Lens Artists Photo Challenge #27: My Travels

I enjoy traveling within my own country but am often reluctant to travel further – but sometimes you don’t have to go far to see stunning scenery. Two days ago we headed for the west coast to Doolough near Gweesalia, here in County Mayo on the west coast of Ireland.

“If there’s a heaven for me, I’m sure it has a beach attached to it” – Jimmy Buffett.

I had to “borrow” this wonderful quote from PA Moed, as it is very true for me.

To the right you can see the Mullet Peninsula, to the left Achill Island.

The beach is a great one for shell collecting.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

And at over 2km long  you can also get a very decent walk. I know there are many beautiful places out there to see and many of you have shown me some of them in your own blogs. But for my travels, I  am, so far, content with this.

 

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Field

Cee’s b&w photo challenge – field

 

West of Ireland Fences

The Lens-Artist challenge this week is to show your favourite fences. In County Mayo, west of Ireland, fences tend to be functional boundaries for livestock, often composed of post and wire fencing. I actually much prefer wooden fences, but they are few and far between here in the west.

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These fences are not pretty objects, but are often found in nice places, like along the coast, where they are sometimes unwelcome.

Mullet peninsula

Silver strand

Erris head

 

 

Silent Sunday

 

River Moy, at Foxford, Co Mayo

Silent Sunday

 

Tyre on beach 

Ross Beach

Ross Beach is one of our favoutite beaches at any time of year. With Easter falling early this year, we have had opportunity to take a few day trips. Heading to the beach is always a bit of an adventure. This time we were surprised to find that the storms over the winter have shifted sand away from the beach. This has resulted in the loss of some dunes, but also the exposure of a more pebbles and stones in one area.

Ross beach,  Country Mayo 

There was time for some beach-combing and even castle building.

CAstle

Shells

The horses and their riders were also enjoying the freedom of a long beach. Like us, the horses had a paddle,  they did not seem to notice that the water was FREEZING!

 

Saint Patrick’s Day

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

We usually attend the Saint Patrick’s day parade in one of the local town’s with the children’s school, but this year they decided they wanted a break. It was a dry day, but bitterly cold with a blustery easterly wind.

Avoiding towns we headed toward the Nephin Wilderness Area (Wild Nephin). It is a rather grand title for what is 11,000 hectares of planted forest and upland agricultural land, though admittedly there is also plenty bogs, heaths, lakes, rivers and mountains.

The landscape is stunning. There is plenty to see, particularly if you like walking or cycling. The area includes much of the Nephin Beg Mountain Range,  which is a beautiful but little explored part of Ireland.