Day 10 - Giants Causeway

August 08, 2014

Day 10 - Giants Causeway

Today we ventured out on our own. Phil and Mary have been the most excellent tour guides the past two days. It’s like touring with an encyclopedia! They are so knowledgeable about the area and everything we are seeing. They help put it into context with Irish history and politics. It’s been amazing!

Plus, it’s been a bit of a relief not to have to drive. But today we’re out on our own and I’m driving! With the three of us though, it’s not so bad. Jason has the maps and is the navigator today while Mom reminds me to shift and stay on the left. The hard part about driving is that there are so may new things to think about:

1. Driving on the left-hand side (fighting a 22 year old instinct to stay on the right every time you make a turn or see a car coming).

2. Driving on the right-hand side of the car.

3. Driving a stick shift (which I haven’t done on a regular basis since we sold our Mazda Protégé in 2002 (12 years ago). But this time I have to shift with my left hand.

4. Driving a new car (where’s the windshield wipers? Or headlights? Or parking break? Etc.

5. Finding my way in a new country. I have no idea where I’m going. You have to make last minute turns, split second decisions, etc. because you don’t know how to get places until you see a sign at the last minute.

6. Road signs are different than home and different in each country (The Replublic and Northern Ireland). Different colors, symbols, shapes, etc. On some drives we are crossing the border 5 or 6 times on the same stretch of road!

7. Tons of round-abouts.

8. Super skinny country roads that are clearly not built for 2 car widths.

9. Going back and forth from km/hr and mph. The Republic of Ireland is all in km/hr and Norther Ireland (UK) is all in mph. We rented our car in the Republic so it only has km/hr on the dashboard. We finally wrote down a list of the speed limits so they could tell me each time in km/hr.

Day one driving was REALLY hard. I was nearly white-knuckled and I broke a sweat a time or two driving through Dublin. Day two was much better but I still made a few mistakes and had to constantly remind myself: LEFT LANE!

We drove up through Londonderry and onto the Causeway Coastal Route. Driving through Ireland is like driving through a continuous postcard in all directions. We stopped here and there to take in the scenery and take some pictures. The beauty is outstanding. We stopped at a beach to see the Mussenden Temple on the Cliffside. I have no idea what it is because we didn’t have our awesome tour guides, but it was a cool picture!

Dunluce Castle was first on the agenda. It is the ruins of an old castle that dates back to the 1500s. It was built right on the cliff and the legend is that during a stormy October night in 1639, part of the kitchen fell into the sea with several of the cooks. Part of it did fall into the sea but it wasn’t the kitchen and no one was in it. The audio tour and pictures really helped bring it to life and you could really imagine what life was like there in the 1600s. It was a happening place with parties and recitals and guest’s quarters. The interior was paneled with thick, decorative oak and hung with tapestries. The bay windows had long silk, damask curtains. It would have been quite impressive during the middle ages with it’s commanding position and views from the cliffs. Story goes that one of the daughters was so distraught that she couldn’t marry her soldier boyfriend that she threw herself out the tower window to the rocky coast below. Yikes!

Jason and I explored the paths down to the sea and found the Mermaid’s Cave. Despite the “No Entry” signs, we went inside and down the ocean. It was amazing…the perfect seaside escape route with a rocky shore to stow your boat and a channel leading right out into the sea! I’m sure it was used a time or two by the McDonnell family.

It rains off and on all day, every day here. But the sun always seems to break through when the rain stops so it’s not gloomy or depressing. But it is a MUST to have a good raincoat and an umbrella every time you leave the car! We’ve learned that the hard way a few times.

Just down the road is the Giant’s Causeway. Mom took the bus down for L$1 while Jason and I walked. We took a detour and climbed to the highest hill overlooking the causeway. It was steep and the dirt path was a little slippery with the rain but the views were amazing. If you step off the path, the ground is like a giant mattress covered in grass. It’s spongy and soft and you sink in and bounce back like there are springs underneath. You wouldn’t need a camping pad to sleep on here! It’s spongy and soft on the top of the cliffs too. Jason was making me nervous getting close to the edge on that spongy ground! I got close enough to enjoy the thrill but not be stupid! I can’t die ya know—I’ve got to get home and see my 6 favorite people! J

We learned on the audio tour that the causeway was discovered by a man named Sir Robert Redding! That’s the same name as my Grandpa! I’ll have to talk to Grandma Redding to see if there’s any relation.

Despite being crawling with hordes of people, the causeway was still a sight to see. It’s amazing and baffling and surreal. We sat and took it all in. There was no way to get a really good picture with all the people so I snapped a few then sat back and enjoyed my surroundings and figured I’d download a good one or two photos from the internet. We hiked further down the coast to the Giant’s boot, a huge rock most likely left by a glacier but fits nicely with the whole Finn McCool legend.

Back in the car and a few miles later we stopped at the Carrick-a-rede bridge. Carrick-a-rede literally means “rock in the road.” Fisherman found that this was the ideal spot to catch Atlantic salmon on their migration because of the shape of the shoreline. There is a large, sandy J-shaped bay that the salmon would collect and follow until they came to these rocks where it would force them out and around like a rock in the road. They knew if they cast their nets here, they would get a good haul! It reminded me of a purse-seine net with that same principle. The best spot was out on the outer rocky island so every year they would string a rope bridge across to access it. Now there’s a permanent rope bridge that brings thousands of visitors to brave the 100 foot high rope bridge. Jason and I followed the crowd and crossed the bridge to the outer island. The view was stunning. It was literally probably the most beautiful view I’ve ever seen. We sat on the edge of the cliff and stood in a postcard for 30 minutes with the white, limestone cliffs, the turquoise ocean, the neon green moss covered islands and the clouds billowed up in perfect shapes with just enough sun to give a glow to the whole area and definition to the clouds. It was absolutely stunning!

We couldn't find a restaurant so we ended up getting some bread, cheese and salami at the grocery store and eating in the car. You can't win 'em all! :)