Since it was still
raining, we decided to head north. For some unknown reason, I chose to take the
Conor Pass over the mountains to Tralee instead of going back the way we had
come into Dingle. I think we came to Dingle over the mountains way back in 2006,
so I thought it couldn’t be too bad. It was still pitch black which was
fortunate for two reasons. One, I couldn’t see anything; how high we were or
how close we were to the edge, and two, we could see oncoming traffic from
their headlights which we wouldn’t have been able to see in daylight on the
narrow, one-lane, twisting, turning road, where someone would have to reverse
for many metres, maybe even more than a kilometre, if cars had met. Luckily, it
was about 4.30 on a Sunday morning so we didn’t meet any cars until we were
back to a wider road. I did not speak for the entire crossing of the mountains!I don't think I even breathed!
Down into the
valley of the Shannon River where we encountered our next problem: flooding. We
were happily driving along following our GPS: at the next roundabout, take the
second exit. I think Ross was on autopilot because he was following
instructions to the tee, and almost drove straight into an emergency vehicle
parked across the second exit. I shouted something unintelligible and he
swerved just in time. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. We later met one
of the SES guys in the service station where we had stopped for coffee and
pastries, and he said to Ross, “ Was the blue lights not feckin’ big enough for
yer?”, but in a lovely, friendly fashion. We haven’t struck a cranky Irishman
or woman yet. Even the drivers are courteous when Ross pulls over to let them
overtake, they flash a thank you with their tail-lights! Just amazing!
The girl in the
service station was lovely enough to let Ross empty my waste into their toilet
(they never let you do this in Australia!) and to use their tap to fill our
water tank. We were all topped up and on our way to Bunratty. We witnessed a
beautiful sunrise (see photos), and drove through several villages; one of which
was Adare, advertised as the prettiest village in all of Ireland, but I don’t
know who decides this.
I still love
Bunratty. I didn’t swallow any of its wildlife this time (probably not
grasshopper season!) but I almost knocked myself out on one of its cottage’s low doorways. The stupid thing was I just grazed the lintel on the way in, but
banged my head a beauty on the way out. I didn’t get a headache but have a big
egg on my head. Anyway, people must have been much shorter back then: either
that, or they bent down every time they entered a room. The only animals we saw were the pigs, the
Irish wolfhounds have been sheltered for the winter.
We were much too
early for Mac’s Pub to open. No, I didn’t want a cider, just a cup of tea! So
we bought a little trio of teas from the gift shop, went back to our motorhome
and brewed our own cuppa. One of the joys of travelling with your house on your
back. I remembered we had two apple pies left from yesterday so they went down
a treat with the tea.
On to Cong! Yes, I
had never heard of it either but it’s one of the very few caravan parks in
Ireland open at this time of year. Well, open might be a bit of a misnomer. We
drove through floodwaters- don’t panic- I wasn’t- the water wasn’t flowing,
just lying across the low parts of the road.
There was a big ROAD CLOSED sign but we drove around it, intrepid
adventurers that we are. We both figured it hadn’t been taken down since
yesterday since today was Sunday. We were right. The road was easily passable,
especially with a high vehicle.
When we reached
the outskirts of Cong, we were amazed to find a castle called Ashford Castle
being guarded by a little man (no, not a leprechaun) dressed in a very formal
sort of old fashioned costume. Not the sort of person you see everyday. I
enquired of him the whereabouts of the Cong Caravan and Camping Ground and he
explained that we had driven right past it. Blink and you’ve missed it! The
tiniest campground ever. Supposedly fits 8 motorhomes, but that must be tail to
nose and just enough room to open your side doors. It’s surrounded by huge
hedges on all four sides; a little scary to say the least.
We pulled in to
find the place closed! I said to Ross, “We’re staying here anyway,” and we
could have driven right in. But Ross went over to the office and, after
persistent knocking, the door was opened by a guy with long grey hair in a
ponytail, who was “looking after” the place while the owners are on holiday. He
turned out to be perfectly lovely though. If he had been anything like Norman
Bates (“Psycho”), I definitely would NOT have been staying here, Ross or no
Ross!
We pulled in,
hooked up to power, and immediately set out for the showers. I definitely
wanted to shower before dark! Ah the glory of that shower! I didn’t pull the shower
curtain across though! I felt a lot better after that shower and am looking
forward to having one in the morning too!
While Ross
showered, I put on a load of washing in the launderette. A huge machine, which
was just as well as we had quite a bit of washing between us (mostly mine),
even though we had washed in Dublin. Luckily, I had brought detergent from
home, as none was provided even though the washing machine cost 6 euro! And if
you want your clothes dried, the dryer is 6 euro as well. Talk about a captive
audience! I’m not sure if the caretaker is pocketing some of these euro as Ross
paid him 12 euro and he gave us two tokens. They could have been 2 euro each
for all we knew, but beggars can’t be choosers.
Ross went and
transferred the clothes to the dryer while I cooked dinner. I was very happy
not to have to go out in the cold and the pitch black! I whipped up a meal of ribs and Mediterranean
vegies roasted in the gas oven, and mashed potato cooked in a frypan on the
stovetop. It was delicious and we devoured the lot! Maybe we were just hungry
and would have eaten anything?
I washed up while
Ross checked the clothes in the dryer. (I’m not going out there alone!) The
temperature was dropping and rather than use gas to warm up, I jumped under the
doona. I was asleep within minutes! It
wasn’t even 6 o’clock!
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