Last night's stopover was superbly peaceful and made for a splendid early-morning birdwatching session. There was nothing new or rare to note but plenty to see and enjoy.
The morning's drive was pretty uneventful but for taking the Tarbert to Killimer ferry over the Shannon (pic), which cuts out something like a 200km round trip from terminal to terminal. Pre-booking this service online saved 10% and it also saved around a further €5 to book as a a lorry rather than a motorcaravan. Total cost was about €26, so well worth it.
From late morning to mid-afternoon we dawdled around the picturesque town of Kilkee and took some time to enjoy the spectacularly rugged coastline thereabouts, with the Diamond Rocks area being partially impressive. We weren't alone, though; the area is obviously something of a honeypot and was rammed with international tourist of mainly German, Dutch and French origin.
Camping cars if all shapes and sizes were extremely prevalent so we didn't hang around but instead found a spot further down the coast where we were better able to enjoy the vistas and lunch alone. Emma-the-indefatigable also had a spin out on the bike from here. I watched the sea for a couple of hours and though there decent numbers of birds around, I clouding fulmar and guillemot, I didn't see any cetaceans.
The theme of zillions of camping cars continued into the early-afternoons drive as we bumbled north along the coast. It was pretty obvious that it would be a real challenge to find anywhere to respectfully and legally overnight without being joined by very non-like-minded people, so we headed inland a bit and after a bit of a forage came upon the spot shown in the coordinates. It's extremely quiet here and, as well as the expected birds, we spotted a fox cub close by.
The proliferation of camping cars and ever-increasing number of 'No Overnight Parking' (and similar) signs are things that have changed massively in Ireland in this past decade. Some of the antics we increasingly see now do not indicate a healthy trajectory, either. One car park we passed today that was meant for visitors to a derelict castle was absolutely rammed with German, Dutch and English motorhomes that were up on ramps with awnings etc out, leaving absolutely no room for anyone in a car to park to see the castle. Another antic was a line of motorhomes parked overlooking the sea on a linear bit of road that completely blocked the view of the sea that would normally be a afforded to of a series of adjacent houses. Such capers are just plain selfish, ignorant and ultimately self-destructive.
It's probably fair to say the best days of untainted travel by motorhome around Ireland's coastline at least are well-and-truly behind us.
Post composed at 22:00 on Thursday 23rd July from our intended overnighting spot N 52.80376°, W 09.27632° / http://maps.google.com/maps?q=loc:52.80376%2C-09.27632
