Sightseeing, Sailing, and Seasickness at Skellig Michael

This was another day where we packed in way too much, and it lessened the experience. Our day started off really well, but as the day wore on, our bodies wore out.

Our first stop was Carriganass Castle (free of charge). We parked in a little lot on the side of the road that was around the corner from the castle, and followed a chipper little neighborhood dog down to the entrance. I thought this was just a castle we could explore on our own, but when we got there at 8am, the gates were locked. An old lady across the street came outside with a key and unlocked it for us. She didn't give any tours and we got to walk around the ruins, but the castle was rather small (no enclosed space, everything was a ruin, which is just how I like it!) and the experience was more for the views as we were passing through. We didn't need to spend much time there, although we felt kind of bad for waking the lady up so early. (How did she even know we were there? Is there, like, a buzzer that goes off in her house whenever someone steps up to the gate entrance?)

An hour later, we were winding along the Ring of Kerry. When I planned this trip, I was looking forward to all the scenic vistas I'd see being the passenger on this drive, but my boyfriend got the most out of that (unable to drive because of his broken arm) while I complained about being stuck behind a car going 25kmph. It wasn't even a Sunday, but they were definitely taking a Sunday drive, and I was anxious about having enough time to go everywhere we wanted to go. (Only plan two or three things for one day if you're traveling all over like this. We planned several things for the day in Dublin and were fine, but driving an hour or two between places can make your day's schedule way too tight.)

Our first stop on the Ring of Kerry was Staigue Fort (no cost, although they do ask for a donation at the gate!). This was one of my favorite places, and another of Graham's most hated places. The fort's entrance is really low and narrow, so it was hard for a 6'2" man with a broken arm to get through. He fell and sprained his ankle. (So on this trip, Graham has a broken arm, a sprained ankle, and a cold.) I had a blast, though, climbing up on top of the stone walls and taking pictures, then having a picnic brunch.

After Staigue Fort, we drove over to Derrynane House (5 euro). Derrynane was the home of Daniel O'Connell, "The Liberator" who fought for the rights of Catholics in Ireland. His house is now a museum with lots of relics from his life (the late 1700s to early/mid 1800s) and information about his involvement in Irish politics. I loved walking around the estate itself, though the museum was a little less appealing (I am by far more interested in Celtic mythology and ancient castles than I am in more modern Irish history). It contains a plethora of information, though, for the scholar interested in modern Irish history, as well as some pretty antiques, including a carriage in the carriage house. I think the prettiest part of Derrynane, though, was walking down to the beach. The beach was one of the reasons O'Connell bought the place. It was way too cold to swim, though, although later that day we did see a group of people swimming at Ballinskelligs Beach.

We went to Ballinskelligs Beach to see the remains of the castle and the abbey. The castle was one we could explore on our own and was a lot of fun climbing up, even though it was a small one. I think the abbey had some construction going on, but we were able to walk around it and explore. It was a ruin, but the gravestones were a mixture of ancient and modern, so people obviously still use this church. Both places were a little hard to get to from the beach- I remember having to tramp through a creek that had formed on the beach up to the castle, and nearly spraining my ankle on some slippery rocks- but it was fun to explore by ourselves with literally no other tourists present.

Heading further up along the Ring of Kerry, we stopped at the very crowded Kerry Cliffs (4 euro per person). Ireland's known for the Cliffs of Moher, which are a few hours further north. The Kerry Cliffs were supposed to be a little less popular and thus a little

less crowded, but the view platform was so small that it didn't make much of a difference. The walkway was paved (unlike the walkways at the Cliffs of Moher) but it was also steep. With the heavy wind, I had a lot of trouble getting all the way up to the top. I've read that you can find places along the countryside there to view the Kerry Cliffs that aren't as crowded and don't cost any money, but the information I found about that online was rather vague and we didn't have enough time to look for it!

We drove up to Portmagee next to take our boat tour of Skellig Michael (40 euro per person). We were really hungry by this time, having only eaten sandwiches for lunch and being on the go since 7AM, so we ate a couple of fruit, headed to the dock, and put on our life vests (an especially difficult task for Graham, whose broken arm got in the way of everything). I had decided to take a boat tour around Skellig Michael rather than spending the whole day walking around the island; I would have loved to walk where Luke Skywalker walked a few years ago, but I didn't want to devote that much time to it, and I knew by then I would be ready to sit down for a while. I regret this now! I wish we had spent the whole day walking around Skellig because I got so seasick on the boat ride. It took around an hour to get to the island, our tour guide turned the engine off, and we just rocked back and forth on the waves, which steadied my stomach a little bit. We watched the giant population of gannet birds that had infiltrated the island and used it as their own personal poop deck (forgive the pun- was it even a good one?). The island's cliffs were stained white from all the bird poop. Our tour guide turned the engine back on and took us from "Little Skellig" over to "Big Skellig", where some parts of the new Star Wars movies were filmed (the beehive huts where Luke was living). Though this was the entire reason I was excited about visiting Portmagee, my seasickness effectively ruined the tour. I rushed into the cabin, hoping sitting in there would help (it did a little bit), and fell in some guy's lap on the way. A few other people came into the cabin, making me feel worse since it was so crowded, so I headed back outside and looked for something I could barf into if the need arose. Instead, I threw up the banana I'd eaten onto a German tourist. (She was so sweet about it, too, telling me to watch the horizon to feel better afterwards. I rudely said, "No, it's not helping," and headed back into the cabin...)

We had a late dinner at The Moorings, a seafood restaurant right on the harbor (30-40 euro each). We splurged a little with this one, eager to fill our empty stomachs with fresh seafood, but you can definitely purchase cheaper fare. We ordered a seafood platter with fish, lobster, mussels, and oysters (my first time trying oysters- and I had to spit them out! The salt water taste was disgusting!). Regardless of my taste in oysters, the food was very good and fresh, and definitely helped my sick stomach.

Total costs for Day 6: ~90 euros per person

Cost of airbnb: $77