Blogs from Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland, Europe

Friday and our first full day in Ireland and the day has started out with a little drizzle but a promise of a clearing sky away to the south. We don’t expect temperatures will reach any great heights while we are here and we have put the summer clothes back to the bottom of the suitcase again. Ireland doesn’t have a great reputation for a lot of warm sunny days in a row. Rather you take whatever sunshine you can get when it appears and enjoy it. Our host Kathleen called in to make sure we had settled in OK and that the heating had worked. When we arrived last night she showed us how the oil fired aga or heat storage oven worked on the thermostat and timer that was set up. It also heated ... read more

A little disappointed when we woke, after another night of heavy rain, that the better weather forecast for the morning had not materialised. Clouds still hanging low over everything and sun just plain playing hard to get. We left campsite at 9 am, just as reception opened, as we wanted to fit in visits to Killarney and Dingle en route for our next campsite in Tralee. Delighted to discover that this Ring of Kerry coastline is in fact quite beautiful from this point onwards and we had some stunning views as we drove along. Also pleased to see that the many tour coaches which go round the Ring do so anticlockwise and therefore opposite to us. Wherever there was a viewpoint there were also 3 or 4 coaches pulled over spilling out their passengers all armed ... read more

We have established a basecamp in Cill Flainn (or Kilflyn, or Kilflynn - depending on what roadsign or map you are reading). This is a beautiful quaint village between Tralee and Listowel, near the south west coast of Ireland. Wonderful people live here, and we are extremely fortunate to be staying in the best house in the village. From here we will explore the amazing towns, cities, and landscapes that surround the region. ... read more

Well we have made to the town of Tralee, which is southwest of Limerick. We spent two nights in the town of Doolin. We rented bikes...again... and rode up to the cliffs of moher. The man explained 40 minutes up and less than 20 down. Man, was he right. The views were amazing. In our Morrison fashion we needed a little more than the views that could be reached by tour bus. We enquired at the tourist office about Hag's head which we had read about. She said the trail was closed and said " I'm not saying you can't do it, but I don't advise it; you may get arrested"....... So we jumped the fence and went on a 8mile trek to to Hag's head (the southern most point of the cliffs). This trail had ... read more

July 19 We made it home safely. Here is an account of our final trip in Ireland. On our last day in Ireland we had a wide range of experiences. We began with the challenge of ascending Connor Pass. This pass is 1300 feet and 6.7 kilometers to the top, a 6% slope. Three members of our group decided to do the ride, and the other three rode in the van. Carl, Nanci, and Bill started in the mist and finished in the clouds. We were told that the scenery was fantastic, but we rode in a full fog of mist. When we got close to the top of the pass we were literally in the clouds. It was one of the toughest physical experiences we have ever done. We were both happy that we did ... read more