The Ring of Kerry

An early start again this morning and I was on the road at 9.00.  The recommendation was that if I wanted to drive the Ring of Kerry, then it should be done in an anti-clockwise direction so that the view is behind you.  Apparently all the buses leave Killarney at 10.00, so I was leaving an hour before them, and the plan was to keep it that way.  The buses get back into Killarney at 4.00.

There really isn't a lot to discuss, other than to say that the scenery on the drive was nothing short of spectacular, the whole way around.  And it is a real battle to not stop every 5 minutes for a photo opportunity.

Given I started on the Ring early, when I saw a sign for Lough Caragh (Caragh Lake), I decided to go check it out.  It was a few kms off route, but I think lakes are stunning and this one was no disappointment.  Mostly, I had the road to myself, but the roads are so narrow that cars coming in the opposite direction have to stop for you, or you for them.  There didn't appear to be any viewing points around the Lake so after a fair drive, I just stopped the car when I could and enjoyed the view.  When I decided to leave, I drove back the way I came, and looking at the map now, it was a good thing, because there was no road going all the way around.  I would have done the Ring with one massive shortcut through the middle!

The Lake was about halfway between Killorglin and Glenbeigh, and I didn't stop at either of these towns.  Next town was Cahersiveen, but I drove on and saw a sign to the Skellig and so I went of route again as I had intended on getting there.  The Skellig is some amazing cliffs at the west of the Ring.  Stunning stunning views again.  This stop was about a 30 minute stop as you have to park the car and then walk a bit to get to the viewing point.

From there I drove on to Waterville (I had stopped for a coffee somewhere along the way, but I can't remember where it was, and there were also photo stops), Caherdaniel, then I stopped for lunch at Sneem.  

The southern part of the drive was just beautiful (not that the northern part wasn't), but there is a real difference in the landscape, even with just 30 mins of driving, so I'd turn the corner, see a different perspective and want to stop again.  If you had to stop every single time, it would just take forever.

The last town in the Ring is Kenmare, but because of all the stopping everywhere else, I just drove on again, and then that brings you round full circle, back to Killarney, past the Killarney National Park and lakes, so more stopping. 

Last major stop on the Ring was the Torc Waterfall, and I got back to Killarney at 3.40, and continued on as I wanted to spend the night in Dingle.  During one of my stops earlier in the day, I was talking to two English men had just come from Dingle and they recommended I have a look at Inch beach when I got there.  Once again the landscape changed and again the scenery simply beautiful, but interestingly, the road to Inch was completely straight, not twisty at all!  I got to Inch beach and there were hoards of people there.  Waves were crashing in on a real beach (with sand, not just rocks), and by the looks of it, it is a popular surfing spot.

And this picture describes why Ireland is called the Emerald Isle:

The guys I had spoken to earlier in the day had also mentioned that it was going to rain overnight, and by the time I got back in the car, the wind had come up, and the dark clouds were looming.  So when I got into Dingle, I was keen to find some accommodation for the night.  The first place I looked at was right in town, but they didn't take the 'Discover Ireland' vouchers anymore, even though they were still listed.  So the next one I chose out of Dingle, near Ballydavid.  I had to turn on the GPS to get there, and just a few ks out, it started raining lightly, and after I checked in started raining quite a lot.

I decided then that I would 'stay in' and have dinner at the pub.  I went into the lounge area and started chatting to a lovely English lady Rosemary, and Gwynn (not sure if that's how you pronounce his name).  Rosemary was walking the Dingle Peninsula with her friend Deborah, and Gwynn was a farmer from Wicklow who described himself as a 'serious amateur' (photographer).

We all ended up in the bar downstairs and ate together, and drank together.  And all up had a lovely night, also talking to one of the locals and the Publican Morris, who, as it turns out was in the movie Ryan's daughter.  He was only a little boy of about 12 when they filmed it in 1969, and it was released in 1970.  Apparently it is a big part of Dingle history, and a lot of locals were used as extras in the movie.