travels

7 walks to do around Dublin

April 14, 2017 by Meg 19 Comments

Since arriving in Dublin we have made it our mission to do all the Dublin walks/trails we can get our hands on! We both come from families who love to hike and walk in forests. Since we are trying to conserve our money, while I wait for a job! Getting out and going for a walk doesn’t cost a damn thing! Plus, we love to pack a picnic and it is a great way to really see the city from all angles.

Since we rely on public transport, I thought I would share some of the more obvious Dublin walk options first, the ones that are easy to get to. Then later, I will write a post on the harder to get to walking/hiking trails. If you are keen to get out this weekend, here are some great walks you can do, in and around Dublin this weekend:

Poolbeg Lighthouse (11 km)

We are very fortunate that this is right at our doorstep. I might be a bit trickier to get to for others. It is an 11 km from our door to the lighthouse and back. I suggest you park along the Sandymount beach promenade and start the walk from there. It is such a varied walk, starting along the promenade, then into Sean Moore’s park, bit of a hill through some forest bit, out onto a service road, along the beach and then out onto the pier. There is a guy in a coffee van most weekends which is a great place to stop for a coffee either before or after the walk along the pier. Just a word of warning that at high tide, and bad weather the pier gets beaten with the waves. I tried to run out there on a windy day, and ended up having to turn around. It was a big NOPE! cold, windy, and wet? I did not sign up for that. But on a good day, I imagine the pier may be busy with others taking in the good weather, and the stunning views. It is well worth it.

Sandymount Beach Promenade (5km)

If you are not keen on a full-on trek, you could just walk from one end of Sandymount Beach to the other end and back. If you do both ways it is a nice 5km walk, plus it has the most incredible sunset views.

Ringsend to Ballsbridge Canal Walk (4km)

There are some great walks along parts of the river or canal around Dublin. We are lucky to be very close to Aviva stadium, so we often walk along the river to and from Lansdowne train station. It is also a great to cycle or run, if walking is not your vibe. From Ringsend church, you can follow the river all the way past the stadium, under a bridge and all the way to Ballsbridge. You could even extend this walk and cross over to Herbert Park.

The Dropping Well to Bushy Park River Walk (5km)

Truthfully, this is a bit further away from us. We took bikes from grand canal docks along the canal/river all the way to the dropping well restaurant before starting this section on foot. The dropping well is in such a cool spot, however, on Sundays it is quite a popular spot for the elderly and families (they do a good roast special!) We grabbed a drink and sat outside on the deck. The great thing is there is a smoking and non-smoking part to the outside deck, so you can still enjoy the views without getting smoked out.

Then if you hop onto a train, you can do anyone of these walks too:

Dun Laoghaire (from 3km)

Take the DART from town to Dun Laoghaire (Mallin) station. There are two piers walks to do in Dun Laoghaire (east and west), but you could also walk along the promenade to forty foot (and go swimming, if you are brave!) Plus, it is an excuse to grab a teddy’s ice cream, which is a great day out in my books! You can read more about Dun Laoghaire here.

Killiney/Dalkey Hill (2km)

Take the DART from town to Dalkey station. As you come out of the station, keep left and follow the signs up to Killiney hill. You could walk up, catch the view, and walk back to Dalkey, or you could walk up from Dalkey and back down to Killiney. There is a DART station in both little towns and the full loop is around 2km, so not too far too walk at all. You can read more about Dalkey here.

Howth (2km – 6km)

Take the DART to Howth. Here you will have plenty of options, including grabbing a mandatory fish and chips. You could walk along the pier, along the short promenade in front of the harbor. Or if you are feeling very active, you could do the cliff walk. Some parts are a bit tough (uphill), but for the most part, the views distract you and it is a great loop. You can walk along the cliffs, and then when you get to the top, reward yourself with a pint at the Summit Hill Inn. The cliff walk is 6km. If you are lazy after the walk (or after too many pints), you can grab a bus which is right outside the pub, alternatively, it is a downhill trek back to Howth station.

Bray to Greystones (6km)

Technically not is county Dublin (it’s on the border), but not to be missed. Grab the DART and get off at Bray. You can then walk up Bray’s Head, which is short in distance but all uphill, but the view of Bray is amazing. Then you can come back down and do the bray to Greystones cliff walk. This walk is 6 km (one way), and not at all strenuous. It’s pretty flat. But the views are amazing. You can also watch the train go by, and grab the train from Greystones back home. Just a word of warning, the train doesn’t stop at Greystones very frequently, especially on Sundays, so you may need to wait a bit for the train. You can read more about what we did in Bray here.

Which walk have you done? What have you got planned this weekend? With the long weekend upon us, it is a great opportunity to get out the house and get a bit active! I know my main reason is to try work off all the creme eggs I intend on shoveling in my mouth this weekend!

