Day 10 - Doolin To Belfast Travel Day

Our day of travelling started at 8:30 in Doolin, and ended at 18:30 this evening. One bus, a train, a tram, and a second train later we have left Ireland and are now in Belfast, Northern Ireland!

The walk from Lanyon Place Station to our apartment for the next three nights only took us ten minutes.  From what we can tell, our place is only a couple of blocks and a bridge away from the main downtown area.  After checking the apartment out we decided to head over and search for a place to eat and a grocery store - we now have a fridge, toaster, and kettle! 😁. Dinner was at The Northern Whig, more of a dining establishment than a pub - salmon for Jojo, roast Irish beef for JM.

Dinner Pic - The Northern Whig

Our first impression is that there is going to be a lot of cool things to see in Belfast.  In the short time we were downtown we saw a lot of interesting street art, some impressive cathedrals and buildings, and some cozy looking pubs.  We are looking forward to the Hop-On-Hop-Off tour tomorrow to get a better feel for the area, and learn some of the history of the city.

The Ring Of Thanksgiving Statue On Queen’s Bridge

Street Art

We Both Thought This Was Funny 🤣

Not much else to report on today - I guess that’s what happens when you sit on your but for over 10 hours of the day!!

Day 9 - Aran Islands

Today we caught a ferry from Doolin to Inisheer, the smallest of the three Aran Islands.  The total area of the three islands is 46 km^2, and the total population is ~1,300, with Inisheer home to only about 280 of those.

The ferry ride was only about 20 minutes.  The first thing we did was collect the bikes we had rented for the day.  Armed with a map detailing the points of interest, we headed for the MV Plassy shipwreck first.  The MV Plassy was a charge vessel that ran aground in March of 1960.  It has since been thrown above the high tide line where it remains rusting, and being reclaimed by Mother Nature.

MV Plassy Shipwreck 

Jojo And The Wreck

Mother Nature Doing Her Work

Our next stop was the lighthouse which is located on the southeast corner of the Island.  The lighthouse was constructed in 1857 and is still functional, but has been automated since 1978.

Inisheer Lighthouse

After the lighthouse we headed over to the west side of the island on a coastal loop.  We stopped and watched the Atlantic waves crashing up on the shore for a half hour.

Biking Action Shot

The thing that stuck out most to us was all of the stone walls.  The island seems to be divided up into hundreds of pens or fields by some amazing stone walls.  When we returned our bikes in favour of some walking the shop owner told us that when the island was first inhabited it was predominantly limestone rocks with no naturally occurring soil.  The early settlers augmented the soil with sand and seaweed, and built the walls to protect the new soil.  Although it is a small island it is hard to comprehend the amount of work that would have went into this.  I would say about 90% of the land is now covered in soil which makes it ideal for grazing, and farming.

Jojo And A Stone Wall

Landscape Of Stone Walls

More Stone Walls 🤣

After returning the bikes we walked up to O’Brien castle and the signal tower before heading back to settle in at a coffee shop for an hour.  After enjoying tea/coffee and a piece of cake we headed to the rocky shore where we waited for the return ferry.

O’Brien Castle

JM In The Dungeon

When we arrived back at the pier in Doolin and were starting our walk back to the B and B, somebody called out “Joël!!!”.  It turned out being an old colleague of Jojo’s who we knew was in Ireland on a motorbike trip.  What are the chances???  Wow!!!  After a quick chat, we continued our walk home, but we could not believe what had just happened!

After cleaning up we headed into the village.  We stopped at the pizza place for an “appetizer” - a bottle of that yummy cider from last night.  That went down very nicely, and then we headed further down the road to McDemott’s Pub And Restaurant where we both ordered the fish and chips.  It was one of our better meals so far, and the atmosphere in the pub was bright and lively.  It was a very nice way to end our time in Doolin, and our last day in the Republic Of Ireland.

Irish Fish And Chips - Yummy!!!

