Day 8 - Hillsborough Castle, Game of Thrones Trek in Tollymore Forest Park and Soak Seaweed Bath

Brekky is in a lovely bright airy room in front of the window looking onto the garden. There's a brightly coloured bird feeder strategically placed in clear sight. We've seen a few bird feeders but not a single bird at them. I guess it must be too late in the year.
I'm a continental breakfast sort of gal, the stand out feature of brekkie for me today is the beautiful home made granola. Hubby is still in the thrall of the full Irish.
Today is pretty finely tuned. We have been hoping for a change in the weather and we have it today with skies grey, vast reservoirs of water floating in the air in various shades of grey, softly drifting down to green fields, what luxury. The drive across to Hillsborough is similar to the countryside we've seen to date, which means beautiful of course.

Hillsborough village itself is a very pretty little place, the prettiest village we've seen in Ireland so far. We park a short walk away and before Hubby can catch up with me I've been drawn down the street seeking photographs of the war memorial and the avenue down to the church. There's a pretty little row of shops and a pub ornamented by baskets of flowers. What a lovely village. The tourist information centre sits in prime position near the castle gates, though I have to say I'm a bit puzzled why they call this place a castle, it's more a country house.

I make some progress on my bench seats with flowers photo collection

I am tempted down a little path to get a closer look at a great kid's playground. All I can think is that real estate around Hillsborough is bound to be expensive. This is well above average and there's a large bug hotel there over by the fence near a lovely flower garden. Lucky kids, they've even got a maze.

The village as a whole and the gates of Hillsborough Castle are situated in a way that reminds me very strongly of the Palace of Versailles, though obviously this is on a much more modest scale. The gates are prettily gilt. Everything looks well maintained. To be honest I didn't know what to expect of the official residence of the monarch in Northern Ireland given the state of the Palace of Holyrood House when we were there in 2015. It was a near run thing to give the Hillsborough Castle a miss altogether, but I'm pleased we have come. It is beautiful.

The Gates to Hillsborough Castle from the village

We head on in and buy a ticket for the tour of the house as well as entrance to the beautiful gardens. Everything is beautifully presented as we have found at most properties run by Historic Royal Palaces. We have only a short while until the next tour of the house, so we spend a little time in the gift shop admiring some seriously lovely and pricey hand made silver items, sus out the food later and ignore the light rain to have a little mosey around the gardens close by, before we head across to the tour assembly point.

We looked closely and these pineapples appear to be real. Very luxurious!

Photographs are permitted in the house here as they are at most places we visited in Ireland but not close ups due to copyright issues. There's been a lot of investment in Hillsborough Castle, representation of some rooms and new facilities as well as restoration of the walled garden in progress. It's schmick. It was bought from the original family by the State in the wake of partition in the early 1920s for 29,000 pounds and has been furnished with items from the Royal Collection. The most amazing items on display, to my mind, are the collection of miniatures in enamel on copper featuring all the monarchs of England / Great Britain. They were commissioned, if memory serves, by Prince Albert during the reign of Queen Victoria and took three years to complete. They are absolutely stunning and until very recently were displayed in a private area of one of the other properties, Buckingham Palace I think our guide said. It was worth coming here today if only to see these exquisite works of art. As one would expect, the guided tour includes the history of the house and the village right through to matters of State and meetings that were part of the peace process. I also very much enjoyed seeing the portrait of Prince Charles painted for his 70th birthday. It is nicely informal with yews in the background referencing the famous yew walk. I think the artist has done a very good job of giving a real sense of the man, who always strikes me as quite relaxed and down to earth.
House tour done and dusted we inspect the very impressive toilet facilities, once again admiring the fact that in doors that only open one way they have a handle on the pull side and only a metal panel on the push side, it makes such sense. I was admiring the similar approach to doors at Castle Leslie Lodge. In fact pointing out where this is and is not the case becomes something of an obsession as we proceed on our travels. Hubby having asserted that isn't that always the way it's done. Well, no, is my position. It's rarely done as far as I can recall. .. anyway, we head out into the garden. A walk through a beautiful lawn with stately trees brings us to the Granville rose garden which allows us to get enough distance to capture the house in one image.

Hillsborough Castle from the Granville Garden

We follow a route to the Yew Tree Walk which lets us enjoy the areas closer to the house. The Yew Walk is superb and the placement of the little temple across the pretty Lady Alice Pond is inspired. It raises the spirit to walk through such beauty, the eye simply draws you on - which was entirely the designer's intention no doubt. 

Looking down the Yew Tree Walk

The Moss Walk or Lime Tree Walk

We shelter briefly in the Lady Alice Temple as a rain shower gives us time to consider our next direction. Do we have both time and physical capacity to check out the walled garden? We think so, at least a quick look. We enter past an area of the garden where it appears that new beds are being created. There are signs that the brickwork has been repaired in the walling in some sections and there's a fountain and gazebo to give visual interest to the broad level site. It's a beautiful garden. We'd been warned that the walled garden was under restoration so our expectations weren't high and we're delightfully surprised. What has been achieved in the walled garden in such a short time is remarkable.

