foynes, quick aviation history lesson there.....

From there it was a short hop down to Carrigafoyle Castle, I think this is in what, estate agents, call "Calling out for tasteful renovation" 

After a walk round the castle, it was onwards south, to my second castle of the day, one for the golfers.....stopped here for a quick bite...

As I passed through Tralee, I began to wonder if I'd entered some sort of Irish Bermuda Triangle, I was driving down the side of a canal, then to my right a windmill, was I in Ireland still or am I in Amsterdam ???

Shortly after Tralee came the Rugby stop, together with the fun at the B&B, less said about that the better LOL....

Today's weather has been a bit disappointing, the weather forecast this morning all sounded good, but we have been hampered by clouds all day, been driving the Dingle Peninsula and the Connor Pass....

It's hard to tell how far you are up, but if you have 3 minutes to spare, watch this chaps you tube video....

I will leave you with a picture of my lunch from a wonderful little pub in the middle of know where,  could you get more Irish than a Soup n a Sandwich with a bottle of Lucozade !  

The Rugby & Locked Out !

I'm still here folks, sorry no blog appeared last night....I was locked out ! (will reveal all as we go on)....

So, I did a good few miles yesterday, some incredible scenery, but the weather was not as kind yesterday as it has been, so I'm going to go back over some of the best bit's today, so I can get a few more shots, will post again this evening ! 

So, after the drive yesterday it was a mad scramble to get accommodation, I normally book the Saturdays in advance as I know things get busy, but with confidence growing that I've never failed to find somewhere I decided to go on the fly yesterday, so a 3.15pm start looking for somewhere to stay, with the knowledge the rugby starts at 4.05....

It was a series of "no vacancies" must have had 15 knock backs, it's 20 mins to kick off, I try one of the last places on the street, "any rooms for this evening ?" .... "what are you after" came the reply, "Anything, it's just me"..... "Well, we have no rooms, but there is a 2 bedrooms apartment above the B&B, but it's all we have left and I can't really let it go cheap"...."I'll take it", there was a little negotiation, but time was of the essence, so bags thrown in the room and off to the Rugby.

There were just 5 of us watching the rugby, 3 South African's, 2 Welsh guys and myself....so just me shouting for England.....18 minutes in an I'm like the cat who got the cream, fortunately I didn't make a song n dance about it, as 18 minutes later i was much less Garfield like !!  Things didn't end well from an England view point, but still a great game to watch.

I was about to head back to the digs after the game to do the Blog, but my stomach called so dinner first then blog, but after dinner the music started, so I got back at about 10pm....still with the intention of doing the blog.....It was baking hot in the room, 7 days of sun on the building had sure warmed it up, so I strip down to my boxers, about to fire up the lap top, will just pop to the bathroom first...the bathroom is across the corridor as the 2 bedrooms of the apartment share the bathroom, as I return to my room I realise that the bedrooms door has closed behind me, and as it's part of the B&B it has self locking doors, so I'm now locked out ! Several panicked minutes of trying to get the door to open, when I realise that bedrooms 2 has the keys in the outside of the door, so I spend the night in there, but without access to the laptop/phone/any other clothes ! 

I remember that breakfast is from 8.30am, so at 8.15 I figure someone will be setting up, so I walk down the 3 flights of stairs past the other 14 rooms of the B&B and arrive in reception in my boxers, I'm feeling a bit silly at this point.....there is no one about, I wander into the kitchen, no one, what to do.....I just hang around, don't really have much choice....then at 8.25 the front door of the B&B swings open and a rather flustered girl runs through (guessing she's running late), "Morning" I say "Do you work here ?" she takes 1 look at me and says "Let me guess, you're in room one and you're locked out"...."Yes" i reply...."It happens all the time" she says, "there's a spare key under the waste paper bin in the corridor".....and with that runs off toward the kitchen.

I have to say having identified that people locking themselves out is a regular issue, full marks for leaving a spare key, but for goodness sake why not warn the potential half naked folk first, or even tell them where the spare key is ! Only in Ireland !! 

So, I'm about to hit the road, will post some Wild Atlantic Way stuff this evening.......assuming I can get into my room. 

Day 27

Weather Weather Weather ! 

I stayed last night at the Wild Atlantic Lodge in the village of Ballyvaughan, visited the pubs, lots of great people around, everyone was talking about the weather ! It's been brilliant sunshine for 6 days in a row now, said one guy, I've been here 30 years, that's never happened before ! 

