‘Theia Implied’ oil on canvas 195.5 x 96.5 cm 2022 £3400

…. From Hofn we continued East towards the Eastfjords …. pausing briefly to enjoy the view of where we have cycled from ….

…. The weather was amazing though chilly…. and we were about to travel through our first tunnel …. just 1.3 km long

…. pausing again before heading for the first tunnel ….

…. After the tunnel we found ourselves in yet another stunning location …. It was like this everyday, one stunning view after another. Iceland quickly began the most spectacular ride of my life …. everyday I was simply lost for words …. this will not be our last visit,

A beautiful day heading along the South coast to the East Fjords

A huge lagoon with an amazing number of  Swans

Wild camp

Stuðlagil – basalt canyon ….. WOW

A slow and developing problem we had was the wear on Aaron’s rear tyre, we had already used the spare and we were already commited to cycling into the center of Iceland. Well we had the ability to repair if necassary so we deciced to push on and moniter the tyre

With the East Fjords and Stuðlagil now behind us and with 10 days worth of food added to our bike we rose fairly early packed and with great excitment left Stuðlagil basalt column canyon and headed …. with a little trepidation …. to Askja, we had no idea if we could do this part of the tour no idea if our choice of equipement was up to the task, we new we had tough cycling ahead of us all off road all without back up, we had some spares some tools and we knew that finding water was not going to be an issue at all. there are notices in most if not all campsites that the water from all the rivers and streams and waterfalls is perfect for drinking so we has no worries and no need to carry extra supplies of water. Still this was going to be a full on adventure with no shops no convenience shops or bike shops garages anything like that at all. We were so excited for this….. the only concern was Aaron’s rear tire we had already used the spare …. but we did have the ability to repair the tire if necassary …..

…. A short Preface ….

Our original idea was to take a ferry to Holland and then cycle to Denmark, unfortunately I messed up big time leaving it far to late to book a place on the ferry … it was a shame even though it would have taken us a month of cycling to get to Denmark and so would cut down on the time we had in Iceland. Time that was already limited due to the infinite stupidity of the UK government and BREXIT. All I will say about it here is that it is a shit show of epic proportions and the biggest incidence of self harm a government has ever inflicted upon it’s country and people …. It limited the time we would have in Iceland particularly for creating artworks. In the end flying gave us  two and a half months which may seem a long time but not if you are combining creative practice and cycle touring. Well it is what it is and we were not going to let our limited time spoil our cycle tour. We were determind not to rush, and to take as much time as we could ….

Well everything for this trip was in place and I had organised it as a self funded, self organised travelling artist in residence where I would be involved in gathering visual research and producing natural stone sculptures in the landscape as we cycle toured …. To get there we had a back up plan …. it was one we were reluctant to use but had no choice it was either fly or cancel. Now that we are back and are planning a return trip we are also collecting native tree seeds and are planting them in an effort to compensate nature and the damage caused to the environment through our return flight to Iceland. My intention is to plant at least 100 trees this autumn. It is a tough call philosophically but even if we had managed to travel by ferry it is a 2 plus day crossing and still I would be planting trees. However you travel there always will be an impact …. but in cycle touring one can greatly reduce that impact

…. Our second country outside the UK on our world cycle tour ….

Founded more than 1,000 years ago during the Viking age of exploration and settled by a mixed Norse and Celtic population, it has been an ambition of mine to cycle tour Iceland for many years …. since I was in my early tweens ….. it did not disapoint …. Starting somewhat backwards, or maybe not here is a map of our route which we kind of made up as we went. Our choice to cycle anti clockwise was a good call and was  Aaron’s decicion who having researched the prevailing winds had suggested we travel anti clockwise …. it was a fab decision …. spoiler alert ….. here is our route ….

…. first passport stamp …. Great stuff ….

…. by the time we were off the plane, had collected our bikes, we headed for Keflavik airport bike pit …. the bike pit was a dedicated and FREE shed with bike stands and tools, free to use for all intrepid cycle tourists …. what a fab thing …. It made a huge difference to be able to work on the bike, put them back together and check over everything for any damage during transport. That the bike pit was a covered area with enough space for Aaron and myself was a huge thing. Sheltered out of the cool night air, and I can imaginge what a pain this would be with no shelter and rain, tired as we were. We had been up since 6 am and by the time we had our bikes together it was well after 1 am with a short (9 km) bike ride to the nearest campsite …..

…. Our first ride in Iceland was just 9 km we left the bike pit at around 1 30 am and yes it really was that light and made our first friend on our way to our first camp ….

…. Pitched at around 3 am …. the blue flowers are Alaskan Lupine

We spent 4 days in Keflavik just to relax into being here, there was also some rain over the next couple of days and we knew the weather would be clearing and sunny in just a few days time so we opted to explore Keflavik …. say hello to as many cats as we could find …. find out where to buy various supplies like fuel for our stove – in Iceland the camping gas bottles are always available at petrol stations rather than at camping and out door shops like Blacks or mountain sports. Knowing this was really useful as we could see on google maps just where all the petrol stations were and so plan accordingly and not run out of fuel….. and that was good to know, also we wanted to check out the price of food in various supermarkets, check out some interesting public artworks …. and visit the viking museum …. and oh yes check over the bikes before heading East. Bike shops are few and far between. The next one from here after we headed East along the South coast would be at Selfoss a three day ride away, after that we would not find another bike shop until we arrived on the North coast of Iceland and that was at least six weeks cycling …..

…. A few images from the Viking museum …. it is a fab museum where you can dress up in accurate replica’s of viking helmets hold an accurate replica of a viking sword and shield, and let me just say the helmet is super comfortable and really really heavy as is the shield …. they also had a replica of a viking board game which is thought to have it’s routes in chess so I dare say we will be constructing one of these and giving it a go at some point.  The first image below shows a set of what are called Tupilak’s …. they come from Greenland and are from what I gather  have an almost voodoo like use in ancient inuit culture made and sent with the intent of killing an enemy, It would attack the intestines – and were regarded as something that ate souls, they do remind me of totem poles though on a very small scale …. they are also quite disturbing …..

                                                                                                                                                                …. me ….

