And this is the most savoury of our juvenile japes as we left Northern Ireland with a bit of new lingo, one that also works in Scotland. So we completed our Home Nations tour today with the ferry from Belfast to Cairnryan in Scotland.
Early start to leave the Air Bnb, lots of cleaning, packing and shouting at 6 in the morning - bet our neighbours glad to see the back of us.
Oil light went on as we hit the ferry terminal so that gave us something to sort out as we waited to board. The 2.5 hour trip flew by, I slept for half of it - needed that! Ate everything that we had left in the Air BnB which made for an interesting breakfast of cheese and biscuits, custard slice and prawn cocktail crisps.
Read a bit, took a stroll on deck and watched us cruise into the deep port on the west side of Scotland. First built in World War 2 as a reserve for Liverpool should it be needed, but it wasn't used for full action, but did see a lot of logistical unloading of troops etc
Straight off and on the road down the east coast via Stranraer and lots of little holiday type villages that would have been worth a stay if we had time. If Covid continues, maybe this is somewhere to return to. My focus was Castle Douglas, and for one reason only. The Bob Mortimor story on would I lie to you about being run out of town for wearing masks. A true legend of the show, we have also been reflecting on the Chris Rea egg in the bath story too on this trip. Good times. Does anyone know what I'm talking about?
South we went, our focus being Gretna Green, for a bit of romance, and ideally a pasty. Couldn't find the latter, and love on an empty stomach not the best, but we did learn about the hordes who have tied the knot up that way by the blacksmith clergy that used to do the job.
My last box to tick on this trip was a sighting of Hadrian's Wall as we drove over Northumberland. Not entirely sure if I saw it, there were a lot of walls, but a stop near a Roman fort seemed to be a good shot, and the crag at Walltown looked the business. Again, something to return to methinks.
Pretty shattered by the time we reached journeys end in Newcastle. That will be the official end of this trip as we are now in family visit territory which is something more reserved for facebook than travel blogs.
A good trip had by all, I think we achieved what we set out to, learned a stack about socio political history of these Isles, enjoyed good scenery, and great family time. I think we have made our usual travel experiential approach work even in these strange times, and have our heads up for the next one, whether home or abroad.
-Carys-
Our last blog post from this holiday. Though we don't get home till tomorrow, we're pretty much just having breakfast tomorrow together and then driving all day, so today was our final proper day. This holiday as I've already mentioned frequently had just flown by. I'm glad we're going to be home as I've missed it, and am pretty shattered, but will miss the fun of being away and doing something new. It's been a blast.
So today was a very early start, as we needed to be in Belfast for 8.30 for the ferry to leave an hour later. That meant getting up at jus after 6 to clean up and finish packing up in our air bnb. It went by pretty smoothly with no complications but a bit of rushing around at the end, fearful we'd leave something behind. Nonetheless, it's now 10 minutes past 10 and we're yet to discover anything missing - touch wood that when home we'll still have everything with us.
We said our goodbyes to the house, locked up and drove into Belfast. We didn't get to see much of it, and were soon in the queue for the ferry. This one not taking as long as the one in Liverpool, we were soon on the ferry and found a table in the open area. Not exactly the lounge like before, but the journey was a short 2 hours so the open area made do just fine.
Bought some expensive chocolate on the boat. Let the time pass and we were in Scotland. A flying visit, but still counting it as my first time ever in Scotland. We've covered the whole of the UK over this past week, and interesting achievement. I'd definitely like to return to Scotland at some point to have a proper look around. (Edinburgh at Christmas would be ideal).
Most of the next few hours was made up of driving along the West coast of Scotland with a few stops. Castle Douglas where we found some nice treats in a little sweet shop - it was actually one of the biggest displays I've ever seen, with a whole wall full of jars of sweets. We didn't get anything to eat at our next stop, Gretna Green but it was a pretty place to look around and had some intriguing history.
Before we knew it, we were driving over the border into England. Stopped at Hadrian's Wall and then on to Newcastle. Lovely family visit in the evening, and then it was time to go to our Premier Inn. The first hotel I've stayed in since lockdown. We like a good Premier Inn. Hopefully it'll serve us another good night's sleep.
Thanks for tuning in with our blog again. We appreciate you. It's been a different one, that's for sure, but still felt like a Williams' family holiday. Bye for now! :)
