5 day tour of the South West Ireland 500

IMG_1385.webp
Not wanting to let them Scots fellas behind the NC500 have it all their own way I spent a lot of time putting together a 500 mile touring route around the 5 peninsulas of South West Ireland; the SWI500. This part of the world is just as beautiful, just as rugged, just as remote (in places) but definitely less congested than the NC500 can be and of course its the beautiful west of Ireland with it's temperate, gulf stream warmed climate, and, it's part of the Wild Atlantic Way.

Now there is some light at the end of the pandemic tunnel I've resurrected the tour I had to cancel last year. It’s a 6 night, 5 day tour, all of which you can do without having to cart all your luggage around as we return to the same base each evening.

The itinerary is as follows:

Sun 5th September - arrive in Kenmare, Co. Kerry, staying at the Kenmare Bay Hotel for the week. This hotel has been chosen for a variety of reasons;
- safe off street parking for the bikes at the front of the hotel,
- within walking distance (10 mins) of Kenmare town centre,
- it has an indoor swimming pool, steam room, sauna, beauty and therapy treatment rooms all available FOC to guests.
- the food is good and the breakfasts are copious.
Sunday evening we eat together in the hotel - a kind of get to know everyone meal.
Mon 6th Sept - we head south, over the Cork & Kerry mountains (made famous by ‘Whiskey in the Jar’, Thin Lizzie and the Dubliners) via the Caha Pass to tour the Mizen & Sheepshead peninsulas
Tues 7th Sept - tour the Beara peninsula, traversing the Healy Pass
Wed 8th Sept - tour the Iveagh (Ring of Kerry) peninsula, with a variety of routes at our disposal
Thurs 9th Sept - free day - relax and explore Kenmare or suggested routes can be provided if you want to ride out.
Fri 10th Sept - tour the Dingle peninsula, taking in the Slea Head Drive and the Connor Pass
Sat 11th Sept - depart.

The tour is designed to provide relaxed touring days, no early starts, we’ll be leaving around 10am each day, no late returns and with several stops for photos, coffee/tea breaks and food; you even have me, a blow-in local, on hand each day to assist and guide.

Rooms have been booked on a B&B basis with the inclusion of a group 'get to know everyone' supper on the Sunday night. Mon/Tues/Wed/Thurs/Fri nights people are free to do what they want and there are plenty of good bars and restaurants, of all standards, in Kenmare.

Costs : £790 per person on a single occupancy basis, if you’re bringing a partner then let me know as the cost/person will be less.

Included:
6 nights accommodation
6 breakfasts
1 evening meal
Dedicated parking outside the hotel (don't worry this is very low crime area, your bike will be safe)
Assistance of me as tour guide
Maps and route guidance instructions.

Not included:
Getting to and from Kenmare, although help, guidance and assistance with routes & ferries can be provided.
Bikes
Fuel
Tea/Coffee/Drinks/Lunch during the day
Evening meals on each of Mon-Fri
Travel insurance
Breakdown insurance

Payment:

£250/person deposit required when making the booking
Full balance due no later than 31st July 2021
In the event you have to pull out before 31st July you will receive a full refund of the £250 deposit
In the event you have to pull out after the 31st July deposits and any balance paid will only be refunded if your space can be re-sold.

There are 6 places available so don’t delay.
IMG_1433.webp
IMG_3605.webp
IMG_1398.webp
IMG_2398.webp
IMG_3293.webp
 
Cutting to the chase, what day is earmarked for underwear scavenging and when will the results be posted. Asking for a friend, obvs......

The infamous big knickers, complete with stainage! :ROFLMAO:
Did I show you these ones? Found in the same place, one week later along with an accompanying t-shirt. The blue things masquerading as female underwear had a label 44-46” inside 😮. So you can imagine the size of the t-shirt😮😮, and yes, before anyone asks, they were equally as skidmarked & stained 🤮🤢
15E50D04-9CC3-4AD4-A54D-EB2A5B2D5DA9.webp
 
Day 2 - Kerry Peninsula (I’d say Ring of Kerry but you lot would all go ‘fnaahhh, fnnahhhh’)

Kenmare, Sneem, Carroll’s Cove, Waterville for morning coffee, Skellig Ring, Port Magee for lunch, Caherciveen then the secret road back through the Kerry Highlands via 2 mountain passes to Moll’s Gap (fnnaahhh, fnaahhhh) and then Kenmare👍

FE7EDF4C-07FD-46B3-A2C4-3E42C288FDCD.jpeg

todays ride out

CA06700D-4D3B-4D0D-9C73-110281EBB35A.jpeg

Top of Ballagasheen Pass

347A47DE-59B2-4782-AB3D-BD3E6B7EF187.jpeg

Carroll’s Cove

517663FA-E2A9-4A16-A946-7956DF28E64B.jpeg

morning coffee - nice view

2BD4C6C8-5845-4941-AB81-58B023C9FE70.jpeg

Rob posing and looking nonchalant.

