to kerry or not to kerry?

[Tr Ash]

the call to discuss moving Rossbeigh wasn't started because of what happened last year and i say that as sensitively as possible cause i do realize it is the motive for quite a few people and i respect and understand that totally. for DUKC it was because of the continually rising prices. Its easily discussed here on the UCD board because all the other colleges have closed off message boards where you have to log in to see a discussion, where here its (well this thread at least) is open to the public to view.

I think each club knows that the other colleges are thinking about this too and maybe if we come together over varsities and discuss it then in person with people from each of the colleges, im sure we can come to an agreement of what to do next.

I think the suggestion of going to the local holiday home owner as a group and asking as a "collective" for a reduced rate sounds good, or looking for the other rented houses in the area and booking them instead as much as possible. I love kerry so im not the keenest on moving but still want soemthing to change.......I'll prob suggest to my club to not book the ice-boxes next year(if we do decide to go back) and look to the surrounding area within walking distance cause NUIG got a lovely house(big, warm, spacious) up the hill for 150e less than the small, damp and cold ice-boxes.....

edit to remove a name

[Tr Ash]

ah shite sorry! said her name again!! really dont mean to do that!!! soooorrry! just keep typing as im thinking and its comes out!

[allio]

not that i'm against moving kerry, just that a little bit of appreciation for what we actually do get down there doesn't seem to be being mentioned. if you can avoid the iceboxes kerry can be comfortable. but even then i have to say, some of my fondest kerries were spent in the iceboxes....

also the last time when we moved to castlegregory i had two amazing years in kerry....

as i suggested theirs plenty of holiday villages around the coast.... thence leenane, newport, baltimore suggestion. just that i didn't think the north is really all that great an idea for the reasons i mentioned.

somebody get out a map of kerry, or the west coast for that matter and start looking. then contact the pub in the village to find out how many holiday homes there are in the area. i'm fairly certain that most of the villages 50 miles either side of ross beigh know that we go down there for new years and how much money we bring into the area the week of new years, and look on with envious eyes. i know the tralee bay hotel certainly bent over backwards for us the year we went to castlegregory, and i certainly got the impression that all other local businesses were rubbing their hands with glee when we turned up....

allio

[TomB]

Hey Guys,

Can we factor in one major point about this Kerry.

The was no water

If we had got 2 fresher trips in, runs down the flesk, cut grade 4 wannabies teeth on the roughty, ventured into the balck valley etc, we would not be having this rant.

I personally think, that for majority of people Kerry was just an expensive drinking holiday. If people just dropped the ice boxes then how bad would it really be?

Imagine if this tread was replaced with topics of the following -

"My first run down the flesk, what a day"

"Congrats to hero freshers on Upper Carragh"

"Swimmer - Cormac Lynch swims again (hardly surprising thou)!"

"Head Torch - never realised how useful they are on a river trip"

However, i'm on for a change but i agree with Allio. The area of Glenbeigh/Rossbeigh should not be blamed.

I think a change would be good. However, the proposed venue has to match Glenbeigh/Rossbeigh. I'm not going somewhere that required long driving to go paddling, and the only reason for going there is because they have pubs and holiday homes.

[Diarmaid]

If we had got 2 fresher trips in, runs down the flesk, cut grade 4 wannabies teeth on the roughty, ventured into the balck valley etc, we would not be having this rant.

Absolutely not true. We have been discussing this for about two years now.

Nobody said "Kerry wasn't fun [because there was no boating] so we should change it", they said "it's expensive so we should change it (maybe)".

Running rivers or not doesn't affect the price of holiday homes.


The lack of rain this year may have affected some people's holiday but it has nothing at all to do with this thread.

[Monkey Loving Bob]

The lack of rain this year may have affected some people's holiday but it has nothing at all to do with this thread.

I think it's safe to say it really effected the majority of people's holidays Diarmaid. This I would imagine has made a number of people look at the cost to benefit, a bit on the high side if you ask me. I spent a lot of money I hadn't intended on spending and would not have spent had I been paddling the morning after. While there has been chat on this before I think people looking at paying a lot of money for very little looks a little less rosy when they didn't get a chance to enjoy one of the main reasons they may have chosen to go on holidays in Kerry in midwinter. Otherwise it's just another 'Spring Break'...

[Diarmaid]

Yeah, ok, that's a fair point.

 

[Evan]

I think regardless of where you went on the West coast this year the rivers would have been the same. The lack of rain didn't only affect Kerry. The only thing that may have been different in other places is the surf.

