Hi All,
The blog nagger not the blogger (aka slack blogger) wrote most of these notes.
After dealing with the insurance we boarded a slow ferry to Ireland. We aren’t 100% sure whether we actually made the correct decision to take the car with us rather than hire one in Ireland and go as foot passengers ,which would have been much cheaper , but according to the internet figures car rental in Ireland is considerably more expensive than the UK so it is probably a doesn’t make much difference (Editor: What is done is done and the choice has been made)
From the minute we arrived in Ireland the Irish have exuded a genuine warmth and friendliness and this has made it feel extremely inviting and has made us feel welcome.
We disembarked from the ferry in our car and headed straight for the tourist information office where we chatted with an extremely friendly and helpful tourist officer.
Causeway Coastal route
The blurb for the crossing the carrick-a-rede rope bridge which crosses a 2m deep and 18m wide chasm says enjoy the challenge of crossing the precarious bridge. We had to scoffed at this because it is as solid as a rock and yet a women of similar age to us virtually trembled with fear and gripped the wire rope suspension cables that ran the length of the bridge. I suggested to her that she might be wise to avoid going to Nepal where the bridge are often 10 plus times longer and 10 times less stable.
Countryside is littered with castle ruins
We couldn’t help but do all the tourist things in the area so we went to the giant’s causeway. Unusual six sided basalt columns apparently 38,000 columns but we lost count after 20 so not sure about the reliable of this statistic.
We witnessed the aftermath of car side mirror versus stone wall and a 1 1/2 lane road and the mirror did not fair well. The young Japanese driver and her two female passengers vainly attempted to re attach the mirror but the procedure didn’t go well. Let’s hope they are not planning to be micro surgeons and lets hope that they have insurance.
Dangerously skinny windy road with tense drivers using dead mans grip on their steer wheels as if their hands had been super glued to the steering wheel anxiety written across their faces.At this point in time we were thankful that we had insurance as quite often barely a shoe horn can pass between car’s mirrors but we are safe in the knowledge that we have total coverage with no excess.
Slept in the beautiful grounds of the ruined Downhill castle .Mussenden temple sits perilously close to the edge of a sheer drop
Continue driving along the coast in the north western of Ireland and cross into the republic of Ireland for the first time and immediately there were noticeable differences miles revert to kilometres and pounds revert to Euros. The other thing that we had had to arrange in the UK was a permit to be able to drive in the Republic of Ireland as it is an independent country so more money had to be exchanged and it has means that we are on a time budget yet again but if we want to extend our time here we will simply need to return the car to a hertz agent somewhere in Northern Ireland.
Stopped early today after a frustrating day of going around in circles. Spend the afternoon at the beach watching owners and their dogs Befriended a well loved and well fed Golden retriever who seemed to have strayed from his home in the beach neighbourhood. The dog pleaded with his eyes to be fed .
Sleeping beside the beach in the car.
There are so many familiar faces in Ireland and I guess that that is because their kin either by choice or by force now reside in Australia.
26th June today we awake to the News that Michael Jackson has died after a suspected heart attack.It is as though nothing else has happened in the world today for that is all that is reported throughout the day
Staying in Galway in University Accommodation which is rented out whilst students are on summer break. Surprising nice and relatively budget friendly. Finally we have a real bed and a real shower and we even get breakfast with this package. Galway is somewhere that you could easily imagine yourself living as it has something for everyone a medieval component for the history buffs, rivers overflowing with salmon and trout for the angler , at least one or two pubs on every street, a university, mountains and the beach nearby. What more could you ask for……..maybe an irish economy that wasn´t spirally badly out of control ,food costs that are at least 30% more than in Northern Ireland and an employment level approach 15%.(Editor: If I was living in Ireland I would be ripping up the lawn and planting potatoes there is just so much you can do with potatoes…….)
Got rather merry drinking Irish apple cider before going to a pub to the listen to some Irish music.
