3rd March- Next stop is Limerick

Leaving Westport we had decided that if wanted to get to the Flying Boat Museum and meet up with the other couple we need a reasonably direct route, and so we headed in the direction of Galway and the journey was very good apart from the quality of the roads. Potholes, and the building of, appear to be am important part of Ireland and we think the various counties have a competition to see who can build the worst possible road. The signs everywhere showing that EU money is being spent make me think that perhaps monies received are spent in the pubs and betting shops and not on the roads, but I have been known to be wrong.

Oops, wow a new motorway leads to Limerick and past Bunraty Castle and a pub that I used to visit when working there called ‘Durty Nellies’ or something like that, and on this very smoot and virtually empty motorway we speeded to Limerick and under the Shannon we had to pay a toll for the tunnel and then finally back to normal bump roads out to Foynes to see the museum, only it was closed due to renovation, damn. We were all a little fed up as the leaflet clearly stated March till October or something but it was defiantly closed.

We headed back to Limerick and the Clarion Hotel, nice on this, and then walked down town looking for good photos but as time was getting on and as we wanted to go the cinema tonight we started looking but no success but then a man in a yellow jacket who was controlling the buses and he said there was a omniplex cinema about 1.5 miles in a shopping arcade. We could take a bus or walk, but knowing that sometimes an Irish mile and half could entail 3 miles walking plus a train and bus ride and then thrity minute flight we decieded to take a bus. It was at this point where he asked the usual question, where do you come from and we said Weybridge Uk and he said well I used to live in London and my brother lives in Chertsey, it’s a small world.

The bus took a diversionary route through a bad looking area where at one point groups of teenage boys starting throwing stones and spitting at the bus, umm nice we thought.

We eventually came to the complex and found the cinema and went to watch a film called PAUL which is  about two British tourists in America come across an ET looking chap and help him get home. Good film and quite funny.

No walking home for us and we got a taxi and the driver told us about the sorry state of Irelands and Limericks finances in particular. We also understand that the Irish are leaving home in droves to find new opportunities elsewhere.

Sounds a bit like the Easter European and Iraqi's and Afghan's flocking to Britain

2nd March- Light rain in the air

Prior to leaving Killybegs we did a thirty minute walking tour of this town which seems to survive on its fishing business as there were quite a few large trawlers in the dock and of course fish was in abundance in restaurants around the town.

We left town in the direction of Donegal and then on to Ballyshannon and Sligo and finally arriving in Westport. The journey was very good  and spoilt only by the huge amounts of rubbish dropped by car drivers and also a light rain and a heavy mist which obscured much of the mountain scenery.

We stopped for lunch in a wayside diner which was good and continued to look at the ever increasing amount of new, but mostly empty, houses in groups or in large estates.

En-route we noticed large areas of peat bog which had been cut some recently and some quite some time ago but obviously this is an important business down here.

We finally arrived in Westport but missed the Hotel in the first time around on the one way system and then located the Clew Bay Hotel which describes itself a little differently to what I would do. The room was very dark and I had to order an extra light so as to be able to use the pc and the plugs and Internet plug where too far away from the desk to be easily accessible whilst the Loo was not man friendly and thoughts of castration come to mind if you don’t hold the lid up.

We had checked Trip Advisor for restaurant advise and checked out the top four and felt that Mango, the Number 2, was what we wanted and the food was really good. We had sea bass filets cooked in a white wine sauce and other goodies in a foil wrap with fresh veggies and a nice bottle of wine and pricing was not to bad. Generally we are finding restaurant prices here about 15% lower than Weybridge and the quality much better than some of the Weybridge eateries.

So back home to the Hotel and met a couple doing a similar thing to us who gave us a leaflet for the flying boat museum  near Limerick which had also been mentioned by friends in Florida and New Zealand.

And so to bed.

1st March- We head on out

It was time to leave Jerry & Mura and so we headed out at about 0930 and went West towards Londonderry where stopped for about two hours to look around.

Initially we walked through the large shopping arcade  and then up to the old walls and was very surprised to see them covered with high metal wire frames for protection, either to stop people throwing things and or being hit from below, we guess. You could see on the sides of the houses in the distance the famous drawings depicting ‘Bloody Sunday’ and also the other significant events of the longstanding religous war.

