My late mother was always on at me to document things, either in picture or by pen, especially when I would be telling her of the pearls of wisdom spoken by the kids. So, for our (by now regular) summer break in Dungarvan I had great plans. Not only was I going to get up at sunrise, take hundreds of landscape photos, get to the gym before the kids surface etc…, but I was also going to document our trip through a mixture of photos & diary entries – more Pete McCarthy than Bill Bryson – and I was quite looking forward to it.

However, the best laid plans & all that !! Within one day of arrival I had the most horrible of head colds, and, discovered that its not a good idea to swim underwater while blocked – cue severe sinus, fluid in the ear to add to the joys of my cold. Within three days I was attacked by some breed of horse fly while in Colligan Woods. This guy would not go away despite swatting, he was a persistent little bugger who kept coming back for more of my blood – think John Mullane with a poisonous stinger instead of a hurley – leaving me with septicaemia. The very next day I ended up heartbroken, my favourite lens, the one I use for 90% of my photography somehow managed to break while in a padded camera bag, so, that signalled the end of my photos and a bill of EU1,700 for a replacement (hurt way more than my bites !!). To top it all off, by day five my eldest had to be brought to the medical centre with a chest infection, and on day 6 my better half mislaid our one and only set of keys in the middle of Dungarvan !!

Despite all that there were still some great moments. Discovering Mr Simms Olde Sweet Shoppe in the centre of town (yum!!), the sheer joy on my youngest daughters face when we won the family quiz in the local hotel, Butlers ice cream (not the chain – just a shop) still tastes as good as ever, the town is still a great place for food, drink & a bit of craic (its not called Fungarvan for nothing) , Dungarvan has some stunning scenery, as well as fabulous coastline on its doorstep, the kids were thrilled with Fota Wildlife Park, especially when the lemurs came over and opened my wifes handbag , when it comes to Cluedo, Peacock is a murdering b@stard and finally, and probably most importantly, you can’t beat spending time with friends over a bit of food & drink.

All in all an eventful week, it certainly won’t be forgotten in a hurry, so, there was probably no need to document anything anyway !! Have just a few pics below, and, its well worth clicking on the panoramas for a larger view.