Almost a Summer

Now that’s a busy week! Amazing what happens when it stops raining and the sun comes out for an actual summer! 23C-27C all week!! This meant that Tuesday through Friday it was lunching in the rooftop beer garden of the pub next door to work. All Good!!

You know about last Monday, and Tuesday night was spent riding over to Walthamstow and after a brew or few in The Village with Sue n Wil, it was back to their new abode for the Grand Tour and dinner. A very nice night!

Wednesday and it was Rounders in Hyde Park with the work crew for a bit of fun. (Note the lovely clear blue sky!) Rounders is like baseball/softball only different, as I was to discover. They did a good job of it really, with food and beverages included. Unfortunately, someone dropped the beer carton and there were a few casualties, which meant that the call to the pub was both a bit stronger as well as being made after only the second game of the evening. On a side note, Oxford St is definitely one to be avoided by bike unless you have your pollution mask for the buses!

Thursday was a cruisey ride home via both the Scoop and Tower Bridge. Really not sure who the artist was, but he was pretty good.

It was back to the Scoop again on Friday evening for the finale of the free music nights, and it was packed!! (see pic) I got there at the start time of 6.30pm and couldn’t get in. Still, you get a decent view from outside the barriers, and you can still hear the music well enough, so chilling out on the banks of the Thames was a good way to finish off the week before botching my attempts at on-bike photography of myself crossing Tower Bridge...

Saturday was soon upon me, and it was back on the bike to Borough Market (see right for one way in) for some groceries and a bit of a poke around the markets trying a load of samples from the vendors, including Puffin Poo - it’s actually a white chocolate coconut ball. Couldn't resist a fresh oyster as well. So, with backpack full of groceries and a few extras it was back on the road home. [finally made it Jude!]
As I cruised through the not-so-main streets I crossed over the canal and decided to head along the towpath for a bit. Nice on the sunny day that it was, and funnily enough I discovered that I’d just gone under the bridge that ‘Dennis’ from the movie Run, Fat Boy, Run runs under (see left). I still haven’t found the park that he runs through with the view across London, but it won’t take too long. But I digress... after strolling along the canal (if you can do that on a bike) I stopped off in Stoke-Newington Church st (below right) for what was originally going to be just a coffee, but became lunch as well. Got chatting with the two girls on the table next to mine when they asked what it was that I’d ordered (as it arrived to the table). Nice pair - the girls that is, although...
Back home and it was time to change over the front and rear cogs on the single speed bike (and chain) as they’re fast wearing out. Considering that I’ve done over 2,000kms on it since January, this is probably not that surprising...

Sunday. Firstly, Happy Birthday Mum for today!!
Time to give the newly overhauled single speed a rest and take the road bike out for a day. Bike Events were holding their annual London to Cambridge ride for Breast Cancer, and they were starting fairly close to home (about 8kms away if you must know). I headed down and registered.
Far more folk doing this ride than I thought there’d be considering that it was 55miles, or so the brochure said... There was also quite a range of riders too - all the way from your tourers, serious roadies, mountain bikers and everything in between across all age groups. I recall passing some recumbents (those lay-back styled bikes), some tandems, and even those kiddie attachments where junior pedals along as well.
It turned out to be a good day out in the sunshine riding through the countryside and passing through the small villages to Cambridge. It also turned out to be a good time on the bike mixing it up with other riders - three in particular who at some stage all got a bit competitive. Unfortunately, this was to my detriment to a degree as my training for this event was only my commuting to work and back - a 20km round trip done in less than an hour each day isn't really going to cut it for such a distance. Today took nearly three and a half hours, and at a reasonable pace for the entire 94kms. Going out a bit hard for the first 10miles in one of those ‘competitions’ may not have helped as there was a fair amount of pain to get through the last 15miles, but it was still enjoyable.
The route was anything but flat, which created the main dual of the day - I’d pass on the way up and get ahead, and he’d pass on the way down and get ahead. This continued for around 20miles until he stopped off at one of the rest stops. The third fellow was just running out of steam, so took my wheel up one of the longer climbs with about 10miles to go. He was very grateful for the tow up the hill, and we ended up chatting away for a while til we were overtaken by a group of 4 other roadies. I suggested we get a tow from them, so we became a rather face paced bunch of 6 all the way to the end. Beers in the main tent and most of the pain disappeared.
A brief cruise around Cambridge back to the train station and it was then on to the train home. I say ‘brief’ because of two reasons;
1. Cambridge was packed with people everywhere, and
2. I had “UniSA” and “University of South Australia” emblazoned on my riding jersey so felt a little out of sorts in such a far more prestigious university town.
Anyway, still a good day out and one that I’ve kept the map for, if you get my drift.
I didn’t take much in the way of pics while on the bike as they didn't really turn out and it just got a bit risky, so you’ll have to settle for the one above and this one...

