Thursday, September 11, 2003 (Londonderry – Northern
Ireland)
How difficult is it to get a new exhaust?
Starting to understand Belfast. Every city has its congestion. The dividing
lines of Derry. Pockets of reception makes TV viewing a little
awkward.
Day 183. You’d think that a relatively
simple matter like getting the exhaust repaired would be straightforward. If
only that were so. We drove to the Kwikfit garage that was supposed to be able
to accommodate the brick this morning but, upon arrival, it became clear that we
would not fit through their garage door either. A ‘discussion’ soon
ensued regarding the run-around that we’ve been given by four different
Kwikfit garages about their ability to service our vehicle. In the end, the
manager of this latest garage called around in search of a place, any place,
which would take us. It was so frustrating to know that they had the part
(I’d actually seen it myself) yet they could not install it. The manager
did eventually find a garage that had a pit. This was encouraging as it meant
that it would not be necessary to get the brick up onto the ramp but it still
left the question of getting the thing through the front door. As a bonus, the
manager of the place with the pit told me over the phone that he could have the
part ready today and could have it installed for just £60 - almost £20
cheaper than Kwikfit. To cut a long story short, and because I’m tired of
writing about the ongoing saga, we drove across town to the other place, just
managed to squeeze through the main garage entrance and drove out again thirty
minutes later with the new exhaust part
fitted.
With all the driving around
that we’ve done over the past couple of days, we now have a pretty good
feel for what the Belfast road system looks like but have still yet to explore
the city proper. We still wanted to travel farther up North to visit the
Giant’s Causeway and we knew that we were going to return to Belfast to
take the ferry crossing to Scotland. So, instead of heading back into the city,
again, we decided to take off and head North and to re-visit Belfast at a later
date when we come back to catch the ferry to
Scotland.
As we were heading out of
the city, Sandy was looking at the guidebook and started to ask about
Londonderry. After a brief chat, we decided to alter our plan again and so we
headed in its direction to see what was there. After seeing Londonderry, we
would then travel East along the northern coastline to the Giant’s
Causeway before turning back South to Belfast. This way, we would get to see a
good chunk of Northern Ireland after
all.
The usual problem of where to
park a large vehicle in a city already battling traffic congestion problems once
again awaited us after the hour or so journey against the fierce, oncoming wind.
We eventually found refuse in the tourist information office staff car park. The
young lady that gave us all the information on what to do and see here told us
that they often get campervans with the same problem and offer them the use of
their car park.
We strolled around on
top of the ancient, fortified city wall and admired the various wall murals that
have been painted by Catholics and Protestants alike over the past several
decades. The area in which they reside can be inferred from the political
statements depicted by the murals, and both sides of the political conflict are
equally represented. Perhaps the most ominous ‘feature’ that is
clearly evident in several sections of the city and surrounding housing estates
are the huge barriers that have been erected to segregate the two religious and
political feuding factions. Huge guard towers wrapped in protective steel wire
mesh fencing and laced with security cameras pointing in all directions are
dotted around the place. Whatever the air of calm and serenity that now
encompasses this place, the violent and relatively recent past still echoes
around the streets and
alleyways.
Since we will be staying
overnight and returning to the city tomorrow morning to take in the local museum
and perhaps a cathedral or some other site of interest, we went in search of a
place to hide away. A large supermarket with an even larger car park just on the
outskirts of town seemed like a good bet and so here we are. With the exception
of some playful youths out enjoying themselves a little too close for comfort,
we are otherwise quite comfortable
here.
Yesterday evening, after the
realisation that there was no more Star Trek to watch set in, I broke out the
powered antenna in a vain attempt to try to see if we might get any TV reception
– we never have to date. To my surprise, I was able to pick up four
channels and we watched TV all evening. I tried my luck again here in Derry and
was able to capture no less than a dozen channels and so an evening in front of
the tube was again on the cards.
For
some reason, I failed to remember to top off the water tank when we were at the
campsite in Anahilt a couple of days ago and we’ve now exhausted our
supply. We will need to make sure to find a campsite for tomorrow
evening.
Posted: Thu - September 11, 2003 at 01:22 PM