An easy drive north, though working out how to get a 2024 Seat Leon reconfigured for miles per hour instead of kilometres per hour took longer than it should have – Enterprise apparently believe their customers do not need the manuals for the vehicle, and it wasn’t in the car.
Stopped off in Belfast to eat something to tide us over until we were on the Stena Superfast VIII. Ended up in a small parking lot off of Ratcliffe Street, and crossing two roads to get some KFC. We had wanted to go to Holohan’s Irish Pantry, but time was against us, so KFC had to do. Wasn’t too bad really, though the Fruit Shoot juice was.. well, they claim no added sugar, but then use sweeteners, and not much fruit (K had it, I didn’t).
The ferry port was well signposted, and pretty efficient. We arrived at least 30 minutes before the cut-off time (which itself is 45 minutes before the sailing), and there were at least 5 queues full of cars. Sat waiting, watching people cross a road that clearly had signs saying “don’t cross” in lettering several feet high so their dogs could have somewhere else to walk. Watched a man jogging around the parking lot; think he went past at least 10 times.
The sailing was pretty comfortable, and the time passed pretty quickly. Played Zork 1 for a bit, but didn’t get too far (55 points before I wandered into a dark place without a light and met a grue). Worked out the buttons in the dam control room, found the egg, and the vampire bat. Since we were in the premium lounge, we had free (included in ticket) drinks and snacks, and K and I split the lentil soup with sandwich.
Once off at Cairnryan, it was up the road to Girvan to see what we could find in the way of food before heading to our stop for the night, Maxwelston Farm. Ended up in Grazianos for a take-away fish and chips dinner; pretty sure it shares kitchen space with the Harbour Cafe that’s next door. Sat in the car in the parking by Girvan beach, and watched the rain go by. Girvan high street looked a bit abandoned for a Friday night, and the decline of the area was evident in the number of buildings standing empty.
With dinner out of the way, it was off to Maxwelston Farm. Nice place, nice hostess, decent breakfast to set us up for the day of travel to our next stop. Got a bit of the history of the place by listening to the answers to questions by another guest; the farm is rented, and Grade B listed. They can do maintenance and interior work, but anything exterior is more difficult due to the listing.
The room was slightly noisy from the road going past, but we fell asleep quickly enough.