Monday 8th - day 317
After far too short a night, we are up with the lark(!) to be ready for boarding the 10.30 ferry from Cairnryan to Larne. Apart from a small struggle to get off the soggy field, a first for the old Discovery, we were there in plenty of time to board the ferry.
We spent the whole journey catching up on last weeks diary and blog as we had the best internet access that we have had for weeks, so consequently the journey sped by, and we were soon driving off onto Northern Irish soil.
The journey to the camp site was easy, and we had just enough time to set up and have a cuppa before driving down to Antrim to collect Andy and Wills from the airport.
The weather did not look very promising, but we still managed to eat supper outside, before squeezing the two strapping Minton lads into a small two man tent – definitely cosy.
Tuesday 9th - day 318
It has been windy and rainy today, not good weather for a barbeque on the beach, but it didn’t spoil our fun!!
We wanted to see the Giant’s Causeway, and Chris had an idea that the boys would like to visit Bushmills Distillery – (Will’s eyes certainly lit up) but first we drove to Carrick-a-Rede to check out the rope bridge. Unfortunately the wind was so high that we were not allowed on it, but the
bracing walk along the coastal path was fun, as we fought with the wind to make any progress, and at times it felt like we might take off it was so strong.
We decided to go on to the Giants Causeway next, it was busier than Staffa, and the hexagonal rocks were more worn, but it was still amazing. There was a heavy swell to the sea, with waves
that would make a surfer very happy, crashing against the rocks; for a moment the water was a translucent aquamarine before it became white foam that cascaded down the steps. We stood for ages watching this watery and rocky spectacle before we headed to the café for a little refreshment.
Unfortunately this made us too late to visit Bushmill’s Distillery. We had planned to find a beach to barbeque on, but the weather puts us off so we went back to the caravan.
As we did it started to cheer up, so we bought one of those instant barbies and we cooked our
fajitas outside. It has to be said that we almost gave up as it was too soggy, but finally the drizzle gave out and we managed to melt our marshmallows over a lovely glow!
Wednesday 10th - day 319
Oh dear, sad to say it is raining again, after so many lovely days, it is hard to believe!
It is though a good day for visiting Belfast, but not until we have recovered from our breakfast.
It took longer to get there than anticipated, and we did not enter the city centre until we had
taken a trip down Crumlin Rd and Shankhill Rd to check out the murals, and see if we could piece together our fragmented memories of the unrest that seemed to occupy the news headlines of our childhoods.
Once in town, we had a bit of a struggle to find a carpark that would stay open long enough for us to go to cinema in the evening, but eventually we did, and were fleeced for the privilege!
We decided we needed a pint to recover, so we made our way to the oldest pub in the city. The
Crown Liqueur Saloon, now owned by the National Truss, is a fabulously ornate pub, with gas mantels, much colourful Victorian tiling and several snugs for private drinking parties – so we made ourselves very comfortable in one.
Reluctantly we decided to move on but it was still rather wet outside, so the wander round was not quite as much fun as it might have been!
Having decided it was time to start looking for somewhere to have supper we came quickly upon the “Cloth Ear” (which I discovered later features a lot in the Belfast Foodfest Guide), and the whole experience was fab. The décor was interesting – in the gents toilets (so I was informed) the wash basins were supported by lady mannequin’s legs, and the menus came in comic book covers! The food was also fab (and inexpensive – always a bonus!), with traditional Irish fare – Champ, Boxties or Cabbage and Bacon (actually it was belly pork with Maple syrup gravy!)
Feeling very satisfied it was time to check out the pictures.
By request we were going to watch “Dark knight”, am told that it is very good, but too many things irritated me to really say that I enjoyed it, (though I was decidedly in the minority!) but the best bit was that the film was been shown in the VIP cinema, which meant that for a few sheckles more we could sit in leather reclining sofas –well what would you have done!! There were fantastic, I think it may have coloured all future cinema visits!
Thursday 11th - day 320
It seems like the boys have just come, but we are returning them to the airport this lunch time, we managed to eat our full English breakfast outside before setting off.
Once we had seen them off we were only fit for a snooze so we returned to the caravan to spend the rest of the day doing chores, dodging the down pours and recovering from our social whirl.
Friday 12th - day 321
We had another slow (yes, even slower than usual) start to the day, and sat and watched the campsite begin to fill with early weekend visitors.
But eventually we organised ourselves and our box ad set off for a tour of the Antrim coast and Glens.
