We set off about 7am, and not in any particular rush - we took a quick tour of the harbour... This wasn't planned, just a spur of the moment type of thing...and phoebe decided to partake in the tour...by coming on deck and just watching everything as it went by - She is very well-behaved, I never have to worry too much about her, Chloe is the risk-taker, but her bed was too comfortable for her to take part in the tour.
We backed away from the pontoon and instead of going to the right toward the channel, we went left toward the bridge - now we can't go under it, or get too close to it as the supports for it extend under the water, so we had to be careful not to get too close.
We just went up one side and down the other just to get a better look at all the buildings...
After getting turned around, we carried on down the harbour, with Phoebe showing a very keen interest in what was going on.
She would walk up to the bow, come back to the stern - then amidships - she seemed to be enjoying the tour!!
I didn't get any decent shots of the Titanic Centre on my last post so I decided to get a bunch of them this time around. I took a few as we left the pontoon, as we passed, and after we passed - I hope they give you an idea of the size of the thing - It really is a massive big thing.
Now, I was a little sad that I didn't get to go on the tour - BUT - I learned from another tourist that you are not allowed to take photos once inside the building! - Or, so they said - I have not confirmed this, but that certainly made me feel better at not having spent the money to go on the tour - it's a bit pricey, but I thought it might have been worth it for the pictures...
Getting further away from the marina things quickly get industrial, as you saw in our earlier post when we arrived here.
But there was still a bit to see here, it's funny how just changing your angle of approach - gives you a whole new perspective...we continued the tour...
Like I said, as we got further away from the pontoon the tour continued, but just as we were getting to the next section - I heard on the radio - we were reported to the Port Authority by an approaching vessel...
After the cruise ship had finished snitching on us, I immediately radioed the Port Authority to let them know that we were just taking some pictures and would radio back when we intended to exit the harbour so as not to impede any other vessel. This, of course, was totally fine....the tour continued.
As we got a bit further down there was an old military ship docked, I think it's kind of a floating museum now, I kinda wanted to have a closer look. This ship is called the HMS Caroline and is the sole survivor of the WWI Battle of Jutland
When I was at the Titanic Centre I saw it in the distance and meant to got check it out, but I kinda forgot, so now was the perfect opportunity to get a peek at it...
Now, you might have noticed these two big yellow gantry cranes - evidently, they're famous and are known as Samson and Goliath - and can be seen from miles away and form part of the Belfast Skyline.
They are huge, just another cog in the mighty shipbuilding reputation that Belfast has.
And there was, even more, to see on the way out of here, I'm not really sure how to frame them up, I don't really have that much to say about them, they just are what they are...
So here is just a bunch of random photos I took on the way out of here, not sure if you'll like them or not, I include them just so you can see them - it was just an interesting place.
At this point, we are just about into the channel and this just about concludes our time in Belfast. You know, time is just such a vanishing commodity.
This fella (below) marks the start of the channel, and we are on our way out... Belfast was awesome, I really enjoyed it - it's unlike any city I've ever been in - If you ever get the chance - you must go - you won't be disappointed - the sights, the people and just everything that makes up Belfast - it's just such a unique place - I hope I get the chance to go back someday... fingers crossed.
And naturally, a trip down the channel wouldn't be complete without an encounter with a ferry.
We started down the channel following the starboard markers but had to cross over to the port markers as the ferry approached - I never get used to these things - they could run us over, and they wouldn't even feel it!
