Thursday July 17, 2014

As we cycled out of Tollymore, we passed the campsite we were supposed to be staying at.  It was 10 kms out of Town and another 20 minutes away from Tollymore, up some good hills.  Must remember the Irish 10 minutes!

A short day today.  Our plan was to get to Dunleer (75ks), but with two recommendations to visit the medieval town of Carlingford we made a detour.

Our route out of Newcastle took us through the Mourne Mountains.  Absolutely beautiful, if you like walking this would be a great place to spend some time in the hills.  I kept expecting the roads to really kick-up, but they weren’t too bad, we generally got the momentum from the down hills to get us up the next hill, great way to cycle.

The first recommendation to visit Carlingford came from Sheila the lady I spoke to outside the  Tesco supermarket last night.  The second recommendation came from an ISite employee.  We had pulled into the Aldi car park to check the route out of Newry.  We thought we would have to follow the A1 (a busy dual carriageway) to cross the border.  This young man had spotted us from the Tourist Information office and came over with map in hand and informed us that there was no border crossing, open borders.  He also informed us that the A1 was a really busy road and in Ireland it turns into a motorway.  He then told us about Carlingford and I decided it would be worth the visit and it was.

We stopped on the Quay in Newry to get some lunch.  Ralf had spotted a Subway, so we took our bikes inside the shopping centre and went to the Subway.  As we were about to sit down Security came to me and asked us to take the bikes outside. We went outside and sat in the sun, yes it was sunny today.  I have been carrying a tube of sun protection cream we bought in Australia – this is the third time we have used it since Australia – how sad is that.  I am really strict about putting it on even if there is only a slight chance of the sun being hot enough to burn us.  This is the first time in almost a month that the temperature has been over 20 degrees!!!

We crossed into Ireland without incident.  In fact the only way you know you have crossed into Eire are the traffic signs are now in kilometres and not miles.

The route to Carlingford was very pretty although the cars in Ireland didn\’t give us as much room as in the North.

As you arrive in the Town the Castle stands atop of the hill \’protecting\’ the Town and overlooking the harbour.

We parked our bikes and investigated the castle, it had a great view of the harbour.

The Town was small with little streets and ancient towers, and gates.

The old Dominican Priory was my favourite, the stone work and archways were lovely and very peaceful.  I could imagine the monks walking these hallways chanting their prayers.

A lot of the buildings were incorporated into new commercial enterprises.  This tower was part of a pub.

The Town had some lovely restaurants and small shops, Ralf always spots the interesting photos.

By the time we had wandered around the Town of Carlingford, which was really worth stopping and visiting it was 3:30 and we needed to find a campsite.  The Tourist Information office called the campsite and we were informed that there was no vacancy for tonight.  Our options were limited, B&Bs at approximately 35EU to 45EU per person.  The other option was the Carlingford Adventure Centre which is a hostel as well. A dorm room is 20 EU per person or an ensuite is 30 EU Per person.  We opted for the dorm room, but the fella (David) offered us the ensuite for the same price as a dorm. We are in an ensuite room, it is a very small, basic room, clean and a nice hot shower.  Our bikes are in the safe lock-up. The Mint is part of the Centre.

There was a sign about leprechauns in this Town as well, of course we had to investigate.  Not sure why the bull was in the same garden.

We also spotted this boat – Mat it needs a bit of work, but I am sure you are up to it.