Tomorrow will be a travel day starting at 8:30, that will see us ending up in Belfast around 19:00.  We have thoroughly enjoyed our time in Ireland, and will miss it as we move on to the next phase of our trip.  The scenery has been superb, the people have been friendly, and the experiences will be ones we remember forever!!

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! ❤️

Day 7 - Dingle To Doolin Travel Day

Not too much to write about today.  We said our goodbyes to Tom, left the beautiful town of Dingle at 9:00 am, and arrived in the beautiful town of Doolin at 3:30 pm after four bus rides travelling through Tralee, Limerick, Ennis, and many other small towns and villages.  The ride off the Dingle peninsula was stunning.  Where we didn’t have good visibility on the way in, we definitely had it today.  We kind of knew already, but today it was confirmed that the Dingle peninsula is absolutely gorgeous, and is what most of us think of when we picture Ireland - rolling green pastures, stone walls, mountain and ocean vistas in the background.  Riding the buses and trains has added so much to this trip, just in the scenery we’ve been able to take in.

We checked into our B and B as soon as we arrived and were very happy with our new digs.  It seems to be refurbished farm buildings, converted into individual apartments.  Our check-in was quick and friendly, and our room is very cosy.

Our B and B

  

We Are The Door On The Right

You would think we would have had a tonne of energy after having sat on our buts all day but that was definitely not the case - we were both a little tuckered.  Since it was rest time anyways we lazed around for an hour or two before heading out to explore the area, and look for a dinner spot.

Relaxing In Our Room

Eventually our hunger won out over our fatigue and we headed out.  There are about ten restaurants/pubs, a couple of cafes, and five or so gift shops in town - no grocery store, no gas station.  We ended up settling on a quiet little seafood place.  Jojo had fish trio, and I had seafood pasta - they did not skimp on the seafood!

We had a good discussion after dinner about our trip so far.  I am not being cranky here, or putting anybody’s experience down, but we asked the following question - Is sitting in a pub in Ireland where the crowd is probably 70% American, and 30% European, listening to three Irish musicians play, really an Irish experience?  Where are all the Irish people - not including the bar staff?  We were very fortunate to have had a meaningful personal experience with Damien at Dick Mack’s the other night, but is this the exception?  Should all of us tourists be heading to smaller, less desirable towns in search of something more authentic?  I’m not sure what the answer is, nor does it really matter.  I guess if we are all happy with our own experience then that is what really matters.  And I would say that Jojo and I are very happy with ours so far.  We have met some very kind and friendly people (even the bus drivers were nice today 🤣), we have seen some unbelievable sights, and we are really looking forward to the rest of the trip.

After dinner we headed back to the other end of town and stopped at Gus O’Connor’s Pub for “dessert”. 🤣

Jojo And Our Empty Dessert Dishes 😂

After dessert we walked up the hill towards the ferry launch and got a sneak peak at the Cliffs of Moher where we will be hiking tomorrow.  It was a spectacular sight, and unfortunately my picture-taking abilities won’t do it justice.  We are pretty excited about tomorrow - the weather forecast is calling for sun all day which would be a first for the trip…🤞

North End Of The Cliffs Of Moher - Picture Doesn’t Even Come Close

View Of Atlantic Looking West From Doolin Point

The plan for morning is to wake up for our 8:30 breakfast.  We are going to run up to the cheese shop where there may be fresh bread to buy supplies for a mid-hike sandwich, and then head to the Cliffs Of Moher from there.  May the weather and hiking Gods be on our side!!

That’s it for today.  Good night, and we’ll check in tomorrow!

Day 6 - Dingle Bike

We both got a decent rest last night, and rolled out of bed at about 8:30. With a big day ahead, we both chose toast and scrambled eggs for breakfast, then headed back to our room before a big day of biking. We picked the bikes up at Paddy’s Bikes and were on the road by 10:30. It took us about two blocks to realize that we should have brought our gloves, so stop one was back at the B&B. 😂

Stop One!🤣

I was a little nervous about riding the left side of the road at first, but by the end of the day I think we were both feeling pretty comfortable.  This might be a good way to transition into driving on the left, I’m not sure…

One Of Our First Sights - An Omen??

