When Ozzie Eyes are Smiling!

Hello there all

Well, if I recall correctly the last blog ended with us having arrived in Dingle and about to go and explore the town.

Dingle is a wonderful little town on the western coast of Ireland and even though it has been bucketing down since we arrived, the place was one of those classic Irish villages you instantly fall in love with. We found a pub called the Marina Inn which, coincidently, is located right on the Marina in town and managed to secure a window seat so we could see the rain and the mist from the comfort, and warmth, of a historic little hotel which served steaming hot food, ice cold beer and wine and huge portions of good humour, entertainment and plain old Irish "craic" (irish slang for gossip, chit chat, passing the time, shooting the breeze - you get the drift!).

Dingle is famous for two things - one is a Dolphin named Fungi (pronounced "foooooon - ggeeee") who has been a regular visitor to the bay of Dingle for many, many years and is known to all the local fisherman. We were advised that no one could remember a day that Fungi had not shown up for a feed or to say hello to newcomers to the village - therefore it surprised everyone that there was no sign of Fungi to welcome Rick and Jane into Dingle. Personally, I question whether Fungi isn't in fact another Irish 4 leaf clover, a Scottish Loch Ness Monster or even a polite Frenchman - a myth which continues to be propogated yet never actually seen by anyone!!

The other thing that Dingle is famous for is the movie Ryan's Daughter which was made in and around Dingle in 1969. For the older readers of this blog, you will remember it starred Robert Mitchum, Leo McKern, Christopher Jones and Sarah Miles - just to name a few. We drove around the Dingle Peninsula and Jane and I both fell in love with the place. The windswept cliffs, the winding little roads that take you from one breathtaking landscape to another coupled with seagulls, cranes and terns swooping down from the heavens whilst the rain poured down amongst the mist covered hills will remain one of the most poignant visions of our trip I am sure.

There were old fishermans huts made of shale and stone, beautifully green and lush fields resplendent with cattle, sheep and coloured wildflowers - all resembling a continually moving mosaic of form and colour. The rural aspects of Ireland are akin to the great artistic treasures held in national galleries except they are 3 dimensional and, if inclined, the observer can actually get out and touch, see, smell and feel the history, the poetry and beauty of the country. We are both so pleased that we took the time to tour the Dingle peninsula, it was a 1 hour -45 mile trip -that has left a lasting impression of beauty and wonder on us both.

Having said that, I am at a loss to identify what it is that they put in the soil, however, I have never seen rocks grown so successfully anywhere in the world!! I understand now why so many fences, homes and other structures are made of the darn things - they are everywhere the eye can see.

A quick breakfast in Dingle, then off to the Ring of Kerry. Again, Jane and I strapped on the helmets, got the navigational equipment and maps in order, and set out on the rally circuit the Irish call their road system. 100kph drag races along tiny country lanes with blind corners and, when ever near an Irish Pub, blind (drunk) Irishmen, saw us travel south along the west coast. The Ring of Kerry is in fact a Regional area in the S/W pocket of Ireland (just helping those that don't know!!!) and it is very picturesque and is very much like the road trip south of Sydney to Wollongong and Kiama for those that need comparisons. The only differences are that the roads are half the width as those in Sydney, the speed is a matter of choice (or in some cases pure adrenalin) and is is not uncommon to see either a long haired sheep or an even longer haired Irishman grazing on the side of the road as cars roar past.

We stopped at a place called Inch Beach, in the County of Kerry (that's how everything is described in the South - no town gets a mention without reference to the County that it is in) and took the attached photo of Jane with 3 coach loads of German tourists all walking across the sand flats into the ocean behind her. Our immediate thoughts were:

1) Was this a "pod" of Germans engaging in some freak act of nature - a "mass floating" (in direct contrast to the "mass beaching" we often associate with pods)
2) Could we be witnessing a cultist ritual of evangelistical proportions resulting in group suicide
3) Did they all need a wash?

We engaged the expertise of one of the coach drivers and were informed that most of the Germans came from land locked areas and, in some cases, this was their first ever glimpse of the ocean and a beach. Jane and I were relieved to hear this as we had commenced to don our speedo's with full intentions of doing a "Hoff and Pamela" run down the sand dunes - in acutely slow motion off course to ensure our most endearing "bits" shifted in symphonic timing to our run - to save as many of the poor souls as we could wrestle, headlock and hog tie onto the beach.

As an aside, and again for our older readers, this beach also happened to be the spot where Christopher Jones and Sarah Miles filmed a memorable scene - he in his black and red soldiers outfit and she in her pink bonnet whilst shading under an umbrella - where he professes his admiration for her. I'm sure you all know the exact scene I describe and recall it most vividly. No - well never mind, we have hundreds of photo's!

We then drove into Killarney and had lunch at a place named Ryan's Daughters Cafe. The owners were completely underwhelmed when I told them there was a film named the exact same thing made not far from them many years earlier -from the look on their faces I can only assume they were a bit slow and probably didn't believe me!!

Anyway, back into the Rally car, erh I mean Peugeot and off we went to the next port of call which turned out to be Cork. This was a very large town however, we must have hooked the rain at Galway and dragged it all the way through Tralee, Killarney and into Cork with us. It was absolutely belting down here which, I am reliably informed, is par for the course. We managed to secure accommodation at the Jury's Inn (maintaining my connection with the Justice System you see), parked the car and off we went to scout the township. We wandered through the streets and window shopped whilst comparing prices and goods. An ongoing debate Jane and I are having relates to the price of goods. When converted to Australian Dollars, things appear quite expensive however, it must be remembered that the price of goods in Ireland is relative to its economy therefore, comparatively, most things are reasonably priced. We went into Marks and Spencer which was very much like an upmarket Westfields and sold at least one of everything I could think of in the way of food. Great varieties on offer and some of the finest pastries I have ever eaten!

