Legs don't tan...Day 5

What a fabulous day! 😁

I wasn't sure how I would feel this morning, but while my legs were still a tiny bit achey when I got up, they soon warmed up and the aches were left behind.

I had really enjoyed my time in Belfast and fully intend to go back at some point and stay for a few days while exploring the North Coast. Arnie's had been great, although the washing I had given them wasn't quite dry unfortunately. Not wanting to delay my start though, I packed it away in a plastic bag to hang up when I reached Newcastle. That's Newcastle, Ireland, before anyone says anything!

Leaving the hostel slathered in suncream, I was pleased to find that my route took me through the botanical gardens and along the river. I had considered a walk round here the day before as it was so close to the hostel, but didn't have time. It was a lovely start to the ride, and I was soon whizzing along Newtonards road. I paused along here to check my tyres at a David Kanes Cycles, and also put my seat up a tad as I was beginning to feel it could have been a bit higher. Wow. What a difference. There were some roadworks along here, but I was soon through them and on my way out of town. The road went by the Stormont estate and so I got another glimpse of the parliament buildings. There was a decent path next to the road,but no signs to say whether it was shared use or not, so I stuck to the road for a bit until finally coming through Dundonald it was advertised as a shared path. The traffic had been giving me a good berth, but was pretty fast, and I felt much better on the pavement. Soon enough though, my reserved bit of tarmac came to an end, we were just heading out of the built up area into the countryside when this happened. I was faced with a choice - carry on climbing a smallish hill on the fast road with the traffic, or take a slight detour along a quieter country lane that had a path alongside. I took the country lane.

I felt like I had plenty of time today, I had left Arnie's about 10, and check-in for my night in Newcastle was up to 9.30pm, so I had a good 11 and a half hours to cycle around 50 miles. It really took the pressure off and meant I could relax a bit and just enjoy the ride.

The little lane climbed for a bit, nothing too strenuous, and while the traffic was much quieter many of the vehicles going by were trucks or lorries. I was still on my bit of pavement though, so didn't feel too bad. The scenery here was farmland for the most part, planted with crops. I soon reached the top of the hill, and had a lovely sweeping downhill into Newtonards - this was to be a theme for the day. I couldn't believe I was there already, it felt like I had barely left Arnie's, but looking at the time I realised it was an hour and a half since I'd set out. Not too bad considering a few stops to work out how to get from the river embankment to Newtonards road out of Belfast and sort the bike.

I took the opportunity to sit in the sun for a bit and had a chocolate milkshake from a cafe, I also bought a couple of bananas and some cherries to snack on through the day. Break time over it was time to go again, and I was soon heading down the east side of the Strangford Lough (pronounced loch for Scottish readers - English or other languages, I don't know what sound to equate it to!) The first section of this is pretty flat and while quite a few cars went by again I found most drivers gave me plenty space, with just the odd one coming a bit close. As the road is fairly marrow I did pull in a few times to let the build up of cars pass me by. 

There is something about travelling next to water that calls to me and the Lough was gorgeous, the shore varying between what looked like sand/mud flats with vegetation, and shell beaches. There are a couple of stopping points with benches for people to enjoy the view and go for a paddle. I took the opportunity to stop at one of these to eat one of my bananas and shared a table with a lovely retired couple from Bangor, out enjoying the sunshine for the day. They had travelled extensively in Scotland and loved it, I agreed I am lucky to live there, but Ireland is just as beautiful, especially on such a gloriously sunny day.

Strangford Lough

Carrying on the road veered away from the Lough slightly, just catching glimpses of it every so often. It also changed from being almost flat to undulate slightly, and I had to work a little harder. The road was taking me through rolling farming country, a mix of fields for grazing live stock - both sheep and cows, and planted fields of crops interspersed with the odd pocket of wild plants. Trees and hedges marked the field boundaries, and the breeze was full of dandelion wishes. Every so often a ruined watchtower or castle would appear, and I tried to take a picture on the action cam, but they came and went so quickly I'm not sure I caught any - this happened a fair bit throughout the day with various sights, I hope I got at least a few of them!

I was soon rolling down a lovely sweeping descent into Portaferry.

