We did the Ring of Kerry tour today. It is the premier tour of the Killarney area. It was pretty nice, but I think Brent and I have been spoiled by amazing scenery in the Rockies, and in Newfoundland, that maybe make this one pale a little bit. It was certainly nice, but it didn't knock my socks off.
What did knock my socks off was the shepherd who demonstrated his Border Collies for us. It is one of the stops on the Ring of Kerry tour, and it was just absolutely amazing. He had two Border Collies and six sheep for the demo. He showed us how, using the dogs, he could easily direct the sheep in any direction, and separate the desired number of sheep from the bunch. It was fascinating to learn that he gives each dog completely different commands for various movements, so your dogs are commanded separately... the dogs do not respond to commands intended for the other dogs. Also, for longer distances, there are companion whistle calls (he has a specialized whistle) that correspond to each verbal command.
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Technology is a wonderful thing... when it works properly. I have been relying heavily on certain web sites, particularly for finding and booking accommodation and travel. Brent and I decided that we would probably do Ring of Kerry today and then head up to Sligo tomorrow, and when we got up this morning, the sky and forecast agreed with that plan. The problem was, though, I couldn't figure out how to get us up to Sligo on the bus. Irish Rail's web site was working fine, and I could see that, for E70/ea (I think), we could go to Sligo by way of Dublin (crossing the country twice), leaving around 9:30 and arriving around 6PM. I'd used the Voyage Planner of Bus Éireann a few times to research possible bus trips. This morning, the Voyage Planner was having none of me. Every time I tried to search out a voyage I got the message "your search could not be saved internally". Damned web site bug. I tried several times. Waited an hour and tried again. Got Brent to try. Just no love at all. I figured that, since the bus wouldn't have to cross the country twice, it might be faster, and I was pretty certain it would be considerably cheaper, but without studying and deciphering individual bus routes and schedules, we couldn't figure out a route. We thought we'd stop by the bus station on our way to our tour this morning, but it turned out we didn't have time. We thought we'd stop by the bus station right after our tour this afternoon, but we were a little late getting back to town and the bus station would be closed. When I finally got onto internet again, the Bus Éireann Voyage Planner was working properly again and I successfully booked our voyage (which did, indeed, save us some money... but not time).
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