Brissie wast hit with a duststorm today that made its way up from Sydney overnight and during the this morning. Sydney airport was closed this morning and international flights re-routed to Brisbane. About 11:00am the light started to change and become an eerie orange glow and the dust was visible rolling in from the southwest. The air tastes like dust and at times its hard to breathe.
Finally we got underway and landed in Heathrow just over an hour later. It was then only a couple of hours wait bedfore I boarded the junmbo and twelve and a half hours later I landed in Kuala Lumpur. From there a quick transfer onto a 777-200 for the flight to Sydney and then Brisbane
I woke up to a really nice day with hardly a cloud in the sky. I followed a circuit route today leaving from Gort and heading south to Ennis before turning towards the North Atlantic Ocean and the small seaside village of Milltown Malbay. 
The main viewing area for the cliffs has raised platforms and walkways which allows for a better viewpoint. When the sunlight catches the cliffs they are quite dramatic as they are contrasted against the blue-green of the Atlantic.
The route continues on narrow country lands bordered by stone hedges and passes through Doolin and the Caher Valley all the while overlooking Galway Bay. I completed the circuit back to Gort via Kinvara on narrow windy rural lanes.
Hope the rental people don't notice!) and you can't pullover to see the view or take photos hence, minimal Ireland photos.
I left Westport this morning and continued down the west coast via Clifden and Galway before turning slightly inland and ending up at a town called Gort. The coastline so far has been windswept and wild but is actually more populated than I thought it would be. It has stopped raining today and is quite warm with only a few clouds in the sky. From what the locals tell me this is the best weather they have had for sometime. Continuing south I was unexpectedly confronted by the site of Kylemore Abbey as I rounded a corner. It is situated in quite a remote but beautiful spot.
They were being herded by some old Irish guys on decrepit push bikes. The cows and calves trotted along quite happily but the old bull of the herd took his time, ambling along at his own pace about 200 metres behind his cows. It was a least a kilometre before I could get passed them.
The hotel room is huge but I must say the water quality is a bit sus. I'm not sure if you can tell in the picture but the water is a very light urine colour! Nice! I haven't been game to drink it yet! I had dinner in the Irish pub connected to the hotel. I just can't get used to the huge size of the Irish portions or the heaviness of the food, so I settled for the soup!
After saying my goodbyes to Nick this morning I started heading north towards the Giants Causeway Coastline of Northern Ireland. The weather seemed to be getting worse the further north I headed so not feeling like driving in the rain I decided to turn around and head south-west and see as much of the West Coast of Ireland as I could before I left for home.
just outside the town centre on Westport Quay. It overlooked Clew Bay with Croagh Patrick Mountain providing a strking backdrop. If you look closely at the picture to the right you will see a little white dot on top of the mountain which is actually a chapel. Apparentely this site is the most important Catholic pilgrimage destination in Ireland with up to one million doing the pligrimage to the summit each year. I wasn't in the mood for a barefoot pilgrimage up a 640mn high mountain to pay penance, but given more time I would have liked to walked to the summit for the views. 
after nearly being blown of my feet. In this type of weather the area looked pretty bleak but as you can see from these pictures taken the next morning when it was fine, it is quite a pretty spot with views to the ocean,the mountains and green fields with a small lake just opposite the hotel. Westport Quay reminded me of Brisbane with many of the quay side warehouses now renovated into either hotels, restaraunts or pubs.
When I woke up early this morning and poked my head outside the window I saw that Nick and Rachael were going to have a reasonably fine day for there wedding. The ceremony was at Fintona Gospel Hall so I had to scoot down there for the midday start. It was a little starnge being at a relatives wedding and only knowing a handful of faces. I said hello to Alan and Shonagh Davidson and sat beside Anne Smith and her husband who I had never met but had heard alot about from Dad. 
Guest started arriving around 15:00 and after a few hours of photos in the grounds of the hotel everyone went into the reception area which was above the hotel restaraunt. After a few speeches a four course meal waas served over about 4 hours. I sat at a table mostly made up of young people that knew Racheal and had met Nick on his previous trips. After a few more speeches the evening was over at about 21:30 or close to 22:00
Nick and Racheal stayed in the bridal suite of the hotel in a seperate wing of the hotel. Tommorrow they will leave fairly early to get to Belfast for there flight that leaves just after lunch for Vancouver. All up a great day that went without a hitch. I think they picked a perfect place for the reception and the ceremony at the hall was well organised with alot of work going into the event
This morning I toook a short tube ride to Euston station to catch the 08:50 125mph Virgin train to Holyhead. Although Virgin have chosen not to name their train this is the famous Irish mail and follows the route (although in reverse for my trip) of many generations of Irish immigrants. I didn't realise that the train operated two classes so I had only booked into coach class. Bad idea! I was mixed in with screaming, crying kids so I probably didn't enjoy this train trip as much as I might have
I found this stretch of coastline quite desolate and depressing, not at all hepled by the numerous gauwdy and cheap carnivals dotted alomg the coast complete with merry-go-rounds and ferris wheels. 
A few hours later the ferry entered the wide Bay of Dublin with Dun Laoghaire harbour to my left and the the dark purple Wicklow Hills in the distance behind it, and the town of Howth to my right. After disembarking I caught a bus to Dublin centre and then a taxi to my hotel located in the Temple Bar area.
After breakfast in the hotel courtyard it was time to head back to Isle sur la Sorgue via a different route from yesterday. After a frustrating 10km detour until I found the correct route it was a fairly pleasant ride back to the hotel, about 56kms in total.
that lies between the mountain ranges of the Luberon and while there is plenty of flatland it is the hilltop villages with there ancient towns that provide real interest and picturesque settings. At one point through the heat haze I spooted a large mountain in the distance with some type of observertory at its summit that I had not noticed on my previous rides. It was only later I reliased that it was Mt Ventoux, where the pnenultimate stage of this years Tour de France had only recently been completed.
This picture on the right really cracks me up as it looks like I'm in a foul mood, but it was just a combination of the glare and the temperature being around 35 degrees that is causing me to grimace. I arrived back at Isle sur la Sorgue mid-afternoon and grabbed some luch and dinner to take back to the hotel. Went to bed reasonably early as the train leaves at 07:04 tomorrow and I will say goodbye to Europe as I head to Ireland
There was a bit of a hold this morning as after breakfast the rental company still had not delivered the bike. Eventually it arrived and I got underway around 9:30-10:00. It was a stinking hot day with hardly a cloud in the sky. After the usual problems I always have with directions I finally found the correct road and headed off towards Petit Palais.
The hilltop villages of Provence that I visited today where all nestled precariously into the hillside or on top of hills. Houses had been built around a château or church, and crops or vineyards planted alongside or in the surrounding plains. Shady squares, clear running fountains, windy narrow streets and the stone construction where all typical elements of each village I visited.
All up today the ride was around 70kms’s in heat up to 38 degrees. By 14:00 I was pretty stuffed and still faced around 30km’s to get back to the hotel. To make matters worse after I had finished the final climb and descent it was around 25km’s into a blustery head wind to get home. I was very happy to see the hotel, grab some dinner in town and then crash. A very tiring day.