… The viking longship was incredible …. in the 1880’s n almost perfectly preserved viking longship was found and this modern built viking longship was built based on the findings of that original longship and built using tradition tools and techniques …. though now in a museum the ship did sail to Greenland and a lot further too. The information regarding the construction and the knowledge they had was seriously impressive.

… Back at camp we were also testing a new piece of kit …. our portable solar charger …. It was and is superb, and being independent of plug sockets was fab. A 28 W foldable solar charger with a digital readout 2 usb ports, max output 5V/4A …. and it worked brilliantly. This really was one of the best pieces of kit to buy, especially later on in the tour when we headed for Askja in the centre of Iceland where there are no shops of any kind at all …..

… and then we were off …. great stuff …. Aaron had first dibs on who got to carry the solar charger … fab to have this charging our devices as we cycle ….

…. Our first ride to see the the North Atlantic Ocean from the South coast of Iceland. We were on our way to our second campsite at Grindevik …. we also had our first encounters with Kria (Arctic Turns) they do not like people, but then it was breeding season so they were a bit testy. And our first maintenance issue. Aaron had a problem with his chain and we discovered a half broken link … not much of a problem in the end as we just had to use our chain tool to remove the damaged link re attach the split link and put the chain back and we were then on our way ….

…. first proper look at a volcanic landscape. It was awesome … absolutely stunning ….

…. Along the route to Grindavik we stopped to visit this remarkable place and to have our lunch …. this is one of many places in Iceland where you can stand between two continental tectonic plates …. it is impressive …. there is also a bridge between the plates … so at this place you can cross between the Eruasian tectonic plate and the North American tectonic plate….. we had our lunch in the gap between the two …. It is far more interesting than just a single rift, on either side the land is fractured with varying widths of gullies. It is interesting to also note that the plates are moving apart at the same rate that Earth’s Moon is moving away from the Earth …. 3 cm per year ….

…. this really was an extraordinary place and we both either sat and just looked or walked around exploring in complete fascination. To see this geological process is just great stuff ….

…. I organised this trip as a self funded self organised travelling artist in residence. Intentionally I had not brought any sketchbooks or art materials. I have read and researched a lot about Iceland including the impact that climate change is having particularly on receeding ice sheets and glaciers. Iceland is a formidibl, rugged environment that is also incredible delicate and this was one of the reasons I wanted to cycle tour Iceland as it would have the least environmental impact ….. so in concert with that philosophy the question is …. how is an artist to respond creatively to such an environment and at the same time do as little harm as possible. In terms of my artistic practice it was easy as for many years I have created temporary stone balance sculptures using natural elements in the landscape. They are fun, intense and yet calming, almost a form of meditation, and using the natural elements in such a way that they are not modified at all, physically interacting with the natural elements is a fundamental part of this philosophy …. and when you achieve that balance point it can be profound and exhilerating. At the same time because I use natural elements like rocks there is little impact on the environment …, the rocks are already there, they are not changed or modified in anyway. They are not glued together ….. as some have claimed and eventually with the wind and rain they collapse and become part of the landscape as if they were never there. The falling basalt columns provided a natural plinth and this was just great stuff ….

…. volcanic landscape ….

…. Our next must visit was to a geo thermal area – ‘The Blue Lagoon’ …. We did not bath in the geo thermal pools though …. these main tourist attractions are really busy and really quite expensive if like Aaron and …. travelling as inexpensively as we can …. is a necessity, then such this are easily avoided and to be honest being part of that kind of tourist conveyerbelt is not why we do this, also the idea of sharing a lake of water with many hundreds of visitors a day is not really my cup of tea. The nice thing here is that you can still do a fab walk along the various pools that are not part of the bathing area, and if you time it right it is less busy and it is still absolutely spectacular. The colour of the water is almost luminous and is caused by bacteria that thrive in geo thermal pools and by a high concentration of silicates …..

…. Whilst camped at Grindevik we cycled to visit the site of the recent volcanic  eruption at Fagradalsfjall ….

…. lava flow frozen into ripples as it cooled ….

…. Even after 9 months the lava flow was still venting and actually just 60 cm below the surface it was still liquid molten rock …. we walked along the surface of this lava flow for a while and you can see and smell the volitiles emanating from the lava flow ….

…. from the ridge as we climbed to view the volcanic crater you can see the lava flow ….

…. and then we continued our journey of along the South coast of Iceland heading East …. Aaron had done a fair amount of research before we came here closely following and understanding how the prevailing winds behave during the summer months … we knew that the winds could be ferocious and Aaron’s research indicated that we should head East …. and it really paid of …. all along the South coast we had predominantly tail winds … and we had warm sunny weather too up to 15 degees C ….

…. this camp was terrific …. donantions only …. good showers, toilets fab weather and fab views ….

…. the landscapes from time to time were covered as far as the eye could see with wild Alaskan Lupine. Introduced the stabalise the soil and to enrich the organic content of the soil including adding nitrogen. And it thrives the scent is wonderful ….

…. Skogafoss ….

…. beyond Skogafoss there are 26 more waterfalls and the walk continues all the way up to the glacia and ice cap, we had a day walking up to explore some of these waterfalls but we were cautious of going all the way up to the glacia as we were only really equiped for long distance cycle touring. We did really want to do more exploring like this but our equipment was really limited as far as trekking in the mountains go ….. but the next few images show that where ever we were we combined a lot of walking with our cycle tour

To visit the next waterfall we had to back track a ways, we had planned to visit this waterfall on the way but the weather was ….. interesting and we had our first introduction on that day to the infamous Icelandic side winds that fall of the glaciers, being dragged down of the glacier was a band of cloud heading out to sea we, and we wrere heading straight towards the rain, it was fairly heavy and cold and we really did not want to stop. It seemed from the weather map of Iceland that the band of rain would stop by the time we reached Skogafoss and that turned out to be right, the band of rain was at least 10 km wide, and by the time we got to Skogafoss we were back into sunshine.

The ride to see this next waterfall was a round trip ride of 50 km …. and the wind was still strong and had moved from the North into a strong headwind, much more manageable than the side winds. These side winds are challenging they would come out of nowhere and suddenly drop any passing large coaches …. and there were a few, would play havoc with steering the bikes in the strongest of these side winds we had to lean the bikes over at an angle of up to 6 degrees …. so yes challenging ….

