Ireland Day 3

Today's adventure started at 5am with a wake up call. I sauntered down to get coffee only to find Beth and Wes already up and having a cup. We then decided to have some toast. First Wes puts his slices in, then Beth gets hers in and finally my turn. As mine is cooking all of a sudden the smoke alarm starts screaming as we frantically try to find the alarm to turn off. Once we hit the resend we look up the stairs to see Geoff standing in his boxers asking if the bacon was ready. Obviously we weren't the first to use the "dinner's done" bell. As you can imagine jet lagged, sleep deprived people thought this was hilarious and while tears are running down our faces Geoff and Alison's daughters came down and let it be known what they thought of a 5:30 wake up call especially as they are staying home not part of this excursion.

Bags packed, six people jammed in to a Toyota Mini van, and off we go. Our goal was to leave by 6, 6:10 we were leaving the drive way.

 First stop, traffic congestion for 15-20 miles leading to the M3 and Heathrow exits. This was why we left at 615 because the stop and go was a given even at 6:45 in the morning.

Second stop was the inevitable getting rid of the morning coffees at one of the services on the highway. I must say services on the Motorways are far superior to ours. They appear around every 20 miles give or take. They provide fuel by a major company, there is a variety of food from sit-down to fast food, a mini grocery store, a book store and a coffee chain. There is also ion many spots a major hotel/motel such as Days INN or Travelodge Just after this stop we went by Keele University, Stoke -on-Trent where my cousin Sara, one of the unintended recipients of the wake up call, attends. South of Manchester we turn towards Wales and our ferry


Third stop switch drivers, stretch legs, take a breath of stale air (smoke) and fill up the petrol (gas) tank.

Finally after 6+ hours on the road we arrive at Holyhead Terminal and queue up for the ferry. We took a half an hour and had a quick picnic lunch and then it was time to board the ferry in preparation of the 3 hour 20 minute ride to Dublin.

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The ride was relatively uneventful except you really noticed the motion inside the lounges and restaurants and felt no motion per say on the outside decks.

To pass the time on the crossing, some of us read, walked watched tv but others decide it was a good time to charge the batteries before driving again.

Dublin harbour was interesting as it appears to be a major container ship port We really don't get to see much of this kind of traffic and dockage unless you live or visit in Montreal, Vancouver or Halifax.


We left Dublin getting ready to start on our last leg of the journey towards Galway. During our travels so far Morag was able to text us and let us know how her visit has been. She has been doing a self guided walking tour with a friend John Roe, and we were hoping to meet for a chat and a meal before they headed back to Toronto. Alas it was not meant to be, although they are in the Shannon area and not all that far from us, Morag had their departure days muddled and they will be leaving for Toronto on Tuesday not Wednesday, early not mid afternoon, making a rendevous all but impossible.


Just a half an hour before Galway we stopped for dinner at a little restaurant that cooked just about anything and you could sit down or take away. We had Fish and Chips and Chicken Kebabs. The portions were large and the price was small Excellent break from the day.

On to Galway and then head North to our final destination of Cashel.

What a view as we head up the windy road to our cottage. An hours drive of windy roads and beautiful scenery. The road at this point starts to resemble something of the roads through Dartmoor, although they say it is for 2 vechicles1 1/2 or even 1 is closer to fact. The speed limit was 100km/hr but if you did that it felt as if you were in a motor cross course, or and F1 race. Several times we bottomed out and felt like we were on a 5 coupon ride at Canada's Wonderland. WE blamed it on the roads and the driver but in reality I think it was the weight in the very back seats, but we won't tell Beth and Holly that.

As we neared  our final destination the weather broke to open skies and a beautiful sunset. Our cottage is amazing, three decent size bedrooms, two of which face the bay, three bathrooms, a large eating/living area and a reasonable kitchen.

Our cottage and front room view.

Well it has been a long day and who knows what tomorrow will bring.

Good Night