Glenveagh National Park

Today started with a trip to Cruit Island, as recommended to me. On the way I stopped off at a boat ramp for a look. There was a bloke there, who on hearing my accent showed me his boat. It is called the Cootamundra Wattle. He said that he used to hear the song on the radio every day on his way to work and finally looked up what it was. He did ask me if I was related to the Boyds as seven sons had gone to New Zealand years ago. One had never been more than three miles from home and then he went all the way to Christchurch.

Cruit Island was beautiful. It is connected to the mainland via a bridge so easy to get to. There were a lot of reeds along the road and after seeing a video at the museum yesterday I could see it being harvested to use for weaving. I went out to the golf course (mainly because that’s all my GPS would recognise when I was looking for directions) and it is on the western edge of the island looking out onto the Atlantic Ocean. The sun was shining and the ocean was such a deep blue. The photos just don’t capture it well enough.

From there I went down to Burtonport planning to catch the car ferry to Arranmore. Unfortunately I hadn’t booked and they didn’t have anymore availability for cars today. I booked for tomorrow and headed out to the Glenveagh National Park. Like a lot of National Parks over here it is different to our National Parks. There were houses/farms in it. At one point a had to drive through a small flock of sheep. I also saw donkeys!

I always ask the GPS for two routes and I chose the long route which I think took me around the outside on the east side. I finally got there though and it was worth it. There is a castle there - Glenveagh Castle and the gardens are gorgeous. There is a walled garden with fruit trees and vegetables and then acreage with plants from around the world. I even found a gum tree! The trees all out in their autumn splendour.
To get from the car park to the castle I took a shuttle bus. I got the same driver both there and back and I’m pretty sure he was speaking Gaelic to his mate who came back with him. Obviously it could be any number of languages that I’m not familiar with but I like to think that as I’m in an Gaelic speaking area it was Gaelic. We also saw a couple of deer on the way back to the car park.

I spent quite a while there so headed back to my hotel when I was done. I’m writing this in the bar. I ate here last night and tonight - it’s much easier when I don’t have to go and find somewhere to eat. They have some good seafood here. Last night I had crab claws and kippers, tonight smoked salmon and scampi. Turns out I didn’t realise kippers were smoked herring. It was very rich and I think it will be be a long time until I try it again.
There is apparently live music her tonight but it doesn’t start until 9:30. Hopefully I can stay awake that long!Read more