Summer Holiday Day 1: White Rocks Beach, Portrush

First day of our epic tour of Ireland. 

Here are some more photos of the day.

Here is a YouTube Short of White Rocks's Beach from the air.

Itinerary
7:30 Drive to Cairnryan
11:30 Ferry to Belfast
14:00 Drive to Coleraine
15:00 Shopping in Tesco, Trespass & Waterstones
16:00 Drive to The Dune 
16:15 Settle in, dinner for Orla and Conor
17:30 Drive to White Rocks Beach
18:30 Check out Magheracross Viewpoint (it was way too busy)
19:00 Relax with refreshments in the sunshine on the decking
20:00 Scotland vs Hungary 

From the audio diary we made:

Day 1 started with an early rise. "We set off at 7:30 to drive down to Cairnryan. It was exciting, wasn't it? Queuing up for the ferry." It was Conor's first time on a ferry: "You've not been on a ferry before, have you, Conor? Did you enjoy the ferry?" The ferry ride itself was relatively calm, with two hours spent travelling to Belfast. We reminisced about previous ferry experiences: "I remember going on the ferry during the Belgium trip... This ferry was nicer. Not that the other one wasn't nice, this one was just nicer."

Upon arriving at Belfast Harbour, there was no time to dawdle. "We didn't stay in Belfast, we'll go and do that at the end." The plan had been to pick up a Berghaus rain jacket, as Dad had forgotten his. "I didn't bring my Berghaus... I'd assumed I'd be wearing it." After a failed attempt in Belfast due to traffic, we drove on to Coleraine, where luck struck: "There was also a Trespass, exactly what I needed, and I got a new jacket." 

We couldn’t pass by Waterstones without stopping: "There was a Waterstones directly opposite, wasn't there?" We picked up a few gems, including an 'Anthology of Irish Folk Tales' which we planned to read aloud as we visited different regions. “We’re going to read them as we go… we’ve done the two for Donegal, the 'Silky Seal' and 'Salty Butter'"

Arriving at our Airbnb, 'The Dune', there was instant approval: "The Dune... it was lovely." Football was the entertainment of the night: “We had our dinner whilst watching the football… Scotland vs Hungary.” It was quintessential Scottish football drama: “It would only have been more Scottish if they had drawn the game and gone through on two points.” In true Scotland fashion, they were knocked out in the last minute. We finished the night reading Donegal’s folk tales before calling it a day.