The sun was shining again today and the temperature around 10 degrees and so it was very pleasant to walk around. After a coffee and cake in the Costa Cafe we headed towards Killybegs where we have a hotel booked. The roads were extremely bumpy and very uncomfortable indeed and we also noticed lots of rubbish on the roads either items being thrown from car windows or just careless waste material collection people. We stopped for lunch in a little wayside cafe and enjoyed a nice bowl of soup and then drove through the hills but unfortunately it started to rain and with the mist we could not make out the best features of the drive, we guess it may have been very pretty but we could not see.

We arrived in Killybegs rather shaken not stirred from the bad roads and relaxed before having dinner in the Tara Hotel bar where the fish was very good indeed.

This is not a bad Hotel and the staff are helpful and the rooms very comfortable.

Just as we were beginning to settle back in our room there was a commotion outside and a pipe and drum band marched past playing some Irish music and we subsequently learned that this was in honour of the local independent candidate who had one a seat in the recent election. However there were more band members than people on the street to clap, this might tend to indicate something.

28th February- Another good day for a walk

The weather is still holding up and not so breezy today compared to yesterday and so we left around 10.00 and went first for a walk along  the beach at Blackrock and then of to Mussendem Temple, a National Trust property located right on the cliffs with great views. Of course the Castle is derelict and has been partly brought back to order and on the tip of the coast there is a small chapel where marriages also take place.

We then took a short drive up in to the hills for further great views across the inlet and you could see Londonderry from here, pausing only for a few minutes we then headed back home for a quick lnch.  Jerry and Mura were giving a VSO Ethiopia Presentation in Port Stewart and so we had decided to try the famus local ice cream in the same location before going on to Portrush and finally to Bushmills, the home of the famous Irish Whisky to do a distillery tour.

Bushmills Factory

The tour lasts about 40 minutes and finishes with a reasonable taster of whisky which went down very well and it was here that we met a couple who working in Hunan Province in China but were back for a short break and so we had an interesting chat for about 25 minutes before being thrown out as they were closing everything down .

A quick journey back to Portrush where we met up again with Jerry & Mura and then had dinner in a great restaurant called 55 Degrees North and the service and food were both excellent and at quite a reasonable price.

Then back home and Jen and I spent time looking to book a Hotel for the next night before retiring for the evening  

27th February- A busy day

We had a good look around the new house and were duly impressed with the design and innovation and all the ecological bits and pieces and certainly housing technology has come a long way in the last few years with rain water gathering and heat pumps etc.

The Giants Causeway

We left the house around 1030 and went along the coast to a car park whwre we walked across fields to the area where you can get to the ‘Giants Causway’ which was most impressive and also quite busy. We then walked back and sat in a wind sheltered space where we had a picnic lunch before heading down the coast to a number of small towns and ports where we could take some photos. This area of Northern Island is very rough and very attractive at the same time what with wild beaches and rocks and with strong winds blowing the sea at an incredible rate allowing great photos of sea smashing against the rocks.

Finally we ended up waling to the rope bridge at Carrick-A-Reda which is a a most dangerous looking bridge located near the village of Ballintoy, and it connects the mainland to where in the past they used to catch fish and walk across this bridge. The bridge is now a tourist attraction and thank god it was closed as there was no way Mr Groves was going to walk across this boy scout bridge.

The back home for dinner and some more wine and then off to bed and boy were we tired after all that fresh air and walking

26th February- A ship to far

We were up quite early and hit the breakfast room before anybody else and left the Hotel around 0800 for Birkenhead to catch the ferry to Belfast.

We arrived in ample time at the ferry terminal at around 0845 which was in plenty of time fot the 0930 cut off and waited in line on a cool and damp morning on the Mersey. There was about 15 cars, which is not a lot really, but there must have been loads of trucks hiding somewhere as later when on board the truck area seemed very busy.

Never ever travel on this Ferry

The website of Norfolk Line talked  Club Class and we asked about this and the lady shook her head and gave us a piece of paper which said that Norfolk Lines which is owned by DFDS have now sold this ferry route to Stena Lines including all vessels and staff and on this ship the Mersey Seaway there was no Club Class. Oh well we looked for the lounge, there was no lounge and comfortable seats to talk of in fact I can safely say it was the worst ferry we have been on for as many years as we can remember. The food was appalling and expensive and the seating for an eight hour journey was not what we expected, I would have preferred to sat in my cars comfortable seats. On top of that the ship was cold and we had to wear coats all the time and try to get warm. Never ever again will we travel on this route. In the meantime once we get home I will write a letter of complaint to Norfolk Lines , DFDS and Stena Lines, we don’t care who is responsible but for a ship of 5 years old this is not cricket.