After a few days exploring these waterfalls we pushed on to another tourist hot spot Vik, and the famed black basaltic sand beach and on the way we could not resist visiting this crash site

…. Militery DC 3 crash site near Vik ….

…. Walking out to the crash site is across a huge flood volcanic flood plain and the sand is black volvanic basalt ….

…. it is so atmospheric and so different to anything I have ever seen …. slowly life returns in small patches of wild flowers ….

…. could not resist paddling in the sea …. and it was not cold either ….. the waves breaking later in the day were quite spectacular ….

…. sometimes the unexpected happens as with this stone balance sculpture on the black sand beach near Vik ….. can you see the delicate contemplative profile of a young woman …..

…. continuing East ….

…. this part of the South coast was much anticipated As we cycled East we could see glympses in the distance of the  Jokularson glacie, in fact there are are glacier after glacier along this coast…. seeing glaciers and glacier lagoons for the first time was a remarkable experience ….

….. and more waterfalls with volcanic basalt columns near Skaftafell….

…. Icecap and volcanic crater ….

…. Diamond beach …. as the icebergs calve they slowly drift to the mouth of the glacial lagoon where they get stuck and slowly reduce in size by errosion and melting until they are small enough to pass into the ocean where the waves slowly erode the iceberg’s the remnants of which are left along the shore … it really is quite spectacular, and we just stared watching the ice being tumbled in the breaking waves ….

I could not resist to pick a small piece of glacial ice up …holding this ice in my hands was extraordinary contemplating the journey that this ice had made over many thousands of years from falling as snow to being crushed into glacial ice flowing down the mountains calving into the Jokularson glacial lagoon slowly reducing in size over many more years until finally washing up along this shore for Aaron and I to pick up and to contemplate this nature ….

…. Skaftafeell to our next camp would be our longest bike ride …. 117 km ….and we finally made camp at a secluded campsite in a small forrest pitching at midnight ….

…. A short ride this day especially after the previous day’s 117 km …. just 36 km …. to Hofn ….

…. Looking back West along the South coast …. the way we came ….

…..Packed and ready to continue …. though when you find places like Clare Island with such spectacular landscapes a wealth of human and geological history it is always somewhat a wistful experience to leave such a place behind.  We take with us the memory of this experience, the finding out about it’s history, the warm welcome of the people, the caracter of this place, and knowing that ahead of us is another opportunity of exploration of meetings to take place …. for me all this … this journey  ….. is home …

…. Our next camp was at Westport and for a change we went into a campsite to expedite some much needed laundry ….

We were fascinated by the history of Oileán Chliara and the life of the pirate queen Gráinne Ní Mháille c. 1530 – c. 1603, told too us by the lady who worked behind the bar and after I had to tell my good friend Carole about this who then let me know that there is a statue to her in Cathair na Mart which was right next to our campsite ….. It was our main reason for stopping at Cathair na Mart, that and the fact that the campsite was a reasonable days ride away from Oileán Chliara.

Such was her power and influence that Gráinne Ní Mháille is thought to have met with Queen Elizabeth 1st in the late 15th century. It seems to me her character and her life was not unlike that of the great celtic warrior queen Maedhbh …… I love this history and this mythology …. It is thought that Gráinne Ní Mháille spoke French and Spanish and some claim that she conversed with Queen Elizabeth 1st in Latin, certainly Gráinne Ní Mháille met Queen  Elizabeth 1st.

In her 2006 biography of O’Malley, Irish historian and novelist Anne Chambers described her as:

a fearless leader, by land and by sea, a political pragmatist and politician, a ruthless plunderer, a mercenary, a rebel, a shrewd and able negotiator, the protective matriarch of her family and tribe, a genuine inheritor of the Mother Goddess and Warrior Queen attributes of her remote ancestors. Above all else, she emerges as a woman who broke the mould and thereby played a unique role in history.

 

 

….and so we continue along a fantastic dedicated cycle path that took us most of the way from Cathair na Mart West …. a fab ride with several public artworks along the way ….

…. puncture time next to some interesting public artworks ….

…. and this was our next wild camp ….

…. 29th April ….

…. 29th April ….

…. 29th April ….

…. 29th April ….

…. and the next day we continued West to Achill and camped below the massive cairn that is thiought to be the burial place of the celtic warrior Queen Meadhbh ….

…. 30th April ….

1st May

…. 1st May …

….2nd May ….

…. the deserted village of Sliabh Mór …. another consquence of the …. Holocausd na nGaedheal

…. 2nd May ….

…. 2nd May ….

…. Not all wild camp sites are a combination of sublime views in a vast an incredible landscape …

…. sometimes as the weather changes we will make a descion to find a wild camp site before the weather turns proper wet. On this occassion it was only a slight drizzle but it looked like we were about to have a down pour. The ground was fairly rough and rocky there was not much room being a small alcove of a field surrounded on all sides with dense bush and one single track leading into this small place that had obviously not been used for some. time high up above the cycle path and out of everyone’s way … we had to clear the ground of dead wood and small rocks before pitching …..

4th May

…. on the road again …

…. 4th May ….

…. Look where we found to wild camp …. WOW …. This was a perfect wind camp no buildings or homes anywhere near and a fair ways from the road. We use google maps to check out the terrain we will be cycling through and make a note of likely looking places. This stream passed under a small bridge and we were able to easily climb down to the edge and follow the bank to this spot. It was one of those completely perfect places with enough dry wood on the ground for our stove … and as always to fall asleep to the sound of gently running water is just wonderful.

4th May

…. Setting up our wild camp for the night ….

…. Tent with a view ….

…. What an incredible place ….

…. Wild camp chef ….

…. We can even use the base of the stove to dry off any damp wood ….

…. Chef ….

…. Aaron’s wood gas burning stove is a tremendous piece of kit …. No need to chop any wood …. no need to break any branches …. no need to make a mess

plus it is high enough of the ground so as not to scortch the grass or risk any woodland fires …. Great Stuff ….

…. And what a fab meal to end the day ….

….As always what we bring to a wild camp …. we take with us when we leave ….

…. Wild camp in the dunes …. spot the tents time …. 5th May ….

