Ferries and cliffs and dolphins, oh my!

Thursday, August 4, Dingle to Doolin

Today was a fabulously random day and a day of "firsts". We made a quick grocery run in Dingle (for ham, cheese, bread, and granola bars) and headed out of town before noon. Our shoes had not had time to completely dry out from the bike ride, so ol' Rooster was smelling ripe... Due to my status as a new driver on the day we drove into Dingle, we had taken the "easy" route into town, skipping the narrow winding Connor Pass to the north. Well, when Kat asked if I wanted to take the Connor Pass out of town, I figured, "why not?" The sky was overcast and was spitting rain, we knew visibility would be low, but we thought it would be our last time to try it. We headed out of town and most of our view was obstructed by the low clouds and rain. Finally we were on a treacherous single-lane road winding along the edge of a cliff with only a small rock wall between us and death. Scary, huh? Thankfully we couldn't see much:) All of a sudden a car appeared out of the mist and it was heading straight to us! After a bit of yelling and braking, we passed that car and a few others. We were in survival mode... and made it through the mountains without a scratch! Had to do a little high five at the end of the road:)

Can you find Rooster?

We had a fairly short ride to Tarbert, where we rode the car ferry across the River Shannon... we were VERY excited to drive onto a ferry for the first time. I won't share the video, because it was very anti-climactic. But exciting, nonetheless:) I climbed up the stairs to the top deck, but stayed up there for a very short time - it was freezing and the wind had to have been blowing at least 30 mph...

Just blending in with the guests...

Once we left the river behind, Kathryn noticed a HUGE castle/hotel/building off to our left... we speculated for a good 10 minutes about what the building could be, then finally decided to try to find it. Got lucky (or was it our impeccable senses of direction?) and stumbled upon the Doonbeg Golf resort. We drove through links with men trying to hit golf balls with the wind gusting over 20 mph. Good luck, fellas. As we drove up in Rooster (and I don't think either of us had had a shower that day), we realized that this place was not for the cheap. The stone and wooden lodge was perched on the edge of a cliff that dropped to the sea. We saw a sign to the beach and decided to explore a little further. I thought the beach would be some narrow spit of sand built by the golf people for their guests. Boy, was I wrong! We walked through a gate and down a narrow sand path that opened up to beach that was 2+ miles long and at least 150 yards deep. It was AMAZING! Made me SO happy! So to express my joy, I threw off my shoes and took off running to the sea! I started off happy, and ended up with a stitch in my side... made it to the water, though:) Kathryn spent about 20 minutes taking pictures of the rocks, sand and lodge... and as we made our way back up to the resort, we realized our entrance gate had closed and locked after we went through it earlier. Oops. So much for trying to "fit in." We had to scale the fence quickly and then amble up to the golf shop like we had planned it all...

Doonbeg Golf Resort

But everyone else was doing it, Mom!

After leaving Doonbeg, we kept on our route to the Cliffs of Moher. This is the place where my suspicions were confirmed. Kathryn is afraid of heights (well, she's afraid of tremendous heights!)! The things you learn about your friends when you travel... We walked along a nice paved pathway and quickly reached the end of the path. This was the point where everyone hops over a stone wall and continues along the top of the cliffs on a worn, slippery dirt/mud path. We scaled the wall, passed the sign that said "Do Not Pass" and kept moving! With the wind gusting like it was, the path was a little treacherous at times. However, the cliffs were absolutely stunning. There was an enormous drop to the ocean - I think Kathryn said it's over 600 feet to the water. A truly majestic sight. The temperatures were low 50s and the wind was blowing over 20mph. A little different weather than Memphis, TN! We walked and took pictures (of course) and experienced the visitors' center for a couple hours before reuniting with Rooster in the parking lot. As we were gathering our stuff and organizing the car's interior, Kathryn exclaimed, "I think that guy is laughing at Rooster!" Sure enough, some jerk was in the parking lot taking pictures and laughing at our dear Rooster. I could have kicked him... we decided he was just jealous. He probably couldn't find his vehicle in the parking lot. We NEVER had that problem in Ireland. Rooster was like a homing beacon - I really think he glowed in the dark.

Looking over the edge... and hanging on!

We drove the 10 miles from the Cliffs to Doolin, another small town on the western part of Ireland that is known for its traditional music. We found our hostel immediately (Doolin is VERY small), where our reservations had not been received. Thankfully the guy found us a 6 girl room that was empty! We really thought we were going to have all that room to ourselves. Of course, by bedtime we were sharing the room with 2 Canadians, a girl from Alaska, and a girl from Limerick. So much for that private room...

I spent a lot of time watching stuff like this during the trip.

We left the hostel and followed the lane down to the pier. The sun had come out from behind the clouds and the harbor was gorgeous! We climbed over huge rocks with waves crashing nearby, always with that crazy bright green grass in the background... Kathryn took pictures for about an hour while I explored. Then we walked over to the boat ramp where a dolphin was swimming with a group of kids! How much more random could the day get?!  We ended the day at the pub (where else?) where we listened to a group playing some traditional music. A girl played the fiddle, an older gentleman played a wooden flute, and a young guy in a t-shirt played a bazouki (we referred to that funny looking guitar as a "bazooka" throughout the trip).  We REALLY enjoyed these small towns where there was nothing to do but wander around and see what you could find...

Kathryn found a new friend...

Practicing for 'America's Next Top Model'