Driving around the Dingle
Here in Tralee, there are a couple of must-do sightseeing adventures. We decided to check one of them off the list today and set out to drive around the Dingle Peninsula. We feared that we’d be driving in a long convoy of coaches, minivans and campers but actually, it didn’t turn out too badly. Mind you, there were still an awful lot of people out to see the same lovely views as we were.
The day had dawned sunny once again but the cars were wet when we came downstairs to the car park and there was a chill wind too. We were heading out whatever the weather though, so a patch of blue sky was cause for a celebration.
Right from the off, the views were stunning. First, distant views of green, green countryside and then a little further on, of the beach at Inch. By now, the clouds were coming over but on a blustery morning, nothing was going to stay the same for very long.
The rolling waves coming off the Atlantic were attracting surfers and several small surfing classes were set up on the beach.
It was a few hardy souls who braved the cool temperatures though and no one could really be described as basking in the sunshine.
We continued a little further along the Peninsula, heading towards the town of Dingle, where we’d read of interesting places worth a potter.
We loved this lush green landscape and couldn’t believe our luck in the low levels of traffic so far.
There were plenty of lay bys in which to pull off the road and take photographs, though occasionally, a brief stop meant we were consigned to following a slow moving coach for the next few miles. No matter, we had all day.
The town of Dingle was disappointing though and not quite as we’d imagined. Very touristy, with tacky souvenir shops and cars everywhere, this was hardly the town as described in our guidebooks.
Never mind, we took advantage of the Farmers Market to gather some cheese, home made bread and some salami for our lunch and followed the directions to a silversmith/jeweller we’d read about too. But actually, we were quite pleased to move on.
As we reached the head at Slea Point, the light was quite magical.
The waves were crashing against the rocks and the benign scenes we saw yesterday were much more like the Wild Atlantic Way we’d expected.
We drove back to Tralee via the Conor Pass where we stopped for ice cream and to marvel at this high, barren area with small mountain loughs.
As we descended towards Dingle again, we passed farmers organising a sheep shearing operation, wondering how on earth they manage to gather together all their flock from such a vast area.
Mostly though, we were wondering if our rental car was going to make it back to Tralee, for the warning lights were back on again. Another trip to the (same) garage and we were reassured there was nothing to worry about, but when we jumped in to drive downtown to see the Rose of Tralee festivities this evening, the thing wouldn’t start at all.
So we have an enforced evening back at the ranch and the Roses will celebrate without us. Heaven knows if anything will/can be sorted out by the time we leave in the morning, but suffice to say, we are pretty well cheesed off with the thing.
Keep your fingers crossed for a result, please!
