Then after almost 12 Weeks it was a real pleasure to see (almost) all of our kids again, the big group hug felt great.

We were welcomed with a nice dinner, the front and back garden are completely overgrowned.

It still feels strange to drive on the right side on the roads (and on the bicycle highways in the Netherlands) and to go into roundabouts anti-clockwise.

The trip counter is close to 5.000km with an average speed of just 44 km/h - that says something about the Irish roads. This last stage of our trip on a wide highway was much over that average.

Unfortunately we arrived in Amsterdam on a working day, so Sabine went into the city by bike on her own and Ulli joined her after work.

The Netherlands are a bikers paradise - that's so lovely. But the hurry and the crowded noise in such a big city made us a bit mad after three months spending most of the time in nature. But apart of that Amsterdam is always worth a visit.

It was a really warm summer day, all the people sitting outside in Cafés and Bars.

Sabine was very sad that her favourite dutch clothes brand will close down in a few weeks, so she went into the shop for a last visit.

We don't like ferries that much, but its a must when you want to visit islands. This time we spent 17 Hours on our way from Newcastle to Amsterdam on a ferry of a Scandinavian company which was very high-level standard. And we had a nice sunset.

After a lovely breakfast we spent the working day on the shore of the river Nith south of Dumfries.

Then we went eastbound to Newcastle-upon-Tyne, were our ferry back to the continent starts tomorrow.

It felt so strange driving for more than an hour a day and rushing through countries.

But we have booked the ferry trips and so we were about to spend only one day in Scotland and one in England.

The first ferry went from Larne in Northern Ireland to Cairnryan in Scotland.

In the Scottish Province Galloway we visited a nice garden park, another stone circle with mystical energies and again an old castle.

We were really flashed and grateful for visiting this country 10 weeks. It's not possible to find some representative photos so you need to scroll through all recent posts to get the full impressions.

Ireland is

• so colorful

• home of the most friendly people in Europe

• full of amazing beaches and beautiful landscapes

• a wonderful way of living with its pub culture and traditional music

What we missed:

• Warmer ocean temperature

• Our kids

• Social contacts

Coloured houses are present in every small village, and they always made us smile.

Apart of the coloured houses in the villages most of the cottages have coloured doors. When we asked locals the reason for this, they said: "It's because you'll better find your home when you come home drunk from the pub" ;-)

Looking for some food in the small village Cushendall we went to two restaurants which were fully booked. The third one had an open beer garden where we just stepped in. But it looked like a private party. Just as we wanted to leave a guy asked if he could help us. When we said we were looking for a restaurant, he invited us to the party, which was the 40. Birthday of his sister and he was the owner of the restaurant. We had nice food and drinks along with live music. So incredible friendly.

We booked our ferry to Great Britain two weeks ago and unfortunately we had only one day left for passing Nothern Ireland. Luckily it was a Saturday and so we had enough time to see various places. At the end of the day we were sure that we need to come back sometime.

Our last night in the Republic of Ireland he we spent in Buncrana, a nice little town full of flowers and murals. We enjoyed live music for the last time and later on the Main Street some Teenie boys on a scooter shouted at Ulli "I love you hair" ;-)

In the morning Ulli did his last Irish Parkrun and we had a walk with stormy winds.

Finishing the Roundtrip on the Inishowen Peninsula we came back to Loch Swinny and visited the lovely small Inch Island. A very secret hideaway apart from all tourist routes, where met a women who moved here 15 years ago from the US.  She is a writer and we had a nice chat about the Irish Government and the Brexit.

Today we had one of the few days it felt like it will never stopp raining. We are approaching the border to northern Ireland.

Each beach we currently visit proclaimes to be the most beautiful in Donegal. The Five Fingers Strand is definitely a candidate ... 

Later the day we stopped at Irelands most nothern point: Malin Head - to windy to spend the night.

Wildest hairstyle battle! Are we going to the hairdresser together?

The night we spent between a 120m high view to the ocean and a field full of alpakas.

Another great spot for camping in the wilderness at a stunning beach for long walks.

The weather has meanwhile settled down as typical-irish, showers every two hours but also sunny parts. The Irish summer seems to be over.

Later we visited Grianán of Aileach, an impressing stone ringfort with 4.5m thick walls which was a historical centre of culture and politics for thousands of years. It's supposed to be the oldest building in ireland.

