Killarney to Rosslare

Once again today was about the journey... Last night I stayed at a lovely hotel in Killarney

The Heights Hotel

The Heights Hotel

As I explained in yesterday's post some royal intruders spoilt my run at Killarney, so I ended up not going into the town (sorry Katie!) I didn't set my alarm last night  and consequently didn't wake up until 8am and I knew I had a significant drive today, so I decided just to push on...

Once again I took the blue route

Now, you may well ask, why did you go to Rosslare...??? Truth is, it was the only place where I could get reasonable accommodation. I was trying for either Waterford or Wexford, but everything was either booked out (Sat night!) or didn't have parking, or was extremely expensive.

So this was another pin in the map job!

The rates were quite reasonable, but you only get what you pay for and one of my favourite descriptions for a hotel like this is "faded elegance"! This one, I suspect, is very faded!!! But it's a roof over my head on a night where it was so hard to find a bed.

But its outlook is just lovely... however I'll come back to that in a short while...

Today's journey was just lovely. I virtually drove right across the bottom of Ireland.... I went through multiple counties..

I started in the Kingdom of Kerry, then flirted with Limerick. Crossed through Cork. Went into Tipperary, Kilkenny, Waterford and ended up in Wexford. Hope I didn't miss any....

Map of the Irish counties

The roads were generally very good and I didn't stop for many pics... mainly because there weren't a lot of stopping places!

I stopped for morning tea at a pub in Mitchelstown

While I was there, I had to take a pic of this....

Collection for St Anthony!

I put a couple of Euros in that because, as many of you know, St Anthony gets a real workout from me, as I continually lose stuff!

Found one place to stop and take a pic...

On the road

On the road

The road was mostly pastoral and flat with some hills. Not really mountains though, although you could see them in the background often.

And of course the mighty Hawks were playing today (Sat night in Melbourne) so I ended up streaming the radio broadcast from 3AW as I was driving along. How did we ever live without the Internet.  And they won, so that was a bonus!

I stopped for lunch at Waterford.... it's a lovely town. I've been there before, on a bus tour yonks ago...

Here are some pics of the town...

It's set on the River Suir

From wikipedia

Waterford (from Old Norse Veðrafjǫrðr, meaning "ram (wether) fjord", Irish: Port Láirge) is a city in Ireland. It is in County Waterford in the south east of Ireland and is part of the province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford Harbour. It is the oldest^[2][3] and the fifth most populous city in the Republic of Ireland. It is the eighth most populous city on the island of Ireland. Waterford City and County Council is the local government authority for the city. Waterford is known for Waterford Crystal, a legacy of the city's former glass-making industry.
According to the 2016 Census, 53,504 people live in the city of Waterford and its suburbs.^[4]

Clock Tower

Main Street

I found the Cathedral, as you do...

Inside St Patrick's Cathedral

Outside St Patrick's Cathedral

They have a lovely pedestrian area and there seemed to be a lot of life in the city! I only had 1 hour on my parking ticket - wished I had more time to explore...

This wasn't the main mall, but shows what it was like...

After lunch, just hopped back in the car for one more hour's drive to get to Rosslare. I didn't realise that Rosslare is a major ferry terminal.

From wikipedia again...

The village of Rosslare Harbour (Irish: Cuan Ros Láir, meaning "harbour of the middle peninsula") grew up to serve the needs of the harbour of the same name (now called Rosslare Europort), first developed in 1906 by the Great Western Railway and the Great Southern and Western Railway to accommodate steamferry traffic between Great Britain and Ireland. This port also serves France and traffic is mainly roll-on roll-off (RoRo). It is thought that harbour expansion and/or privatisation could improve exporting and logistical options for businesses and producers in Ireland offering an alternative to Dublin Port which dominates trade but relies on the UK corridor for much EU trade. Rosslare Harbour railway station opened on 30 August 1906.^[1]

Once I had checked in to my hotel, I went around the front and could see it all before me...

Don't know if you can see, but the trucks all have Nolan on them! Hello to all the Nolans and Haldanes out there!!!

Rosslare ferry terminal

My hotel

There is also a walking track that follows the coast around here...

Explanation of walking track.

Map of this peninsula

I walked a little way along the track and had some lovely sea views...

Rosslare Sea Views

Rosslare Sea Views

So, that was my day so far. I've ended up in the bar now with a half pint of Smithwicks and an interesting view in front of me. As I've been sitting here typing, one ferry has left and another has just berthed. Apparently this is the major crossing to Wales, and 3 times a week, the French ferry calls in too. Amazing what you learn on the journey!

Ferries coming and going while I type!

 So that was another pleasant day... and another day in Wattle's Wanderings.

Tomorrow I'm off to Gorey in Wexford and hope to catch up with Paddy, brother of my friend Bernadette. Then 2 more nights in Dublin and it's all over Red Rover!! Fly out Wednesday night (Dublin time)

I've had the best time though... how lucky I have been.