We explored Carrickfergus to check out the boat lift there - at 45 tons capacity it is too marginal for us to use sadly. As it started to get a bit wet whilst we were there, we made a one time only mistake - a panini in the Sainsbury's supermarket cafe. Never ever again. Grim and tasteless. They even managed to mess up the "two decaf teas" that were ordered by turning them into coffee. Then, after a nice apology, the lady reappeared with one decaf tea and one Earl Grey tea. By then we had lost all desire to argue or stay there any longer and as the captain likes Earl Grey.....
More successful was a trip to the John Deere dealer just outside Lisburn Johnston Gilpin for oil and a couple of filters. Very organised - most impressive agricultural dealer we've visited so far with standards that some low end car dealerships could learn from:
Lisburn linen museum (see museum website) was a good place to spend a couple of hours too:
with some live demonstrations and lots of information on the long gone industry that once dominated the area:
A day in Belfast was as good as always. We reckon that this has to be one of the poshest Tesco shop buildings going:
The shame is that they've made the interior very Tesco......
We also loved this poster that kind of summarised the current situation in Norn Iron so well:
To give you an idea of how generally friendly the place is, whilst taking that photo on the mobile phone (which was running VERY slowly), a lady came up and asked if we were "lost" and needed some help with directions. In London you would just be barged off the path, in Edinburgh ignored albeit very politely and in Glasgow - well, probably taken for a beer or robbed.
A walk around Portstewart showed us why the harbour there would not be a good place for us to try and visit by boat:
Parking the little Fiat 500 was easy enough though, and free. You get to appreciate how car parking here is generally free or very very cheap compared to most spots in England, Scotland or Wales. Portstewart was very welcoming though and had even named a few roads in a new housing development after our boat, which was most kind of them:
Tempted, as the town is great but not too practical a place to live for us. Portrush, the nearby town is an equally tempting place. The harbour has a little visitors' pontoon which only had one little Bavaria yacht on it. During nice weekends it must be mobbed but midweek and a bit blowy out to sea meant a nearly deserted pontoon. Might visit by boat one day as the area is lovely:
Again, that laid back Norn Iron seaside pace of life was evident, witness the Lifeboat mechanic chatting to the local in his dinghy. If we had taken a video of their encounter, it would have filled up the entire SD card in the camera and then some more:
The seafront area and beach are very pretty, even in the blowy conditions we encountered:
A few brave souls were on the beach but we think that the water temperature wasn't that great, having watched the face of this lady who had an unexpected encounter when the dog on the lead dragged her seawards:
The kids who were on vacation (remember that in Scotland and Norn Iron school holidays start and finish much earlier then in England and Wales) were determined to enjoy the beach and water no matter what:
Grandad looked a little less impressed but stood his ground against the larger waves well. The local surf school seemed to have an instructor to pupil ratio of about 1:50 so unsurprisingly the students were not making much progress out to sea against the incoming rollers and lacking encouragement, soon gave up:
All in all, a beautiful bay area and on a hot sunny day (we think they get two per year here) it must be paradise, well a busy version of paradise on those 2 elusive days:
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