Gotta Getaway: Holy Island

Apparently the ride over Lindisfarne Causeway is one of the "must do" things for bikers in the UK so I've had it on my to do list for some time. Armed with a new camera I pointed the bike North for a couple of days.

Camping is not allowed on Holy Island and some nearby sites are very expensive, of the family friendly caravan / campervan variety and frankly too sterile for me. Luckily I found a reasonably priced site just six miles away at West Kelsoe Farm at the Old Mill Site. The campground is situated well away from the main farm near an old mill (as the name suggests) with good clean facilities. You are also welcome to look around the farm and a map is provided of paths and accessible areas.

After getting pitched mid-afternoon I had plenty of time to go and have a ride over the causeway although I didn't intend to have a serious look or take any pictures until the next morning. The causeway itself is little more than two miles along the sand flats and nature reserve, finishing at a car park at the edge of Lindisfarne. Visitors traffic is restricted to residents only on the island but this is no problem, it's not a big place and everything is within easy walking distance.

Heading back to the mainland I stopped off at various points along the causeway to have a look around the nature reserve and the beach on the North side. This would have been great for a few shots of the area but grey sheets of cloud meant the light was poor and the cold wind coming in off the sea stopped me hanging around for long.

Up before sunrise the next morning proved to be pointless as the golden hour turned out to be more of a grey hour with the flat light caused by the same low cloud cover of the day before. Nevertheless I hadn't come all this way for nothing so after a final check of the tide times I took off again for the causeway.

The refuge hut for anyone stranded by the incoming tide is an iconic image for Holy Island so with my own shot in the bag I made my way on to Lindisfarne to have a look at the castle before the morning influx of tourists started to arrive. Again I stopped a couple of times to appreciate the peace and sense of desolation out on the sand at this early hour.

To my disappointment the castle is currently undergoing refurbishment and is encased in a layer of scaffolding until 2018. Making my way back through the picture postcard village I found the priory. The more interesting parts of the ruins are behind gates with an admission fee of over seven quid for which it doesn't seem that you get to see much more and it doesn't open 'til ten a.m. anyway. Although there's a few little shops, cafe, pub and mead shop nothing is open at eight in the morning so it's back to camp to brew a coffee.

I could have happily spent another night up here if it had been warmer but with it being bitterly cold at night and not much warmer in the day I struck camp and headed for home. I'll definitely be back later in the year though, this is a great place to escape and chill out for a while. 

Check out www.lindisfarne.org.uk for more information, accomodation and tide times.

Ireland 2015

Having visited Dublin a few years ago, we've been planning to return and see more of Ireland on the bike ever since. We planned three separate locations to stay for three days each. Much as I would liked to have moved on each day and see more I wanted to have more chill out time rather than be living out of the panniers every day and things worked out pretty well this way.

Navigating Dublin on the bike proved to be a nightmare, motorists here appear to be very intolerant of bikers and the proliferation of traffic lights makes progress very slow. This combined with a Sat Nav that kept finding the wrong address for the digs meant I was pretty stressed out by the time we found our B&B but a pint of Guinness in the nearest bar soon calmed me down.

A walk through St. Stephens Green led us onto Grafton Street where I was happy to watch various buskers as we made our way down to Temple Bar. Over the weekend we enjoyed extended dinnertime sessions in the Temple Bar pub watching some fine musicians followed by a good feed at O'Niells one day and in Thunder Road cafe the next. We couldn't leave Dublin without paying our respects to Phil Lynnott and having a drink in Bruxelles rock bar. 
A great start to the holiday but I was now looking forward to heading west away from the city.

Heading out of Galway and turning right off the N59 we followed the road through the Inagh Valley past the Maamturk Mountains on the right and the Twelve Bens on the left, a spectacular and awe inspiring introduction the beautiful landscape of Connemara.

Accomodation and service at the Kylemore Pass Hotel was second to none. We recieved a warm welcome on arrival with coffees served and a roaring fire lit as soon as we got through the door.

Number one on the agenda was to ride the Connamara Loop, a round trip of only 70 miles which took all day to complete. Connemara doubtlessly has the most stunning landscape I have ever seen with incredible views at every turn, imposing mountains, streams and lakes, rugged coastline, beaches and remote areas that are straight out of Lord of the Rings. In the afternoon we stopped for a beer at Paddy Coynes in Tullycross, a great little pub full of character, highly recommended.

On our last day here we visited Dan O'Hara's for a fascinating insight into local history. From there we ended the day with some more amazing scenery on the Sky Road.

Next morning we bade a fond farewell to our hosts and headed towards Kilkenny with a stop for coffee in the old fort at Shannonbridge.

Kilkenny is a city steeped in history with many of it's historical buildings within close proximity. Kilkenny Castle has undergone extensive restoration and it's well worth a visit along with it's gardens. My favourite historic site however was Kytelers pub, originally the home of Alice Kyteler, the first Irish woman to be found guilty of witchcraft.

Best pub of the holiday goes to the Hole In The Wall, a tiny pub at the end of an alley and easy to miss. The pub is an ongoing project of a local cardiologist who likes to run the bar and host live music sessions of an evening. Audience participation is expected whether it be banging on a box, playing anything from tomtoms to a guitar with singing and dancing much encouraged. We had a ball here, eventually staggering out around 1:30 in the morning.

I can honestly say I fell more than a little in love with Ireland. It is a land of breathtaking beauty with many miles of great roads to ride and populated by friendly and courteous people. A return trip is already is being planned.