Trekking up Carrauntoohil (via Devil's Ladder)

Now, whilst in Ireland, I did have a few things I absolutely had to do. One of which was hike to the summit of Carrauntoohil, the highest point in Ireland. This I thought would be relatively straight forward, that is, right up until I found the 'instructions' on how to get there at my hostel.

They were...meager. Firstly, like many hikes it did state never go alone; weather changes easily; yadda, yadda, yadda, but as I was reading it I was overheard that a couple of hikers had gone missing the day before, which is a little disconcerting. The directions also quite clearly indicated that there was not an actual trail and it did not provide a map or compass directions the summit... it just gave a few land marks to follow. This is fine in sunny weather when the summit can be seen, but normal weather in Ireland in September is not sunny, especially in the Ring of Kerry.

Pictured: the visible part of the trek.

I managed to get to the top, but I spent much of my time in heavy fog unsure if I was going the correct way. This is a guide, with photos, of how to make you way to the top of Carrauntoohil with photos.

Starting from Cronin's Yard pass through the gate to the southwest of the lot.

do not be concerned if these cars are not present when you visit Cronin's Yard.

Take the path to the left at the first fork

The right fork just leads to a camping ground

Follow the trail crossing over two bridges...

 

"I love bridges, because you know there will be a downhill after the middle!" - Lescinka Fackerell (Inward Bound; 2005)

...and follow this veritable highway...

...through the gate.

After a short while you will saunter between lake Callee and lake Gouragh.

 Continue following this path south west even as it disappears into nothingness.

slowly...

...disappearing...

...into nothingness.

until it pretty much turns into a dry creek bed full of loose rocks. Climb up the gully on the right.

There will be small amounts of water (not REALLY a dry creek bed by aussie standards) and mud.There will be lots of slipping and cursing.

Never fear, this is still the correct path. (aka Devil's Ladder)

It was at this point I assumed I had gone the wrong way.

You know when you reach the top as you no longer need you hands to move forward.

This photo looks back towards the Devil's Ladder.

At the top of Devil's Ladder turn northwest (your right) and head uphill. You will see trail of rocks amongst all the other rocks and grass. This trails comes and goes but is pretty well marked by cairns.

When in doubt go up the hill.

When you can see the cross through the fog you know you are near the top.

Bask in glory and ask yourself one question...

...how the hell do sheep get up here?

Probably just freeloaded in someone's backpack like Baiky.

Its Christmas Time!

Gemma and I spent Christmas together this year.
I do not have a Christmas tree, so I converted one of my basil plants...

Decorations were...sparse.

...we had an absolutely top shelf spread for Christmas lunch..

Your eyes do not deceive you, there are mint slice AND timtams!

and we started on our project of 'operation snooker awesome'!

Step 1: Undercoat!

Ireland: the rest

After I had finished drinking my way through Dublin and traipsing around Howth I turned my attention to the rest of the country visiting heritage sites and natural formations. I hired a car and wound my through the centre of Ireland towards the Cliffs of Mohr visiting sites like New Grange, Shannonbridge, Clonamcnoise, and a Dunguaire Castle.

Baiky and the Beast (of a hire car)

Much to my disgust I missed the Hill of Tara; the traditional seat of the High King. One thing I have to say right now, and you will see this in the majority of my photos, but the weather was AWESOME (all my work colleagues took great delight in telling how shitty it would be).

Pictured: not shitty weather

Of those the coolest was Newgrange, a prehistoric monument in the Boyne Valley that was built in c.3200 BC. Its famous because its entrance is built to receive the rising sun on the winter solstice. It is really popular and can be tough to get a chance to visit without a booking (I was lucky).

Entrance to Newgrange

Clonmacnoise was also pretty cool. It is a monastery founded by St Ciaran. He was thought to be buried under one of the buildings. Visitors would take soil from the site, but it began to affect the stability of the building so they ran some tests to prove he was not there. Out the front are some elegantly carved stone crosses decorated with religious motifs. John Paul II visited in the 70s and I believe delivered a sermon.

