NORTHERN IRELAND

WEATHER:  Rainy and overcast 13C – oh and windy

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Giants Causeway

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Still haven’t cracked the tour group yet

BUYS OF THE DAY:  A pint in Londonderry was only 2.50 pounds

WORD OF THE DAY: - DROP BEAR!!

I was told that doing the Ireland tour in between the Europe and Spanish tour was a great idea, as the driving distances aren’t as long and we get some later starts in the mornings.  Well first travel day in the coach and we had an 8.45am departure – oh man, music to my ears.  We have a full coach, well will.  There were 2 people who haven’t shown in Dublin and 2 people meeting us in Londonderry this afternoon, otherwise a full complement on the bus.  I got to the coach 5 minutes before I needed to, and just about everyone was on board and ready – shit – where do I sit?  I still only know a handful of people from last night.  Well I had to ask like a flipwit ‘is this seat taken?’ and thankfully the 2^nd time I asked was free, so I didn’t have to make my whole way down the bus.  I really HATE starting tours half way through – have I told you this already?

We had a 2.5 hour drive from Dublin to Belfast.  The drives are going to be so short after our long travel days in Europe, a walk in the park actually.  I just get ready to get all settled, and by the time Dave has given his chat for the morning, we are getting ready to pull into our stop.  This will be a good thing or a bad thing.  It means that there will not be too much time for sleeping on the coach, and this is the time where we caught up on it, but I guess we will be having later departures to make up for it, and I would prefer to sleep horizontal than vertical any day.

Belfast was pretty cool.  It is one of those places that has always made the news, synonymous with bombs going off, IRA, Sein Fein, Protestants and Catholics.  After a very long period of turmoil they now do live in an uneasy peace – but the way they lived their lives back then is really hard to believe.  It was like you needed to have eyes in the back of your head and always watch your step.  The new Belfast emerging is positive.  There are international hotels popping up and they are refurbishing the waterfront, and the city itself felt quite safe and inviting.  We did a city tour by bus for an hour (which was lucky as it was raining) and saw the Harland and Wolff crane that the Titanic had been built with, the University and the Parliament building, which is a massive building on a hill.

A further 1.5 hour drive got us to the Giants Causeway.  The Giant's Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986, and a National Nature Reserve in 1987.  The Giant's Causeway was named as the fourth greatest natural wonder in the United Kingdom. The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff foot and disappear under the sea. Most of the columns are hexagonal, although there are also some with four, five, seven and eight sides. The tallest are about 12 meters high, and the solidified lava in the cliffs is 28 meters thick in places.  The walk to the stones was about 15 minutes downhill, with a stunning view and the National Park offers a bus for 1 pound to come back (as it was up hill this was a popular option).  We were lucky with the weather; it just started to turn nasty as we had to head back to the coach.  There was a close shave for 2 of the girls from our group, who got hit by a freak wave on the edge of the stones, that knocked them off their feet, and then a second wave nearly swept them off the stones.  I am sure it was super scary for them, I didn’t see it happen, but Anita got a massive gash on her arm, and all their belongings including passports, iPods, camera’s and phones were drenched, along with the girls themselves.  They were very lucky indeed.  A little shaken but okay!
From here we then drove another hour to get us to our final destination of Londonderry or Derry, depending if you are Catholic or Protestant.  Our guide, Ronan, was unbelievable.  Born and bred in Londonderry, travelled and studied overseas, is actually a Buddhist, so he was able to give both sides of reasoning with the IRA and Sein Fein ways of thinking, an impartial view on Northern Belfast.  He wanted to really make a point that all the fighting is not always politically motivated; it has other factors like employment and economics and at the end of the day, no matter what side you are on, it is some-ones son or daughter that has been killed.  It really was super interesting, and he was a great speaker.  It still comes down today, that he has police officer friends that need to check under their cars each time they drive it to make sure there are no bombs underneath – scary stuff right.  We did a walking tour of Derry, and it was interesting to see the political murals on the side of buildings, the city walls that have been there since the 17^th century, the church they believe Amazing Grace was penned and also the monument that stands where Bloody Sunday took place in 1972 and that was also the basis of U2’s song of the same name.  Ronan called our group ‘hope’.  He would never had believed that 2 years ago there would be tourists coming to Northern Ireland, ever and ‘hopes’ that his children will grow up in a different Northern Ireland that than what he did.  He was awesome.

Dinner was at our own arrangements tonight, and majority of the group headed to the local pub, I use this term loosely as it was kind of like an RSL, but the meals were far better.  I’m getting in to the Irish food and I have to say I am a sausage lover.  The bangers and mash is to DIE for and I have had it all 3 nights while I have been in Dublin.  Maybe I should try the stew tonight?  I sat with 2 gals I had met the night before Kya and Sam from the USA and then we met another couple, Jamie and Scott, that joined us in Derry also from the US and we had an AWESOME night!  I think I may have finally found some travel buddies to spend the rest of my week with.  It has been tough, and as it works out all my new friends are all the newbies, the original group hasn’t given us much of a look in.  But maybe they need to warm up some more.  I was explaining to the guys about Drop Bears in Australia, Steve Irwin, crocodiles and yes Crocodile Dundee also made the conversation. 

The hotels have been amazing.  As I am now in a single room ( I had to because of my age ) Dublin was the first time I have slept in a queen bed for 48 days!  I have been in single beds the whole way and since I am now used to that I don’t even sleep on the whole bed, just my side looks slept in! 

Galway is tomorrow where we have a 2 night stay, and apparently Galway is quite the party town, so I think a BIG night will be had tomorrow night.

Beer, beer and more beer will be on the agenda…..