A trip to the land of Leprechauns
The first official Tav's Tour trip abroad took in a trip to Ireland. We based ourselves in Killarney, a Disney version of Ireland. Every pub had musicians of varying talents playing to lure in the tourists from the coach tours. In most pubs we found bemused tourists nursing a half of Guinness. While the town may have been false the surrounding countryside certainly wasn't.
Day 1 took in two of the Highest Mountains in Ireland, in Caher and Carantoonhill. Having missed very obvious car park and parked on the side of the road (we usually get lost in the car park - this time we failed to find it), the start saw an immediate slog up a steep hill. Thursday's alcohol intake was pretty high so this was immediately hard work. Dave E was particularly feeling the strain (probably the third bottle of red) but as we neared the top of Caher after a long slog up and the views to Carantoonhill became fantastic he cheered up immeasurably. Grumpy Dave was replaced by happy Dave.
The ridge walk across to Carantoonhill was wonderful with a steep drop to the left and amazing valley drops to the right. Carantoonhill had an incredible view. Not sure what the Irish fixation with crosses on the top of mountains is about but it didn't spoil the view. It's also the only mountain we've seen with a warning sign about the drop. We returned the way we came up as the ridge was too risky in very windy conditions. An almost perfect days walking.
In true mountains style we saw a wide variation in mountain clothing from boots to trainers and waterproofs to shorts.
Day 2 saw us take in the Gap of Dunloe and Purple Mountain. An early start gave us the Gap of Dunloe almost all to ourselves. A moment of perfect silence opposite the lake was one of those amazing moments in the hills that so rarely happens. From the top of the Gap we started to climb. It was a wonderful walk up with truly gorgeous scenery, past another lake and then up a scree slope to the top. By this time we had been joined by an American student who was walking by himself. He had previously provided quiet entertainment as he managed to fall in the lake whilst attempting to dip his toe in.
Suitably dried out, he took lots of career advice from Pete as we walked (that’s his career ruined then). However a very sharp shower saw him turn back while we pressed on. A steep walk down saw us back at the gap, Another amazing days walking completed.
Apart from the first international tour, probably also the one with the highest consumption of alcohol per head for a while.
