HITCHHIKING & EXPLORING
Monday 9.17 ~ Skellig Peninsula & Valencia Island
Very happy for the return of a sunny day in Ireland! Today I have decided to take an ‘Easy’ day. My plan is to visit a chocolate factory and explore the Skellig Peninsula and Valencia Island. Tomorrow will be another hard ride day as I climb over the mountains to Killarney.
Monica is off continuing her journey though Ireland. We hope to meet up at an REI one day. I decide to hitchhike around Skelling Peninsula. I stick out my thumb and quickly get a ride from a local guy takes me to the turn off to the Skellig Peninsula.
Next a vacationing couple from Utah offers me a ride. I tell them I’m going to the Skelligs Chocolate Factory. They didn’t know about it so they decide to visit it too and it’s a real treat to sample the chocolate and pick some up for the road. I leave the factory and the couple continues on.
I take a lovely walk down the hill, taking photos, of this amazing coastline. I realize how uncomfortable and stifling it is to be in a closed car! I have gotten used to being in the fresh air all day, every day.
The couple from Utah passes me later, as I’m walking along, and they offer me a ride again. I accept… and ask them to keep a window rolled down!
We drive to a ceramic shop with practical nature inspired pieces. The owner is German and I ask her for recommendations on where to eat lunch and what to see. The couple, Fred and Linda, are up for exploring so we spend a great afternoon together. We stop for lunch in Portmagee, at the Mouring’s Restaurant, right on the harbor. There are lots of loud seagulls looking for their next meal and we enjoy a meal of mushroom soup with soda bread and coffee.
We drive up to Bray Head which has this amazing view over the coast with very steep high cliffs - it’s right out of a picture perfect movie! Then it’s off to Brandon’s Well - as far down a dirt road as we can go. We pass an abandoned pub which says “Next Pint New York” and find an old stone farmhouse surrounded by sheep. This is the last remaining outpost of what was once a small community. We meet a local fisherman, and his friend from France, who tell us that the bog is very wet on the fisherman’s path to the ocean - so we head off in a different direction.
We do find Brandon’s Well, which is an alter site with low wood benches laid out around it for ceremonies. There are also very old stone markers in the area. We decide to walk along a fence-line, as it is elevated, and manage to get to the craggy coast without stepping in wet bog. You can feel the intense energy of the ocean slamming up against the rocks along with the peaceful solitude of this isolated place.
It was great afternoon with Linda and Fred! They drop me off on the N70, where they are heading to Dingle, and I'm hitching back to Waterville. Once there, I enjoy another local rendition of vegetable soup, Bulmer’s and Wi-Fi at a local restaurant while I type my notes into my phone.
I am refreshed and ready for my mountain ride to Killarney!