The Irish Adventure: Part 1 25/04/14

The weeks leading up to the timeframe covered by this post had been most hectic for your blogmaster, Dan. I had been offered a trial run for a potential new job, and subsequently accepted, worked my notice for a major frozen food retail chain, and successfully completed my first week in my new employment. To top all this off, I also celebrated my birthday. For a while, Paul and I had discussed the possibility of going to Northern Ireland to attend the Irish Transport Trust rally at Cultra (Co. Down), a rally we had been told by many was most excellent, and with my sudden stroke of good fortune and major plans afoot to move the project forward in a bid to get 2599 mobile once more, we had several reasons to celebrate while undertaking this trip.

Friday 25 April dawned a cool, foggy morning, and members of the Ulsterbus 2599 group and an associate set out around 7am in the direction of the Cairnryan to Belfast ferry. The journey north was relatively uneventful, with a couple of refreshment halts, and a mad dash to return to a lay-by on the A75 near Dumfries to get a photograph of a now rare A-reg early model Plaxton Paramount-bodied Volvo B10M belonging to McColls Coaches. After a morrisons lunch in Stranrear, we had sufficient time to have a quick look at the Scottish outstation of Ulsterbus at the former Stranrear ferryport, before pressing on to check in at Carinryan ferryport for our crossing to Northern Ireland, departing Scottish soil at 1430hrs.

 After an uneventful crossing, and a few celebratory ciders in the ship's bar (for me anyway), we disembarked from the ferry and set foot for the first time on Irish soil. After a short drive across Belfast, we arrived at our home for the next two nights, The Gregory Guesthouse, just off the Lisburn Road. After checking in and making ourselves comfortable, the group took a walk into Central Belfast, collecting photographs along the way, and after around half an hour photographing around the Great Victoria Street Bus Station, we ventured into the centre to satisfy our need for food (and more cider in some cases), settling on a little back-street restaurant which sadly turned out to be very much over-priced and under-rated for what was offered. We returned to the hotel for the night, excitement now beginning to brew for what lay ahead, and the next day's much awaited ITT rally.

The Irish adventure had begun...