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Neil wasn’t able to make it this year (something about a first communion and family requirements) so one of the stops was his house. I’m CERTAIN that 80+ honking Minis driving by your house will add to the party atmosphere.

We stopped briefly (and then much longer when the car wouldn’t start) and I grabbed a few photos.

Mini Marcos – Back End

Mini Blackboard

For all you Americans, think of “NAMA” as something like a combination of the SEC, FDIC and FED and TARP program. Sink a bank? NAMA is going to be taking a look at the spiffy cars in your garage.

The x-ed out Minis on the side are from passing Liam’s 850. Oddly, they only ended up with 4 or 5 of these and I personally watched at least one attempted pass that seemed to take a WHOLE lot of effort given what this machine is powered by.

And that’s it for the moment. We spent about 30 minutes getting our car running again (vapor lock) and then headed out.

This is the route we took from Mizen Head (south) to Malin Head (north). Just under 430 miles all in – and about 14 hours with fuel and food stops.

View MTM 2009 Route in a larger map

In between the ferry ride across the Shannon and our arrival in Malin Head there was a hell of a lot more driving coupled with a few stops for food and petrol. I skipped the pictures because they were mostly redundant – a bunch of Minis at a petrol stop with people milling around. We did have a lot of fun on the run but we were also ready to be done by the time we arrived at Malin Head – around 9:30 pm.

We all milled around a bit, took a couple of group photos and then, because it was COLD, got the hell out of there and headed to the pub in Bandon. There are no pictures of the after party, which is probably a good thing as it ended up merged with a wedding party.

A bit of video from the final run up to Malin Head. This should give you some idea of what Irish country roads are like. Turn down your volume – I was holding my camera out the window and all you’ll hear is wind noise.

http://www.grinwithoutacat.com/video/Arrival_at_Malin_Head_2009.AVI

You can find more photos on the IMOC Forum.

Just to add interest, the rally included a ferry crossing of the Shannon River this year. Two ferries had been organized with the crossing starting at Tarbert. We JUST made it to the second ferry, having to really hustle down a few side roads to make it in time. How close were we? Well, they had to open the gate back up to let us on!

The crossing took about 10-15 minutes and normally costs €18.00, though it was only €10.00 for our crew. This seems steep, but the alternate is a several-hour-drive.

We stopped for breakfast in Kilgarvan at a petrol station run by a local politication, who is known mainly for being the third generation to wear a “flat hat.” Yes, really! Breakfast consisted of a “breakfast roll,” also known as a “builder’s special” – when there were still houses to be built. A “breakfast roll” is a wonderful thing: take a hoagie roll about 10 inches long, slice it open, slap on some ketchup and then load it up with a full Irish breakfast. Yum!