Driving a motorhome in Ireland is not for the faint of heart

Our free Sunday parking in Youghal was over by 9:00am Monday morning, so that's when we left. But boy, was it ever busy getting through town at that hour... due to the school kids being dropped off by the excessive number of buses and cars. I guess nobody walks to school anymore.

We were headed to the coastal village of Ballycotton where I had read that there is a coastal cliff walk. The only problem was getting there unscathed!

The major roads in Ireland are fine, but the secondary roads can be very narrow with no shoulders at all, and tall hedges on both sides. There have already been times where I've heard Max's mirror hit the branches. And then of course there are other minor roads that are even more narrow.

And the speed limit on many of these secondary roads is still 80 km/h (50 mph) and some of the locals are doing just that. So I'm tootling along at what I think is a decent speed, but I end up with vehicles behind me and someone comes flying around a corner coming the other way and I have to slow down even more to get closer to the greenery. Driving a motorhome in Ireland is not for the faint of heart!

This is a typical secondary road.

But some of the more minor roads are not wide enough to put a center line on. We call them bicycle paths. Ruth took a video for you...

Arrived in Ballycotton and found a parking spot that was level enough, and even with a view of the sea.

Once again, we're having better than expected weather. It was a bit cool, but we put on our shorts for the hike. The Coastal Cliff walk is about 7.0 kms (4.4 miles) round trip.

The Ballycotton Lighthouse.

Beautiful coastal walk.

There are some steep cliffs!

The tide is out.

We haven't seen very much wildlife, but I did manage to get a good shot of this stone chat.

Looking back at where we came from.

We came around a bend and we could see a shipwreck in the distance. I zoomed in on it for you...

Wreck of the MV Alta.

Bit of a strange story. The MV Alta was abandoned at sea by her crew in October 2018 after a total engine failure south west of Bermuda. The crew were taken off the ship by the US Coast Guard and the boat then began drifting across the Atlantic. It drifted for a year and a half before it was washed ashore here during a storm in February 2020. Subsequent storms have since broken the wreckage in two.

At the half way point, we met a younger couple, Jessica and Will. We noticed that Jessica's accent wasn't exactly Irish, and it turns out they're visiting from Vancouver. But Will is from here originally.

Then along the way back we met a family from Indiana and we had a nice chat with them about motorhome life.

Lots of spring wildflowers out.

We decided to stay out for the night, and ended up going out for an evening walk to the local harbour. 

Ballycotton lighthouse.

Ballycotton harbour.

End of another great day in Ireland.

Today, we're headed up to the big city of Cork to get Max's LPG (propane) refilled. We're undecided about going into the city itself. It's supposed to be pleasant enough, but we'll see. Might make a quick stop and then carry on.

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