We didn't expect to become more Australian on this trip, but after 8 weeks in the Wicklow Mountains - an hour or so south of Dublin in the Republic of Ireland, I reckon we have defiantly done that! If not more Aussie, we have become better people inspired by overwhelming support and generosity given by our hosts on our 9th Workaway.
Balu, DC and Erris.
We'd been contacted by the hosts back in January to help out with another lambing which would be on the back of our stint in Scotland. We were a little apprehensive that we could be 'lambed' out, but thought bugger it, we'll have a go! It turned out to be an amazing couple of months where we managed to get involved in a little Irish community, playing sport and interacting with so many local people that we really started to feel at home. For those who don't know (us originally), politically Ireland is split into a North and South. 5/6th of the country belongs to The Republic of Ireland (known as Ireland) in the south, and the rest Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom. Ireland is part of the European Union, but not the Schengen.... Our trek from Scotland across the ditch it wasn't all smooth sailing. The plan was to catch a flight from Edinburgh to Dublin after dropping off our Wicked Camper from our trip through the Scottish Highlands. The night before our departure we camped at our Scottish workawayer's house and planned to take an easy drive into Edinburgh that morning of the flight. However that night and into the morning there was a dump of snow, which to our surprise created some fully out of control driving, and complete traffic chaos for the first three hours of our day!! Trucks had slid off the road, people had lost traction mid-hill as they tried to drive to work. There was the odd snow plough running around clearing roads but really it was some of the most chaotic scenes we'd seen for a while. Eventually after a fair bit of stress we got into Edinburgh dropped off the camper, caught a bus to the airport with time to spare for lunch before the flight. The flight was our first with Ryanair (notorious european airline), which all went swimmingly! We arrived at passport control to get into Ireland, and when the immaigration officer asked our purpose for visiting we had decided to tell him we were spending a couple of months here via the workaway system. To our supprise he knew about the program and started asking plenty of questions about our stay of which most we didn't know. It turned out we needed a work permit, which both us and the host didn't know we needed. After a phone call from the immigration officer to Eric (host) we were eventually stamped and let into the country. The officer had every right to deport us but thankfully he saw both parties had no idea about it and let us through. After this mishap the officer went on to explain that Wolfing has been registered as a valid volunteering program in which a work permit isn't require and that for future reference enter the country via Wolfing not workaway... The lambing work was somewhat similar to Scotland, just a little less intensive which suited us (no overnight shifts). Single Ewe's would lamb in the paddock, then we'd bring them inside to a single pen, navel (iodine) and tail each lamb and keep an eye on it for a couple of days before moving them into a bigger pen of up to 12 ewes and lambs. After a week or so the larger healthier ewe/lamb combination would be branded and let back out into the field. On our arrival, there had been a dozen or so lambs on the deck already so we hit the ground running and were all over it after a couple of days. Twin lambing Ewe's were kept in the shed at all times and kept seperate to the singles throughout the whole period.
A big freshie.
A successful foster ewe!
Like Scotland there were a couple of Zwartbel ewe and one had triplets. However she didn't take to two of her lambs and with in the first day had stomped one of them enough she managed to break its leg. Amy had a good crack at plaster and splint to get the little fell back on his feet.
Amy with HAM and BAM after we'd decided to pull them off their Ewe when it was clear she didn't want a bar of them.
Long story short, BAM's leg didn't heal but fell off. Now his called tripod (pictured with Jobe looking surprised after finding him literally legless one morning)
DC - what a dog!
An afternoon watching a couple of jumps races at Punchtown.
Motorbike squad - plenty of bikes to go round!
When we weren't helping with the lambing there were plenty of extracurricular activities to do from looking after the kids, to riding around the property on motorbikes or horses, fencing and other odd jobs. One of our favourites was hanging out with Mike, who schooled us through Australian literature to the sound of Banjo Paterson, Thomas Alexander Browne and other general literature related events. Morning coffees, trips to the Donard cafe on Tuesdays and general banter on a daily occurrence was fantastic. He was a wealth of knowledge the world over and had plenty of stories to tell.
