Mizen to Malin 2004 28 Apr to 03 May 2004

Apple and DK went to Ireland for a weekend full of adventure, and they participated in the Mizen to Malin Run organised by Irish MINI Owners Club. AidenL of MINI2 was the chief co-ordinator for the MINI2 contingent, which included

There are numerous MINI2.com threads concerning this run: to find them, just visit MINI2.com, and search using keywords "Mizen", "Malin" or "MtM".

In terms of route, scenery and drive quality, this run was probably the best in which Apple and DK had participated. There was some really spirited driving, especially on Day 2, when the route took the MINIs along remote parts of western Ireland. It was magnificent to see, from the back of a pack of 10 MINIs, the sight of MINIs going up and down along the hilly roads, as if on a roller coaster .

Apple covered over 1400 miles during one weekend. Here follows a day-by-day summary of the weekend.

(Alternatively, click here to jump to the bottom of the page containing the link to the slide show.)

Apple and DK met Cooper i Do and Martin L at North London before convoying to join Charger_Pete, mad brummie and Rakey outside Birmingham. They were also joined (for a short time) by goonery of MINI2 who kindly showed us his brand new MINI Cabriolet, and by Oddball, who lived nearby, and wanted to see the cabriolet.

The MtM group then drove to Bangor for the night. En route, the driving conditions were very bad with heavy rain and slippery roads. At one point the group nearly drove into the back of a car that had suffered an accident so recently that it still blocked the fast lane. Fortunately, mad brummie reacted quickly and alerted the rest of the pack to the hazard by walkie talkie, telling them to move into the slow lane to avoid the wreckage.

It was so late at night by the time that they drove through Snowdonia National Park, that they missed some fantastic views. However, interest of the winding twisty roads made up for the lack of scenery.

Official Day 1 of the Run Thursday 29 Apr 2004 - Dublin to Cork to Mizen Head to Kenmare Bay

The group was joined by jlo and her sister Betty at Bangor before travelling in convoy to catch the 06:45h ferry - too early to have any breakfast. Owing to the bad weather, the group's original fast-ferry was cancelled, and they were transferred to a bigger ferry operated by another company.

Once on-board, the hungry mob made a dash for the restaurant, and wolfed-down a sizable breakfast even before the ferry left the dock! The crossing was choppy, and from time to time, one could hear crockery being smashed in the restaurant.

Once docked, the group drove to Cork for the official start of the Mizen to Malin Run.

Unfortunately, Apple's low-tyre-pressure light kept coming on, and it transpired that one of her front tyres had no tyre pressure. Luckily, there was a MINI dealership nearby, and the group made the detour so that Apple's limp could be healed. It turned out that no leak could be found on the tyre - a relief to DK, since Apple's front tyres had been changed before her trip to France in February. It was suspected that the valve on the tyre was faulty. Once that was changed, and the tyres re-balanced, Apple was off again. A big thank you to Maxwell Motors in Dublin for their generous help and speedy service. THANK YOU! A big THANK YOU too to the group who stayed with Apple and DK, a delay that caused them to miss the official start of the run in Cork (sorry peeps).

On the road again, the group went to Mizen Head, where they met ButtonIt, AidenL, ONED, ruthie and shanemcr. After a quick bite to eat, the group headed for their hotel in Kenmare Bay, travelling in the dark across mountains - DK didn't enjoy driving on the hilly roads with their sheer drop to one side, and was pleased to arrive safely, even if it was after 22:00h!

On arrival, the group found s_and_m in the bar, and after a much-needed de-stressing pint of Guinness, and a couple of whiskies with lemonade, DK went to bed shortly after midnight, just enough time to catch some sleep before the alarm clock went off at 03:30h!

05:00h breakfast for 06:00h departure! It was a very long day, and the group was on the road until 19:00h. It did not help that some of them missed a ferry crossing by just a few minutes. For some reason, DK et al forgot to disable the motion sensors on their cars, allowing the ferry's movement to set off the car alarms as soon as the ferry left the dock. Very embarrassing indeed!

The scenery along the route was breathtaking, and remote, which enabled the group to participate in some very spirited driving.

