Day #: 30-33

Date(s): 25MAY – 28MAY2025

Location(s) Visited: Ring of Beara & Ring of Kerry, Ireland

Overall Impression of Location(s): Ring of Beara = 3.5, Ring of Kerry = 3

4 -added to our favorite list and we would return again
3 – a great place to visit
2 – OK for one visit, but we would not return again
1 – we wish we hadn’t wasted our time here  

Distance Driven on Leg/Trip (km): 357

Weather/Temperature (°F): The weather was considerably cooler than we experienced in France and it certainly has been rainier than we are used to, but the biggest surprise has been the high winds. We came prepared for the rain with waterproof shoes, pants and jackets but we were not prepared for the “Irish Rain” which is when the wind blows the rain horizontally which is what we have been experiencing. We were able to get outside every day in between rain showers but we had to hike in the inclement weather a few times, too.  We have also missed a few scenic viewpoints (including Rick Steve’s best photo opportunity on the Ring of Kerry) due to thick and dense fog. We still having to use our heat in the campervan at night to take off the chill and help dry out our rain gear.

Road Conditions: We are becoming more confident driving on the left-hand side of the road, in our left-hand drive campervan and on the super skinny Irish roads, but we are still driving slow in comparison to the locals. The roads alternate between lovely and wide roads and pot-riddled single lanes similar in size to a US bike path but used for 2-way traffic. We have been driving more of the dreaded “L” roads and we are getting the hang of having to pull over when an oncoming vehicle approaches since the road is only wide enough for a single vehicle. Our biggest gripe continues to be the tour buses. We have learned many of the drivers are retired police officers and they feel they have the right of way in every situation. Our boat captain said the locals have a similar view of the tour bus drivers as we have (he used some choice words we won’t include here) in that they don’t think other vehicles should literally have to drive into the bushes on the edge of the road so the buses can pass at full speed unimpeded. Also, there are just too many tour buses on these roads and they tarnished our experience of the Ring of Kerry even though we tried to avoid them using Rick Steve’s suggestions. Thankfully, there were almost no buses on the Ring of Beara.

Chickpea Mechanical Status: Well, all was well until our previous leak resurfaced during a heavy rainstorm. Tony noticed the ceiling near the skylight was wet and actually dripping. This is the exact same location where we previously had a water leak. The leak was supposedly fixed by a Hymer dealer in Mulhouse, France last year when they had our van in their shop for 3 days, but obviously they did not fix it. We now have a new repair appointment at a Hymer dealer in Limerick next week but in the meantime, we have butyl taped the seam between the van and the skylight to make it watertight. It’s not pretty but at least it will mitigate additional water infiltration.  Our campground was kind enough to lend a ladder to Tony to do this repair and Tracey had brought the butyl tape from home “just in case”. The ceiling has already dried out. Tony noted when applying the butyl tape that the front 18” of the rubber gasket around the skylight was completely missing and there was nothing sealing the front of the skylight which is most certainly the reason for this leak.

Highlights:

