We decided that we would devote the next week to exploring our new home, first jobs were to register with a doctor and join the library. The doctors turned out to all live in a small encampment with the rather grand title of ' Health Village' it actually looked a little like an Eastern European prison camp! However the staff were very helpful as usual and I was registered without fuss.
The library deserves a mention as it really is splendid. I joined initially for the usual reasons, namely Internet access and the ability to print from a PC. However Lynne spent hours on the top floor ( the library is a three story building) this has a huge reference section on local history including OS maps from the 19th century, I am sure we will be spending some time there, apparently there is also a member of staff with particular expertise on matters of family history.
We also took the oppertunity to introduce ourselves to the neighbours, on the end is the Christian sail traing schooner 'Soteria' and her skipper Chris, owner Vicky, first and second mates Paula and Derek.
We are trying to figure a subtle way of discovering whether they have a washing machine on board, or even a Victorian mangle, they certainly wash a lot! The boat next to her is Badger, but not the one we know. She appears to be a little steam tug.
The next boat along is a narrow boat 'Goldfinch' owned I believe by a Londoner, she was shipped over to Warrenpoint and brought up the river and canal, so she has travelled 5 miles in Ireland! Apparently she is actually a cafe, and we are promised a hog roast when she opens, can't wait!
We are also on chatting terms with several of the sailing boats moored along the quay but not unfortunately our immediate neighbour, a yellow Van de Stadt, Cuileann.
I am sure we wil meet the owner soon, the old gent who owns the 'She 27' She Dhu was a mine of information about local facilities. This Sparkman and Stevens boat is also very easy on the eye.
The Quay has quite a history being on the first summit level canal ever dug in the UK, it is a ship canal and used to go all the way through to Lough Neagh, actually it still does but isn't navigable due to the locks being in disrepair. There is a canal side walk that goes to Portadown which is about 20 miles away, Lynne and I are planning to walk it and catch the bus back. The canal goes right through Newry City centre and the redeveloped sections are quite attractive with a lot of public art some of which reflects the commercial history of the area. This particular one stands a little further down the quay and is entitled " The Docker".
So here we are, we have discovered that the transport links are excellent, the shops are great, we literally want for nothing, within a stones throw of the boat is a shopping centre with a large Sainsburys, fast food outlets ( yummy) and even a cinema, unfortunately it is one of the few which doesn't do 'Orange Wednesday', can't have everything!
I also bought one of these little things, The EE sim in my iPad has a 4G signal on the boat, unfortunately it costs me £20 for a measly 4GB of data, but now for the same money I have 15 GB and this little marvel makes the whole boat a wi-fi hotspot, so I can now have my laptop, iPad phone all sharing the same Internet connection, it also fits in my pocket so I can carry my internet bubble around with me! Brilliant!
We still have lots to explore, we have bought a few maps to get oriented and are looking forward to the winter. We hope that the shelter afforded by the surrounding mountains will give us a mild season. Tonight there was a lovely pink glow over the city as the sun went down.
Time to get the charts and pilots out and do some planning for next years adventures, in the meantime we have a beautiful corner of county Down to explore and Lynne is looking forward to the hunt for her ancestors.
No comments:
Post a Comment