TUESDAY 19TH MAY – SUNDAY JUNE 7TH
Our first post-engagement week continued to be a very happy one, depsite having to go to work. We received a lot of emails which was very exciting. Thank you to everyone who sent messages. Towards the end of the week we even started to get cards in the mail which was exciting too!
On Saturday the 23rd of June we took Sven away for a night with Eva (a friend from Em's work) and her boyfriend Shane. We did not go too far, heading due west to a small costal settlement called Kilkee. The drive out there was a little bit nerve-racking, with rather narrow, bumpy roads, but we made it there by mid-afternoon without any major incidents. Once we found the camp ground, and got parked up, we plugged into power, and just sat back and relaxed. We were right on the mouth of the river Shannon. It turned into a really nice day, with the sun shining bright. Over the afternoon we managed to get the hot water in the van sorted out, which was nearly the last thing that we needed to get done. When we arrived there was only one other camper there, but it filled up over the afternoon, and a few tenters arrived to. It was a fun afternoon watching people put up tents, and watching the other people with camper vans. One noticeable thing was most camper vans seem to carry wedges, that you drive up onto, if you have a small slope, so you are nice and level. Not sure if we will head down that track, will have to wait and see. After successfully cooking dinner, and having dessert we had some celebratory bubbles (again) and had a fun evening before turning in to our bunks.
On Sunday, after emptying our water tank and hot water system, we headed into Kilkee village to have a look around. The town centre consisted of restaurants, pubs, and cheap toy shops that specialised in items such as plastic spades and buckets. We decided to go into the pub, and have an early lunch. We we arrived there were 3 other people, but it quickly filled up, after what we assumed was Sunday mass finishing. After that we headed home, and were back mid afternoon to do our weekend jobs in preparation for the week ahead.
On Monday the 24th, after work, Em came to meet me in Nenagh, as she had a course in Port Laiose (Port Leesh), which is 1 hours drive towards Dublin from Nenagh. From there we headed to the hotel in Port Laiose and had dinner. It was a rather nice hotel. I had decided to go, because on Tuesday I was working in a town just 30 minutes drive away (as opposed to 90 minutes from Limerick). Emma started her course on Tuesday and really enjoyed it. That evening we managed to track down the 'standard' Indian restraraunt which seems to be in any town in Ireland which is of a decent size. Yet again we ate too much, but enjoyed it never the less. On Wednesday I drove back to Nenagh for a normal day of work, and Em caught the train back to Limerick after her second and final day on her course. After one night at home, Em was back on the road on Thursday, this time to Galway for another two day course, which she went on with one of her workmates. I stayed behind, and worked. Em had a fantastic time in Galway. The Volvo ocean race had stopped over, so they went down and had a look at the boats that evening in the sunshine, and soaked up the festival atmosphere of the city.
On Friday, the 29th Em got back early evening, soon after I arrived home for work. We spent the evening getting Sven ready for the long weekend ahead. On Saturday the 30th, the first day of our long weekend (it's not Queen's birthday weekend like in NZ – just a bank holiday), we were on the road quite early. We headed southwest, again down to County Kerry. We headed towards Tralee, and then through Tralee to Dingle. It was a nice sunny day, but still quite cool. After stopping off on the way for a bite to eat in our portable kitchen (very handy, probably my favourite thing about a camper van) and trying Guinness ice cream, which was not that nice, we headed further out the Dingle peninsula. This area of Ireland is a real Irish strong-hold, and was first inhabited about 6000 years ago. Still today, all of the signs are in Irish, and it is still one of the parts of Ireland where the locals would be more Irish/Gaelic speaking. The countryside there was the closest we have come to New Zealand, with decent sized hills / mountain, rugged coastlines, and beautiful rivers. One amazing thing was the colour of the water. It was very clear, and greeny blue (probably from being so cold). We went around the peninsula clockwise, and from Dingle town, our first stop was Dunbeg Promontory Fort, situated right on a sheer cliff. It is around 2500 years old. It was quite small, and although it was good to visit, Em and I were more taken by the view over the cliffs and back along the peninsula. From here we hopped back into Sven preparing for another decent drive, and made it about 200m up the road. Here we went up the hillside to some Beehive huts. These too were used as forts, as well as farm houses, and are also around 2500 years old. They were far more interesting, and we were intrigued with how well they were constructed, considering no mortar was used in the stones. The roof to was completely made of small stones. The stones are also angled inside to out, to help prevent water from leaking into the hut. After negotiating the 'two way', one lane roads further around the peninsula, we made it to a surf beach, Coumeenole. As it was a sunny day, and was not too cold, it was rather busy. Em and I both had a paddle, but we did not get in past our ankles, because it was so cold it was painful. We thought we may stay over in the car park, but while we there we watched all of the campervans drive off, so we decided to drive further around the peninsula. Within 5 minutes we saw a small carpark on the beach front, with 3 other camper vans and a tent up, so we stopped in there. This was Slea Head. We again had success with cooking our dinner, so it seems to now have that mastered. After we had finished dinner, fog rolled in from nowhere leaving us with about 10m visibility. This made things a bit darker, and we were both rather tired, so turned in early, at around 9:30pm.
