Ulster Way - Day 28

After pottering around the house for nearly half the morning I decided it was time to get going, or I wouldn’t get very far at all. Leaving my house after a swift repack and ten minutes later I rejoined with the sea, it would be over my right shoulder for next ten miles or so. The next couple of hours would be spent with the sound of waves lapping on the sand and battering the coastal geology, following the North Down Coastal Path a route I’ve walked manys a time.

The Path meanders in and out finally taking you into Holywood and after negotiating some pavements you enter the splendid Redburn Country Park, perched on a hill and offering expansive views of Belfast Lough.


The Ulster Way spits you out from the tree lined paths of Redburn onto a car park, and for the next hour and a bit, time is spent navigating Belfast’s suburbs, before entering the grounds of Stormont, the seat of Northern Irish politics.


It was the first time I had been on the grounds of Stormont, but I fought the urge to explore the expansive gardens as time was getting on, and in the grand scheme of things I felt I hadn’t achieved a great deal. Passing the statue of Edward Carson, and walking down “the mile” I returned to rather busy roads, before stopping for a cone of Maud’s Pooh bear delight.


For the next hour I was walking pavements passing an incorrectly placed Ulster Way signpost and finally rising up Gilnahirk Rd. With over 15 miles done and my sister in the area I decided it was time enough to call it a day. Another night in a proper bed with all the modern conveniences at my finger tips, not exactly how I had expected to spend my nights, but there again why not, no point in “roughing” it for no reason.


For the next hour I was walking pavements passing an incorrectly placed Ulster Way signpost and finally rising up Gilnahirk Rd. With over 15 miles done and my sister in the area I decided it was time enough to call it a day. Another night in a proper bed with all the modern conveniences at my finger tips, not exactly how I had expected to spend my nights, but there again why not, no point in “roughing” it for no reason.