Today's forecast was for sun first thing, then rain by 2pm, so I decided I would try and get some miles in as the next 2 days forecast looks like non-stop rain.....I'm typing this now in my shorts, it must be at least 24 degrees outside, not seen a sniff of rain all day ! 

It was HOT last night though, even with all the windows in the room open I still felt like I was in a Greggs Pasty Oven !

Over breakfast this morning the lodge owner asked me my plans for the day, "Cliffs of Moher" I replied..... "Wouldn't bother" he said "You won't see a thing, be millions of tourists there, I'd skip it and head for Loop Head, it's off the beaten track so none of the mug punters go there, and it's a better view than Moher" 

I acknowledged his suggestion, but knew I would be heading to Moher, as it's one of the Signature points on the WAW.....

As I got closer and closer to Moher, I ended up in a convoy of over ten 52 seater coaches, which given the roads we are driving did not make the journey much fun.....I was beginning to see what the guy at the lodge was talking about, as we finally approached the site, to my left the worlds biggest coach park came into sight, there must have been well over a hundred coaches parked up, it was like a scene from Cheltenham on Festival week, then over the road there were thousands and thousands of people just standing waiting in lines to get a look at the cliffs.....this is not for me !! I dabbed the accelerator and powered past the car park entrance....Loop Head here we come ! 

It was an inspired suggestion, I'd not had to deal with much in the way of mass tourism so far on the trip, I certainly was not in the mood to start now.....I pulled up on Loop Head drive to a very different scene.....

It was just me & six picnickers not a coach in site ! wonderful !  Here's a few pics from the Loop Head 

Now, one person who's name has appeared in this blog more than most is a certain "Mr Trump" he seems to be the topic of conversation pretty often during this Irish tour, so it only seemed fitting that as I was passing his Irish front door, I should swing onto the drive for a quick pic 

I'm in Kilrush now, off to see what this town has in store....looks pretty vibrant so far ! Catch you tomorrow. 

I'm back !! Day 25

I'm getting a bit of a regular on the Birmingham to Knock flight.....I always wonder when I'm boarding how the slogan on the side of the Flybe plane came about...

It occurs to me, there was probably a number of folks in a marketing meeting one day, when the Chief Exec turns up to tell them bookings are down this month, they need to do something about it.....

."I know pipes up one of the marketing bods, lets put a marketing slogan on the side of the plane ! Anyone got any ideas"

"How about 'Always Low Fares'' ??

"Can't do that, Michael O'Learly's already done that at Ryanair"

"How about we call ourselves "The Low Fares Airline" says another...

"Can't do that, Stellios has already done that at Easyjet......we need something more outside the box" 

There's a pause....

"I know" says the new kid at the back "Why don't we point out to our passengers how our aeroplanes that can travel over land and sea at 28,000 feet, at speeds of 550 miles per hour can get them to the continent quicker than their motor car, which for legal reasons can only travel at 70 miles per hour, and does not have the ability to drive on water" 

"Perfect, says the chair of the meeting, let's get the stickers made straight away" ! 

It's a lovely day in the Emerald Isle 

So, out of Knock airport, the roof is off, the sun is up, all is well with  the world ! It's around an hour or so to drive back to Galway to pick up with Wild Atlantic Way, then we start back on the route heading South. 

First stop of the day is at one of the beaches, so good to be back by the Ocean !

We've now crossed over from Co Galway into Co Claire, straight away you can see a difference, lots more rocks, bit less green.....this is a place called Flaggy Shore ! 

So, not much driving on the WAW today, just pulled into the village I'm staying in tonight, so off for an explore ! will report back tomorrow, great to be back here ! 

Home for a week !

Great, fun day at the races, but now it's home for a week, lots to catch up on !  see you back on the Wild Atlantic Way on Thursday 7th June ! 

Day 24

So, first of all, I need to publish a correction.....thank you for the number of you who got in touch re my attribution of the "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction" quotation, it would appear, having reviewed the bank of evidence you have provided that the quote was not in fact first stated by the American actor and singer Bruce Willis, but actually by English mathematician, astronomer, theologian, author and physicist (described in his own day as a "natural philosopher") who is widely recognised as one of the most influential scientists of all time, and a key figure in the scientific revolution, Sir Isaac Newton ! I stand corrected on that one...

