The ABC Logo Ring

Day 11

Mr Thumb aka Dingle, was explored using the old ‘ABC logo rule’. In other words, trying to choose a route without repeating any roads already travelled. We did pretty well. Starting at Castlemaine we took a goat trail up over the Dingle peninsula to Camp, then back over the other side to Anascaul, along to Dingle Town, through a valley to Dunquin and back across to the north again via the Connor Pass to Castlegregory, then once more south over the mountains to Inch! Dingle town was very busy. Summer has begun in Ireland. It was a beautiful day, and the place was heaving. For some unknown reason, we decided to take on the Slea Head loop road anticlockwise (well it worked on the ROK). Apparently the views are better when you go clockwise, which we soon found out would have been much cleverer. Not because the views weren’t amazing the way we were going, but because of the extremely narrow roads and the hundreds of buses coming in the opposite direction! What a nightmare! Nevertheless, our road trip took us to a gorgeous clifftop walk towards Sybil Head and the Three Sisters,

starting at the most idyllic looking beach at Clogher.

With lots of help, John perfected the art of crossing a stile.

We had to go to Dunquin, because Jenny cycled there back in 1982 and said it was beautiful. And it was.

Across Conner Pass, Ireland’s highest mountain pass, you can see to the north and south. South to Dingle was pretty hazy but north towards Mt Brandon was much better.

On the advice of our trusty guidebook, we ventured onto dirt roads to Glanteenassig Forest, a very picturesque lake with this weird walkway around it. Made up of 2 wooden planks, it was only wide enough for one person to walk on.

Our last crossing of the peninsula took us to Inch, the location site for the movie Ryan’s Daughter. It’s now the location of a surf school with lots of interested onlookers.

We dined tonight on tapas at an old church in Killgorglin that had been converted into a restaurant. Interesting monument saved from the old church with reference to Sydney. But the best part? No chips!