Thursday 18th June Day 31
We had a quiet night with not a peep from the neighbours, when I say quiet night that was apart from the pouring down rain but we are used to that and it had stopped in the morning we had a couple of stops planned today, the first one was to see a lighthouse yes we have seen one before but this one was on the WAW official must do’s on the trip, the second was also an official must see it was a cliff face, a rock and the Ocean, although we had already seen all three of this type of spectacle a couple of times on the trip this one was special but first the lighthouse visit. Skip a bit of travel time and we arrived at the lighthouse and yep it was a lighthouse at the end of a rock and it was also going to cost €24 to go inside but you couldn’t go to the very top, based on that fact that we have visited a number of lighthouses and also visited the top of some of them, we decided to be happy just seeing it at a close distance. We did visit the cafe for a coffee which to get through you had walk through the gift shop, we resisted buying a “I heart Fanad lighthouse T shirts” that were obviously priced for American tourists, but hey the coffee was good, next stop was the cliffs, water and rocks visit. We will skip a bit of the driving time but the last part was down and then back up a very interesting goat track and it was great to think that we had to back along it when we had finished the visit to the rock, I have been doing this rock a disservice as it is a very impressive rock, it was the Great Pollet Sea Arch which is a magnificent 150 foot sea arch as its name says, it is also Ireland’s tallest sea arch which I suppose is a big rock with a hole in it. The walk to the sea arch isn’t an attack on a summit it is the exact opposite as the car park is at the top of the cliff which is also taller that the arch itself and the only way to see it is to make the trip down to the beach and then back up again which is a hike of over two miles plus how ever much walking you do on the beach, according to the visit the information, the hike will get your heart rate up. Barb decided to sit this one out and wait for me in Glo with heating on, the info sheet wasn’t kidding the path was steep and long, then when you get to the stoney beach the type that moves under your feet as you walk, then to get a proper view of the arch you have to scramble over lots of rocks. Was it worth all that effort, darn right it was it is pretty special, it was a bit unfortunate that Atlantic Ocean wasn’t its usual wild self and its waves weren’t crashing against the rocks and the sky was flat grey and the rock would have looked more fantastic with a blue sky and sunlight shining through its hole but you can’t have everything and I am sure that a bit of photoshop will sort that out when we get home. Then it was time to retrace my steps and by the time I reached the summit, the info sheet wasn’t kidding about getting your heart rate up, exhausted and a bit wet as it had started raining I got back to Barb and Glo. After some deep breaths we were ready for the return trip down the goat track and then onto our next destination which was Letterkenny where Barb had found an Aire stopover just outside of the town, as we travelled towards the town it became obvious that some of the roads we were using were going to be parts of one or more of the special stages for the Donegal rally, the observation wasn’t too difficult due to the signs saying that the road will be closed over the next few days and also the big circles on road depicting where the chicane’s would be, we did think of parking overnight on the route but there was nowhere suitable, not thinking anymore of it we headed to Letterkenny. When we arrived we had another one of those hey you two you haven’t done any research moments, as the roads were blocked, there were rally signs everywhere, there were stalls selling all types of rally gear, we wondered if there might be some relationship between the town and the rally, that wasn’t really difficult but what could it be. After battling through the traffic while listening to the boy racers who’s cars have the biggest exhaust’s and dump valves, coughing and banging louder that a group one rally car, that loud that they would never pass noise control, we arrived at the rugby club and the gate was shut, well it was until Barb opened it and we drove in and parked in one of the designated motorvans spaces. Plugged into the EHU and with the kettle on, we did a bit of research and found that Letterkenny was fairly important to the rally as it was where scrutineering was taking place, it would be parc ferme where the cars would be parked and also the the start and finish, not the start of a special stage but the bit when the cars leave the Start Podium and head along the road section before the actual start of a stage, so yes a fairly integral and important part of the rally. After we arrived the motorvans spaces started to fill up and one of the fields had been turned into a campsite and more land was being used as a car park, we walked into town and it was really busy, one of the bars which is part of a big business, they even have a bar in Dubai, was sponsoring 5 cars and they were lined up outside, it was another of those tardis pubs small frontage and absolutely massive inside, live music playing and everyone was having a great time. We then walked up the street, turned right and all of the cars participating in the rally were parked in number order. In front of car one was the starting podium on which the drivers were being interviewed, it was lively down the road but here it was completely ram packed, after we had a look at the cars we headed back to find somewhere quieter, the original bar we visited was a lot quieter now and we called in for a nightcap before walking back to Glo, the boy racers and there were dozens of them were out in force and having competitions to see who could make the most noise and boy they could make some noise, couldn’t go over a speed bump but a lot of noise they could make, we couldn’t decide if they had come to watch the rally or just drive around. Fortunately where we parked was reasonably quiet, we just wondered what it was going to be like on the morning, I guess we will all find out tomorrow, but until then that’s your lot.
Stopover Letterkenny Motorhome party st Eunans GAA club, Co. Donegal
WTW flying.dedicating.jurors