Our two days in Dublin were over and even our days in Ireland could be counted with only a couple of fingers. Today’s programme consisted of the next city: Kilkenny. It’s conveniently located on the way down to Cork AND it is supposed to be cute and nice to walk along in. We’d booked the city campsite in advance to avoid stress and because I was a little scared it might be fully booked.
Perfect road, perfect weather – nobody there
Both kids were very tired from our two days exploring the city and Flo wanted to take the scenic route to Kilkenny instead of the motorway so we could see a bit of the Irish countryside between our city stops. Giving the kids time to sleep and us time to admire the drive worked out very well. The Wicklow mountains were very scenic with hills and streams, a great big bog and almost empty of tourists. We really enjoyed seeing so much green and sky again.
We arrived in Kilkenny after (our usually early) lunchtime. But since the kids had slept through most of the drive, we were still okay. I’d picked a recommended restaurant on the road where we headed now. Foodworks was right up our alley, having a farm to fork concept. Lunch was delicious. Flo had pulled pork, I had a veggie stew with eggs and the kids shared two sausages and potatoes. For some reason, the kids’ portions are super big in Ireland.
Kilkenny castle
Kilkenny has a couple of sights, including Kilkenny castle. I felt especially sight-seen out ( :P) and only wanted to stroll through the city in search of postcards. There was another destination named “Truffle Fairy” which was pretty high on my list, though.
So we wandered around High street, down the Butter slip and ended up at the castle anyway. But we only had a look from the outside. It just seemed too involved to get in. Number 3 was disappointed, so for his sake, we checked out the entry. “No credit cards, cash only, sorry” told us that we wouldn’t go in with a good enough reason now.
Bars of chocolate on one side
From here, the Truffle Fairy wasn’t far away. Delicious truffles were bought, carried for a short way and then eaten before we hit the car. To be fair, we decided to check out the campsite earlier than usual today as we had some much needed laundry to do.
Back at the car, we realized that we still had to go grocery shopping anyway. We already stocked up on Guinness 0.0, in case we won’t have time/ the car close by when we go to Cork, along with the usual milk and bread.
The campground turned out to have three horses and two ponies so the kids were instantly sold on staying here. My immediate chore was all that laundry…checking out how it works here, getting tokens for the machines from reception, getting all our dirty clothes into one big pile and then getting all of them transferred into the washing machine.
Flo checked out the horses with the kids and then prepared our bread and cheese dinner. We tried to be on time as another gaming session was scheduled. We managed to game but our connection was frustratingly slow and I was indeed, super tired.
Scenic route through Glendalough and Wicklow
Perfect road, perfect weather – nobody there
A little stream through the bog
Oh, the road becomes “rockier” 😛
Another picturesque picnic spot…only the kids were asleep and we just had breakfast
No pictures of our delicious food (way too ravenous) but here is Kilkenny High Street
Both kids giving a street musician coins for her performance
Admiring the fountain in front of Kilkenny castle
Such heavenly delights…a rainbow from the spray
Kilkenny castle
The Agent enjoying the water play and her brother’s hat
Bars of chocolate on one side
truffles on the other side
Smithwick’s Red Ale was the first beer Flo had on this holiday…used to be a European version of Kilkenny
A church on our way back to the car became the crime scene for our chocolates’ murdering
“Pick me up please” – one of her favourite sentences
The Lady of the tent pegs and red ropes – the Agent’s job when we sent up the awning
The lord of the tent poles – Number 3’s job when we set up the awning
Given the unreliability we experienced with the public busses yesterday, we decided to go into town once again with the hop-on option. We had a two day pass anyway, so why not. Number 3’s pick from yesterday got elevated to TOP 1 for the day.
Yup, dead zoo it is. Giant Irish deer in fact
Turned out, we got pretty lucky – with all the bussing and transferring we made to the National Museum – Natural History branch at about 10:40am. We were greeted by a staff member asking, with a mildly concerned look, about a reservation on our part. Reservation? This was a free museum; we did not expect that. Turned out that they were renovating to modernise the exhibition and had only about half the space to use – it was still free, but attendants had to be limited to avoid dangerous pushing and shoving. As said though, we arrived just in time to be allowed in without a booking.
The exhibition, also dubbed the “dead zoo” was packed with taxidermies of local animals. We have a similar wing in the Senkenbergsches Naturkunde Museum in Frankfurt, so Number 3 felt right at home. With only one floor open, 45 minutes were plenty to the get through the exhibition. All of a sudded, we had some extra time on our hands.
We decided to give Nina and myself a small treat and have a really quick browse next door at the National Gallery. We only had enough time to check a few of the Irish artists up to the expressionists and switch to the Europeans for a few minutes with the resident Caravaggio.
The kids were excited to be on the hop on hop off bus again
Our lunch appointment was at 12:30, the hop-on-hop-off bus leaves every 20 minutes. That means we should have plenty of time to get to the Guinness storehouse. Or so we thought. First, the bus was late, then we had to switch to a different one entirely due to a defect on the first one. All in all, it took over an hour – we maybe could have walked.
