An early start for the ferry from Cairnryan to Belfast (well 9am but it is a Saturday) Okay by the time we packed Karen's 10 pairs of shoes(could be more hidden away)we were a little late in leaving.

An excellent test book drive and made in exactly the time the GPS stated, only losing 5 min's for a bad crash at Dumfries.

The ferry was packed, this is most bodies I have witnessed for a long time on a ferry of this size.

We headed 5 mile north to look for campsite, not too far out as the Titanic museum was the main event on Sunday Or according to Paul the main event of the holiday. Alas the site was full only 13 pitches so I was not surprised. A wonderful spot only one year old run by the council. Very high tech all key coded locks CCTV, very safe and secure being so close to the city I guess.

So we decided at 7pm to stop in the car park outside which was covered by the same CCTV. Only to just get sorted when the warden appeared and asked us to move onto the site and park in his car space. Job done and at a very modest 19 pound.(the car park was free).

The object today was a visit to the newly opened Titanic museum in Belfast. A very busy spot with prior booking highly recommenced. The museum built in the Titanic quarter is very impressive building and inside takes you through the history of industrialised Belfast up to the sinking of the Titanic. Using very modern visual displays and rides.

Although all day could have been spent there time was pressing to head north to Bushmills using the scenic coastal road.

Taking almost 3 hrs with a wee stop the drive was perfect just a shame the low cloud spoilt some of the views.

The site chosen was 5 star, a very impressive set up very full and with no surprise why. Oh and the fastest WI-FI I have had to date (a full 19Mb on test).

Well after a bad start with the weather we cancelled the bike ride, convinced the site owners that we could stop one more night, albeit in the car park (with electric).

As we had to move the van anyway , we drove out to the rope bridge and the Giants Causeway. Oh dear have these places changed over the years. Visitor number must be going through the roof in Ireland. The causeway has a newly built visitors Center that is beyond belief, 3 car parks and something that was once free is now £8.50 each, Thanks to my old mate Bob!! (he bought me a national trust membership as a gift, nice way to remember him).

The rope bridge was windy and had a touch of fear, while the Giants Causeway is magical and quite an amazing site if you have never seen it before, and still impressive the third time.

An early start and an early finish , the day was started with a guided tour around the Bushmills Distillery. A 40 minute guided tour with a taster session at the end, well worth the time spent.

Then off towards Portrush and Portsteward , places with thousands of static caravans and plenty of golf courses. For some strange reason I carried on and ended up on small site in a quaint village Castlerock.

This was slightly off plan today however the weather was good so a small drive today and make up for it tomorrow when the forecast looks very bad.

Time for a bike ride and another 2 visits to NT properties, and even good enough to wear sandals ! summer for an afternoon?

We are off plan now, we were enjoying the coast so much that we decided to go with the coastal route and take our time. Only spent about 45 minutes behind the wheel today and had the van parked up for 11am on a small site just outside Derry.

Took the bus and had a fantastic day walking around Derry. The city walls are fantastic and form a complete loop. A small diversion into the Bogside district, an area you feel you have already been too as you have seen the images so much on the TV over the years. Even a visit to the Bogside Bloody Sunday museum was worth the time it had many artifacts from this terrible day in their history.

The time disappeared quickly and it was almost dark before we managed a visit to the newly opened peace bridge.

We are well off plan now, and headed north to view what the most northern tip of Southern Ireland had to offer. The scenery was great but we noticed a lack of campgrounds in these parts. We never got the very top at Mallin head, I have left that for a run on the bike one day.

Our first look around was in Buncrana a lovely looking town, just my sort of place more pubs than I could count then a curry shop at the end of the street.

Letterkeeny was next however this looked very busy so I turned around and headed south. My intention was to stop in Donegal town but this place does not have camping facilities unless you was to stay on the harbour without facilities. It would not have bothered me but Karen does not have the same passion for a car park in town centers as myself. I asked at the tourist info and was informed that Donegal county only has 5 campsites and 3 of these are in the same town.

So onward I drove and ended up in Strandhill a seaside village to the west of Sligo popular with wind surfers, the name sort of gave it away. Anyway it has enough to keep us happy with a couple of pubs and a chippy.