To all the people comparing the price against the week before/after, it's not really a proper comparison. A true comparison would be with the beginning and end of the summer, when most, but not all of the houses in the area would be booked up. In this case you will find that the price is considerably more expensive than June.

Personally I had fun but I had neither anything to compare it with nor will any change affect me as I won't be here next year so I'm not going to try to push people either to move elsewhere or to stay in the Rossbeigh/Glenbeigh area.

[TomB]

Diarmaid,

This was a kayaking holiday for the club. We got no kayaking for the money we spent. therefore we got very bad value for money.

If we got loads of kayaking we would have got a return for our investment, even if the investment was expensive.

Now i know that you get very bad value for money because you came down to drink for the week however the rest of us come down to kayak in one of the countries best paddling destinations. remember this is a canoe club not a drinking club.

For this reason this topic should lead by the kayaking, then follow up with cost, pubs etc . . . .

i have no problem moving to another cheaper destination if it offers the same potential quality of paddling. if the new destination requires alot of driving to get to paddling then we will lose on petrol etc.

The new destination is to allow a good kayaking holiday not a drinking holiday.

I have paddled in West Cork and it does not off the same qualtiy of paddling and would require alot of driving.

Tom

[Towelyey]

as much as i hate to say it Tom's right!! we have to put the kayaking first!!

so if a nice kayaker who knows the rivers and surf spots could give us a list of the ones in kerry you want to get to and where they are (the nearest town or village) then we can start looking at places that suit!!

give us a list and we can start from there

[Tr Ash]

i also agree with tom, i had planned skills courses etc for trinity but cause of the water they couldnt go ahead.....i do think rossbeigh is a good location for the river and surf, that why i suggest looking into differetn houses int he area or approaching the ice-boxes owner and agreeing a prices with her for whoever would be looking to book one......i look forward to the day when i head down to kerry and push myself on rivers ive nenver tried before(fingers crossed its next year or sooner!!!)



....look i remembered not to say her name!!

[becca]

Imagine if this tread was replaced with topics of the following -

"Head Torch - never realised how useful they are on a river trip"

Tom, why don't you just kill us all now, that way we won't die of boredom if you ever take controll of the message board.
Let me tell you this, if you ever make a post like that there had better be a funny story attached to it. Because if there isn't..well..lets just say  i might feel pretty angry towards you for awhile after that.

[roz]

I've been on a river in Kerry and needed a head torch and it was, thinking back, funny

So 24 people have so far posted under this topic out of 57 replies and 1148 views. I presume the decision effects a lot more people than the 24 who have posted so far = kayakers from all colleges, social members, oldies, ex pats like myself, Allio talks about 100 heads, but I'm thinking more like 300heads who come and go to "Kerry". So the suggestion to talk about it at varsities and at the ball??? and all any other big events and not being too hasty here is a good idea.

Maybe others who haven't posted yet could post what you think? If you're not in, you can't win!

And just to go around in circles..... my  .02c

In my opinion, don't move. Rossbeigh has the best in the country to offer, but obviously the money rates need to be negotiated with the locals. Moving to scare them WAS DONE. For two years we went to Castle Gregory. A great time was had by all but all wanted to return to Rossbeigh.

For those who do not want to go back because of Dee, I respect your decision but I was a little surprised as one of the reasons I really want to go back this year is because of Dee. I wasn't there 07/08 or 08/09 and really want to remember Dee in Kerry.

Having spent one New Year's in Nicaragua and this year in Cornwall working, I made up my mind, no matter what happens, I'm not missing another Kerry. So I was soooo shocked to read the title of this post and its contents. Having red all the replies and having talked to good friends who were there this year, I understand the need to raise the issue.  But I think negotiation with the cottages owners is the first port of call, not leaving.... Please don't leave

It's going to be difficult to please everyone but I believe in UCDCC and in kayaker’s mentality in general to try and accept everyone’s opinion. Since I moved away, I realise even more how special a group of friends you guys are, one in a million. So at the end of the day, I will spend next New Year's where the majority end up...

 in Rossbeigh

[TomB]

Dear Becca,

That was poor. Come on now, you've thrown better insults at me in the past.

Remember the insults about my small feet, the sending prostitues to my parents house, making a pair of gloves from my beloved cat?

Although it's hard for me to admit, they were quite clever, however that was just poor . .  . .

Maybe you're getting old Becca? Or maybe you're becoming more like your mother?

Either way i won't lower myself to insulting you in this weakened state.

Get well soon,

Tom

[becca]

you're so sensetive. you're like a fifteen year old girl.. I wasn't even insulting you.