IRELAND - DAY 1

It seems a long time since we last went away. It is fair to say that supporting a child through university seriously curtails your ability to travel ... but it's worth it and at last the time is here for the Richards' annual battlefield tour!

This year we are heading back to Ireland and Mike is to take us to the Battle of the Boyne and has been busy for the past few weeks pulling together all of the historical background, researching the battlefield and I am expecting a superb personal battlefield tour this year. We are also delighted that Andrew is able to join us again before heading back  to univesity next week.

We booked a 7.30am ferry from Stranraer and tend to think that it's just up the road as we live on the Scottish borders but when I finally checked out the distance involved discovered it was a two and a half hour trip. So we went to bed early and were up even earlier and on the road at 3am. 

The drive was nice and easy with little on the road and it felt like old times with Andrew sitting in the back gently snoring. Where does the time go? 

Now I like to be early. I can't stand the stress of arriving just in time and the boys tease me mercilessly about it so it will be no surprise to report that we arrived just after 5am and had a couple of hours to wait before boarding. Mike and Andrew decided to settle down in the car and catch up on their sleep but I wandered into the empty (well virtually empty!) departures lounge with my mat and had an hour's yoga practice. I felt great afterwards and by the time I got back to the car we were boarded soon afterwards. The ferry was very quiet and I was starting to feel tired and had a sleep, but kept getting woken up by the sound of a camera flash going off as Mike was taking pictures of me with Andrew making silly faces .... 

The weather was nice and we headed off to Carrickfergus to see the castle and the spot where William of Orange landed where the townsfolk have built a statue recently to mark the spot. We had a nice bite of lunch and then headed off up the causway coast road to Bushmills. The scenery was quite amazing but poor Andrew was thrown about in the back of the car as it's quite twisty. 

We arrived at our holiday cottage just outside Bushmills at about 3pm. Ballylinny Cottages are a small collection of holiday lets just 10 minutes walk from the Giants Causeway, nice but a bit tatty around the edges and not as clean as they could be but fit for purpose. We decided not to have an afternoon nap but freshened up and walked to see the Causeway. It felt great to be out of the car and we felt so pleased to be away together. Giggling, cracking silly jokes and generally just having fun together. It's seems like a very long time and perhaps that's why we are enjoying each other's company so much. 

The causeway is actually nuch smaller than you would think but impressive none the less and the sea so clear. We took the usual photos including the start of a yoga pose collection for Carlisle Yoga FB page check it out on www.facebook.com/carlisleyogauk?ref=bookmarks and the web page on carlisleyoga.co.uk

We decided to walk straight to The Smugglers Inn at the top of the road for an early dinner before heading off home to a game of Cluedo. Mike won ... but only after I had made my declaration of the guilty parties (Mrs Peacock, in the kitchen with the rope if you're interested!) as a suggestion and not an accusal so it didn't count!

It's been a great day .... we have so enjoyed being together as a family and I haven't laughed so much for ages. 

This morning the weather is beautiful and we are heading out to Dunluce Castle, The Bushmill Distillery amongst others and I'll keep you posted on our adventures .... day 1 has been fun and we haven't got into any scrapes just yet ... but I'm sure that we will .... so watch this space!!!

Having a bit of difficulty downloading the pictures so here's a small selection. I'll see if I get some more on later.