Suburban Lush

North Down Coastal Path

It snowed this weekend. Thick fluffy flakes which coated the ground while I was at a Christmas party. The weather has been unseasonably cold - Belfast rarely has snow in December - and everyone here is excited at the prospect of a white Christmas.

We had our "Christmas hike" on Sunday in the snow, the last hike of the year. It was an easy walk along the coast from Bangor to Holywood, which was perfect because a good number of us had been up late partying the night before. Proper paths, cake, mulled wine, good company, and a pint in a nice pub afterwards - it was bliss.

We parked the cars at Holywood and took the train to Bangor. The walk followed the coastal path along the South shore of Strangford Lough back to Holywood, passing Crawfordsburn Country Park, fancy houses and a fort. At the fort we were offered an impromptu tour. First the radio room, where the elderly tour guide showed us (and told us about) every single piece of equipment there, in nauseating detail. He was eventually interrupted by another elderly guide who wanted to show us around the fort. He pointed out everything, including the sewer, and, while telling us a story advised that one needed to use the term "coloured gents" these days to avoid offending people. It was very entertaining. After the tour we carried on, and ended our walk at The Dirty Duck - the pub that holds the quiz I attend on Tuesdays. It was a lovely day - cold and windy but clear - and we caught lovely glimpses of the snow-covered hills of Belfast

Grade: Easy
Distance: 8 miles/13km
Time: 4 hours approx.
Higest Point: 15m
Terrain: Flat, on well-maintained paths
Map: OSNI Sheet 15

Frosty Night Walk - Clandeboye Way

I'm not sure how to explain my Saturday afternoon walk and make it sound fun. But it was!  We had a Frosty Night walk which started at 2:30 pm, which was convenient because we'd had our hiking group Christmas dinner the night before.

We met at the centre of Helen's Bay, and started off through a wooded lane before crossing the highway and carrying along up the Ulster Way through the Clandeboye Estate. The walk itself is hard to describe, as it got dark around 4pm. The track was very muddy in places and, as we walked along with head-torches it began to rain slightly. So yes, how do you make a muddy walk in the cold, dark and rain sound like fun? I'm not sure, but we had a great time.

On most walks these days we have over 20 people, but on this particular walk there were only 8 of us - a nice intimate number. We chatted and laughed as we walked and, even though we were following a decent path, there was a real sense of adventure.

We stopped for coffee and cake before heading up the final stretch to Helen's Tower. While our leader was kind enough to supply us all with cake, she did admit that she hadn't recci'd the final stretch. As a result we missed the tower, and eventually had to turn around to re-trace our steps. We never made it to the tower.

It was a fun walk, and an excellent way to wake up after a 4am bedtime. We were home by 7:30, which gave me a little bit of time to eat, shower and get dressed for another night out (and another 4am bedtime).

Hiking Cookies

I had the best intentions to go hiking on Sunday, and so I made cookies on Saturday to take with me. Unfortunately due to a sore foot I didn't make it out hiking, but don't let the name fool you - these cookies still taste good when you're curled up on the couch with a cup of tea. The cookies are almost trail-mix in cookie form and they are infinitely adaptable - use whatever dried fruit/nuts/seeds you like best, or do what I did and use up all the little odds and ends left in the cupboard from previous baking experiments. This time, mine had slivered almonds, raisins, craisins, and pumpkin seeds, but they are good with sunflower seeds, chopped dried apricots, chopped almonds or walnuts - basically anything you'd put in trail mix. If you've got kids going along for the hike, try throwing in some chocolate chips.

The sugar means these cookies are a quick pick-me-up, while the oatmeal, molasses, dried fruit and nuts give slow-burning energy. They are not the most attractive of cookies, and the molasses makes them a little sticky so they need to be kept separated (I wrap them individually with glad wrap, perfect for throwing into the front pocket of my backpack to grab as a quick snack). I think they'd probably freeze well, but there have never been any left for me to experiment with.

