This is a little outside my normal realm of blogs, but with an open mind, it should be entertaining nonetheless. When I was planning my trip to New Zealand, I read numerous articles about there being more sheep than people on the small island. This is 100% fact. There would be times when I would go on a walk and not see anyone for hours, but I would see about 500+ sheep. There are also a lot of jokes between the Aussies and Kiwis about how they treat their sheep – perhaps a little too friendly. After returning from my trip, my friends had found a movie for me to watch titled Black Sheep. It was a horror film about New Zealand and their sheep.
As I continued my travels, I found more sheep. These countries didn’t necessarily have more sheep than people, but they still had a lot of sheep that were a huge part of their economy. This sparked a debate amongst my close group of friends. Which country has the prettiest sheep? I told you this blog was going to be entertaining.
Ireland
I was in Ireland for about a week. I had hired a car and planned to drive around the whole country. It was February, so not a lot of tourists, and I felt pretty lucky with the weather. I’d heard an Irish winter can be quite rough. The countryside was beautiful. Lush rolling green hills, pristine beaches and old castles and churches. When I would reach my nightly destination, each town was as lively as the next and offered a true Irish experience. Cold Guinness, and a lot of Irish folk music. I was driving from the Dingle Peninsula to the Cliff of Moher and would spend the evening in Galloway. Driving on these tiny roads on the left side was a little challenging for me, but I was gaining more confidence each day. On this particular day, I turned a tight corner and saw a herd of sheep! They were headed right for me and taking up the whole road. At this point, all I could do was stop the car and grab my camera. I just stood still while the herd of sheep swarmed me and the car. The farmer was close behind on a quad and continued to herd the sheep past me. Welcome to Ireland, Keelie.
Peru
I went to Peru with two intentions. I wanted to hike to Machu Picchu and I wanted to do some volunteer work. I was there for three weeks. I volunteered at a local school where I helped make lunch in the morning and taught the children English in the afternoon. It was a humbling experience. After my volunteer work was complete, it was time to hike Machu Picchu. If you would like to learn more about the Lares Trek, you should check out my blog on Machu Picchu. During the trek, we walked through villages and farms of alpacas and llamas. They were everywhere! I know alpacas are more related to camels than sheep, but they have some sheep like qualities. I did manage to find some sheep sprinkled throughout a herd of alpacas, but they looked a little out of place.
New Zealand
The sheep capital. Technically, there are other countries that have more sheep than New Zealand, but they might win the category of most sheep per square mile. When I was on my Hobbiton tour, our guide told us that they used to let the sheep graze near the Hobbit house to keep the grass short. The Hobbit houses consist of the outside, and enough room inside for someone to walk in and shut the door. All the filming inside the houses took place in a studio in Wellington. Anyway, the guide said they can no longer use the sheep to mow the grass because one day a sheep wondered inside the small area inside the house and managed to shut the door on itself. The sheep panicked and busted out the fake window of the Hobbit house and destroyed the front area. It was quite expensive to fix, so now sheep are not allowed to graze near Hobbiton.
Another funny story about sheep and Hobbiton is that when they were filming Lord of the Rings, they brought in stunt sheep. The country of New Zealand has around 30 million sheep, but they thought the sheep looked too happy and the landscape wouldn’t look like dreary England. So, they hired some sad looking stunt sheep for the films.
United Kingdom
Speaking of England, the UK is home to a lot of sheep. While most of the sheep can be found in Wales, I did see some when traveling around England and Scotland. It was winter, so the weather was rather dreary, and the sheep were grazing through grass and mud. Stonehenge is located near a sheep farm, so as I gazed upon the ruins I also saw sheep, I couldn’t help but think about how they had to import sheep from England to New Zealand because they needed sadder looking sheep. And then it started to rain. Yeah, I’d be kind of sad too.
Now that you’ve heard my stories and seen pictures of the sheep, what country do you think has the prettiest sheep? Tell me in the comments below or tweet me at @keeliec5. Hopefully, my stories weren’t too bias to sway your opinion. 😊
Until next time…
Cheers!
