14/9/18 day no 8. Atlantic Drive

Rinroe Point was a superb place to park up, but for some reason nothing quite happened as quickly as it might have. We arrived a bit later than planned, got the boys bedded late, and the scrabble match took a bit longer than planned so it was the back of 12 before our heads hit the  pillows AND I still had to write the blog which I did. The night was a bit blowy but nothing out the ordinary, however we did have a couple of seriously heavy squalls, it is really loud in the van, and both times it woke me up. That's not a problem but whilst its battering down you are lying there praying that it doesn't wake the boys up. I remember when I was wee going on caravan holidays out on the Ardnamurachan peninsula and the rain or hailstones on the roof could be terrifying. However, once our boys are asleep they take a bit of waking and neither stirred. We woke to a pretty decent morning and Joyce after a bit of procrastination went out for her jog-it was all uphill with a headwind for a fair distance, she did it though. I got the boys up and ready for breakie, which we had at a leisurely pace, we tidied the van and I decided to take the boys down to the beach for a last wander. As we drove away from Rinroe point I spotted marker post for loop walks on the peninsula, Joyce had also seen them when out for her jog, I don't know why we never spotted them when we arrived last night. We drove up to the viewpoint at Benwee Head on the Wild Atlantic Way which is a stunning spot, and there were more marker posts. We should have been up with the larks, and doing one of these short bit stunning coastal walks, the cliff scenery here is very impressive. I settled for taking some photos and it was nearly 12 o'clock before we left.
We headed back down to Bangor and got some supplies in the local shop, its incredible just how often we need to visit shops, why is that? We still have loads of food on board, but still seem to run out of loads that we need? So another half hour gone, and the next bit of road is a shocker, twisting, turning, up and down and bumpy as....and its lashing down with rain so its a slow drive. And now its lunchtime. We stopped at Claggan View near the Ballycroy National Park, had a tasty lunch and then went for a walk along the well constructed boardwalks with interpretation boards explaining about the area, the peat bogs, the shoreline and the flora and fauna of the area. Its quite amazing actually, the peat extends right down and into the shore and is being eroded away by the waves. There are old tree roots, probably Caladonian pines emerging from the bog, and even some sticking out the shore. Just what did Ireland (and Scotland) look like before all these forests were destroyed. Myself and Callum got fairly drenched as we did the full walk, Logan and Mum saw the rain coming and beat a hastie retreat, lol.
Dried off, we headed south and then west onto Achill Island. From Mulranny we followed the southern coastal roads where possible and according to another map I have this is called The Atlantic Drive, and it is absolutely stunning!! The roads twist and turn, up and down revealing some of the best coastal scenery I have seen anywhere, it is up there with the very best in Scotland.... I am actually trying to think if there is anything like it. There's lots of history here aswell, the Spanish Armada viewpoint, old castles, remote islands. We are fortunate also, as we seem to be coming out of the bad weather, the sea is still rough, but the sky's are clearing and the views amazing. There's lots if other motorhomes on this section also, and we leapfrog each as we all stop at the viewpoints. I do start to wonder how busy our chosen parking spot for the night will be. For our 8th night we have sort of decided that we will spend the night at Weem Bay, its right at the end of the road, is a key point (a "must see", lol) on the Wild Atlantic Way and my App says its good for parking up. There's always a campsite a few miles back if that proves to be wrong or its too busy. The campsite is not required, there were only a few other cars, and there's 3 carparks, we chose the middle one, high enough to get a cracking view above the gorgeous beach. Getting levelled was a bit of fun, but we have cooked and slept at more jaunty angles than we will be tonight. Callum for a change harped on about going to the beach rather than watching the iPad, so be joined myself and Logan the brave adventurer on out beach investigation walk, while Mum cooked up this evenings tea. We timed our return perfectly, wine and good food with a view, cannae beat it!!  Callum and Logan took an ave to settle this evening, I think we are not tiring them out enough, too much driving and not enough outdoor activities perhaps.  Never mind, the scrabble going better for me just now, 4 all after tonights match. And the blogs all done too. Zzzzzz!!