Reviving the blog!

Hi all,

I decided today to look up my old blog, at http://www.helen78.blogspot.com/ which unfortunately I can no longer access due to my old email account being out of use.  So I've had to copy all the old entries into this blog, and I'll carry on from here (with a large 5 year gap in the middle!!).

Lots to catch up on since I got married to James September 2008 and had baby Lily August 2009, and this year since she was born has been a whirlwind of milestones and smiles and sleep deprivation!
So won't be blogging all the stuff I've missed out so far, but hope to keep this going at least once a week as a record of our day to day life, the stuff that seems fairly commonplace at the time but which makes up the tapestry of our existence that we can look back on and remember the lovely times we've had...

Love Helen, James & Lily.......and Tarka the dog! xxx

December 2005

Sunday, February 19, 2006

Christmas 2005

Christmas 2005

Mum and Robert arrived early in the morning on the 23rd, and the rest of that day was set aside for them to catch up some sleep.

In the evening we all went for tea to the same pub that we went to on my first night here, so that was nice. The table was all laid out with Christmas Crackers, so we began to get into the festive mood, and Robert made us laugh by modelling the bright red plastic lips and moustache that he'd got in his cracker!

We went to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, at the church where my cousin Sean had got married and also where my Nanna and Grandad are laid to rest. The entire service was held in a mixture of Welsh and English, so sometimes we knew what they were saying and sometimes we didn't!! The prayer books were also printed in both languages. It was interesting to try to follow in the book what the minister was saying in Welsh. The singing was the best part of the night though, because the Welsh are very fond of singing and also (usually) quite good at it! There was no embarrassment or shyness in this church, every voice was full bodied and lovely to hear.

The next day we had Christmas dinner at Jeanette and Stefan's house. In the morning we exchanged the mountain of gifts that had gathered under the tree, and that took over 2 hours!!!
Dinner was a lavish affair, with meat and about 6 different vegetables. Jeanette is vegetarian so she had got herself a quorn roast but she forgot to put it in the oven until it was too late, so lucky there was so much veg! The only down side to the day was that the Christmas pudding had been forgotten at my Aunty Jeane's house, so we had no Christmas pud, and had to have chocolate pudding instead which was just not the same!

Starting Work

Starting Work

Well, I finally started at the hospital on the 5th of December, that is, I began the two (mandatory) days of corporate induction. Following that I was required to complete 3 days of manual handling training prior to beginning work on any of the wards. I was booked on a course on the 17th of December but then, being so close to Christmas that one was cancelled and postponed until the 12th of January!!!! Sooooooooooooooo frustrating because of course, no work, no money! (I did get paid for the induction days though)
I am surviving the Christmas period on the pocket money I make from doing the odd driving job, and of course my mum and brother came over on the 23rd so my lovely mum is seeing me right! (what else are mums for!!)

November 2005

Saturday, November 26, 2005

It Snowed!

Saturday 26th November 2005

On Thursday night it snowed about 4 inches over here! Everything was covered in a pristine blanket of white, and it was great fun to make lots of footprints in the perfectly flat virgin patches of snow everywhere.


Schools were cancelled for the day, and many people couldn't get to work because of the snow on the roads. We were watching people trying to drive up and down the hill and failing miserably, then abandoning their cars in some instances!!! The snow is still on the ground now, but melting slowly. Apparently we are in for more of it though, this is supposed to be the coldest winter that Britain has had in a decade or something like that.

We made a snowman in James' front garden, and he has lasted until today when his head fell off!

I am waiting now for my Uncle Mick to get home from shopping so that we can put some antifreeze in my car. Never had to do that before! And they have this stuff called freezing fog over here, where you drive through the fog and your windscreen gets lots of ice on the outside cause it is sooooo cold. Amazing stuff really, makes me realise how temperate the climate is in Melbourne!

I finally have a Job

Yay! I finally have a job at the hospital in Carmarthen, I start on the 5th of December.
I have 2 days of orientation training and then 3 days of Occupational Health training and I get paid for those so I will have some money for Christmas shopping! Yay!

 

October 2005

Monday, October 31, 2005

The Job Front

Hi all,

I have an interview tomorrow for a position on the nurse bank at the hospital in Carmarthen, the one I mentioned in the last posting.

