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.

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.