Not far past Larne
Is it a rock, is it a bear?
There were a couple of archways like this on the coastal road
Click any picture to view a larger version.
We left my sister's place quite early in the morning and headed straight for the Antrim coast road. This was definitely as picturesque as we'd been led to believe and there were some gorgeous sights as we drove towards our first planned stop, the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge.
Not far past Larne
Is it a rock, is it a bear?
There were a couple of archways like this on the coastal road
After about an hour of leisurely driving we came to our first destination, the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. It's quite a walk from the car park to the bridge but it gave us a good chance to stretch our legs and take some great pictures too.
The car park itself is fairly scenic
Stunning views from the footpath up to the rope bridge
Terrific caves carved into the cliffs
Our first view of the rope bridge
Don't look down!
Yeah, like I was going to be scared!
Once you get onto the island past the bridge you have some great views of the cliffs and caves
More cliffs and caves
Both of us, posing on the bridge (and holding up everyone else!)
Only a few miles up from the rope bridge is the Giant's Causeway. Despite the fact that it's absolutely swarming with tourists this is still an incredible sight.
The first part of the causeway that you see is comparatively small but stil impressive
It might have been busy, but with a bit of patience Althea still managed to make it look
like she was the only person there
The taller stones on the actual causeway itself -- and you can see how busy it gets there, too
The regularity of the stones is what really stands out
At the edge of the formation where it meets the sea you get a really vivid sensation of
the power of nature
I found myself a comfortable seat -- could have stayed there all day
Another illustration of the power of the ocean
This was the first ruined castle that we visited on the trip. Standing right on the very edge of the cliffs, this used to be one of the residences of the Earl and Countess of Antrim, until the early 17th Century when a violent storm caused the cliff to crumble and the castle kitchens collapsed into the sea.
The ruins of the castle, sillhouetted against the sea
Remains of the castle entrance, with the round stonework still visible on the turrets
Dunluce Castle
The view from one of the bedrooms in the castle
Our last stop before leaving Northern Ireland was Londonderry, which I wanted to visit because it still had a complete set of walls around the city.
One of the old gates into the city, through the city walls
Another gate, this time viewed from within the city walls
The walls can be walked along, and this is a view from the walls looking down at the
Bogside
-- note the murals
on the ends of the terraces
Information board in the city
One of the most interesting sculptures we saw anywhere in Ireland is this pair of statues in the centre of Londonderry. One shows a young family -- the father and daughter are striding valiantly forward to a new life. The mother and son are coming with them but also turning round tearfully to look at what they're leaving behind.
On the other side of the square is the accompanying statue -- an elderly couple waving the family off. Although I couldn't find a plaque to explain it, I assume that the family were heading off to a new life, probably in America, while the grandparents stayed behind.
The family
The grandparents
After leaving Londonderry we crossed the border at Strabane / Lifford and were back in the Republic again. We then basically drove straight through to Donegal town where we found a B&B to spend the night.