Kerry (M)
It’s been a while now since we’ve posted. That’s basically because not much has happened lately. We went for one more weekend excursion with my parents and have spent the last two weeks and weekends not doing a lot. Well, I’ve done a fair bit of work on my bike and Abby’s almost been run off the road biking to work, twice. But apart from that, not much. We’ve got big plans for next month though, I’m riding my bike through Europe for two weeks and Abby’s heading over to Munich to catch up with friends from last year.
I s’pose I’d better tell ye a bit about the trip we took down south the last weekend my parents were here. We started off after work on Friday and shot down towards Limerick. We didn’t go to Limerick though, instead taking the ferry across the lower portion of the Shannon at Killimer.
The Killimer Ferry.
Now, after our trip up north we had wizened up a bit and had pre-booked accommodation for the weekend. Our first night’s stay was a bed and breakfast outside of Tralee, just before Dingle. It wasn’t too hard to find, although relinquishing my position as navigator to Mum meant we went round Tralee a couple of times.
A word about Bed and Breakfasts over here; there are very few Motels in Ireland, cheap rooms off the road. Instead there are B&Bs everywhere. And unlike the ones back in NZ, which are normally some of the more expensive places to stay, they are cheap and come with breakfast. Make sure you go for the Irish breakfast though, “Continental” toast and cereal isn’t really what Irish B&B’s do well.
The next morning we did a loop around the Dingle peninsula. We drove up and across Conor Pass, a narrow little road with good views from the top. It was a seriously narrow road, and required some backing up every time a tourist came the other way. After Conor Pass we did a loop back to Tralee, right back to the B&B where we stayed the last night. This was because I remembered that I’d left our shoes in the wardrobe and forgotten to pick them up. No problems though, and once we’d got them we headed around the Kerry Peninsula.
Conor Pass...
... and the view out to Dingle.
We didn’t do the standard Kerry Peninsula loop though, the famous “Ring of Kerry”. Too many tourist buses full of tourists. So, instead, after we went through Killorglin we turned off and headed up and over Ballaghbeama Gap. This was a good little road, single lane tar with grass growing down the middle. It’s quite common for this to be the case in Ireland, a small country road in the middle of nowhere and also going to nowhere will be tarred. I don’t think I’ve seen a decent gravel road yet.
A couple of big goats. The King Puck thing is a local tradition where they proclaim a goat king for the week and have a bit of a shindig, any excuse really...
Admiring the countryside, or a little lost.
Ballaghbeama Gap. Know where we are now, there's a big sign.
From the Gap we went down through Killarney National Park, and past Muckross House. The Park was scenic, but not on the same scale as Kiwiland I thought. Dad saw a couple of deer on the road through the park, and then Abby managed to find them again as he drove past for a closer look. Deer are a bit of a novelty over here, they were native once but they all kind of died out so now they’re trying to re-establish them in the park, with great expense and effort. It’s funny when compared to NZ Department of Conversation’s efforts to do exactly the opposite, trying to eradicate them from our parks. Anyways, totally irrelevant for the deer we saw as they were Sika and native to Japan, not Ireland.
Killarney National Park.
Sika Deer! Centre of photo.
... and a closer shot.
Muckross House
From Killarney we headed over towards the South Coast. We stayed the night just past Fermoy, at another B&B and the next morning arrived in Waterford. I have cousins on my Mother’s side in Waterford. We’re not sure exactly how distant we are, in fact it’s never been established for sure that we are cousins but John Dawn shares the same name as my Mother (Dwan being my Mum’s maiden name), there’s a family resemblance and he’s a bit of a character so that’s good enough for me.
He met us out at Rossclare, where the parents dropped off the little rental car. We then drove the scenic route back to Waterford, taking a small ferry across the Suir River. Interesting fact. The lighthouse on the Northern side of the Suir is at Hook, and the little town on the Southern side of the Suir is called Crook. Now, Lord Cromwell (Old Ironsides), in his invasion of Ireland, is supposed to have said “I’ll take Waterford, by Hook or by Crook” meaning he would land at one of those two places. And that’s where that saying comes from, at least that’s what John told us.
The beach at Rossclare. Abby didn't think they had beaches like this in Ireland, well they don't in the West.
We had lunch with John, and then before long it was time for Abby and I to get back on the train to Galway. We left my parents with John, where they stayed for a week before starting the trip home via London and Shanghai. Our train trip was fairly uneventful and we were back in Galway before midnight.
So, that’s it for now. Work’s been good, weather’s been crap, my bike is getting closer to going again, Abby’s got a friend calling in this weekend on the way back to America from Munich and we’re headed over to Europe for a bit in August. Which is only three weeks away. Which means I’ve only got two weekends now to get my bike going again. Good thing Abby’s got a friend to play with this weekend…
Parts painted and ready to be assembled.
