Today turned out to be one of my favourites of the whole trip. We found a random causeway heading to two small islands called Inishnakillew and Inishcottle. Really secluded little places tucked away, with a small fishing industry and probably holiday homes these days.
This whole area is made up of hundreds of little islands. It would be a great place to sea kayak or sail around.
The WWW winds its way now onto Achil Island. The scenery around the coast line is stunning, the roads were just begging to be ridden, but the coastal views stopped us in our tracks many times.
Eventually, we stopped at a pub for some food. This turned out to have traditional Irish music, so we stayed to listen. During this, we got chatting to a family, who invited us onto another pub after this one, so off we went. Around 2am, we pitched our tents in a beer haze and slept very soundly!!
The next day, woken by munching sheep and a quad bike in the distance, we visited the abandoned village of Slievemore, which is on a peat road. Its history is compelling and the ruins are quite impressive given their age.
The next day, woken by munching sheep and a quad bike in the distance, we visited the abandoned village of Slievemore, which is on a peat road. Its history is compelling and the ruins are quite impressive given their age.
After finding a mad breakfast wrap in a garage, along with some typical garage coffee and a very bubbly attendant lady, we left the island and rejoined the WWW.
Meandering along quiet inlets and past random white sandy beaches really kept us captivated by the landscape. We rode out to Claggan Island along another beach, this one a mix of pebbles and sand. After a wander out to a rocky point, we then took in the road to the end of the Belmullet headland.
Lunch was at the weather station that changed the date of the D Day landings. The weather man here, reported high winds and poor weather, which had the effect of pushing the landings back a day. Nothing so dramatic for us though, we just got to watch a school of dolphins drifting by as we ate lunch.
Carrowteige is a headland where peat cutting is still a big thing. We managed to get right to the cliff edges to take photos of Kid Island and the bikes, before going for a wander.
The end of the day saw us finding a small promontory overlooking a small bay. People were wild swimming until around 8pm, so we chilled and pitched our tents, drinking wine and just enjoying the sound of people splashing in the water.
A fire lit, we talked utter shite and watched the sunset.
