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Wild Atlantic Way In 1 Week : Day 5 – Sligo to Letterkenny : #WAWIn1Week

July 8, 2023November 6, 2015 by TomBoyNI

Wild Atlantic Way In 1 Week : Day 5 – Sligo to Letterkenny

Update : The YouTube video of Day 5 is now available for your viewing pleasure…Enjoy!

Friday 31st July 2015 takes me onto the penultimate day of my Wild Atlantic Way adventure. I mentioned previously that by Day 4 I was really enjoying myself and after a long day yesterday, and a night in a great hotel I am thinking I need to get back here and do this whole thing a whole lot more slowly. I remember the few things that were annoying me over the first couple of days and now realise they weren’t really that annoying, just a fact of travelling on a tourist route growing in popularity.

I take a look over the map, the route taking me from Sligo to Letterkenny, and it looks like it is another long day, but then I look at the weather. Oh dear. This does not look too promising, there is a yellow warning for rain! I’m going to get wet! Also my initial and completely inaccurate distance calculations have me travelling 186 miles today. So I’m definitely more than that!

Leaving the hotel and things are dry, however the sky is very dark, grey and ominous and it doesn’t take too long for the skies to open and boy they open! I got wet on my journey down to the start of the WAW, and that only took me 4 hours, today I’m sure I have 10 -12 hours of it it looks like the only question will be how will the gear hold out?

WAWIn1Week – Sligo to Letterkenny – Day 5

Three more Signature Points to visit today (Downpatrick Head is the most Southerly Signature Point on the map, however it was visited yesterday). Today’s points are :

Mullaghmore Head.
Sliabh Liag.
Fannad Head.

(The other point on the map above between Sliabh Liag and Fannad Head is Donegal Airport – a small airport with services Dublin with two daily flights.)

Wild Atlantic Way In 1 Week : Day 4 – Clifden to Sligo : #WAWIn1Week

July 8, 2023October 11, 2015 by TomBoyNI

Wild Atlantic Way In 1 Week : Day 4 – Clifden to Sligo

Update : The YouTube video of Day 4 is now available for your viewing pleasure…Enjoy!

Thursday 30th July 2015 and we have safely arrived at Day 4 of the #WAWIn1Week Challenge, and at this stage of the game I am really enjoying myself. The niggles I had over too much traffic and what can only be described as piss poor driving are still there but only so very slightly. I am much more in tune with it, I know what to expect and to ‘get out and round’ as soon as possible and when ‘they’ are holding me up, to just relax and take in the breathtaking scenery. All is good as we commence Day 4 and I am now finding it all going a little too quickly, when you look at the map this journey is not too far away from being completed and that’s actually a little sad. So best get enjoying it!

Today the journey takes me from Clifton, Co. Galway to Sligo, Co. Sligo. My panning stages have me to be believing this section of the route to be about 250 miles but if I have learnt one big thing from planning this trip is that I have always under estimated. Normally by a good amount, Day 4 was actually closer to 300 miles, it was a long day and that was the greatest downfall of the day.

This is also the Day that instead of booking into a B&B I got a cracking deal on a hotel and stayed at the Yeats Country Hotel at Rosses Point, Sligo. This is where the long day fell foul, this hotel is lovely and I would have loved to have factored in an earlier finish so I could have relaxed and enjoyed their facilities. The bar looked great, there was a brilliant fitness centre and the restaurant as I was arriving was closing but the place smelled great!

I ended up with a curry chip from the only take-away in the town, a Chinese that was getting ready to close as well. As I say that is the only disappointment and it was self made, I didn’t get enough time to enjoy this brilliant spot!

Although from the route above it looks like there are four signature points shown on this section there are again 3, the one closest to the bottom is just before Clifden and it was done the previous day (Derrigimlagh).

Killary Harbour.
Keem Bay.
Downpatrick Head.

2015 Airwaves Portrush : NI International Air Show – Gallery

September 13, 2015 by TomBoyNI

2015 marks the second year of Air Waves, the rebranded Northern Ireland International Air Show. 2014 was an excellent year for this show with quality aircraft and outstanding displays so this year has a lot to live up to. With in my opinion even more pressure on its shoulders because of a rather disappointing airshow earlier this year in Newcastle, Co. Down.

So Airwaves 2015 can you do it?

Yes you can. Everything was in favour of the airshow this year most importantly the weather, over the weekend we experienced a little wind on the Saturday but it settled itself, Sunday started off a little wet and grey but as you will see from the gallery as the day went on, the weather also started to thankfully behave itself!

14/05/2015 NW200 Thursday Night Race Night!

