Tag: Ireland

After the exertions of day three we had a leisurely day of walking in the local area around Ballyvaughan on day four. That made for a short walk, but it also allowed us to see some of the history in the local area.

Outside of the cave and birds of prey complex at Aillwee Caves. This is a popular tourist attraction, although it was noticeable that the staff at the caves weren’t willing to sell a group ticket, whilst the staff in the birds of prey section were, so I can guess which is the most popular……

Coffee in the cafe in the visitor centre of the caves. The staff member was new and Dave helped guide her through the process of making coffee.

We then went for a visit to the shop near to the birds of prey centre, where they make and sell various different cheeses.

A staff member kindly gave us an introduction to the cheeses and they all tasted excellent. She actually said that she’d explain the process of making the cheese and then the sampling would start, but we’d eaten all of the cheese before the end of her presentation. My favourite incidentally was the cumin cheese.

For those who didn’t like cheese, there was also chocolate available for purchase. Sarah H purchased several cheeses to take home, although some of us felt that she could have prepared shared just one of them before we went back home. But she was firm in saying no, although Dave was very understanding about this behaviour and didn’t really mention it again.

From the cave complex we then walked back towards Ballyvaughan, stopping at Newtown Castle. It’s actually a tower house dating to the sixteenth century and it fell into a state of some disrepair before being restored as part of the Burren College of Art complex.

Outside of the castle.

A smaller version of the castle.

Joy and me inside the castle.

Other photos from inside the castle. The restoration of the building seemed quite thorough, but there was still a lot of green damp which permeated through the structure. There are some information boards on the top floor giving details about its history and admission is free of charge.

The children wanted to play in the playground….

The purchase of Hiki, the new Hike Norfolk mascot, which was supervised by Susanna.

Hiki in the cafe at the castle.

What a lovely daffodil.

Some of the group decided to play poohsticks, although I think half the sticks got jammed under the bridge and no-one was sure which stick got through first……

Following a short walk to the pier, we went to the Hylands Burren hotel where six of the group were staying. Steve B and I retired to the upstairs lounge, which was rather peaceful and lovely, and Maggie very kindly came to deliver us coffees. Although she didn’t bring us any snacks, but we didn’t hold that against her.

In the evening, we had food at the hotel, although more on this in another post. Dave had several of his new favourite Guinness and blackcurrant drinks and Sarah was overheard by the hotel owner when she mentioned that her shower wasn’t producing hot water. Full marks for observant hotel staff it must be said.

So, a nice relaxing day with no injuries and quite a few coffees…..

After the relatively short walk of day two, the third day was a circular walk around the Blackhead Loop, an optional extension to the Burren Way. Sarah, Steve B and myself had an Irish breakfast at our B&B, knowing that we had the luxury of sitting about for a little while whilst the others caught the bus to us.

So, the eventful day started with three of us waiting in Fanore for the others to arrive by bus. This should have been easy. Now, I’m not one to allocate blame, but how the others managed to get off the bus at the wrong point is a complete mystery to me. All they had to do was to get off the bus at the point they’d got on it the day before. But it’s not for me to use words such as ‘hopeless’…. Although if it were appropriate for me to use words, ‘hopeless’, ‘inept’ and ‘incompetent’ would be right up there.

Some of us briefly kicked a football about that we had found on the road before returning it to the location that it should have been. We assume that the school was the correct location, as otherwise the owner of the football would be quite irritated that their ball ended up there….

Steve B jumping back down from the rock after the photograph had been taken. I wasn’t stupid enough to climb up the bloody thing in the first place, it seemed far too raucous for my liking.

The first part of the walk was alongside the side of a hill and as it was elevated we had marvellous views of the coastline. The colours of the sea are visible in some of the above photos (well, technically there’s colour in every photo I upload, but use your imagination here) and it felt a remote part of the country.

We actually only saw a couple of people all day on this week, although I imagine that it’s a much more popular area during the summer months. The signage was again good throughout the walk, with only a few moments where I had to check the .gpx file.

Here is a photo of one of the killer cows which we had to walk by. I appointed Steve M as my bodyguard when we walked by this violent and aggressive animal, as can be seen in the above photo.

The walk was initially on wide paths (although some of them were just a little muddy) but this changed to a more challenging environment of minor scrambling (well, what I call scrambling), bridges and other random structures. I really enjoyed this part though as the path twisted and turned along the side of the hill. Susanna seemed marginally less impressed because of the state of her foot.

The next part of the walk remained coastal, until we cut through between two hills. Now, there was a lot of complaining at this point from some members of the group, who decided that they thought the hill was more hilly than I’d pointed out. Frankly, I ignored their complaints, but I said that I was responsive to feedback. Although I obviously wasn’t.

