Day 4…

After I good nights sleep I headed to the main Heuston Station on the tram and got there right on time – 6.20am… far too early for my liking but I was psyched for this rail tour!

Got myself a window seat and met the guide for the day – a man called Pat who was dodging his grave in a big way (but oh so lovely!)

And then just before we left a lovely German girl called Sophie sat opposite me and we soon became buddy’s for the journey – it was so refreshing to have a like-minded person to discuss travelling with and at 19 she was very ambitious in her travel plans!

Our trip started with a train from Dublin to Limerick Junction (2hrs) then a quick change of trains and a 20min journey into Limerick where the coach met us. THEN the randomest of random things happened – I was getting on the coach and settling into my seat and the couple in front must have heard me talking to Sophie cos they turned around and said “So which part of NZ are you from?” and they were a couple from Christchurch!! It was so nice to hear from people from home haha they were originally from Christchurch but now lived in Brisbane – small world!  So we set off through Limerick and had a glimpse of King Johns Castle (wow!) then stopped at Bunratty Castle and Folk Park for 1.5hrs. We got a guided tour of the castle by a lady who was dressed in full medieval wear really added to the whole experience! We learnt about the ‘murder hole’ and the ‘ladies window’ and then got to explore the castle on our own so Sophie and I headed straight for the turrets which were up the spiral & narrow staircases. It was hard enough to walk up them so it was amazing to think of them fighting up and down them. Hint: it was better to be a left-handed swordsman when fighting up the straircases!

The folk park was a re-creation of a proper medieval village and it was so impressive.  Then we got some souveniors at the gift shop (so hard to choose!) and got back on the coach – next stop was Doolin for a proper pub lunch!

1.5hrs later we arrived in Doolin and to be honest this was probably the least exciting stretch of the whole trip and we were all well ready for a nice lunch… and the pub didn’t disappoint!  Gus O’Conners was by far the fastest service I’ve ever experienced in my life – I had barely sat down from ordering my fish & chips (along with the rest of the tour) when it was in front of me! And god it was good haha went down a treat with my JD & coke I tell ya.

After our time was up we loaded back into the coach for the short journey to the Cliffs of Moher – the highlight of the trip!  The entrance was a few hundred metres from the carpark  (which cost EUR8.00!!) and then we were there – OMG SO AMAZINGLY BREATHTAKING!  Sophie and I both had quiet moments of reflection and took heaps of photos.  One thing I was a bit miffed about was the scale of the touristy feel there – it had become so commercialised which kind of ruined it a bit.  If I had been there on my own I would have totally put my headphones in and tuned everyone out. We were so lucky with the weather as it just started to rain as we left and got back on the coach.  Next stop was Galway and our train back to Dublin… a non-event really so I snoozed most of the way.  Once back in Dubliln for 9pm Sophie and I said our goodbyes (after exchanging details and promising to keep in touch! I even gave her Mum and Dad’s details back home if she ever needed a place to stay…)

Check out my photos HERE!

…continued in next post…

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