Life's a beach....

A quiet weekend to end up April 2012... Starting slowly with a visit to the Milk Market, got some lovely tart-let, which did not last very long ;)

"Om nom nom nom"

Then Sunday was off to Kilkee, for some scuba-diving activities. Gorgeous cloudless blue sky, but with with chilly wind... no hot stuff to warm us up.

Kilkee Pier

The dive on itself was a technical training ( 9meters 35minutes ) to iron up some skills, like:

•  the frog kick
• dry suit inversion
• SMB deployment
• Trim adjustement

Quite enjoyable despite the hard work and there was a great visibility underwater.

Our friends from Lough Dergh were also there, and you can read about their dives :  http://www.ldsac.ie/news/245-farewell-april

I quit my diving gear, in the afternoon, to focus on more important matters, aka the pub (the Skinny Dog in Kilkee ) and the European Rugby Cup Semi Final between my club of heart ASM and Leinster.

Arrrr SM...

Great fantastic game... probably the best of the season, sadly it was not meant to be for my team, and we lost 15-19... despite a desperate last 5 minutes push.  :( Now ASM will turn to the French championship to win their second Brennus....

Back to the beach...

Windsurf on kilkee beach

 And the day was almost over... 

Bringing the boat to Kilkee

Another gorgeous weekend, with clear blue sky in Limerick.
A very early start on saturday, in order to bring the Aughinish Diving Club boat to Kilkee, using the Tarbert Ferry.
So by 9:30 AM the boat was on Kilkee slip, ready to launch.

Anuka on Kilkee slip before launch

 We had a lovely dive in Diamond Rocks, just outside the bay. The sea was calm initially, but the weather started to pick up. Underwater there was quite a bit of movement, surprising since we were around slack water, loads of life down there, with fishes and a couple of small lobsters.

George's Head ... calm sea

 After the dive we decided, to recover the boat. Back in Limerick, I ended the day with a lovely walk up to Barringtons Pier.

Limerick viewed from Barrington Pier

  

Sunday morning, I was back in Kilkee for another dive, shore-based this time, absolutely lovely. We enter the water through the Pollock holes, and headed to Doctor's Rocks though a gap in the rocks.
We were welcome in the first meters by a conger eel swimming peacefully through the seaweed.
In the first minutes of the dive, we stumble upon a sleepy dog fish. After another snorkel in Newfie, I headed back to Limerick.
Ended up the day by a walk up to the living bridge in UL, with some French and Italian company.

The Living Bridge - UL

Born on the walk way.

Amongst the graffiti near the Locke, I found the thought of the day ...

Love is ....

First Diving Weekend of 2012

My diving club Aughinish went to Kerry in Portmagee for the first weekend away, using the pretext of Easter Bank Holiday.

So what makes a diving weekend away ?
Answer in pictures...

Towing the boat down... and back

Launching, mooring the boat in the harbour...

Anchor in Portmagee harbour...

A good bit of delicious food...

A tiny bit of drinking...

Enjoying the scenery...

Sadly no underwater pictures, since i did not bring my camera this time, but in the end 2 lovely dive with one magnificient crawfish, some anxious and damp covering of the diver in the boat, may be a head trauma or 2.... in the end a good weekend.

And as an added bonus: ASM is going to the semi-final of the H-Cup :D

Playing with instagram

I have found myself playing a lot with  Instagram recently released for Android.
The only thing missing right now is a direct upload to Flickr [UPDATE: solved via IFTT].

Playmobil

Arrr !!!!!

Lego

Legos are in formation, ready for the parade.

Dinner time

Dinner... Salad, egg, chorizo...

More to come, I feel....

So who is visiting this site ....

Well according to the march report, mainly Ireland, then France, a bit from the US.
The icelandic one, I think I know who you are ;)
But I am clueless for the Brazilian and the Russian....

Sunny Snorkel was no april fool....

A couple more pics from last sunday snorkel in Kilkee.

Danger sign near the jumping boards

Clear water....

Trying to snorkel up to George's head ... not

Navigating through the seaweed...

House with sea view in Kilkee

Link to the previous post.

 A very busy day in Kilkee with 5-6 clubs down the slip, you can read more on the diving (CFT) website:
http://diving.ie/site/post/2012/04/south-west-coxn-course/

How to end the week well

Underwater summary of the week

Found in newfie, a natural smiley...

Well, it has been a great week, with the escapes to the beach Tuesday and Wednesday. I was back in town Thursday night, with the usual concert in Bourkes. This time it was Rarely Seen Above Ground ( R.S.A.G. ).
A brilliant artist drummer, I was quite surprised by the performance in a very good way.

leaflet Bourkes

RSAG in Bourkes

Friday, was quiet at home, watching TV and chatting on FB. A bit of rest before having a rugby day, watching the French league, with a worrying prestation from ASM - hopefully it will be better next weekend - then heading saturday night to Thomond Park for the Munster-Leinster game. Not a great rugby game infairness but the ambience in Thomond is always good, even if the boys in blue managed to calm down the public.

Munster pre-game mascot

Sunday morning brought by the sun, which was perfect for a nice spin to Kilkee. A full good hour snorkel, a nice hot chocolate cake and small catch up with the diving buddies....

Anemone in Newfie

Under ....

Checking out the divers down below....

Me

Nice hot chocolate cake

In summary: good music, good company, the sun, the sea, some rugby game... what else can you ask for.