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| Looking up at the cliffs in one of the many coves around Dunmore East |
For the second part of my holiday I went to Dunmore East. The reason was that I had been having intermittent car problems and although it had just been fixed, the issue was a 'trial and error' type fix and I wanted to be fairly close to a main route home. As Dunmore East is quite close to Waterford City, which itself is at the end of a motorway taking me to Dublin then home, then it made sense to go there. The area was also supposed to be warmer and drier with all the bad weather in the West.
I went to Dunmore East Campsite which is associated with Dunmore Golf Club. The campsite is on the edge of the golf club grounds, although I did not have a direct view of the course from my pitch but it was on the other side of the bank. I arrived about 4pm to reception and found that the friendly welcome I had in Garretstown House was not to be replicated here. I did find the facilities very good and spotless, however there is more of a corporate air here and the staff really aren't that interested in the people who were using the campsite. They were busy so I was put in an overflow area which I was more than happy with. I had a more private pitch as a result. If I was here again, I would quite probably request this area again.
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| My little orange tent with a tarp pitched over the top to help with the shade |
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| pic credit to the ASCII website, they do accept ASCII cards here. This is the reception and amenity block. |
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| Credit: Pitchup Website |
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| View from the Clubhouse at Dunmore East Golf Club |
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| seen from the Golf Club, a ship presumably carrying wind turbines |
The village of Dunmore East is a historic port that is reminiscent of 'Doc Martin' which as you probably know, is a TV series filmed in Cornwall. It would be fair to say that this coast line has a Cornish feel, there's evidence of past copper mining and the coastline to the west of Dunmore is known as the Copper Coast. It's all very 'Poldark' with secret coves, towering cliffs and winding steps down to the shore. It is no surprise to find that geologically, this area shares much of it's mineral formations with the South West coast of England and therefore this is justifiably considered that this part of Ireland that is a bit like going to Cornwall, without all the Londoners. And to top it off, the weather here is so reliable that it is also known as the 'Sunny South East' of Ireland.
I certainly had a good number of hot, sunny days - in fact it was really too much for me to bear!
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| Copper Mining Works near Annestown, Co Waterford |
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| The Strand Inn which is walking distance from the campsite (down a steep hill) |
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| One of the many coves |
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| This one is called the 'Mens Cove' |
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| That's one way to get down! No thanks.... |
The Strand Inn became a favourite place to hang out because of it's proximity to the campsite. There is a sort of unofficial route from the campsite that takes a shortcut to the road that leads down into the cove where the Strand Inn is situated. By going to the camping pitches that have the view across the bay, you'll find a gap in the fence. A well worn path across the field will lead to a gap in a hedge beside a gate. The campsite itself is at a much higher level than the village of Dunmore East, so therefore walking down is no problem...but walking back, well that's a different story!
The Strand Inn does good breakfasts, however there are plenty of other places in the village of Dunmore to eat including two shops that sell Croissants and hot food. I found that the best fish and chips were in a place called O'Sheas which is beside the Fire Station.
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The Strand Inn, Dunmore East
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Elsewhere, I visited the nearby village of Passage East, which is literally the name of the place. From it, you can get 'passage' in the form of a ferry, Eastwards! It is the sleepiest wee village and I suspect most people drive straight onto the ferry and don't explore the town. It was so pretty and I was struck by all the washing lines on top of the town wall beside the shingle beach.
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| Passage East, the village that time forgot |
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| Passage East, Washing lines beside the sea |
To wind up this trip, I went to Waterford City and found a place to park up so I could explore for an hour before continuing on my journey home (which took 5 hours) through Dublin.
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Reginalds Tower, Waterford City
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This hotel (below) is under renovation and the owner has decorated the building with an image representing the struggle of mental health.
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| Hotel across the River Suir, Waterford City |
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| Christchurch Cathedral, Waterford City |
