I know I keep going on about it, but this whole helicopter malarkey is rather fun. Even when it’s minus three outside the cockpit and there’s snow on the hills, they let me out to play.

Here’s the geeky bit: this is what I keep an eye on to make sure that I am where I should be, I’m going where I want to and that the engine will allow me to do what I plan to.

The essentials of an R22

And here’s the geek:

I even have my pilot's jumper

And here’s part of the reason that it’s so much fun:

Click to embiggen

From the ground, you couldn’t even see the Mournes. From the sky, you could see them perfectly, along with the ice on the smaller lakes nearby. Strangford Lough seemed to be moving that little bit too much to freeze over. Which was nice for these guys:

Portaferry Ferry

I used to have an uncle who lived down in that part of the world, and whenever we’d go to visit I’d always want to go on the ferry. But now that I get to choose the transportation, I seem to have chosen something just a little bit different…