The End of the Road

The following morning, Friday 31st May, Zorbee and I made the final push to Dunmore Head, the westernmost point of Europe excluding Iceland and smaller islands.

With over two thousand archaeological sites, the Dingle Peninsula has one of the highest concentrations of ancient monuments in Ireland, and we soon came across this strange feature - an ancient pig sty or hen house? ............

 

....well possibly used as such in more recent times, but originally this would have been built as a dwelling - an example of early Celtic bijou? These clochans or beehive huts litter the area, and although it is unclear when they date from, (estimates seem to range widely from 4000 to 200 years ago!) some experts think they were mainly constructed after the twelfth century.

 

Nearing Dunquin, or Dun Chaoin (Caon's Stronghold) to use its proper Irish name ..

 

Dunquin is probably most well known as being the location for the filming of 'Ryan's Daughter' and more recently ' Far and Away'.  The old schoolhouse which was specially built for Ryan's Daughter is still in existence if falling into ruin, but film set Kirrary town which was also built from scratch was subsequently bulldozed by local request - they must be kicking themselves now for destroying a golden opportunity to milk the present flood of tourists!

Over forty years ago I visited Dunquin with my sister Rhiannon when we holidayed on the southwest coast.  The local bus deposited us on a bleak road at the top of the then tiny village and we walked down to the pub where one of the indoor scenes with John Mills was filmed, and where a desultory couple of locals eyed us curiously.  We also wandered down to the slipway which featured in the storm scene.  Now Dunquin has quadrupled in size and coachloads of tourists pass through regularly. There are pottery shops, a visitors' centre and tea rooms - where were the latter when we were gagging for a cup of tea and a bite to eat forty years ago?  Never a problem finding Guiness though.

 

And here are Zorbee and me at the end of the road - the furthest point we could safely or legally reach on Dunmore Head - beyond lie the Blasket Islands...

 

Julia was waiting patiently with the lorry, and we loaded up almost immediately and set off back to Rosslare.  However not before a bit of excitement as I had not realised that an unofficial one-way system existed on the narrow and precipitous road round Slea Head to the south. Luckily before we had gone too far we came bumper to bumper with a large tourist coach, rapidly followed by another.  I was forced to reverse several hundred yards to a small parking area where I was able to execute a three point turn on the edge of a cliff and then go with the flow! 

 

Because of our tight schedule - one important factor being Julia's imminent viva - we did not have as much time for orthodox sightseeing as we would have liked.   However at midday we were conveniently passing through the little town of Annascaul, and were able to stop for lunch at the South Pole Inn.  This was previously owned by Tom Crean, who not only took part in both Scott's ill-fated expedition to the South Pole, but also Shackleton's failed attempt. Crean was one of the remaining three men to row from Elephant Island with Shackleton and negotiate the mountains of South Georgia to raise the alarm.  As a result not a single life was lost.

So here is Julia outside the South Pole Inn (which is crammed with Tom Crean memorabilia) taking a fleeting moment to glance up from studying her thesis......

 

.....and here am I arm in arm with the hero himself.  Note the darling little husky puppies he is carrying (how sweet!) and the inn in the background.......

Then it was the long haul back to Wexford, where the horses were staying at Ballyhealy House again.
Betty Maher-Caulfield was home from her Uzbek travels, so she and her talented artist daughter Serena were able to join us in a couple of bottles of bubbly to celebrate the successful conclusion of the Ireland leg.

Our last evening sleeping in the lorry, and Julia looks supremely happy at the thought of her last night curled up on the floor........

TO EVERYONE WE STAYED WITH -

MANY MANY THANKS FOR THE IRISH HOSPITALITY!!

We did not pay a penny for horse or human accommodation the whole way across Ireland and that has to be a first for the many countries I have ridden through.

As one of the main aims of the ride is to raise money for charity this has been much appreciated.

Cantering through Kerry

Tuesday May 28th dawned wet and miserable, but happily it had cleared up a bit by the time Zorbee and I had set off along a quiet lane over the forested hills to Castleisland.  But what were these extraordinary Triffid like plants on the side of the road? ..........