Fiddles, flutes, tin whistles, banjos, mandolins , other traditional Irish instruments and haunting human voice..…….incredibly talented group of individuals performed in a tiny pub which was packed to the rafters. The evening seemed rather casual and unstructured and anyone that could sing or provided an instrument was welcomed. No Irish dancers there simply wasn’t room but one couple did find enough room for a jig .Copious pints of Guinness were consumed by the performers and the music kept coming.
Whilst shopping in Tesco we discovered that Tesco is selling a jar of spread that looks remarkably like vegemite. Have a look at the picture in the blog should Kraft foods be suing Tesco foods for product identity theft?????
Cliffs of Moher 203m cliffs, are another of Ireland’s most visited features but we decided to forgo the tourist centre which was overrun with tourists and take a less conventional and more dramatic route across a paddock. Almost had front row seats to a collision as we waited to cross the road but thankfully the car that pulled out of a blind corner wasn’t hit by the on coming car which was being driven far too quickly by an older lady or seemed dazed by the preceding events and the closeness of the near miss
Scampered across a paddock scanning the fields for the elusive bull which was obviously not in residence today. Searched the cliffs looking for puffins but sadly none were seen. The cliffs were impressive but to see puffins would have been icing on the cake The concern with the bull and in fact cows in general is that within the last week a lady who was actually a vet was out walking her dog when a herd of cattle apparently charged towards her and tramped her to death. Farmers have undoubted been posting there beware bull signs regardless of whether there is a bull or not because beware cow just doesn’t elicit the same caution.
W e arrived at Limerick and instantly started reciting limericks .there was a young man from………. you know how they go so we shan´t offend you.
After what we saw today we have to question the validity of the story of the hare and the tortoise. Whilst driving around a causeway on a remote island in County Clare looking for somewhere to camp for the night we spied a big healthy hare bounding slowly along the road so thought that it would be fun to get some footage. We drove up behind the hare with the video rolling but the hare who was obvious camera shy accelerated to an unbelieve 40kms hr .Like hounds after a fox we chased the hare but the gap widen between and when the speedometer needle was hovering near 60km the hare thankfully did a sharp left turn into a lane and we lost him. .In the thrill of the chase we lost all sense of self preservation and almost skidded off the gravel road on a tight corner .
Slept in a large church car park after having trouble finding somewhere quiet to stop for the night.
The roads of Ireland are sadly littered with exotic road kill badgers ,red foxes and tiny rabbits. Unfortunately the only badgers that we have seen to date are dead badgers. Hopefully one night when we pitch the tent in a forest one will come and knock on the tent flap for a chat
The drivers on the roads in Ireland drive too close and drive far to fast for the road conditions a majority however are very polite as they flash their hazard lights as a thankyou when you pull over to the side of the road to allow them to pass.
Limerick was obviously once a nice looking medieval city but now is simply ugly. We are selective on where we chose to stay and ugly cities don’t make the cut so after a quick look we hit the road again
The radio announcers are talking about the scorching temperatures of the weekend: I think that it may have reached 24 degrees. It is all a matter of perspective I guess but if this is the case and they think 24 degrees is hot why do the Irish keep coming and staying n Australia they must think that they have landed in a country of permanent heat wave. They are doing barbeque statistics on the radio and already the number of barbeques that the listeners have been able to hold is already 100% more than last year and they are only at the beginning of summer. So ends the trivia section from Ireland on the positive effects of global warming on the cooking habits of the Irish
Drove the ring of Kerry, a 179km circuit around the Inveragh peninsula with dramatic coastal scenery…….was a bit ho hum until the end………..
Ireland is actually only tourist friendly is you are happy to stay in B &B of which there are many to choose Camping grounds are few and far between which can at times make life a little difficult for us……
Pitched the tent in Killarney beautiful national park only problem is that the beautiful Irish weather turned nasty overnight and it has been raining on and off for the past 12 hrs. The other problem was the midges who tried to eat us alive so regardless of the rain we would have had to retreat to the tent anyway.
A little like driving through a national park between Killarney and Cork. Massive old trees and lush green fields.
