Advertisement
Published: November 30th -0001
Edit Blog Post
After a very quiet night in Moffat, a tiny city on the way to Stranraer, we decided to make the most of the day we had left, and drive through Dumfries and on to Stranraer...it was on the way to Dumfries, at around 11am that I realised, instead of staying the night in Stranraer, we could get a ferry over to Ireland that afternoon, and not only save a night's accommodation, but also catch up with mum, dad, KB and Ryan, plus all the relies, SOONER!! EXCELLENT!
Iz thought I had been scheming this up for days, but it had only just occurred to me...so we had a quick look around Dumfries, then rang the oldies to see if an earlier arrival would suit them...mum didn't have her phone on, dad's went straight to message bank, and my faithful sister, answered after the second ring. Everyone was really excited about us coming earlier, and it actually meant we would be able to quickly see Darren, my cousin, before he went on holidays with his family to Wales. I haven't seen any of my Irish cousins since I was 9, so it's been nearly 20 years!
We didn't waste too
much time, and got back in the car for the 1 and a 1/2 hour drive to Stranraer...it is a small place on the Scottish coastline, that houses the ferry station for the world's largest sea cat...it is HUGE!! The Stenna Line was due in at 2:50pm, so we just had time to park the car, and get on the next boat. It took us about 20 minutes to find the Hertz office...there wasn't one! You just left your car in the carpark (which seemed obvious to everyone but us, madly searching for the Hertz office - we had to get directions from three people!) The Ford Focus was great, and I think Iz totally thought he was a Rally Driver, zooming through the Scottish Hills!
At 2:20pm we boarded the massive ferry, and got some prime seats in front of the flatscreen, and took in 'A Night at the Musuem' - not a great movie. While sitting there minding my own business, I found someone tapping my glasses into my head...I thought, Hang On, Izzy's beside me....who the hell... and thankfully, before swearing or doing anything else of an embarrasing nature, I looked up to see a stuffed
monkey tapping my head. He went along to every unsuspecting passenger from behind, and did the same thing, which was quite funny, as some people really did get a fright!
We did a tour of the boat, and finally saw the green hills of Ireland...and the two large patches of rain hitting the coast. It was beautiful taking it all in from the back of the boat, over the massive jet engines that move this baby at 40 knots. We were quick to dismebark, and I got my camera ready for a Kodak moment as we entered the visitor area. We were confronted with five, huge smiles, three of which had funny hats sitting on their heads...another was thrown for Iz, and he donned his little golf cap too. It was great seeing everyone, and KB's engagement ring!!
It only took about 30 minutes to get to Darren's house (lucky we had his SatNav in the car, as we got seperated from mum and grandad who were leading the way), and it was great seeing him, his wife Alison and his two gorgeous kids!! Plus, he had a really cool Chinchilla named Gizmo...it looks kinda like a possum
- and they take 170 to make the famed coat. It was v cute!!
Darren looked very buff...and a tad older... but he thought I hadn't changed a bit. DRATS - last time he saw me I was 9 and had a horrid mullet!! Just kidding - everyone says KB and I look the same as we did 20 years ago, which is nice. We didn't stay long, and after a few more hugs, headed to 2 Henderson Avenue - our home for the next 6 days. Thank you Aunty Margaret and Uncle Dave - it is SUPER!!!! We can all hang out together here for the next 6 days.
After a yummy homecooked chicken soup, we also had a quick visit to Aunty Marg's house - gorgeous - and a few drinks. They looked fab after a relaxing holiday on the coast (they tan better than us Aussies!!) It was so nice to see everyone again and we can't wait to relax and enjoy the quiet Irish life these next few days. Bye for now peeps xxx
Advertisement
Tot: 0.159s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 17; qc: 76; dbt: 0.1002s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb