Blogs from Aran Islands, County Galway, Ireland, Europe

Ireland day 4 I almost didn't make it to Enis More, I had been still battling the flu I got before leaving Townsville and my back had been aching due to way too many hours of sitting on a bus. I am so glad I went, it was the most incredible day of the whole tour. We woke early and took a bus for 45mins out of town to the ferry which was another 40mins across to the island. I fell asleep on the boat and only woke when it started to get seriously rocky, which was very unhealthy for those of us who were hungover. The lack of fresh air is also bad, but it was crazy cold outside, so we weren't going out. Shannon and I played where's the hidden wrench with the evacuation ... read more

We finally set sail from Kilronan early Thursday with the intention of going straight to Inishboffin but the winds were NW F4-5 and right on the nose. We tacked back and forth for hours and at one stage we were 5miles SW of Eerigh Light ttruing to get into a favourable position to round Slyne Head. But it was not to be. Having left at 0630 we were looking at an ETA of 2100 so decided to cut in to Roundstone. That was a great decision because as soon as we north we had fair winds oon opur port. We navigated with care through the approaches to Roundstone. I was last here on FR with Ray about six years ago. With Moritz on the tiller we sailed right up to a mooring without turning on the ... read more

Departed Kilkee at 0445 and arrived in Kilronan at 1000. I did two things that I had not done before. First was to leave a mooring with the navigation lights on (it was still dark) and the second was to set out with a F7 forecast for that same morning. But it was calm and we figured we would get there before the big blow. And we did. We made good time motor sailing to Gregory Sound and then tried our luck with a bit of fishing before headed in to the new harbour. The new pier is huge. It must be 400 metres long. It had two small ribs on it and nothing else. So we tied up. There is still work ongoing and that is the reason that the pier is so empty. I ... read more

Thursday, October 7: Happy 80th Birthday to my Dad! This morning we were up early to catch a tour bus to the ferry and on to the Aran Island of Inishmore. We walked to the city centre and made a quick stop to buy a plugin adapter for our laptop. The clerk in the store was very helpful but I couldn't understand a word he said--seemed mostly like mumbling and reminded me of a character in a movie I once watched but I still haven't recalled the movie. The bus trip took about an hour and was a nice break for Ed from driving. We drove through County Mayo along Galway Bay getting an eyeful of the Connemara landscape. We caught the ferry at Rossaveel and had a lulling ferry ride out of the bay to ... read more

Hello everyone! it has been a couple of days since I have posted, but I thought I would take a minute to update you on my travels. We have had a busy last few days of travel and adventure along the west coast of Ireland. After a wonderful night's stay in Ennis we headed off to discover the Burren, which is very much like a lunar landscape with monuments that look a bit like stonehenge and even some fairy circles surrounded by trees. We took a brief walk outside, but the rain was coming down quite heavily so we took our photos and got back on the bus. En route to the Cliffs of Moher we drove through a town called Lisdoonvarna, which is known for its Matchmaking Festival where single people from around Ireland and ... read more

Yesterday we took the ferry from Galway to the Aran Islands.... The sea's were rolling and Amber was convinced we were gonna flip the boat. And by boat I mean a pretty goodsized ship. Don't worry we didn't capsize and we got our moneys worth for the ride. We landed on Inish Mor, the largest of the three island, and rented Mountaibn bikes... more rust buckets with front suspension but at least most of the gears worked. We only got rained on for about 5-10 minutes but then the sun came out and we dried off quickly. We rode up to Dun Aengus, an ancient fort atop a cliff face that drops at least 500 feet straight down into the Atlantic. After that we toured the most of the island by bike. We found a very ... read more

This weekend has been amazing. Yesterday Laura, Josh, Ally, and I went to the Aran Islands (specifically Dun Aonghasa) by bus and then by a very bumpy ferry to see the cliffs there. The weather was terrible, and I'm an idiot and didn't want to take up precious backpack room to pack a rain jacket OR real shoes for the weekend so I wore a zip-up sweater and flip flops. Sometimes I wonder about my intelligence honestly. It took us two hours to get there which included a kinda gross bus that I got carsick on, then a rocking ferry in the Atlantic ocean which I got seasick in. We went to one of the three restaurants on the island to get a late lunch, but by the time we all sat down and looked at ... read more

We're in Inis Mor, the largest of the Aran Islands, all 14K of it. We've been so lucky with the weather, our guide Emily told me last night "you should sell your blood, you're that lucky." We spend 7 hours hiking yesterday, some it a tough slog over rock fields. It's a beautifully barren place - a limestone island where there was so little soil, the early settlers had to break up the stone fields and "create" soil with kelp and sand - backbreaking work. Once the small patches of field were cleared, the farmers built dry stone walls with what they took out and they create a patchwork around the place. It's wild and untamed and very primative here and the people, who still speak mainly Irish, are lovely. The rock cliffs take your breath ... read more