It did lead to a bit of a sour start of the Guinness Storehouse experience, unfortunately. When we finally arrived at the 1837 bar our lunch reservation had been released and the wait time was up to an hour. We settled with the bistro style Brewer’s Dining Hall – a rather disappointing choice.
The storehouse itself was anything but, fortunately. A tasteful beer-themed Disneyland experience, including sights, sounds and smells. All very well done, not too overcrowded and not feeling like being charged for getting a commercial. To be honest, it still is just that in the end, but the smartly converted storehouse and the laid back confidence in the quality of the product made it second only to a port lodge tour in Porto. Especially since you get to top it off with a beautifully pulled pint of Guinness in the spectacular Gravity Bar with views all over the city. Nina volunteered her free drink (plus Phoebe was dutifully asleep). That meant I got to get a side-by-side of on tap Guinness to Guinness 0.0. The alcohol-free version is shockingly good, in my opinion.
Oh look! I am trying Guinness again! It’s…
It had been a long day; I am still under the weather and on mild cough meds. The decision what to do for dinner was not easy. Ultimately, we stuck to our guns and went with the booked table at yesterday’s choice: The winding stairs. We arrived a bit before our reservation time, not feeling temple bar on our last stroll through the quarter. What a great decision it was. The views and the atmosphere in the place were great. We got a table on the second floor upstairs (poor waiters) with the river Liffey as a backdrop. But all that paled in comparison with the quality of the food. The kids shared a vegetarian “scotch egg” while Nina and I went for mains – cauliflower and pork belly respectively. Everything was just perfect – well cooked, smooth, exciting flavour combinations. And not even that accordantly expensive. I kind of doubly regretted the Lunch now – how can two dishes of such diverting quality be charged at the same price?
Regardless, we were glowing now all the way back to the campground. Even the bus was not that much too late this time (it was, but conveniently so for us). A good end to a packed day!
Guinness looking out over the city
Cheers! To Guinness and the Gravity bar!
The kids were excited to be on the hop on hop off bus again
First stop for today: Natural history museum aka the dead zoo
They even trimmed their hedges in cute reindeer shape
Yup, dead zoo it is. Giant Irish deer in fact
Taxidermy on the loose
A stroll over to the National Gallery. No photography allowed inside
View onto the Gravity bar on top of the Guinness storehouse
Everything Guinness you might ever want
Every ingredient was introduced separately. Here: Water
A little bit of founder worship
The last stage of the roasting process is 232 degrees
11 steps to a fresh Guinness
The thing with the creamy top
Old Guinness caskets
The Guinness locomotive to shuffle around the caskets on factory grounds
Seems like Number 3 is not as thrilled by Guinness
What a silly advert, who would …
… never mind
some interactive tomfoolery
and she’s out
looks sleek as well. I Like the subtle branding
Oh look! I am trying Guinness again! It’s…
…eww…..bah….so bitter!
Number 3 enjoying his non-alcoholic kids’ drink
Maybe she would like a sip too?
On the ground level there’s a bookshop in the same building. The Agent spotted Peppa goes to Ireland in a second
Lovely advertisement for our dinner restaurant
Flo’s dinner of pork chops with apple sauce (plus whole baked apple) paired with a local crafts beer
Since Belfast we had promised Number 3 a ride in a cool bus. We were thinking about the red double-decker sightseeing busses for Dublin, in the end we decided to take the easy route and buy tickets for BigBus Dublin, a company with slightly less red open-top double-decker busses. They started from our campground at 9.30am which seemed to make it the logical choice.
Dublin had overwhelmed me the second I started reading about it. We’ve been tourists in big cities before but somehow, after driving the Wild Atlantic Way for almost its entire length, Dublin seemed daunting. Most of the “must see”s and “top things to do” didn’t feel very kid-friendly, at least not with small kids. Trinity Collage seems amazing…we skipped it altogether as it felt like it would bore the kids to walk around university. The pub scene…Flo’s and my heart bled but there was no good way of making it work with the kids.
With that jacket, if she falls at least we will find her again
So here’s what we did DO. We bought 48 hour hop on-hop off tickets for the BigBus Dublin. Starting at 9.30am, we left for town from our campground. I was anxious we’d miss it, the online tickets didn’t really come through on time, everybody got stressed…in the end, our camera fell down. Pretty spectacularly as well. Luckily, it was only slightly damaged. The battery which was missing a lid already before the trip now stopped staying inside its casing. Flo managed to wedge it in with tape for now…it will need lots of TLC once we’re back home. There’s probably more minor damage but at least it worked for the rest of the day.
The bus drove on the motorway for about 30 minutes without a stop. It was rather quick compared to the 45 minutes regular buses take to get to town. Stopping at “Stop Number 1” of the tour, we had to switch buses but left for real this time within 4 minutes for the 90 minutes sightseeing tour. That is the first thing we did: Get a feeling of the lay of the land, see some sights, have the kids enjoy an open-top bus ride.
