The Gap of Dunloe

Bernadette and Mike have served us a very adequate Irish breakfast to keep us going for the morning, maybe to put the weight back on that we shed while walking in Wales. This was always going to be the biggest challenge in Ireland! Today we are going to get our boots back on and walk the Gap of Dunloe.

A bus collected us from the front gate. He was 3/4 hour late - life in Ireland I believe and dropped us at Kate's cottage. We could have paid for a pony and trap (a jaunting car) to take us part of the way but we were up for the walk. The Gap goes right through the mountains, across many bridges and up over and into the valley you overlook while walking up. Its a beautiful twelve km walk which we had to do in two and a half hours, so we could meet our boat ride back through the lakes. No time for morning teabreaks today. And we were thankful for some cloud cover to protect us from the sun.

That's the Gap right through the mountains.

The driver had quite a lean as he drove along. Perhaps to balance the trap..

That's our pathway ahead.

Along the way we passed these ruins and this bridge, one of several.

Looking back through the Gap to where we have walked.

Looking down into the Black Valley on the other side, it seemed so far away and so isolated. Why would anyone want to live there? I was told later that people love to live in this village and that there are restrictions on how a house is to be built here so that the authenticity of the village isn't lost.

And low and behold, here we are walking right through the village. Not so isolated after all.

And over the other side of the mountains.

We arrived at Lord Braddon's cafe in time for lunch and then a short walk to the water's edge to catch our boat. Man, what a shock. We were worried that they were going to ask us to row back! But all was well. The boat had a motor and a captain. One passenger said he didn't need a life jacket and the captain quickly and firmly announced, 'No one rides in my boat without a lifejacket!'

So we quickly put them on.

As our boat ride unfolded, it became obvious why we were riding in this boat. Many of the gaps we had to navigate between the different lakes were narrow, shallow or low. Allan named one of them 'The Eye of the Needle'. We could actually see it from our bedroom window!

Our captain was a very funny Irishman who told many jokes, so when he said that we had to get out of the boat and walk for about six minutes, we thought he was joking, but he wasn't! So there we were walking through the bush with life jackets on. We must have looked strange when we arrived at a cafe, ready to embark again for the final leg of our journey.

The Eye of the Needle and our captain. This was a really beautiful trip across the lakes of Killarney and the Killarney National Park. The nature of our boat and the surprise in seeing our boat also made the trip special.

We arrived back in Killarney at Ross Castle where we disembarked. Our bus was waiting to drive us home, but another twist. He had to drive back to where we began at Kate's cottage to pick up a group who had walked the Gap in the opposite direction to us. Our driver was a man on a mission to make up lost time. What a delightful day.