County Clare Here We Come. Friday 22nd May 2009.

The drive was only about 300km from Cavan to Cross in County Clare but took us from 9.30am until after 2pm with all the wee villages and Sunday drivers who were out and about. Christina’s directions from Cavan to Clare were spot on and we found the little cottage on the bay without any problems at all. The Cottage is pale lemon with a field of green decorated with bright yellow buttercups out the front and is right on the bay where the Shannon River meets the vast Atlantic Ocean. Michael later tells me that people come to his bay that sparkles a silvery sheen, to collect winkles at low tide; they hide under the rocks and are a big industry here in the summer months. It is paradise and the sun has come out to play and welcome us to our new home whose walls are hung with happy memories of family times and holidays. We are here for the next six nights.

We find the keys hidden exactly where Christina said she would leave them. While we are in their home Christina is on a cruise with her Mum and Sisters in Spain and her hubby, Michael, is staying with his parents only ½ a mile up the road. They have just finished a 9 month home-exchange trip to America and Australia and say they would live in Oz if they could...” maybe one day”, Michael says. It was very good of them to give us a week here at Cross and a week in Cavan as they did not stay in our home on their trip, they kept the 2 weeks up their sleeve just in case they stayed a little longer than expected.

It was such a nice day we headed out to explore our new neighbourhood as soon as we could. We drove the coastal Loop Head Drive and parked the car at the lighthouse at the end. It was so pretty there I couldn’t help but smile. The cliffs dropped off sharply to what seemed like miles below and the water crashed against the rocks at their base. The cliff tops where we stood were as flat as a table top and were covered in the strangest vegetation. Green clumps of spongy, mossy growth had plopped themselves about the place and were interspersed with pale purple wild flowers, gosh it was gorgeous and you all know I am certainly not the botanical type. We stood at the most Western point of County Clare looking out over the vast Atlantic Ocean, America was nowhere in sight. Along a little further the vegetation changed to a thick spongy grass. AJ lay down in it, it was as soft as a mattress. Loop Head is one very special place and I have heard that there is a legend about it, I must ask Christina and Michael to find out for me.

The sun was beginning to hang low in the sky. We stopped at Keating’s Bar at Kilbahar to have dinner. I had an Irish cider, JR a Smithwick’s and AJ a hot chocolate. We sat outside overlooking the tiny fishing harbour; the fishermen were finishing for the day. I met Michael, a local fisherman who runs charters and it was not long before I had organised for him to host the three of us for a day’s fishing the following day. In the end we decided not to go as he was going out from 9am until 5pm and we did not have a full day to spare.

For dinner I had a seafood chowder made with seafood caught from the bay outside. Why they had to add crab sticks I have no idea, it was a shame when the fresh seafood was so plentiful and tasty. The owner lit the fire and chatted to us inside. The whole place joined in, there was a John Howard, a local funeral director, at the next table, some wayward travellers from Miami at the next and of course a bar full of local fishermen including our new friend Michael. We had a lovely night.

Unfortunately when we returned home we had to spend until 2am cleaning and washing sheets, towels etc. It certainly is interesting to see how different people live.