Sunday, August 06, 2006

Day 2

Sunday, August 6th
Portaferry to Carlingford
121km

Had a great sleep last night.  13 hours and we all could have gone longer.

Another big B&B Irish Breakfast: bacon, sausage, egg, baked beans, potatoe bread and some sort of pudding bread.  Yummy but a bit greasy for my taste.

Across the steet from the hotel we caught a short ferry to Strangford.  It was raining lightly as we left and more heavily when we were on the ferry so we all put on full rain gear.  It was 11:30am by the time we got off the ferry...mostly due to our 9am breakfast and leisurly morning.

It rained for most of the day, alternating between heavier rain and lighter mist.  There were even a few sunny stretches, so I kept adding and removing clothing.

We ate lunch at a gas station in Ballykinler.  Pre-made sandwiches and chips.  Always a good option.

After passing through Newcastle, we went slightly off course in Kilkeel and added 5km to our day.  We made it down to Cranfield Point before returning to the main A2 road that we should have stayed on.  Ryan and Jenn didn't even bother keeping route sheets on their bikes today, so I am solely responsible for these navigational missteps.

Coming out of Cranfield, we got our first look at the Mourne Mountains.  Lots of mist hid many of their peaks, but they were still impressive.  There were many scenic views as we continued around Carlingford Lough to Warrenpoint.

From there, we rode along the east side of a canal all the way to Newry, and then back down the west side to Carlingford.  Somwhere along this road we crossed from Northern Ireland into the Irish Republic.  There wasn't even a signpost, let alone a border crossing.

Due to our late start, we didn't get in to the B&B until 7pm tonight.  Still light out, but we were getting hungry for dinner.  We'll try to leave earlier tomorrow.

Another ultra-friendly B&B proprietor tonight with a lovely little B&B.  We picked up take-away pizza from town tonight, and ate in our room in front of the TV.

2 Comments:

At 9:14 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

And they're off! Sounds like everyone is still in tact so far. I had a little chuckle at the Ryan humour on the plane - be sure to share more of these little missteps. - Sara

 
At 10:29 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

We're googling and following along. I hear Jenn is really good at map reading so be sure to give her a turn! Maureen

 

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