So eight hours later we arrived at Belfast Docks and we finally got off the ship and headed North towards Coleraine and then on to Anticlave where Jerry and Mura live. We arrived around 8pm and had a nice meal and some wine and even tested some whisky before hitting the bed at around midnight after a good evening catching up on events since we last met.

25th February- A day out in Liverpool

A good Premier Hotel breakfast sets us up for that day, well until lunchtime that is, and we head off along the sea front passing the many beautiful old buildings including the famous Liver Building. We also pass a tribute in flowers to somebody who must have died recently on the spot but apart from the flowers there were also tins and bottles of beer as part of the tribute, strange.

We see that a considerable amount of money has been spent by the City Council on redeveloping the large open area along by the sea and of course they have one of the best old building for themselves, no obvious shortage of government/council money here.

We passed an advert for Wallace and Gromet with their little car, see main photos on Phanfare, before arriving at a Church where there appeared to be an important occasion taking place what with the Mayor and several other high local dignitaries being present.  It would appear that HMS Liverpool and Royal Naval Ship is being scrapped following the defence review and the crew will do a parade through the streets following the Church service. We watched the parade lead by horses and then the ships band and crew march past, not really in time though and they are in dire need of practise. Most Boy Scout troops would parade better than this lot.

We then visited the building where Noels ex company had an office in one of the old buildings which he used to visit and it had been recently spruced up and it looks really good.

We found a sandwich shop in an area called Liverpool One which is a modern outdoor shopping area with cinemas, major shopping brands and places for kids to play. There was also a recently erected tribute to John Lennon and some nice words from his son Julian, again see main photos, but photographically it was not to good as the council had left a large scissor lift partly in front of it, great. 

We continued walking all afternoon and visited the China Town area and then dinner in Wagamama Asian food and then went to the cinema to see ‘True Grit’ a film by the Cohen Brothers and yet again it was excellent. These guys really produce some good films.

Then back to the Hotel as we have an early morning tomorrow to join the ferry to Belfast and we have heard that the main tunnel under the Mersey is closed.

Link to PHOTO BLOGhttp://noelgroves.phanfare.com/5029152

24th February-Liverpool we are on our way

After a good breakfast we took all the non motorway roads going to Liverpool by way of Telford, Shrewsbury and Wroxeter (see later comments) and then via Chester and on to Liverpool.

We stopped for a nice bowl of homemade soup in a little village outside of Shrewsbury and then found ourselves near the Roman Historical site of Wroxeter where a group of normal? British Builders had recreated a Roman Villa complete with bath house. This was recently featured on a 6 part documentary which is now available on Channel 4  recently called ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’. The builders as you will see from the photos have done a very good job indeed considering they had no experience in using tools of a bygone age, for more info watch the programme on 4OD.

We did some shopping in Chester and then headed through the Mersey Tunnel to Albert Docks where we had booked a room in the Premier Lodge. We had chosen this Hotel due to its location but first impressions were not good because after we had checked in we found that the elevators were not working and we were on the 3^rd floor and we had to lug all our baggage up the stairs with little help from receptions.

Anyway after a nice cup of tea we went for a walk around the Docks primarily to choose a restaurant for later in which we succeeded and had a good but cheapish dinner. We then walked over to the big wheel and noticed that hundred of youngish girls were heading to the arena to see a pop star and their dress was beyond belief for this old pair of eyes what wish miniskirts and very high heeled shoes and very little else, it was quite interesting really but boy they must have been cold.

We then headed back to the Hotel for a well earned rest as we have to be up early to start our day of looking around the town
Link to Photo Bloghttp://noelgroves.phanfare.com/5029148

23rd February -We are off again on our travels

Well it’s that time of year again and so off we go again. We are attending the Caravan and Boat show at the  Birmingham NEC for the day and so we left home just around 09.00 and headed up the dreaded M40 which was actually fairly quiet and we arrived at the NEC at a good time of 10.45.

We spent many hours around the show looking at the new caravans and all the associated bits and pieces and decided that pretty much our caravan is still right for us.

