An Irish Idyll

Exploring in a VW Camper is addictive and we treasure that precious all too short period when work can be switched off and our time is our own. Having previously explored Spain in our Bay, last year Lell and I decided to head off to Ireland.

- Matthew Power

Back in 1968 I went on a family sailing holiday aged 8 and the memories of a beautiful country with large open vistas and softly spoken unhurried people remained indelibly on my mind. Fifty years seems to have made no difference and we were greeted warmly wherever we went by friendly inhabitants who could not have been more helpful. But apart from seeking a less crowded destination, there were other reasons for visiting the Emerald Isle. In a former life I was a keen sailor and found myself as crew with my sister on the infamous stormy Fastnet race of 1979 when 15 sailors died and 5 boats were lost. Our yacht was towed into Dunmore East by the RNLI and it seemed appropriate to visit the town and pay my respects to those who had assisted us 40 years before.

As we were planning to visit the rainiest part of Europe, it seemed prudent to take the large enclosed awning which hitherto we had hardly ever used. Son JJ has outgrown the child’s berth in the pop top roof so he shared the rock and roll bed with Lell and because of complaints about my phantom Olympic standard snoring, I was banished to the awning. Despite being loaded with three bikes, the large aforementioned awning and all our personal possessions, Dan our bay window performed admirably and was as reliable as a Swiss watch throughout the whole trip just as he had been during our previous adventure.