After a little bit of a lie in to get over the effects of the Guinness, we headed out to the tip of the Sheep’s Head Peninsula.
The road out as quite narrow but with frequent passing places, and there was a reasonable carpark and tea rooms. We headed out along the well prepared track to the lighthouse, and got our first proper view of Bantry Bay. Despite the sunshine, there was a bit of haze that prevented a clear view of the other side, and a stiff breeze to make you take care with your footing on the rocks.
The rocks here are interesting, slate turned up on its side, huge seams running up the length of the peninsula. Must do some reading up on how it all came about.
The return leg was boggier, so care was needed to not loose a boot into the mire, but it was good energetic romp. We didn’t longer for coffee but headed off again along the Wild Atlantic Way. The only trouble here is that the route doesn’t mention that it’s not designed for Motorhomes. In fact it’s not really designed for cars.
We ended up with what was almost an off-road experience. It was Tarmac, but very wide, not much in the way of passing places, and definitely no turning spaces for something a long as us. So once the road began to deteriorate we didn’t have much choice but to keep going.
We ground at one point on a steep descent that levelled quickly, the rear end grinding along the Tarmac, fortunately at slow speed. We tried repositioning and managed to get past, only to get caught again a few hundred yards later. This time we found a large lump of slate to stick under the rear wheel, enough to get the clearance needed. We decided to take the slate with us for the rest of the ride, and it came in handy twice more.
The road seemed to level out, so we breathed a sigh of relief, but then we went through a section with lots of bushes and overhang which meant we had to push our way through. Much scraping and squealing as branches slide along the sides.
At last, after about 5 miles the road improved and we were back to a better route. What fun!
We stopped for lunch overlooking Bantry Bay, then headed into Bantry for a quick stock up of provisions and a coffee in the sunshine.
We opted for a campsite tonight to recharge the battery, and walked about a mile back into Glengarriff for a leg stretch and a well earned Guinness. Just the one tonight!
There’s more interesting rock formations here, so we may take a walk tomorrow along the ridge. If we can get up in time for the bus to Adrigole.