We arrived first of all at a small and at the top end of the high street there was what seemed like a communal area with grass and benches, high walls open to the sky with plug sockets dotted at intervals around the walls. There were several benches with a covered area as well, and I suggested we camp here …. at first in jest …. but there was something about the area that suggested it woud be fine to do so, however Aaron was a tad uncertain and so as an alternative we had already noted a possible wild camp just 2 km away that was by the sea and we always find good places to wild camp in dunes. So reluctantly on my part … because I really wanted to camp in that communal area we headed for the dunes and found a great place to pitch. We had had intermittent rain throughout the day but were dry and pitched without any rain and helped a farmer find a lost calf that was happily resting in the long maram grass.

The oddest thing happened in the night …. at about 2 am we were woken by a distant voice on the beach reciting gaeilge poetry. the voice grew louder as it’s owner walked along the beach below the dunes and continued to fade into the distance only to grow louder once more as again the owner passed below our tent, continuing to recite some gaeilge verse.  It was quite hypnotic and at no point were we scared at all. You could tell that the verse was in a rousing and enthusiastic tone. Who ever it was had a terrific voice and to here gaeilge spoken like this was wonderful, I am learnig gaeilge and could pick out the odd word but no chance to understand the whole which was a shame. The person also had a dog and the dog did find the tents and gave out a startled bark or two which then gave the person a moments pause …… and eventually the person made his way back home or so we assume …..

…. Our next wild camp …. also in dunes …. as you can see lasts nights adventure into gaeilge poetry only fired our enthusiasm for wild camping ….

…. Another wild camp by the sea …. 8th May ….

…. rainy day today …. and it very nearly destroyed my phone …. 9th May ….

… Cnoc na Riabh with Sol and the celtic warrior Meadhbh’s buriel cairn…

…. Legend tells us that Meadhbh was buried standing upright within the chamber, with her armour on and facing her ancient enemies …. Great Stuff …

…. Our camp under Cnoc na Riabh ….

….Seeded dandelion heads ….

At this point we needed to make a difficult decision … we really would have liked to continue cycling into Donegal …. but time was moving on …. and we had another part of the world cycle tour  planned – two and a half months artist in residence in Iceland was coming up. But also my eldest daughter was getting married in Cornwall and we did not want to miss that before the artist in residence in Iceland took place. So we made the decision to cycle into Sligeach to catch a coach to Derry and a train to Cúil Raithin  to see Clochán an Aifir. we came to the conclusion that we had just enough time to do this before heading back to Duibhlinn (Dublin) as I am learning gaeilge I am alsolearning in depth the history of Ireland and as an aside the etymology of place names, I find it fascinating Dublin has origins in early classical Irish – Duibhlinn ….. Old Norse –  Dyflin ….  iceland – Dyflinn …. Welsh – Dulyn and Breton – Dulenn

…. So we took the coach to Derry and then a train to Cúil Raithin …. and then it was just a short ride to find a campsite within easy reach for a days ride to see the Clochán an Aifir …

…. back at the campsite ….

…. from here we cycled back to Cúil Raithin and then caught a train to Duibhlinn ….

We planned our last few days in Ireland visiting a few places of interest before heading back to see my daughter in Cornwall top of the list were the public art works concerning what I consider a crime against humanity – Holocausd na nGaedheal ….. Sídhe an Brugha ….. and the butterfly house just along the coast at Mullach Íde, as well as just a wander around and a trip to the cinema ….

… last campsite in Eire … for now … just outside Duibhlinn ….

…. We then went in search of a particularly notable mathematician … who came up with this ….

i² = j² = k² = ijk = −1

…. Our good friend Tanya had told us about the butterfly house at Mullach Íde ….

… Just a few of the many monuments … to comemorate this crime against humanity that was …. Holocausd na nGaedheal …

 Our last major place of interest to visit …. for now …. was, and the place has several names ….sometimes called Sid in Broga. The name in modern Gaeilge is Sídhe an Brugha or  Sí an Bhrú. Also known as Brú na Bóinne. It is an interesting name …. Bhrú is the old gaeilge word for womb, and Bóinne can be translated as Moon or as the bright Cow …. hence ‘Womb of the Moon …. or Womb of the Bright Cow. So this is interesting for me as the Moon is a prominent feature and a recurent theme in a number of my paintings which touch upon ideas in modern cosmology and the origin of the Moon and in mythology …

In brief then the idea that the Moon formed from a colision between a Mars sized proto planet and the Earth some 4.2 billion years ago. and fascinating to me is the name given to this Mars sized proto planet …. ‘Theia’ and so The Moon in ancient Greek mythology is known as the daughter of Theia.

so I love the fact that the Gaeilge name for this place is Brú na Bóinne. The landscape  where Brú na Bóinne is, is fascinating as well situated as it is by a bend in the river Boyne the name of which seems to be derived also from the gaeilge word Bóinne. Both the enterance to the inner chamber and the bend in the river remind me very much of the crescent Moon. However it is clear from the perfect alignment to the winter solstice that these ancient people probably were sun worshipers. The site dates to 3200 BC,  On the Winter Solstice, the light of the rising sun enters the roofbox above the main enterance  and penetrates the passage, shining onto the floor of the inner chamber. The beam illuminates the inner chamber of Newgrange for just 17 minutes

…. Brú na Bóinne has the largest concentration of stone engravings anywhere in Europe ….

…. Brú na Bóinne predates the building of the pyramids and was built with sophistication and an in depth knowledge of astronomy ….

… A complex of buriel chambers near Brú na Bóinne …. all with entrance chambers though not accessable to the public ….

… The curb stones are almost complete and all are engraved …. this place is amazing and it left me quite speachless ….

This blocks the entrance to the chamber of Brú na Bóinne though there is a way in to the right …. entry is by guided tour only to protect the site …

…. this carving is fascinating and very much reminds me of the rays of the sun ….

…. When inside the chamber the guides enact through lighting creating a simulation of what happens on the winter solstice ….

…. On both sides of the central chamber and oposite each other are two alcoves and inside one is the most remarkable stone carving …. This is carved from a single boulder …. I can only imagine what this must have been like to re discover this incredible stone carving which is smooth and concave …. Great Stuff

…. This was a thoruoghly glorious way to end this part of the tour ….

…. Postscript ….

