National Park DAY!!!!
So I got up, lovely breakfast, and headed out to the town. I had an errand or two to look after and then promptly got lost on the outskirts/suburbs of Killarney. Whoops. They have very interesting houses here. Almost all of them are duplexes with a wall or hedge down the middle of the lawn dividing the property. Strange.
Anyways, finally found myself in exactly the right spot where I rented a bike at a discount no less because I had stayed at the railway hostel. I had to bike through the town and as bikes aren’t allowed on the sidewalk, that meant street biking. I was slightly terrified. I finally was on the right track, however, and started towards the park. It turns out, the park entrance is actually more like 2 miles outside of town. It was lovely getting there because it was all downhill, but I dreaded coming back. It was definitely and effort coming back into town. At the entrance, I was really excited, it was cool and wooded. Much better than the stuffy town centre.
I began biking but had to pull over so much to take shots that I ended up just leaving my camera around my neck, promising myself that I would not fall under any circumstances.
This lead to me dismounting often and eventually, whenever there was a ‘touristy’ shot I learned to shoot while I was riding. I think I got quite good at it. Other shots I put into shutter focus and ‘artfully’ framed. I started with the Muckross (pig lake) abbey, which is in the process of being restored. It was a ton of fun because you could clamber all over the abbey and even run up into the highest part – the bell tower. There were also several lower rooms to explore and of course the cemetery.
My next stop was Muckross House. I decided not to spend the extra money to go in, but the gardens were absolutely beautiful and I even got to chat up some French couples who were visiting. They were so nice but I fear that I offended them because I kind of just walked away, not knowing how to end small talk in French. I tried to stop for some water, but there were about 300 school kids there so that didn’t happen.
I continued my journey, knowing that I wanted to make it all the way around the lake (12 km). There were some beautiful views and I met a fellow biker who frequented the park and usually walked his bike up the hills so that he could ride the really fast bits down. Those sections were very fast and windy. I finally hit the meeting of the waters where there was a small snack shop. I dined on a bottle of water and a piece of watermelon the size of my head. The perfect snack. I took some more photos and then it was off to finish the last bit.
Ah, the last bit. There is a part of the trail that must be completed on the road for bikers. I, forgetting that everything roadwise is backwards, followed the signs to get out of the parking lot the bike path ended in. This turned out to be the wrong direction as a local pointed out to me about a mile down the road. Great. I asked if I could keep going, would the road take me back to Killarney (maybe I don’t really need to see that waterfall, I can’t really feel my bum) and he said that it would take me back, in about 30 more miles. Back up the hill I biked. I passed the parking lot I had turned the wrong way out of and continued up the road, thinking ‘hmm, there’s a path there. Wonder if that’s how I get to the waterfall’. At the next parking area, still trying to understand my map, a couple tells me that I have a lovely camera (they owned the G10) and that it WAS in fact the way to the waterfall, but if I didn’t want to bike back, I could go in the out right there. So I chained my bike, started hiking up this hill. I get all the way back to that stupid parking pad and NO WATERFALL. At this point, I’ve been looking for this thing for 45 minutes. And there’s the parking pad. Beginning to feel like I’m starring in a re-make of Groundhog’s Day, I walk up the road and get my bike.
I hop on and continue down the road. Wouldn’t you know it, less than 2 minutes later I’m at the parking pad for the waterfall. I seriously debate continuing on without seeing the falls. I’ve been hiking/biking for roughly 6 hours and I am TIRED. But I’ve been looking for this thing for some time now and I decide that hell or high water, I’m seeing it. So I take a short hike into the woods. It’s lovely, but I’m a little underwhelmed, frankly. Getting back to the bike, I look at the map.
It seems I have the option of either following the road or I can take a path through the park. Not only will this be shaded, but I also see it is shorter. I like shorter. The catch is that I can’t SEE the entrance to this path and the horse jaunty drivers are looking at me kind of sideways, so I decided to take a quick little shortcut through the woods and hit the path. Things are going swimmingly; I am on my way back, it’s lovely, there’s a path, there’s no path….
That was when the path stopped and joined the road again. I think to myself, wait, there wasn’t supposed to be more road, why is there a road?! I see a small path off to the side and decide that’s what I’m supposed to be on. As it narrows to a footpath and starts leading around blind curves, I begin to think that maybe it is not the path I’m supposed to be on. Thankfully, it widens out. Sadly, it’s covered in big rocks that make my bum hurt more. And then we’re back to skinny, and wait there’s the road, why is the road there? Did I take another wrong turn? The road isn’t supposed to be there! On the bright side, all this adrenalin and fear are making the bumps hurt less. Or it could be the Tylenol I took 30 minutes ago.
Still on this tiny little path, I meet a hiker who tells me I am going in the right direction. I finally reach the main path again and start heading home. I turned the bike back in on time and walking on legs full of jelly I started to look for a grocery.
I finally found a Tesco’s after much meandering and bought myself some lunch making devices (I was very tired of paying for wickedly overpriced food). I also bought a bunch of candy and had a long discussion with the sales girls about what kind of candies the Irish typically eat.
I finally made it home, munching on some pasteries, talked to Thom, and watched The Blind Side. It was quite good and I enjoyed it thoroughly. And now, it is time for bed because I am very, very tired. Tomorrow will have to be an easy day I think.
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