Sunday, the 1st of June, and the first day of Summer (although the Irish people say there summer is May – July). We woke, and very surprisingly so, to a warm, sunny morning. We went for a small walk that morning, and put our jackets on, but even though we were by the sea, we didn't need them. Even then wind was warm – this was such a novelty! We finished that small drive and were back in Dingle town mid-morning. Here we stopped off for a snack, and had a short walk to enjoy what was a nice warm day. From here we headed back along the Southern coast of the Dingle peninsula, and then from there, went further South, to start our drive around the Iveragh Peninsula, or the Ring of Kerry. It is 160km road that encircles the peninsula. Over the afternoon we just stopped where we wanted to, and enjoyed the sites. There were not any specific attractions, the attraction is the landscape generally. We stopped off at Cahersiveen and picked up some lunch and had an ice cream (which didn't make us get cold when we ate it). We ended up finding a campground near Caherdaniel, the southern most point of the Ring of Kerry. We got a great site, again overlooking the water. After a quick snack we went for a walk down the road to a beach, and had another paddle. Given it was about 24°c, we were almost tempted to actually have a swim. But neither of us had our togs. The beach was very busy. This had been the nicest day, weather wise, for more than two years! After a paddle, we went back to the van, and trialled putting up our awning off the side of the van, which was extremely straight forward. It is bright yellow, so no chance of not being able to see where the van is parked if that is up. After dinner and a boardgame it was time to rest.
On Monday we left the camp ground at around 11am. We continued our trip around the Ring of Kerry. It was a very warm day again, getting to 25°c. We stopped of in Kenmare and picked up a couple of things for lunch, before driving to Killarney, via Moll's gap, which gave spectacular views of Killarney national park where we got engaged. We stopped off at one of the rest areas and had lunch while enjoying the view. From there we came back to Limerick. It was a beautiful weekend weather wise, we could not have been luckier.
Tuesday the 3rd of June, was back to work, but not back to the normal weather. It got to 28°c, and was beautifully sunny. I had a lot of driving to do for work, so it was nice to be out of the office on a day like that. After work Em and I both got out for a run, and enjoyed eating dinner outside. The week continued to have spectacular weather, warm, well hot really, and beautiful sunshine. Despite this the Irish people are still complaining of the weather, now it is too hot! There is just no pleasing some people.
On Saturday we were up early to get out for a run. After having breakfast I stayed home and did some jobs, starting to get things tidied up, with only five weeks left in Ireland. While I stayed home, Em went and did some shopping, getting a few bits and pieces which are required for the coming months. Late afternoon we had Maja and James over for dinner. Maja worked with Emma at early intervention. After a nice evening, we wandered ten minutes down the road to Thomond Park (pronounced Tomond if you are Irish), the home stadium of Munster rugby. This evening however was Elton John in concert. He came on stage at 8pm sharp, and played for 2 ½ hours. He was fantastic. We had both heard he is a good performer, and we were not disappointed. He played the classics like 'Yellow Brick Road', 'Bennie and the Jets', and 'Your Song', as well as many others. It was a cold, rainy night (about 4°c), but he managed to get the crowd going. Crocodile Rock really got the crowd dancing, which was good, as it warmed us up a bit. Thankfully we were in covered seating, so we kept dry, but is was still cold. Afterwards we were happy to come home to our nice warm house, and not have to worry about traveling to get home.
On Sunday, we had planned to stay home and do bits and pieces and thats what we did. We had to take our care in for the equivalent of a 'Warrant of Fitness', yes on a Sunday, and yes that is even more remarkable, given we are in Ireland. Anyway, unfortunately we did not quite get it. But nothing major, so will be able to get that sorted out, and get the WOF, then sell it hopefully without problems. Well thats the plan.
With only five weeks to go, we feel like time is flying,even though we have about 18 hours of daylight a day! We will be busy sorting things out for our trip, as well as still doing some exploring in our final weeks.