Ingredients (makes about 2 dozen cookies):

• 115 grams butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon molasses
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup self raising flour
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 2 tablespoons flax seeds
• 1 cup mixed nuts/dried fruit/seeds, chopped so they are all roughly the size of raisins

Preheat oven to 190C. Grease a cookie sheet. Beat the butter in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat until well mixed. Add eggs and molasses, and beat until combined. Add spices and flour, and beat until batter is smooth. Stir in the remaining ingredients.

Drop the dough, by the tablespoon, onto the cookie sheet (hey don't spread much, so I managed to fit 12 cookies per tray) and bake for 12 - 15 minutes, until golden. Remove from the oven and cool the cookies on a rack.

Strangford and Castle Ward

Well, that's enough of that touchy-feely emotional stuff (I feel so exposed!!). Would you like me to tell you about the lovely walk I did last weekend? Well tough; I'm telling you anyway.

Last Sunday dawned gorgeously sunny and crisp, a perfect day for walking. We started out at the town square at Strangford village. We walked along the edge of the harbour, before climbing through the village, past Strangford Castle, then up a wooded glen before descending to Strangford Bay and along a stony beach before entering the Castle Ward estate. The walk was essentially a circuit of the perimeter of the estate and past the Georgian Castle Ward House, which is built in the classical style on one side and the Gothic style on the other. Apparently the Lord and Lady of the house couldn't agree on which style to build in so they compromised, and rumour has it that they divorced not long after the house was completed.

From the house we walked down to the farmyard at Old Castle Ward. There were some pigs there and, surprisingly, a film set had been constructed on the site. We spent some time exploring the farmyard and set but soon headed on and left the  estate for a short time to visit the 15th century Audley's Castle.

The way back was through Audley's Wood and along the shoreline before re-entering the estate and returning to Strangford village for a pint of Guinness.

The walk was an easy one, and through a particularly beautiful corner of Northern Ireland. My extended family live on the shore of Strangford Lough, and the scenery of the walk reminded me of childhood visits to Northern Ireland.

Grade: Easy
Distance: 8 miles / 13kms approx
Time: 4 hours approx.
Total Ascent: about 20m
Terrain: Rolling countryside and pebbled beach. Mostly gravel or grassy tracks.
Start/Finish: Strangford Village square Grid Ref J 589 497
Map: OSNI 1:50,000 Sheet 21. 

(Photos stolen from David Doyle)

Delayed Reaction

I haven't written anything about what I've been up to the last couple of weekends. Which is ridiculous, because I've done plenty of post-worthy things.

The weekend before last, our friend Andrew from New Zealand was over to visit, which was lovely. Part of a longer trip he could only visit us for the weekend, so we had to pack plenty of sightseeing into two days. Fortunately he arrived on Friday afternoon, so we managed to take him to a couple of pubs on Friday night. As far as I'm concerned no trip to Belfast is complete without visiting The Crown, a beautiful heritage building, and Kelly's Cellars, Belfast's oldest pub and an old IRA hangout.

Saturday morning we headed to the markets for a quick bite to eat before catching the train to Londonderry/Derry for the day. I won't even try to explain the history of Derry, but it is an interesting city which still gives the impression that Northern Ireland is an occupied territory. This is a place where sectarian attacks still happen on a fairly regular basis, and where Protestant and Catholic communities show their allegiance with pride.

Derry is a walled city, and we walked along the top of the walls before checking out Bogside, the Bloody Sunday memorial and the Free Derry Corner. Fortunately it was a lovely sunny day, so no raincoats were needed. And Andrew got chatting to a guy who wanted to practice his Maori!

Saturday night was quiet as we had plans to go hiking on Sunday. We had high hopes for the weather as Saturday had been so lovely, but unfortunately Northern Ireland reverted to its true colours for Sunday. Low fog which never lifted, misly rain, and a cold wind. Fortunately we are hardy souls not to be put off by the weather, so we headed off to climb Slieve Gullion.

