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Warm morning, broken cloud, pretty nice. Not far to go today so an extended period of faffing ensued outside the
hostel. Faffing is like work, it expands to fill the time available.

Even despite this leisurely start the going was easy and we still reached Tralee by 12:00
After checking out the station we had an excellent meal in a pub. The plates were those big oval things you sometimes see used as serving plates. Well these were the eating plates! We struggled to get to the station, I could hardly stand in fact after such a ridiculously large meal.

We then caught the 14:00 to Dublin and snoozed for the four and a half hour journey of 300km.

We only cycled 22 miles today.

A night out in Dublin rounded off an excellent holiday. One of the classics which will be remembered for years to come.

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The day dawned wet and miserable. There was no bike shed at the hostel so we'd left them in the courtyard. They were of course dripping wet by now and it was not a pleasant task to load them up with panniers. As we wheeled round to the front of the hostel the true extent of the day's weather was revealed. Yesterday there were sea views, today nothing but
mist.

Our plan was to ride around the tip of the peninsular. We had been told that the road along the southern coast offered spectacular views, for us there was nothing. We made our way to the Blasket Island Visitor Centre and got in on a group ticket. It was a great exhibition, Trevor especially was moved by the story of the islanders who had to leave after centuries of living on the island.
We returned to Dingle by the northern loop and after Alan did some shopping we started to climb Ireland's highest mountain pass road, 'The Conair Pass'. Since we were starting at sea level we expected this to be very tough. 1500ft in 4.5 miles at a steady climb, Alan and I reached the summit after 50min. Once again there were no views to be seen, in fact we could hardly see each other!

It was then a short whizz down to the 'Conair Pass Hostel'. The hostel is operated by  Tomasins Bar which is opposite on the main road. Alan and Bert cooked a three course meal including fish from Dingle. An excellent meal was rounded off by a trip over the road to the pub.

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In the morning we headed off up the valley and took a road which wound back and forth up the northern slope. Ahead was an unbroken line of high craggy tops.
After a while we noticed a narrow gap or opening in the steep ridge ahead and the road took us through it. It turns out that it was not a ridge we were approaching but a mountain range with a steep sided valley which passed right through it. Somehow a road had been built through here and we were on it. This is the "World famous Gap of Dunloe"
I'd been wondering what the 'World famous' bit was all about, now I could see. The road crossed from one side of the
valley to the other passing pools and streams. Stone arch top bridges are everywhere and the air was still and quiet.

As we gradually descended we came across increasing numbers of small carts pulled by
ponies. The sort of thing you normally see on postcards.

For some reason they were all carrying American people up the valley, sight seeing I presume.
We took lots of photos here and at the bottom we stopped for a pint at 'Kate Kearney's Cottage'.

The whole experience was quite magical and one I would very much recommend. It was blazing hot by this time so we stayed longer than perhaps we ought.
We pressed on through undulating farmland and stopped for lunch outside a chip shop in Milltown. Soon after reaching the Dingle Peninsular the wind sprang up. To try and make up some time we rode in close formation and managed about 18mph for most of the time. We stopped to look at the fantastic beach (known locally as a 'strand') at Inch and eventually reached Ballintaggart House Hostel near Dingle.