I have also got another application (hopefully the last ever one I have to fill out) for a nursing agency that actually services Wales, and the pay rates for that one are great so I am going to see about a job with them as well. I could end up doing both. The advantage of the one in Carmarthen is that it is only with one hospital, so you get a little continuity and settle in a bit more, even though the pay is not as good. So we shall just have to see..... I will of course let you know what happens. Wish me luck, the interview is at 10:40am local time, so that will be 9:40pm AEST. Think of me if you have read this and you happen to be awake at the time!!!!!!

Love to everyone

xxxx

Friday, October 21, 2005

Back In Wales- Update

21 October 2005

Yes, its been a long time between postings, I know, stop nagging me!!! My Aunty Jeane's phone line didn't work for 2 weeks so there was no internet access so I have got a little far behind I know.

I returned to Wales at the beginning of this month because I decided it was silly of me to have travelled half way across the world, and then not live near my family. So back I came to Wales.

I have applied to a hospital in a place called Carmarthen which is about 15-20 minutes drive away. I am hoping to get an interview in the next week, but things move very slowly here so we shall just have to see.

I have stopped doing flat out touristy stuff, but am still having lots of fun and seeing new places. Just have to resist the urge to shop! I will post some more details soon, and photos as they come. Love to everyone xxx

Stirling, Cowie & Cowie

Tuesday 6th September

Shane had planned to go for a trip up the coast of Scotland to visit the two towns of Cowie (cause that is his last name) and he kindly invited me to go with him, although he may have just been using me for my excellent navigating skills as he is just a naviguesser! ;-)
So off we went the next day in Shane’s hire car.

We travelled up the east coast to see the first town of Cowie which was a little sea side place (I emphasise the word LITTLE), then went across to see Stirling and the other town of Cowie which was another LITTLE place that had apparently once been a mining town but was now very quiet as the mine is now closed. It was really nice though to just be driving around seeing the non-tourist places in Scotland. We also visited Dunnottar Castle which was only about 5 minutes drive from the first Cowie.

Dunnottar Castle is one of the most significant historical buildings in Scotland. It was a stronghold in times of war, as you can easily see looking at its strategic position. In 1297 William Wallace attacked the castle and took it from the English, burning the fortress with the English still alive inside.

For 200 years the castle was home to the Earls Marischal, one of the richest and most powerful families in Scotland. The Earls were counsellors to the Sovereign, and both Mary Queen of Scots and her son King James VI of Scotland visited the castle several times.

The Scottish Crown Jewels, known as ‘the Honours of Scotland’ (which I saw at Edinburgh Castle) were saved from certain destruction by the castles garrison. I can’t remember the details, but I think they were either hidden here, or smuggled away from here. Anyway, it is a picturesque castle in an amazing position. These qualities have made it quite popular with film makers, and it was used as the setting for one of the versions of Macbeth.

On our way to the other Cowie we stopped and had fish and chips from a shop that had one awards for its service and food quality. Things had gone downhill since then apparently cause the service was terrible and the food was just ok, nothing special. Strange seeing it is so close to the sea.

I had already been to Stirling to see the National Wallace Memorial during my tour of Scotland, but I hadn’t seen Stirling Castle. So we drove up there, only to decide that we didn’t have the time or the inclination to pay the entry fee to get in, so we enjoyed the view and had a look around the outside, then set off again.

I had booked a bus to Glasgow for the next day (Wednesday 7th Sept) so once we got back to Edinburgh I had a fairly early night.

Back to Edinburgh

Back to Edinburgh

Mel and her boyfriend Doug were off on one last driving tour of Scotland before they fly home on Saturday so they dropped me off in Perth and I caught the bus back to Edinburgh.
Shane (one of my Australian friends from my volleyball team) had contacted me to say he was in town so we met up for a drink and a meal and then went up to Arthur’s Seat. Unfortunately for Shane it was very foggy and there really wasn’t much of a view to be seen. I said I would send him the photos I had taken (here’s some we prepared earlier…. ha ha).

We had another drink before arranging to meet up tomorrow to go exploring in a hire car that Shane had arranged.