Dandy in the park
It gave us an idea of what we could do later in the afternoon or even tomorrow. Driving by the Guinness Storehouse, a very popular stop of the tour, we decided that we’d get tickets for tomorrow for this attraction. Arriving back in the midst of Dublin’s center, we got off at the northern side of the river Liffey at lunch time. The restaurant we’d picked for lunch was closed unfortunately (no lunch on Mon-Weds) so we ended up in a very different location: A small Korean eatery in the back of a Korean supermarket. A very unlikely thing to stumble upon but lucky for us as the food was delicious and even the kids tugged in properly which is always a concern.
Our only picture of Ha’penny bridge. By this time, we’d gotten off the bus. If you’re lucky, you can spot the person floating in the river in the background
From here, we explored the city on foot. The Temple Bar District was just over there, on the other side of the river, so we crossed Ha’Penny Bridge. While admiring the bridge and the river, we noticed a person floating in the river realizing a second later that this person needed to be saved which happened in form of a bystander shedding his cloths and jumping into the river. Many rings were thrown, most of them poorly. A minute or so later, the fire fighters arrived and they were professionals at throwing lifesaving devices into the river. Two of them joined the bystander in the water by which point we left as it looked like a successful save already. Number 3 was rattled by the situation and the loud noises of fire fighters and ambulance.
Inside the Chester Beatty Library
The Temple Bar district looked pretty epic, thus adding to our heartache. Checking which sights were near, Flo picked the Chester Beatty Library. It turned out to be a really cool place. The Agent of Entropy slept through most of it (again) but Number 3 was pretty engaged with what was on display.
Time for coffee! Going to Clement & Pekoe didn’t take too long and their sweet treats were absolutely lovely. Plus, they had a whole wall full of different teas on display. I actually bought some to give my sister when we’re back home. There was time for one more thing this afternoon before dinner and it was my time to pick. The kids had picked the bus, Flo had picked the library, now it was my go. Fair and square, right? Unfortunately, Number 3 made quite the fuss that he wasn’t allowed to pick but we stuck to St Patrick’s cathedral for the afternoon.
Number 3 designing his own flag
Walking there was a chore not because it was far away but my kid made it pretty damn exhausting. And then we were there, bought tickets and the amazing lady at the counter gave him crayons and a booklet “Explore St Patrick’s with Millie the Mouse”. He was all in for that, looking at things, discovering flags and bells, creating his own flag and generally loving it. Flo got to listen to most of the audio guide while Millie the Mouse taught me a couple of things as well. XD
After a ten minute break in the park right next to St Patrick’s, we went for dinner. The kids were tired, we were tired and a fancy restaurant would probably end in a disaster. So we decided to have pizza, enthusiastically agreed to by our 2 year old. A nine minute walk through a more and more residential looking neighbourhood later, we walked through a pub to get to a back yard with a pizza place. It was a little piece of heaven in form of a woodfired pizza oven. I shared my “Smoked Magherita” daily special pizza with the Agent who ate two whole slices of it. That is A LOT for such a tiny human. It was so good! The tomatoes had been smoked over applewood chips, giving the whole pizza a smoky flavour. Yum yum yum.
Alright, time to get the bus back to our car and the tent at the campground. Oh, the buses back only run once an hour…we better get going. Number 3 was an utter champion running in front while we hustled through the streets to the bus stop. It was getting late and another hour in the city seemed daunting with the tired kids. The bus was late as seems to be a usual occurrence in Dublin so we even had to wait for it. Then a 45 minutes bus ride and finally, we were back at the tent and put the kids to bed.
Views from the Bus
With that jacket, if she falls at least we will find her again
The Spire in the Mire …
Old white man with poop on his head …
you can read, right?
Dandy in the park
pre-public illumination gimmic – every 4th house had one, law required a candle to be lit in then at night
The banks had all the bling
From up top of the doubledecker bus, the kids spotted a dragon
The stained glass had survived everything: Napolean, bombardment but not a truck backing up into it
Christ Church Cathedral as seen from the bus
One of the gates into the holy factory of Guinness brew
The bridge built especially for the visit of King Edward
The street lamps were mighty pretty was well
The second largest obelisk in the world. People for scale
Despite the appearance, both kids loved lunch and stuffed their faces with Korean food
As did Flo
Our only picture of Ha’penny bridge. By this time, we’d gotten off the bus. If you’re lucky, you can spot the person floating in the river in the background
this alley leads you to the temple bar district. Number 3 has his fingers in his ears because of all the ambulances in my back
THE Temple Bar
Inside the Chester Beatty Library
Five Dürer prints in a row
Islamic Calligraphy
It was fun to explain to Number 3 how colours were made out of pigments
The armor was all the rage
The earliest Christian texts on papyrus fragments
Walking towards St Patrick’s cathedral
Coffee time! The Agent is still asleep
Making sense of the world
This tattoo place didn’t change the dairy advertisement
Was what I intended to write. But I guess Nina would not let me get away with it. So here the cliff notes: The plan was to take it slow, go a bit past Dublin to Brú na Boinne to check out the really cool megalithic stuff there and then head to Dublin to get set for two full days of Dublin exploration.
