The Irish Adventure: Part 3 26/04/15

Day 3 of our Irish adventure, and for the first time since arriving our group actually got to enjoy a lie-in and breakfast! Not rising until around 0830hrs, Paul and I sauntered down for breakfast where we were pleased to be reunited with James Ferrin, son of the owner of The Gregory Guesthouse. Talking over breakfast, we updated James on the progress of the project, while he informed us he had now finished his studies and was now fully qualified in the world of law. Sadly we were not to meet James' parents and hotel owners Jim and Alison during our visit this time, but we were well looked after by hotel porter Eric and the rest of the team at The Gregory, and we were most pleased to see how much the guesthouse had progressed since our previous visit. But I digress once again...

We were eventually joined by Mark and Colin, and as we supped coffee and enjoyed an Ulster Fry, plans were afoot to meet up with the Ards lads once again. Colin this time decided to leave us and head off into Central Belfast to point his camera at the modern bus scene, leaving myself, Paul and Mark to find the nearest train in the direction of Bangor, where we met up with Robert once again and were very soon sat in one of the sheds supping another brew and swapping stories about bus preservation and proper buses in surroundings of such proper buses and parts.

While Richard, Phil and Geoff waded through the many parts bins sorting their collection of parts, Robert and Michael kindly offered us the chance to have a ride around the coast on Ulsterbus Leopard 280, an opportunity which we could not refuse! And we were certainly not disappointed, as Michael and Paul took it in turns to share the driving as we enjoyed a good two or three hours of quality thrash around Bangor, Donaghadee, Millisle and Greyabbey, with plenty of photo opportunities along the way. We returned to 'Ards HQ' where we said our goodbyes to the rest of the gang before Michael very kindly dropped us back at Bangor Buscentre in 280. From here, we rejoined the train for the journey back to Belfast.

Safely back in Belfast, we returned to The Gregory for what is now becoming an annual ritual...Dominos pizza night! Eric very kindly set us out a couple of tables in the dining area, and while Paul ordered the pizzas in, I took a wander down to the local off-licence to stock up on suitable alcoholic refreshments for the evening. As Paul, Mark and your blogmaster tucked into our pizzas we were joined by Colin, who had enjoyed a successful 12hrs of photography in Central Belfast, and we sat there late into the night swapping stories, eating pizza, supping cider (well, I was at least) and often roaring with laughter at our tales. Colin and Mark retired to their room, while Paul and I ventured into the lounge where the alcohol flow (in my case) and humourous tales of a transport nature continued into the wee small hours of Monday morning.

Before retiring to bed around 0200hrs, Paul and I took the opportunity to enjoy some fresh air in the late night breeze while talking with hotel porter Eric, reflecting on our journey since December 2013 and what the future had to hold...