The sun was out! Time to make the most of Connemara!
We made a plan. We had found an eco camping site on a headland, west of Clifden which was only half an hour away, but you had to make an advance booking. We decided to book it so we were assured that we had somewhere to sleep tonight and as we couldn’t get in until 2pm, we would go off and enjoy the mountains while the weather was good. It was due to deteriorate again this afternoon.
And what a difference from yesterday’s dank and misty afternoon – with the sun out, the greens showed off their true colours against the crags and granite of the mountains. It was great to see them – we were a bit disorientated yesterday, not being able to figure out the landscape. We drove from the coast towards the mountains that rose majestically in the not so far distance. The road was tree lined and you could catch glimpses of them until the foliage gave way to open moorland – we passed loughs and lagoons as the land got a little wilder. We headed to Maam Cross along N59, before turning left onto theR336 to Maum. We were now in the valleys, with the mountains rearing on either side, tall and steep. With the broken sunshine, it was just perfect for a drive and admiring their magnificent beauty with a backdrop of lofty clouds. It was stunning. The R336 turned another left at Maum and we headed to the little village of Leenaun at the head of the Killary Fjord. Houses were few and far between along the valley and every so often, a little church would appear, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. We dropped down into Leenaun, nestling idyllically between the mountains and parked up – we had seen signs for the Purple Door Cafe and we were ready for a coffee and cake. There were probably half a dozen shops – a little grocer’s, the cafe, two pubs, and tourist shop, the post office and a large wool shop. We found the cafe – with a sticker on its door “Dogs are welcome” – and we went in to get refreshed. Afterwards we had a little wander (the wind was keen) and peered into the shops before continuing our mountain tour.
This was a refreshing change to be in and amongst the mountains – so different from the coast and peninsulas we had been following. This was our kind of landscape with peaks and ridges, some of them looking impossible to scale with their craggy sides and faces. We headed west, before turning down to Lough Inagh – this was wilderness, no houses, just miles and miles of sheep country. This valley was wider and not so dramatic, but still beautiful. As we passed a roadside fence, we noticed a large sheep with the most spectacular curly horns snared in the stockproof fencing. We needed to stop and help it, but we had travelled a little too far down the road, so we ended up doing a 1,000 point turn, managing to hold up traffic on this isolated road that had suddenly appeared from nowhere (how does that happen?) retracing our steps to the stricken sheep. As we pulled up and opened the door to leap out to rescue it, it must of really yanked as suddenly it was free and looking a bit stunned, wandered off. Oh for goodness sake.
We did a 500 point turn and continued, dodging sheep who sauntered casually across the road without a care in the world. We rejoined the N59 and headed to Clifden along the valley. Clumps of trees, shrubs and rhododendrons signified a house sheltered from the westerlies that obviously swept up the valley. A rain shower swept through and obliterated the view , though not as much as yesterday. The land softened with craggy outcrops and we dropped into Clifden. We stopped for fuel on its outskirts, which were a bit scruffy but the town centre was lovely with two streets of shops – we parked down a side road, the High Street chocker with cars both moving and parked and wandered back to enjoy Clifden. Again we admired all the independent shops (well there were no Marks and Sparks, Boots or Costa Coffees) in town. Exhausting Clifden we decided to head out onto the Sky Road headland for another little tour and followed little lanes overlooking little bays and inlets and craggy lowlands. We found a viewpoint and parked up, making sandwiches and a cuppa to watch the incoming bad weather approaching from the west. Far below was our eco campsite and it looked very exposed…….
So we let the satnav guide us further out to the headland with the wind picking up. We keep noticing donkeys everywhere – two or three in little fields, they seem to be the animal to keep around here. We turned off down a track that twisted and turned until we came across a barrier. We pressed the button and a disembodied voice let us in. Again, more twisty track through the campsite until we came to a circular house thinking it was the reception. It was a private house and we retraced our steps to a point where, if we had read the notices should of parked. By now it was raining horizontally, so we scampered past a coffee hut to an aging caravan and introduced ourselves. A quick tour of the site for loos, rubbish and water and we found ourselves on a little patch of grass looking out to sea with a curving sandy beach just metres away. Much to the amusement of the lady in the caravan next door, we messed around with the van’s position – high winds were due so we had to consider our pop top, but then we would get rain in our side door. Finally, we found the optimum angle and set up home.
The rain stopped and I took The Pup for a walk around the site. It was essentially a very large field, so campers were scattered which was nice. The Pup dragged me briefly onto the sandy beach but there was another dog on a lead (we’ve got a 50 euro refundable deposit on The Pup – she must be on lead, we must pick up her poop and she mustn’t dig the site – if we abide to these rules, we get our money back). I checked with the site owners – was The Pup allowed off lead on the beach. Yes, she was. So we both took her down and she rejoiced by running in the surf and shaking clumps of seaweed to bits. With the rain starting to spit on us and an ominous dark sheet of cloud on the horizon, we headed back to the van and stayed there. The wind picked up and rocked the van, the scenery disappeared and the rain lashed. This was the worst weather we had had so far, but it was nice to curl up, open a beer and chill. The Pup curled up on the back seat and slept, occasionally dreaming and we put the heating on in the van to knock off the chill. It was quite cosy especially watching the long grass being whipped, waves crashing on the rocks, rain lashing on the windows and the coast disappearing in murk. It’s only June after all………..
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