Intrepid Friends' Ireland Trip Part 6

We are following the coastline now, in what, primarily for tourists, is called The Wild Atlantic Way. Several small fingers of land spread out from the rocky coastline here, all the way north until we turn the corner again to head east.

There is very little straight road. It winds and twists back and forth, with glimpses of steep cliffs, bits of beach, verdant pasture land, and of course the ubiquitous sheep. They are everywhere. The road passes through several small, charming villages. We stopped briefly in one called Sneem, for a leg stretch and cough drops for Hugh. A pretty little place whose main draws seem to be craft shops and drinking establishments, and a dude with a goat!

Three pubs in a row, with an off license in between. I call that serious! Derrynane beach was also a stop- miles of sand (the tide was out) and sand dunes with huge boulders and shelves of rock rising out of the water. There are many spots where the road is so narrow it is single lane traffic, and a lot of drivers are in such a hurry they just go barrelling through without any give and take.

And the coaches (tour busses to us) take up all of their lane, and encroach on yours, so driving is definitely an all consuming pastime!

The coastline is gorgeous though, and we reach our destination for the night, Portmagee, and a wee little b and b out by the water. The weather was iffy this morning, with mist and fog, but it has cleared up beautifully now with brilliant sunshine and warm temps. We have actually had pretty good weather so far, lets hope it keeps! Portmagee is a small fishing village with a colourful harbour street (and not much more!) A great bar for dinner though, with fresh hake for Hugh, and seafood linguini for me! The bartender even gave us a bag of ice to take home so I can have cold water to drink! Lovely dude! We have to be up and out the door early tomorrow. Our host, Kathleen, has managed to nab us 2 seats on the Skellig Michael boat tour in the am, and we have to be at the harbour by 8:30.

The Skellig Michael Boat Tour:

Friday morning we were up bright and early to get down to the harbour to secure some seats on the Skellig Michael tour. I didn't book them ahead because we weren't sure exactly when or if we could go, and they are very weather dependant. It is Friday the 13th, and a full harvest moon tonight, but the luck of the Irish seems to be with us.

Our landlady's brother works on one of the boats and they have 2 empty seats, one on each of 2 boats. Not a big deal, as long as we can go! It is a lovely, sunny calm day, and already warming up, so our luck is with us again. The fellas on the boat tell us they haven't been out since Sunday, as the weather has not been cooperative enough, partly because of Hurricane Dorian. The rock we are heading to is 8 miles out into the ocean, and although it is a bit choppy with a few high swells on the water I actually feel safer than I do in the car driving the roads.

The Skellig Islands are 2 wave battered pinnacles of rock, site of Ireland"s most remote and spectacular ancient monastery. The jagged, 217 metre high Skellig Michael (named after the archangel Michael) is the biggest of the 2, the other smaller one is a breeding ground for gannets and puffins.(Unfortunately the puffins migrate the end of August so we are too late to see them which is a disappointment, because I really would like to see one up close.) It looks like the last place on earth anyone would try to land, never mind live, but early Christian monks survived here from the 6th to the12th century.

Not being a person with a huge leaning towards faith, I have to ask myself "why here?," but no one really seems to have an answer. Not much is known about their lives here, but there are records of Viking raids here in AD 812 and 823. The monastic buildings perch on a saddle in the rock, some 150 meters above sea level, reached by 600 stone steps hewn into the rock face.

The 6th century oratories and beehive dwellings vary in size. There is the remains of their vegetable garden and a cistern for collecting rainwater. There is also a graveyard. To land on the rock the boats have to get close in by the stairs which lead to the lighthouse that was erected in the 1800's, sort of tie up, and the deck hands help you up onto the steep, narrow and very slippery steps that lead up to the lighthouse landing. First hurdle accomplished! At least there is a railing here!

We trudge along a 300 metre path, which goes gently uphill, with gannets perched all around, and chamomile and watercress growing on the steep stone face. We get a safety lecture from the guides and then are free to start up 600 steps, no railings or handholds. They switchback and forth along the face of the hill with a few resting places along the way. I must admit I almost turned around a couple of times, mostly because of the thought of coming back down again, but we persevered and made it to the top. Second hurdle accomplished! After looking around at the monastery it was time to slowly make the trek back down, which I actually found more difficult. There are no railings or anything else to hang onto, and it is a long way down with nothing but rocks and water to break your fall.

Studiously concentrating on my balance, one step at a time, sideways, I made it back down. Hurdle 3! Now to get back on the boat, which I thought would be hard, but was actually easy peasy. Thanks to the deckhands help! 

After getting back to Portmagee, we turned the car towards the Dingle Peninsula, a drive of about 100km, which takes about 2 hours because of the narrow twisty roads and the volume of mostly tourist traffic. Dingle is a very popular tourist spot, as is the Ring of Kerry, and I can see why- it is stunning scenery everywhere, and really nice people.

Our B and B for tonight and Saturday night is right on the water's edge, a pretty place with fantastic views out every window. And the sun is still shining and warm so our luck is still with us. We can walk into town from our b and b so go find dinner in The Dingle Pub, complete with live Irish music, which is so lively and bouncy one must keep time.

All in all, a damn fine day! Except that now my throat is sore- I think I have caught Hugh's cold. No surprise about that.

More:

So, it is official. Hugh has lovingly shared his bug with me (bless his soul) and I am awake most of the night with a scratchy throat. And it's a full moon, and I can never sleep around one of those, and both of us have a few stiff muscles after yesterday's marathon of impersonating a mountain goat!

It's not quite as nice as yesterday, with a stiff, chilly breeze blowing in off the water, so after breakfast we head out to drive The Slea Head Ring. Unbelievably drop dead gorgeous scenery out every window.

Along the way are many roadside attractions, packed with cars, of old beehive residences from very ancient times, famine houses from the 17 and 1800's, very old stone buildings and dry stone walls separating fields of sheep. Once again the roads are twisty and narrow and to add to the confusion there is a bike race on, with bicycle riders getting in the way everywhere. One of the pictures is out the car window- this is a 2 way road with a speed limit of 80km/hr on it. I think not!

We are both tired, so just do the drive and then head back to Dingle to walk around the town and enjoy it. It is very quaint with many brightly coloured buildings and a nice wander.

It is busy today though- tonight on the telly will be a rematch of the Gaelic Football match between Kerry (which is where we are) and Dublin. They ended in a tie 2 weeks ago, so instead of doing overtime, they do a rematch. These 2 teams have a fierce rivalry and I think every pub in town will be packed full with cheering, drinking fans. Might be a wee bit difficult to find dinner tonight!

Maybe if we are lucky we can get into the pub/hardware store. Can't say I have ever seen one of those at home! Tomorrow we are heading north, to the Cliffs of Moher.