Brunei, Ireland and England

Fly Royal Brunei Airlines to Ireland with a three day stopover in Brunei. Two weeks touring Ireland and then two weeks touring England. Read more

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Trip start
May 28, 2015
Brunei, Ireland and England Janette and John
Up, up and away.
May 28, 2015 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C
We're off!
Arrived at Tullamarine Airport early and, after checking in our luggage, we had breakfast.
The plane was very comfortable. The food was fantastic - in fact we couldn't eat it all. There's no alcohol on Royal Brunei planes. We didn't know this prior to flying but it didn't matter to us.
We flew for a long time across Central Australia. The views were amazing. We were at the rear of the plane where it narrows and there are two seats instead of three on the window side of the aisles. That meant we could move about and look out of the window without disturbing anyone.
We could see red earth, rock formations, cliffs, gorges and mountain ranges.Many of the views reminded us of Aboriginal artwork.
First impressions of Brunei are of a beautiful, quietly affluent place - very clean and well maintained.
Checked into the Radisson Brunei - very nice.
For dinner, we walked to a local food park and ate with the locals. Quite a half star sort of place. Some people might feel uncomfortable but we really enjoyed it. Everyone was happy and friendly and the food was very inexpensive. It was less than $6.00 for us both and that included iced drinks. The sweet chilli fish was fantastic.Read more
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Brunei, Ireland and England Janette and John
1st full day.
May 29, 2015 in Brunei ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
Up early and had a great hotel buffet breakfast. We had two pots of tea to shake the caffeine withdrawal headaches.
The hotel appears to be well situated for us to be able to walk to most of the places we want to see.
Walked down to the river and took a water taxi tour of the water village, Kampong Ayer. It has houses, schools restaurants etc, all built on the water. From there we went down river to the forest area to look for monkeys. We saw Macaque monkeys first, but the highlight was finding a probiscis monkey in the trees.
After managing to disembark, we wandered round a department store and shops. We had an amazingly refreshing drink called pearl tea. John tried on some sneakers, but they didn't have any large enough.
As it's Friday, everything closes from 12.00 till 2.00pm. At 1.00pm the call to prayer sounded from the many mosques. It seemed like the entire population were at one of the mosques.
We went back to the hotel to cool down.
We spent the afternoon at the craft centre after a coffee at Gloria Jeans. The coffee cost more than our dinner last night! We again returned to the hotel to cool down and then had a la carte dinner at the hotel - a relaxing end to a day with lots of walking in hot and humid weather.Read more
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Brunei, Ireland and England Janette and John
Tasek Lama Recreational Park.
May 30, 2015 in Brunei ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C
Another lovely breakfast then off for a walk to Tasek Lama Recreational Park. A good walk up the road our hotel is on took us past some large old homes. We took a side road between them and were suddenly in this huge park. There are waterfalls, running tracks with soft surfaces, gym equipment, children’s play equipment and, of course, beautiful gardens.
It was extremely hot and humid, so back to the hotel to cool down.
In the afternoon we took the hotel bus to Gadong night market. Being early it was in the process of being set up. We had an interesting pizza and soft drink at a Pizza Hut about 3.00pm so could not manage anything from the market.
We found a very flash hotel near the market and organised a taxi back to our hotel. Another cool down and then dinner at the hotel again.Read more
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Brunei, Ireland and England Janette and John
Last day in Brunei.
May 31, 2015 in Brunei ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C
Very hot and humid again. We walked to the Sultan's Regalia Museum and the Maritime Museum. It all showed the Sultan's immense wealth.
After lunch we walked down to and around the waterfront really killing time till our taxi picked us up in the evening to take us to the airport.
We headed to the airport early. After checking our luggage in, we had a meal in the main airport area. Just as well we did as there wasn't much after going through customs.Read more
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Brunei, Ireland and England Janette and John
Ireland - to be sure.
June 1, 2015 in Ireland ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C
It was a long and tiring trip. We flew from Brunei to London with a brief stopover in Dubai. We had to change from international to domestic in London. We flew British Airways to Dublin.
Arrived in Dublin Airport about lunchtime - John full of a cold.
Caught a taxi from Dublin Airport to Jurys Hotel in an area called Christchurch. The taxi driver was amazing. An older gentleman, we reckon he was driving a taxi because he enjoyed doing it. He was obviously very well educated and proved very informative about what to see and do. I suspect he might have been a teacher, perhaps of English Lit. He spoke passionately about Irish authors eg Oscar Wilde, James Joyce, George Bernard Shaw...
He assured us our hotel was well positioned for us to walk into Old Dublin. We are close to the castle and many eateries. This was good news as we have no car while in Dublin.