• Overall, we really enjoyed the Ring of Beara. This is a less popular peninsula loop drive with fewer tourists and many fewer tour buses. Our favorite part of this drive was taking the Dursey Island Cable Car over to Dursey Island for a hike. This is the only cable car in Ireland and the island only has 5 residents so it is quite wild and untamed. It was, of course, windy for our hike and it rained intermittently, but overall, it was a great way to experience this island and see all the cliffs and turquoise waters below.
• On the Ring of Kerry, we took a boat tour from Portmagee out to see the Cliffs of Kerry and to Puffin Island, the nesting grounds for 3000 puffins. We were scheduled for a longer boat tour, but it was cancelled due to rough seas and we were offered this tour instead as it was in more protected waters, although there were still 2-3 m swells which seemed like a lot for our 11 m boat. Our captain was great and we chatted with him almost the whole time and he shared so much information about the area since he was raised nearby. On our boat trip we saw seals and lots and lots of puffins! Tracey was in heaven as she loves puffins but we didn’t get any great photos as the boat was rocking a lot and the puffins flew really fast.
• We attempted to visit the Cliffs of Kerry but when we arrived the area was closed due to inclement weather. It was rainy, cold and foggy but we did not expect it to be closed completely. We pivoted and found a hike on the opposite side of the bay which overlooks the Cliffs of Kerry instead. The Bray Head hike turned out to be one of our favorite hikes in Ireland which involved hiking up to a Napoleonic-era Signal Tower used for communication in the early 19^th century in response to a potential French invasion. We got some lovely photos, but 5 minutes later the thick fog had returned and rain followed shortly.
• Along both the Ring of Beara and Ring of Kerry we stopped at numerous stone circles and stone ring forts. Some were easily accessible from the road and some required driving down impossibly tight roads and walking through farmers’ fields to reach them. The exact function of these stone circles is still unclear but the prevailing theory is they were used for astronomical observatories. The ring forts were located on the Ring of Kerry and consisted of dry stacked stone walls which made a large circular enclosure that was used for defense and worship purposes. It was quite a feat of engineering and we were surprised it was free to enter and we were allowed to climb up the stone walls to the ramparts.
• The camping in Ireland has been great. We boondocked (or wild camped) the first 5 nights camping at trailheads, pull-offs and a parking lot (for Tony’s race). We have also camped at the Irish version of an Aire and an established campground. What most of these places have in common was they all had amazing views either of the mountains, valleys or were directly oceanfront. Camping has been quite easy and so far, we have not had any problems finding a place to stay each night. We have no reservations going forward so we hope this trend continues for us.
• We are finally seeing some wildlife. It was quite distressing not to see any wildlife in mainland Europe during our travels, but so far in Ireland we have seen deer, puffins, seals, some type of rodent and lots and lots of birds. In addition, everything is lush and green in color and the flowers are in bloom. Lots of sheep, horses and cows are grazing on the hillsides. Ireland is quite beautiful and exactly how we pictured it would be. Everything feels alive!
  
  Lowlights:
• Water is the blog post title and the theme of this post. 1) Water is falling from the sky (i.e. rain) a lot on our trip so far. We are working around the rainstorms but Irish radar forecasts have not been particularly accurate. 2) We had water leaking into our van from our skylight. Although it has been temporarily fixed, a permanent fix will hopefully occur at our Hymer appointment next week and 3) We have a leak somewhere at our house in Arizona. We have been getting high water usage emails from our utility company daily for the last week. After having a friend check the house inside and who reported no leaks, we remotely turned off our Smart irrigation system and turned off the water main to the house but we still have been receiving daily high-water usage alerts using about 4 times the water we usually use when we are physically home. A plumber has come out and isolated the leak to our irrigation system and found another irrigation valve upstream that can be turned off. Since the main irrigation valve has been turned off, the leak has stopped, but now we have to have a leak detection technician come with equipment to try to find the leak as there is nothing obvious on visual inspection.
• Michael Skellig is one of the most visited destinations on the Ring of Kerry and unfortunately, we were not able to visit it. There is an ongoing court case in relation to permits needed to physically land on the island and until this case is settled no landings can occur. There are S.O.S. signs up all around town which stand for Save Our Season and this movement is backed by the sailors and tour companies who need these permits for their livelihoods. Our captain told us most people living in Portmagee make their living off tourism surrounding Michael Skellig.
• The tour buses are too big and too numerous to be in this area and their presence detracted from our experience on the Ring of Kerry, specifically. While we understand the need for tourism, full-sized coaches are just not appropriate for these roads and venues, in our opinion. Some of the tour operators are using smaller coaches and van coaches which seem much more suited for this area.
• We read in other people’s blogs who traveled in Ireland in their campervans that they had trouble disposing of their garbage and we concur with this. There are recycling bins everywhere that are free, but finding a place to dispose of non-recyclable materials has proved just shy of impossible. Municipal garbage cans in towns and streets only have openings big enough for a single piece of trash, but we have an entire day’s worth of trash to get rid of, not just a single piece. We did some research and learned that in rural areas like we have been in, residents pay for a private disposal service,  or take their garbage to an Amenity Center and pay a nominal fee (3-6 Euro per bag)  to dispose of their trash or buy special bags or tags (4-5 Euro per bag) which allows for leaving of these pre-paid bags for pick-up by a private company.  We carried our garbage with us for 4 days before checking into a campground that had trash bins available. There are also many No Litter Signs and the financial penalty for illegal dumping everywhere in these rural areas. Switzerland was similar where we had to pay for the bag and disposal cost upfront. Now that we know the system, it will be fine and we are happy to pay to dump non-recyclables now that we know the correct way to do it.
  
  Up Next: Killarney National Park and then making some adjustments to our itinerary to fit in our appointment in Limerick before continuing the Wild Atlantic Way. 4 more weeks in Ireland and Northern Ireland to go!
  
  Onwards!