Our first trip away

Buford T Justice

Ok, so first weekend out this weekend and I thought I'd ramble a bit about how I got on.

We headed off from Sligo down as far as Doolin. On advice from people here, we went to Nagles in Doolin.

We headed through lisdoonvarna and there were some serious hills to get up, and climb. hard work for the van and it chewed it up no problem.

It was a lovely park, everything was really clean, and the grass was kept short. Each bay had water, waste and electricity. The main toilet block was spotless and really big. Even the 24 hr toilets were very clean. Showers were token use, as were the gas hobs in the campers kitchen. Two cooking hobs and three sinks. There was also a proper chemical toilet in the place too. It wasn't overly expensive to stay there, and with the weather it was amazing. There was also a watering bay for the campers to fill up on water as you were leaving.

First thing i noticed was those damn bugs on my nice clean van.


It was a nice place....



So we stayed there on Saturday night and headed for the Cliffs of Moher. At the bottom of the road there was a sign saying no Caravans and no Buses. Figured out why when we went up the road. Man there were some hills and the van had to work getting up them.

The Cliffs



We headed down to Lehinch from there and stayed in Ocean View Park. To be honest it was a bit of a kip.
The whole park was on a slope, and no attempt to have the bays level at all. Even the guys with the ramps weren't high enough. There were only two toilets and two showers and they were smelly. The chemical toilet was an AJ into the sewer line. The bins were locked with hours between 9 and 6. Even during that time we couldn't get to dump our rubbish. I wouldn't recommend this park at all.

Anyway, gotta say Hi to Jimmy if he reads this. Met a guy who couldn't get his van started. It was a 96 Ducato. We swopped batteries from my van to his and away he went. I figured I'd help, as I would like to think that if I was in the same boat someone would help me out too. Anyway, he offered that if we were ever in his neck of the woods he would give us a plug in and use of showers etc.. which was really nice of him. I felt part of a community.....

Anyway, we decided that it would be a fun exercise to count the number of campers on the road, not including caravans or campers in parks. In total we counted 75 vans on the road, which was a lot.

I thought there was a code amongst campervanners where you'd wave..... I only got 6 waves, most people never bothered. Wonder is it because its not easily recognizable as a camper, as its certainly distinctive.

We also learned that the skylight needs something inside the van to cover it so it blocks the light in the early mornings, and you can sleep in a little past 7

All in all it was a great weekend, and we enjoyed it immensely. Will be hitting the roads again sometime soon

WildWater

Fingers McGee wrote: »

Ok, so first weekend out this weekend and
First thing i noticed was those damn bugs on my nice clean van.

Yes we were on the road on Thursday and the flies were horrendous. However, they were not as bad on the return journey or over the last few days.

Fingers McGee wrote: »

I thought there was a code amongst campervanners where you'd wave..... I only got 6 waves, most people never bothered. Wonder is it because its not easily recognizable as a camper, as its certainly distinctive.

There definitely is a code. I would put it down to people not realising that you guys are a camper. We have not yet passed a camper that didn't wave. Perhaps you should write we are a camper on the front It would give us more reaction time. By my calculation there are 69 camper drivers out there feeling guilty for realising too late that you were a camper and not waving .

killalanerr

Fingers McGee thanks for sharing we did a similar trip in the mid week before Easter wild camped 2 nights and stayed in the site beside the river in Doolin on the last night the site was fine but didnt get a lot for my €28 ,it was my first time on a Irish site as we needed to empty out the loo and waste , we checked out Nagles but decided it was to far of a walk to the pub then we didnt go out in the end !,how to you get to and from the pubs from Nagles ? have to say i was temped to wild camp in the car park next to Nagles,we will be defo back to clare/killee area so much to see and do

Malta1

Excellent report....well done

Macy0161

[QUOTE=Fingers McGee;72019792Wonder is it because its not easily recognizable as a camper, as its certainly distinctive.[/QUOTE]
After it being "the plan" for so long, I'm pretty good at spotting a conversion, but it'd be hard enough head on tbh.

Buford T Justice

killalanerr wrote: »

Fingers McGee thanks for sharing we did a similar trip in the mid week before Easter wild camped 2 nights and stayed in the site beside the river in Doolin on the last night the site was fine but didnt get a lot for my €28 ,it was my first time on a Irish site as we needed to empty out the loo and waste , we checked out Nagles but decided it was to far of a walk to the pub then we didnt go out in the end !,how to you get to and from the pubs from Nagles ? have to say i was temped to wild camp in the car park next to Nagles,we will be defo back to clare/killee area so much to see and do

We were tempted to wild camp there too, but it was only €21 as its off season for Nagles. We walked it down to the pub and back. Bit of a stretch but the weather was good so I didn't mind.

