‘Just Round the Corner’

Just before we left Galway we stopped off at Connemara National Park for a short walk that gave great views of the mountains of the area – we were entering quite a remote part of Ireland full of bog lands and mountains. The visitor centre had a few marked trails to follow so we chose the medium walk as the weather was still a bit iffy. 

Next stop was Achill Island – I’d longed to visit this place as I’d heard it’s beautiful and very popular in the summer but it was very disappointing as the weather was pretty dreary…. probably what most of us expect Ireland to be like. Achill Island is in County Mayo, North/West Ireland, the wild Atlantic sea and the weather it contains is never far away. Achill Island was wet and windy – we drive to Keem beach, a long beach full of surfers but didn’t stay long and pitched up in an Aire that night and caught up on laundry and hot showers!! 

With sea and lake swimming, Ive not been showering much and as I live in the same clothes I don’t do much washing – isn’t that camping life? I’ve noticed I’m sleeping really well, I’m relaxed and living very much in the moment. We shop every couple of days and never really know where we are going to stay for the night or what we might eat for supper. So different to what I did back in Dorset. 

The next day we headed on, driving through more remote mountain landscape and visited Europes largest blanket bog, part of the Nephin mountain range, known as the remotest part of Ireland. It was a great drive with some fantastic roads to drive on and stunning views. It reminded us very much of the west coast of Scotland. 

We stopped off for 2 walks in between the showers. The first a board walk amongst the blanket bog and another at a small national park but both have been designed to educate the walker on the bogs importance. We spoke to a local ranger who was very passionate about the preservation of the bogs. 

Blanket bogs not only capture carbon, but they contain an important ecosystem for rare plants and wildlife, making them Special Areas of Conservation.  I still find it surprising that peat is burnt here as a fossil fuel – in the UK you need a license to burn peat (in my opinion there should be an outright ban) but I have read, that in Ireland this should be phased out by 2023.

Only intact peat bogs can store carbon and only 28% of the blanket bogs remain intact due to peat extraction, drainage and forestation. Up to 17% of Ireland is blanket bog and Ireland contains 50% of Europe’s bog land. Climate change will have an impact on the bogs as they require the temperate climate – wet summers and mild winters. 

After our visit to the Bogs we ended up at Lough Gill for a wild camp and a very cold swim!!

Next morning was one i won’t forget! 

George, on the scent of deer got into a pasture full of sheep! George chased the sheep and I chased George. Eventually, I caught up with him and took him back to van. 10 minutes later, a truck pulls up next to our van…. I admitted everything and was as polite and apologetic as my little English butt could be. Peter, the farm worker, asked me to ring him after he checked his sheep. He couldn’t have been nicer when I rang up later and was extremely grateful that I had spoken up. Hopefully, I have built some trust between campers and farmers – Thank you Peter for being such a lovely friendly Irish farmer. Luckily George won’t harm a sheep and just likes the chase! 

That wasn’t the end of my adventure that day… now in County Sligo, it was all starting to feel less touristy and very rural. We found a surfing beach called Dunmorran and as is becoming the norm, Bob metal detects whilst George and I go for a walk. Its ‘me-time’ for us, Bob doesn’t have me nagging in his ear and I can go walk for as long as I want and around as many corners or over as many hills without complaint! I  just can’t resist a corner – it’s becoming a standing joke between us when I say “Let’s just go round this corner to see” 

This time it paid off as I found our  perfect pitch for the night, right next to the beach and a pub! But rushing back to tell Bob I lost my glasses!! (It was a good 1.5 miles over a stony rocky beach) 

We agreed to go to the site, Beach Bar at Aughris Bay, no bookings taken, just pitch up on a first come first served basis, operated by the Irish pub that also happens to serve excellent food. A couple of Guinness along with the most delicious Mussels, we both set off to retrace  my walk (luckily I track my walks for prosperity). I doubted we’d find my glasses but it was ME who found them! 

What a relief as Bobs glasses are broken and if i lost mine too we would have been down to 1 old scratched and cracked pair between us!

Another storm was forecast that night and with the sea at high tide less than 10m away I slept slightly uneasy.  We awoke to rain, wind and puddles outside the van and I had to wear my sea shoes to take George out. I suggested to Bob that perhaps it was time we headed we inland, we are running out of good weather and I booked our ferry back to UK!