Look! Up in the Sky

Aah Monday, never short of something interesting. A fun race with some guy in an Audi on the commute in to work. I caned him because he just wasn’t brave enough over the speed humps, where I could fly past on the flat edges. He certainly flew between each speed hump though!
The next fun part of the day was the mice at work. First one small mouse was spotted a couple of times around the office before eventually being caught and released into the alley out the back. Later a second one was spotted a few times around the office creating some more entertainment for the afternoon...

Anyway, last week thanks to Lisa, who I met at Stonehenge, I discovered The Scoop. This is a smallish amphitheatre next to the London Town Hall on the south bank of the Thames. On Wednesdays, Thursdays n Fridays they have live bands there from 6.30pm onwards - for free. I cruised past on Wednesday evening after work and caught a funky 70’s band for a bit, as well as heading on down on Friday night for the Allstars. They are an eight piece band accompanied by four singers and went through a range of decades of music to have the crowd well and truly into it. Both nights were a great way to finish off what were rather ordinary days of work.
As a side to these two nights, I have now both run and ridden across Tower Bridge - nothing really noteworthy, but still pretty cool to do...

Saturday saw myself and my housemate Paul join Marty n Karyn in Fulham for lunch by the Thames before heading through the riverside parks to Craven Cottage football ground to watch Celtic vs Fulham. A preseason friendly that certainly had the Scots out in droves. The bulk of the supporters at the ground were the Celtic fans - green and white hoops everywhere. The pic on the right is just from the pub by the train station before the game. Funnily enough, Celtic’s ‘away’ strip looks suspiciously like that of the Australian national team - see the pic on the left and judge for yourself (Fulham, by the way, were in white and won 3-1). A decent game amongst the entertaining Celtic fans. The ground staff decided to put the sprinklers on at half time while some of the teams players were warming up or doing some drills on the pitch! Good for a giggle.
From the game it was off to a nearby pub for a few pints and the usual discussions of football and life in general.

Later, I headed over to Matt Beale’s for dinner and a fun evening of movies and some ‘guitar hero’ on the X-box. We needed an early start in the morning, and it was easiest to stay over, which meant that we were away just after 8.30am on our way to Farnborough. It didn’t take us long to get there, but the fun started with the banked up traffic and the messes of trying to get into one of the four large carparks that were in place for the Farnborough Air Show. To say this was a large event would be an understatement. We discovered just how large later in the day when we had to walk pretty much from one end to the other through thousands of people.
Now you may think that Air Shows are for planespotters and ‘anoraks’, but there were many other sorts of people there. This particular air show is a massive aviation trade show as well so there was much on display. We had an initial look around at the planes on display as well as a quick play on a helicopter simulator and a go on the Eurofighter ride, then it was time for the aerial displays.
It kicked off with the new Airbus A380 (left), which you’ve all no doubt heard of, and was it rather impressive to watch the world’s largest passenger airliner basically flung about the sky like a stunt plane (within reason). Okay, so it didn’t do anything as impressive as the fighter planes, but I never thought an airliner could be quite that entertaining. Next up were the fighter planes, which were not only VERY loud, but really what everyone was there to see. Great stuff too! Bit of a flashback to the flybys at the Adelaide Formula 1 Grand Prix, but alas no F-111’s with the massive afterburner flames. Bring out the kid in many of us there!
A good day out at something that is probably outside the norm...

A Summer Day in London?!

25C and sunny today!! Nice of London to have a glimpse of summer!!

Pity that most of the day was spent inside the office... felt like a house cat that can see the outside world, but just not go out into it...

It did make the ride home very enjoyable in the warm sun without need of a jacket or vest (or rain gear like last week). So with my Australia cycling socks on for Cadel Evans having nabbed the yellow jersey in Le Tour, I decided to try a different route home. A couple of K's longer through the back streets in the sun and it was all good. Such a nice way to finish off an ordinary day at work...

[You'd think I'd have come up with something better for my 100th post. If only I knew at the time...]

Havana Rise

A much needed quieter week this week mostly due to London’s summer being rained out for the week. Although it must be said that London did get it right to be sunny for the weekend!
Friday’s weather was okay to join the guys from work for a run. I used to join them regularly back before doing the marathon, but I haven’t done any running since the ‘main event’. Being the first run in just on 3 months I was rather surprised at just how much fitness I hadn’t lost and was able to maintain a comfortable pace with the others. I didn’t realise just how long or how far we were going to go, and before I knew it we’d reached Canary Wharf. A pleasant enough run along the banks of the Thames and the back streets nearby, but by the time we returned to work (in just under an hour) we’d covered just over 10.5kms.

Friday night kicked off with a London edition of the Havana Club parties that have been a bit of an institution in Melbourne for some time now. Added to the mix was the ‘Tropical’ theme despite London’s cooler climes, and a midnight euphony on the roof. Excellent setup with the venue of the party in an apartment with almost no neighbours and rooftop access, so it was pretty much two parties in one. DJ n lights going full gas with Big Wednesday and other surf movies projected onto the wall all added to the great atmosphere. The midnight euphony, which by definition is a mass unchoreographed sound, was something that whilst being a bit different was good fun. Part of the invite cited that you needed to bring an instrument in case you’re wondering what was used to make the ‘sound’.
Great to catch up with a few folk that I’d not seen for a bit (as I’d been away for a few weekends or they’ve been in Australia), as well as meeting a few new folks. A fun night all round.

