Cong

After a lengthy lunch, we were pleased to see that the rain had stopped, so we explored Cong. Rather touristy (it’s famous as the location for some old films) but a bit of everything.

Including a duck house.

Bog Wood Sculpture:

And a statue of John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara.

It also has an interesting ruined Abbey:

with some nice grounds by the river:

Lough Corrib – The Boat Trip

It’s a very wet day here today, but the only day this week that we can take a boat trip across Lough Corrib…

You can see our boat in the background. Visibility was not good, not helped by steamed up windows, but the captain managed an entertaining commentary whilst occasionally pointing the boat in the right direction!

We stopped at Inchagoill island (now uninhabited) and had a tour of the ancient monastery, church and abandoned village.

Then on to the village of Course for lunch and a beer or two.

Lough Corrib

Despite staying within 2 miles of this Lough, local access was uninspiring. However, past Oughterard, there was a ‘scenic’road along the Lough.

We went for a stroll from the car to yet another geocache.

I went on further to a second cache, but the path degraded so didn’t bother to go further.

Then a short but nice walk along the river through Oughterard to the pub for supper.

Brigit’s Garden

This is a Celtic themed garden a few miles away from where we are staying. One of those places that could be ghastly, but was actually really nice.

It had a complicated sundial that could indicate not only the time but the date as well.

Another post in the series. 

There has been a series of these posts marking significant spots on the Wild Atlantic Way. Just for a change, here is Phil with today’s post. There were a number of islands to be seen, but it was hard to tell which were islands and which were bits of sticky outy coast. 

Connemara National Park

There is a nice visitor center for the National Park in Letterfrack.

We followed one of the tourist trails up into the hills – different lengths for different abilities.

As we climbed, the views got better.

We then decided to split up, with me going to the top of Diamond Hill.

Needless to say, this was a lot steeper (a 1300′ climb in 2 miles) but with good views at the top.

Looking back to the hill (not looking steep at all in this photo!):

Glassilaun Beach

We explored some of the Connemara area of Galway today. It was a bit misty to start, but nice and warm once the sun broke through. This area is a random mix of mountains and loughs.

We spotted this beach from a mountain pass, and were pleased to see a car park nearby.

Lovely sand in a crescent, little wind and gentle waves!

Perfect for a paddle.