Sun, 29 Jun 2003

author Tim	location Ballymoney, Northern Ireland
posted 19:57 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Northern Ireland ( all photos )

Northern Ireland - Derry ( 15 photos )
(Continued from the Ireland 1 section)
Driving across the border was a strange affair. At first, we didn't even notice. No signs, no nothing. But all of a sudden, little things are different - the road markings switch back to UK-style, road distances are back to miles, petrol soars in price, and the roads are far far better. Also, the money is Northern Ireland pounds which are worth the same as UK pounds but have different notes. No Euros here. Confusing!
We drove in to Derry/Londonderry for a look around. This place was the centre of some of the worst "Troubles" which I won't attempt to provide history for here. Suffice to say, there was some concern that we were travelling there, even though nothing has been a problem since 1997. Parking on the outskirts, we wandered towards the centre for a look around.
A few more changes became apparent the more we looked - the big chain stores such as Sainsburys appear again, signs no longer had the gaelic equivalent displayed as prominently, and everywhere you looked, if a sign originally was printed with Londonderry, you could be sure that someone had scribbled out the London part in grafitti.
We tried un-successfully to connect the laptop at an internet cafe on The Diamond, which is the central square of the walled part of town. Derry is one of the only cities around which still has a complete wall, having never been penetrated. If only this had helped those who were slaughtered at the Bloody Sunday massacre in 1972, the memorial to which we took in soberly, hidden away in suburbia.
Considering wandering further around town, we instead decided that some lunch was in order to rest our weary bodies - Liz's back is particularly bad. We were directed to one of the only places to eat - a great little pub where we ate a huge three-course meal for a rather reasonable price, before setting off on a wander around town.
It was about here that I remembered that now we were back in the UK, I could use my dial-up access on the phone once again, so we didn't need to look any further for an Internet cafe.
Having had enough of a look at specific sites, we walked down a different way back to the van. Finding a Levi's shop, and noting that I desperately needed some new pants, I tried on a pair of jeans, liked them straight away and grabbed them. Trying not to convert the price back to Aussie dollars (thought I was over that!), we bought a soccer/foot ball on the cheap as well - good to kick around caravan parks for some exercise.
After a quick dash back across the border to stock up on some much cheaper fuel, we drove on to tonight's port of call, Drumaheglis Marina & Caravan Park, not far from the little town of Ballymoney. This is a pleasant place, on a lake, which we have had a walk around. Don't think we will need to cook dinner tonight after our lunch!

author Tim	location Ballymoney, Northern Ireland
posted 19:43 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/Ireland/Ireland 1 ( all photos )

Grianan of Aileach ( 5 photos )
Getting on the road rather late due to our sleep-in, we dragged our weary bodies towards the Grianan of Aileach, an impressive stone fort built on top of a hill near the Northern Irish border at Burt.
We wound our way up a very steep hill, holding up traffic as we pushed Rosie up in first gear, greatful that the clutch is now working just fine.
The place itself was rather similar to Staigue Fort we saw the other day on the Ring of Kerry. Walls four metres thick, twenty three metres in diameter, it was built around two thousand years ago and is currently undergoing re-construction. Despite the warnings that you were only allowed to look at it, people were all inside it and all up the walls, so we followed suit accordingly, taking in great views all around.
From there, we drove on into Northern Ireland, which, since it is a separate country, is in a separate section!

author Tim	location Downings, Donegal, Ireland
posted 09:18 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/Ireland/Ireland 1 ( all photos )

Rest after the Climb ( 5 photos )
This morning, since it is Sunday, we are enjoying a well-deserved sleep in, not wanting to get up and go just yet as our aching muscles and joints attempt to get back into working order.

I keep forgetting to mention that Ireland is currently hosting the Special Olympics. This is like the olympics, only for people who are special, such as those with Down Syndrome. This is the first time it has been held outside of America.
The hospitality they are being extended is very warm, every town has a sign up saying who they are hosting, and the other day we think Rosie was in a road-cycling event, as we drove past several cyclists pushing onwards towards a little town. It was great fun.

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