Glendalough & Wicklow

Glendalough & Wicklow
After the drama of last week I made the decision not to make the long drive up to Sligo & Donegal, that will have to wait until I return another time. Instead I stayed in Wexford for a couple of days to make sure the van wasn't going to shed any more vital parts, and then headed up north about 60km to County Wicklow. I wanted to return to Glendalough again - last time I had been there it was a sunny bank holiday Monday and the place had been crowded with cars and people, not really the peaceful atmosphere that it is famous for.

Last week, when I met with Fr Michael, I offered to take a large brass candle stand to Guernsey for him. So for the past week I have been traveling around with it in the living space of my van. It fits quite nicely but makes me feel like I should hold a banquet or ball. I have had a few interesting looks from people over the past few days - they must think I'm a bit of an extravagant traveler.

My Dining Hall/Ballroom/Master Bedroom
I left Wexford in the sunshine, with the GPS working once again, and headed north along the East coast... or so I thought. I had been driving for about an hour when I came across a picturesque little fishing village with amazing sea views... on my left hand side... It turns out that either there are two places called Glendalough within a similar distance of Wexford (but in different directions), or my cheap GPS software was playing tricks on me... not that I'm complaining because the scenery was nice and I wasn't in any rush.

While driving around Ireland the last few months I feel like I have joined an exclusive club - the VW campervan club. Everytime I pass another VW campervan there is always a friendly wave or thumbs up... around here I haven't seen so many but along the west coast it was 2 or 3 each day. It seems you can only do this though if you have a VW camper of my style or older and only if it is kitted out as a campervan. It's the kind of wave you use with other mariners when you're out in a boat. On the road I have noticed that this phenomenon is not unique to VW campers though, tractor drivers do it too, and any two vehicles with surfboards on the roof.

Anyway...

As I arrived at Glendalough the clouds were just starting to form over the tops of the mountains and by the time I had found a carpark to stop for the night, and had started cooking dinner, the rain had set in.

Base camp The next day I headed into Wicklow town, about 45mins from Glendalough, to do some work and get some food. With the rain still coming down I spent the day in Wicklow exploring the town and quay.

WicklowThere was no sign of the rain easing off as I arrived back at Glendalough in the evening. I had come back to Glendalough to see it while it was quiet and I guess the rain was helping me with that, so I decided to make the most of it and walk around the valley and lakes. It is an amazing place, with no people around at all it did live up to the expectation. I felt like I was somewhere in Middle Earth.

GlendaloughAfter walking around and taking in the scenery for a few hours I decided that I was wet enough and headed back to the van. On the way I walked past an area by the side of a lake which was full of reeds and rushes. It reminded me of a the Celtic tradition of the St Brigid's cross. This is a cross which is woven out of rushes and hung in houses and barns to protect the people and animals living there - I have seen them a lot while traveling around and Alicia had given me one as a gift when I gave her a lift to Rosslare... So I thought with nothing else to do tonight, and the rains not easing off, I would have a try at making one. The making wasn't actually too hard once I had a good look at Alicia's - the hard part was picking the stems without getting eaten alive by the midges - I didn't do so well at that and today am covered all over in bites!

My St Brigid's Cross