This post brings us to our last day of our staycation which was almost two weeks ago. I was a bit unwell over the last few days so wasn’t able to post anything on the blog. County Kerry feels like a different country altogether. It’s so calm and quiet.
The Kells Bay House and Gardens was suggested to me by a friend, it wasn’t on my list until then. I would have loved to do the Ring of Kerry too but apparently it takes 3.5 hours and that’s not even with stops to take photos. I think that would have been a bit much for young kids, maybe when they are older we will return. Luckily, to get to the gardens, we had to drive of on the Ring of Kerry for a little while. The views were breathtaking and the weather was ideal to take amazing photos.
The drive to Kells from Tralee was a bit over an hour. The kids were really well behaved. We had a lot of snacks with us to keep them entertained and they just loved looking out. They were playing games who can spot the cow and sheep first. There are plenty of those in Ireland so it was guaranteed they wouldn’t get bored. Once we parked the car, we walked up to the garden house to purchase our tickets. A family ticket for two adults and three children cost us €25. We obviously only have two children but even then we saved three euro.
After a bit of lunch we entered the gardens. When you purchase the tickets, you will also receive a map to help you along the way. There is the red route and the yellow route. The yellow one is generally the one that takes shortcuts. The trees were so unusual in some parts. It was something like out of a rain forest. Along our walk the kids loved spotting all the different dinosaurs which were carved out of the trees.
Even though I am afraid of heights (how things change overtime, I loved climbing as a child and jumping from trees), I couldn’t walk past the Skywalk. Here you can find Ireland’s longest rope bridge. The kids were staying with hubby while mammy walked bravely over onto the other side. The kids were cheering at the bottom and shouted “Don’t fall in the water”. At the end of it, Matthew gave me a big hug and a “well done” for making it to the end safe.
Then we went off and explored more of the walks. The next one was “The Cliff Walk”. This walk has only been put in place in 2010 and makes it the newest addition to the gardens. For the kids it was all about spotting more dinosaurs but as well as that the views were incredible up there. Thankfully that it wasn’t busy at all and we could take our time going around with no one bothering us or walking past while taking a photo.
Chloe’s little legs were getting a bit tired and so hubby decided to take the yellow route with her and wait in the cafe for us. Matthew on the other hand couldn’t wait to explore the rest of the grounds. He called it his little adventure. He really enjoyed the Bog Walk, walking across the water. Our walk ended with the waterfall at the end. Matthew and me walked back up to the cafe to meet the other two. He ordered an ice cream for the two of them to share because they were so good.
It was time to head back into the direction of Tralee. There was just one more final stop I wanted to make. And that was Inch Beach. I heard so much about it and people kept saying to me ‘You definitely have to visit if you are ever in that area’. Luckily it was on our way anyway without making a bit detour. We had the perfect weather for it that day, too. It was roasting. Matthew is always in his element at the beach. He loves the beach and it’s so hard to get him off it. If it wasn’t for his cast, he probably would have taken a dip in the water. I did instead and the water was surprisingly warm.
The beach is endless. It looks like there is no ending to it, it’s that long. Chloe and daddy settled in a spot and built some sand castles while Matthew and me went for a longer walk. I’d say he would have gone to the very end of the beach if I didn’t say we had to go back. I wasn’t sure how long it would actually take to the walk the whole beach and plus the tide was coming in. After spending a good while at the beach, we headed back to Tralee and had our last meal at an Italian place in the town. It was probably one of the nicest holidays we had in a long time. The kids must have enjoyed it too as they still talk about it now.
