The weather for the past week in Ireland has been similar to England, gorgeous sunny days with mild (if not warm) temperatures. Today was raining. Boo! But on my long and constantly growing list of what England has taught me, is to sit down and have another cuppa and see what happens. Still raining. Right, next on the list is to drive to another location. So off we went to drive the Ring of Kerry, a beautiful day-long scenic drive which takes you through mountains, cute coastal towns, and right by the Avoca store...
As we leave our cottage, we are sort of concerned that we are not going to get to see any of the views promised on this drive because of the cloud cover. However, not 20-minutes into the drive the clouds begin to part, the sun comes out and we end up having sunshine that lasts the entire day. Thank goodness as it would have been a shame to miss out on the coastal views. This drive took us though so many little villages, across peat bog lands, into the hills, and alongside the ocean. Every time we could smell peat burning, Rowan would call out "Do you smell bacon"? Erik would say "That's not bacon it's peat". Then later on when we smelt it again Erik said "Smell the peat!" and Rowan said "You mean the bacon?" Ah kids.
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| Looking out at the Skelligs |
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| Best Cliffs in Kerry |
The highlight of this drive for me was the views over to The Skelligs, two huge rock islands rising out of the ocean. The larger, Skellig Michael is a UNESCO world heritage site and consists of a 1000 yr-old stairway leading up to an early Christian monastery (Monks settled here in the 6th century) and several beehive shaped huts. It is possible to take a boat out to Skellig Michael and climb the staircase up to the site but we are not sure that we will have time to do this as it is a full day trip, and very weather dependent as there is no docking area for the boats (from what I could see from a short video the boats pulls up as close as they can and you carefully step out). So for today we went to the "Best Cliffs in Kerry" (near Portmagee), a small parking lot and cafe where you pay a small admissions to walk the 10 minute trail to a viewpoint with stunning views of the Skelligs.
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| Derrynane beaches |
We had promised the kids some beachcombing so we stopped at Derrynane Strand (near Caherdaniel). Walker wanted to climb the rocks with Daddy and Rowan was set of finding a collection of seashells, and as "luck" should have it, one small crab leg.
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| Beachcombing |
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| Mom & Daughter |
Our final stop on the Ring of Kerry was the Avoca store. Avoca is one of the world's oldest weaving mills, and has been a family run business in Ireland since 1723. They manufacture blankets, throws, clothing and now have lines of pottery, furnishings and gifts. I left with a gorgeous throw, several pairs of fun knee socks, and a "moo cow" creamer.
We got back in time for the kids to have a run around outside. They played on the play structure, on the see saw, pet the owners new puppy and then got caught in a crazy hail storm. Erik and I were sipping a nice glass of red wine when we looked outside and noticed the hail crashing down. Just as Erik was about to rush out to rescue the kids, they came running around the corner laughing their heads off that it was hailing. Nothing seems to phase those two...they ended the day with a giggle-inducing jacuzzi bath.
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| That didn't hurt |
What will tomorrow bring?
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