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THE
BACKPACKERS CLUB
Ireland, West Coast, Cycle Camping Tralee to Galway 28th Sept to 4th Oct 2002 "See you in Ballybunnion"
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All
went to plan and the weather was kind to us for so late in the year.
Enquiries
in advance indicated that most camp sites were due to close at the end of
September but we found they were willing to open for a few late season
cyclists. When you are on your own it is quite easy to wild pitch
but with a larger group it can be more difficult. In the end
we managed four camp sites. Two I had booked in advance . One I could not
find a phone number for and the last we did not know of its existence.
Of the other two nights one was in Liam's front garden (thank you
Liam) and the other in a field next to a house. It is usually quite easy to
find somewhere to camp when in Ireland especially if you are
walking or cycling. All you have to do is ask.
The
plan was to cycle camp from Tralee to Galway. Catching an
early morning ferry to Dublin from Holyhead then the train to
arrive in Trallee about 2pm. There were eight of us. Marc Dearn took
his car along with Lesley and Tommy and acted as recce vehicle. The others
were Bob Malvern, Brian & Sandra Haigh, Tony Wilson and me Allan Carter.
Food
was no problem as there were shops open everywhere we went and nearly all
the pubs did good food. Ireland is now in Euro land and
at £0.65 per €1 most things seemed to be less expensive
than at home.
Cycling
was leisurely but I would not have liked to have done any greater distance.
The first morning away from camp was a bit rushed "See you in
Ballybunnion" and I was away. Although I did not realise
that I had left my cycle lock and car keys behind until I was in Ballybunnion
and unable to lock my bike up. Our problem was getting away in the morning.
10:30 was the norm. This was not helped by missing Friday nights
sleep. The one morning I was ready to go it was raining quite heavy so it
ended up an 11 o'clock start.
After
each trip to Ireland I feel that it would have been nice to have
taken twice as long to do the same distance but the pace is governed by
the distance to get the end and the time available. I cycled 189 miles and
took 188 pictures and Tony Wilson took 277 in 318 miles. So it is a
well documented trip. I do not know how many pints of Guinness
that I drank. Too few to mention you may say.
Our
return was from Galway which we reached Friday lunchtime and caught
the train to Dublin with a couple of hours to spare for a
pint in The Porter House (home brew pub) and to meet our old friend
and Backpackers Club member Noel Kerley and then on to the
Ferry and home.
I have about 500 pictures of the trip so it has taken some time to sort them out. Here are some of my favourites.
Click on a picture to see it full size.
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| A Stout with Shamrock - TW | Tony Wilson - ACC | Brian & Sandra, Banna Beach TW | near The Burren - ACC |
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| Kinvarra Quay - ACC | Allan (me) at Fanore - TW | Kilkee Coast - TW | Spanish Point Sunset - TW |
TW = Digital Images by Tony Wilson
ACC - Digital Images by Allan Carter
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28th December 2002