As you head further west into County Kerry, the landscape becomes wilder. Inland, the Mountains stretch to the horizon and they roll down to meet the wild ocean. This wild Irish landscape forces the roads into winding snake-like patterns. Travelling here you are reminded that humans can never truly conquer nature; but only work with it, spend time in it and enjoy it. We at BEYOND THE GLASS Adventure Tours were reminded of this as we travelled along the Wild Atlantic Way from Killarney to Dingle and out to Slea Head.
On Sunday morning we awoke refreshed and excited for the day’s adventure tour ahead. From Killarney we travelled north through Milltown to our first stop of the day – Inch beach. Some of us strolled along the endless golden sandy beach while others took to surf boards, where to varying degrees of success, they tried to master their balance on the waves. We then drove the short distance to the South Pole Inn at Annascaul. This Bar was the home of the famous Arctic explorer Tom Crean and it is still managed by his family. Here we enjoyed a warming coffee after which we continued onto Dingle. In Dingle, we took a ramble around the colourful streets and had a lazy lunch while enjoying the views over Dingle Harbour. The town was alive with people on vacation and local shoppers. In Dingle the shop fronts are all painted beautifully and there are many authentic Irish Pubs, high quality craft shops and a homemade ice-cream shop or two!
After lunch we cycled west from Dingle along Irelands Wild Atlantic Way through the village of Ventry, around Ventry harbour and on towards Slea Head. The peninsula is rich in archaeological heritage; we passed countless historical sites including ring-forts, Ogham stones and Megalithic tombs. As the Islands of the Great Blasket and the wonderfully named Inishvickillane came closer into view, the road ran nearer to the sea cliffs and the views increased in their splendour. We stopped and descended the steep path to the amazing Coumeenoole beach. With its setting and beauty, it is easy see why it was chosen as a location for the film “Ryan’s Daughter”. We continued on to Dunquin where we turned east onto a minor road which took us up and around Mount Eagle, back through Ventry and onto Dingle. That evening we ate a mouth-watering dinner in the fish only restaurant, “Out of the Blue”.
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