Day no 4. The 2 Pass day.

The Irish weather is not being to kind to us just now. Joyce woke early to wind and rain and elected not to go out for a jog. We had a leisurely breakfast and tidied the van, the rain subsided and myself and Logan The Brave went to explore Calduff beach, leaving square eyed Callum watching a film on the iPad and Joyce tidying the van. 

Across the dunes was a beautiful stretch of orange coloured sand that Logan and I walked along, the rain came on as we neared the end on the beach, but went off again when we turned round, we then walked the full length of the beach and found a swing park at the other end, we dried a swing and Logan had some fun on it. Old square eyes would be so jealous if he had seen us. We headed back to the beach and met Joyce and Callum walking along to meet us and got back to the van as the next shower started. 

We got on the road and headed back through Malin by mistake (the maps and roadsigns are not always the easiest to follow) and out west to Ballyliffin, the villages all seem to blend in to one another, they are so scattered and stretched out that you don't know where one ends and the next begins. Then we saw the first pass rising above us, the Mamore Gap is a pass accessed by a series of hairpin bends that snake their way very steeply from pretty much sea level to about 250 meters above sea level   in a very short distance. There is a shrine at the top and we stopped for a look, well I had a look, lol. We endured a good few more miles of the Wild Atlantic Way till after Buncrana and finally got on a decent road again and found a place to stop for lunch at Inch Marshes, where we had wee walk to a bird hide. We then deliberated about where to head for the night. I had it in my mind again to skip the Donegal peninsula, the weather was driech and it adds a lot of miles to the journey and aim for Sligo, but Joyce fancied seeing a bit of Donegal so we compromised and headed from Ballybofey out west to Glenties, Ardara and finally to Malin Beg. Right at the end of the road and the furthest west point in Donegal. We passed north of the Blue Stack Mountains which were shrouded in grey clag, wind and rain, then over the second steep pass of the day, the Glengesh pass, it reminded me of the Beallach na Ba to Applecross, not on the same scale but the road could be seen snaking its way up the glen to a fine view point at the top. Bessie just chugs along on hills like this, she can't be rushed but the temperature gauge does just rise slightly. 

We dropped down into Glencolumbkille, passed through the rather rundown looking village centre and out to our parking spot for the night, the rather windy and exposed Malin Beg viewpoint. I am using the Motorhome Parking Ireland app, its promoted by the Ireland tourist board and is very handy for us, however I can help but feel that it advertises stopping places (I know what wild camping is, and this is not it) in places that I would not normally park. Its a cracking spot right at the end of the road with a stunning cliff ringed bay below us, but there are 3 little self catering holiday chalets and a B&B just above us, someone has invested a lot of money in their business here, and I have just parked my big white box up 100m in front of their lovely view. I cant do much else however as its quite late, someone in their wisdom created the Wild Atlantic Way. I have no idea who it is aimed at, the roads, all of them that we have been on so far (we are not following it as its too long)have been small, not designed for my motorhome, sure, I can navigate them but for locals trying to go about their daily business it mist be a pain, for those who have spent a lot of cash on a nice house with a lovely view, it must be very annoying. Its not a walking route as its too long. I doubt its a cycling route as again its too long, I know it could be cycled but not by your average worker with their limited holidays. Am I missing the point? So far, I have brought nothing to these local economies, I have bought a little diesel, spent a small amount in a few shops and passed through lots of lovely towns and villages, I could have stopped in any one of them and had a lunch or a meal, but would it really be any different to what I get back home-which I always complain about anyway? I haven't had a bad meal yet in our van however!!