Causeway Coast to home (Day 8of8)

Up early and away. Causeway Hotel continues to be a disappointment. It'll show up on Tripadvisor soon enough...

We head straight to Belfast and make good tiime. There is time to check out the sights in the town, well some of them anyway. We ride along the Falls Road, Shankhill Road and Crumlin Road. All roads with names imprinted on childhood memories of news broadcasts. None of them give us any difficulty at all. There are hundreds of flags in the pro-british areas but murals abound on both sides. The most telling thing though is that normal life is going on. There are visits to make, shopping to buy, all in shops and premises you see on any High Street, no drama at all.

We arrive at the ferry and make the crossing in good time.

Soon after we land at Stranraer we encounter rain, rain and more rain that would track us on our journey all the way home.


So was the holiday worth doing? YES YES YES! It was fantastic to meet the people we did and see the sights we saw. Thanks to Aidan and Mandy, the inspiration for the trip and for looking after us. The scenery was terrific and the roads perfect for bikes (well most of the time anyway) Even the weather, changeable as it was didn't dent our fun and enjoyment. It was a shame that we had to cut out some of the highlights we'd wanted to see but this does of course give the perfect reason to go back, and soon too.

These blog pages are unfinished and more mapping will be introduced over the coming days and maybe the odd tweak here and there too. If you've not been to Ireland before, go now. Don't wait as I did because of the 'troubles' - the risk is only in your mind, go and soak up the experience as soon as you can.

Thanks, Al and Sandy