Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge and Giant's Causeway

First on the agenda was the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. We had a kilometre walk down to the bridge and they let you across a few at a time. No stopping to take photos on the bridge as it was pretty windy. Some magnificent views around the coast.

 

Then it was on to the Giant's Causeway, a fascinating place. First we walked along the cliff tops, with only a few other brave walkers,  you could walk for miles, then we descended down to sea level where we clamoured over the basalt columns with all the other tourists. The weather was kind to us, windy, cloudy but most importantly pretty dry, just the occasional misty shower. A great day out!

I let him come back up the cliff and didn't stomp on his hands!

Glenariff Forest, Cushendal and Torr Head

We then headed up north along the Coastal Causeway Route- a 120km Irish Great Ocean Road! We stopped of at the town of Waterfoot and headed up into the glen to the Glenariff Forest and did a delightful walk along the river past a number of waterfalls. The autumn colours were beautiful and the weather misty.

From there we headed north to Cushendun, a small seaside village owned by the National Trust

The we took the Torr Head Scenic Route a very windy, narrow road up to Torr Head, had to take it very slowly but fortunately not much traffic around. We were only about 12 miles from Scotland, but couldn't see it because of the mist. We climbed to the old coastguard house now abandoned for some nice views, then made our way to Ballycastle our destination for the night.

The Gobbins Walk

Tuesday we did the Gobbins Walk, about 20 minutes north of Belfast, which was a guided 2 hour walk along the coast line, along bridges and paths along the cliff edge. It was a very popular walk back in the early 1900's but eventually closed due to rock falls. It reopened in 2015 but there were a few setback so closed down to reopen earlier this year. It was a great experience. Quite and engineering feet to get bridges and paths into place. We were lucky we had a group of three, normally up to 15 in a group.

Belfast- Titanic and Black Cab Tour of the Peace Wall

On Monday we headed north in our hire car to Belfast. First stop was the Titanic Quarter where we spent a couple of hours at the Titanic Museum. We learnt a lot about the history of industrial Belfast and then all about the building and sinking of the Titanic a very interesting place.

Then we headed out on a tour of the hot spots of Belfast- Shankell Road and Falls Road and got some background of the troubles that went on in Northern Ireland. We also visited the Peace Wall and got to add our signatures to the wall.

Some of the murals around the city

Monday night we stayed at Carrickfergus just across the road from the Carrickfergus Castle

Dublin CIty

Today we went to the movies! We went to an Australian Embassy Screening of Ladies in Black-which was a great movie! Then we spent the afternoon wandering the streets of Dublin. It started off a damp drizzly morning then it cleared to a cool but sunny day.

 City Hall

Dublin Castle

 GPO

Glendalough , County Wicklow

Later that afternoon, Bill and I headed down to Wicklow County with Bindi, Simon and Charlie. We went to Glendalough where we wandered through the ruins of a 12th century monastic village then walked around the lake. Beautiful countryside and lovely weather.

Liffey River and Irish War Memorial Gardens

Have arrived safely in Dublin, it sure is a long flight from home! On Saturday we headed out with Simon who had some diplomatic duties at a women's AFL footy game. While he was doing that, Bill and I enjoyed a walk along the Liffey river and a wander through the lovely gardens at the Irish War Memorial. It was a lovely autumn sunny day.