Heading home I remembered that the Irish ferry company always had supurb deals if after the ferry journey we had further to travel and they gave us an fabulous deal including ferry Duibhlinn from  to Caergybi  and then a train journey all the way from Caergybi to Penzance. A long old journey … We had only two changes on the train one at Casnewydd, and the other at Exeter. The Exeter one proved a tad problematic as we arrived at midnight and our connection was not untill 6 30 am …. there was the possibility to catch the sleeper at around 2 20 am …. if there was room for our bikes unfortunately there was not, The station guard at Exeter was so helpfull he opened up the waiting room and allowed us to unpack our sleeping bags and wait for the later connection. Great Stuff ….

…. Exeter train station waiting room ….

…. not exactly sleeping ….

…. and then we were back in Penzance to see my daughter Saffi, check all our gear before we began our 86 day cycle tour and artist in residence of Iceland ….

…. Cycling through Conamara was amazing. We found a fab place to wild camp towards late afternoon a ways from the road with spectacular views of the mountains ….

…. Conamara wild camp ….

…. Sunset – Conamara ….

…. Sunrise – Conamara wild camp ….

…. On the road again ….

 …. Pause ….

…. Self portrait and wild camp ….

Exploring the beach after setting up our wild camp

Our next stop was a visit to a rather famous historical even. This monument in the shape of an aircrafts winf is made from local stone and even has small fossils buried in the rock

This monument is actually about a mile and a half from the …. ‘landing’ …. crash site

At the crash sight which is in the middle of nowhere today ….. but back then was a rather more technologically important place … is this fun monument that is illuminated by natural light so that you can see the plane superimposed upon the landscape ….

Flight path

Although not late in the day we could see heavy clouds approaching and neither of us wanted to hang around for a down pour … there were some spots of rain … in the end though the down pour never occured and we eventually rode into fab sunshine to find our next wild camp ….. at Conamara sands …..

…. Self portrait by the sea – Conamara Sands wild camp ….

…. Conamara Sands Sunset – wild camp ….

…. Sunrise Conamara sands wild camp ….

…. Another beautiful day …. another beautiful climb ….

…. and down again …. great stuff ….

…. Pause ….

…. pause ….

… did not quite stand in the right place for the second shot … so they don’t quite match up … hey ho …

One beautiful landscape after another leaves me quite speachless …. we cycle in complete awe of Conamara …

….This day we cycled into another county ….. county Mayo …. and it looked spectacular

…. County Mayo wild camp ….

…. County Mayo wild camp ….

…. County Mayo wild camp ….

 …. County Mayo wild camp ….

 …. County Mayo wild camp ….

…. Crescent Moon County Mayo wild camp ….

….. Another beautiful ride ….

Our visit to Oileán Chliara

part of the kingdom of Umhailli is famous as the home of the 15th century pirate queen Gráinne Ní Mháille. Though the name pirate does not do this person justice

…. Looking back to the mainland from Clare Island ….

…. 4 nights wild camp Oileán Chliara ….

…. mixed bean chilli for dinner. Great stuff ….

…. Highest point on Oileán Chliara …. and our first Marilyn – An Noc Mor 426 m. It is the is the 7038th highest peak in the combined area of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and England and the 621st tallest peak in Ireland ….

…. collecting dry wood for fuel for the wood burning stove ….

….yummy ….

… built around 1220 this abbey has some remarkable fresco’s that have an interesting resemblance to early cave art. In the foreground is a stone megalithe which predates the abbey by several thousand years

…. I find the fresco’s remarkable ….. it’s resemblance to early cave art is quite extraordinary ….

…. ruin ….

….. leaving Clare Island ….

….. continued in part three …..

We arrived in Eire on the 27th March and found the nearest campsite just to make things easy for the night, put the tents up and have some food and just enjoy the feeling of being back in Eire. Not the kind of camping we are used to…. it is a big area and more akin to a holiday park. And on the whole we prefer to wild camp, But we are here. On the last approach to the ferry Aaron had a puncture … typical. A relatively slow puncture and we decided not to fix it by the road but to inflate the tire as necassary, and fix it later. Also by the time we got here and with Aaron’s puncture light was begining to fade and we had time enough. Tomorrow we would decided on whether to cycle to Ennis or perhaps to take a bus to pick up from where we left off on our last tour of Eire.

And the next morning we caught a coach to Limerick where we stopped briefly to have a look around. In 1986 I took part in a student exchange between Wolverhampton Polytechnic where I did my degree in Fine Art and Limerick school of Art and Design, on this occassion it was for an ice cream and then we began cycling towards Ennis along the Eurovelo 1 cycle route.

…. Euro Velo 1 great stuff ….

…. Cycling the back roads of Eire …. quite, peaceful,

…. First wild camp in Eire, just by the side of a quite road sheltered by trees and surrounded by fields and bird song and some curious cows ….

…. The setting sun at our wild camp…. every day a different home….. great stuff… the Earth is my home …. in fact it goes even beyond that …. this universe is my home ….  WOW ….

…. Sunset ….

…. Engineering at it’s most sublime …..

…. Tonights first course …. Polish beetroot soup … great stuff

….. Maidin mhaith ….. a bright and sunny morning with some dew to deal with which quickly dried and we were soon on our way

…. packed and ready for another ride … our first wild camp was a humerous experience due to the highly inquisitive nature of the cows in the next field….. we were quiet as always…. but they coukd here us chatting and making camp as the sun was setting and as soon as they saw us they would get spooked and run away. We simply ignored them and after about an hour of this they settled down and just got on with the neccessities of eating grass …..

… Our second wild camp was fab and for the first time in years we were treated to some cold mornings …. and yes I love them…. the bikes the ground the tents all covered in a thick layer of frost. The nights were suoper clear and we spent some enjoyable evenings star gazing, picking out the constellations and testing our memories and knowledge of the names of stars and the mythological stories behind them …..

This wild camp was in invitation, we had been cycling between Ennis ( Inis Cluana Ramhfhada, which translates to Island of the long rowing meadow ) and An Leacht  – Leacht Ui Chonchubair which translates to The memorial Cairn of O’Connor. Well I had not even noticed the car that overtook us and a some distance ahead had pulled in to have a chat. The guy who was really friendly asked if we had anywhere to stay for the night and offered us a pitch at his place. He is setting up an off grid community with a mix of glamping, camping and wild camping at the moment it is really at the beginning of the project and he was interested in us as cycle tourists and also on the look out for like minded individuals who might be interested in being a part of this community.

