Ring of Kerry

We had originally wanted to hire a bike today and ride to Ross castle, catch a boat on the lakes, then ride through the Gap of Dunloe. Unfortunately the weather was turning for the worse so we decided to drive the Ring of Kerry instead.

Kerry Bog village is a small sample of life in an old bog village. There were typical houses with thatched roofs, stables, hen house etc

In a small town called Caherciveen we saw the birthplace of Daniel O'Connell and a memorial.

The Old Barracks Heritage Centre in Caherciveen describes the famine and O'Connells works in the old barracks building.

We explored the ruins of Ballycarbery castle nearby and some ring forts from a distance.

The Skellig Ring is the road off the Ring of Kerry near the end of Iveragh Peninsula. Since the road is narrow and winding, there are no tour coaches, and it feels far more remote.

Ballinskelligs Priory and the local pier

We had a look Derrynane House, Daniel O'Connells holiday home. It is set in a beautiful remote bay to the south of the peninsula. This very pushy, arrogant bird tried stealing our scones!

Driving back to Killarney we passed through Molls Gap where we found sheep wandering loose on the road.

We had dinner at the hotel restaurant which was fairly pleasant except for the typical Irish overcooked, tasteless vegetables.

Dingle Peninsula

Our car!!


From Tralee we headed out on the Dingle Peninsula. Firstly we drove to Brandon Point where we were above steep cliffs and overlooked Brandon Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.

Further on we went over Connors Pass which provided great views of the peninsula in both directions.

We stopped for lunch in Dingle. It was nice being able to site outside at a nice cafe in the sun.

The first stop on our drive around the end of the peninsula was Dunberg Fort. This was a promontory fort on a sheer cliff, first occupied in the 8th/9th centuries and was later used in the 10th/11th centuries.

Next was Slea Head at the southern tip of the peninsula along a very scenic coastal road. Apart from the view, the main feature was this religious monument:

The Blaskett Centre is a museum describing the history of the people who used to live on the Great Blaskett Island just off the peninsula. It is very exposed and was evacuated by the government due to the conditions.

We stopped in at the Louis Mulcahy pottery shop to check out the pottery and of course make a purchase.

There was a pay entrance and, just up the road, a free public entrance to the Gallarus oratory. Of course, the Lonely Planet book guided us to the free entrance.

An Irish traffic jam:

Tonight we stayed in Killarney (at a nice hotel) and had dinner at Mac's restaurant - kind of like an American diner, and the food was really good.

Galway to Tralee

After a nice Irish breakfast, we set off to the south.

First stop was Dungaire Castle. The remains of the castle are just the keep and a wall, but it is set in a beautiful spot overlooking the harbour. They hold a medieval banquet there most nights.

The area to the south is called "The Burren". Here we saw the Pulnabrone Dolmen, an arrangement of rocks which formed part of an ancient tomb.

We made a brief stop in Kilfenora to check out the High Crosses for which it was famous for including the Doorty Cross.

We stopped in a little village called Doolin for lunch at a nice little cafe where an American (Canadian?) tourist was raving about the soup of the day, so we had to try it.

Further south we came to the Cliffs of Moher. They are dramatic sheer cliffs up to 214m high and stretch up to 8km. On top of the cliffs is O'Brien's tower that was built as an observation tower in 1835.

Further south we came to the Shannon harbour where we caught a car ferry across to Tarbert. From there it was a short drive to Tralee where we spent the night, and had a nice dinner at Finnegans - a restaurant in the cellar of an old building.

Galway, Ireland

Yay! A week off work and a 10 day tour of Southern Ireland!!

We flew into Dublin and rented a car at the airport. Unfortunately we ended up with a little 1.4l Fiat Punto. It did the job. We headed West for Galway with a stop in Tullamore for lunch. No time for whiskey at the Tullamore Dew distillery, but there'll be more chances for tasting later on.

In Galway we walked around the city, saw the Cathedral and the Spanish Arch. We had a nice seafood dinner then tried dodging the rain on our way back to the car.

London Bus & Water Tour

We had a free voucher for a bus tour and boat ride along the Thames which came with our flights, so on a nice sunny day we decided to use it to see more of London. Here are some photos from the day, some of the photos are a bit wonky as we were taking it from the top of the moving bus!

Dartmoor & Cornwall

Over Easter, we decided that it was time to do some exploring around Britain. We chose Devon & Cornwall as we had heard so much about how beautiful the area is.

We hired a car and headed off early on Good Friday. We were going pretty well until we got to near Stonehenge and traffic slowed to a crawl. But we made it eventually to our first stop - Exeter where we had lunch.

From there we headed into Dartmoor National Park where we were spending our first night. We also got a bit lost and ended up on some narrow roads. Dartmoor is large area of heathered moorland, filled with granite tors, stone circles and quiant villages with thatched houses. We spent the night in the middle of the park which has that eerie sort of atmosphere especially when its foggy.

The next day we continued on our way down to Falmouth, stopping at the Eden Project along the way. The Eden Project is an old china clay pit which has been converted into a park filled with thousands of species of plants and large biomes simulating tropical and mediterranean climates and their plants. We saw plants from all around the world like cashews, cocoa, palm, chillies, bananas, cacti, lots of colourful tulips and lots lots more plants...

That evening after having tea with the Brains, we went for a long walk around Falmouth town and saw the local beaches, Pendennis Castle, the port and more.

The next day they took us for a drive to Lizard Peninsula, along the way we passed through Penzance and saw St Michael's Mount from a distance. We did a long walk at Lizard which has a beautiful rocky coastline and had lunch in the southern most cafe of Britain.

Monday was time to head home, and we decided to go via the northern coast of Cornwall and checked out some of the quaint little fishing towns there. Unfortunately traffic was terrible on the M5. We had dinner in Bristol and eventually made it back home! Thanks to Ron and Brenda for looking after us so well while we stayed with them :-)