September 14, 2013
We got an early start this
morning and headed along the northern coastline of the island of Ireland. A few miles up the road, we stopped and
Richard and I bagged our first geocache of the trip (my first of three for the
day). It was an absolutely beautiful
location in the Antrim Glens area where we could see 4 of the 9 glens from the
geocache site. Heather covered the hillsides
and sheep grazed around us. It was a stunning sight!
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CUKEDUDE AND ZIASMOM'S FIRST GEOCACHE IN IRELAND
THE ANTRIM GLENS
We drove further along the coast to the Carrick-A-Rede Rope
Bridge. This bridge was first built by
salmon fishermen over 350 years ago to enable them to string nets. The bridge was raised each summer to cross a
100 foot deep chasm that was 60 feet wide.
The foot bridge is now open to tourists so, of course, Essie and I had
to cross it for a look around the small island on the opposite end. This, too, was a very pretty area with the
emerald green fields on the cliffs above the rolling waves below. What a sight to behold!
Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge
Carol, Essie, Richard, Deb
We continued along the coast to the Giants Causeway which is
touted as the main stop to make in this part of North Ireland. It is a UNESCO site and I was looking forward
to seeing it since I have enjoyed other UNESCO sites. We were all very disappointed and didn’t stay
long. From a geological standpoint, it
is impressive—featuring large tubes of vertical volcanic rock spread over a
rather large area right on the shoreline.
And that’s about it, folks! We
all agreed it wasn’t worth the price of admission—or fighting the crowds there.
Giants Causeway
Today’s drive along the coast on the Coastal Causeway was
very scenic. Emerging from the Antrim
Glens with the sheep grazing in the heather-covered hillsides to the emerald
green fields on the coastal bluffs that dropped abruptly down to the ocean
below—it was all breathtaking!
Northern Ireland coastline
Leaving the coast, we went inland and paid a visit to the
Bushmills Distillery (est. in 1608) in Bushmills, County Antrim. We toured the facility and learned how they
make Bushmills Irish Whiskey. Of course,
the tour ended in their tasting room where you could sample the products and
decide which one(s) you would like to buy.
This is a large plant which has 9 storage buildings with 22,000 casks of
whiskey in each building—and more storage buildings are under construction.
Bushmills Distillery
We drove on to a small town south of Derry called Carrigans where
we stayed in another B&B. The
B&B is located in The Republic of Ireland while Derry is in North
Ireland. Our weather was good for
sightseeing today with lots of sunshine and occasional light rain showers.
