Australia Day in Cobh...

Yesterday the captain informed everyone of what was waiting for us in Cobh.  Cobh was celebrating the fact that after all the years that they had sent ship loads of people out to Australia, this was only the second time that Australia had sent a ship load  back.

We docked just near the town and in easy walking distance.  That was until you wanted to visit the Cathedral,  all up hill and steep at that..... It was Sunday and we couldn’t go into the church as mass had started .... so we decided to continue on to the Old cemetery .....

We walked and walked and consoled ourselves in the fact that it would be a downhill run on the way back.... well that was until we got to the crest  and realised we had another half a mile down hill till we got there... 

Others that we spoke to later,  said they gave up as the only thing they could see at the crest was the 3 large supermarkets at the bottom of the hill. We  had actually been told by a local that the cemetery was just beyond the last of the shops....  so we soldiered on....

The  cemetery had the remains of the old church along with some memorials to the victims of the sunken “Lusitania” and of course boxer , singer and actor Jack Doyle.

After we wandered back into town and had a well deserved coffee....  we checked out some of the shop windows decorated  with an Australian Flavour which was also judged... First prize went to a shop that had everything upside down signifying that we were from down under. 2^nd prize when to a shop with a very beachy feel.... A commendation went to a shop that highlighted the dangers that we are faced with the wild life here in our country.

We found that Cobh were also selling off some of own icons...  this is what we found in the Real estate’s Windows

The Harbour Bridge -  This is an unmistakable landmark in Sydney, Australia and vital transport link to the city.  Potential exists to turn the bridge into a Toll Bridge with a good revenue stream expected.

Ayres Rock –  This is an unmistakable sandstone rock formation in central Australia. Ayres Rock or Uluru is 230 miles by road from Alice Springs and has virtually no development potential as it is a sacred site and world heritage site.

Sydney Opera House – An Iconic building strategically  situated in an unrivalled waterside location on Sydney Harbour. Currently used as a multi performance venue including a Concert Hall with seating for 2678 people and an Opera Theatre with seating for 1507.

To Arrange a viewing for any of these properties please see any Travel Agent.

Cobh had an assortment of Bands and dancers performing and it felt like the whole town was out to welcome us and participated in the festivities.  There were market stalls and BBQ’s and lots of flags!!

We opted to have lunch at a little Quay side restaurant as all the pubs were over flowing.  We sat out on the balcony and enjoyed our lunch and best of all the free wifi...... I did manage to take a picture of it as we sailed past it later in the day.  First thing I did was checked us in on facebook complete with a few pictures then checked out the pictures of the kids back at home.....  Here we ate fish and chips, burgers and mussel’s ... and topped it off with a really yummy banoffie Pie.... ( banana and toffee )

We want to congratulate Cobh on a wonderful day and most of all the most wonderful send off of the whole trip.... We invited ourselves onto Ros and Arnolds balcony and waved and cheered to the hundreds of people below.... it was a sea of Irish and Aussie Flags waved to the sounds of the bands that played below.... Everywhere you looked they were waving .... on the dock, up on street level... from the overlooking houses... it was fantastic.... and even as sailed up the harbour they lined the foreshore .... it was a good Day...... Thankyou Cobh