Today's drive will take us through County Limerick and County Kerry where Aaron has chosen Kenmare for our lunch stop because it is part of the Ring of Kerry . Unfortunately, due to our tight schedule on this visit we are unable to travel the entire "Ring of Kerry" however by travelling to Kenmare we will get a taste of what the famous route has to offer.  

After leaving Glin, Aaron drove through Newcastle West where his good friend Emmet was born and raised. Since our arrival in Ireland the local news has reported daily on Ireland’s current economic crisis and unfortunately our visit to Newcastle West gave us an insight into a town obviously suffering the effects of this crisis. The number of empty shops and closed businesses bore witness to the media reports. We drove away from Newcastle West feeling a little sad for Emmet and his family that their once vibrant and flourishing town was going through such hard times.

In contrast, our drive to Kenmare showcased some of the extreme beauty Ireland has to offer – the scenery was picture perfect. Our arrival was greeted by light rain so we quickly made our way to the nearest Pub which was the Lansdowne Arms Hotel for lunch . This was a popular lunch spot and when we entered the tables were full of "Tony Abbot lookalikes" all dressed in colourful lycra outfits which appears to be the uniform of recreational cyclists worldwide. We managed to find a table and sat down to enjoy the homely atmosphere of the popular pub.

During lunch the street outside became increasingly noisy with the sound of car horns honking and engines revving, upon investigation we could see a constant stream of brightly painted numbered cars parading up and down the street. We later learned the cars were part of the Cannonball Run which is an annual three day event to provide funds for charity. The Run attracts cars from all over the world and Kenmare just happened to be part of the route.

We left Kenmare and continued our journey southwards through the Peat bogs of south west Ireland. It was fascinating to see pile upon pile of Peat cut into uniform size pieces that had been left to dry as they awaited bagging . The ancient Peat is found in the regions of Ireland prone to high rainfall where it is then farmed and sold for fuel.

By late afternoon we reached the coastal village of Garretstown where I had made a booking at "The Blue Horizon B & B" which was also a pub. On arrival, my first impression from the outside was one of disappointment however I was happy to be proven wrong when we entered as the rooms were comfortable and inviting and we had stunning views from each of our rooms overlooking the coast.

Garretstown is a 10 minute drive from Kinsales where I had originally planned to stay however the Disabled World Sailing Championships coincided with the timing of our visit therefore Kinsales was completely booked out.

Garretstown is quite small therefore its one and only restaurant that came highly recommended was completely booked out for dinner so we decided to take our chances and drive into Kinsales. Due to the Sailing Championships we knew the restaurants and pubs would be busy in however we didn’t mind waiting for a table once we had chosen to eat at the White House Inn as the atmosphere was great and "people watching" kept us entertained. Eventually our table was ready and after a great meal we headed back to our B & B for the night.

In the morning breakfast was served in the pub after which we booked out and headed down to the local beach so Sal and I could say we had dipped our toes in the Celtic Sea however the water was far too cold so we had to be satisfied with dipping a few fingers in instead.