Breakfast starts at 07:00 and we are away at 09:00. The
breakfast matches the rest of the hotel, superb. All buffet but a great choice.
The route we are taking is the N25 road through to Cork
and then the N71 to Rosscarbery, with stops in Dungarvan and Cobh before our
arrival at about 16:00.
The roads are so much improved now that you can drive the
most part at 100kmh with lots of the towns and villages you used to drive
through now bypassed. Twenty years ago today’s journey would have been arduous,
now it is easy.
After half an hour we approach the town of New Ross which
is the ancestral home to John F Kennedy. It is also home to the famine ship
Dunbrody which we shall drive past. As we near the ship all has changed, there
is now a shop, visitor centre, cafe and most importantly a coach park. This has
all appeared within the last three years and is great as I have tried to stop
here before but with no parking it was very difficult.
I decide to stop for half an hour.
They all get off for a wander as I return the two missed
calls that came through when I was driving and one of them is quite
interesting! It is Paula from Albatross (the company we booked the hotels
through) telling me one of the passengers has left her overnight bag in the
hotel! I know who it is and find her to ask if she needs it for the rest of the
week. They all have main suitcases that stay on the coach until we reach
Rosscarbery and only use small overnight bags for the overnight stop.
Yes she has medication that she needs.
Once everyone is back I explain that I have to go back to
the hotel but will come back here in an hour, so if anyone wants to stay here
then that is no problem. Surprisingly only six alight with the others staying
on the coach for the ride!
New Ross is quite a nice little town so would have
thought more would have stayed.
It is a bank holiday today so the roads are extremely
quiet and it shouldn’t take much more than an hour to Wexford and back.
And it doesn’t! We pick up the case and are back in New
Ross just after 11:00 to pick up the peole and after a toot to Robin and Kath
we are back on the road.
Due to all the driving I have now done I will still need
a stop before Cobh so we pull into the centre of Dungarvan and nobody gets off!
It is not that bad, it’s a nice town!
I did say I was going to park at the seafront and they
all want some of that, so off we go to the coach park overlooking the sea.
All the spaces have been taken up with camper vans! This
is doubly annoying as there are plenty of empty car spaces they could park in
so I pull up across the front of all of them and seeing as my people all want
tea or coffee I have to keep the engine running. I’ll show them! Defiant or
what!
It is a nice spot here and I have to have a minimum of a
30 minute break so we all enjoy the sea air before moving on towards Cork.
Just before we reach Cork I turn off on the road towards
Cobh and then join all of the traffic on its way to this popular fishing port.
Cobh is the last port the Titanic visited before its ill
fated voyage in 1912 and today liners still call in here due to the very deep
water in one of the world’s largest natural harbours.
As we drive in there are a lot of coaches coming the
other way which makes me think there is a liner in port.
As we approach Cobh it is quite apparent there is a liner
in, a massive one, the Independence of the Seas. Coupled with the bank holiday
it means a very, very busy town.
I drive to the edge of the town where the excellent
Queenstown story museum is and drop the passengers off as I wait for one of the
coaches parked in the three bays to move.
I don’t have to wait long as one of the coaches departs
and I can park and then go for a walk into town.
Where I am parked is by the dock and everything is
dwarfed by the Independence of the Seas, which up close is awe inspiring. I
don’t know if I would like a cruise on a ship this big but obviously a few folk
do!
The town is heaving but with the sun out it has a real
holiday feel with lots of locals out for the day and to see the ship off which
departs at 17:00.
We leave an hour before this for our final leg through to
Rosscarbery.
I have a little wobble at Cork where roadworks and a lack
of signs make me question whether I am on the right road but soon we are on the
N71, which will take me directly to the hotel.
The final mile or so of the journey is lovely as we can
see the hotel away in the distance alongside beautiful blue sea.
We arrive at 17:30 and it doesn’t take long to unload the
cases, check the passengers in and have the luggage taken to each room.
We have tea/coffee waiting as a welcome drink before our
dinner at 19:00.
I had the roast beef at dinner and it excellent.
No comments:
Post a Comment