September 2005

Monday, September 26, 2005

Meggernie Estate, Perthshire, Scotland

2nd September - 5th September 2005


To make things easy I am going to put all three days of stuff on the one entry, mainly because I am too lazy to do separate ones, and I can't remember exactly what order I did stuff in!!
So here goes..

Having arrived the night before in the dark I hadn't seen anything, so in the morning Mel showed me around. The building that Mel shared with a few other people, where I also stayed, is called the Bothy. (picture left) It is attached to the stable block and yard, and is a lovely old building, with slanting ceilings upstairs and jutting out windows. Some of the many dogs on the estate sleep next to the stable, and I met them this morning. They are all border collies, and they work to herd the sheep down from the high hills, as there is no way to get a motorbike or even a horse up some places.

I met Mel's friend Sylvia who also lives and works on the estate. Sylvia owns most of the Highland ponies at Meggernie, and she showed us all the ponies.
Sylvia's Jack Russell dog called Robbie Russell was just gorgeous, and could do some really funny tricks like barking on command, then barking really really quietly when told to whisper!
Robbie Russell definately has a superiority complex when it comes to the farm dogs, you can just see that he thinks a lot of himself! Cute.
There is a chook run just next to the dog run where there are 9 chickens, and 3 pet sheep. Sylvia had yet to name all of the chickens, so Mel and I each had one named after us! So now there is a Mel the chook and a Helen the chook in the middle of Scotland. So funny. (picture right is Helen the chook)

The three days that I spent at Meggernie just flew, we walked around the estate and went to the little local post office cafe for lunch, rode the horses and took a drive up the Glen. On the Saturday night we went to Sylvia's house and watched The Man From Snowy River on DVD! (A classic Australian film) So funny to be watching it in Scotland!




The main residence on the estate is Meggernie castle, and it stands proudly in the middle of a huge lawn area that is meticulously maintained. It was like something out of a fairy tale. I can't even think of the words to describe the views so will just have to let the pictures do the talking.

Monday, September 19, 2005

Celtic Connections Tour of Ireland 6

Thursday 1st September 2005

Dublin is not the prettiest city I have ever seen, but it has character, and bits of it reminded me of Melbourne because of the river down the middle and the bridges across it.

This morning we walked around the shopping area, where I once again resisted the urge to buy silly souvenirs. One I really liked was a magnet with the Irish blessing - 'As you slide down the bannister of life, may the splinters never point the wrong way!'!!

I wanted to go to see Trinity College, and so did Dani, so we went there while Mel and Lisa had coffee. Trinity College is part of Dublin University, and many famous people have been there. The reason Dani and I wanted to go was to see the Book of Kells which is kept there.

I'll tell you about the college first. It was founded in the 1500's by Queen Elizabeth I. Most of the current buildings were constructed in the 1700's. The site was actually a monastery before the college was founded, and the bell tower that stands in the centre of the square is thought to house the same bell that was used in the monastery.

The bell rings at 6:15pm every day, once for every scholar at the college. It is to signal the start of the evening meal, known as 'commons'. A scholar is the name given to the students who attend the college on a scholarship. It is said that if a student walks under the bell while it is ringing, he will never finish his degree.
We were shown Botany Bay square, which housed the less well behaved students! Oscar Wilde stayed there!
In 1904 women were admited to the college, which was a momentous occasion. Of the 15,000 students now at the college, 60% are girls, so the balance has certainly tipped!
In 1734 a guy called Edward Ford said "Trinity students are the cream of society. Rich, and thick." ha ha ha
The library in the college is called the Long Room. It is 35 metres long, and was used in one of the recent Star Wars movies as the set of the Jedi's library or something. (the guide wasn't sure) Dani and I walked through the Long Room after the tour - it was just amazing. So many old old old books, you could just smell it as soon as you walked in. Dani said she could feel the knowledge in the room.

Now for the best bit....
The Book of Kells was written in 800AD, in a place called Iona off the coast of Scotland and was then moved to a monastery in Kells, County Meathe. The Book of Kells is a copy of the 4 gospels in latin. It is written on Vellum, which is calf skin, particularly the belly part. It is estimated that they would have needed 140 calves to provide enough for the scripts.
It was just unbelievable, looking at this book in a glass cabinet. This book that was written 1200 years ago, by monks. We weren't allowed to take pictures, even without a flash, but I bought a postcard with one of the designs from the book on it.