All too soon it was Monday and Andrew headed off to Dublin, his brief visit to Northern Ireland over.

Slieve Gullion

A couple of weekends ago I hiked up Slieve Gullion in South Armagh. The weather was less than amazing, but the walk itself was good.

From the carpark we walked uphill through deciduous woodland before coming out on the road. We followed the road uphill for some time before turning off the road and heading up a grassy track,  making a steep ascent of Slieve Gullion. Unfortunately there were no views from the top due to the fog, but at the peak of Slieve Gullion we checked out the very interesting Neolithic South Cairn Passage Grave, before progressing  in a north westerly direction to Calliagh Berras Lough.

We had a quick lunch in the rain not far from the lake before commencing our descent to Ballard Road. The weather cleared at this point and we had some lovely views across Armagh before we reached road again. We followed the road to Killevy Old Churches an ancient convent dating from the 5th Century before continuing along the road past Clonlum South Cairn Portal Tomb on the left and Killevy Castle on the right, and then back to the cars.

From my point of view I prefer walks with a bit less road, but the history, legends and sights of Slieve Gullion were interesting. And I'm sure the views would have been lovely if we could have seen them!

Grade: Moderate/Moderate+
Distance: 9.5 miles/15 kms
Time: 5 hours approx
Highest Point: 573m
Terrain: Minor Roads, grassy paths, slightly boggy
Start/Finish point: Slieve Gullion Courtyard Centre
Maps: OSNI Sheet 29 + Gateway to Ulster

Fermanagh

I'm still recovering from the weekend, and its slow going. A bunch of us from my hiking group went down to County Fermanagh for a weekend of drinking and hiking.

We car-pooled down on Friday night. With the best intentions to leave almost straight after work we ended up getting delayed for various reasons and didn't leave Belfast until 8 pm. After stopping for dinner at Francos in Enniskillen (I highly recommend their moussaka, and their pizzas looked good too)  it was close to midnight by the time we finally arrived at our destination.

We'd booked into 4 holiday cottages just outside Belcoo, and because it was so late we behaved ourselves and went almost straight to bed in preparation for our hike the next day. Andrew, our fearless leader, had been down to Fermanagh to check out the walk a few weeks before, and here is his stirring report, provided to us before the walk:

This is a 13 mile route (21km) – easy on the paths to start, a short sharp climb up and down, but hard going across the bog after. This route took me 7 hrs last weekend.

Did I mention the bog – there is some mud, some water, some ponds and more mud …. Gaiters are highly recommended, I’d say a necessity. (Wellies, waders and a snorkel might not be required..) .. and I walked on a dry day after a few dry days!

If there is no breeze there are loads of midgies! Be prepared.

I mean really, if that doesn't make you want to curl up and go back to bed on a Saturday morning I don't know what does! But we are hardy walkers, so off we went, knowing that it would probably take us significantly more than 7 hours because Andrew is pretty fit and walking on your own is always faster than with a big group.

The walk started off along a lovely river-side trail, before breaking off and heading up-hill along a road towards Cuilcagh, our mountain for the day. Once we got past the end of the road the going was tough. Matting had been put down along the way so that you didn't sink into the bog, but the matting was slippery and so there was much sliding, with the occasional serious fall. It takes an unusual amount of effort to climb vertical bog, particularly when it is green and slimy in places. Cuilcagh is steep, and it was hard work getting to the top. I suggest you check out wikipedia if you want to know what the views are like from the top. What we saw? Was this:

Misty pea-soup, really.

We stopped at the top only long enough to take a photo, and then headed along the ridge, and down an incredibly steep slope. Some people opted to slide down the slope on their butts to avoid falling, and this might have been the best plan. The rest of us tentatively walked down, slipping occasionally. The hill was steep enough that when you slipped it was almost impossible to stop, and the people below you were in danger of being collected as you slid down.

