Yes, we felt very welcome to Ireland as we drove off the ferry in Dublin and entered our 52nd country on Follow the Sun.  We were also excited to explore the Emerald Isle because both of us have Irish blood but especially Julie as both of her parents were of sturdy Irish stock.  The sun was trying, the smiles were welcoming and the Guinness was waiting for us. 

How did we get to this joyous point?  After arriving in the UK about ten days ago we spent the first few days at our friends Gavin and Emma’s house in Essex doing maintenance and cleaning and sorting projects on Tramp after his three year Covid hibernation.  We then drove up to Holyhead in northern Wales, taking in some stunning scenery along the way as we followed mostly secondary roads. 

From Holyhead we took the ferry across the Irish Sea to Dublin, back into the EU, back to euros and if we thought the Welsh language with its thick accent and disdain for vowels was hard to understand, just wait for Gaelic and the Irish accent. 

After a smooth Customs and Immigration process at both ends we drove into downtown Dublin along the Liffey River and immediately fell in love with the city when we scored a rare Tramp-sized parking spot on the river right near the popular Temple Bar area. 

 Julie and I have been to Ireland before, separately before we knew each other and for a brief visit together many years ago.  Ireland plays a large part in Australia’s culture and history due to the Irish immigrants who came out in the last two centuries looking for a better life.  Anyone of our vintage would remember how the ‘troubles’, as they were called, regularly featured on the evening news and the ongoing issues this island faced.  Ireland is still living its history every day.

Dublin, with a population of 1.2 million, is the king of the Irish castle and pulses with history and the rich culture that Ireland is famous for.  We enjoyed a cracker afternoon exploring its many sites, including the Christ Church Cathedral, the Dublin Castle (home of British rule for 700 years) and the beautiful buildings and grounds of Trinity College. 

We loved strolling through the lush St. Stephens Green and window-shopping along busy Grafton Street before ducking down into the busy little streets of the Temple Bar area for a Guinness in a (slightly touristy) traditional Irish bar with live music and heaps of atmosphere.  Dublin had a great  vibe to it, busy, buzzy, full of energy and good cheer.  It was cold and windy and dizzily all afternoon, perfect weather for our first day in Ireland.

After camping that night up the coast north of Dublin we headed further north towards Belfast, capital of Northern Ireland.  And here’s the crazy part – as we are heading up the motorway we are met with a sign that says “Welcome to Northern Ireland”.  And suddenly, like magic almost, we have left Ireland and returned to the United Kingdom, we left the EU and the euro and the signs in kilometres while returning to Brexit-world, the English pound and distances in miles.  Just like that, no further fanfare than the sign.  Trucks full of goods, people moving in both directions, everything perfectly normal. 

We drove the Mourne scenic coastal road, handsome Mourne Mountain lurking above us the whole way, the Irish Sea to our right.  At one stage we did a scenic loop road up onto the slopes of the mountain, admiring the yellow gorse that grows everywhere the farmer hasn’t ploughed, marveling at the substantial stone fences between each of the farmers’ paddocks, the product of many generations working hard to keep their land clear. 

We finished the day at the 18^th century Castle Ward Estate and nearby the 16^th century Old Castle Ward, the latter of which was featured as Winterfell in Game of Thrones.  We are big GoT fans so got a kick out of wandering these grounds as we wouldn’t have done the guided tours.

Having camped within the ancient walled grounds of Castle Ward we caught the ferry the next morning across to the Ards Peninsula and drove up the coast through a series of lovely little seaside communities.  As we got closer to Belfast there were more and more holiday resort towns with caravan parks and holiday homes.  We could see why the good people of Belfast would enjoy escaping to this area.

Ah, Belfast.  We didn’t know too much about this hard working industrial city which has seen more than its share of bad news over the years.  What we found was a city proud of it’s identify, perhaps still a work in progress recovering from the troubles in the 1970’s and 80’s but also leveraging its glory days as a huge shipbuilding centre more than 100 years ago. 

And it doesn’t get any bigger in ship building than the Titanic, which was built in Belfast and embarked on its only voyage from here.  Amongst our wanderings for the day we walked to the Titanic Belfast centre out on the wharf where the ship was build and launched in 1911.  A huge multi-media super-duper sparkling complex has been built to both celebrate the Titanic, explain how it was built and tell the story of what happened to it. 

Belfast has certainly found something special and unique to leverage and they’ve done a great job of building the story of the Titanic into the story of Belfast during those boom days. We rounded up an exhausting day of walking and exploring by enjoying a wee Guinness at the historic Duke of York pub before driving up the coast and camping at another farmstay. 

But lurking nearby is one of the highlights of any visit to this island – the Antrim Coast.  Along the way we stopped at Carrickfergus to explore their 12^th century castle, built strategically on a rocky outcrop.  This massive structure with walls up to four metres thick was an impenetrable fortress in the days of arrows and swords.  It’s been well used and looked after over the last thousand years and we enjoyed wandering through its towers and rooms.

The Antrim coast covers the northernmost coast of Ireland and features picturesque fishing and holiday villages, dramatic black and white basalt cliffs, a crashing surf and a winding road to show it all off. 

The lush green paddocks dotted with fat woolly sheep often reached right to the cliff’s edge before dropping up to 100 metres into the ocean.  The road would sometimes wind down to a small community or ancient harbour, other times ride the cliff line with dramatic scenic views.  With howling wind, driving rain and dark grey skies it couldn’t have been better.

The highlight of the Antrim Coast is undoubtedly the Giants Causeway, a section of the cliff line that due to unique geologic pressures a millennia ago has formed a huge area of hexagonal-shaped columns that reach into the sea. 

We walked down to this fascinating example of earth’s forces and climbed among them, loving the whole stormy scene.  We then walked the long way back to Tramp along the coast and up a steep staircase, providing fabulous views of this dramatic coastline.  Another farmstay camping spot behind the barn with the chooks right next to us was a perfect ending to the day. 

So far Ireland had blown us away, the people, the scenery, the history, we love it all.  And we knew there was much more to come.