Here’s one of my favourite photos of the trip.

And here’s the behind the scenes photo of the participants getting into place.

Crossing over the hills as we started to go back into Fanore. There was a point where a few people thought it’d be a great idea to walk a different way back to Ballyvaughan. I didn’t, and despite the mutterings of people who said they would miss their bus, I bravely and courageously led the troops back to Fanore. There was though a slightly worrying moment where I thought the path went over another mountain, but all ended up well.

Mountains goats that we saw towards the end of the walk.

We were incidentally back in Fanore an hour early so the decision of the Ballyvaughan six not to buy a return ticket as they thought they’d miss it was proven to be completely idiotic…. But I didn’t say anything at the time, I didn’t like to sneer. Although on reflection, I think I might have said something.

After the walk had finished, the three of us staying in Fanore thought that we’d go down to Fanore Beach. It’s a large expanse of sand and it’s one of the few proper sandy beaches that we saw on the west coast of Ireland during the trip.

I think during our time on the beach we all misjudged the waves slightly and managed to get wet feet….

Some more beach photos….

A random stone I saw which stood out a little in the landscape. We also walked by what appeared to have been a deserted village, a throw back to the Irish famine in the mid-nineteenth century which forced many to have to leave their homeland.

In the evening six of the group returned to their hotel in Ballyvaughan, whilst we decided that another Masterchef performance was necessary in Sarah’s Fanore accommodation. This time it was microwave lasagne for Steve B and Sarah, whilst I went for chicken kievs, and I was rather pleased with my choice. No Viennetta was consumed, as we instead had purchased an apple pie made by one of the locals in the village, and it tasted rather lovely.

Sarah walking back with our provisions for the evening. We were given permission to take the basket and it was returned by Sarah to the village shop the next morning.

So, another lovely day, although as mentioned, some members of the group complained a bit. Well, a lot. The nice thing about this group though is that they complain quite loudly so I can hear the complaints, meaning that I can find someone to pass the blame to. Admittedly the hills were a little higher than I had imagined, but the route was genuinely gorgeous and the coastal views much better than I had been expecting. Lots of different types of terrain were encountered during the day, and Susanna battled on marvellously with her injured foot.

Day one had been a challenging day in terms of the weather, but the second day was far more leisurely. We arranged to meet up at 09:30 near to the accommodation closest to Dave and myself, and only two people were late. But it was only by four minutes, so that was acceptable. Sort of.

We were walking from Doolin to Fanore and I decided to follow the Burren Way rather than take the coast road. The signage is pretty good along the entire route of the Burren Way and it would be difficult to go too far wrong.

Susanna has spent the week singing the tune to a song that she can’t identify. Despite her remembering it perfectly and making lyrical noises of some clarity, no-one has a bloody clue what tune it is. Above she’s performing another impromptu rendition of the ditty….

The walk wasn’t particularly far, only around eight miles, and so we were done by late lunch-time, one of my earliest finishes to a walk. Although we were on the Burren Way which is a little inland, there were though excellent views over the coast.

We were also welcomed to Fanore with a rather lovely rainbow over the Atlantic Ocean.

Initially the plan had been to visit either the pub or cafe for lunch, and this seemed like a marvellous plan. However, the bloody pub was shut and the cafe had shut down. Instead we piled into the little shop in the village whilst Dave managed to take control of the sandwich purchasing project. This involved the poor man in the shop having to make a pile of sandwiches whilst also dealing with all of the other customers coming in. But, since this was Ireland, no-one minded and the atmosphere was convivial. Well, not from me it wasn’t, as I wanted to go into the pub, which we discovered wasn’t open until 8pm. We knew this as Maggie knocked on the window of O’Donohues to find out.

Three of us were located in a small B&B in Fanore, so we had a little wander down to the sea. The rest of the party went onto their accommodation in Ballyvaughan, a hotel which was run by a former TD (more on this accommodation later).

The highlight of the trip down to the beach (and indeed the whole week for me) was seeing Rosie, a border collie who was full of enthusiasm and excitement. Although I find that border collies usually are.

She helpfully posed for a photograph, such a well behaved dog.

Steve playing with the dog.

Steve taking photos of the sea, and he also took some artistic photos which can be seen on his Facebook page.

It was a really nice area to visit and take some photos, with no-one else around during the time which we were there.

Whilst the others were arguing and drinking away in Ballyvaughan, plans were being drawn up as to what the three residents of Fanore were going to eat since everything was now shut. Steve had a marvellous idea to make a lasagne, so we went back to the village shop excited about all the marvellous opportunities that might be available to us.

We discovered that they didn’t have much in the way of meat, or indeed vegetables. I wasn’t too bothered by this though as the shop had Dr. Oetker’s pizzas and this sort of food seemed perfect to me. So we purchased three pizzas, potato wedges, two bottles of wine, some crisps (they were my idea) and a Viennetta.

