Bantry Bay - Cork (and a little bit of Kerry)

I was lucky enough to spend Christmas 2013 with the O'Connor family in the beautiful and rugged Bantry Bay, in County Cork.

It was a beautiful clear morning when we first ventured out for a walk around Bantry Bay. Feeling inclined because she was wearing gumboots, Manda waded straight in to the water and grabbed a branch of seaweed, marching it round like a trophy.

There was also mandatory recreation of a gross brady-bunch-esk photo we'd had two years prior (also in Ireland).

Being treated to a full tourist experience, we hoped in the car with Fearg and were taken over to County Kerry and around the Ring of Kerry.

First stop was The Strawberry Field for some delicious pancakes.

During the trip, Fearg was busy telling us about Irish Road Bowling where players take turns rolling a ball down a section of road. I'm not sure how the winner is determined but it all sounded pretty far-fetched to me... and then we came across some guys playing it in the middle of nowhere!

We also visited Torc Waterfall where it started to rain. Sam took photos of this and then used them to try and convince people in NZ it had been snowing. We saw no snow.

And there was a bit of pub action in Killarney too!

On our way back to Cork and the airport we ventured out to Inchydoney for a walk along the beach. It was pretty windy and the coast was rugged but we made the most of it, walking in the water, rolling tyres, climbing rocks and dunes.

Christmas at the house was absolutely great. Seamus and Patricia were wonderful hosts, who plyed me with copius amounts of turkey AND ham. A girl couldn't ask for more!