June 12, 2018May 18, 2015 by TomBoyNI

With Thursday now being the 1st Official Race Night of the NW200 I am happy to bring you the official results and the a nice photo gallery of some of the action from the Juniper Hill Chicane near Portstewart. This is a decent vantage point for taking some decent photographs as the bikes are well slowed down for reaching the chicane, something the riders aren’t to fond off! Guy Martin for example started a bit of controversy for being ‘Bored to the back teeth!’

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58uR6X7a6J4]

Unfortunately tonight we only got two of the three races completed, a red flag halted the 3rd race, thankfully no one was injured badly, however following consultation with the riders a low evening sun (as pictured), and time constraints meant the third and final race could not be run and was postponed until Saturday’s racing.

Solar Eclipse : 20th March 2015 : Northern Ireland :

March 20, 2015 by TomBoyNI

The Solar Event of the decade is how it has been described and this morning from about 8.30 am until almost 10.00 am a partial solar eclipse occurred over our skies. The previous two days could only be described as glorious in relation to the weather so it was very disappointing to wake up to a grey, overcast and ultimately rainy morning.

Obviously the eclipse won’t stop on account of the weather however a small miracle occurred and just as the eclipse was reaching its maximum point a little break opened up in the clouds giving a good view of the event and even letting me snap a few photos :

I also put together a time lapse video, unfortunately the cloud cover is too much for my GoPro but it does show the difference in light quite nicely and let’s face it time lapse videos are cool! Check it out here : (The water does get dried off giving a proper view when the rain stops)

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhJKeaxNr-c]

2015 Adelaide Motorcycle Festival – Belfast

February 6, 2015 by TomBoyNI

It has been a year or two (2013 actually) since I have went near this show, but I ventured back today for a look with huge hopes that it had improved since my last visit.

Thankfully it has. I will address the 2 bad points firstly that I came away with today – firstly £12 entrance fee is just crazy. That is only slightly cheaper that the NEC’s Motorcycle Live which was simply outstanding. This show is more like a gathering of dealers, with a range of their bikes that they want to sell you. Nothing new, nothing revealed, just a load of nice and shiny bikes all in one place to tempt you out of a few hundred quid for the next 36 – 48 months, therefore I think it is a bit cheeky to be expected to pay such a high entrance fee to essentially enter a huge multi-manufacturer’s show room.

Secondly, on your way in you will pass by the ‘Jumble.’ Make sure you go in because there is simply some stunning vintage bikes and cars in here and a few interesting vendors. However Bad point 2 is also in here. Some of the vendors are just selling junk, and they genuinely don’t seem bothered.

My eye was taken by two quaint little signs, neither of which held any real world value, I just thought they would look rather cool in my garage. Heres’ how the conversation went….

2014 Airwaves Portrush : NI International Air Show – Gallery

September 16, 2014 by TomBoyNI

2014 marked the first year of the new look NI International Air Show (2014) which was rebranded to in my own personal opinion the rather cheesy ‘Air Waves’, what with it being an Air show and also beside the sea. (This section of the Northern Irish Coast being the only one with waves to mention with the exception of storms of course.) Now that I have my reservations of the name expressed I will move onto more important things, the show itself.

One word should suffice as an review, and be enough to ensure your attendance next year – ‘Excellent!’

The venue has relocated to the East Strand of Portrush over looking the Causeway Coast, and it worked really well!

The display line has now moved to the eastern side of the peninsula to bring the display line much, much closer to the crowd and have the Giant’s Causeway and Dunluce Castle as a backdrop. It also means spectators can now view from the beautiful Blue Flag beach and enjoy even more exhibition space. This map shows the main layout of the event;

I am too late to be writing reviews and the like for this event, however it is never too late for photos and I have included a pretty big selection of the images I captured on the day, which follow below, but I do think it is important to emphasise the main points :

1. The event was excellent.
2. The range of aircraft was fantastic.
3. The sight of the 2 Lancaster Bombers was simply outstanding.
4. The display from the Red Arrows was amazing! This was their 50th Anniversary display and although they are always worth watching, this display is something special!
5. The other aircraft were all amazing, and being a fan of helicopters I certainly was treated well!
6. The rest of the events organised for families, visitors and spectators were good and I have no doubt will improve as the years go on.

I am certainly looking forward to the show again next year!

Coming Soon : The NW200 and another G-Shock!

February 11, 2024May 30, 2012 by TomBoyNI

Just a quick note of what’s coming soon. I have a full gallery featuring some of the great action from the North West 200 Motorcycle Races, and another unboxing of a G-Shock, this one is rather special in that there is only 150 globally!

So it’s coming soon!

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