The only other one we went through was a Bessacar which looked really nice and was quite expensive but anyway we will stick with what we have got. Later this year we are joining friends in Spain, as per the last two years, and have decided that this time we will drive down and then extend out trip down to Malaga and Cadiz and in to Portugal but to enable us to do this as cheap as possible we have purchased a new tent at this show which we will use on our travels down through France and on to sunny Espagne.

After the show we headed off to the Hotel where we have stayed several times before called the Moxhull Hall Hotel which is about 20 minutes from the NEC.

We had a very nice meal in the restaurant with a free bottle of wine from the owner; this is as a result of a complaint when we last visited, but the Hotel is great  and the food excellent.

And so to bed

Michaels Graduation day at Brooklands College, Weybridge

After quite a few years of hard work Michael has passed all his exams and was very  pleased to attend the Graduation day presentation at Brooklands College in Weybridge where he has been studying for the past few years. This  was in addition to studying  at  home whilst holding down a full time job as a Senior Paramedic for London Ambulance.
Michael also spends a lot of time  teaching students who go to St John Ambulance and provides tuition on many subjects.

Michael with his fiancée Becky

Today's event was well supported even though it had been delayed from last year following the severe weather just prior to Christmas and the presentations were made by the Spelthorne  Mayor and also the teaching professors. Following the presentations there was a buffet prepared by the students of the catering department whilst it was also a great opportunity to meet Michaels main tutor.

Michael with his proud parents

It was an enjoyable and very proud day for Jennifer and me to see our son succeed in this manner and we hope that this success will assist his future.
The sun finally arrived at lunchtime which made the day especially pleasing
All the photos can be found on our Phanfare photo blog or by following this link


http://noelgroves.phanfare.com/4987990

Support FISH FIGHT.NET

Stop stupid fishing practices imposed by those bungling overpaid idiots in Brussels

Politician's No Nuffink

A recent appearance on Sky Neva by Alan Johnson, the Labour opposition to the Chancellor, proved how much or little he knows about his job and Taxation in General.
Isn't it about time we started employing 'Professionals' .in Senior Government Roles and not these 'wannabes' .who 'No nuffink' but believe that they can be a Chancellor or Minister fro Transport or even a Prime Minister.
Its about time we privatised Government and Local Councils and ran them like a business and not for the benefit of those people who could not get a job in the real world..Of course there always exceptions to the rule and there perhaps a few who have an own business but they tend to be in the minority.

A happy New Year to all our readers

Santa's little helpers

Well this is the start of another year of travel however at this point in time not much has been finalised except that we plan trips to Ireland  in February and Germany and Switzerland in March and of course our usual sojourn of several weeks in France.. This time we want to wander down the West Coast of France for a couple of weeks before heading to the Lot Valley and our site at Chateau de Lacomte in Carlucet.
At the moment we are enjoying the English weather which is somehow between snow and and cold and rain and full sun with temperatures ranging from minus 10 Cent  up to plus 10 Cent.
We had a great few weeks leading up to Christmas with dinner's at friends (see photo) and  then a family Christmas followed by New Years Eve at Piplin House with friends from Wey Road. The booze consumption this night will take some beating next year and with Elmbridge having to send two trucks to cart away the 'dead men'
Finally we can look forward to a year without the three 'B's (Brown, Bush and Blair) and hope that Government come to their senses over pointless wars' where young people. soldiers and innocent citizens alike. loose their lives for reasons that no one can comprehend ( except the three 'B's)
Lets hope this year of the 'Rabbit' will bring to this world.

"People born in the Year of the Rabbit are articulate, talented, and ambitious. They are virtuous, reserved, and have excellent taste. Rabbit people are admired, trusted, and are often financially lucky. They are fond of gossip but are tactful and generally kind. Rabbit people seldom lose their temper. They are clever at business and being conscientious, never back out of a contract. They would make good gamblers for they have the uncanny gift of choosing the right thing. However, they seldom gamble, as they are conservative and wise. They are most compatible with those born in the years of the Sheep, Pig, and Dog."


Just thought you would like to know all about the Rabbit people whilst Noel was born in the year of the 'Horse'


"People born in the Year of the Horse are popular. They are cheerful, skillful with money, and perceptive, although they sometimes talk too much. The are wise, talented, good with their hands, and sometimes have a weakness for members of the opposite sex. They are impatient and hot-blooded about everything except their daily work. They like entertainment and large crowds. They are very independent and rarely listen to advice. They are most compatible with Tigers, Dogs, and Sheep".


This does not sound like me at all


Anyway have a great Year of the Rabbit