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Our journey from England was by car crossing using Irish Ferries from Holyhead to Dublin on the fast ferry Jonathan Swift which we found very relaxing and enjoyable, relaxing and less stressful than flying the outward journey was particularly pleasant in hot weather on a calm sea.

Our first week was spent in a cottage in Mayobridge County Down we had picked the cottage from the Imagine Ireland brochure. The cottage was in a fairly isolated spot and the promised bar at the nearby golf club had not been completed on time so if we wanted to go out for a drink it meant driving or a taxi. We found a local taxi driver with a minibus so we could all travel together if we went out at night. However most nights we either stopped in for a meal or a barbie or called on route back from wherever had visited to the pub in the local village. The food there was OK but the catering establishments in Northern Ireland seem to be monopolised by the Chinese (we had gone for a Chinese meal in Warren Point on our first night before we realised this) On our last night at the cottage we did get one of the best meals of our hols at Dukes Restaurant in Warren Point.

The cottage is somewhat remote and a car is essential it is ideal for touring Southern Ulster and the North of the Republic we did travel as far as the North Antrim Coast but it was a lot of traveling but was one of the best days out we had.

For the second week we hired a motor cruiser on the Shannon Erne waterways although with just a week we restricted our cruising to the Erne and its Loughs Upper and Lower Lough Erne We hired the cruiser through Emerald Star Line and chose a Crusader 6 this gave the best layout to suit our party of 3 couples.

The cottage was clean and well presented and we were made to feel very welcome. There was a slight problem that the garden furniture and barbeque were not available these were soon provided by the owners and we were able to enjoy the unusually warm weather that had arrived with us

Although we had planned to confine our cruising to Northern Ireland the boatyard is actually in the Republic so it was necessary to have both Sterling and Euros the Euros also came in handy at the furthest point on our cruise Belleek which is on the Donegal border.
Again for the most part the weather was favorable to us an in fact I even got sunstroke we also had some rain and strong winds which made the crossing of Lower Lough Erne "interesting"
The boat itself was comfortable and in reasonable good condition, I would however liken it to the type of cruiser found on the Norfolk Broads where we have holidayed in the past . We have also cruised the Shannon before and had a much more powerful boat on that occasion .We did have a couple of breakdowns due to steering problems but this may have been as a result of a couple of groundings and it is essential that you keep an eye on the charts when navigating these waters. We were disappointed at the lack of on shore eating establishments in particular on Lower Lough Erne but we did get one of our best meals of our holiday at Lusty Beg Island although the hotel there does not now cater for general tourists and is used more for weddings and corporate functions.