A couple of lads* I ride with locally hatched a plan at short notice for a long weekend away on the bikes, planned within the constraints of home responsibilities and shift patterns etc. we decided to head to Southern Ireland, the duration of our stay was also dictated somewhat by Ferry timetables so we chose the Stena crossing from Fishguard to Rosslare, outward Thursday departure time 12.30pm Inward Sunday departure time 08.00
* = (neither are on here although one used to be and was responsible for a humdinger of a thread about his experiences with BMW customer service that ran for months and months but enough of that......)
I pencilled together a route and booked in advance hotel stops for Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening leaving us (or rather me) to worry only about the route and the weather, all 3 of us live in South Wales so we met up as arranged last Thursday and took a scenic route toward Fishguard we eventually picked up the A40 West of Carmarthen and I lead us along the B4313 to Fishguard for a taste of the scenic country roads we hoped would follow across the water.
I am riding my GS Rallye Sport, Mark is riding a 1200GSA LC and Sean is also riding a Rallye Sport, Sean has christened his the "happy shopper" model as it doesn't have the Premium pack
Bikes loaded and secured;
We got chatting to some Dutch GS riders on the car deck and our plans seemed similar to theirs we wondered if we would see them along the way.....
A relatively calm crossing passed quickly;
Soon we arrived at Rosslare harbour and disembarked, I had booked us into Crew's apartments in Dungarvan which was around 75 miles from the ferry port, the journey passed without incident although traffic was busy near the towns we passed which meant a lot of filtering, we arrived at our digs, as there was no underground bunker in which to park our awesome steeds we parked in the street safe in the knowledge that the pound of butter in the fridge at home would ensure they received no unwanted attention
We were shown to our room which was a 3 bedroom apartment at a very reasonable 50euro a night each then we went for a beer and a wander, my first pint of the Black stuff on Irish soil
We wandered a bit more;
Had a couple more beers.......
Then found a restaurant and had a bite to eat, neither of them had brought their reading glasses so both borrowed readers from the barmaids to peruse the Menu, Hinge & Bracket
We ate and drank well and retired to our home for the night, the following morning Mark and I were up with the larks I put the coffee on and Mark got the Croissants
Sean eventually rose and we left to pack the bikes which,thanks to the pound of butter in the fridge back home were where we had left them;
Things didn't get off to a good start despite the good intentions and early start, my Nav 4 wouldn't power up in the cradle and Sean's phone hadn't charged overnight so he sat about rigging an on-bike charging solution, things took a turn for the worse when Mark offered to trim a wire for Sean and sliced open his thumb with his handy (razor sharp) pocket knife not to worry Sean is a paramedic......but we couldn't summon a First Aid kit between us so with Mark's thumb bound with insulating tape and me navigating by a map in my tank bag pocket we set off for our first stop at The Old head of Kinsale to take a look at the memorial to the victims of the sinking of the Lusitania, in the pouring rain, as we neared the coast a thick fog descended for good measure, needless to say progress was steady
I'm sure it's an impressive sight on a clear day........but today in fog and driving rain not so much.
Fortunately the Napoleonic look out tower which houses a small museum and some Lusitania artifacts provided shelter from the rain for half an hour or so
We kitted up and pressed on Westwards along the coast mostly on the N71 before heading for Bantry Bay and then the weather changed for the better and my Nav 4 mysteriously powered itself back up in the cradle, things were looking up so we stopped for lunch at a roadside Bar-Cafe in Glengariff
We settled our bill and returned to the bikes to set off for Healy Pass as we were about to leave 2 bikes tooted and waved then turned back to where we were parked it was our Dutch friends from the ferry, when they learned where we were heading they asked if they could tag along, with the improved weather the pace moved up a notch, a brief pause at some roadworks;
The Healy Pass was fantastic, a great ride to the top and the route back down no less enjoyable
We continued along the coast to Waterville along the Ballagisheen pass followed by Gap of Dunloe and Molls Gap, we bade farewell to our Dutch friends at Muckross and we headed for our overnight stop at The Kerry Way Bar in Glenflesk by way of another fantastic mountain road with stunning views
The Kerry Way Bar is a roadside hotel/diner, the service was good the food more than acceptable and the Guinness was cool and refreshing, there is no under cover or secure bike parking so we parked around the back of the hotel and relied upon our disc locks and trusty pound of butter back home.
