Another bright sunny
start to the day, breakfast, do the tanks and a chat with Joe, the
site owner, before calling at Lidl, just a few hundred metres down
the road to restock. Up to now we've made very few food purchases,
having managed very well on what we brought from home – but now the
fridge was looking a bit empty!
That sorted we rejoined
the Wild Atlantic Way, passing briefly through Co. Leintrim (one of
the smaller counties) and into Co. Sligo. The scenery now changed
quite significantly; gone were the craggy coastlines and instead lots
of long sweeping beaches enclosed by low-lying headlands. We still,
however, had the twisty narrow roads as the route faithfully followed
the coastline as far as possible. Some of these roads really were not
suitable for our size vehicle, and the surfaces often were rough and
extremely bumpy, but it was not busy so we managed. It was
interesting to occasionally note from signposts that despite driving
for several hours we were only a few miles from where we started!
Called at a couple of
these magnificent beaches so we could let Jamie off for a run and at
one, Streedagh Beach, came across an ever-growing crowd for some kind
of event. We eventually put together that this was the site where the
defeated Spanish Armada came ashore (not really sure why) and were
anihilated and a remembrance parade was being held. This explained a
contingent from the Spanish Navy, who had a corvette anchored just
offshore, and many Spanish speaking people. Apparently this was held
every year, but being of little interest to us, and without wishing
to cause any offence, we managed to extricate ourselves from a by now
very full carpark and creep away before it all kicked off.
 |
| Memorial crosses being erected in the sand |
But the weather was
turning. A strong wind had got up and the skies were lowering,
confirming the forecast that it was going to get a bit rough, so we
decided to head inland and find a more sheltered stop for the night.
Campercontact suggested a spot on Lough Conn near Crossmolina, which
actually wasn't far off the WAW so TomTom was enlisted to take us
there. It was basically just a small jetty/harbour where a few
watersports activities were carried out, but an area had been
dedicated for motorhome parking. Just a small toilet block and a tap
but it was more than enough for us – all they asked for was a €10
donation.
Sure enough the rain
arrived, becoming quite heavy. We were somewhat amused to see a small
convoy of French motorhomes arrive, ignore the empty spaces and
huddle together on a piece of waste land. They still apparently made
use of the few facilities but we bet nothing made it into the
donations box – typical!
We were somewhat
disappointed at the abrupt changes in the WAW compared to Donegal,
but will carry on the route for now, but always bearing in mind that
each mile we travel is one more away from our return ferry from
Belfast.
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