German Shenanigans

After 3 and half full on weeks around Norway, Scotland & Ireland both Isaac and I were on somewhat exhausted. However we had to power on as Germany awaited. We caught a very early plane from Dublin to Munich and then a train to Stuttgart where Isaac's Aussie cousin Luke is now studying and working. It was so nice to be back in the comfort of a home, hot shower and a bed long enough to lie horizontal! We spent the next day sleeping, showering and shopping for a lederhosen (traditional beer drinking pants with suspenders!)



The boys suited up in our Lederhose - ready to go!


We were now ready to catch a train back to Munich to take part in Oktoberfest. Over 6 million people attend this 16 day beer festival which is an important part of Bavarian culture. So with around 14 tents (not just your average backyard marquee) that can fit up to 7000 people you have one huge festival space that apparently takes 3 months to set up! Ok enough with the facts..... What do you do at this festival you may ask? The answer is simple.... You drink 1 litre beers, eat half a Hendle (chicken) or Schweinsbraten (roasted pork knuckle) for lunch whilst enjoying music from a live brass band and the company of your fellow beer drinking neighbours.



Chickens.... Lots of them!!



Beers... The beer wench can carry 10 of these 1 litre thumpers!



Live brass band (this one in a boat) and a packed tent!


The only thing Oktoberfest has against it is that there are a ridiculous amount of tourists, mainly Americans and yes you guessed it.. Australians! Ahhhh we were reasonably lucky not to bump into too many boardshorts and thongs! 1 day at Oktoberfest was enough and we caught the last train back to Stuttgart after a huge day of indulgence and dancing!


Germans love a festival... And beer festivals take place all over the country in late September early October. Lucky for us there was one right on our doorstep in Stuttgart! Volksfest or Warsen as the locals call it is basically exactly the same as Oktoberfest but minus the 100 000 drunken Australians! A rest day was well needed after Oktoberfest however the AFL grand final had us awake at 6am in order to watch it live. Isaac and I were both feeling tired, hungover and now homesick as the sun was shining beautifully over the grand final in. My homesickness faded as I imagined the streets of Melbourne to be infested with feral Collingwood fans!


We spent 2 and half days at Volksfest (yes mum we did go home for sleep) and each day seemed to get better as we learnt all of the German songs and dances. So much beer, so much chicken, so much pork, so many friendly locals and a ridiculous amount of fun. I would recommend this festival to everyone, even if you don't drink beer. Families with young children and the oldest of oldies even come to get into the festival spirit. If only Australia had some festivals half as good as this!




Shire horses! This one was real happy to see me!



Volksfest in Stuttgart



Lunchtime beers in the European sun



Hofbrau Beer tent during lunchtime



Hofbrau beer tent post lunch!




More shire horses! Paul Foot said you only see one of these beauties every 3 years! He lied!




Then outfit! Lederhose with a borrowed hat!



Locals! They thought our outfits were pretty schmick



Fun times!



Some Germans aren't all that smart!



Gramps tucking into a chicken. How good is his magnificent lip warmer!




Prost!



The end of an amazing month of unplanned travel with a great mate.

Ireland Roadtrip

After a very short stop at Aunty Joys to refill the backpacks with some cleanly washed clothes we had a night in Edinburgh before catching a very early flight to Dublin to continue our ridiculous month of travel. Tired you might ask...... Yes! But Ireland awaited and it certainly delivered an awesome 10 days of sightseeing, music, Guinness and everything inbetween!


On our arrival into Ireland we picked up the most ridiculous hire car you could imagine. The thing looked like a squished up 'smart car', it had no radio on the dash and the bloody thing was purple! Well we got what we paid for basically so after naming the car 'Guinness Pig' (due to it looking like a Guinea Pig) we were on the highways and backroads again exploring Ireland.


With a map in hand and no real plans of where to go we made our first stop in Kilkenny to try the local brew. And what a lovely brew it is! 1 pint turned into too many pints so the decision was made to park the car and check into a hostel dorm. Lucky for us one of the many pubs across the road had a live music session planned for the night. Well... when i say planned it was basically a group of guys rocking up with different instruments (some hadn't even met each other before) and enjoying a few drinks whilst having a decent jam together. There were a few different poets who got up and even the lovely bar maid belted out a song of her own. Kilkenny was a suprise and probably one of my favourite places we stopped off at in Ireland.


Kilkenny in Kilkenny!