We couldn't access our room till 3.00pm, so we left our bags at reception and went for a walk. Virtually just around the corner was the castle and shopping strip - Temple Bar.
Checked into our room and unpacked and rested. Walked back to the shopping area, found a nice little cafe, The Larder, and had steak and chips.
Asleep by 7.00pm.Read more
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Brunei, Ireland and England Janette and John
The house of James Joyce.
June 2, 2015 in Ireland ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
We had an early start after an in-house breakfast. We wanted to see the James Joyce Museum, which is in his old house. We walked through theTemple Bar area and over the River Liffey.
Walked into town and checked out the shops. Janette just had to look through the Marks and Spencer Store. It was quite cold so Janette bought a windcheater in a huge souvenir shop that seemed to sell everything from fridge magnets to clothes. It was a Republic of Ireland windcheater. We went into Bewleys Tea Shop and had a warming cuppa.
We chanced upon a statue of James Joyce - great photo opportunity. While taking the photo, I stepped back and bumped a lady who was walking past. I apologised and suggested she must be sick of tourists taking photos and getting in the way. She said, “Oh no, we love you!”
We had a rough idea of where James Joyce's house was located so we set off to find it. It's a large Georgian building with much of him still there. The house is in a lovely Georgian street. May of the things in the house reminded Janette of her Nana and the Minnie Hooper collection.
This afternoon - number one one my bucket list - the Guinness Brewery.Read more
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Brunei, Ireland and England Janette and John
At last!
June 2, 2015 in Ireland ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
Took a taxi to the door of the brewery. There was a very long queue to get in. We had pre purchased tickets on line. Not only did this give us a discount, it meant we could bypass the queue.
The brewery is huge and covers many floors. There's lots of old machinery and examples of all the old advertising campaigns.
Groups of about twenty could go into a laboratory looking room where the brewing process and it's history were explained. There was also a tasting of Guinness at various stages of brewing.
The top floor is a bar and lounge area where your entry ticket can be exchanged for a drink. It was packed, so we went to the floor below which houses a cafe and had lunch.Read more
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Brunei, Ireland and England Janette and John
Famine ship
June 2, 2015 in Ireland ⋅ 🌧 13 °C
Freezing and wet, we walked along the River Liffey. Moored at Custom House Quay is a replica of the three masted barque, the Jeanie Johnston. At the time of the famine in Ireland, she took Irish emigrants to North America. She went to Quebec, Baltimore and New York.
She made sixteen voyages in all, taking emigrants to North America, returning with timber. The voyages averaged 47 days. In all those journeys, not one crew member or passenger was lost. At the end of the maiden voyage, there was one extra passenger - a baby boy was born on the voyage.
This successful record was attributed to the caring attitude of the captain, James Attridge, and the on board doctor, Richard Blennerhassett.
Much of our time in Dublin was spent walking, walking, walking - to one of the many pubs that claim to be Ireland's oldest or just generally wandering the streets looking at the many lovely parks.
There is a statue commemorating Molly Malone and her barrow. She has the shiniest boobs! It seems that boys like to give them a rub. They say it's for good luck but they would say that, wouldn't they?
Tomorrow morning we pick up a car and head off.Read more
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Brunei, Ireland and England Janette and John
Strangford.
June 3, 2015 in Northern Ireland ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
Took a taxi to Budget Car Rentals. They were short staffed and had a lot of people waiting. We did the paperwork, our car was brought out, we were handed the keys and we put our cases in the back.
We had studied a street map of Dublin the night before to work out a way to head North without actually driving through Dublin. The best laid plans... I must have turned right instead of left at some point and we drove through Dublin.
As if I wasn't nervous enough, every time we stopped at traffic lights, the engine cut out and I would strive to restart it. This was meant to happen as a fuel saving system. I had never heard of cars that did this so didn't know that the engine would restart once you put it into gear to go again.
We were booked in to The Cuan, a hotel in Strangford, a town on the banks of Strangford Lough. We arrived late afternoon, checked in, unpacked, booked in for dinner and went for a walk.
Dinner was excellent - a table near the open fire, good food, friendly people and charming hosts. In our conversation, we were asked what brought us to this part of Ireland. I replied, “my mother was a Fay”. This drew understanding responses such as, “John Fay lives just down the road”. This is obviously my mother's ancestors' territory.
There was a bit of an 'event' as we were getting ready for dinner. Janette called from the bathroom that she couldn't turn on the hot water tap on the hand basin. “Stand aside, leave this to me” I said, but it wouldn't budge. I tried so hard that I thought the basin was in danger of parting company with the wall. This needed someone the size of a rugby full forward with a big wrench.