We stumbled into a little pub and settled in for an evening of Guinness (medicinal reasons only you understand), Irish music (a guy playing guitar whilst drinking pints of Guinness and wearing sunglasses in the dark all at the same time) and general "craic" with the locals. Found a bar man from Boston, USA who left college to play Rugby Union in Newcastle, Australia, then played in Japan, came to Ireland as a contracted player and was now playing third grade rugby with a local Cork team. He was 33 years of age, had been playing Rugby Union around the world for 17 years and was heading home to Boston next week for a 11 day visit to his folks - his first trip home in nearly 3 years. Nice guy and a wealth of information of things to see and do in Cork. His main tip? - stay indoors and drink Guinness!

A restful night's sleep and we were on the road again - this time to Blarney Castle to see the world famous stone. Before I get to the stone, let me just say the Castle is one of the most imposing and brilliant bits of architecture you will ever get the chance to actually climb on, in and around and really get a feel for what it was like living in one of these structures in the very early ages. Truly magnificent 360 degree views from the towers and very eerie climbing through the cave like tunnels and dungeons that permeate the interior of its walls.

Anyway, I have attached a photo Jane indulging in the local practice and kissing the Blarney stone. As can be seen, a certain amount of dexterity is called for as you are required to lay on your back, grip the two black bars behind you and slide head first down the wall until such time as you reach the stone. A quick peck on the rock and you are assisted back into an upright position and off you go. This all occurs on the very top of the castle wall after climbing up a circular stair well which appears to be as wide as the brim of a decent size hat and is as dark as three feet down a bears throat! The wind howls through your bones, guard rails are very small and the whole experience brings on a sense of anxiety yet, excitement. Difficult to describe really save to say well worth doing.

Did I peck the rock I hear some of you ask? Well, all I will say is that a gentleman never kisses and tells, so I will leave it to you to guess.

On we went, rain well and truly in tow, to Mallow, Mitchelstown and into a tiny little village called Cahir. We stopped for a quick lunch and then on to Cashel, across to Kilkenny and came to rest in a place named Carlow. We had intended to go via Waterford however, were informed the Waterford Crystal Factory is now closed - something about a bus load of soprano's from an opera company having visited the place and spontaneously broken into song during their tour of the place!!!

We found a gorgeous little bed and breakfast called the Red Setter B&B in Dublin Street, Carlow. Most B&B's cost about 30 Euro per person per night - some with breakfast included - and we then set out on the compulsory walking tour of the town. I had a quick haircut performed by an all girl barber shop for a reasonable 10 Euro and then on to the pub which was recommended by the girls (and happened to be right next door).

Once inside, our Australian accent endeared us to all and in no time we were sharing "craic" with the locals including one particularly great bloke named Terry. He was 80+ years of age, had been married for 60 years to the one woman, came into the pub every single day for a "sup" or two (Powers whisky was his pleasure - doubles at that) washed down with a half pint of Guinness. We quickly came to realise that Terry had 2 things in large quantities - one being time and the other being a thirst!

I have attached a photo of Jane and Terry and I can truly say he was a lovely bloke who was as interesting as he was entertaining. All in all a fantastic night with him, Patrick the Manager (Terry says he's an arsehole but God Bless Him!) and a couple of "locals" from Angola and Durbin who happen to now reside in Carlow and have adopted the pub as their home.

We left the pub and were shocked to see it wasn't raining however, no sooner had we shut the pub doors behind us and down it came. A slow stroll in the rain on the way home finally took its toll on those little legs and after a quick shower, Jane put herself to bed with a book under one arm and the television remote in the other. Another good day had by all.

This morning, we started the day with a classic full Irish breakfast of eggs, sausages, bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes, toast, juice, cereal and a pot of tea. Into the car and on the road again, this time bound for Dublin and nearing the end of our time in Ireland. We made our way back into Dublin Town via the M1. As per our last experience on the motor ways, the speeds were unbelievable and after a while became less daunting. Toward the end of the motorway, I actually overtook a police vehicle which was in pursuit of another car with lights and sirens going - I don't know who was more surprised however, after a quick wave and a thumbs up from me they kept chasing the other car and Jane and I drove into Dublin.

We did a couple of laps of the city to get a better feel for the place by daylight and we saw a lot more of the city than we saw the last time we were here 5 days earlier.

Jane and I drove through Dublin to the Airport as we have booked a motel very close to the main departure terminal. We have an early flight to Paris tomorrow morning so we decided we would stay nearby and tend to some last minute jobs, including this blog, without having to rush around madly in the morning. As it is, we are on a 5.30am shuttle bus to the airport from the motel (its only about a 7 minute trip) and then onto our flight to France.

I dropped the little hire car off and have a completely new respect for Peugeot motor cars. Great little units, good on fuel and capable of speeds beyond the speedometer's measurement, as I proved during this week in Ireland.

Anyway good folks, hope you are all well. I have attached a couple of additional general photos other than those I have referred to within the blog just for interest.

Jo - your (not so) subtle hint has been noted - a postcard is on its way to you.

Love to all

Jane and Rick