| Long Way Across |
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 Inspired by the amazing journey that Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman did around the world, my brother Pete and I decided to do our own epic journey - to ride our bikes across England, Ireland and Wales. Ok, maybe not so intrepid, but it wasn't all plain sailing!Total miles: 1100 The journey was fraught with problems even before it began. Luckily I had taken the day off work to prepare for the trip (whereas Pete couldn't leave until after work) and decided to get my bike out and check all the levels, etc. in the morning. That is when I found I had a flat rear tyre and a big nail sticking out of it. I must have got the puncture on my last ride out. It was a ccase of frantically ringing round the bike shops to see who had a spare tyre and could fit it that day! My regular Honda dealer (Grafton Motorcycles, Milton Keynes) came up trumps with a tyre of almost the right specification in stock, which they could fit in time for me to leave for Wales at 5pm.  Day One (160 miles)In the end, Pete and I left at about the same time. Me from Milton Keynes and Pete from his office in London. We arranged to meet at our first hotel in the Brecon Beacons in Wales. The Gliffaes Hotel is a wonderful hotel and is just what was needed after a ride across England. I arrived first at 9.15pm. The hotel staff were very welcoming and even agreed to make me a plate of sandwiches even though it was past the 9pm deadline. Pete arrived not long after and we retired to the bar for our sandwiches (which were luxurious) and a well-earned Murphy's. Day Two (250 miles) We were up at 7am and after a delicious breakfast (and a bit of a delay while Pete looked for his mobile phone), we left for Fishguard and the ferry to Ireland. The roads to Fishguard (A40) were wonderful and being a Saturday morning were free of traffic - which is just as well as we were pushed for time. However, we covered the 100 miles in two hours and arrived at the port in time. We queued up with a few other bikers (mainly HOG's) while the cars were loaded. We were to find out later why there were so many Harley's in Ireland! Soon we were on board and our bikes securely strapped down. We were on the Catamaran (the Vomit Comet) and so the crossing was quick at two hours.  We had about another 100 miles to ride to our second hotel - but could take this at a more leisurely pace. We also decided that rather than just head straight across Ireland we would follow the Southern coastline round to the otherside to make it more interesting! So we disembarked at Rosslare and headed South to Cork on the N25 via Waterford. We were disappointed with Waterford - it was very industrial - so we didn't stop long and had our halfway break in the town of Dungarvan. It was then back on the bikes - round the city of Cork and onto to some minor roads to the fishing port of Kinsale. We found our hotel - the Acton's Hotel - and checked in. Not as sumptuous as our previous hotel - but fine! Once we were settled, it was a case of finding somewhere to eat (and drink!). Pete had a useful little book with him that recommended The Spaniard Inn as a great place for entertainment and food.  We weren't sure how far out of town it was so we decided to walk into Kinsale and get a taxi. We climbed in the taxi - he took us around the corner and we got out again - the shortest cab ride ever!! We had walked most of the way there already! We had a Murphy's in here while look at the menu, etc. The restaurant was deserted and we didn't fancy being two saddo's sitting alone. So we took a walk and found anothe pub - The Spinnaker. This is a lovely pub - with real character and a lovely menu. So we went in and stuffed ourselves! We then waddled back to the Spaniard to see if the entertainment had started. It had, two blokes were singing and playing merrily in the bar. We made oursleves comfortable and ordered more beer (and whiskey in Pete's case - a very expensive Middleton Whiskey!).After a great evening, we decided to give the taxi ride a miss and walked back to the hotel. We'd had a great night. Day Three (165 miles) Today we wanted to get to Dingle Peninsula so that tomorrow we could achieve our quest - to ride to the most Western point of Ireland. Pete was still keen that we follow the coast road (N71) and then up the Western side of Ireland to get to our destination. Unfortunately, the smaller coastal roads were very poor quality and progress was slow. We set off anyway and decided to see how far we could get to by lunchtime and then the rest of the route after that.  By lunchtime we found ourselves in Bantry at the bottom left hand corner of Ireland. We had done about a fifth of the mileage we had wanted to do that day. So we found a cake shop and re-planned our route. Bantry has quite a history. Over 200 years ago, in the Winter of 1796, a formidable French Armada, inspired by Theobald Wolfe Tone and the United Irishmen, sailed from Brest in France. Their purpose was to invade Ireland, put an end to British rule and establish an independent Irish Republic. Almost 50 warships carried 15,000 soldiers to the Southwest of County Cork. stormy chaos reigned and with ship-to-ship communication largely disrupted, the invasion foundered and the fleet eventually turned for home. Ten ships were lost. One of these, the frigate Surveillante, was too storm-damaged to make the return journey to France. She was scuttled off Whiddy Island. As we munched our cake and considered the history of Bantry, we regretfully came to the decision we would have to leave out the "Ring of Kerry" part of our route, and would continue North at Kenmare to the Dingle Peninsula via Killarney, instead of going West first around the Kerry peninsula. This was disappointing because the scenery in Kerry is legendary. We vowed to do it another time! From Bantry we turned North to Glengarriff (still on the N71) and through Turner's Rock Tunnel. As we came out the other end there was a magnificent vista in front of us. Briefly stopping to take some video film, we chatted to an American couple who rode up on a tandem. They were doing the same route as us but the other way round!  