Tuesday 10 September - Girvan to Carrickfergus

Bren doesn't like ferries so following several weather forecasts she decided a couple of Stugeron would be appropriate at breakfast. However it turned out to be a fine morning with only a very light breeze and the sea surface like the proverbial mill pond but nevertheless took the tablets. After breakfast we gave Jamie a good walk as he would be cooped up in the van for a few hours, then after exchanging pleasantries with a coach driver from Terry's old firm, who was also on his way to Belfast with a small load of Chinese tourists, we set off for Cairnryan.

Check-in was a breeze with few formalities so we joined a line of other motorhomes before loading commenced. Boarded and the ship departed a few minutes early whilst we found reasonably comfortable seats in a lounge, there being little else to do unless you wanted a sauna or a massage! A cup of coffee and a bun then watched the passing sea-nery for a couple of hours until we were recalled to our vehicles then very quickly offloaded onto the dock at Belfast. Due to some fortunate parking we were just about the first off but with the TomTom pre-programmed and excellent sign-posting we were soon on our way.

Belfast is a large bustling city with many motorways, well on this side of town anyway, and could be confusing. However we managed to find our way to the Belfast Titanic Centre which was high on our list of places to visit to check out parking etc. It was now probably too late to have enough time for a visit, and anyway all the suitable parking appeared to be full, so we resolved to return as early as possible tomorrow.

Having done some research beforehand we knew there were a few overnighting possibilities only a short distance away so chose the town of Carrickfergus, a few miles up the coast, to see what it had to offer. The stopover was a large busy carpark just by the imposing Castle and we managed to squeeze into a spot overlooking the harbour for a late lunch. We thought about visiting the castle but due to restoration work we were told some of the better parts were currently inaccessible and anyway the weather looked like it was on the turn again so it sort of got forgotten.

After 6.00 pm the carpark emptied and we were joined by a few other motorhomes but as it was now raining quite heavily, with a strong wind, we decided to stay put and have an earlyish night. It seems that this carpark is the default hang-out area for the local youth, both for the boy racers and a few couples enjoying each others, ahem, company but by 11.00 they had all disappeared and we had a quiet night.

Except, just as we were going to bed, we noticed water was being forced in somewhere by the wind (we were actually parked with our back to the wind). Not a lot and it soon stopped but it will have to be investigated when we get home and meanwhile try to be facing into the wind when parked.