This is were we will publish pictures and video links of our trip.

Not long to go.

Have had the newspaper articles done and published. Next Wednesday I will be filming an interview for UTV with Joey Dunlop’s Wife & Daughters at Joey’s Bar in Ballymoney, I feel very honoured that Linda, Joanne and Donna Dunlop are supporting Long Way Home 2010.

Day 1

At long last, the day has arrived and went in a blur of glorious sunshine and good weather and then the typical Irish 4 seasons in 1 day.

Click on all pics to enlarge

The day started at 7am, with the final preps to the bike and final packing. At 8:30am we headed to the start point at Randalstown, on New Street. We were met by a couple of bikers who wished to accompany us on the start of our adventure. Scully from the Quay Vipers MCC and Ken from the Northern Province Chapter of the Harley Davidson Club accomanied us to Belfast City Centre. At 10am we left Belfast and headed up the coast road east of Northern Ireland along the Glens of Antrim. The weather at this stage was perfect. Ken and Scully accompanied us through to the Foyle Bridge in Londonderry where we parted ways.

We crossed the border from Northern Ireland into the Republic of Ireland where the Donegal Coastline awaited us but the weather was not kind. Mist, drizzle, fog plagued us along extremely windy, bumpy, pothole-ridden roads. I was up and down the gears like a fiddler’s elbow. Many twists and turns did not make this first part of the journey enjoyable, as the fog hampered our view of what is an amazing coastline. I turned a few heads on some windy roads as when i tuned my handlebars to far my tank bag hit my horn button, which had me in giggles every time. 336 miles later, we arrived in Donegal and immediately found our hotel, and were greeted by Jenna Bennett who immediately sourced a dry parking place inside the main hotel, obviously out of view from the residents. We can’t thank Jane Wilson, from The Central Hotel, for the kindness that her and the staff have shown myself and Jonno, not only did we get a complimentary room, but also a wonderful breakfast has been offered from this luxury hotel. So many miles and 2 sore bums later, myself and my son Jonno, who will be documenting, filming, photographing and directing the entire journey, are now sitting listening to a traditional Irish band supping cold beer and resting our weary asses.

Here endeth day 1.

Day 2

Started with a wonderful breakfast at the Central Hotel in Donegal. Headed off around 10am towards Sligo. First glitch of the day, Jonno’s helmet comms was not working. We continued on into Sligo for our first fuel stop. I got a chance to inspect the comms and discovered that Jonno’s jack plug for his helmet had 2 wires broken off the solder. We got some directions at the garage to the closest motorcycle shop on our route, where I was amazed to find out a mechanic had heard of our project. 5 minutes later, with a solder iron that would have suited a JCB I got the comms systems working, we were back on the road. The temperature had jumped from 12 degrees C to 27, and it was very warm, sticky and uncomfortable riding in this humid heat. The skies were dark and the further south we got the weather looked even more discouraging. On the approach to a coast road along the mountains of Donegal, we were met by a number of bikers who were coming along the opposite direction who flagged us down and advised us to take an alternative route. They told us that the road surfaces were being renewed and covered in loose stone. The weather, also, was horrid, high winds, sideways rain and low visibility would make this route treacherous. After consulting the map and consulting Jonno, we decided on an alternative route, which indeed turned out to have had excellent roads through a beautiful valley, taking us back, with no loss of miles, to our next destination of Wesport in County Mayo. I have been impressed with the roads in Ireland as they used to be so bad, however, you can be on loose gravel with no warning and if its on a bend, well your on your hoop.

The weather was kind to us for another hundred miles until we reached the gateway of Connamarra. This was one part of our Irish adventure that I so wished to get on video, as it is one of the most beautiful scenic landscapes that I have ever witnessed in my life, and I have travelled all over the world; unfortunately, and again, the weather was not kind to us, and we didn’t get the video footage that we hoped for, what with the low cloud. 292 miles later, we arrived at Cong, a place where I have been returning with my family for over 20 years.

Cong is the village that was made famous by the film “The Quiet Man”, featuring John Wayne. Margaret and Gerry Collins very graciously donated us a room for the night, which was exremely grateful as today was very tiring. Our butts were sore, my wrists ached from the many winding roads and mountain passes. One source of amusement to Jonno and I is when we had to make tight turns my handlebars hit my tankbag exactly where the horn button is, making us jump every time. I would have dearly loved to get some video footage of this beautiful part of the world for tonights video diary but by the time we were set up for the evening and had some much needed food and refreshment, it was too late to film. Tomorrow we head for Limerick.

Here endeth day 2.

Day 3

We left Cong around 10am. The weather was overcast but warm. We headed south and made our way around the Burren. This is a beautiful part of the world with the strangest rock formations I have ever seen. The Burren has many attractions, which include the Alwee Caves, and the cliffs of Mohair. This time of the year in Ireland, you can guarantee coach loads of American tourists. From the Burren we continued south towards Limerick.

Limerick has a new road system, which will be opening next week. This includes many bypasses, new roads and a tunnel. But as it was not open, the traffic was very heavy. Just before we entered Limerick, we stopped off at Bunnratty Castle and had lunch in one of the oldest pubs in Ireland, called Durty Nelly’s.

