I got back from a ten day tour of Ireland yesterday in my '78 camper. 
     Thought it might interest some of you - especially across the pond in 
     North America as I always enjoy reading of your VW adventures over 
     there - you seem to have so many wonderful places to tour like Baja 
     and the national parks etc.
     
     We set off from Brixton in South London early on Saturday morning. 
     Traffic was light and we reached Bath in West England by around 
     10.00am. Looked around the beautiful Georgian architecture for an hour 
     or two then set off over the River Seven suspension bridge into South 
     Wales. This is one of the longest bridges in Europe and is very 
     exposed to cross winds. 
     
     We leisurely cruised through the Welsh lanscape picking up gas (as in 
     propane) and supplies as we went as prices are higher in Ireland. We 
     reached Fishguard at around 9.00pm (where our ferry left from) and 
     drove around a head land to cook supper by a small beach.
     
     The ferry left at three am so we slept in the queue on the harbour 
     side. I was woken suddenly by a loud banging on the windows. My van 
     was the only vehicle left on the pier! I quickly drove up the ramps 
     into the bowls of the ship and the van suddenly felt very small 
     surrounded on all sides by huge lorries. THe vehicles on the ferries 
     are packed in as tightly as possible and then chained to the floor. 
     THere were three vehicle decks on this ship with high vehicles at the 
     bottom - made the right decision to book in there (thanks for all your 
     advice on that). It took 4 hours to cross the Irish sea and we landed 
     at Rosslare in South East Ireland.
     
     By afternoon we reached our destination of Listowel where there was a 
     festival of Irish dancing and music. The atmosphere was excellent with 
     musicians playing in every pub and all along the streets. The Guiness 
     was soon flowing smoothly!
     
     Next morning we headed North taking the coast road and a short ferry 
     ride across the Shannon estuary. We headed into an area known as the 
     Burren in county Clare picking up hitchers along the way. The Burren 
     is a strange lancape of eroded limestone with a unique flora and many 
     ancient Celtic, Bronzeage and earlier ruins. Most spectacular are the 
     Dolmens (over 4000-5000 years old!). Think of mini stonehenges and you 
     get the idea. We camped by the Atlantic in Doolin - a tiny village 
     near the Mohar cliffs famous for its Ceally bands.
     
     Onwards around the Galway bay to Connemara. This is a very barren 
     place of jagged rocks and bogs from which the locals dig their winter 
     fuel. We stayed in the area travelling only for 20-30 miles a day 
     before stopping to explore for 4 days.
     
     The journey back to London took 2 days and included a detour around 
     the town of Ennis which was blocked as the inhabitants were 
     celebrating victory in the All Ireland Hurling Chapionships.
     
     Ireland is an ideal place to tour in the camper as it is quite small 
     but with drastic changes in the scenery over small distances. THere 
     are very few large roads in Ireland and even these are small and very 
     potholed by English standards.
     There were plenty of vanagons in evidence from a Splitty spotted by 
     the sea in county Clare through to the latest models.
     Ireland is a very beautiful country and I came across nothing but 
     genuine friendliness from the people there. It was a good feeling when 
     strangers wave and shout hello as you drive past.
     
     My van performed fine all the way there and back, until I was within 
     half a mile of home! - started to stall when stopped - I'll check it 
     out this weekend.
     
     Hope this was of interest to you - I'd better go and do some work i 
     guess -
     Cheers.