Tuesday 22nd July KENMARE – GAP of DUNLOE - KILLARNEY LAKES
Robyn writes: The alarm
went off at 7am this morning; Lex wanted to be up nice and early to head off
for a walk he had planned. Jo and I had decided we needed a ‘down day’ to catch
up on mountains of washing, photos etc (and just resting!) I tried to go back
to sleep, but couldn’t, so got up and went down to have breakfast with him. He
headed off a bit after 8, and I put on the first of several loads of washing.
Cait and Danny called, so we had a nice chat, then Jo surfaced around 9 after a
lovely sleep in. We had the washing machine and both driers going for some
hours, Jo caught up on her travel diary and I saved a heap of photos to the Cloud
and my external drive. A very productive morning! Mum called, too, so we had a nice chat before she went to bed.
After that, we figured we could do with a bit of an excursion, so we called and booked a taxi to take us into Kenmare town (about 5 minutes’ drive). A lovely lady called Mags turned up to get us in an ordinary car; she explained that in small country towns this is the norm for taxis. Because we’d pre-booked it, it’s called a hackney. She dropped us off in town near the An Post (Post Office), which was also a grocery shop and an off-licence! We bought stamps for postcards there and Jo posted a pile of them off. We had a lovely time wandering around the many little shops and bought some gifts and souvenirs. It was lunch time, so we settled on The Landsdowne, the town’s main hotel (very posh). We both had the roast chicken and stuffing toasted sourdough sandwiches; Jo got it with chips and I got it with salad so we could swap, and we ended up with huge meals. Plus a big pot of tea to share. We were very contented and full when we were done.
We continued our look around the town centre, despite the rain which had started up again (of course). We visited the Catholic Church in town which has some stunning tiles, and admired some historic houses before heading out of town slightly to see the stone circle there. It’s Bronze Age (c.2000-500BC) and has a boulder burial in the centre. It also has several hawthorn trees nearby which were regarded as sacred, and good luck. They are often found here on pagan and Christian sites of worship. The tradition is to write your prayers or wishes on a card and tie them to the tree, which we did. Unfortunately, just as we were leaving, the rain came down again very heavily. We took shelter in the gift shop until it lightened a bit, then got out the full wet weather gear and headed back to town. We visited the local bakery for some afternoon tea to take home, then called the taxi again.
Mags came back to collect us, and deposited us safely home again to dry out. She said there was flash flooding around town because of the downpour; in fact she’d taken a video to send to her brother in New York, it was so much rain! Thankfully it had tailed off by the time we got home. Jo went out for a walk to see what was up the hill from us, and said there are quite a few houses up there, lovely views, and lots of rabbits and cows!
Lex writes:
I have to report that my feet are OK after a big day. The Gap of Dunloe walk was a trial for them, but they survived.
The day started with a drive from our place near Kenmare to Killarney. I then tried to find a Bank of Ireland ATM to withdraw some cash (I know that I can withdraw Euros from my Travel Money Account, using their ATMS; few other banks allow this). After several unsuccessful attempts, I found a park in front of the bank- on the footpath! I needed the money because the cafe at the end of the walk only takes cash.
I proceeded to the pickup point- The Old Weir Lodge, (in Killarney) to get my tickets. As there was some time to spare, I walked a short way to a local Centra grocery shop/cafe to buy coffee and a muffin. Soon enough the bus arrived, and we were on our way- 2 minutes early (a first for Ireland). The trip to The starting point took about 20 minutes, and ended at Kate Kearney's Cottage. This is actually a pub.
All of the passengers quickly left the bus and got down to business. The walkers walked. The others engaged jaunting cars. These are horse drawn open carriages. There were perhaps twenty of them hired by various people (some by groups who were not on our tour). They did not start with us walkers. We simply set off up (note the word up) the road. The road continued uphill for 6.1 Km.
The scenery was spectacular, with huge green mountains all around. The Loe river ran beside us all the way to the top. That point was 6 Km from the start. On the journey, we passed three lakes and about 2000 sheep. There are farms in the valley of course. Water ran down from the mountains to the river or the lakes. I find the amount of water running in the streams staggering; and the number of streams is just incredible. These streams seldom stop running because so much rain falls so often.
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| Looking back from the top of the Gap |
From the Head of The Gap, we walked down to the Black Valley, and then along it. A small community lies in the valley. It doesn't seem to have a name, but it has a church- of course. It was something of a milestone though, as the road was flat from here to the finish, and it was at 8.7 Km. The end point was at 11 Km, called Lord Brandon's Cottage. I trudged on until I reached the good lord's cottage, which is now a ruin. However, there is a cafe here. I had a cup of tea and waited for the boat. Yes, there was a boat (in fact, 5 or 6 of them) to take weary walkers to Ross Castle near Killarney.
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The boat journey took us through three lakes, from the upper lake, through the middle lake, and then finally to the lower lake. Really! The Irish were a bit short on imagination when they named these beautiful bodies of water. What is more interesting is that Atlantic Salmon swim up through the lakes to spawn in the rivers that feed them. I was told this by the Irishman who was driving the boat. He was quite chatty actually, and good fun. He managed to keep us entertained for the hour and fifteen minutes of the boat ride, and to stay ahead of the other boats that followed us,
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Finally, we made it to Ross castle.
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| The boats landed at Ross Castle. |
After disembarking we made our way to the pickup area. Here, several buses waited, or arrived, to take tourists back to their drop off points. Some, like me, went to tour operators offices to collect our cars. Others went to their hotels. By the way, if you want to see hotels, go to Killarney. There are literally dozens of very big ones, and maybe hundreds of smaller ones. Killarney is the most touristy town I have ever seen. It was buzzing with all the things tourists do- eat, drink and tour.
I got out of there and drove to Torc waterfall. Again, the place was full of tourists. The waterfall is more of a cascade, and the tourists loved it. I took a few pictures (after all, I am a tourist here).
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| Torc Waterfall |
Then I walked up a long, steep path that actually didn't take me to a lookout above the waterfall. I turned around after about one Km and 228 stone steps (I counted them). Going down was easier than going up, and I was soon back at the carpark.
I drove towards Kenmare, but stopped at Ladies View, near the gap in the mountains (this is Moll's Gap). Over a cup of tea, I took in the view of Killarney's lakes - where the boat had taken me a few hours before. It was beautiful, as most of Ireland is.
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| The lakes of Killarney, from Lady's View |
Finally, I headed "home" to our rent house near Kenmare.
After a big dinner, I am now ready for a long, deep sleep.
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