The centre of the city is very compact and it is possible to walk to the main attractions within the city centre. We visited the Galway Cathedral, on our walk to see the Cathedral we crossed the bridge over the River Corrib where a few locals were trying their luck with some fly fishing.
There is very little remaining of the old city walls now except for the Spanish Arch, which we took a look at during our walk around the city centre.
I have just discovered we must have had a few days rest from taking photos. Looking through the photos I have discovered there are only a couple of pics to choose from of our time in Galway. We did enjoy our time there with the Galway Fringe Festival on at the same time. The weather was still warm and we did spend some time enjoying the coast line on Galway Bay.
After our two days in Galway, we continued on northward intending to drive to Ballina but decided to push on to Sligo which is where the poet W B Yeates is buried. We spent a short time checking out the pretty little town set around a river. We stayed at a nearby coastal area called Strandhill. Again looking for some pics of Sligo, we have again abandoned the camera and there is very little I have to show of the area.
Still having reasonable weather, we took a long walk around the bay and had a quick swim in the very chilly North Atlantic ocean. One thing that was on offer in Strandhill which is specific to the northern areas of Ireland is a seaweed bath. I took advantage of this local facility which was quite unusual but really enjoyable. It entails hoping into a very deep, warm bath with a very large amount of seaweed placed into the water. You spend about 40 minutes soaking underneath the seaweed. Aids relaxation and is a wonderful moisturising treatment for the skin
Our spot on the campground at Stranhill.
The little town of Strandhill and the campground-caravan park.
Continuing on the trip northward we made our way to Donegal. A beautiful little town nestled into a small harbour which opens onto the River Eske and then opens onto the North Atlantic.
As well as catching more Irish music in the pubs around Donegal town, we took a short boat tour out into the harbour. The first pic is looking back at Donegal town as we left.
There is a large fur seal colony which lives in the river. Some way out onto the river there is an area which is called the seal's maternity unit. This is where all the mothers and babies spend their time until the babies are old enough to take care of themselves. The boat is able to get quite close to the seals.
Donegal is one of those places that it would be easy to spend a week exploring the area. We visited Donegal Castle, a beautiful heritage building partly restored and situated in the centre of town.
Next we continued on out of Republic of Ireland and into Northern Ireland to Derry (or Londonderry, depending on your political preference). After the troubles of the 1960's and 70's, Derry's inner city has been redeveloped. Derry's city walls, built in 1613 are almost completely in tact which make a fantastic walk to view the entire city and the famous bogside and the huge murals painted to commemorate key events in the troubles.
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| Standing on the city wall looking towards the Guildhall |
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| The Guildhall |
From Derry we drove back across into the Republic again for the drive around the Inishowen Peninsula to the northern tip of Ireland at Malin Head, just as we reached Malin Head a huge storm blew in so the photo is mostly of a storm, but the outlook was quite dramatic.
From there it was back into Northern Ireland and along the coast to visit the Giant's Causeway on the Causeway Coast. The rock formations are a Unesco World Heritage site, a vast area of closely packed, hexagonal stone columns.
Along the coast from the Giant's Causeway is a spot called Carrick-A-Rede Island which we stopped into. There is a 20 metre rope bridge which connects the island to the mainland, swaying 30 m above the sea. It was great fun testing our nerves on a quite drizzly, slightly breezy afternoon to do the walk across the bridge to check out the site of the salmon fishery which is still in operation today. The bridge was originally only used by the fishermen but became so popular with visitors that is it now looked after by the National Trust and a small charge is made to enter the area and to walk the bridge.
And so to our last stop on our Ireland adventure was Belfast. By the time we reached Belfast the weather had really turned aweful so on our first afternoon we took a walk around the city centre staying under shop awnings before heading out of town a few kms to find a campground for the night.
By the time we had checked in and found our pitch the rain had become really heavy blowing in sideways on the wind, not so much fun in a campervan. We were giving thanks that this was the only night we had really foul weather during the time we had the campervan. Needed to be creative in the cooking of the evening meal.
The next day the weather had improved so we returned to the city and visited the Ulster Museum. It was not difficult to spend several hours wandering the displays. There is extensive information on the history of Northern Ireland as well as artefacts retrieved from a ship which was part of the Spanish Armarda and Takabuti, a 2500 year-old Egyptian mummy.
After our visit to the museum, it was time to hit the road again to make the 30 kms drive north of Belfast to Larne to check in for our ferry ride to Scotland. With the really bad weather the day before and still being windy on the day, there was some concern on my part about the crossing over to Scotland, but for the most part it was ok.
It was with much sadness that we had our last look at Ireland as the ferry sailed from the port bound for Cairnryan in Scotland.
So it is on to the next stage of the trip to see what we can of Scotland.
Getting nearer to the final days of the trip, time seems to be dashing by.
Take care all, see you all soon.
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