waterford

This was a day of rest from driving. A bit of sightseeing and a bit of reading a good book. I find that bringing a good book is essential. This is not about packing the miles on for the sake of doing it.

Not looking to be a fantastic start to the day really.

It rained overnight. It rained in the morning. In fact it just rained. This was going to be a soggy adventure at this rate.

Debbie wanted to fulfil a bucket list item of visiting the Waterford Crystal factory and museum. So whilst she did that I took the dog for a walk into the city centre for a look around.

Again what struck me was the lack of garbage strewn around the streets thats commonplace in the UK now. No graffiti. A small road sweeper ran up and down the pedestrian precinct. There seemed to be a pride about the place.

Waterford is a city steeped in history. You can read more here if you like.

Other than being famous for its crystal, it was also the very first city in Ireland. Like most of these places, if you care to dig a little all sorts of interesting facts pop up. Like, for instance, the type of sand used to make Waterfords Crystal comes from Stourbridge in the UK also famous for its own glass works and not far from where we live in Worcestershire. Now I did not know that.

Debbie returned from her tour full of facts, figures and photos. By all accounts it is a must see and do place if you ever visit here. You can see more about Waterfords famous Crystal here.

A private commission. A crystal Stratocaster.

The day was rounded off by visiting a local pub called The Hub and we decided to get in early. It is Saturday and local knowledge leads us to believe the pubs fill up quickly. The locals gave us a cursory nod. The dog however was the centre of attention. The Irish seem to like their dogs as well as their horses.

A pint of the cold and creamy black gold finished the day. Well what else could one have in an Irish pub?

Tomorrow we will set of early for Cobh. There is a small motorhome park that the guide books tell me is very popular as it is the best for visiting the town. Get there early to have a chance of a spot for the day it says so thats what we will do. I would like to show Debbie where we dock the ships when we come here and also for her to see the Cobh museum which I have been to before.

Day two dawned cold, wet and quite miserable looking. Having said that, we both slept very well last night listening to the rain on the roof. The down side to living in a van however is that I have not figured out yet how to operate the heating. We both woke at around 3am due to the cold. I ended up putting my socks on vowing that job number one was how to get the heating to work.

Whilst the actual driving mileage was hardly astounding today at a mere 49 miles, which included two from the campsite to the ferry, the actual mileage needs to be adjusted to consider the 3 ½ hour ferry crossing on the Stena Nordica.

The Irish Sea was lovely and flat. I used to be on this run myself back in my ferry days and the Irish Sea can be quite nasty. But not today.

What was particularly enjoyable about this crossing was I got to meet an old colleague of mine Captain Richard Davies. He is also the Fishguard Harbour pilot and boarded my own ship recently to take her from sea to the anchorage inside the harbour when we visited here last summer.

In what I suppose it would be seen as a busman’s holiday Debbie and I visited the bridge briefly to say hello to the officers. There I met Chief Officer Tom who just happened to know two of my First Officers on my own ship. It really is a very small world.

Having disembarked the ferry in the Port of Rosslare, our first call was to the animal quarantine department of the Irish customs to present our dogs papers for inspection. Having passed muster it was then a short journey down to our spot in the centre of the city of Waterford where we would spend the next two nights giving us a full day to explore the city.

The N25 runs all the way from Rosslare to Waterford. It is a delightful road to drive on. A good quality surface through lovely countryside runs over the New Ross bridge into County Waterford. What you notice almost right away is how clean and tidy this country is. No rubbish strewn roads like back home. Very little traffic on the roads. Reminds me so much of New Zealand.

At a mere 8°C it was overcast and chilly and the rain showers with persistent. Day three will be spent exploring the city of Waterford and I do hope we get some improvement in the weather.

Home for the night. Whilst the view out the window of the Waterside carpark may not be the most pleasant you will ever see, the location could not be better. 10 minutes walk into the city centre and the Waterford Crystal exhibition is the reason to be here.

Today’s Mileage :49 miles.

Total mileage: 206.