The weather as we set out was mostly cloudy, and by the time we were out of town we got our first rain shower of the day.  We already had our waterproof jackets on, but it was coming down hard enough that we decided to pull over and get our waterproof pants on as well.  Of course by the time we did this, the sun was out.🤪 No matter, the pants remained on for the rest of the day, and good thing because intermittent showers would be the theme of the day.

Our second stop came at a little town called Ventry.  We stopped in at the village shop and grabbed a tea/coffee, and split a sprinkle donut.  As we sat down on a picnic table beside the shop, the rain started.  As we finished our drinks and snack, the rain stopped!!

Jojo Sheltering With His Coffee

We hit the road again and headed for Wine Strand, which is a beach on the west side of the Dingle Peninsula.  After a pretty big climb, and several spells of rain we made it.  Although it was very windy, we sat on a bench at the point and enjoyed some more spectacular scenery,  as well as a few cormorants standing guard on the rocky point.

Cormorants At Wine Strand

After a while we hopped back on the bikes and doubled back to Muirioch Beach.  The beach was probably 2 km long, and offered some more beautiful views to enjoy.  I’m not sure how busy it is in the summer but I could only count about five people on the entire beach when we were there.

Next we decided to head over to the brewpub where we were scheduled to have a tour at 3:00 pm, even though we were a couple of hours early.  When we got there we asked if the kitchen was open - it wasn’t - but they offered us a bowl of soup and some bread which was very helpful in warming us up.  There were a few other people there in the pub, but one sweet girl saw us from outside and decided she liked us most and befriended us.

We Didn’t Know We Had Made A New Friend At This Point…

Getting To Know Us

We Have Been Accepted

After a couple of hours relaxing (the three of us), our tour started.  Fortunately for us the other groups didn’t show, so it was just Jojo and I.  The brewmaster toured us through the very small operation.  It was very interesting and informative, and we both learned a lot.  After a small tasting Jojo and I got on the bikes and hit the road again, to begin the trek back to Dingle.

Action Shot #1

Action Shot #2

We opted for one more stop on the way home, the Gallarus Oratory.  It is a 1,300-year old dry masonry building, built by Christians, before Viking and Norman invasions.

Gallarus Oratory

We had one last climb over Ballymore Point, followed by a 10 km descent back into Dingle.  The scenery continued to be very pleasing, and it was a nice way to end our ride around Dingle Peninsula

View As We Approached Ballymore Point

After a quick cleanup we headed downtown.  We stopped at the Dingle Pub for some traditional Irish music, followed by a delicious dinner at Paul Geanny’s Pub.  We are now back in the room, getting ready for bed.  Our bags are packed for the trip to Doolin tomorrow morning.

The trip is starting to go by a little too fast, but that must mean we are having some fun.  So far the experiences have been authentic and very enjoyable.  We have really appreciated the kindness that has been directed our way (with the exception of the bus drivers…), and are hopeful that it continues.  That’s it for now.  We will be posting from Doolin tomorrow night if everything goes well!!

Day 5 - A Day Of Good Fortunes

Today was a busy and very satisfying day!!  We started off with our first Irish breakfast of the trip.  Tom, our B and B host, whipped it up for us and it was delicious!!  Blood pudding (not too much), two types of sausage, one piece of bacon (more like back bacon for us Canadians), beans, an egg, and two pieces of toast (with marmalade on the side).  I can’t think of a better way to start our day.  Yum!!!

Next order of business was to figure out how to wash some clothes.  Tom advised us of a cleaners in town - there’s only so many times you can turn your underwear inside out he said!!! 🤣 We dropped off a load of clothes on our way out to the hike we had planned today.

