Goodbye Castletownbere

On Saturday we left Castletownbere after a two week stay. We loved everyday we spent there, not only  was there so much to explore in the area and the locals very friendly but we also loved chilling out in the house.  Never have we stayed in a holiday home and felt so at home almost immediately and for two weeks it was home. The kitchen was so well set up that we hardly ate out and we loved the outdoor eating area. And on top of it all we had the best weather Ireland had experienced in years. We'll miss that view and will remember it for months to come.

An afternoon crammed with activity

Earlier on in the week we headed to an activity centre in Kenmare and booked ourselves in to do everything. It started with a cruise and we spotted seals on a nearby island. That was followed by archery, a run around on the obstacles course which the kids loved especially Iman. And we finished the afternoon off with canoeing out to a slide and trampoline in the middle of the bay. Kids were happy to be jumping around though we didn't stay out there too long as it was the windiest day we had seen yet and got too cold for us warm weather folk.

The Healy Pass

As with the Connor Pass in Kerry, the Beara Peninsula has the Healy Pass, a small winding road up a mountain, through a small gap out the other side to another backdrop and scenery. And in this particular case on one side is Cork County and the other Kerry. We has gone through the Healy Pass a couple of times in the last few days myself and Donncha loving the windy drive and the kids loving the walk around. We even managed to do another of those family pictures though this time I only had a couple of seconds to spare before the shutter went - flipflops not the footwear of choice on the terrain.

Garnish Beach - another lovely beach

Another beautiful day and time for another beach. Our chosen beach last Saturday was Garnish Beach across the water from the Allihies. A sheltered beach, Garnish is also one of the safest in the Beara Peninsula and the only one with a Green Award. And on such a beautiful day, the crystal clear water was simply stunning. I spoke to a lady who lives just above the beach and she said she has never seen the weather so good. Weather jackpot for us! And on top of all that despite being a saturday it was not even that busy. A week and a bit now into our Beara holiday and we are loving the place.

Our first 7k walk in Ireland - The Copper Mine Loop, Allihies

Last Friday morning we woke up to a very misty Castletownbere harbour which we understand is a normal occurrence in the area. But rain or shine we were going ahead with our plans to do one of the loop walks of the Beara Peninsula. It has always been one of myself and Donncha's dreams to do a walk in Ireland and since the kids are now well seasoned jungle walkers, they will sure have no problems with a walk in the cooler climes.

The walk we chose was the 7k Copper Mine Trail in Allihies (we thought as the kids can do 3k in 30+ degrees heat, a 7k walk would be a breeze). On approach Allihies was just as misty as Castletownbere but down to sea level, the mist kind of dissappeared and it was the lovely Irish summer again!

The walk started off behind Allihilies beach and for the first few kilometres we walked along the majestic coastline with the backdrop of the mountains behind.

We followed these very well placed Beara Way markers all the way round. The arrows below show the three looped walks of the area and we followed the green. If I am not mistaken, the yellow walking man is for the actual Beara Way which is a 206k circular route around the Beara Peninsula starting and ending in Glengarrif. It is typically supposed to take 9 days to complete. It's on the list!

Lots of photo opportunities and for short moments only I had willing models

We eventually started walking upwards towards the mountains which are sheer rock

And even came across sheep

We even managed a family picture (balancing the camera on the rocks) before heading down again. On the way down we walked past an old copper mine. One of many around Allihies, these copper mines were a major part of the area in the 1800s

And back down to the colourful little village of Allihilies