Day 2
So I wasn't going to drive a lot today right? Right!
Slept for 12 hours and got up at 8:30. Coffee, eggs and Irish bacon which is just like salty ham steak without the crap in it.
We all looked around the lovely property and Kristen had a conversation with the cows next door. The gardens are lovely and the hydrangeas amazing in blue and some red. Cosmos outside Kristen's bedroom. Great view of Sneem and the surroundings. Your garden never needs water, that's for sure!
Slept for 12 hours and got up at 8:30. Coffee, eggs and Irish bacon which is just like salty ham steak without the crap in it.
We all looked around the lovely property and Kristen had a conversation with the cows next door. The gardens are lovely and the hydrangeas amazing in blue and some red. Cosmos outside Kristen's bedroom. Great view of Sneem and the surroundings. Your garden never needs water, that's for sure!
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Decided to check out downtown Sneem for a leisurely day around 11. I think Jill and Kristen went in every store (there are a bunch, Sneem is a 2pm stop on the Ring of Kerry bus tours). Walked over the bridge; it was pretty crowded when everyone got out of church. Jill and Kristen didn't want lunch yet, so we needed a plan.
Dave suggested a drive to Moll's Gap so on we went. First attempted a Music Festival but Dave was chagrined to see it was down yet another one lane road, so after a couple of miles we turned around. It may not have even begun by noon. Drove through deserted, increasingly desolate country up to Moll's Gap, which is a mountain pass. Saw numerous sheep and chatted with a few. Shy, as usual. |
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Stopped at Barfinnhey lake to check it out. There were a couple of guys setting up their fly fishing gear in the parking lot. Looked like father and son. I struck up a conversation with them; they were fishing for stocked rainbow Trout. Very, very friendly. They told me it had been a very bad summer - it had rained every day since June14! We were lucky we had just arrived, since the weather was improving. They told me the Coyle family was from County Meath (they think) and we should go look for people who have the same nose as me! Meath is pronounced "County Meat". Lots of people with the same kind of story - late 1800s, orphans sent to North America, etc. Nice conversation.
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When we parked at Moll's Gap I realized that we had passed thru on 2 of the 3 roads yesterday, when leaving Killarney National Park. We were now coming up the third road.
The girls checked out the Avoca woolen mill souvenir place but didn't buy. Went upstairs to the restaurant and waited on line on the stairs. It was a cafeteria type line but the food, as often in Europe, was quite good. Dave - Ploughman's Lunch, Jill and Kristen split a "ham salad" which had a lot of carrot, cucumber and potato salads with ham. The carrot salad was marinated in Orange Juice, which was quite good.
After lunch, we all felt pretty good so decided to take a long way home via the Gap of Dunloe. It had been recommended by someone on the Slow Travel web site. It wasn't marked but we figured only one road could be the right road.
The girls checked out the Avoca woolen mill souvenir place but didn't buy. Went upstairs to the restaurant and waited on line on the stairs. It was a cafeteria type line but the food, as often in Europe, was quite good. Dave - Ploughman's Lunch, Jill and Kristen split a "ham salad" which had a lot of carrot, cucumber and potato salads with ham. The carrot salad was marinated in Orange Juice, which was quite good.
After lunch, we all felt pretty good so decided to take a long way home via the Gap of Dunloe. It had been recommended by someone on the Slow Travel web site. It wasn't marked but we figured only one road could be the right road.
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It was amazing. One lane maximum. Boulders everywhere. Incredible views, and no rain. Scattered sheep. The McGillicuddy Reeks surrounding on every side. Where the hell were we? Rushing streams, few cars, a couple of times we had to do the lay-by thing, but it worked out for the most part. Even where some nasty bastard kind of forced me to back down.
At one point, we stopped at an unmarked intersection, unsure if we were even on the Gap of Dunloe road. Some little girls, younger than Kristen came biking up. Are you ok? They asked. How nice. I told them yes, but where were we? - Black Valley was the answer. Seemed out of 1700. The most "in the middle of nowhere" I've ever been. Not even farms. But there was a one room school, still in use. |
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Climbed through more incredible views - it would have been nice if we had blue skies. When we reached the gap itself - that was the most amazing. Switchback, single lane roads, thank God no one was coming in the other direction. A series of 3 lakes with bridges, views in both directions, just spectacular. Once we reached the lakes it was obvious that people had hiked up from somewhere, and we had to follow a couple of jaunting cars (horse drawn carriages), bikers and hikers. Eventually we found the parking lot where they all originated from. We had come up from the really deserted side. It was so primitive it was obvious why it's not signposted - they don't want any more tourists up there than necessary!
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Upper Lake
After The Gap of Dunloe we figured we'd take a more leisurely route home via Ballaghbeama Gap. Looked pretty easy on the map.
Ballaghbeama Gap
We drove and drove through more deserted countryside, occasional houses but no villages, even though they are marked on the map. Eventually made it to the gap after an hour of so in nowheres-ville - not quite as spectacular but still amazing in a "surface of the moon" kind of way. The Gap had mist and rain blowing through it when we stopped at the top. Only saw a couple of cars the whole trip. It began to rain at the top and I figured we'd better get the hell down soon, before it began to rain in earnest.
Made it back to Sneem, about an hour after we saw the "Sneem 25km" sign on the other side of the gap. I now have a real sense of just how deserted the "Kerry Highlands" really are. man, there ain't nothing there at all but a few sheep. Desolate, rainy and beautiful, and unlike anywhere else. And at least 25x25 miles wide!
Back in Sneem, the girls bought dish towels and Christmas ornaments before we had some pints of Guinness, shepherd's pie and a burger at the Blue Bull Pub. With a hot Chocolate fudge cake, about 35€. The exchange rate really sucks, but the Guinness was really smooth. Jill beat me to the bottom of both pints.
Back home in the rain where we're sitting around the farm table and Kristen will soon get to watch a DVD on the PC as a reward for being so good today.
I'm now pretty comfortable with the Left Side of the Road and the Stick Shift On The Left, but the ridiculously narrow roads are still a bother. Kristen has a song (to Monty Python) - "Always Drive on the Left Side of the Road".
Day 3 >>>
Back in Sneem, the girls bought dish towels and Christmas ornaments before we had some pints of Guinness, shepherd's pie and a burger at the Blue Bull Pub. With a hot Chocolate fudge cake, about 35€. The exchange rate really sucks, but the Guinness was really smooth. Jill beat me to the bottom of both pints.
Back home in the rain where we're sitting around the farm table and Kristen will soon get to watch a DVD on the PC as a reward for being so good today.
I'm now pretty comfortable with the Left Side of the Road and the Stick Shift On The Left, but the ridiculously narrow roads are still a bother. Kristen has a song (to Monty Python) - "Always Drive on the Left Side of the Road".
Day 3 >>>