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| __...to the website to track the adventures of two kiwis off on a rather belated O.E. We hope to keep friends up to date on the successes and obstacles we strike on the way. The first hurdle is to crack the U.K work scene. Armed with a four-year visa, limited finances but a couple of credit cards we hope to find jobs quickly. Liz will seek work teaching initially but hopes to look at other spheres. Ian's ready to take on just about anything!
In our Shire it is quite trendy for people to go shopping for the day in Ireland. As you are probably aware we can see Ireland on a clear day from our village. So we decided to take the ferry over to Belfast in Northern Ireland. Shopping wasn’t on our list of priorities but we have been promising ourselves a visit to Belfast as long as we have been here. We decided to take a sightseeing tour of the city and learn something of its turbulent political past and industrial achievements. The Industrial achievements consisted mainly of the former shipbuilding industry and especially the construction of the Titanic. All we saw was two huge industrial cranes called Samson and Goliath and a lot of industrial wasteland, but enough said of that. We drove
through the Shankill Road (protestant) and Falls Road (catholic) districts.
We saw the wall murals in each area supporting their own paramilitary
polititical views and also other Terrorist groups throughout the world
such as the Basque Separatist Movement and the Palestine Liberation Organisation
etc. These road names seemed to be forever etched into our memories by
the constant conflict between the two sides in the last few decades of
the 20th century, as viewed nightly on our TV screens back in NZ. There
was a high barrier fence erected between the two areas (70 feet high)
and numerous roads blocked off, even now. Many businesses and shops are
still heavily shuttered and there are high masts with security camera’s
everywhere. There is a glimmer of hope in the city with some Integrated
Schools and Glass Fronted Buildings but we thought that Belfast was not
yet a city we would recommend or want to return to.
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