Live Irish tunes in a very crowded Kilkenny pub on a weeknight




Ok Mum I now have a Sportsbar in Norway and now a little pub in Kilkenny!
Over 50's are welcome ;)


We both awoke with slightly sore heads and quickly decided a walk around Kilkenny Castle was our best option before jumping back in our purple car! Our next stop was Cork and after a great sleep in a hostel the night before we decided another good nights sleep would be a good thing. We even managed to shop at the famous markets and cook up roast chicken wings and vegies in the hostel (yes mum healthy!) , even the Spanish backpackers were impressed! Not sure if you all remember from my Spanish Sunshine blog but we were lucky enough to be saved by some Irish girls who had some San Sebastian accomodation organised when we had arrived completely unprepared. Anyhows... we had kept in touch with them and organised a catch up in a very cool bar in their hometown of Cork. I think its amazing how you can run into the same people you had met months before in a completely different country. Ohh the joys of travelling.

Kilkenny church



Kilkenny Castle with some rain on the way!


'
Cork Reunion with our Irish friends!

The next morning we set out on another big day of driving and headed to the south west of Ireland to see the scenic Ring of Kerry. The clouds started low but by mid afternoon we had some lovely weather. It was even warm enough for crazily refreshing dip in the Arctic Ocean! We found this beautiful beach (almost up to Aussie standards) just after visiting Dingle and driving through the spectacular Conor Pass. This quick little dip gave us the energy to continue onto Limerick where we stayed with Owen, a very funny Irish lad that Isaac had met in Paris. After a cup of tea and a quick feed we headed out to see the bright lights of Limerick, a city that most travelers don't stop by. It was a Wednseday night so you would think that it might have been a rather quiet night... Well not this Wednesday. After some warm up pints of Guinness Owen took us to this brilliant bar with live music. There were even 70 year olds tearing up the dancefloor at this once Aussie run pub. Just like Kilkenny, Limerick was another suprise packet and a great stop over before heading to Galway.



Ring of Kerry with some super dooper low clouds


The Guinness pig - How ridiculous is this car!!



This looks somewhat nice but it smelt like Werribee!



Hmmmmm lovely day for a swim... Looks like Pea Soup in Port Fairy for all those South Western Victorians out there.



FREEEEZING!!!!!!!!!!! Stupid Aussies!



Dingle Wharf


Ok so by now you are probably thinking that our trip has turned into an alcohol binge! Sorry mum! It just seems to be the Irish way :) By this stage Isaac and I were pretty exhausted and a rest day would have been perfect. However Thursday the 23rd of September is Arthur's Day, a day to celebrate the creation of Guinness by the famous Mr Arthur Guinness. Before heading to Galway we set out along the west coast of Ireland to the touristy Cliffs of Moher which provided some ridiculously expensive car parking along with some more stunning scenery. Finally we arrived in Galway (after having our car heckled at) around mid afternoon, checked into a hostel, did some sightseeing, showered up and prepared ourselves for another Irish night out on the town. The rule for Arthurs Day is that you must have a pint of Guinness in your hand to cheers the great man at 17:59pm (1759 was the year Arthur signed the brewery contract in Dublin to start brewing Guinness). As you can see from our photos Galway was absolutely packed both inside the pubs and out on the streets. Lets just say alot of Guinness was consumed by all this night (even statues....!)


Signature tourist pose at the Cliffs of Moher



Spectacular Cliffs



Artistic moment!



The Guinness had been delivered in bulk to Galway... They knew Isaac was coming!




Just another quiet week night in Galway!



Cheers to Arthur at 17.59pm!!!!! Craziness.

Even these 2 old blokes shared a pint of the black stuff!

After an extremely fun Arthurs Day we had a 6am start in order to drop the car off in central Dublin. 1 hour of trying to find a bloody petrol station in Dublin and then another 30mins trying to track down the Hertz dealership we had finally delivered the purple beast back only 1 hour late! Lucky for us as we spent the next 3 days in Dublin staying at one of my best mates friends flat where we were able to do some well needed washing, have decent showers and catch up on some sleep! Thankyou Kim and Nikki for putting up with us! Whilst in Dublin we watched the drawn AFL grand final in a pub that only showed a delayed replay! Both Isaac and I felt a touch homesick watching this as the sun was shining in Melbourne town whilst Dublin was bloody freezing! Of course we also managed to visit the famous Guinness brewery, enjoy the biggest pub meal in our lives and check out all the sights of a rather large city.



The perfect pair - Guinness time at the Guinness factory in Dublin
Probably the tastiest pint of Guinness you will ever get!



Great Guinness and great views over Dublin town


Isaac and I had decided that a trip to the north of Ireland wouldn't be such a bad idea so we hired another Hertz car (this one a touch bigger and black!) We had some tasty lunch in Downpatrick and continued north to Belfast. After a quick look around we headed towards the north east coast where we slept in the car nere Ballycastle in order to have a full day driving along the top of the north coast. Waking feeling pretty fresh we drove to the World Heritage Sight that is the Giants Causeway. This is an area of about 40 000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption. Most of the columns are hexagonal although there are some with more and less sides. Just like Scotland the north coast of Ireland was pretty spectacular and having a car made it easy to see so much. We spent another night sleeping in the car before driving to Dublin airport in order to catch a flight to Germany where a rest day was in our sights! Ireland has been one of my favourite countries visited so far, not only for the Guinness and scenery but the people are always willing to help, whether it be giving crazily infortmative directions in their thickest Irish accent or helping plan our trip.



