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Published: July 12th 2010
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Cliffs Of Mohar
Spectacular View Good morning its 6.30 am showered, packed car, off to have some breaky and a quick check of emails. After checking with the staff regarding direction to the cliffs and Mohar (pronounced more). I was off just stick to this road and follow the sign you can’t go wrong. Well I managed to but that’s ok I only went 20 minutes out of my way today, And yes I know I have Tom Tom but I told you we are still having communication problems and he quite often wants to send me down the narrowest of country lanes which I won’t go down no no no. Oh and those signs I was told about they are tiny little signs nailed to a fence post, Very hard to see! Once I got closer to the cliffs the signage was better I guess after being here a while you would just get use to things.
I was told to be very careful at The Cliffs of Mohar as it is windy and people have been blown over the edge, Ok mmmm. Well here I am and yes windy is not quite it was blowing a gale, the wind was pushing me around a
Cliffs Of Mohar
The wind was blowing and there was ocean spray everywhere little but it’s all part of the experience so I manned myself with my trusty jacket camera and video camera. I made my way up to path that leads to the observation points, people must think I look trust worthy because everyone was asking me to take a photo of them, I was pleased to assist. It’s funny how we don’t speak the same language but we still manage to communicate. Yeh , Can you, Yeh Ci, Dankyou we knew what was said.
Now there is a wall that runs all the way along the cliffs edge, so no chances of being blow over, good work. As I looked out over the ocean the view was just spectacular, the cliffs are enormous the ocean was roaring and crashing against the side of the cliffs, the wind was blowing so hard it was carrying ocean foam up the cliff face. I felt like Charlie in the chocolate factory with all the bubbles flying everywhere it made me laugh.
Apparently you can do an ocean cruise to look at the cliffs form the ocean well I was more than happy to be viewing the cliffs from up above thank you very much
Doolan Cave
This was the entrance to the cave that ocean was rough noooooo way.
After walking along the cliffs taking lots of photos I headed off towards a town called Doolin, it was a tiny place, one fuel station a couple of pubs and B & Bs. it might be a small town but it has the second largest discovered stalactite crystal in the world. It was discovered around 1955. The miners that discovered it chose not to developer the land and keep its discovery fairly quiet. A well respected decision I must say, though on the other hand if the new owners hadn’t developed the land then I wouldn’t have had an experience of a life time.
The land was sold several years ago and the new owners have spent a lot of time and money opening the mine to the public. It took 126 steps down the shaft in to the cave and we were lead by a guide down a series of tunnels. It was cool, wet and dark. They pump fresh air for six hours every day down the shaft and when they made the tunnels they used compressed air to blow up the rock as the use of dynamite would have caused the
Doolan Cave
On of many tunnells stalactite to dislodge and come crashing down, that would have been a real tragedy.
I must say I was sooooo excited this was a real highlight for me. So after making our way down several tunnels our guide positioned us all along a metal barrier using a torch and them he counted to three and turned on the lights. Works cannot express how magical and special this crystal beauty is, I can truly understand why the miners who uncovered it wanted to keep it a secret. It hangs down from the ceiling of the cave and its seven meters long just incredible. Half on the stalactite had died and was discolored whilst the other half was white, alive and still growing. Water was constantly dripping of it, this water contained a mineral called calcium carbonate, this is what formed the crystal and keeps this part alive. The stalactite grows one inch a year when I heard this, my mind just boggled, stop and think how old the crystal is and to think it survived in the ground for so many years. The stalactite is luminous and as the guide turned the lights on and off the stalactite would glow for
Stalactite
Just so Impressive a few seconds. A true wonder of nature!
We walked further into the cave and there was a natural river which ran through the cave the water was crystal clear and they just recently discovered that it runs for miles And miles. As we were making our way down the tunnels we came to another opening in the cave and there was hundreds of tiny stalactites growing form the ceiling they were no thicker my little finger and the longest would have been 10 centre meters long. As we made our way back to ground level I was so grateful for my experience and was so glad I decided to travel and explore. Ok world what else do you have for me.
Back in my car and I headed off to Killarney I made my way all along the coast I stopped at Liscannor at the Rock shop, which had a display of crystals I’m afraid after what I just witnessed I was not overly excited I did find a piece amethyst which came from Sth Africa one to add to the collection.
Next stop was Lahinch a coastal town with a very popular shop that had hand painted t-shirts
Stalactite
suspended from the ceiling, 7 meters long which specialized in Gaelic designs. It was worth the stop the designs were really unique and the colors were great. The prices were very reasonable considering they were hand painted.
The coastal trip was long but not all a disappointment I ended up at Killmer where I caught my fisrt ferry across to Tarpit, from here it was an hour and half to Killarney. I hadn’t booked a Hostel and thankfully I dint there was no way I was going to be able to park my car at the Hostels in town, so I made my way out of town and stopped at a beautiful B & B call Mystical Rose. I walked into the reception and little lady by the name of a Noreen greeted me with a big hug and a kiss. It was a lovely room and I had a double bed to myself (ghee I miss those bunks). I paid Forty Euro for the night a little over budget but I did have a full beaky Bacon and eggs, toast sausages, tomatoes, tea and orange juice. I haven’t had bacon or sausages for years and I wasn’t about to turn them away.
That night I walked
Ferry
Kilmer across to Tarpit cost 16 EURO. into Killarney town as it was open to 10pm and It doesn’t get dark until 9pm, so I took advantage of the day light and stretched my legs. I decide to stop for dinner and yes drum roll I had Guinness but don’t get to excited it was Guinness Irish stew and it was the best stew I have ever eaten. I walked out of their full as a goog, I have been living on cup of soup and sandwiches for five days I needed a good feed.
Killarney itself is just lovely I felt right at home here and in hindsight I should have stayed another night. The city centre was full of pubs, restaurants gift shops of all kinds’ hotels a church, paved roads, happy people everywhere, horse and cart, Bicycles, and did I already say happy people every. If I lived here I would be smiling too its just lovely.
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George
non-member comment
2nd time
Nice pics Marisa. Good reading.