So close and yet so far…Newgrange on the hill
Problem Number 1 – I have taken ill, for now with a moderate cough. So everything takes a bit more time, is a bit harder and done with a little less patience.
Number 2 – the curse of overbooking struck again. We failed to check ahead, and so it turned out that the site is booked out for the entire week. Last week before the school year starts and all. In short, we waisted 2 hrs on the motorway and a bit of toll for this folly, to see a bit of an underwhelming exhibition of the place we were locked out of seeing.
Right, so maybe a coffee place on the way back as consolation? Nope, nothing good. Instead, the kids started getting antsy and picking up on the moody vibe. Stern words were exchanged. Campground it was – and, well. That was not much consolation either. The standard “feels like roadside robbery” vibe of so many city camps grounds. At least it had a playground, and we had some peaceful hours before bedtime.
I did not last much longer, apart from a cheerful conversation with a Swiss couple that we kept running into for the last two days. Ever since Mizen Head – what a small world. I’m sick, let’s skip that day …
Number 3’s amazing ability to make friends on the playground gave the Agent someone to push her
So close and yet so far…Newgrange on the hill
Through the fake passage tunnel in the visitor centre…at least the kids had fun
Completely unrelated but summed up our day nicely: Fresh & tasty not in service
Our not so glamorous campsite didn’t get more shiny in the morning. We got to use the campers’ kitchen which is always helpful as a jug is so much easier than boiling water on our camping stove. On the down side, the Agent spilled her glass of milk and we had to clean up. 😉
Trying to feed a very brave and cheeky little birdy
Before we left, we had a great conversation with a French family. They were super nice, the kids were inquisitive and looked into our tent and they gave us recommendations for our time in Brittany next week.
Today’s goal was to take it waaaaaay slower than we had done lately. Just looking at where we’ve been in the last week makes my head spin. Slowly but surely we’re coming to the end of the Irish part of our holiday. The biggest ticket item on our “to do” list now is Dublin. From the far south, we’re going to drive part of the way there today. Along the way, Cashel is a good point to stop and the Rock of Cashel is highly recommended too.
We were lucky enough to prebook the campsite in Cashel which took a lot of stress out of the day. Get there, look around, set up camp, done. Getting there was a bit of a challenge as it meant more than two hours straight in the car for the kids. That’s always a harder sell.
The “backside”: The tower is the oldest part, the rest is the cathedral
We broke it up with lunch next to a charger. Unfortunately, we seem to have lost the Agent’s hat there. L I hate losing things.
After lunch, the kids could take a nap while Flo and I took a small detour through the Glen of Aherlow. It consisted of a scenic drive, more time for the kids to sleep and time to listen to our audiobook.
Then, we arrived at the Rock of Cashel. Cashel is the anglisized version of the Irish word for castle. It describes a castle on a rock from the 12th century. Just looking at it from below gave us flashbacks to Carcassonne even if it is way smaller. We walked in, bought tickets and learnt that the free guided tour had started 20 minutes ago. We could try to catch up with them (it’s not a big place) or wait 40 minutes for the next one. Given that we have small kids, we opted for the first option. I love that the guided tours are for free. Number 3 listened very well to the English talk and repeated some of the facts afterwards: The round tower is the oldest part of the castle. The big cross got hit by lightning and that’s why the top is in pieces, lying on the ground now.
It’s pretty cool to see your kid do this. Maybe history will be one of his interests one day.
Rock on Cashel from our tent window
We finished the guided tour and then walked around the perimeter for a bit. Since I wouldn’t allow the kids to balance on the graves, they soon lost interest in more walking. Happy that we got most of the guided tour, we left in search for coffee. Since it was Sunday, the recommended cafe was closed when we got there. None of the other places looked inviting, most were kiosks selling ice cream.
Taking it slower is also paraphrasing “getting to the campsites earlier”. Which is exactly what we did. We pulled up at the campsite and had coffee there. I mean, we made the best choice really, as the campground was literally underneath the Rock of Cashel and you had a view of the castle and a ruined abbey a bit further away. We got to enjoy the view for a couple of hours now.
Number 3 instantly made friends on the playground and the Agent just refuses to acknowledge that she’s younger. She is always in the thick of it, too.
In the evening, we even managed to have that postponed gaming session as reception was really good here.
The Rock on Cashel in twilight. We were so lucky to be on this campsite!
Trying to feed a very brave and cheeky little birdy
The whole complex gave us flashbacks to Carcassonne, just way smaller
The lower part of what was once a gigantic Celtic cross
The top part of the gigantic Celtic cross which was hit by lightening and exploded off
The “backside”: The tower is the oldest part, the rest is the cathedral
First view of the complex
Corner of St Patrick’s cathedral with the tower, the oldest part of the premises
The newest part of the castle. A storm blew of a corner
A Celtic cross in the castle’s graveyard with the surrounding landscape
An angel at the church
Stained glass windows with two of the symbols of the evangelists
Ruined abbey from above
The Agent looking a bit like one of Charlie’s Angels right there
View of the castle after 4pm when it’s closed for visitors
Camping in Beara was nice despite the slightly abandoned vibe of our campground. We had so much space and quiet, the kids could be as noisy as they wanted during breakfast for a change. To make it even better, Number 3 found a plastic dinosaur another kid must have forgotten. It made both kids very happy.
