Last day in Ireland

Day 104/Ireland 38 (44 including Northern Ireland)

Travelled: 47km to Kinsale then to ferry at Cork/ Ringaskiddy

Stay: Brittany Ferries - Cork to Roscoff (France)

Visited : Kinsale

Tide is up.

After enjoying a very relaxing day at Harbour View Beach followed by a peaceful night, we set off early for Kinsale this morning. Our main aim was to get a parking spot at Supavalue which also had washing machines (which prooved to be no problem at 8am).

 A couple of hours later we once again had clean clothes and so we went to have a look at the busy port town of Kinsale.

 It also marks the end of our travels on the Wild Atlantic Way. The bloke at the tourist office kindly took our photo with the sign...unfortunately we couldn’t buy it. We kept telling them that there was a lack of WAW souvenirs available. 

We purchased a few more last minute Irish souvenirs and returned to Bluey. 

We made our way to the ferry terminal, got our overnight bags ready and then waited to board. 

Our departure from the beautifully green and stunning Ireland was at 4pm. We arrive in Roscoff France at 7am Sunday morning. We are looking forward to spending the last couple of weeks visiting family before returning home to our loved ones. 

Cobh from the boat

Our last bit of road in Ireland

WAW Co.Cork Ireland

Day 103/Ireland 36

Travelled: 75km Wild Atlantic Way from Baltimore to Clonakilty

Visited: Lough Hyne, Toe Head, Drombeg Stone Circle, Timoleague Abbey

Stay: Harbour View Beach parking neat Kilbrittain N51.6503 W8.6782

Leaving Baltimore this morning we back tracked until we came to the turnoff heading to Lough Hyne. Once again the roads were narrow and we were happy that is was early and we didn’t come across anyone going the other way. 

It was a beautiful calm and sunny morning and as we parked up, a man was taking off on his canoe and a couple of ladies went off for a swim, mind you they were wearing wetsuits! We enjoyed the lovely view of this salt water lake surrounded by hills. 

There were many dairy farms around the area and so it was inevitable that we would get caught once again by a herd moving to a field. 

We had a brief stop at the Toe Head WAW sign where the cliffs meet the Celtic Sea and we read about some ship wrecks along the coast. 

We drive through Unionhall and over the 5t limit bridge.






Then through the small harbour town of Glandore with its grand mansions.

At the Drombeg Stone Circle we had to park outside the carpark due to the height barrier. A short stroll brought us to, it is said, one of the best standing circles in Ireland. 

On the site there was also the remains of a ‘cooking house’ (experts assume). 

We stopped in Lidl in Clonakilty, did a bit of shopping and then watched the Bombers unfortunately loose in the elimination final against the Westcoast Eagles. We continued on and had a look at the remains of Timoleague Abbey, built in 1290 by Franciscan monks. Unfortunately it was another catholic building destroyed by Cromwell in the mid 1600’s. 

Courtmascherry Bay was once a viable deep water port but a tsunami caused it to silt. Now the mud flats are a very important bird sanctuary.

View of Old Head Kinsale Lighthouse.

 A little further around the coast we decided to stop on the shore of Harbour View Beach. It is surrounded by sand dunes and lush green hills where cows graze. 

Selfie of the day...Bluey is photo bombing.

At low tide the remnants of the old pier stand out. 

After a stroll along the beach we returned to Bluey to enjoy an early dinner whilst awaiting for the tide to come in.