I followed the road down to the ferry landing - and then walked back up the hill to get some juice from the shop!

I got there about 1.40, just in time for the 1.45 sailing, but didn't realise and missed it as they only take cash and I walked back up the hill to get money out the machine, I also grabbed a couple of ice lollies and irn bru (I had not expected to find this in NI or Ireland to be honest, but was glad to see it!) and by the time I walked back down I was just in time to see the ferry pulling away. It was a lovely little place though, I spent the next half hour taking a wander up the street and back and then took the opportunity to call my friend Amanda who had called me earlier in the day. The ferry arrived while we were on the phone and had docked on the other side by the time we finished chatting (it only took about 10 minutes to cross). 

In Strangford I looked for a place to eat called the lobster pot, which was recommended to me by the couple I met earlier, but as they suspected there was no outdoor seating and it seemed a shame to sit in on such a glorious day. So I ended up at the Cuan instead, they were really busy and it took a while to get served (very tasty Cullen skink soup, if not quite as good as that served at the Old Chain Pier back home - but I may be biased!) And it was just before 4 that I was back on the road.

More Game of Thrones on display in the Cuan

I had spent some of the waiting time deciding on my next direction as the coast road had been recommended by both someone on the forum, and Arnie, I had been reluctant to do this previously as it added about 8miles to my day, but it was a lovely day, I had loads of time, and it reduced the climbing by about 500feet. In addition, it looked like the original route was along a main road, and likely to be busy. One of the staff told me it was a good climb out of Strangford on the Downpatrick road, and that clinched it. The Shore road it was. I don't regret it.

The road undulated a fair bit, but not to an unmanageable amount, and there was a down for most of the ups (my mantra climbing on a bike is #worthitforthedownhills, and #worthitfortheview) and for the first few miles I followed the coast, there was a slight refreshing breeze most of the way which was quite welcome, and again I had great views of the sea, this time on my left instead of my right. There are some lovely beaches down this stretch with the tide out the water looked miles away, with quite a few souls out for a swim or a paddle. I had thought about stopping in Ardglass, but ended up going through and stopping at Killough for a short break instead. This is a tiny town and very pretty.

Setting off again it was only 14 miles to Newcastle. Continuing around the coast there were more beaches on the left and rolling farmland on the right. The road surface was good for the most part, although in places the top surface was a little broken. I paused again at Minerstown, and shortly after ran out of water, with the heat of the day I was drinking a bit more than usual, and the 2 bottles filled up at Strangford didn't last me as long as I thought they would. 

Came across this place just after I ran out of water, really wished it was open

I planned to refill at Clough, but there was a couple of hills to go up and I ended up stopping and knocking on the door of a farmhouse to ask for refills! 

The lady who answered couldn't have been more helpful, and topped me up with water sourced and filtered locally by her neighbours and cold from the fridge. Delicious, and just what I needed. I was soon in and out of Clough, and on the home stretch to Newcastle, the road flattened out and descended, and while a good wide road I know that if I had taken it the whole way from Strangford I wouldn't have enjoyed it nearly as much as I did my coastal run.

Arriving at the hostel I was met by Veronica and Steph, both of whom made me feel extremely welcome. I had arrived at the same time as a family from France come to do some hiking, and we got a tour of the hostel together. The Hutt hostel has just been refurbished, and everything is new - my bed was just built today! I soon settled in, it had been a beautiful days cycling and as I got cleaned up I could see I had definitely caught the sun despite several layers of sun cream- on my face and arms anyway! As usual, my legs remain a stubborn white. Ah well maybe one day...

I met the one other person in my room for the night Becca from Seattle in the USA. She climbed the Mournes today, and is taking a week to tour Northern Ireland after spending a month in Galway on a university study abroad programne before going home.

We walked up the street together to find dinner, taking away, we finished the evening watching the last of the sunset over the ocean with a lighthouse flashing in the distance and the sky turning from blue and pale pink and orange to dark blue. Bliss.

Heading back to the hostel I had a slight moment of panic when my key didn't work in the door, but luckily Becca's did and we are now settling down for another good nights sleep!

Oíche mhaith all, tomorrow is another adventure!