Did you hear...?

This morning'a question from D (honestly, never a dull moment) 

'Did you hear someone's heart beating last night?' 

'It was probably the guy above me.'

'It was like being in the Princess and the Pea.'

Honestly, we have laughed so much. We really do need to get out more. Probably a good idea we are going back to our 'normal' lives, give the world a break from  the combined lunacy.

Quote 2  (whilst on the ferry): 'The worst thing you could do to me now is to put me in that water and make me swim to shore. I'd miss the ferry and I'd be cold.'

So, I'm home and D is on his way to his. We both need a damn good wash and some clean clothes. Holiday was brilliant. Adventurous and fun. 

And another thing; trains, ferries and a bed...

We stayed in the huge (but plush and modern) hostel called Generator. Not your usual run of the mill place and not a place where you can easily get chatting to people (especially if you are alone) but nice nevertheless.

Funnily enough neither of us slept well, complaints were: too hot, too soft (mattress), too narrow (bed). Whingers. 

In other news the ferry we booked is cancelled due to bad weather but the service from Irish Ferries has been brilliant. Notification of cancellation by text and email, automatic booking on the earlier or later ferry of our choice without hassle. Peasy! 

Irish rail have also been tip top, very helpful with the bikes and everything very easy. 

So its 'Home James, and don't spare the horses.'

The importance of an 'e'.

Whiskey, as the Irish call it (as opposed to Scotch whisky, which is different in the method used to dry the germinated barley seed. There they burn peat...as opposed to the traditional Irish fuel of anthracite coal - though now methane is used - and they don't triple distil) has been made at (or more recently in Cork for) the Dublin based Jameson distillery since 1750. 

Demps was dead keen to buy a bottle of their finest so we decided to do the tour. Forty (the first number in the English language where the numbers are in alphabetical order) five minutes later and we exited the tour route very much the wiser. 14€ well spent, we got a drink and we had a laugh. 

At the end there was the chance to buy into the reasonably priced 22€ four whiskey taste experience. We shared -instead of having one each. As D said, 'I've seen the evidence of your drinking ability and I'm not ready to face the results now.' For those in the know I'll just mention 'three pubs at 2pm on a Sunday afternoon', but that's all I'm willing to say on the subject. 

The tour, as I mentioned, was great. 

Still time to look around.

Still made of copper.

Still maturing...from bottom left to right: 1yr/ 5yr/ 7yr/ top row L to R 12yr/ 18yr. Whiskey is never moved whilst maturing and evaporates so the amount reduces year on year. Barrels come from the States where they were used to make bourbon. After 25yrs in Ireland they will go to Costa Rica where they will mature rum!

Ex sherry barrels are also used to flavour whiskey, after which different flavoured whiskeys are blended. 

The taste test commences. 

Four on a row. Demps is thrilled.

When they gave us the whiskey they provided a card which detailed the flavour notes. Adjectives such as 'spicy, peppery, honeyed sweetness with vanilla tones' were used. 

We tasted. 

And quizzed each other, according to the card...

My adjectives of choice were: 

Whiskey 1: burny

Whiskey 2: less burny with toffee

Whiskey 3: burny

Whiskey 4: super burny

John Jameson would have been turning in his grave!

Burny

Not my description.

Went back up the hostel AHH A BED!!! Where we attempted to thrash each other at pool. The hostel is big but nice. We noted the lamp fitting. 

Whilst there we met some Canadians, played doubles at pool (I potted the black. Once and at the right time too). Had food then it was early to bed nd early to rise.

Room was too hot, am used to tarp.

Cycling The Ring of Kerry. Info.

Killarney is a good place to start. It's all well signposted.

You can stay at Killarney overnight, either camping or in a B n B. If you camp en route you will have four official places to stop, B n B gives you more choices.

Travel in an anti-clockwise direction around the ring. You will:

a. Not be facing coaches, they go anti-clockwise too. They are very respectful

2. Not be faced with the biggest hill to start

iii. Get all the views

The route (if camping) is as follows:

1. Killarney- Civerskiveen (Mannix Point): 52kms/40 miles. Pretty steady rolling hills. Amazing campsite.

2. Civerskiveen (Mannix Point) - Caherdaniel: 26kms/17 miles. One big up and one big down. Beautiful campsite.

3. Caherdaniel-Kenmare: 45kms/28 miles. Pretty steady rolling hills. Basic campsite with lovely people.

4. Kenmare-Killarney: 33kms/20 miles. Huge climb, huge descent. Clean and functional site.

Buy food from the garages and Spars, freshly made salads/sandwiches usually available and eat a hot meal in local pubs. You'll usually get a good bit of music, of course you can sample the beer and the Craic. Enjoy.

Oh, and if you stop in Killarney you have to eat at Quinlan's.

