Another beautiful day (so far it has only rained on the evening of Day one on this Emerald Isle!)
We had breakfast and checked out of our hotel, raring to go!
Today we are back in the rental car and starting our adventures on the Causeway Coastal Route in Northern Ireland. Lots of attractions in this area north and northwest of Belfast. If we were Game of Thrones people we would have had to double our time here as the series was shot on location in these parts and has meant huge business for the area! We even heard there's GOT theme park being built.
Well, not GOT, but first stop on the Causeway Coastal Route, we visited Carrickfergus Castle. Built in the 1170's, by the Normans, it is still a pretty imposing site. It is one of the best preserved medevil sites in Northern Ireland. In its hey day it was 3/4 surrounded by water. We took a.picture of Greg just inside the Castle gate....if you look above his head there's a "murder hole",
where if someone wasn't welcome the castle folk could throw down hot water or oil.
Back in the car to head more up the coast. Though this is a very popular highway it was still narrow in most spots with no shoulders and quite windy with lots of blind curves. We were amazed the speed limit was 70 mph, which translates to about 112 km per hour. On top of that, we found a lot of places had cars parked in the driving lane! So... roads are narrow single lane each way & now drivers are parked in one of the lanes so cars have to slide into any available gaps to get by each other in on coming traffic. Crazy!
We drove through mostly farm/ranch type landscapes to our left and mostly open water on the right. Lots of sheep in the fields. Many shades of green!
We stopped for a break and lunch in the seaside town of Cushendun. It was getting pretty windy when we arrived but there were still people relaxing on the beach. We walked along the beach which was interesting as the rocks were quite spectacular and some of the sand was like icing sugar in spots.
We had lunch at Corner House, Seafood Chowder & Irish Stew, both with Wheaton bread before getting back in the car and making our way up the mountain, or big hill as some of us would say.
Next stop Carrick-a-Rede. This is a rope bridge which connects the mainland to a very small but high island of Carrick-a-Rede.
It was originally a single rope bridge, built by fishermen, so then could get to this small island to lay their nets to catch the Salmon they were fishing for.
As only a limited amount of people are allowed on the bridge at one time, we had to wait about 45 minutes for our turn. In the meantime we walked over to the former Larrybane quarry. The site was a limestone quarry in the 1950's - it offered some some amazing views of the area. Today it also has a claim to fame as one of the locations used for Game of Thrones.
When it was our time to head to the rope bridge, it was a bit of a walk to get to the bridge, but the views were beautiful of the mountainsides, the green & blue water as well as the islands just off the coast and Scotland in the distance.
As only a limited amount of people are allowed on the bridge at one time, we had to wait about 45 minutes for our turn. In the meantime we walked over to the former Larrybane quarry. The site was a limestone quarry in the 1950's - it offered some some amazing views of the area. Today it also has a claim to fame as one of the locations used for Game of Thrones.
When it was our time to head to the rope bridge, it was a bit of a walk to get to the bridge, but the views were beautiful of the mountainsides, the green & blue water as well as the islands just off the coast and Scotland in the distance.
The Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge is narrow, spans about 66 feet and is about 100 feet over the water. Of course the wind made the bridge sway going over and was even more windy on the way back and it was bouncy, both ways! Exhilarating but well worth the visit.
The weather has been quite hot and in fact it appears we both have gotten a bit too much sun, wasn't expecting any sunburns on this trip.
Time to head over to our reserved B&B next.....up the road to the Causeway Bed & Breakfast in Bushmills. It is a small B&B with only 3 simple rooms with ensuite bathroom, but was fine. Rosemary the owner advised they had two more rooms available on the other side if it got busy.
We decided to fill up the car before finding supper. Diesel was the best option for the amount of driving we are planning to do. Next door to our B&B is a gas station. Our tank was more than half full but we filled up anyways. Gas was 126.9 (about $211 CDN/L) Diesel 129.9 GBP/L. or $2.16 CDN/L. Just over 19 litres and 25 GBP (or about $42. CDN and we were on our way.
We walked around the town of Bushmills' main business street and found most everything was closed at 5pm except for 2 grocery stores and 5 restaurants or pubs. We stopped at Finn MacCools pub, a nice evening for a drink outside.
Cheers!
Supper was at "Flash in the Pan". We ordered chicken Goujons (fingers) and a chicken combo. For such a small mostly take out restaurant in a small town, it was surprisingly very busy. The three restaurants across the street were not near as busy. Food came in large portions & was very good. The weather is just beautiful and after a short walk, we drove back to our B&B.
Art
2019-06-30
Did you see the Giant's Causeway - between Carrick-a-rede and Bushmills? Fantastic scene with the stones where the Giant used to walk over to Scotland to see his girl friend - a similar formation exists 13 miles across the bay in Scotland. Also a castle right there too. Sounds like you are having a good time. Art
Ninesquirrels
2019-07-05
Did you have to answer "questions three" from a little old man with one eye in order to cross the bridge, lest you be thrown into the gorge?