The Story So Far

Greetings from Galway.

I got in to Cork on Friday night after the spending the night in Manchester. 37 hours Sydney - Manchester with a 14 hour layover in Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi airport is weird. Anyway, the layover worked because by the time I got to Manchester I was well and truly rooted and after a long sleep woke up on Friday morning on local time and jetlag-free! Spent Friday morning wandering around inner Manchester. Dull and uninteresting pretty-well sums it up.

Arrived Cork late Friday arvo, unpacked Boris and rode into town where I caught up with my mates Emma and Dara. Crashed at Emma's (thanks Em) and spent the weekend at Crosshaven on the entrance to Cork harbour. Saturday was miserable weather-wise but Sunday was beautiful. Crosshaven is nice. We had a couple of pints at Cronin's on Saturday night before dinner. Frank cooked up big on and the whisky evaporation rate was outstanding. The big talking point is that Heineken have bought Beamish, meaning that they now own both Cork stouts and there are fears that they will close one down. Please - don't let it be the Beamish!

Thanks Frank, Rosemary and Brendan for the hospitality!

Dara cooked for me on Sunday night and her son Elinia (sp?) is a sweetie. Thanks, Dara.

Hit the road Monday and rode to Bantry: 103 km in the rain. Rode through where Michael Collins was ambushed and murdered. Bantry is very quiet and picturesque, but the hostel was filthy.

I was going to ride around the Beara Peninsula but the weather was iffy so I took the direct roue to Kenmare over the Caha Pass. Very speccy with a road tunnel at the top and a brilliant descent. The cattle shit in the middle of a wet road made the bends a bit tricky, but we stayed upright. Kenmare's nice. Hostel was good, too as was the Atlantic Bar where I had a feed and couple of pints.

The weather was gorgeous on Wednesday so I took off around the Ring of Kerry. It's official - the west of coast of Ireland is more beautiful than New Zealand. Wednesday night was in Cahersiveen. I think Dan O'Connell was born there. Very pleasant little town and I recommend the hostel.

Thursday, I thought I'd try the Dingle Peninsula. Miserable weather and when I turned left at Castelmaine (the Wild Colonial Boy was from there) the headwind was a bugger. Spent the night at a hostel celled the Randy Leprechaun in Annascaul. It was OK until a busload of Australians turned up.

Friday pissed down all day, so I didn't go any further down Dingle. Although it rained all day, it was a fast ride and after leaving at Annascaul at 10:30, I arrived in Tarbert just after 2:30 and that was nearly 80 km.

The weather on Saturday was better and took the ferry over the Shannon and rode to Doolin. I stopped for lunch at Quilty on the coast and this old bloke came to up to me, introduced himself (Michael), put out his cigarette and asked me to guess his age. I said 75. "If I was only 75 I wouldn't be needing Viagra. 25th of August I turned 87." Wow. He went to say that he'd never had a drink in his life and that was what he attributed his longevity to. But he smokes! A bit further along the road I stopped at Lehinch. Big surf, serious line-up. It reminded me of Right Point on Phillip Island. Surfing is BIG in Ireland.

Doolin was nice with a fabulous hostel (best yet). Lots of traditional Irish music and I ended up at O'Connors pub. The place was overrun with well-heeled and obnoxious Seppos. I had a couple of pints with a couple from Liverpool (Jane and Adrian) and he commented that he couldn't get over how the Irish were so into English stuff, especially the Premier League. Sad, but true.

Sunday was a hard ride to Galway. I took the most direct route over Corkscrew Hill, which I had been told was a killer. Bit of anti-climax as far as hill climbs go, but the descent was a bugger because the road was dreadful. Adrian recommended that I stop at Moran's Oyster Cottage for lunch and I'm glad I did. Seafood chowder to die for and the garlic mussels were extraordinary.

I got into Galway late Sunday arvo with a sore achilles, so I'm spending a couple of nights here. Initially, I didn't think much of the place, but I've been wandering around this morning and it's beautiful and vibrant. Lots of art, fabulous architecture and top bookshops. (Reading Joyce - I'll be having my fourth crack at Ulysses soon.)

I've been on the road for a week since Cork and have done nearly 550 kms. Given my sore achilles, I'm thinking that after I've been to Derry and the Giant's Causeway, I'll either ride straight down the middle to Wexford to visit Jane or I might even train it.

Cheers

BTW, the upload speed is awful here, so I'll post pics another time.

Kerry will now start proofing :)