Bearing the Ring of Beara- How the new car got it's first dent

            One of the best things about living in a place is living your life like a tourist. We did a bit of this when we first moved to Maryland because we were so close to DC, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and other more specific places of interest but then we got busy with the horses and weekends became a different sort of exploration, how to still try to do stuff when you have reverse ATM machines (AKA horses, money goes in, but never comes back out). I wouldn’t trade that for anything because no matter how much I like to wander around looking at things I love my horse and seeing things between my horse’s ears much better. I hold a firm yet odd belief that scenery is so much better if there are a nice pair of horse ears in the picture, many of my horsey friend agree and in fact there is a whole Facebook page devoted to this!

See how much better these are with Bailey's horse ears in them? Just a couple of pictures from our trip back home to Missouri

            With no horses to care for here in Ireland we get to go on weekend adventures. We’ve learned that Ireland is pretty dog friendly so most of the time we have the option to take “the girls” with us and will probably take advantage of this more this year. It is also nice because it really doesn’t get too hot here so I don’t have to worry about dogs overheating in the car if we have to step out for a bit. Right now, it’s hunting season so Saturdays are devoted to the chase, but that always leaves Sundays! Often Matt chooses something to do or see on Sunday and off we go for a drive, a visit, or just a good wander. There really is so much to see in this country, which is one reason we haven’t hopped over to “The continent” AKA Continental Europe.  One of the things to see/do is take a drive around the Rings. There are LOTS of Rings around Ireland, though the most famous is the Ring of Kerry. So, what is a ring? From what I can gather, it’s a scenic drive around the coast of one of the jutting pieces of land off Ireland.  We drove around the Ring of Kerry during our honeymoon and managed to only get hit by one bus. Yes, I said hit by a bus, but perhaps “clipped” is a better description. Side mirrors on many of the cars here are spring loaded both directions so when a bus kisses the side of your teeny tiny car on a teeny tinier road, the mirror snaps in so it doesn’t rip off. It happens, and usually scares the bejeezus out of me, but I’m getting better.

The ring of Kerry!

            Since the Ring of Beara (south of the Ring of Kerry) is a lesser known ring, the traffic isn’t as bad. So that coupled with the fact that we were driving it in the off season meant that we had most of the ring to ourselves. The first time we did the ring we took Healy’s Pass which takes you over mountains half way through the ring and then plonks you down on the other side so it’s like a mini ring. Thinking we may have missed an opportunity to see some of the best parts of this ring, Matt suggested we drive it a second time. Matt likes these sort of things, driving aimlessly around a country side looking at the natural wonders of the world, and sometimes the interesting man made things along the way. I’m usually game for this so long as I don’t have to be in the driver’s seat because rather than enjoying the majestic beauty around me, I’m white knuckled on the steering wheel trying not to pass out as I hyperventilate about the sheer drop offs you sometimes come across and panicking thinking about what we would do if we meet another car on this road that is about the width of a twig. But all of this changes with Matt at the wheel. Don’t get me wrong, I still freak out a bit when we do inevitably meet a car on the narrowest part of a road, but since he’s driving I can look at the scenery or if it gets too scary, I can read a book or type up part of my next blog post on my laptop. 

The smaller yet just as beautiful Ring of Beara

            On our first trip around the ring, we had just gotten our replacement car after the first one got totaled. It’s a pretty silver Nissan note with enough room for 4 and a load of shopping bags, or 2 dogs. Just as with the first two cars, I was the one who found it and after a bit of haggling I got it for the price I wanted! The car fit all of my criteria, automatic (we’ll get to my skills with a Manual transmission later), small enough I’m comfortable driving it on narrow roads yet big enough Matt didn’t look like a bear on a tricycle driving it, no big dents or scratches, within the price range, and it came with a Padre Pio sticker on the windshield to keep us safe while we drove. Who could ask for anything more?  So off we go in the new car!

