An early start from The Cottage with bikes packed for a lightweight cycle tour, saw us at Holyhead ferry port before breakfast.

The check in with bikes was super smooth and felt like first class treatment. At an empty check in desk, we handed over our bikes, were escorted onto an awaiting bus and driven onto the ferry. Being first on meant that although the ship was fully booked, we could select window seats at the front deck.

We saw a few Gannets from the window as we sailed and I came across a porpoise in the corridor on the way to the gents!

Soon enough we reached sunny Dublin Port.

Our friend Barney was waiting for us and acted as our tour guide as we headed south zipping through the city streets and cycleways, past a huge stadium.

All we had to do was keep up and enjoy the views and chat…

We stopped for a picnic at a little bike pump track, which we did a few laps of before moving on.

We almost stopped at a great looking high tide swimming spot, but continued on to Bray, where we dropped our bags at Barney’s then continued down to the beach where we met Sinead. Also had a good game of hunt the pebble with Sam.

Then we all went for a swim. Refreshing! It felt cool and I certainly didn’t last long and we needed a few layers of jackets to warm up!

Then a short ride got us back to Chez Crampton, where food, drinks, showers and plenty of good chat ensued.