Unserviced

With some reluctance we left Glenarm on Thursday morning and took the coastal route up to the Giant’s Causeway.

After a visit to the Causeway we were left with a decision to make on which Aire to venture to: Portrush (close by, 50p per hour and sloping ground) or Portglenone Marina. We decided to head for Portglenone. Further away to be sure but a chance to see some scenery and we had read good reports of the Aire.

Mr Snail started up the van and somehow put it into forward gear when de-parking. There was a bang but no damage was visible when checked…

Shortly after we departed the visitor centre, Vincent’s oil light came on. Luckily we were able to pull off the road into a parking area marked out along the road. The natural assumption was that we had cracked the sump on the kerb at the car park or something but nothing could be seen again.

Once we disengaged Panic Mode my brain took hold of the problem and I suggested that perhaps it was just time for an oil change or something… perhaps we had just clicked over on the mileage or it was a time-based event coincident with the parking indiscretion?

Possibly.

Possibly not.

Now, driving in Ireland is likely to take one past many  a burning chimney and the smell of smouldering peat can bring about further sense of panic when too concerned with the probabilities of oil-based vehicle problems.

Added to this, the warning light had gone out again. What kind of event would cause the light to come and go, The Driver wondered. Well, maybe it’s just a nag thing, a warning that comes on when starting up but soon goes off again once the awareness-raising is done?

It took many miles before either one of us could relax. I can however at this juncture say that my diagnosis was the correct one. once we arrived at our destination, this was confirmed by reading the Manual.

We got there anyway. That is the important thing.

The Aire at Portglenone Marina takes six vans and has French-style “Borne” facilities for water and waste. At €10  for 24 hrs including EHU, it offers additional facilities such as toilets, showers, laundry and kitchen facilities and even a recreational area (sitting room with TV). There is a car park adjacent and a children’s play park on its far side. The town is a short walk away.

Sounds great!

In reality we arrived to be told that the water was turned off, so we could not refill. When I asked about how the Borne worked and where the waste went… the reply was that the waste disposal cannot be used due to NI Water Board regulations. So, we could not empty either.

Although the posts are marked as €1 = 1 hr of electricity, in fact the token provided on arrival gives up to 24 hours of electricity. However, the hookup we connected to was not working and we had no electricity. We knew that the caretakers was returning to shut up the public toilets so we asked her when she arrived for a new token, and we connected to another post, which worked.

The toilets adjacent to the Aire close at 7pm but the key allowing access to the showers on the marina side give access to the toilets there, along with the laundry room and sitting room.

The tarmac pitches have something of a slope so we picked out the flattest of them and settled in. We had no company other than a gaggle of local children making a small nuisance of themselves for a while. Overnight the site proved quieter than we expected with it being so close to the town centre.

Signals on both of our phone networks were strong as was our mobile internet.

In the morning we went looking for breakfast, which we found at the Rose Cafe – where the friendly proprietor shared some motorhome knowledge with us, giving us a list of places to see and wild camping spots. We also sought out the Post Office, which was in the Spar supermarket, where we also refuelled the van. There as a second supermarket on the main street, which we thought to be excellent and it was stuffed full of good quality local produce. Unfortunately we needed no supplies and the fridge was full, so we could not buy.

Next stop, Buncara