Day 7 - Dublin and Home

Up early for our last half day in Dublin, breakfast first then a final package check and it was off to the post office to post the last parcels home. We went to a small one person post office and I was lucky that there was no one in a queue so just walked straight up to the counter. The man at the counter gave me the small form to fill in that had to be stuck to the parcel and charged me the 60 euro and that was it.

Neil was next and he had the two parcels that needed to be taped together to post as one parcel. The post worked did not have any sticky tape (over here it is the most used thing in the post office) so Neil had to leave the parcels and go to find some. There was a 2 euro shop down the road but it did not have any either. A nearby hardware store did not have any either. Finally Neil went into a DHL office and asked to buy a roll of tape. They did not sell any but allowed him to take their roll of tape to the post office and use it then return it to them. Finally Neil was able to post his parcel.

We went back to the room and did our final packing of suitcases for home. I had bought a travel scale to weigh luggage and we all tried it for our bags. As mentioned before only 20 kilos were allowed on the Dublin to London flight and then we would be able to have 30 for the London to Sydney legs. Myself and Dave were over the limit but we did not know by how much as the scales only go up to 22 kilos.

We took our luggage down to the foyer so I could arrange checking out of the hotel. It took a few trips to get it all down and it was going to be a difficult 800 metre trip to the bus stop with what we had.

Before we left Australia I had bought return tickets on the Airbus to the airport but I asked the boys if they would mind if I used some of our kitty money to get us a maxi taxi to the airport. This would mean we would be picked up at the hotel door and dropped straight back to the airport, saving a lot of time and a decent struggle to get to the bus stop. They all agreed so I booked a taxi and it arrived within 15 minutes.

We arrived at the airport in no time and went to put in our luggage. The check in person was confused as it seemed that my seat allocation was booked 4 times, Neil's was booked 3 times, Dave's 2 times and Barry's once. Strange but she sorted it out and asked us if we would like to be moved forward to a plane leaving two hours earlier for Heathrow as there was a possibility of staff shortages for the later flights and it might not take off. We agreed and were put onto the earlier flight.

Checking in the bags did cause a few problems with the weight allowance. Between Dave and I we were 8 kilos over the limit. At 15 euro per kilo we were in for a 120 euro fee. She dropped it back to 5 kilos and charged us 75 euro.

The plane trip was quick and we arrived in Heathrow and had to do the reverse walk back from Terminal 1 to Terminal 3 through the underground maze of walkways. We finally arrived at the Emirates check in and were seen to by a trainee check in person. They made plenty of mistakes which were corrected by their supervisor but then asked to weigh in our carry on luggage.

I was worried by this as I had a lot of stuff in my carry on case. Putting it on the scales it came to 12.2 kilos. The person said I needed to reduce it to 8 kilos. I pulled out some books, my camera and my electrical bag of goodies and got it below 8 kilos (The airlines say 8 kilos is the limit per item in overhead luggage). Of course I then had to carry these but as soon as I walked around a corner I opened my bag and put them all back in to the case.

I had also had as carry on my backpack with more gear in it inside a Duty Free Bag so it looked like Duty Free goodies and I had my lap top bag which had quite a few kilos of paperwork as well as the laptop. I reckon all up I had close to 40 kilos of luggage.

We went through the security control and because we had taken the early flight to Heathrow had 6 hours to kill before the flight. We went to a restaurant that was styled like an English pub and had some food and a couple of drinks before settling down in the waiting area taking turns to look after the luggage whilst the others walked around checking the duty free shops.

Finally it came time for us to proceed to the gate for boarding. Heathrow being an older terminal is stuck with a lot of the gates being a long way from the central area. We had to show our boarding passes again before being put onto the plane. The other three boys sat together on the right side of the plane and I was in the centre set of seats but on the right isle next to them. We were fed a meal once in the air and the staff came around a couple of time with extra drinks whilst we were in the air. I watched a couple of movies and got some sleep before we arrived in Dubai.

Getting through the transit search and into the terminal proper we had two hours before our connecting flight home. Neil wanted to get a beer glass from the bar he had a drink in on the way over last week. He found the bar but there was a different person in charge that the last time he was there. He told the lady what he wanted and that he had arranged with the manager of the bar on the last trip to get a glass on the way back. Neil had a cap, a stubby holder and some brochures to give the manager in return for the glass. The person non duty phoned the manager and it was arranged for Neil to get the glass.

