Day 135: Causeway Coast

Out of Belfast and back on the road again. Slightly late getting on the road as Belfast's confusing streets did another number on us, but we soon made it out of the northern suburbs and onto the coast. Today's plan was to drive around the north-eastern coast of Northern Ireland, visiting a few famous spots along the way, then eventually crossing into the Republic of Ireland near Londonderry/Derry and on to our accommodation nearby.

So we headed north for a couple of hours, stopping here and there as we fancied. At the first stop, a cute little harbour, we found an information board showing that a Game of Thrones scene featuring Arya had been filmed on the harbour steps in front of us! Unexpected bonus. Stopped at a couple of other points as well, with nice views or interesting towns. Also stopped at one point in a narrow road as there had been a rockfall from a cliff above! Cleared the rocks with the help of a couple of other drivers and set off again.

First main stop was the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, which is (obviously) a rope bridge out to a small fishing island. It spans about 20 metres, 100 feet above churning waters, with dramatic cliffs and buffeting winds thrown in for good measure. We bought our tickets and walked down to find a gorgeous spot, and the beauty was probably even added to slightly by the drizzle and wind.

I crossed the bridge no problems, though Shandos was pretty scared and held on very tightly. Spent some time exploring the small island while taking photos, then headed back across the bridge up to the car park.

Although our next stop was to be the Giant's Causeway, since we'd stopped more than we were expecting during the day, and had taken far longer than anticipated at the rope bridge, we decided to do lunch first since it was by now after 2pm. We drove over to the town of Bushmills (home to a famous Irish whiskey distillery of the same name), and had lunch at the inn there. Very tasty food, though a little pricey.

So it was that after doubling-back a bit, we didn't arrive at the Giant's Causeway until nearly 4pm. This is a UNESCO World Heritage site so I had to do a video, but of course managed to forget my microphone in the car! Hopefully the speakerphone audio works OK. We'd read online that although the site itself is free, parking isn't, and they charge you per person rather than per car. And it's 10.50 per head, which is kind of outrageous. So we parked a few hundred metres up the road, walked down through the carpark, dodged the visitors centre and headed down to the site itself, all free of charge.

The Causeway itself is very impressive. It's a collection of thousands of basalt rock columns of varying heights, formed when a lava flow from 40-60 million years ago cooled and dried (think of the way mud cracks into regular shapes when it dries and you get the picture). Although the local explanation is that a giant named Finn McCool wanted to fight a Scottish giant, and so to go and confront his rival he started building a causeway across the Irish Sea. I think I know which one I prefer!

Anyway it was a very impressive site, though there were hordes of tourists around. I don't begrudge anyone being there because they aren't doing anything I'm not doing, but it's hard to see the site existing in its current form for a whole lot longer. Although basalt is pretty hardy as rocks go, you can see where they're being worn and smoothed out by gaudy sneakers and hiking boots all day. We'd hoped that by arriving a bit later in the day it wouldn't be crowded, but no such luck!

Ended up getting the shuttle bus for the mile or so back to the visitor's centre, where we got chatting to an older couple from Camden. They struck up a conversation because they patted Schnitzel, then told us they have a dachshund at home (amongst other dogs). Such a small world sometimes!

Back in the car where we drove for another 30 minutes to our final stop for the day - the Dark Glades! This is a narrow country lane edged by twin rows of enormous beech trees planted in the 19th century, a very beautiful sight. They're now suddenly famous because a couple of scenes from GoT were filmed there (scenes from the Kingsroad in seasons 1 and 2). We managed some good timing here, as a tour bus just left as we arrived, and another one pulled up as we were leaving. Strange that a narrow lane with tall trees now attracts busloads of people from across the world, but that's mass tourism for you.

Finally to the car, where we drove the last couple of hours westward now, eventually crossing the border into the Republic of Ireland. Country #6 for this trip! A little more challenging to drive since all of the speed limit signs are now in KPH, whereas my speedo is in MPH (albeit with KPH in small numbers in the centre). Found our way to the farmhouse that is our accommodation for the night, where we're staying with a fairly young couple. Had a good chat with them before they headed out to the movies for the evening, while we enjoyed our supermarket pizza and played with laptops!Read more