Well we were at that time of day when we were starting to look for a place to wild camp and thought why not. It was just a few kilometers away down a single track lane well away from the road in a really secluded valley, and we could see why he had had this idea, it was a great spot to think about an off grid community. We had access to composting toilets and there are plans in hand to provide outdoor showers but they were not up and running as yet. and we got to stay free of charge in return for some thoughts about the project and pitching in with a little voluntary work and to throw around some ideas…….

…. Early morning frost …

… Frosty bikes ….

Donal was the owner and we ended up wild camping here for 9 nights …. much longer than we expected but Donal is a terrific host and had many tales to tell, and was very interested in our journey and that we are artists travelling the world on our bikes – artist in residence to artist in residence with no fixed plan or time scale, and we too had some tales to tell. And so we got to talking about the artist in residencies that we had been involved with and that I was due to start an artist in residence in County Kerry but due to covid that had been delayed, and in fact I am still waiting for that to be finalised, we also got to talk about our journey and particularly that we had an artist in residence later in the year in Iceland and one in Greenland in the spring of 2023…… really looking forward to them. In the end we so liked the pace and Donal was quite intrigued about the possibility of us doing and artist in residence here he was very keen for us to set something in motion. Aaron and I then had the idea, that to have a base in Ireland would be just great stuff. Donal already had a 3 meter diameter bell tent with a wood burning stove set up and a 5 meter one ready to put up so we suggested what if Aaron and I bought ourselves a yurt to put up so that we would have a place to stay and to do an artist in residence, how would he feel about that and this idea went down very well, so much so that we started searching for a second hand yurt and found one for sale only an hour away near Galway. The owner even offered to bring it to us for a small fee.

So, we now have a 16.5 foot diameter Mongolian yurt ready to put up perhaps in the Autumn or after our trip to Greenland. When it arrived we checked it over and it is now stored at Donal’s waiting for us to put up….. cycle touring … you just never know what new adventures are about to happen …… great stuff …….

… And then we went halves on a 16.5 foot diameter Mongoliam Yurt …. we won’t be carrying that on our bikes though …

…. And then it was time to continue once again heading towards Dubh linn and the ferry to the Aran Islands ….

… waiting for the ferry to take us from Doolin to Inis oirr, with the cliffs of Moher …

…. We came to know this landscape really well …. it is limestone bedrock and is fascinating visually and geologially …. Known as Glacio Karst, and the Aarn Islands are one of the best examples in the world to see this landscape carved by the last ice age …..

….. I have the feeling that there will be paintings of this coastline, we were planing to visit ‘The Buran’ just a bit further North and to see Polnabrone Dolmen, but having been 9 nights wild camping in the same place we decided to push on to the Aaran islands knowing that at some point we would be back to put up our yurt …..

On the ferry from Doolin to Inis oirr

…..Cycling up from the harbour and on our way to a campsite …. we really needed to shower … we had found a launderette on the way to An Lehcht and were able to wash all our clothes. We also had once again an early start to get to the ferry so that we arrived with plenty of light to make camp and do some exploring ….

…. Our campsite on inis oirr …. we were the only ones camping. Great stuff …..

As soon as we had set up camp ….. we had opted for a campsite on Inis Oirr after 9 days of basic camp washing we were both really looking forward to a proper shower, but then the urge to explore is never far from the surface, and although I am not physically creating artworks this whole project – to cycle round the world is a travelling artist in residence …. the residence part well that is where ever  we pitch our tents and the creative artistic part becomes the entire activity – each ride an artwork in it’s own right and falls into the realm of a mix between landart and performance. though there is no definitive ‘ism’ that this can be described with, that is intentional as is artistic intent.

Glacio Karst landscape with ship wreck

The largest of the Oileáin Árann is Inis Mor which we were going to visit in a few days time, hosts a Father Ted festival, something we did not know about but this wreck is of the MV Plassy a merchant vessal that was washed ashore in 1962. It is an impressive wreck and huge and you can walk right up to it now the home of birds it continues it’s passage through time having relequished it’s purpose it now assumes a journey all it’s own ….. and seems the happier for it too ….

It is also the wreck you can see in the opening sequence of the comedy series ‘Father Ted’ one of our all time favorite comedy series. Craggy Island where it is set is a purely fictitious place but the  Oileáin Árann– Inis Oirr Inis, Inis Meain and Inis Mor is the closest you can get …… It is a breathtaking place and I have many paintings in mind …..

Fossils ….. The limestone bedrock is itself almost entirely made from fossils and within the limestone bedrock on Inis Oirr are countless fossils

….Dry stone wall … great stuff

… This landscape is one of the finest examples of Glacio karst landscape in the worls formed during the last ice age it is truly a remarkable place….

Glacio karst landscape and erratic

Dry stone wall

…. It is becoming something of a tradition to collect fossils while cycle touring ….

…. The following two images are where we found some of the previous fossils ….

This was still early in the year so not all the ferry’s were operating as regularly as the do in the summer so we had to mis out on visiting Inis Meinn and head for Inis

…. Eiri gealai inis mor …

Eiri gealai inis mor

…Eri na gealai agus rothar – inis mor

Lui na greine Inis Mor

Glacio karst landscape with ancient dry stone wall

There is an extraordinary and huge ring fort on Inis Mor that forms a semi circular enclosure right up to the edge of the cliffs, and the cliffs are magnificent. This was a fab day out. What we liked about this most of all was that there were no protective barriers at the cliff edge to spoil the effect, thus preserving the character and atmosphere of the place. In the centre but fowards towards the edge of the cliff there is a raised platform of natural rock and one cannot help but feel that this place could well have been an open theatre of some kind perhaps serving multiple purposes. It very much reminded me of the Minack theatre in Cornwall in terms of atmosphere and character.

… And then it was back to the mainland …. and on to Conamara …  great stuff

Part 2 of this tour of Ireland continues in the next blog post …..

