Ring of Kerry - Ireland Roadtrip Part 4

Goodbye County Cork
After leaving Kinsale we made our way to Cork market for breakfast and then to the Old City Gaol. Thus we had soon had our modern, cosy breakfast and our road trip holiday to compare with the living standard of prisoners during famine times in Ireland. We were told sometimes it was better to be in prison; more a reflection on living on the streets in these times than the quality of life in gaol. Some of the stories were really horrific.

A guard at the gaol

Hello Ring of Kerry
From our base in Killarney we did a day trip around the Ring of Kerry, a circular route in County Kerry, Southwestern Ireland . I can see why the route has become so famous and we found it very hard to decide where to stop. It really has it all: churches, monastic settlements  lighthouses, views, cliffs, waterfalls, hikes, beaches and for us: four seasons in a day! We did the route anti-clockwise (at least at the start!) and we weren't on the road long before we made our way down narrow, windy roads to the coast.

First stop on the Ring of Kerry

Place of the craggy rock
Following along the ring, we soon found ourselves at an ancient monastic colony Ballinskelligs (Baile en Scheilg - gaelic for "Place of the craggy rock"). The Irish do have sensible names for places. What seems less sensible, or in fact somewhat crazy, is to have chosen to set up a monastery on an outcrop of rock on the Atlantic Ocean. I suppose at the time, it made sense as a place to find solitude and reflection, but it was hardly a place I would choose to weather a storm! 

Ballinskelligs Priory

Incredibly still standing

Kerry Cliffs at Portmagee
Still in awe of the humans that lived before us, we got back into our heated car and drove towards Portmagee. Paying an entrance fee, we walks to the top of the cliffs and found ourselves 300 metres above the Atlantic. We had fairly clear view of the immediate vicinity and that was certainly spectacular!

Kerry Cliffs at Portmagee

Kerry Cliffs

Enjoying the views!

Captivated by Kerry's cliffs

Go west!
Following on from Portmagee we headed across the bridge to Valentia island. One of the island's big claims to fame is that it was the eastern terminus of the first transatlantic telegraph cable. As the weather started to shift, we drove around to see the lighthouse on the island. We did not go in but where interested to read on the sign outside that the most westerly settled community in Europe is located there.

Cromwell Point Lighthouse: the weather is turning!

With the weather taking a real turn for the worse we braved on to a foggy viewpoint:

Foggy town!

Fog can be beautiful

Staigue Fort 
Our next stop was quite out of the way down a long, windy, crazy road in the rain (I think Mum was driving- thanks Mum!) but I am glad we went. Staigue fort, according to the sign out the front, was build in the early centuries AD before Christianity came to Ireland! It is partially ruined but there is enough left that you can see it must have been an amazing building of its time. It was built entirely without mortar and encloses an areas 30 metres in diameter! It is thought likely that the fort was a chieftan's home and that the area contained by the walls would originally have had houses, out-building and other temporary structures. We all had a go at climbing the steep steps that criss-cross on the interior of the walls. 

The fort wall is up to 6 metres high

After the fort we pushed on through the dreary weather. It was a bit disappointing to have so much fog but the scenery we could see was beautiful. 

Dunloe's Gap
The next day we went out early to Dunloe's Gap, a pass between Killarney and Kenmare. We had been advised to head out early otherwise the horse and cart drivers, who make their bread taking tourists through here, tend to get a bit narky. It was still a bit overcast so we did not see it at its postcard best but I think the clouds made it somewhat majestic. Additionally, we were one of only a few cars on the road due to the early hour. 

Augher Lake at the Gap of Dunloe

Dunloe's Gap friend 

Somewhat obscured view near Dunloe's Gap

Torc Waterfall
We then ventured into Killarney National Park to see Torc Waterfall. It was a short walk to the waterfall and lovely to be amongst so many shades of green. Less pleasant was seeing another tourist leaving a take-away coffee cup in a tree so she could pose for a photo. Lucky she had us to clean up after her. 




Muckross Friary  
Nearby Muckross Friary was fascinating to explore. The friary no longer has a roof and a brilliant large yew tree has grown in and out of the central courtyard. Yew trees are common in old cemeteries and monastic sites in Ireland but I doubt there are many as grand as this one.

Yew tree in the courtyard of Muckross Friary

Muckross Friary

Ross Castle

Ross Castle, a 15th century tower house, within Killarney National Park, was our last stop for the day. We were content to walk around the outside part of the castle rather than take a tour. The castle is located on the edge of a lough and its gardens are fairly nice to walk around. 

Ross Castle from the shelter of a tree

Old Head, Kinsale and County Cork - Ireland Roadtrip Part 3

Saying goodbye to our cosy airbnb apartment in Dublin, we set out to begin the road trip proper. After driving for awhile we set about having morning tea in a sudden downpour of rain and furious beach side winds! We stayed in the car...

