What's in My Lunch Box Returns

By the time we'd trudged through all that bog, our stomachs were rumbling and we were ready for lunch. As we searched for a dry place to park our bottoms, we contemplated what would be in today's lunch box. As our minders had packed lunch for us all, it was going to be a surprise.

Our lunch spot was in a pleasant forest clearing and we had sat down by a bridge over a stream to eat.


When the lunch box was opened, we initially weren't quite sure what was in it. Whatever was in it were big, which was a good sign for hungry bears, and they were very pale and interesting. As we took the food out the sandwich bag we realised we had some form of bread in our paws. We then learnt that we were about to try some authentic Irish food, as these were soda farls.

Talking to Patrick when we got back, he explained that farl is the name for the triangular shape which represents a quarter of the round and flat Irish soda bread loaf. Our farls were filled with ham and tomato and they were very tasty and filling. We hardly had room for our pudding of Tunnock's tea cake (rather squashed) but needless to say we managed it.

After that, it was a pleasant but uneventful walk back to the car.

Lots of love, George & Yorkie xxx

Up for a Challenge Krypton Factor Style

So what were these challenges we had to face on our Moyle Way walk?

Well firstly, as you can see from our picture below, we had a rather difficult (for us) river crossing.



While it was nice sunbathing on a sandy beach, it wasn't helping us get across. The river was too wide for us to jump across and it was flowing a bit fast for us to swim across, and anyway, although the sun was out, it was still February and, therefore, winter. While George searched around for raft building materials, I (Yorkie) found a much more attractive option. I spied with my little eye, a tractor, which the forestry workers had left unattended.


Can you see us climbing up to the cab. With this transport available to us, there was no way we were going to get wet and muddy! We drove across in style. It was only at this point that our minders caught us up and told us that we didn't need to cross at all and now needed to cross back to continue with the walk. Oh well, we thought, at least we'd had a bit of fun and in the end hadn't inconvenienced the real tractor driver by leaving his tractor the wrong side of the river (you might call it a stream, but to small bears like us, it was a river!)

But what was it we said about not getting wet and muddy?! We spoke far too soon. The Moyle way climbed upwards from the river and started to become very boggy.


In our picture you see us still looking quite clean, but we couldn't stay where we were all day, and had to take the path which was the muddy and boggy ground in the middle. Still, bears secretly quite like being messy, and we felt like real army commandos with our blackened faces.

Keep reading for the next instalment.

Lots of love George & Yorkie xxx

Walking the Moyle Way

After a relaxing day, it was time to get out and do some more serious walking, especially as the new day looked as if it was going to stay dry.


So here we are at the start of our walk giving you a flavour of the local scenery. We were surrounded by some lovely hills - the one you see beehind us Knocklayd. While it looked like it would be fun to climb, it wasn't one for this walk, as we already had 13 miles ahead of us without any detours.


The path we were walking on this occasion was the Moyle Way. For those who don't know the area, the Moyle refers to the area around Ballycastle and the local Council is the Moyle District Council. The Moyle way therefore is a 20 mile path taking in some of the best scenery of the area. We were walking the middle section and it is a very well waymarked walk. The waymarks, such as you see in our photo, pop up very frequently and were a welcome confirmation that we were on the right track. We wouldn't have wanted to stray too far off the path though as it was fairly wet underfoot and we could easily have sunk into a bog if we'd got lost.

Our next picture shows that after a stretch of forest walking the scenery became quite different and quite wild, with lots of moorland and small streams.


At this point in the walk, the path was the nice grassy track to the side of us. It did become a bit more challenging later on, as you'll find out if you keep reading.

By for now, love George, Yorkie, Eddie & Patrick xxx

Bears in Relaxing Mode

After our very enjoyable visit to the Bushmills Inn, followed by an excellent Irish stew back at the ranch (Irish due to the makers, rather than the ingredients) we weren't in too much of a hurry to get up the next morning.

When we did surface we took a stroll down the road to the harbour to buy a paper and what we saw there gave Boating Bear, Eddie, a real treat.


Yes, we saw a lifeboat just setting out (between ourselves we think it was actually going out to try and rescue the local lifeboat which had run aground off nearby Rathlin Island, while trying to rescue another boat - they don't like to talk about it too much locally though). Looking at Eddie's animated face we could see he would have loved to go out with them, but he had turned up just a minute or two too late.

We did point out to Eddie that if he had gone with them, he would have missed the marvellous Ulster fry we were going back to the house to enjoy.

The fry was great, but after it we needed some exercise so off we went for a walk. Mid afternoon the rain drove us back home but we weren't disappointed as we were able to settle down in front of the T.V. and enjoy the Rugby.


As neither England or Ireland were playing, there was no inter-bear rivalry and we simply enjoyed the game for what it was. For us, it beats football any day.

Lots of love, George, Yorkie, Eddie & Patrick xxx

The First Pint of Guinness

Soon after we arrived our friends took us out for a drive to get our bearings and suggest things to do and places to visit during our stay.

Wonderful people that they are, they also took us to one of the best places to drink Guinness in the area and bought us a pint.


So here we are, enjoying our first tast of proper Irish Guinness in the Bushmills Inn. What a delicious pint it was and the atmosphere and surrounds of the inn were something special. Anytime any of our readers fancy treating themselves to a special break, this is the place to go. Check out our link and be tempted.

As the sharp eyed among you may have spotted, we were sampling a bit more than the Guinness. While Yorkie liked the taste of the Guinness, he had his usual problem of handling the heavy pint glass. He found a tumbler of Bushmills finest Black Bush whisky much more manageable and very much to his taste. In fact he got so enthusiastic we had to restrain him from diving in (see what we mean in the picture!).