And new parts as well.
I s’pose I’d better tell ye a bit about the trip we took down south the last weekend my parents were here. We started off after work on Friday and shot down towards Limerick. We didn’t go to Limerick though, instead taking the ferry across the lower portion of the Shannon at Killimer.
The Killimer Ferry.
Now, after our trip up north we had wizened up a bit and had pre-booked accommodation for the weekend. Our first night’s stay was a bed and breakfast outside of Tralee, just before Dingle. It wasn’t too hard to find, although relinquishing my position as navigator to Mum meant we went round Tralee a couple of times.
A word about Bed and Breakfasts over here; there are very few Motels in Ireland, cheap rooms off the road. Instead there are B&Bs everywhere. And unlike the ones back in NZ, which are normally some of the more expensive places to stay, they are cheap and come with breakfast. Make sure you go for the Irish breakfast though, “Continental” toast and cereal isn’t really what Irish B&B’s do well.
The next morning we did a loop around the Dingle peninsula. We drove up and across Conor Pass, a narrow little road with good views from the top. It was a seriously narrow road, and required some backing up every time a tourist came the other way. After Conor Pass we did a loop back to Tralee, right back to the B&B where we stayed the last night. This was because I remembered that I’d left our shoes in the wardrobe and forgotten to pick them up. No problems though, and once we’d got them we headed around the Kerry Peninsula.
Conor Pass...
... and the view out to Dingle.
We didn’t do the standard Kerry Peninsula loop though, the famous “Ring of Kerry”. Too many tourist buses full of tourists. So, instead, after we went through Killorglin we turned off and headed up and over Ballaghbeama Gap. This was a good little road, single lane tar with grass growing down the middle. It’s quite common for this to be the case in Ireland, a small country road in the middle of nowhere and also going to nowhere will be tarred. I don’t think I’ve seen a decent gravel road yet.
A couple of big goats. The King Puck thing is a local tradition where they proclaim a goat king for the week and have a bit of a shindig, any excuse really...
Admiring the countryside, or a little lost.
Ballaghbeama Gap. Know where we are now, there's a big sign.
From the Gap we went down through Killarney National Park, and past Muckross House. The Park was scenic, but not on the same scale as Kiwiland I thought. Dad saw a couple of deer on the road through the park, and then Abby managed to find them again as he drove past for a closer look. Deer are a bit of a novelty over here, they were native once but they all kind of died out so now they’re trying to re-establish them in the park, with great expense and effort. It’s funny when compared to NZ Department of Conversation’s efforts to do exactly the opposite, trying to eradicate them from our parks. Anyways, totally irrelevant for the deer we saw as they were Sika and native to Japan, not Ireland.
Killarney National Park.
Sika Deer! Centre of photo.
... and a closer shot.
Muckross House
From Killarney we headed over towards the South Coast. We stayed the night just past Fermoy, at another B&B and the next morning arrived in Waterford. I have cousins on my Mother’s side in Waterford. We’re not sure exactly how distant we are, in fact it’s never been established for sure that we are cousins but John Dawn shares the same name as my Mother (Dwan being my Mum’s maiden name), there’s a family resemblance and he’s a bit of a character so that’s good enough for me.
He met us out at Rossclare, where the parents dropped off the little rental car. We then drove the scenic route back to Waterford, taking a small ferry across the Suir River. Interesting fact. The lighthouse on the Northern side of the Suir is at Hook, and the little town on the Southern side of the Suir is called Crook. Now, Lord Cromwell (Old Ironsides), in his invasion of Ireland, is supposed to have said “I’ll take Waterford, by Hook or by Crook” meaning he would land at one of those two places. And that’s where that saying comes from, at least that’s what John told us.
The beach at Rossclare. Abby didn't think they had beaches like this in Ireland, well they don't in the West.
We had lunch with John, and then before long it was time for Abby and I to get back on the train to Galway. We left my parents with John, where they stayed for a week before starting the trip home via London and Shanghai. Our train trip was fairly uneventful and we were back in Galway before midnight.
So, that’s it for now. Work’s been good, weather’s been crap, my bike is getting closer to going again, Abby’s got a friend calling in this weekend on the way back to America from Munich and we’re headed over to Europe for a bit in August. Which is only three weeks away. Which means I’ve only got two weekends now to get my bike going again. Good thing Abby’s got a friend to play with this weekend…
Parts painted and ready to be assembled.
And new parts as well.
posted by matt at 3:42 PM
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