South and West Ireland - Ged and Lynne 2017: Day 6 Dingle

Largely seen as a travel day today we set off initially crossing Connor Pass. The morning was grey with low cloud and occasional drizzle but under the cloud the views were clear and at the summit we could look back to Dingle on the south of the peninsula and forward to the northern coast. Below us we could see complex layouts of farm walls we guess stretch back to the pre famine days.

Connor Pass summit view to Dingle (south)

Connor Pass summit view north

Farm layouts belowthe summit

The pass is an easy drive up from the South but there is a narrow section on the northern side. It is an impressive route making an attractive alternative to the main road. Descending further we pulled in by a small but fully formed waterfall.

Waterfall off Connor Pass

can't read notes - come back to this bit

By Castlegregory we turned off to a very nice beach for a brief airing before continuing towards Tralee along pleasant easy roads between coast and hills. Following our satnav Beryl (named after Beryl the Peril of the comic for its tendency to take of crazy routes in the Alpes) we passed straight through Tralee rather than using the signed route but being Sunday it wasn't an issue and the town is quite attractive very much reminding us of French towns.
Onto the N69 and a fast clear run all the way to Tarbert for the Shannon Ferry. Our arrival at the ferry was 10 mins after one should have departed but we were waved straight on and the gates immediately closed for departure.

Shannon Ferry

Sister boat going the other way

A very pleasant 15min crossing over the Shannon in sun but cold winds and we were on our way again but looking for lunch. We passed through Kilrush seeing nothing and headed for the coastal town Kilkee which turned out very busy, well we have chosen Irish bank holiday weekend. It's maybe a good job the weather's not particularly good or it would be worse.
We circled the town a couple of times then were lucky to get a roadside spot outside the bakers. Unfortunately, this baker didn't sell sandwiches but we bought some mixed fruit scones. Shortly after we go a spot near a supermarket where we bought coffee and hula-hoops.
Driving along the promenade we headed out to the edge of town and sat in the car out of the blustery wind for lunch.

Kilkee lunch view

A landmark for today was planned as the Cliffs of Moher and we were upset to see a large sign leaving Kilkee that the car parks were full and not to visit till after 5. This was an issue as already nearly 4 we had more journey to complete after the cliffs. A period of indecision and frustration followed before we decided to go anyway. as it was, we did get into the car park though it took about 20 mins to then get a space.
After parking things looked up. The sun had come out properly, indeed we actually go hot walking the cliffs.
At the southern summit it was frustrating to see that had we taken an earlier turn to a "Walk the Cliffs" sign, the car would have been quite close and we would have had access to the paths, just not the visitor centre which we didn't visit anyway.

first impression of the Cliffs of Moher

Lots of people

Cliffs of Moher

zoomed in on the Stack

people on the tops

We walked along the tops of the Cliffs and left again after about an hour heading to the Burren.The Burren is a very large area and it was unclear to us what it was and were it was; descriptions such as 'like somewhere on the moon' didn't gel with the rolling countryside and forest we saw ass we toward Kilfenora.

An old building standing near a corner Kilfenora

Unusual Limestone Drystone wall

About 6 miles south of Ballyvaughan we saw signs for a Portal Tomb and pulled into the carpark for a look.

Limestone Country

From here on we began to understand the Burren. Leaving the car park on the path to the tomb we were presented with amazing limestone pavement over a vast area. The tomb site is superb place to appreciate, examine and walk on this amazing geological oddity.

Limestone Pavement at The Burren

Portal Tomb

A tiny bit of The Burren.

Continuing north to Ballyvaughan and our B&B we appreciated the scale of the Burren as massive hills are all grey colours and sculpted with the carboniferous limestone at the surface. Overall impressive but the close up experience near the tomb is highly recommended.

B&B found and luggage inside we walked down the bar at the West Atlantic Lodge for good beer and food.