The following weekend we headed, this time to the East side of Ireland, Donard in Co Wicklow, to be precise. Initially, I called a different campsite, but they were all booked up. They kindly gave us Nuala’s number; thankfully, they had space.

Note: I would definitely call and pre-book this time of year. My experience so far has been campsites are pretty full each weekend.

This time we were trying out our new tent. We used our campervan awning for the previous two trips just to see if we liked camping before investing in a tent (see a picture of it here in my last post). Whilst it was ok as a temporary solution, it was massive and bulky, with not the best space layout. After all, it was purchased to go with our now long-gone campervan.

After a lot of research and looking at the new inflatable tents, we finally decided on the Urban Escape 4-man tent, the reviews were great, and as a bonus, it just happened to be on sale.

It had a few of the requirements we wanted in a tent, a sewn-in groundsheet, enough room to stand up in, separate rooms, one to sleep in and one to store stuff away, or for more people to sleep in. It folded up very compactly and is suitable for heavy rain. All boxes ticked.

For our first outing in the tent, it was just brilliant, easy to put up, and really comfortable to be in, it was like glamping more than camping, and the little Missy sidekick loved all the space.

The campsite itself was pretty good, having all the facilities, such as kitchen, toilets & showers, as well as a small living room and laundry room.

Our cost for this campsite was €23.00, and this included an electric hook-up. Not all campsites allow hook-ups with tents, so this was an added bonus. Again they also accept dogs with the same ground rules as the previous site.

To book, call Nuala at 045 404727. Details online can be found here http://www.camping-ireland.ie/parks/wicklow/moat-farm-caravan-camping-park

Happy Pear Stop Over

One of the reasons I chose the East side of Ireland to visit was because I had on my to-do list – ‘visit the Happy Pear’s new restaurant in Clondalkin’. Being a vegan, I always try to visit and support as many vegan places to eat as possible. Earlier in the year, we made a day trip from Galway to visit their restaurant in Greystones just for lunch.

That was crazy. What will we do? Sunday morning conversation ended with us piling the dogs into the car, and three hours plus later, we were walking on the beach in Greystones.

I again had the Budda bowl there, and Alan had the vegan burger whilst sitting in the sun with little Missy. Yummy and definitely worth the visit!!!

Wicklow Gap & Glendalough Monastic City & Mines

After we set up the tent and camp stuff, we drove through the Wicklow Gap to Glendalough to visit the Monastic City.

It took us roughly 40 minutes to get to Glendalough from the campsite, going through Hollywood and landing at the car park at the Glendalough visitors centre. http://www.glendalough.ie

From the visitors centre, there are loads of walks outlined for different levels of fitness, plus the Monastic City is just a short walking distance away.

On this occasion, as it was quite late, we decided just to visit the Monastic City and then drive back, stopping at the ruins of the Glendalough Mines and the viewing point in the Wicklow Gap. Definitely, a short weekend away was not enough time to see this area or plan one of our walks.

Russborough House & Parklands Blessington Co Wicklow

After a peaceful sleep and a very slow morning, we packed up and left the campsite for twelve noon, deciding to visit Russborough House on the way back to Blessington. The house itself is lovely, as are the grounds, and quite busy with young families visiting the children’s playground and Maze. http://www.russborough.ie

We just stayed for coffee, and I must say we did not have a great experience in the coffee shop there.

Obviously, being vegan, I just take for granted that there are many places I can’t eat, and, as this is a self-imposed choice, then that’s fine.

Usually, we just ask about ingredients, and most places are really helpful. On this occasion, I spotted they had vegetable soup, so Alan asked if there was cream in it. To be greeted with a curt “I don’t know, I would need to ring up the head office to find out” a few seconds later, followed by, “do you really want me to do that?” We said no, it’s ok and left.

It’s a pity, as all it takes is for one person to leave a bad impression on a wonderful place and what would have been a lovely visit, which we cut short.

On our drive back to Galway, our next camping trip was being hatched. Roll on the weekend.