One of our favourite places to visit and work was at the family's wood block. It was an original estately garden with a 600yo yew tree (reported as one of Irelands oldest trees), and plenty of old hardwood trees throughout the block. It was an absolute pleasure to wander around such an enchanting place which the family has opened to the public.
Atop of a 3000BC passage grave we climbed with the team one Saturday afternoon. It had snowed the previous weekend and there was still plenty lying around in the higher parts of the country.
We managed to swindle a couple of nights in Dublin which included helping a friend of the family construct a couple of ikea beds and install a couple of window blinds in exchange for accommodation right in the heart of Dublin! This gave us a good chance to get some Irish city culture and see what the capital was all about. We did a walking tour which was fantastic and give us some background, mainly to the history of Ireland's turbulent involvement with the British and religion. We also got to a Gaelic footy final which was fascinating to watch compared to AFL. Some similarities between the two codes but still very different to watch.
The final at Croke Park between Dublin and Kerry. Kerry managed to get up over Dublin who'd won the last 5 finals.
It took a couple of weeks before I got to wrap my chops around a Guinness but it was well worth the wait! It was splendid, a fuller, creamier and exeptionally delicious compared to its canned or tap variation we get back home. An absolute pleasure to consume!
Trinity college - commissioned by the British government at the same time as Oxford and Cambridge in the UK. It resembles similar characteristics throughout to those famous British Universities. One of the highlights is its library which features the famous Book of Kells - a 1200yo manuscript gospel book with some exceptional detail. The book has seen quite a bit of history through the hands of vikings and other randoms, so to see something so significant and old on display was worth the look.
School squad - every day we could we tried to take the chaps to school on the treadys. So many laughs while rolling down the hill, not so many laughs coming back up!
Pine and Ame.
Amy got out a bit on the horses with Aoife and thoroughly enjoyed it! Marina was kind enough to lend Amy her hat cover. Pine was a beauty and had plenty of go for a 30yo horse! He was such a gent, and Aoife was a legendary teacher.
Marina and Bertie!
Sport is massive in Ireland, especially for kids! Boys and girls participate in Gaelic, Hurling, soccer, rugby etc. It has a massive sporting culture and seems most kids would play sport on week nights or on the weekends. They are always knocking around in their county hurling uniform or national rugby team colours.
We spent a Saturday morning watching Nicky at one of his footy blitzes - a round robin competition against a lot of other localities.
Thursday night action! Donard had a couple of Gaelic teams and were short from time to time so I managed to get roped into playing a couple of games in the 2nds. A lot different to AFL because there isn't any tackling, there is more opportunity to take the game on. Less emphasis put on ball skill and first options and more on running and taking the man on.
In Toomeys Pub Donard, there is the local div.2 Galic footy team photo which I managed to sneak into, taken by Amy of course. Great group of lads.
One weekend we went to a local shearing competition to see some of Irelands best shearers go at it in a neighbouring area. This old bloke No.2 started at the neck, then half way through he switched the handpiece from his right hand, over to his left hand and finished the sheep off left handed. Plenty of blade shearing and young blokes having a crack.
Smithwick's Experience Kilkenny with the family! Aoife's maiden name was infact Smithwick, her grandfather sold the brewery to multinational company Diageo in the 60's but the beer is still brewed in Dublin and the family is still celebrated as the founders of the brewery in Kilkenny.
After we had finished the lambing we were fortunate to get an opportunity to take Mike's Landy for a week or so and do a little road trip around Ireland and over to Connemara to stay in their holiday house. We took the opportunity to head toward the south of the country first to see some of the sights, travel around the Ring of Kerry before heading over to the Cliffs of Mohr and Connemara area. Thankfully we were lucky with some of the best weather we'd had for our time in Ireland which made for a pretty enjoyable week on the road.
Rock of Cashel old seat of an Irish king. The round tower on the site dates back to 1100AD and is completely original.
Amy smooching the Blarney Stone at Blarney castle. A pretty expensive venture but well worth the look around the estate gardens, house and castle - all of which is still privately owned.
Stunning scenes along the Wild Atlantic Way - the western coastal road is world renowned and was well and truly worth the hype. I'd rate it a lot higher then our Great Ocean Road.
