FRIDAY 25th MAY 2012

TOURING IN IRELAND

After a good nights sleep we had some breakfast, loaded up the car and set off to have a very brief look at Ireland! Our first stop was Hook Head, where the oldest operating lighthouse stands! It took an hour or so of driving the delightful little back roads to get there, through some of the most glorious scenery yo could imagine! We passed hundreds of beautiful neat little two story houses, with neat, tidy gardens - quite large blocks too! No real sign of the poverty that exists here in Ireland, in fact it was quite the opposite, and we all surmised that some of the places might belong to the wealthy set from Dublin and are used for weekenders! We will have to ask someone!
Again as in the UK, the farms were large and very prosperous looking, with hay and silage season in full swing! There is grass everywhere and the roads are full of very big tractors and hay machinery - posing a bit of a problem when you are flying along the narrow, winding roads!
The actual lighthouse and the coastline around it was well worth seeing - very pretty scenes! There were lots of school children there, no doubt learning the long history of the place!
From there we went back to the main road and headed for Waterford to see the famous crystal factory, but unfortunately the GPS took us to the old factory that closed up three years ago! So we lost a fair bit of time getting back into the city to the new place, where we had a look at the magnificent display, deciding not to wait for a tour! Waterford Crystal went bust a few years ago in the GFS and were bought out by an American company, the only crystal made in Waterford these days is high end, special order items with the bulk of their stock being made in a variety of factories in Europe!
The Jameson's Whiskey Distillery was next our our list of stops, and we easily found the lace in Midleton! Lovely old place where all the Jameson's whiskey is now produced. We had a look around and got some photos, but the tours where about an hour and a half long and we had much more to see, so we gave it a miss!
Back on the road again and on to Cork and the Blarney Castle! The famous castle is set in lovely gardens and is a most imposing sight! We did the touristy thing and climbed up the six flights of ultra narrow, winding stone stairs and after a long queue kissed the Blarney Stone - or at least pretended to kiss it! Who would want to kiss a bloody rock that millions of random people slobber on each year? Ha ha!
By now it was getting towards mid afternoon, so deciding to make Killarney for our stop we took of along a few back roads (Blarney is about 30 kilometres north of Cork) then back on the highway and got to a hotel at about 6pm!
None of the hotels we have seen in Wales and Ireland have any air conditioning or fridges and this one was no different - it has been a hot day here (26 degrees) and our room was facing the sun with the curtains left open! Result? A stinking hot room with no way to cool it down apart from a window that opened a bit! Luckily there was a bit of a breeze outside and by the time we had showered and got into some cooler clothes it had cooled down a bit!
We hit the very popular pub which was attached to the hotel - there were four tourist coaches there - and had several collides and something to eat!
Time to reflect a bit on what we have seen here in Ireland! First up is the change to Euros for currency and we immediately noticed that things were a bit more expensive! Secondly it is back to metric units, which is much easier to handle and thirdly the language! All the signage is in both English and Irish thank God because just like Welsh it is totally foreign!
All the people we have dealt with so far in shops etc speak perfect English, and have been amazingly friendly and helpful! No attitudes or bad demeanors anywhere! Totally refreshing to say the least and there are plenty of well spoilt Aussies who could learn a big lesson on customer service!
The scenery between the towns has been superb - gently rolling hills and valleys with lush greenery for as far as the eye can see!
The roads are good and everyone is very courteous on the road, same as in the UK, with everyone keeping to the left lane unless overtaking, overtaking on the left is a COMPLETE no no and giving way to the right is paramount! MEMO West Aussie drivers: Grow up and stop being so bloody arrogant and selfish! Rant over!!!