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Northern Ireland

Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge

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Saturday 16th September

The weather was due to change around 11 o’clock so we knew we had to be up early to avoid the crowds and the rain, if we were to make the most of Carrick-A-Rede rope bridge experience. A National Trust location, meant our membership cards were useful again. We arrived at the location in Ballintoy, which was only a short journey along the Causeway Coastal route. A new timed ticket system is now in operation, and for the moment is not bookable online. Your ticket has an hour window in which to reach the bridge. Once on the island, you are welcome to spend as much time as you like there.

From the kiosk where you purchase your tickets, it is a 1 km walk to the rope bridge and over to Carrick Island. There are some steep steps down and back on the journey, so be prepared. Along the walk are some super views out to sea over Larrybane Bay and Sheep Island, as well as Rathlin Island. If you’re lucky you might even spot some basking sharks, dolphins or porpoises.

Ray took the challenge first, although for him it didn’t pose a problem. For me it was a lot more daunting. The metal steps down to the rope bridge were fairly steep and when the wind is whistling, you need to hold on to the handrails. A steward is located at the top of the stairs here and another on the other side of the bridge. Not that made me any less nervous. A limited number of people are allowed on the bridge at any one time.

The Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge is 20 metres long and is 30 metres above the rocks below. (If you look back through archive footage, you find it hard to believe that for 350 years, salmon fisherman, made this trip across to the island on far flimsier attempts at a rope bridge).   I didn’t even notice there were rocks below! My eyes were firmly fixed on the steward on the other side! I must admit it was exhilarating to make it to the other side.

After some time taking in the views from the island we queued to make the journey back across the bridge. This wasn’t quite so scary but had to be done to get back to the car park! I would have been okay, apart from some bright spark who thought it would be fun to bounce up and down behind me! He soon realised if he didn’t stop I wasn’t going anywhere!

Unfortunately, due to the rain, the coastal walk wasn’t possible so we made our way back to the car.

We did it!

Certificate Of Success
Northern Ireland

Giant’s Causeway

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Friday 15th September

When on the Causeway Coast, The Giant’s Causeway is a must. It is Northern Ireland’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site and part of the National Trust, so our membership cards will come in handy today. The weather was forecast to be better today, so we had to take advantage of that. As we made our way out of Portrush on A2, we passed Royal Portrush Golf Club and it did look so inviting, but at £180 per person per round, we will be giving it a miss this time. We stopped at Whiterocks Coastal Park to take in the views of the lovely sandy beach and watch a few golfers battling the rather windy links conditions.

Whiterocks Coastal Park

As we continued along the Causeway Coastal route, we caught sight of Dunluce Castle, after which, the road is named. It is considered one of the most romantic and picturesque of Irish Castles. (As well as one of the film locations for Game of Thrones). The current ruins date mainly from 16th and 17th centuries.

Dunluce Castle

We journeyed on until we reached the village of Bushmills,  where we knew we would be able to take the park and ride to the Giant’s Causeway. (Although the village is probably more famous for the world’s oldest licensed whiskey distillery). The car park was free and the buses run every 20 minutes to the Giant’s Causeway, so we didn’t have long to wait. The short 5 minute trip was worthwhile, as the car park was full of tour buses, and cars were being directed back to the park and ride.

The visitor’s centre was amazing but absolutely heaving! It was a very striking building, with walls of glass, basalt columns and a state of the art interior, with apparently no right angles. Getting our tickets was a piece of cake and we had the option of taking an outdoor audio guide or joining a guided tour.

Giants Causeway

We chose the latter, which meant we would be walking down to the Causeway. (There are buses which ferry people to and from at a cost of £1, FOC if you are a NT member). We had the added bonus of our guide’s sense of humour, and well tailored patter about the geology, legend and folklore of this true spectacle. Now all those retellings of Finn McCool at school would be brought to life!

Walking The Stones Of The Giants Causeway

The guided tour lasted approximately an hour and then we were able to explore the area on our own, for as long as we wished. We decided to continue along one of the 4 trails advertised, along a path and up the cliffs to The Amphitheatre. From here we gained a different perspective of the Causeway and Port Noffer. Once we had made our way back down, we did what most people come to do – clamber over the hexagonal basalt rocks to marvel at this wonder. Owing to recent heavy rain, some areas were out of bounds, but it didn’t make a lot of difference as there were many places to climb, sit and ponder at it’s beauty.

A Popular Attraction

Having taken loads of photos, we made our way back to the visitor centre. Here were many exhibition areas to explore and enjoy the science and stories, including a big screen. There was of  course, the obligatory cafe and shop. A short wait for the park and ride and we were back in Bushmills.

We wandered off to find the Bushmills Railway, which follows the two mile extension of the original Giant’s Causeway and Bushmills Hydro Electric Tram Track, but it is only open at the weekends in September! Always good to do your homework first.

We did make our way over to the ‘Dark Hedges‘,  a tunnel-like avenue of inter-twinned beech trees, planted in the 18th century, but we were somewhat disappointed.  Owing to Games of Thrones series, there were too many people dressed in capes, welding swords, re-enacting scenes from the television series and large tourists coaches parked along the road, obscuring any possible view. We will add this to our future wish list, out of season.

Northern Ireland

Fermanagh

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Tuesday 12th September

Our camp site is situated just off  A46, which runs along the length of Lower Lough Erne, from Belleek in the north, to Enniskillen in the south. The Lough Erne Golf Resort and Castle Hume Golf Club are also just a short drive down the road. We are well located to explore this area of County Fermanagh. On the journey to our site, Ray had noticed a sign for a view point, which is always worth a visit. We set off to retrace our drive. Bingo!