Saturday began at a more leisurely pace (ignoring the few hours of Saturday that were still part of Friday night). The afternoon saw myself joining Matty, Simone and Bubs at the Battersea Power Station for the last weekend of ‘tours’ before the developers begin their plans for redeveloping the surrounding area. The tour was free, and you took yourself on it by just following the path laid out between the wire fencing. Basically it took you around the outside of this old defunct structure with two ‘visits’ inside.
Recognise it? I’d seen the station originally on the album cover to Pink Floyd’s ‘Animals’, and then from the trains from Waterloo when going to and from Portsmouth, Reading and Salisbury. It’s certainly a lot larger close up - well, bigger than I thought. Quite impressive really, and the plans for what the developers are going to do looked interesting. Will be good to head on down for the ‘after’ of this ‘before’.
From Battersea Power Station we headed across town to where Simone introduced us to what she called “London’s Best Restaurant for Duck”. Now for me, duck isn’t something that’s high on my meat list even if I have had it several times so I wasn’t too fussed. However, I’ve not had better duck anywhere, and that’s not just in London, so I’d be confident to say that duck has just gone up a few places on my ‘to eat’ list. The salt n pepper squid was certainly up there too with the best I’ve ever had making this one restaurant that I will be returning too. Worth the distance travelled to get there!
Because the day was nice n sunny, I’d decided to ride to the power station - why travel underground on such a glorious day?!
Answer: Because of how your legs will feel on Sunday after a 10km run followed by 45kms by bike...

Feeling a little sore on Sunday morning made the perfect excuse... erm... reason for just relaxing in the morning sun with breakfast, coffee n book. Lovely jubbly.
However, it was time to get the legs moving again, so a leisurely half hour walk down to Finsbury Park was in order to go to Rise. Rise is London’s biggest free music festival, and it was far larger than I thought it would be! So is Finsbury Park for that matter.
The first of the six main stages that I came across was the African Village (left). Even though I’d just arrived, it was worth hanging out there for a bit as the music and mood was excellent.

At the change of artists I moved on through the throngs of people, past some food stands to the London Underground stage. This was more of the ‘urban’ sound or really just more DJ and electronica music. At that point in the afternoon it was quite cruisey so again I stuck around for a bit.
My curiosity had been piqued by the plumes of smoke I could see further down the way along the alleyway of food and drink stalls, so I moseyed on to discover that these were Jamaican chicken stalls, and had massive queues for them.
After grabbing a drink it was on to the next stage, which was the main stage. I was just in time for a band called the Aliens. One of the guys at work had mentioned them as the only band he recognised, and I can see why. They were excellent. Very different as they crossed several genres and never really stopped between tracks, but never played anything I didn't like. Dunno who the next band was, but they were good too, so I stayed there for a bit longer.
Once the “host” returned to the stage to talk, it was time to head out and explore the rest of the festival. Such an amazing range of folks everywhere too, and such a cruisey atmosphere - none of that obnoxious wasted lot you encounter at other music events like the Big Day Out and others. Anyway, after passing all the sideshows and rides, I found an even cruisier stage and crowd at what was a funk/soul/jazz styled sound. Nearby there were a few ‘community’ stalls if that’s what you call them, all with their message against slavery/poverty/human rights/vegetarianism/etc...
Again, after a while I moved on to the next stage, which was called the Big Dance. Dance music? Nope. This one was literally a massive dance class, and the current dance being taught was Indian. Five Indian women were in a line out the front, while dozens of people were behind them on the platform. One woman with the microphone who talked/walked through each couple of steps while the group followed. Then they’d put them all together. Quite entertaining for those of us watching and it looked to be quite enjoyable for those participating. Aerobics Indian Style?
The next stage was a hip-hop one, so my interest in stopping here was short. It was back to the main stage for me, via the decent sized market that was at the back of the crowd there. Extremely diverse range of products on offer from many nationalities. A quick stop at the nearby food stalls for some Jamaican cuisine (read: shortest queue) and drink and it was back to the grass n crowd of the main stage to relax and enjoy the music for a while in the sun.
The good part about having such a good range of music available at an event like this is that when a crap act hits the stage, you can just go listen to someone else. Like changing the station or cd by using your feet, so back to the African Village I went to chill out for the remainder of the day...

Am Mainz mit ein Überraschung

“and you wanted to dance,
so I asked you to dance,
but fear is in your soul...”