Today has been spent driving the Wild Atlantic Way in reverse along roads I've already driven, taking the long way to get from A to B.  I needed to get up to Ballinrobe for the races, the direct route would have taken an hour, maybe an hour n a half, but I took 5 hours ! It's Been wonderful.

Today has also been the hottest day of the year so far in Ireland.

So, it's a swift blog tonight, I'm just back from the races, winner in the first then nothing ! absolutely nothing....LOL... so here's some pics.....

I have to say this place has rocketed to the leaderboard of my favourite racecourses ! till tommorow..... 

Day 23

After yesterdays day of rest, most of which was spent in battle with the lack lustre broadband of Clifden trying to get the blog uploaded, its back behind the wheel today.

Against, potentially, my better judgement I’m taking the advice of Mr Doyle & the owner of my B&B, I'm taking to sea again....a trip to Inishbofin Island ! Heaven help you both if this turns out like the Tory Island disaster ! LoL

It’s a very pleasant drive out to the ferry, roof off again, weather is superb ! I get my ticket, board the vessel......

....off we go.... it’s a good start, as we head out to sea, with the exception of the bow wake of our boat, the sea is like a billiards table, no one being sick, weather still great, its almost a party atmosphere on board

I explained the Tory Island story to the man at b&b “don’t worry” he said “there will be people waiting on the quayside to hire you bikes and try n secure your lunch reservation” this sounds much more entrepreneurial to me, sure enough as we get off the boat, there is the cycle hire man...12 Euro later and I’m on my way.

I have to stop at the top of the first hill for 5 minutes to catch my breath, It’s been some time since i’ve done this....

Five minutes pass, an were off.... scenery is wonderful, i’m really enjoying the cycle... after some time a famous quote enters my head

“For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction”

I think from memory it was Bruce Willis who first said this is an episode of Moonlighting circa 1988 but I will stand corrected if anyone knows better.... anyhow, I’ve been traveling downhill on the bike for over 10 minutes now so my brain is starting to compute the “equal and opposite” of that and its likely impact on my legs.....just at this point the silence is broken by the ring of my phone (wasn’t even expecting any signal out here)..... It’s an Irish number....who could it be....bet It's my B&B for tomorrow calling me to confirm...I answer..... “JAMIE” I hear roar down the phone “IT’S NOEL” oh jeeez it’s the BULL on the phone....”There’s racing tomorrow in Ballinrobe”..... “I know, I say” somewhat nervously, “I’ve got a ticket”.....”oh  Grand” says the BULL “I’ve got friends going racing, they’ll meet you for pints” !!!

The rest of my cycle round the island continues with regular breaks at the top of each hill, until I have circumnavigated the island.... I pull up at Doonmore Hotel, now if anyone from Tory is watching, this is how you do it....

This is me on an Island, off Ireland, with a pint !!

Shortly followed by some absolutely stunning Moules & Frites

I’ve not spent a moment sheltering in a public convenience and even more surprising not seen an American Tourist all day !! 

I hereby certify todays Island Hop a success !!

Day 22 - A day of rest (Sunday 27th)

So I've decided to give the car a day of rest today, the reasons for which will become clear later, so I will give you a brief guided tour of Roundstone which has been my home for the past few days.

It all started in here, Kings Bar, mid afternoon, with what was going to be a couple of quick pints before I found some dinner.  The Leinster Rugby game was on, the bar packed, I was stood towards the back of the pub, within minutes am chatting to one of the locals, he immediately reminded me of "Pig Finn" (played by James Nesbit) in one of my favourite films "Waking Ned"

After covering the basics topics, such as beer, rugby etc, we got onto the subject of which bars I should drink in when I move onto my next destination, Clifden.  "Make sure you go to Tom Kings, don't go to the other Kings pub in Clifton, they serve food in their, they'll be no craic in the other one, so make sure it's Tom Kings, you got that....it will be full of nutters like me F'in & Jeff'in n having the craic, you got that now Tom Kings, not the other Kings bar, just Tom's"....

I was pretty clear on the instruction, but made a note on my phone just in case.

After the match, a quick bite to eat, then over to Shamrocks, I sat on the bench on the left hand side, with the exception of the odd bathrooms break n trips to the bar, that's were I remained until 2am, when the pub closed......

I was joined on my bench my a number of wonderful people over those 5 n a half hours, sorry to those who's name's I can't remember, my memory for names is dreadful.     

