Day 6 - Dingle

This morning the weather started out fine, then turned foggy then cleared in the afternoon.

We headed for the Dingle Peninsular and saw the McGillycuddy Reeks Ireland's highest mountain range.  We stopped at lots of tiny towns with tiny stone houses and then at Inch beach.  A lovely beach of sand which would be wonderful in summer if the sun was shining. No one in the water and no one taking up the offer of surfing lessons.  Drove around Slea Head to Dun Chaoin with views of Blasket Islands and the Ring of Kerry which we visit tomorrow.

Visited The Gallarus Oratory a perfectly preserved 1500  year old stone building with a curved roof.

Really amazing. Lunch in Dingle. Drove up the Conor Pass - Ireland's highest pass at 1500 ft - to get a spectacular view of Mt Brandon at 3100 ft. On one side you can see Dingle and all the way to Dingle Bay and on the other side you can see the Atlantic Ocean.  Stopped to see suffolk sheep climbing the steep sided hills.  In spring they are allowed down on the flats to lamb but before the summer they are sent up to the mountains again.

Somehow I corrupted Ronnie's photo card and lost a day and a half of photos.  Luckily we are travelling with a group and I should be able to get a copy of someone else's photos.  So upsetting.
(When we got home Ronnie recovered all the lost photos using a computer program!)

Day 5 - Killarney

Dunguaire Castle:

Visited Corcomroe Abbey a 13th century Cistercian monastry on the Burren.  We thought Patrick was saying "The Burn" but it was the Burren which comes from an Irish word "Boireann" meaning a rocky place. It is all exposed rock hills.  Now a national park.  It is thought that it used to have trees on it but early farmers cut down the trees and the soil got swept away and only rock remains.

This is the Portal Tomb on the Burren known as Poulnabrone Dolmen.

Drove through Lisdoonvarna a match making village! Then on to the Cliffs of Moher.  Ireland really turned on the weather for us.  "A little bit of mist" (according to Patrick) was to anyone other than an Irish man cold wind, rain and fog. The visitor center was reminiscent of Ski cafeterias. We braved the weather and walked along the top of the cliffs to the look out and took photos of white fog - just to prove we were there.

Caught the ferry across the Shannon river to County Kerry and on to the Kingfisher Lodge in Killarney, a luxury B and B for 3 nights.

Day 4 - Galway

We joined a small bus - 15 people - tour to the West Coast of Ireland starting today in Dublin we stayed in Galway.

We visited Locke's Distillery the world's oldest legal distillery in Kilbeggan. With a waterwheel still working.

Then travelled further west to the Shannon River and Clonmacnoise an amazing stone abbey built in the 8th-12th century.

Lunch at the Shannonbridge pub.

Stayed at Ashgrove House in Galway City. Being driven around by a local with a wealth of knowledge of the history and current times of the area is amazingly informative. Beautiful scenery.  Cold with showers, sun and wind.

Patrick was very proud of this new walkway which goes for 5 km around at Salthill Galway Bay. There were a lot of people using it on a very blustery afternoon so the locals enjoy it.

Day 3 - Dublin

Dublin.  Early start to do to O'Neils in Temple Bar for a Full Irish Breakfast. Yum!  This includes white and black pudding and a potato cake.  This is Ireland after all.  Every meal has potatoes done a couple of ways and some bread!It's to keep out the cold I think. : )

Trinity College, the old library and the Book of Kells a 9th Century manuscript of the gospels. They have 20,000 books they have just started to restore.

We did the Guinness Factory tour which was pretty good.

Had lunch at a very dimly lit Irish Restaurant. Design your own hamburgers or salad or sandwiches. Not sure what it was all about but it was nice.