Lough Navar Forest Entrance

Lough Navar is part of Marble Arch Caves Global Geopark. It was one of the first eight Geoparks to be recognised by UNESCO when they launched their Geoparks initiative in 2001. The entrance into the forest was particularly mysterious.

Road To Aghamaleen Viewpoint

The narrow two way road led us through the forest and up to our first viewpoint Aghamaleen Viewpoint. The view here,  looks to the south east over a large area of West Fermanagh. There was also the opportunity to take a 2 km walk to a waterfall from the car park. We continued our climb, stopping a number of times to wonder at the vast uprooted coniferous trees, displaying their shallow root system and the velvet covering of moss.

Uprooted Coniferous Trees

The forest is dark, dense and very wet. The way the moss has developed over time on the forest floor,  the branches and trunks of the trees was so beautiful.

We finally made it to the main viewing point, the jewel of the forest, Magho Cliffs viewpoint.  Apparently on a clear day, Lower Lough Erne, the Sperrin Mountains, Slieve League, the Atlantic Ocean and the Blue Stack Mountains can be seen.

Magho Cliffs Panarama

As well as the 7 mile long drive, there are many walking paths and trails of various lengths. So plenty for all tastes, ages and fitness levels.

Back down from the forest, we made our way on the Glennasheevar Road to Garrison and on to our next place of interest. We took B52, which is basically a flat, straight road, which runs along the border between Fermanagh and Leitrim. It passes Lough Macnean Upper and into the town of Belcoo.  The town is on the County Fermanagh/County Cavan border, beside the village of Blacklion in the Republic of Ireland.

We then followed the signs for Marble Arch Caves Geopark. We found plenty of parking, and even an electric vehicle charging point! My brother would be impressed.

Admission prices were good but we were informed that owing to the amount of rainfall over the last few weeks, the 10 minute boat tour has not been operating since early August! In fact, yesterday the caves were closed as the water levels were too high.  So I guess we were lucky to choose to visit today.

We had a fantastic tour guide to take us on our voyage of discovery. She informed us, in her delightful Irish accent, that we would have to take the 154 steps down to the caves and again on exiting! Normally you would only have to do these once, as you would take the boat tour first and use a different entrance.

Once we had navigated the steps, our tour followed a walkway, taking us through different caves, with wonderful examples of different stalagmites and stalactites and rock formations that have evolved over millions of years.

Marble Arch Caves
Marble Arch Caves
Marble Arch Caves

Our guide was incredibly knowledgeable and talked about the history and formation of  the caves.

One of the interesting highlights, which no photograph could do justice to, was the stalactites on the ceiling of the caves reflected in the river below, resembling a ‘mini Atlantis’ underwater city.

Back out of the caves and into the visitor centre, there were well displayed information boards and artefacts to feed the mind. All in all an excellent way to spend an afternoon.

Ireland

Connemara National Park

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Saturday 9th September

Having enjoyed our lunch on the beach, we headed off to Connemara National Park. We continued our mission to drive as much of the Wild Atlantic Way by taking the coast road (Cleggan Loop) around the remainder of the Aughrus Peninsula before joining N59. The quiet winding road, allowed us views of the Atlantic and there was a plethora of signs highlighting the many sandy beaches along the route. We also passed through Cleggan, where it is possible to catch a ferry to the island, Inishbofin.

Connemara National  Park is located just south of Letterfrack village and has no admission charge.  Once parked we made our way down to the visitor centre, which is worth a visit and the staff were very knowledgeable and helpful too.

Visitor Centre Water Feature

 

There are four signposted trails to explore, all of which have their merit.

Trails Map

 

We chose the Lower Diamond Hill Walk, approximately 3 kms. We headed off uphill following a very well maintained pathway. As we got higher the views were fantastic. There were several stone steps to navigate both on the upward and downward journey but not too excessive. (Although they will certainly get your heart rate up).

Nicely constructed trails

 

Having reached the top of our trail, we paused to take in the views. Yet again, they were spectacular. It was possible to see for miles, despite the poor weather conditions.

View Over The Park

Back down at the visitor centre, we rewarded ourselves with a coffee in the pleasant cafe. Time to head home and prepare the caravan for the storm that was about to arrive later that evening.

Ireland

Omey Island

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Saturday 9th September 2017

The weather looked promising so best get out there and make the most of it! We had remembered reading about Omey Island, which was not very far from our campsite. The reason it had stuck in our minds, was that twice a day around low tide, it was possibly to walk across to the island or even drive across the sand! The last time either of us had had the opportunity to walk from the mainland to any island, was in our childhood. It was possible to walk to St Michael’s Mount in Cornwall. So bring it on! We parked up in a small car park, at Omey Strand,  and thought we would make the visit to the island on foot, as lately, we have not been able to do so much walking, owing to the inclement weather conditions.

Omey Island Information Point

It was still rather soft and wet underfoot,  as we made our way across the sand, but what was much more noticeable, was the wind! We had to laugh at a few brave cyclists, who were trying desperately to stay upright on their bikes, as they rode across the sand, back to the mainland at snail’s pace! On the other hand, the horses and their riders, were enjoying their freedom, galloping off at great speed.

Having made it to the island we headed clockwise along the narrow road, until it came to an end. There were a small number of other visitors but we more or less had the island to ourselves. Having reached the north west side of the island, we crossed a small beach and headed inland passing the remains of a medieval church.

Derelict Church

The ground was very undulating and we had to avoid many rabbit holes, but finally we reached the north east side of Omey and we made our way back along the rocky, sandy shore, finally past the graveyard and back across the swathe of sand to the car. We enjoyed our picnic lunch in the car on the beach.

Omey Island beach