Ring of Kerry
Feb. 17th, 2007 02:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
indigo_rose99Well, that was seven hours of "You know, that is kinda pretty..." followed by "OhmigodI'mgonnaDIE!!!" and "Whew! Lived through that one... Wow! Look at that view! Glad the sky's so clear... GonnadieGONNADIE!!!"
I saw a few things, learned a few things... I'm glad I did it, but don't think I'd do it again alone.
When I set out on this adventure, I planned my route via Lonely Planet guidebook and a map. The guidebook gave enough details for me to figure out the roads, further telling me that the tour buses take the loop counter-clockwise. Although it is not currently tour season, I decided to follow the same route. That part turned out to be a good idea. What was clear on the map is that the Ring of Kerry is around a peninsula, much of it with coastal views. Thus, water. What was not clear from the map is that inside of the loop is pretty much all mountains. Thus, if I had gone the other way, I would have been on the edge of the road with the dropoff....
I knew that the sometimes four lane (two each way) roads around Limerick and Dublin are the exception in Ireland, not the rule. Usually roads are two lanes, one each way, and very twisty. Think FM or CR (Farm to Market or County Road) size, varying wildly in upkeep and status of a shoulder. Either I blocked out the speed limit, or they have changed the speed limit signs since I last really drove around Ireland (I think they did -- at least changing over to km). Either way, I noticed that everyone else drove faster than me on the way to Killarney, even going so far as to pass me (an often-scary challenge). I felt unsafe at 80-90km (which I now realize when I can look it up, is 50-56mph), much less the speed limit of 100km. I wasn't in a hurry, so I didn't worry about it. About a third of the way around the Ring of Kerry, I realized several important things:
(1) The roads to Killarney had been very wide (by comparison), often with a shoulder. They are relatively straight, and thus it is not surprising that locals go the speed limit or faster.
(2) There is a certain feeling of doom when you see the sign "Road improvement ends" followed almost immediately by a sign with two straight lines, narrowing toward each other (to be translated as, "Road narrowing ahead"). I always had about a half second of "But it wasn't that big to begin with!" and "This was the improved version?!" before it was too late.
(3) Perhaps the locals can speed up on the straightaway sections, but it is a bad idea for me to be forced to brake into a turn. My tiny Hyundai rental car is the size of a Geo Metro, and actually SLIDES, in spite of me not going the speed limit and the ground being dry.
(4) The locals seem to go impossibly fast on the most winding, tiny roads! I finally discovered their secret: They don't even pretend to stay in their lane. Which is petrifying when I round yet another sharp curve to find one of them halfway into my lane and coming fast.
(5) They spray-paint the sheep pink. Not the whole sheep, just parts of it. Head and butt.
(6) When there is a sign that says "Slow down, curves ahead" (or the local equivalent, which I now forget), they are SERIOUS. Because otherwise there would be the same sign every 10 feet on the road!
(7) When you see people parked on the side of the road and no sign of a house or business... Pull over. Even if you can't see the reason. By the time you see the reason, you'll be past it and kicking yourself. I passed a bunch of amazing views that way.
(8) Anything with the word "Yield to oncoming traffic" on it... Just slow down to the point of a stop. I saw one of those.... thought "Ok, I'm supposed to go left at this next Y intersection... Here goes.... YIKES! Back up!!! Back up!!!" I was suddenly on a one-lane bridge with a car coming the other direction. Yes, taking up the ENTIRE bridge. *wild-eyed look* It took me three tries to get across that bridge. I have no idea what the locals do.
Before I made it back to the hotel, I figured out the sheep -- Yep, you guessed it! They let the darn things roam freely. Pink is easy to spot against a green and brown background. The goats and cows were less easy to spot.
Next time, I want someone else to drive. I won't look. And I want to take more pictures. And perhaps pictures with actual people in them!
I saw a few things, learned a few things... I'm glad I did it, but don't think I'd do it again alone.
When I set out on this adventure, I planned my route via Lonely Planet guidebook and a map. The guidebook gave enough details for me to figure out the roads, further telling me that the tour buses take the loop counter-clockwise. Although it is not currently tour season, I decided to follow the same route. That part turned out to be a good idea. What was clear on the map is that the Ring of Kerry is around a peninsula, much of it with coastal views. Thus, water. What was not clear from the map is that inside of the loop is pretty much all mountains. Thus, if I had gone the other way, I would have been on the edge of the road with the dropoff....
