Ireland Continued: October 8-16, 2006

After Cubby flew back to the US, we stayed in Dublin at Sam and Julia's for another 3 relaxing days. We spent a good bit of time by their fire, eating great food Sam cooked up and listening to Sam and his band jiggle away. We enjoyed walking the streets and parks of Dublin and one day took a day trip south to County Wicklow for a hike. We dragged ourselves away from Sam and Julia's warm hospitality to head up to the wild weather of the north west coast of Ireland. On the way we stopped at an amazing passage tomb. Older than the pyramids. Designed so that on the morning of the winter solstice, the sun beams through a small crack in the ceiling to strike the altar that used to hold human remains. Very Indiana Jones.

We stayed a night at a unique circular eco-house hostel, then headed to where the waves were curling. The only place to find Craig's cousin, Gary. We watched Gary really carve up the surf at Esky. Impressive. Then headed to smaller waves of Enniscrowen where Gary helped Craig finally make his debut at standing on a board for more than a moment. Invigorating and beautiful under the sun setting sky. While Craig and Gary were in the cold Atlantic water, Zoe soaked nearby in warm Atlantic water with seaweed. Yep, another of the seaweed baths that Ireland's west coast is famous for, and rightly so. They are pretty cool. We got stuck talking to the owner of the bath house until Gary chased us out so we could make it to the pub before they finished serving dinner. After dinner then having eggs thrown at our vehicle by leprechauns (or maybe it was just the wild Irish youth) and being dragged around town by Gary until the pubs shut, we were ready for a good nights sleep in Gary's campervan. We left Esky the next day with Gary trailing behind us in his campervan, planning to meet in Donegal in the afternoon. But being Friday the 13th, the brakes on Gary's campervan failed and he ended up being towed all the back to England.

We continued exploring the Donegal peninsula. Went on a great hike with around Glen Gesh Pass with awe inspiring views of the peninsula. Beautiful beaches and waterfalls too. Stayed a couple of nights out at the tip of the peninsula and at a great little hostel in a sleepy little town with some lovely people. The remarkable bunch of guests kept us there an extra night as well as the host bringing out a bottle of poitin (Irish homemade alcohol, moonshine) to pass around. Needless to say, the next day we had a late start to our hike along the huge sea cliffs of Slieve League. We reluctantly bid farewell to Irish countryside and drove back to Belfast to catch the ferry back to Scotland.