The High crosses at Clonmacnoise

The Cliffs of Mohr were spectacular in their own right; huge, dramatic, etc. but there were heaps and heaps of tourists. I hate tourists. Like ... really hate them. Noisy, dirty, drive on the wrong side of the road - really they were just getting in my way.

Hahaha, funny american tourist (zoom in). However, he should apologise

I kept on the lookout for the pair of Peregrine Falcons that supposedly live there but had no luck in spotting them. However, apparently I saw a humpback whale.

Cliffs of Mohr, zoom in and you can see a ripple that is supposedly a whale.

I snuck down to Dingle peninsula. I mostly used this as an opportunity for some pre-hiking hiking. Here I got  around to some more cliff faces, visited Gallarus' Oratory, ran up Mt Brandon for some sensational views of the landscape, swam at a deserted beach (deserted because August in Ireland = freezing water), and see some ancient beehive huts (Fahan group).

Swimming in the North Atlantic with Baiky

The run up, and the view from, Mt Brandon was awesome. Purportedly, the route up is the same as that taken by monks on pilgrimage and it is marked by a statue of the Virgin Mary at its base and by crosses all the way up.

View from Mount Brandon

The Oratory is built all from stone fitted without mortar and is watertight, an amazing achievement for something built at the same time as Newgrange (although the temples in Malta somewhat diminish this achievement, but more on that later).

At least I got the Oratory to myself for a few minutes.

I spent a couple of nights in Killarney, mostly for the opportunity to make my way to the top of

Carrauntoohil. This was not an easy trek, physically or navigationally (hehe, I think I just made up a word). I will dedicate an entire post on the trail with photos and the reason for this will become apparent when you read it.

St Mary's in Killarney

My last stop was in Cork. Cork was not quite as nice as I expected. I saw a few lovely cathedrals, dropped by the gaol, and went on a self led pub crawl.

Sober Lane, the first destination on my makeshift pub crawl.

My last day I visited Cobh, famous as it was the last place the Titanic docked before it tried to land on an iceberg, the comets of the sea.

Cork Habour in Cobh. Titanic rested just passed the island in the distance.

Here I got experience what it was like to be a passenger on the Titanic - I was passenger Michael McEvoy. I died.

This sign means pedestrians should beware of American drivers

Overall my major recommendation is to take a small car. The roads are tiny yet full of cows, tractors, and tourists.

Ireland: Dublin

As I sit down to write this entry it suddenly occurred to me how predictable I am when it comes to visiting new cities. In fact, this entry is pretty much going to follow the same predictable trollop as most cities I traveled to by myself. Pubs and bar crawls...tick, free walking tour...tick, walk through city centre...tick, alcohol landmarks...tick, walk/hike...tick. I didn't get time to go to the Dublin museum though.

The only museum I needed to visit.

Either way, the rumours were true, Dublin was awesome fun! It was the first stop on my Irish trip and I celebrated in what I believe is true Irish fashion...by drinking buckets loads of grog (including guiness, for obvious reasons).

They couldn't pour it quick enough for me.

Just like in Berlin there were some free tours on offer; I chose to go with Sandemans and dabbled in their free walking tour of the city as well as their 12 Euro pub crawl. The most awesome thing about their pub crawl, despite the people I met of course, was the fact that I only had to pay once and was still able to go on it every night I was there. Which I did...

...naturally.

The walking tour took me around many of the sights that have had significant influence on the history of the town such as Dublin Castle including the Justice Statue and the Record Tower. We heard the myths and legends of Trinity college including the perks of becoming a Schol (some of which I believe may be somewhat outdated, and, dare I say, removed from the current statutes of the university) and the apparent myth that murder is fine from in particular areas of the university. We visited the Dublin garden and heard about the origins of the name of Dublin, stories of the journalist Veronica Guerin, and Author Jonathon Swift. 

