Mizen Head on a miserable day – after a sleepless night, thanks to the leaking sky light, we headed for Mizen Head and it was a typically wet, misty and wild day on the Wild Atlantic Way. It was a slow drive along the road to the bridge, following 2 of the locals. They were definitely not bothered if we made it or not, and took their time.
To be fair, we couldn’t have gone much faster, as visibility was very poor. We could hear the sea, but we couldn’t see it, until we were out of the van and close to the shoreline. It reminded me of “The Fog” by James Herbert, one of the few horror books I have read. Mizen Bridge was worth the visit, despite the weather – in some ways it made it even more atmospheric. It really felt like we were at the edge of the world, with the Atlantic crashing against the rocks below us, but being engulfed by fog. As we got close to the bridge, it seemed to stretch away into the fog, the end out of sight.
Once we had crossed the bridge, we could have been completely cut off from the mainland, as there was nothing to see, except the rocky shoreline, the crashing waves and the fog. It was a wonderful place to just be – standing doing nothing at all, in a bubble of fog, with the waves crashing against rock. So glad the weather didn’t put us off, as it turned into a lovely walk and a relaxing day.
From Mizen Head, we drove to Bantry Bay, and our first proper aire. It was really impressive – we parked right on the seafront, hooked up to electricity and were able to empty the grey waste and refill the fresh water tank.
The bedding was still damp from the leak we had in Ballydehob, so we were glad to drive out of the fog, into sunshine in Bantry Bay. We stayed for 2 nights – a chance for Neil to reseal the skylight, to recharge our leisure batteries, which were completely drained, get the duvet dry, shower, and find bins.
Getting rid of waste in Ireland was surprisingly difficult. We did find recycling bins, but they were few and far between. General waste was even worse. Waste is collected by private companies in Ireland, and residents pay for bin collections. Because of this, few bins are provided in public spaces, and they have very small openings, to discourage people from putting household waste in them. This is understandable, as local authorities want to encourage people to use their own bins, and pay for waste disposal. It makes life difficult when you are living in a van, and having to make sure you keep your waste bags small, so they fit in the bins. Or collect waste, until you check onto a site. Many weeks later we crossed into Northern Ireland and the first difference we noticed was the bins in the laybys.
We continued round the Beara Peninsula, saw the first of many rainbows, and drove through the beautiful reds and golds of autumn. There was one hair-raising route through the hills – it was very steep and the road was narrow. Luckily I was driving, so we made it without turning back. I love the challenging roads. They are so much fun. We have lots of videos of the roads in Ireland – I look back at them fondly as we are currently making our way up and down the motorways of the UK, visiting family and friends. I’m sure Scotland will deliver some fun driving later in the year.
We ended up in Glengarriff Bay and after a peaceful night on the peir, got the first boat out to Garnish Island. The boat trip over was as special as the Island itself. We were the only passengers on the boat, and the guide took us to see seals, and showed us both the old and the current white tailed eagle’s nests. Sadly, we didn’t see the birds, but the seals were so cute. They look so ungainly lying on the rocks, then swim so gracefully through the waters of the bay. There are a lot of them, as the bay is teeming with fish for them to eat, but the whales don’t come into the bay, so they are not competing for food – except with the eagles.
Once we got to the Island itself, we were the only guests there for the first 2 hours. It was lovely walking through the gardens, the whole island having belonged to one family. The gardens were beautiful, with different areas, exotic plants, ponds and views out to the sea and to the mainland.
We had a personal guided tour of the house, much smaller than expected, as the owners never got round to building the mansion they had planned, and when other people started to arrive, we got the boat back to the mainland.
Neil found an interesting place to park up on Park4night, so we carried on around the peninsula, stopping to marvel at the Atlantic sea, to Helen’s Bar in Bunaw.
Helen’s Bar was like a house from the outside, with a bar inside. The staff were lovely, and the menu looked great – fresh mussels cooked in every imaginable sauce. We enjoyed a few ciders, and planned the following day. We were going to walk about 6 miles, a circular route from the pub, then enjoy mussels, chips and cider, while watching rugby in the bar. It was a perfect plan – until we went back to the van to go to bed.
The skylight was leaking again! The bed was wet and Neil taped bags to the areas where the water was coming through, so he could sleep without listening to the drip, drip, drip ………… by morning we could have kept goldfish in the water we had collected in the bags. We were tired, fed up and damp. We clearly needed to seal the skylight from above, and so drove back to Clonmel, and my family.
On the way we hit a pothole – hard – and the van cut out. I think we both felt like crying at this point. The last thing we needed after another sleepless night was an AA call out and an issue with the van. Luckily I recalled the garage telling us about the automatic engine cut off. One youtube video and we found the switch and were on our way again. Luckily the tyre was fine – a car would not have fared so well.
My brother-in-law got his ladders out and sealed the skylight; we washed and dried all the bedding at my dads, and caught up with the general washing. My sister cooked a roast and we left, clean bodies, clean clothes, dry bed and full bellies. We thought about returning to Helen’s Bar for the walk and the mussels, but the moment had passed and we made our way to Kenmare.
This time the repair to the skylight worked – we have not had a leak since!
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