Near the bottom we stopped for a well-deserved lunch, offering around treats and sharing hot-drinks with those who had forgotten theirs.

After lunch we re-entered the bog. To be honest, it wasn't that boggy at this point. At least not as wet as the vertical bog up the side of Cuilcagh had been. The weather had been dry for the previous week, and we were well equipped with gaiters. Even so, walking through bog is hard work - kind of like being on a stair-master for hours on end. But there was enough of a breeze to keep the midges away, and the cloud lifted to allow us views out across the golden grass.

The afternoon was long, and the entire walk took 8 hours. Once we got back on the road our spirits lifted as we believed we were entering the final stages of the walk, only to be told by Andrew that we had another 6 kilometers, and more bog, to go. By the end of the walk we were all pretty tired, but it had been worthwhile - lovely views, good exercise, fresh air, and no rain, which is always something to be thankful for when hiking in Northern Ireland.

Back at our cabins, exhausted but happy, we showered and prepared our BBQ dinner. Burgers, sausages, steaks, pork chops, with the odd vege-kebab thrown in for good measure. And of course plenty of booze. Our energy levels picked up with the food and alcohol, and we ended dancing the night away, despite having already walked for 8 hours. I rolled into bed at about 2 am, completely shattered.

Sunday was far more civilized. Most of the group had opted to do "water activities" in the morning, while four of us had chosen to go for a short walk. We drove out to the supposed start of the walk but, after a few confused miles, couldn't figure out where the trail started. In the end, we drove up the top of a mountain, where we were the only people apart from a woman and her son who arrived just after us. We admired the view lovely view across to Cuilcagh and made our plan for the rest of the day. We decided that, instead of walking, we would explore the town of Enniskillen as none of us had ever spent time there before. We were all in our walking gear, so did a quick change. Suddenly it dawned on us: the woman and her son who were also up the hill had seen four people arrive by car, have a quick look, change, and then get back in their cars and drive off. We had to giggle at the absurdity of it.

Enniskillen is a lovely island town, and we walked along the river and up the main street before settling in to a cafe for coffee, and both the boys indulged in hot fudge sundaes. We met the others for lunch in Cafe Merlot (divine fish pie and chips) and tried to convince them that we'd "been to the top of a mountain" but they saw through our deception and correctly guessed that we'd driven to the top.

It was a great weekend, and my first time in County Fermanagh, but I think my legs are still recovering.

Altbritain Circuit

I had the first hike in a long time yesterday, the Altbritain Circuit in the Sperrin Mountains. The walk is a horseshoe walk exploring the eastern tip of the main Sperrins range. The route visits four mountains, Mullagheneany (627m), Outghtmore (569m) and Spelhoagh (568m) and Meenard (620m).

We started with a steep ascent through Banagher Forest before breaking up above the tree line. After a bit more climbing we reached the top of Mullagheneany. The walk between Mullagheneany and Meenard is fairly easy but slightly boggy. After reaching the top of Meenard we doubled back on ourselves and walked along the side of Mullagheneany, avoiding the summit this time. After lunch we headed on to Oughtmore. From the top of Oughtmore we crossed Spelhoagh, after which we had a sharp descent before an equally sharp ascent to the top of Craigagh Hill, from the top of which we followed a rough track back to the road and to our cars.

The weather was fantastic, sunny with not too much of a breeze. I've never been in the Sperrins on a sunny day before and was stunned by their beauty. Rolling tussock-covered hills, not dramatic landscape, but stunningly beautiful.

