Time to pack up Vern and head off to Ireland. Once again I was using Tesco vouchers to get me and Vern across the Irish Channel, this time on P&O Irish Ferries from Liverpool to Dublin. There’s nothing like something for free! Totty was to join me but since she doesn’t like ferries I was told to pick her up at Dublin airport - sensible girl.

I left Cambridge on Wednesday and drove up to a very nice campsite just 15 miles from Liverpool. I arrived early enough to give me time to get out and do some caching in the lovely surrounding countryside. 

I left early the following morning and drove to the docks. Finding P&O isn’t as simple as it would seem as this is mainly a truckers crossing so you enter the docks through a security gate. There were probably no more than 30 cars on this ferry. This has its benefits though, the boat offers a free breakfast and lunch/dinner on the 8 hour crossing. I tucked in of course. It was one of the smoothest crossings I’ve ever had, hardly a wave to be seen. I camped that night in a small town called Rush, 20 miles north of Dublin.

Totty flew in on the Friday morning and once collected we headed off to County Kerry and a brilliant campsite called Mannix Point on the outskirts of Cahirsiveen. We received a lovely welcome from Mortimer, the owner who sells his site mainly on his personality which considering the stunning surrounds is a brave move, he pulls it off though.

Kerry is just stunning. On our first day out we went caching surprise, surprise. We drove around the coast on the Skellig Ring, looking out from the superb cliffs to the two Skellig Islands 10km offshore. We then drove down to the golden sandy beaches of Waterville Bay where we got to do another cache and also a spot of fishing, not that I caught anything.

Day 2 or 3 we visited Valentia Island and trekked up to the western point. This was a steady climb that left us at the top of cliffs overlooking the Atlantic. The sun was out and the ground dry which was great as the cache we went to find was on very steep sloping grass dropping a 100 or so meters into the sea. You really wouldn’t want to be trying to find this in a gale and driving rain. We also visited Culloo Head which has a furious sea pounding around it. Lastly I took Totty to the Tetrapod Trackway, discovered in 1992 it’s a fossilised track of one of the first animals to pull itself from the sea some 380million years ago. She wasn’t that impressed as the path down was very steep and we were quite tired. I still think it’s cool that something that old was only discovered a few years ago. Valentia is a great place and I could easily go back.

Our last local trip in Kerry was to go fishing in a harbour just 3 or 4 miles from the campsite. When we got there a family were swimming in the crystal waters. The grandfather was even diving in from the steps of the harbour wall. Then another girl turned up with a snorkel and mask, our cue to don wetsuits and grab out snorkels and masks from Vern (yep we’ve got all sorts of stuff in there). It was cold but lovely. After the dip I decided it was time to try a spot of fishing and within seconds I had caught my first fish, a small Pollack about 30cm long. Only trouble was it had other ideas and had dashed for shelter taking my line with it. I had to reel it up with the lobster pot it had swum for cover under, very funny. It took some time to detangle the mess but I had my first catch. I went on to catch just tiddlers after that before a local Irish lad of 7 or 8 came by and told me in no uncertain terms I was doing it all wrong! I laughed. He went on to catch nothing so I didn’t feel too bad.

From Cahirsiveen we headed round the Ring of Kerry to Killarney in what can only be described as torrential rain. It didn’t stop us caching on the way. The national park here is beautiful and we really need to go back and investigate. We spent just one night here and visited the town centre for a couple of beers. It was our friend Courtney’s birthday and the first bar we found was called Courtney’s so it was only right we had a pint or two and sent her a photo while she celebrated in Chicago.

From Killarney we chose to take the coast route heading to Galway. As we boarded the Shannon Ferry to cross into Co. Clare I got a call from Willie Devitt, a guy I’ve worked with for 10+ years to say he was going to be in Galway for the next couple of days. How funny.

We cached up the coast. At the first cache Totty got the fright of her life when she walked through a gateway only to be scared to death by a little man hiding from the elements. It was such a funny moment. Later on after bypassing the Cliffs of Moher we had another very funny moment after having found a cache on the rocks of The Burren, we moved down to a blow hole. The water was being pushed into the air so we got close enough to look without being splashed, well at least that’s what we thought. Seconds later a huge wave hit and water jetted out of the rock in front of us. I managed to turn and shield the camera, but both Totty and me came away soaked and pissing ourselves. It would have been a brilliant You’ve Been Framed moment.

We spent the next two nights in Galway. On the first night we treated ourselves to the most expensive fish and chips I’ve ever had and then a few pints of Guiness. We met a lovely Irish family who had chosen to holiday locally due to the financial climate. We talked until the pub shut and then headed back to the campsite. There we ran into a Dutch couple whom we’d met on one of our first nights at Mannix Point. We ended up chatting to them until the early hours, the latest I’ve been up in a long time.

On the Saturday we met up with Willie and went back into Galway for a night out. We had an excellent night with Willie, a group of his friends and 3 of his sisters. Far too much Guiness was consumed. Tops.

The last part of our Ireland adventure took is to a campiste I’d seen on the web before leaving home, Actons Beach. We arrived to find preparations ongoing for a triathlon. We were lucky enough to get the last pitch for two nights. The campsite is surrounded on three sides by the sea and an estuary. Perfect for fishing! I caught a decent sized mackerel and was then told I’d been the first person to catch anything in weeks and was asked how I’d managed it.

Along the beach from the site there is a sandbar at low tide that allows you to walk or drive over to Omey Island. We knew there was a cache over there so it had to be done. The island is beautiful with a lake at its heart and wild rolling sand hills on the Atlantic side. We climbed these to find the cache before heading back across the sand bar to the local pub. The sandbar is probably just over half a mile wide so we decided that we would have to come back and drive Vern on the beach the next morning before we headed back to Dublin. Again the people in to pub were so friendly, something we will remember Ireland for.

Totty was dropped at Dublin airport the following day. I stayed one more night before getting the ferry back to Liverpool and driving home. I had to laugh at the ferry check-in as on the printed crossing information sheet they had crossed out the Rough sea state and had to manually write in Good. This pretty much sums up the Irish sea I guess, not to be messed with.

Ireland was stunning, friendly, remote, empty and another of our fabulous holidays together. We will be back.