Mon 5 June/Tuesday 6 June

The adventure begins! Been packing the van all day in pouring rain. Now at Liverpool docks on the ferry awaiting departure at 3am for the 8 hour crossing to Dublin. Not looking forward to the choppy seas tonight. Jack has to stay in the van throughout the journey.

… Didn’t leave Liverpool port till 3.30 due to bad weather. V choppy sea! And delayed till 11.30 arrival. Shattered! Very little sleep but hopefully will sleep better tonight. Was accompanied to car deck to check on jack about about 9.30am. He’s fed up understandably but coping really well. Can’t wait to get onto dry and stationary land. Weather much better now too. Blue skies and I can see Dublin Port!

Having left the ferry port we turned onto the coast road from Dublin, going through Dun Laoghaire and Bray, then onto the Wicklow mountains road to Rathdrum. We then stopped at Avoca, a place I have wanted to visit since being a fan of the TV series Ballykissangel many years ago. The sun shone, I visited Fitzgerald’s pub where the series was filmed and had half a guiness on a bench outside in the sunshine. And what they say is correct: Guiness definitely tastes better in Ireland!

Then travelled a few miles further south to Arklow. Finally found a quiet wild camping spot by the beach at Clogga with stunning views. Lovely walks and Jack had a great time on the beach.

Wednesday 7 June

Beginning to settle into the routine now after a rocky start. Yesterday was written off after a decent morning and a lovely beach run at Clogga with Jack. The afternoon turned into VERY heavy rain. Went through Blackwater, Wexford, Rosslare and abandoned travel when we got to Kilmore Quay. Have had torrential rain all night. Very few campsites round this area so I ended up staying in a boggy field with no facilities for 10 euros at a comunity centre. I’d run out of water so they let me fill a container. I could just put a bucket outside of course! Rain is supposed to ease off today but still raining at moment! Will move on this afternoon to Cork area. My phone has good signal but can’t access laptop with mobile data dongle I brought so far, so haven’t been able to blog or do any work. Hoping it will work when I move west. My BT mobile is working fine with 4G and no extra charges for roaming according to BT which is good news. Rain is supposed to ease off this afternoon, hope to see Kilmore Quay properly before setting off.

Thursday 8 June

All is well and feeling better since the sun came out this afternoon. After an excellent all day breakfast at the local cafe, explored the picturesque fishing village of Kilmore Quay. Looked much better than yesterday in torrential rain! Then this afternoon we moved on passing through New Ross, Waterford and Tramore. This part of the Copper Coast was spectacular this afternoon, Riverstown, Annestown and Bunmahon. Just before Dungarvon we were greeted with a rainbow before settling into a lovely campsite for the night, possibly 2 nights as I think I need to have a rest day tomorrow. Jack has had a great day exploring new beaches and my mood has improved no end with the return of sunshine!