Fishy tales and hidden treasure.

The title makes me sound like a pirate! If you have been disappointed in my lack of blogging recently I apologise, just haven’t had the time, and having no internet in the house is a killer, gotta get that sorted. But there’s a few new ones below you may have missed so scroll down.

Let me tell u about my day on Friday, it was my last day off work before Monday so Leanne and I headed to Exploris Aquarium in Portaferry for the day. As soon as I was on the ferry at Strangford my mind wandered to thoughts of sea fishing. I’m an avid Pike angler, as many of you will know, but recently I’ve got such an urge to get off the harbour/rocks and see what I can catch. It’s amazing; apparently you can stick your line out and due to the vastness o the ocean you can bring in anything from a small Whiting to a 20lb plus Conger Eel, you just never know!

I got to visit a cracker new fishing shop in Portaferry where the owner talked me through the basics of sea fishing and pointed out some good spots. Not only that but he gave me a leaflet for a nearby pike fishery where a 37LBR was caught, any of you boys interested let me know!!! Only £12 a day including a boat!!!

Walking through the exhibitions at Exploris was brilliant, underwater scenes re-created just looked incredible and I spent ages looking into each tank at the different fish / creatures and particularly staring longingly at the huge Cod/tope wondering what it would be like to hook one that size. I also got to learn about the basking sharks and Killer whales that visit coastlines not too Far away.
Later on, as we waited for the ferry back, I stared at the sea wishing I could see what was going on beneath the surface.

Then we drove through Ardglass and again my mind wandered to stories Niall Nixon told me of his birthday fishing trips there off the rocks (up for going some Saturday niall?) But with all these fish/fishing thoughts going through my head the pinnacle moment of the day was rocking up to a lovely wee country pub in the evening where I had poached Haddock and chips…just had to keep the theme going.

The place is in Chapeltown just outside Ardglass, ever heard of it? Apparently Van Morission mentions it in one of his songs? not my era sorry Pete!

Well it’s a Gem; it’s called Curran's and is over 200 years old, connected to a family farm behind and opposite an old church. They do steaks, burger, soup, stew, a curry night and LOTS of lovely sea food. Give them 24 hrs notice and they’ll get you in a lobster. The place is rustic despite the fact it has won bar of the year and three other recent awards I can’t remember to do with eating out in Ireland. How cool to stumble across it on an off chance; just a few miles before Ardglass, 8 miles from Downpatrick.

Finally!!!

I havn't been out fishing since the end of last year and have missed it so bad. I went the other day with Mike and although we caught only one fish in 5 hours I'm sure you'l agree it was pretty impressive!

Can't wait to get out again.

5 day journey...lifetime memories

I learnt quite a few things this week; to be honest I don’t know where to start. 5 days in the Lake District, especially when we went off the pathways deep up into the mountains and valleys, left me pretty stunned and gob-smacked at the views.
Most memorable was arriving at the campsite, after an 11 Km mountain Hike, which was at the top of a mountain. We set up tent right beside the small lake that lay on the peak. There were Canadian geese running about, the males shouted at each other and fought over the female, and in the distance lay snow-covered peaks.
Anyways…perseverance was one thing. Some of the boys in the group, only 3rd year at school, wore the same weighted Ruck-sack as me but they did those 11km (mostly uphill) brilliantly. Yes they complained and at times struggled, but at the end of it they fell asleep at 7pm as the sun went down, so proud of themselves and glad they had been pushed so hard.
The next day we walked another 5km and then canoed 3.5 miles across Lake Ullswater in the sunshine back to the Outward Bound Centre. My sister had sent me a text message complaining she was bored at work which I read as I paddled, I looked around me and felt humbled at this opportunity I had been given.
But of course, it was more than all that, it was investing time in Young people outside of our youth centre that made the 5 days so worthwhile and impacting. They bonded as a team and caught a glimpse of potential that even some of their own families don’t believe they have. Hopefully it will start them dreaming and reaching for more than the life so many of them have already settled for.
Outward Bound has a fantastic motto… “We are all better than we know, if only we can be made realise this maybe we will never be prepared to settle for anything less.”

Perks of the job...

I thought I’d intentionally try and be less overtly spiritual by changing the post title….at first I had put ‘Double Blessings’

One thing I often say to people about my job is that there are two sides, one good the other bad. One is hard / draining / tiring / scary / upsetting / overwhelming / emotional / annoying and crap...the other, is the Young People.

What I mean by that is the fact that I get to invest time in young people, sometimes just hang out with them, do fun programmes, each week Is different and occasionally you get those once in a lifetime opportunities...which is all, needless to say, amazing!
The past few weeks at work have been quite a mixture of both sides. My co-worker felt the same and described it as ‘Heaven and Hell’all in one day .You just don’t know from one moment to the next which side of the fence you will be sitting on, such is the nature of working with young people :)
But anyway, out of that we realised that it’s important to hold onto those good moments and never to let go of the fact that when things are bad ‘heaven’ can literally just be a moment away.

On that plus side there are two pretty cool things happening that I’m looking forward to. The first is happening tonight in half an hours time. My music night programme will be holding its latest gig at the Youth Centre. The place has been decorated, a stage has been set up and the posters have been out advertising our two bands and a guest band coming to play. The two bands that come to the programme are really talented; both have won competitions, gigged around Belfast and have recorded CD’s. local newspapers will also be down to get some snaps.
These gigs we hold are kind of the ‘fruit’ of the programme. When the centre is transformed into a new unrecognisable venue, the crowds gather and the boys get up to play it all makes sense and it’s all worthwhile.

The second thing is next Sunday when I’ll be heading off to the Lake District for 5 days with a group of young guys to do Outward Bound. This will be a week of Rock climbing, canoeing, hill walking, camping, tunnelling etc. Pretty cool.
No doubt it’ll be a hard week but one filled with endless possibilities.

What's in a name?

Things just come together in the end somehow don’t they? It’s almost like I didn’t have to try, and certainly didn’t need to worry. But it has been busy the past two weeks, I’ve been pre-occupied.
My whole family and some friends helped me move into my house last week but not only that, my mum stocked up the fridge and cupboards, my sister cleaned the place top to bottom / inside and out and my dad…he wired and plumbed the washing machine, fixed a door and fixed a thermostat.

They all go by different names, but they're all family!

Now… everything seems settled, almost as if a hurricane has passed and I’ve time to sit back and relax. The rest of the ‘to do’ list, i.e. internet, set the time clock, get another sofa etc. are minor details and I’m determined to take them one at a time.


Also, on the subject of names...I woke up on my second morning in my new house to find WHITEthorn Lane, truly was. I can’t say I had thought much about the name of the housing estate but it did make me think about whether my own expectations of this place for the year ahead will come to pass, and if it will live up to all I’m hoping for…