We had arranged breakfast for a leisurely 9:30am start at Blackwell House. Joyce seated us in the garden room and our tea and coffee were waiting for us. We had the whole room to ourselves which was great until the house cat wanted us to share breakfast, so it was promptly dispatched outside!!

Breakfast was lovely. We had Greek yogurt and dark fruit to start, and then I had crushed avocado on sourdough, topped with poached eggs and chilli flakes. The eggs were freshly hatched from their own hens.

After squaring up the bill, Joyce recommended some places for us to visit on the penultimate journey of our road trip.

The first place we headed for was Spelga Dam where there is a little known area called Electric Brae. At Electric Brae, you park your car on a hill, put your car in neutral with the handbrake off, and the car will roll back up the hill…..the video here shows what’s going on:

Is it magnetic, or an optical illusion…?

After that little bit of excitement at Electric Brae we carried on towards Newcastle, County Down in perhaps the worst rain we have seen whilst being here. I must say, though, that we have been lucky with the weather as the rain seems to have fallen whilst we have been driving from A to B, so hasn’t spoilt our plans.

By the time we arrived at Newcastle the rain had pretty much stopped, giving us a chance to have a look around, as it was too early to check in.

We walked down High Street and had a couple of drinks in Quinns and then headed to Great Jones Kitchen and Craft. It was sad to see that the restaurant was very empty but we sat down and ordered drink and food. Fish tacos and halloumi salad kept us going, along with a local beer from Beer Hut Brewing Co.

Next we walked back towards our accommodation to see the promenade and sea.

Newcastle is a lovely seaside town, situated in a bay which is surrounded by the Mourne Mountains on one side, and the Irish Sea on the other. The beach is covered by seaweed but there is very little sand until the tide goes right out. It’s a really pretty place, great for dog walking and taking children for a wander.

Once we’d settled in to Slieve Donard Spa and Resort, we got ready to go for a quick drink in Chaplin’s Bar, where the comic actor Charlie Chaplin once visited, before heading to the Percy French Inn for tea. The inn is part of the spa resort and has been named after the composer of the song “The Mountains of Mourne”. William Percy French was a writer, artist and entertainer who also held down a day job as a civil engineer.

The staff of the Percy French Inn were lovely. Also, the food wasn’t the usual pub food, but home cooked and nicely presented.

After sorting the bill we went for a walk along the promenade in front of the hotel , where we saw a memorial to Percy French, with poems that’s he’d written inscribed on it, and then headed back to the hotel.