Day 17: Round the Burren

May 31, 2024

Breakfast at the Daly's House is wonderful. The usual yogurt with fruit and granola, brown bread, and lemon muffins, banana bread, and more. We also ordered off the menu and Chuck enjoyed his first French toast of the trip and I had an omelet with streaky bacon, spinach & cheese. There are more hot dishes that we want to try and thankfully we have 2 more breakfasts here.

With a bit of route revision we set off under blue skies with a few puffy white clouds. The temperature was still cool, and we had a nice breeze (no wind finally). Doolin is a LONG one street village and it seemed forever before we found the end. We had a gentle climb up and out of our valley to the Burren and then dropped down to the coast route. We were amazed by the stark change in scenery. The Burren consists shelves of limestone! We haven't seen anything like this yet on this trip.

Our first view of the Burren limestone ledges.

Looking across the ocean at the Aran Islands (tomorrow's adventure).

Limestone beds between us and the Atlantic.

Looking up from the road - sorry, but the pictures just don't do it justice.

Further along the road we went through the tiny settlement of Fanore before arriving at Fanore Beach. The sand here is a dark gray towards land and then becomes yellow nearer the ocean. The weather was calm and sunny, so we took off the shoes and played in the water with the jellyfish. Actually they were on the beach and we didn't see any in the water. If we didn't have another 50 kilometers to ride, I would have gone for a swim. It was a perfect refreshing temperature (and for those who know me, I didn't need my neoprene booties or gloves).

Wishing I could go for a complete dunk and swim for a bit. I was jealous of the elderly couple who were out swimming.

Even my captain enjoyed the refreshing water.

The large jellyfish laying on the beach.

If you zoom in, you'll see his purple design.

We came to another area of limestone that stretched to the water, as well as, up the hillside. The information board told us about the geology and indicated that some of the rock walls date back to the Neolithic era. Back then the landscape looked completely different. There was a thin layer of soil covering the limestone and there were trees. Hard to imagine when we were standing there looking about.

The people out there give a bit of perspective to the size of the boulders and to how much area this covers.

The road conditions were great and the traffic was minimal even though it is the beginning of a long weekend. The first Monday in June is a bank holiday in Ireland and we've been warned about the hoards of people who will arrive tomorrow. Glad we rode this route today! Shortly after the limestone beds we passed the Black Head Lighthouse - it was so insignificant that we didn't realize that was it until too late. We flew along with a nice little tailwind and found ourselves in Ballyvaughn. We stopped at the pier to look around and Chuck was amused by the bike station. We've seen these on and off when we've been on the Wild Atlantic Way.

Look at the assortment of tools. However, this one didn't have a pump!

Across the pier was a settlement of white houses with thatch roofs.

The Burren Atlantic Hotel in Ballyvaughn had a very intriguing sign. I walked over to the complex and there were signs posted "No Admittance without Checking in at Reception First".

Our next stop was to check out Poulnabrone, a large dolmen. It is situated in a desolate area of the Burren and at one of its highest points. This is the most well-known dolmen in Ireland and dates back to between 4200 BC and 2900 BC. When the property was excavated between 1986 and 1988, they found around 33 human remains that dated back to the Neolithic period. They also found an infant from the Bronze Age. Other than the infant, they believe the other human remains were placed at the dolmen intermittently between 3800 and 3200 BC.

This reminds me of an area near where we live in France - the Labyrinth.

We finished today's route by coming back into farmland that we have grown more accustomed to seeing. We had a chance to look at the rock walls in this area and they have been built very differently from elsewhere on this trip. If you look closely you'll notice that you can see through the wall.

After dinner at one of the local pubs, we took a walk out to the Doolin Pier before heading back to the B&B.

Doolin Point with the Cliffs of Moher in the background.

The tide is out and these critters have been left behind.

All the black areas look like miniature mussels.

It was wonderful riding without the panniers today, and the weather, scenery, and route made for a great day.

Note to ourselves: No rain!!

Today's ride: 64 km (40 miles)
Total: 1,108 km (688 miles)

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