The Antrim Coast in August

During our near 3 years in Ireland, we have always wanted to see The North coast of the country - specifically the Giant's Causeway and the Antrim Coast. So, despite the incredible lapse in time here, this was in August 2014 - the weekend before Norah started school again. We went up in the morning on a Saturday, arrived at B&B by 3 pm, toured, stayed the night and drove back home after lunchtime.

 On the roooooad again! Having a rental car for a couple days is so, so exciting for us. Here we are, Norah singing up a storm, on our way to Northern Ireland (90 minutes from home).

One of Norah's signature poses. She always stands completely normally and then when I go to take a picture she strikes one of these.  

You always know you're nearing Belfast when you start to see these bomb-squad vehicles. We've been to the North twice and each time we've seen several of these.

And the Union Jacks and 'Red Hand of Ulster' flags on nearly every single light pole and home from the border, northward.  

 So we drove up to Antrim and stayed in the small town of Ballymoney (on the gray road, left of the word "Antrim"). It was a great place to stay because it was only 10 minutes from the North Coast and since it was inland a bit, it was much cheaper. The B&B we stayed in was inexpensive and owned by a young family with two small boys. She was from Korea but had lived in Northern Ireland for many years and her husband was Northern Irish. They were so lovely and the house was just immaculate. It's the first '10 out of 10' B&B we've stayed in.

In their beautiful back garden they even had their own chickens - which is where the eggs for breakfast came from.

And this was their gorgeous breakfast the next morning (all included of course).

They put out butter, orange marmalade and nutella! Pure class.

And anyone who makes a beautiful pancake just for our girl is alright in my book.

We left Dublin at about 12 pm (after Norah's soccer class), and arrived at the B&B by about 3 pm. We dropped our things and immediately went out exploring. The first lookout point, 10 minutes from the B&B, was the magnificent Whiterock beach. We took a walk down to see and once we reached the sand, we realized this was a place to explore for awhile. You could easily spend an entire week sitting on this beach and doing walks. The water was so gorgeous, the sand felt like fine sifted flour and the cliffs were enough to blow....your...mind.

Zoomed in slightly, (barely) showing the castle on the far left (top of cliff).  

 

 This was a flat outcrop of rock in the sand on the beach.

 When I looked closer you'd see these small geodes (?) that were perfectly cracked open.

 

Standing straight and tall like the rock.

Jumping?

 

The sand here felt like powdered sugar - it was amazing!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

She held this for a minute and then goes, "Mahhhm, take my picture!"

 

 

Norah was coloring this page in and then she started her own drawings. When she showed us, we realized it was the first time she's drawn an animal! Of course she's done the little ones where it's a couple people and a circle with a head which is "the dog" but this was new. I know it might sound trivial (and it is) but it was cool for us to see because for so many years, your little person only draws stick figures and then little people and then one day! BIRDS! Ok, it is silly..... but at the time...it was awesome.

And the morning of Day 2 - we drove up the coast (20 minutes) to the Giant's Causeway!

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was one basalt column that was perfectly sectioned so we could see what it looks like on the inside.

 

 

  

The legend has it - that Finn MacCool (the Irish Giant), had a rivalry with a much larger giant on the island of Scotland. They built this bridge of basalt columns by throwing them out into the water as they went. Unfortunately, when Finn MacCool got to the other side and snuck up on the Scottish Giant, he realized he was more than double his size. Finn MacCool quickly receded back over the bridge but the Scottish giant was not far behind him. He ended up tricking the much larger giant (with the help of his wife, Oona) and he ran back to Scotland (destroying the Giant's Causeway/bridge) as he went.

 

On the Saturday we were walking barefoot in the sand and into the water. On Sunday we were frigid cold, wearing sweaters and hats and bracing against the wind.

 

 

The next stop up the coast (5 minutes away) was the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. I was terrified to cross this bridge but psyched myself up and realized I would regret it if I didn't cross it.

Unfortunately (fortunately for my nerves), when we arrived to the carpark, there was a sign saying the bridge was closed due to high winds.

 

Here's one of the guys going out to the center to measure the winds again. It was something like 25 mph (or less) and it can be opened. On this day, the winds for 45 mph so it was not safe to cross. Oh dang!

Another view back to the bridge.  

Favorite word in Northern Ireland: Wee. Everything is: "a wee bit 'o honey", or "Careful, it's a wee bit hot", or "your wee one". If there's one word that conjures up the Northern Irish accent, it's this one.

Here we are, on the way back, stopping briefly at the famous Dun Luce Castle on the cliff side. This castle is breathtaking but it was also €8 each to enter so we, instead, walked around the periphery. :)

 

Even though it was a quick trip, we felt we saw everything we needed to see. We have now seen the very Northern tip of Ireland all the way to the very southern. (and quite far West and Southwest). Two areas we have not seen are the Northwest (Donegal, and Sligo), or the Southeast - Waterford, Wexford, Tipperary. Before we leave Ireland for good, we do hope to see West Cork (including Kinsale and Clonakilty) but this may not be possible and we're alright with that as well.

In the next post I'll try to update on what all has happened since September, and how things are progressing in Wayne's Ph.D. (all going very well).