I loved our camp in principle. Council run, cheap and very conveniently located. Reasonably clean, and we even got the chance to do our first laundry. But the insane noise cars make going 80 to 100 km/h is quite something else. Unfortunately, as convenient as it was, sleeping 5m away from the A2 is probably a showstopper for most people. Me, I was fine. Trying to have breakfast with <80 dB background noise, that’s where I draw the line.

Still, this was the cheapest night so far, plus a hot shower for me and 100% charge for Puru Hiko. We gave the kids a bit of extra time to explore the huge waterfront playground and foreshore before heading on.

Remember, taking it slower – only one item today: Carrick-a-rede. Under 100km, we chose the slow road along the east coast and were not disappointed for it. It got Nina a bit antsy, as the site has timed slots for access, but I managed to deliver us there just in time.

The whole north shore of Northern Ireland is pretty neat, but a few spots made it to the level of tourist attractions. Carrick-a-rede was a nice but otherwise unremarkable island that is now visited as the site of a historical (and since fortified) rope bridge. It was initially strung up to help the local fishermen get better at eradicating salmon from these waters. Since the salmon is long gone, it got a second life as a minor thrill for tourists wobbling over 30m over the foaming sea. All tightly managed and access restricted by the National Trust. An organisation whose motto might be “our country’s natural beauty, preserved for those who can afford it”. Very British. So what, we can afford it by now …

We took a bit longer than the advertised 30 minutes’ walk from the car park – as the Agent of Entropy was eager to do most of it herself. Or maybe because I spotted the unmistakable gait of someone hiking to a sight in motorcycle boots! I had spotted Katinka’s (of @KatinkAdventure on Instagram) Transalp in the parking lot already. Looked like an overlander bike, and it was. She has been on the road a while – spiting Covid. We had a brief chat, as much as the kids would allow, and realised we both know fellow Dutch Overlander Peter (sans Leoni). Its really nice to hear that Peters business (www.bartang.eu) has reached that level of renown in the overlander community.

When it came to the big ticket item, Number 3 did splendidly – very brave and composed. The Agent refrained from jumping out the carrier and even Nina dared the crossing. Colour me impressed.

Just when it was time to head back, we were introduced to Ireland’s 90 second flash rain showers, full on including sideways rain. Given how unphased the locals were, it seems like something worth getting used to. Number 3 took it with surprising enthusiasm.

Even though we had unremarkable, overpriced brown food for lunch (seriously UK, what’s up with that?) I was still beholden to my promise of Spaghetti Carbonara from two days ago. So we went off, at 2.30pm, straight to this nights camp. Another neat working farm camp, which we are learning to keep an eye out for now.

After setting up camp, we had some coffee – the kids got to see the farm’s special feature of Alpacas and pygmy-goats and I had time to get dinner just right, fighting to keep the heat of our medium gas cooker against a strong northerly. Holiday proper has begun. Let’s see when it will feel like it.