On the 11th of June 2015 my
family and I set out on a last minute journey to Ireland and Mauritius.
At first I was not excited one bit, it was almost
as if I lost my desire to travel … but as soon as I was roaming the streets of
another country there was nothing I wanted to do more, realizing that I have
been fortunate enough to go to 10 different countries in the space of 21 years.
It took 4 flights and 2 days to arrive in Ireland,
from Cape Town International to Johannesburg International Airport, from
Johannesburg International Airport to Abu Dhabi International, from Abu Dhabi
International Airport to Dublin International Airport.
The reason for this random family vacation
is because my cousin Simone Robertson (now Taffe) got married in Carlingford
Ireland,that makes the reason not very random anymore,Our Last family vacation being
Zanzibar 3 years ago.
If you know me well enough you’d know I do
not eat airplane food something about it just doesn’t agree with me so I
thought I would give it a go on this trip … and I just couldn’t stand it. I am not
picky but for some reason various types of food makes me feel really ill.
Our first evening in Ireland we got lost on
route to our accommodation … don’t even say GPS … GPS does not work in Ireland.
So following a piece of paper with directions of where to go had to work.
Except for us it did not.
We ended up having supper with my Aunt and
Uncle near the accommodation they were staying in Ardee at a pub called Brian
Muldoon & Sons, I had a delicious 8 oz. steak with a double vodka and lemonade,
I don’t usually drink but when in Ireland do as the Irish do…
Oh and at this point we still had no idea
where we would be staying, as we had not found it yet. My Uncle escorted us to
our accommodation, which we eventually found in Dhonamoyne … it was absolutely
beautiful … three words, cows, country and a cute little hillside cottage. I
think that is when I fell in love with Ireland …it was perfect.
Saturday 13th June, The Day has arrived,
Alan and Simone’s wedding day. Yay!!
The Ceremony was held at a church in Ardee
where Alan is originally from , after that we set off to our next location where
we would also be staying the night, The Four Seasons Hotel in Carlingford …
Food so much of it four course meal and then at 11 a buffet table with more food. The wedding was beautiful and really tied in the
aspects of the Irish Background with some traditional Irish Dancing and river
dancing.
I must say I thought the wedding would end
when the sun went down. I was drained so I went to be early being 1am in the
morning and yet the wedding continued to the crack of dawn the next day.
14th June 2015, at the four
seasons hotel the wedding quests attended a BBQ lunch which also carried on till early
evening hours, We explored the town of Carlingford with the cutest little shops
and bakeries as well as a Castle: D
We took a drive to surrounding areas being
Gillesquay which was a beach that had
jelly fish that looked like they came straight from Sponge Bob,from there we
went to Dundalk, which had a mall … a very bad mall where we grabbed some
Starbucks and went found a shop called Primark .. which is like having the
prices of Mr Price here but the quality of Edgars…
From Dundalk we went to Black Rock ,… why ?
My Uncle and my dad thought it would be
a great idea to have some ice cream …it was freezing (but we had ice cream !!) my
dad also tried some pesto and told the lady we would be back for more … which
never happened.
After all the exploring we had another Pub supper
with the wedding guests in Ardee where I discovered fat frogs… fat frog is an Irish
drink with contains smirnoff ice , KWD vodka and I cant seem to remember the third
cider but it was soooo good.
15th June 2015- MOMS BIRTHDAY
YAAAYYY!!
Breakfast in Ardee at Muldoons & Sons
pub for moms birthday ..We explored Cabra castle where My Dad and I had tea and
scones with our pinkies in the air . My dad dropped Nicole and I in
Carrickmacross which was the town we came upon by accident on the first day of
arriving in Ireland, we explored the town walked its streets and decided to
have a beer at a pub in the town …After all we needed to do that before we left
otherwise we wouldn’t have had the full Irish experience , we got serenaded by
two of the pub regulars with a harmonica and some Irish tunes and was ended off with Good luck South Africa….
The Evening we went out for supper for my
moms birthday at a restaurant called Dooley’s .. we got there at 8 and ended up
staying there till past 12 the evening only because the sun was still up and
the time thing throws you out completely it was lovely , Good Conversation was
held , many jokes made and this was also the last time we would be seeing
Simone and Alan for a while .
16 June 2015 .. We woke up and left early
the morning we would be flying back to Johburg the evening and wanted to do
some last minute exploring .My parents stayed at the airport and Nicole and I
hopped on a bus to Dublin city , the place most people would go to first when
they arrive in Ireland ,we literally went on our very last day … We explored
Temple Bar and had some mc dees only because it was the easiest and the most
suitable for our South African pockets.. We went on an Irish Whiskey Tour which
was actually amazing and made me want to read up on Irish Whiskey history … Dublin
city had many beautiful historical churches and buildings . We rushed around
and ended the day off with two cocktails at the hard rock café.. and we got one
for free …. Expensive but worth every cent literally …
The music sounded great in hard rock café
and knowing me I went to check out their speakers around the restaurant … Bose
and Yamaha everywhere…..