…..Finally, we have an opportunity to resume our cycle tour. So excited for this. Our plan is to pick up from where we left of in Eire. we are firstly visiting our friends Carol and Steve in Bristol two fabulous musicians, a little more about them later. We have also decided to cycle the South coast of Wales from Abertawe to Abergwuan, we then catch the ferry to Calafort Ros Láir …..

One thing was certain we wanted to by pass the industrial area of Port Talb0t …. we thought about heading inland which would have been fun, one thing that concerned us was our level of fitness. We had been on the Isles of Scilly throughout the pandemic and if you know anything about the Isles of Scilly then you can imagine that cycling is really limited. For the most part we were based on Tresco where I was involved with an artist in residence and later on St. Mary’s and working officially part time (though it wasn’t) on the Garrison campsite.

When we first started this world cycle tour we had been training for 2 years while my son Aaron completed his A-Levels. So cycling every day Monday to Friday from St. Just to Penzance a round trip of 15 miles. I would cycle with Aaron, then back to St. Just to work on my paintings, then back to pick him him. so 30 miles a day Monday to Friday and usually some cycling at the weekend.

So we were fit and ready to start back in 2016 and 2017.

This time we knew that our fitness was no where near the same level …. so we decided to take it easy with ourselves and start at Abertawe cycling along the coast through the Mumbles, to Llanelli and along the millenium cycle way, then cross country to Abergwuan …. even so we encountered several tough climbs around the mumbles before begining the millenium cycle route ….. and we felt it pulling 30 kilos of gear, as we were starting early in the year we brought some warm equipment as it was still fairly chilly through the night, evening and early morning. Though our Tyin Mamut 5 season sleeping bags kept us toasty warm….

By the time we got to Aberllydan it was warm enough to consider posting some of our winter weather gear back to Cornwall….. and that made quite a difference ….

Back tracking a little to the start …..

First camp Boleigh Farm. Cornwall. I was here for about a week finishing of some work and posting some large artworks

Rainbow – Boleigh farm camp. Cornwall

This was formally my cycling start point for resuming our world cycle tour (paused due to the pandemic) Land’s End. Cornwall. Because of delay’s due to work my son Aaron had already begun cycling and was heading North solo touring – his first solo cycle tour….Great stuff ….

…. and then to have a few hours contemplation at Sennen Cove. Cornwall. This is where I scattered my partner’s ashes …. It was Julia’s most favorite place in the whole world. Shortly after we met on our degree course in Fine Art at Wolverhampton Polytechnic Julia took me here …. we had virtually no money and just along the coast from here we wild camped for about a week. It was my first ever wild camp back in 1985, and we had a fab time waking every morning with the opening of our tent pointing straight out to sea, we even snook into a campsite to use the showers which were coin operated.

We talked from time to time about doing a really long tour either walking or cycling, so it seemed an apropriate thing to do to visit this place and spend a few hours having some good memories …

Although the cycling start point was Land’s End …. this also is the start point ….. in other circumstances …. ah well …. C’est la vie …..

… and then on the way back to camp a quick stop to visit the merry maidens

…..Aaron was really looking forward to resuming our world cycle tour…. so we had a chat about how long the work delay was going to take and he had the idea to set off while I finished up organising a few last minute sales and delivery of paintings. This was a fab thing to do and Aaron’s first solo cycle tour…… Solo cycle touring is such a liberating experience….the freedom to choose your own path, you don’t have the worry to have to take into account your companion’s thought’s or ideas, or suggestions …. and the time alone is interesting, well everything about it is great stuff …..

Aaron setting off for a two week solo cycle tour

We met up a couple of weeks later in Bristol and had a few days with our great friends Carol and Steve, back in 2009 Carol and Steve with their friend Heather Gibbard all three with a passion for Early, Renaissance, Spanish, Moorish and Elizabethan Music formed Rosafresca. The music is utterly sublime and I will never forget the time Carol and Steve treated Aaron and I to a private recital in their home in Bristol ….. here is a link to their website where you can listern to some of this extraordinarily beautiful music.

Though Rosafresco no longer perform. Their last performance was at All Saints Church in Clifton on 5 March this year…..

Rosafresca …. http://www.rosafresca.co.uk/

You can also find their music here …. http://www.musicnumber11.com/

Rosafresca …. Great stuff

Always a pleasure to see Carol and Steve and it remains so, I have known them since I first visited Julia in Bristol, many years ago….probably 1985/1986…. During our visit we were again treated to some extraordinary music. Carol and a couple of musicians who had come over from Dublin to reherse with Carol with Crumhorn a most extraordinary instrument …. not to everyone’s tast …. we all thought it was wonderful. Great music, great fun fab food wonderful conversation….. Just great stuff … the next step was a train to Abertawe and begin another brief tour of Wales before continuing into Eire.

CYMRU ….. Dwi’n Caru Cymru

Croeso i Gymru. Dwi’n Caru Cymru, dwi’n mwymhau dysgu Cymraeg, though I am still learning when I am fluent I will translate this into Welsh. Rydym yn ymweld Abertawe a’r Mwmbwls heddiw

Gwersyll gwyllt cyntaf ….

Bristol to Abertawe by train, then a relatively short ride to our wild camp

I am doing this whole tour as an artist in residence ….. self organised and self funded …. each ride is in itself an artwork, what I consider to be akin to land art and so each dayI will be working as an artist as I travel. documenting the journey as I go

Although learning Cymraeg is going well I am still a long ways from writing everything I want to say so…..Aaron spotted this place just in time as we were really tired and though we were dry it look as though rain was on the way and we had had some rain throughout the day even though we had sunshine from Bristol to Abertawe. It does nit look like much, we had not wild camped in three years so we were a little out of practice, but it was sheltered it was flat and it was away from houses and it felt good to be doing this again.

Wild camp via Llanelli to wild camp at Porth Tywyn

Next few images are from cycling along the millenium cycle way ….

Absolutely wonderful to have found this …. This is a fab part of cycle touring … looking into local history …. the geology …. the culture …..

