Volvo Irish Meet #9: Co. Antrim Coast & Glens

[Darren]

Date; Sunday 14th September

Meeting; Carrickfergus Castle car park, Carrickfergus
10.00am, leaving at 10.30 on the dot...
Google Map - Carrickfergus Castle Meeting Point

From the South / Belfast;
Follow the M1 Motorway through the Westlink following signs for the M2. Join the M2 Motorway and keep to the right lanes signposted M5 / Whiteabbey / Carrickfergus. At the end of the motorway take the third exit off the roundabout onto the A2. Follow the A2 along the promenade until you arrive in Carrickfergus. The castle will be on the right.

From the North / Antrim;
Follow the M2 South and exit at Junction 2. Follow the One-Way system round to the right signposted A2 / Whiteabbey. Continue to follow the A2 through Whiteabbey and along the promenade until you arrive in Carrickfergus. The castle will be on the right.

Run Details
The castle is a popular destination along the South of the coast road and is very easily accessible for members coming from any direction. From the Castle we will be heading North following the coast right the way up and taking the infamous Torr Head Scenic Route. There will be several picture stops along the way before resting for lunch at the Causeway Hotel in Bushmills (very nice, inexpensive and casual pub lunch).

For the second half of the run we will be travelling down through the Glens of Antrim taking in mountain scenery and passing by Altnahinch Dam and the desolate roads that surround it before heading further South and finishing at Carrickfergus Castle again.

The route has been tried and tested by myself and I will be doing another test run to confirm the roads are good-to-go. Some of the stops I have in mind and the roads will make for a very enjoyable cruise so you’d be mad to miss out!

If you are able to attend please state how many will be attending in your Volvo as I’ll need to make a reservation for lunch.

B&B & Camping
Now who’s up for a spot of camping or B&Bing?

Craig (craig8661), who has also helpfully assisted with the meet organisation, has been very kind to offer use of his garden for happy campers alike. There is plenty of room and no unrealistic campsite charges which sounds pretty good to me! He is located 8 miles from the Castle so it is very handy – PM him for his address and more details if interested.

For the spoil-sports that prefer that little bit of luxury (Brendan!) my missus has very kindly complied a small list of inexpensive B&Bs in the area –

Hillcrest B&B - £25 pp sharing or £35 single
http://www.hillcrestireland.co.uk

Seascape B&B- £25 pp sharing or £30 single
http://www.seascapecountryhouse.co.uk

Beechgrove Farm- £22.50 pp sharing or £25 single
http://www.beechgrovefarm.co.uk

Drumgart Farmhouse- £25 pp sharing or £30 single
http://www.drumgart.com

[gltease]

Hey Darren, I'll be there with one other...

looking forward to it ! I'll practice my rain dance, or is it no rain dance?

Colm

[Darren]

Glad you'll be there Colm... Your Dad coming along aswell?

If your thinking of practicing your rain dance, you might be better starting with your brakes on these roads!

[3404]

You guys add some pictures by then ok?! Greetz from a Dutch ES..

[moslo]

I'll see if i can make it for that. The weekend before would have been ideal as i am up in the north for a wedding anyway.

The Antrim coast is one of the nicest drives in the world if the weather is good.

Will give me a bit of motivation to try and do a few jobs on the 480 too!

[Darren]

You guys add some pictures by then ok?! Greetz from a Dutch ES..

There will be plenty of photos!

I'll see if i can make it for that. The weekend before would have been ideal as i am up in the north for a wedding anyway.

moslo, you'd be mad to miss out! Generally we'll plan the dates a month or two in advanced at a meet with the outcome based on the majority! It would be brilliant to have a new face along, and another 480!! Let me know if you can make it within a couple of weeks and how many (if any) will be travelling with you. Where is your wedding the week before?

Craig (craig8661) and Helen have also very kindly offered two rooms for anybody that wishes to attend the meet; one double bed and one single bed. PM me and I'll put you in touch with him.

I did a test run of the route today and after a bit of chopping and changing roads it's looking very promising! Stops as follows;

Start - Carrickfergus Castle, Carrickfergus
Coast - Murlough Bay, Ballycastle
Coast - Ballintoy Harbour, Ballintoy
Lunch - Causeway Hotel, Bushmills
Glens - Altnahinch Dam, Loughguile
Glens - Slemish Mountain, Broughshane
Finish - Carrickfergus Castle, Carrickfergus

We've got five Volvos lined up (same group from previous meet) and I'm trawling around trying to get a few more. Everybody is more than welcome although I will need to have an idea of numbers in the next couple of weeks so I can book the lunch reservation!

Here's a couple of pictures from today - first from the coast and the second from the glens - both offer great driving and fantastic scenery!

[Darren]

Just a quick bump to update the list so far!

DarrenK (850) +1
craig8661 (?) +1
silverback02 (S80) +1
gltease (480) +1
brens-s80 (S70)
ovlov25 (850)
moslo (480)
Tony (480)
Herbie (?)

Any more want to join the fun?

[carl]

haha I remembered my login!!

Havent been on this in a while but thanks to an ebay member and fellow club member who spotted my listing, by chance, and reminded me!!

Yep I'll be going so count me in. Fairly familiar with the coast so I shall be there in the white 480...It shall be my first meet and will be excited to meet other 480 owners to share problems with. Remind me to bring the following items:

1. A Gerry can with fuel.
2. set of jump leads.
3. spare ignition coil (in case it rains).
4. flash light.
5. Tow rope.
6. warm jacket, flask of coffee and my wallet.

