Robot Claw

Today we took a tour around The Ring Of Kerry, a (very!) scenic loop road along the coast to the west of Killarney.

The views are extraordinary and (once again) the weather was beautiful. We were on a small group tour in a minibus with a charming guide and everything was great as we drove along, stopping now and then and enjoying the vistas.

In time we arrived at Port McGee, and the Skellig Island visitors center. These are two large rocky islands 12 km off the western coast of Ireland with a rich history and famously were used for filming for episodes 7 and 8 of the Star Wars series.

Part of our tour included a boat trip around (but not actually to) the islands. There had been some doubt if this would happen since the sea was rough, but by the time we arrived the captain had decided to go so on board we went!

Here we are just before setting out for the cruise that ended up taking three hours.

And here we are just offshore from Skellig Michael:

Yep, I’m flat out!

Here’s the story: the sea was rough, the boat was pitching like crazy and not too far after we left the inlet and entered the open ocean I got by far the worst motion sickness I’ve ever experienced. This got progressively worse until I basically passed out and remained on my back for the remainder of the trip, including all the time at the islands!

This means I didn’t get to see the steps carved by monks hundreds of years ago, or the monastery, or the remains of the old lighthouse or even the spot Luke was standing when Rey hands him his light saber! But KLS did, and she got some great photos to show me 🙂

The boat also took us to the other Skellig, which is a marine bird sanctuary, currently housing 50,000 gannets.

I was lucid here and got to see a bit from my prone position! KLS said I was joking a bit, although I don’t recall 🙂

By the way I was hardly the only one that got sick on the boat. In fact 7 of the 9 of us did, including KLS! Almost everyone was carrying (full) sick bags by the end, but I guess I was the only one frail enough to collapse!

At any rate eventually we returned to dry land and within a few minutes I was fine. The tour continued for a few hours back to Killarney and was just as great as it had started.

That’s a local with his pet mountain goat in Sneem. He was a placid handsome beast for us but we heard he sometimes goes almost uncontrollably berserk!

It was a long day but a good one. The Ring Of Kerry is every bit as scenic as you may have heard and surely a highlight of any trip to Ireland. However, you may want to skip the Skellig cruise if there’s even a hint of rough seas 😉

It took about three trains and three hours to get to Killarney but the trip was comfy and provided endless lovely views.

KLS was told there’s actually laws here requiring cows to be grassed-raised in fields, which explains why they’re everywhere! At the butter museum I also learned that our vacation is being spent mostly in cow country. I wonder where all the potatoes are grown?

Lunch was fish and chips. We got cod and haddock, and had half of each each. Believe me it was as good as it looks!

Killarney is a tourist town, full of hotels and pubs and with a lively tourist shopping district. It has become one of the de facto set off points to explore many nearby attractions which is exactly what we’ll be doing the next few days. Today we just explored the local area, including (finally!) doing some souvenir shopping.

Our hotel room is enormous. Apparently we had booked their ‘superior double’ room which means it’s about three times larger than your normal room! We’ll be quite comfortable here 🙂

I didn’t break my cathedral streak, only this time I took KLS! St Mary’s here is spectacular and there was a wedding ending as we arrived. We lit a few more candles here as well.

Tomorrow will be a long day with a 9+ hour tour. Where are we going? You’ll have to wait and see…

KLS was “All work and no play” today so I malingered around Limerick once again, effortlessly blending into the populace.

After a breakfast omelette stuffed with enough ham to make me at least 50% pig, I dropped off the laundry (€18 for 6.5 kgs washed same day) and headed back to the castle area to visit some antique shops.

That’s of course the same castle I visited the other day. As you can see it’s right there next to the road in town! You’ll also note the weather was lovely. Sitting outside the castle was a busker playing a lute and wearing a monks outfit 🙂

The antique shops were pretty good, if jewelry heavy. I didn’t buy anything, but this was dangerously tempting even at €265:

Yes those are real stuffed and mounted red squirrels! The display case was quite large (about 1m) tall and of course it’s grotesque but I also found it a bit beautiful. 

It would have made a great gift for mum 🙂

Speaking of mum, I lit the candle in the top row for her. I’ve lit about five this trip, in all the cathedrals I’ve visited, and the catholic one here in Limerick that I visited today impressed me even more than the bigger ones in Cork and Dublin. I very much liked this Mary shrine, mostly because of the lit halo behind her head 🙂

Lunch was a kebab, which had so much lamb in it that afterwards I was 50% sheep! If you’re keeping track, I was now 100% farm animal…

The afternoon therefore was spent writing postcards, watching Australian soap operas and meat sweating.

