This morning we left Kilorglin to make the grand circle tour of the Ring of Kerry. The ring is littered with ruins from centuries old stone monuments and gives stunning views of the Atlantic Ocean. Of course the weather was rainier than it has been for us, so we couldn’t see AS much as we would have liked, but we didn’t let it get us down, playing in the rain and warming up with coffee.
The first castle we stopped at was Ballycarbery which had fallen into disrepair after 500 years without an occupant. The castle had ivy growing on one half of the remaining wall and looked fantastic, photogenically speaking. The second stone structure we visited was the Stone Age fort of Cahergal which was used from time to time to ward off pesky invaders from stealing livestock. We then drove just a few more km to take the ferry to Valentia Island. It was a short ferry, and it felt a little odd moving when we knew the car wasn’t moving. It caught us by surprise, the attendant said “We don’t wait around and there is no going back” (insert diabolical laugh here). On the island there was an opportunity to see some 385 million year old tetrapod footprints. I was excited to see them Jenn said. Just call me Ross of this relationship. I even go to do some pre-historic planking next to them. That is them near my head in the photo. One small step for a tetrapod, one giant leap for evolution.
Chocolate and coffee followed shortly after and so did all the buses. We got stuck behind a basket full of buses as we made the return journey to Killarney this afternoon. These small roads are not meant for huge tour buses and our little put-put cars to be on the same road. We are now at our B&B for the night and it is a cute one. Dinner in town and a nice relaxing night are ahead of us.
Here are today’s photos (first couple are from dinner at the Kilorglin Golf Course last night):
