Day no 6. Over the border again

After the boys late night they didn't seem to be in too much of a hurry to get out of bed, it was 9 o'clock before we woke them up. It was a nice day, the best forecast for a while actually. I had rather hoped we would have made it to the caves today, but it would have been a shame not to explore Strandhill a wee bit more. On our wanderings last night we discovered a pretty amazing beach here, which is very stoney. There was also a continual noise from all over the town of waves pounding the shore, this never let up the whole time we were there. A look at the map reveals there is nothing between here and the  America's and it clearly receives the full brunt of storms and wind and waves. There are big signs saying that the beach is unsafe and swimming, bathing etc were not allowed. The coastguard helicopter also made a couple of passes over the bay during the morning. The waves were enormous and it wasn't even particularly windy, there were big groups of surfers heading into the water.....how this works given the warning signs I have no idea. The guy in the campsite was pretty laid back about how long we stayed even though we didn't plan to spend the next night here, so we took advantage and went for a walk which was recommended along the dunes and through a bit of forest. 

We passed by Killaspugbrone church, its old and ruined and sits on a wee promontory, dating back to the 11th and 12th century, a structure may have been here since the 5th century however, it was reputedly visited by Saint Patrick, he tripped on the rough ground, losing a tooth in the process. His tooth was enshrined, passed through a few hands and eventually found its way to the National Museum of Ireland where it can be seen today, if you like looking at teeth. Interestingly, the tiny cemetery which is less than 1 acre in size houses over 700 graves, the burials were stacked upon each other, this was common at the time, very few have headstones also as this was a luxury the could ill afford, most graves are unmarked. There was a village beside the church but this was abandoned in the 19th century as it was engulfed by blowing and drifting sand. We carried on around the walk which circumnavigates Sligo airport, through a wood and back to the town. 

We bought some scallops at the fish van in town and this along with (Aldis finest) black pudding made a delicious lunch. Strandhill has been a good culinary experience :-)). We get tidied up and moved on, its a place we could easy have spent a few days in but we really want to make it to the south west if possible this trip. But first, we are heading inland towards Enniskillen, and a wee place called Belcoo. Joyce has found a campsite called Rushin House campsite, its a very nice and sits above Lough Macnean Upper. Belcoo is just over the border in Northern Ireland, a few hundred metres south across the river in Eire is Blacklion. One can only imagine how different it would have been in these 2 villages 30 or 40 years ago. It's interesting to see roadsigns change so much in such a short distance. 

Rushin house is a good, beautifully kept grounds, perfect hard standings for caravans and motorhomes, excellent facilities and a friendly owner who was happy to show Callum and Logan around his cowshed at feeding time, this kept the boys amused for a while. Callum was packed off to bed early tonight, a proper, and very cheeky pest he can be at times times, lol, clearly still tired after his late night last night, his lack of protest at this instruction and the fact we hardly heard a peep from him once he was bedded confirmed this. Logan followed not long after. 

The Scrabble went better for me, I have pulled it back to trailing 4-2, and I am happier now that after a lot of effort the blog is being published, I nearly gave up on it. It doesn't like it when I try and put a picture in also, I will try and investigate why this is when I get a minute......The Bowmore is going down, will it last the first week?
We will be up early tomorrow to visit Marble Arch caves and continue progress south hopefully. Sometimes it seems a pity to move on when there's so much to see within the local area.