The last stop before i stayed in Killarney town was to see the Killarney National Park, bequeathed by the last royal members of the Herbert family to the County and free of charge for all people to visit, even to play golf on the grounds there. Some of us hiked up many steps, past the waterfall there (lovely view of the Lower Lake too, and nice falls, but of course, by Maui standards, not THAT exciting). I got settled into Neptune's Hostel in Killarney after lunch, which is really lovely, clean, yellow and sunny, and quiet! I met a woman travelling alone also, Rebeca from Toronto, and we decided to do a tour of the famous Ring of Kerry. It's a scenic 108 mile ring around the pennisula, and has good views of mountains, lakes, coastline etc. Went through several villages, first one is a "bog" area, where peet (or turf as it's known here) was used to heat homes until modern times. Then on to Killorglin town, where they crown a goat in August as the "King Puck", then on past Glenbeigh Village and Rossbeigh Beach, to Kell's Bay where you can see the Blaskett Islands off the coast, then on to Ciharciveen, famous for being the birthplace of Daniel O'Connell, born in 1776 and credited as the first Irish member of Parliament, who emanicated the early Catholics (after Henry the 8th abolished the religion), and across from there you can see Valentia Island, named after Spanish Armada settlers who arrived and where Marconi put up his first telegraph outlet in Europe, evidently. Another village, Waterville, had a replica statue memorial to Charley Chaplin, whose daughter Josephine spent many years living there, and also has a well known golf links course where the late Payne Stewart visited a lot. It's all a very lovely area, and known as some of the most scenic and rustic country here. It's damn cold here (for me, anyway) and even the locals commented how the red holly is out 2 months early this year. Global cooling, anyone? The tour continues on through Sneem, (got some fantastic home made Ice cream...even with the cold air, it warmed my tummy), then on to the last photo stop, at Lady's View, near the Killarney Nat'l Park. Tour takes most of the day, and beware sitting on the back of the bus...not quite as bad as the road to Hana, but still..... Killarney was fun, albeit FULL of American tourists (more than Irish folks, it seems). Later, this afternoon, i'll go on to Doolin, a festive little village known for it's music, craic (good times!) and amount of pubs (pop. 300...pubs equal #, probably) hooking back up with Tir Na Nog tours....