Keelie
I woke up at a decent time. Showered, had breakfast, explored Cork long enough to get myself a pair of earings and Mckenna her jersey and then went up to Blarney. I parked a bit away, but I enjoyed the walk. The sun came out for a bit even though the grounds were muddy. I wasn’t sure if there would be a queue to “kiss the stone” so that is where I bolted. No queue, and we actually had to ask another visitor nicely if she would press the button to take the picture of me kissing it. The stone is in a really random location, and you have to go backwards off the edge of the castle and kiss the stone upside down. I’ve now been blessed with the gift of gab. The castle is ancient, and narrow. Unsure how the hefty Winston Churchill made it up that staircase. I explored the castle and its surrounding grounds. I found a witches stone. Apparently she is released from the stone every night. There were a few other superstitious relics around the castle grounds. Something I’ve noticed about the Irish. They are superstitious. I noticed some people walking around with a black dot on their forehead. Oh! It was Ash Wednesday. After lunch in Blarney (where people were having pints, not me, I was driving) I made my way to Killarney. Once again about 1/2 hour before dark. I made dinner and then walked around the town a little bit. Checked out one pub, and then I found out they had a LOTR pub! It was called the Shire. I had to go there! I walked through the Hobbit door to find out I was the only one in the pub who didn’t know the bartender. There were only 3 people in the pub. I drank my Gandolf ale and left. I needed to be up early tomorrow anyway. I woke up bright and early and drove into the National Park. It was really pretty. My first stop was an old abandoned abbey surrounded by a graveyard. My second notice about Ireland is that its creepy. Its haunted. The roof of the abbey was gone, but there was a corrider that went down into the basement. I shined my cellphone light down there, and hell no. There was some sort of spirit down there waiting to posses my body and take over my life. In a roundabout way, I ended up down in the basement anyway. I sprinted through the corrider and up the stairs toward daylight. In case you’re wondering, I haven’t been posssed. I’m pretty positive. And youll see why later on in my trip. I went for a wee walk to the waterfall. I saw some Irish deer. They look weird. The waterfall was cool. Ireland is green. Very green. I decided to drive through the park a little bit more, and thats when I was blessed with the amazing views of the mountains and the lakes. The mountains aren’t very tall in ireland. But it adds variety besides rolling green hills. There are goats, and some mountain sheep. The sheep were in my way of a pictuesque shot and wouldn’t move. Darn sheep. I had a second road trip to comeplete that day, so it was time to leave Killarney and head to Dingle. After lunch I decided to conquer Slea Head Drive. One of the most scenic drives in all of Ireland. And was it. The cliffs aren’t as tall as the Cliffs of Moher (but that is what makes them special) but they were still divine. The sun was out for a bit, so I took proof that sun in Ireland does exist. I was really becoming an expert driver on the left hand side. We will see what happens when I go back to the US. I would probably pullover ever 2 kilometers or so. That might be an exaggeration, but a 35 km route took me 3 hours or so. I did go for a longer walk at the end though. The sites were memorizing. At one point I noticed a large herd of sheep coming at me. They were on the road. This road wasn’t big enough for the two of us. When they got closer I stopped my car so the sheep could go around. They were confused at first, but eventually figured it out. I could see the dog and the farmer behind them. Darn sheep. Always in my way. As I rounded the peninsula, (STAR WARS SPOILER AHEAD) I am pretty sure I saw Luke Skywalker’s island. I know it is off Dingle. Tiny island though. Not much else there except Luke. I went for a good 1/2 hour walk or so, to probably one of my faveorite views. I didn’t realaze Ireland had so much hiking. Killarney had tons, and so did Dingle. Good to know If I return in the summer. I returned to Dingle and checked into my room for the night. I got some dinner. That town was dead. It is purely a summer town. Have the shops were closed for the winter. But luckily I found a pub to serve me beer and food. I had another long day tomorrow. I was headed to Cliffs of Moher and then Galway. The drive to the Cliffs was fine. Long but fine. The Cliffs were breathtaking. I lucked out and got some sun towards the end of my visit. It was really muddy out there. My pants and shoes were fiflty. I laughed at all the girls walking through the mud in heels (just a small heel) or white canvas shoes. You can walk to the edge of the cliff. I couldn’t do it. I had visions that a gust of wind would come and blow me off the edge. No one would know I was missing, until I didn’t return to London in a few days time. The park would wonder why my car was left overnight. They would probably assume quickly that I fell off the edge. But to put two and two together for my family in England to find out that it was my car at the Cliffs and that I probably fell to my death, I thought that might take 5 days or so. I stayed away from the edge to play it safe. And I had heart attacks for the people who would stand on the edge or dangle there feet. I am now curious how many people have died at the Cliffs of Moher. That was my highlight for day 3 in Ireland. I drove to Galway which is probably my favorite city. The city center was cute. I loved the pubs and all the live music. I would of loved to spend more days there. But that was becoming a theme for my trip. As long as I get a different immigration lady, maybe one day I’ll go back. (Might be the only overseas place I can get David to go to anyway) 🙂 I had yet another long day tomorrow. I was driving to Northern Ireland near Belfast. That trip needs an entry of its own.
Adventures and Life with Keelie 