Island Hill

One breezy Sunday George and I took a trip to Island Hill, the last time we were there it was a lovely sunny day but unfortunately the tide was right in so we didn't actually get to go out to the island.  Determined not to make the same mistake twice, this time I actually checked the tide tables to make sure the tide would be out and it certainly was....

The place looks so different when the tide is out.

There was some beautiful blossom in the hedgerows.

This is the path out to the island.

I spotted these walls and steps and wondered if maybe there had been a house on the island at some stage?

The view towards Scrabo tower.

The branches of the hedges had all this moss growing over it, very magical looking

There is a small airport in Newtownards and there were lots of small planes tootling about in the sky.

I loved the mustard yellow of this rock, it reminded me of this coat!

Island Hill is off the dual carriage way between Comber and Newtownards in County Down.  It is free to visit, there is a car park and the walk is pretty accessible apart from the bit from the main path across the lough to the island path which is a pebbly beach.  There are picnic tables near the car park and it would definitely be a good spot for a picnic or even a fish supper ;-)

Summer holiday...

It seems like pretty much everyone in our house has been sick for all of 2015 so far, but last night things started to look up, the sniffles and coughing subsided a bit and there were even a few smiles to be seen. Plus on the weather front there was definitely a glimmer of sunshine and blue skies so I couldn't help but start dreaming of holidays and camping! It's still a bit cold for any overnights in the camper just yet but it's definitely not to early to start dreaming and planning!

Here are some pictures from our summer holiday last year to get us all in the mood!

We took the campervan up the north coast, starting in portrush for the airshow. It's on every September and well worth a visit - airwavesportrush.co.uk

The views from the walk down from the campsite into town are pretty nice.

The harbour at portrush.

Saw this lovely car parked and couldn't resist taking a pic!

Some planes...

Having some refreshments!

I love the red arrows and can't wait to see them every year. They were excellent as always!

The next day after the airshow we headed towards our next campsite which was in Bushmills and stopped off to have a look round Dunluce castle on the way.

Although we were only travelling a few miles each day we always made sure to stop for tea along the way.

We also visited Ballintoy harbour which looked lovely in the sunshine. It's very popular with Game of Thrones fans as it is the setting for the Iron Islands in the show. There is a lovely cafe here too.

The camper parked up in Ballintoy.

We then took a trip over the Carrick a Rede rope bridge which is managed by the National Trust. It was much lest rickety than I remember! 

Although it was September, the weather was amazing and the sea looked positively tropical.

All cosy in the camper.

There were many spectacular views from our various tea stops.

The next camp site we stopped at was in Cushendall and the spaces were pretty much right beside the sea, which was excellent!  This is the view during the day.

And this is the amazing scene at night, the moon was very impressive indeed.

Finally we stopped in Carrickfergus, where we had a tasty picnic lunch and had a look round the famous castle.

And of course finished off with the obligatory cup of tea and a French fancy.

All in all we were only a way for a few days but we packed so much in it felt like ages! The north coast is beautiful and there really is so much to see and do although we were very lucky with the weather.

Now to start planning some trips for 2015!

Me on the radio talking about camping!

This morning I was on Radio Ulster trying to convince Good Morning Ulster presenter Joel Taggart that camping is good fun! You can listen for the next seven days here.  I’m on at 1hr 21mins in.  They didn’t quite believe that we’d gone camping for our honeymoon!  I tried my best to convey how much fun camping can be but I don’t think I managed to convince Joel, Sarah, the other presenter, said she was definitely up for it though!

I realised then that I’d never posted up the photos from our honeymoon camping trip so I thought I’d do that now.  There’s so many I liked I couldn’t edit it down anymore so I’m afraid this is going to be a long one!



Our tent with the sea in the background.



Me inside the tent with a piece of essential camping kit - the woolly hat!



Some more camping essentials! - well it was our honeymoon ;-)



Time for a cuppa!



Cooking breakfast.



Sunset at the beach.





This was the first campsite we stayed at and it was definitely one of the most picturesque campsites we’ve been to.  All the pitches were really private, surrounded by their own sand dunes.  Where we were pitched you could just step out of the tent and over the dunes and you were right on the beach. Lovely!



We had some rather changeable weather, the scenery could go from this to…



…this!

We took a day trip out to Inis Mór the largest of the Aran Islands.



On the ferry on the way over.



We took our bicycles over on the ferry and cycled to the Dún Aengus fort, where the views were absolutely amazing.



But taking a photograph could be perilous!

We mostly stayed in seasidey campsites that were out of the city but Dee wanted to see the Volvo Ocean Racers which were in Galway city so we stayed there one night.  The campsite was in Salthill just a few miles outside of the city and it wasn’t exactly the most picturesque place in the world (especially in comparison to the first place we stayed!) but it was incredibly handy to the city - we were able to walk across the street and get on a bus to get into the centre with no problem. We saw the boats and had a really delicious italian meal in a restaurant we’d been to the last time we stayed in Galway four years ago.  To round the night off we saw a brilliant band play in the Arches pub.



After Galway we headed down to the Dingle Peninsula where we stayed in the western most campsite in Europe!

The scenery was amazing and the pubs were pretty great too!





While we were looking around at the waterfalls a car of lads pulled up and one of them jumped out, stripped to his undies and ran under the water! It was freezing that day - I was wearing a winter coat, wellies and a woolly hat!



We drove along the Conor pass and saw this lake shaped like a heart!

The next photos are from a folk park which I couldn’t resist looking round.



Lovely trunks.









Dressers galore!











Lots of beds and quilts.







and bicycles!

Finally one of the lovely old roads we drove down with fuchsia hedges.  The verges in both Galway and Kerry are gorgeous with lots of wildflowers and tonnes of oxeye daisies.