Five day working weeks are tough. Very tough. We considered lobbying the government to reduce the working week but decided alot less effort was required in taking a day off and heading for the hills. So with a three day weekend we picked one of the furthest points from the capital. West Cork is my favourite place in Ireland, amazingly it still holds its magic for me despite being dragged around it for "Sunday Spins" as a child. This past couple of weeks it holds even more magical potential for some. Two weeks ago in a very Oirish turn of events, a little bay close to Bantry became the scene of the largest drugs bust ever in the Irish state. A couple of boyos took to sea in a rubber dinghy, like one you would ... read more

Easter weekend and four blissful work free days! Blogging is addictive and we were finding the withdrawal difficult to take, so here we are back again. While travelling in Asia and particularly in the Philippines we found the Filipinos were very good at blogging and promoting their own country. I think we can try a little of that. As we are skint it's not likely we'll be getting much further than Ireland for the rest of the year. So we have decided to explore a county at a time. First stop Wicklow, Dublin's south easterly neighbour. We took off on a beautiful sunny morning and had a great day exploring it's nooks and crannies. This is fabulous walking country and very popular due to being so close to the capital. We stopped off at a ... read more

Ok so we said the last entry was our last but we couldn't resist one final one. Especially as we are now trying to open our eyes a little more to our own country and see it with a new light. It's great to be home, catching up with everyone has kept us busy along with our job searchs. Our rambling life has not come to an end yet as we are homeless and so wandering from home to home until each tires of us and sends us packing. Thanks everyone, we hope we're not too much of a burden on any of you. We have been lapping up all the homecooked food and won't be long before Ed gets back to his former weight. It is such a joy to drink water from the tap ... read more

We haven't updated the blog (thanks for the prompting JFK) for a while (since Murwillumbah) but have travelled quite extensively since then. After much chopping and changing of our plans we decided our first stop was Brisbane. We intended to go to the Water Park "wet and Wild" but decided it was too much hassle. Our accommodation was fantastic (and has been since escaping Sydney), located in New Farm, a suburb of Brisbane. Amy questioned me that the room pirce was correct and not per person, incredulous that we could have a tv, ensuite bathroom and fridge for less than a Melbourne dorm bed. Unfortunately we had only time to spend one day there. Our plans were altered again as we decided to opt out of plan B which was visiting the Castlemaine XXXX brewery and ... read more

We arrived in Melbourne after a weary flight from Singapore with Austrian Airways. Before we alighted from the plane, we were treated to a de-lousing spray. It was off-putting and not a particularly welcoming experience. Being honest, we declared at customs that we brought nuts (ding-dong) from the Philippines who kindly ushered us through with no hassle, maybe getting a whiff off our rucksacks and not wishing to open them up. Memories came flooding back for me, having spent 5 months in Melbourne a few years ago. It was funny to hear Australian accents again. We checked into our hostel in St Kilda (The Ritz for Backpackers above The Elephant and Castle). It was a good location but very noisy. Our room boomed and shook from the live music below as we struggled to get some ... read more