Rosslare, Ireland. August 2005
This is the travelog of Michelle and David and all three children.
Saturday 13 August 2005 |
|
Michelle |
A kind relative dropped us at Luton Airport for a 10 a.m. flight to Waterford Airport in Ireland. We flew Aer Aaran. Well, the sight of a 75 seat plane with propellers was enough to put me off, and I like flying; let alone David who is a bit apprehensive. The children were looking forward to the flight, especially Ethan, as he does not remember flying before. The flight was only an hour and twenty minutes. Waterford Airport is tiny. You walk off the plane and into a room about 30 square feet to collect your luggage from one manual conveyor belt through another door, and then the reception where you can hire cars. There were no cars available so we got a taxi and attempted to find a car hire office in Waterford town. No cars available, so we asked the driver to drop us at Waterford railway station. The next train to our destination in Rosslare was not for another five hours! Whilst we waited, we had lunch at Brunches in Waterford Shopping Centre. We were all suffering from fatigue as David and I had just two hours sleep the night before. We then visited a Tower in the centre of Waterford and then decided to find a "nice hotel" with a lounge for a rest. We found the Tower Hotel, ordered tea and water. David sneakily slept on one of their comfy lounge couches whilst a wedding reception went on around us. 4½ hrs later, we caught the very slow train to Rosslare Strand and a further 1½ hours later we were at Rosslare station. The caretaker sent a taxi to meet us at Rosslare Strand train station. Natasha & Elise were impressed with his 9 seat vehicle and think that we should get one. It was a very short 3 min ride. We rented a house which has a modest well-equipped kitchen diner with a fridge-freezer, dishwasher and washer dryer. A living area had two sofas, a television and coffee table. There is also a twin bedroom shared by Elise and Ethan. Upstairs is a single bedroom occupied by Natasha, bathroom, a double bedroom shared by me and my husband with en-suite shower-room and toilet and walk-in wardrobe. The garden was very modest and simply grass with wooden table and bench. The whole complex of holiday rental houses is clean, well maintained and quiet. We went straight to Londis - for some food - a 5 minute walk. |
Natasha |
Dad didn't like the plane much. I think the propellers scared him. I did have to hold his hand when we went on the London Eye. I won't embarrass him any further now, so back to the story. Dad wasn't happy about getting on a plane, so the last few years, we've been going on the ferry to Normandy, France on holiday for the past few years. Last year, I was living on chocolate Nesquik™ cereal. I think I had a slice of pepperoni at one point, but I didn't enjoy it very much. I severely disliked France. Yesterday, when we arrived in Ireland, it wasn't exactly fun. we had to wait for ages in the airport and on the flight everyone sounded like a robot. we caught a taxi to a car hire place, but they were all closed! So we went to the train station at around 1:30pm and the next train to Wexford was at 5:30pm! That gave us time to look around the shops and have some lunch. When the train did arrive, it took an hour and a half to get to Wexford. I really liked the house we were staying in. Two storey. It had two bedrooms on the first floor: one master, one smaller, and one double bedroom on the ground floor. I took the small bedroom on the first floor. I wanted it anyway. Elise wanted it too, but she ended up in the double room, with a set of twin beds on the ground floor. Mum and Dad got the master bedroom. It even came with its own 'en suite' bathroom. Lucky things. The rest of the ground floor was open plan. The kitchen doubled-up as a dining room, walk four paces forward and you were in the living room, six or seven paces right, and you reached the hallway. Small, but cosy. Good place to call home. |
Sunday 14 August 2005 |
|
Michelle |
Today was another lovely day, about 20°C. We walked to Rosslare Beach - 15mins. You have to walk across a golf course to get to the it. This was our first trip to Ireland and an Irish beach and it as golden as we had been told. We did not pack swim wear. The children were disappointed; however we managed by rolling up trousers etc. They really enjoyed the rock pool without bucket and spade. Ethan really enjoyed the beach. He has so much energy and stamina; he just keeps running and running. He had to strip down to his underpants - which I would have taken off as well, but David wanted to protect his dignity - in order not to soak his clothes. There were also quite a lot of large, but dead, jellyfish on the beach. We had Sunday lunch at Brady's pub, just across the road from the beach. I would definitely recommend this place. The children ordered chicken nuggets and chips from the obligatory menu offered to them. I ordered Szechwan chicken and sautéed vegetables. I think I would have preferred the salmon. David ordered the chicken and ham, with turnips, shredded cabbage, carrots, chips and mash potato. This was our first experience of a smoke free pub -as Ireland is smokefree by law. It was very pleasant not having smoke in your face and food and on your clothes. They are very accommodating to children. |
Natasha |
