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| GIANT'S CAUSEWAY |
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| OLD BUSHMILLS DITILLERY |
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| JOEY DUNLOP MEMORIAL IN BALLYMONEY |
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| ROBERT DUNLOP MEMORIAL |
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| BEN CROM RESERVOIR FROM BUZZARD'S ROOST |
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| VIEW WEST FROM SLIEVE DONARD |
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| VIEW SOUTH FROM SLIEVE COMMEDAGH |
We left Derry and promptly made our way via Portrush to Bushmills, some 40 miles to the east. Old Bushmills Whiskey is distilled here and the business claims to be the oldest licensed distillery in the world. The town is also an ideal place from which to commence a walk to the Giant's Causeway. After a comfortable night in the town centre car park, this is exactly what we planned to do.
The morning's weather was warm and sunny; perfect for our coastal walk. A slight delay arose when I thought I had lost my toilet bag in the car park toilet. I could swear blind that I had left it by the sink. The car park attendants were most sympathetic and offered to keep an eye out for it. Imagine my embarrassment when I discovered that I had left it in the car. I didn't have the courage to tell them.
So, slightly later than intended, we made our way on foot the one and a half miles down to Portballintrae to join the coastal path. We then followed this east for about two and a half miles until the Giant's Causeway came into view. The Causeway is about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns formed by volcanic activity some 50 to 60 million years ago. They are Northern Ireland's biggest tourist attraction, so we were not surprised to find ourselves joined by huge numbers of people as we got close. Most of these were flowing down from the National Trust Visitor Centre. The Trust is a bit sneaky as it gives folk the impression that they have to pay £10.50 each to see the Causeway, whereas those who do their research soon discover that it is free to walk there.
After the usual photo session by the basalt columns, Rubi and I walked back to Bushmills. As we passed the Visitor Centre we found that you have to pay the National Trust £10.50 even to use the loo or cafeteria. Needless to say we crossed our legs and found another loo at the narrow gauge railway station nearby. By following the route of the railway track back to Bushmills our return trip was only two miles long.
Back at the car park, we had time to either drive a little further east along the coast to cross the famous Carrick--a-Rede rope bridge, or pay a visit to the Old Bushmills Distillery. The latter option won. It was an interesting tour, and the provision of a dram or two of Irish Whiskey at the end of it enabled us the recover the cost.
It was time to move on, and we wanted to drive south to the Mourne Mountains. That would be too far for the remaining daylight hours, but a place called Ballyronan on the western shore of Lough Neagh looked like a promising overnight stop. Lough Neagh is the largest freshwater lake in Northern Ireland, with an area of 151 square miles. It supplies 40% of Northern Ireland's water.
Along the way we passed through Ballymoney where a sign indicated that we would be passing the Dunlop Memorial Garden. As an ex-biker, I was interested to find out if this had anything to do with the Dunlop motorcycle racing dynasty. It turned out that Joey Dunlop, winner of 26 Isle of Mann TT's before dying in a crash in 2000, was born in Ballymoney, and the Memorial Garden was originally for him. However, when his brother Robert, who had 5 TT wins also died during racing practice in 2008, the garden was extended to include memorials to them both. Robert's sons Michael and William, continue to race.
We reached Ballyronan around 9.00pm with just enough light remaining to cook supper. In the morning we continued south, initially to Armagh where we stopped for an hour to look around, and then to Warrenpoint from where we followed the Mourne Coast Route which loops around the south of the Mourne Mountains. Our final destination for the day was Newcastle, County Down, a small town compared to the much bigger city in England.
There didn't seem to be any objection to us staying overnight in any of the car parks in Newcastle, although we became a bit selective when we discovered that the local youths used some of them as meeting places and race tracks during the evenings.
We had planned to walk to the summit of Slieve Donard, at 850m Northern Ireland's highest mountain, but Friday 11th was drizzly and the wind rather brisk. Instead, in increasingly thick fog, we walked from Carrick Little car park up to the tor-topped summit of Slieve Binnian (747m), mainly following the line of the Mourne Wall. This a drystone wall built between 1904 and 1922 to keep cattle and sheep out of the Silent Valley Reservoir catchment area. We then struck north along the ridge to Buzzard's Roost. As the fog cleared we got some good views of Ben Crom Reservoir and Blue Lough before looping back to Carrick Little for a warming drink in the delightful coffee shop nearby.
Saturday's weather was much better so we followed a route from Newcastle along the Glen River until we reached another section of the Mourne Wall. We then followed the line of the wall up to the summit of Slieve Donard. The good weather had encouraged lots of other folk to do the same thing so the route was busy. From the top we were able to take in the spectacular views out to sea and to the west as we enjoyed our sandwiches. In order to avoid the crowds on the way down, we took a different route which involved climbing a second summit, Slieve Commedagh (767m) before descending via Shan Slieve (671m). This route gave us a whole new set of marvellous views to the north and east.
Our six and a half hour walk was a great success, but it was now evening and we needed a shower. We jumped in the car and headed in the direction of Belfast.