Much much later in the bar Sean thought Mark's thumb stood comparison with a ketchup covered sausage...well he thought it was funny
Saturday dawned and the early risers of us were packing the bikes before 8am, there was no breakfast option available so we were on the road by 8.15am a little less than an hour later we happened upon a roadside eaterie, over breakfast we decided that we had more time available to us than we thought we might so hatched a plan to detour to Cobh formerly Queenstown for a look around and a coffee, the trip had taken on a distinctly nautical theme, we crossed the River Lee via the Monkstown Cobh ferry where Hinge & Bracket did their impression of Rose & Jack to the amusement of the ferry crew
Titanic memorial at Cobh;
Lusitania memorial at Cobh;
The White Star building at Cobh which houses a "Titanic Experience" we did the tour........
Then we hit the road East in the general direction of Rosslare where we were due to stay for Saturday evening due to our Sunday return ferry's departure time of 8am
We stopped off at Dungarvan again as Sean needed a cash point and we all needed a coffee, we parked in the town square and our bikes were soon joined by more GS and GSA's ridden by some local lads who joined us for a chat and a coffee, we didn't get their names but they were typical of all the people we met inasmuch as they were very friendly and welcoming and enjoyed a chat, anyone from here?
We arrived at Churchtown House our hotel for the night where our hosts welcomed us and booked us a table at a local bar/restaraunt and ordered us a taxi, they even laid on an excellent continental breakfast for us at 6.30 the next morning in good time for us to ride the 3 miles or so the the ferry port.
Churchtown house, our Saturday night stopover;
Overall a very enjoyable long weekend jaunt and relatively inexpensive, the return ferry was £110 per bike and rider, accommodation was around 50-60 euro per person per night and we enjoyed some great riding, I'd like to return and ride more of the Wild Atlantic way, definitely unfinished business
Oh yes.........we visited another maritime POI at New Ross on the Saturday, a very nautically themed weekend.
* = (neither are on here although one used to be and was responsible for a humdinger of a thread about his experiences with BMW customer service that ran for months and months but enough of that......)
I pencilled together a route and booked in advance hotel stops for Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening leaving us (or rather me) to worry only about the route and the weather, all 3 of us live in South Wales so we met up as arranged last Thursday and took a scenic route toward Fishguard we eventually picked up the A40 West of Carmarthen and I lead us along the B4313 to Fishguard for a taste of the scenic country roads we hoped would follow across the water.
I am riding my GS Rallye Sport, Mark is riding a 1200GSA LC and Sean is also riding a Rallye Sport, Sean has christened his the "happy shopper" model as it doesn't have the Premium pack
Bikes loaded and secured;
We got chatting to some Dutch GS riders on the car deck and our plans seemed similar to theirs we wondered if we would see them along the way.....
A relatively calm crossing passed quickly;
Soon we arrived at Rosslare harbour and disembarked, I had booked us into Crew's apartments in Dungarvan which was around 75 miles from the ferry port, the journey passed without incident although traffic was busy near the towns we passed which meant a lot of filtering, we arrived at our digs, as there was no underground bunker in which to park our awesome steeds we parked in the street safe in the knowledge that the pound of butter in the fridge at home would ensure they received no unwanted attention
We were shown to our room which was a 3 bedroom apartment at a very reasonable 50euro a night each then we went for a beer and a wander, my first pint of the Black stuff on Irish soil
We wandered a bit more;
Had a couple more beers.......