Time to move again and today's destination Westport so being a short run allowed us time to have a walk up the hill that overshadowed the village .Knocknarea stood just 100o ft but had loads of history attached to it.

The 327 meter high mountain known as Knocknarea totally dominates the Cuil Irra peninsula. Sitting proudly on top is Queen Maeve's Cairn, a neolithic passage tomb.

Anyway by the time we reached Westport it was full, some cycle event had the place rammed . It wasn't possible to park a toothbrush let alone a motorhome. So on we went and ended up in a lovely village Louisburgh parked by the river. We were told that this was okay and no need to worry, the small village was loaded with bars and the life does not appear on a Saturday till 10.30pm and goes on till the early hours. This we were told would be our only problem , people having a good time and making a bit of noise. so best to stop out then.

Talk about bad timing?? Last week Julia Roberts was in the village eating ice cream from the same place I had mine, I always knew we had something in common.

A good start to the day, a nice sunny 12 mile cycle ride followed by a leisurely drive to Cliften , arriving at 3pm in time for a clean up and a walk into town. Campsite nice location but 2km out of town. Providing a nice scenic walk in and a taxi back (I hope).

Day 2 and after a late night partying in town we had another nice cycle ride doing the famous Sky road loop from Cliften a nice 14 miler.

Of we went but only 20 miles around the coast to Roundstone, a beautiful spot with lovely beaches. Many stops on the way to paddle in the water and take in the views.

Our must do today was to visit the Allcock and Brown monument which about 20 years previous I spent hours with Karen to find the spot where Allcock and Brown crashed their plane after the first flight across the Atlantic. Only to find out later that as they crashed in marshland the monument was elsewhere (1.5 miles away). Well we never did find it but we sure got wet.

Tonight's site is if nothing else in a wonderful location right on the beach. Made even better by the gent on the next pitch playing a banjo type instrument as we sip a beer, except for Paul who is happier swimming.

Well after a quiet night sitting watching the waves we were up and ready no earlier than when we have climbed into the pits late after a daft night out listen to the good old music and washing it down with a few pints of the black stuff.

My desire to spend more time in Connemara has yet to be fulfilled. It was probably made worse by having a drive as close as I could get to the twelve Bens. Okay than another reason to return.

then the trudge a 80 mile drive through Galway city on roads much better on a bike than the motorhome. Reaching doolin a leisurely 5pm and shock at how many people are about. The boat trips to the Arran Islands and the Cliffs of Moher looked very popular.

Well home for at least a couple of nights and this looks like the winner of site of tour and we haven't even used the facilities yet.

It was so good in Doolin we extended our stay here first to the Saturday and then when we got up on Sunday we looked at the weather and decided why move . Lets do an Aran Island trip.

Time to move on or else we would miss Dingle altogether and I think Karen who had ben away from here for a long time fancied another look. I must admit dingle is one of my rated places that I am always happy to visit.

The drive was slowish but nice and very scenic, I went away from the GPS and decided on the using the Shannon ferry. Arrived in Dingle for 3pm and parked on the harbour, where we ended up staying for the night. Dingle is not well served with camping facilities and we have done the same as others and had a free night in the car park.

Karen was a bit shocked seeing town, and could not comprehend the commercialism that had taken place since her last visit, disgusted she was until she found a jumper that took her fancy and all was well.

Anyway it must be okay as after a good night out we have stopped for another, returning to the same car park after a tour of the peninsular. We visited both campsites close to Dingle and one does not take units our size and the other is 5 miles from the pub, easy choice.

Final look around Dingle and a chance for karen to do more shopping followed by Paul getting rid of the last of his Euros.

My choice was to spend them on a brewery tour, 6€ to have a look round on your own followed by a pint of the brew. They only brew one beer and that's a lager named after the great explorer Tom Crean.

Stopped for lunch about 15 miles from Dingle in a bar call The South Pole, owned by Tom Crean's family and dedicated to him. The place was fantastic with loads of memorabilia about the place.

Talking about explorers and getting away and doing things had a chance to have a beer with a guy last night and also bumped into him today, an Englishman Mark Swain who was in town to launch his book about his cycle ride from Dingle to Japan. What an achievement 10000 miles taken 9 months. I thought I was good coast to coast 130 miles. That was after the previous nights chat with a lad about my Wainwright's, his son completed them all by the age of 5.