After looking at the book Dani and I were late for the bus, so we had to hurry but we got lunch first anyway and then got moaned at for being late!

One last stop before the ferry was at a place called Monasterboice (or Mainistirbhuithe in Gaelic). It is the site of a monastery that was founded by St Buite who died in 521AD. It is a churchyard with a few celtic crosses in it, which are very old religious symbols, born when christianity was blended with celtic paganism. They were probably erected around the 12th or 13th century. Also in the churchyard was a roundtower which was used as a lookout during the wars with the English. There are many old headstones in the yard, but also some very recent ones.

We caught the ferry at 1700hrs, and again an uneventful crossing. Mel and I discussed what we would be doing on the weekend as she invited me up to stay with her on the estate where she has been working for the past year. It is in Perthshire in the middle of Scotland.

Once off the ferry and nearly in Edinburgh, Mel and I were dropped off in the middle of the highway on the side of the road to meet Mel's boyfriend Doug who was picking us up. It felt really strange to be just there, with Mel, with complete freedom to go wherever I wanted to go. It took about 3 hours to drive back to their place, and we all went straight to bed cause it was about midnight by then!

Celtic Connections Tour of Ireland 5

Wednesday 31st August 2005

We were on our way to Dublin today, so basically cut straight across the middle of Ireland, from county Galway to Dublin. We had little stops along the way. One of the most mind boggling things I have seen was at a place called The Burren, which means 'rocky place'. The Burren stretches for 360 square kilometres, and millions of years ago it was actually the ocean floor, so the rock formations are apparently similar to those you might see whilst scuba diving.

Around the area of the Burren many artifacts have been found, some hundreds and some thousands of years old. Standing in the middle of a field was a simple stone structure made out of 4 slabs of stone - 3 sides and a roof. It is called a Portal Dolman, and it is a tomb where chiefs of a tribe or clan were buried. Approximately 20 chiefs in succession were buried at that particular spot. This particular portal dolman is 4500 years old!!!!! It dates back to 2500BC. The reason so little of the area has been disturbed is due to its extremely rocky nature - there is no way you could farm it, so the land has always been left as it is. I was annoyed to find out that archaeologists have removed the bodies (skeletons) from the tomb, in the name of science, so they can study them. I mean, at what point in time is it ok to descecrate a grave, to disturb someone's final resting place? What period of time needs to elapse before it is considered alright - or really, not even considered an issue at all?

Our next stop was the Fields of Athenry (ATH-EN-RYE). There is a traditional Irish folk song called 'The fields of Athenry' and it tells of a man stealing corn for his family during the potato famine, being caught and sentenced to transportation to Botany Bay.

We stopped for morning tea outside the castle at Athenry, which just stands in the middle of the town, taken for granted really, and there is a children's playground adjoining it.

In 1312 there was a battle outside the castle, and the English defeated the Irish. Don't know anymore about it unfortunately!!

We played soccer and frisbee. Some of us were playing both of them at the same time which was funny.

Next stop was Shannon River, in the middle of Ireland. The Shannon Bridge, over the river, was built in 1756. There was a cute donkey nearby so I got a couple of pics of it! We had lunch here by the river.

Finally we got into Dublin sometime in the early evening. We all got settled in (in the same big room) and Mel and I went to find the internet cafe. After that we made our way to the pub to meet the others for tea. I had Irish Stew which was very very good, and tasted just like the ones Mum and Dad used to cook. I also had a guinness (cause I HAD to, afterall, I was in Dublin) and then I tried a Kilkenny beer which was probably the nicest tasting beer I have ever had. (I don't normally drink beer at all)

After tea we went in search of some live music. We found some in a place called Temple Bar, which is sort of the centre of the entertainment area of Dublin, although there are many more pubs elsewhere! There were 2 guys playing when we got there, but I think their group has 4 people in it. Mel bought their CD. The singer had a really interesting voice, the sort Emma would like. I had a half pint of Kilkenny at this pub too. It is so insanely expensive to drink in Dublin! Mel bought one of the guys (Clinton) a Jim Beam and coke, and it cost nearly 10 euros, which is $20.00 AUD, just for one drink!!