I knew that the sometimes four lane (two each way) roads around Limerick and Dublin are the exception in Ireland, not the rule. Usually roads are two lanes, one each way, and very twisty. Think FM or CR (Farm to Market or County Road) size, varying wildly in upkeep and status of a shoulder. Either I blocked out the speed limit, or they have changed the speed limit signs since I last really drove around Ireland (I think they did -- at least changing over to km). Either way, I noticed that everyone else drove faster than me on the way to Killarney, even going so far as to pass me (an often-scary challenge). I felt unsafe at 80-90km (which I now realize when I can look it up, is 50-56mph), much less the speed limit of 100km. I wasn't in a hurry, so I didn't worry about it. About a third of the way around the Ring of Kerry, I realized several important things:
(1) The roads to Killarney had been very wide (by comparison), often with a shoulder. They are relatively straight, and thus it is not surprising that locals go the speed limit or faster.
(2) There is a certain feeling of doom when you see the sign "Road improvement ends" followed almost immediately by a sign with two straight lines, narrowing toward each other (to be translated as, "Road narrowing ahead"). I always had about a half second of "But it wasn't that big to begin with!" and "This was the improved version?!" before it was too late.
(3) Perhaps the locals can speed up on the straightaway sections, but it is a bad idea for me to be forced to brake into a turn. My tiny Hyundai rental car is the size of a Geo Metro, and actually SLIDES, in spite of me not going the speed limit and the ground being dry.
(4) The locals seem to go impossibly fast on the most winding, tiny roads! I finally discovered their secret: They don't even pretend to stay in their lane. Which is petrifying when I round yet another sharp curve to find one of them halfway into my lane and coming fast.
(5) They spray-paint the sheep pink. Not the whole sheep, just parts of it. Head and butt.
(6) When there is a sign that says "Slow down, curves ahead" (or the local equivalent, which I now forget), they are SERIOUS. Because otherwise there would be the same sign every 10 feet on the road!
(7) When you see people parked on the side of the road and no sign of a house or business... Pull over. Even if you can't see the reason. By the time you see the reason, you'll be past it and kicking yourself. I passed a bunch of amazing views that way.
(8) Anything with the word "Yield to oncoming traffic" on it... Just slow down to the point of a stop. I saw one of those.... thought "Ok, I'm supposed to go left at this next Y intersection... Here goes.... YIKES! Back up!!! Back up!!!" I was suddenly on a one-lane bridge with a car coming the other direction. Yes, taking up the ENTIRE bridge. *wild-eyed look* It took me three tries to get across that bridge. I have no idea what the locals do.
Before I made it back to the hotel, I figured out the sheep -- Yep, you guessed it! They let the darn things roam freely. Pink is easy to spot against a green and brown background. The goats and cows were less easy to spot.
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no subject
Date: 2007-02-18 04:18 am (UTC)Thanks for sharing. And living through it and everything!
no subject
Date: 2007-02-18 03:41 pm (UTC)We had a toyota Yaris, enough for me, Aurienne and our suitcases. That's it.
no subject
Date: 2007-02-18 04:42 pm (UTC)My Hyundai just fits me and is dubious about the suitcases. I would not be able to fit a second person and their minimum luggage. And when I hit 100km or just a little road roughness (which happens often!), the whole thing rattles like parts of it are about to fall off. *paranoid look* I'm just hoping it will wait until after I return it to the rental car place...
no subject
Date: 2007-02-18 06:21 pm (UTC)For the record, I am quite dubious about this livejournal thing. But I am tired of hearing about your trips and excursions second-hand, so I suppose I will join the crowd. Now you can invite me to Ireland too!
Happy Chinese New Year. -r
no subject
Date: 2007-02-18 09:31 pm (UTC)The other interesting thing about Iceland is that all the roads seem to be elevated 3-4 feet off the ground on a dirt berm. I guess this helps with snow removal and prevents drifting. The shoulder is about 1 foot wide.
The middle of the road is between the clear parts of the road. Had to pull over half in the the ice to let other cars by. Note the road being built up on the berm, so if you slide off you are screwed.
http://pics.livejournal.com/ironkite/pic/0008p3hq/g30
Iceland also used lots of one lane bridges. There was one bridge that was so long it had sections that were expanded to two lanes to allow opposing traffic to pass each other.
This is a section of the main road around Iceland. The road surface is the same stuff as the hillside. Note lack of guardrails. Granted this is a small drop off of only a hundred feet or so. Other ones up in the mountains were a bit higher. And it's 50 mph.
http://pics.livejournal.com/ironkite/pic/00071gsc/g29
The do have normal roads also, just that these were the fun ones! zoooom!