north east and west and north east and west again....travels around northern ireland

glenariff waterfalls

since leaving sunny England a week last Monday we have been enjoying the wonderful country of Northern Ireland who have been having a mini summer heatwave from the moment we arrived. it's not exactly been bikini on the beach type weather, I've never looked good in a bikini anyway (Tim), however we did buy ourselves a wee BBQ from the local Tesco's and have cooked on it every evening, we did get some looks from the local staff who were surprised that we dared to tempt the sun to disappear however we think it enjoyed our pluck and stuck around a bit longer in fact people have been asking if we might be able to stay on as they have attributed it's appearance with our arrival and are afraid it might leave with us when we fly home.

lough foyle car ferry

that said we're worried that if the sun shone here all the time the place would be a little less green and a little more crowded as the beauty of the place is truly stunning, so we think we'll take the sun with us and leave behind the rain and wind which keeps this grand place the way it is!

Northern Ireland isn't new to me as it was a place that I frequented a lot during my time working in the shopfitting (that's shopfitting not shoplifting) industry so I know the place quite well, however it's funny to return to a familiar place under a different guise, in the late 1990's and then on until we felt the call to give up our 'regular jobs', home, family and friends to set up the Village of Hope, I used to travel all through Ireland, both north and south with my work, however during those times it was a quick visit, complete the job and then return home, and although I did get to meet some great people I never had chance to stop and enjoy the view or the craic with longer chats so this last week has been absolutely amazing and it's been great to show Maz around my old haunts as well.

photo taken at 10.30pm (no enhancing)

one thing that I had forgotten were the little sayings that accompany the Northern Irish accent and its been lovely to listen again to those ditty's that are normal to those living here on this green isle, I hope to use some of those througout this post which we hope you will pick up on, this is meant as a term of endearment and not to make a joke or light of the beauty of they way individuals or even nations speak.

most northerly pub in the whole of Ireland

we've really enjoyed travelling around this wonderful country so we have, our friends Andrew and Margaret not only lent us their house but also their car so we have been able to travel far and wide, hence to title of this post, during the first week we spent three days exploring three different areas, the north coast with it's wild cliffs, including the stunning and somewhat crazy freak of nature, or God's creative hand, that of the Giants Causeway, then we travelled west towards the lakes of Fermanagh popping into visit the little town of Omagh which was hit by a huge terrorist bomb in 1998 two days after I'd left for my summer holiday that year, more of which later, on the third day we ventured east to the Mountains of Mourne which weren't quite as spectacular as we had have hoped to be sure.

panorama at malin head 

all of this travelling was usually done on the tiny back roads which were being used by the very very busy farmers who were making the most of the dry weather to cut their silage so the roads we packed with tractors and their trailers, it was incredible to see the amount of tractors working in the tiny fields, it seemed that they were all out at once which made some maneuvers of the road very challenging so it did.

showjumping at armagh show

over the weekend we joined the throngs of people, mostly families with young children or ladies on horses, with very few men who must have been busy with their tractor work, at the Armagh country show, therefore the ladies on horses weren't out of place, in fact they put on a very good display as we enjoyed watching the show jumping. we also loved the tent full of show poultry, were a little scared of the huge male pigs and fell in love, or at least Maz did, with the cute Alpacas who strutted their stuff in the show ring. we had a grand time but i can safety say that I've done my country show stint for this year.

alpaca and maz

so.......(long pause for no real reason).....

on Sunday we made the short visit to the local vineyard church here in Dungannon so we did and we greeted by a joyful congregation who seemed very pleased so see us, they meet in a local school, which isn't that surprising given the nature of the vineyard church movement who not only seem to have a monopoly on the doughnut consumption of the world but also the use of school halls for their Sunday services, however what was simply wonderful was that this school was a mixed school, meaning that unlike most state schools this accepted both catholic and protestant children and taught them in the same classes.

lake in the mountains of mourne

the topic of the mixed schooling or should we say the predominately segregated schooling that is provided throughout Northern Ireland is one of those difficult subjects to be bought up, this segregation can still be seen, mostly in the poorer areas of most towns with British or Irish flags flying in certain areas as well as curb stones and walls with red, white and blue showing off their support for one side or the other. with a nation and people who seem so friendly, open and welcoming it's still something that we're finding hard to get our heads around, we are well aware that like the issues taking place in South Africa there lays a deep and long set of problems which have led to the current state of affairs however its very hard to comprehend as an 'outsider' and having seen and lived through some of the violence that took place whilst I was working in Omagh way back in 1998 where 29 people lost their lives is something that is hard to understand.