We left there after a while to try to find another pub called the Cobblestone that Howard had told us was the fiddlers pub. We found it tucked away at the end of a cobblestone street, but unfortunately only caught the last bit of the last set for the night. There would have been about 15 fiddlers in there though. The walls were covered in framed photos of people playing the fiddle. Anyway, we had to leave cause they were closing, and we were all tired so we went back to bed.

Celtic Connections Tour of Ireland 4

Tuesday 30th August 2005

This morning we went to se Clifden Castle, which is a new castle, only about 200 years old. It is where a man called John Darcy lived with his family of 9 children. John Darcy founded the town of Clifden in 1810. The castle is a ruin now, and sits in the middle of shared farmland where sheep now graze.

Driving through more hills and mountains, at one point Howard stopped and said that we could ride on the roof rack, so we did that, which was childishly fun.

We stopped in Galway city and had a look around the shops. You could just go souvenir mad! (but I didn't) Galway is quite a large town and pretty in places, but there was construction going on in the centre of town so it was a bit messy. It is known as the 'city of the tribes' because it was founded by 13 tribes in the 14th century.

Next stop was Dun Guire castle which dates back around the 15th century. They used to make mead there, which is a liquor made of honey. Apparently the term honeymoon comes from a tradition to give one months supply of mead to a newly married couple.

While we were at the castle, 8 of us clambered up on a stone pillar thing out the front of the castle, just to see how many people you could fit on it which was a bit of a laugh.





On the way to our stop for the night we stopped at the Cliffs of Moher. We had to walk across a couple of cow paddocks to get there, and some of us were whinging that we were tired and hungry (including me) because it was late and Howard never tells us where we are going or what we are going to be doing and it was getting really annoying! But when we got to the cliffs it was all worth it. They are about 10 storeys high, sheer black rock cliffs. We were up the top, and got some good pictures of us near the edge, and some funny ones where we were pretending to be falling off and getting 'rescued'. So we had a cup of tea up there on top of the cliffs, then went on to our hostel.









Tonight's stop is Doolin, a little town known for its traditional Irish music. We went to the pub and I had a guinness with Mel. There were 3 guys playing there and they were good, but no fiddle so I was a bit disappointed. It was called O'Connors Pub. So had a couple of drinks there, then went home to bed. I also finally got my washing done! Yay! Now I have clothes to wear, but it cost me four euro dollars, which is eight australian dollars just for one load of washing!!

Thursday, September 15, 2005

Celtic Connections Tour of Ireland 3

Monday 29th August 2005

Up early again, we set off at 9am and stopped nearby at a place called Bundoran, at the beach. It actually looked like a beach too, with clean sand, no rocks, and real waves!!! It even had a rip.
There Howard showed us a little place where the hill rock formed a wee bridge. It is known as the fairys bridge, and if you stand on the bridge and toss a coin down a nearby hole (the fairy's well), you will have beautiful children. I didn't have any money on me and Howard lent me a penny but it was too small and light to go that far in the wind, so I guess my children will just have to be ugly!! ;-)

We stopped in Glen Car for morning tea, where there was a pretty waterfall and stream. Everything is just so amazingly green, no more green than some places at home I guess, but just that everywhere is that green, not just small bits.... how many of you did I lose with that last sentence!?




From Glen Car we drove to a famine graveyard in Sligo where people who perished in the Great Potato Famine of 1845 are buried. For 3 years there were no potato crops, and it took another few years after that to get the crops back fully. Many people resorted to stealing food for their families, and when caught many were sentenced to transportation to Australia. Many of Australia's ancestors were transported from Ireland during this time, simply because they were trying not to starve to death. So Australia's history is quite closely tied to what was going on in Ireland at the time. One million people died, many of them children, and they had to be buried in mass graves.

On the way to the hostel we drove through the rugged Connemara mountains, and I listened to the Man from Snowy River music on my ipod! Completely different mountains, but the music still seemed to fit. The mountains are similar to those in Scotland, but less rocky, and they do not have heather over them. Still no trees on them though, there are sheep doted around. I kept looking for some Connemara ponies, but sadly, none to be seen.

