Pictures from summer til now

My lil brother

Turkish Delight eating face :(

Me and Thomas at comedy night

Ann and Timolo

Pretending to be a lampost

Master pigeon!

Being all scrimpy and creative

I made my own washing powder/gloop this weekend. I followed the mixture from Claire's blog who is on Channel 4's programme Superscrimpers. I decided to give it a go, it doesn't look exactly like Claire's and is more of a solid mass but other people seem to have that too. I washed towels with it but couldn't smell the essential oils I had put in so may I need more gloop in it.

On Saturday we had a friend over for dinner, made a lovely roast chicken (which is now currently entering the land of chicken stew) and I made earl grey cupcakes afterwards. I got the recipe from Primrose Bakery via another great blog and it makes tasty cakes. I added an extra tea bag to the milk and I think it really makes more like 16/18 cupcakes. Mine were definitely over filled but still tasted nice!

Wahey! cupcake and mug of knowledge

Poor sickly basil plant :(

Had a bit of a whoopsie with the piping bag, it basically split. That's what you get for buying a piping set from poundland... the icing was also rubbish I ran out of icing sugar...snowflakes make everything look alright in the end.

Last weekend we went "climbing". I say it in inverted commas due to the lack of climbing I did! Definitely not a cold person climber! Hands and feet were numb from the start so I decided to watch and take some videos. Nice little coffee van in the car park was also discovered so not entirely a waste of time!

Timolo climbing something horizontal and hard

This is the river outside the flat. I'm quite glad we're not on the ground floor and have a floor barrier between us and the river.We're not even in a flooding area.

Glad this is not my building

Months gone by...

Well, I'll admit I am a horrendous blogger and terrible at keeping in touch with people when travelling. Timolo and I actually got back from Eastern Europe in September but have been on the go since then.

Firstly, Eastern Europe (plus Venice) was epic :) I really miss travelling, especially now in October when its getting dark at half 4 and all I want to do is sun bathe and go swimming in the sea. I think some of the best places were Belgrade, Serbia; Zabiljak, Montenegro and Split, Croatia.

Belgrade is a little bit mental, it doesn't really seem to stop and everything seems open all the time! Unfortunately Timolo became ill but we were able to stay in Marija's apartment til he got better. Its handy having friends who have husbands for Dentists in Serbia!

Zabiljak was such a contrast, we got a night bus there, kinda comfy. I wish I could just sleep anywhere would make night buses a much better option! Its a sleepy summer town just for hikers, rafters (don't know if that's right) and climbers! Great place and the accommodation is a bargain! So beautiful, mountains all around and the black lake which is really clear and everyone swims in it.

We also went rafting in the Tara? Canyon which is the deepest in Europe...possibly. It was a good experience as I never done rafting before, made my hands hurt though! The water was freezing and the instructor loved getting us splashed...I guess with that many tourist boats you have to amuse yourself.

Split was the second place in Croatia we went. Initially, we had gone to Dubrovnik and I was MASSIVELY disappointed. So touristy and busy it just spoilt the place. The increase in prices was a bit of a shock as well, you think Eastern Europe is cheap, then you go to Croatia and its twice the price of Montenegro and Serbia.

However, by this time we wanted to stay in a hostel and meet some people...go out and sample local booze essentially. I'd already had rakia in Belgrade, my god. It burns all the way down! Nicest discovery was apple beer! On the hunt for cider, I finally decided that if Dubrovnik didn't have cider (Somersby Cider, Carlsberg is not cider.) then I wasn't going to get it! We went to  enough Irish bars trying to find some! So the next logical step was apple beer. Pretty damn good. Now I have cider in the UK but no apple beer!

Split is a great town with a balance of nightlife, friendlyness, things to do and a great beach on the edge of the park.  We also went climbing, lovely views over the sea and a more local beach than the park had. Climbing had a range of routes and lots of cacti! Those needles get absolutely everywhere as we found :(

We decided to finish our travels by heading to Venice as Timolo hadn't been and I had been a few years ago but didn't remember much. It all came flooding back! It rained a lot. We seemed to have caught the start of the rainy season, when the UK turns dry and everywhere else rains. Its a rare season.

Szgiet 2012

We've just finished a week of Szgiet, the Hungarian music festival and its been BRILLIANT!

Aside from everything being covered in dust and Timolo's wisdom tooth deciding to make a reappearance I have really enjoyed it here! I think sunny weather makes a biggg difference to the mood in festivals and makes camping so much easier!

We've seen Friendly Fires, LMFAO, The Vaccines, The Killers, 2 Door Cinema Club, Snoop Dog (talk about bling...), Paolo Nutini and lots of others! The best thing about festivals is discovering the weird little stages and seeing the theatre acts. There's an African-Asian Stage where this little group invite musicans and just have a jamming session every night. A Blues Stage right next to the tent, good to hear when the Hungarian music stage is quiet (it also seems to be a lot of heavy metal there).

One of the best things is probably the variety of food, lots of yum yum and yummier.

