The walkabout is one of those things that politicians - a bit like royalty -simply have to do. Newly-arrived Northern Secretaries have traditionally ventured to a shopping centre to meet the plain people of Northern Ireland and swap some polite chit-chat.
Mr Paul Murphy, a very polite man, chose one of the politest parts of affluent north Down for what turned out to be a very polite affair indeed. If the rest of his encounters are like this, he may die of boredom before his recall by Downing Street.
Taking his first "doorstep" press conference at the entrance to the Bloomfield shopping centre, he reminded people that his task was to implement the agreement he had helped to create when last working for the Northern Ireland Office under Dr Mo Mowlam.
Then it was off to mix with the curious and the bewildered who thought they were just there for the weekend shopping.
Pretending that notebook-toting reporters and camera crews were not present, Mr Murphy led the media ruck as it bulldozed its way into the Tesco store and continued past shelves of Barbie dolls with their improbably long legs and shocking pink outfits - the dolls, that is, not the journalists.
There were polite handshakes at the tills and polite wishes of goodwill.
Then it was off to Marks and Spencer via the newsagents, where smiling staff were on hand to peruse the coverage of Thursday's cabinet reshuffle in London which landed Mr Murphy in Belfast.
The new Northern Secretary stopped for a coffee at the appropriately-named Revive Café, where the menu contained no allusion to the resuscitation of the political process.
Anti-agreement unionist Cedric Wilson happened to come by. He stifled his tendency to protest, but did not hold back from offering his opinions to an idle BBC crew.
Mr Murphy's visit to Marks and Spencer ended with him receiving a gift of some potato bread and soda farls, which is as traditional in these parts as politeness.