More castle-visiting for The Wombat

Back in the summer, The Wombat took a trip around Donegal, including through the Glenveagh National Park. He liked it so much that he decided to go back in September, and this time, to visit the castle. (He likes castles a lot.)

Although no photos were allowed in Glenveagh Castle itself, The Wombat greatly enjoyed the short tour. Even if all the stag motifs all over the place were a bit much.
The weather wasn't all that great, but the gardens still looked lovely - here The Wombat is looking at the back of the orangery.


Outside of the sheltered grounds, the weather was very blustery - The Wombat had to cling tightly to this fence to avoid being blown into the old swimming pool or the lough below!

How we used to live - USA & Ireland

Near Omagh in Northern Ireland is the Ulster-American Folk Park, a mostly-outdoor museum which aims to show how people lived in the mid-1800s - those who stayed in Ireland and those who left for the States. It has lots of reconstructed buildings which illustrate life on both sides of the Atlantic, with lots of farmland around them.

Here The Wombat is trying to decide what this piece of farm equipment might have been used for.


He wasn't too sure whether it was safe to be surrounded by so many chicken. Maybe he'd be OK if he sat up high?


In the bar, he was thwarted by an empty glass (probably just as well).


And in school, he learnt a valuable lesson.


Finally, in preparation for his future travels, he checked out the cost of being posted to the US. Not sure if he realises those are 1800s prices, though...

Views of Belfast

It's a general rule that when you live in an area, you don't usually do much sight-seeing there. Well, The Wombat is happy to be an exception to that rule, and spent a fairly bright autumn afternoon last week wandering around some bits of Belfast.

He started out by going up in the dome at the Victoria Square shopping centre, to take in the views. Thankfully, there's a lift; his short little legs would never have managed the stairs.


Back at ground level, he went to view the Albert memorial clock - it was built back in the 1860s on rather soggy ground and has a worrying lean.


He then had a stroll down to the weir to view the River Lagan - here you can see the M3 bridge, with the World Heritage-listed cranes, Samson and Goliath, in the background.


And also down at the weir, he had a look at the Big Fish - its ceramic scales have prints of playbills, newspaper cartoons and advertisements, and other things to commerate Belfast's history.

Travelling back in time

The reason for The Wombat's recent absence has finally been explained - he'd taken a trip across the Atlantic, and while there, attempted to travel back in time (and not just in the sense of having to post archive photos). The best he could manage, however, was a trip to the Maryland Renaissance Festival, where he ate, drank, and made merry with the best of them.

The Wombat tried on a dashing red cloak - if only it came in his size!


The Wombat considered buying a dress for a particular lady-wombat... alas, this also did not come in wombat sizes.


He got to sample some Steak on a Stake, a traditional RF staple! (Although he wasn't sure if curly fries were very authentically medieval.)


He had one of the best seats in the house to watch the Rogues playing some excellent music!


And after the show, The Wombat had an opportunity to meet the bodhran player and lead singer of the Rogues, Nelson Stewart.


Oh, no! Nelson turned out to have a secret taste for Wombat! Help!


Safe from the hungry bodhran player, and having had an otherwise fantastic day, The Wombat flew away on admired a beautiful piece of dragon metalwork.

More from the archive

The Wombat had a bit of a jaunt around parts of County Donegal earlier this summer (back when the weather in Ireland was actually decent).

Here he is in front of the Grianán of Aileach, an Iron Age stone fort. It was too windy to actually take a photo of The Wombat sitting on top of the walls, but on a calmer day, it's great to stand up there (about 250m above sea level) and look at the fantastic views.


Later, he was taken on a long car journey through Glenveagh National Park and around the coast up to the Bloody Foreland. This photo was taken somewhere near Gweedore.