Karissa's European Adventure: Day 5 in Ireland: Killarney to Dingle

Hello everyone,

I woke up feeling refreshed after our night not going out and staying in at the hostel. We got ready and headed off on a horse and carriage ride around Killarney National Park. It was so peaceful and the scenery was amazing! We saw castles on the lake, red deers and Kerry cows which are now almost extinct because they only produce 1/3 of the milk an average cow does. Muckross Lake located in the National Park is well known for fishing in particular for it's amazing Atlantic Salmon. Our guide on the horse and carriage had been doing the same tour of the national park for over 30 years so he knew the in's and out's of the area.

Me and Anna on our horse and carriage ride

St Mary's cathedral in Killarney

beautiful scenery in Killarney National Park

Horse and carriage ride in Killarney

beautiful scenery in Killarney National Park

Straw house in Killarney National Park

Kerry cows grazing

beautiful scenery in Killarney National Park

After leaving Killarney we travelled along the Atlantic Ocean on the West Coast of Ireland. We saw beautiful beaches and golden sand we even got to stop and climb down a rocky hill to stand on the sand of Inch beach. We took lots of photos and I felt like hopping in the water because I love the beach!

Inch Beach-Ireland

Loving Ireland :)

Anna and I at Inch Beach-Ireland

I Love Ireland

We stopped in at Dingle a cute little coastal town for a few hours and had some lunch at Danno's restaurant. I ate prawn and white wine creamy pasta which was delicious but super fatty ha Anna and I walked down the streets and ate ice cream on Dingle harbour wharf which was nice and relaxing. I got a photo on the famous 'Fungi' the dolphin statue- it's known to live in the waters of the Dingle coast and many boat tours are dedicated to spotting him. After stopping in Dingle we drove around 'Slea Drive' for around an hour where we got to see much of the beautiful Dingle peninsular and the most Eastern point of Europe which had amazing views. On this drive we also got to see 'The Sleepy Giant' which are islands out to sea which look like a huge giant who is sleeping, so cool!

Streets of Dingle

Me outside an Irish pub

Me on the Dingle Harbour

Me and the Dingle Peninsular

Dingle Peninsular

Famous Dingle dolphin

Our little group minus Ryan and Justine :( on the Dingle Peninsular

Creepy dolls playing Irish music in Dingle

Me and Fungie the famous Dingle dolphin :)

Me and the Sleepy Giant behind me

The Sleepy Giant!

This night we stayed at our very own Irish pub, the Randy Leprechaun in Annascaul on the Dingle Peninsula. I was rooming with Ryan, Chris, Anna, Luke and Justine on this night as we all enjoyed bunking together. We got off to bus, booked into the pub and started getting dressed in our Irish gear as it was our last night on the Paddywagon tour together :( We all had dinner at the pub that night and I had bangers and mash which was sooo yummy! We were able to mix with the locals and enjoy the characters of a genuine Irish small-village, away from all of the tourists. I even got to meet the CEO of Paddywagon tours who was drinking at the bar with his friends. Apparently he lives around the area in Dingle and I felt like I was meeting a very wealthy guy!

The night started off pretty tame and we were all just chatting and none of us were really drunk besides Cris who had already had lots of wine at dinner lol Jeremy and I decided to have some shots to pump us up. We started drinking quickly and I started feeling pretty drunk. I knew that Ashleigh was having her baby shower that day and my sisters and I had planned to Skype each other so she was on my mind the whole night. There was no wifi at the pub but Jeremy and Vicky had wifi over where they were staying at the Bed and Breakfast which was ten times nicer than where we were staying. I uploaded some photos from my mobile and checked that it was working fine. I went back over to the pub and continued on drinking with the rest of the tour group and it ended up getting pretty rowdy.

We had the duke box on full ball and I decided I was sick of the rock music people were playing so I put on five R&B songs in a row just so I could dance ha I think I put on 'Get Low' and Monster-by Kayne West etc and I started dancing on the bar lounges like a gangster. A heap of us started doing the same thing all of my friends on the tour were dancing and singing with me because they knew I was getting into it lol The people who worked at the pub were taking photos of us and one guy was even videoing us up dancing ha That night we were also taking videos of Lee saying Irish quotes and pissed ourselves laughing when we made him say 'thirty three thick thistles' because Irish people can't say their 'th' sounds properly and it sounds hilarious.

I started getting emotional by this stage as I knew I was missing out on my beautiful sister’s baby shower in Wellington. I was well drunk by this stage and I started to cry telling people how much I loved my family and couldn't believe I was missing out on such a special day in my sisters life. I convinced Vicky and Jeremy to set Skype up on their computer for me and I tried to dial my family but it wasn't working because they weren't online at the time. I was too drunk by this stage so I'm glad I didn't get through in the end only because I needed to vomit soon after we tried to call them. I went into the B&B toilets and started vomiting so much from all of the different drinks and shots I had that I couldn't get off the toilet. I was definitely 'riding the porcelain train' that night. I continued to vomit for the rest of the night in my hostel room toilet and went to bed with the room spinning which was not a good feeling. I went a little too hard that night but it was the last night so at least I went out with a bang!lol