Saturday:
The earliest start to date – 5.00am and in complete darkness. A bonus with the new storage site is that you can quite safely collect your caravan in the dark due to the floodlighting. This we did and proceeded to head West along the A69 still in complete darkness. Only when we reached the M6 did we start to see the sunrise. So this was a new experience, which blends in with the whole trip going to Ireland, full of new expereiccnes. There are no service stations on this route to the ferry, so I had found a layby which was removed from the road, allowing us to stop safely and get some refreshments. As a bonus we found that there was a cafe there, namely Route 75. Here we enjoyed a nice bacon sandwiche and a cup of coffee. Very nice it was too. From here we headed straight for Stranraer and Cairnryan and the Stena Line Port. We arrived in good time and booked in, all straight forward, and then we waited in our lane until boarding began. We entered deck 3 which is the lower one, and then parked up and headed for deck 7 where the main lounge was. We found some seats and awaited departure. The journey was calm with not too much ‘sea’ movement, we enjoyed a beverage and relaxed for the journey. Following the two hour trip we began departure and headed on toward Belfast. The journey from here to the campsite was straight forward, although the roads are rough in a few places! Weather throughout the journey has been miserable, with constant rain and drizzle, resulting in one dirty caravan. We eventually got to the campsite and booked in. A very pleasant guy went through the necessaries and then we headed for our pitch. The pitches are all hardstanding and fully serviced. Although after reversing the caravan on, we found that we still needed to level the ‘van side to side, so we finished the procedure with the mover. All levelled up we relaxed and had some tea, TV and chilled for the rest of the night.
Sunday:
We awoke rather late, understandble after such a long journey! We enjoyed some breakfast and then headed out to the heritage railway to take us to the ‘Giant’s Causeway’. We arrived and then were dissapointed to find that the train wasn’t running today, so we drove there instead. We parked up and paid of dues and headed down to the rocks. First impressions are that the rocks are smaller than what you first imagine from pictures. It was very good to see them and nice to cross that one of ‘the list’. There’s a visitor center there, cafe and a bus that can take you down to the rocks rather than walking. An experience that I can recommend to anyone. Following this, we headed a little further East along the coast and found the rope bridge at Carrick-a-Rede. Due to the winds developing before Hurricane Ophelia arrives, the actual crossing of the bridge was closed, but you could still walk down to it. This we did, although there are a lot of stairs involved, so be prepared. At this attraction there is a shop, cafe, toilets and ample parking. We enjoyed the walk to see the bridge, the weather was holding up well and then we headed back home to the site. Tea, TV and relaxing was the order of the day now, with a caravan wash inbetween – which took a little longer than normal due to the muck we picked up enroute!
Monday:
A definite stay-on-site day as Hurricane Ophelia was due to hit us mid-afternoon. This offered us a relaxing day as the caravan rocked gently in the rather strong winds! Glad to say however that we survived the storm with no damage.
Tuesday:
Winds have died down and just the rain prevails. So following breakfast we decided to head into Londonderry and see what it has to offer. Following the hours drive there, we parked up and wandered about. It’s not as big as what I had imagined and indeed felt a little rundown. There are is a modest amount of shops to browse around and of course the ‘Peace bridge’ over the river Foyle. We soon covered most of what was on offer and then headed back to base. Weather is trying to improve, brief bursts of sunshine do make a welcome appearance.
Wednesday:
A fairly early start following breakfast, as today was the trip to Belfast and to the Titanic Experience. We arrived and parked in the underground carpark. We opted for the ‘White Star Premium Pass’ tickets, as this gave us access to all the attractions along with dicount for food and shop purchases. We started with the ‘Discovery Tour’ which was excellent, lasting about an hour. For this you are given headohones and walked through the exhibition building and also shown the docks where Titanic (ship 401) was built. Following this we broke for a coffee and then headed for ‘SS Nomadic’, the only remaining White Star ship in existance. This was great to walk around, as it felt and indeed is a mini Titanic in all respects. From here we went back to the main building for the ‘Titanic Experience’, which offered a lot more than I was expecting. Full of videos, information boards, displays, really excellent. Finishing this, we headed to the shop to pick up the thimble! The whole expereience took us just over 4 hours from start to finish, so plan a whole day if you want to visit. Enroute back, we made a diversion to see the ‘Gobbins Cliff Path’. The path walk itself was closed until next year now, but we though we’d take a peek in the visitor center. It’s quite small and doesn’t take long to get through it, but we ticked it off the list at least. Then back to base, via Larne – quite pleased we didn’t take the ferry to there with P&O, it would be a bit of a slog with the caravan! Back at base, tea, TV along with a few utilities to take care of.
Thursday:
A more relaxed day today with it being the last. We decided a visit to Bushmills would be a nice idea. This we did, it doesn’t take long to cover the village, it has your typical village stores along with the famous Old Bushmills Distillery. The distillery offers tours, being the oldest working distillery in Ireland. Following our tour of Bushmills we headed for ‘The Dark Hedges’, a set of old beech trees arching over a road which has been used as a location for the ‘Game of Thrones’ show. There were plenty of people there all meandering and taking pictures. We did pretty much the same thing and then headed back to base. A tour of the campsite followed, to take some pictures and have a final soak up of our first campsite in Ireland. The rest of the night followed as we prepared for an early departure tomorrow.
Friday:
Following another rather windy night, we packed up and headed off for the port in good time. The journey was a little wet, so the ‘van was sson not-so-clean again! We arrived at the port and checked in and then parked up in our lane, number 11. Boarding then went ahead and soon we were relaxing, this time in deck 8 with a cup of coffee. I remembered this time to use the correct staircase (red for deck 3), so we found our rig straight away this time. The journey back home then pursued. Back at storage, head-torches on and we put the ‘van away in the dark for another day.
The site overall is of a very high standard, we certainly were very happy with it. Check-in was smooth and the staff very welcoming. Note, you can take your rig up to reception, there is enough space to turn around! The pitches are all fully serviced and have access to free WIFI. The washblock is the best spec you can hope for, easily up there with the best (piped music, yeah!) and the biggest showers I have been in to date I would say. There are individual sink cubicles for those that require them as well. CDP being located on the end of the block. Entry is via keypad, top marks for everything. There is a motorhome point and bins with recycing. Electric is 16A and there are plenty of light bollards dotted around the site. The touring area (50 units) is comprised of 3 oval shape sections, beyond which are some static caravans. Most of the touring section seems to be mostly taken with seasonal ‘vans, which is a bit of a negative in our opinion, but necessary on a site of this size and calibre. I don’t think we could have found a better site for Northern Ireland.
- Date: 14th October 2017
- Nights: 6
- Pitch #: 37
- GPS: 55.194611, -6.517284
- A77 > Stena Line Cairnryan
- A26 > Knock Road > Castlecat Road
- M2 > Dargan Road > West Bank Road > Stena Line Belfast