We took a bus back to the airport shoved
all the gifts in my bag as it was the biggest they weighed the bags and mine
weighed 29.8 kg the max weight being 30kg yay I made the weight limit by
200g….. ;//
We flew to Abu Dhabi then Johnurg , where
we stayed over at lakeview hotel and the next day we flew to the lovely island
of Mauritius …
18th June 2015 we landed at
Mauritius Airport on the North of the island .we got taken to our hotel on the
South of the island via our hotels shuttles services, the drive was 1hr and 15
minutes long not far considering you are travelling to the other side of the island.
We stayed at Le Mauritia hotel we took a
half board package which included breakfast and supper each night as well as
free snorkeling , a glass bottom boat ride and other various water activities .
Each night had a different cuisine in the style of a buffet the first night we
arrived it was Chinese cuisine which was amazing …after that we got some much
needed rest
19th June 2015
We had a briefing ,which we overslept for
….we took a 10 minute walk to town and had some seafood at a local restaurant
which was so beautifully plated ,We lazed on the beach trying to catch a tan
and then enjoyed a Mauritian style buffet supper which had lots of spices and a
whole bunch of coconut infused goodies .The evening entertainment was some
tradition Mauritian dances , which we got taught (cant watch face)
20th June 2015
4 days till we went home meaning it was 5
days till I got to see Keenen … We went on the seven coloured earth tour which
took us around the island through the nature reserve ,to a temple ,to a
volcanic crater , the the remains of a volcanic eruption which left the sand in
several different colours and is now preserved for tourists , We went to a
waterfall as well as a rum factory called la chamerelle where we tasted way to
many clean shots of rum and enjoyed a lovely three course meal … The bus drive
back was filled with life and laughter after the tour and we made a stop to
view Clam island as the land around the ocean is in the shape of a clam . We
had coconut cake with is basically dried coconut mixed with water, sugar and
some coffee it tasted like heaven on earth!!
The evening we had A South African cuisine
buffet that consisted of lots of barbequed and red meat items. we decide to go
to the hotels downstairs club, more amazing good quality speakers playing in
your eardrums , not a painful sound but clear volume .we danced a bit and then
sat outside chatting before heading to bed.
21st June 2015
We
went on a glass bottom boat the morning and then explored the Grand Bizaar I
got a henna tattoo and went tubing ,and the evening Nicole and I went for a Hot
Stone Massage and then We met up with another South African couple for an A la Carte
meal at the hotel . We watched the band play and had an easy night in.
22nd June 2015
We went tubing … AGAIN and rested the day .. We were at this point
sore from walking and wanting to do everything we possibly could with time we
had.
23rd June 2015
Nicole being he adventurous one out us
wanted to do this thing called sea kart …. Basically in essence it’s a little
boat very little boat with a jet ski engine in it and you go over waves and
stuff like that…basically like a miniature version of a speed boat … I went
with her and one of my biggest fears is water any water … I Almost drowned when
I was little and I think ever since I’ve been a bit scared … that and the fact
that you don’t know what creatures are
lurking beneath you ..that being said there was a stage we were deep in the
middle of the ocean where the ocean isn’t clear anymore because its so
deep its actually dark dark blue where we had to turn our little jet ski boats
off and I freaked out was okay being in the boat as long as it was moving but
as soon as it stopped I freaked out ….
So then we stopped in the middle of the
ocean in this little seakart … I was happy when we were allowed to move again
but on our way back Nicole took a sharp turn where I was facing the water and I
remember it so clearly it was not sea weed it was not a shark or fish it was a
thing three times the size of our little sea cart next to me …… I could’ve peed
my pants right there…. I was just thankful when we arrived back on the Island
safely and I was on land. I’m not sure what it was is but I thought it had to
be a whale the thing was huge!!
On our way back we stopped at Port Louis Waterfront,
the waterfront of Mauritius we had some prawns and cocktails before heading b back
to the hotel
Supper that night was an Indian buffet.
24th June 2015
Good Bye Mauritius ,you,your people,your
friendliness,kindness, and honesty will always be remembered. Although I was a
bit saddened by the fact it was time to leave already I was missing my own
space a bit … I got converse today yay and some souvenirs for my momsly and
then packed all the last things and then off to the airport we went…
I wont bore you with the flights back to
Cape Town , but what I took from this experience is that I love to travel and
the bug has hit me once again…this experience has opened my eyes to seeing that
I cant work just to live comfortably I need to make an earning good enough to
be able to travel … you can pay for so much things in this life …but there’s no
amount that can be put next to experiences.
And
I for one Plan to experience different
countries quite a bit
Some Pics... in NO ORDER
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