Ups And Downs From Bays To Falls

The next day dawned to the sound of heavy rain falling on the roof. The mood of the day went further downhill when we tuned into the Geelong vs St Kilda game via the internet. We listened as Geelong finally drew level late into the last quarter only for the line to drop out for the last vital minute only to come back again to inform us that the Saints had indeed scored. The very hearty breakfast provided by our hosts helped raise the mood a little before we finally took the drive back down the hill to Kinsale and the drive on to Killarney.

For the first part of the drive we travelled along the coast taking in the view of a number of inlets, bays and rivers. On the quaintly named Harbour View bay we watched as a windsurfer prepared to take the long walk over the beach to the waves. The strength of the wind suggested that his walk would not be in vain. The remnant wooden pylons below the carpark suggested that the harbour has long since been taken by the waves.

The Harbour View

Windsurfer Taking The Long Walk

Harbour View Pylons

A little further on we drove over the causeway into Burren Bay. Momentarily contemplating hiring a pedal boat or Canadian canoe before realising that the wind would have taken us to the other side of the bay, the pretty coloured houses across the bay stood out against green hills. Driving onto to the little village of Timoleague our attention was caught this time by Irish Telefon booth.

Burren Bay

A Gaelic Phone Box

Deciding to take the scenic route even though it meant slower travelling often down hedge lined lanes or through villages with narrow streets we came across the village of Glandore. Perched quite precariously on the hillside surrounding a lovely bay the village stretched out along the road down the hillside. This meant that workers had to make do such as the tractor driver. The small harbour was quite pretty being used by a range of boats including a group of girls in a rowing scull and one brave soul who was out swimming.

Glandore Harbour

Tractor Parking In The Main Street Glandore Style

Glandore Panoramically

Moving on through rolling hills we next visited Glengarriff another riverside village before we headed up through ?? Pass. Driving on ever narrowing roads into ever more glowering weather things were becoming very atmospheric. Finally we reached the top of the pass and headed down into the next valley through some quite amazing road tunnels carved into the mountain rock into the quite pretty village of Kenmare. Unfortunately because we were running a little behind time we had to drive through the town taking pics out of the windscreen.

The Unknown Pass

Road Tunnels Irish Style

Kenmare On The Run

The next up took Mr P and Ms V back into relatively familiar territory. On their last visit to Ireland, both enjoyed the stunning views on offer on the drive up and over Molls Gap. Just as on the previous occasion, the green treeless mountains loosely contained by low rock walls dotted with the occasional black faced sheep, (often on the roadside of the rock fence), were complimented by low glowering grey clouds which intermittently spread showers in our path. The Avoca coffee and souvenir shop once again provided an ideal break to the journey allowing us to de-stress and take in the steady stream of fellow travellers in cars, numerous buses and in two cases, cyclists who you could see almost licking their lips at having conquered the up and were relishing the thought of 5-10 miles of downhill alternately riding the brakes and letting things loose.

View Over Molls Gap

Heading down the valley ourselves we took it in turns to find a couple of busless stop of points to check out the lakes below before we stopped off at Torc Falls. By now the humid conditions in our car along with the winding roads was taking its toll on Miche in the back seat so she and Mickey didn’t join Mr P as he was dragged further up the hill from the falls by Ms V. Dodging yet another shower both made their way down to the carpark where we were once again asked if we wanted a ride in one of the many horse and traps that are available to tourists to travel up the road to Muckross House and beyond.

Muckross Lakes

Driving onto Muckross, Miche in particular was taken by the sweeping lawn and the garden that this time, (unlike the previous occasion Mr P and Ms V had visited), was in full bloom. Some serious and up close photography was the order of the day before yet another heavy shower put all thought of an early evening visit, (it was getting on towards 7pm), to the adjacent Muckross Abbey out of the question.

Muckross House	Muckross Flowers
More Muckross Flowers	Still More Flowers

Where's Jim's Mowing When You Need Them, The Muckross Front Lawn

Driving on through the rain we made our way into Killarney and our next B&B. Having been greeted reluctantly at the doorway by our land lady who apologised for not taking a lot of notice of us because she was watching the Federer-Roddick Wimbledon final and it was deep into the final set, we too made our way upstairs to catch the last few games complete with Gaelic commentary, a surreal experience. With that out of the way our host apologised profusely and gave us the obligatory tour and suggestions for what to do before we set off on the short walk into town and pizza dinner.

On the way into town, we found the main streets of the town had been blocked off for a buskers festival with three different buskers at a time competing for the attention of the public passing by. On the way back to our rooms there was still one lonely busker plying his trade in the gentle mizzle to a group of around 20 or so folk.