We decided not to stop in Limerick and headed for our stop-over destination in Croagh. We drove through the very beautiful village of Adaire, with its beautifully kept thatched cottages. On reaching Ballycannon Lodge, Jonno and I were amazed at the size of the place. There was a garden centre, a restaurant, a pet shop, a music school and of course the guest house. We were met by Tom, the son of Mary and Dermot, who had invited us to stay the evening. We were given a tour of the beautiful landscaped gardens and the rest of the premises, the guest house was outstanding. The bedrooms were more like suites and were extremely beautiful. We were fed a beautiful steak dinner then we had a walk through the village, taking a look at the old graveyard with graves dating back to the 1700s.

We went to the local pub for a few pints, a few games of pool, then back to the guesthouse for a good night’s sleep. We can’t thank Mary and Dermot not forgetting Tom, & Ursala enough for their hospitality and kindness, I’m sure we’ll be keeping in touch.

Day 4

After a hearty full breakfast at the Ballycannon Lodge, we hit the road again around 10am and started the journey south, which I was looking forward to the most, and boy I was not disappointed. We were to take in all the peninsulas around the south west of Ireland towards our final destination for the evening in Kinsale.

We took a lovely route into Dingel, but were a little disappointed, not that anything’s wrong with Dingel, but it was completely packed to bursting with tourists so Jonno and I decided to press on. We entered the Ring of Kerry and started what was an amazing motorcycling venture through some of the most beautiful picturesque landscapes I have ever witnessed. It is very hard to put into writing the breathtaking views that we encountered on this route, and on our return we will be adding lots of pictures and video.

We also took in the ring of Skerrybeggs, and again we were not disappointed at this natural beauty.

Jonno and I must have had motorcycle viagra for breakfast as we just did not want to stop, and carried on with 2 more peninsulas before crossing the Cork and Kerry Mountains into County Cork. The roads dramatically changed and again the views were spectacular, going over the mountains and down into Cork. Again these were beautiful roads, even though they reduced in size and we found ourselves through many windy country roads and villages into the very beautiful Kinsale.

We fell on our feet again as when we found our stop for the evening, the Actons Hotel, which is indeed an extremely beautiful hotel looking over the harbour. After dumping our gear in the room, and a quick wash, we took a walk into the village for something to eat and a few beers, but as we winded down for the evening, fatigue came upon us very quickly and we went back to the hotel for a great night’s sleep.

It’s not surprising we were so tired, as today’s journey was 497 miles of twists and turns.

Day 5

Weather gave it to pour down with heavy rain, so we packed the bike for a quick change into our wets. It stayed dry and warm!!

We headed through Cork to Blarney Castle for a stop of for a bit of sight seeing. We were not disappointed, I had visions of thousands of tourists and was discouraged pulling into the village as I was right, coach loads everywhere, but we decided to brave it.

It turned out not to bad at all, it was a beautiful place and everything the brochures said, apart from the knackering climb to the top tower to kiss the Blarney Stone, not that I need the “gift of the gab“ I thought it only fair to give the stone a wee top up, lol. Jonno declined to snog the stone. The castle itself is  definitely not accessible to all and  a bit of an insurance nightmare, but I don’t mean that in a bad way. We spent a couple of hours at Blarney, taking all the sights and beautiful, mystical gardens with great weather to make it more enjoyable.

We headed on from Blarney around the coast road towards Wicklow. We stopped  for some petrol and met 4  guys doing a motorcycle run for a childrens charity, cant remember the name, will add when i get it; these boys were a real laugh, they were doing 26 counties in 24 hours. We swapped chat for a bit and i asked thier name for themselves and was not supprised to hear they called themselves “The GobShites” this gave Jonno and I a good giggle.

The Gobshites

Jonno, Mike, (1300STX) Andy (GS1200), Paul B (Bandit 1200), Paul M (K1200S) & Dermot (1300STX)

The new road system was helpful apart from taking us right into Dublin were we had to double back on ourselves down to Enniskerry and Brook Cottage.

Brook Cottage was beautiful and Mary the owner was lovely, we had a quick shower and headed out to “Johnie Fox’s” famous pub for dinner and a few drinkies; an excellent night was had, check out this pub and look at how many famous people have visited there. It was amazing.

Day 6

Our home coming: We left Enniskerry, a little delicate this morning, and headed home and to stop off at our meeting places. We had a beautiful run home with a few bikers awaiting us at our stops to give us a little support, but however none of them joined us on the ride. Weather remained dry and warm all the way back. We were disappointed that we didn’t get the home coming support offered by some bikers and clubs but it was all good. Its maybe as well as there was a big parade and gathering in Belfast when we returned. We headed onto my sisters for the family annual BBQ, we were clapped and cheered in by our family and friends which made it all worthwhile.

Here endeth Long Way Home 2010 Ireland Route and I wish all the luck and support in the world to Russ & Chris for their trip, starting next week.

Watch this site for Long Way Home 2011.