So, dinner last night was rather yummy. I had a Zebu dish cooked with cassava leaves and of course some rice. Gee was with us to make sure we didn’t get up to any mischief and he’d brought Isan with him as a side kick. Isan is one of the drivers, and has been ferrying me, Jessica and Jason around. He’s a lovely young man, and a very patient and competent driver. My goodness he’s been working hard this week. I did feel a bit sorry for him though; his English isn’t good at all so I’ve had to do my best with my very bad French inthe car, and he ended up out with a group of people he doesn't know and couldn’t chat with! We did of course pay for his and Gee’s meal. ... read more

As I sit in Bole Airport after the first leg of our journey everything seems to be going OK. The 13 of us are all here, and so far no disasters. FYI, we have 2 Jesses and 2 Ians. The Ians are simple Ian W ans Ian L. The two Jesses however, both have the same initial, so Jess who is a Dive Master will be known as Jess, and Jess who isn't a DM will be known as Jessica. The flight was uneventful, and for me in Cloud 9, the Ethiopian Air business class, very comfortable, with good food, fizzy champagne and a nice big screen to look at. I hear it was less comfortable in the back, and that breakfast was served at about 3am. There are a few weary faces in the group! ... read more

Our penultimate full day, and the sun was shining ? We found a café for breakfast, then headed to the castle. The self-guided tour was interesting and well structured. It took around an hour, and there was plenty of information on the history of the castle and the Earls of Ormonde, the 25th Earl who died in 1997 being the last. Upon his death, the Marquessate of Ormonde became extinct and the Earldoms of Ormonde and Ossory and the Viscountcy of Thurles became dormant. The castle is now owned by the people of Ireland since the last Marquess of Ormond sold it to the State for a token sum of £50. Afterwards we had an ice cream, and explored the 50 acres of parkland adjacent to the castle. It’s beautiful, with lots of wild flowers and ... read more

Susan’s birthday! Of course, that means she gets to choose what we do today. We headed to Birr about 15 minutes north, and visited Birr Castle Demesne. This is a castle, still lived in by the Parson family who have lived there for over 400 years. The current incumbent is the Seventh Earl of Rosse (Brendan Parsons), Lady Rosse (Alison Cook-Hurle) and their family. The castle is situated in around 120 acres of beautiful gardens and parkland. We wandered along stone-lined paths, following the start of the Solar Trail, where information boards spaced to the scale of the solar system give interesting facts on the sun and planets; each step was the equivalent of 1.6million km in space. Once we got to Mars we turned onto the trail taking us towards the castle, finding our way ... read more

Another day of sunshine! We had planned to drive around the Ring of Kerry today, before heading to our next stop about 2 hours drive away. I’m delighted to say though, that following a recommendation from Man with Donkey yesterday as well as one or two other people in Dingle, we changed our plan and did the Slea Head Drive instead. Slea Head is a promontory in the westernmost part of the Dingle Peninsula. National Geographic magazine once said it was the most beautiful place in the world; I’m not qualified to agree or disagree on that because I haven’t been everywhere else, but it is absolutely stunning! We had a yummy breakfast in Dingle Town, then headed off. As we left the town we spotted a Buddhist Monk who had been on the road near ... read more