Written on December 2nd 2014

From Limerick to the Dingle Peninsular and Annascule, a tiny village with well nothing open! We arrived, unloaded and found our way to Dingle for tea.

Dingle, was a lovely, and possibly upper market sea side town, but as it was about 6pm when we arrived and all but the pubs and one gift shop was closed. We meandered around looking for a bar recommended by Tony (the musician from Limerick). It had been described as somewhere that tourists don’t go! When we found it we realised why that was the case, with harsh lighting and no view through the windows it was a typically Irish bar and quite intimidating to two girls. It was also in far too close proximity to a very dunk young Irishman who had already taken a liking to Helene, taking her by the hand in a gift shop, holding it for way to long and slurring so much his speech was uncomprehendable – attractive! We passed the same group of lads a little later on, while still hunting for food, and one of them was violently vomiting on a street corner – not just the English then!!

In the centre of Dingle we spotted a five bedroom development opportunity for sale. This was something we found more and more as we drove around. Abandoned property and development opportunities are rife, houses overlooking views you would pay a million quid for in Devon were empty and boarded up – why, we never found out?

Next on the agenda was Inch beech – a three mile stretch of beach. We arrived on the shore amid a mist that prevented a view of the end of the beach. A gentle stroll taking pictures turned into a hike and a determination to reach the end of the beach. As we walked further and further from civilisation we were rewarded with the lifting of the cloud offering some stunning views back to the peninsular.

As the beach began to twist around in a j shape we realised we might never reach the end and we headed inland to climb the dunes in search of the panorama from the headland. Hiding behind the dunes were some large dunes and behind them some huge ones. Luckily the damp weather had compacted the sand making them a little easier to climb. And from top the views were spectacular, offering sights of the differing landscapes on each side of the headland.