Portavogie Drive

Our original plan had been to drive to Kirkubbin, a small village on the Ards Peninsula in County Down, in order to lunch at Finnegan's. I stopped on the main street in the village and ambled over to the bar. Walking in, there was no sign of life till somebody asked if he could help. I inquired if they were serving bar snacks, only to be told that Finnegan's was now under new management and they would not be serving meals today. Seemingly the previous owner, or chef, has re-located to Comber.

No matter. We motored across the peninsula to a favourite of ours, the Quays Restaurant in Portavogie. They have a starter, classic prawn cocktail, which is tip-top; there's plenty of salad, juicy fresh prawns and wheaten-bread.

The Dowager and I ordered two prawn cocktails, served as a main course; and one portion of chips. We drank fizzy apple juice and orange juice as well.

This was an excellent choice and great value too. The prawn cocktail was more like an open prawn sandwich; and the chips were served in a little bowl. We thoroughly enjoyed it. The total bill came to £15 for the lot. We'll be back!

We drove northwards along the eastern side of the peninsula, eventually arriving at the P C World computer store in Bangor where I had reserved a diminutive Belkin 7" netbook neoprene sleeve. Despite my Dell Mini 9 being 8.9", I'd read on the Web that this sleeve is a perfect fit; and so it turned out. It literally fits the Mini 9 like a glove; better still, it cost me £2.97!

I have the new netbook up and running. It seems to be going very well; and I have spent awhile downloading anti-virus, anti-spyware, my email accounts and favourites to its memory.