The Bushmills distillery is only just down the road from the Bushmills Inn so is another good reason (if you needed one) to visit this great corner of Northern Ireland.

Needless to say, this might have been our first visit to the Bushmills Inn of the week, but it certainly wasn't the last.

Lots of love, George, Eddie & Yorkie xxx

Driving Irish Style

We've just remembered an incident from our drive up the Causeway Coast to Ballycastle, that we forgot to tell you about in the excitement of introducing Patrick. You can tell it happened on day 1 of our holiday as there is still a bit of snow around in our picture, as you'll notice.

The road we were driving along was nice and quiet, because it was a scenic tourist route and it was a cold day outside of the tourist season. As we hadn't passed enough vehicles to really form an opinion, we were wondering what Irish drivers were like. Given the exuberant and lively character of the Irish people, would their driving style reflect their personality?

While we were pondering this, Eddie wandered off to look at some boats in a very picturesque harbour, after all, Eddie cannot see a boat and pass it by without a second look.

Even a boat enthusiast like Eddie, got distracted by this incredible sight:


In case our picture isn't quite big or clear enough, we were looking at the rear end of a lorry which had clearly smashed into a building so hard that it's rear door ended up in line with the building walls! There couldn't possibly have been any other explanation could there?!

At this point we resolved to given the local drivers a wide berth. From then on we turned off the main Causeway route and explored some great local roads that were far too small for us to run the risk of meeting a mad lorry driver. Our favourite one turned into nothing more than a track as we got very close to the shore of a beautiful bay.


At this point, as you can see, the snow had turned to rain, so we decided as the view was so good from the car, we didn't need to venture outside.

Lots of love, George, Yorkie & Eddie xxx

Stepping Back into History

One thing that quickly became apparent about Patrick was that he is a great talker - he did admit that he has kissed the Blarney stone, and it has clearly worked its magic on him.

He had us enthralled and thoroughly entertained, but Yorkie and I (George) realised that we had to tear ourselves away, otherwise we would never get our research for the Friendly Planet Guide done.


We made a visit to the historic ruins of Layd church which have a fabulous cliff top location just outside the village of Cushendall. Most of the ruins date back to around 1638 and there is a very peaceful atmosphere among them, possibly because the site was abandoned in 1790 when the last service was was held.


Can you find where we're hiding in the ruins in true 'Where's Bear' fashion?

We found two interesting crosses in the graveyard. The first we examined is a decorated Celtic cross dedicated to a local doctor who founded the medical school at, what later became, Queens's University, Belfast. We particularly liked the carved panels at the bottom of the cross and our favourite was the depiction of the Good Samaritan as we thought the donkey was great. We hope you can see him in our picture.


The next cross we looked at was very much older. We're not sure if it dates back to the early days of the church in 1288, but that doesn't matter. It is a wonderfully simple holed cross and the hole was just the right size for us to crawl through.


It was a good spot and we will certainly recommend a visit in the Friendly Planet Guide.

Lots of love George & Yorkie xxx

Patrick Welcomes Us to Ballycastle

Once free of snow, our car took us for a very scenic drive along the Causeway coastal route. We had lots of stops along the way as there was so much to see. The combination of unspoilt coast with snow capped hills in the distance was an awe-inspiring one.


We felt very much at home when we found a rock close to the water's edge which had a remarkable resemblance to a bear. It wasn't us who drew the face on - honest!


We felt even more at home when we got to Ballycastle and found the house we were going to be staying in for the week. There to welcome us and beaming warmly at us, was a very characterful Irish bear, with an Emerald Buddies i.d. tag in his ear. The even better news was that he was looking for a name and a home and was hoping that he might be able to join Bears Unlimited.


We wasted no time agreeing that his name would be Patrick and that he would spend the week showing us around Northern Ireland, then he would come back with us to England and live with us in Norfolk.

But I bet you're still wondering why I, Eddie, had come on this trip, as no mention of boating so far. The link is that we were staying at the 'spare' house of two of our Irish friends who were with us in Greece on our sailing holiday. They are very bear friendly and I had enjoyed their company so much while sailing, that I was very eager to see them again. I was also looking forward to seeing two more friends from the same sailing holiday who were flying over from Newcastle later in the week, to complete the re-union

They say that first impressions count and ours was extremely good. Where else can you go and be given free accommodation for the week, a warm welcome, a delicious meal, and to top it all be given a new friend?

We were all in bear heaven.

Lots of love, Eddie, George & Yorkie xxx

Failte Ireland

We're back from a wonderful week of leprechaun spotting and ready to share our adventures and the Irish welcome we received with you. We've been to Northern Ireland and highly recommend it as a place to visit. The welcome is very warm, the scenery is stunning, the people are very friendly (we love the accent) and the Guinness is very, very good.


Our adventure started at Luton airport early in the morning. George & Yorkie being seasoned travellers, who think nothing of flying, took the opportunity to get some kip in the rucksack while we waited in departures for our plane to Belfast. I've only been on a plane once before - remember my sailing adventures in Greece? - so I was too excited to sleep and poked my head out the rucksack so I didn't miss anything.

Our plane was 30 minutes late as it had to be de-iced and cleared of snow before it could leave Belfast International airport to come and get us. This gave us a clue of what the weather would be like when we arrived. We arrived to snow and had to work quite hard to clear a thick layer of snow from our hire car before we could set off for our destination and home for the next week (there was even more snow on the passenger side).


In our next post we'll tell you more about where we went, why I was there, and the wonderful surprise that awaited us on reaching our destination.

Lots of love Eddie, George & Yorkie xxx