Ring of Kerry

Today, we drive the Ring of Kerry, a 179 km circular scenic route in County Kerry in the Iveragh Peninsula.  It is well-known for beautiful landscape which includes villages, mountains, cliffs and the Atlantic Ocean.

We departed Cork before 0830 when the free parking period finishes, and drove till around 1000 when we took a break for brunch at Kenmare.

The scenic route took us through Sneem, Caherdaniel and Waterville.  While beautiful, we are both use to the rugged landscape and lush greenery against the blue or grey skies back in New Zealand.

The weather constantly changed between hot and cold, sunny and cloudy.  But it was better than the high heat we experienced upon arrival in Dublin.  It wouldn’t be Ireland if we had perfect sunny weather throughout.

Text continues after this gallery.

Around 1300, we reached the far end of the peninsula where Kerry Cliffs was located.  We chose to overshoot the turn off and pursue the very steep road that went up a mountain.  That road didn’t seem to lead anywhere that would offer us a view so we returned to the marked viewpoint.

As site is on private property, there was a charge of EUR5 per person (but somehow, they only charged for one of us). Once parked, there was an uphill walk to two separate viewpoints.

Unlike the morning, we were suitably impressed by the beauty of the cliffs dropping down into the blue sea.  The fee charged was well worth it!

Text continues after this gallery.

The afternoon drive took us through Cahersiveen before we descended down to Rossbeigh Beach.  The first glimpse of Rossbeigh Beach from on high was quite impressive but it was decidedly not for me when we reached there.  The beach was actually pebbly and the sea rough (and cold, of course).

We arrived at The Gardens motel in Killarney for a two night stay around 1600.  The motelier was surprised that we had completed the Ring of Kerry in a clockwise fashion, which is the opposite to what’s recommended.  It meant that we didn’t get stuck behind tour buses.  Fortunately, we also didn’t meet any of them coming at us while on narrow stretches of the route.

As we didn’t feel like a heavy expensive dinner, we ate simply at a convenience store.