Saturday 2 April 2011

The Northern Coast

On Wednesday we took A & D up to do the northern coast tour. You start at Port Stewart/Port Rush and end at the Bushmill's Distillery. We had decided to do the tour Wednesday because it was supposed to be nicer of all the days of the week. It started out rainy, but the weather people told us that it would blow over and be sunny by early afternoon. However, that wasn't the case. The sun didn't come out until much later by the time we were all exhausted.

Port Stewart/Port Rush are small coastal towns that get very crowded in the summer. Port Rush has a small carnival park in it. A comparison would be a smaller Old Orchard Beach. We did a drive by and then went to Dunluce Castle. I love walking around the castle. It's all in ruines, but it's right up against the cliffs and you can just feel the history around you. After Dunluce we went to Giant's Causeway. It would have been nice except it was cold, wet and rainy. We took the bus down to the rocks, stayed for about 15 minutes and then left and went straight to Bushmill's Distillery. And of course the sun came out as soon as we finished the tour. R and D took the tour because we couldn't take little O on the tour. A and I sat in the small restaurant feeding O chips and hanging out. It was really nice to hang out with friends again. After the tour we went to Coleraine to walk around the shops for a wee bit and then headed home for dinner. Bed time was early that night for everyone.
Below are the pictures from the day. I promise I won't give too much history.
This is looking down on Dunluce castle. It is believed that it was built by an Anglo Norman and then it was occupied by a Scottish chieftain. 

O with her Daddy outside Dunluce Castle. We didn't stop and take any pictures of Port Stewart/Port Rush. But I know we'll be going there in the summer, so you'll see the towns I'm sure


Another view of the castle. If you want more information, you can go to the their website, http://www.northantrim.com/aboutdunlucecastle.htm


The coolest thing about this castle it is built flush to the cliff side. While the last occupants lived their the kitchen fell into the ocean.


The gate house


This is Giant's Causeway. The rocks are made up of basalt and have broken into perfect hexagons. There is a legend behind why it's called Giant's Causeway, but it would be a little too long to right and I can't remember the names of the characters, let alone spell them.

Part of the edge of the rocks.

A look down the coast line.

This is the Bushmill's Distillery. Built in 1608 it is one of the oldest whiskey distillerys. I have done the tour before, but since we have the baby with us, A and I decided to just hang out at the cafe and have a pint and some chips (french fries)

Me and the babe at Dunluce Castle.

oíche mhaith

No comments:

Post a Comment