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After the inevitable hangover from Clare's 30th had finally subsided, we decided to visit Clare's parent's holiday house/caravan on the water up in Kerrykeel: on the rugged north-western edge of Europe. This place has always had sentimental significance to Clare, as her family came here for holidays regularly… a bit like me with Bribie Island or Caloundra. And along with our Miami mate Brandon who tagged along, I immediately saw why she loves this place so much. The caravan park is built on what looks to be a big lake, but is a sea inlet surrounded by mountains with grazing sheep and cattle. This truly is a stress-free environment.
What lay ahead of us in the next couple of weeks were picture perfect sunsets with massive cloud formations over the water, rugged barren landscapes, cute little villages, a visit to the beautiful Glenveagh Castle, a nail-bitting Hurling final tie watched at the pub and a relaxing paddle on the kayaks. After waving good-bye to Brandon (until we see him again in Miami in a few weeks) we climbed around the massive Slieve League cliffs and for my birthday we checked out Doe Castle, then found ourselves in the cutest wee village that had come to life in a big way for their annual Jazz & Blues festival. The place was absolutes buzzing with people and live music! A holiday within a holiday… I ask you: what could be better?? Plus there was no TV or internet! I admit I did miss the internet from time to time, but not the TV.
So after this little hiatus it was time to get back on the road and into some backpackers hostels again (we wouldn't want to get out of practice, would we?). We jumped in the car with Clare's baby brother Conor as driver and set sail to see the south… starting by going down the famously scenic west coast of Ireland. We started at the beautiful town of Westport then:
- Down to Cong (town made famous for The Quiet Man movie many-a-year ago) and a walk around the grounds of the very grand Ashford Castle
- On to Galway City where I had a taste of home at a fantastic pie shop (inspired by Aussie pies) and a Bundaberg Ginger Beer!
- Walked all along the epically huge (and a little scary) Cliffs of Moher
- Conor and Clare explored Bunratty Castle
- Had a mad night out in Dingle. Started in the hostel with a rowdy dinner with a group of 50-year-old men doing their annual re-enactment of one of their stag do's from 17 years ago. Apparently it was so good, they've been coming back every year ever since to go surfing and get pissed and have a right old laugh. As soon as one of them pulled out his guitar and started singing, the whole hostel joined in on the sing along… next thing, everyone in the hostel was down at the packed out local pub where there was more live Irish music and one of the stag do surfers put on a hilarious magic show in the middle of the pub! To round the night off we went to the dodgy local 'night club' (I use the term loosely) with our German hostel friends for a wacky boogie and more booze
- A truly shocking hangover the next day while we watched the Gaelic Football final in a pub that was also a hardware store
- One of the most scenic drives EVER around the Dingle Peninsula as the sun set
- Visited the attractive port town of Kinsale where we checked out the very cool Charles Fort which was a star-shaped fort that protected the inlet from baddies
- Explored the Blarney Castle and its grounds and kissed the Blarney Stone to get "the gift of the gab". I don't know if I got that, but I did get a major head-rush after pulling my head back up from the awkward position they make you get in to kiss it. Lying on your back with your chin facing the sky and a 30m straight drop below nearly scared the gab OUT of me!
- Looked around The Rock of Cashel (basically another cathedral, but with a bit more of a story behind it)
- Did a fantastic Hurling tour in Kilkenny which involved a tour of the Hurling stadiums locker rooms and a coaching session where we learnt a few basics of the game and I got a better appreciation for the up-coming Hurling final rematch which was in a couple of days. I even put on a bit of a show when the coach tried to tackle me with the ball. Clare and Conor lol'ed til they rofl'ed (if you didn't understand that last bit, don't worry.. that's probably a good thing).
On returning to Belfast we basically spent time catching up with family and friends for good-byes. We also went on a fun day-trip with Clare's Mum & Dad to 'The Mourne' mountains, which we couldn't actually see for the fog. So we ended up having an ice cream (cold wind and drizzle would never stop us from eating ice cream!!) and walking around the main street where we went into a video arcade and played insane 4-player air hockey and then I bumped my head on a machine which gave me a tough looking cut on my forehead. When I game, I game hard!! Apart from that we had plenty of last minute things to take care of in preparations to leave the safety and comfort of Clare's parents' home and venture out into the big wide world again. A spectacularly delicious home cooked pizza night with Clare's family would be our last meal in Ireland… for a wee while anyway. But I will always look forward to returning to the bright lights of Ireland and Clare's family.
Daz
- comments
Pat Great photos and great blog, you talk about tearing the backside (cleaned that up) out of your 2nd trip to Ireland, I just don't know how you're going to upstage this, but I'm sure you'll have a good time trying. Luv to both of you, pat