First to arrive was "crazy cycle man" he'd left Dublin in rush hour on Friday to spend nearly 6 hours in the car to get here, to then cycle 140KM on Saturday, then go home on Sunday.  We talked about the news, Trump (he always seem to get a mention) the weather, the occasional foray into Brexit, but mainly he told me cycling stories ! 

Next to join the party were Audrey & Sandra, got these names no problem, as they introduced themselves I was like "My nan's name was Audrey and my mom has a sister called Sandra", clearly name association works well for me ! These two were fantastic fun, had me in stitches of laughter, gave me a few useful pointers on life, surviving in Ireland, how the female mind works....all sorts of useful insights, just great great craic, (including a strange & mischievous face time call with Audrey's dad)  ! Thanks for your company...  

Second from last to arrive were a, not long married, couple from Galway, they clearly didn't share names with any of my relatives, sorry can't remember your names..... They told me they had recently visited Birmingham, went to Crufts, I asked where they stayed as I live close to the NEC where Crufts take place, after of few seconds of trying to find the name of the hotel in the back of their memory bank, they guy says "I think it was called something like Hogwarts".....I said "you don't mean Hogarth's do you?"..... "That's it Hogarth's"...... this place is about 750 yards from my house ! from their on in we were like long lost relatives, they have offered to show me the proper pubs of Galway when I return, not the tourist haunts I apparently found when I was there.....I see we swapped numbers, as I've not got the names, I have saved you in my contacts as "The Lovely Couple from Galway" 

The final seat at the table was taken by this chap (name regrettably unknown) 

What a very interesting character ! After the usual pleasantries he started off with "I won't tell you my entire life story, as it will take too long, but let me just tell you this"..... an interesting and often tragic chapter of his life would then unfold, as the chapter drew to a close, we would all raise a drink and then he'd say "I won't tell you my entire life story, as it will take too long, but let me just tell you this" and this process repeated it's self several more times.

I have to take my hat off to this fella, life has thrown him more that his fair share of rough luck, but he's one of the most chirpy and optimistic people I've met ! fair play to ya ! 

And so they day (well early morning drew to a close)...... zzzzzzz

Day 21 - I'm officially half way !

Another beautiful day in sunny Ireland, possibly the first time I've had the roof off two days in a row !  

So today, I just needed to fill in the gap between Clifton and Killary Harbour which will mean I'm half way round.  The next discovery point I get to will be on the bottom section of the fold out map, rather than the top....

First point today is Sky Road Viewpoint, no prize for guessing what this road involves ! 

Although when you get up there the view makes it all worth the sweaty palms ! 

Next stop is the view over to Omey Island, I'm parked up, just pondering if I should take the walk over to the island whilst the tide is out, when I see a car driving across from the Island towards me, then bizarrely he pulls into the car park, parks opposite me, pretty much gets straight out... "That's a grand looking motor you've got there, just told kids thats gona be my next car when they eventually leave home, mind they are only 5 and 7...."..... I ask if it's OK to take the car over, and if it's worth it.... "you will be sound, no problem driving over, it's well worth making the effort.  There used to be a fella lived over there, he was a stunt man, did Crocodile Dundee, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Live and Let Die he was the only resident, died last year.....you can watch his funeral on You Tube if you like ! "

The concept of watching someone funeral on You Tube is not something I've ever thought of doing before, had to confess I never thought people would upload such a thing, but when I got back this afternoon, I had to have a look....Now I can't find anything on You Tube, but I have found the Irish Times coverage of the event, sure enough there is a video, it's only 2 minutes, actually worth watching https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/omey-island-s-last-resident-crosses-strand-at-low-tide-one-final-time-1.2968365 ....

So, back to the car park, I'm pondering the drive.....In my, well over 20 year, insurance career I've had to pay many a claim for "fools" who have taken their cars onto beaches, then had them wash away, couple that with my new found fear of finding myself stranded on an Island with no pub, the concept was not looking strong, but I decided stuff it lets go....

I did not hang around long.....but have to say, glad I went over, the hidden beach on the other side of the island is stunning 

Back to the mainland, I deviate slightly from the Wild Atlantic Way at this point as I want to see Kylmore Abbey for myself

I love this building, it almost doesn't look real, looks like a hand drawn image that's been added to a landscape photo, but let me tell you it's real, and it's stunning ! 

So, that just leaves me to get to Island View, before I then join up with the WAW, where I left it at Killary Harbour.

