I probably had the best night's sleep I've had for the past few weeks. I don't think I've slept in a caravan since when I stayed over at the Hallett's place and my friend Tom Hallett was living in the caravan, probably eight or ten years ago.
It was good not to have to pack up the tent, and I got away fairly early (in the morning, anyway).
I rode over the Sperrin Mountains, they weren't steep or high, but a headwind made it slow going.
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| On Barnes Road in Upper Dreen, Northern Ireland, about to cross the Sperrin Mountains. |
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| On Sperrin Road just south of Upper Dreen, Northern Ireland, about to cross the Sperrin Mountains. |
I took a toilet stop in Draperstown, and also ate some of the pasta I'd cooked up for lunch.
I had a chat to a bloke there; he was interested in where I was from and what I was doing. He said he'd been at Oktoberfest, and that he'd come across quite a few Australians there too. He also gave me directions to Belfast, the route he would take. I followed his route for a bit, until the roads got too busy, then followed the cycle network route, then a route recommended by the bike hub app.
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| Somewhere north of Lough Neagh, which is a large fresh-water lake in Northern Ireland. |
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| Lough Neagh, near Antrim, Northern Ireland. |
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| Lough Neagh, near Antrim, Northern Ireland. |
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| Lough Neagh, near Antrim, Northern Ireland. |
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| A tree on the Seven Mile Straight, Muckamore. |
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| The lights of Belfast viewed from the hills to the west of the city, on Ligoniel Road. |
I was pretty knackered by this stage.
I stopped near the city centre, found some free Wi-Fi and looked up Hostelworld on the iPhone to find a hostel. "Paddy's Palace" looked okay because it was cheap, seemed to have spare beds, free breakfast and free Wi-Fi, which are the main things I'm after.
Hostelworld allows users who book hostels through them to rate the hostel on various aspects, resulting in an overall rating. Paddy's Palace had an overall average user rating of 72 %, which is relatively low.
I soon found out why it had a low rating - it wasn't a great hostel, the worst I've stayed in so far (not that I've stayed in many, but still). The receptionist had been lounging in the lounge room and didn't exactly put on a happy face to check me in. I was put in a six bed room for £14 because she couldn't find the key for the cheaper twelve bed room which would have cost £9.
The place was pretty run-down, pretty small as well. There were a bunch of people drinking in the common room, they were alright to hang out with.
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| Fellow hostelers: one of the English girls, the French girl, and two of the Australian girls. |
Later on they went out to a club, and abandoned this Canadian guy who had then returned to his room in the hostel dejected, saying that he couldn't find any of them so he decided to just come home. I felt a bit sorry for him actually.
Although he did wake me up when he came back while I was trying to sleep.
I hadn't felt like going out with the others, I was too tired, hadn't showered, didn't have the right clothes, didn't feel like drinking, I just couldn't be bothered! I must be getting old.
So I'd stayed back and chatted to the Canadian girl. She'd just started her one month trip a few days earlier in Dublin, was just going around Europe, and was going to head to France next. She'd just felt she needed to travel, and when she got back home she wanted to buy a house, and find a second job to help pay for it.
The "freeWi-Fi" at this hostel didn't work on my iPhone, and the staff member showed absolutely no interest in helping me out. So I won't be going back to this hostel again, glad I only booked in for one night (they were "pretty full" on the following night apparently, and reckoned they couldn't fit me in anyway). £14 not particularly well spent. Could have been worse though eh? At least I had a bed for the night so I can't complain too much.
Ride stats
Distance: 110.2 km
Average: 18.3 km/h
Maximum: 61.8 km/ h
Time: 6:00:16
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