Dave did some final shopping before heading for home and Neil though he would do a good thing and buy his partner a gold necklace as a present. He saw a nice one that was only $US51 and though he would get it. The salesperson got it out of the display and he said he would take it. From then on things got a little to hot for him as the assistant put it on the scales to weight the gold necklace, see it was $US51 per gram and when weighted the cost of the necklace was just over $US750. So a quick retreat was made and he bought another gold item that was a little less expensive. I am sure it would be well received at home.

When we were ready for the plane there was a security issue and we boarded about 30 minutes late. Boarding was completed and we were on our last leg of the trip home. I again got a right side isle seat in the centre of the plane and was lucky that there was an empty seat next to me for the flight. The other three boys sat together on the right side of the plane again.

It is over 14 hours in the air from Dubai to Sydney and between meals, movies, TV shows and some more sleep we arrived back in Sydney on time at 6.00am Friday morning. There was no issues getting through customs in Sydney and we all said our farewell's after the 11 day trip. Neil had to get the train to the domestic airport to get his connecting flight to Melbourne. He had a 5 hour wait for the plane. Barry and Dave got a train back to Barry's home where Dave had left his car, Dave had a shower and a cup of coffee at Barry's before driving off home down the Hume Highway to Wagga.

I had to wait about an hour for my Bus service as there were others to get on the bus that did not arrive in Sydney till after 7am. Luckily for me I was first drop off on the bus and I got home about 8.30am.

Overall Thoughts

What a great trip. I was very lucky to win the trip and must thank Wotif.com for running the competition and providing such a wonderful experience and also Guinness and Emirates.

I was also very lucky to be able to take three of my best mates with me and we had a wonderful time travelling together and sharing such a fantastic time in Ireland, both in Dublin and travelling over 1000 kilometres in the three days we had the car. There was a great mixture of sightseeing in Dublin and the countryside, visiting the other cities and some very interesting architecture including several castles and ruins.

We were able to visit many pubs and bars and gained a lot of items for all our brewery collections. We met many very friendly people and were treated very well by all of them. The tour of The Guinness Storehouse and the Smithwick's Brewery were highlights and being able to see so much in seven days was fantastic.

Day 6 - Dublin

After three days on the road we had an easy morning. Up a bit later we went down for breakfast and then headed off to the Post Office to get some cardboard boxes for the parcels Neil and I would need to send home. Speaking to the man in the post office he said that the largest box would cost approx. 60 euro to send home with 5 kilos in it. But you could tape two of the boxes together and send them as one parcel for 85 euro. It was the same deal as I had used three years ago, although I am sure the price has gone up since then.

Neil needed some bubble wrap to use on his items but they did not have any in stock so he had to go to a shop down the main street to get some.

While we were doing this Dave went off on another search for the elusive craft scissors for Jan. He is travelling a lot of ground to get the right ones so I am sure he will be in the good books when he gets home. He came back with three different types!
We then ventured into a souvenir shop called Carroll’s which has many shops around Dublin. This one is two complete shops joined into one. One side has Irish logo clothing, Irish sport supporters clothing and Guinness Clothing and other Guinness items. The other side has glassware, jewellery, ornaments and all other imaginable types of souvenirs.
We all bought items at the shop with Neil winning the cash register challenge. I arranged with him to ship our purchases home together as the shop did a pack and post service through DHL to freight them to your door. It will take a week to get them back to Aussie and I will then have to wait form my items till I am next in Echuca.
It was getting near lunchtime by then so we decided to head back to the Woolshed Baa for lunch as it was only three blocks from where we were. Once again Emma was working but Tineke was on her day off, but a quick phone call and she came in and talked with us for quite a while.
Once there the boys started collecting a few extra Heineken bottles with the Heineken Cup rugby plastic shrink wraps on them. There are three different bottles each having the trophy, the two teams and the date of the game on the front and an image of a rugby match on the back.
Several other items were also collected and we had a good lunch. I headed back to the room with our bits and pieces and then had to return the hire car to the rental company which was on the other side of the city to our hotel. There were no problems with the car and I was quickly out of there, stopping at The Lombard, a pub across the road for the rental place. I was able to pick up some Coors coasters for my collection. From there I caught a taxi back to the Woolshed and caught back up with the others.
We stayed in the Woolshed till about 5.30pm and then headed back to our hotel to pack up some items to post tomorrow morning. The boys picked up the 5 litre keg of Heineken they had left in the hotel kitchen refrigerator and set about emptying it so Neil could post it home.

It was then time for our end of tour Dinner. I had arranged for us to have a dinner to end the tour and had picked a local hotel called the Belvedere Hotel which was just a short distance from where we were staying.

