Enjoying Camping in Killarney— Part 1
Strolling with Daisy along well-known to us road and finding new joy
This was one of my first journeys towing my own caravan. It happened about two years ago, and originally I posted it on my personal blog. However, travel stories are somewhat timeless, so I decided to share them here too. I hope you will enjoy it!
If you would like to read about my adventures learning how to maneuver a caravan and towing it for the first time, you can read all about it here
The sun was (almost) up, and so was I. Daisy, not so much. She definitely isn’t a morning person, and if it weren’t for me, she would much prefer to sleep in.
Jeffrey — oh yeah, he was wide awake, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and therefore I had to cover his cage with my sleeping bag to keep him quiet. I doubt the caravan park needed an alarm at 5 in the morning. I felt a bit broken after sleeping on the couch, but except for that, I was fine.
After a brief zoom meeting at work (I work across time zones; therefore, I can have very early meetings), Daisy and I went for our daily walk. The morning was relatively crisp, the sky partially covered with clouds, and the light breeze was fresh. You wouldn’t expect to need jeans and a jumper at that time of the year, but I was glad I had packed them and brought them here.
Today should be a cool day, the only cooler day this week and most probably the last for the next few months, so we wanted to make the best out of it. On this caravan park, we camped a few times before (it’s relatively close to home — anything less than 200km away is close to home, so when I need to check on my cattle and/or the farm, I can do this). The roads and paths in the area are very well known to us.
The clouds don’t look particularly spectacular in the photos. Still, you really learn to appreciate them when you live on the driest continent on Earth and have experienced an extreme drought.
The hill in front of us has magnificent views. Last year we wandered there to photograph the sunset. Today, however, we didn’t plan to “‘climb the summit”, but we went around it in the direction of Farm Creek.
On the way, we encountered some cattle hiding among the trees, and my princess remembered that… actually, she is a cattle dog, so she had to do her job and ‘organize’ them.
I called her and tried to stop her from chasing the poor animals, but no, no chance. In Daisy’s opinion, they definitely shouldn’t be anywhere near the road.
Not to mention that a morning swim in the dam down the hill also sounded very inviting to her.
And so the petrified cattle ran away from us, across the valley and up the other hill, and Daisy, very satisfied with the results of her work, relished in the cool water of the dam.
After my lovely friend finished her swim, we had to climb all the way up back to the road.
A few times during our walk, we came across roos grazing at the edge of the track; however, as soon as Daisy spotted them, she ’explained’ her rules and where their place was. She stopped, stared at them and if they didn’t move away in the next few seconds, then… Off she went, and I was truly amazed at how fast she could run despite her advanced age.
We followed O’Mara road, and at some point, we spotted a property that got my attention. It was obvious people living there had to love horses — everything was well prepared to look after (a larger number of) these animals.
Little did I know that a few minutes later, I would meet the owner of the property, and a couple of days later, I would enjoy tea at her place.
We continued walking when suddenly Daisy started behaving rather strangely. Immediately I knew something wasn’t right… She isn’t afraid of horses, especially not when they are locked behind a fence, so what was wrong?…
Daisy kept staring at a tree, occasionally glimpsing at me as if she tried to say, “Common, let’s go and have a look at him… he doesn’t seem to be well… Go and check on him”. I couldn’t see anything, but I walked towards the tree Daisy was looking at, and when I was close enough, I noticed a little pony lying on the ground. He looked at us but soon turned his head away, lied down on his side and closed his eyes.
Maybe he had just some indigestion or tummy aches. It happens in cattle occasionally. I had a case when I needed to call the vet when one of my steers ate something, which actually paralyzed him for a couple of days. But in the end, he was fine. However, I couldn’t be sure, and this creature could well be seriously ill.
I was standing there, looking at the pony, taking some photos and wondering what I should do, when a car stopped, and a lady got out. She looked rather rough, without a shadow of a smile. At first, I got a bit hesitant. Was she the owner of the little horse, unhappy with me being so close to him?
It turned out that she stopped to check on the animal because she had already seen him lying in the same position the day before. She knew the horse’s owners, so she decided to inform them about the situation.
The lady introduced herself as Pauline, and we started chatting. She had just begun her four weeks’ annual leave and was going to do some work on her property. As it is in the country, you quickly get on the topic of land and animals.
I noticed she was kind of hesitant when she mentioned her two steers, which she kept and wasn’t going to sell. “Oh, I understand this very well! I have Freddie! He is my big black dog, and I will never sell him!” — I replied with enthusiasm, and, at this moment, I knew that Pauline and I would have a lot in common. You can say a lot about a person from their attitude towards animals and how they perceive and treat them.
We chatted for a while. Before Pauline went home, she mentioned her horses would be grazing along the fence by the time I came back. At this time, I didn’t realize she was the owner of the property with the many horses.
(To be continued)
Enjoyed reading my story? You can subscribe to my newsletter to receive an email every time I post or check out my blog featuring more of my photos. You can also find me on Quora, Instagram, Twitter or YouTube.