 

We arrived a bit tired and damp at Mary Bradley's well run Eagle Lodge Equestrian Centre at Gortalea.........  

 

............where the horses were again accommodated in comfortable stables on a rainy night.

Mary seeing us off on Wednesday morning. I did not always manage to get photos of everyone who put us up as we had generally left by the time people appeared on the yard in the morning!

 And here the horses are on the west coast, having a picnic by the sea at Derrymore before Zorbee and I set off along the beach on the north coast of the Dingle Peninsula.......

After days tramping boringly along tarmac roads, it was a real treat to be able to trot and canter all the way along the beach for miles from Derrymore to Castlegregory. .................

 

and in VIDEO 

Zorbee perked up no end, and we made excellent progress.   We were able to reach Kilshannig on the peninsula to the north of Castle Gregory, where the horses were provided with a large grassy field at O Connor's Trekking Centre.

The next morning Zorbee and I tackled the beach on the other side of the peninsula, where the Atlantic breakers were crashing on the shore.  I managed to find a lone walker to take the photo below, and you can see I have eventually persuaded Zorbee to get his feet wet - by the end he was splashing relatively confidently through the small waves!

Up through the mist and over the Connor Pass to Dingle..........

By the time large vehicles reach this sign it is usually too late!.......

 

The panorama down to Dingle on the other side..................

 

It was a few more hours to sea in the distance and along the coast to Ventry, where John Patrick gave the horses a field at Long's Riding Centre . 

 

 

It's a Long Way to..............

......... you've guessed it, Tipperary, where the horses are currently staying at the Cahir Equestrian Centre.

But before leaving Kilkenny we boxed a refreshed Zorbee back to Mullinavat and I rode over the hill back to Lorraine's, meeting Julia en route for a photo session by the nearby falls - Julia's turn to pose.....

Kilkenny countryside ....

......followed by an evening preprandial by the dung heap with Lorraine and sidekick Wallace the chocolate Labrador ...............

To be fair, in the other direction there was a stunning view of the Comeragh mountains.
Lorraine looked after us like royalty for the two nights we imposed ourselves on her due to Zorbee's squits - a huge grassy field for the horses, showers and pizza supper for us.

The team (almost) ready for off the next morning - right to left a studious Julia still deep in her thesis, Lili, Lorraine, an irrepressible Wallace and an impatient Zorbee.

Next stop was Clonmel in Tipperary, where yet another enormous grassy field awaited at Daverne's Equestrian Centre - courtesy of Mark Daverne (Thanks Mark, and also to Trevor English who sorted it out when he was unable to accommodate us due to coughing ponies at his yard).   With all this rich grass, Lili is rapidly getting fatter so I will have to watch her weight - in these circumstances small ponies are susceptible to a condition called laminitis which causes inflammation and pain in the hooves.
Clonmel is also the home of Magners/Bulmers cider, so it was imperative that we sampled the local offering......

Highly recommended is the Apple and Rhubarb cider, to be drunk on ice - delicious!

Today it was a short ride to the Equestrian Centre at Cahir owned by Fiona Hyland.  While the horses relaxed this afternoon in a safe little paddock (thankfully not too much grass for Lili!) Julia and I had a jaunt into town.  Unfortunately not enough time to go round the impressive looking castle, but there was plenty else to amuse us ...

Sign outside the Cahir pub 'Mary Condon'.  Is the Guiness really that lethal here?

Burial spot - on the main street !!  - of warhorse Crimean Bob.

Cwtching up to the blind piper of Cahir

....explanatory sign.......

.....and another suitably in braile....!  Think I have it the right way up.

The BOLASHAK Pony

I am delighted to report that the Kazakhstan based personel company BOLASHAK http://www.bolashak.com/ have generously agreed to sponsor a second horse in Kazakhstan to join Zorbee. We are very much indebted to them for their support, and the horse (or rather pony in this case) will be named Bolashak in honour of the company. Zorbee is of course sponsored by the wonderful probiotics company VIDAZORB. http://www.vidazorb.com/

Rowena has already purchased a suitable candidate for the new Bolashak, already nicknamed Bolly. Perhaps he will merit the cracking open of a bottle of the other type of Bolly when we officially cross into Europe over the Ural river in Atyrau. He is seen above in sub zero training for the rigours ahead with boy groom. He may not be the most beauteous of equines, but handsome is as handsome does, and as long as he is tough, goodnatured and can walk westwards, who cares!