We went a few kilometres further and came to Moll's Gap cafe. This also had splendid views and we stopped here for an ice cream and to chat to the Harley Davidson riders gathered there. We had discovered that our visit to Ireland coincided with the Harley Davidson National Convention - this year being held in Killarney! Thousands and thousands of HOG's from all over! We then took another short ride to Ladies View, where Pete promised even more spectacular views over Killarney National Park. But, as you'll see from the picture - the mist came in! We then passed through Killarney (very slowly as the whole place was chocablock with HOG's) and onto the Dingle Peninsula and made our way to Dingle (almost at the tip). We didn't have a pre-planned hotel for this night, but hoped that we were far enough away from the Harley convention that there might be some free rooms.  The first hotel was fully booked (oops!), but the receptionist kindly called her firend at another hotel to see what they had left. We got the last room in Dingle at the Benner's Hotel. A lovely hotel, right in the centre of Dingle.  The accommodation was excellent - with one small qualification - our bed was a DOUBLE! We both needed beer before we tackled that one!We set off into Dingle for our daily evening ritual of finding food and drink. Again, Pete's little book recommended the Old Smokehouse restaurant, which we found easily and had a very enjoyable meal. Then it was along to the Quayside to another recommended hostalry, where we could find drink and entertainment.  John Benny Moriarty's bar was very busy but the band was still setting up. We had a couple of beers while we waiting and then enjoyed the evening's music before strolling back to a club near our hotel (for a night cap) and a more modern version of traditional Irish music. We were both taken by the involvement of the young people, who joined in all the songs.It was then back to the double bed. By then both of us were so tired that it didn't matter where we slept! Day Four (240 miles) Today would be our last day in Ireland. We would ride the final few miles to Dunquin (map), which is the most westerly tip of the Dingle Peninsula in the County of Kerry in the south-west of Ireland. Dunquin Parish comprises eleven townlands on the mainland and the Blasket Islands three miles offshore and it is often referred to as "the next parish to America".  The road to Dunquin was coated in gravel and in places was wet. It was also very windy and this made progress slow. The views along the way were beautiful.  We soon arrived at the most Western point, which also has a commerative stone placed there by the film crew of Ryan's Daughter - a well-known film that used Dingle and its surrounding areas as locations for the film. The Independent Newspaper gave an "insiders" view of the filming: The village of "Kirrary" was built just for the film and dismantled afterwards. Shops, schoolhouse, church, pub, post office, etc. were built by 200 workmen using slate and 20,000 tons of granite from a dozen local quarries; anything less substantial wouldn't have stood up to the Atlantic gales. Many buildings had fitted interiors, ceilings, lighting, plumbing and even working fireplaces and chimneys. The schoolhouse built on the cliffs on Dunquin head still stands - albeit in ruins.  The inscription on the commerative seat reads: "Some lands touch the heart, Dingle touches the Soul".  We spent some time at Dunquin enjoying the views and watching birds diving into the sea to catch fish. We congratulated each other on accomplishing our quest and then set off to complete the circular route back to Dingle before heading back across Ireland to Ferrycarrig. We wanted to avoid Killarney on the return trip so that we didn't get held up by all the Harley's. So we took the northern route out of the peninsula to Tralee. From there we skirted Killarney and joined the N72 at Rathmore. This road took us directly East to Mallow - Fermoy (with a stop at Bally Hooly for Pete to water the verge), and back onto the N25 to Waterford.  We stopped at Waterford Crystal for our tea and cake break (and Pete bought a map!) and then continued on to New Ross and finally Wexford on the coast. We soon found our last hotel - the Ferrycarrig - recommended by Pete's work colleague Frances. It is situated on the River Slaney Estuary, which gives a picturesque view. There were two weddings going on as we arrived, but we soon lowered the tone in our leathers! A functional family hotel!We spent a fun evening making bits of film for the DVD and persuading a chap in the bar called Brendon to do the introduction!  Day Five (250 miles) It was then up early next morning for the short ride to the ferry terminal and board the Old Tub (it was a proper ferry this time not the catamaran) back to Fishguard. We were late leaving because there were a few extra bikes to strap down (see picture!). Although it was dry in Rosslare, the forecast was for heavy rain in the UK - especially southern England. Se we donned waterproofs on arrival at Fishguard and set off straight to the M4 for a quick blast home. I left Pete at Swindon and went North to Oxford and Bicester. We both arrived home absolutely drenched but still grinning from our trip. I guess the only thing left to do is the Long Way Up - now where's my map of Scotland..... 
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