Today was a day of exceptions. The first exception was having breakfast in a nice café with lovely food. Usually we enjoy our self-made camper breakfast with fruit salad and an extra coffee. After that we had our first real forest hike in a magical fairy wood. 

Spending the most of the time at the coast, today we were in the mountains for another hike. Do you find our Camper "Orca" on the first Photo?

Stunning views and a not-yet-found Geocache - a good reason to celebrate with good food. We had a delicious Brazilian Moqueca de Peixe and very tasty desserts.

The last day of June we went on the Atlantic Drive onto the Rosguill Peninsula. Unfortunately the weather wasn't that good, but at the end of the day the sun came out for a moment and presented an absolute stunning rainbow. What a finish in the last hours of the pride month!

In the meantime the weather changed to typical Irish weather: Sometimes an hour of rain, but then again sunny and cloudy.

Another 4km lonely beach and a café with nice hot drinks and cakes - this could be a highlight on a rainy day. 

This weekend we discovered the lovely small Cruit island. We spent two calm nights directly at a huge bay which fells dry completely at low tide. Wild camping at its best.

The Whisky Tour Guide had a special recommendation for us: A pub far off the coast and in the middle of nowhere - The Glen Tavern, close to the small village Glentis.
The pub was almost empty when we arrived at 9 p.m. We asked if there would be a live music session - the owner said: "Hopefully - yes".

So we waited and one after the other musicians arrived with their instruments, but they didn't started playing until 10.30 p.m. - at the end with a guitar, an accordion and six (!) fiddles.

This night was special: a very familiar and authentic atmosphere with great music, we loved it.

One of our weekend activities apart from walking on beaches or doing bike tours was a visit of the Ardara Whisky & Gin Distillery. We had a private tour with a nice tasting afterwards. We'll bring home a bottle of very special Gin with flavors of seaweed.

Naran Beach connects at low tide to the Island Inishkeel so you can walk over.

To feel the music we are allowed to enjoy here in Ireland, it's not enough to post some pictures.

So here are some musical impressions from various venues, recorded in Cork, Dingle, Galway City, Clifden and Glenties.

Our first days in Donegal reveal a big surprise: The water in the bay we spent three days was approx. 3° warmer than in all other areas we were so far. So we took our first longer swimming session without wet suits at Tramore Beach

What's it like to do a 9to5 job in a camper mobile office?

The working time itself with meetings and programming slots is not very different to home office: Ulli got a proper keyboard, mouse and two 16"-4k displays on his desk. 

A small 4G router delivers us good internet bandwidth even at the end of the world - at least if you are outside Germany ;-)

What you definitely need is special software which allows to use the Internet connection only to certain applications. Otherwise your data volume is used up quickly.

The differences to home office are the amazing views outside the window and the time before and after work. Yoga or a morning run at the beach and a bike tour through the lovely hills after work - that's quality time.

After a breakfast in the sun with stunning view we had a second coffee in the "Memory Lane Teahouse" close by. 

Our main destination on this Sunday are the imposant cliffs around "Slieve League". They are almost 600m high and the highest in Europe. Also far less visited than the Cliffs of Moher. When we reached the first viewpoint, there was a short rain shower, which presents an almost 180° rainbow. This was very special because normally you see a rainbow over you and not below.

The night we'll spend at the amazing Silver Strand in Malin Beg. In the afternoon we had much rain, but so there was nobody at the beach

The first beach we visited in County Donegal is accessible by car again. And the best thing was, that the ice cream van stopped just right beside our camping chairs.

Later we reached to south west part of Donegal with its majestic cliffs. There are multiple spots along the coast line where the word "Eire" (Ireland) is written in 7m high letters, which were placed during the World War II as a warning to allied aircrafts that they were approaching neutral territory.

And the common Irish weather with a rain shower from time to time is back.

Of all cities we've visited here in Ireland so far, Sligo seems to us to be as the poorest. But Ulli did another Parkrun here.

So we parked tonight a bit outside of the town close to a table mountain with the option of a nice evening hike.

We love the Irish Humour, like the say "It never rains in the pub".

On a bike trip we passed this 3m high memorial, which has absolutely no meaning.

Another thing we've never seen before is picknick table which you can access with the wheelchair.

Mid-Ireland, week 5-8 of our trip

Continent and Southern-Irleand, week 1-4 of our trip

Sabine & Ulli Hahndorf 2023