Czeching Out Tasmania

After the wonderful sights of Bray Head and the Kerry Cliffs, it was time to head on to our next AirBnB for the trip. We were scheduled to stay at Killorglin, home to the Puck Fair, one of the oldest in Ireland. We drove into Killarney and spent a few hours wandering the streets and surrounding areas. The following day we had planned to climb Carrauntoohil, the highest mountain in Ireland at just over 1,000 metres but the weather had closed in and the summit was barely visible from down below. We decided against it and would instead press on to the Dingle Peninsula and enjoy its wonderful sights.

We woke up early the next day and made our way towards Dingle and the beautiful Slea Head drive. We had a spot of car trouble on the way and a lovely Dutch couple assisted us at Inch Strand before we got it all fixed up in Dingle. Our next AirBnB was one we were looking forward to as it had an option of petting a baby lamb, how many AirBnB’s can say that I wonder?

It was wonderful to be showing Gemma this beautiful part of Ireland and seeing the same sights I’d seen just before leaving Ireland for Australia all those years ago. We carried on past Dingle and pulled into Páidí Ó Sé’s Pub for a bit of food and game of pool. The place is a local institution and I had the honour of being put into the Sam Maguire Cup outside when I was three years old. There’s a great photo of me balling my eyes out as the trophy was so cold!

From Dingle the coastline starts to get really beautiful and rocky and every corner you turn presents a new and exciting vista. We drove past our accommodation for the night and continued on towards Dunmore Head and Dún an Óir. This whole area has become even more popular than it was before with the recent Star Wars movies being filmed at several locations on the West coast of Kerry. It more than stands on its own though and the scenery is just amazing.

Another expedition we had to change was a trip to the Blasket Islands which was a pity but with just a ten day itinerary we couldn’t quite squeeze everything in. You could easily spend a whole month in just Kerry alone.

When I last visited this area with my parents in 2015, the weather wasn’t the best. And by not the best I mean terrible. You couldn’t see 100 metres in front of you and all the stunning scenery was obscured in a grey haze. That didn’t make it any less special though and I really loved that trip. This time around the weather Gods were a little more on our side and I was blown away when we rounded the corner and saw the view out towards Dún an Óir.

We stopped at Louis Mulcahy Pottery for lunch, the same place I had stopped with my parents in 2015. The food was yum and some of the pottery was quite delightful, other stuff a bit weird haha. It was wonderful to be able to see the scenery around us and we explored the area a little before turning back towards Dingle. We stopped at Clogher Head and went for a couple of walks up into a rocky hill and then back down towards the sea. The whole was covered in a beautiful carpet of gold and purple gorse and heather and despite the weather starting to deteriorate, it was a gorgeous little corner of Ireland.

We made one last stop on the way to the AirBnB at Dunquin Harbour, a picture postcard spot if ever there was one and the gateway to the Blasket Islands. I’m kind of glad we didn’t do the Blasket Trip now as the water was a bit choppy and the boat would have been a lot smaller than the one we would take a few days later in similar conditions up the north of Ireland.

We made it to the AirBnB near Ventry and sure enough, within 5 minutes of checking in we were cuddling a baby lamb! There were also a bunch of beautiful doggies and the cutest little puppy that I wanted so desperately to smuggle into our suitcase. One of the dog’s was hilariously cheeky and promptly peed on every single vehicle that parked outside the property without fail.

We enjoyed a super relaxing evening looking out over the Atlantic Ocean and reflecting on a beautiful day. Our Kerry adventure was coming to a close and we were all set to continue northwards up the Wild Atlantic Way.