We stopped again for a hill walk up to see a place called Queen Maeve's tomb. Under the hillside is a chamber where she is supposed to be buried, and on top is a stone cairn. If you take a rock with you up the hill and place it there on the cairn it is supposed to give you good luck. I took one, and it got heavier and heavier the higher I went! Queen Maeve is a bit of a legendary/mythical character, she supposedly had lots of husbands cause she kept getting rid of them trying to find one she liked!

After stopping for lunch (sandwiches) we went to West Port in County Mayo to see the National Famine Memorial, which is a sculpture of a ship with skeletons on it, symbolising all those who were held on prison ships, or transported. There wasn't much else there, but across the road was St Patricks mountain, which is a pilgramage for Catholics everywhere, but especially in Ireland, to come and climb the mountain. There is a statue of St Patrick at the base. We saw the statue, but didn't climb the mountain thank goodness cause all our legs were already tired!



Our hostel for the night was in Clifden, County Galway. It was very pretty, with nice little shops. Billy Connelly's grandfather apparently emigrated (moved, more like) from Clifden to Glasgow. He used to be the stationmaster at Clifden.
The pub over the road had live Irish music on at 9.30pm, so some of us went over there. I got some video clips of the guys playing, they were very good, and the singer had a great voice. They played the 'Wild Rover' which is also played in Australia, and also another couple of tunes I also knew because the Corrs had recorded them. They played the Irish National Anthem and we stood up for that. It's a much better tune than 'Advance Australia Fair'. I had a few Baileys while we were there, then off to bed, ready for another early start. We were there until close anyway, but that is only at midnight so not late!

By the way, this is where I bought Emma's birthday present from. xxx

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Celtic Connections Tour of Ireland 2

Sunday 28th August 2005

Today we visited Dun Luce, a castle that belonged to the McDonnell Clan. Underneath the castle was a natural tunnel that had been carved by the sea. Near the castle is a house that was built in 1703. When I say house, really it was a mansion, or manor house. It was huge, looking like a castle itself and had stables and servants quarters. A very grand house in its time.



Next stop was Derry, or London-Derry, depending on whether you are a Republican or a Loyalist. The Irish Republicans do not acknowledge the London part of the name. Derry is near the border of Ireland and Northern Ireland, and it is the site of 'Bloody Sunday' which occurred in 1972, and another couple of incidents have also occurred there. (U2 released a song called Bloody Sunday)
In 1969 the Orange Party (loyalist) wanted to march through the Republican part of town, and the Irish made a barricade out of buses and vans and refused to let them through. The police got involved, and as the siege escalated the police opened fire on the crowd, killing 13 people and wounding many others. The police thought that the Republicans had opened fire first, but it was later proved that the only bullets fired were police bullets. On the walls of a few of the houses are murals in memory of the people killed.

Getting out of the towns, we drove towards Donegal and stopped at a hill where Howard, our guide, said there was a great waterfall. It was raining slightly, but we all hopped off the gus and off we went up the hill road. The trickles of water running down the road got bigger, and bigger! We came to a spot where the water crossed the road in a kind of creek that was about knee deep, and approx. 5m wide. There were some stepping stones, but you had to jump to reach the last couple and I didn't think it was safe. So I took my boots and socks off and waded through the water. I was through with my dry boots back on before all the others had crossed. Getting wetter and wetter we kept walking, hoping the waterfall was worth it. My jacket kept me dry on top but my jeans were saturated. I wasn't cold though, so I was still having fun. Once you are that wet it really doesn't matter anymore does it? The waterfall was ok I guess but nothing spectacular, it would have looked better from the bottom! We were right at the top where it went over the edge. So back down we went, and back across the little river (boots off, boots on!) and back to the hostel. It was nice to get out of the wet clothes but there was no washing machine or dryer! Anyway, all showered and dry we went to the pub for tea and I had cod and chips (what else!).

