The theme for today, since we got up, was all about exercise. Booking the spa and swimming pool seemed like a really good idea yesterday, not so much this morning. However, an early morning swim, sauna and vitality pool before breakfast was a really well executed plan and set us up for the day. Booking an early slot meant that it was adults only, which made it very relaxing.

Breakfast was good, there was plenty of choice of different drinks, various cooked breakfasts, fruit, yogurt and toast. The restaurant was busy but waiting times were acceptable.

After breakfast, we set off for Slieve Donard, the highest mountain in Northern Ireland. The directions given to us by the hotel concierge to get to the top was basically “follow the river”, which we did. Along the way we saw beautiful waterfalls, mountain scenery and purple heathers. We also could see the Irish Sea and the hotel we were staying at, and the weather looked nice and sunny down there!! There were many people doing the same walk as us. Some even stopped to chop a few golf balls on a flat part of the mountain.

We also passed an ice house that was built in the 19th century by the Annesley Family. They were the former owners of Donard Park which is situated at the foot of Slieve Donard. It was restored in 1996-7 by the National Trust. This is situated by the Glen River on the lower slopes of Slieve Donard. Ice would have been collected from the river during the winter months and stored in this igloo shaped building.

Weather was changeable but ok until we reached the Mourne Wall at the top. Gale force winds made it very difficult to negotiate and visibility was very bad. We watched the Ulster Rugby team doing some kind of endurance training at the top.

Going back down the mountain it began to rain very heavily but thankfully my walking poles did the job in keeping me steady on the slippery rocks. The wind was strong but gave us a bit of a helping hand as it was blowing in the right direction, with no head wind to battle. We got very wet but had the right gear for the conditions.

Once we reached the base of Slieve Donard the sun was shining again and the town of Newcastle was buzzing. We were hungry and called at the nearest bar, called Avoca, which gave us a friendly welcome and lovely food to replace the calories we’d used tackling the mountain.

We left Avoca and headed back to the hotel, taking a different route back across Newcastle seafront foot bridge. On arriving back at the hotel we had a short rest before getting ready to head back out for tea.

Great Jones Craft and Kitchen provided great service and great food. I didn’t even need a starter: the Cajun salmon with prawn and chorizo jambalaya was delicious and was a very generous portion. We tried a new gin cocktail that our server was going to introduce to the menu tomorrow. He was keen to get our opinion of the cocktail. It was a Jawbox gin, with ginger ale, honeycomb and lime. It was nice but maybe a little too sweet for me.

Back at the hotel, there was a bit of an issue with service in Chaplin’s bar. Taking half an hour to get a drink isn’t acceptable and the duty manager was informed. We will see what happens.