one last pass – Lonely Planet recommended
Beara peninsular also has a ring road (how could they be left out) but we were a bit peninsular-ed out. Instead, we only drove a little bit along the coastal road and then turned inward to take the Healy Pass to the southern side. We had a light drizzle, many clouds and a bit of fog going up. The moodiness suited the landscape a lot! It cleared up every now and then to give us really nice views of the rocks. From the actual pass you could see down to the road which wiggled through the landscape below…quite a bit of awesome road. Probably amazing on a bike. J
recovered anchor from a failed rebel relief effort by a French armada
Now following the southern coastal road, we got to Ballylickey where the Lonely Planet advertised a foodie grocer with a cafe. Of course, we had to stop there for a second breakfast. The kids and I went for the sensible option of tea and cake while Flo couldn’t resist the sandwich options. In the end, we also bought cheese and bread for the road, all of which looked and smelled delicious.
We didn’t have a real plan for Bantry. The Lonely Planet suggests the Bantry House which didn’t appeal to us. Instead, we opted for a fast charger, a bit of shopping at Supervalu and lunch at Organico, a zero waste organic place. During lunch Flo chatted up a couple on motorbikes so we had a lovely conversation about places we’d been.
Going further south, Mizen Head was our next destination. It was a while away and offered a good opportunity for me and the kids to have a nap. The night had been short and full of terrors. The Agent of Entropy had been too cold and then wet and all of it had cost the rest of us valuable sleep. So against our habit on the road, I had a nap as well. Only Flo needed to drive. I like to tell myself that he enjoyed the quiet time but he was probably also very tired.
all together now
We woke up shortly before we stopped at Mizen Head. I was still a little wobbly and disorientated when we moved into the visitors’ centre. I knew it counts as the southernmost point of Ireland as the races seem to be Malin Head to Mizen Head. However, from the visitors’ centre you could walk over a bridge to Mizen Head Station on a tiny island. So we did. It was very cool even though the bridge worsened my wobbly legs. It had the “end of the world” feel to it. Mizen Head Station is a signalling station that isn’t manned anymore these days as everything can be done remotely.
As we had gaming on tonight, we’d picked a nice campground but when we got there, we weren’t too sure anymore. It advertised its glamping opportunities but it felt unstructured, more like a side project than a tightly run business. It was expensive, had no wifi or signal and seemed to be much busier than we would have liked it to be. We were too tired to debate or move again so gaming had to be cancelled or rather postponed unfortunately.
close call – that is part of the (not quite 16A stable) socket molten to my extension cord plug
Both are actually helpful at breaking camp – each to their own degree ..
one last pass – Lonely Planet recommended
That could be on the cover of a motorcycle magazine 😀
outrunning the water
windy roads made them sleepy, time for a second breakfast!
time to stretch our legs – lunch time!
started a thing there by lifting one hobbit …
recovered anchor from a failed rebel relief effort by a French armada
see mom, no hands!
Aligned 4500 years ago with a major landmark – see the hill in the back
almost at the end …
one push and up over the edge, right?
taking …
… a shot!
one gentle push …
terrible place to get shipwrecked i guess
That’s it – southern achievement unlocked
all together now
taking in the views
southernmost point by cheating 😉
Mizen Head Signaling Station – a place many were relieved hearing from
Campground forgettable – time to go. Not as quick as we wanted, though, or to do the Gap of Dunloe guilt-free (it is a public road, but traditionally used by jaunting cars, bikers, and hikers). At least early enough to go for the Ring of Kerry itself clockwise without much trouble.
Something to admire
In the end, it all worked out fine. The road has been upgraded in recent years and we have been on much worse with worse traffic. We only encountered the first oncoming busses around lunch-time (they are only allowed to go counter-clockwise) and never had much trouble passing each other.
Much worse (but more fun) was the first minor side road to a well-preserved ring fort. Not quite as spectacular a location as up north in Donegal but preserved instead of re-constructed. We had fun and both kids eagerly climbed the ring, this time fully uninterrupted.
There werent even half bad!
After that we made our biggest mistake of the day and allowed the Agent of Entropy to fall asleep before lunch. It would come back to haunt us later. Said lunch worked out absolutely perfectly, though. After a 3 minute supermarket stop, we were stocked on great bread, fresh salads and veg. Only 15 minutes later we had pulled into another great spot to drop our picknick blanket once again. This time, at a beach somewhere on the Skellig ring, with added ruins and big skies to round of the image. Oh, and as a beautiful reprise of our first trip with the roof tent, we found very passable Pastel de Nata in said random supermarket as well!
The extra bit around along the Skellig loop was described as an adventurous bit of road in the Lonely Planet. In the end, it was scenic but certainly not worse than many other roads we have been on by now. Traffic was also very manageable. There was good reason to dare the wilds of Kerry’s far West though, regardless of road conditions: Another Chocolate Factory. We got a neat free tasting and way too much sugar for the hobbits and sat down for a round of hot chocolate for all of us.
