Sharon and Jaya's 2003 Trip to Ireland - Day 6

Wednesday, April 23, 2003

We had a lovely breakfast at Woodlands. Paud, the proprietor, served us. We had bran flakes, I had smoked salmon and bran bread. Jaya had eggs and tomatoes. And of course, plenty of tea. We went outside to wait for our ride. A bus drove in, and picked up some other guests to see the Ring of Kerry.

Gap of Dunloe Trip

On the way, she talked about the Gap Trip, and said if we liked to walk, we could walk the gap to the boats―or we could take the ponies, for €34. We had thought we were taking the ponies, but we decided to walk.

As we were starting out, we saw the ponies hitched up to 4 passenger carts with wooden wheels. We walked by, and we were offered a ride. Several times. We kept saying no. One fellow threw out his hands and said, It's seven miles! I was a little surprised at the distance. But we thought it would be fine. They didn't tell us about the climb!

We walked on a pleasant path next to streams, and fields of browning rushes, and green fields with sheep. the climb wasn't that bad―we took pictures of a sheep with two baby lambs on the way up―I'm just out of shape, so I huffed and puffed quite a bit.

It was quite a ways farther down the other side, but we made it by 1:30 - 1:45 or so. The last boat left at 2, so we bought a sandwich and a cookie and a couple of sodas to share. We went down to the boat dock to wait, and sat down on a grassy patch of ground. Jaya lay down after a few minutes, and I cuddled up next to him. We talked and said it was a nice place. Jaya looked at me and said,

Do you want to remember it forever?

That depends.

Sharon, will you marry me?

Now, we can remember this whenever we see one of these.

We got on board a wooden boat along with 9 other passengers, the boat was powered by an outboard motor and manned by an Irishman and his helper―a little fellow no more than 6, possibly younger, with a darling set of ears projecting straight out from each side of his head. One of the passengers remarked, he was the closest thing to a leprechaun we would see. His name was Wayne, and when we landed he lept up to the bow, started to balance on the edge until his Da told him to get down, and with the rope in hand he jumped ashore and pulled the boat around. He called out, Don't worry, Da, I've got the boat!

The shores around the lakes were very black and the water was quite dark. Our guide said this was the peat. The journey was a bit rough, bouncing along the water we got splashed a bit. A tarp was passed up to the young couple in the bow―our guide said that was the Hanky Panky Blanket. At one point we had to get out and walk because the water level was too low. There had been very little rain in Ireland for the past 8 weeks so the levels were down. We walked to the other side of an old bridge.

We came across 3 lakes and two connecting rivers. We saw the Muckross House in the distance of the last, largest lake, but landed at Ross Castle. Our taxi was picking us up at 4, which was when the next tour began, so we just walked aound and took pictures. The castle has been restored, and there were pictures of what it must have looked like through the years.

Our taxi arrived―only this time it was a red bus―number 11. Actually a small van. We were taken back to the Woodlands, and we rested a short while before we walked into town.

Later That Day

Johnny English

After the movie they turned the lights up halfway through the credits, and everybody left all their candy wrappers and popcorn tubs and soda cups all over the floor. As we filed out, the work crew was coming in to clean up.

We walked around Killarney, looking for a restaurant. We decided on a Chinese place, West Lake Palace. It was a very nice restaurant―but not like Chinese restaurants I am used to. The prices were higher, for one thing (€13 - €19 per person), and the waiter was very slow and methodical. He took our order, and had to ask again what we wanted because he was still writting down the first thing when we finished. We ordered checken sticks and crab corn soup and vegetables (spicy) and steamed rice. We weren't very hungry after all that popcorn!

We went walking around after dinner. Stopped to listen at a few doors to the music―but decided we'd go back and sleep―long drive tomorrow.

Continued on Day 7.

Sharon and Jaya's 2003 Trip to Ireland