Ireland - Day 14

Our time in Ireland is drawing to a close and we are leaving Dingle tomorrow for Cork from where we will fly to London on Saturday morning. The last few days have continued to be enjoyable. Mornings are spent around the house or going for walks as Tom continues to sleep them and Kate when she wakes buries her nose in one of her latest books.

On Sunday, The West Kerry Agricultural Fair was held in town. We enjoyed a Sheep Dog Competition, where sheep dogs are rated on how well they listen to the commands of their owner and guide four sheep through a series of manoeuvres up the field, in between some pallets set up as obstacles and finally into a corral. They had 12 minutes each to complete the track and were awarded possible point out of a 100. The fair also had sheep and cattle judging, a small garden produce section and best looking baby competition.

Tuesday we took a drive over Conner Pass and made our way up to Brandon Point. A most drives on the Dingle Peninsula, the scenery was spectacular. We stop near the top of the Conner Pass and hiked a few hundred yards up a slippery slope to find a small lake trapped among the hills. Tom managed to slide down the slope into the lake getting both his feet wet up to his ankles. The road came to an end at Brandon Point and we had to turn around but the road back was just as enjoyable seeing everything from a different viewpoint.

Yesterday, we took the kids to a local indoor climbing center “Play at Heights”. They spent an hour or so climbing the walls and ended the experience with a free fall from a platform about 40 feet high. They had a cable hooked to the back of their harness which slowed their decent as they approach the ground. In the evening we ordered Pizza in for the kids, and Chris and I went out for a late dinner and Irish music session at the Dingle Pub.

Ireland has turned out to be one of our most favourite countries visited. The positives are many; friendly people, beautiful scenery, low crime rates, good quality housing, pretty good food and good beer. The negatives are that it is expensive, no one cleans up their dog’s crap and the weather changes every fifteen minutes. Ireland’s economy seems to be smaller and less advanced than Canada’s but things cost a lot more. Fish and chips for example cost about $22 Canadian, making them the most expensive of any place we visited. Their economy is currently struggling because among other things their wages are uncompetitive with the rest of the EU countries.

I have posted more pictures – I not only love the country side but also the skies. The variable weather means that the skies change constantly and don’t contain any of the pollution we see in Ontario. Cheers Ian

Ireland - Day 14