A bit worn out after so much of the Wild Atlantic Way we were not going for many more stops after that. In the end, the drive is a bit of the attraction with this one. We found a campground a bit further along on Beara, the next peninsula south of here. We pushed it, but not before taking “the road less travelled” to avoid a third visit to Killarney in two day. Turned out that the road via the Ballghbeama Gap was the sketchiest bit of driving for the day. It was also totally worth it! We had the road almost to ourselves (minus the obligatory sheep) and even though a light rain had set in, the vistas were still great!
done, now down to the shore for …
After that the only question was about what to do with dinner. We would have enough time to cook, but not much inspiration. On the other hand, we were passing a second time today through Kenmare, which we had snobbed earlier today. The Lonely Planet had a top recommendation for a local restaurant. A quick call confirmed that they had space for us for dinner at 5pm sharp, kind of perfect for our plans.
The dinner was excellent, and our kids both managed to stay well enough behaved to keep it a pleasant experience. I was especially proud of them for trying both my mussels in white wine sauce as well as the really excellent chowder that I finally got to have. The vegetarian options were taken serious as well. So, we all ended up properly stuffed and ready to fall asleep right there and then.
Luckily, the campground was only 15 minutes away. It had a bit of an abandoned charm, but at least we were left alone and could collapse well and early into our camp.
Something to admire
one last time through the Killarney national park
Molls Gap coming, a great send off
eternally traumatised or not getting coins to sink …
told you
Past Molls gap now
can you spot both adventure hobbits?
exploring their first dungeon
Ring of Kerry has started
Landscape dotted with ancient sites – see the ring fort in the bottom
Old vs. new Ring of Kerry road – no worries after the upgrade
bonus loop
adding all together, ruin & beach and Pick-Nick
There werent even half bad!
the cup had been filled – to the brim. Twice!
no coffee – might be a first!
chocolate fish, the other kind
in, photo, out – private property, keep out!
deap breath and then hold it in! Peat man even let us pass afterwards …
After our uber success last night (come on, laundry and cooking while camping is amazing!), we were slow to start this morning. The fog we’d seen last night over the bay had rolled in. Visibility was poor, rain came down and we had about one square meter of dryish space underneath the awning.
Getting the kids into rainproof gear, packing everything for breakfast at the camper’s kitchen to stay dry…all this took too long for our youngest who had the first accident of this trip. At a time when everything was wet anyways, moods were low and tempers easily flared. Poor her.
Lovely second breakfast in the summer garden of Petit Délice
Eventually we managed all the morning chores plus the extra work and left Inch beach for the second time. This time for good. Heading towards Killarney, the weather didn’t improve much. The rain turned into a drizzle eventually, but it still came down. I decided that we’d get a second breakfast or a coffee time in the late morning in Killarney. After walking around a little, we settled on Petit Délice, a small French bakery. They had seating space in their summer garden which luckily was covered so we had lovely chocolatey goodness and a warm tea. We also bought a baguette for lunch.
From Killarney we went south into the National park to Muckross House. Hiking in the National park is supposed to be lovely and really quite involved. While researching I found many awesome hiking trails…for adults. I’m just not comfortable with planning a day tour of 18km with our 4 year old. The Agent gets carried most of the time anyway.
An overcast, moody day for a hike. Both kids really loved the idea of riding in a jaundice car but they weren’t going around the lake. I asked
So I ended up with Muckross House. From here, there’s a 8.5km loop around the lake. That sounded doable and good. Flo made sandwiches out of the baguette to take along, we got to the start of the trail, had our lunch and the Agent promptly fell asleep in the carrier. So far so good. The hike was a disappointment though. Don’t get me wrong, it had lovely views, you just had to walk on tarmac all the time. It’s also advertised for bikers but I didn’t get that this would mean a sealed road for most of it. Bikes made so much more sense than to walk here that I felt pretty stupid to have chosen this “hike”. After 5km, we reached Dini’s Cottage our first waypoint. Number 3 was a trooper again, walking all five kilometers without too much complaining.
The Agent was asleep but even Number 3 couldn’t see over the sides of the bridge
Here, we sat down, had a drink and some ice cream for the kids. Though it is a loop, we had just reached the half-point mark. I couldn’t see Number 3 walking another 5 kilometers out of here again. Heck, even I didn’t really feel like walking another 5 kilometers on tarmac. Luckily, there was another option. When getting the trail map at the info centre, the warden mentioned that boats go to and fro between Muckross House and Dini’s Cottage. We might be in luck and catch a boat ride back with the kids.
I really hoped we would be in luck. Waiting around at Dini’s Cottage for over an hour, we weren’t. Every boat that arrived had a booked tour onboard to different locations along the lake. None of them were going back to Muckross House. Finally, we committed to walking. The first thing to do was walk about 300 meters away from the lake to see an old bridge. It was quite cool to see Old Weir Bridge. Getting back on the loop trail again, Flo moved into the wrong direction, towards Dini’s Cottage again. Frustrated with taking back our commitment to walking, I followed…just to see that Flo was talking to a boatman that had just arrived. While talking to him, a second boat arrive which (THANK GOODNESS) had space for us AND was going back to the House.