We had a nice dinner and then I presented awards to each tourist. The Best Rookie Tourist Award was too close to split and the judges therefor declared joint winners with both Dave Rial and Neil Thomas winning the award. Luckily this was anticipated and two trophies had been made for this award. Keith Bennett was then presented with the Luckiest Tourist Award for his winning of the contest that financed this trip. The final award was the Most Outstanding Tourist award and after deliberations with all the judges this award was presented to Barry Rhall.

Following the dinner we walked two blocks to Mayes Hotel, which was a hotel that I had been to in 2008. It is a corner pub on one of the busiest intersections on the main road leading into Dublin from the Airport. It has a great Guinness sign on the intersection corner of the Pub.

From there we caught a taxi to the The Cobblestone Pub, which is a pub that has live traditional Irish music playing each night and in the main bar there is a musicians corner, which is where and musician can come and sit and play music. It is a great impromptu area for musicians to sit and jam with others.

We had been told about this pub by Tineke who works at the Woolshed and she had planned on meeting us there that night. She was there when we arrived with one of her work mates.

We listened to some great music and had a good time. Dave managed to get a couple of pint glasses from a micro brewer from Galway, the beer was called the Happy Hooker.

At the end of the night we said our goodbyes to Tineke and thanked her for her hospitality at the pub and showing us a good night at the Cobblestone.

We made our way by taxi back to the hotel and did some final packing for the parcels that are being posted tomorrow before it was lights out for the last time in Ireland.

Day 5 - Limerick - Galway - Dublin

Leaving Limerick this morning we headed north towards Galway. On the journey we saw a nice looking pub and stopper to take some photos of it. It was called the Joyce. Joyce being my mother’s name gave it a real significance to me.

Barry saw a heritage sign for a castle so we decided to head of our route to check it out. Taking a wrong turn we stopped at a service station in a small village to fill the car up and get directions. We were not far off course and then drove to the castle. It was called Dunguaire Castle and was built in the 1520’s. It overlooks the south side of Galway Bay. We stopped and walked through the grounds of the castle and took some photos.

We then drove a kilometre west and stopped in the town of Kinvarra. It is a seaside village with a lot of sailboats and has an annual yachting festival which is very big in Ireland. We drove through the town and I dropped the others off. They are going to walk back the other way to where we entered the town to take photos of the pubs whilst I go looking in the supermarket for beer cans or Pringles cans.

We met up at the start of the village and went into one of the pubs called Sextons.

The barman was the only one in the pub. We got a drink and spoke to him. He is 77 and has run the pub for 42 years taking over from his Father. He works everyday for 5 hours and his daughter does the late afternoon to evenings running the bar. They live above the pub and his only other passion is golf which he still plays weekly. Below is a photo of the Publican with Neil.

From there we moved on to Kilcolgan where Neil spotted and Antique shop and he was able to pick up a brass tap handle for a wooden beer barrel. It has two taps on it.

Then we drove into Galway but it was so busy with lunchtime traffic that we decided to travel on and started back towards Dublin. There is now a dual carriageway freeway between Galway and Dublin so it is quite a good trip.

Stopping for lunch at Atherry, we visited a pub called Iggy's for a drink.

The publican told us that the pub back in the early 1900’s also have a travel booking agent licence and actually sold one ticket for the maiden voyage of the Titanic. The publican still has the booking form that was filled out and details of the person who made the booking.

We then went across the road to the bakery to get some lunch before heading back onto the freeway to continue our driving.

Further along the freeway we pulled off into the town of Athlone and stopped at Monahans Pub.

We then travelled onto our last official destination of the tour in Killbeggin. We stopped at Lockes Distillery.

It is a restored two hundred and fifty year old distillery which is now set up as a museum. The local community restored the distillery area and it has all the workings from 250 years ago.

There is a stream with a paddle wheel that turns all the machinery and it is a fascinating view of how things were done 250 years ago.

The distilery puts down malts for special occasions or you can get them to do one for a special anniversay if you order it 12 years or more in advance. 

A working distillery has now been set up on the property behind the old buildings and you can once again buy Killbeggin whiskey in the tasting bar.

We stopped in one of the pubs whilst Neil did another Antique store and it was interesting to see all the racehorse memorabilia in the pub. There is a large racecourse on the outskirts of town.

Back on the freeway again we made one last stop before returning to Dublin. We pulled of the freeway at a town called Leixlip. It was the town in the 1740’s and 1750’s where Arthur Guinness learnt the trade of brewing from his father. His father was a brewery worker and close confidant of the local Archbishop. When the Archbishop died he left Arthur’s father and Arthur 100 pounds each. Arthur was 27 at this time and left to start up his brewery in Dublin.