Do not ask why, but these words became my favourite lyrics many years ago - helped, of course, by the music surrounding them and the way they were sung. Last Thursday night was the first time I ever got to hear them sung live...
Duran Duran is the band and the song is ‘Save a Prayer’, and along with Marty, Karyn and Colin we went to see the London show. Not exactly a band that was noted for their time beyond the 80’s, but their music still lasts well, and is far better than a lot of the manufactured rubbish on the radios today.
After a bit of a soggy meet-up at London bridge we found a nearby spot for dinner, then headed off to the O2 for the show. We didn’t really bother with the support band, whoever they were, and instead opted for Colin’s recently acquired tickets to the “Blue Room” to embarrass ourselves with hoola hoops and a bit of pinball. Yes, it was an interesting little bar!
The main show itself was nothing like i was expecting, although I’m not sure just what I was expecting. “Old Band Reunion” and all the clichés that go with this had come to mind, and gladly I was mistaken about this. To a packed O2 Arena, Duran Duran put on one of the best shows I think I’ve been to. Haven’t danced that much since... well, since last weekend in the nightclub in Killarney, Ireland.
Again, I’ll chalk them up with the Cure and Queensryche for their superb live sound, as they too had none of the usual “better CD than live” that accompany so many artists and bands.
Great show all up with no bad music at all - even the dance mixes that they threw in worked very well, and their new stuff was pretty good too.

From the O2 and the show it was home via the tube and then the bus, which meant that I was home well after midnight. No major drama you may think, however, when you need to be up at around 3.30am to get to the airport by around 5.30am for a 7.30am flight (and are yet to pack...)
Needless to say, with a whole hour of sleep it was off to Heathrow’s new Terminal 5 for a three day weekend in Mainz, Germany. An impressive terminal this one, and not a bad spot for breakfast - I can highly recommend Giraffe’s blueberry n banana pancakes! A bit of duty free browsing in an effort to replace my broken sunnies and it was up, up and asleep with BA. I didn’t get to sleep through the entire flight as they were serving food, so i did get a good look at the channel and the cliffs and beaches of Normandy (or Belgium) before nodding back off.

Arrival in Frankfurt, and it was off to the train station for the trip to Mainz. A quick check of the departure board and I had 4minutes to use the ticket machine and get down to the necessary platform - all good fun when the machine is different to any you’ve used before and in a foreign language! I still made it with time to spare, and was even able to help out a fellow train-ee with some change for her ticket. Impressed? Don’t be, as I do have some rudimentary language skills when I’m in Germany (oder Deutschland).
A pleasant enough train ride to Mainz to view the shining sun and German landscape until we reached Mainz-Römisches Theater where the train stopped. Something wrong with the tunnel ahead meant we had to catch a bus from here to the main train station of Mainz - or so we were told. After a good 15minute wait for the bus (and working out that I needed to be on the other side of the road!) I was on my way to central Mainz. It took all of about 3 blocks of travel before I recognised a certain pub/bar that I’d been to the last time I was here, which meant that I both knew exactly where I was, and that I had no need to be on the bus! So that was €2,20 well spent!
Off the bus at the next stop and I was making my way to the main square of Mainz and it’s market. A good sized market this one, covering about the same area as London’s Borough Market, and right in the shadow of the main cathedral. Time to poke around for a bit.
I had several hours to myself anyway as both Frank and Anka were working and it was a Friday after all. Time to get reacquainted with Mainz after about 7 years. After poking around the market and getting some lunch it was a quick visit through the Gutenburg Museum before continuing along my way through a few alleyways and cobbled streets til I reached the very modern town hall. In the process I passed by some rather old buildings from around the 1200’s according to the plaques on their walls.
With sun shining and the temperature at around 28C this was my first taste of a proper summer day for well over a year, and what better way to spend it than walking through the parks along the banks of the Rhien river. Nah-fence to Melbourne, but forget Southbank! Anyway, after a while I came across a nice spot under an oak tree and a willow tree where they had several tables and a bar. And I thought it couldn’t get any better on the banks of the Rhien...
Eventually finishing both beer and pretzel, and just generally soaking it all in, I headed back along the bank of the Rhien to discover what else may lay along these shores. With a hazelnut cornetto in hand, I passed the preparations for a festival that was coming up on Sunday just near the Römisches bridge (or Brücke), only to discover one of two ‘beaches’ in the area.
From here I headed back towards the centre of Mainz, past several interesting places and eventually to a little bar just off the SchillerPlatz known as the Andau. This is where I scored my two Erdinger glasses all those years ago, so why not head in for another beer... With only about an hour til Frank finished work, a beer and book on the edge of the sunny square rounded out my explorations nicely. I wonder what ol' Des Vaughton would think of this - being my old German teacher at school and me spending a day of no english in his country...

