Day 8 - The Cliffs Of Moher

When anybody thinks of Ireland part of their mind is picturing the Cliffs Of Moher whether they know it or not.  I didn’t know it until we started planning the trip either, but I have been looking forward to this day since then.  We got a brief preview of the cliffs last night, but got to experience them first hand today.

8:30 breakfast at the B and B was a Full Irish for both of us.  It was a great way to start the day, as we would definitely be needing the energy!  Once we finished breakfast we headed into town for some provisions - we spotted a little cheese shop last night that would do the trick.  A loaf of fresh sourdough, and a brick of garlic- and herb-flavoured Irish Carragaline later, and we were set to go!

The northern end of the trail starts about 500 m down the road from us.  Once on the trail we realized how lucky we were to be doing this on such a beautiful sunny day with a light breeze.  The hike was very scenic with many spots to stop and be amazed at the views that were in front of us.  We didn’t realize that what we saw as massive cliffs at the beginning of the walk would be the smallest of the day.  The cliffs grew and grew as we gained more and more elevation - they reach 214 m at their highest peak according to Wikipedia.

The Sign Over-Exagerates A Little - It’s Only Dangerous If You Go Off The Trail 😁

Smaller Section Of Cliffs

Jojo Really Enjoyed Watching The Surf Hitting The Cliffs

The trail itself was very good with a few tricky spots.  At a muddy section Jojo made one small miscalculation and ended up ankle-deep. 😡  Thankfully no sprains or breaks, so no harm done!!  We would get his shoes all cleaned up when we got back.

Muddy Shoe 😡

At another spot we caught up to some bird watchers.  We stopped to be nosy, and they pointed out some puffins to us!!  So cool!  They gave us a turn with their binoculars - I was so thankful!  This put us on the lookout and we were able to spot some more puffins along the way - some nesting on the cliffs, and some sunning in the surf.  Bird nerds!!! 🤣

Cliffs Getting Bigger

Our walk took us just north of the visitor centre where the highest cliff is.  

Looking Towards The Visitor Centre - We Stayed Away

Pictures Don’t Do It Justice

Same Comment As Above

At our turnaround point we hopped a fence and wandered about 50 m off the trail where we found a nice peaceful spot to ourselves where we could have a rest and eat our cheese sandwiches.  They were yummy!  After we scarfed down our food and finished our waters we sat and enjoyed the beautiful ocean and cliff views for a while.

Lunch Break Selfie

The trek back was nice, with no more off-trail mud incidents.  We hopped another fence when we saw a megalithic stone structure - I know nothing about them but the guy we saw photographing this one seemed very excited about it.  The only thing I can recall him telling us was there were quite a few of them in County Clare, and that they were significantly older than Christ.

Old Rock Thing 😁

We got back to the B and B around 2:00 pm for some cleaning up and rest.  I made a quick trip up to a filling station a couple of kilometres down the road so that we have some snacks tomorrow when we are biking around Inisheer Island.  Thank you to the Ukrainian man who stopped and drove me the last 500 m up the hill!!  I made it back to our place with some goodies and a cold pop each.  Jojo is catching a few Z’s as I write this, but I am sure he will be up soon for a shower and then dinner.

Dinner ended up being delicious.  We decided on something traditionally Irish again - pizza!!!  🤣 Margherita for Jojo, Calbrese for me.  We paired it with a delicious Irish cider which I’ve never heard of, but was quite happy to have ordered.  We skipped “dessert” tonight and are back at the B and B for some trivia show on TV then bed.

Delicious!! 🍎

Dinner Guest

Tomorrow we are catching a ferry over to Inisheer which is one of the three Aran Islands.  Once over there we have some bikes waiting to help us explore the island.  There are about a dozen points of interest, including the lighthouse which we will visit for sure.  The weather is forecasted to be overcast, but with no rain.🤞

That’s it for tonight.  Thanks for reading! ❤️