Fifth stop...Blarney

Well, here we are in a different motorhome, and on our way again. Ross has driven the northern road twice now; once up to the Gobbins and once back to Dublin, so we decided to go south to Blarney. First stop, the Rock of Cashel. We were blown about by the force of the wind and almost blown off our feet on several occasions. My pink cap was blown off and carried away by the wind, but was rescued by a young gentleman.  It’s always windy here, but this was absolutely ridiculous. We asked the lovely guy in the office if we were allowed to park in the carpark overnight, as we had read a sign that said 4.50 euro per day, to be told it would be ok, but did we know there was a severe weather alert out for tonight (a red alert: the highest level in Ireland) and he suggested travelling on to Blarney, which we did.

We had to take a little detour off the road to get petrol, but once back on the highway, I received a notification on my phone GPS that I could chop 8 minutes off my trip by taking an alternate route. I accepted and we were guided off the highway, through the mountains and villages on roads that were less than ideal for travelling with a big motorhome in high winds! We didn’t measure it, but there’s no way it was 8 minutes faster. If anything, it was at least half an hour slower. This was some Irish IT prankster’s idea of a joke- we never thought we’d get there. It was well after dark when we reached the Blarney Castle carpark, and backed in to a spot in the far corner beside the rushing river and under some trees, hoping that they were strong enough to withstand the gale force winds.

I made some eggs and stuffed mushrooms for dinner, and we were in bed by 7. It had been such a long day; we had been up since midnight! The wind and rain continued through the night, but we slept soundly until 3 am, when we decided to make tracks. Ross will have to skip kissing the Blarney Stone, that’s if it would be even possible to climb those slippery stone steps, and I will have to skip the Blarney Woollen Mills shop!