Soon it was back to Frank’s new place in his Audi - via what can only be described as a beer warehouse full of a huge variety of beers - for a bbq in the lovely warm evening. Here I met Stephi, his girlfriend, and also Christian, another keen rider. With Anka and Karsten to join us shortly, we had the makings of a fun night. What I didn’t realise was that I was in for a surprise - Anka’s parents, Kurt and Heidi were dropping in to say ‘Guten Tag’.
It was over 7years ago that I met them. That day, Kurt took Anka and myself for a long bike ride along the banks of the Lahn river, stopping at a couple of spots to sample the local wines - a great day. So, you could credit them with getting me back onto bikes again. I’ve been in touch with them ever since, and for them to make the effort to visit from nearby Weisbaden was quite special. Really good to see them again too! (and another good incentive to improve my ability to speak German! Sitting with a dictionary to write a card or letter is far easier!!) A very pleasant start to what turned into a fun night that even had ein flitzer for some entertainment.

Saturday began rather slowly as I managed to catch up on some much needed sleep, making breakfast at around midday... Anyway, a quick bit of shopping to replace those much needed sunnies and once done, we were on the road again with Anka and Karsten to a small village amongst the vineyards of the area. We eventually made our way up the hillside to overlook the valley (see above pic). On the way up we passed the sculptures of one of the locals that were ‘interesting’ to say the least. Great views and so peaceful on the walk up the hillside to where we settled to enjoy both the sunshine and the view.
Next stop, once we were back on the road, was to the ‘beach’ on the other bank of the Rhien. A top spot this one, with a groovy ska band doing a show nearby to provide some good music while we lazed in the deck chairs on the sandy bank. Nice of there to also be a beer wagon to allow us to drink while we soaked up the sun. Two top summer days in a row - why am I in London again when the whole week's been raining??
With our newly boosted tans, on we went. A short walk from Frank’s place had us all at the Kirschestück wine festival. Along the main road of the vineyard itself, it stretched. Full of people of all ages, although they did get younger as the evening moved into night. Plenty of stalls for both food and wines. Dinner was a Winzervesper with zweibeln auf Brötchen too! (a steakburger with onion in a bread roll just doesn’t sound all that impressive does it...) After perusing the festival for a while, it was then time to get stuck into a couple of bottles of wine while watching the folks around us.
Later we headed back to Frank’s to change and continue into the night at the Kuz nightclub. An outdoor beer garden, a “Depeche Mode” styled bar, and a regulation nightclub as well. Here we met some of Frank and Stephi’s friends for a fun night. Well, what I can remember of it was fun! The early music played for those on the dancefloor was mostly German, which was good to hear, as it had mostly been English/American on the radio in the car. As the night wore on, then more and more ‘western’ music came to the fore. Unfortunately for me things appear to have gone somewhat a-wry after a few tequila beers... I have no recollection from the dancefloor to waking up the next morning in a park.
I’ve had a few of the blanks filled in, and it’s not as bad as it sounds. The park was only a few blocks from Franks, and once I realised where I was, I could have made my way back there. Apparantly I’d left the cab home due to a needed stop (and wanting to avoid a taxi cleanup fee), and ended up sleeping in the park instead of actually making my way home. There are however quite a few funny pics on my camera that we discovered later on Sunday morning. Some good laughs there too.
Embarrassing? Yep. But only for a while, as it’s now a funny adventure and that’s what life’s about.
Sorry if you think I’m posting some of the more interesting pics here...

Sunday ended up being just a casual day in Mainz where we breakfasted at Grunewald, a cafe/restaurant that overlooks the main square and the cathedral. Nice of them to be preparing a concert in the square, so we were treated to all the soundcheck songs as we ate (see pic for just how nice a breakfast it was). After dodging some European wasps who invited themselves to breakfast, we went for a nice cruisey walk for a few hours through Mainz and some of its lesser known attractions that I hadn’t visited on the Friday. Including some recently found Roman ruins.
At the end of this, it was ‘vielen Dank’ and ‘Aufweidersehen’ to Anka and Karsten. Great to meet Karsten, and to see Anka again. Thankfully it won’t be another 7 years between visits!!
One last beer together on Frank’s patio and it was then off to the Frankfurt airport at 210kmh. More Thanks and ‘until we meet again’s with the same knowledge that it won’t be the same number of years between visits.
A great weekend with some good friends!

And the adventure of the weekend didn’t finish there, with the usual round of airport shenanigans adding to the story...
Firstly, don’t bother eating at the Mexican restaurant there - terrible! Next came the confusion with which gate we were supposed to be departing from - it changed twice. Following this, the plane arrived shortly after we were supposed to take off. Naturally, this led to us taking off nearly 90mins late. Thankfully, this meant that the last tube from heathrow had well and truely gone, so it was a fun pair of bus rides lasting over 2hours making my entire journey home last until just after 2am in the morning! Talk about value for money!! Thanks British Airways!!

Shamrocker!

Okay, so I’ve finally got this written up - it is a little rushed, so if you’d like some more info, just leave your question in the comments bit below and I’ll answer it there.

So, Thursday evening arrived and it’s off to Stansted airport and through some nice English countryside in the sun to begin the next adventure...

Next stop: Dublin, Ireland.