Would you normally wild camp instead of using parks?

Buford T Justice

Macy0161 wrote: »

After it being "the plan" for so long, I'm pretty good at spotting a conversion, but it'd be hard enough head on tbh.

Think with the paint job, and putting the name 'Red' on the van should help somewhat

Irishgoatman

According to Nagles website the pubs are "A short distance away".
Just how far are they?. I've only stopped in Doolin to admire the scenery but was thinking of staying in Nagles next week. I've got back trouble so would I be able to walk to and frrom the pubs carrying a guitar in its case easily? doesn't sound like it.

Let me know please.

Glad your first trip was a success Fingers. Here's to many more.

Buford T Justice

Irishgoatman wrote: »

According to Nagles website the pubs are "A short distance away".
Just how far are they?. I've only stopped in Doolin to admire the scenery but was thinking of staying in Nagles next week. I've got back trouble so would I be able to walk to and frrom the pubs carrying a guitar in its case easily? doesn't sound like it.

Let me know please.

Glad your first trip was a success Fingers. Here's to many more.

Thanks, and here's hoping.

O'Connors pub is the nearest to Nagles, and according to Google maps its 1 KM away from the park, so a bit of a walk.

If it helps, there's a car park across the road from the pub though.

demoreino

Great report Fingers,great pics too.
Congrats on your first trip away,hope its the first of many.

I think there used to be a bit of a short cut to the pub at Nagles. Jump the wall and cross a couple of rough fields. I know thats not much good for the less abled amongst us but as was said there is a decent car park across the road from the pub.

Kevin www.iwmotorhomes.ie

Irishgoatman

Thanks folks,
I haven't used any campsites so it looks as though I'll carry on as normal which is, with the landlords o.k., stay in the pub carpark overnight.
Just as likely to get stopped for drink driving on a 1k journey as a longer one.
Even if not drinking, not a good idea to return to a campsite in a camper at 1 or 2 in the morning I shouldn't think.

Buford T Justice

Irishgoatman wrote: »

Even if not drinking, not a good idea to return to a campsite in a camper at 1 or 2 in the morning I shouldn't think.

All depends on how 'jolly' you're feeling on the way back I'd imagine.

shaysue

Its a 15 mins walk to O'Connors pub from Nagles and about 25 mins to McGanns or McDermotts. Don't forget to bring armbands and a torchlight for walking back in the dark. Having walked both Sat and Sun night last it was pleasant and pints were even more enjoyable! Excellent food in O'Connors on Sunday evening too! Along with the early seisun.

Irishgoatman

Thanks for the info. folks.
I don't like walking carrying a guitar. I did that one time in Germany and got knocked down, It wouldn't have been so bad but I'd hardly drunk anything because I had a shortish walk home.
The guitar had a broken neck and I had a smashed-up elbow. Could have been the other way round!.:eek:

Aidan_M_M

Did you take the boat from Doolin , out under the cliffs Brian?

The view looking up is awesome . Simply awesome.

When do you think you'll venture out again? Much on your "snag list"?

bido

It might only take 15 mins to walk to pub but the problem is how lonk would it take to wakl hmoe????!!!!:D:D:D

shaysue

:P:P:P:rolleyes:

Buford T Justice

Aidan_M_M wrote: »

Did you take the boat from Doolin , out under the cliffs Brian?

The view looking up is awesome . Simply awesome.

When do you think you'll venture out again? Much on your "snag list"?

No, we didn't take the boat out. The whole idea was to try to budget the trip as much as we can. Not having any work doesn't help the pocket if you know what I mean.

We had the kids too, so we didn't want to hang about too much as it was coming to lunch time.... would have been nice though.

We did think that the whole view was stunning, but although the weather was fabulous the horizon was still a bit hazy. I'm sure we'll be back again.

Not sure when we'll get out again. i got stopped by the law for no tax so I'm trying to sort out the whole re-classification nonsense with the revenue and get a few bits tidied up on the van. The revenue are being their usual unhelpful selves on this.

Once i have that done, I'd say we'll be away again. Looking like June at this stage though.

Snag list here