Split up before we even start

We’ve been yearning for quite some time to complete the wild Atlantic Way on Ireland’s West Coast.

The Wild Atlantic Way is a 2,500-kilometer (1,600-mile) driving route that stretches along Ireland’s west coast, from the Inishowen Peninsula in Donegal to Kinsale in Cork. It’s one of the most breathtaking and scenic routes in Europe. 

Of course, it wouldn’t be one of our tours if something didn’t immediately go awry.

We began planning a few months before I realized that the only way we could accomplish this was to divide the route into three or four visits. We couldn’t comprehend why the route is defined from north to south when, from South to North, the sea would always be closest to us, so of course, we’re gonna go from South to North.

All seems well until the very first part of organizing the trip. Williams’ books the ferry and passes the details onto ‘In My Own Time Edwards’. One evening, on the phone, he said, “The ferries are all booked up! Looks like we’re going on different boats.”. Brilliant, I guess Williams’ is buying his own beer on the ferry then?

It seems fate will not separate the two though, despite living nearly 100 miles apart and having ferry departure our times on different ferry providers around an hour apart, somehow the two managed to bump into each other passing Asda in Deeside on the A55. What are the chances!

The pair separate off the A55 just before Holyhead so Williams can get a bacon buttie and Edwards heads off to his ‘cheap’ and ‘slow’ Stena Line boat.

For this journey Williams is on his little Yamaha Tracer 700 and Edwards is on his mammoth BMW R1250GS adventure. One noticeable difference between the two bikes other than about £15,000 and 100kg is that Edwards BMW will virtually navigate the globe on its fuel tank. Williams however has to fill his bike more often than old man Edwards has to pee. With this in mind williams filled his bike up with 5.65 litres of fuel just outside Holyhead. On going in to pay he was treated with a £26.52 bill! “Errr I don’t think so mate”. The attendant literally had to be walked to the ferry before he would accept the £7.67 actual cost. 



The highlights of the Wild Atlantic Way










Our planned route






The Tracer with its thimble fuel tank (notice no “in my own time Edwards” to be seen)


A sausage bap with a barely cooked egg island from Williams’s fuel stop





Williams took this photo so he could pretend to be with his great friends on the ferry.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 2 on the WAW

Image
Accommodation in Bantry was fantastic, fair doo’s Edwards you have made up for all your past accommodation booking fopa’s. We stayed in Theresa and Victors beautiful home. Victor ran us down to the town so we could have a drink and the breakfast in the morning was amazing. Edwards loses things all the time, and it’s not hard to see why. We had just left the digs in Bantry, and his electrical bag, full of wires, came bouncing down the road towards Williams. The picture below shows Edwards’s ‘footing’ his bike glove, which he had placed on the seat of his bike by Dursey Island car park in force 9 winds before it shot off towards the sea.  The route today took in on the Ring of Beara which and on to Dursey Island. You reach the island which is the most South Westerly inhabited island via cable car but it was closed due to high winds. We were game to have a go if they were but apparently it was ‘DANGEROUS’. What ever. A quick coffee stop in a virtually abandoned cafe that rapidly beca...
Read more

We feel it in our finger we feel it in our toes and it’s not that far to Tipperary

Image
Today’s weather was truly inclement; it poured relentlessly. We had left our digs in Dingle and headed out for the Slea Head loop, followed by the Conor Pass. A long wet ride today  We stopped at the Conor pass waterfall for a pee. Brandon point for another pee stop, we are men of a certain age! A very dirty Tracer 700 An equally dirty GS1250 Kilshannig Harbour, the observant among you will notice the blue sky. This is because it was so wet that we couldn’t get our phones out of our pockets, so we had to steal the image from Google. Heading inland towards Tipperary we stopped at a roadside cafe to dry out but were quickly out numbered by a school party and found ourselves having to hit the road again. Williams had to eat humble pie today after leaving his toiletry bag at the digs in Dingle. Edwards counter piss take was short lived however when he realised she had also left his BMW tee shirt there. What a pair of geriatrics, what are we to do with them. Well at least the weather g...
Read more

Wet and wild Atlantic Way and ShatNav

Image
I’ve decided to feature this picture prominently in today’s blog post because, yes, these are indeed Edwards’ socks. I’m genuinely speechless, which is quite rare for me. Williams woke up this morning with a throbbing headache. He had only had three pints of Guinness, and it was clear that it was taking its toll. Despite the headache, he packed his bags and headed towards Cork, the starting point of the wild Atlantic Way. The morning weather was pleasant, and they stopped for breakfast in a charming little village called Thomastown. However, the café they had hoped to dine at was closed for another 20 minutes. So, they decided to grab a coffee first, followed by a hearty Cooked breakfast as soon as the café opened. Enjoying their coffee and cooked breakfast outdoors, watching the world go by, was an absolute delight. We then headed to the first point of interest on the Wild Atlantic Way, The Old Head of Kinsale. The roads were a bit sketchy, but our spirits were high until the rain be...
Read more