Kit and Gwen's Ireland

My brother Lou and partner Lynn joined us at John and Jenny's for a night and were delighted with the cooked English breakfast John and Jenny prepared as a team effort. We ate so much we didn't eat again till tea time. The following day Des and I caught the train back from Rye to pick up the car which as, mentioned was 4 days late getting released from the docks at Tilbury. No matter now.

Camping, Kennford

Lunch at Jeanie and Keith's place (Lynn's South African friend) was another delicious affair which we enjoyed outside, the weather being so unbelievably sunny. It was soon time to move on though, otherwise we felt we wouldn't get out of England with all the hospitality we were experiencing. We had a chuckle at the signs telling us to watch out for badgers.

Eden Project

The four of us spent a glorious day in a most unique little town called Exeter in Devon. After Des drove our campervan down the main pedestrian mall (the equivalent of Rundle Mall) we decided we should park the car and walk from then on. We did got a lot of strange looks being the only car in the mall, we're hoping the AUS sticker explained all. We had a great pub meal for lunch before going on a very informative guided walk along the old Roman ruins of the wall around the city. We found many of the young folk in Exeter were very into body piercing, particularly the facial area.

After we left Exeter we drove as near as we could to The Eden Project near St Austell, and free parked for the night, in readiness for the gates to open to the Project as we'd heard it is popular and busy during the summer. We were indeed the first in and enjoyed a day walking through The Core (the educational part of the Project, for the school children), followed by a long walk through the Temperate Biome of plants and the Tropical Biome of plants. All three areas were well worth the deviation from our intended itinerary, and that's what's making this trip so interesting. Eden Project can be found on the web.

Eden, good shots

We are now happily ensconced in Kilmeague and being treated very well by Auntie Kitty, Kit and the extended family, all rellies of Des's. Yesterday we drove up the country to meet Gavin's family in Cavan and were pleasantly surprised by the beauty of the route we took. Gavin's clan was so welcoming we felt we'd known them all our lives and encouraged them to come for a look-see down under. Kath had a huge meal put up for us which was just as well as we were starving after the 3 hour drive on a light breakfast.

More about Dublin and the family tomorrow as I must socialize now. Des has managed to tie a few over on some of the nights with friends and family, but oh well, we're on holidays after all.

Mr Ed chatting with Lynn

Show us you muscles Cathy