We left the Travelodge in Galway around 10.30am…without breakfast… as they had a Contiki Tour of 60 in so no room for us. We couldn’t get dinner the night before because the kitchen was closed all day due to them changing all the bed’s over….and as charming as Shamous (the manager) was we still had to wait an hour for our room even though we arrived at 5.00pm!
It was raining, cold and miserable…so we had to decide whether or not just to say another night in Galway, go straight to Limerck and find accomodation, or go ahead with our original plan to see the Cliffs of Moher.
It was going to be a shorter day today on the bike …. So we decide to press on …going to the “Edge of the World”….the Cliffs of Moher. Enroute via the R478 we weaved our way up the aptly named Corkscrew Hill…quite difficult and steep.
When we got to the Cliffs of Moher, they charged us 6 Euro each for the privilege! Everywhere in Ireland costs these days…nothing’s for free. The cliffs are claimed to be the most amazing in the world (214m/700ft) with walks and views over the Atlantic Ocean. We had a nice, but pretty steep, walk….the rain had a short break whilst we were there and held off until the very end and then soaked us on the way back. We enjoyed it and walked up to the view point to the right with the castle and then over to the left to the top off the first cliff. It was not an easy walk and at times we had to climb over a style or two….not for the faint hearted or elderly. We didn’t enjoy all the other tourists…some people are so rude and inconsiderate….I guess we have been pretty spoilt with most places we have gone being a bit off the beaten track having few people to contend with. We also rode past the Burren ( a limestone and fossil like rock formation stretching as far as the eye can see and home to a variety of flora and fauna).
We headed on to Limerick and found a B&B (Ashgrove House) around 4.00pm and Helen was happy to rent us a room for 35 Euro each. It’s a bit expensive but I was feeling a bit sick with all the twisties we had today and needed to rest …so we took it.
Here’s a Limerick written in Limerick….
2Up Adventures are taking a motorbike riding trip
So the ANIMAL they sent on a really big ship
She went across the sea
and was waiting for thee,
Now the adventure really begins I’ll give you the tip
Dinner was found just around the corner, at the Shamrock Chinese Restauarant, built into the side of a petrol station. Dinner was bland and uninspiring, and walking back to our B&B a passing car clipped a puddle and showered me from head to foot in water.
Back at our B&B we spread out our tent and sleeping bags – still damp from camping at Portballantrae, and read our books in the evening.