Sunshine and beaches

Another glorious sunny day in Ireland.  We took the Ring of Kerry, which is a circular route with many tourist attractions.

Our first stop was Torc Waterfall (June dragged me up another lot of steps) through beautiful national park.
We had great views over the Killarney lakes as we travelled.  Our next stop was a Holy Well where people had left tokens.  Ireland has more than 3000 sacred wells, dating back to medieval times. People go there to drink the water and pray.
Then we visited a nature reserve at Derrynane with rabbit holes all through the sand dunes above the beach.  We also saw Hooded Crows.
The Cliffs of Kerry were spectacular, just as interesting as the Cliffs of Moher and with far fewer people cluttering up the views. We saw lots of seabirds nesting in the cliffs.  There is an offshore island called Puffin Island where the Puffins nest.
We went next to Valencia Island where there is a lighthouse and historical display, including the keeper's cottage.

Our last stop was another beach but it was very stony and we decided it was time to head home. It was a long day (17,226 steps including the walk to the pub for dinner) but the highlight for me was the Cliffs of Kerry.

Driving on Irish backroads is exciting as they are very narrow and when two cars meet  one has to reverse until the road widens enough to let the other pass. We also had to navigate hairpin bends and blind corners.  We are not game to drive at the speed limit so everywhere takes longer than Google maps predicts.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Roman baths and Regency romance

Image
We caught the train  to Bath this morning (after a small struggle to find the car park and enough £1 coins for the meter).  We visited an excellent bookshop. We started with the Roman Baths, which our lovely host, Susanne, had encouraged us to visit. They were too crowded with visitors for June's taste, but I loved the video re-enactments of Roman life and the idea that the thermal spring is still pumping out hot water today. Then we visited Bath Abbey, which like all historic buildings has been built, unbuilt, rebuilt. Henry VIII has a lot to answer for.  It has stunning ceilings and stained glass and, as a result of the last rebuilding to fix sagging floors, now also has underground heating utilising the thermal spring. June and I played dress ups in the Discovery Centre. We walked up to the Royal Crescent  which is a full circle of Georgian terrace houses around a small park.  Susanne claims it is the first roundabout. Several scenes from Bridgerton were film...
Read more

Cliffs and castles

Image
The weather today was gloriously warm and I abandoned my thermal underwear for the first time.  A man selling pottery said this week was the first time they had seen the sun for 10 months.  We drove from Galway to Killarney, and this time we decided to visit only two places and not rush.  Our first stop was The Cliffs of Moher, which are a very popular tourist attraction judging by the number of coaches and cars. We walked along the cliff top path, tut tutting at the foolhardy tourists who climbed over the fence to get selfies on the edge of a very steep drop.  June made me climb up very steep narrow staircases to the top of the watch tower.  There was an excellent exhibition that included a 4D experience (with wind and water) that allowed us to get a closer look at the many species of birds nesting in the Cliffs- including Puffins.  I succumbed to the lure of a penny whistle in the music shop. Then we realised the fuel tank was nearly empty, so our next st...
Read more

Planning the trip

 Planning We have just over three weeks to go until we fly out.  June and I are meeting for lunch on Friday to review our plans.  She is a meticulous planner, and has some excellent questions about phone coverage and VPNs that I don't know the answer to.  I'd assumed my airalo eSIM would provide phone calls as well as data, but it doesn't, so we will need to communicate via WhatsApp and email.  So how do we call our B&B hosts if we're running late? I've just discovered an app called Timeshifter that helps manage jet lag on long flights.  It prescribes, for a few days before we fly out and during the flight, when to expose yourself to bright light and when to avoid bright light; and when to nap and when to sleep.  I'm going to try it out.  I've added a sleep mask to the packing list. https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/travel/roam/2024/03/15/jet-lag-app-timeshifter Society of Australian Genealogists ran a webinar on family history touring which had...
Read more