Day two of holiday in Ireland

After a good sleep we decided we would visit the Giant's Causeway.  Zach and I were ready first so we went a little walk round by the cottage to see what we could find. 

We could hear these rooks long before we spotted their rookery in a nearby tree.  They probably had young in their nests and were very vocal. 

 

Bluebells beside a small ruined cottage

In the nearby field we saw several cows with their calves.

also black and white lambs

Red campion in the hedge. 

When everybody was ready we went into the village of Bushmills to do a bit of shopping then we drove to the Causeway.  We were fitted with small receivers with earphones so we could listen to the guide telling us the history and folklore of the Causeway.  He pointed out lots of interesting things about the geology and the tales of the giant,  Finn McCool, who is supposed to be responsible for building it all

This is our guide, a local man who certainly had the gift of the gab, must have kissed the Blarney stone

. 

Zachariah listening intently to the stories of Finn McCool.

This is Finn McCool's camel 

and up on the hillside you can see his dog looking out to sea. 

Zachariah still listening intently to the giant stories

 Here are Finn McCools chimneys. Not smoking the day we were there so he mustn't have been at home

It wasn't a very sunny day but we did see some blue sky and some rather large waves.  This is very dangerous part of the coastline and responsible for many shipwrecks.  On 26th October 1588 the Girona which was one of the ships of the Spanish Armada sank during a storm.   The wreck was discovered in 1967 and excavated in 1968 and 1969 and many personal possessions and jewellery belonging to the 1300 sailors and noblemen on board were recovered.  There were only 5 survivors of the wreck. 

Remarkable columns of rocks which were formed 60 million years ago following volcanic eruption followed by cooling of the larva which formed hard rock called basalt. The columns have regular sides of varying numbers. Most have 5 or 6 sides but there are some with 4, 7 and 8 sides

Lots of places to climb on them but a bit worrying while carrying a baby. She did make it down safely. 

 A wave from Imran and Zach

Time to come back, I didn't go out there I needed to rest my feet so waited with the pushchair.

Dad had to retrieve a rather wet wellie when Zach left it behind

I'm the king of the castle!

In the middle of this photo you can see Finn McCools organ pipes.  No recital today as he was not home. 

It was very crowded with people climbing everywhere.  This made it difficult to get photos with no people in them. 

A very tiring day again and we were relieved to see a bus waiting to take people back to the visitor centre so we didn't have to walk. It was up hill on the way back.  Once at the visitor centre we had lunch and shopped for souvenirs. We were pleased that we had taken the car and didn't have to walk back the the cottage as Zach and I were rather tired after all the walking.  My next post will be of the many wild flowers growing among the rocks of the Causeway. 

Holiday in Northern Ireland.

Had a lovely break in Northern Ireland with my son Imran and his wife and children.  We went at the end of May but haven't posted anything until now as I came back with  cold and developed a chest infection so haven't felt like doing much.  Think I have now shaken of the nasty Irish bug.

We flew from Birmingham to Belfast on the Monday morning, only about an hours flight so not too bad.  We picked up the hire car and headed into Belfast City.  Spotted the Titanic Exhibition so thought we would go look round.  We had lunch and then noticed that the tour took 2 hours so we decided to give it a miss as we had a long drive to our holiday cottage in the north.

Grandson Zachariah next to the statue of Titanic Figurehead.  Not exactly Leonardo!

We stopped briefly in Belfast city centre and wandered round a continental market where there was a carousel.  

Afterwards we set off to our holiday accommodation.  It was a long drive as we took the Causeway Coastal Route instead of the direct route via the motorway.  Instead of an hour it took us almost 3 hours but it was a spectacular route.

This is where we stayed.  A lovely 4 bedroom cottage which is only 10 - 15 minutes walk from the Giant's Causeway Visitor Centre.  It was very nicely furnished with everything we needed. 

The black rock, on the corner by the door, which I think gives the house its name looks suspiciously  like one of the rocks from the causeway. 

The cottage was on a narrow lane which had only 4 or 5 other houses so was very quiet.  Behind it there was a field which had rabbits hopping around it. 

That evening we walked up to the Causeway Visitor centre but as it was getting quite late we thought we would visit the Causeway the next day.   We did go for a short walk though. 

At the end of the lane we crossed the railway line which runs from the nearby village of Bushmills.  Unfortunately the steam train which runs here only operates on weekdays during in July and August and we weren't there at the weekend so were unable to ride on it.  I think Zach would have enjoyed a train ride. 

The views along the coast are spectacular.

Near the entrance to the visitor centre is this fabulous Victorian post box, unfortunately someone has put the recycling bin right next to it.

The Causeway is on the other side of this hill.  The waves were very high and the coastline is so rugged it must be very dangerous.

This is where we had our dinner that first evening, I had fish and chips which were very nice.  It is a listed building which was built as a school house in 1850. 

This first day had been a very long one as we got up before 6 and had a long journey so we were glad to get into bed that night.  I think Zach slept for almost 12 hours.