Ireland & Wales

Taking it easy

This has probably been the quietest, most easy going fortnight since I left home. From Edinburgh I caught a bus to Stranraer where I caught the ferry across to Belfast. Another 10 hour day but the 2 hour trip on the ferry broke it up and it was excellent, similar to the English Channel ferries, large and well equipped with a beautiful coast line to keep me occupied. I was not aware but you can actually see Ireland from Scotland and vice versa. Belfast was a cool city in both senses of the word. My first day here I actually spent out of town the whole day, doing a day trip up to the Giants Causeway.

Giants Causeway

It is said to be the remains of a causeway that was created by the giant Finn McCool linking Ireland to Scotland. He did this to challenge a giant over there to a fight but when he got there the other giant, Benandonner was twice his size so Finn slinked back to Ireland. Benandonner however soon learnt of this and crossed the causeway in search of Finn. Luckily Finns wife came up with the idea to dress him as a baby and put him in a large cot. When Benandonner arrives he finds this massive baby and concludes that the father must be a giant amongst giants so he runs back to Scotland, ripping up the causeway as he goes. Similar basalt columns on the Scottish side at Fingal's Cave prove this story. There is a boring explanation that involves volcanoes and something something but I know which explanation I believe.

The trip to the causeway also took us all through the countryside, checking out castles and the oldest distillery in the world, Bushmills, first licensed in 1608 by King James I.

Carrickfergus Castle

Coastline along the 9 Glens of Antrim

Carrick-A-Rede Ropebridge

Dunluce Castle

I was also able to check out the Titanic museum in Belfast which was well worth the money too and is one of the best museums I've been in. It not only talks about the Titanic but the whole history of Belfast and how it came into being as a shipbuilding city. There is now a district called the Titanic Quarter in Belfast and the company that built it, Harland & Wolff are still in operation today although they have diversified their portfolio and now primarily deal with offshore wind power and renewable energy.  They do still have a complete dry-dock operational and ready to go so if anyone is interested in building an ocean liner I highly recommend them.

Next Stop was Dublin where you never have to walk more than 50 metres to find a pub. I found myself on a walking tour in the morning and got forced into doing a pub crawl that evening which was great fun. No pictures from that night however and if there was they would be severely out of focus.

View from O'Connell Bridge

I think you can sum up the Irish people with a story I was told on the main river crossing in the middle of town, O'Connell Bridge. Just before the year 2000 the government put up a clock on the bridge to count down to the big night. The party came and went and not long after the clock was dismantled and replaced with a commemorative plaque to Father Pat Noise. It took a few years and a keen journalist to realise that there was no record of his death in 1919, in fact there was no record of Father Noise at all. A practical joke by 2 brothers the plaque still remains there after a vote by the council to keep it in place. Don't let the truth get in the way of a good story remains their national slogan.


From Dublin I fly back to London for a night before meeting up with 2 friends from home, Jo & Brett. We set of the next night on a road trip to Wales with Nicole and Laura, 2 of Jo's friends in our hire car. Arriving at 11:30pm and not being able to get in touch with the owner of the house we had rented for the weekend was a funny start to a great weekend. We eventually got in and the house was a mansion, I had a bedroom to myself and a comfy bed so I was happy as Larry. We stayed in a region near Swansea in the country near The Mumbles and it was very quaint. Lunch on the waterfront, a walk along the cliff face in what turned out to be 90 mph winds was great fun and we spent half the time just trying to stand up and getting covered with ocean spray.

The Mumbles Lighthouse

Three Cliffs Bay

Jo, Nicole & Laura



Worms head, an island in the shape of a sleeping dragon.

In the evening we celebrated in true English fashion an early Guy Fawkes day with some fireworks purchased from the local supermarket. The locals were quite amused at our excitement in discovering that they were legal here. Luckily the wind died down by the evening and the risk of setting fire to our neighbours rooves had dropped to 30%.

After a lovely 4 nights staying at Jo & Brett's apartment in London I found myself in West London enjoying the privacy of a single room for a few nights before the guts of my trip begins. On Sunday I fly to Africa, the whole reason for this trip and I cannot wait. Couple of minor hiccups with one of my passports still not coming back from a visa application and I'm pretty sure I set the record for the most toilet visits in 1 day with a bug I've got but nothing is going to stop me getting there. This is where the adventure begins.


more...