Rain. Rain Rain. Drove to Blarney which was full of tour buses. Decided that the idea of kissing a stone where millions of other lips have been was a little off putting and even more off putting was the rumour that it was where locals have urinated. (Editor: Germaphobic?)We will have to live with not having the gift of the gab.
Still raining. Drove to Cork and on arrival found it visually disappointing so had lunch by the Blackrock castle (observatory) before heading off to towards Waterford. (Editor: Maybe we could purchase some new crystal tumblers for the car to match the plastic plates)
Maybe it is a consequence of the grey skies and the fog which has rolled in but we were tired so we stopped at swan lake on the road to Waterford. No ballet but lots of swans ,signets and snoring.(Editor: Only one snorer .I was off talking to the swans and the Park Ranger who was banding the compliant swans)
Rain continues to tumble and the tent is wet so we decide there is no alternative but to camp in the car yet again tonight. We are parked at Ballyvooney cove right beside the raging Celtic sea so it is a rather picturesque setting despite the rain and misty sea spray that is coating the car (editor: lucky it is a hirer car J )
Off to Waterford to see what else but their legendary Waterford crystal which has been produced in Waterford since 1793. To our amazement and horror the Waterford Crystal factory ceased production in January 2009 and the name Waterford has been purchased by American company and there is now uncertainty as to where the crystal will now be produced in Waterford or overseas in Czech Republic. What a disgrace!!!!
Kilkenny
Kells priory- 13km south of Kilkenny ,these awe inspiring monastic 12th to 15th century ruins sits amongst rolling fields with grazing fat sheep alongside a babbling brook which leads to a mill which was initially run by a water wheel. A little off the beaten path and consequently a very unexploited attraction
Kilkenny brewery tour. What tour OH and S prevented us from going into the factory so we watched a video showing the history of this brewery and then was given a free pint of whatever beer that you wanted ie Guinness Kilkenny cream ,Smithson etc etc and then if you heart ,stomach and bladder desires another and another and another for an hour. In actually fact it is just happy hour not a brewery tour.
I have to admit that the first Smithson tasted really good. Not ordinarily good but amazing. It was the rush that I imagine drug addicts get when they get a hit. Just one more…Vanessa doesn´t like beer so no rush for her. Strange as we often have a wine with our evening meal without much affect.
We decided not to drink much early in our travels as the cost would drastically reduce the time we could travel.
Nights might have become something along the lines of :
´Where did the money go?´
´My wallet was full but now it has nothing in it´
´My head hurts but I am sure we had a really good time´
´We were just going in for one drink…´
We had a hurling march to watch later in the evening so I couldn´t enjoy another beer hit. To leave the tour bar with free beer still on and beer still in my glass was agony. Later we got out to the town only to find the Hurling match cancelled. Probably better for my head anyway.
´It’s a long way to Tipperary….¨ well actually its not as we are here. The sign as you enter Tipperary says ´Welcome you have come such a long way´
The 4th century rock of cashel is an amazing collection of medieval buildings set on an outcrop of limestone including a 12th century round tower, high cross, Romanesque chapel, 13th century gothic cathedral, 15th century castle and restored hall of vicars .This site also happens to be where we attended a show of traditional Irish dancing and music. The singing was haunting and the dancing was exhausting to watch and obviously to perform judging by the heaving chests on the girls and the beads of sweat on the guys foreheads .
Holy cross and hore abbey
Cahir castle
Farney castle
Not sure whether it has reached Australia or not but we have noticed in various supermarket that there is a self services checkout available. Each item is scanned than placed upon a scale and weighed to unsure than it is the product that belongs to the barcode ie you can’t remove the barcode from a roll of lifesavers and stick it onto a box of Cadbury ´roses´ chocolates. You then feed the money into the machine and your on your way. Surprising how easy it is to replace a check out chick and there is no need for idle chit chat There is a supervisor so not all humans have been replaced.
Good news on the origin of species.
Bye,
David and Vanessa