Our first stop though was a little back lane outside a little village called Stranocum, famous to the
locals for its avenue of sweeping Beeches. It took a little finding, but we were so glad when we did, that we stopped the car and took a walk down the lane.
We drove on then through Ballycastle, which looked like a fresh and thriving resort but our next stop was the car park before Fair Head. We took an unexpectedly long and soggy walk through lovely moorland to a high cliff top that unfortunately had little in the way of panoramic views because of the lie of the land.
We had our pot of tea at Torr Point another lovely spot overlooking a little harbour where we
watched Mackerel leap out of the water – if only we had our fishing rod with us!
After tea we carried on the drive round the coastal road, stopping next at Cusdendun, a really delightful little seaside town with a pretty High St, but alas it didn’t have chip shop, and as it was
now 8pm we needed to find supper so we moved on to Cushendall where we found our supper and ate it overlooking the little harbour where those who had remembered their rods were fishing!
It was 9pm by the time we left, so we drove through Glenaan in the dark, we are sure that it was very lovely but we didn’t see any of it, may be next time!
Saturday 13th - day 322
We are returning to Belfast today for a further look round, starting at St Georges market, we
had anticipated that it would be an exciting culinary experience, but we didn’t expect to be there nearly three hours later. It was wonderful, a glorious mix of stalls selling organic veg, freshly pressed juices, cheese and olives, fab fish, mouth watering cakes and breads; as well as plant and flower, jewellery and gifts stalls. It was a veritable feast for the eyes. Alongside the produce stalls were hot food stands selling everything from organic couscous and Quinoa salads to Hog roasts, large vats of Paella, curry and Mexican tortilla bars; and in the very middle of the market 
were tables and chairs, and for our entertainment a group singing traditional Irish music. It was brilliant, the atmosphere was so alive, confident and creative, and we sat there soaking it all up until we really had to move on.
Our next stop was St Anne’s Cathedral, an interesting church with a huge stainless steel spire, it
was supposed to inspire hope, but all I could think of was the damage its sharp point may do!
Inside there were more military references than we had previously seen in all other cathedrals put together, but there were also some stunning mosaics on show, especially the ceiling in the baptistery.
The sun was so warm, that we had a little sit on the steps before moving on.
As we were wandering down past the City hall, our attention was caught first to the signs saying road closures later in the evening, and then by large flags saying BBC proms in the park, and finally by the strains of beautiful music coming from behind the railings. We had to find out more??
We learned that it was Belfast’s contribution to the last night of the proms and it was happening this evening. What excitement, we next learned that tickets were free, but had all “sold out”. The gates would be open to non ticket holders when the organisers knew how much space there would be. What joy, we were determined to see if we could get in, and just as we were having a discussion about the logistics, we were interrupted by a woman who had two tickets to spare – well they were not spare for long! In rather excited mood (mostly because we had just experienced one of those exceptionally rare moments, when we had found ourselves in the right place at the right time!!) we retired for a cuppa, to consider the details (like moving the car and supper!) So after an accidental detour or two, we returned to the car, foraged through our purchases made earlier at the food market, and put together a very acceptable makeshift picnic - along with a couple of sarnies that Chris bought. We moved the car to much closer to the City Hall, and joined the queue.
What a brill evening we had, we picnicked on the lawn whilst we waited for the evening to kick off, and Chris got talking to a very nice couple who had come in from their boat at Carrickfergus. We were right at the front, and had a bird’s eye view of all the acts. These ranged from the youngest musician of the year, a 12 year old trumpet player, to the two competitors from the BBC talent show “I’d do anything”.
For us though the best performance came from a traditional music group called Altan, who played some stirring tunes that got the whole audience clapping.The musical extravaganza (and BBC congratulations fest) was fab, and we were so thrilled that we had stumbled into it (and for free – what joy!)
And the icing on the cake for David Bailey was this stunning shot of the Belfast Eye!
The journey home was not quite so stunning, as there was a road closure which meant a detour that we could not get to grips with, but several U turns later we found ourselves back on the right road, and in bed by 1am!
Sunday 14th - day 323
Back to rain today, that plus the need to diary, blog and washing chores meant that we didn’t get out until mid afternoon. But when we did we went north to visit Portstewart and Portrush – in that order!
We enjoyed a bracing walk along the front of the first of these Victorian seaside resorts, and it was fresh and clean but not overly charming so after a thorough investigate we went on to
Portrush – which had much more appeal, unfortunately we spent most of the time sat in a harbour car park engaged in a long and rather protracted phone call, which left it too late to explore this lovely town, so I guess we may be back!
