Vagabond Wild Irish Rover Day 5 Dingle to Killarney to Portmagee
October 21, 2021 Thursday
We have a 9 a.m. lobby call so it's an early breakfast at 8 a.m. for us at the Dingle Skellig Hotel.
In the van and on the road, we stop at Inch Beach to watch some surfers and are rewarded with yet another Irish rainbow.
We pull into Killarney and head to the National Park, where we meet up with Jay and his rental bikes. We are going to bike ride around the park-we'll cover a lot more ground than if were tried to travel on foot.
He sets us all up, gives us a few quick tips and we're off.
He takes us for a walk into the woods and tells us were about to enter a cave.
WHAT?
Oh, did Bébhinn forget to mention we were visit a cave today-I guess that comes under "other adventures" category.
It's a cave that you can enter on one side and exit on the other side-"like a rebirth" is how I heard it described.
We stop on the Meeting of the Waters Bridge between Upper Lake and Lough Leane.
We hop back on the bikes and pedal a bit then hop off and take a short walk up to Torc Waterfall. It's so magical.
On the way back to the bikes, I stop for a few photos in Tomies Wood-talk about a place for fairies...
At Muckross House we have to walk our bikes but before we do, a few brave souls taste the berries from the Yew Tree-Jay says the fruit is OK to eat but you MUST spit out the seed.
We make a brief circuit around the grounds then it's back to the car park and back in the van. On to our next adventure.
As we pass back through Killarney we see another rainbow and another when we get to Killorglin-Home of The Puck Fair.
We stop at Jack's Bakery in town to get sandwiches for a special picnic. Bébhinn is taking us on another adventure.
We drive up and up and up on a four-wheeling road and get rewarded with some spectacular views of the bay. We are on the Iveragh Peninsula looking across at the Dingle Peninsula.
You can see Dingle in the distance and we get to see a paraglider take off.
We've seen ringed forts from the van but now we're going to actually go inside one. We're visiting Cahergall Stone Fort.
We can see a castle ruin off in the distance. Bébhinn says we can visit it for a photo op.
We drive up to Ballycarbery Castle and snap a few photos.
We get into Portmagee a little late in the day. We get checked into The Moorings Hotel.
Jay and I get room #9. A quick freshen up and we meet the gang downstairs in the pub for dinner.
I try a new local whiskey-Portmagee Single Pot Still. It was quite good. Very expensive but good.
For food, Jay and I both get the seafood chowder, salad, sweet potato fries and some delicious brown bread. Yummy. And very filling.
We don't linger too long, four of us are taking a boat ride out to the Skellig Islands-any Star Wars fans out there?
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or by visiting: https://photosbynanci.smugmug.com/Ireland-2021/Day-5-Dingle-to-Killarney-to-Portmagee/
Next up: The Skellig Islands, a peat Bog visit, an Ogham Stone; Derrynane Beach, Derrynane Abbey;