Our overnight stop right near this castle



Giants Casueway - amazing rock formations



Northern Ireland is beautiful!

Scotland Roadtrip

After a fantastic week of beautiful scenery in Norway it was time to do the same in Scotland. Lucky for us as we were able to borrow Aunty Joy and Uncle Sandys little green machine which allowed us to see a lot of the country in a short time. Unfortunately the weather wasn't as kind to us as it had been in Norway. So with the car packed and a Jimmy driving hat we were ready and a little bit of Scottish drizzle wasn't going to stop us from having a good time!


A full car ready to go... Although I do look half asleep.
This little beast of a car scored the nickname Kenneth Menmuir!


We headed north up through the highlands with a quick stop for lunch on the east side of Loch Ness. As the weather was pretty average the scenery was somewhat hidden but we still managed to stop off at a huge castle before making our way to Wick which is on the north east coast where Fiona my awesome cousin spoilt us rotten for the next 2 nights. We also had quick stops in Inverness, Tain and the pretty seaside town of Golspie.



Loch Ness Monster!



Awesome Castle - I forget its name! Sorry Aunty Joy


Last time I was in northern Scotland I was a month too early to see the Orkney Islands which was something I had really wanted to do. This time Isaac and I joined a day tour which included the ferry crossing, a guided bus tour around the islands and the company of many grey haired folk who all seemed a little suprised to see to young Aussie lads on such a scenic tour. The Orkney Islands are absolutely stunning and the history behind the place is extremely interesting. After a great day exploring the different islands we jumped back on John O Groats ferry and headed through some rough seas and rain back to the mainland.


No trees at all on Orkney due to high winds



A common street found in the towns of the Orkney islands



Look at this Orkney Island special! 4 horns! The locals call him Rambo!
As we pulled up he was having a crack at this cow through the fence.



The Ring of Brodga - these things were erected 2500BC! Wowzess.


With our tummies full and enough food to last us for a month thanks to Fiona we drove along the northcoast with a stop at Smoo Cave and some lovely sandy beaches. Pity is wasnt 30 degrees! After having quite an expensive week in Norway Isaac and I had decided that this week was a money saving week and that meant roughing it a little bit. So we decided that we would camp for free in a place called Achiltibuie which is on the North West coast of Scotland, basically down a one way track in the middle of nowhere! The shitty weather continued and the '2 man tent' was the smallest thing I have ever seen. As you can imagine we had a pretty ordinary sleep but the scenery sure made up for it.


HAHA! A quick stop along a highway to say hello to this beast! He wasn't too happy as you can see he is ready to charge and we are somewhat ready to run!

The ruggered Scottish coastline

The storm clouds were ready to roll in over this secluded beach


The next day we awoke with the sun and set off on a big driving day through Ullapool, Kyle of Locash and around the Isle of Skye. We managed to catch the last ferry from Armadale to Mallaig and continued driving until basically dark where we decided that tonight we would sleep in the car just outside of Fort William. I scored the back seat whilst Isaac decided the boot would be far more comfortbale than one of the front seats! After some bread and baked beans for dinner (very nutritious) we actually slept quite well although woke up in need of some fresh air!

Another early start as we continued driving through Glencoe and then stopped off in Kinlochleven where we found an awesome waterfall. After a couple of days without a shower and too much testosterone in one car you might say we went a bit bonkers! We decided that a swim in this freezing cold waterfall would be the best thing to freshen us up.... And it was! I think we only got one funny look whilst trying to get changed in the carpark!



This guy was happy to see us!



Post swim snap! Now the hard bit of getting around the slippery rocks and back to the car!

Glasgow was our next stop and we decided due to this cities reputation that maybe a hostel might be a safer option than the car! We treated ourselves to a hearty pub meal and a few pints of guinness and a night out on the town with the Glaswegians. Plenty of rough folk but a good night was had in the party city of Scotland.


After breakfast the next morning we headed out for some sightseeing of Glasgow and then onto the beautiful town of Stirling. A quick visit to the jail, a walk around town and then we made the trek up to the Wallace Monument which provided some great views. We would have loved to haved stayed in Stirling but time was against us as we still had St Andrews to visit. With the sun on our backs it was great to walk the 18th hole of the golf course and to explore the small uni town.


The little bridge on the 18th hole



The ruins of St Andrews Cathedral


We then continued a crazy day of driving back to Aunty Joys where a home cooked meal, hot shower and a comfy bed were well and truly needed after a fast but extremely fun week around Scotland.