WALES TO IRELAND

England! Jolly England!
1 Coke - £1.60
1 lge pizza for 2 - £9
B&B or pub accomm - £50-100
pub meals - £8-12
bus/train for all day in London - £4 each!
fuel - £0.95 /Litre Multiply all figures by 2.5 to find out how many Aussie dollars.
The good news is I've already got a licence plate from England!
And the traffic in London is unreal. Out of London.... it's just hopeless.

Having said that, we've really enjoyed our 13 days in England/Wales. For scenery, there's some great coastline, beautiful harbours/ports, (with colossal differences in tides), hills & tors to climb to better see the countryside, tremendously narrow country roads lined with hedges, tree covered fences or stone walls. Houses, castles, barns & farms can be old, ornate, huge, historic, picturesque, majestic etc. And the people are.... well they're English!
We stayed with old friend Marie Kenworthy... now Walmsley! She and her hubby John are into flogging West Aussie wine! So, we had to sample a few drops while we were there. Tried desperately to prevent badgers invading and ruining their yard.... but I'd better not give too many details. Some of you know how animals mark their territory!
It was also great to meet up with Marion and Chris Slader in Wales. I just can't pronounce or spell any of their towns, except for Bangor, Menai and Cardiff! We really had great visits with Walmsleys and Sladers. Thanks guys. (Let me know how the badgers go please John.)
Because of the high cost of living, I could quite imagine this could be my last trip here - yet it just feels so comfortable... like an old boot!
So, on to Ireland! What will this be like?
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We arrived at Holyhead in North Wales after staying overnight at Bangor hostel. (cost: £28 - separate dormitories - $70 AU. You could get a pretty good motel room in Dubbo or Sussex Inlet for that eh? )
It was a 30 mile drive to Holyhead from our hostel (fancy the English/Welsh are still working in miles! Yet they buy their fuel in Litres!
We arrived in our Hertz Fiat Punto - a day late! Our ferry trip was booked for 3 pm Sunday.
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As I write, I've been informed by one of the passengers on the ferry (cat ferry), that we are now in Irish waters! Hey, how neat it was to actually catch the earlier ferry which left at 9:50 am instead of waiting for the 3 pm one! Bonus! Extra four quid because this ferry goes faster! (I thought it'd be less because you didn't spend as long on the ferry!)
For a while it was pretty rough & the vessel jumped about a bit, but then the capt seemed to get the hang of the "track" and managed to avoid most "bumps and potholes" after that.
I'm feeling a bit better now. listening to my iPod playing "Save The Last Dance" by Righteous Bros.
Hey it's looking better outside - reckon Ken from Kansas with his party boat or the Billabong from Nanaimo would be able to handle this bit. Should be in Dublin in 40 minutes!
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We're booked into a hostel in Dublin. Dublin International Hostel. It costs 36 Euros per day - 18 each. About $60 AU. Main thing we have to do is arrange car rental to wander round Ireland. No Al, the BS hasn't done a km in anger as yet since we arrived in London.
We're due to fly outa Dublin 22 Sept for Paris. Better let Jacqueline know Brian. Have u got their email address?
Thanks Janice for telling us to check out the pubs! Gotta get a bit of culture you reckon?
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Well..... here we are in Dublin. And the pubs are FULL! It's Sunday and it's the Hawks v Sydney Swans.... well... actually Killkenny v Cork.... no, not soccer.... HURLING! And man have they turned out for it! So, we'll try the pubs when things cool down a bit. I can hear Jeremy say, "What's wrong with you ol man? Lost your zip?"
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Just about had my Euro's worth..... One Euro for an hour. (Cheaper than at our hostel!) Better go and have a read of the paper & learn how US Open is going. Seeya. Multiply Euros by 1.65 I believe.... is that right DickO?