Belfast and Strangford Lough

From the Causeway Coast we travelled to the southern end of Strangford Lough, which is SE of Belfast. Driving through Belfast, we noticed lots of murals on the side of houses, some depicting the history of this Unionist area. We learnt some original murals from The Troubles have been painted over as they were said to be glorifying events. 

We thought we may as well pop by and see Dark Hedges - basically an avenue of beech trees, planted to give an impressive entrance to a mansion house in around 1775. The trees have no leaves at the moment, maybe the scene is more impressive when they do!

This is the mansion that Dark Hedges lead to

The Titanic Museum is an impressive building - it is designed with the shape of ships' bows, the White Star symbol (who owned the Titanic) and water in mind. It is sited right where she was launched, and just next to where she was designed and constructed. Inside, you go on a "journey" - starting before the build and ending emotionally with underwater images and violin music, with an enormous wall of remembrance. 

This is the SS Nomadic - she was built by the White Star as a
tender for the Titanic and the Olympic. She is very interesting
to see as is the last White Star Vessel in existence.

Samson and Goliath - these famous cranes are an iconic landmark
in the Belfast docks area. Harland and Wolff built the Titanic. 

Unwittingly we seem to be following a Game of Thrones trail! Dee found herself in an old quarry on the Causeway Coast where scenes were filmed and same at Dark Hedges. We stumbled across this place at Castle Ward estate where our campsite was located. Apparently they filmed 'Winter Fell' here and the guide here told us that the outfit next to me (Dee) is something to do with "Ned"...??

Castle Ward house (built in the 1760s) is unique because half of the house is in a classical Italian style and the other half is gothic. Literally split down the middle! It is not certain why but is guessed the family wanted to look trendy (the Italian side) and show they had a long history (the gothic side). 

Sunny spot for a cuppa in Strangford, which is a lovely little town on the lough. The ferry across to Portaferry was on strike so there was much less traffic as there was usually on a sunny weekend. We are eating scones here - again! Scones are lovely in Ireland - too lovely! The weather has been amazing in Northern Ireland - we have only had a single rainy day and the rest has been lovely and sunny!

Causeway Coast - Northern Ireland

This was our set up at Feigh Farm on the beautiful Causeway Coast in Northern Ireland where we stayed for 4 nights. We didn't demount as we were right near the coastal footpath and were going to spend all our time on there. The bus was handy so you could walk one way and get the bus back. We had a tiny paddock to ourselves behind a gate and even had our own garden area - ideal for Purdy as they had two cats!

The Giants Causeway was very interesting and we had a tour guide all to ourselves. There were quite a few tourists around but we were told it was quiet! It looks pretty amazing and it is interesting to spot the stones in garden walls and buildings in the area (the causeway was quarried a long time ago).

The Carrick-A-Rede rope bridge has been there since the 1700s - salmon fisherman used to use it to give access to their fishing nets below. It used to have one hand rail and be a bit more rickety than it is now!

Carrick-A-Rede rope bridge

We walked from Dunseverick Castle, which is where we were staying, along the coastal path one afternoon. It was absolutely lovely - fantastic hike - varied, interesting, craggy and beautiful. The swimming pool in the rocks looked really inviting and even had a shallow, sandy end. It is really popular in the summer - we could see why. This coastline is probably the best we have walked on in the UK - the weather was fab so I guess this helped!

A beautiful swimming pool in the rocks

The Wild Atlantic Way

We were at 'Sleepy Hollows' campsite on the west coast of Donegal for 5 nights - lovely site and lovely owners - Nic and Ian - would definitely recommend. Fantastic area for scenic landscapes and the sea looked so inviting - we dipped our hand in, expecting it to be absolutely freezing, but it was not, surprisingly. Cold yes, but not freezing. We still didn't venture in though! 

Glenveigh National Park includes the Derryveigh Mountains which are really rugged, good for hiking, and surprisingly, there is a castle in the middle. It dates back to 1867 and has had some interesting owners and stories to go with them. 

Phil hiked up the volcano look alike, Mount Errigal (751m), in very windy weather, late PM before we left the following day. The view sitting on the top of the very windy summit was amazing, just before the rain set in for the descent.

The calves here wear coats!

We hand fed this little robin at the castle cafe

We've crossed the Irish Sea

We enjoyed our time in Hexham and headed north west into Scotland and an overnight stop at Port William before taking the ferry from Cairnryan to Belfast - the same day it seems that Joe Biden and Rishi Sunak had the same idea! We narrowly avoided a storm blowing in - I think we were in the calm before it as the ferry crossing was fairly flat.

We headed via Londonderry into Donegal and the ROI. There has been some 'unrest' in Derry (the "London" part, we noticed, has been scrubbed out on many signs).

Donegal is very craggy and wild looking in the area were are in - near the Glenveagh National Park and the Wild Atlantic Coast. Most of the time we have had rain but it is glorious here when the sun is out.

Some people over here have a very strong accent and are difficult to understand - and some speak Irish (Gaelic) which we obviously don't understand! Quite a lot of the signs here are only in Irish so we have had to guess what is what sometimes!  

The sea view in Port William

Purdy thought he had a treat!

Off to Ireland

Lovely Mount Errigal in the background!

Hexham and Northumberland

We have enjoyed our week here in Hexham - the weather has been mostly glorious and there is lots to see. Hexham is an ancient town with a very interesting Abbey and England's oldest purpose built prison (opened in 1333).  

Dancing with Death depiction in the abbey

We had a day out hiking along Hadrian's Wall yesterday which is close by - plenty of Roman Fort ruins to see along the wall. 

The famous Sycamore Gap along Hadrian's Wall

A visit to Wallington Hall today

We are settling into life in the camper - all seems to work well - so far so good!