A few hundred yards before I get to the end I spot another coffee shop that's got one of the greatest views in the world, so I pop in for a celebratory Latte & Flapjack !  The prize for best Flapjack of the trip most certainly goes to the interestingly named "Misunderstood Heron" 

https://twitter.com/misunderheron?lang=en

So, I'm off to celebrate completing half the WAW with a few pints, but before I go, let me leave the ladies with some words of wisdom I was inspired to dream up after reading this today  ......."If you ever end up living in a castle, don't go out to sea on a boat with a cannon, and point it at your home......just in case it does accidentally go off"  

Day 20 (better late than never, no wifi at hotel...)

It's 7.30am, I can hear the rain bouncing off my bedroom windows like there's a child throwing stones at the glass, here we go again I think, but hold on, I'm not in Ireland, I'm still back home, I head off to the airport in a couple of hours ! 

I arrive at Birmingham International, half soaked having dropped the hire car off in torrential rain, but that's it now, no more outside, just an hour to wait till the flight then back to Ireland. As our flight starts to board I realise there is no airbridge to our plane, which I can see some way off the far side of the tarmac....yes, it was a long very wet walk to the plane, so I spent the hour on my FlyBe twin Prop soaked to the skin.  I'm please to say as soon as we entered Irish Air Space the weather improved by a million percent, within 20 minutes of landing I was getting changed into my shorts in the airport car park, taking the roof off the car, popping the sunnies on, and heading back to the Wild Atlantic Way. 

Old Head beach was the first port of call, great to actually see people using the beaches, they have been so empty up to date, but you can see the weather in Ireland is wonderful (for a change) 

Next stop was Roonagh Pier, you can catch the ferry to Clare Island from here.  Whilst I was there the ferry came in, but (after the Tory Island incident) you won't be shocked to hear I didn't go zooming off to jump onto the ferry,  I will be conducting some serious due diligence on what facilities are open before I leave Irish Mainland again...

Next is Carrownisky Strand, plenty of surfing going on. 

I turn off the main road, as directed by the WAW sign, down a road that gets narrower, soon there is grass growing in the middle of the road, this goes on for miles, I begin to think I am going the wrong way, there is nothing down here, I will give it a few more minutes then turn back, I must have missed a turn, then I come into a clearing, and there it is in front of me Silver Strand.  William Makepiece is to have said this place was the most spectacular spot his eye's have ever feasted on ! It's a real WOW factor, a few more pictures will follow, but please check out the video I will put on twitter https://twitter.com/jimiwoz?lang=en   it give a bit more sense of perspective.  I have to say being stood on this beach, in the middle of know where totally alone, there weren't even any seagulls, was quite something.....

I spent ages on that beach, just mesmerising, time to head to my accommodation for this evening, from the map, I'd guessed it would be about 30 minute drive.  I popped my destination into Google Maps, it told me 1 hour 52 minutes ! no way I thought, just over 2 hours later I got to the diggs....I did stop for a few minutes at Doo Lough Valley on the way

  Looking back from the other end 

Then finally Aasleagh Waterfall

I will leve you with a picture I took the morning after day 19, as I has briefly headed back to the UK, as I approached my car in the car park I spotted this 1964 Bedford Tipper parked just behind me.....I'm sure to 99% of you this will have no relevance, but I know for one, Popa Woz will be pleased I took a photo of it for him ! 

Fly me too.......

Guys, had to fly back to the UK for a meeting in the morning, don't panic, will be back on the Wild Atlantic Way Friday morning, flying back first thing to continue the adventure ! 

Day 19

The sun has been shinning all day, very little in the way of clouds, the roof has been off, it's been a great great day ! I'm late on parade with the blog today as have done a big drive, just back to the hotel....not sure why I've not done this before, but I'm blogging in the bar, I normally write this, then walk down reward myself with a pint, I think the "Blogging in the bar" idea might catch on....

So before I take you on today's drive, I will, as I often do, just step back briefly to last night....They told me before I started this trip that when I got to Galway, I might end up staying cause the craic was so grand ! well, let me tell you the craic here was well beyond grand, in fact it was beyond mighty, I think you could say it was at least "Mighty Grand" I will consult with Irish Elders over the next few days to see if there is a level beyond that....

This guy was just brilliant, played for hours, I kept missing my bus as every time I tried to leave he'd play another great song....in the end I missed the last bus, got a taxi home.  I have to apologise for the quality of photograph, the guy was quite red faced, he was wearing a purple T-shirt, all his background lights were red, and I was in a dark pub....it was never going to be a photograph to make Patrick Lichfield tremble in his boots ! 

