Ireland: Kinsale on the South Coast

Today, with some sadness we left Killarney, and headed to the south coast of Ireland to the Kinsale area.  I actually booked us in at a B&B hotel called the Blue Horizon near a small village called Garrettstown right on the coast.  The weather continued to treat us well as the day was sunny giving us an opportunity for another beach day at the beautiful beach at Garrettstown just down the hill from where we were staying.

That evening we headed into the colorful town of Kinsale for a stroll and dinner.  This is a great town just to wander around and explore the streets and shops.  Although much easier to do without kids we still made our somewhat regular search for the local ice cream shop!

The Blue Horizon B&B was our stay for the night.  It has spectacular views, great hosts, a bar - everything you would want.  Check out the views from our room!  Check out one of our favorite pics from the trip - the attempted family shot with Kelly casually holding Preston's shirt as he tries to escape. 

Ireland: Wexford

Today in the morning we took the kids to the Irish National Heritage Museum, where they learned all about the history of Ireland from the stone age through medieval times.

The weather cleared in the afternoon so after Preston had a nap we headed over to a beautiful blue flag beach on the Irish Sea named Curracloe beach about 8 miles north of Wexford town.


Gower Trip - Rhossoli & Worms Head

After Oxwich, the weather started to clear late morning and with the low tide hitting about mid afternoon, I wanted to take the boys to beautiful village of Rhossoli and see if we could hike across to Worms Head.  Worms head is a tiny spine of rock that hangs off the Western tip of the Gower, and you can only cross over to it at low tide when a rocky land-bridge is exposed.   Historically 'Wurm' is another word for dragon and the rocky outcrop is called this due to its resemblance to a sea serpent.  

 Worms Head off in the distance and waiting for the tide to recede before making the crossing

The crossing and pictures taken from the Island

Looking at the seals far below.  Third shot you get a good view looking back to the mainland with the land bridge exposed

Shots of Rhossoli bay - considered one of the most beautiful beaches in the UK

Camping on the Gower Peninsula - Three Cliffs Bay

This past weekend I took Hunter and Noah camping on the Gower Peninsula of South Wales.    The Gower is a beautiful are with amazing beaches.  People come from all over to stay there.  The site I booked was a place I tried to get to last year but was full.  It is called Three Cliffs Bay Campground.  In 2006 the Independent ranked it the best campsite view in the world.  Its definitely must be up there for sure.  

View from the Campsite and our setup

Ice Cream and dinners at the local pub

Hiking and playing at the beach and nearby Pennard Castle 

Beach Day and climbing up to the highest of the 3 cliffs

Barafundle Bay - Pembrokshire

With the amazing weather we are having, I took Friday off and we decided to pull the kids out of school since there is only a week left anyhow until the summer break anyhow.  We decided to take a day trip to west wales in Pembrokshire to a place called Barafundle Bay after a recommendation from an office mate.  The reviews were good too!  According to wikipedia, It was ranked as one of the top 12 beaches in the world in 2004, the good holiday guide ranked it as the best beach in Britain, and in 2006 it was rated as the best spot in the UK for a picnic by Country Life magazine.  Plus its a little out of the way to find, and requires about a 15 minute walk along a coastal path to get to it which keeps the hordes away.  

The walk from the car park to the beach - beautiful:

Fun at the beach: