Sun,sea,surf…..and Santa!?!: A Roadtrip Diary

Last weekend was the first time in a hell of a long time that the KilkennyMusic staff actually had a weekend off, between a constant string of gigs, sessions and plays for the last few months and real jobs, college, exams and the real world. When the upcoming Myp et Jeep gig was cancelled, we saw this as an opportunity to do something we’ve talked about for years, a roadtrip to Lahinch Co.Clare for a weekend of sun, sea and surfing. So while most people were packing up their tents for Oxygen, we were heading in the opposite direction for a weekend away from music, the internet and the people who were at Oxygen.

It all began Friday evening as we assembled outside Ken and Gary’s house to load up their vans. Gary had pimped out his new van with couches, a fridge and a stereo. We hit the road, a small convoy, maintaining contact between the vans using walkie talkies. Gary driving his van, Daw in the middle, and myself on the radio to Boo who was in the second van with the Chief.

The trip down was cram-packed with laughter and radio-banter, everyone eager to get away. A couple of short stops for munchies, pee-breaks on the side of the road, we soon established that Ken’s G.P.S stood for “greatest pile of shite” and before we knew it we were in an off-licence in Limerick stocking up on Budweiser, Heineken and several large bottles of fat frog (which later became known as “frat fog”) before the final stage of the trip through Ennistimon, hitting what Gary called “van sized potholes” on the small country road to Lahinch.

We had only arrived at the campsite when I bumped into somebody I knew from Kilkenny!? As we checked in at reception, the lady seemed to be completely terrified of us!? We had to pay a deposit to ensure we wouldn’t wreck the place, it worked out at €10 each, which according to Boo “wasn’t bad, if we do decide to wreck the place!” We drove through the camp site, filled with large mobile homes, kids, familes and holiday makers. You could nearly sense it in the air, an entire community looking at us and thinking “there goes the neighbourhood!”

We found a great spot at the end of the campsite looking directly down on the nearby rock beach and sea. Deciding to keep our distance from the families and people likely to complain, we parked at the edge, meaning we would lose out on the power supply, no fridge, no stereo, no lights but we didn’t really mind too much. We opened the beer and began drinking, we had made it, we were finally here, after all the years of talking about it, we were here!

It has to be one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. As myself, Daw and Gary sat on the couches in the van drinking beer, we watched as Ken and Boo attempted to put up their tent. The strong winds blew in off the coast, the tent blew around the place, Ken read the instructions, Boo frowned that brilliant frown and we laughed, it reminded me of that old kids t.v show “the Chuckle Brothers”, those weird ‘handi-men’ guys with moustaches. As they continued to struggle myself, Gary and Daw went down to the beach to check out the sea. The drinking continued. The beach was stoney and cold as the tide came in, the sun went down and the wind blew us around. Gary and Daw threw stones in the air and the sea as I busied myself taking photos of all the random rubbish people had left on the beach. People rubbish, weird rubbish, the usual beach rubbish and then the strangest of all, there in the rocks, on a beach in July was a Santa Claus head!?

When we got back to camp Daw and Gary joined in the mayhem of trying to pitch the tent. The drinking continued. Around us other groups and families were arriving. They were pitching tents? Hell, on the hill behind us, two grannies pulled up on bicycles, and they had their tents up in about 10 minutes!? It had now become a four man operation, and it was finally up. We all stood around looking at it saying things like “tis a fine tent but tis no pool English!”

After much drinking and shite-talking later, we hit the streets of Lahinch around 11.30pm. Okay, we hit the street of Lahinch. I met another person I knew from Kilkenny!? The first pub was quiet, a 3-piece trad band sat in the corner playing away. We sat surrounded by old people, we scanned the bar for tequila, none found, we got the hell out of there after a quick pint. The next pub had a one man band, a hilariously tacky drum beat came out as he sang songs like “the streets of london.” We consumed several more pints before closing time. I met another person from Kilkenny on my way back from the toilets, this time the most random, Jimmy Triggers mother!? Myself, Boo and the Chief staggered to the chipper across the road, which was suitably named “the Chipper”. We met up with Daw and Gary who had grabbed a chinese takeaway and we all staggered to the beachside to drunkenly munch on our food. We staggered back uphill to the campsite, Boo watered the flowers, the security guard ignored us as we found a small skateboard and all fell off it. Everyone opened a large bottle of “frat fog” and one by one people passed out.

