Monday 16 September 2019

Giant's Causeway

This week I have been to Belfast in Northern Ireland for a few days. The main reason for going was to visit  the Giant's Causeway, 60 miles away on the coast. I  decided I didn't want to hire a car so I found a tour that gave you the option of visiting Bushmills Distillery or walking five miles along the coastal path to the Causeway. As a non whiskey drinker it was a no brainer choice for me.





We were dropped at the coastal path here where you can see the remains of Dunluce Castle. This 14th century castle was featured in the Game of Thrones. There were 11 of us altogether and we were led by a National Trust ranger.
We were fortunate with the weather and the scenery was stunning.

















In the distance we could see Scotland which is just 12 miles away.



This part of the country was formed by volcanic activity more than 50 million years ago.



The slow cooling of the lava created 40,000 basalt columns.

There are other places in the world where this has occurred but this coast is the most accessible.


It was made a heritage site in 1986


You can see people walking along the top of these cliffs which gives you an idea of the height.

















I have never seen a unicycle on a coastal path before.

Our first sight of the Giant's Causeway below.


We walked down the Shepherd's Steps to the beach below and followed the path around this wall of basalt columns.





Once on the causeway I was able to have a close up view of the hexagonal shapes.









There were a lot of people clambering over the stones which selfishly I wanted to view with no-one else there.
The sight of these columns has inspired legends of giants striding over to Scotland.








This visitor attraction was formed 50-60 million years ago and has helped scientists understand a little more about the earth's development.





We met up with the rest of the coach party and continued the tour on to the Carrick -a-Rede rope bridge.












A rope bridge was constructed by salmon fisherman 350 years ago from the mainland to the tiny island of Carrick-a-Rede. The fishermen erected the bridge so they could check on their salmon nets. The fishery was important as it employed over 100 men in its heyday.










This is a view of the island of Carrick-a-Rede but you can't see the bridge.

The driver took the coastal route back to Belfast  and we just made one more stop at Carnlough  harbour.




19 comments:

  1. A stunningly beautiful place! I would like to see it for myself someday.

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  2. Hello, Ireland is on my bucket list. I would love to see this Giant Causeway, the hike along the cliff looks beautiful. Lovely series of photos. Enjoy your day, wishing you a great new week ahead!

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  3. Ireland is such a beautiful country. I am glad you got to enjoy the scenery along the coast.

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  4. What a great trip! Those hexagonal stones look so manmade its hard to believe no human had a hand in forming them.

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  5. Wow oh double wow! That will be on our bucket list in 2020.

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  6. It doesn't look nearly as busy as when we were there. The rope bridge is interesting and a little scary. Kind of you to allow me to explain the legend of the name.

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  7. I just loved seeing your photos of the Causeway! I was there many moons ago, got a ride from the hostel to the Coastal Footpath and hiked the rest of the way. I hid my backpack (which weighed a ton) in some bushes to hike down to the beach (i don’t think there were stairs then) and oh, how amazing the views and the rocks were! I worried all the way up and down that my backpack wouldn’t be there when I got back but it was.

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  8. Of course you chose the walking tour, and what a gorgeous one it is! Thank you for showing all this to me. It's a fascinating part of the world. :-)

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  9. Smart choice of a facinating walk over a probable hangover. Those rocks were amazing and hard to imagine they weren't machine made. Not sure I could have manage the bridge but glad you did. Ireland is on my wish list as half my ancestors came from there.

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  10. What remarkable vistas! The stone formations look mathematically placed by man but such is the artistry of nature.

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  11. Wow! Wow! Wow!

    Fabulous photographs … you were so lucky with the weather, the scenery is stunning.

    All the best Jan

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  12. I'd love to see a distillery but the walk would be a no brainer for me also. Such beautiful scenery and those basalt columns are amazing.

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  13. It is a beautiful place !! I was really lucky we had sunshine and blue sea, it was just wonderful !

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  14. It is so nice there, we visited a few years ago this place!

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  15. Wow! What a fantastic place to visit and see and marvelous photos!

    Happy Day to You,
    A ShutterBug Explores,
    aka (A Creative Harbor)

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  16. Amazing...I’ve read and heard about this before but have never seen pictures. Thank you for sharing.

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