We're off to Belgrade, Serbia in the morning to see Marija before she heads back to Belfast. Hello 9am train...hello 5am wake up to beat the crowds getting off the island...hopefully!

Louisberg - Cliften

Louisberg to Cliften started out a bit grim to be perfectly honest. Misty, rainy, and the first 10km uphill! The only thing to think about uphills is that they have to go down again! And it did, gloriously all the way round the Mayo mountains. Stunning scenery even if it was still misty. We were making good time to Leenaun then Timolo got a flat tyre, only the 2nd one of the trip so it was alright! After breaking the tyre levers, we managed to get the tyre off and a new inner tube. Turns out the side wall of the tyre was more than a bit shredded so we patched it with duct tape and hoped it would last til Cliften or Galway.

We headed into The Village Grill after seeing other cycle tourers inside and had a greasy fry which was really good! Inspired us to head on.

The next part of the journey was majorly hilly, and pretty difficult. It also tipped it down. I don't really mind cycling in the rain, its quite nice as long as you have somewhere dry when you arrive! Tents are not entirely ideal. I keep thinking oh maybe I should have chosen France but I think it'd be too hot there!

Finally got up to the campsite, which was up another hill of course, and found it was really boggy and full of midgies! Typical Ireland!

Mayo Mountains

Timolo being all 'dramatic' camera mode

Hi-vis by Kylemore Abbey

Ballyvary - Louisberg

Today was meant to be another long day but after 55km of riding into a strong headwind we (mainly me) were wrecked. Initially we had planned to go to Leenaun, there is quite a distance between campsites in this part of the country and we didn't fancy wild camping and are on a bit of a budget. We cycled through Castlebar and headed to Westport, all main roads. Horrible roads! Normally main roads aren't too bad and they have a hard shoulder but everyone on this road insisted on driving really close to my bike so I wasn't best pleased.

Westport is lovely though, it was a sunny day so we saw it in all its glory! Had a walk round the town and then a nice lunch in a seriously busy cafe!

Morning stretches on route to Westport

Westport

Westport Quay, lovely place!

However...by the time we had got to Louisberg I had had enough! B&B time! Everyone needs a treat.

The B&B was a welcome change...a bed! I promptly washed clothes and made a washing line in the bathroom assuming our 'quick drying' clothes would dry before morning and we headed out to find food.

Had a nice meal in the only open restaurant! Went back to the B&B to rest before cycling to Cliften the next day.

Strandhill - Bellavary

Early start today, well we left at 9.30am early for us! Today was a day of villages with similar names and a lot of farms!

We headed for Coolooney,  Coolaney and then Cloonacool before stopping for food in Aclare. Or trying to! Definitely a lack of cafes! There's generally a small shop and maybee a pub in most of these villages, not so good for a cyclist trying to get a cup of tea!

In Aclare I asked the shop keeper if there was any cafes or places we could get food in the town and he looked at me like I was completely dense! Then a woman in the shop told us to come to her house and she'd make us tea! We went and had ham sandwiches, ribena, biscuits, tea...she was lovely! Definitely Irish hospitality, she would ask us if we wanted something, we would say oh no thank you we're fine then she would make it anyway! Patricia Maye is awesome :)

We finally got to Foxford and bought dinner before heading to Pontoon on Patricia's recommendation. It really is beautiful there, you cycle around the lake and most of it is down hill. We then tried to find the campsite which we knew was somewhere near Bellavary. We decided to head on a bog land, white road route and ended up getting a little loss! It was a good lost though, saw all the peat farms and the peat all stacked up drying out. We were about to ask someone for directions, when Timolo saw a campervan through the trees! We had actually managed to cycle directly through the campsite! Brilliant stuff, after putting out bikes on the bike rack we went to reception to sign in. No one about, a crash behind us brought the owner out and we realised that bike racks not attached to the ground are not good places to put fully loaded bikes! The campsite is called Carrowkeel and is pretty good. The guy there is from Holland, bought the places over 20 years ago after cycling through Ireland and deciding he didn't want to leave!

We cycled 80km today. Good work team!

Ballyshannon - Strandhill

I was still quite tired tonight, seems by body enjoyed its rest day at Steve's but wanted more rest! We had 60km to do so I powered up on a good breakfast of cocopops, baguette, banana and tea before buying winegums. Cycling saviours. We pretty much followed the cycle route to Sligo which was lovely cycling! Nice quiet roads with not many cars, loudest thing was Timolo's singing and the dogs that liked to bark and run at us...not entirely enjoyable! The dogs that is, rather scary.

We got to Sligo and headed to Chain Driven Cycles where a nice guy tightened up my pedals, they're just old so keep clicking and clanking. I was worried they would fall off or something but hopefully they'll hold for the trip and I'll replace them later on. He pumped up my tyres and centered the back wheel, difficult to get it centered as its a bit too thick for my road bike. Anyway, good shop and awesome service, he took about 10 minutes and didn't charge me a thing.