The views along the coast of Ireland were stunning - plenty of fresh spring lambs, green fields and sandy beaches.
Cliffs of Mohr - Irelands biggest tourist attraction!
Hard to see but theres a couple of blokes and sheilas out riding these waves off the Doolin pier. Stunning night we just sat at the pier and watch the sun go down.
Views for days!
Freezing, couldn't go any deeper then the ankles. The sun was out, it was about 20degC but the water was something else...
At the top of Cashel Hill Connemara - there wasn't really a track up here you just headed for the highest point of the hill and keep trekking til you got there.
Peat, also called turf. dug out of a bog and dried out before being sold as a heat source. It's decomposed organic matter and was used a lot more than I expected throughout Ireland but more often in the rural areas.
After just arriving in Connemara I had a little message from a mate from home saying he was in the the area. It turned out we could manage to catch up for a couple of nights and do a day out on Inis Mor, one of the Islands off the west of Ireland referred to the Aran Islands. Notable for their pre-christian limestone forts dating back to 1100BC, the island comes across as pretty remote since it is basically all rock. For 10euro's we hired bikes and spent the day plodding around the place taking in the sights. The weather was an absolute treat!
Jim and I up at Fort Dun Aonghasa on the Aran Islands. One of the best days of weather we've had since heading into the depths of the European winter. Unfortunately the views were a little off kilter due to a lot of smoke haze in the area from some gorse bush burning off which turned into some out of control Irish bushfires. Worst fires in a decade apparently.
Sharing a Guinness with Jim after a pretty enjoyable day on the bike taking in all the island had to offer.
Jim and his mate! Check out the fringe cut.
The Grangecon Soap Box Derby.
One weekend we had the opportunity to compete at a local soap box derby. Eck had a couple of carts from his previous attempts at the derby and offered us to go two up on his bath tub. We modified the steering to make room for two people and sent ourselves down the main street of Grangecon against 24 other competitors on a wet Sunday afternoon. We made it to the first run of finals before just being beaten by the two fellas who went on to the win the day.
A lot of effort went into all the carts suggesting it was a fair dinkum event.
Toward the end of our stay we had contact from another mate from home and his family who were traveling Europe for a few months on their bikes. The Boltons were kind enough to invite them up to Kilcoach for a night and a feed so we could catch up.
Some contrast with Mike and his Honda 50 circa 1960's, Sarge and his KTM1290.
Our final night was as perfect as it could have been. A game of tag rugby and a couple of ciders in the sun with the Eck, Aoife and kids.
From snow fights to sun burn, great times to hangovers, we had it all in Ireland. It was our most rewarding workaway where we truly got an opportunity to immerse ourselves into a community and were welcomed with open arms. The Irish culture is the most similar to Australia or we felt like we share a similar values and seem to understand each other better. When it finally came to leave, it was bloody hard. We've definately established friendships for life with an amazing family whom we'll never be able to thank enough for looking after us for 8 ripper weeks.
Memorable moments: During a doubles tennis match between Dan/Brendan vs Mike/Eck, Dan hit a ripper drop shot over the net in front of Mike, who couldn't quite reach it. Mike came back with a the sledge "I might have got that 60 years ago" - great form by the 82yo. The dogs coming back from up the hills covered in blood after stalking and killing deer! Spending Easter at the wood, enjoying a BBQ, beers and some good old football. Many evening meals eating home grown produce such as the venison, and port/ham/bacon. The Bolton's sure could rustle up a great feast. Evenings running around like headless chooks after the kids playing footy, soccer, riding motorbikes, riding horses, jumping on the trampoline and playing donkey before bed. Sitting watching a movie in the evening with the adults, enjoying a cuppa and some chocolate - special thanks to Job for providing the entertainment! Irish words and sayings: Your Man - when referencing someone, like when we'd say old mate. Craic (crack) - to have fun. Grand - "It'll be grand" Yolk - reference to anything really "grab that yolk over there", "I've gotta go fix that yolk". No bother - equivalent to "she'll be right" A ditch in Ireland can be like a mount too.
We are Amy and Brendan from Australia currently travelling throughout Europe. The intention for this blog is to document our adventure for family and friends. We hope you enjoy it!
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