Today was a lot more fun! We didn't go to any amusement parks though! I had breakfast and then I read a bit. I went to the park and then we went shopping, to the park, then reading, to the park again, and so on. Only I turned The Simpsons on at 7:30 and I have just finished, for the fourth time, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince! An amazing achievement since it only came out in July! Before we went to the restaurant, we went to the beach and I got sand in my trousers and feet. Mum found a dead crab on the beach and I said "Mum, can I have this crab as a souvenir?" or at least I said something like that and Mum refused because it had something to do with rot and bad smells. I also found a squished crab, but obviously, I didn't want that and we were all hungry for lunch so we went to the restaurant and had something to eat and then we went shopping for dinner. |
Monday 15 August 2005 |
|
Michelle |
We used Tony's Taxi again. A very local friendly taxi man. He seemed to know everything about Ireland, as well as Rosslare. He took us to Wexford town centre were we tried to get a hire car. After much unnecessary aggrivation in Hertz Car Rental in Wexford they finally found a car for us that turned out to be brand new! We had a quick meander around the town, which is cosmopolitan and really has everything you need in the way of shopping. It was refreshing to see mostly independent shops of all sorts. Tescos is Wexford was not a pleasant shopping experience; dirty, not well stocked. Food in Ireland is not cheap. |
Natasha |
Hiring car was exceedingly boriing! Tony was nice though. His taxi is a 9 seater! Wexford sure has a lot of pebbles. Note to self - Never go shopping in Irish Tesco (no offence to the Irish), and get a 9-seater car when older. |
Tuesday 16 August 2005 UP TO HERE |
|
David |
Tennis - Natasha had a sulk |
Natasha |
I so did NOT have a sulk. I was just annoyed that I could never serve right. Of course Rosslare beach is sandy! The vast majority of beaches in the world are. At least I think they are anyway. Good weather for sunbathing and swimming. Spar was pretty boring. A shop. For shopping in. Mainly for food. Not exactly my favourite pastime. At least I didn't bring any homework with me. |
Wednesday 17 August 2005 |
|
David |
We visited Kilmore Quay. Very uninspiring.It is basically a fishing port with a few fishmongers,fish factories and wholesalers. There were a few restaurants, none of which I can remember as it is now some months later, and a few gift shops. Really, there is nothing much to write home about. |
Natasha |
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz... |
Thursday 18 August 2005 |
|
David |
The day started of drizzly. By the time we arrived at Currlacoe beach it was raining heavily. Again a lovely golden beach. There is a very small amusement arcade there, a snack shop and outside the obligatory burger van. |
Natasha |
Went to the beach today. Walking along and I nearly trod on a JELLYFISH! Eek! Anyways... Avoid the jellyfish and went swimming -> Did a bit of sunbathing too -> Then, it started raining! The perfect way to ruin your day! Ethan was fiddling around with his kite, trying to make it fly with dad. We all ran to the tent, while everyone else drove home. Then we all realised, ETHAN'S KITE WAS STILL OUT THERE! We were arguing over who would go to get the kite. The reason being we couldn't reel it in. It kept getting stuck in the sand. So I was the brave one and ran out into the freezing cold in a BIKINI! Now you can't say that's not brave can you? I retrieved the kite and a few minutes later it stopped raining. YIPEE! The jellyfish had all gone too. It was also a bit warmer. I took my chance and got a good bit of sunbathing in. Now I'm going to have a tan until July 3016! LOL (Laugh-Out-Loud)! So as we were the only ones on the beach, we got a lot of personal space! *Note to self* Never go out when its raining - especially in a bikini. |
Saturday 20 August 2005 |
|
David |
JFK Arbortarium. This is a large estate or more of a homestead where John F Kennedy's great great grandfather apparently hailed from. There is a children's play area. horse and trap rides and acres of woodland to explore. The children had a great time. |
Natasha |
What's an Arbotarium? *Note to self* - Look up Arbotarium in dictionary |
Sunday 21 August 2005 |
|
David |
Pirates Cove, Courtown Bay. There was a funfair here and indoor amusement activities such as crazy golf, mirrors bowling and snack bar. |
Natasha |
We went to a pirates cove? I don't remember that! (It's January 2007 at the moment!) |
Monday 22 August 2005 |
|
David |
Return hire car |
Natasha |
Picking a car was boring. Taking it back is probably going to be even more tedious. Pack the sleeping bag. Get ready to be bor-zzzzzzz... zzzzzzz... *Note to self* - Get a dictaphone. |
Tuesday 23 August 2005 |
|
David |
Beach / pool |
Natasha |
Hmm... We seem to be going to the beach an awful lot recently. Odd weather for Ireland. Usually all wind and rain. |
Wednesday 24 August 2005 |
|
David |
Golf / beach |
Natasha |
Mmmmm.... grass. Makes a change from sand. Crazy golf rules! I have developed an odd habit. I eat sand now. Tastes a bit like ummm.... I don't actually know what it tastes like, but it isn't too bad. You should try it some day. Don't worry, I'm not usually like this. |
Thursday 25 August 2005 |
|
David |
Golf / beach |
Natasha |
We sure have been to the beach a lot! Super tan coming along. If I'm not careful, I might burn, even though that's not very likely. Mum actually burned once. In Cyprus in June. Extraordinary I know, but it happened. Mum told me about it herself. Apparently it wasn't very nice. Dad gets burned quite a lot of the time. Not looking forward to the plane flight very much. Another two hours of having to hold dad's hand. |