Dublin Gardens from the library. Apparently this also doubles a helipad because of course it does.

We walked through Temple Bar and heard of its rise as home to artists and thespians before eventually succumbing to becoming the popular tourists destination it is now. And, most importantly, I got to sing the about Molly Malone 'Cockles and mussels in front of her busty statue. We did more on the tour, but there is only so much I can fit in.

Baiky enjoys Molly's presence a little too much.

For me a trip to Dublin is not complete unless I have visited two places; the Jamieson Distillery and the Guinness Storehouse. The Guinness Storehouse is rated as Dublin's #1 attraction and despite my tour guides warning that it was a boring affair I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Admittedly the brewery tour itself was not worth the entry fee as it was self guided, but they have put a lot of work into the exhibitions and at the end I got to learn how to pour the perfect Guinness pint. Also, the top floor is, like, really high up, so I got an amazing view of the town.

Dublin from on high.

The distillery was just as good. There was a nice guided tour that went through the process of whiskey making. Most importantly, I was one of eight lucky guests to be a whiskey taster where I got to try three whiskey (American, Scotch and a Jameson) and then if I got to rate them. Being an intelligent lad I chose the Jameson as being the best and now I am a certified Jamison Whiskey taster too.

Certified!

That is most of my Dublin experience really. Other than that I went on about four bar crawls, which was grand; each night I pretty much bumped into the same bloke from Florida, was name escapes me, and some German girls I met on the first night. As usual Baiky made more friends than me and that was that. Visited the so called oldest pub in Ireland, but that title is apparently debatable (I found out later) On my last day I hired a car and commenced my own tour of Ireland, starting with a short 10 km run around Howth chasing a purple bullfrog.

Follow the purple frog!

As a final note, check the sporting calendar and avoid the weekend where US university's play a football exhibition match. Dublin was chock full of American tourists which means high accomm prices, difficulty finding tickets/seats in tourists attractions and restaurants, and the never-ending chant of "PENN STATE!" (oh, by the way, congratulations on you victory).

Views from the Howth Peninsula.

Bristol Balloon Fiesta

 Gemma happens to be a pretty avid hot air balloonist. In fact, she used to be the President of the her university's Ballooning society.  Now, every now and then, these krazy kats get together and have a bit of meet and float around where ever the wind my take them.

Balloons landing at a chocolate factory .

Do this regularly in the same place often enough and it can become a fiesta. The Bristol Balloon Fiesta just happens to be the biggest balloon fiesta in Europe and I got to head along with a team! Fiesta's are more than just balloon flying as I thought it was. Nope, it turns out that people come from miles around just to watch other people fly...

Anyone got a light?

...and to set up a carnival. There were stalls and rides and food and beer and music. Even better I had a balloonists pass, which meant I got to camp in the balloonists colony and hang out in the pilots bar (didn't get to fly though). 

 And a giant little tikes car!

Throughout the day the were also some displays, including aerial demonstration by a British fight Jet, a hurricane, a spitfire, and some dude with a parachute and a big-arse fan.

I believe it is called a Mirage.

So, what did we do? The first morning I helped set up their University of Loughborough balloon and went then went to pick them up (did I mention the drop-zone was at a chocolate factory), wandered the carnival, and drank a lot of beer. 

Filling the balloon with air.

Once evening hit, though, the real party began; NightGlo. NightGlo is a genius idea, and whoever came up with it deserves a PhD. It essentially utilises the amazing property of fire to create light. This is placed inside inflated material, commonly known as a balloon, to create a 'glowing bulb'.

Baiky and I at NightGlo!

All the pilots involved follow a script and set their burners off in time to music that is played across the carnival space. It was epic. 

Pictured: Epicness!

After this is was back to the pilots bar; we needed beer to help us make the unadvised decision to continue camping despite the apparent hurricane warnings!

 

Plus I got an inspirational idea while I was there.