Tuesday 27th April 2004
Photos I took: 89 digital + 19 medium format
Weather Forecast |
|
Forecast: |
Bright or sunny spells |
Actual: |
Early rain clearing to sunny spells |
Useless!
"You're just no use!" he said.
"What?" I asked, coming out of my daydream.
"No use at all. Worthless in fact!"
"Humph!" I replied indignantly. "I don't care. It's not like your opinion matters anyway."
I walked out, feeling OK with myself. It didn't matter what people thought of me. I was my own person.
My friend followed me."I don't know what his problem is," he said.
"Me neither," I replied. "Thanks." I smiled warmly back at my friend.
...
I swam a few lengths of the pool, then got out and sat on the side.
These dreams were getting weirder!
Another Wet Start
We got up, showered, dressed and Paula burnt the breakfast of porridge (I think in America it's called oatmeal). When Paula was making some sandwiches for the day, the rain stopped and a rainbow appeared over the harbour. I leapt for my camera and almost, but not entirely, failed to get it before the rainbow had disappeared again. By the time I'd switched it on, the rainbow was gone.
I got all my camera gear together and we set off on the long journey towards Killarney. We were off to Torc Waterfall in Killarney National Park. Anyone who has seen my galleries will know I like waterfalls.
We parked the car, got out and turned down the offer of a ride in the horse drawn cart. If there's one thing I really dislike doing, it's touristy things. As we were visiting fairly early in the year, the visitor centre was closed, so we headed straight to the start of the walk.
"Oh hang on," said Paula. "I've left my wallet in the car."
I gave her the keys and set up my tripod to take a quick photo.
|
The view from the visitor centre
We walked the short distance to the waterfall, saw there was quite a few people around, so decided to walk further along the path - we weren't in any particular hurry. The path was steep, so we took it slowly. According to the Rough Guide, the viewpoint from higher up the 60ft waterfall was well worth the climb.
We reached the viewpoint, which was basically a clearing in the trees. Nevertheless, my artistic mind kicked in. "Oooh yes," I enthused. "The trees make a nice frame." I set the tripod up and took a couple of photos. Unfortunately, the lighting wasn't wonderful and this is the best I managed. Now, if you can just imagine the sun on the lake and trees and the sky blue with fluffy white clouds...
|
The view from the viewpoint
Above Torc Waterfall
We decided to walk on to see what was further up. Soon, we came to a car park and a bridge over the river that later cascades down Torc Waterfall. We couldn't decide what to do next, so I had a look over the other side of the bridge.
"Hey, there's a cool waterfall down here. I'm gonna take a couple of photos," I said.
"OK, I'll make myself comfortable," Paula replied. She knows me well!
I, rather precariously, set up my tripod on the slippery rocks, looped the camera straps over my neck and attached it to the tripod - in this situation, I was not going to take the strap off my neck. If the tripod slipped, I might stand a chance of keeping the camera out of the water - mind you, there would suddenly be at least five kilograms hanging off my neck...
The other factor which complicated things further was that I have two cameras I use. At one point, I had my camera bag on my shoulder and two cameras around my neck, one of which was attached to the tripod. It was no surprise that I gained an audience at one point!
Still, I think it was worth it. Taking a photo of the entire waterfall didn't work very well, but as two separate photos, I think it worked well. You can judge for yourself. The left hand side:
|
Left hand side of the waterfall
And here's the right hand side:
|
Right hand side of the waterfall
Torc Waterfall
To our disappointment, it started to spit with rain, so we decided it was time to head back. By the time we got back to the main waterfall, there was only one family around and it had stopped raining. Paula made herself comfortable, whilst I setup the tripod. It was a particularly difficult waterfall to shoot, as it was spread over a wide area with large boulders scattered around.
|
Torc Waterfall
"You had an audience for a while then," said Paula, as I packed everything up.
"That's twice today!" I mused.
Muckross
We went back to the car, had lunch and decided to go for another walk. On the way to Muckross (just across the road) we turned down the offer of a ride in the horse drawn cart. Again. From the same person.
We followed a nature trail we saw as it seemed to be of a decent length. Several horse and carts with paying tourists passed us - the road was quite grooved from the cart wheels.
At one point, leaning out over the edge of a small cliff, we could see Muckross House - just.
|
Muckross House
As we followed the path around, we noticed various numbers at certain points, presumably to do with the nature part of the trail. As the afternoon progressed, the sun came and went several times, which mean photography wasn't easy. The views of the surrounding hills and mountains were amazing.
At the edge of another small cliff, I climbed over the barrier and took a panorama of the view - it does little justice to what we saw.
|
Muckross Lake
We walked on a little further before coming out through some trees onto the beach. We sat there whilst I tried to reassemble my circular polariser, which had fallen to bits for no readily obvious reason. After a few goes, it was back in one piece and Paula sat in the sun whilst I took a few photos.
|
Muckross Lake
Eventually, I rejoined Paula and we amused ourselves by trying to hit large pebbles with smaller ones. After we got bored, we returned back to the car - with no offer of a ride in the horse drawn cart.
|
A plant on the shore of Muckross Lake
Back to Kathleen's House
In Killarney, we popped into the visitor centre again so I could pick up some postcards to send to my grandparents, parents and sister. Then we popped across the road to a restaurant called The Granary to book a table for the Thursday evening. It was to be our celebration meal for our recent engagement. Paula's parents had given us some money towards it and we decided to use the 20 Euro note I'd found for it as well.
When back at the cottage, we had the roasted chicken we'd bought in Killarney for tea. In the evening, we sat playing Scrabble, drinking red wine and admiring the amazing view.
When it was dark, we went to bed with me wondering what I would dream about...