I notice from the photo that he is already sporting one of the saddles provided by our other main sponsors Free and Easy saddles http://www.fnesaddles.com/.

Over the last few months we have experienced a lot of trouble sorting out registration problems with my Lada. This was due to the fact that foreigners are not in fact permitted to own Kazakhstan registered cars, and 'ownership' only involves the legal right to use and sell a vehicle. The registered owners who 'sold' the Lada had unbeknown to me (as my Russian is limited) asked the lawyer to include an extra clause apparently to protect them from any problems arising while I was in possession of the car. However this also seriously effected my legal rights to the vehicle and created considerable problems, particularly as the registered owners were subsequently extremely obstructive about altering the paperwork. Happily, thanks to the sterling efforts of Shaun Weaver and Ed in Atyrau, to whom I am eternally grateful, it has all been sorted at last, and we are now in a position to trade the Lada in for a more suitable 4WD truck to tackle the Hunger steppe of Kazakhstan.

I have booked my flight from Amsterdam to Atyrau for March 30th. I plan to travel round to Kyzlorda in the truck while Rowena accompanies Bolashak on the train - we felt it might be a bit of a strain for him to endure 4-5 days journey by truck over rough roads. We hope to start riding sometime in the the first week of April, all being well!

KaZorbee the Vidazorb Horse

Saturday September 4th

Now the bay gelding is tried and tested and I hope to ride him across Kazakhstan, he can finally be unveiled as the new Zorbee, or should I say KaZorbee! A worthy representative for our sponsors Vidazorb, as he is calm and steady, but also has a bit of a kick, rather like the marvellous Vidazorb probiotics he is named for! And of course a natural product.
He is the right age and size, and a comfortable ride. Although not as bombproof as Bajiu, he is pretty unflappable. A slight attitude problem leads me to believe he has been getting away with things with someone in the past, but that is hopefully being ironed out. He can be tethered absolutely anywhere without mishap and is easy to lead. He is essentially a friendly chap and good to handle, though can bite and kick if he is unhappy. But that is undoubtedly the result of past handling, and it certainly did not deter Vladimir the wonderful farrier at Sergei Buikevich’s Equestrian Centre, who made an impressively calm and efficient job of reshoeing him without any Asian-style methods of restraint, and with a excellent set of shoes.
He is relaxing in luxury at the centre (at Butakovka near Almaty), which is like a rather grand equestrian health farm equipped with every sort of horsey amenity - he even had a wash in their equestrian shower room on arrival, before his manicure. Quite a rise in the world for a meat horse, as he rubs shoulders (not literally) with some stunning and no doubt extremely expensive horseflesh.
Here is Sergey with his Grand Prix dressage stallion Voltan - to my surprise he is an Akhal Teke, but nothing like the whippet like creatures I am used to. A big strong lad, he is apparently descended from the famous stallion Absent, who was the same type. In the meantime Marat the guide and I have been completing arrangements for my 4WD and driver.
The 4WD is an experienced but serviceable Lada Niva which I have bought from Valentina who is trading up. And to drive it I now have a charming young English speaking Uighur from Karakol in Kyrgyzstan by the name of Bakhram. I seem to be doing a line in Uighur drivers. Here they both are posing together in the mountains behind Almaty when we went for a recce today.

Unlike in China, I will actually be able to drive the Lada myself, and I intend to use it to get to Atyrau when I have finished riding next month.

Vote For Zorbee the Horse!

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And here is a photo of the star himself in Food on the Face mode.

If you feel inclined to follow my two-legged tweets go to twitter.com/meganlewis49 . At the moment this will give you notice of when I post videoclips on Youtube. Unfortunately I will not be able to tweet when I am travelling in China from April to July due to oriental obstruction, but hopefully will be able to do so again from Kyrgyzstan..