The Wild Atlantic Way

The Dingle peninsula is stunning. Our first taste of nomadic life was spending four weeks living a stone’s throw from Inch Beach on the beautiful west coast of Ireland. With the Wild Atlantic Way on our doorstep we didn’t need to go far to get up to the eyeballs in natural beauty.

We had just about enough time to explore this one jut and I know we’ll be back for more exploring soon.

MacGillycuddy’s Reeks

Except for one telephone wire which insisted on being centre stage, we had the most amazing view of the Reeks from our house in Inch. Of the two rounded lumps in the middle of the photos, the one on the right is Ireland’s highest point, Corrán Tuathail, or Carrauntoohil.

We were treated to a variety of spectacularly lit mornings, daytimes, and evenings in all conditions. And sometimes we saw nothing.

Courtmacsherry

When Cork South-West’s TD¹ Christopher O’Sullivan isn’t in the Dáil (parliament) sitting on the Committee for Environment and Climate Action (amongst other things) he manages to find time to guide whale-spotting boat tours in his local area. Other guides are available so we were lucky to have him on our boat; I don’t know much about his politics but can confirm he can spot a basking shark a mile off.

The magic of whale watching is often in the emotional rollercoaster of hopelessly long lulls seeing nothing at all, interspersed with bursts of joy and excitement when Moby Dick makes an appearance. My photos capture a handful of the latter and don’t do the experience justice. I can’t recommend going on a trip highly enough, go! Being even as close as we were to these enormous creatures is a breathtaking experience, a healthy reminder that we’re sharing the oceans with our cousins.

We saw gannets diving, loads of common dolphins playing in the boat’s wake, something like 15 minke whales, a basking shark!, a puffin, and lots of nuffin. We saw a sunfish too which is pretty rare and really weird but I’m afraid there’s no photo evidence, we just enjoyed that moment with our eyes.