At 3pm we started off on our Rural Pub tour with Shane as our guide.  6 pubs and dinner in the Wicklow mountains. Unbelievably good fun.  Everyone knew Shane and welcomed us all into their pubs.  The Cartoon Pub had cartoons on the wall from an old Disney cartoonist who did them instead of paying for his drinks.  Next was the Phelan general store! We had local Guinness, local cider (pear, apple or berry), local lemonade OR local whisky at each of them. Jimmy Fox's had live professional musicians and a Celtic dance show.  At the Maclure we had a wonderful venison dinner. The blue light had an impromptu jam session with anyone who wanted to jumping up and singing anything. Excellent, relaxed and very friendly.

Day 2 - Dublin

Arrived LHR 25 mins late and got "Express connection" card to get through security and gate control quickly.  We did fill in forms to enter the UK and got on the plane just as it finished loading.  Arrived Dublin 10 mins early without our bags!  No one on security by the time we'd organised our luggage transfer so we breezed through.  BA couriered the bags to the hotel once they had landed on the next plane. Caught Aircoach to the hotel and checked in.

15 mins in Dublin at 7 degrees C and we were glad we had packed all our winter woolies but Ronnie regretted the fact he hadn't carried a jumper with him on the plane.  He did have a windproof vest. He toughed it out with the hardy Irish a few of whom were wearing t-shirts.

Lunch at Flanagan's on O'Connell Street.  5 E Mini Irish Breakfast: toast, sausage, bacon, tomato, egg and baked beans.  Very nice. Goodness knows what the full Irish breakfast is! They very kindly let us swap the two teas for one coffee. Best coffee so far on the trip.

Did the HOHO bus around the town while the sun was shining, beautifully at least for 30 mins. We've never done one of those before and were impressed with the commentary and the organisation - there was an agent at every stop to help you with directions.  Checked the tourist office (there are 5 within 2 mins walk of the hotel) and went back to the hotel to take a quick nap (not much sleep on the plane at all) before the traditional Irish Music and Dancing "Celtic Nights" free 7 nights a week right at our hotel but we slept from 2:30 till 9:30 and missed it. Not the thing you should do for jetlag but I am sure I can still sleep through the night.

Our hotel is pretty close to the foot of this bridge, on the other side.  There used to be a ha'penny toll to cross it, so it is called the ha'penny bridge or the penny Bridge. 

This is our hotel with the restaurant and bar on the left and the hotel entry on the right. It is on the river.

Day 1 - SYD to DUB

We are almost ready to go!  We came up to Sydney early to buy Ronnie some new shirts because everything in his wardrobe was worn out. They are 100% cotton so if he looks wrinkled it will be because we can't find an iron. Although they will generally (always?) be under many layers of jumpers and raincoats. Ronnie's ancestors come from Limerick in Ireland.

After checking the weather in Ireland we bought some new waterproofing spray for our gortex raincoats and dried them so hopefully they will withstand the Irish rain.

15 mins into the trip I realised I have packed too much.

I don't think we'll be flying British Airways again unless we fly premium economy. We booked too late to get premium econ on frequent flyers with either Qantas or BA.  Last time we flew premium economy with BA and they upgraded us to Business for one leg which was exceptional and you could choose your own seats 24 hrs prior to check in. But, in economy they pre-assign seats (at the back of the plane and no window).  Can't change it at check in at the airport. The lady said 150 people had paid $102 per leg to choose a seat before the flight and they all chose windows! A lucrative money spinner for BA.

Great news!
At check in I asked for a window seat and they said nothing available.
At the gate they took our boarding passed and ripped them up (heart in mouth for a few seconds) and issued new ones because they had changed us to a window seat.  Not over a wing either so we have a great view! Very comfortable seats (better than Air New Zealand). Everyone should have noise cancelling headphones for planes.  They are fantastic. Thanks, Moira, for the suggestion.

We departed at 3:30 Sydney to Singapore then to Dublin.  Very excited.

The flight was great.  The seats were a LOT better than Air NZ economy seats. 

Dinner was vegetarian pasta or Chicken and rice. 

The noise cancelling headphones I got for Mother’s day are fantastic.  Such a quiet flight.

Flew over Lake Eyre Basin and Alice Springs. 

Salt lakes and faults.

 

Ireland UK and France

Looking forward to blending in with the locals wearing the right gear.