Every garden needs a focal point

I like the ornamental use of vegetables, I think the flowers are edible too

Not every day we see an artistic drift of cabbages. Don't they look great!

Wow, these purple things again. We get these coming up as weeds at home and invariably pull them out.
Aren't they effective used en masse. I don't know what they're called. It's not Paterson's Curse I don't think. A little digging online and I think this is Verbena Bonariensis or purple top, a widespread environmental weed in Eastern Australia 

I just love the way the woven barriers are used in the garden in the UK

Instant memories of our visit to Edinburgh. Again I puzzle over the poor presentation of the Palace of Holyrood House. I wonder what they've done there over the past 4 years. Maybe it's better now. 

Conscious of the time, I wander down to towards the Weston Pavilion and get chatting with one of the staff. Only a couple of years ago this garden was abandoned and neglected. There's a small team of gardeners and their hard work over this time is clear to see. The produce they grow is used in the Cafe operated by Yellow Door in the Visitor's centre. We had already planned to eat here at the castle and are glad of it. A need for our companion to drop some people up to the castle for a tour interrupts our chat, which given the time is probably just as well. Hubby's been wandering slowly through the garden in my direction and we go through into the cafe together. The cafe is quite busy with happy patrons chatting over tables and there's a small queue for service at the bistro. Central tables hold self serve items, salads, cakes and such.  In the short time we spend procrastinating, more people are coming in and that queue's only going to grow so we jump in line. Hubby goes for the roast beef and I'm opting for the chicken pie, both with roast vegetables and stuffing.

We take a seat over by the window and tuck in. Both our meals are delicious and substantial because this is our main meal today. The stuffing was the same texture as that my grandmother used to make. We've not had anything but delicious food from any of the Historic Royal Palace properties we've visited.  I opted for a half and half serve of roast potatoes and the chips. The chips were the best chips we had in the whole trip. Well, not that that would be a difficult achievement, the chips were rather disappointing as a whole across this trip. Anstruther in Scotland has ruined me for chips, but yeah, the chips at Hillsborough Castle Cafe, I think cooked in duck fat, were very good. Bellies happily full, we'd better get a wriggle on or we'll be late for our walk.  But hang on a sec, I forgot to photograph the wire strainer they've used for training the creeper on the brick wall. Hubby gives one of his silent groans and I head back to get a picture. This will help me when I get to a hardware store for some souvenir buying.
Heading back down to the coast, we pause to capture the view that spreads out before us, then I notice there's actually a viewpoint. Let's go in there. Hubby pulls up, it's raining and windy and from a physical comfort perspective, not that inviting. Hubby waits warm and dry in the car as I get out to soak up the scene at what the installed signage tells me is called Windy Gap. It figures. What a stunning view. I guess it would have to be for them to make this stopping place. Co Down is so abundantly provided with beautiful views.

The view from Windy Gap across flowering gorse

 I get back in the car and we head on. Hubby having again resisted my invitation to hop out and enjoy the scenery. We're about half way to Tollymore already, but we need to be in plenty of time for parking and making sure we're in the right place.
In due course we make the turn and head in along Tollymore's atmospheric drive, through the old Barbican Gate which dates from the latter part of the 18th Century.

We're familiar with the run up to the carpark from our reccie yesterday afternoon. This time we pay and head on in. It's still lightly raining, and as there's no sign of the tour I double check the manifesto and yep, we're definitely where we're meant to be. We had been intending to take a walk in Tollymore Forest Park and when I saw that there was the option to pay ten pounds and join the Game of Thrones Tour from Belfast for this part of their day we figured we may as well, It looks like a hoot with the treckers all kitted out in their authentic Winterfell cloaks.
In due course a large coach arrives and everyone is gathered around the back of the bus. We go over and wander up tentatively to the master of arms to be issued with our cloaks and swords. I get the impression people don't join here too often, but it's no drama. Soon enough our guide, Andrew, comes over and welcomes us enthusiastically. Everyone gathers under the trees and takes selfies and group photos for each other, then I'm a bit disappointed to find that we hand the props back before heading out on the walk. Oh, well, the cloaks are very warm so I guess it's just as well.
We head off and get chatting with Andrew. He asks if we've watched Game of Thrones and of course I say yes, including the awful 8th season. Uh oh. Wrong thing to say, or really, perhaps the right thing to say because this prompts Andrew to go into a long explanation of why the 8th season was brilliant and why the resolution on several story lines was not sudden at all. Interesting perspective, we'll have to watch the series for a third time and consider this angle. I'm not sure I'm entirely convinced. Anyway enough of that detail here. We wouldn't want to give away any spoilers for those who've not seen the show.

We walk very briskly and there's not much opportunity to stop for photographs. I manage to snatch a few hasty pauses here and there then catch up. We're heading along the river and the filtered light through the trees, the babbling brook and moss everywhere creates such a beautiful scene. It reminds me of the beautiful forests in Fiordland, New Zealand.