Sad I missed the Galway Volvo meet as I was unaware... but ironically I did make it to the illegal drifting in Bundoran earlier this August (as a spectator)!!

At most there will be me and my Girlfriend attending.

[Darren]

Excellent news Carl!

Been trying to get the numbers up more - it's going to be a pretty sweet run. Look forward to meeting you and getting a nosey around your 480! You may need to modify your list slightly, though;

1. Fill up in Carrickfergus...
2. Plenty of people there to push...
3. Ever heard of the rubber glove trick?
4. Eat carrots for breakfast.
5. Same as number two...
6. Just your wallet, we need somebody to pay for lunch!

I hope this means you'll be a regular meet attender now then?

[carl]

Yes it shall be a regular thing hopefully! Nothing too fancy with mine, pretty bog standard but many original parts replaced.

Now this should be a good laugh and hopefully the weather will hold dry!!

[David]

Hi lads,

I would love to attend my first meet up, but it seems pretty unlikely. Getting a bit of a re-spray job done on the door next week and dont know when that will be done yet.
Also it's a hell of a trip from Cork, was thinking i could stay in Wexford over night and go up from there but it's still quite a journey!
Any chance of a get together further south sometime in the future? Some lovely roads in the Cork/Kerry region!

[Darren]

It would certainly be a long haul from Cork! That said, I wouldn't mind the drive myself...

You'd be more than welcome to stay at Craigs place Saturday and Sunday night and make a long weekend of it if you could work around that, but otherwise no worries about not making it!

I was talking to Brendan and he's organising the next meet for October 12th. It will be in the South this time, not sure where for sure, but I did recommend Wexford direction. Won't know more until the next meet or after that as he's on holiday at the minute!

[gltease]

Yeah, Wexford would be cool, I did also mention it to Brendan during our last meet, not been down that end of the country before...
Thats a run I'd look forward to.....

[Darren]

Just a quick reminder about the meet this Sunday!

DarrenK (850) +1
craig8661 (?) +1
silverback02 (S80) +1
gltease (480) +1
brens-s80 (S70)
ovlov25 (850)
moslo (480)
carl (480) +1
NI_Volvo_Nut (S70/940) +4
Tony (480)
Herbie (?)

Looks like a good turn-out with mostly definites. If I can get a temporary cover sorted on my 245 and I'll bring that out to play as well.

Accommodation with Craig is still available if anybody needs it - just give me a buzz.

[carl]

Cant wait for this it should be a good 1. Lets hope the weather favours us.

[moslo]

sorry to break this so late but i won't be able to make the meet this weekend.

i've had a hectic few weeks with one thing and another (haven't been on the forum since my last post on this topic). Unfortunately i have a lot of stuff to do and don't have the time to make it up north for a second weekend in a row!

disappointed, but i see there is talk about another meet in wexford - that's closer to my direction so hopefully that one will work out.

Have a good one, hope the weather is kind! Look forward to pics.

[Darren]

moslo, no worries and thanks for letting me know. I hope you can get everything sorted without to much stress and I look forward to meeting you at the next one; keep an eye on the forum if you can.

I'm ready to rock and roll for Sunday. Meet stickers are printed, 'the sign' (you'll see!) rocks - just need to get the car washed tomorrow and find something to fit to the roof bars so they doesn't look so naked!

Any late-comers are more than welcome to come along, just be there before 10.30!!

[Darren]

Big thanks to everyone that made it today! :thumbs_up: We had six Volvos and a Suzuki Vitara *hisss* - in total 15 people and loads of new faces; it was great to meet everyone and I hope to see you again on future meets!

Total distance for the run today was approximately 150 miles altogether (Carrickfergus to Carrickfergus) and that was the route shortened down!! The full monty is around 120 miles each way, if anybody fancies it sometime?

Hope the roads were ok - some of the mountain roads on the second part are just made for some fast-paced driving!

I don't know about you guys but I really enjoyed lunch - the steak burger was gorgeous and the chips were equally as good with plenty of pepper! Not at all expensive but you guys are tight with tips!

I got plenty of pictures but how good they'll come out I don't know! Every meet I manage to get a picture of everything apart from the window sticker; anybody else get one? I will get my photos sorted and uploaded soon.

[carl]

Great day Darren thank you, went very smoothly lol. Cant wait for the pics but we had to laugh at you holding your hand 'constantly' out the window with a camera!!! cheers for those stickers, felt very welcoming and I already put the coast and glens one up on the rear quater panel. Great job!!

[Darren]

Really glad you enjoyed your first meet Carl! It was good to meet you and the missus and I hope that your now well and truly caught up in the Irish Volvo scene!

Been a while since I've had the arm waving out the window; used to do it all the time when I drove a Mini but as well as upgrading to Volvos I've also splashed out on a nifty little tripod!

I was using my girlfriends camera today for the out-the-window antics and wasn't sure what setting to use so flicked through different ones - turns out, 99% of the photos from the second part of the run are really poor quality. I'll have to remember not to use zoom on the reducing blur mode...

Anyway, plenty of the photos did make it so enjoy;

Clickity click for pictures!

Craig managed to get video footage so I'm hoping that'll give a much better idea of what the roads were like - I never thought, otherwise I'd have had my tripod set up in the back facing out!