Day 118, 30 October 2012. Athlone to Dublin ... Halloween is coming! We left Athlone in a very gentle fashion this morning. Had a great stay at The Arch House B&B. Officially first equal best brekkie with the Amber Heights in Galway. No rush. Only an hour or so on the motorway to Dublin. I think it actually took half as long again driving around inner-city Dublin's nefarious method of tourist torture known as the one-way street system. Eventually we m...

Day 117, 29 October 2012, Drive through Connemara to Roundstone, back to Galway, on to Athlone (smack in the middle between Galway and Dublin). Tails - the sun shone and we were honour bound to take a scenic drive through the Connemara. This morning some fellow guests recommended a drive to Roundstone to see the stunning scenery. Due to an ever so slightly missed turn the one hour drive took two or more and we went around the coast through stunning light, shad...

Day 116, 28 October 2012, Bodyke through Ennis, to Liscannor on the coast and on to the Cliffs of Moher. Brrrrr... - The slogan for Irish weather should really be "Do not be alarmed by the Glowing Yellow Orb in the sky... It won't be around for long". The day dawned. Eventually. Despite having put our clocks back one hour it was a very dark morning and a very wet morning. Perfect for golf apparently, but not so entrancing for a scenic drive to the wildest and...

Day 115, 27 October 2012, Leaving Killarney (Killarney Peaks Guesthouse), Scenic Drive around the Ring of Kerry, on to Tralee, Limerick and finally, the official middle of nowhere - Bodyke (and the East Clare Golf Village). After a grimy, drizzly, freezing day capering about Blarney and Killarney, and a good nights sleep, this morning dawned with brilliant sunshine.... all the better to glitter off the hard, cold frost that was blanketing the countryside. Our h...

Day 114, 26 October 2012, Blarney Stone and Castle - We were moving far too slowly this morning, particularly after the most fabulous cooked breakfast at Ashcroft B&B in Blarney, but we eventually saddled up and headed into Blarney. We received some sage advice from the information office which was to get ourselves to Blarney Castle to kiss the stone before it was inundated with the midday tour bus hordes. So we did. Now we knew to expect the privately hel...