Arriving in Dublin at around 9pm, it was onto the Aircoach to head into the centre of Dublin and stash my stuff at Kinlay House hostel. I got off the bus in O’Connell Street which is pretty much the city centre and about a 20minute walk to the hostel. Happily enjoying the spectacle of Spanish football fans pouring out of the pubs after Spain just made it to the Euro final. Anyway, it was a pleasant enough walk down to the Liffey river before heading along it’s boardwalk for a while until I had to cross it and head into south Dublin, past a hoard of pubs n cafés to Kinlay House.
After checking in and meeting Justin, one of my roommates for the night, and fellow Aussie (from Perth), it was time to venture into Dublin’s nightlife for myself - preferably without getting lost. Early start in the morning, so staying out too late wasn’t really an option. That said, I ended up returning at around 1am after circling Dublin Castle and then visiting a few different pubs as I wandered around the nearby streets. The nicest by far was The Bank (pictured with the first Guinness of the night), but the best atmosphere and typically “Irish pub” was O’Neills. It was more of a stereotypical Irish pub than an actual Irish pub, as I was later to find out.

Day 1
Friday morning and it was up early thanks to the street sweeper vehicle going past outside the window at 5am. Okay, so I didn’t actually get up til about 6.30am, but you get the drift. Downstairs for breakfast and I met a few of the nice ladies who were also doing the Shamrocker tour of southern Ireland, so things were looking to be off to a good start.
Once checked in, we were onto the bus and off on our jaunt around the south of Ireland. It didn’t take long before we were out of the ‘burbs of Dublin and travelling through ‘rural’ Ireland on our way to the west coast. I’ve seen pictures of country Ireland, but it was far greener than I was expecting. Nothing like home!
[unfortunately, no matter how picturesque or stunning the countryside was to be, it just couldn’t be properly captured by a camera]
First stop was the Locke Whiskey Distillery in Kilbeggan for a tour of one of Ireland’s oldest distilleries before sampling their products - even trying some pre-production whiskey that was 80% proof. Quite entertaining that tasting as you watch all, well, most of the folks have that 2 second delay in reacting to their sip of this one! Locke’s Distillery was established in 1757, which means it’s nearly 20years older than Captain Cook’s discovery of Botany Bay. After a quick visit to the teahouse attached to the distillery, it was back on the bus and on to the next stop.
Along the way it was ‘introduction time’ for all on the tour. Basically, you introduced yourself and then did one of the following - ‘most embarrassing moment’, ‘two truths and a lie’ or a ‘naked story’. For some reason, Danny, our guide, was of the belief that those of us from ‘Team Australia’ all had great naked stories... I combined most embarrassing and naked story, which furthered his theory. Effectively, it turned out that he was right - only one American went close with a naked story, but the rest of the nationalities went with the other two options. All up we had a great bunch on the bus.
Next stop on the itinerary was Clonmacnoise on the banks of the Shannon River. It is an ancient settlement and monastery that dates back well over a thousand years and has survived being pillaged by nearly everyone over that time. See one of the surviving buildings left. Typical Irish weather timed its appearance with our time wandering the graveyard and ruins of what was left of this site. Even in the light drizzle, it was quite an interesting place with a really serene feel to it. It warranted more time, but myself, Megan, Tyler and Ashleigh discovered that subtle little hint that told us the correct answer to our earlier pondering of the correct time to get back to the bus, so we headed back just in time to climb aboard. I could have done with a bit more time here, but one visit was enough. Don’t get me wrong here, as it was well worth checking out.
On the road, and Danny was at it again with tales of ancient Ireland and its history (he’d given us a good rundown of Clonmacnoise and the distillery earlier). This time it was the Síle na ghig (pronounced ‘shale na gig’), which was a pagan symbol placed above church entrances to entice the pagans to convert to Christianity and attend the churches. What the Christians didn’t know was that this was a fertility idol that you rubbed for “improved prospects with your crops/breeding/family creation”. We then stopped by an old church that would have fitted in with Clonmacnoise to see one, and even give it a rub yourself should you be inclined - Tyler gave it a go, but no one else did.
Back on the bus and it was time for the story of our next stop - a faerie circle - along with a plethora of faerie tales and other mythical(?) folk of Ireland. I have to admit that I did enjoy these tales as some of them fitted in with one of my favourite authors, Calseal Mór, who writes of the history of ancient Ireland (or Eirinn as it was known back then) in the times of the bronze ages or the coming of the Romans, etc... Anyway, we reached the faerie circle, which was actually a national heritage site, and then proceeded to walk it in line with correct custom - you must walk around it in a clockwise direction, you must not enter it, and you must thank the faeries when you complete the circle. Naturally, they only speak Irish, so we had a brief language lesson on the bus prior to arrival. I’m not sure of the actual spelling, but ‘guro ma-ha-got’ is probably the closest I can write the pronunciation to it.
From here it was on to Prol na Brón, which was another sacred ancient site with a legend to go with it. We were in county Clare, which has a very interesting style of terrain that you can see at the base of the col - very rocky. Here, Danny gave us the story of how these cols came to being with the cursed love story of a King’s daughter, her lover and the great warrior she was supposed to marry.
With the weather taking a turn for the windy, it was on to the town of Gort before making our way to the Cliffs of Moher. Some of you may have seen that email floating around a while back with the pictures of the two mountain bikers riding along a ledge along some cliffs? Well, these were those cliffs, only we didn’t get to see them too well thanks to a lovely Atlantic mist rolling in. See for yourself in the pic here. Oh well, something to come back for later (along with plenty of other things in this country).
After a good half hour of wandering the cliff tops, it was time to head to Doolin - the town where we were to stay the first night. Doolin is touted as the home of traditional Irish pub music, and to give you an idea of the place, it has four pubs and a phone box. There are various houses around it as well as a few hostels, but they are sparse. Nothing like a suburb or township as we know it. It’s more like someone just tossed a bunch of houses across the countryside like throwing a handful of corn. But I digress... Once we’d settled our stuff into the hostel where we were to spend the night it was off to McGann’s, which Danny had touted as the best of the four pubs, with the best beef stew in Ireland. Now THIS was a proper traditional “Irish Pub”. Danny and Celia (our driver) had been playing nothing but Irish music throughout the entire journey so far, and had mentioned that one of the artists they’d played would be at this pub tonight.
So Guinness and a stew later and it was time to celebrate Danny’s birthday with a few birthday ‘lifts’, (which you can see in action here) and much Guinness and Irish music. The music for the night began in the corner of the pub as three musicians just seemed to take up their instruments and proceeded with what was basically a ‘jam session’. As the night went on they were joined by several others and it all just continued from there. Fantastic stuff really, while we celebrated Danny’s birthday and got to know each other over several more drinks. I don’t recall what started off the next series of events but I managed to get myself into a ‘last man standing’ challenge with Danny himself. Considering the lack of sleep from the last two nights it was pretty stupid, but the honour of Team Australia was at stake according to the group on the table I was at - Sascha and Casey from Port Lincoln (of all places), and Abby, Brandon and Jordan from the US. We were both still standing when the pub closed, and both sported hangovers the next morning. At least no one had to get me up to make the departure time of the bus! A top night anyway, and one I’d happily repeat in Doolin.

