After arriving in Bray, we swapped bikes for scooters on Sunday to join the Crampton skate team at the new skate park. Lots of fun for the old as well as younger members of our new gang.

Late in the afternoon after a final team swim in the sea at Bray Beach, we packed up our panniers and set off north back towards Dublin under an ever darkening sky. We had a few drops of rain, but nothing to worry about and the temperatures remained pleasantly warm.

Glessons provided an excellent place to stay the night and after freshening up, we had a great meal and even a pint of Guinness too! They stored our bikes in an un-used part for of the guesthouse and only got slightly panicky, in the morning when they were missing! Luckily for us, a cleaner had moved them and soon located them for us. A huge breakfast and late check out set us up for a great day on the trail across Dublin.

We followed cycle tracks, bus lanes and roads, riding slowly and looking up at the views. Amazing hanging baskets, terraced houses and city sky scrapers were all passed by.

This is down by the River Liffey, in the business district.

Just north of the city, there are various wildlife reserves and beaches. We aimed for the first one as it coincided with a nice place for a coffee break as the sun came though. There were starlings who were very keen for any dropped crumbs.

Continuing north along a waterside cycle track, we arrived at the town of Howth. We pulled over at a small beach with the semi idea of a swim, but the tide was out and although it was calm, we didn’t quite feel ready for it.

Instead, we explored the marina, harbour and lighthouse.

We had some lunch in a café in Howth as well as enjoying some busking guitar playing on the harbour before eventually deciding to move on. The next beach, was sheltered from the wind, but we were happy to dip our toes in as the overcast day wasn’t encouraging for a full on swim!

Around 4pm we set our sights back towards the port. We’d earmarked a place to eat before catching the night ferry, which turned out to be in a trendy tech company area, which was home to companies such as google. We had an enormous feed and a final pint of Guinness to see us on our way before boarding the ferry at 20:30.

As a final treat, we took ourselves out of the chaos of the main ferry and relaxed in to a quiet corner of the upstairs ‘lounge area’, where complimentary drinks and nibbles were laid on. A perfect place for two tired cycle tourer to kick back and relax while the boat crossed into the darkness of the Irish sea.

It was raining in Holyhead at 1am as we cycled off to find the van, but luckily, we didn’t have far to go. Made it back to The Cottage around 2am, which after all the recent decorations, felt like home again…