Are these yours, Madam?

Yes indeed, the world of exercise creates muscles in places you forgot you ever had.

9.33am. Demps having a big sleep, put down to either a. Manflu or b. Too many later nights whilst working at P.I, I'll let you decide...

Another lovely day on The Emerald Isle (it really is the greenest place I have ever visited), whilst Wales can compare in many places to the lushness, people don't usually paint their houses green and the post boxes are not green and signs aren't as green. So Emerald indeed. 

Another truism about Ireland is the friendliness of its people. Seriously, nothing is too much trouble and you never get that sort of squinty eyed British thing when asking, e.g if someone can fill your flask 'erm..well...I'm not really supposed to...really sorry it's a health and safety thing.'

So, beautiful, friendly, easy to cycle, feels safe, good weather (esp for the pale skinned and freckled), interesting (those Tetrapod footprints really were something else), historic and did I mention green?

Man in green models green. 

Actually we got lost. 

Went for a long walk today - thought we'd break from convention and use our legs, 'keep the body guessing' as the D-Meister puts it. We walked into Killarney National Park (10,000 hectares of the first National Park in Ireland). 14kms later and we got back to the campsite, walked a long way, saw more beautiful scenery, ate lunch and got lost. 

Back now and I just find out from Joe - our man on the inside - that the trains are on strike. Gulp.

Tarp tent triumph!!

Before I set off DanFlan told me there is this new thing called 'bike packing'. Apparently it where you pack as little as possible and set of horizonwards with your dinky pack and your super lightweight kit. Loosely translated this means you do not take a tent but a tarpaulin 'tarp' which you erect by imaginative use of walking pole, pegs and string. 

Being a bird with a sense of adventure I thought I'd try it...so invested in the following from Alpkit: 

Unsure as to how to erect me 'tarp' I did what everyone does today and had a look on YouTube.

Silva Wolf has a bit on 'How to set up your tarp like a tent.' So I watched it.

'Ok', I thought, 'got that'. Contemplated having a practice but decided against it... hey, what is life without a bit of living on the edge? ;)

Arrived the first night and gave it a go. 

It wasn't bad. 

Inside. You need to rest your bag and mattress on a bivvy.

Demps thinks it's ridiculous, 'It looks ridiculous.'

The similarity to a witch's hat will not be lost on some of you. You can keep your jokes to yourself, thanks. 

The pros are:

-light

-adventurous

-no hassle

-warm, dry, cosy

Cons:

-it looks different every day!

-no door (hasn't bothered me at all)

-small space inside, I am small so no probs

-if we had some really bad weather I'm not sure how it'd fare.

I think it's fun but for the next long trip I will consider a tent.

33k, easy peasy!

Well, after the dread (really) I felt this am the mountainous bits weren't all bad..in fact we were both on form and we motored. It was a great cycling day. A bit of rain kept us happy (yes really, we're both damp squibs when it comes to sunshine). The up part took about 16kms..it looked something like this / and the down was 17kms..it looked like that \ .

It was kind of bleak in parts Demps quote of the day 'this is what Ireland should be like'. 

Bleak selfie:

Bleak hill:

Bleak aspect:

Bleak sense of humour:

As usual we talked and ate our way through. 

Now we're back in Kilarney. The Ring of Kerry is behind us (or in front of us, it being a ring n all). We can't believe we've done it and that we only have a bit of time before we need to head back to Dublin. 

Had a chat today (seriously if there were any donkeys in the vicinity they would all be minus their hind legs, we collectively talk that much. I mean.. This man can talk more than me!) and we have decided  that the following will improve future trips:

D:

- more time

- further distance

- making the start point in Paris or Sidcup (equally diverse, varied levels of beauty)

Me:

- more time

- get fit before I start 

- take less stuff and a small tent (I haven't got much stuff but you can always travel with less!)

Cycling holidays are great :)

It's raining, it's pouring, Demps is still snoring..

7.38am. For the first time when I wake it's absolutely pouring down. Honestly, we've been lucky but today may see a turn. Plus it's mountain day...already my thighs are groaning in anticipation.

Yesterday morning was a slow burner. I did my usual early up, shower, dress. Demps was asleep so I went to breakfast and left him a note.

Got a paper and enjoyed a leisurely hour over breakfast. By the time he'd got up, eaten, showered, we'd chatted and packed it was 11.45. That was obviously time for the D's mid morning snack, I then needed the loo and after that we left.

0.5kms down the road and I had a puncture. Changed it. Set off. Five minutes later my tyre blew, am guessing I overfilled it. Changed that, set off. Ten minutes later chain pops off. Well, that was the three and it was only 1pm. Managed to squeeze in 40kms between Caherdaniel and Kenmare. Arrived at 5pm (one hour stop for lunch).