After this we headed to Strandhill, about 10km out of Sligo for the campsite. He gave us a discount, so we only paid 12euro and pointed us to a dune which was sunken out the wind. Good job otherwise we wouldn't have been cooking! Great campsite and really friendly staff, right by the beach (hence the sanddune).

Donegal - Ballyshannon

After lots of faffing and tea consumption we finally left Steve's at 3.30pm. We decided to just go to Ballyshannon which was 30km away, nice and easy! I just cruised along and tried to freewheel as much as possible, a skill I'm rapidly refining. Got to Ballyshannon and hunted for a good curry sauce. We've decided after a few trials that Uncle Ben's rice may be nice but the sauces are not. The Korma is more like a normal curry, no coconut included and the sweet and sour is made with tomato ketchup!

Having made a decision we made our way to Lakeside Camping and Caravan Park which sounded promising... It was right by the lake so that was nice and the wind was up so no midgies hurray! Everything else about the campsite was pretty dismal!! Early to bed we were going to get ready for 60km tomorrow.

Derry to Donegal

After a nice night's sleep and a great shower in the Derry City Indepenedent Hostel (Great place to stay!!!!) we watched an episode of Stargate, as you do, and then hit the road. The cycle route out of Derry no. 92) follows the Foyle to Carrigans, after which we split off toward Raphoe.

Rain came and went, which was grand, 'cause you dry in the bright spells. Stopped in Raphoe for a wee bight (cheesey chips and a jacket potato) and got some free scones off the nice guy in there!

Then it was onwards to Ballyboffey. Or we tried. 5km from Raphoe I was wondering why I couldn't keep up with Lucky Wally... flat tyre. Put in a new tube, pretty efficiently! Then off again, until my back wheel jammed against the frame. Its frustrating when you can't trust your bike! After Ballyboffey on the main road to Donegal, my front wheel was rubbing against the breaks. It was a good cycle apart from that, a long 80km ish altogether, to arrive at my friend Steve's house, with TEEAAAAAAAA!!!! Glorious tea.

Steve

Tea

We took a day's rest yesterday and hung out, visited Muckross and Slieve League and had lovely dinner in the Harbour bar in Donegal town. Big thanks to Steve and his family for looking after us :).

Now we're off to reallign the wheels, pack and go, target is Mullaghmore, just past Bundoran. Hopefully we can update in a few days!

Ballycastle to Portrush to Derry

We cycled to the Giant's Causeway from Ballycastle. We waited until maybe 2pm for it to stop raining before leaving Ballycastle, on our way out we met the Alaskan couple who are also doing a similar route to us but much shorter distances each day. They were telling us about couchsurfing which they've had some really good experiences and Air BnB's which are a lot more like hostel prices apparently.

They've finished the visitors centre at the Giant's Causeway which looks very impressive. Bit pricey! We had a pint in the Causeway Hotel before heading onto Portush. Nice roads plus lots of downhill which is always good!

Trying to dry the tent in Ballycastle

Some castle...?

Timolo's first time at the Giant's Causeway

We stayed in Portrush in Hilltop Caravan Park which is hugeeeeeeee! I have never seen so many caravans! You can even rent DVDs from the little shop there. The next day we packed up in the rain and headed for Derry, got to Castlerock and I was really getting cold, my trainers were drenched, most of my clothes were soaked so headed on the train to Derry. We could avoid the big main roads this way too as it was quite hard to avoid them but remain on relatively flat ground. Stayed in the Independent Hostel which was lovely and just like someone's house. Met another cycle tourer called Michael, he's been backpacking for about 4 years and is about the start a 5 1/2yr round the world cycle tour! He gave us some good advice and was a really cool guy.

We then met up with Conor from climbing who helped us fix Timolo's pannier, it had started to break a bit and bend at the attachments. After all that was sorted we went to Flaming Jack's and had loads of food! :) 30% off too which is always good.

Castlerock train station

Timolo's camera has magic settings

From Larne to Ballycastle

Suncream stocks still holding strong. Sunglasses remain unused.

First day: Larne to Ballycastle

We missed the train

Well, we missed the train by 30 seconds. My fault for faffing but it gave us an opportunity to wait out the rain and gorge on sweets and coke. An hour later and we were on the train bound for Larne, the weather had improved marginally, it was only drizzling. And so we began our 40mile cycle to Ballycastle.

Lessons learnt:

1) Cycle routes can include gigantic hills
2) People who can cycle up these hills must be made of sterner stuff than us, and probably have lighter bikes/no bags
3) Pushing bikes up 4 miles of hills is tiring
Therefore, avoid hills if possible.

We did have a lovely tea in Cushendall in Arthur's cafe. I highly recommend you go there! We also met Tim's dad in Cushendall, randomly, who was driving his bus, he waved and beeped then Tim ran down the road to see if he had stopped, he hadn't. I'm sure he was on a schedule.

We camped in Maguire's on the edge of Ballycastle, which was lovely and we saw an epic sunset. It then proceeded to rain all night and most of the next day.

What to do in a tent when it rains...