Belfast to Newcastle

Saturday October 9, 2010
No free breakfast at this hostel (the Linen House hostel). Fortunately I happened to have about 80 Weet-Bix, some Fruit 'n' Fibre Flakes, some rice bubbles and two litres of milk with me.
I packed up but before I left I had to use the Wi-Fi to work out where I was going, to cache maps on Google Maps and the bike hub app. Frustratingly the Wi-Fi wasn't working for me, so I just headed off and found a Maccas, where I would have spent a good forty-five minutes downloading detail on the maps because the connection was so slow, and it was very frustrating.
See I'd run out of credit so I couldn't get internet from the cellular network, and I didn't want to top up because I was about to leave the UK. The Republic of Ireland isn't part of the UK, and I can't use my UK SIM card for internet outside the UK (unless I want to pay hundreds in data roaming fees!) And I figure there's no point getting another one just for the Republic of Ireland when I'll only be there a few days too.
So I eventually rolled out of Belfast around mid-day. I was planning on taking the scenic route, and doing a big day of riding so that I didn't have far to go to Dublin the next day, and I'd be able to get to the hostel early (can you guess what happened?)
I never saw much of Belfast but I took a few quick snaps on the way out:

The Albert Memorial Clock in Queens Square, Belfast. It was completed in 1869.

Custom House Square, Belfast.

The Big Fish, Donegall Quay, Belfast.

Overlooking the town of Newtownards from Scrabo Road, Northern Ireland.

The wind was mostly against me to start with, my legs were tired and going was slow. I got to this inlet called Strangford Lough and was going to ride around one side.

On Portaferry Road south of Newtownards, overlooking Strangford Lough in the Irish Sea.

The woman at the information centre in Larne had said this was better than the coastal side. Once on this road though, I discovered it was very busy, with absolutely no shoulder, but a rough path beside the road with blackberries and the like intruding, certainly not ideal. I guess because it was a Saturday lots of people were out and about on these tourist roads.
I couldn't handle riding on this road for long, I was probably safe enough because most of the cars slow right down and don't pass you until it's safe, but I feel bad if I'm holding up the traffic all the time, and frustrating all the drivers. So I took a detour, got back onto the cycle network route which went mostly alongside the coast, but not on a very direct route.

An intersection in Ballyhalbert, Northern Ireland, with the Irish Sea in the background.

On Quintin Bay Road, south-east of Portaferry.

I kept riding to a place called Portaferry, where one needs to catch a ferry to continue traveling south. I didn't stop for lunch because I didn't know what time the last ferry was, so I'd actually gone seven hours without eating anything. I was feeling good though, after a huge dinner and then a huge breakfast to keep me going. It seems to take me a few hours to warm up, because mid-afternoon I was strong, and the wind had become my friend and was helping me out too.
I got to Portaferry at 5 pm and the last ferry was at about 10 pm so I was laughin'.

Strangford Lough Ferry Service.

The town of Portaferry, Northern Ireland.

On the ferry crossing the Strangford Lough from Portaferry to Strangford, Northern Ireland.

On the ferry crossing the Strangford Lough from Portaferry to Strangford, Northern Ireland. 

On the ferry crossing the Strangford Lough from Portaferry to Strangford, Northern Ireland. 

On the ferry crossing the Strangford Lough from Portaferry to Strangford, Northern Ireland. 

I ate lunch on the five minute ride, and in the town on the other side: Strangford.
It was starting to get dark by this stage, and I had progressed nowhere near as far as I'd wanted to! There was meant to be some beautiful mountains called the Mournes, which I'd wanted to go through that day, but I realised I wasn't going to have time before dark, and didn't want to go through them in the dark since they were meant to be beautiful as I say, and I wanted to actually see them, so I stopped at the town just before them - Newcastle.
Here I ate some more left over beef stroganoff for tea, then found a camp site near the river.
I couldn't believe I'd traveled 126 km and only gotten as far as the Mournes! Dublin was only meant to be 160 km from Belfast by the most direct route...which I obviously wasn't taking, because Belfast was only 53 km away by a direct route from my current location. That meant I'd have to put in a huge day to get to Dublin the next day. With this in mind, I got to bed early, before 11 pm!
Meanwhile my housemate Jim was having a sleep over with friends at his place in Porcupine Ridge, Australia, and there I was on a Saturday night all on my own, I was a bit jealous.

Ride Stats
Belfast to Newcastle
Distance: 126.25 km
Average: 19.7 km/h
Maximum: 48.0 km/h
Time: 6:22:46