Delamont

A couple of Sundays ago we took our first day trip of the year in the camper van, down to Delamont near Killyleagh for a bit of a walk before lunch.  It was a bit cloudy and windy but when the sun did come out of hiding it was actually pretty warm.  I hadn't been to Delamont in years.  It's run by Down Council and it costs £4 per car to get in.  We just had a bit of a walk around but there is a little railway for kids and there was a place selling coffee which is always nice on a Sunday morning!

Nice view of the Mournes.

This is the Millenium stone, it was put up by lots of scouts in 1999.

Getting wrapped up... it was pretty breezy at the top of this hill.

It was the start of the spring series yacht races that day, here they all are milling around before the start of the race.

Lovely daffodils.

As you go around Delamont there are bits of green gym equipment to use.  You can get a season ticket for £25 so you can go as many times as you like, definitely much cheaper than a regular gym, but maybe a bit miserable if it's raining!

There were lots of freshly ploughed fields, I wonder what they're going to plant here?  Will have to go back later in the summer to find out I suppose!.

The walk around takes you down close to the shore of Strangford Lough and there are a few pebbly beaches you can get out on to.

There were lots of cute lambs about but as soon as I got the camera out they made a run for it!

Finally we spotted this old walled garden, it's all over grown which is a pity.  There is even an old glass house hidden in there.  It would be great if they could get someone to take this on and run it to grow veggies to sell or use in a local cafe or something.

Anyway, Delamont is well worth a visit, I'm very tempted to invest in a season ticket as I think we might become regular visitors!

First camping trip as a family...

At the start of September we planned to take a camping trip around the North Coast for a few days but we thought it might be a good idea to do a trial run first.  We decided to try one night at the campsite at Castle Ward as it isn't too far from home so at least if it was a complete disaster we could just pop home without too much bother! In the end it worked out just fine. The weather was lovely although it did get a little nippy at night so definitely need to bring a heater in the future.

All packed up and ready to go.  We did need considerably more stuff having a baby with us but it did all fit, just about!

We bought George ear defenders as the Land Rover is pretty noisy when it's driving.  He absolutely loves them and pretty much falls asleep as soon as they go on!

All parked and set up.

We went down on a Tuesday so the site was pretty empty.  Castleward is really popular and I think you have to book ages in advance to get in at the weekend.

The campsite is surrounded by forrest which will be great for exploring when George is a bit bigger although he seemed pretty taken by the light fluttering through the tree canopy as it is!

A glimpse of Strangford Lough.

A pretty foxglove - all the ones in our garden are long gone by September.

A tunnel under one of the lanes on the estate.

I have been to Castleward so many times and I don't really remember seeing this tree tunnel before, it was pretty cool.

Inside the tree tunnel.

Temple water.  There is a lovely walk all around the water.

The boats in Audley's Bay.

I thought this bit of wood looked a bit like the Lough Ness monster.

We were only there for one night but we packed a lot in, we walked into Strangford and got some ice creams on the first day then headed back for a picnic dinner.  After we packed up we headed in to the Castleward estate and had a cup of tea and a scone then a lovely long walk finished off with a nice lunch, a perfect couple of days and just what we needed to get ready for a bigger camping trip.

Island Hill...

One sunny day last week Sarah, George and I decided to take a quick trip to Island Hill.  I hadn't been in ages and thought it would be nice to go for a bit of a walk as George definitely sleeps better at night when we've been out for a walk.

It was very sunny but there was a chilly breeze blowing - we had to tuck George's blanket well in so it didn't blow away!

Blue skies..

Me trying to be vaguely glamorous while wearing my head scarf to try and keep the wind out of my ears - I always get sore ears when its windy!

We hadn't bothered checking the tide tables before we left and the tide was very far in when we arrived, which looked lovely...

...but meant that we couldn't actually walk on the path!

Waves crashing over the path.

Selfie with my new camera.

You can just see the water breaking over the path out to the island in this photo.  Lesson learned  - must check the tide tables next time we go!

Bank Holiday day trip...

On the last Bank Holiday in May we decided we would take our first proper day trip as a family.  It was a really sunny day and we contemplated going to Castle Ward but decided in the end to go to the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum.

We spent most of our time in the transport galleries looking at all the trains, buses and cars.

I was particularly taken by this Land Rover fire engine as it has so much in common with our camper van.  They really are very versatile vehicles!

We thought it would actually make quite a good mobile shop with the openings on the side!

So many of the vehicles had brilliant badges.  They just don't make them like that anymore.

I also really liked all the commercial vehicles, again modern commercial vehicles really don't cut it compared to some of these.

This little blue car was pretty cute.  It's a Peugeot Bébé.

Always love a Morris Traveller.  Maybe some day!

We then went across to the Folk park part of the museum were we had a picnic, with tasty bread and olives from the Poachers' Pantry in Lisbane and then we went for a walk round the rural part, mainly getting ideas for our own house and garden!

One of the last building we looked at was the rural school, it had some lovely vintage posters inside.

We reckoned that the older the kids got they must have moved up to the higher coat hooks.

All in all it was a great day out, I'd definitely recommend it if you're looking for an interesting trip.