We leave the riverside and head up along a well made roadway until Andrew stops and directs us across the drainage ditch and up along a narrow trail through the pines to the site of the scene in the first series where the Night's Watch come across the Wildling camp that has been attached by White Walkers. It's a natural depression among the trees. We hear tales of the production, how the location was altered, how they made the snow and of course we have an opportunity to pretend to be dead wildlings nailed to the tree where the young wildling girl suffered a similar fate. Nail holes duly pointed out.

The wildling camp site would be difficult to find on your own

Back on our way, we come to Altnavaddy Bridge, a beautiful stone bridge of venerable age, it's character is enhanced as we stop on the approach to note the site of the slain deer and follow the leader down to the edge of the stream where we note the site where the Direwolf pups were found, the mother wolf (a prosthetic) was draped over that stone there on the other side of the stream. We look at photos from the production showing the crew in this spot and watch a brief video of the action as it appeared to viewers. It's all very interesting. 

The slain deer was in the forefront of this shot

Altnavaddy Bridge

The Direwolf Pups are found here

The story of the dead deer is very surprising.. but no I won't wreck the tour by sharing the details here. We're both glad we've done the guided walk though.  In some places along the walk, GoT Information boards have been erected, so in most cases, though not all, you can appreciate the locality without the guide, but Andrews commentary in various places definitely adds value to the experience. He was an extra for years as production continued, indeed he suggests if you see a man with a beard in Northern Island, they were probably an extra on the show at some point! As well as the locations in Tollymore, he also tells stories of his experience on the show in particular one of the death scenes and how that unfolded, how the special effects were done, the different takes and how that was managed and such. We see stills from the show showing Andrew very close in shot to the main characters, another angle for us to look out for when we watch the series again. It was very interesting.

We trek back along the far side of the river. I allow myself to fall behind so we can enjoy the Forest and take some photographs. 

A slow wander back up to the car park brings us back up under Horn Bridge, I stop at some vibrant red berries, a photograph provides a good excuse to catch my breath. 

Horn Bridge dates from 1780, it's older than European settlement in Australia

Red berries on the Cotoneaster make a wonderful autumn show

Soon enough we're saying our farewells, this walk has been great value and a great way to take just a little look at Tollymore Forest Park. It's been a big day, so we head back to our room to relax for a short while before our next commitment. We're basically skipping dinner in favour of a Seaweed bath and massage at Soak in Newcastle. Lord knows after all we've eaten lately and for that matter even just today, we don't really need another meal. 

In the early evening the parking on the South Prom presents little difficulty and we wander in, just a little later than we really should have. Not sure how we managed that, but it is what it is. Our host goes to prepare our baths before we are shown into a twin tub room and the process is explained to us. We should allow about 15 mins in the steam cabinet, which is like a totally enclosed shower recess. Once we've opened our pores, we can then get into the bath. The seaweed, freshly harvested at low tide, is ready in the tubs with scalding water, just waiting for us to add cold sea water. We are thoroughly cautioned as to the need to cool the bath water and make it cooler than we might have it at home or we risk overheating and becoming faint with all the attendant risk from such a condition in a wet bathroom. We have complete privacy, so we both strip naked, though you are welcome to wear swimwear if you want to. 

We hop in the steam cabinet and turn on the steam. I find it hard to breath with the steam at first, so I cover my mouth to filter the air a bit. I get used to it but I really didn't like that side of the experience, so I'm not unhappy to cut this part of the therapy short by 5 mins and head on to the bath. It takes a while to get the bath cool enough swirling the seaweed around to make sure there's no lingering scald spots. We slide into the slippery seaweed broth, the oils from the seaweed create a luxurious thickness to the water. We relax with little chatter for about 35 mins or so, a little less than the recommended time due to our late arrival. As we lie there swirling the seaweed and draping it over our bodies we listen to the CD we selected on arrival. It stop and starts in a most amusing fashion and hubby comments that one's been used a lot. Plenty of scratches. Our time nearly up, Hubby dresses and waits in the waiting room while I slip on the provided gown and some knickers and carry my clothes as I head in for my massage. I really need a massage, a weakness and instability in my hips makes my back and shoulders knot up when I walk. I've been neglecting my stretching and wasn't in top shape when we left home, I'm SO ready for the application of some healing hands. The original plan was for us both to have a massage but it turns out Soak has only the one therapist, so that sorts that out. I need it most, so I take the therapy. The up side, and it's a very big up side, is that Soak's massage therapist is extremely good. She's a lovely person and we have a nice chat, she loves her job and knew from a young age that's what she wanted to do. Newcastle is lucky to have her here that's for sure.  Soak has been great. What a brilliant and unique way to end a fabulous day. 

Dressed and relaxed, I head out to Hubby, we say our farewells and head home. We indulge in a healthy dinner of emergency ration crisps, though in truth we probably didn't really need them. Self indulgence is the order of the day.