So, today, did I mention the weather was amazing ????

First stop of the day was Silver Strand, just outside Galway, don't think I've shown you these posts before, they have one at each Discovery Point, a great idea helps you track which pics you took where.

This was down at Coral Strand, the water here was just incredible.

After that, there was a long drive to the next point, my mind started to think about food....thought about here, but it was 11.45 so just too early....just for the sake of clarity can I advise those who perhaps are not familiar with Galway, that a Galway Hooker is a small boat used in the 1700's to take provision out to the outlying islands....

Ended up at this great little pub, hard to get a photo with both the pub and the view in shot, but you get the idea.....

The roads today have been amazing to drive, today has been exactly what I imagined this trip would be, roof off, open winding roads, little or no traffic, then from time to time you turn down a little path and find this at the end.... 

I wont share any more pics from today this evening, as I'm going to return to some of the places tomorrow, enjoyed the drive so much, so will share some more tomorrow.

I will leave you with a thought for the day....

I've written many a business plan, using this exact strategy ! 

Day 18

After a very wet day on the road yesterday, a few pints were called for last night.... I find myself sitting in Healy Macs reading this sign over several times.....

Only in Ireland, could the award for the best Irish pub in the world (outside of Ireland) go to a pub in Ireland ! I hope you are following that.....there's a test at the end LOL.

Whilst chuckling at the pub sign, I found myself watching the news & weather on RTE, listening to the Amber weather warning for torrential rain, storm force winds, & potential flooding in the area I am supposed to the driving tomorrow.  The land mass you can just make out under the huge swathe of rain in the graphic is Ireland ! 

So, rather than spend the day in driving rain, trying to get good shots of wonderful scenery in the rain (for a 2nd day) I decide to change tings round a bit.... I hit the main road, head for Galway.  The weather is going to get much better tomorrow, so I've decided to have today in Galway, see a bit of the town, then work my way back north on the Wild Atlantic Way to were I left it, then take the main road back to Galway to rejoin the route south, in effect giving myself two bites of the cherry in Galway, as I've heard it's so good.  

On my way down, there is a brief rest-bight in the rain, I turn off to visit Ballintuber Abbey, an absolutely stunning building, in wonderful grounds, with a fair bit of history about the place too...

I hit the outskirts of Galway around 1 O'clock, feeling peckish I remember I was given a lunch recommendation by "THE BULL" for a place about 10 minutes out of Galway, a quick look through my notes, found it ! 

Seafood Chowder & a Guinness for lunch ! Both were absolutely perfect !  

Now I'm off to get the short bus ride into Eyre Square in Galway, let's see what this place has to offer ! Till tomorrow my friends..... 

Day 17

I'm back !! Yes, back on the Wild Atlantic Way.

Got to my hotel last night, decided to treat myself to a little steak to welcome myself back to Ireland, I ordered the smallest one on the menu 

Smallest on the menu, but still big enough the chips don't fit on the plate...

I failed religious studies at school, so not 100% sure what's involved in a first holy communion, but it's clearly very thirsty work, as there were about 100 folks in the bar at the hotel celebrating their daughters first, I could sense they have been there some time, and they were still thirsty when I retired to bed !! LOL 

Anyway, back to the adventure, my hope was that being towards the end of May, the weather may (pardon the pun) have improved somewhat during the 10 days I've been away.....

Alas not, me & the now familiar bright yellow waterproof were re-united pretty much first thing this morning ! 

Today was spend on Achill Island, first port of call was the imaginatively named "Spanish Armada Point" which was the point where a big chunk of the Spanish Armada sunk off the coast of Ireland back in fifteen hundred n something...

I still can't work out how to get a video onto the blog, so I've posted one in the usual place on Twitter https://twitter.com/jimiwoz?lang=en 

A few more shots below from around the island..  

Then it was off to Keem Bay, the star attraction of the island.  

This turned out to be a pretty nerve racking experience, you gradually start climbing and climbing the road gets narrower and narrower, as you climb you get further into the mist and rain till the point you can only see a few feet in front of you, so with huge drops either side it certainly got the heart racing, this is the view (above) back up to the mountain, you can see the road just disappears into the mist.

I'm sure on a sunny day, this is absolutely spectacular, but today it's not quite done it for me  !

Fingers crossed the weather will be kinder to me tomorrow.  See you then....