It was a little cool, around 13C at 8AM. There were patches of blue in the overcast sky, but as the day wore on and we moved west, the sky turned blue with not a cloud in sight. The temperature rose to a maximum of 25 but was up to 10 degrees less in the shade. Some of the locals were caught out as one girl at the pub for the evening meal, was quite badly sunburnt.

We headed from Midleton to Kenmare with the first stop being Bantry. This meant avoiding Cork by means of a number of those wonderful roundabouts and the 100/120kph circular bypass road. We then headed along the N22 and turned South toward Bantry. Things were great for a few minutes, until we got to a narrow stone bridge. There was a bus going on the bridge as we approached so there was no way we could fit as well. The little regional road was like that for another 30+ km.

Eventually we got to Bantry and found that there was a market in place. The town was crowded and the streets were packed with cars and people. A car park was used for one area of the market and also the central market place. All sorts of items were on sale ranging from several guys selling tools and machinery through to CDs, crepes, burgers and locally caught fish. People seem to have come for miles as the CD seller had come from Tipperary, which is about 80 km away.

We had been having a problem with our GPS. For some reason, the battery is not holding its charge and after it has reached 10%, it alarms and shuts down. Charging it up the night before helps a little, but only delays the onset. When we reached Kenmare, the GPS had given up the ghost. We decided not to stay there as there was a Bikefest on and the town was loaded with motor bikers. Without doubt, all the accommodation would be stretched.

We therefore headed to the Ring of Kerry, a circular route around the Kerry Peninsula. The problem being that the road signs are random. Usually they disappear at the time of the most critical decision. As a result, we missed going along the coast and headed inland instead. We went through Moll's Gap and, just for Ian, we took a number of photos of the Lady's View. The road surface and condition was terrible. Not only was the road surface very poor, but the overall road was up and down all over the place. It certainly severely impacted my neck, even with a neck brace on.

Just a word or two about the roads. In NZ, we just don't know how lucky we are with out roads. Sure, there are some poor road surfaces, but generally they are reasonable. There are good road signs and any corner that requires one to slow slightly, has a sign on it where the Nanny State recommends a maximum speed for the corner. There are picnic or pull over areas on most SH roads especially where there is something worth looking at. It's definitely not the same in Ireland. I can't recall seeing a speed recommendations for any corner, but a couple have been speed restricted for a mile or two before and after a rough bunch of corners.  Laybys are never where you want them, especially near some tourist view point. 

Mind you, the Irish are far more patient and polite than most Kiwi drivers, so perhaps we should pull down all the speed notices for corners. The speedsters and impatient would die and so would the drunken drivers. There would be a spike in the road toll for a year or two, but after that it would drop to less as the Kiwi driver became more considerate to other users on the road. How's that for something a little off the wall?

We reached Killearny and headed South West along the northern edge of the Ring of Kerry. We stopped off at Red Fox pub near Glenbeigh to visit the Peat Bog Museum. This showed how peat was extracted from the ground and some of the critters, houses, tools etc that were used. In particular Lynette wanted to see the bog ponies. These are ponies that are 10 – 12 hand high. (A hand is five inches.) The ponies were used to carry baskets of peat back from the bog.  Like the Kaimanawa horses, the bog ponies almost died out but there is now a preservation society and the pony numbers are growing.  There were also thatched huts as used by those who extracted the peat. Inside you could smell the peat aroma. It's something quite distinctive.

We stopped the night at Cahersiveen and gave up trying to pronounce it. We had a great dinner a local pub and walked up and down the town. There's lots of shops to let, so business does not look to be too good.

Rhododendrons were all over the hills in South West Ireland

Two of Lynette's photos of water borne craft in Bantry, show the sky.

The Irish sheep are a little different tothose in NZ

Trading in the car park at Bantry

A couple of shots of Lady's View