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Published: July 10th 2014
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How do you run this thing
Hamster trying to help us figure out how to run the washer/dryer(ish). Day 22 - Wet Caves, Wet Us
Today, we decided to explore the area. We first visited Crag Cave, a million year old cave that was discovered in 1983. They are very sure no human has been there before since you had to go 500m into another small cave, then do a 12m dive through a narrow underwater passage to get there, and there are no other entrances. The cave is nearly 2 miles long with 3 distinct passages. The guide was very good, explaining how they can tell the ages of different sections, how the cave was formed, some of the chemistry behind the formations, and some of the history. The most unique thing about this cave is that it is the least disturbed tour cave (or cave of any sort, really) we have ever been in. The men who discovered it (a hydrologist and a cave diver) were both scientists and immediately took steps to preserve the cave. The only things added are what is necessary to make it a tour cave (walkways, stairs, a new entrance). You don't see the brown, dead stalagmites, and you see thousands of stalactites, which, in historical caves, are often missing, broken,
Really into his work
Hamster got a bit too curious and ended up getting a really close up look at the operation of the washer. or marked up in some way. After the cave tour, Michelle explored the above ground Crazy Caves.. a two story play area with slides, bounce houses, ball pits, zipline, caves, hoops, air blowers, and tons of other play equipment. She played for more than an hour while Tony and Anne rested, ate dessert and checked up on the internet. After the caves, we visited the AquaDome, an indoor waterpark with 2 slides, a lazy river, a wave pool, and a sauna area. It wasn't too crowded, and we all enjoyed the water. Tony really liked the rapid river, where thy jacked up the speed of the lazy river and propelled a sea of people around a narrow channel at 5+ miles per hour (which is a lot when you are in the water). We decided to leave when we realized that we looked like bleached prunes, but stayed around for one more ride on the rapids anyway. After the AquaDome, we made our way to the ferry crossing where Michelle experienced her first Car Ferry crossing. It delivered most of what we expected.. a snack bar, high winds, choppy seas, drenching of the car with over spray, crazy hair shots,
Going Down
Michelle's favorite direction... down into the ground. and, of course, a safe arrival. We did not see the dolphins which are famous for showing off to visitors. It was evening and too choppy, I guess. The Nav system took us through some interesting routes. After missing a roundabout turn, the Nav System finally took us to a road Tony would not drive on. A narrow neighborhood lane took us onto a small, one lane road UNDER the motorway, then up to a small dirt track that looked more like a US firebreak. It was clearly labelled a walking path, but could be driven on. We are pretty sure it went through and ended up close to our lodging, but in Ireland, on a day with scattered showers, driving a 2 wheel drive rental car on a dirt road was beyond our comfort level, so we backtracked, and were, instead, taken down the skinniest paved road we have yet been on, which was an adventure all to itself. Some good home cooking by Anne and then Tony settled down to watch (what turned out to be) the worst game of Football he has ever seen as the Germans dismantled the Brazil team 7-1 in the World Cup Semi
Things that make you go Hrmm.
There were a lot of women on the tour. Finals.
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