Still having data problems.

Saturday 14th July

And the day started so beautifully, 5.30am and the sun had risen over the harbour boats. 

 So why then were we awake so early? A loud banging and tapping noise could be heard nearby the Beast and we had visions of someone trying to tamper with the wheels. On investigation, it turned out to be nothing more than a hungry magpie trying to gain entry to a pizza box for a tasty morsel inside.

By 8.30 we were on the move. In the distance loomed black clouds and sure enough the further North we travelled and the rain set in.

Galway and PC World, that's where we were aiming for. My Asus tablet has given up the ghost so the only option was to purchase a new one. PC World stores are few and far between here in Ireland, but we did find one in Galway. Having settled on a Samsung 7" tablet the next port of call was to Glengowla and the mines. 

Put there for effect! Many miners did lose their lives though.

Candlelight was all they had to work by. This photo showing how difficult it was.

And the same photo but with the flash.

One of the mine shafts.

It was still raining as we left and instead of continuing back to the Atlantic Way we were on the lookout for somewhere to empty the loo. Yesterday we discovered the seal had gone on the cassette we had been using and the smell every time we opened the bathroom door was quite potent. Ian did a temporary fix by coating the slide with Vaseline and then changing it for the spare second cassette. But we needed to empty it so the fix could be done properly. Here in County Galway (as well as County Clare) finding facilities to accommodate campers and motorhomes is almost impossible. By Ian doing some serious research, we eventually found a place called Clifton where we could empty the elsan and discharge the grey water. Time was getting on and further research on the 'park for the night' app found this wonderful place next to a lake. What a perfect place for a BBQ...or would have been if the rain would stop!

 And I thought I would say a bit more of the saga on our data allowance.

 Having settled in and congratulated ourselves on finding this place, Ian went back online for his emails only to discover 3 have again charged us for data usage (£5) even after purchasing a further £15 for 5 GB. A long long argument to those Indian operators only to be told that wrong information had been given to us and we were still being charged £5 per GB used. Long story short 3 have agreed to refund our £5 but has also told us that any further usage will be charged per megabyte. Once we are back in Northern Ireland our original data allowance of 40GB kicks in. Thats why I had been silent for so long.