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Belfast (Northern Ireland) to Glasgow (Scotland) UK (5,458kms)

Aug 14, 2012

Snippets / Memories / Photos of the day:

• I appreciated the day off the bike yesterday and have enjoyed being back on it today.
• We had a nice ride from the hotel to get to the ferry shortly after 6.30am with little to no traffic and no rain.
• We berthed about 30 minutes late due to a clutch failure but once we did we enjoyed a lovely ride for the rest of the day.
• Got a bit lost getting off the Motorway in Glasgow (seeing some bits of the road several times but finally got here).
• Murphy true to form provided a quick shower of rain a few minutes before we got in but we were fortunately fuelling up at the time and didn’t get wet. Yay had a win there!
• Our hotel is in an old dock type area undergoing refurbishment. There are a number of hotels and apartments and part of a massive crane towers over the car park here and close by a stadium (I think) is being constructed as well as something which looks a bit like a mini Sydney Opera House.



Lining up to catch the ferry beside a quad axle low loader (very short to what we are used to). The truck has fluffy bobbles at the top of his windscreen would you believe!



Gearing up to get off the ferry in Glasgow. As we were getting ready to get off the other 3 riders (Scots) asked where we were headed today, Norm told them Glasgow in his best Australian then said ‘doesn’t sound the same when an Aussie says it does it!’ they all agreed and had a good laugh.



Culzean Castle literally perched on top of a cliff so magnificent sea views even from the servants quarters and kitchens. A really quite beautiful experience. It sits within huge grounds all open to the public and the property is impeccably maintained. This was the former home to the powerful Kennedy family and Scottish masterpiece of architect Robert Adam and now owned by the National Trust.



Part of the Walled Garden at Culzean Castle at the end of a leafy walk from the Castle past the Camellia House which had deliciously fragrant oranges in it.



The birthplace of Poet Robbie Burns at Alloway. We trekked through the house and Poetry walk and down to the museum and back. Beautiful setting for an amble through lovely gardens and then back to the bikes past some very expensive looking real estate.




Robbie Burns Monument in a memorial garden. Quite beautiful

Bits and Bobs:

Since we’ve been in the UK and Ireland we have found that over 90% of bikers (including the Police) all give a wave or nod of the head to other bikers. Feels good.

Last nights’ Accommodation:

The Radisson Blu, Belfast Northern Ireland (UK)


Another lovely Radisson Hotel. Comfortable public spaces and sensible practical roomy space in our room, staff is helpful and booked the Black Cab tour for us and found a hairdresser for me and the food in the restaurant is characteristically Radisson good. What more could we ask?

Well we tried the laundry service which was a challenging experience, but at the end of the day it all got sorted and finally our long johns were found….phew so the satisfaction guarantee really does work!



The Radisson Blu, Belfast.


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