Road trip – last stop: Ireland

The last stop of our road trip leads us to Ireland. The island offers besides the landscape many other things. So many things to explore and so little time…

map road trip campervan Ireland

We booked the cheapest ferry. Upon arrival at the ferry port in Cherbourg we quickly find out why it is so cheap: on the 18-hour crossing is a storm coming.

We went to dinner at the restaurant. The restaurant is located in the front part. But the horizon line moves so much that I prefer chips and cola at Bistro in the middle part of the ferry.

Luckily my boyfriend has this pills against seasickness. Because without I would not make it. The already pale crew members distribute barf bags. And we are trying to sleep. The ship rocks us to sleep. It rocks so hard, that my shirt rides up to under the arms. We are glad to arrive in Ireland the next morning.

hedgehog fiber cork ireland

When I was in Amsterdam at Stephen & Penelope said Stephen, that is Hedgehog Fibres of Ireland. So I researched and put our route randomly via Cork. After arriving in Rosslare we ride directly to Cork for Headquarter of Hedgehog Fibres.

ireland hedgehog fiber gift

Upon arrival, I’m immediately greeted by Rose, one of the four dyers and she takes us on a small tour through the company. What a colour flash! Unfortunately, they are so busy trying to prepare the kits for Westknit MKAL and ship that they have nothing to sell. But Rose didn’t let me go without yarn. She comes back with three colourful strands and a golden bag. As a gift! How generous! Now I just have to find the right pattern to … I like to suppose suggestions.

roadtrip ireland - beach stradbally

Our caravan brings us further to the west, the Dingle peninsula. In the dark, we are looking for a place to sleep and find a small parking area at the beach of Stradbally. The next morning shows the beauty of Brandon Bay: a wide bay with a wide sandy beach.

Far away no one is to see. We feel as if we were alone. Distributed throughout the day we meet people with dogs or sometimes fishermen. Disregarding times a person is immediately greeted and usually, they have time for a chat. The Irish are lovely, positive and curious people. This shows itself, for example, in the cinema: as the movie is finished, we were seriously asked whether we like the movie. In Switzerland, no one cares… Or another time we want to eat at the pub trying the so-called “bar food”. Unfortunately, the selected pub has no kitchen and we ask for a restaurant recommendation. Then all pub guests start to discuss with each other, where to send us … Just great!

stradbally dingle peninsula ireland kitesurf kiteboarding

Playing Rummy, we play for a photo shooting. Guess who lost… The sun shows up and the light is perfect. On this day, another kitesurfer shows up. We meet Ryan Coote from Kitesurf Ireland and ride just the three of us in these perfect conditions.

ireland campervan brandon bay

Our caravan looks like a litter lout!

We face many days with much wind, sometimes mixed with rain. Most of the time too much wind for my 6 square meter kite. Spending already some days at the Brandon bay, it tingles in my fingers to explore a bit more of this beautiful island.

roadtrip ireland - brandon bay

Exploring the other side of the peninsula we drive to Dingle. But first, we have to stop and enjoy this view towards Brandon Bay.

dingle peninsula ireland

Walking through the colourful town Dingle, there are tons of pubs. I also find the store Commodum which sells Donegal yarn. With this yarn, I get the inspiration to create the Fractal mittens pattern.

ireland cliffs of moher

We drive towards the north, where the well-known cliffs of Moher are. Not checking the wind forecast for this site, we face a storm with 65 knots. We postpone the visit to the next day and stay in a cafe. But the next day the storm hits the 70 knots mark. We decide to do it anyway.

cliffs of moher ireland waterfalls

Well wrapped up, we visit the cliffs. Gravity seems to be reversed: waterfalls spray upwards! And holding the camera isn’t so easy :-)

ireland brandon bay surfer

On the very few windless days, we watched surfers. Chatting with them about the nice conditions they mention it’s average. There are better days… Oh well, we’re anyway impressed.

After spending three weeks in Ireland, it’s time to hit the road towards Switzerland. Trying to escape winter time we have a flight to the southern hemisphere. But we will definitely come back to Ireland. Beautiful landscapes, friendly people, strong winds and big waves.

Merken

2 Responses

  1. Ady Grafovna
    | Reply

    What a fantastic vacation!

    • donnarossa
      | Reply

      Thank you. Indeed it was. Can’t wait to go back to Ireland :-)

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