Ireland- Cruising on River Shannon

We flew in to Dublin to find my cousins Rosarie and Martin de Courceys' smiling faces waiting for us. Packed our bags in to the car and we were off on our next adventure. Stopped on the way for lunch and to stock up with provisions, then on to Banagher, on the River Shannon, in central Ireland. It started raining as we were approaching the marina, which didn't bode well for the next three days on the river, but we crossed our fingers, hoping for an improvement, as we loaded our gear on to the boat. We set off north, with lush countryside and happy cows grazing in the paddocks flanking the river and graceful white swans swimming on it. Ahead of us was a commercial building with a high chimney, in the middle of nowhere, whose purpose we could not guess. 

We berthed for the night at Shannon Bridge. The bridge itself is a beautiful arched structure which was completed in 1757. To our relief, the rain had stopped by then, so Paul and Martin set off on a reconnoitre of the town and pubs. Came back to tell us that one of the pubs, Lukers Bar, dated from the 1750s, and that the publican knew of a De Courcy pub in a country town, which we would be driving through a few days later. They had also gleaned that the structure which had puzzled us was a peat fueled electrical power station - only in Ireland would you find that. Astonishing. We were treated to a spectacular sunset that evening. Photo taken looking towards bridge.

To our relief, the next day dawned sunny and warm and we headed further south across Lough  Ree, a huge lake, stopping to see the classy Hobson Bay Hotel, before going on to Lecarrow, a picturesque harbour. Surprise,  surprise,  another pub was found, where the delightful lady publican insisted on giving Paul a lesson on pouring  a pint!  Rosarie and I enjoyed sitting outside in the warm sun sipping cool wines. On our way back to the boat, a friendly donkey poked his head over a stone wall to say hello to us. 

The third day  we awoke to another fine day, and retraced our route. Lunch stop was at Athlone, an attractive walled city which is the largest town on the Shannon, located in the middle of Ireland. The Athlone Castle, originally built in 1210 for King John of England, dominates the waterfront, and we had a walk through it.

While waiting for our turn to go through the lock, Paul and Martin were disappointed to see that we were tied up alongside Sean's Bar, but as it wasn't open, they couldn't visit. Dating back to 900AD, it is Europe's oldest bar. During renovations in 1970 the walls were found to be made of wattle and wicker and some 1000 year old coins were also found.

A little further on, the ancient city of Clocmacnoise is an extensive 6th century monastic settlement, founded by St Ciaran. We have never seen so many Celtic  crosses as there were in the graveyard there. The site was of such importance in Irish culture that the high kings of Ireland of the time were buried in its ancient graveyard.

Stopped off at Shannon Bridge again for a great night of music at Killeen's Bar. The next day returned the boat to Banagher, drove Martin to the nearest town to catch a train back to Cork, and Rosarie,  Paul and I set off on the next phase of our Irish adventure... which will be the next story!

Singapore

We made the most of our few days in Singapore. Stayed in a quirky retro 60s hotel near Chinatown. Pink lobby and  profiles of Elvis above our bed! It suited us fine -comfortable bed, great shower, and near an MRT subway station. The trains were frequent, cheap and took us wherever we wanted to go. Sometimes plenty of room and other times packed.



We left on a Sunday, catching the train at 6.15am and it was crowded. A man near us was hanging on to two hand straps and quite unselfconsciously doing his morning exercises. Others would seem to be sound asleep but never seemed to miss  their stops.

Nearby Chinatown had many interesting sights - the people, shops, food and general vibrancy.  Even managed to score some meals which Paul liked.  Photo is of my favourite stall- it always had a queue of locals, which is always a good sign. Food was very fresh, spicy and tasty -delicious. A few men carried out their shoe repair businesses sitting on stools out in the open- you can see one here. Customers would sit on another stool and watch with interest as the work was done.

We really liked the Marina Bay and Marina Sands Hotel area. The hotel is comprised of three tall towers with what looks like a ship perched on top. A large casino on the ground floor, and some classy shops. The nearby Marina Sands mall and shopping complex was huge. It had a skating rink which seemed to have an artificial surface, and a different waterfalls. The water was swirled around by jets then cascaded through a central port to a "lake" on the floor below, around which passengers were taken for rides in rowboats.

