Staying at Garretstown House, Co Cork

I had a rough plan. Just as well it was flexible and I didn't book anywhere as the plan changed as the holiday went on. What should have happened was that I went to Kinsale, spent two days then went North along the Wild Atlantic Way, calling in to Mannix Point in Caherciveen, then Co Clare, Connemara, Achill Island and finally the south Sligo coastline. What happened was that my car played silly buggers on the 6 hour journey south from Northern Ireland to Cork, on day it 2 went into a garage, and for days 3, 4 and 5 stayed in the garage while a 'fuel pressure gauge' was ordered, delivered and fitted. In that time the weather went pear shaped too, and so when I got my car back I went East instead of North. 

The Coach House in the background

I stayed in a campsite called Garretstown House near the village of Ballinaspittle which is a few miles outside Kinsale. It is a holiday park with mobile homes, touring sites and facilities set amongst the remains of a beautiful and ruined Georgian House. There are two historic buildings, one facing the other and with identical facades. The one that was a residence, is ruined, missing it's roof and too dangerous to go into therefore it is closed off. The other is an old Coach House which has been partially restored and has a large useful space indoors for group activities. There is also an Orangery which is being utilised as a sitting room for adults only. The courtyard houses facilities such as a campers kitchen, playrooms for different age groups and a takeaway. The campsite is placed on what would have been a croquet lawn, and has a magnificent view of the sea in the distance from steps leading down to it. It is a fantastic place, I really would recommend it for a family friendly campsite. The youngsters will love it as there are kids discos and kids movies being shown in the coach house on alternate nights. There is quite a steep hill going up through the holiday park from the main road, which is worth noting for those towing a caravan. You can walk to the beach, which is a 15 to 20 minute walk away, and is downhill all the way but uphill all the way back. The campsite is run by a family, Dennis Mawe is the main person but in my time there I met his sister and his brother and they are all active in the running of the site. The family are really friendly, this is the second generation running the site. They were so helpful when my car broke down and helped me find someone to fix the car. When the car was ready they brought me to the mechanic to pick my car up. When I had no car they were concerned and asking about my welfare. I have to say I enjoyed my chats with the family and felt like I was being looked after very well. 

panoramic photograph

The ruinous main residence

The Courtyard

My little Orange tent on the former Croquet Lawn 

view from the steps

Garretstown Beach 

Garretstown Beach is 0.8 miles from the campsites, although there is really two beaches side by side with a hill in between. I noticed plenty of icecream vans, food stalls and even a massage parlour! 

On my visit to Garretstown House I visited the historic town of Kinsale, which is a harbour town flanked by two forts. One of the forts is in great condition and can be visited. Unfortunately, because I had a dog with me I wasn't allowed into the inner courtyard, however I could visit the perimeter. Luckily this included a coastal path that quite honestly I probably wouldn't have bothered looking for if I hadn't been turned away at the ticket booth. 

Charles Fort 

Charles Fort

Charles Fort 

In Kinsale I visited the harbour, the historic narrow streets, and some outlying areas such as 'Summer Cove'. I found Kinsale to be a really pretty place, however very busy and parking is a problem. There is mostly paid parking spaces however Dennis from the campsite told me where the few free parking spaces where and I got lucky both times I visited Kinsale and got a free parking space. Kinsale puts me in mind Whitby on the North Yorkshire coast where I visited last year. Lots of cobblestown streets, narrow and very old. There's plenty of notices around giving the various histories of places and people which is a great touch. 

Kinsale

Desmond Castle which houses a wine museum

Scilly 

Summer Cove

Summer Cove

Past Summer Holidays

Run down of previous annual hols:


2015 - Co Kerry (Mannix Point) camping - rained 12 out of 13 days. Only one glorious day. Went home a day early due to the weather.

2014 - Co Donegal Cruit Island - stayed in a holiday cottage (not this castle - this is Glenveigh)

2013 -  Co Kerry (Mannix Point) camping - scorching fortnight, no rain and high temperatures

2012 - Ballyness, Co Antrim in the Caravan. Rained solid for two weeks

2011 - Co Kerry (Mannix Point) camping - mostly dry with one day of rain

2010 - England, camping and touring in Somerset, London and Staffordshire

2009 - Benone Tourist Complex, North Coast - rained intermittently but were mostly lucky

2008 - Rossnowlagh Co Donegal camping - dry for the most part

2007 - Caravanning in Sleepy Hollow, Co Donegal - another glorious summer. 

2006 - Just a short weekend to Castle Archdale

2005 - France camping - took the ferry and toured taking in the Vendee and Brittany 

2004 - Caravan to Knockalla Caravan Park, Co Donegal (no photo)

Sunflower Festival 2015

The Sunflower Fest has come of age. No more are we the punters struggling with unnecessary hardship, the place was clean, the portaloos were plenty, the mud was minimal despite some rain. The bands were fantastic, the food was plentiful and varied, and the outer corners held some special little spaces that you came across by surprise such the Coconut Water Bar, a lovely little chill out spot.

There were lots of little tweaks. The main stage used to have an undercover area to one side that was VIP only, now opened up to all who needed it as a shelter from the rain. A Marquee right beside the sound tent (mid centre of main arena) that used to be occupied by a frankly dodgy burger vendor who took up most of the space for his customers, has been vacated with just a few simply constructed low tables that served as seating and/or coffee table, under cover and out of the elements. The hot food vendors lined the sides of the field in the main arena and the prices were reasonable.No more is the guy that served one slice of pizza and a can for a fiver - now you can get a whole pizza, any topping for a tenner. Also on offer was barbecue sticky ribs, a Burrito Bar, traditional Chippy, Thai and down in the 'Bliss' Valley vegetarian Falfatel.

