INISHOWEN is often
described as a hidden gem, but one local company has
come up with a unique way to help you to easily find
anything you need around the peninsula.
navigatour™ is a wonderfully simple GPS travel service
for you to download on to your Sat Nav device that will
pinpoint all the must-sees, must-do's and the secret
places even locals haven't seen in Inishowen.
The good news is that the
service is easy to download and is very user friendly.
No matter where you are, the service will list things to
do and places to see within that radius. If there is a
particular thing you are looking for, you don’t even
need to know its name, just type in some information and
the service will find the rest. So, typing in the word
‘walk’ will list the start of all walks in the area,
with information on terrain, duration and sights to
note. Type in ‘bird’ for detailed information on all
birdwatching sites or type in ‘golf’, ‘surf’, ‘dive’ for
any activity that you might fancy trying your hand at.
Typing in the word ‘kids’ will show you all activities
for kids from playgrounds to Blue Flag beaches to Wains
World, give you details and take you there with the
click of a button.
It's Inishowen in an
instant. Just press 'Go' and let navigatour™ take you
there. Developed in conjunction with Inishowen Tourism,
all of its members are already featured on the service
for 2010 from accommodations to restaurants.
The man behind navigatour™ is John Ward of Headland New
Media in Malin Head. He is passionate about his service
and even more passionate about showing what Inishowen
has to offer, to visitors and locals alike.
"What is lovely about this system is that the off-beat,
the hidden gems and the forgotten spots have been
researched and rediscovered for a new generation," he
explains.
"How many people have seen or even heard of Inishowen's
Morten God dolmen, the Chair of Leisure, the Devil’s
Bridge or the Flough? You'll find them all there on
navigatour™ and get information about each of them
before being brought there.” All ancient monuments of
the area and great scenic sites are also covered."
John is offering navigatour™ at a special price of just
€2.44 ($2.99 from its US server).
And there’s even an
upgraded audio service called racontour™ which manages
to bring well over 70 stories, anecdotes, recitations
and jokes from the area as you drive around Inishowen.
"Not only do you see Lough Foyle driving up to Moville,
you hear about its geography and history. You'll learn
about the place names of Inishowen as well as some
famous recitations, tales of wildlife, haunted bridges,
duels and even about Crawford the henmen from
Desertegney. You just don’t know what you might get
coming around the corner!" This innovative audio
service, the first in the country, recently featured on
RTE’s Nationwide and is still available to view by going
to the navigatour™ website,
www.navigatour.ie
.
John says the racontour™ audio service takes up more
memory and is "that wee bit" more expensive
at just over €4, but is
perfect for those coming to Inishowen for the first time
– an MP3 enabled device is required for racontour to
work.
For people lucky enough to live here, he recommends the
simple search division called locatour™ which gives you
all the information you’ll need to get anywhere from
Grianan of Aileach, to Doagh Famine Village to the Cairn
or down to Leisureland. All this is yours for well less
than the price of a pint! John has been quite thorough
in ensuring all places on interest are included, but
welcomes any suggestions about adding a place or hidden
gem he may have overlooked.
navigatour™ is downloadable to Garmin, TomTom and
Windows Mobile PDAs, as well as iPhones.
Go to
www.navigatour.ie/Inishowen.html to download the
service or email
John at
info@navigatour.ie .