Following a relatively quiet night in Derry we were up and about early to do the Walking Tour of Derry with Martin McCrossan - a must do if visitng Derry.

A passionate tour guide - with a slight bias - the tour takes in a walk around the Derry walls, The Bogside, The Sunday Bloody Sunday Story, the Story of the Apprentice Boys and an overview of the various marches that are celebrated in Derry.

The picutre depicted here is of the 100th victim killed during the troubled times between the British Troops and the IRA - a child called Annette McGavigan killed on the 6th of September 1971 - the day Nadeen was born!

Following the tour, we returned to our hotel, packed the car and did a drive around the bogside to take in the history of the place - no problems about driving around and taking photos etc.

Despite its troubled past, Derry is trying to re-invent itself, and whilst significant progress has been made, to me, the town still has an uneasy feeling about the place - all of the shop fronts are barricaded up at night, and there are lots of youth roaming the streets. It was an experience to visit, but we are happy to be leaving the North and its flags!!!

We headed south heading towards Sligo - as it turns out it was a good day for travelling as it was pouring rain, so we wouldnt have been able to do much else anyway. We travelled through towns such as Donnegal, Sligo, Tuam then arrived in Galway around 4pm - enough driving for one day.

Galway is like a fishing town and memories of Joe Kelly came flooding by....."If you ever go across the sea to Ireland, then maybe at the closin' of your day, you wll sit and watch the moon rise over Claddagh, And see the sun go down of Galway Bay........

Even though we didnt watch the moon rise or see the sun go down, it was still great to be here. Off to the local watering holes we went and met some interesting locals - all of whom either have been to Australia, going to Australia or knows someone who is in Australia!!!!

Friendly enough town, although, being a Sunday night, it was probably a little quieter than usual. Still, music was to be had - although there is a lot of music played - "craic" - than vocals. Still, an enjoyable evening.

Our hotel, The Park House Hotel, is great - centrally located and great facilities. We will hit the road tomorrow and head for the Cliffs of Moher then probably head down towards Limerick and Tipperary.

I had a phone call from a mate of mine back home who has given me Finbar Fury's phone number to call. I am going to contact Finbar and see if I can arrange to meet him when we get back to Dublin on Thursday night - what an experience that would be if he is around.