fermanagh lakes

that said great strides seem to be been made and we welcome the steps that have been made to see this wonderful nation come together and live in harmony, it might take another generation, but as in South Africa this generation can greatly influence the past and we continue to see this happen, here, there and all over the world.

around the causeway coast

not content to stay in one place for too long we made the longer trip over the border into the Republic of Ireland where we visited the county of Donegal, famous for its west coast fishing villages and the most northerly part of the whole of Ireland, that of Malin Head. now if like me you listen (or should that be endure) the shipping forecast, which usually interrupts my enjoyment of listening to the cricket on Test Match Special, you we know that Malin Head has a weather station that provides information on the upcoming weather to ensure that the local shipping around the British Isle is kept safe. it was great to visit this promontory and to also enjoy a glass of the black stuff in the most northerly pub in Ireland.

at the giants causeway

we stayed the night in an airbnb home and were hosted by charles and his wife who made us feel very welcome, the area around their home is stunning and with the sun not setting until well after ten o'clock in the evening it was lovely to be able to venture down to the local harbour and watch some dolphins happliy playing and jumping clean out of the water.

walks around the causeway

our journey back to our hub in Dungannon was made via the vehicle ferry across the wide Lough Foyle, one side we were in Eire (or the Republic of Ireland) on the other back in Northern Ireland, where we continued our venture through the glens of Antrim stopping off in Glenariff where we enjoyed a walk up and around some waterfalls in Glenariff Forest Park.

time for another pint?

Margaret's family and friends have made us feel very very welcome with ideas of where to visit, the provision of maps and even a meals out with them on both Saturday evening and Sunday lunchtime. it must be said we will miss Ireland but hope to return soon to enjoy some more sunny weather and walks in the beautiful country side.

time in the south-south west

artistic shot of the coast line!

upon leaving Bristol we made the journey down to Cornwall where we spent a week with my sister, her family and my mum and dad (Tim's side of the family). it was slightly strange stepping from our roles as both mum and dad or Noni and Granddad one week to brother and sister-in-law or even son and daughter-in-law the next. that said we have an amazing relationship with both our parents and siblings (and sibling in laws!) so we really enjoyed the week as good friends. this is a real testimony to having grown up in a loving family who's support still continues as we seek the next steps of our live, thanks guys! 

my sister on her birthday in the sun.

however it wouldn't be right to let things lay and its always fun to play big brother to my little sister so there was plenty of laughter much of the time as we enjoyed playing boule (a french bowls style game) which she was actually much better at than we had remembered, as well as playing some competitive table football, which of course Tim was quite good at!

part of the reason for making the trip down was to enable us to celebrate my sisters birthday which took place on the Sunday where Cornwall did its self proud providing us with some wonderful sunny weather and so fine produce from the ocean that dramatically crashes into its shores on the northern coast where we were staying. 

tim's lunch.....

we ate at 'the boathouse' where Maz enjoyed a bowl full of crabs claws which she cracked her way through and I had the challenge of making my way through a whole Spider crab which was cooked fresh after being plucked from the sea water tank it was sharing with its friends earlier in the day!

the weather was incredibly kind to us and its true to say that we can't remember the seas looking quite so blue and clear or the sand on the beaches as clean as we found them, it's funny how being away from home for a while makes you appreciate the place a little more when you return with new eyes.

you can't buy fresh fish here!

most of our days were spent chilling on the beach, no not literally, as we said the weather was quite warm for England!, my sister and husband have been ticking off the miles of the South West Coast Path over the last few years and undeterred by the opportunity to spend some valuable family time with us they ventured off each morning with either their daughter or my dad in tow, as well as my sisters father in law who has been walking the path with them on and off over the last few years*

dad on the coastal path

my nephew and his girlfriend were also down for a few days and we spent some lovely uncle and auntie time with them, he thinks of himself as a bit of a surfer dude but on his second day in the water he came off his board and ended up in the accident and emergency ward in Truro, we think it was a bit of attention seeking as his girlfriend is a model and therefore he has a bit of catching up to do!

auntie time

one afternoon we went down at the harbour trying to seek out the best place to purchase some locally caught fish for the BBQ (braai) that we'd planned for later in the day, unfortunately it would seem that English fishermen are unable to sell directly to the public from the harbour wall, as was the tradition for hundreds of years (does the European union have something to do with this?) and even the local supermarkets didn't have a fresh fish counter, come on this is Newquay for petes sake where else could we expect to get some fresh fish.

surfer dude

the BBQ did turn out fine and was slightly cheaper than our trip to the world famous chef, Rick Stein, fish and chip shop, which is located in the nearby town of Padstow, to be honest we've had better fish and definitely better chips from the local chippy in Aylesbury, we were a bit disappointed and our bank balance took a bit of a hit too.

