A conversation with Bill & Barbara Blackedge during the New Year social threw up the subject of touring Northern Ireland, I've been thinking about NI in place of a trip to The Highlands and Bill & Barbara were enthuisastic about their experiences in the province.
They both kindly agreed to share some of their experiences of the trip through a wrote on our blog:
It was the year that the rain was so bad that one of the underpasses in Belfast filled up with water. With such a wet summer as our backdrop we were off to spend a week in Northern Ireland and it was to be our first motorbike tour only a year after passing the DAS test.
We chose Northern Ireland because it was ‘abroad’ without being ‘abroad’. Added to which, we had friends in Bangor, Co. Down and it was high time we popped in to see them. We decided to stay three nights with them (Sat, Sun, Mon), two nights in the West and two nights in the North, leaving us well placed to return to Larne, just North of Belfast, our point of entry and exit and, handily on the famous A2 coast road.
Preparation was relatively easy but typically, the week before departure, a set of engine protector bars for Barbara’s bike arrived, having been on order for 6 months. Fitting them was easy (except the bit where you need special socket bits to undo the BMW bolts) and after a night working in the garage the bars were on. A quick test ride just to make sure that everything works fine and – bugger! - the bike won’t start! Two days to go to the off and the bike’s broke. BMW were stars; picking up the bike first thing the following morning and hey presto the dreaded “BMW broken immobiliser antenna” was fixed.
Saturday dawned cold and grey and suddenly we were off. Hexham - Carlisle – Gretna – Dumfries and West toward Stranraer. Cold but excited we boarded the ferry. Once across the water it was a 40-minute ride to Bangor and our first overnight. The next two days flew past with a good day’s ride to the Mountains of Mourne, a trip to Strangford Lough and the Ulster Life museum as well as a ride through Belfast to see the sectarian wall art that was such a part of the news reports during the troubles.
Moving on from Co. Down we travelled through Armagh and Eniskillen, names of towns to avoid in the past, to a really lovely farmhouse B&B. Being based here allowed us to visit Donegal in the republic and then a ride around Lough Erne. After only two nights we were packed and off again stopping at Omagh, riding through Straban and Londonderry to our last port of call – Portrush. Once again we chose to stay in a farmhouse B&B – very comfortable, extremely friendly people and a breakfast par excellence. (in fact, if the landlady had had her way she’d have been piling food on us till lunch time!)
The north coast of Northern Ireland is great for a biker’s holiday, great roads and plenty to do and see; Glenariff, Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, the Giant’s Causeway and the Dark Hedges and some lovely little fishing towns where a cup of tea and seat in the sun make it all worthwhile.
Portrush is famous for the NW200 and of course we had to go to see the famous course. Riding in after tea on Friday evening we never expected the roads to be empty, but as they were we took the chance to line up 1 and 2 on the grid and ride the course – far slower than Dunlop or McGuiness, but it was fun nonetheless. A trip to Ballymoney is almost mandatory.
Loaded up again for our trip home we set off down the A2 from Bushmills towards Larne. It really is a beautiful ride, especially if the weather plays its part as it did for us. It was a fitting end to our first motorbike tour.
