Day 13. The Raw Power of Nature

We had parked at Doonaha campsite on the Loop Head peninsula as we though it would be more sheltered from the weather, if it was coming in from the west, however it had really calmed down when we went to bed, so it was a bit of a surprise to be woken up at 4am to hear a proper storm raging outside and the van being buffeted about in all directions, small stones hitting the van, and buckets rolling around outside,  I think the wind was  from the south west and firing right up the Shannon estuary at us. It wouldn't have  mattered if we had parked at Kilkee, it would still have been getting it there too. Its a bit of a weird feeling when its dark not know exactly how much your van is moving when you have nothing the gauge it too, but it was very wild. In 4 years of van ownership this is the 2nd night we have had like this, the last was on Islay and then we were so worried we moved the van as we thought it might topple. We've had the van out in some rough weather and exposed places since then so we are quite used to it but this was different. Joyce was worried it was going to blow over, I wasn't. But what I was concerned about was how much worse it might get, because you never quite know if what you are getting at that moment in time is it or if there's worse to come. By about 9am I would say the worst had passed but it was still very windy, we had a relaxed breakfast.
Interestingly I have been looking at the map and thinking about where I would like to visit on this trip, and that was further south west, and I had pretty much decided we would skip this wee area as it didn't look to have quite as much to see, there's not many lovely sandy beaches, the cliffs are lower etc, How wrong I was!!
Joyce wanted to stay put and not even move out the campsite, lol. That was never going to happen, weather like this is when the coast is at its most spectacular, all these cliffs, natural arches and sea stacks weren't formed by calm weather. I still hoped to get over the Shannon today but we decided to explore Loop Head and the coastal areas here first, the campsite man had recommended them.
It wasn't far out to Loop Head, we went through Carrigaholt but the Dolphin watches cruise ship boards simply said "waiting better weather conditions" with a choppy wave sign on the board after the words, lol.  Then we checked out the Bridges of Ross, there were already lots of cars at the carpark-clearly we were not the only ones ignoring the weather warnings and driving when it wasn't really necessary. So irresponsible!!
From the carpark we could see enormous rollers crashing into the shore some distance off, a glance through the binoculars gave a much better image of just how big these waves were, away in the distance there was a headland and I think the cliffs are 60 mattes high and every so often a wave would crash into it and rise the full height of the cliff at least.
I needed to get out and feel the wind and get closer to the action with my camera. How would the boys cope walking here. We got the boots and jackets on and went for a walk. The cliffs here are not high, maybe only 10 metres or so, but being blown off is not an option, so a death grip need's to be kept on Callum and Logans hand, Logan in particular objects to this so I took him, he a tough wee soldier but this was maybe just asking a bit much. We walked around the fenced bit which soon ended then on a bit, I spied some people over a wee edge and went to see what they were up to. There were about 10 people sitting in a wee scoop totally sheltered from the wind with their telescopes looking out to sea, I spoke to them to see if they had seen anything interesting thinking it would be tough to spot a whale or a dolphin in that riotous sea, however they were ornithologists and they were counting/surveying Sooty Shearwaters and reconned about 1000 of them had passed the headland....now, I am a total amateur and would not have recognised one if it flew right into me, but I was intrigued. Anyway, by now Logan was in a fair old state and we rejoined Joyce and Callum- he was doing great, Joyce not so. So, she offered to take Logan back to the van and Callum (surprisingly) said he was fine and wanted to go a bit further, excellent. We carefully made our way around the coast passing deeply incut Geo's with overhung sides, and onto the Bridge of Ross, its an arch and its quite cool, you can walk over it-its totally level and quite wide, on one side the ocean, on the other a deep rocky geo that the waves were surging into, it was full of quite large boulders that could be heard rolling about as the waves came and went, this is how coastlines have been formed over 10's of thousands of years. There were other holes in the rock where waves would pour through when they came high enough, really cool and I love these things. Its also amazing to see the foldings in the rock, at the bridge, the rock strata is horizontal at the bit you walk over but at the other side immediately turns through 90 degrees downwards, how I wish I could get my photo on here!! The forces involved, buckling rock when it was being formed must have been immense. Callum and myself battled into the headwind to try and get closer to the bay with the huge rollers, we never quite got that far but did find an interesting cove filled with froth and foam from the churning waves. I was pleased to hear Callum commenting on the different colours he could see in the water and the foam. He was enthralled with the big waves and the amazing sights he was witnessing and amused when a big wave crashed in sending plumes of froth all over us. I managed to get a few pictures, but its not easy with a wee one in tow with such winds, I couldn't really let him go, he had to keep a hold of me, my camera rucksack also nearly blew away a couple of times when I was changing lenses, its not that light but shows the ferocity of the wind.  But we were happy, and he was getting cold so we headed back to the sanctuary of the van where warmth and lunch were awaiting us......us boyz are very well looked after.
I wasn't finished though, I scoffed lunch and headed back out to see if I could spot a Sooty Shearwater after having checked in my book to see what I was looking for, I headed out with binoculars and long lens's on the camera. I found a hollow (away from the pro's) and watched for 40 minutes or so. There were lots of Gannets of all ages, white adults, grey juveniles, all battling the wind, fishing and flying past. I don't know if they were migrating of just going out feeding. There were some Great Skuas or Bonxies as they are commonly known, easily spotted with their white flashes on their wings, and dare I say it I do think I spied a couple of Shearwaters, Sootys or Manxes I am not sure, and I don't think my pictures are good enough to tell. It was too wild to hold the camera steady enough for decent shots. It doesn't matter, I simply  enjoyed being out and feeling the power of nature, we are so privelaged to have the time, the means and the technology to really enjoy it and capture a wee bit of it to look at on the iPad when return to our 9 to 5's.
We left there and then headed out to Loop Head and the lighthouse, Callum was so excited about the possibility of going into the lighthouse. We paid to get the wee guided tour of the lighthouse which was good, you can walk out onto the balcony at the top but it was fearsome up there, I nipped out for a minute as did Joyce but the guide rightly said Callum and Logan couldn't go out. I wouldn't have taken them. Callum didn't understand this however so there was a little bit of upset at not being allowed to go out that door.
We finished the tour and the drove on to do a wee bit of the north coast of the peninsula, it has a solid green line on the Wild Atlantic Way map so that means its of great scenic beauty. It definitely is, the cliffs are not the highest by any stretch, but the road follows the edge pretty much and you could view all the cliffs, sea stacks and arches without really needing to stop and get out if you wanted. I did need to get out of course, so it took a wee while to get back to Kilkee. We decided to head back to the same caravan site as last night, quite a contrast now the wind has died down. I had to barter with the man again to get him to take a couple of euros extra, he was happy however when I said to out them in his daughters piggy bank. A really nice genuine guy he is.
So, a wild day turned into an excellent day. We will move on tomorrow, over towards Dingle and remember this stretch from the Burren to Loop Head with good memories.