Bangor, Northern Ireland
16 August – 20 August 2013
Upon my arrival into Belfast International, I was greeted right away with hospitality and kindness by the people of this great nation. At we dropped into the airport, I had a lively conversation with a gentleman who was wondering my reasoning for visiting Belfast, let alone staying in Bangor for close to 3-weeks. “Did you make a wrong turn somewhere?” he laughed. After explaining how my journey had brought me here, he immediately was intrigued and began asking questions about the North Channel and how the whole swim went about. We chatted throughout customs, and parted our ways at the Hertz rental (car for hire) counter, where I was once again (this is a recurring theme) asked and explained my journey to the kind lady and man behind the desk just after 9AM Friday morning.
My Ford Focus has been kind to me on the petrol usage, as I have yet to fill up thus far – truly amazing despite how much driving I have been doing around town every day. I had to remember to drive on the left-hand side of the road, as that does take some time getting used to. Northern Ireland has a unique road system which has cameras along the way taking pictures of speeding drivers – time to slow down! Luckily the GPS unit I rented tells you about 400m out when one of these cameras is coming up. The left lane is the slow lane and the right lane is the fast one – when there are two lanes. Most European roads are one road and you have the fun of trying to squeeze two cars in a spot big enough for a Chevy 3500 double-diesel.
I arrived at the Shelleven Guest House on Princetown Road a bit early – around 10:30AM. I was advised I would have to come back around 2PM, as the room was not ready. No worries, as I simply took a drive down the city centre (yes, centre) and found my way out and around to Ballyholm Beach.
Why not take a swim?
I was greeted by several people as I changed out of my suitcase, and took the stairs down to the water – turns out I was right on time for low tide. The one problem with the beach (no one was swimming) was the fact when low tide is in session, you have to walk about 200m out into the water just to find about 3-4 deep to swim in. If you kept going out, you would get in the way of the sailboats from the Ballyholm Yacht Club, as they seem to have classes running every day I am out there (I plan on attending one of these in the coming days; had the same issue in Dover, England). The water has been in the mid-lower 50s since Friday, and has taken some time to getting used to. Coming from water in the mid-upper 70s, this is quite a change! I have been swimming between 1.5-2 hours daily, including another 1+ hour of ‘floating’ as I basically just float around and freeze myself until I can stand the wicked shivering any more. Sounds like a blast, right? You bet! I have found this to be the most effective way to acclimatize to the cold whenever I travel (that, and a whole lot of pasta, pizza and other high calorie items to keep that fat on!)
My room in the guest house is small, as many European bed and breakfasts are that way. I have a double-bed in a 10 x 12 foot room, along with a hallway (with closet) and a rather large bathroom. I am happy with the room, as well as the daily breakfasts and comforts of home the Shelleven provides. Parking is right in front of the guest house, so that makes it quite handy when coming and going.
Bangor is a great little town, as they have all the food, entertainment and sea access I need. There are a lot of places to eat, including quite a few ‘pizza, kebabs, wraps and burger’ that all seem to be run by foreigners. There are a lot of pubs with restaurants where I find myself eating most of the time. I did manage to find the large chain grocery store where I found some of the basic snacks and daily essentials. I had to get a new plug for my computer also, as the one I brought was not working with any combination of foreign plugs I have used in the past. I apologize for not being able to upload video and a whole lot of pictures, as the Wi-Fi and internet connections in the guest house and around town are not very strong. I really enjoy the close access to the sea, and find myself walking down along the harbor at night, listening to music and just zoning out as I look across the vast expanse of water.
I took a few jellyfish stings on Sunday which caused me to become full of beautiful toxins when I didn’t treat the sting properly upon exiting the water. It took me by surprise how much the stings pained me throughout the day, and actually went to the hospital to find a doctor I could speak with as to the best way I could deal with these damned creatures. I didn’t find anything new out, and just went to the grocery store and bought my fair share of vinegar, baking soda (to mix into paste with sea water) and grabbed the meat tenderizer from my luggage – three ways to help deal with removing the stingers and helping defuse the neurotoxins from continuing to fire into the body, releasing the toxins. Aside from the intense burning, I felt the toxins moving throughout my body for the better part of the remainder of the day. I took 50mg of Benadryl and some anti-inflammatory to ease the pain. I know I am going to take quite a few of these bad-boys during the attempt, so guess I’ll just remain with the original notion of this will be quite an interesting outcome!
Did some exploring around the city the past few days, and tonight I drove out to Belfast (about 30-minutes away) to check out the city, and have dinner downtown. I was given the name of a great seafood restaurant which turned out to be incredible (olives, breads, pickled sardines, herring, salmon and lox, mash, as well as chocolate and raspberry dessert; yes, this was a treat to have such a nice dinner). I then was driving home when I saw a sign for the Titanic exhibit (the famous ship was built in Belfast between 1909-1911) and couldn’t pass up the chance to see such a historic place. It truly was amazing, as I was able to read a few of the monuments (after hours for the museum) and got to stand in the exact place where Titanic was constructed over a century ago. They have the original ‘launching dock’ intact and an outline of the ship on the ground; including the full length. It brought back quite a few memories from history class (and of course the movie) while I was walking down the exhibit. Wow, just an incredible feeling. Loved it!
I want to once again sincerely thank each and every one of you who continue to support me from back home. Your encouragements mean so much, and know that it means the world to me that you continue to leave such kind emails, texts and messages of well-wishes, inspiration and support. I feel like I am right at home, even though we are an ocean apart…
I will never be able to thank you enough!