Monday, September 12, 2005

Celtic Connections Tour of Ireland 1

Saturday 27th August 2005

Up early this morning, had to walk up the Royal Mile to meet the bus at 7:30am. Met everyone that was going as we waited to leave - Lisa from Cairns in Queensland, Mel from Yackandandah in Victoria, Clinton from Sydney, Julia from Sydney, (lots of Aussies!) Sebastian and Catherine from Quebec in Canada (french speaking), Danni from Austria and Rennie & Zac from Israel (Hebrew speaking).

The first leg of the trip was obviously to get to Ireland. So we drove from Edinburth, through Glasgow to meet the ferry. The ferry was an Australian made P & O Catamaran. It looked like the Sea Cat ferry that runs from Melbourne to Tasmania. We got off the ferry at Larne, after a 2 hour crossing.

Up we drove to Belfast, and visited Belfast Castle near Cave Hill, which is near where Grandad Jack grew up. The castle looks more like a fancy house than a castle. It is often used for wedding receptions, and has manicured gardens. Howard, our tour guide, told us a short history of Ireland to explain why it consists of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Too much and too complicated to write here! But probably the most significant thing that I learnt was that when the southern part was given independence the British were going to give the whole island independence, but the people in the north wanted to remain British and petitioned to remain so. So you now have the loyalists who like being British, and the Republicans who want a 'United Ireland'. In 1981 a man called Bobby Sands died of starvation during a hunger strike in prison. He became a martyr for the Republic movement, and we visited a mural that was a tribute to him. We also saw a few other murals, some about Ireland, and others about world issues, including America's involvement in Iraq, and the war in Palestine. They are very brightly coloured, and I suppose they make the walls look a bit better, but the city still looks unfriendly. Belfast has a really dark feel to it. Somehow it just feels that there are fences everywhere, and in a way you can almost feel some tension as you drive around the different neighbourhoods and some houses are flying the Union Jack flag, and others fly the flag of Ireland. Youi can see on the photo to the right that the kerb is painted red white and blue, this is in a Loyalist (British) area of Belfast.
We had lunch at the pub, and I had a good old Aussie drink, Bundaberg Rum and coke. Mel and I were very surprised to see it served over here!

After lunch we drove out of Belfast, up to Ballycastle on the Antrim Coast. One view we stopped to see was of Rethlin Island where apparently long ago around the 9th Century, Vikings landed. A farmer on the mainland, Hugh O'Neill, saw them across there and was worried about being raided. He rowed across to the island and made a deal with the Viking chief. They would race back to the mainland, and whoevers hand touched the land first won ownership of it, so if Hugh won, the Vikings would leave him alone. The Vikings agree, and they race. The competition is fairly even, but as they draw close to the shore the Vikings pull away. Desperate to keep his land, Hugh draws his sword and cuts off his left hand, hurling it onto shore and winning the right to keep his land in peace.

Taking a walk down some steps (actually lots of steps!) winding down the steep hill we came to Kildarn Castle, which was perched atop a little outcrop from the beach. I can't remember who lived there or how old it was! We came across a seal there on the rocky beach that appeared unable to move. One of the girls wanted to pick it up and move it, because it wasn't moving itself and she thought it would be better off in the sea. She changed her mind after I pointed out that if it is unable to move on land, it will drown out in the sea! She decided then to leave nature alone. We were all worried about it, but what could we do?


Continuing on our way we stopped at a little place called Port Bradden, where the smallest church in Ireland is. A man who lives there converted his shed into a little church so that the village itself could be marked on maps (apparently having a church is a prerequisite for recognition as a village). The man was there, sitting at a little table next to the shoreline. He looked to be in his late 60's. I went to speak to him to ask what the Latin saying that was mounted on the church wall meant. He proceeded to give me a Latin lesson! (He used to be a lecturer) It was really quite irritiating, he kept telling me to figure it out for myself, asking me what the past perfect was or something which I had no idea about! Anyway, the quote means "I see only the hours of the rising sun" It's written there because the building is in shadow after 12 midday, and the quote also refers to only seeing the positive side of life, as the sun in always coming up, never seen going down. Having prised myself away from the clutches of my Latin teacher, I reboarded the bus (they were all waiting for me!) and we made our way to the legendary Giant's Causeway.

