Down in the south-west corner of Ireland lies a stunning land of fabulous peninsulas jutting out into the Atlantic ocean. It's hard to pick one of these peninsulas as better than the others but for hikers the Dingle is the one to head for because a 179km-long walking trail skirts its marvelous coastline.
We hadn't even started walking yet but this felt like the right way to begin!
A slightly ominous sign for a couple of campers to see...but it was in the village of Camp
View on our first evening
My friend and I trekked the Dingle Way with tents but with insufficient time to hike the whole route we also took occasional advantage of the excellent local bus service. The most common way of tackling this route these days is to pay an agent to arrange daily accommodation and bag-transport allowing the hiker to walk with just a small day-pack. We were trying it old style with full backpacks and my feet did suffer!
Early morning dunes
Walking Maharees beach
Along with the natural beauty there are also the pubs, of course. I had ambitiously hoped to visit every one we passed that was open but sensibly we didn't follow through with this plan or we wouldn't have gotten very far. However, the feeling of walking into a pub after a long walk with the anticipation of food and a cold pint or two is hard to beat.
O'Connors - a bit of a focal point for people doing the Dingle Way
Happiness between pints of locally brewed beer (it's not only Guinness!)
We also found a wonderfully uncynical approach to life in the people we met that welcomed strangers as more than a source of earnings. A free cup of tea and biscuits from the owner of a caravan park who felt sorry for us being a good example. And a jovial bus driver happy to wait while my friend went to the toilet was another!
Horses with a view
A hooded crow after table scraps
We mainly camped in caravan parks which provided facilities such as a hot shower and sometimes a basic kitchen. In the lowland sections finding places to wild camp is difficult.
Campsite just outside the town of Dingle...
...with a very friendly robin!
Most of the route is either along beaches where there was always some firm sand to walk on or on small roads that had little traffic and usually a view of the sea. The Dingle Way generally lacks the cliff-top paths that feature so prominently along similar trails in England and Wales but the bucolic wildness makes up for it.
Even the Dingle Way hiking signs are getting re-wilded
I would love to have spent more time combing these beaches
My favourite beach was Maharees in Brandon Bay. As we walked along it for the first hour or more one morning we saw nobody and watched gannets diving for fish off-shore. I then discovered the body of what I eventually worked out was a young basking shark. Later there was what I think was an old common dolphin carcass with lots of gull footprints around it. It's always sad to see such wonderful animals like this and some people are pointing a finger at the international fishing industry for causing such casualties but it did also demonstrate that the surrounding seas are rich in life.
Maharees beach
Basking shark (left) and, I think, common dolphin (right)
Another great beach is at Inch. Like an appendage sticking out from the southern side of the Dingle the beach is long and wide with great dunes and fantastic views across the water to the Ring of Kerry's mountains which go by the wonderful name of the MacGillycuddy's Reeks. The beach is quite popular with walkers and their dogs but there is so much space that it hardly detracts from the natural idyll.
Inch beach with the Ring of Kerry behind
Happy dog
We were there in May at the start of the tourist season and although it was at times busy it never felt crowded. July and August may be different!
Inch beach surf
Inch beach dunes
I was left with the feeling that I would definitely be back in a few years to do the whole route properly - still camping with a rucksack but with better boots and fewer blisters.
Saying goodbye from the sky above Cork and the River Lee