Watching everything with interest
I paid right away just to make sure he’d take us back. Then we had another 20 minutes to kill at Dini’s Cottage before finally boarding and going back via the lake. Both kids were super excited about the boat ride. You got to see most of the track we’d walked on the way here from the water. A lot of the rocky landscape was hollowed out by the water.
Back at the car, we drove back a little towards the other side of Killarney again to an unspectacular, overpriced campground.
Lovely second breakfast in the summer garden of Petit Délice
An overcast, moody day for a hike. Both kids really loved the idea of riding in a jaundice car but they weren’t going around the lake. I asked
While the sky cleared a bit, the “road” stayed exactly like this
It had an enchanted forest feel so we kept looking for fairies. Until Number 3 decided that ghosts live here
Lovely view of a mountain
A detour from the road to check out the beach
Lovely, and probably stunning in sunshine
This time, we checked out the tiny island
Crossing a bridge, this was the view to one side…
…and this the view to the other side. Quiet different
The Agent was asleep but even Number 3 couldn’t see over the sides of the bridge
The lakeshore on one side of the bridge
The trees were all so twisted and gnarly
Encounter with wildlife
Picture perfect tree
We’d arrived at Dini’s Cottage
Waiting for a boat
Committed to hiking, we went to Old Weir Bridge. This is the view back to Dini’s Cottage
and into the other direction. Cool spot!
Old Weir Bridge in the distance, you can see its two arches
FINALLY, the right kind of boat arrived!
How to kill 20 minutes? Test your gumboots!
Flo helped push the boat into deeper water because, you know, gumboots. Then, we were all aboard
It’s a new fashion…you know…life vests on boat rides =P
From the lake, we could see the bridge we’d walked across earlier today
The shore looked very different from the water. All this washed out limestone!
Rock arch in the water
Watching everything with interest
Muckross House came back into view
The Agent was also intentely watching
Back on land and passing Muckross House again on the way to the car
It felt a bit like a missed opportunity when we left Inch Beach Camping this morning to set out on the Dingle Peninsula loop. Especially their 10kg industrial washer and dryer – after 3 weeks, our bedding had acquired a certain … aroma. The sorrow was only short lived, as the first bit of road, going back north via a different, tiny single track pass was a reward in and out of its own.
View down into the valley
The top-rated item of the day is certainly Dunmore head, the westernmost point of mainland Ireland. On our way there, and to an extend afterwards, the road is lined with little way-side sights here and there. We bagged a few of them on our way to Dingle, the namesake town of the peninsula. My personal highlight was Conor Pass, just before Dingle. Town was buzzing with tourists making good use of the warm weather and locals on weekday errands alike.
Tea time
We arrived a bit too early for lunch, so we decided on a second breakfast in a highly rated café “Bean of Dingle”, which was busting at the seams when we arrived. We still managed to snatch a spot and enjoy the great coffee and treats. Afterwards, we went for a proper shop in town including ingredients for another dinner from our camping cookbook and headed out to find a good lunch spot. The dinner recipe was a bit of a gamble, as it required a box grater that we neither had nor could find in that supermarket.
Lunch worked out much smoother right away. We found a neat little spot with great views of a few of the islands further west. Nina was not so enamoured with the proximity of our picknick blanket to a steep drop of 15m, but the kids were fully relaxed.
They both admired the view
A few minor stops later, we were heading for Dunmore Head proper. The Agent of Entropy even got a well-timed nap in, falling asleep in the ring sling (wrap to carry a child <10kg) before being successfully transferred to the car-seat. The weather has finally turned a bit and we arrived with a light drizzle. More disheartening was the sign on the road back east though, stating one-way limitations in place between 10am and 4pm. It was 2:30pm now. There was some box-ticking to be done before, regardless.
It was a good 20 minutes hike uphill from the car park, but the views were more than enough to make up for any pains. Even the reasonable number of other tourists and cheeky “the last Jedi filming location” self-promotion could not put us off this time. Even the weather was in a way adding to it. Number 3 once again proved to be all the trooper. His personal highlight was climbing over the border-wall to the last paddock. Much to my surprise I was able to contain all nerd-posing for the photos, but the Last Jedi vibe was palpable, nonetheless.
Dunmore Head – at the westernmost point of Ireland
We came back to the car with 20 minutes until the road would open again. I suggested a cup of tea to sit it out rather than waste the same 20 minutes on a detour going back to where we came from. We felt it was a good call and the drive was worth it. Only slightly more terrifying than the usual single track roads noticing that some drivers were clearly not expecting oncoming traffic at all.
That late in the day, we had to decide. Go 45 minutes further to an unknown campground in Fossa or return to where we came from at Inch Beach. We had the ingredients for dinner and a promise of clean sheets convince us to do the second “2 nights but not really rest” camp of the trip. Even the matter of the grater got sorted out, thanks to kind fellow campers.