A cruise up the river on an original type boat showed the stark contrasts between old and new buildings, and I an excellent commentary outlined the fascinating history of the island.

The National Orchid Garden in the main Botanic Gardens has hundreds of species of orchids- most beautiful and some very unusual. Several shown in these photos.

Another amazing area is the Gardens by the Bay. The large glass dome in the photo houses a "Cloud Forest" - amazing plantings of trees, shrubs and plants. Another large dome is filled with colourful arrays of flowers.In the Supertree Grove are tall structures which support plantings of vertical gardens - they provide shade during the day and have spectacular light displays at night.  A walkway at 22metres between two of them gives panoramic views of the gardens and Marine Bay area.

So we found plenty to do and see at this cosmopolitan island city. From there we flew via Delhi to England.

Saw a quote on a billboard at Delhi airport which appealed to me "Travel is not for us to escape life; rather, it is so that life does not escape us".

We  stayed in a hotel near Heathrow for the night. As we walked in wondered how we would sleep as the noise from aircraft landing and taking off was very loud. We were relieved to find that our room was triple glazed, we didn't hear a thing, and slept soundly.

The next morning we flew to Dublin, but that is the next story....

Let the travels begin

Welcome to our blog.

 

 I hope that I manage to give you an interesting insight in to where we go, and what we see and do along the way. It is just two weeks since we left Nelson. Had an enjoyable quick catch up with my brother Michael at Auckland Airport, then it was on to an Emirates A380 for our flight to Brisbane. Paul had been very keen to experience this aircraft and it exceeded expectations. Comfortable seats with plenty of leg room, tasty meal, great cabin staff, and wide choice of movies and entertainment.

As always, had a great time with Stephen and Cindy and their lively three and a half year old Dante, and cute Bianca, whose 1st birthday it is today. One of the highlights was on Mothers' Day, when Stephen treated three mothers -me, Cindy and their friend Abbey (who just qualified with their delightful little Indy- 6 weeks old) to a high tea. Delectable and beautifully presented, it was a real treat. You can see in these photos.
 

 

 

Last Thursday, after a six hour flight across Australia, we arrived in Perth to a warm welcome from David. His apartment in West Perth is spacious, elegant and comfortable. It is only 100 metres from Kings Park, and a short bus ride in to the CBD.
 

On Friday we set off south for a three day stay in Margaret River. Of course, we considered it our duty to help the local economy by visiting, sampling and buying bottles of the wares at local wineries, and Paul was delighted that there were also some boutique breweries. We liked the town with its interesting mix of shops, restaurants, galleries, etc. The motel we stayed in was the Admiral Stirling, and its ships and the sea theme was very strong.
 

On Saturday we drove to the Cape Leeuwin area at the south western tip of Australia. The solid lighthouse there was built in 1896 of limestone and at 39metres high is the highest on mainland Australia.
 

My brother John and his wife Susan had walked the entire 135Km of the Cape to Cape walk last year, so we sampled just a few Kms of it along beaches and through bush. A very pleasant walk.

 

Left Margaret River late on Sunday morning. Further up the coast stopped at Busselton, a seaside town with a very long 1.8Km jetty( and scrummy steak pies for lunch!). Then we drove north again through karri and bluegum trees to Mammoth Cave. The countryside had been gently undulating so we were amazed to walk in under a cliff to a succession of underground caverns filled with stalagmites, stalactites and limestone shawls.





The caves extend for 500metres and the largest is a staggering 30metres high - equivalent of a ten storey building. You can get a glimpse in these photos.

Have enjoyed the past few days exploring in and around Perth. We enjoyed celebrating David's birthday with him on Tuesday. Yesterday we went on a river cruise from Perth to Fremantle. Were able to see where the local rich, famous (and infamous) live. The riverside complex in this photo last sold for a cool $57 million.
Freemantle is always good for a visit. The 1907 railway station there has undergone major cleaning and repairs since we were last there, The frontage is Donnybrook stone, and a feature are six carved swans adorning the parapet above the front entrance. We returned to Perth on a train.

From here we fly to Singapore this evening for a three day stay. Shall hope to do an update from there.