Gap of Dunloe

Don't worry, I'll soon tire of this and I'll move on to another topic. But for now, sorry if I'm boring you with my holiday snaps. 

It was a beautiful sunny morning on the way to the Gap of Dunloe. Rather than taking the pony and trap that is so popular with the tourists, we decided to walk from the main car park. We had no idea how far the walk would be, or if there were any facilities at the end of the walk. The return journey took us about 4 hours (we went as far as the sign for the Black Valley, with a lot of stops for taking pictures and watercolour sketching). We had two little bottles of water (we should have had double that, but since there were no toilets to be seen, probably just as well we didn't). And it was wonderful. Well worth the trip. 

We could have taken a pony and trap on the way back (we saw two going back empty and we were tempted, but too proud to give in at that stage!). With each lake and with the sun going up in the sky, the view changed constantly. It was busy enough, but thankfully very few cars, mostly pony and trap, walkers and cyclists. I would have loved an ice-cream van at the top (where the black valley starts), but we managed without! By the time we got back to the little café at the car park, we were ready for our soup, cold water, and ice-cream (all very nice, with friendly service at the café across from Kate Kearney's cottage).

Then we spent the afternoon sunning ourselves on our balcony. I even got to wear my bikini. It was tropic!