In most of my reviews regarding the local area I have banged on about how creative, cultural and…read moretalented the people from North Down are. Now this is there chance to prove me right. Every Year the Tourist Board hold the Creative Peninsula Festival which is a celebration of Art and Design from the Ards Peninsula. This celebration is held in the month of August and consists of workshops, exhibitions, coach tours and Open studios. This will give the public a chance to marvel at the skills of craftsmen and women from the local area as well as the opportunity to learn some of the techniques for themselves. The coach tours on offer also help to show tourists and interested onlookers where the inspiration comes from to create the art and designs. If you can not possibly wait until August to get creating crafts and treasures inspired by the beauty around you then Ards Tourist Information centre will have more than enough information on how to pursue this interest further.

I feel like I've been very cultured lately, from evening walks around a 12th Century priory to…read morevisiting arguably the biggest man made hill in Ireland. This hill I talk of is situated in Moat Park just off Dundonald's main shopping street. So why am I reviewing a hill? Well I'm not really; I'm reviewing the park the hill is situated in. But I'll start with the hill itself - it has a lot of history. The hill used to be the site that a 12th century fort stood on - this fort overlooked the district of Castlereagh. It's worth researching the full history to get a bit of perspective - if you don't it is kind of just a big mound plonked in the middle of a park. The general upkeep of the park isn't great and more could be made of the history of the hill or 'motte'. This park provides a nice walk in Dundonald and it's an ideal place to take your dog for a run about. You'll often find patients or staff from the adjacent Ulster Hospital walking around the park during the day. I suppose it's a nice place to get away from it all.

I have been going for walks at Island Hill for many more years than I care to remember and I have…read morenow reached the stage in life when I take my own nippers there for some fresh sea air and a little bit of old fashioned exercise. The most exciting thing for children is that there is an actual island which is cut off at high tide, with a concrete walk way linking it to the land. So depending on when you visit, you may have a clearly exposed path to the island, a path just above the water or no path at all! When you can cross the walkway, you can get onto the island, which while tiny, still seems very exciting for children. There's a car park, toilets and a few picnic tables so if we ever get a nice warm sunny day you could happily spend a few hours at Island Hill. The views across Strangford are stunning, so it's a good little spot to take visitors to Belfast and let them see some great scenery.

Island Hill is a local secret. It's a little island with a circumference of about half a kilometre…read more There is a clear walkway around the island if you want to stay on dry land or you can walk along the shore. The fun part of Island Hill is that it's sometimes closed -there is only one way out to the island and when the tide is in that walk way gets totally submerged. To get out to the island you have to walk, often on a slippery path that is only broad enough for a bicycle or a horse. This can only be reached at particular times during the day as it will flood over and anyone who is on the island will have to either, swim, call the coast guard or wait the tide out. This sounds far fetched but people do get stuck out there. The views around Island Hill on a nice day are beautiful with Scrabo Tower on the hill to your left and Strangford waters all around. The car park has a grand Totum pole and other pieces or art on the cemented flood barriers. There are also picnic tables that are often used by families on sunny days. I walk my dog here at least once a week and so far I have avoided getting stranded on the island but I have had to roll up my trousers and wade back a few times. It's a lovely place to clear your head, look at the birds, and to poke the strange miniscule crabs and the large purple jellyfish that wash up.