Ring of Kerry
Trip Start
Oct 01, 2006
1
12
86
Trip End
Ongoing
Kenmare, Ireland
Friday, November 3, 2006
I was surprised that coming in to Killarney, the signs to the ring of Kerry weren't signposted on every corner. But it is actually quite hard to find the start of the drive. Luckily we are getting used to this by now and got on the right road. After about half an hour of driving I was starting to wonder though if this was the right place, we were traveling through farm country, with the most exciting thing to see so far being the golf and fishing club!
But soon enough we arrived at the coast. The guide book reads that this is a spectacular stretch of highway that hugs the coast, with the cliff dropping from the road, straight to the sea. Well this is not so - every now and again you are up against the sea, but most of the time you are a bit inland, with hints of the view. Don't get me wrong it was nice, but I had higher expectations.
We drove around to Valencia island, a small island off the mainland connected by a bridge. This was a nice side trip, and we got some great Irish postcard photos, of a sheep on a hill, overlooking the cliffs and the sea. This is also the starting point for the Skallig Island trips.
Skallig Michael is a tiny, steep island off the coast. It is known for the monastery built here ages ago, but now abandoned (nobody knows why the monks left). The monastery is set up some spectacular steps, built in to the side of the island - you will see it in most photos of Ireland.
Unfortunately you need a full day to go and visit, and as much as we would have liked to, we have too much ground to cover. From here we did the Skallig drive, a off the main road experience, that I don't think a lot of tourists really find (and if they do the traffic must be hell in summer with the one lane road!!). Turns out this was the best bit of the whole ring of Kerry!! It had great views over to Skallig island, and a great drive up to the top of a mountain (and back down the steeper other side!!)
When we got back to the main road, most of the rest of the trip was inland, with only tantalizing glimpses of the sea, and a bloody big hedge around most of the road blocking the view anyway!!
We arrived back in Kenmare quite disappointed with the whole thing - unfortunately we have found more scenic spots by accident along the way!
Made up for it with a bit of retail therapy in Kenmare (mostly presents) - but I got myself a hand knitted tam!! Trendy!