After far too short a night, we are up with the lark(!) to be ready for boarding the 10.30 ferry from Cairnryan to Larne. Apart from a small struggle to get off the soggy field, a first for the old Discovery, we were there in plenty of time to board the ferry.
We spent the whole journey catching up on last weeks diary and blog as we had the best internet access that we have had for weeks, so consequently the journey sped by, and we were soon driving off onto Northern Irish soil.
The journey to the camp site was easy, and we had just enough time to set up and have a cuppa before driving down to Antrim to collect Andy and Wills from the airport.
The weather did not look very promising, but we still managed to eat supper outside, before squeezing the two strapping Minton lads into a small two man tent – definitely cosy.Tuesday 9th - day 318
It has been windy and rainy today, not good weather for a barbeque on the beach, but it didn’t spoil our fun!!
We wanted to see the Giant’s Causeway, and Chris had an idea that the boys would like to visit Bushmills Distillery – (Will’s eyes certainly lit up) but first we drove to Carrick-a-Rede to check out the rope bridge. Unfortunately the wind was so high that we were not allowed on it, but the
bracing walk along the coastal path was fun, as we fought with the wind to make any progress, and at times it felt like we might take off it was so strong.We decided to go on to the Giants Causeway next, it was busier than Staffa, and the hexagonal rocks were more worn, but it was still amazing. There was a heavy swell to the sea, with waves
that would make a surfer very happy, crashing against the rocks; for a moment the water was a translucent aquamarine before it became white foam that cascaded down the steps. We stood for ages watching this watery and rocky spectacle before we headed to the café for a little refreshment.Unfortunately this made us too late to visit Bushmill’s Distillery. We had planned to find a beach to barbeque on, but the weather puts us off so we went back to the caravan.As we did it started to cheer up, so we bought one of those instant barbies and we cooked our
fajitas outside. It has to be said that we almost gave up as it was too soggy, but finally the drizzle gave out and we managed to melt our marshmallows over a lovely glow!Wednesday 10th - day 319
Oh dear, sad to say it is raining again, after so many lovely days, it is hard to believe!
It is though a good day for visiting Belfast, but not until we have recovered from our breakfast.
It took longer to get there than anticipated, and we did not enter the city centre until we had
taken a trip down Crumlin Rd and Shankhill Rd to check out the murals, and see if we could piece together our fragmented memories of the unrest that seemed to occupy the news headlines of our childhoods.Once in town, we had a bit of a struggle to find a carpark that would stay open long enough for us to go to cinema in the evening, but eventually we did, and were fleeced for the privilege!
We decided we needed a pint to recover, so we made our way to the oldest pub in the city. The
Crown Liqueur Saloon, now owned by the National Truss, is a fabulously ornate pub, with gas mantels, much colourful Victorian tiling and several snugs for private drinking parties – so we made ourselves very comfortable in one.Reluctantly we decided to move on but it was still rather wet outside, so the wander round was not quite as much fun as it might have been!Having decided it was time to start looking for somewhere to have supper we came quickly upon the “Cloth Ear” (which I discovered later features a lot in the Belfast Foodfest Guide), and the whole experience was fab. The décor was interesting – in the gents toilets (so I was informed) the wash basins were supported by lady mannequin’s legs, and the menus came in comic book covers! The food was also fab (and inexpensive – always a bonus!), with traditional Irish fare – Champ, Boxties or Cabbage and Bacon (actually it was belly pork with Maple syrup gravy!)
Feeling very satisfied it was time to check out the pictures.
By request we were going to watch “Dark knight”, am told that it is very good, but too many things irritated me to really say that I enjoyed it, (though I was decidedly in the minority!) but the best bit was that the film was been shown in the VIP cinema, which meant that for a few sheckles more we could sit in leather reclining sofas –well what would you have done!! There were fantastic, I think it may have coloured all future cinema visits!
Thursday 11th - day 320
It seems like the boys have just come, but we are returning them to the airport this lunch time, we managed to eat our full English breakfast outside before setting off.
Once we had seen them off we were only fit for a snooze so we returned to the caravan to spend the rest of the day doing chores, dodging the down pours and recovering from our social whirl.
Friday 12th - day 321
We had another slow (yes, even slower than usual) start to the day, and sat and watched the campsite begin to fill with early weekend visitors.
But eventually we organised ourselves and our box ad set off for a tour of the Antrim coast and Glens.
