Belfast—Sunday

April 28th

A few months ago I signed us up for the Giant's Causeway Tour because it meant we'd be driving up the coastal road of Northern Ireland from Belfast to the top of the island. Again, we wanted to see the countryside, and in this case, coastal villages and views from cliffs over the North Channel of the Irish Sea. We were really lucky that it was sunny with a few broken clouds so we could see Scotland as soon as we got out of Belfast. We had a beautiful drive and a great hike along the cliffs overlooking the Giants Causeway and then down to them at the water's edge. 

Carrickfergus Castle built in the late 12th century.

Carrickfergus harbor.

The person, bottom left, provides some

scale of the wall height and thickness.

Main gate obviously.

This quarry outside the town of Larne was used in
"The Game of Thrones." Some of the people on our
tour are "Thrones" fans so our guide/driver included
some of those sites.

This is the scenery we came to see.

It's Sunday, so in addition to the tour
busses, bicyclists, and motorcyclists
were out in force too.

Carnlough Harbor is too cute.

Enlarge this and read all about Paddy, the heroic pigeon.

All of Carnlough Harbor.

A good day for a beach walk.

Waterfoot is another cute coastal village.

Trying to get out of Waterfoot on our way to
Glendun and more coastal scenery. We first
had to get past all the cars parked along the  
road for Sunday services. Three churches 
were built next to each other—Anglican, 
Presbyterian, and Catholic—and the overflow
from the parking lot lines the already narrow way.

  

The lambing season is well underway.

Lunch at Dark Hedges Restaurant fortified

us for the Giant's Causeway hike.

 

Grace Hill House built c. 1775 and named after
James Stuart's wife who planted 150 beech trees
lining the drive up to the house. About half of
them survived and "Game of Throne" fans will
recognize the walk we took after lunch.

Look left or right of Dark Hedges and it's farmland.

And now we're off for the Giant's Causeway.

The Giant's Causeway is way down there and can
easily be reached by a National Parks electric bus.
We took the red trail, the more dramatic approach.

That's the National Parks bus at the bottom.

We hiked along the cliff face and took the stairs...

...and a few switchbacks to reach the Causeway.

Click here for the mythological and scientific explanation about why
these formations are called the Giant's Causeway.

Our last stop of the day was Bushmills Distillery where
we passed on the wee dram and scored the toffees.

So that was the day; tomorrow we have A History of Terror walking tour.