I went down to reception and passed this suggestion on to Colleen. She said she would call Paddy. Not long later there was a knock at the door. Must be Paddy, I thought. I opened the door and in walked Colleen. She had spoken to Paddy. She walked to the bathroom and, with a flick of her wrist, she turned on the hot water tap.
It turned out that the tap had been recently replaced but with a tap that turned the opposite way to normal. The more we tried to open it, the more we were tightening it. Colleen couldn't seem to understand why we hadn't tried to turn it the other way. In response to our surprise, she headed off muttering something like “you shouldn't be surprised, after all you are Australian and water goes down your plug holes the opposite way...” ??????
Tomorrow we'll head to Belfast.Read more
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Brunei, Ireland and England Janette and John
Strangford to Enniskillen.
June 4, 2015 in Northern Ireland ⋅ 11 °C
Up very early, way before we were able to have breakfast, so we went for a walk. We walked up Castle St for view of the lough and Portaferry. Met a local who suggested the Squeeze Gut walk through the woods - just beautiful.
Back to the hotel and a great breakfast provided by Coleman who, at 83, did a great job of waiting and offering Irish hospitality and stories. Had smoked Mackrell which was lovely. Caught the 9.30 am ferry to Portaferry on our way north to Belfast.
Arrived at the amazing Titanic Exhibition mid-morning. John negotiating city traffic well despite the car cutting out with its "advanced" technology.
After a couple of hours covering four floors of information and fantastic displays, we bought a book for Hugo and headed for Fintona village for a sandwich and cup of tea.
Then off to Abocurragh Farm near Enniskillen. Beautiful dairy farm set in large valley with amazing views.
Had tea at a restaurant in Belcoo.Read more
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Brunei, Ireland and England Janette and John
The Titanic.
June 4, 2015 in Northern Ireland ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
The Titanic exhibition was highly recommended by one of Hugo's teachers. We spent a couple of hours there. It was really well done.
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Brunei, Ireland and England Janette and John
Belleek Pottery, Bangor, Spiddal.
June 5, 2015 in Ireland ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
Sensational breakfast including potato cake with the Irish b/f and apricots with yoghurt and cinnamon. Farm stay real quality but also friendly. Set in large picturesque valley. We discussed the pending end of farming subsidies. It's a worry for them and they wonder if they'll be able to keep milking without subsidies.
Visited Belleek Pottery and did the interesting tour.
Longish journey so stopped for lunch at Bangor. Extremely cold and windy but reconstituted veg. soup and tea helped. Drove through peat areas - high altitude so very bleak. Rivers gorgeous - salmon fishing area.
Arrived in Spiddal to even more severe weather. A main reason for staying here is that it's close to the ferry terminal, for crossing to the Aran Islands. The Aran Islands are famous for their knitted sweaters. The main industry for the Aran Islands was always fishing. Sheep were kept for food and wool. The heavy, cable knit sweaters were knitted for the fishermen and each had a personal pattern. It is said that, in the unfortunate occurrence of a shipwreck, a fisherman could be identified by his sweater.
Geraldine is a friendly and helpful host. She offered to book the ferry for us for the next morning. The weather was so bad and the seas so high that it was doubtful the ferry would be running. If it was to run, chances are it will be very rough. The ferry runs from Rosaveel. We drove there just to have a look.
We decided not to go - a real disappointment as there were some things on our list of things to do or see. After Dublin and the Titanic Exhibition, this was number three.
Dinner at Tigh Giblin - fish stir fry as we are in a fishing area.Read more
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Brunei, Ireland and England Janette and John
Spiddal - Saturday 6th June.
June 6, 2015 in Ireland ⋅ 10 °C
Basic facilities but great breakfast and Geraldine is a very helpful host. Weather still cold and windy so glad not taking the ferry - looks really rough.
Took two bags of washing to get done. The man in the laundry was very interested in where we'd been and where we were headed. He asked if we'd seen Ashford Castle and the Cliffs of Moher. He said, “if you see nothing else you've got to see those two, and if you're not back by 5.00pm you'll have to wait till Monday to pick up this laundry.”
We drove into Galway to the area around the River Corrib and The Claddagh.
Then off on a drive through the Connemara to Clifden. The Connemara is home to the famous Connemara Ponies, a native Irish pony. You'd have to be extremely lucky to see any - we didn't see any. Clifden is a large village catering to tourists and fishermen.
Drove coastal route back and a new, spectacular view appeared around every corner.
