We start early in the morning. It is Saturday and we suspect many travellers on "our" road. The first hours of the day belong to us alone, we are pleased to discover.
The "Slea head Drive" - again a small coastal road - is one-lane and impresses with its one-way system. No oncoming traffic is to be expected. Honestly, we wouldn't have known how to manoeuvre past it either.
But our real goal is the Killarney National Park. We want to go hiking. In Killarney we first stroll through the town and get some information. And quickly realise that up here in the mountains (we wanted cool mountain air) the heat is piling up, the pitches are scarce and the hiking trails are tarred. Somehow not for us.
There is that too: Nothing, but nothing at all meets our expectations. If we want to break away from expectations, we always feel them catching up with us here and there.
Over a lemon cake, we murmur over our hiking plans and decide: we're going on. The road north is ready, the ferry across the Shannon shortens our route and we leave towns worth seeing like Limerick and Ernies to the right.
For this we find directly at the Shannon a dream pitch. While we are setting up, aligning and levelling, an elderly gentleman arrives with his dogs. "Hello!" and "I like your van!". That's how it always starts. Where from, how long, north or south? We chat for quite a while, thinking he enjoys company. He tells us quite a lot, and on average we understand about half of it. But his smile, we understand that 100 per cent.
He wishes us a good night and mentions in passing that he is in the most beautiful country on earth lives. Sometimes he forgets that. Then he goes travelling. Only to be so happy about Ireland again when he comes home.
We can understand him, Ireland is growing on us more and more every day.
Merci for "travelling with us
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That's the best thing about travelling by camper van:
if you don't like it somewhere, you can simply
drive on. This is also how we keep it on our journeys
and rely on our gut feeling. And looking back
it was always right!!
Best wishes and have a nice day 😁
Hello dear Karin,
oh yes, that's the best thing about travelling. Staying somewhere. Continue somewhere. Without a plan. A bit different from a planned holiday. Both great, but we are currently very very happy with our choice ❤️
Best wishes from (still) Ireland!
Heike & Gerd
Yes, Killarney is not for everyone.
But again, I think it's so great that you like Ireland.
I wish for you that after crossing over and then at some point driving on, you also took in the Loop Head peninsula. Certainly not super lonely, but I personally love this peninsula and the "end". Whenever I'm in the vicinity, I have to go there.
Have fun!
Hi Sandra, we have done sooo many more beautiful coastal stretches and our Ireland heart account is sooo filled up. In the meantime, Ireland is already one of our dream destinations....
Kind regards - Heike
Beautiful pictures and nice report.
And I have seen curves.
Pretty little motorbike curves.
That makes the little witch's heart happy. ❤️
Tell me Gerd, do you miss riding motorbikes?
I have only ridden 1x since the accident in May and am seriously considering selling.
I've been riding now since I was 19 and have done the big trips ( Scotland, Romania, Norway, France etc) all on the bike.
But somehow.......😔
Have a wonderful day. 😘
Yes, motorcycling😃. When I hear motorcyclists, I always like to look behind them and have a homely feeling. Sometimes, when I'm watching them, I want to get on the bike and ride off myself. But that feeling is rather rare.
Dear Heike and Gert, I can't and don't like to be without you. Hopefully it will work out and I can continue to travel with you. Best regards, this time from Stralsund
Yay, Karin! So good to have you with us!
We dream of a winter in Greece, let's see if the dream comes true. If it does, we'll come over, okay?
Kind regards - Heike