The Luck of the Irish
Trip Start
Jan 10, 2008
1
87
95
Trip End
Ongoing
Portmagee,
County Kerry,
Ireland
Thursday, August 7, 2008
We picked Al up from the airport and drove to Portmagee, the town where we were to stay, at Al's Mum's B&B. Al's family are all from the area so we headed down to the local pub for a beer and catch up.
The following day turned out to be the only day of sunshine for our stayin Ireland and Al took us for a walk to Bray's head, a look out on the tip of the Kerry ring. It was beautiful and from there we could also see Skellig Island where we were hoping to make it to over the course of our trip, but unfortunately were unable to do as the weather wasn't any good for the boat trip. In the afternoon, we went to the nearby Reen Castle, of which there is not much left to see but has a small ruin on land owned by family friends so we were able to access. While Al went to the airport to collect Clare we went to the 'drags' with Lisa
(Al's sister) and her boyfriend. When we were told about the drags we didn't fully understand what this meant as in Australia if you go to the drags - you'd be going to car races. In Ireland the drags are actually dog races. They have beagles (not short like our beagle but tall long legged and very thin) who are bred specifically for racing. On the day of the race 3 or 4 people take turns to drag a canister of smelly oil through the countryside. This will go for a number of miles and eventually they reach the point where the dogs are with their owners having not eaten for 2 days prior to the race, waiting to start the race. As son as the dogs are released they race off following the trail of the oil in the knowledge that when they get to the end of the trail they will be fed. It was pretty amazing to see them running through the paddocks towards the reward. We then headed into town for a meal before meeting up with Clare and Al at the local pub where it seemed that the small pub was filled to the brim with all of Al's relatives.
As it was raining we spent the next two days driving around the 'Ring of Kerry' and taking in the nearby sighs. With stops at local pubs for nice warm home cooked lunches.
Comments
Why no swimming
Can't possibly understand why you would not go swimming Joking of course sea freeezing Glad to see you are still trekking You will know all the pubs and all the types of drinks from all over the world apart from being encyclopedia's on travel. You will have to go into the Travel Business really. Glad your holiday is so enjoyable exciting full of unique and special experiences HOW WILL YOU COME BACK TO BORING OZ Joking of course it's home Love Helen