Day 8 - Cork to Killarney

Yeah!!! Matt is done with work!!! He's been released to enjoy a proper holiday! We said goodbye to The River Lee Hotel that had been our home for the last week. I will miss their morning breakfast and hot pot of tea for one. Liam picked us up to take us to the airport. He had been Matt’s driver to Apple 3 times this week. After some minor confusion, we found our rental car parked in slot 203 rather than 103. We were off to explore Ireland with Cork in the rear view mirror and Kissane Sheep Farm via Kenmare as our first destination.

Kissane Sheep Ranch is a 2500 acre traditional Irish farm, perched on a slope above the Black Valley. It has been a working farm for 5 generations (150 years) and has over 1000 sheep and hundreds of lambs. John Kissane runs the ranch and explained how the dogs worked the sheep, while his son, Evan, gave whistle commands to Dash and Taylor, the farm’s two best dogs. The border collies are born on the farm and their training begins at puppyhood. It was amazing watching the two dogs work together. They each had their own unique whistle commands and were intelligent, clever, and lightening fast. We found it so unbelievable to watch, that we stayed to see the dogs work another cycle. This was like “Babe” on steroids. BaaaRaaaMuuuu!

With the herding complete, we got a lesson in sheep sheering from John’s brother Noel. The sheep pretty much instantly resigned themselves to their humiliating fate. You can feel the lanolin on the underside of the fleece that acts as natural waterproofing for the sheep. The lanolin is extracted from the wool and sold to pharmaceutical firms. Once shorn, they are tagged with the farms color and the letter “K.” Finally, the “naked” sheep is given some medicine and then granted a short holiday in the barn while she acclimates for a few days to life without a woolly sweater. There were also some new born lambs in the barn which were not only hungry, but eager to make a new friend if I provided them with alfalfa.

Back on the road, we made our way through Killarny National Park. It’s the oldest national park in Ireland. We will be hiking a section of it tomorrow. We made a few stops along the way and took in the vastness at “Lady’s View” and then walked up to Torc Waterfalls.

Once in Killarney, we booked our hiking and boat shuttle for tomorrow from a local pub. When I had checked into our lodging, I inquired where I might book a shuttle and boat service for the Dunloe Gap. I was told, "Oh I don't know of anyone that provides that service. It's either one or the other but not both." That did not sound right at all...I've hiked the Gap before and had arranged the service. Behind me was a stand of brochures. The first one I picked up had a map with the exact route for bus and boat service that I had just asked for. I showed her the brochure and pointed out this was exactly what I had just asked about. Her response, "Well, what do I know, I've lived here all my life and have never even driven the Ring of Kerry for myself." Now that is the equivalent of saying you live in San Mateo and have never been to San Francisco. Good Grief!

We are suppose to get a lot of rain tonight, but we should have moderate weather for tomorrow. Killarney is a busy hub for all the hikers as well as the tourists who are driving the Ring of Kerry. There were lots of little shops to peek into as we walked around the town and made our way into the quieter neighborhoods.