The band of the whole weekend, in my opinion, was a band called The Screaming Eagles. They are a bluesy rock band that are sharing stages these days with such big name bands as Airbourne and Black Star Riders. 

The Screaming Eagles

The second best band was called 'The Love Street' hailing from Cornwall, with a surprisingly celtic rock flavour and who won over the crowd with a rousing rendition of 'Whiskey in the Jar', always a winner in my book.

The Camping Bit

My eldest son and I carried everything in on one run, using a decent trolley and a crap one. The crap one really let us down and will be replaced before we take this type of thing on again. The little wheels just weren't up to uneven stones and grass. We'd worked really hard to condense all we'd need down to as little as possible, and decided to take the Quechua Base Seconds with the optional inner you can buy, to serve as our 'home' for the weekend. In hindsight, considering the weather could only be described as iffy, it would have been better to take something a bit more spacious. 

In all it was a lovely weekend and although we were tired at the end we were happy and a bit smelly. I met a lady called Denise who I'd corresponded with on Facebook prior to going and who turned out to be camping right beside me. She was working hard as a volunteer and I would consider doing volunteering there in the future, now that they seem to have sorted out all the teething problems five years in to the start of running this festival. 

Festival Camping List

With only a fortnight to go before the Sunflower Festival here is my guide to packing for a festival. Please comment below with your own suggestions.

This could of course be used as a basic camping list for an occasion when you want to travel light or may not have access to your usual transport.

The Sunflower Festival is on at Tubbys Farm, Cabragh Road, Hillsborough from the 31st July - 2nd August. Tickets available on the website.

The Sunflower Festival Website

Festival Camping List 

General

Tent of choice – choice of big (stand up height) or small (easier to carry) and don’t forget pegs and mallet

Bed of choice – foam mat or airbed or self-inflating mat

Airbed pump if using an airbed

Pillows, inflatable or from home

Three season sleeping bag

Waterproof backed Picnic blanket for sitting on and use as an extra overblanket at night

Eating

Cool box, non-electric and cheap. Fill with ice from supermarket and a couple of 1 litres of frozen milk. Use as an extra seat or use as a table for putting stove on (carefully)

Single stove with fuel canister

Collapsible water carrier or 5l sized bottled water from supermarket

Pan set with optional kettle

Tin opener/bottle opener

Mug per person

Disposable cutlery and paper plates

Roll of bin liners (tip – do not take a whole roll, take a used ‘thin’ one from home – bin liner can also be used as emergency poncho)

Tea/coffee decanted into a clip top plastic box

Leftover sugar, salt and pepper satchets from your local eatery in a Ziploc bag

Small Hand Sanitiser (lidl, 79p)

Matches or Lighter

Pot Noodles, rice crackers, breakfast bars, fruit, fruit loaf, bagels, plastic jar of peanut butter etc etc.

Personal

Lightweight back pack for day use (day pack – Decathlon do a lightweight one, £2.99 range of colours)

Ziploc bag with your phone inside it

Travel pack of wet wipes

Wad of toilet roll

Paracetamol / prescription meds

Smidge or other insect repellent

Sun cream

Camera

Head Torch

Wallet with one card (pre-paid credit card is safer) and cash
Ear plugs

Clothes and Toiletries

Wellies / second pair of resilient shoes such as trainers

Poncho or pack a mac

One change of clothes

Lightweight comfy clothes for sleeping

Jumper or warm jacket

Sun hat

Sunglasses

Dry Shampoo

Travel Wipes

Toothbrush/toothpaste

Optional

Folding chair, preferably one with a carrying strap

Toilet seat liners, ebay £1.30 for 10

Tip – if taking a car keep a clean change of clothes and shoes for going home in as you may stop off somewhere for a bite to eat on the way.

Tip 2 - check the weather and if there is any windy weather forecasted, take a smaller tent preferably a pop up tent which will be much more likely to survive gale force winds. The bigger the tent the more surface area which will just pull the pegs out of the ground. Take a selection of different types of pegs especially rock pegs which are longer and stronger than most. 

Packing clothes for a weeks camping trip

Packing your families clothes for a weekend is one thing. Packing for a week or more is another, it takes planning and more lists. I'm a big fan of lists. Here's a few tips to manage your clothes when you are camping:

• Pack one good outfit per person for restaurants and nice days out and change the kids out of the 'good set' as soon as you return to camp.
• Make sure every item is suitable for washing in the same load of laundry,  so no blacks or whites or non colourfast clothes.
• If you have access to a kitchen vacuum machine, vac-pac small items like socks togther in bundles of threes or fours. Get the kids to help with this step it's fun!
• Put a strip of masking tape on the outside of any plastic bags you have packed, and write the contents on the tape, this makes a very cheap label.
• Roll don't fold clothes.
• Washing tablets are easier than packets of powder.
• Bring a large mesh wash bag for putting dirty clothes in, then wash clothes still in the bag. 
• Take old clothes, especially 'old' underwear. Wear and throw out since it's going to be thrown out anyway, saves washing.

Add your tips below in the comments section.