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Our trip to the Dingle Peninsula, Ireland
Nov 4-14, 2010

More Storm, Lunch at Harrington's, More Storm

Waves at Clogher Beach





Page 1: Prep and Travel to London.
Page 2: Fri – Drive from Shannon to Dingle and Cottage.
Page 3: Sat – Dingle, Michael, and John Benny's.
Page 4: Sun -Storm.
Page 5: Mon - Storm.
Page 6: Tue – Inch Strand.
Page 7: Wed – Climbing and Set Dancing.
Page 8: Thu – Glanteenassig.
Page 9: Fri – Shopping.
Page 10: Sat:Mon – Return Home via London.
Original, all-on-one-page version.
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More Storm, Lunch at Harrington's, More Storm

Monday, November 8

We woke up at 8:00am to see huge waves crashing against the promontory!

Although we hadn't had enough sleep, we jumped out of bed to photograph them but the camera had trouble focusing on the spray in the low morning light. I had to focus on a rock and then wait for a wave to hit before depressing the shutter the rest of the way. KC checked the topographical map for the height of the promontory and determined that it was about 30 metres high which meant that the waves, or the spray from the waves, were 30 metres high, too!

The waves:






The ponies had moved to the other side of the field so the wind direction must have changed.

The ponies, huddling in a different corner of the field:



KC had lost enough cribbage games yesterday to be responsible for the dishes for the rest of the trip so we decided to start anew and play for money -- the change jar at home, which we normally split. I made breakfast – scrambled eggs, sausage, packaged potato cakes and toast. The eggs and sausage were delicious but the potato cakes were so-so. I don't eat pre-packaged food so I had only the eggs on a piece of kamut-flour bread I had brought with us.

Farm fresh eggs, sausage and toast for breakfast:


The sky cleared a little but the wind and waves continued and I was able to get some decent pictures! They aren't 'great' though because our camera isn't waterproof - at times the wind was so strong I had to take them them through the window - and our poor old camera has trouble focusing in low light.

A series of shots showing a wave breaking on the promontory:











The rain eventually stopped but the sky kept changing and became more interesting to watch than the sea.

The changing sky:






Around noon, the weather seemed to be breaking, so we dressed for hiking and drove into Dingle. We took Slea Head Drive.




The small ford crossing Slea Head drive:
which we were afraid would make the road unpassable
and force us to turn around:




A bad photo of the amount of water crossing the road:




Slea Head drive (we stopped to take some pix):




KC downloaded his mail at the Internet café while I went into the sporting goods store to find a dry-bag for the camera. They didn't have one.

We drove down to Garvey's Market , stopping at Dingle Crystal on the way to invite Sean and Liz to meet us at An Droichead Beag on Wednesday. At Garvey's, we restocked the pantry, then went to the chemist ( Walsh's on Green Street ) for latex gloves (I use them when preparing food), and finally to Harrington's for lunch – plaice and chips.

The fish was very good but we both prefer cod. We surmised that because of the rough seas there had been no fishing and, therefore, no fresh fish. Plaice was all they were offering. Since it didn't wow us the way it did the last time we ate there I looked online and there were some interesting reviews on Trip Avisor. It seems that they're OK in the off season but have trouble coping with the volume during the summer.

Harrington's plaice and chips:



By now it was too late to go hiking so we returned to the cottage. On our way there, around 3:00pm, we stopped at Clogher Beach. OMG! I had no idea what a STUPENDOUS VIEW of the waves we would get there! The waves we saw this morning were impressive…but these were downright awesome! They were huge rolling crashing things rushing to the shore in clouds of buttercream-like foam. The sun would blind us and then it would rain. It was wonderful! We found out later, this is where the 'natives' go to watch the waves during a storm.

The waves on Clogher Beach (taken with my little Lumix camera):




The waves on Clogher Beach (taken with the Canon EOS camera):







Suddenly, KC decided to walk up ONTO THE PROMONTORY! In retrospect, I wish I'd gone with him, based on the pictures he got, but I would have slowed him down considerably and he might not have gotten them. I did get a picture of him while he made his way, though

KC on the promontory:




This is what he saw:




Looking back on the car park where I was waiting:




The waves coming in to the beach:




The waves hitting the rocks:





I think this is where he got drenched:





Clogher Head Beach with respect to the cottage:



When KC returned, he was soaked to the skin, including his feet, but said it had been worth it! When we got back to the cottage we put his boots on the radiator – he'd only brought one pair – and hoped they would dry out overnight.

About an hour later, the weather worsened; the waves seemed to be higher and the rain was driving at times. The ponies were no longer huddled in the corner, though, so either they were starving or the storm was letting up.

A wave obliterating the rock at the end of Sibil Head:






It got darker and darker and the waves got higher and higher until the camera was no longer able to see them. When I had started taking pictures this morning, promontory-high waves were remarkable. Now, promontory-high was “normal” and twice that was remarkable.

The highest waves I was able to get a picture of:








At 5:30 the sun went down and we could no longer see the sea but the wind and rain continued. The forecast now was for the rain to end at 8:00pm, 25k winds to continue overnight, and a 1°Celsius wind chill, which is just above freezing.

We played cribbage (KC was still skunking me), and feasted on bread, cheese, and cider for dinner.

Dinner:


The wind stopped at around 7:00pm but it was still raining lightly when KC started doing laundry at 8:00. I went to bed early, at 10:00pm – too many nights with not enough sleep had caught up with me. I did not sleep well as it was warm in the room and I couldn't open the window because of the rain so I know the wind and rain continued all night. KC finished the laundry, read, and watached TV. He says he didn't get to bed until 2:30 although he did admit to dozing on the sofa.

EOD cribbage score: KC=7 BH=5



Page 1: Prep and Travel to London.
Page 2: Fri – Drive from Shannon to Dingle and Cottage.
Page 3: Sat – Dingle, Michael, and John Benny's.
Page 4: Sun -Storm.
Page 5: Mon - Storm.
Page 6: Tue – Inch Strand.
Page 7: Wed – Climbing and Set Dancing.
Page 8: Thu – Glanteenassig.
Page 9: Fri – Shopping.
Page 10: Sat:Mon – Return Home via London.
Original, all-on-one-page version.
Press here to return to personal picture menu.

Press here for 2009 Dingle travelogue (a new window will open)
Press here for 2008 Dingle travelogue (a new window will open)
Press here for 2007 Dingle travelogue (a new window will open)


A NOTE ON THE MAPS
Most of the maps I posted here were created using screen caps from MapQuest and Adobe Photoshop. I found that MapQuest had more detail, especially in the shoreline, than Google. But, neither MapQuest nor Google was detailed enough for our nature hikes so those maps I created by scanning the Ordnance Survey maps we use when we were hiking and then photoshopping the scanned images together. Please do not rely solely on my maps if you travel to this area -- buy your own Discovery Series Ordnance Survey Maps they are invaluable.


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OOAKFolk, Inc., and artist Barbara Healy are not affiliated in any way with the original manufacturers of the dolls pictured in this site. No photograph, text or graphic on this site may be copied without written permission from Barbara Healy. Copyright © 2004 OOAKFolk, Inc.

Last Revised: January 14, 2011
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