Day 2
Leaving Doolin with a rather subdued guide, and many who were happy to snooze on the bus, we headed down along the west coast of Ireland before stopping at Kilkee for what Celia touted as the best sausage rolls in Ireland. Only the best on this tour for us! I don’t know if these really were the best sausage rolls I’d ever had, but considering the timing of their consumption and how I was feeling, they were VERY good.
Kilkee to Killrush and the ferry ride across the River Shannon, which took just over 20 minutes to cross, before continuing along the coast to the fishing town of Dingle. Quite a pretty little place with some amazing coastline on its peninsula. So after lunching and a little exploring in Dingle, which is the home of Funghi the dolphin, we headed out along the loop that takes you along this very coastline. Amazing stuff too. The highlight of this would have to have been the stop on the small beach where we partook of some volleyball, Frisbee and a few braved a shoeless runabout in the surf coming up the beach. At the water’s edge I reached into the water, but kept my shoes dry. Danny later informed us that we had left part of our souls in the Irish sea, which was supposed to be pretty cool. Then again, not many can say they’ve splashed about on an Irish beach...
Continuing on our way we came to a spot with some large rocks to climb out on to then be at the western most point of both Ireland and Europe as well.
Back through Dingle and on to the Kerry mountains we ventured. Some very impressive countryside in these parts before we arrived in Killarney for the night. Along the way, a game of ‘perfect match’ was played with the promise of a romantic evening for the eventual winners. One of the other single guys had to put out three questions, while three single ladies wrote down their answers before handing them back to Danny. HIs little twist was that ‘contestant number three’ was in fact the guy’s brother. Naturally, the look on the guy’s face when he opened his eyes for the meet-your-date bit was pretty funny.
Killarney has a ratio of three guys to every girl, so after perfect match, Celia worded up all the ladies on what to expect from all the farmer boys of the district, and the etiquette of which drinks you should order when offered. Basically, which ones meant you’re not interested and which ones said you’d be making him breakfast in the morning...
Something else Killarney has is Ireland’s largest botanical gardens, so several of us took up the offer of a horse n cart ride through these gardens. Impressive “gardens” they were too as they were more like a national park. Bordering a 5mile lake and complete with several castle ruins, as well as a leprechaun castle, these ‘gardens’ were also home to the last colony of red deer in Ireland.
Once done, it was back to this night’s hostel to get cleaned up for dinner and the rest of the night out in Killarney.
Dinner was at - you guessed it - a pub, and this was followed by the entertainment of a classical storyteller/musician. Not many of us lasted (or even started) with this as we were keen to just keep socialising amongst ourselves, which meant that we moved on to the night’s second pub reasonably quickly. The first of us to get there were a little surprised by the age group of this venue until we discovered that there was a nightclub in the back half of this pub. Classical Irish Rebel band in the front half of the pub and nightclub out the back half - reach for the lasers...
A top night out with what became a good little group to dance with. Sabine and Jen leading the way with the rest of us getting into it as the night went on as we all ‘stepped up to the plate’ in the circle.

