Around the Edges

After a couple of days inland it was back to the coast to go and see the most visited ‘natural’ attraction in Ireland. You may have heard of the Cliffs of Moher which are a ‘signature discovery point of the Wild Atlantic Way’ and in my opinion, probably one of the most overrated but maybe that is because I have lived by the Jurassic Coast and spent many an hour walking along the stunning cliffs of the magnificent South West Coastal Path.

But, as it was a stunning day and we could stay overnight in the car park and watch the sunset, we went there all the same. The Cliff of Moher are 9 miles long and rise 214 metres at their highest point. They are made from limestone and shale rock that dates back over 300 million years. The site is an important bird area and home to some 30,000 pairs of different birds including Atlantic puffins and razorbills. Sadly, we didn’t spot any or the seals, whales, dolphins, and basking sharks that also frequent the seas below the cliffs.

What I found distasteful about the area was the concrete pathways to viewing points, huge areas tarmacked for car parks and pedestrians and a large concrete building carved into the hillside for the visitors’ centre. Perhaps owing to feedback, there have been extensive consultations with locals and other involved parties to totally develop the area so that it is more sustainable and makes more use of the natural environment to be completed by 2040.

The views from the cliffs are long and far especially on our visit and we could see the mountains in Galway to the south and Loop Head in the north.

From there we went to Doolin, another popular stop on the WAW and probably one of my favourite stops so far. Doolin, in county Clare is a small pretty village at the edge of the historic Burren. Doolin is also the home of traditional Irish music with plenty going on and the people here are warm and welcoming so we stayed here for 3 nights. We had glorious weather whilst we were here and stayed in a great site right close to a river. During our stay, I did an 8 mile walk along the coastal path with George whilst Bob went off on his bike to meet up with Louis to watch him play a gig back in Cork.

Doolin is on the edge of the Burren. The word Burren comes from the Irish word ‘Boireann’ meaning rocky place, which is very apt as the Burren is very rocky, made up of exposed limestone. It is very fertile rock as it contains a mixture of nutrient rich herb and floral species. The grass that grows in tufts of earth that lies between the limestone rock is very sweet and nourishing for the fat cattle that are farmed in this area.  Within the Burren is one of Irelands few National Parks which was bought by the government for nature conservation  and public access. Walking across the rocks is quite different to anything that I have experienced before as the rock is quite flat in parts, but also sharp and pointed in others, it has deep straight angled wide cracks that look like it has been carved out into shapes to jump across. It also goes on for miles and quite high in places so a very different walking experience to coastal rock walks. Whilst researching the Burren for this blog I came across so much interesting information about the geology of this area, but I don’t want to bore my reader….

So instead, I will bore you with information about food since that is why I started this blog. In Doolin we visited the local Fish n Chip shop and got to eat our take-away outside in booths made from scaffolding planks. ( We still haven’t topped the FnC from The Fish Basket in White Strand at Clonakilty)

Our regular breakfast of porridge is still being topped with freshly picked black berries as I found some more on my 8-mile walk. But I also came across a bakery that made its own fresh sourdough bread which was still warm when I bought it. I couldn’t resist having some with some Irish butter and  marmalade but not before we started our day with strewed rhubarb, crushed seeds, and natural yoghurt.

I am finishing this blog with a video of the inside of our van so you can get an idea of what we are living in.  We haven’t felt caged in yet and if you ask me, I can’t think of anything I miss from home apart from people.