Ireland - Here we Come!

Ireland - Here we Come!

Sunday 14th May 2017

Today was to our last day at the Butterley Bank Camping and Caravan Park, and even though it's very basic it's served us extremely well with regard to it's lovely rural setting and it's location in relation to our family.  Also the owners have been very friendly so if they manage to plumb in electric (as they plan to) we'll certainly be back and hopefully we'll be able to call the site home when we visit our roots in the future.



We spent today preparing T4rdis2 for our forthcoming jaunt to Ireland but that didn't really take very long, so we also managed to squeeze in a bit more visiting which included Sunday Dinner with Ben, Louise and Evelyn - a visit which was made much easier because John and Val (sister and brother-in-law) lent us their car - so a very big THANK-YOU to them 😙😙


Monday 15th May 2017

This morning dawned very dreary and instead of the bright sunshine we'd got used to, rain greeted us when we threw back our blinds, but as we knew we would be spending most of it driving the 308 miles up to Scotland it didn't really matter other than for the fact it would make driving conditions less than perfect!

We left the site at about 10am, fuelled up and then we were soon on the motorway and gobbling up the miles - however on several occasions T4rdis2 was unable to 'gobble' as quickly as we would have liked because the traffic was heavy, and in all our journey took us over 8 hours!  Therefore we didn't arrive until 6.30, and after driving all that way in heavy traffic and sometimes teeming rain, poor John was feeling the strain so we did no more than park up in the Ferry Terminal Car Park at Ardrosson, had a quick tea, and then chilled for an hour before bed!  But even that didn't prove to be a 100% restful - there was a bloody great ⛴ berthed at the side of us which ran it's generator all night, and then at about 5 am a 🐦(seagull) 🐦 decided to come and do a tap dance on our roof - and not only was he wearing hob nailed boots, he also screamed for his mates to come and join him!  I think it's safe to say we were quite glad when morning came!


Tuesday 16th May 2017

Today was a bit of a special day - we're celebrating a year of living within the confines of T4rdis2 🎉🎉🎉

So for our special day our plan was to nip over The Firth of Clyde to the  Isle of Arran to see John's sister Cath and her Husband George - it was lovely to see them both again after over a year, and from the minute we got there they worked very hard at spoiling us!  First it was back to theirs for coffee and catch up, then they treated us to a fine lunch at The Douglas Hotel, then more indulgences in the way of posh chocolates form the hand made Choc Shop, and after all that we took the time to sit on the sea front in lovely warm sunshine while we nattered some more and watched the yachts bobbing about in Brodick Harbour!  We finished our visit off with coffee and cake, but all too soon it was time to dash and catch the ferry for our return journey to T4rdis2 who had patiently waited for us in the car park!

And really it was a good job we hadn't left it too late to come back over the water because we still had a 50 mile journey up to Lendalfoot where we overnighted in a  lovely parking area that is home to The Russian Varyag Memorial.

The memorial is  situated here because in 1920, after serving in the Russian Navy, the Varyag was sold to Germany for scrap, but while she was under tow she ran aground on the rocks off Lendalfoot and this became her final resting place.  The wreck remained visible until 1925, but then the once proud warship sank beneath the waves.

Our parking spot was only a few metres form where the Clyde's waters  lapped over the shore line rocks, and the icing on the cake was the magnificent sun set that occurred as we were eating our late tea - if this had been a camp site I'm sure it would charge premium rates, but we're in Scotland now so it was all free!

Wednesday 17th May 2017

What a wonderful way to start our day - we unlatched our blinds and the view out over the waters to The Isle of Arran that was festooned in cloud was quite breath-taking - a fantastic spot to sit and enjoy breakfast!  However, we didn't have to much time to linger - we were soon pottering on our way to the Cairn Ryan Ferry Port ready for our departure for our next adventure.

Our crossing was calm and quick - only 2 hours - and then we disembarked onto Irish soil and our first drive along the magnificent coastal road which took us tonight's destination which was to be The Glenmore House Campsite.  The site is situated between Ballycastle and Ballintoy and we've specifically come here to visit The Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge and The Giants Causeway, so all we have to do now is hope that the weather is kind to us so we see them in their best light!



Oh, and did I mention the dreaded midges - as we got here the heavens opened - but the downpour didn't last for long!  The sun quickly came out resulting in mist rising from the dampened ground, but because the air was very still this allowed the midges to rise in great numbers and some of them manged to sneak stealthily into T4rdis2's interior around our insect nets resulting in John and I swotting every-which-way in the hope that we could rid ourselves of them before bedtime - we didn't want to become their feast overnight!!



Anyway, that's about all until next time  👋👋👋😚😚