Continuing on from the last post, we were lucky to stay somewhere with only a handful of rooms so we almost always had the restaurant to ourselves (plus my kids get up ridiculously early for breakfast!) Afterwards, we went on a little trip to Warrenpoint. We started in the playground and then went for a walk around the Victorian park there. I love the grounds and they are so well kept. Every time the girls find a bandstand they insist on dancing on it. I read about it and it said that they had removed every coat of paint from it, finding a distinct colour for each decade. (I love reading about stuff like that.) Apparently they have repainted it now to match the colour it was painted in the 1920’s. There is a market held there once a month and I’d love to make it there for it some time, but we always seem to just miss it!
We explored the town and then got a picnic from the shop for lunch and some especially red strawberries 🙂 The girls were so excited to find dummy sweets (they’ve been looking for them since they got them once in Newcastle.) I’m not a fan of sweets with unnecessary plastic attached but it was a holiday treat 🙂 We walked along the seafront and onto the beach. It has a funny texture of sand there that I haven’t really found anywhere else. It’s quite grainy and not ideal for sandcastles, but the views make up for it 🙂 We went to an independent book shop called Wee Bookworms and the girls chose a book each. We got a coffee/juice in a quiet cafe and looked out the window.
Then, we went back to Rostrevor and had our picnic at the Fairy Glen. We wandered around Rostrevor and stopped to read all the poetry and quotes on the walls. I love the way they have inspiring quotes everywhere 🙂 We made friends with a random dog that popped its head through its garden fence to say hello. The girls loved it and insisted on getting their picture taken with it. Sadly, we didn’t see it again after that. We went back to the gift shop (it seemed to become a daily ritual of ours) and the girls got a small toy each. My daughter chose unicorn catapults and managed to fire one of them out the hotel room window. We went to search for it outside, but I later discovered it was in the pipe on the roof so I guess it will be discovered if they ever update anything on the roof! My daughter seems to believe that they’ll make sure to get it back to her when they do.
My parents joined us for a walk and dinner that day. We took them to the Narnia Trail again and then we ate in our hotel. Afterwards, we went for a walk to the beach in Rostrevor. We hadn’t been there before and it was lovely. The girls spent a long time collecting shells and sea glass before bed 🙂
The next morning, the girls were very energetic (as always) and we went for a walk in the Fairy Glen before breakfast. It was strange being out that early but I enjoyed it too. Then we returned to have breakfast and I tried the American breakfast. I still find myself daydreaming about it now. It was amazing 🙂 Then we walked up to Kilbroney park to go to the playground again and the girls had a slushy. We went for a very windy walk at the beach again and the girls waded in the long grass. My daughter says swishy swashy the whole time she’s doing it 🙂 We found a heart shaped rock and the girls insisted on taking pictures with it. They seem to have a special talent for spotting the one heart-shaped rock on a beach 🙂
We found these little one portion containers of cake 🙂 The coffee cake one was lovely. We just chilled in the room for a while, the girls watched TV and we ate cake and drank tea.
At the weekend, there was a little coffee trailer that pulled up opposite the park, so we went there so the girls could get an ice-cream and I had a chai tea. There was something that felt really retro about it – the cafe had brought patio furniture they put in a layby, so we sat on that. It was actually really peaceful 🙂 We did what had become our usual walks and then had our final dinner in the hotel. The fish was enormous and probably the best fish and chips we have ever had 🙂
On our last morning, we went for a final tree-climb in the park and did the Narnia Trail before breakfast started (that’s how early my kids get up!) Then, we went to say goodbye to the Fairy Glen to finish our holiday 🙂
The Funky Thrifter 