Galway to Dublin......

We departed this morning for a smooth ride to Dublin. We stopped at Clonmacnoise Monastery for a tour of the oldest ruins and it is believed the oldest book written in the world. The tour guide gave us a detailed run down of the history. We then rode on to Athlone for lunch. We lunched next to Athlone Castle and rushed down the road to see the oldest pub in Ireland only to find it was shut today. We then road on to Dublin and once again the gods were kind to us as we arrived safe and dry to our motel. The tartan award tonight went to Gerard for adjust the bolts on his head only to find in the end that it was some one elses bike.

Aran Islands

On Saturday 18th July we boarded a bus for a tour of the Aran Islands via a ferry first. It was a long day but well worth it. The iron horses were left to rest at the hotel while we explored the old Celtic villages on the ancient island. These are the oldest islands in Ireland which still speak the old language. We had one of the locals on a quick bus trip around the isle and we had to ask him to slow down so we could understand him. We walked about a klm up the hill to an ancient old fort which dropped to a sheer cliff. A bit daunting when there's no fence around the cliff and a sheer 500 ft drop. The guide had a wealth of info about the island including its only 9 mile x 3 miles and a population of 800. It is littered with stone fences everywhere and partly for boundaries but also to clear the land. The rock fences measure 7000 mile. (You have no idea)

This is where the original Aran knitwear comes from and there were a few bought by the ladies.

The kids enjoyed looking at the leprachauns houses scattered around the island. However, it was a battle dodging all the pushbikes which were hired by tourists.

We caught the last ferry back at 5pm and made it back to camp for dinner even though it was early to bed for most.

The tartan sash went to Phil White the next morning for coming to breakfast with his t-shirt back to front and inside out but the award almost went to Dorothy, for not dressing her partner correctly.

Killarney to Galway.....

Friday 17th July we departed for Galway city via the Atlantic west coast of Clare. The weather held out all day even though the clouds were threatening. The gods were with us as the rain started just as we stopped at the Bellbridge Hotel where the Spanish amada was sunk by Sir Francis Drake at Spanish Point.

After lunch it was on to visit the Cliffs of Moher overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. The road there was just as rough as the ocean and a few pillions were a bit worse for wear. It was a long walk up to the famous cliffs made more difficult by the fact that the winds were blowing a gale. Still it was worth the walk and the views were spectacular.

On to the Menlo Park Hotel for two nights. We had our usual dinner together and the tartan princess award went to Finton (our irish guide and Conor's brother) for holding us up in the morning because his bike had a flat tyre.