The scenery is just beautiful. Really I keep wanting to stop to get in the water and swim (bit cold, mind) and there is something exilhilarating about peddling yourself round. Went to a town called Sneem, a pretty little place with a selection of colourful houses and a lot of tourist coaches. 

And this place - to D's amusement.

Visited a tiny geology museum with a mini lady who talked about rocks. Purple Irish sandstone is beautiful.

Then on to Kenmare and the slightly overcrowded campsite..

Literally just us.

Went to pub, had sausage and mash and beer...

Then back home. To bed. At 9.30 on a Saturday - it's all part of the rock n roll lifestyle dontcha know.

Top 'o the brow

Yesterday during our pootling round we did about 15km, with a few hills thrown in. Today we cycled Civerskiveem to Caherdaniel, which was about 26km. Not too shabby and one enormous climb with a beautiful descent afterwards. I write in kilometres because that's how it's measured here in sunny Ireland. 

Started with the breakfast of kings: local smoked salmon, hard boiled eggs, mayonnaise and brown rice. Midday was the lunch of queens. As above but with carrots instead of rice - well, we have to use everything up.

Oh with flapjack and green tea to finish. 

It was just a beautiful day. Demps took his usual precautions against the sun...

As I said, a short cycle but with a long, steady climb of a couple of miles.

Glad to reach the top. 

Then we free wheeled down and found another brilliant campsite.

Cyclists sleep here.

Demps was a bit under the weather (man flu), so I left him to sleep it off whilst I went to the beach.

THIS IS IRELAND!!!

A selfie of sorts. 

Then we had a BBQ and went to tent.

Barbie spot.

I've been excited about the Barbie since we started. I had this idea about a fire on the beach and cooking over it. When we arrived in Dublin we (I) bought a fire log which we (Demps) have been cycling with. I should probably admit to some pyromaniac tendencies...as Demps put it 'if only Guy Fawkes had had you on his side, he'd have had no problem.'

To express this concept visually, I offer the following..

This: 

Plus this:

Equals this:

It got slightly out of hand and somebody (not me) had to go and refil the water bottle to douse the flame.

It's been a good day. 

......

I'm aware that I'm not blogging as expressively or as copiously as usual. It's a bit more hard work cycling and camping. Plus with someone else you talk more and think less (I need to think to blog). It's nicer having a cycling buddy, I travel farther, I am more ambitious and I try harder, you get to share your hill triumphs and talk about what's for lunch. With a buddy you can tackle important life questions, such as: 'Where did you put the toothpaste?' You can laugh at each other. Lots. So yeah, this trip has less blogging time/feedback but more chat. 

:)

And finally, a photo for M. Lamy:

As we suspected...the story about the Columbian drugs cartel totally halting the export of Corona was not true at all ;)

Up an at 'em

Its a beautiful day in Ireland :) and the flowers are out.

More cheese.

Woke to thunder clouds this morning. Heavy and wet. Decided to stay in the same campsite for two nights (sore thighs/rain). 

Took the bikes and looked for a place to hire kayaks. Cahersiveen have advertised kayaks but they're not getting them til next year ('sure, you can wait if you want') so we headed to Valentia Island. Took a ten-car-size ferry across the water. Looked around and saw an advertisement for 385 million year old footprints, that and a few other attractions are the features of Valentia ('Ireland's best kept secret').

Ireland's biggest candle, not to be missed...though we did.

Arrived and had a picnic. I must admit, I have a healthy appetite...(I eat a lot), but next to Demps I'm like Kate Moss on a detox diet. The phrase 'I'm not moving til I've had some cheese' was ringing in my ears most of the day.

Ok, if you buy a block and have some, it does get sweaty but surely to goodness it doesn't mean you have to stop every 25 metres for a slice.

And whilst we're on the subject for a dexterous individual (musician/guitar teacher) I've never met a person who can literally put their life at risk so easily whilst engaging in such devilish exploits as picking a plate up or slicing cheese. I'm surprised he's managed to keep ten fingers/thumbs. Every slicing is a foray into the Russian roulette world of losing a digit. After some discussion and a fair bit of blood a joint decision has been made: I cut stuff up.

So...the Tetrapod tracks. These are basically really old fossilised footprints. Very cool. 

I mean...who discovers that? 

Oh. But before we arrived:

Some cheese.

A little spell on the beach:

'Discover Ireland' - Demps' photo

'Dead jellyfish' - my photo

And some beautiful views...

And we headed off back downhill to the ferry. It is beautiful. And hilly. And apparently (Joe says) 'you've done the easy bit, the rest gets a bit mountainous'

Noooooooooo!!! We should have bought a map. 

But sometimes the hills do have their advantages...