Tanks Ireland, it's been grand!

And so concludes the first leg of our journey. We have loved Ireland, it’s beautiful country side, amazing weather and wonderful people.

A few observations...

1. You know you’re in Ireland when the signs are in Gaelic first and English second

2. The people are incredible. A taxi driver took the time to draw us a map, shake our hand and wish us well

3. There are almost more tractors on country roads than cars

4. Guinness is more accessible than water

5. If it’s even possible, B&Bs are more ubiquitous than Guinness

6. Colour television is a key advertising point for B&Bs in the country

7. Villages are made up of wonderfully colourful shopfronts and cottages, with flowers adorning every window, roundabout and lampposts

Now its on to Scotland. Looking forward to some Haggis!

Skellig Michael

Way back in April when we were starting to think about our trip we saw a picture in a book of some 'beehive' styled stone ruins on a remote island in the middle of nowhere. Our jaws dropped and we both said we have to go there!

Well, it turns out that this amazing place we saw a picture of was a UNESCO World Heritage listed site called Skellig Michael, accessible only by a nauseating, stomach-churning 45-minute boat trip off the coast of the Ring of Kerry.

We ummed and aahed about whether or not to go given it was a tad more expensive than our humble budget would comfortable allow, but we eventually decided that it’s not everyday you’re in a position to see such a remarkable place.

We set off in the morning and during the course of the boat trip the clouds burnt away and the day became sunny and glorious….rare for Ireland! As we putted along, the island gradually came into focus. What started off looking like a shard of glass poking out of the ocean revealed a steep, rocky and majestic island.

We disembarked from the boat and began our ascent to the top. Where in Australia, such an experience would have been preceded by an hour-long safety video and numerous disclaimer forms, here we were casually told to be careful as we negotiated the 618 ancient steps with no handrails where any slight slip or misstep would almost certainly lead to death as you fall down the sheer rock face.

Luckily, we didn’t have any such accidents and neither of us plunged to our deaths. We successfully scaled the 618 steps and were blown away by what we found at the top. They estimate that that the monastery was first inhabited by early Christian monks in AD600 as a way of separating themselves from the world, working hard, living simply, studying and praying, seeking to become more pure. 

It was quite astounding to imagine people not only surviving in such a remote setting, but thriving.

Again, it was one of those places that’s grandeur is hard to capture with words or photos. We feel so lucky that we were able to experience it.

The Ring of Kerry

We continued on down the coast in our hire car and embarked on another scenic coastal route known as The Ring of Kerry, a beautiful loop punctuated by amazing coastal scenery, colourful remote villages, knuckle-whitening narrow roads, and plenty more ruins.

Unfortunately weren’t able to find a 14 bed mixed dorm in a hostel on the Ring of Kerry, so we had to settle for a quaint B&B that had clean sheets and the refreshing fragrance of flowers, rather than the musty, damp towel smell that we have become accustomed to. Plus, we got an Irish cooked breakfast, minus the mould!

Happy days. 

The Burren

After Connemara we headed back to Galway and picked up a hire car that would be our transport for the next four days. We decided to sacrifice the ease and relaxation of coach tours for flexibility, and having to navigate the ridiculously narrow Irish roads ourselves.

We spent the day driving around The Burren, famous for the Cliffs of Moher and The Poulnabrone.

The Cliffs of Moher are kinda like Ireland’s equivalent of The Twelve Apostles. Stunning coastline with massive imposing cliffs. At their highest point, they stand at over 200 meters. We arrived at midday and the light was horrible, so we decided to head back at sunset. While it didn’t turn out to be the most stunning sky ever, it was well worth it!

The Poulnabrone is a neolithic tomb that they estimate was erected 5-6 thousand years ago. It is so remarkable how ancient civilizations managed to build it, considering that the top stone is estimated to be 1200kgs….all without forklifts and cranes!

On another note, things hit a new low on the food front. We have been living off toast and '8 for 1 Euro' pork sausages. As if our eating habits couldn’t get much worse, we made some delicious toast one morning, spread it with our miniature jam sachets, took one bite, and discovered that the bread was covered in mould. Not a great way to start the day!!

