Adeptus Mechanicus at the Warhammer 40k Hobby Weekend

Flying to Ireland

I live in England so had to fly to Northern Ireland. I flew in to George Best Belfast City Airport. There are trains every 30 minutes in to Belfast and the station is within walking distance of the terminal, but you are not allowed to walk! You need to ask the staff at the parking help desk to radio their shuttle bus who will drive you to a footbridge that you can use to cross the motorway and get to the train station.

Trains to Coleraine

The train from the airport (Sydenham station) to Belfast city centre runs every 30 minutes. You need to go two stops and change at Belfast Central for a train to Londonderry. The trains to Londonderry run every hour and take about two hours to get to Coleraine. Northern Ireland Rail don’t seem to do open return tickets so I had to buy a single for the journey to Coleraine and then another single ticket for the return journey after the weekend. The tickets cost £13 each way.

Staying in the Premier Inn

The Premier Inn may not be a luxury hotel but I was a safe bet that it would be of decent quality so I decided to stay there rather than in a B&B that would be cheaper but more of a gamble. The Premier Inn didn’t disappoint and this particular one has a pub built in to it which served a decent breakfast and dinner.

The Premier Inn is located on the edge of a retail park so it gives you the option of walking to Sainsbury’s if you want to buy some food at supermarket prices, or there is a 24 hour McDonalds right next door too if you get back to the hotel too late for the pub’s food.

Finally the Premier Inn is a 20 minute walk down the river from OTT. If it’s too dark for the walk by the river you can follow the footpath by the road instead which is well lit.

Eating near OTT

I ate my breakfasts in the Premier Inn, but I tried out several venues for my lunches and dinners.

Just round the corner from OTT there are several takeaways (they back on to the alley where the team do their spray painting). I bought a burger from Turf ‘n’ surf. It was decent and the portion was big giving good value for money. I also ate a pizza from the pizza takeaway a couple of doors up the hill from Turf ‘n’ surf. It was made to order and again decent quality.

Across the road from the takeaways I’ve already mentioned and further up the hill, across the junction, there is a very nice sandwich shop. They had a nice selection of home made cakes and they prepare nice sandwiches to order so this makes for a nice less greasy option than the takeaways.

Finally on one day I walked towards the city centre and came across Rocca, which is a restaurant across the bridge and opposite sports direct. That’s only about a 5 minute walk from OTT. It has a nice selection of healthier options like salads, as well as home made cakes and other meals.