Our Big Adventure

THE GIANT’S CAUSEWAY and the CARRICK-A-REDE ROPE BRIDGE

We thought we had seen some very nice coast-line this past three weeks here, and of course the Australian coast is spectacular and hard to beat.. But to-day on our way across the top of Northern Ireland we were visually stunned . The Giant’s Causeway is a World Heritage Site and the eighth wonder of the world. It consists of approximately 40,000 tightly packed hexagonal basalt columns, some 12m tall. Formed 60 to 70 million years ago by volcanic eruption and then cooling lava. It is pretty touristy, in fact we have seen and heard more Aussie’s in the past three day’s than we have the past 3 months, but it’s a place we have all heard about so we did the couple of kilometre walk to see these giant columns, and I guess it was worth it. The Bushmills Distillery has been here since 1608, and is the oldest distillery in the world. We make a brief stop, check out the whiskey making process but at the end of the tour decline the free samples in favour for a coffee because…… the next stop on this coastal road is the Carrick-A-Rede rope bridge, it spans a 18m chasm and is 24m above the crashing waves. From here the coast of Scotland clearly visible. It apparently is put up every Spring by fishermen for access to a salmon fishery. This one’s not for the faint-hearted. Check out the photo looking down from the bridge. The next part of this coastline is called The Glens, and this is a lovely area. All the glens are named after a local tale or legend, Glenarm, Glenclif and Glenariff to name a few. It is suggested we have dinner at the local golf club where the scenery from the course and club house is beautiful, we watch the sun slip behind the hills while eating a great dinner, then make our way back down to our B & B for a good nights sleep in preparation for the tomorrows short drive into Belfast.

posted by Brian and Julie @ 8:56:00 PM