Let’s go cycling

The Irish Midlands

8th July, 74km, Castle Leslie to the Irish Midlands

From fancy to farm odours again…after a nosh up Irish breakfast that sustained us well into the day. White pudding has been added to the list of staples for the full English/Scottish/ Irish which are all so similar otherwise! No haggis here though 🙃

A pleasant day of riding and some really interesting landscapes toward the end of the day.

Our campsite for the night was super basic, and idyllic. A big change from our luxury of the two prior days! But stunning weather, a very chatty owner who was born on the property and a true Irish character. Just a fabulous little spot to stay.

9th July, somewhere around 95km

More drumlins, a big and tiring day, lots of farmland to traverse but we started to get into some new landscapes- less dairy farming and more peat bogs- quite fascinating to see the neatly cut peat, carefully stacked and drying in little heaps

Stocked up on supplies at Ballghaderreen, a town where the vibe was enough to make us secure our bikes thoroughly before leaving them alone for a minute!

A few km down the road it was a very different and exuberant welcome from our campsite owner- a definite go-getter, this young lady took one look at our bikes and handed us a free beer in return for a photo- who’s to refuse such an offer!!

10th July.  Ballaghaderreen to Westport
A very varied 81km.  Bright and sunny…but the headwind is still adjusting to whatever direction we decide to go!!! Grrrr…

Today was a mix of gorgeous tiny roads through scenic countryside, and massive, safe but noisy shoulder lanes on the major routes.

We arrived into Westport in the late arvo and made our way to the campsite we’d managed to book for the night.

Oh boy.  Soooo big and soooo many campers. All squeezed in like sardines.

So…Ireland is proving to be a little trickier than we expected.  It seems we’ve arrived in peak holiday season for the coastal areas.  the campsite at Westport was choccers…and we’d only planned to stat one night and then head toward Galway.

But somehow we timed…or mistimed…our travel perfectly to coincide with the Northern Ireland long weekend, combined with the already peak season. And hot summer days- just like Tasmania, summer comes in the odd little spurt…and this was it! We couldn’t find a campsite anywhere in the vicinity of Galway that would fit us in, even with our tiny tent and bicycles 😦

Luckily the Westport park allowed us to squeeze in for an extra night, so we checked out the local Irish pubs, sampled a guinness or two (or maybe just a sip, not quite to my taste sadly), listened to some wonderful Irish favourites and conversed with other passers through. And made it back to the campsite before the 11pm curfew…just…otherwise we’d have had to walk the long way around.

Also managed to sneak in a wander round the town, an explore of the quay and a substantial second breakfast (note, neither of us are any lighter than when we left home…🤣)

12th July, Westport to BenCarra- 25km on a remarkably warm day! 30deg, phew..
After hours of searching and failing we decided that the best bet would be to head inland and experience the “local” Ireland, away from the throngs of visitors.

So a short ride after a lazy morning saw us at “Bencarra” by lunchtime and a small camp ground that seemed welcoming and perfectly equipped.

Another typical little Irish pub- no music at this one but a convivial round bar and good fun chats with the locals over a pint before cooking up a spag bol at the campsite.
Heading East-ish again tomorrow, with a few days up our sleeves to get to Dublin.