The route took the group to Castlebar, passing one of the factories of the group for which DK works. Unfortunately, DK did not realise the route would pass Castlebar, so a great photo-opportunity was missed - Apple in front of the factory.

A few cars missed a turn while following Aiden, and they missed a small part of the official route from Castlebar to Sligo via Swinford - another town, another factory belonging to DK's group.

DK felt very tired through the day. With hindsight, she should have pulled over and power-napped along the way, rather than to try and keep up with the rest of the pack. A lesson has been learnt from this weekend - driving when tired is not clever!

DK and Cooper i Do had a quiet meal at the hotel, then proceeded to have a little rest before joining the others for a couple of drinks in the bar. Needless to say, DK slept very well that night!

Official Day 3 of the Run - Saturday 01 May 2004 - Sligo to Derry via AidenL's house

A 09:00h start - a much more-civilised hour. The group made a detour to AidenL's house, not far from Sligo. Afterwards, they went to the nearby beach, Apple got stuck in the sand on the way down to the beach. Luckily, she was pushed out of danger by the others.

Fun was had by some of the MINI2ers who made handbrake turns and 'donuts' on the beach. However, some of the locals might have reported them to the local constabulary, since the police were quickly on the scene.

Leaving the beach, the group continued along the original route, and arrived at Malin Head shortly after 17:15h. After a short break and a photo-opportunity, s_and_m and DK made a dash for a pub nearby for a quick break, before heading for their hotel in Derry. The rest eventually caught up en route to the hotel, and arrived at the hotel after 19:00h. By the time that Apple was parked in the now chock-a-block hotel car park, and checked in, it was quick-change for the 20:00h end-of-run dinner.

Since the group was not staying together at one hotel, and since it arrived late, the group was split across 3 different tables. It was a pity, but c'est la vie!

After dinner, the group returned to the hotel bar, and DK went to bed shortly after 02:20h. Allegedly, there were still people in the bar when Gerard went to bed at 04:30h.

Another civilised start, with breakfast at 09:00h. Charger_Pete, Conejohev, DK, s_and_m, ruthie, and shanemcr, accepted AidenL's offer to take them to see the Giant's Causeway, famous for its rock formation. On the way out of the Giant's Causeway, they met the rest, who had decided to head to Dublin via Bushmill Distillery.

DK et al arrived at their hotel on the outskirts of Dublin shortly after 19:30h. They intended to wait for the rest to join them at the hotel before going into Dublin for some food, drinks and fun. However, when DK heard that the others were about and hour-and-a-half behind, she decided to leave the pack and go to have a quiet meal on her own, to relax and reflect on the events of the run to date.

Apparently one of the lifeboats of the fast ferry on which the group was due to sail was broken, which meant that some of the 500+ passengers had to be left to sail on another fast ferry from another port, an hour or so earlier than the original ferry.

The early birds that managed to get up for breakfast at 08:30h arrived at Dublin Port early, and were asked to go to another port to board a different ferry, a 30min drive through the city. En route, Charger_Pete, Conejohev and DK got lost due to lack of sign posts. DK tried to ask for directions to the ferry port, however, a young lad of no more than 8 years old was not a good choice! They took the original route back into the city, and managed to pick up sign posts to the ferry port again. They arrived in good time and were met by ButtonIt and s_and_m who were travelling on the same ferry. How ButtonIt got there on time was anyone's guess, as he was nowhere to be seen when s_and_m left the hotel shortly after 09:00h.

Luck was on their side, and the rest of the group managed to get onto the original ferry.

DK et al waited at Bangor for the others to bid their farewells before she and Apple headed for home. It was probably not a good idea to have tea while waiting for the others as the roads were full of motorists on their way home! Eventually, Apple and DK arrived home in Norfolk by 20:00h, safe and sound, with not a scratch. Someone or something up there was looking after them!

All in all, an extremely fun and memorable weekend, and DK et al have already started planning to return next year for more MINI adventures!

Please click here for the link to the slide show of photos taken during this event.

Please note that it may take some time to download all the photos before the slide show will start to run, depending on the speed of your internet connection. If the slide show does not start automatically, click "Pause Slide Show" and navigate manually using the "Previous" and "Next" links.

A MINI is not just a car - it is a way of life!

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