Day 3
Sunday began rather slowly as most of us had only got in at around 3am, so the day’s drive through what was some very picturesque countryside was fairly quiet as many chose to sleep through it on our way to Blarney. I do have to admit that I dozed a few times, but was trying to stay awake so that I wouldn’t miss anything - including Danny’s history and tales of the legends of the areas.
Blarney Castle was the first stop of the day, and again, while we had a good 2hours to explore it and it’s grounds, I’d have been happier to spend more time here. Admittedly this is the sort of tour that I’d look at to be an introduction to the places where you can then decide on whether it would be worth coming back to see at your own pace later on.
So, coming back from my tangent, a couple of us went directly to the top of the castle to kiss the Blarney stone. We did this as we’d just seen a busload of elderly tourists head off in the same direction and thought it wise to try and ‘beat the rush’. After a pleasant walk through the grounds to the castle itself, we were then heading up to the top where the stone is located. Once again, I was reacquainted with narrow stone spiral staircases, and I should point out that some of the climb to the top of this castle isn’t one for those who are not good with heights. That said, the actual location of the Blarney stone is in the outer edge of the battlements at the top. This means that to reach it you are leaning out over the edge of the main walls and you can see straight down to the ground. You could also fall straight to the ground as well if you managed to get through the bars that are now in place. Still, it’s a rather unnerving experience to lean out backwards off the edge to kiss the stone itself! Do I now have the ‘gift of the gab’ after having kissed it? Well, you tell me [even is this is a rather rushed job so that I can get this done for you tonight before the next notable adventures take place!]
After taking in the views from the top of the castle, Tyler, Casey, Erin, Jordy and myself decided to explore the Rock close, which contains all sorts of things like druid circles, witches kitchens as well as the Wishing Steps, which have their own legends as well as a ritual to perform if you’d like your wish to come true.
Next it was time to explore the small tunnel system and caves known as the dungeons that extend underneath the castle itself. Not one for the claustrophobic nor for those who mind a bit of mud as it was quite damp in there with water trickling from the ceiling and down the walls in places. I continued along the path that led to the dungeons, only to find that it brought me back around to the main entrance to the rear of the castle itself. A quick watch check and it was time to head back towards the Mills where we parked and grab some lunch along the way.
Back on the road and it was time for the sun to return and light up the countryside for the journey to the Mitchelstown caves. Don’t get me wrong here, the overcast and occasional drizzly weather wasn’t all that bad. It was both typical and true Irish weather. If I’d wanted sunshine then I’d have been in France or Spain for the weekend and not Ireland. However, I wasn’t complaining about the sunshine. It did add to the countryside and the viewing of it regardless of how brief that may have been for.
Mitchelstown caves. Well, they’re no Naracoorte Caves that’s for sure, but they were still interesting, and still had their own charm to them. The one highlight that they did have was the fact that they have been used for services and concerts due to the natural stage and brilliant acoustics. It also happened that Megan was a classically trained opera singer and was invited to sing. It’s not many opera, or any singers for that matter, that can boast of having sung in such a location. With no accompaniment she gave us a stellar performance too. No pics allowed, but I did manage to sneak a couple.
Moving right along, we headed through Tipperary before eventually reaching our final stop at the Rock and Castle of Cashel. More stories of the old kings that inhabited this castle were told on the drive there, and it was a most impressive structure. A quick word in our ear from Celia as we were getting off the bus had myself, Brandon, Abby, Megan and Ashleigh heading off to a different spot nearby for what Celia said were the best places to view it. Nothing like a bit of inside information to improve your trip!
Tales abounded on the drive back to Dublin as Danny took us through a brief history of Ireland, while folks took in our last looks at the countryside or just snoozed in general. This was followed by a round of goodbyes once we reached Kinlay House again and folks started to head off in their different directions. Several were off to a pub to watch the European Championship final which was due to start at around 8pm.
This wasn’t the case for Megan, Ashleigh and I as we had flights at around 9pm. We headed off into regular street side Dublin, which took us past the pictured buskers. We found a decent cafe to dine and while away the time, before heading to the airport and eventually saying ‘Until next time’ to both each other and Ireland...

A great fun trip all up with a top bunch of folks - some I'll even see next weekend. A superb introduction to Ireland, and a great way to get an idea of where to come back to and spend more time. Personally, I think a bike would be a top way to do it as there are so many small townships that are easily within less than a day's ride of each other. Now if I can just get the time to do it!

And now it's off to Duran Duran tomorrow night before flying out friday morning to the next destination!