Ireland II

I thought at one point I'd made a mistake booking to stay at the Rossbeigh Guest House. That was a minor moment, once I arrived I knew I had arrived in a lovely place run by lovely people. From the first greeting I felt welcome and after the long day I'd had, that was great. I took a few moments to settled then wandered down to the restaurant just down the road. A restaurant with a view of the wild beach and the setting sun. Over the hills behind, how I've missed hills. I've now had a hill fix, including some walks that made me puff.

I was in a fug of jet lag, the drive a chore towards the end, when I met Margaret and Fritz. They thought I was doing okay so I must have been a little coherent. Margaret invited me to join them for dinner, I was appreciative. I'm not that fussed on eating alone in a restaurant and I'd been on my own all day so enjoyed their good company. They were lovely folks, Fritz from the US originally and Margaret from Cork (sorry if I got this wrong!) and a font of information on Ireland. We watched the sun disappear and Margaret, a fellow photographer, and I went out to get some pics. One of mine is below, she had a 18x zoom so got a better close up up than my 17-85. An explosion of colour.

I had arrived at Killorglin in time for the Puck Fair. When I was planning my trip, Frank told me it was around this time of year. He was right. That meant lots of people in this picturesque town and people means traffic. I had to do a few hill starts to get through, I'm a bit rusty on those it seems. Fritz was there to play during the fair, from my short look, music seems to be a big part of the festival. I'm sure it's changed a little over it 400 + years history. 

What would King Puck think of his fair having an Internet site. The horse market looked really interesting, people leading horses they were selling or had bought along the roadside while more poured onto the farmland to check it out. I really wanted to get one of the T-shirts but parking was impossible and I knew I had another big day of travel, Dingle called. Plus my bag was right on the limit allowed, sigh.

Back to the making a mistake staying at Rossbeigh. I got a little mislaid getting there, thinking that the place was on the Deara Peninsula, not so according to the nice young man at the service station. That would be the Iveragh Peninsula and that's a distance away, he shared shaking his head. Well actually he did laugh when I first asked and had to ask another customer himself, I was in Kenmare at the time thinking I only had a few minutes to drive so I could lay my head down for a bit. No such luck it seems. He copied the page of the more detailed map for me and marked the route. I trusted his judgement on which road to take, lucky I think that he advised not to take the small one. 

The road from Kenmare to Killgorlin was challenging in places, a narrow and winding hill road complete with tunnels. The drive was slow with tourists taking their time as they took in the scenery. Surprises around every corner, including the gorgeous bay below. In my jet lagged state, I struggled to concentrate and it seemed a really long way. I managed a 10 hour sleep that night so woke refreshed and feeling like I was in time with Ireland. Next stop the Dingle Peninsula. That's nice and close to Rossbeigh, the reason I had booked there in the first place. 

Seems like my other photos won't upload. A whole group of US soldiers have arrived at the airport so suspect the connection here is getting well used. More later.

Sunset, Rossbeigh

Near Kenmare