Cooking a full dinner (“Rösti”, great success) and getting 8kgs of washing and drying done lead to a slightly delayed bedtime and very tired parents, but given the weather promising a late and wet start tomorrow we were fine with that. We even still managed to keep up with the blog …
What a pretty road and view right in the beginning
Good morning sheep!
Nobody else on the road
The roadside hedges are so colourful at the moment
I guess that’s where we’re going
Going up
Checking out the waterfall
Family portrait
View down into the valley
The road sits on stone walls
The Wild Atlantic Way sign for Conor Pass
Looking back to the coastline
And a creek runs through it
Dingle town
Second breakfast @ Bean in Dingle
Tea time
The Agent could not be persuaded to give the basket to someone else
We pulled up here as a possible lunch spot but there were no benches. Still, it was a nice spot with a boat statue
This statue was the equivalent on land
Our view from the lunch spot
Eating while lying down…it’s a new trend
The Agent is super fussy about food at the moment
They both admired the view
Number 3 loves to check out all the plant life around
A original oratory from the 8th century
The Agent was supposed to sleep and promptly fell asleep on the way back to the car
The Reask Stone from a 5th pr 6th century monastic settlement
Number 3 found a building which had two rooms and declared it to be a school
Entering Star Wars territory
Approaching Dunmore Head
Up and over the wall
Dunmore Head – at the westernmost point of Ireland
Yippie, I also made it!
Trotting back to the car
Roadside tea portrait
Luckily, after tea the road was opened back up so we could take this lovely road
The Forest Park was a nice spot and both kids were keen to go back to the playbus. So we took our time this morning to blog a little, let the kids play and go on a walk through the forest. The small loop track that Flo had picked didn’t lead through the forest unfortunately but meandered through the Arboretum of a now-abandoned manor house. Not quite what we had in mind for this morning.
Both kids absolutely loved the short walk through the forest. Number 3 made up fairy stories about their houses and furniture
From here, we went back to the coastal route. It was nearly lunch time already. After stocking up on groceries in a tiny supermarket (and gummybears. Always gummybears. Grandma had given a tiny bucket full of them to the kids before we left and it needs to be refilled regularly), Flo followed a roadside viewpoint sign to Carrigafoyle Castle. Another lovely picnic spot for us plus a “castle” for Number 3 to explore. It was actually quite cool to see how much of the ruin you could still explore.
Further down the coast we went, now in the county of Kerry. Kerry is full of things to do and see…just not right here. So we continued until we hit Tralee. The Lonely Planet recommended the Tralee Bay Wetlands Centre as an activity plus a location for coffee. We got to the parking lot, plugged in the charger and nearly collapsed. With the sleeping kids in the back, we seriously considered just taking a nap. Instead, Flo and I planned the next campground. The response we got was encouraging, basically saying “no need to book there will be spaces on the day”. This is our preferred way of travelling so I’m quite happy we can just see how far we get and then check for campsites there.
the one lauched maybe 4m from us
Finally, we went in. It was actually quite lovely to just walk around in the wetland. We saw a heron and a moorhen with chicks and lots of things that are common in Ireland. Number 3 had a sheet with all the flora you could see and the Agent had a sheet with all the birds you could spot…both of them took their jobs seriously.
Getting coffee was a harder task. The cafe in the Wetlands Centre was closed, the first recommended cafe in Tralee as well. In the end, we wandered around and had coffee in one of the many coffee places the pedestrian zone had to offer.
Our next scheduled campground was at Inch Beach at the start of the Dingle Peninsular loop. It had been a weird day without any real highlight but a lot of things to see anyway, so I was happy to just hit the campground a little earlier than we usually do.
bit heavy-handed on the god ray shader
It is right opposite the beach. The weather was still fine and I opted that we’re going to see the beach in sunshine. Flo protested meekly because going to the beach now meant we couldn’t cook dinner and had to improvise. However, the kids ran around ecstatically so this time, Flo also put his feet in the ocean.
On the way back, we chose convenient dinner from a fish & chips food truck at our campground. Expecting the usual grub, this one pleasantly surprised us with its quality. They only need to work on their trucks presentation a bit …
Most of the trees along the fairy trail were enchanted in some way
The Agent of Entropy on her second run through. The first time, she was a little scared, the second time she knocked on every door: “They don’t come out!”
Both kids absolutely loved the short walk through the forest. Number 3 made up fairy stories about their houses and furniture
The highlight of the playground: A real play bus
“All passengers need to board now”
The pompous white landowner part of the park
We were only looking for a lunch spot …
… and got a cool bonus castle
fourth floor masters-chamber-turned-balcony
neat and safe restoration of parts of the ruin to make it accessible
in case you are wondering, castle fell to bombardment, everyone mudered.
finding plants and birds from our sheets
the wetlands with the observation tower in the back
the one lauched maybe 4m from us
not sure she is looking in the right places for birds …
back right through the heart of the wetlands
loads of different inscects about as well
coolest find, a moorhen with three chicks
Ducks being Ducks
we were encouraged to pick a few herbs, which no3 took seriously
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