The Kerry Slalom
Today we were faced with an long travel day. We picked up our brand new Citroen Jumpy (9 seat "people mover") at London's Heathrow airport yesterday and made a short jaunt to a rest stop hotel in Cardiff, Wales. Today, we woke up, wished a wonderful Happy Birthday to Michelle and then proceed to our next night's sleep in Caherdaniel, Kerry, Ireland.
Driving on the other side of the road is weird; I'm still getting used to it.
We made our way to the Pembroke port in Wales for a 14:45 departure, due to arrive at Rosslare, Irlenad 18:50. The problem, you see, is that Rosslare is on the east coast of Ireland and Caherdaniel is on the west cost of Ireland -- via crazy mountain roads near the end of the journey. Much credit to the smooth operation of the ferry, we docks at 18:45 and we were on the road at 18:55.
I had called ahead and told the Scarriff Inn that we'd be arriving near midnight. The kind host politely informed me that I was crazy and that I'd never make it there. Pedal to the metal! We booked it down through Cork and I do have to say that the whole group were troupers: no potty breaks, no dinner breaks, and no complaining. Near the end of the journey, 100km/h on hilly, hair-pinning, cliff-hanging mountain roads we arrived in Caherdaniel at 23:18. It's possible to drive like a maniac on curve roads in a Citroën Jumpy, but maybe not so smart.
If that were the end of the story, life would be simpler. It turns out that the Scarriff Inn might have (or might not have) a Caherdaniel postal code, it most certainly is not in Caherdaniel. It is approximately half way between Caherdaniel and Waterville. As we ascended the mountain toward the Inn, heavy fog rolled in. For the next 30 minutes we carefully explored the next 5km of road and by a stroke of luck (and foot travel, with headlamp) I managed to find the Scarriff Inn, the guest house, and finally our beds.
A long day for everyone... tomorrow: grueling hiking!