TRAVELING – IT LEAVES YOU SPEECHLESS, THEN TURNS YOU INTO A STORYTELLER.
– IBN BATTUTA
By
Conal Healy
August 2023
Murwillumbah, NSW, Australia
Australia has been my home since 1988. I was born in Dublin, Ireland, lived there for 26 years, before moving London (1987) and then to Down Under with my then wife, Anna. As an Irish person living in Australia I enjoy the sunshine and everything this country has given me. We raised two Australian children in the land Down Under.
Anna and I loved to travel. We backpacked across Europe in the 1980s. Explored Australia, with the kids. When we had money we spread our wings – New Caledonia, New Zealand and across America and on to Europe (Austria, France, Brussels) and then to Hong Kong.
When Anna died in 2016, I used my itchy feet as an excuse to run away from the pain of my grief. I went to Ireland a few times, to England and Brussels … to escape. In Australia, I wandered the backstreets of Sydney and Melbourne trying to find peace of mind.
Late in 2017, I found a new travel partner, Fran Silk. Together we explored more of Australia. Our relationship developed. I was this Irishman who would occasionally yearn for the green fields of Ireland, and would tell stories of the Wild West Coast of my distant homeland.
In 2018, Fran and I decided to go and see Ireland. Fran wanted to check out her English/Scottish/Irish heritage and we started looking at air fares to London.
The conversation started innocently one night: “Fly into England? Is London close to Paris?” asked Fran.
Having ridden the Eurostar previously, I remarked the City of Light was about 2.5 hours by train.
“Can we nip across to Paris?” Fran asked. “I’ve always wanted to see Paris”.
Long story short, in April 2019 Fran and I flew into Paris from Australia before getting the Eurostar to London. From there we drove to Scotland, got a ferry to Ireland and toured the Wild West Coast.
Fran got to see my motherland, but it was Paris that captured her heart.
on the road less travelled in Ireland and france 