Dinner at Donnelly's on the recommendation of Gerardine was amazing - scallops on a light mash on a great black pudding. John had seafood in a crepe.Read more
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Brunei, Ireland and England Janette and John
The Wild Atlantic Way.
June 6, 2015 in Ireland ⋅ 12 °C
The Wild Atlantic Way is the longest designated coastal route in the world. It runs the entire length of Ireland's west coast.
It is 2,500 kms long.
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Brunei, Ireland and England Janette and John
Ashford Castle.
June 7, 2015 in Ireland ⋅ 13 °C
Full breakfast then off to Ashford Castle (once the home of Arthur Guinness) which came recommended by the man at the laundry. It was sensational with an amazing setting on the lough. The castle has been renovated to a high standard and is now a five star hotel. The gardens are very beautiful and well set out. We had a good wander around.
Had a cuppa at the tea rooms and bought John some Guiness socks and an apron for me.Read more
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Brunei, Ireland and England Janette and John
Galway.
June 7, 2015 in Ireland ⋅ 12 °C
Headed back to Galway and found the old town with a myriad of laneways and shops and sensational buskers. It was really busy and had a really nice vibe.
Another 'to do' on our list was to look at the Claddagh rings. Traditionally they are a sort of friendship ring, but they also indicate a persons 'availability'. They have a crown protruding on one side of the band. If it is worn with the crown facing up (towards the one's heart) then the person is spoken for. If worn with the crown facing down, then that person is single.
The design on the band is two hands holding a heart and can be bought as wedding rings - no protruding crown. We stopped at the Claddagh jeweller and ordered lovely new wedding rings in the Claddagh style.
Had lunch then off to Doolin.Read more
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Brunei, Ireland and England Janette and John
Doolin, Cliffs of Moher, music.
June 7, 2015 in Ireland ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C
Checked into our B & B then off to cliffs of Moher. These were amazing and the visitor centre well done with simulated flights over the cliffs and lots of local information on the history and wildlife.
The name Devitt comes from County Clare.
Dinner and Irish music at Fitzy's. Two different Irish bands played - great. The bands rotate around the pubs during the night so we get to stay in one place and they come to us.Read more
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Brunei, Ireland and England Janette and John
Doolin to Adare (with Galway).
June 8, 2015 in Ireland ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
Had breakfast with a great view of Doolin. The rooms of the B&B were named after writers. Our room was the James Joyce room. Across the hall was the George Bernard Shaw room. On the wall in our room was a famous James Joyce quote:-
I am tomorrow, or some future day, what I establish today.
I am today what I established yesterday or some previous day.
Headed for Adare via Kilrush and Tarbert. We crossed the River Shannon by ferry from Killimer to Tarbert.
Checked into our farm stay - Graigue Cottage - a beautiful old cottage on a dairy farm.
We then had to drive back to Galway to pick up our new wedding rings.
When planning this holiday, and while we are travelling, we used a book, Back Roads Ireland, as a reference. Our daughter, Candice, bought it for us as a way to encourage us to visit Ireland. On the page on Adare, there is a picture of the Blue Door Restaurant. We found it and went there for dinner. Lovely food, just one small issue and, as we're in County Limerick, I penned this:-
When I can't get a Guinness, I'll always have a beer.
But, in Ireland, there's surely no such fear.
In a restaurant last night
I got one hell of a fright.
The waiter said, “WE DON'T HAVE GUINNESS HERE!”Read more
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Brunei, Ireland and England Janette and John
Adare.
June 9, 2015 in Ireland ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C
Slow start but because breakfast was not provided we were away at 9.00am after checking the milking in an 8 a side dairy. We again discussed the future with the ending of farm subsidies. What a different response! This time it was all very positive- they see it as an opportunity. They are already looking at leasing land from the neighbour, buying more cows and their son is coming into the business. The first dairy farm we stayed on is in Northern Ireland (UK) and this one is in the republic (Europe).
Walked the Adare river walk, window shopped, checked out the Blackabbey Friary which was founded in 1316. Had a coffee in Adare before driving to Dingle. Had lunch on the way in Tralee in a lovely coffee shop cum restaurant.
Spectacular scenery - vast valleys and coastal views. Stopped at a medieval collection of houses, farm buildings, and bee hive huts. After driving the loop we had apple pie and a cuppa in Dingle before driving back to Adare for pub meal at Aunty Lena's - bacon & cabbage in white sauce (nearest to corned beef & mustard sauce).
Back to Adare farm cottage to do the washing etc. before heading off to Cork tomorrow.Read more
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Brunei, Ireland and England Janette and John
Dingle Peninsula.