Then found a restaurant and had a bite to eat, neither of them had brought their reading glasses so both borrowed readers from the barmaids to peruse the Menu, Hinge & Bracket
We ate and drank well and retired to our home for the night, the following morning Mark and I were up with the larks I put the coffee on and Mark got the Croissants
Sean eventually rose and we left to pack the bikes which,thanks to the pound of butter in the fridge back home were where we had left them;
Things didn't get off to a good start despite the good intentions and early start, my Nav 4 wouldn't power up in the cradle and Sean's phone hadn't charged overnight so he sat about rigging an on-bike charging solution, things took a turn for the worse when Mark offered to trim a wire for Sean and sliced open his thumb with his handy (razor sharp) pocket knife not to worry Sean is a paramedic......but we couldn't summon a First Aid kit between us so with Mark's thumb bound with insulating tape and me navigating by a map in my tank bag pocket we set off for our first stop at The Old head of Kinsale to take a look at the memorial to the victims of the sinking of the Lusitania, in the pouring rain, as we neared the coast a thick fog descended for good measure, needless to say progress was steady
I'm sure it's an impressive sight on a clear day........but today in fog and driving rain not so much.
Fortunately the Napoleonic look out tower which houses a small museum and some Lusitania artifacts provided shelter from the rain for half an hour or so
We kitted up and pressed on Westwards along the coast mostly on the N71 before heading for Bantry Bay and then the weather changed for the better and my Nav 4 mysteriously powered itself back up in the cradle, things were looking up so we stopped for lunch at a roadside Bar-Cafe in Glengariff
We settled our bill and returned to the bikes to set off for Healy Pass as we were about to leave 2 bikes tooted and waved then turned back to where we were parked it was our Dutch friends from the ferry, when they learned where we were heading they asked if they could tag along, with the improved weather the pace moved up a notch, a brief pause at some roadworks;
The Healy Pass was fantastic, a great ride to the top and the route back down no less enjoyable
We continued along the coast to Waterville along the Ballagisheen pass followed by Gap of Dunloe and Molls Gap, we bade farewell to our Dutch friends at Muckross and we headed for our overnight stop at The Kerry Way Bar in Glenflesk by way of another fantastic mountain road with stunning views
The Kerry Way Bar is a roadside hotel/diner, the service was good the food more than acceptable and the Guinness was cool and refreshing, there is no under cover or secure bike parking so we parked around the back of the hotel and relied upon our disc locks and trusty pound of butter back home.
Much much later in the bar Sean thought Mark's thumb stood comparison with a ketchup covered sausage...well he thought it was funny
Saturday dawned and the early risers of us were packing the bikes before 8am, there was no breakfast option available so we were on the road by 8.15am a little less than an hour later we happened upon a roadside eaterie, over breakfast we decided that we had more time available to us than we thought we might so hatched a plan to detour to Cobh formerly Queenstown for a look around and a coffee, the trip had taken on a distinctly nautical theme, we crossed the River Lee via the Monkstown Cobh ferry where Hinge & Bracket did their impression of Rose & Jack to the amusement of the ferry crew
Titanic memorial at Cobh;
Lusitania memorial at Cobh;
The White Star building at Cobh which houses a "Titanic Experience" we did the tour........
Then we hit the road East in the general direction of Rosslare where we were due to stay for Saturday evening due to our Sunday return ferry's departure time of 8am
We stopped off at Dungarvan again as Sean needed a cash point and we all needed a coffee, we parked in the town square and our bikes were soon joined by more GS and GSA's ridden by some local lads who joined us for a chat and a coffee, we didn't get their names but they were typical of all the people we met inasmuch as they were very friendly and welcoming and enjoyed a chat, anyone from here?
We arrived at Churchtown House our hotel for the night where our hosts welcomed us and booked us a table at a local bar/restaraunt and ordered us a taxi, they even laid on an excellent continental breakfast for us at 6.30 the next morning in good time for us to ride the 3 miles or so the the ferry port.
Churchtown house, our Saturday night stopover;
Overall a very enjoyable long weekend jaunt and relatively inexpensive, the return ferry was £110 per bike and rider, accommodation was around 50-60 euro per person per night and we enjoyed some great riding, I'd like to return and ride more of the Wild Atlantic way, definitely unfinished business
Oh yes.........we visited another maritime POI at New Ross on the Saturday, a very nautically themed weekend.