Standby For Action

So I spent my last few days in Ireland chilling with my family. I was originally meant to head home but decided to stay on because my aunt Brigid, who normally lives in Surrey/Manchester came up to visit. I knew Aunt Brigid from when she came over to NZ a good number of years ago. When you meet sisters separately you can really see the similarities. I can see parts of Theresa in Brigid when she's looking after Gran but then can see Francis in her when she's on the phone to friends or talking about tv :D. But of course she's her own person and the best thing about Aunt Brigid is she's really chilled out. Not that I gave her or any of my other relatives any reason to get annoyed but I think Brigid is quite patient. Haha, then my dad might say otherwise, i'm not sure.

You know, to be honest, I always find talking about people really awkward. Especially when there's a possibility that they will be reading it. :P The point is that all of my family, mum's side and dad's side are really cool. I get along well with everybody.

So my Aunt Brigid took me to some of the smaller towns nearby. Actually it was probably the most picturesque areas of Ireland. Ballintoy was so so nice. It was stormy as hell but it made for some great pics, including my favourite picture I took in Ireland here:

She also took me to one of the sites of Ireland i've always wanted to see. The smalled church in Ireland. We couldn't go inside but looking inside the window you could probably reach out and touch each wall. Kind of pointless but I like stuff like that.

So yeah, that was my trip through Ireland. I got back to Largs and had to get ready for my first days at work in Edinburgh and then a trip to Belgium. Yep, I work two days then go on two weeks holiday. Awesome :)

Aunt's and Rope Bridges

So the next day I spent with my Aunties. My Uncle headed off to Dover for a school reunion, the school he taught at not the one he attended. I haven't talked about my Aunties yet. They are awesome. There's my Aunt Theresa who looks after my gran a lot. She works in Belfast but comes up to Ballycastle everyday (2hours drive). She's really nice and chilled out. From what I gather I think she probably looked after my dad a bit :P. Then there's my youngest Aunt Francis who is an utter shit. :P Haha, just put that in case she reads this. Nah she's alright. Haha, nah actually she's really cool. I don't know how old she is really but she acts like she is 12, but not in a creepy weirdo way just that she's full of energy and still teases my gran like she did when she was a kid. She is also very very astute (but I wont get into that)

So yeah, I spent the day with both Aunts and my Gran. Oh, for completion I have a few other Aunts. There's my Aunt Brigid who I will mention later, my Aunt Marion who I met briefly but will probably meet properly when I go back after xmas. There's also Aunt Rosemary, who I haven't met yet.

Theresa, Francis, Gran and I went for a drive up to Carrick-a-rede rope bridge. It's apparently pulled across to the other side via helicopter and is taken down during Winter. At one point people lived on the little island but no one lives there now.

Was pretty scary but having bungie jumped and all that It wasn't a too big a deal to cross it.

Surprisingly my Gran walked the whole way to the bridge. She's like 88 and was putting the panting Americans to shame. Haha, imagine being overtaken by a woman twice your age. My Dad says she never crosses the bridge though, and my Aunt Theresa kept her company but i'm not sure if it was a completely selfless task she was prob scared herself :P

The next day, my Aunt Theresa went back to work and Francis, Gran and I went for a walk in Cushendun. Big props to Francis for finding this nunnery that you get to through a cave. I didn't believe it existed, neither did Gran but she proved us wrong.

Sunday, 2 November 2008

Rathlin or "you are so much like Peter [my dad]"

Bear with me here, i'm writing this retrospectively. :)

I went to Ireland. It was green. I met relatives. They said i was like my dad.

That's it really.

Okay, so my Aunt and Uncle took me to Rathlin, an Island off Ballycastle where my dad grew up.

I have a bit of family history linked to that island. My mum's dad grew up there, as did my dad's mum. In fact they knew each other at school (well, EVERYBODY knew each other on a small island like Rathlin). Also, my dad's dad was the lighthouse keeper on Rathlin for like ever. My mum's mum used to spend most of her time there as did my mum and dad. Oh, and also my house in Waitakere was called 'Rathlin' after the island.

The Island itself is pretty small (like 4 miles across). You catch a small boat over from the mainland (Ballycastle) and it takes all of about 55mins on the big boat, or 20min on the small.

Hmm, actually if i go on and tell you about the island it's going to be pretty boring. There's not much point describing it because you can SEE what it looks like right here:

This is the Western point lighthouse that my grandad worked on.

Thats me at the Mack and Cherries. Apparently, if the two rocks touch the world will end so the thing to do to prevent it is put more rocks in between.

Just down from the Mack and Cherries is Arkill bay. Apparently my dad would love to build a house there. Bit isolated, not sure what mum will think :P

Probably the most exciting things on the island are the seals. How badass are seals? Quite badass.