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Welcome to my personal diary of our tour of Ireland's 3000ft peaks in 1996 ....
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Day 1: Wednesday 29 May
We all arrived at Prestwick Airport with enough time to have some breakfast, change currency and have a leisurely stroll through Duty Free. The flight took no time at all .. in fact, it took longer to recover our luggage from the baggage reclaim. Then it was on to Thrifty Irish Car Rentals! (Bring back the days of punts and duty free .. Ed!).
This could have been a complete story in itself! Having been told we were getting a 9-seater minibus, Andy had arranged for a Fiesta as well. The 9-seater turned out to be a 12-seater Transit, so the Fiesta was duly returned. After loading up the bus, it was time to set off. We drove through Dublin and, stopping at a supermarket to pick up hill food and other refreshments, we headed for Laragh and Lugnaquillia.
It was an interesting journey full of nice little Irish quirks .. for example, speed limits are in mph, but distances are in kilometres. We arrived at out start point in Glenmalur and set off to bag our first 3000ft mountain. The weather was good and we had soon followed the trail which zig-zagged up the side of the hill. From there, it was a gentle slope to the summit of Lugnaquillia at 927m.
We stopped for a bite to eat on Percy's Table, took a photo or two, then it was 'lights, camera, action!' as Andy started the video record of our trip. After a quick descent, we tidied up and headed back down Glenmalur to experience our first pint of stout in Ireland. Arlene invented a new cocktail .. Guinness and blackcurrant!
A pint down and it was time to find our accommodation for the night. What can we say about the Old Mill? It may be quite nice when it's finished, and an electrician could well be employed for a couple of months .. but at least it was within walking distance of the pub. Looking back, I suppose it was OK for one night only. We got settled in and then headed for the pub for a couple of pints and something to eat. The food and drink were excellent and the service friendly. Then it was back to the Old Mill to settle down for the night.