Unlock the simple life,

~Meg~

p.s. If social media is your thing (snap! It’s my fave too!), you should totally follow me on Instagram.

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All you need to know about bringing a pet into Ireland

April 10, 2017 by Meg 20 Comments

When we decided we were keen to move to Ireland, we first looked at how our furbaby was going to get over there. You see, we might not have any human babies but we do have Jack, and well, he is our baby. Jack is part of our little wolf-pack, and so he definitely was coming over – no matter what.

I mentioned in the previous post that there is no quarantine period when you send your pet over to Ireland from South Africa. However there are some steps you need to take in order to ensure a seamless transition into the country. Here is all you need to know about bringing your pet over to Ireland with you:

Talk to your vet.

We spoke to our vet before deciding to send Jack over and decided against giving him any drugs while he flew. We wanted him to be able to wake himself up and breathe easily – as these are concerns some Pugs have. Our vet also said that you should take into account your pet’s age. Jack was turning 3 at the time, so he was still young enough to travel. Our vet said that pets over the age of 8 or so, or pets that have ailments, it makes travelling with them a bit more tricky.

Allow 90 days for medical clearance.

In order to obtain access into Ireland, you need to take your pet to your local vet and get blood taken to check that they are up to date with their vaccinations (most importantly, the rabies vaccination). Ireland doesn’t have a problem with Rabies, in fact, your pet won’t need this vaccination whilst he lives in Ireland. So they are extra careful that any pet coming over to Ireland is fully vaccinated against Rabies. The trick with this blood work is waiting for the results. It cost us around R2000 to get the bloods taken and sent off. Your vet sends it off to a lab (In South Africa it goes to Onderstepoort), then you wait to receive the certificate that your pet is cleared to travel. When we sent off the bloods, Onderstepoort had been on a strike and was backlogged by one month. It took 2 months to get the certificate. *Important: You need the original that gets sent to your vet. From the day that the blood is taken, you have to wait 90 days before you can travel. This was a bit confusing for us, and the reason I ended up having to wait 3 weeks after Rob left to be able to send Jack and myself over (Also, it is 90 days, not 3 months).

Your pet needs to arrive within 5 days of yourself.

Either five days before or after you arrive. Any longer and it could be seen as you are trying to import a dog that is not your own. The problem when you are moving countries, you might not have a place set up yet. Although we had friends who paid for kenneling here in Ireland while they searched for a home, we didn’t want to put any unnecessary stress on Jack (so we made it kind of stressful for ourselves instead!). Rob flew over first and found a place for us to stay – then Jack and I flew over a day apart (I arrived before he did).

If you can afford it, use a professional.

Although I am sure you can fly your pet over on your own, the hassle and stress of making sure you have all the right paper work is just not worth it in my opinion. We used Keringa Pet Wings (friend’s used them prior to us). I have to say, they were incredibly patient and understanding with all my questions and concerns. You simply fill in a form online and they will send you a quote to fly your pet overseas.

The quote includes costs for vet checks before he leaves (not the blood test), made-to-order crate for transporting, boarding while waiting for the international/connecting flight (we flew Jack from Durban to Johannesburg then onto Dublin – with a stopover in Frankfurt). You need to measure your pet and then they will make a crate that is the perfect size for them. The costs vary based on when you send them over, stop overs and boarding, as well as crate size. We paid R18000 to send Jack over mid November 2016.

Traveling and Crates.

I was super worried about this one. Jack had never flown before, nor had he ever been in a crate. This dog literally has a better life than most humans! He sleeps in our bed, under the duvet with his head on the pillow. I am convinced that if I don’t find a job, Rob and I would stop eating just so that Jack could keep eating his fancy, vet-approved meals. So I was super worried how the crate and flying would go. He loves travelling in a car (he loves the adventure and looking out the window), but honestly, he is happiest when he is with us.

But I have to say that Keringa Pet Wings were amazing. He arrived on the other side, walked out of the crate and was his usually happy self from the get go. Here is a little video clip of Jack when he first arrived in Dublin:

If we were ever thinking of moving back to South Africa, or anywhere in the world for that matter – I would highly recommend using Keringa Petwings (and no, I wasn’t paid to say that!). Even if you just want to ask a million questions, they have been in this business for over 20 years – ask them anything, they can offer you some great advice.

I hope you found the tips informative, let me know if you have any other questions!

Unlock the simple life,

~Meg~

p.s. If social media is your thing (snap! It’s my fave too!), you should totally follow me on Instagram.

p.p.s. I try post varied content once or twice a month, to be sure you don’t miss out on the new post you should sign up and get all the news straight in your inbox – Sign up now!

Six reasons to visit South Africa (excluding Cape Town)

April 6, 2017 by Meg 34 Comments

Since living in Ireland, the small talk when meeting new people often leads to a conversation about whether they have visited my home country, South Africa. 7 of 10 people will say they have been to Cape Town, for the other 3, they have been fortunate to explore Kruger National Park.