Sarah and Steve supervised the cooking arrangements and for this Sarah was to win the cook of the week. I dealt with the cooking and plating up of the Viennetta, a role which I excelled in, especially since the cooking element was rather minimal. We discovered that the Viennetta that we had purchased was designed for ten people, and Steve and Sarah only wanted a portion size for 2.5 people each, meaning I was stuck with five portions of Viennetta. This wasn’t a problem, although I decided that we probably wouldn’t get another one for the following day. There’s a limit to how much Viennetta is healthy for one person…..

Actually, on to the B&B that we had selected, which was Annaly House, just a short walk away from the beating heart of the village with its closed pub and cafe. The owner was friendly and helpful, and she had a charming dog which greeted us. Two of us had normal sized rooms, which Sarah was presented with an entire extension which had two floors and cooking facilities. Given this situation, Steve and I decided to make her accommodation our shared lounge, so this was a win-win. Well, technically a win-win-lose.

So, another marvellous day, more sedate and peaceful than the first, and we about to walk a route on day three which was to test even the most hardened of souls in the group…..

In order that I forget as little as possible, I’ll post about day 5 first before catching up the backlog…. More photos can come separately.

Quotes of the day – “I’m just looking for a photo of myself in the toilet” – Steve  “They put me in the goods lift” – Sarah  “You don’t know this one do you?” – Susanna  “You know what’s now at your eye level don’t you Sarah?” – Julian   “I’ve asked about the shortbread” – Steve

Bravest walker of the day – Steve (after falling down some steps)

So, for the three intellectuals of Steve B, myself and Sarah, we started the day at Fanore and got the bus to Kinvarra, a journey that was a little expensive, but was otherwise smooth. One of the highlights of the journey was watching two coaches trying to pass each other on a narrow road, a more difficult challenge for the drivers than might be expected for a road as popular as the Wild Atlantic Way. We then picked up the others at Ballyvaughan and Dave as his usual excessively chatty self.

The walk today was relatively simple, a little stroll around Kinvarra looking at various parts of the history of the town. We went to see a famine graveyard, or at least what we assumed was a famine graveyard, and there are numerous buildings in the area which are now deserted. I was following a walk which had been issued by the tourist authority, but some of the route was impassable to say the least.

On the subject of that walk, I decided that I would call a halt to it when there was a bull sighted in the field. The others would have likely just walked across the field, and indeed some of the more stupid members of the group had already gone. I though made a calm decision to go back, which was certainly wise when a herd of cows came charging over. Well, more meandering over, but they looked rather vicious.

When we had escaped from the field full of killer cows we then discovered that the gate was locked. Fortunately are all nimble and agile (some of us more than others) and we managed to find an alternative route around the gate. I could have done without the climbing though if I’m being honest.

One of the other highlights of the day was Dunguaire Castle, which is apparently one of the most photographed castles in the whole of Ireland. We’re staying at the Merriman Hotel, which also has the honour of being the largest thatched roof building in Ireland (the image at the top of this post).

On the walk Steve B decided to throw himself down some steps and has grazed his arm. In his predicament I think I’d have put my arm in a sling, but Steve carried on through and so he wins today’s bravery award.

Kinvarra is a pretty fishing village and there are several pubs, and it’s the largest town that we’ve been to since Doolin. I can imagine that it’s busy during the summer months, although there were still a few tourists around at this time of year.

After a short rest in the hotel we visited four pubs, plus the hotel bar in which we’re staying, and it’s fair to say that the choices we made were full of character. There was a lot of Guinness sampled, and a fair few crisps, and we listened to the signing of a local man who is a bit of a legend in the local community. I’m not one for listening to singing in pubs, but he did have a good voice and the lyrics had some clarity.

We went to a few pubs, but my favourite was Tully’s, a quirky bar with a barman who was engaging and humorous, and a warm and comfortable atmosphere. I also discovered that in Ireland they had two lemonades, a normal one and a red one. For those in the group who were married there was an opportunity to talk about their first dance at the wedding, and there was also discussion about a hotel carpet…… But least said on that matter the better.

The meal at the Merriman was better than we had expected, I opted for chicken kiev and lemon tart, and they were perfectly acceptable and exceeded my expectations. All of the main courses were excellent, although a couple of desserts could have perhaps done with some improvement. But since mine was fine I wasn’t too worried about that.

We’re conscious that the week is starting now to draw to a close, but it was good to all be in the same accommodation for the first time this week. We more on to Oranmore tomorrow when we are again fortunately all in the same hotel. Well, hopefully, if everyone has booked it without making any errors.

And some photos from day four.

And some photos from day three  🙂