Another day, another drive

A few weeks ago my sister and I had plans to do the part of a route we had started in February. However, the day had been quite advanced already and in the end we opted for Armagh instead. This past Saturday however, we were both off and we decided that now was the time!

The rain disappearing over the Mourne mountains

As neither of us actually lives along the route, we had to do a bit of driving to get to the point where we finished the last time around and when we got there, the first order of business was lunch. Then we had to get some yarn (come on, you know me) and then we finally got in the car to start our drive. 

Trying to skim a stone

We drove all of 5 minutes before pulling over and stopping. We were going to the beach just outside Newcastle (Northern Ireland). After all, the weather was fantastic: sunshine and cold. Wrapped up warmly, we made our way to the beach. Where we realised there were some heavy clouds gathering in the distance and they seemed to be heading our way. 

Sure enough, the rain/hail started pretty soon after that, but it didn't last that long, so we were okay. Not too soaked anyway. In the end we spent about an hour outside walking through the dunes and on the beach. Then however, it was back to the car. We were there for a drive after all!

We drove a bit further, saw something we liked, had a quick stop to take some photos and drove on. I saw a lighthouse and thought it was striped white and red, just like they should be! My sister however, thought it was striped white and green. Well, when we finally got close, it turned out, neither of us had been right! It was more waspish looking. 

St John's Point lighthouse

We couldn't get into it, as it was private property, but we were able to take some photos from the outside. We drove on, saw some more things we liked, took more photos and then we got to the ferry. Where we had to pay cash. Which we had. Just not.... enough! Oops. Fortunately the attendant was okay with it and he gave us a ticket to pay later (ie Monday to Friday), which my sister will do tomorrow. 

We were a pound short!

We continued on, but we realised that the route was taking us a very long way round and we had to get back to Belfast, so in the end, we cut our route short and got to Belfast at around 6pm. First off: dinner! Which proved to be a bit difficult, as there was waiting everywhere. Anything from 20 to 45 minutes. We picked the twenty minutes wait, had a lovely dinner and left on time to get to the theater. 

A Victorian bath house

Because the end of our evening was more culture! We were going to see the Ulster Orchestra playing movie themes. Psycho, Harry Potter, Gremlins, Indiana Jones and several more. A good day followed by a good night.