So, having never been to an Irish GS event before, I decided it was high time to put that right in 2022
Looking at the blurb advertising the ‘do’ got me hooked and I booked in at the splendid Leenane hotel for 3 nights at a very reasonable €180 for the weekend, for dinner B&B
I then book the Belfast ferry for a 6 day trip via Nutt travel for a very reasonable £88 return on the Superfast ferry
As the event approached, it was becoming apparent that the summer long heatwave was rapidly coming to an end in uk and Eire this very weekend…..drat
Waterproofs packed and hard luggage deployed was the order of the day
Leaving on the Thursday - the weather was fine, dry and warm, bloody weather forecasters
I took the fast roads up from Yorkshire and up the A75 via Dumfries, leaving at 6am for the 11.30am ferry
Stopping for fuel at Dumfries, I get a text saying the Stena boat was delayed by 45 mins and I thought that I would detour at Crocketford up via the more scenic Galloway forest towards Newton Stewart
Arriving at the ferry port in good time, I spent 20 mins at the loch side car park to take in the views
No boat yet !
Blackberries are looking huge this season
I was meeting Peter (Petcul) at the ferry and hadn’t seen him for 5 years, so great to see him again and we boarded and settled into an uneventful crossing & some lunch
Peter had booked the Thursday night accommodation at a golf club, but before he has plotted a route over the Sperrin mountains in Ulster and excellent choice of roads it was, pity we didn’t have longer to explore
The night at the house at the golf club, was best not remembered (club house shut, a ready meal curry from the Co-Op and one with no beer sold, plus a bedroom that doubled as an emergency exit with night lighting that couldn’t be switched off, grrrr) - still, Peter and myself laughed about it
Looking at the blurb advertising the ‘do’ got me hooked and I booked in at the splendid Leenane hotel for 3 nights at a very reasonable €180 for the weekend, for dinner B&B
I then book the Belfast ferry for a 6 day trip via Nutt travel for a very reasonable £88 return on the Superfast ferry
As the event approached, it was becoming apparent that the summer long heatwave was rapidly coming to an end in uk and Eire this very weekend…..drat
Waterproofs packed and hard luggage deployed was the order of the day
Leaving on the Thursday - the weather was fine, dry and warm, bloody weather forecasters
I took the fast roads up from Yorkshire and up the A75 via Dumfries, leaving at 6am for the 11.30am ferry
Stopping for fuel at Dumfries, I get a text saying the Stena boat was delayed by 45 mins and I thought that I would detour at Crocketford up via the more scenic Galloway forest towards Newton Stewart
Arriving at the ferry port in good time, I spent 20 mins at the loch side car park to take in the views
No boat yet !
Blackberries are looking huge this season
I was meeting Peter (Petcul) at the ferry and hadn’t seen him for 5 years, so great to see him again and we boarded and settled into an uneventful crossing & some lunch
Peter had booked the Thursday night accommodation at a golf club, but before he has plotted a route over the Sperrin mountains in Ulster and excellent choice of roads it was, pity we didn’t have longer to explore
The night at the house at the golf club, was best not remembered (club house shut, a ready meal curry from the Co-Op and one with no beer sold, plus a bedroom that doubled as an emergency exit with night lighting that couldn’t be switched off, grrrr) - still, Peter and myself laughed about it
