Destination Daydreams: Ireland

Flying out to Ireland tomorrow, so after my last post about planning I thought I'd do a special Destination Daydreams of the things I really want to see and do on the trip.

Even better, I have input from Claire and Gemma who are coming with me! Yay! Here goes.

I want to see Connemara ponies. I think I've mentioned this in previous posts, but basically I read a book when I was little that had Connemara ponies as a major part of the narrative and I fell in love. Now that I have the chance to see them, I better bloody well see them. I will be incredibly disappointed if I don't.

I'd also love to see whales. I've heard there's humpback whales off the Dingle Peninsula but they're quite difficult to spot. I'll settle for dolphins but a whale... well, a whale's a whale and after seeing sperm whales in New Zealand I want to see more.

I'd quite like an experience akin to the driving days we had in New Zealand where it's quite a long way between overnight stops and we just drive the scenic route, stopping to enjoy the view and take photos wherever we fancy. So, the Wild Atlantic Way between Galway and Tralee sounds like a good bet!

Gemma is looking forward to our starlight kayaking near Cork. I have to agree; just floating about under the stars (or clouds as the case might be) sounds like a truly awesome experience. Claire also agrees. She's also excited about the Wild Atlantic Way, whales (of course), the Giants Causeway and experiencing Irish pubs and live music. Oh, and exploring Dublin and Belfast.

All of which sounds good to me. And Claire?

Claire wants to see basking sharks. That sounds cool and I think I'd probably get overexcited if we did see any. I love basking sharks. They're bizarre animals. Like Gemma, she's also looking forward to seeing the Giants Causeway, where she'll probably soon get fed up of me geeking out over the amazing geology things... In addition, she wants to see the Book of Kells, which is on display at the Library of Trinity College. Ninth century illuminated gospels? Interesting stuff.

Claire has two other things on her "to do" list. The first is a sing along to the Buffy musical episode, Once More, With Feeling. OK, that's all right. We did that in New Zealand and Gemma's been warned about it.

The second is a vague plan in which she finds and kidnaps Andrew Scott (of Sherlock fame), possibly with help from me and Gemma. I'm not so keen on this idea... I do not want to get arrested...

So many things to see and do. Two weeks to do it in. Take off in less than 24 hours. Countdown is entering its final stages...