Next stop, the Ring of Kerry where we have resolved to ensure our breakfasts are mould-free.

(P.S…We’ve put a new page up…click ‘Where in the world…?’ to see a map of our travels)

Galway and Connemara

We arrived in Galway late in the afternoon and attempted to find our backpackers. Attempted is the key word here…we have discovered that while the Irish are good at a whole lot of things, they’re not so good with street signs. We did eventually find our hostel and as a reward, treated ourselves to pizza in the park.

The next morning we boarded a coach tour that took us to Connemara. Connemara is a national park in the West of the country that can be described as rugged, barren and tough. Our bus driver summed it up best by saying ‘there is nothing shiny out here’. With that said, it is one of the most spectacular and beautiful places we have ever seen. Mountains, lakes, sheep, ancient stone fences and cottages speckled throughout the countryside. Words and photos don’t really do the place justice.

The bus dropped us off in Connemara at a hostel pretty much in the middle of nowhere. It was so remote that we had to bring in our own food. The tour bus picked us up again the next day and we continued on for the second half of the trip. The overwhelming highlight of part 2 was Kylemore Abbey. The Abbey was built by some rich dude back in 1867 for his wife as a wedding present, all because she was ‘rather taken’ by the area whilst on their honeymoon. And as if a mansion/castle thing wasn’t enough, he then proceeded to craft a Victoria Walled Garden out of a bog where others could barely grown potatoes, and then built a mini-gothic Cathedral and Mausoleum in her memory after she passed away prematurely.

Daniel is now feeling some pressure, as Monique would quite like her very own castle and Victorian garden to be built in Collingwood upon our return!

Dublin

From the warm, hospitable family home of the Bradshaw’s, we jumped on a train and headed to Dublin for our first youth hostel experience…and yes, it was quite an experience. At first, we were thrilled to be put in room 33 on the 3^rd floor (go on…say it in an Irish accent…tirty tree and a tird). To our dismay, we were forced to move to room 19 the next morning when we discovered that one of our room mates had one too many pints of Guinness and forgot how to aim when doing number twos. Hopefully this is our first and last hostel horror story.

On a brighter note, Dublin is all about Guinness.  Guinness Guinness Guinness. It’s on every street corner, tourist t-shirt and in the hand of every punter. Daniel even got to pour his own on the tour of the Guinness storehouse. If you ask Monique, it’s all highly overrated – tastes like rubbish and stinks out the whole city. Refer to the beer blog for Daniel’s perspective on this debate.

Aside from Guinness, there was the 500-year-old Trinity College that featured the Book of Kells, and the most spectacular old library. Then there was the music scene. Every pub had live music featuring some sweet banjo, fiddle and guitar, creating an amazing atmosphere of heart racing, hand clapping and foot-stomping Irish folk.

We got to see where our favourite movie Once was filmed in Grafton Street, visit Kilmainham Gaol first built in 1796 and see St. Patricks Cathedral, which dates back to 1192.

It was a busy couple of days and we walked our feet off. We loved seeing flowers overflowing from what seemed like every windowsill in the city.

Next we’re heading to the west coast city of Galway

The garden at Ardgillan Castle - Skerries

The best way to recover from 37 hours transit

After arriving in Dublin, we were thrilled to be greeted at the airport by Linda Bradshaw – an Irish friend from work who is home on annual leave. To see a familiar face and know that we were going to a home, rather than a hostel was brilliant.

It was no more than 10 minutes before we were off the freeway and making our way through some classic meandering Irish country roads on our way to Linda’s family home in the small fishing village of Skerries, just north of Dublin. We loved:

• The Bradshaw’s hospitality – it was warm and welcoming
• Having a shower
• Visiting our first castle
• Traditional Irish food homemade by Linda’s mum, including Coddle, Steak and Mushroom pie, and sampling Black Pudding
• A pint of Guinness at the local

Staying with the Bradshaw’s was an incredible way to start our journey, and the perfect way to recover from 37 hours of travel.