Doesn't quite capture the ferocity of the waves and wind

After a few more hours of interesting Irish road, we stopped at Midleton for lunch and then decided to do the Jameson Irish Whiskey Tour.

Pre-tour at Jameson: the best selling whiskey in the world

Hanging out at Jameson

I did not know much at all about whiskey so I learnt a lot on the tour. Jameson Irish whiskey is distilled thrice (most scotch is distilled twice) and does not usually use peat in the malting process. This is meant to create a smoother whiskey. Rob was selected for a special tasting to compare different whiskey's. All the tasters were asked which was the best at the end and most guests gave the expected (read: required) answer: Irish! Rob found that it was a loaded question, really its all about the flavour you are after, isn't it?

The buildings at the distillery were rather beautiful and I was glad to see them after having just taken up residency next to the birthplace of Jameson whiskey in Dublin. Our tour guide had an in-depth knowledge on Jameson and whiskey and she could answer any question thrown at her. I suppose I was probably most interested in hearing about the history of the distillery and the challenges and competition Jameson faced over the years. Despite the damage that prohibition in the U.S.A did for whiskey sales, it is now Jameson's largest market.

Largest pot still in the world

Beautiful building at Jameson

Rob comparing whiskey's

We also hadn't known much about Midleton and realised we were standing in a town that we didn't know how to say. (The singular 'd' confused us!) Rob took up Mum's challenge to ask some town folk how to pronounce Midleton. (It is pronounced 'Middle-ton). Thanks Mum for raising another $20 for UNICEF's "Nepal Earthquake Children's Appeal".

Leaving Midleton we drove through a few coastal towns enjoying the colourful houses. We later realised colourful houses is a theme all through Ireland and it seems like no one town can lay claim to it. Driving towards Cobh, a seaport town on the south coast of County Cork, I almost drove into the sea when I saw the dramatic St Colman's Cathedral hovering over us. It is apparently one of the tallest building in Ireland which did not really surprise me. 

Found out later that driving into the sea is more than likely in Ireland!

Seaport houses in Cobh

In the late afternoon we arrived at Kinsale and then followed very specific directions to "Old Head" where our Airbnb host lived. It was most exciting driving around the area looking our for an old farmhouse, feeling like we might fall off the edge of the world at any moment! (Refer to map below!) We were also pretty tired and ready to relax a bit. Upon our arrival our host, Liz, was having a cocktail with her friend and invited us to join her. She was keen to tell us about the area and a bit about herself. She had grown up in the USA with an Irish family tree and previously lived in Berlin before the Wall came down. 

Liz's house had views of the water on both sides, and a particularly spectacular view from the kitchen; it was amazingly snug given how exposed to the elements the Old Head is:

We almost fell off!

Wouldn't mind this view out my window every day

"I want you to pat me but only when it suits me of course"

We relaxed into our time at the "farm" and enjoyed meeting the animals of the house: 3 dogs (that needed to be separated down sex lines via a complex system of doors) and 2 cats. 

After a bit of relaxing, reading and skyping, we soon ventured out into the paddocks behind Liz's house. Our aim was to reach the beach. Liz had described the journey through farmland to the beach as a bit like doing an army drill. I pictured rolling under things and doing push-ups whilst avoiding gunfire. She said it less like a warning and more like a proud statement of "this is what I do for exercise when I go to the beach". Though the route wasn't quite as treacherous as she described, we were jumping over fences hoping they were't electric! 

It was definitely rewarding at the cliffs edge. Mum took some time to take in the view whilst Rob and I scrambled down the cliffs (maybe this was the drill) to enjoy the teeny beach at the bottom.

Cliff-side at the Old Head farmhouse

Scaling the cliff to the beach

Our beach!

From Kinsale we drove to the quaint town of Clonakilty to hear some traditional Irish music. An Tach Beag was our venue for the night: a cosy little pub famous for its music. We had a great time enjoying the intimate music session with fiddle, accordion, guitar and banjo. When the musicians found out we were Australian they decided to play Wild Colonial Boy, which Rob was just about to request anyway!

A huge surprise though (it shouldn't have been), the Irish version has a different take on the Wild Colonial Boy. The Australian version makes no mention of emigrating from Ireland, and further glorifies the role of a bushranger in our shared history (and changes his name from Duggan to Doolan). Interestingly, when previously travelling in United States, Rob had heard heard their version too. For more about the differences, read on here.

