19 April – We headed north thru Limerick (an industrial town) and then out to the coast to a village called Doolin where we camped overlooking the Atlantic. The village was very quaint with a couple of pubs and several shops. The ferry to the Aaron Islands (famous for a knitting style) leaves from here. Our reason for coming here was to see the Cliffs of Moher. We cycled about 8kms (all up hill) and a walk across some fields for a great view of them. After a glide back to “Lefty” we walked, in thick mist, to a pub for more Guinness and a night of traditional music.

20 April – We drove around the Burren coastline to Galway. The moonlike landscape was amazing. This is “Father Ted” country with all the small fields divided by dry stone walls. (plenty of stones to choose from!) We stopped in Galway to shop and walked into the centre of town. A busy town overlooking Galway Bay. Off again inland to Cong between Lake Mask and Lake Corrib for the night. It started to drizzle again.

21 April – We woke early to Skype the kids. Had to park outside the office but got good internet. We drove thru to Sligo with a stop at Knock to see the huge Catholic church (largest in Ireland seating 20,000!) located at a site of shrine. The camp at Sligo overlooked the Atlantic beside a great golf course where the Irish Amateur Open was being played. The camp soon filled with locals as it was the Thursday of Easter. We caught a local bus back into the centre of Sligo. The drivers are great, chatting to everyone and at one stage hopping off the bus to carrying an old lady’s bags to her door. Val’s rallies come from here. The town is either side of the fast flowing Garavogue River. Back to “Lefty” to watch a great sunset over the sea.

22 April – After a walk along the beach we set off to Carrick-on-Shannon. We were going stay at a thatched pub but as it is Easter Friday the pub is closed. We continued on to Kingscourt Forest where we had read that we could stay. No luck there either but a nice walk. Eventually we asked the local garage where we could stay and a nice colleen suggested Lake Ballyhoe, a fishing lake. She drew us a map and we found it easily. A great spot. Near dusk I chatted to some locals fishing. They were surprised we were staying the night as the local wild horses cause all sorts of damage to parked vehicles. Too late to shift so we risked it.

23 April – We saw the wild horses as we left this morning. They must have decided to leave “Lefty” alone! It was only a short drive today thru to Rush, a seaside village about 30kms north of Dublin. The camp has great sea views overlooking the Irish Sea. We caught the local double-decker bus into Dublin. (1 hour trip). The city was alive and we had great 4 hours wandering the streets and looking at the beautiful buildings. A highlight was the Jameson’s Distillery where we sampled the whiskey.

24 April – We are staying an extra night here before heading to the ferry tomorrow at 7:00 am. A very quiet day with a planning session for France, a walk along the beach, and some washing of the camper and clothes before lunch. A cool breeze sprung up in the afternoon and another walk around Rush. We walked up to the local pub for a very nice feed. We have had a great time in Ireland. The people are great, the scenery is beautiful, the pubs are fun and the Guinness and the Jameson’s whiskey top it all off.

25 April – Alarm went off at 6:00 am so that we could shower and head down the motorway and tunnel to the ferry. We had breakfast after checking in (lined up to board). This was a smaller ferry and only took 1:40 to Holyhead in Wales. Off the ferry and across Anglesey Island only slowed by the single lane bridge to the mainland. All the locals are returning from their Easter break so the roads are very busy. We followed the A5 thru Snowdonia. This was a great drive thru the mountains, valleys and lakes of a beautiful part of Wales. We stopped for lunch in a lay-by where we could see a steam train chuffing up a valley. We also spied the Pontcysylite, an aqueduct across a valley for the longboats to travel down. We stayed overnight in a lovely farm close to Shrewsbury. (as in biscuits)

26 April – A long trip following the motorways of England, around Birmingham and London to end up 60 kms from Dover. The motorway driving is quite stressful as often you are travelling at 100 kms with huge lorries ½ a meter either side you. We had a shop and lunch in a Tesco car park and again, have stopped overnight at a great farm with horses and a new born foal in the next field.

27 April – After a short drive down the motorway to Dover we caught an earlier ferry to Calais. This is the shortest crossing (1:30) on a huge ferry. Off onto the French motorways. It’s great to be sitting on the correct side of the camper while driving!!
We decided to go a little further than planned to a camp in a village just past Lille. On the way we came thru WW1 country, Flanders with towns like Ypres and Armentieres (as in mademoiselle from) (Older readers only)