Northern Ireland and Ireland April 2014

A tale of two intrepid explorers travelling to a land where very few motorcyclists seem to venture but where we think many more should venture.

Total trip distance was just short of 1500 miles.

 

Overall route April 17 to April 21 2014.

 

17 April - Home to Holyhead and then to Dublin

My day started out well, with the plan to meet Kerry at Oxford Services.  However on arrival at the services I noticed oil on the back wheel. This is a recurring problem that I had hoped was over .  So Kerry decided he would go on alone and we cancelled all of my accommodation. I set off with heavy heart to Bahnstormer in Maidenhead to let them know how unhappy I was with BMW (not unhappy with Bahnstormer as they have been brilliant and very supportive throughout my problems).

Bahnstormer engineers took my bike, stripped it down while it was still hot and had new oil seals installed and tested in an hour.

Looked like my trip was on. Now was the challenge - to get to Holyhead before 4.30pm to get the ferry.

I ddi it and was on the ferry in time to start booking all the rooms that we had cancelled a few hours before.  The trip was definitely back on!

Stayed in the Sandymount Hotel, in Dublin off the Landsdowne Road, Very easy to get to from the ferry port (10-15 mins dependent upon traffic). Very good food. One negative comment is that this was once several very large houses that were glued together and it leads to a complex layout with a lot of walking. Not usually a problem but in full motorcycle gear it can be a bit hot especially with several trips to unload the bike!

Address: Sandymount Hotel

Herbert Road

Sandymout

Dublin 4

Tel: +353 1 614 2000

Web Site: http://www.sandymounthotel.ie/

18 April - Dublin to Bushmills

Our main goal for the day was to travel the A2 from Larne to Bushmills. We were not disappointed, it is a fantastic road with mountains to one side and sea to the other.

The A2 is a highy recommended bike route especialy for scenery; the rating for ridability has to be less than 5 stars as it is not particularly taxing but still interesting.

Here is our route for that day in Google maps https://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?msid=205006954292399680017.0004f7e323f5ef1ef0c73&msa=0&ll=53.920516,-6.295166&spn=1.40236,3.216248

 

 

Bushmills is a small village with a chip shop that serves the hottest fish and chips I have ever had.  But good once they have cooled down  Also enjoyed a nice pint or two t Finn MacCools public house where they are also passionate about the North West 200.  Good place for a chat and to go and drink during the races it would seem. (Also as an aside they don't seem to mind you eating your fish and chips inside the bar whilst enjoying a pint as well).

For a small place they have a large number of bars with very friendly people in.

We stayed in the Rest - a - while B&B close to Bushmills.  A great little B&B run by Gale and her husband, with facilities for motorcycles like permanent hard standing.

Address:

Rest A While
Bushmills,Co. Antrim
Northern Ireland, BT57 8XL

Tel: 028-207-32869

ROI: 048-207-3286

Web Site: http://www.restawhile.net/

 

19 April - Bush Mills to Sligo

 

From Bushmills we followed the A2 a little further before joining the N56 to cover most of the West Coast and down to Sligo.  Both these roads are fantastic. This image shows the route we took that day and you can use this link to see in Google Maps.

We had lunch at McGrorys in Culdaff and it was very good. Had sea food chowder that the waitress proudly announced they made on the premises and I could believe it. Culdaff was a bit of our track and was an aberration of the planning using Garmin software (and that's my excusee).

 

En route we stopped for a breath at Dunfanaghy, and a coffee at the Starfish Cafe.  Nice little town but exceedingly busy considering on the way there we saw no-one and on the roads after we saw no one.

We stayed at Markreee Castle. A great place to stay off the beaten track so be prepared to stay in and enjoy yourself with fine food and drink.

Address:

 Collooney, Co. Sligo, Ireland

Tel: +353-71-9167800

Web Site: http://www.markreecastle.ie/

 

 

 

 

 

20 April - Sligo to Galway

 Taking the Www old Atlantic Coast route N59 down to Galway provided good riding and great views.

 On the way we had lunch in Westport, sitting by the river. Lovely day (but expensive sandwiches)

The route in Google Maps https://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?msid=205006954292399680017.0004f7f7e26ae7ea507d4&msa=0&ll=54.095644,-9.08432&spn=0.698231,1.608124&iwloc=0004f7f7e3ab6538f1c22

We stayed at the Travel Lodge. It was just like all Travel Lodges. It was a short walk or 5 euro taxi to Quay Street and all the party activities of Galway.

 

Galway is a great party city with lots of restaurants and live music available.

Arches Bar had a great evening and live band

 

21 April - Galway to Dublin via Wicklow Mountains or at least that was the plan)

We traveled south of Galway along the Wild Atlantic Coast again to take in more scenery. By now we had seen as much Atlantic and granite boulders and so started to try across to the Wicklow Mountains and Dublin.

Here is our route in Googe Maps https://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?msid=205006954292399680017.0004f7f7cbcfd3d01f0a8&msa=0&ll=53.12647,-9.100055&spn=0.357221,0.804062

 

When we arrived at the Wicklow mountains it was clear this was a very pretty place but not really for motorcyclists as there was far too much traffic and not really any flowing roads. Ss we made a hasty retreat back to the hotel.  Truth is it had been a tough day and we were tired.

Seems my camera wasn't working for this part of the trip as the USB cable providing the power had failed under the vibration and pulling of the wound and so the camera battery ran down.

Stayed at the Sandymount Hotel again.

Dinner on the patio

 

22 April - Dublin to Home via Wales.

Now some say a bit ambitious but we say try it.

The ride down through Wales was hard work but great roads including the A483.

Stopped for a very nice lunch at Conwy Falls, a small cafe with toilets and very friendly staff. See http://www.conwyfalls.com/

 

 

We rode from Holyhead to Abergavenny.  As it was getting late we had dinner at Plas Derwen. Third time here so it must be Ok.

After that we parted ways on to either the A40 or to the M4 for home.