Friday 6th September
Today’s pedometer reading is 10.74 k’s
This morning we left Belfast and travelled
along the Causeway Coastal Route to Derry. It’s about 165 k’s and hugs the
Antrim Coast across the north coast of Ireland. The road traverses bridges,
arches, hairpin turns, passes sheer cliff coves, deserted beaches and
otherworldly rock formations.
We passed through Carrickfergus, and admired
the town’s harbour-side Norman 12th
century castle. It's seen over 800 years of action, right up until World War II,
with portcullis, ramparts and canons.
Our first stop was Ballycastle a dainty marina framed by colourful
town houses and extensive seaward views. We stretched our legs and visited the
tourist information center.
The town and marina from the breakwater.
We loved this statue…there was a similar one featuring a school of
fish.
Between Ballycastle and the Giant’s Causeway was the most scenic
stretch of the drive, with sea cliffs of striped black basalt and white chalk,
lovely harbours and broad sweeps of beach.
We stopped along this stretch to visit the Carrick-a-Rede Rope
Bridge and were pleasantly surprised to find it was managed by the National
Trust, so parking and entry were free. We walked along the cliff-top trail and marveled
at it’s story…
some variety of rope bridge has connected the tiny island of
Carrick-a-Rede to the mainland for over 250 years, serving commercial fishermen
catching salmon off the island until 2002. Hanging gracefully over a 75ft deep
chasm of rocky cliffs and blue- green waters, the latest version is sturdy
enough to stay up all year round and now serves those who dare to cross to the
island for the striking views of the Causeway coast. Andrew is not fond of heights so he was chief photographer.
You can see the bridge on the left of this photo…if you click on
the photo it will enlarge the size. If you look carefully in the middle of the
picture you’ll see a white chimney that is part of the precariously placed fisherman’s
hut and a black pulley system that the fisherman used to lower and raise their
fishing boats!
You might like to note that a couple of people are on the highest
part of the island
Yes that’s me on that highest part of the island.
It's me again...crossing back to the mainland…quite exhilarating!
The very helpful person at the information centre suggested lunch
at the café at Ballintoy Harbour. We drove through the beautiful little village
of Ballintoy looking for a sign to the harbour and thought we must have missed
it…then we noticed a small sign that said ‘Harbour’ with an arrow pointing to
the right & I INSISTED we drive down…it was very narrow, windy and
steep…Andrew was carrying on and said it had to be a mistake and then we saw
this…
We sat at one of the little tables outside and it was such a
beautiful setting…
Next stop… the big
drawcard…The Giant’s Causeway featuring about 40,000 narrow basalt columns. Once again the
National trust manage this site, they have built a fantastic Visitors Centre
and we feel very happy about our membership. In 1986 the Giant’s Causeway was named a UNESCO World Heritage
Site. The Causeway is backed by dramatic cliffs rising 100m, the whole place is
awesome.
It’s
me with cliffs behind
Yep...me again!
One
of Andrew’s artistic shots.
Our
last stop was Dunluce Castle it dates back to the 14th Century and
clings fast onto a dramatic clifftop. The story goes that at one point,
part of the kitchen next to the cliff face collapsed into the sea, after which
the wife of the owner refused to live in the castle any longer. Since that
time, the castle has deteriorated and parts were scavenged to serve as
materials for nearby buildings.
Dunluce Castle
From there we drove on to Londonderry and checked into our B&B…our room is tiny and not at all glamorous but it is clean and the owner seems very nice, he suggested a local pub for dinner and it was great. It was only a 5 minute walk and on the way we saw the medieval walls that we plan to walk along tomorrow.
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