Day 2 - Journey by car

VW T-Cross car

Had a great night's sleep last night.  Have to admit I was a bit brain dead by then. Happy to announce my dramas with the hotel voucher were sorted! I got on to my travel agent, who gave me a number to ring and they sorted it out instantly! Apparently it was all related to the Bank Holiday, and the hotel didn't have their appropriate crew on board to find that I really had paid for my stay there. They were very apologetic!!! But, to be honest, I was just glad we sorted it out.

Next item on the agenda was to pick up my hire car. So I left my luggage in the hotel, whilst I caught the courtesy bus back to the airport to get my car. I though I was getting a little car like my Toyota Corolla at home, but it turns out I got this VW  T-Cross... bit bigger than I thought. Wasn't sure how it would go, but once I got going it was lovely. It is manual, and I love driving a manual car, and slipped back into that mode pretty easily! The only thing I had to adjust to was because it was a VW it had everything backwards, eg Indicators, Wipers etc... But I think I've more or less got the hang of it... although I must admit, I turned the wipers on a few times, not meaning to!!!

VW  Pic 2

And  it has a built in GPS system, which is a bonus! I actually went to a big Shopping center on Swords Rd called Omni to buy an Irish sim card, thinking I would need one for data etc with Google maps. I got to the center only to find it's a  bank holiday (May 1st) and many shops were shut. Anyway as I was contemplating what to do, this lovely Irish lady came up to me and asked if I knew where the florist was... 😁 I explained to her that I was an Aussie straight off the plane, but told her that I was looking for a Sim card, so she suggested Tesco's. Anyway she virtually followed me along telling where Tesco's was and where else I might buy a sim card. Fortunately she found her florist, so I was able to hop in to Tesco's. The lady on the till there started off about how she had to work on the bank holiday and the only way to get out of it was to call in sick, and they didn't pay extra wages etc...  I got the whole description of the problems of Tesco's staffing within the 2 minutes it took me to buy that sim card.

To recover I had a lovely cup of coffee... the girl asked me what I wanted, so I just said we call it a skinny flat white - she just laughed but  delivered a lovely coffee - as good as we get in Oz!!!

Omni Shopping centre

After that I got on the road and followed the M5 and then the M4, which I think became the N4??? Anyway it was the way to Lahinch via Galway.... I even managed the tolls ! Thank you Jesus!!!

Stopped at this service stop for a loo stop and ate half my sandwich that I bought at Omni!

Apple service stop

Stopped at another service stop near Athlone, but it was like going down south in Perth... was absolutely chockers!!! Even the loo had a queue a mile long. Didn't bother staying long, but managed to get out my charging cord for my phone, so I could listen to the Hawks podcast, giving ratings to all the players from last Saturday's game against the Bulldogs!!! Bit ironic to be driving through the gorgeous looking Irish country side and listening to a Hawks podcast!!!!

The whole journey took me about roughly 3 hours driving time.... to cross Ireland totally from East to West.  The road was fantastic - double lanes all the way, until I got near Gort and the old GPS kicked in with the "let's find some country lanes to trick you!!"  It took me through every little country road it could find, but it gave me a sense of the villages behind the main stream towns.

I stopped in Ennistymon to pick up some groceries and essentials, then I eventually arrived in Lahinch about 5pm.

I seem to have this thing about key locks, because whenever people tell me the keys will be in the key locks, it never works!!! And so it was again. I had been told instructions about how to get into my little apartment, but it just didn't work!! Had to ring the girl at the Real Estate agency and she came and rescued me. The apartment is nice and comfortable...  certainly not 5 star, but I don't mind!

Once I got myself in and worked things out a bit, I was off to the Shamrock Inn to have my half pint of Guinness! And they offered a small serve of a Roast Dinner - Turkey and Ham, with real vegies, so I stayed for dinner

If that's a small serve, I'd hate to see the big serve!!!

Then to celebrate my return to the land of my forefathers, I had to have an Irish coffee...

First Irish Coffee

After my half pint of Smithwicks, my nice glass of Sav Blanc and my Irish coffee, I decided I'd better have a walk along the beach for a while (everything is in walking distance!)

So I'll upload a few pics of the Lahinch beach - it just feels like home to me... hard to explain... I've had this conversation before in previous blogs, but his place has a strange effect on me. As I was walking along the Promenade, I almost felt a bit teary - Like I had come home.... 

First one is a quick video showing the Lahinch beach and the Cliffs of Mohr and the hills of Tullygarvan where my family emigrated from...

Next I'll just upload a few pics of the beach itself...

Lahinch Beach with Cliffs of Mohr in the headland in the background

Lahinch Beach 2

Lahinch Beach 3

So that's another day in the life of Wattle Wanderings!!! Think I won't be out of bed long as I'm still adjusting to time zones etc...  :)  Sweet dreams everyone!!