Our first stop though was a little back lane outside a little village called Stranocum, famous to the
locals for its avenue of sweeping Beeches. It took a little finding, but we were so glad when we did, that we stopped the car and took a walk down the lane.We drove on then through Ballycastle, which looked like a fresh and thriving resort but our next stop was the car park before Fair Head. We took an unexpectedly long and soggy walk through lovely moorland to a high cliff top that unfortunately had little in the way of panoramic views because of the lie of the land.
We had our pot of tea at Torr Point another lovely spot overlooking a little harbour where we
watched Mackerel leap out of the water – if only we had our fishing rod with us!After tea we carried on the drive round the coastal road, stopping next at Cusdendun, a really delightful little seaside town with a pretty High St, but alas it didn’t have chip shop, and as it was
now 8pm we needed to find supper so we moved on to Cushendall where we found our supper and ate it overlooking the little harbour where those who had remembered their rods were fishing!It was 9pm by the time we left, so we drove through Glenaan in the dark, we are sure that it was very lovely but we didn’t see any of it, may be next time!
Saturday 13th - day 322
We are returning to Belfast today for a further look round, starting at St Georges market, we
had anticipated that it would be an exciting culinary experience, but we didn’t expect to be there nearly three hours later. It was wonderful, a glorious mix of stalls selling organic veg, freshly pressed juices, cheese and olives, fab fish, mouth watering cakes and breads; as well as plant and flower, jewellery and gifts stalls. It was a veritable feast for the eyes. Alongside the produce stalls were hot food stands selling everything from organic couscous and Quinoa salads to Hog roasts, large vats of Paella, curry and Mexican tortilla bars; and in the very middle of the market were tables and chairs, and for our entertainment a group singing traditional Irish music. It was brilliant, the atmosphere was so alive, confident and creative, and we sat there soaking it all up until we really had to move on.Our next stop was St Anne’s Cathedral, an interesting church with a huge stainless steel spire, it
was supposed to inspire hope, but all I could think of was the damage its sharp point may do!Inside there were more military references than we had previously seen in all other cathedrals put together, but there were also some stunning mosaics on show, especially the ceiling in the baptistery.
The sun was so warm, that we had a little sit on the steps before moving on.As we were wandering down past the City hall, our attention was caught first to the signs saying road closures later in the evening, and then by large flags saying BBC proms in the park, and finally by the strains of beautiful music coming from behind the railings. We had to find out more??
We learned that it was Belfast’s contribution to the last night of the proms and it was happening this evening. What excitement, we next learned that tickets were free, but had all “sold out”. The gates would be open to non ticket holders when the organisers knew how much space there would be. What joy, we were determined to see if we could get in, and just as we were having a discussion about the logistics, we were interrupted by a woman who had two tickets to spare – well they were not spare for long! In rather excited mood (mostly because we had just experienced one of those exceptionally rare moments, when we had found ourselves in the right place at the right time!!) we retired for a cuppa, to consider the details (like moving the car and supper!) So after an accidental detour or two, we returned to the car, foraged through our purchases made earlier at the food market, and put together a very acceptable makeshift picnic - along with a couple of sarnies that Chris bought. We moved the car to much closer to the City Hall, and joined the queue.
What a brill evening we had, we picnicked on the lawn whilst we waited for the evening to kick off, and Chris got talking to a very nice couple who had come in from their boat at Carrickfergus. We were right at the front, and had a bird’s eye view of all the acts. These ranged from the youngest musician of the year, a 12 year old trumpet player, to the two competitors from the BBC talent show “I’d do anything”.For us though the best performance came from a traditional music group called Altan, who played some stirring tunes that got the whole audience clapping.The musical extravaganza (and BBC congratulations fest) was fab, and we were so thrilled that we had stumbled into it (and for free – what joy!)And the icing on the cake for David Bailey was this stunning shot of the Belfast Eye!
The journey home was not quite so stunning, as there was a road closure which meant a detour that we could not get to grips with, but several U turns later we found ourselves back on the right road, and in bed by 1am!Sunday 14th - day 323
Back to rain today, that plus the need to diary, blog and washing chores meant that we didn’t get out until mid afternoon. But when we did we went north to visit Portstewart and Portrush – in that order!
We enjoyed a bracing walk along the front of the first of these Victorian seaside resorts, and it was fresh and clean but not overly charming so after a thorough investigate we went on to
Portrush – which had much more appeal, unfortunately we spent most of the time sat in a harbour car park engaged in a long and rather protracted phone call, which left it too late to explore this lovely town, so I guess we may be back!
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