242A14A0-BC67-48CD-9541-0377E51481B6.jpeg

Ballaghbheama Gap

08587743-27FA-4EA0-B3DB-D2B13C5AA583.jpeg

Trevor, June & Kevin catching some rays.

CA06700D-4D3B-4D0D-9C73-110281EBB35A.jpeg

Top of Ballagasheen Pass.


D2471A38-6768-4753-9601-6891517C5080.webp

🙁 a couple of GSs

53F4BCA2-A5FC-40B9-8B03-62B83481AA35.webp

All the bikes together.

9294E61D-6401-4011-B354-61F69DAB3EAF.webp

Some incredibly and nauseatingly good looking Italian fellas on the cleanest HDs anyone has ever seen either in or out of a showroom 🤮

DDC2A7FF-020F-4D3A-8EFD-598EFF504990.webp


Skellig Michael (the craggy island) which is where they filmed some Star Wars film thingy but which is also where early Christians went to hide from the Vikings and which is white coz it’s covered I. Bird shit oh and it’s a UNESCO world heritage site. 👍
 
Last edited:
Day 2 - Kerry Peninsula (I’d say Ring of Kerry but you lot would all go ‘fnaahhh, fnnahhhh’)

Kenmare, Sneem, Carroll’s Cove, Waterville for morning coffee, Skellig Ring, Port Magee for lunch, Caherciveen then the secret road back through the Kerry Highlands via 2 mountain passes to Moll’s Gap (fnnaahhh, fnaahhhh) and then Kenmare👍

View attachment 26846View attachment 26846View attachment 26851View attachment 26857View attachment 26859View attachment 26862View attachment 26863View attachment 26865View attachment 26851View attachment 26857View attachment 26859

🙁 looks like I need to exit some photos so they appear the right way up 🙁
Yogi tea, do they have Booboo coffee too? 😊
 
Right, Day 1 - Dingle Penisula and my bike can be up front, coz it’s a Ducati and this is a Ducati forum
View attachment 26769
The top of the Connor Pass👍, sod the other bikes🤣

Anyway, Gap of Dunloe
View attachment 26768
View attachment 26767

Inch Beach - tis positively Mediterranean here👍
View attachment 26766

Slea Head, with the Blasket Islands behind the big fat white thing 😁
View attachment 26765

Some random people at the Connor Pass that were trying to photo bomb my DUCATI photo shoot 😡
View attachment 26764

Here’s one @Chizel - Founding Father took earlier 🤣
View attachment 26763

Here’s today’s ride out👍
View attachment 26762

and here’s some people having a drink👍

View attachment 26770

Tomorrow we are doing the Kerry Penisula.
Who is riding that bike with the London taxi rear end?😇
 
All photos corrected now👍

That would be the Harley TriGlide, be nice they might be reading this, each to their own.
It’s a compliment , who doesn’t like London taxi’s😇, yip as long as people enjoying themselves, that’s the important bit, I even like shiny Italian Harley’s , the shiny bit may change with the eminent change in weather, very brave those Italians ……
 
Day 3 - The Beara Peninsula.

First we refuelled where we met a couple of German fellas (don’t mention the war) on really old vintage bikes, a Vincent and a Zündapp which is clearly the great great granddaddy of the GS.
5754B4D9-51AB-492D-9061-F87565295F7C.jpeg

EE43F206-99FF-4086-8695-BE22586A6DF0.jpeg


Next we called in a @The skitz ’s house, Rparked Helga right outside, but Skitz wasn’t at home 🙁
DCEF5586-ABF3-40A0-BBDA-BFFDEA40963B.jpeg



Then we climbed up the mountains to take in the Healy Pass and so everyone could get a photograph of the Pass from the top; it really is stunning looking down the mountainside and seeing this narrow ribbon of road snaking back & forth and then disappearing off across the valley floor in the distance👍. Sadly, this time it wasn’t to be, the clouds were too low🙁.
9AEEAAB3-344F-4690-9922-314238C78F28.jpeg

nice view🙁
5CA2C9FE-7A47-4E37-B09B-15AE28645F3C.jpeg


Next stop, coffee break, Castletownbere.
D29DCD3F-ACF0-4F36-A158-04F5321638B8.jpeg