The next morning the sun was shining, the wind was calm, the van had a musty smell of cheese and feet, the drinking began again. We headed to the campsite pub for breakfast after everyone got dressed, brushed their teeth and Boo did his morning exercises of lunges and thrusts. Breakfast was served by a lovely woman (who might have been from New Zealand!?), she seemed only too happy to keep feeding us. After breakfast we headed back down to Lahinch, we circled the town after about 15 minutes. We spent an hour and too much money in an arcade by the sea front. Daw and Gary shot bad guys, then Daw and Ken shot deer, and sometimes cows?, myself and Boo had a dance off, I think I won?

We made our way onto the beach and walked the long way home, around the shore, climbing on rocks and slipping on wet stones. The sun was shining when we found a small waterfall flowing down off the rocks, it was here that Boo insisted on shooting his first ever topless shoot!? It was also here that we decided we’ll have to do a ‘Staff of KilkennyMusic’ calendar for all the ladies. Seeing as there didn’t seem to be anywhere to rent surfboards we decided we’d just jump around in the ocean instead. So we did.

After much jumping around and falling in the sea, the drinking began again. We hit the campsite pub again for lunch, several games of pool and more drink before heading back into town to buy more drink and supplies for the diposable b-b-q’s. As the sun began to set we drank as friends of Gary’s arrived one by one, setting up their tents. Within two hours we had doubled in numbers, tents and we had a nice community of cars, vans, motorbikes and tents. The three dispoable b-b-q’s flamed away and we all stood around drinking and laughing. There went the neighbourhood.

The sheer amount of sizzling flesh on the b-b-q’s amazed me. I happily ate my veggie hot-dogs (madra-te) as huge steaks, burgers and dozens of sausage were eaten in front of me. Ridiculous amounts of beer were drank. The party split in two. Boo and Gary were off with the lads for another night out in Lahinch, they even found the local nightclub on this one, but I’m not saying what went on, they can blog about it. Myself, Daw and the Chief gathered up the remaining cans of beer, ‘frat fogs’ and some large Bacardi Breezers and headed back down to the beach as the sun went down and the tide crashed in. A night of drinking on a beach with life-long friends, of shite talk and philosophies, male bonding at its best.

Many drinks later everyone made it back to the camp after various adventures. The rain poured down and everyone slowly but surely passed out. The following morning the sun was shining again. That “cheesey-footy” smell was back in the van. Stories were swapped and everyone packed up. We headed for breakfast again, the “New Zealand” lady happily fed us all. Tents and vans were packed up, Gary’s friends headed home, but we couldn’t leave without doing the tourist thing; we were off to see the Cliffs of Moher.

Only in Ireland could somebody think of charging tourists €8 to see some cliffs!? Ok, so they couldn’t get away with that, so instead they charge €8 for parking beside the cliffs instead. Pretty damn clever! We wandered around the cliffs, surrounded by hundreds of tourists from all over the world, we were saying things like “tis a fine cliff, but tis no pool English!” After 10 minutes of being tourists, we paid €8 and began the long drive home.

The road home was pretty much the same as on the way there, still the same “van-sized potholes”, the random “cock-of-rashel” chat on the walkie-talkies, and plans for our next road-trip. (Lets just hope it doesn’t take 10 years this time.) When we passed a sign on the road that said “Welcome to Kilkenny” it began to rain. Okay, rain is an understatement, there was a thunder & lightning, and it pissed on us. A gloomy end to an amazing roadtrip to Lahinch. It was however a brilliant sight to see my comfy bed again. Apparently Gary felt the same, I got a txt last night saying “ah, beds are yummy!”

I’m nominated this for the longest ever staff blog post in the KilkennyMusic records, sorry it’s such a long one but I had to throw in all the detail of our adventure. You can check out all the pics in the brand new gallery; KKM Roadtrip to Lahinch 2007. Hopefully it’ll be a yearly adventure from now on. Theres around 70 pics in the gallery to fill in any blanks I might of missed due to drunkeness or hungoverness. I would say they’d save you reading this blog, but if you’ve made it this far, then that would be pointless.

After this normal sized blog posts will resume, with photos from the upcoming One Take Sessions with two of my favourite acts to ever play with KilkennyMusic, news about the Itchy Trigger Finger E.P and much more. Stay tuned!