Connemara Camping: What To Eat On Day Three - Ireland 2015

Pete in the wind in Connemara

Erin

While we were in Ireland, somehow we got it into our heads to head off into the wilds of Connemara, a county in the north western corner of the country. Well, we wanted to explore the region, not realising that public transport was literally non-existent and so we’d be hoofing it the entire time, from the only place we could find accommodation which happened to be an eco-campsite run by a family. Now, the campsite itself and the family were great. The issue was with the weather as well as the price if we “rented” the equipment from them. Something like 40 euros per night for a basic tent and inch thick floor mattress and sleeping bags.

When we arrived, having been picked up in the small town of Clifden by the owner, we were given a spot with a spectacular view over a white sand beach with crystal clear turquoise waters which was somewhat surprising for Ireland, and even more surprising for the Atlantic north west coast. As we got settled in though, the owner warned us that there was forecast to be an incredibly strong storm coming in overnight into the next day and it was going to be aimed right at our tent. We didn’t think too much into it, suffice to say, well, storm it did indeed.

We had been stuck inside the entire time for most of the day - it being too cold to venture out and the wind nearly knocking us off our feet. We played cards and generally hung out in the very cramped quarters and ate what we had brought with us in terms of food. All we had been able to pick up in Limerick for our adventure consisted mainly of pots of ramen noodles, cans of tuna fish, potato chips and chocolate. Let me tell you - plain ramen gets boring fast. Although, if you have some tuna, you can really bolster the flavour. Chicken ramen with chunks of tuna is surprisingly delicious.

Suffice it to say, the days we were able to we managed to walk the two kilometers to eat something other than canned tuna and ramen and went to the “local” pub for a village which was more like a couple of houses in close proximity with a pub-come-gas station. Hey. At least it wasn’t tuna chicken ramen for three days straight.

In the end we couldn’t face the final night and decided to retreat back to town where we slept in a dorm room and had a bit of a rowdy night at a local bar. You can read more about that in our post “Unforgettable Lowry’s” (coming soon.)