Monday 6th September 2021
Well, we have arrived in Northern Ireland.
Yesterday's drive up the M6 was uneventful, not too bad, just a bit of a hold up near Preston where some maintenance had a lane closed.
We stopped for a tea break at Tebay Services, famous and recommend by some for the rather pricey farm shop.
It was extremely busy so I didn't go inside, instead, Louis and I had a walk up into the woods.
The stretch from Carlisle to Stranraer was a bit of a marathon, the A75 seems like the never ending highway. I probably should have planned an overnight stop to break it up, but we plodded on and made it to the Marina carpark at Stranraer.
I traced some of my Mackie ancestors who were living here in the early 1800's. John Mackie married Anne McCracken who was from Belfast and I presume had come over on a sailing ship for a new life.
The town will have changed beyond all recognition of course, but I'm sure the centre of their town would have been the Castle of St John built in 1510, then a prison and military garrison.
We're parked up overlooking the Stranraer harbour, it's ok but not that scenic really. It'll be alright for the night.
And so it was when the d@#khead with the noisey exhaust finished driving up and down the harbour waterfront. After that it was just the seagulls making a fuss at dawn.
It rained overnight and was still cloudy come sunrise.
The ferry check in couldn't have been easier, no checks or passports asked for us or Louis, no Covid nonsense testing or passenger locator forms needed, not even asked for our passports.
Louis had to stay in the motorhome on the cardeck and he was fine, sleeping the whole way which was a relief.
We watched a pod of dolphins playing at the ships bow.
The crossing passed quite quickly and in no time we were pulling into Larne harbour.
It was straight off the ferry onto the causeway coast road and a twenty minute drive to Glenarm, much to Louis relief so he could get out and stretch his legs.
Glenarm is a pretty little village with a castle, gardens and some retail shops in the castle grounds.
After lunch we carried on along the coast road to Ballycastle.
We scored a great parkup overlooking the sandy beach and Ballycastle golf club.
Louis enjoyed a run on the beach and a paddle in the sea.
The weather is warm and bright but a bit overcast. I think the forecast for tomorrow is for more sunshine.
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