Friday 03 June 2011
Carlingford -> Lough Ramor
There was no middle-of-the-night knock on the door from the Garda (police) or council rangers, so we were quite surprised when we woke up after an uninterrupted sleep. The sun was shining and it seemed the weather was on the improve as Ireland was heading into a Bank Holiday long weekend. We had a quick brekkie and headed off to get inland before the expected long weekend rush. The countryside was very green (I presume that is why Ireland is called the emerald isle), so very different to home where it is all brown. There were lots of farmers working to cut their grass (silage) and get it into storage/processing whilst the sun was shining, so the country lanes were frequented by tractors with large trailers, driven by young teenagers (some would have been lucky to be 12 or 13!). Apparently if they get it cut now and with some good weather they may get another crop in towards the end of August. We stopped in Cavan, namesake of the county and visited the TIC to pick up some brochures on local events etc. We were amazed by the amount of water-borne holidays available in the region, canalling is a very popular past-time and there are many, many lakes and rivers for fishing. We had a reservation beside a lake (or lough, pronounced almost the same as a Scottish loch) so were full of anticipation. Armed with loads of brochures for all over island and plenty of help from the lady at the TIC, not long after leaving Carvan, we arrived at our campsite by the lake.
Just like all the farmers we had seen that day, the owner was cutting the grass in the sunshine, but gave us enough time to book in and showed us around his site before jumping back on his ride-on mower to finish his chores in preparation for the expected weekend rush. The sun was shining, the wind had abated, so it was time to roll out the awning and the camp chairs for their first uses. Tracy took the opportunity to catch a few rays and I went for a run, then a shower, then a cold beer under the shade of the awning (not to mention a little nap).
A little later we went for a walk up the hill to the local shops to buy some more ciders, summer-esque snacking foods and dinner victuals. Back at the campsite, next door, a bloke had arrived with his three kids. He had a brand new tent, which he didn’t know how to erect, so Scott and another site visitor lent a hand. After their tent was finally up, the bloke opened up his brand new outdoor table and chair setting to find a bolt missing, so had to improvise with whatever he found in his car. By the time his wife finally arrived, the young kids were bored and had wandered off to make themselves fun, and it was getting near dinner time. He opened up his brand new two-burner cooker to find it didn’t have a gas regulator, but he did have a brand new small single burner cooker which was complete and allowed him to eventually get dinner ready for his family! Our offers to provide assistance were politely turned down; so we simply enjoyed our first bbq meal. Meanwhile, while all this was happening, the park was slowly filling up with long weekend visitors and for every site that was pitched a new cloud of midges was disturbed. By early evening the sky was almost black with midges; if we had a bug zapper, the serenity would have been commensurate with Bonnydoon! From relative safety behind our flyscreens we watched as the sun set and the fishermen returned to the camp from the lakeside; no-one carried anything other than that which they left with, it seemed no-one caught anything! (This pattern would continue in coming days).