Amelia Earhart …. Y fenyw gyntaf i hedfan dros For yr Iwerydd Glaniodd yma yn y foryd ar bwys pentref Pwll Mehefin 1928 …… Great stuff

Gwersyll gwyllt cyntaf y Porth Tywyn…. Great stuff

Machlud …. gwersyll gwyllt cyntaf ger Porth Tywyn

And after sunset a full Moon rise ….. I love cycle touring

Porth Tywyn Gwersyll gwyllt i ger Castell Moel. Sir Gaerfyrddin

First maintenance issue – Aaron has a partially broken chain, so a detour was in our minds but happily the nearest bike shop which ended up not beinga detour after all was half a days ride away, and fortunately for us the chain survived until we replaced it…..

Llwybr arfordirol

Gwersyll gwyllt ger Castell Moel. Sir Gaerfyrddin

This was one of the best wild camps ever. Some ways from any roads … we had spotted this wood on the map and just new it woud be a perfect place. There was a path that led from the road which had not been used for some time … perfect …. and up a fairly steep though manageable hill towards this wood …. We quickly found a fab place between trees and enjoyed a lovely evening cooked some food relaxed replaced Aaron’s chain and waited for the stars to come out….. Great stuff ….

packing up

… ready to ride …

…. Always when wild camping our philosophy is very simple and it works…..whatever we bring with us to a wild camp … we take with us when we leave, we never ever leave rubbish or waste or broken equipement, we leave as if we were never there …. travelling the Earth lightly because the Earth is our home …

….. some terrific carvings are this woodland ….

Castell Moel. Sir Gaerfyrddin i Sancler

The next days ride was beautiful, through forests by streams and the air filled with bird song … I did not catch the bird of prey in this image, I think it was a buzzard  but it took off just to the left of where Aaron is cycling along the road…. We decided at this point that a campsite might be fun ….. and Aaron found a farm cat ….

Sancler campsite

….Sometimes it’s the small things that grab our attention…

Noswaith dda ……

Sancler i Dinbach – y – Pisgod

Amroth

Fossil Brachiopods burried in Limestone ….. itself a fossil ….. Amroth

Becio Cymru

Gwersyll gwyllt ger ….  Dinbach – y – Pisgod ….. which means little fortress of the Fish

Bore da

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Aaron’s panniers were old school Karrimor panniers and they were old. and worn. We both have a tendency to use things to destruction …. repairing them along the way until we can’t… but all four of his main panniers were starting to fail. You can see in the image above that the bracket that attaches the pannier to the bike rack had completely come away from the pannier and his other three were in  the process of doing the same. Fortunately this happened shortly before we found a good place to wild camp and we were able to redistribute most of Aaron’s kit so that the bike did not feel to unbalanced to ride. But it was clear once we made camp that this was going to be a problem. In the end we could not find a way to adequately repair the pannier and decided to head for a yha the next day which was a normal day’s ride but mostly flat and coastal. We had been aware that this was going to happen for a few days and had made plans. We had already booked ourselves into a yha a few days ago and Aaron had also ordered a brand new set of Ortleib panniers and checking withthe yha to make sure this was okay had arranged for them to be delivered to the yha…… So all we had to do was one days ride to get to the yha and wait for the panniers to arrive …….

Gwersyll gwyllt ger Dinbach – y – Pisgod i Aberllydan

The following day Aaron had his pannier strapped to the rear pannier rack

And off we went …..

Even though Aaron had his pannier problem it did not stop us from exploring….. that our route took us past Castell Penfro was a great chance to have a break …. it was stunning

We love these signs dotted throughout the castle …. they reminded me of the traffic warning signs in Krakow Poland ….. which have a similarly humerous touch to them ….

And Aaron and I had no idea at all that underneath Castell Penfro was this amazing cavern ……

Arriving at Aberllydan ….. somewhat early which was fab the weather was terrific.

When we arrived at the yha Aaron’s panniers had already arrived which was just fabtastic, we did not know how long they would take and in fact Aaron did have one problem witht he order in that one supplier had them advertised as in stock when in fact they were not !!!!! nevertheless I was hopeful they would be there. The moment we arrived and introduced ourselves my first question was about the panniers and the receptionist went and brought out the box …. once we were in our room Aaron quickly revealed the wondrous 100 percent waterproof panniers ….

Making a scale model of the solar system is always fun not the least of which is the curiosity of people walking past. As a rough scale we used a foot length to represent 10 million miles so then it was just a case of counting steps toe to heal to get an approximate distance. On this occassion we accessed our astronomy software to gain a plan view of the solar system so we were able to plot on the beach the approximate relative distance and direction/angles from the sun and the planets. In this scale model we included all the planets and the asteroid belt

Having left we were now on our way to the ferry port at Abergwuan …. We had liited time for this ride as we wanted to catch a ferry from Abergwuan to Ros Lair to give us enough time to find either a wild camp or possibly a campsite near Ros Lair

….And just for fun we kept the garmin going for the ferry …..

Hwyl Cymru ……. for now

….. P.S. ……

As I am doing this whole tour as an artist in residence ….. self organised and self funded I will be working as an artist as I travel. I usually take sketchbooks with basic drawing materials and my camera, and as I find places to pause I will always draw and if the weather is calm then I will create some natural sculptures in the landscape, or if the pause is long enough I may paint. As I am writing this which is after the first to months of the tour my son and I are back in Penzance visiting family and friends before we continue into Europe and on to Iceland so I have a little time to make some art. On this occasion painting and here are the first two paintings of this tour…..

The following are quick watercolours I do while on the road or when we make camp. They are quite small and are spontaneous responses to nature, and they are simple and fun to do….

and yes I do sell such small things….. contact me via e mail if interested. doms598@aol.com

Sea and Mist …. Early morning wild camp

Machlud Porth Tywyn

Amroth

Dark Sea

wild camp

Quiet scape 1

Mwmbwls

Quiet scape 2

Dark Sea 2

Quiet scape 3

Camping by the sea Porth Tywyn

Dark hedgerow – with rain

And these are the first paintings finished from this tour …..

Tresco oil on canvas 20×24 inches 2022 £495 contact doms598@aol.com to purchase

Tresco. Acrylic on canvas 20×28 inches 2022. £495 contact doms598@aol.com to purchase

Wild Flowers by the Sea Oil on canvas 28×20 inches 2022 £495 contact doms598@aol.com to purchase

Sunset. Oil on canvas 20×28 inches 2022 £495. contact doms598@aol.com to purchase

……next blog post ….. Eire