Kanga And Wombats Adventures

Day 7

After the rain of yesterday, a misty morning greeted us today. Felt and looked like winter. Lingered a bit chatting with our Airbnb hosts Anne and Paul, lovely laid back people.

By the time we set off, the mist had lifted and we sped along the N25 to Cork. Connie, our old neighbour in Bishop St was from County Cork, so we felt we owed it to her to visit her ‘capital city’. Sorry Connie, but Cork was just another city! Split in half by the River Lee, the main shopping centre lies to the south, with lots of variety, modern and old, but nothing uber amazing. The English Market was very quaint, and the produce looked pretty darned good.

We passed the statue of Father Michael, who crusaded against the evils of alcohol in the 1840’s and managed to persuade 250,000 people to take the pledge resulting in a 50% reduction in the production of whiskey! God bless him!

But most fun was a visit to St Anne’s Church where you could climb the tower along a very narrow passageway, ring the bells to your favourite tune along the way, then be rewarded at the top with great views of the city. We were gobsmacked that the local residents happily put up with all the random bell ringing, all day! How many times could you handle an amateur bell rendition of Amazing Grace, Abide With Me or Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head? Bizarre!

Leaving Cork behind, we headed towards the coast and stopped at Kinsale for lunch, a busy harbour town with narrow winding cobbled streets and colourful little shops. The seafood chowder at Kitty O’Shays was delicious.

We took the coast roads around to our home for tonight at Ross Carbery. We’re staying at a Bed and Breakfast, run by the very cheerful Englishman Ross! Ross gave us some great advice regarding a dinner venue…so glad we took him up! Hayes Restaurant at Glandore 15 minutes up the road. Simply spectacular scenery and food. For the first time in Ireland we were able to sit outside to eat, soaking up the afternoon/evening sun. To top off the day, on the way back to Ross Carbery, we found the Dromberg Stone Circle. Exploring it right on sunset (at 9.30pm!) was perfect.