Sun Sun Sun

Portstewart Northern Ireland

The Easter school holiday break coincided with a respite in formal council meetings so we went on a short break to Portstewart in Northern Ireland, which also turned out to be the week of the 100th anniversary that the Titanic set sail and sank. We set off early on the morning of the ferry crossing (11 April) to allow for several stops to feed Frank, these were not required as he slept all the way to the Little Chef at Collin, then again from there to Cairnryan, where we were the first to arrive at the port. The ferry crossing from Cairnryan to Belfast was uneventful and we arrived safely in Portstewart, being greeted by the Nicholl family around 8pm, after stopping off, for our evening meal, at the York.

Being April we were uncertain of what the weather would throw at us, it turned out that the weather was superb, blue sky, sunshine and little wind for the entire five night visit, still a tad chilly mind. Other than a walk through the woods at Downhill from Castlerock, where Frank enjoyed looking up into the trees, and a visit to Ballycastle, we spent all our time on White Rocks Beach and the Portstewart Strand play area, as that is what Roxanne wanted to do. Roxanne thoroughly enjoyed herself as she paddled in the sea, climbed up and slid down the large sand hill, dug holes and made sandcastles on White Rocks Beach and played on the swings and in the sand at Portstewart Strand play area, Roxanne was pleased to see Anna once again and they spent much time talking and giggling.

Roxanne and Frank at White Rocks Beach

One thing Gill commented on was the amount of dog fouling on the pavements and in public places, though people did, generally, tidy up after their dogs on White Rocks Beach. Confirmation, as if was needed, that this is a national problem and more so in Portstewart and Castlerock (Coleraine Borough) than in Charnock Richard, Heskin or Coppull West. A further issue was the parking of vehicles blocking dropped curbs, something I would probably not have noticed had we not been pushing a pram.

2012 is the 21st year that I have been going to Portstewart, staying at Chez Nous (1 Victoria Terrace), with Mervyn, Sharon, Richard, Anna and Grandad (who I think is called Tommy and I know is 89 years old), with my first trip being for the North West 200 motorcycle road races in 1991. I think this was my most enjoyable trip to date, good company, good food, with the food in The York, The Ice House and Shenanigans being as good as ever, with top of these three being The Ice House. The weather was faultless, especially considering the time of year. We would go more often were it not for the ferry cost being high and the travelling (especially home) being tiring. Portstewart has changed significantly in these 21 years, Bed and Breakfast and hotel accommodation has largely been replaced by apartments, there are several empty buildings, presumably waiting to be demolished and replaced by apartments some things do remain constant such as the Sunday promenading of cars along the front and, of course, Morelli’s Ice Cream Parlour. One thing we have always had here is, in the words of Noah and the Whale, fun, fun, fun, and we will still be going there in 5 years time.