Causeway Coastal Route Road Trip - Day 2

Another busy day continuing our journey along the Causeway Coastal Route, but today we swapped blue skies for grey ones, and rain...

Luckily we reached our first stop of the day, the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, before the rain arrived, but boy was it windy! This made crossing the famous rope bridge that links the mainland to the tiny island of Carrickarede rather interesting.  Spanning 20 metres and 30 metres above the sea and rocks below, the bridge was not only bouncing up and down but swaying from side to side!! (Extra photos 1 and 2, including a rare selfie, just to prove that I did indeed cross the bridge! Not a bad accomplishment for someone who's not keen on heights, or water!!)

Next port of call was The Giant's Causeway, (the main reason for our trip to Northern Ireland) an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. By this time it had started to rain but it didn't dampen our spirits and we had a great time exploring this dramatic landscape (main photo).

After a brief stop at The Bushmills Distillery, we continued on to Dunluce Castle (extra photo 3), before heading home via The Dark Hedges (extra photo 4), an atmospheric, tunnel-like avenue of intertwined beech trees, planted in the 18th-century. You may recognise both of these locations if you're a Game of Thrones fan, as they are just two of the many locations in this area used in the filming of the series.

To round off the day, we took the scenic Torr Head road back to the cottage, a winding narrow road of very steep gradients that clings to the cliff edge. Quite a white knuckle ride (glad I wasn't the driver!), but it did give us stunning views down into Cushendun, our home for the weekend (extra photo 5).


(Sorry to post so many extras, again, and to write such a long entry, but we packed so many wonderful sights into such a short time! Another backblip, I think it'll be a while before I catch up with myself...)