Then onto the Dzogchen Beara Buddhist Retreat for some contemplation and a bit of Zen and the art of Motorcycling Touring.
A7B6F542-8A6C-46D8-80F5-2B696EF914DD.jpeg


We bumped into Confucious
26F95976-8557-4ED4-9E19-0729EA941D4E.jpeg


and Rob & Kevin enjoyed the views of the cliffs and the ocean below 🤣
72A3AE2A-90DE-4C0C-97B2-49536CD16F24.jpeg


Then onto Dursey at the very tip of the Beara where sits Ireland’s only cable car. Andy, our resident engineer is wondering how it manages to stay up - as do most people when you see the rust 😮

084F56CE-9083-44D2-929F-B01E592DF3C7.jpeg




37ADB4F1-65FE-451D-B95B-81AA96C96BAC.jpeg



Allihies beach for lunch
A37F7D26-9FDA-4AD5-948F-BB9F212FFC52.jpeg

0F5E8663-AD2D-4ACE-81EC-A9A0239E1E6A.jpeg

2103359E-A0FF-47B3-A708-779A88C309E4.jpeg


Then back via the old coast road, which I have no photos of until I extract stills from the video, with a stop for a pint (0%) at Helen’s Bar at Kilmacalogue Harbour before returning to the hotel.
4D0E377D-DA6F-4462-A37A-CE5CB55936D8.jpeg


@Chizel - Founding Father there were some sizeable grey mullet in the harbour, made me think of you always fishing👍
C0FE5FEC-6D2C-4EFB-9771-0D768724C1DF.jpeg


It was a bit ‘soft’ going over the Healy Pass but other than that 18-20c and dry 👍
 

Attachments

  • 3DAB764D-6578-4910-A663-088263963C0D.webp
    3DAB764D-6578-4910-A663-088263963C0D.webp
    36 KB · Views: 484
Last edited:
Day 3 - The Beara Peninsula.

First we refuelled where we met a couple of German fellas (don’t mention the war) on really old vintage bikes, a Vincent and a Sundapp which is clearly the great great granddaddy of the GS.
View attachment 26959
View attachment 26960

Next we called in a @The skitz ’s house, Rparked Helga right outside, but Skitz wasn’t at home 🙁
View attachment 26945


Then we climbed up the mountains to take in the Healy Pass and so everyone could get a photograph of the Pass from the top; it really is stunning looking down the mountainside and seeing this narrow ribbon of road snaking back & forth and then disappearing off across the valley floor in the distance👍. Sadly, this time it wasn’t to be, the clouds were too low🙁.
View attachment 26946
nice view🙁
View attachment 26949

Next stop, coffee break, Castletownbere.
View attachment 26947

Then onto the Dzogchen Beara Buddhist Retreat for some contemplation and a bit of Zen and the art of Motorcycling Touring.
View attachment 26948

We bumped into Confucious
View attachment 26950

and Rob & Kevin enjoyed the views of the cliffs and the ocean below 🤣
View attachment 26951

Then onto Dursey at the very tip of the Beara where sits Ireland’s only cable car. Andy, our resident engineer is wondering how it manages to stay up - as do most people when you see the rust 😮

View attachment 26953



View attachment 26952


Allihies beach for lunch
View attachment 26958
View attachment 26954
View attachment 26955

Then back via the old coast road, which I have no photos of until I extract stills from the video, with a stop for a pint (0%) at Helen’s Bar at Kilmacalogue Harbour before returning to the hotel.
View attachment 26961

@Chizel - Founding Father there were some sizeable grey mullet in the harbour, made me think of you always fishing👍
View attachment 26963

It was a bit ‘soft’ going over the Healy Pass but other than that 18-20c and dry 👍
Nice! Thats not the mugil cephalus variety we find in nz though. It looks very similar, but ours is impossible to catch on a line, it can only be caught by net. Your variety is stupider. Even the English can catch it . They just buy it a few drinks.
 
Sorrreee 🙁, edited now.
Nice! Thats not the mugil cephalus variety we find in nz though. It looks very similar, but ours is impossible to catch on a line, it can only be caught by net. Your variety is stupider. Even the English can catch it . They just buy it a few drinks.
Ours are the ugli cephalopod variety in the waters around here, sometimes see some of them in the bars late at night too 🤣
 
Nice! Thats not the mugil cephalus variety we find in nz though. It looks very similar, but ours is impossible to catch on a line, it can only be caught by net. Your variety is stupider. Even the English can catch it . They just buy it a few drinks.
I thought grey mullet was your hairstyle now you are back in Oz.

UK grey mullet cannot be caught by line. Even if you hooked one, their mouths are too soft to retain the hook.
Just like with your mouth, chiz! 🤗
 
Back
Top Bottom