We had dinner and a couple of drinks in Murphys Pub

and then finished our drive by arriving back in Dublin and to our hotel. By the time we unloaded the car and got sorted out it was already quite late so we did not go out instead deciding to recharge the batteries for tomorrow our final full day in Dublin.

Day 4 - Killarney - Limerick

After breakfast and packing the car we headed off passing through many small villages stopping to take photos of the various colourful pub frontages and signage. We passed through the village of Castlemaine, which was made famous to us Aussies in the song The Wild Colonial Boy as Jack Duggan came from that town.

Stopping in Tralee, we walked around some of the shopping area taking photos and getting some food. As it was Sunday morning all the shops were closed and all the people were either in church or still hung over from last night.

Moving on we stopped at a few sites taking photos and then arrived at Tarbert which is a town where you can catch a car ferry across the Shannon River to Killimer.

This saves a two hour drive around the coastline to get to the other side. The ferry trip takes about 20 minutes. It was a strong and freezing cold wind blowing whilst we were on the ferry.

After driving off the ferry we drove up to Kilrush and stopped at a pub called the Johnson. Neil took one for the team by trying a pint of Fosters! He was not impressed.

When you think of Irish pubs you get the impression of a bar with a little old man sitting in the corner of the bar, half sozzled, singing songs to tourists so he could wrangle a free beer out of them. Well we met him, Paddy was his name and he was a funny bloke.

Lined Up At The Early Opener

Three Wise Men

He was still half pickled from the night before and was drinking whiskey. He asked the publican for another whiskey and the publican said to him “I don’t think you should be having another whiskey Paddy” and Paddy replied “o.k. I’ll be having a Guinness then” So the publican poured him a pint of Guinness.

Paddy sang us a few tunes and we bought him another pint of Guinness.

He was great company. The rest of the bar was entertained by him also.

Neil presented the publican with some Great Aussie Beer Shed memorabilia for the bar, which he put up straight away on the walls.

Leaving the pub we took photos of the rest of the pubs in the town before moving on.

We next stopped in the town of Malbay where it was more photos of pubs and then into a pub for a refreshment. (Can you all see a pattern forming here?). The boys met the Publican and his wife who had just returned from doing a 10k charity fun run. The pub is full of football memorabilia and has a lot of different countries flags hanging on the roof.

We explained our trip to them and that we were chasing different brewing memorabilia. We were then given a lot of different items including a Guinness rugby ball and plenty of Guinness bunting flags and even more glasses and signs.

Leaving there we headed north via some very narrow roads to visit the Cliffs of Moher. The cliffs are a natural formation with drops from the top over 700 feet to the sea below. When I was in Ireland in 1989 we came here to look at the cliffs but there was a very thick fog and you could not see them.

We drove into the car park which is away from the cliffs and had to walk approx. 600 metres to get to the information centre which includes a large interpretive story of how the cliffs were formed and a story on the wildlife and the environmental works done to protect the wildlife. Then it was a short walk to the first vantage point in the centre of the length of cliffs. The cliffs are very impressive, formed by the natural erosion of winds and sea over thousands of years. We climbed the stairways to the northern end of the walk and took some photos looking south. It is quite a steep walk but there were hundreds of people doing it. The south walk was even steeper but we did not attempt it.

After doing some shopping in the gift shop, it was back into the car and we started heading inland towards or destination for the evening, Limerick. It was again a drive along narrow roads for the first part and then finally onto a very good divided freeway with two lanes in each direction. We reached the Radisson Blu hotel and were given two twin rooms for the night. I had booked this hotel due to getting a loyalty card last year when I stayed at the same hotel chain whilst being at the Brewery Collectables Convention in the USA. It was the best set out hotel of the trip and was very comfortable to stay at.

We rested for a while and unfortunately Barry was not feeling well so he decided not to join the rest of us for our trip to Bunratty Castle. We had booked for the Medieval Banquet and show for dinner.

The castle was built in 1425 and also has a heritage park set out to look like a village of the same era. Although we did not get to walk around the whole park it looked quite impressive.

The castle had been restored in the 1960’s and we were taken into a large room where there is a lot of furniture and tapestries from the 15th and 16th centuries.

We joined about 60 other people for the Banquet and were served by men and women dressed in medieval clothing and they provided entertainment and a history lesson whilst the Banquet was being served.They then sang a series of songs from the medieval period and some other Irish ballads us.

It was an enjoyable night’s entertainment. We then adjourned back to the Radisson for a few nightcaps before heading off of bed.