our weekend cottage

Unfortunately the week flew by but we did have one or two highlights to look forward over the weekend to before we jetted off to Northern Ireland on Monday. on Friday we drove the long coast hugging roads from Newquay to Brighton, very picturesque but also very slow!, then on up to Horsham where we were joined by Emma Podmore (a Village of Hope volunteer) who was staying with us in an amazing country home for a couple of nights. 

the happy couple

We had all made the long trip, either up from Newquay or Cape Town to celebrate the wedding of an ex-volunteer from our time in South Africa. Shana had spent six months with us at the end of 2013 and was getting married to her fiancee Chris. The wedding was awesome and it was such a blessing to be able to see Shana looking so happy as her dream had come true.

On Sunday we visited Josh, our middle son and his girlfriend, at her family home in Kent, the day was beautiful and it was really cool to spend time with him just chilling out, chatting, watching the dire England v Ireland football match and the somewhat tedious Formula One grand prix from Canada, a race which usually brings some great entertainment, well at least Lewis Hamilton picked up a much needed win. 

crazy people

So we're now sitting in Ireland and will update the blog later on in the month once we have refueled on this next phase of our adventure.

*please note my sister and husband live in the middle of England and have been walking the coastal paths on and off during their holidays, they don't do this full time, if that was so they would be very slow walkers, which they aren't!

family time in Bristol

catching up with Arron on Skype!

after our week in Buckinghamshire we made the two hour trip down the M4 motorway to spend five days with our eldest son, Chris, his wife and our three wonderful little Grandchildren in Bristol.

the journey down was uneventful other than the fact that we are extremely grateful to our friends Andy and Val for lending us their little Vauxhall Corsa for the duration of our stay which is a true blessing and one that means that we are able to make these types of trips up and down this green and pleasant land.

returning boot campers!

one thing that we have so appreciated during our time serving in South Africa over the last six years is the fact that we have been able to maintain and even create a relationship between ourselves and the Grandchildren who have all been born since we moved out. much of this could be due to the fact that we have the ability to Skype call as and when we feel the need but we do believe that God has held our family and therefore those relationships which we feel extremely blessed by.

busy wittlers

it's funny being grandparents as you really don't have to do anything to feel very very special, both Alfie and Eli are boys with different personalities, Alfie slightly quieter and defiantly the more sporty, with Eli maybe more adventurous with very little worry about his own safety. Honor is a busy little 15 month year old baby girl who is into everything and has ants in her pants. to walk into their lives every year or so has been amazing and we feel accepted the moment we walk through the door.

capturing precious moments.

Chris and Claire are creative and attentive parents with the children's needs at the forefront of their minds and once again it was great to see them working together to make their children's lives all the more exciting with a broad outlook on life.

We enjoyed many walks and especially enjoyed the one in Leigh Woods which sits above the world famous Clifton Suspension Bridge, which is based on a design by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and opened in 1864. Chris bought along the boys adventure bags which contained bug collecting pots, plastic microscopes, as well as string and a pen knife to make bows and arrows to enable us to play in the forest.

Chris runs his own business which includes 'boot camp's' which take place in the park which sits in Victoria Square where they rent a flat, as it was school holidays Maz joined Claire and the boys for a 45 minute session of hardcore work out, I had the honour of looking after Honor, who thankfully slept peacefully for the whole time!

a braai or a bbq?

Undeterred by the weather we ventured out onto the balcony of the flat, a home where the great, if not contentious, English cricketer W.G Grace lived in between 1894-1896, and enjoyed a largely South African style BBQ where we cooked up some Boerewors (a traditional sausage made from beef with lamb or pork instead of the wholly only pork which is the norm in England), bought from the Clifton Village Butchers local butcher who comes from somewhere near Johannesburg. Eli loves Biltong so we bought him a packet and we had a feel of our life in South Africa with all the other familiar products that the store sells.

During the week we also had chance to spend a day with our mentor at his home in Keynsham, once again the time we spend with Mal is the highlight of any trip home and with his helping set out and encouragement thought around our sabbatical time has certainly been key both now and prior to us moving out to set up the Village of Hope.

home of w.g grace

We also had the pleasure of meeting up with a volunteer who spent three months with us last year, Katie lives just down the road from Chris and Claire and we enjoyed an evening with her and her parents in their lovely home, it was great to hear about her trip to Bethel in Redding California where she hopes to return in the autumn.

It was sad to say goodbye on Saturday morning but to know that we weren't rushing back to airport but would be seeing them again for Honor's dedication in a few weeks made the leaving a little easier.