Friday 8th September 2017
We had planned a busy day, as today seemed the best bet for the weather. First on the agenda was The North Connemara Sky Road.
It is a loop famous for it’s incredible views over the islands, mountains and coastlines of Connemara. The Sky Road wasn’t far from our camp site and we decided to begin in a clockwise direction. We stopped at the viewing point and were not disappointed. The wind may have been howling, but the sun was out and the views were truly spectacular.
Back in the car, we wound our way along the narrow roads and onto the north of the Sky Road Loop, taking in the views across the inland water ways.
Once we had reached the section of the Loop where it met with the main N59, we turned around and headed anti clockwise around the route and onto Lower Sky Road for a different perspective. As we headed back towards Clifden, the two spires of the churches in the town became visible.
Time to head off for our next destination, the dramatic Killary Harbour. This glacier carved inlet marks the border between the counties of Galway and Mayo. We set off on N59 east, towards Letterfrack, and the location of the entrance to the Connemara National Park and continued past Kylemore Abbey.
We drove along the shore of Killary Fjord to find a café for lunch, before our planned boat trip at 2.30 pm.
We had booked the boat trip on line that morning with Killary Fjord Boat Trips. The process was painless and did not require a printer for your tickets.
We boarded a catamaran, The Connemara Lady at Nancy’s Point for the 90 minutes journey along the fjord.
I was assured that the journey would be smooth and sure enough it was. There was a running commentary as we travelled towards the Atlantic Ocean which was very informative and plenty of time and space to move from the cosy, warm interior deck to the outside deck. (Which was on occasions wet and windy!)
As we approached the half way point of the trip we were hoping for a glimpse of some dolphins, as they are often seen here, but we weren’t lucky this time. We made our way back down the fjord with the wind behind us, which made a pleasant change.
After disembarking, we headed for home, changing our route and leaving N59 and heading off on the Connemara Loop, which takes in more of the Wild Atlantic Way too.
We didn’t choose to take the loop right out to White Strand, as time was getting on, but we continued on the loop through Tully Cross, stopping at a newly built picnic area to admire the river heading out to sea.
Back on N59 at Letterfrack and we were heading back to camp. A lovely evening was spent, for a change, soaking up the remains of the sun’s rays before bed.