Today was KLS’s last day of working here, and she’s now officially on vacation! Tomorrow we leave Limerick, and the real tourist half of the trip begins 🙂

KLS was all “The price of success is hard work” today so I scooted off to Dublin. Of course I took the train, which was inexpensive (about $20 each way), took about 2.5 hours and provided almost endless views of of cows!

I only had five hours in the capital, which I spent visiting the zoo and then taking a walk around the tourist district. This entailed a lot of walking, which wasn’t a problem since I like walking and because the weather was sunny and warm.

I like zoos and have visited many and whilst this one was small I was very impressed. Some of the exhibits, like the savannah shown above, were very impressive and showcased the animals better than in most other zoos I’ve seen.

This elephant was stretching out and picking grass with his trunk! It seemed like a massive effort because the water where’s he’s standing was almost over his head!

The landscaping off the zoo was perhaps the most impressive aspect. There were all sorts of weird and wonderful plants everywhere, but what I liked the best were the artichokes! I’d never seen these before and was surprised how tall they grew (far over my head). These were abundant near the gorilla and chimp enclosures and I think it possible the apes could snack on them!

There was lots else I liked, such as ‘Zoorassic World’ (which showcased dinosaurs and reptiles), a cute sleeping hippo and the red river hogs (who have fuzzy ears like me). It was a great zoo and absolutely worth the visit.

Dublin is a famously ugly city, full of ugly architecture and poor planning. I’m saying this because I read about it (in some detail) on the train back, but it’s immediately obvious to the experienced traveler. To the novocastrians out there I’ll just say this: Dublin is what a city would be like if the whole thing was the west end of Hunter Street. I read a theory that to the Irish appearance is irrelevant which is why Dublin is so unplanned… but Cork (which is like Cooks Hill, to continue the analogy) seems to contradict this.

At any rate Dublins not pretty as a whole, but I wanted to see the buildings worth seeing.

That’s Christ Church Cathedral which was built almost 1000 years ago and has experienced a mind-boggling amount of history. As you know I love visiting old cathedrals so even were it not one of the cities premiere attractions I would have stopped by.

It was all sorts of pretty inside, with intricate carvings and windows and a particularly good exhibit of icons (with examples of how they were made). Even better was that the crypt is open as well, and downstairs you can see a mini museum of vestments, sculpture and silverware.

However I was most intrigued by these:

A mummified cat and mouse! There wasn’t any explanation of where they came from or why they were here either!

I wanted to visit the other cathedral as well but ran out of time. Back to the train for the trip to Limerick! This was more or less a repeat of the trip out, except now my window was south-faced and I saw sheep instead of cows.

I took the chance by the way to scribble some postcards during the return trip. I beg your forgiveness if some of my writing is illegible 🙂

KLS was all ‘workedy-work’ today so I explored Limerick on my own. This started with a stroll along the the Shannon.

My destination was King Johns Castle, which has stood on the banks of the river here in Limerick for over 800 years. It’s seen multiple wars and revolutions as well as extensive building and rebuilding over the years, and there’s a fantastic history of the site in a large museum-attachment that was opened only a few years ago.

It’s worth mentioning that no photo here has been retouched or colour-corrected. It was a dreary, grey morning and the sky matched the stone of the castle perfectly.

When I reach the top of the ramparts the rain was belting down, and I’ll admit it was quite fun waiting in the tower all alone watching the water run down the stone outside. As it does here though, it didn’t last too long and I soon got out to admire the view.

I very much enjoyed the castle. If you’re ever here, definitely take the time to visit.

My next stop was the nearby cathedral, St Marys. It’s been here even longer than the castle! The rain was still falling so it was good to duck inside again.

This place was a little cluttered and unpolished compared to other cathedrals I’ve been in! The stained glass was wonderful though, as were the old ‘mercy seats’ which are apparently their biggest draw for tourists.

That grave stone is older than Australia 🙂

The remainder of the afternoon was shopping. I even stumbled upon a used bookstore with thousands of retro postcards for sale! They weren’t cheap, but were irresistible and some of you may see one in your mailbox at some point in the next few years…