June 9, 2015 in Ireland ⋅ 15 °C
The Dingle Peninsula is a 'should do' drive. There are amazing coastal views, beehive huts, pre famine workers cottages and Dingle town.
This peninsula is Ireland's most westerly point. The next land to the west is America.
An old man in Ventry was once asked if he'd lived here all his life. His answer - “not yet”.Read more
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Brunei, Ireland and England Janette and John
Blarney Castle, en route to Cork.
June 10, 2015 in Ireland ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C
Late start but all "clean and pressed". Had a lovely chat to Bryan about farming etc. then did a couple of wrong turn loops before arriving in Tipperary for an egg & bacon brunch. Tipperary is a lower class town - a bit like you'd expect the Irish battlers would live.
From there we went to Blarney Castle which was amazing and had beautiful gardens over many acres. Google Blarney Castle gardens to see the full number of gardens.
There is a legend that says if you kiss the Blarney Stone, you'll get the gift of eloquence. Anyone with the 'gift of the gab' is often told they must have kissed the Blarney Stone. The queue to kiss the Blarney Stone was too long and it was very high up - it's right at the top of the castle. Lots of Americans were happy to wait.
After an ice-cream we headed into Cork and by good luck and the map on the iPad we drove straight to our digs - the Montenotte Hotel.
When we were planning this holiday, we chanced upon the fact that Riverdance were starting a new world tour. Their schedule had three free days at the start. They agreed to play Cork for those three days, with opening night the 11th June. Due to demand for tickets, a matinee show was added on the Saturday. This would be the first time they had played Cork. The day the tickets went on sale, I sat at the computer waiting for the box office to open. I managed to get two tickets in the middle of the second row for opening night. This locked us into being in Cork now.
Just about to get ready for Riverdance when John checked the tickets - oops - it's tomorrow night! - just as well we're here for two nights.
Cork's river is the Lee. It forks and then comes back together forming an island. Cork City is built on this island.
We walked down to there and into the restaurant district on Castle Street. We dined in a nice chinese restaurant and were 'home' reasonably early.Read more
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Brunei, Ireland and England Janette and John
Back in time at Drombeg.
June 11, 2015 in Ireland ⋅ 14 °C
Day Fifteen - Cork area

As we had done a lot of west coast scenic drives we left early (7am) for a trip along the south. There was less large scenery but it was very beautiful. Saw the Drombeg ring of stones on the road to Skibbereen. They date back to 900BC. They are on private farmland. The farmer allows access to the public. There is a car park and an access gate. Access is free. The sign on the gate asks visitors to respect the fact that it is private land.
Lunch at an alternative cafe in Ballydehob.
Went to Mizen Head then back to the hotel early to get ready for Riverdance. Upgraded to King room as our shower wasn't working. Dinner at the hotel restaurant overlooking Cork.Read more
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Brunei, Ireland and England Janette and John
Skibbereen.
June 11, 2015 in Ireland ⋅ 12 °C
Skibbereen is a picturesque and bustling town. Skibbereen means 'little boat harbour'.
It has strong ties to the Great Famine of the 1840s which devastated the local community. There is a large famine graveyard at Abbeystrowery nearby.Read more
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Brunei, Ireland and England Janette and John
Riverdance.
June 11, 2015 in Ireland ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
Cork doesn't have a concert hall. Each year a huge marquee is erected for a series of concerts by top name artists. The concert series is called 'Live at the Marquee'.
So it was that our taxi dropped us out the front.
The show was absolutely amazing - great music and spectacular dancing. A highlight was when the musicians were featured individually. They each played and got the recognition they rightfully deserved.
A fiddler took his turn and played a traditional Irish piece. After that he started to play a ballad. It was a piece that was instantly recognisable to the locals in the audience. They immediately started singing along with him - we must have been the only people there that didn't know the words. It was spine-tingling!
A taxi back to our hotel and another WOW! added to what is becoming a very long list of wows.Read more
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Brunei, Ireland and England Janette and John
Waterford Crystal
June 12, 2015 in Ireland ⋅ 17 °C
Earlyish start. Breakfast at Dungarvan.
Went to Waterford to the Waterford crystal factory for a comprehensive tour which was really interesting. Waterford Crystal apprentices are given a five year apprenticeship. At the end of the five years, they must carve what is known as an apprentice bowl (these are real collectors items) featuring every kind of cut found in Waterford pieces. They are allowed three mistakes- any more than that then they must choose - leave or start the five years again.
Most Waterford craftspeople train for at least eight years, with Master Sculptor level taking twelve years.
Purchased some little crystal trees for our Christmas table, had a "bowl" of coffee, then walked about and did some shopping?Read more
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