Beautiful Clonakilty

A photo that couldn't capture the atmosphere

Important message at the bar

During the rest of our time staying at Old Head we explored the coastal area and checked out Kinsale town. A highlight for me was taking part in a ghost tour. After our experience at the leprechaun museum I did a better job of assessing the reviews for the Kinsale Ghost Tour and we weren't disappointed. The guides/actors were very funny and informative, incorporating the history of the town with amusing anecdotes. We are all still laughing when we see particular roadsigns. My favourite was when he pointed up at a 'children's crossing' road sign which read "WARNING CHILDREN" and, as he passed, he said "Catholic sex education right there!" It always sounded off the cuff and his timing was impeccable, again proving to me the importance of delivery in comedy. (Shout out to comedians that don't laugh at their own jokes at the wrong moment!)

Grave robber

Was there a ghost in Kinsale after all?

A boat atop someones gate

Kinsale harbour

Charles Fort

Kinsale town

Spread-out cow meeting at Old Head

Oh Hell, Let's get to Helsinki

The original plan, if that's what we can still call it, had us arriving in the lovely city of Helsinki on a ferry from St Petersburg.  In "So, We're Not Going to Russia",  you'll remember that we decided against the bureaucratic nightmare we would need to undertake to get Russian visas.

Instead, we arrived in the mid-afternoon after a ridiculously early trip to the Ulaanbataar airport.  Flying rather ironically through Moscow and eating at an American BBQ restaurant while there, we easily found our hostel "Cheap Sleep".  A nice place for sure, but certainly not cheap.  Particularly when you have just come from Asia!

When we left for our Mongolian roadtrip, we weren't entirely certain whether Dad would be joining us in Finland or not.  We left him our (really rather vague) itinerary and found out part way along the road that he had booked accommodation to align with us!  That first afternoon, we had a quick break and then showed up at his hotel.

Truth be told, it had not been long since we had seen a friendly family face, with Sarah joining us in Beijing in May, and Ann in Ho Chi Minh City in March, but it's really a delight that we've been ale to do it so often on this trip!  The old man was fresh off a plane himself, and catching up over a pizza, we made (still vaguer) plans for a time to meet in the afternoon the next day at the Tourist Information spot, allowing us the morning to find a laundromat and get ourselves together.

Just walking around

We made quite a spectacle trying to find that laundry, I can tell you.  Wandering around the neighbourhood with laundry bags, trying to be polite "I'm very sorry, I don't speak Finnish, do you speak English?" and them responding with English better than you will get at home.

We met up with Dad again, poking our noses in churches (it had been a long time since we had been very close to one), exploring the harbour-side markets, snacking on reindeer burgers (one week patting and cuddling them, the next week eating them on the other side of the North Pole) and making plans for a visit to Suomenlinna Fort.

Cute, furry & yummy!

None of us were very clear on Finnish modern history, and we sure got a nice big dose of it at Suomenlinna fortress. Originally built when Finland was part of Sweden, its strategic value was significant when Finland became part of Russia in the 1800's (not as a part of the Soviet Union as I had mistakenly believed).  In fact, Finland gained its independence from Russia while the Russian were busy with their own revolution in 1917.  Now part-town, part museum, Suomenlinna has a lot to offer lost Australian tourists.  Lashing winds, cold rain, warm coffees, detailed museums, dark and scary ammunition bunkers, locked up gaols and the last Finnish submarine.

Suomenlinna Fortress

When we weren't dragging him walking all over the city, we enjoyed coffee, beer, food and stories with Dad at strategic cafe stops, it was pretty good to have a doting parent around!  

A warm cup of decadence

After our side trip to Tallinn in Estonia and Turku in west Finland, which Kat will write about soon, we returned to Helsinki without Dad.  We continued the couch-surfing journey with Tarmo, a one-man poster-child for couch-surfing.  Our first night, with Kat so knackered she fell asleep on the couch before it transformed into a bed (Kat edit: it was 11pm, not my fault the sun doesn't go to bed when I do), Tarmo and I spent the evening walking in the woods behind his flat; as he says "in Finland, you are never far from the woods".  Walking with him was both relaxing (because of the walking) and invigorating - he listens to podcasts at double-speed so that he can learn more, he grew up in reindeer country but is now an independent-grocery shopping vegan working in IT. Later we also heard about how he has slept under a bridge in Japan because of a couch-surfing experience that didn't quite work out and is trying to downsize his already one room apartment so he can save money to ride across Russia in a few years time - ON A BICYCLE.  The man is a dynamo, and he whipped up a great tasting soup for us from basically nothing.  We loved our stay at his place, I hope he can visit us in Australia some time.

A street art programme comparing Chinese... 

...and Finnish architecture

July is also the time for this little couple to celebrate their anniversary; which we did with a visit to the trampoline gym, nice long walk along the coast and a relaxing dinner for two.

Good weather days in Helsinki - you couldn't walk past a man without him taking his shirt off

Going around the sentries at Suomenlinna fortress