Much smaller than I was expecting, the Giant's Causeway is still impressive due to the uniform nature of its pillars. It consists of 4,6 or 8 sided pillars that were formed from a volcanic eruption beneath the sea approximately 60 million years ago. Since then, the earths plates have shifted and the rock has been exposed, above the sea level. You can climb all over it, which is quite fun as the rocks form perfect stepping stones, all at different levels. If you don't believe that it was formed by a volcano, maybe you'll believe the Irish legend.....

Long ago there lived 2 giants, one in Scotland, and one in Ireland. They used to yell insults across the sea to eachother. The Scottish giant got fed up and decided to go over to Ireland to fight it out. He built the causeway and walked across to Ireland. Seeing him coming, the Irish giant got scared and didn't want to fight, so he jumped into the baby's cot and stayed there. When the Scottish giant arrives, the Irish giant's wife greets him, saying her husband is not home but welcomes him to have tea and wait. The Scottish giant steps in the house to wait, and sees the huge 'baby' in the cot, which gives him a fright, as he wonders how big the adult male will be! The wife takes out two loaves of bread from the oven. Prepared earlier, one contained lots of rocks, and the other was nice and soft. Giving the rocky loaf to the Scottish giant, she gave the soft one to her 'baby'. Watching the 'baby' happily chewing on his loaf while he himself struggled to eat this hard loaf, breaking his teeth, the Scottish giant decided he didn't want to stick around to see how tough the adult male giant was, and he ran back to Scotland, smashing up the causeway as he went. Now isn't that much more believeable than some silly volcano theory??!

Tonight we stayed in a little hostel in the town, having a fairly early night after going to the pub for tea.

Saturday, September 03, 2005

Macbackpackers Tour of Scotland 3

Friday 26th August 2005
We were on our way back to Edinburgh today and didn’t have far to go so we took our time. First stop was St Andrews, the home of golf, where ‘the Old Course’ is. It felt strange to be there because I saw it on an travel program at home only a few months ago.

St Andrew is the Patron Saint of Scotland. He lived long ago in Roman times, and was a Christion missionary/preacher. In Greece, he converted the Roman Consuls wife to Christianity (not a good idea), and she then refused to sleep with her husband because he was such a barbarian! The Consul was obviously very angry, and captured Andrew and ordered that he be crucified. Andrew refused to be crucified in the same manner as Christ, so the guard suggested turning the cross so it looked like an X, not a T. They also hung Andrew upside down. And so he died in that way. He was later made a Saint.

St Andrews bones were thought to be sacred and powerful, and a man called Regulis was sent by the Emperor to get the bones from Greece and bring them back to Constantinople. One the way home with the bones, bedridden with seasickness, Regulis sees a vision of St Andrew telling him not to take the bones to the Emperor, because he would use them for personal gain. St Andrew told Regulis to take the bones to the ends of the Earth. Regulis ordered the boat captain to change course and head for the unknown land mass in the distance, which just happened to be Scotland. He landed there and built a church, where he kept the bones.

King Angus of Scotland borrowed the bones during a battle with the English, because he had been losing all the other battles. His men had become disheartened and moral was low. As they gathered on the battlefield the white clouds above them formed a cross X in the blue sky. It was taken as a sign from St Andrew that the Gods were with them. The men rallied and defeated the British. A new flag was made for Scotland – a white cross on a blue background.

I visited St Andrews Castle and Cathedral. The castle was built in about 1200AD by Bishop Roger de Beaumont, the Chancellor of Scotland. At one time there was a siege there and the people on the outside began digging a tunnel to get under the castle wall. The guys on the inside began digging to intercept them, and after four false starts, they succeeded and fought their enemy underground, winning and lifting the siege.

After visiting the castle I went for a walk around the town to see the shops, got a sandwich for lunch, and met the bus back by the golf course. (the others didn’t want to see the castle and went to the pub!)

On the way back to Edinburgh we stopped at a couple of little fishing villages and did a couple of walks, then arrived back at about 6.30pm. Jenny and I met for tea with another girl from New Zealand (Katherine) and then we all met up for drinks afterward. I left to go to bed at about 10.30pm because I was off to Ireland at 7.30am in the morning.