Daily Archives: August 11, 2023

Wild Atlantic Way

Since we got to Derry/Londonderry we’ve been more or less following the Wild Atlantic Way, a tourist route that runs along the rocky west coast of the island. We’re now getting to the area most visited by tourists — and tour buses — and many of our decisions are made to avoid the crowds that high season and good weather bring.

We feel no need to stick to a line on the map and we often seek out quiet outposts for the night.

On any day without rain it’s rare to find a beach that’s not crowded but here we are at Kilgobbin Bay Beach on Dingle Peninsula. Not only did we have the place nearly to ourselves, but the beach was bordered by some of the most colorful rocks we’ve seen so far in Ireland. If we were still on the boat I’d have relocated a few choice ones to our saloon, but sadly the campervan can’t accommodate a rock collection.

We’ve grown accustomed to one-lane driving and luckily there’s little traffic in remote areas and we rarely meet someone coming head-on, but even the official Wild Atlantic Way route is also often one lane but with enough passing places to squeeze by another vehicle safely.

Still, there are areas you hope to goodness someone isn’t barreling toward you from around the bend with no passing place in evidence.

We don’t think there are nearly enough places to pull off to take photos but we take advantage of most of them. Sometimes there are food trucks or vendors or buskers. We loved this man’s music but he was selling CDs. What are you supposed to do with a CD?

We found a quiet beach parkup just before another storm blew through. Our weather has definitely improved but the squalls are still fierce and require some planning.

By morning the sun was shining again. This is the Ireland we came for.

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