Our trail today was the Dingle Coast Walk that would take us from Dingle, past Hussey’s Folley, to the lighthouse at the entrance of Dingle Harbour, around Beenbawn Beach, and finally up to the cairn at the top of the southern point.  The path was easy to follow, the scenery was spectacular, and the weather could not have been better (Thank you, Tom.  You really came through for us today!! 😁)

Hussey’s Folly - A Little Dot On The Far Point

Approaching Hussey’s Folley

Hussey’s Folly is a freestanding, square-plan tower, built during the Great Famine (1845-1849) as a means of providing work for the poor.  There are a number of follies in Ireland - buildings with no real purpose but that have striking or unusual designs.  After talking with Tom I think they are remnants of British rule that the locals like to roll their eyes at, but I’m not 100% sure…

Jojo And Hussey’s Folly

Next stop was the lighthouse.  There is a cottage  beside the lighthouse but it has been unoccupied for over 10 years.  The lighthouse has a red light that is operated automatically, to aide shipping vessels that go by.

The Lighthouse And Cottage

Hidden Rest Spot Below The Lighthouse

After the lighthouse we passed Beenbaw Beach.  It looked beautiful from above and when the sun was shining the water had a gorgeous blue colour to it.  We did not stop on the way, but made a quick detour down on the way back.

Finally we made it to the cairn on top of the south point.  The views in every direction were stunning.  We stopped for some water and a few pieces of chocolate.  There was a group of French people who were clearly enjoying all of the seabirds.  We struck up a conversation and found out they were particularly excited about the “Fou de Bassan”, which we would later find out was a Northern Gannet.  If you watched them they would circle and then dive towards the water like a spear, completely submersing themselves in the ocean below.  It was amazing to see and we were fortunate enough to watch 6 or 7 of them do it.

Chocolate And Water Break

Summit Shot - Merci, nos amis Français!

Jojo And The Summit Cairn

Old Men Comparing Knee Braces 🤣

Beenbaw Beach From Above

We made our way back to town after what was a truly relaxing and scenic hike, feeling peaceful and happy.  A quick detour brought us to “Bean In Dingle” for a flat white (Jojo), a tea (JM), and a shared piece of maple walnut cake.  Once back at the B and B we showered, cleaned up, and had a little rest.

Yummy!!

Tonight our good fortunes continued as we had an amazing experience that we will likely never forget.  After collecting our clean laundry we decided to have a pre-dinner drink.  We ended up at a place we had seen yesterday, Dick Mack’s Pub.  It was a multi-room pub.  I peaked around one corner to a back room where there was a big table, and a guy on his phone waved us in.  We took a spot at the opposite end and started our drinks.  When he got off the phone he struck up a conversation with us.  His name was Damien and he is a recent transplant to Dingle from Dublin.  He told us he was a musician (mainly accordion but also piano and harmonica), and plays with bands at a number of places in the area.  He was very kind and personable, and was struck by the fact we were father and son travelling together.  Before we knew what was happening he told us he wanted to play us a tune so he pulled out his harmonica and played a beautiful ballad for us in front of the rest of the pub.  We were both very touched.  After a little more chit-chat he left us to our drinks and moved over to the piano where he met some friends.  They started jamming and playing a mix of songs, some familiar covers, and some traditional songs.  They were all very good, and we really enjoyed the impromptu performance, as did the rest of the pub.  We were enjoying it so much we ordered a second drink and settled in for a while.  When it came time to leave, Damien refused to shake our hands, and insisted on hugging it out with both of us.  We must have connected with him the same way he connected with us, because as we left he pulled out his harmonica and insisted Jojo take it.  I don’t know how to describe it, but it was such a special experience that neither of us will ever forget…

Dick Mack’s Pub Selfie

Damien Killing It On The Piano

It has been an amazing day on all fronts, and we will be going to sleep soon, thinking about the great memories we made today!!