Grade: Moderate/Moderate+
Distance: 8.4 miles/13.5 km
Duration: 5 hours approx.
Highest Point: 627m
Terrain: Undulating over track, tussock grass and open hillside, moderate ascents and descents.
Start/Finish Point: Glenedra Bridge GR 706003
Maps: OSNI 1:25,000 Sheets 7 & 8 or 1:50,000 Sperrins Activity Map

Back to Nature

I'm squatting in the dark, pants down, when my friend Anne, also on a bathroom break, starts freaking out: "oh my god, there is someone over there!! What are we going to do?". My heart races and I pull up my jeans as fast as I can while trying to see where she is pointing. All I can see is pitch black. Anne has the torch but its a cheap one and doesn't project its light very far. I stumble back to where she is, and slowly my eyes adjust. She is pointing at a tree. My heartbeat slows back to normal and I manage to calm Anne down while telling her off for almost giving me a heart attack. Repeat this scene every time I make the mistake of going to the bathroom with Anne.

We went camping this weekend. Seven of us. Cooking over the campfire, drinking, trying to go to the bathroom in the dark and having a heart attack, sleeping in a tent which was clearly not pitched on flat ground. It was loads of fun. Plus weather was fantastic - possibly the warmest it has been since I arrived in Belfast in March last year.

We were in the Mourne mountains, a steep 45 minute walk from the carpark. My friend Julian goes camping every year with several of his friends for a "boys' weekend" but this year most of his friends couldn't make it so he invited his girlfriend Jen, Anne and I, as well as John, their friend Stephen, and his girlfriend Sinead. He camps in the same place every time, a lovely spot next to a stream. Its a hard slog to get there, especially when carrying everything you need for the night. John isn't an outdoors-man, so I helped him out by taking most of our stuff - a 60 litre backpack for me, plus a tent under my arm because it wouldn't fit in the pack, a day-pack for him with his sweater, a spare pair of jeans, and a couple of cans of Guinness (the rest of the 18 pack of Guinness was in my bag, together with dinner, a bottle of wine, sleeping bag, my spare clothes, and a few extra beers I was carrying for Anne). Not that I'm complaining - I would have carried far more just to have him experience the Mournes.

We arrived at the campsite late afternoon. First things first, we put our beers in the stream to cool,  before tents were pitched and firewood was collected. We sat in the sunshine sipping beer and enjoying being out in the wild. The sun set early, and  we lit our fire for warmth as well as for light as the evening was cold. Dinner was cooked over the fire: sausages in buns. Jen had wrapped some potatoes in foil and put them in the fire to cook on the embers, but by the time she judged them to be done they were completely burnt and inedible. We toasted marshmallows, drank, and chatted into the small hours before crawling off to our tents to sleep, toasty warm in our sleeping bags.

The next morning saw some of our campers worse for wear. Unfortunately we needed to be back in Belfast by mid-afternoon, and after cooking breakfast  we had little time for relaxing before breaking camp and heading back down to the cars.

It was a fun weekend, and a nice way to end the summer. Good company, not a drop of rain, and only  two minor injuries: I fell over on the rocks (before I'd even had one drink) and Julian slipped down a hill in the dark.

Also, I may have been a little over-excited about my wine, marshmallows, and my lovingly sharpened marshmallow toasting sticks:

Quiet

A quiet week with not much to report.

Sunday I walked in both Ness Country Park and Roe Valley Country Park with my hiking group. Nice, easy walks with cake at the coffee shop to finish.

Tuesday night we went to see Taking of Pelham 123 - thoroughly enjoyable and a good escape from reality.

I've been strangely tired all week and fell asleep after work on Wednesday, before waking up to attend my polercize class.

Thursday, a quiet night at home, making chocolate and vanilla cupcakes for a commission and skyping with my Mom for her birthday (Happy Birthday Mom!).

Now its Friday. Plans for the weekend? Out for a fancy dinner tonight with my extended family for my Aunt and Uncle's 40th wedding anniversary. And the Tall Ships are in town so I will probably check that out on Saturday. No plans for Sunday, but I might spend the day pottering around in the kitchen - I'm thinking a big pot of soup, some sweet treats and maybe a casserole for diner.

Hopefully I'll have some stories and photos for you on Monday.