A very long lie in Saturday morning - after two weeks we’re finally getting in the holiday mode, then after a fry up courtesy of the Portly Partner, we headed off back to the Torc Waterfall.
Right, it’s not the largest waterfall in the world and it was pretty placid but one can imagine how much more water tumbles down it during the er', wetter months. Oh, hang on.
Several walks can be taken from the (free) car park just below. The red walk is marked as strenuous and recommended for experienced walkers only and is estimated to take two to two and a half hours. No, of course we didn’t. Two other walks are suggested, these being of the moderate category and one suggesting a round trip of around 30-40 minutes. That’ll do we thought.
Well after about 3 days the track levelled out and we could here we had climbed above the top of the waterfall, enjoying some lovely scenery on the way, with the Killarney Lakes coming into view at various points. The descent was obviously a lot less strenuous and no less scenic but we had taken considerably longer than the notice boards estimate. It was an acute reminder of how out of condition I’ve got over the years and something I need to address soon if the Blogger in Black is not to become the Blubber in Black. On a more positive note it served as another reminder of what a god job the surgeon done on Trev’s ticker.
Saturday night saw us heading into Killarney again for a meal. The place was really buzzing with tourists and locals mingling together in the busy bars and pubs. There were - thanks no doubt to Ryanair and the like - several hen and stag parties parading around the streets. Indeed, the guvnor told us in one bar, him and his mates had in the past flown in to Stansted for a big night out and he new Cambridge quite well.
Sunday, and we woke this really odd thing in the sky that made everything seem brighter and warmer. There was no time to waste so we fired up Rosie and headed off again, this time south, again passing through Kenmore
We paused first at Druids View overlooking the Sheen Valley, before crossing the border back in to County Cork. There were some cracking views of Barley lake to be had from the road that hugged the mountainside.
Next up was Glengarriff and just beyond was Glengariff Harbour sitting in Bantry Bay. A great spot to stop and across the road a petrol station was the cheapest we’d seen for a few days. Rosie got another top up.
Moving on we traversed the coast road a little further, turning inland at a delightfully named place called Ballylickey and up through the Shehy Mountains, arriving at our destination which goes by the name of Gougane Barra. We were here on the recommendation of fellow Twitterer Paul and it certainly didn’t disappoint:
It is associated with St Finnbarr, Patron Saint and at one time, Bishop of Cork and is a popular place of pilgrimage.
You needn't worry, I aint coming over from the dark side but it is VERY beautiful and the sunshine, albeit now intermittent, made it even better. We paused here and got the chairs out by the side of the lake for an hour or so.
Sunday night we gathered in the Kitchen cum TV room to watch the final of the world cup. There were fewer of us than for the previous gathering - on Wednesday night for the Holland v Argentina game when we had two Dutch couples join us, as well as a couple of French lads. How very European! This time there was just the four of us, all English and all supporting Germany! We were of course rewarded. Eventually.