WHAT AN ARRIVAL!

Day 1 in Dublin was the final of the hurling game between Cork (dressed like Sydney Swans in red and white) and Kilkenny (dressed like Hawthorn in black and amber). We walked with all our luggage, with and through the crowd as they headed to the ground. The crowd looked like Melbourne on grand final day. Kilkenny broke Cork's run preventing them getting 3 in a row. We made it to our hostel.

Day 2 in Dublin - a taxi strike. In the arvo, all taxis drove into the city to cause a gridlock. Guess when we chose to ride the double decker "city tour " bus?

We've since wandered down to the SE corner of the island, visited Wexford, Waterford, Kilkenny and now Kinsale. We stayed with lovely Servas hosts in Wexford (Emma) and Kilkenny (Mary and son David). Hostels ($50-60 for a couple) have also proved a cheaper option than B&B's ($85-100).

History of this area includes potato famine, Titanic's last port at Gobh, Norman and Viking invasions, Cromwell's plundering etc. The lusitania was also sunk off Irish south coast by a German U-boat with over 1000 casualties.

We put our bike Friday together in Kilkenny and then went for a cycle on their narrow roads. As Graham Brown found, and also John Ansell, cycling around this place, like England, isn't quite as simple as a ride in Rochester, Waterfall or Dubbo. Roads are often narrow, limited shoulders, sometimes poor signposting ( we ended up on the wrong roads 2 days in a row), and often a fair bit of traffic. The hedges beside the road often encroach on the tarmac.

Sad news recently about Steve Irwin and Peter Brock both passing away - doing what they loved best - exploring nature and racing cars respectively.

10 Sept. was a special day for us. It has a couple of significant events attached to it besides being the day before 9/11.

We had a look over Cherles Fort at Kinsale, the Timoleague Friary (built around 1300-1500), Drombeg stone circle at Glandore (miniature Stonehenge), the little town of Ballydehob (ggod name for a dog Marg), a monument to the Indian Air Crash in 1985, and a boat ramp hidden at the end of a long winding road. It was called Gortakilla Pier. We finally found Glanmore Lke International Hostel. What a neat spot! Eileen has been caretaker here for an amazing 32 years. We had the place to ourselves including the open fire. And we also managed to phone our daughter Deb and husband Brendan back in Sydney. She's due to have a bub in about 3 weeks. Their first and our first grandchild. So it was sure a neat day.