            As I mentioned the first trip we took Healy’s pass. This is great! It’s a bit of a windy road up into the mountains, but you also get some great coastal views before you head up the mountain and on the way back down. There is a wonderful little shop at the top with super cheap souvenirs run by a beef farmer who is very friendly. If it’s warm, you can even get some ice cream in the shop! I even got to pet a roadside sheep. It did have a number of areas that are super skinny and you have to go slower than the speed limit but the views are spectacular. The only hic-up on this trip was when Matt crashed the car. Yep you read that right, he crashed the new car. He pulled to the side of the road and unknowingly tried to run over a large rock. The rock was surrounded by some lovely tall grass and so when he hit the gas he smushed the bottom part of the bumper of my new car. Hmmm, I’m seeing a trend with us and cars in Ireland. Luckily the only thing that happened was it lowed the clearance of the car by 2-3 inches and dented the front in a bit, nothing that impaired driving. The lowering part turned out to be a much worse thing than we thought because many Irish roads have bumps, dips, and potholes that eat cars. When your car has a big dent in the front it scrapes every time you go over the bumps eventually it starts to rip the bumper off and you have to kick it back in place every once in a while. Eh, it could be worse…

Tree and mountain in the distance. I got a bit artsy with this photo, but I think it definitely worked out!

The sea!!!! Look how pretty!

One of many lovely waterfalls we saw while out and about.

SHEEP!!!! I LOVE random sheep on the side of the road! These guys were not impressed with my sheep whispering skills and wouldn't let me get close, but they did let me snap this cute picture of them!

Looking down from the top of Healy's pass to the County Cork side. See that speck in the road closest to the bottom? Yep, that's a crazy runner! This guy was RUNNING up a mountain! I was tres impressed, and tired just looking at him, so I got an ice cream bar and cheered him on from the top by my car.

Another view of the twisty turny roads to get up to Healy's pass

At the top of the pass looking down into County Kerry. Part of the Ring of Beara is in Cork and the other is in Kerry, both sides are beautiful in their own ways.

Yes, I know that's my large bum (perhaps a smidge larger than usual after the Ice Cream...), but the important part of this picture is I AM PETTING A SHEEP! My sheep whispering skills paid off! She actually let me pet her! OK fine, I'm bribing her with a bit of sweet had in the car, but bribery is always fair game when it comes to animals and children!

The sea, Kerry side

A waterfall in Kerry, I got a bit artsy with as well. It was a gorgeous day for the most part with only sprinkles, so visibility was amazing!

The mountains on the Kerry side

Oh look! A random church! Time for some exploring...

Very cool old church we saw on the way home.

            The second time we decided to go the whole way around but starting on the opposite side of the ring because that was the side we skipped going through Healy’s pass. What to say about this… well it was an adventure. We had to reverse down some roads because they actually were too narrow to fit two cars on, I won’t say I had a full panic attack, but there was a lot of cursing under my breath and quick draws of breath and we nearly fell off the side of the road once or twice. The best part about this time around was that we brought the dogs along for the trip and stopped off at The Peoples Millennium forest in Rossacaroo na loo, Co. Kerry. What a gorgeous place to walk and enjoy nature! Marble was thrilled to be out the car and Gypsy loved the hour of wandering around the forest and sniffing all the new stuff.

 The views were great, but half way through I was ready to be done. It was supposed to take a few hours, it took 6.  Marble was tired of being in the car, the novelty of it all had worn off Gypsy who was now snoring in the back seat, and I was ready to be somewhere other than a car.  So if you decide to come down to the Ring of Beara, take Healy’s pass and make it a half day trip rather than a full day.   

Sun streaming through the clouds on this lovely drive.

A beautiful rainbow over the mountains around the Ring of Beara.

Lovely ruined house near the mountains.

Looking out over the water on a spectacular day. All we needed was a picnic basket (or a hampers as they say over here) and a nice bottle of wine to make this perfect!

Matthew and Marble taking a stroll towards the water.

Marble exploring the landscape

Loved the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks!

The whole family on the coast!

A lovely church found on the other side of the ring, closest to the Cork side of the Ring

Beautiful cross through the ruins of the Kilcatherine church

Random tower found around the Ring of Beara. I REALLY want to get there sometime.

The views are great no matter which way you do it, but I think I really liked the first trip around more than the second, that is so long as your husband doesn’t crash your new car.

Even though she's a bit smushed up in the front on the bottom, (the side in the shadow) but she still looks good parked in the rugged west of Cork.

For more photos or if you'd like to buy any of the ones you've seen, you can check out my website!
http://tjlg.smugmug.com/The-Ring-of-Beara/