Captain Callum

Today was a much more calm weather day, that doesn't mean it was nice however, that's not a complaint, I don't complain about things I can't effect.
It was dry when we woke up and had breakfast at Doonaha, but by the time the dishes were done and the boys had went outside to blow some bubbles, the rain was soon on-for the day. We headed east through Kikrush, another lovely looking town and onto Kilimer for the ferry across the Shannon estuary to Tarbert in County Kerry. After 10 minutes in the queue we boarded the ferry along with only a few other cars, it didn't make much money on this crossing. However, it worked out great for us.
I took Callum out the van and up onto the side of the ferry where there are seats, we never intended to sit there, just to take a picture or two, but the captain on the other side spotted us and shouted over to me and said to bring the wee fella over and up stairs to the bridge. It was wet so the steps were slippy, so we made our way back down one side then back up the other side, the last set of steps up to the bridge were narrow, steep and had he Shannon about 30 feet below us, not a place for a slip. We passed the "No Access" board and he welcomed us in. He got Callum sitting in the Captains seat, found him a hat and started showing him all the controls. Initially shy, Callum soon started to take in what the man was saying and was soon revving the engines up a bit more and turning the props-the 4 props could each turn through a full 360 degrees and thats how they steer the ferry. He soon had the big wiper at the front going also and was checking out the digital charts and various other knobs and levers, it was fun watching him. The Captain was very knowlegable (obviously) about the local area and was telling us about the 2 power stations one on each side of the estuary, The one on the south side is coal fired but just stays on stand by in case the county's wind turbine's stop working. He also explained that huge boats could berth Moneypoint and unload, some were 220,000 tonne boats that took a week to unload with 40 tonne grabs....... He told us lots of things about the area, too much to remember actually. He mentioned the flying boats that used to take off and land at Foynes, and said that the museum there was very good. I had considered a wee side trip there to see it anyway so that was the next part of the day decided.  Captain Callum's duties were over and we headed very carefully back down the steep ladder to the van, and were on our way. He was really chuffed and told Mum all about what we had been up to, she was oblivious to where we had been, lol.
We drove east along the side of the estuary which is a nice drive, much better than I expected. Its amazing to think that The Shannon river starts away up near Blacklion and the Marble Arch caves where we had been about a week ago, it is Ireland's longest river. We parked just outside Foynes and watched some vessels being unloaded of their cargo at the wee port, had lunch and then went to the museum.
Foynes was quite famous just before the 2nd world war, there was quite a race on to provide transatlantic passenger air travel and Foynes was home to a runway marked out with lights and bouy's on the water where flying boats would land and take off. Passengers took a boat to Foynes Island, boarded the plane which then taxi'd into the estuary and took off. This was going to be big business but it was all curtailed with the outbreak of war unfortunately. The museum is very good, with lots of exhibits, a full size replica of the Yankee Clipper, a Boeing 314 flying boat which landed and took off from Foynes. There was also a flight simulator there which again Callum piloted with co-pilot Logan at his side this time, there's too many Captains on this holiday ;-). The 314 was definitely an odd plane, it looks like a chubby plane from the outside but internally its much more like a boat with cabin like areas with the seats in them, it could carry upward of 70 people, it was very quirky by our standards but ahead of the game back then. The planes became important during the war, landing important military personnel and dignitaries rather than pleasure passengers. They were also used in the Atlantic as spotter planes for submarines but because of Ireland's neutrality during the war were never armed. The museum also house's a vast collection of exhibits and memorabilia to Maureen O'Hara, the famous Irish/American actress from this area. Who starred in many well known films, was an excellent singer and was also patron to the museum until her death on 2015. She was married to a pilot who flew the planes from Foynes.
By now, time was wearing on and we headed back to Tarbert and then took the direct route to Tralee, where we stopped at a a shop for supplies and beer...my stocks were running perilously low, and then headed on west to our campsite for the night. There is a site in Tralee but I had done a wee search and found 3 others a bit further west, the first of which looked good, and was pretty cheap, we headed there. We arrived at the shabby looking gates and drove in, and sort of wondered where to go, when a car drew up and the window wound down a chap said he had room for us, a couple of other interesting characters also seemed to appear at this point, one sporting tattoos all over his face (that means nothing of course). He  said the place was dead, with no one else there, and it was cheap he said, 15 euros.........always good. He tried to explain where we could park as the ground was sodden and we took a wee drive round......it was worse than Steptoes Yard!! The roads through the place were potholed beyond belief, lots of the static caravans looked like wrecks, there were piles of rubbish ready for big bonfires, I would have felt safer parked up anywhere but here.....time for a sharp exit. Fortunately, we hadn't paid any money at this point, the owner was busy with someone else in his wee wooden shack as we revved Bessie up and sped out again, lol. Another false start at the next campsite, which in fairness would have been fine but we ended up at a 3rd called Anchor Caravan and campsite, the lady who runs it is very helpful, the site is nice and we are happy here. The rain is still falling, but we are cosy, fed, watered and I won the scrabble tonight. So life is good.
The forecast looks iffy for the few days so we are thinking about modifying our plan slightly to make better use of next weeks good forecast, we shall see.