Wild Atlantic Way Ireland Break.

[Ed Webb]

Today we do our last stretch from Bantry to Kinsale, approx 119miles.
Kinsale is the end of the WAW when heading south (would be the start for those heading north)
We then need to head up to Cork where we shall stay tonight ready for the OH to do her shopping thing tomorrow.
Long day today about 140miles.
Ferry leaves rosslaire 7am Tuesday morning.

 

[Barry Buckley]

Great thread mate!

 

[Ed Webb]

Great thread mate!

I'd love to stay and keep this thread going, would seem rude not to make the most out of this weather. Just means I have to come back and hope the weather is somewhere near this.

 

[Ed Webb]

Slightly sad day today, at 1547 we drove into Kinsale which marked the end of the WAW for us. This journey was a mixture of scenery but a lot of it unexpected as the signs for the southheading travellers was patchy at best and very hard to follow. Because the roads of the WAW follow the coast they are often small and bendy, this meant a lot of time was spent with heads in maps checking location rather than appreciating the scenery.
However we did manage to grab lunch at a pub with sea views and were able to enjoy some local food whilst watching a sailing race.
This has been an awesome week and I'm fully aware we have been blessed by the weather however i'd certainly be looking at coming back and doing the north but also the south in the opposite direction. I also urge you guys to give it a go if you can. even as a first trip abroad(ish). Everyone speaks English, drive on the same side of the road. you will find many brits along your travels and its not a not hard to get too.
Me and Bec have many ideas of trips we would like to do and as this is our first in the van its certainly filled us with inspiration to look further afield.
Tomorrow as previously mentioned is a shopping morning in Cork (I trying to squeeze out another cooked breakfast from a local café) and then a 3.5 hour trip to Rosslare ready for the 7am sailing back to Blighty.

I'm sure there will be scenery on the way to attach to this thread.

 

[Ed Webb]

 

[Tony&Dawn]

It’s been great following your road trip, some stunning scenery they have down that way , great photos to look back on.

Waiting on that all important Monkey Monday photo for tomorrow

 

[Fish]

Finally Bec gets a mention..
Hello and welcome to the outside world Bec.. hope.you've not got cabin fever..

 

[Ed Webb]

Bec has the option of coming out into the outside world but she rather spend all morning doing makeup shite whilst the van gets packed up around her.

 

[Ed Webb]

It’s been great following your road trip, some stunning scenery they have down that way , great photos to look back on.

Waiting on that all important Monkey Monday photo for tomorrow

The photo is up! This was a particularly fun day for monkey.

 

[DaveyB]

Beginning to think that it was actually just you and the van, and that you'd really just left Bec at home, but taken her bike to fool us. You're gonna need to post up a picture of her next to the van before you come home, or we'll continue to think that this was just a man and his van bonding holiday.

 

[Ed Webb]

Interesting fact. Number plate wouldn't work when trying to pay for parking in Cork today. After speaking to the parking warden he has said that "in Ireland parking wardens cant issue fines to vehicles out of their jurisdiction" as a result parking is free to all foreign vehicles. You can however "still get towed for parking like a tit".

 

[Ed Webb]

Today was slightly boring to be a male as the morning was spent traipsing round shops in the hunt for lady clutter.
I'm going to become a pioneer for a man creche in shops like Debenhams, an area for men to sit with free coffee, sky sports and Lego. Wives can collect their partners on the way out.
Eventually a replacement handbag was found and dispite my moaning I did manage to get an Irish breakfast and a coffee for lunch
In cork parking is a nightmare unless you're under 2m as 4 out 5 major car parks are multistorey.
Anyway after lunch we headed over towards rosslaire and have a campsite about 30mins away. check in for ferry is no later than 7am tomorrow.
This campsite is a no thrills job and is essentially a gravel lump near the sea with an nearby empty holiday home for facilities. It's also situated at the bottom of a steep gravel bank so the morning could be entertaining.
Gutted that this has to come to and end but I can't stay here forever.
Really appreciated the positive comments from you all during the holiday and I look forward to the next adventure. Thank you all.

 

[Lord Mfwic]

Brilliant thread @Ed Webb and looked like an amazing trip. Thoroughly enjoyed reading it and thanks for sharing it with us all.
Safe trip home.

 

[Ed Webb]

One final photo of the van once packed into the ferry. That's a scary place if your van is an untouched immaculate specimen.

Looking back its been an amazing holiday, a nice welcome back into the transporter life.
I've arrived back with a list of little tweaks to the van and pineing for the next break.
I also found a new appriciation for photography and how the van can take you to some amazing places. I may also look at taking it further as a potential van related weekend hobby.
Thanks again for taking the time to read and follow us on our travels.
Look forward to catching up with you at various meet and shows throughout the year.

 

[Ghost]

@Ed Webb
I think you can see with the amount of likes Iv posted in this thread how much Iv enjoy reading it.

Fantastic write-up and stunning photos.

 

[DaveyB]

@Ed Webb, I think it is fair to say that a massive amount of members have enjoyed your scenery photo’s, daily blogging of the routes and places you’ve visited, as possibly the first person to offer a real write up on the WAW. I think that your total number of posts, to “likes” received profile shows this. Can’t be many others with a 97% “like” ratio, if any.
Still reckon you really went alone though, no sight of Bec in any of the pictures.

 

[Peatey]

When's the travel book coming out @Ed Webb you have certainly set the bar very high for us fellow travellers, keep up the good work

 

[Ed Webb]

@Ed Webb, I think it is fair to say that a massive amount of members have enjoyed your scenery photo’s, daily blogging of the routes and places you’ve visited, as possibly the first person to offer a real write up on the WAW. I think that your total number of posts, to “likes” received profile shows this. Can’t be many others with a 97% “like” ratio, if any.
Still reckon you really went alone though, no sight of Bec in any of the pictures.

Technically there's no actual photos of me, the only thing we can say for sure was that the van has been to Ireland
I personally really like reading post of members travels and I'm pleased I was able to give something back, I really enjoyed the Europe trip that Polyzy did I think last year and really enjoy the adventures of @Loz monkey.
I did have a good post to like ratio before we went away but its certainly improved. I've blagged a DSLR camera from my dad so will be practicing with my photography over the coming months. the van can really take you nice places to grab shots and also camping allows you to grab good sunset/sunrise shots.

When's the travel book coming out @Ed Webb you have certainly set the bar very high for us fellow travellers keep up the good work

I've got a few ideas for next year but still need to do research and viability checks. Id like a 2WD drive version of the Alps trip @Loz did someday as the videos he posted were jaw-dropping. Wish i had 4 motion now!!! Norway is also on the list of wants along with Europe in general, I aim to target the Mediterranean areas such as Italy and Spain as I really like the food and culture.
I've come back with a little list of jobs for the van, hopefully I can get them all completed by the end of the year, if so I can start looking at longer trips, if not we may just do the north coast 500 next year to allow time and finds to get everything completed. Its possible we may be looking at moving house end of this year, I'm after a Garage/Mancave and bigger kitchen and Bec wants a bigger garden. We shall see.

 

[Dogs Dung]

We're already thinking of doing it again in a few years time. But in the opposite direction. The same but different. We also still have the north to do. The weather helps but it's such a fantastic place.

if doing the north, give us a shout, give you some tips/must do,s & donts

 

[Ed Webb]

if doing the north, give us a shout, give you some tips/must do,s & donts

It's on the to do list for sure.