Cliffs of Moher from the water

Cliffs of Moher

When we woke up in Doolin on June 4th it looked like it was going to be a nice day. It was sunny and the wind had finally died down. Kathie suggested that I do one of the boat trips to get pictures of the cliffs from the water. The trip was advertized as an hour long and was only €15 so she signed me up for the 5:15 excursion. 

Don't drive here.

When I showed up for to the pier and checked in the manager and I were watching the waves crash against the cliffs near the pier and he said "There is a lot of energy in those waves today."  This was the first sign that the trip was not going to be a nice smooth boat ride. 

Please sir will you please stand in my picture?

Nearly got my feet wet.

The ~50 foot boat we were going out on was late getting back from the previous tour, and when it did get back the people on the boat did not look like they were feeling that good. In addition even though the boat was tied to the pier the boat was being thrown about by the waves. The boat was moving 5 - 6 feet with every wave and the people getting off the boat needed time their leap off the boat onto to the pier with assistance from two of the crew members.  

After helping the people off the boat the manager informed us that we would not be returning to this port because it was too rough. We would land at another port and they would taxi us back to the Doolin pier. 

So I knew it was not going to be a smooth trip. 

When we got out of the harbour the waves were 4 - 5 meters but they were fairly well spaced.  I was glad that I have spent a fair amount of time on the ocean, the couple from Colorado who had never been on the ocean were not feeling very good though. 

I moved to the upper deck because the people that were not feeling well were lined up against the railing and I didn't want them in my pictures.  The problem was the movement on the top deck was much worse and taking pictures of the cliffs was a real challenge because the boat was moving so much I had to hang on with one hand while trying to hold the camera steady and level as I took pictures of the cliffs. 

I took a quite a few pictures and as we got further south the waves got up to 6 metres. 

Our hour long trip ended up being over 1.5 hours. And we laned at the beautiful small village of Liscannor, where a taxi was waiting for us. The ride back was very quiet as every one tried to recover. I sat up front with the taxi driver and one of the crew from the boat where I got to listen to the local gossip. 

Looking back toward Doolin.

Highest part of the cliffs

Nag's Head

South End

It seems that every village had their own castle.  This is one of two we could see from the bay where we docked the boat.

Neighbourhood Castle

Doolin and Surrounding Castles

Today we drove around the area to check out the Burren and look for castles.  The Burren is the local landscape that is much like Canadian Shield of "northern" Ontario.  Mainly rock with strips of grass and low shrubs.  Not much can grow here because there is very little soil.

This is what remains of a castle near the campground.  I got this one the other day but today I got it from the campground.

 On our way we stopped by a small town and I found this old church.  I took this shot from the outside looking in.

This church had arrow slits in it, so I am guessing the congregation were not pacifists. 

As we drive around Ireland it seems like everyone had a castle.  This one the old castle is to the right of the manor house that was built beside it.

This it the castle part and judging from the number of arrow slits I think this castle was attacked more than once.

This church is in even worse shape than the one above.

Poulnabrone tomb from about 5000 years ago.

http://irisharchaeology.ie/2013/06/poulnabrone-tomb-life-and-death-in-the-burren/

The Burren.  You can see that nothing grows here except low shrubs and grass.  In the distance you can see large outcropping of rock.  The tomb is also in the Burren and you can see what it looks like close-up.

Doolin and the Cliffs of Moher

Today we drove from Blarney to Doolin.  Doolin is right on the coast south of Galway.  We are only 7 kilometres from the Cliffs of Moher.  After lunch we went to the cliffs and spent some time there.  It is a huge tourist attraction with parking lots for cars and buses.  There were over 20 buses in the lot when we were there and we passed 3 more on the way back to the campground.

Here is the view from the lookout tower at the north end of the cliffs.

The weather changes quickly, a squall was just off the end but we did not get wet.  They have a visitor centre, gift shops and a couple of cafes.

After we got back I walked into the village of Doolin.  It was a treacherous walk down the road as it is very narrow with only enough room for two small cars to pass and it is lined by two rock walls so there is no where to go.

I got this picture in the village.  It is a thatch roofed store.

These are the remains of Doolin Castle.

Blarney Castle

Who would have thought that on June 1 my most valued possessions were my waterproof hiking shoes, waterproof FroggTogg jacket and my (now soaked) Tilly hat.  Today there was a wind warning and when it wasn't raining it was pouring.  I know now why Ireland is so green.

We spent the day at Blarney Castle.  Kathie and I kissed the Blarney Stone.  The stone is at the top level of the castle you see below.  Because the castle is in ruin, there are many areas that are exposed to the weather, so today they were very wet.  The climb up and down was narrow, we had to be very careful on steep smooth stone steps and some of the passages were only as wide as my shoulders.

The castle from a different angle.

The inside of the Watch Tower.  It is the small tower in front of the castle you can see in the first picture.  The holes you see are for the circular stair case  that went to the top of the tower.

One of the castle towers.

This was one of the waterfalls on the walks around the castle grounds.

The Druids apparently had a rock garden similar to Stonehenge in the area.

This is the Witch's Stone.  The right side looks like a witch's head.

This is from underneath one of the waterfalls.

Here is Kathie going down the Wishing Stairs.  You have to make a wish, go down backwards - with your eyes closed, thinking of nothing but your wish for it to come true.  The stairs are smooth rock and were very slippery in the rain.