It always kinda annoys me that everyone heads to Cape Town without really looking at everything South Africa can offer a tourist. Truthfully, there is so much more! South Africa really has it all: mountains, beaches, good food, the best weather and the people are by far the friendliest! We proud Saffa’s love being super modest about how awesome South Africa is, but truthfully, our country is our best kept secret! Maybe we don’t talk about it enough because we like to keep it all to ourselves?

So I thought I would let you in a few of my FAVE places in South Africa, and why you need to make a detour (or Sho’t Left as we Saffa’s would say) and try visit these places. Yes of course by all means go and see Table Mountain, but open your mind and expand your horizons that South Africa has a lot more to offer you.

Mountain Views:

Keen for a bit of outdoor adventure, some hiking and hitting the trails? Then you need to visit the Drakensberg. The pic above is from a place called Thendele which has great views of the Amphitheatre . My most favourite place in the Drakensberg is Injusiti. It will always hold a special place in my heart because that is where Rob proposed to me. If you are looking for a limited cell phone reception, great hiking trails, splendid views and stories around the campfire. You need to visit the ‘berg, as we locals like to call it.

Outdoor adventure:

Another one of our fave holidays was actually last year, when we went to Blyder River Canyon, Bourke’s Potholes, God’s Window, The Pinnacle, The Three Rondavels, and Pilgrim’s Rest. All these stop-off sights have the varying terrain, with endless views. It has the perfect spots for panoramic 360 shots to make your friends back home jealous.

Looking for cheap thrills:

Bit of a daredevil? Like to live life to the full? You could head to Bloukrans Bridge to bungy jump (you will not find me there). You could also head to the midlands in KZN and do the Karkloof Canopy Tours, which admittedly, was super fun even though I had my eyes closed for most of it. Rob’s sister and hubby have jumped off the Soweto cooling towers (see pic below), I have bravely run past them (what? 21km is a tough run!).

You will find adventure of all types all over South Africa, just please don’t be that person who goes shark cage diving. Similar to riding elephants, or feeding lions, it makes my skin crawl that we humans like to taunt animals for pleasure – don’t. just don’t.

Let’s go on “Safari”:

So you are keen to tick the big five off your bucket list? What better place than travelling to Africa to go on Safari. Firstly, when visiting South Africa, you can’t call it “Africa”. Africa is the whole continent, and South Africa is one of 54 countries in Africa (and it is miles away from Cameroon – totally FYI). Secondly: we don’t call it a safari, we call it a game drive. And although I will admit that I have not had the fortune to explore the Kruger – there are a ton of other game reserves that you can explore. Some of my personal faves are actually in the Eastern Cape; at the start of my honours year my class went to Lalibela for our orientation. Also while studying, I met a few friends who worked at Shamwari Game Reserve too. Another under estimated game reserve is actually the Pilanesberg, which is just a short drive out of Joburg (near to Sun City).

Hit the beach, bro:

Instead of heading to the over priced and over crowded beaches around Camps Bay (plus the water there is freezing!) My personal fave beach growing up was Cintsa: rolling dunes, vast open beaches, and back in the day – the best place to collect sea shells. More recently, we went on honeymoon to Coffee Bay, and Hole in the Wall. Not only is it affordable to visit, it has some great beaches. It truly is a slice of South Africa that is still, for the most part, untouched.

Wine and dine:

You came for the wine and cheese. I hear you! If I am completely honest, you may have got me on this one – Western Cape has all the wine farms you could ever want. It really is a treat to wine farm hop along the garden route. However, two of my fave foodie towns are actually Knysna and wait for it… Johannesburg.

Joburg has a massive foodie scene. Great restaurants like: Marble, DW11-13, Licorish, Wombles, to name a few. Heck, you should even go to Thundergun, which has the best ribs in South Africa! I could go on but it is making me hungry and I am already craving a good piece of steak. I haven’t even talked up the food markets in Maboneng and Braamies. If you are looking for good food, trust me, Jozi is the place to visit. And if you do, let me know, I can send you a list of all our faves.

While I could go on and on about how wonderful South Africa is, I hope this post has showed you that there is more to South Africa than just visiting Cape Town and Kruger. South Africa is filled with everything you could ever want, it has deep history and great lessons on the power and resilience of it’s people. This post has actually awoken a bit of sadness as I am yet to find a place that is as good as home sounds right now.

So, when are you planning on visiting South Africa? and for the locals – where is your fave place to take tourists?

Unlock the simple life,

~Meg~

p.s. If social media is your thing (snap! It’s my fave too!), you should totally follow me on Instagram.

p.p.s. I try post varied content once or twice a month, to be sure you don’t miss out on the new post you should sign up and get all the news straight in your inbox – Sign up now!

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