Monday 4th September 2017

The Slea Head drive is a circular route, forming part of The Wild Atlantic Way, starting and ending in Dingle. (Dingle being a small port town on the southwest of the peninsula). We travelled southwest out of Tralee towards the village of Camp, taking  the Caherconree scenic route,   through the Slieve Mish Mountains.

Slieve Mish Mountain Road

This narrow link road took us from the north side of the  Dingle Peninsula to the south side, allowing us to take in even more spectacular scenery.

On many of of our drives we have noticed  beautiful Fuchsia  and Montbretia plants, gracing many of the country lanes, adding a lovely splash of colour.

Roadside Flowers

On reaching the southern side of the peninsula we headed towards Inch. We parked our car on the beach at Inch, which wasn’t a problem, as the beach stretched for miles!

Inch Beach

After braving the wind for a while, we headed to the beach cafe for coffee and cake. If you love surfing this is the beach for you! Off again to Dingle,  through Ventry and at last we could see Slea Head. Unfortunately the car park was heaving so we drove on to Dunquin pier, in the hope of catching the ferry to Blasket islands.

Blasket Island Information

Just our luck, the ferry wasn’t operating on a Monday. Not to be disheartened we made the trek down the winding steep path to the pier. Once at the bottom, we were greeted by huge cliffs and a view to Blasket islands.

Blasket Islands View

Coming back up the hill was a struggle. It was so incredibly steep! At last we made it back to the safety of the car. We continued on the Slea Head Drive taking in many of the villages on the north of the peninsula, before finally making our way back to Dingle.

Finally Ray’s highlight of the day had arrived – The Conor Pass. It is the highest mountain pass in Ireland, crossing the Brandon mountains. The road is over 4 miles long and rises to 1500 ft as it winds it’s way to the pass.  By the time we reached the car park at the pass though, the fog had moved in and we were unable to take advantage of the stunning views. On a clear day, you can see Loop Head in Clare, Galway’s Aran Islands and the beaches at Castlegregory. The road then carries on down towards Brandon Bay, past cliffs, lakes and a waterfall.

Conor Pass

Back on the road to Tralee and home for the night. The weather had picked up and a BBQ was the order of the day. To top it all a beautiful sunset completed the day. (Just before the rains arrived, again!)

Wednesday 30th August 2017

Today we didn’t want to venture too far, as the weather was not looking promising and we knew we would have to take down the awning before the rains arrived, so we headed off to Ballincollig.

We had discovered there was a regional park, with a number of walking trails in and around the park, which had was once been home to a gunpowder mills complex from the 18th century.

We made good use of a few of them, taking in the River Lee, Inniscarra Bridge and many of the defunct buildings.

Next on our plan was to follow the River Lee back to the Inniscarra Dam and Taiscumar Reservoir. The dam is an impressive structure. It was built in 1953 and reaches a height of 45 metres, and is 247 metres wide.

Having looked around the dam and reservoir, we headed back to the caravan after a nice day visiting the Ballincollig area.

In the evening we walked to a local restaurant, Stoneview, to celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary, albeit a day late. (The restaurant isn’t open on Tuesdays). I enjoyed fresh turbot and Ray the rib-eye, washed down with a ‘cheeky’ bottle of Portuguese white. The restaurant had lovely views and a great spot to watch the sun go down.

Stoneview Restaurant