Portpatrick

Another weekend, another trip away on the bike, this time to a motorcycle rally at a site in Portpatrick, in Dumfries, an area of the country that I find I know very little about. Dumfries branding itself “Scotland’s Forgotten County” might not be too far off the mark.

I could only manage down for the Saturday night and decided to take the big Aprilia again, purely for the carrying capacity. The Triumph is a more relaxing bike to ride but suffers from not having hard luggage to store all the junk I take away on trips like this.

What should have been a straightforward trip down turned into a bit of an adventure when the main road, the A77, turned out to be closed for a couple of miles for re-surfacing work, necessitating a mystery tour of the back roads through that part of South Ayrshire. Let’s just say that the temporary signage could have been better.

Rolling up to the campsite gives you spectacular views over the Irish Sea, as well as the ruins of Dunskey Castle. A pretty amazing backdrop for a weekend away.

It was good to catch up with a number of people I haven’t seen in the last couple of years, as well as meeting a few new ones. 

After something to eat I wandered along to the pub as it was getting dark and it dawned on me that this would be the first time I’d gone for a drink in a pub since 2019 and the start of all the Covid restrictions.

As is the norm, beer was quaffed, tall tales told, and the world generally put to rights, before heading back to bed down for the night. It was so clear, that you could actually see the lights in Ireland in the distance.

Up again early and since it was still dry, if a little over-cast, I decided to pack up and get going in case the weather changed. The trip home was uneventful, if tiring. I guess I’m still not over Covid myself just yet.

This will probably be my last outing for the year. I was looking at a possible trip to Ireland as well, but the distances involved, and the timing, mean that it’s looking unlikely now.