Day: 44 Km travelled: 547.16km Steps: 14,932 Location: Northern Ireland, UK
October 22, 2017
The Emerald Isle is technically made up of two countries: The Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, which is a part of the United Kingdom. In a previous post, I mentioned that ‘Ireland’ gained its independence from Great Britain in 1922, however 6 counties in the north remained part of the UK, forming what we know now as Northern Ireland. I won’t go into details of that right now, I’m saving it for the next post….suspense…)
Always eager to add another stamp to my passport, I took a day trip to Northern Ireland. Sadly, they do not “stamp your passport” as there is no border crossing between the nations and there is free access to both sides.
One of the sites I had previously heard about and was very curious to discover for myself was Northern Ireland’s most visited tourist attraction: The Giant’s Causeway. Situated on the north coast, in county Antrim, it’s an easy destination from Dublin following the Antrim Coast Scenic route, which is arguably one of the most stunning scenic routes in the world. It hugs the coast for 42 breathtaking kilometres, passing by cliffs, castle ruins and grazing sheep along the way.
What exactly is the Giant’s Causeway? Well, it’s one of the weirdest, coolest and most intriguing site I’ve come across! The causeway (meaning road, more on that in a bit) is made up of approximately 40 000 interlocking basalt columns. I can hear your reaction: ‘ooh exciting…” which just the slightest bit of sarcasm mixed in. Seriously though, this is a site to be seen. The top of the columns form a natural, although occasionally precarious, staircase that led from the cliff and disappear in the sea. I’m not the only one who finds it amazing; this UNESCO World Heritage Site welcomes over 1 million visitors every year! Rain or shine (it’s Ireland, let’s face it, it’s more likely to rain than shine), people scramble over the rocks to explore this odd yet thrilling phenomena.
Pretty incredible to think that one man built all of this in order to pick a fight with a neighbour! You don’t believe me, well you’ve clearly never heard of Finn MacCool. Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn MacCool) was an Irish giant and enjoyed heckling another giant, Benandonner who lived across the sea in Scotland. One day, MaCool was challenged to a fight by his contemporary. He built the causeway to bridge the ocean between their two places however once he arrived on the other coast, he realized that his foe was clearly bigger than he and the odds of winning this fight were slim to none. He did what any giant would do and raced back to his house to hide. Benandonner was in hot pursuit. Luckily for him, his wife Oonagh was far more clever than he and came up with an ingenious plan: she tucked him into a baby cradle and when the other giant arrived, he was terrified at the size of the “baby”. Not willing to stick around and wait for his father to arrive, he bolted back to Scotland, tearing up the causeway after him, to prevent MacCool from following.
Now, some might say that this is only a legend and that the causeway was naturally formed as a result of an ancient volcanic eruption however I would challenge those skeptics to explain why there are identical basalt columns on the corresponding Scottish side.
Interesting fact, Most of the columns are hexagonal, although there are also some with four, five, seven or eight sides. The tallest of the columns are about 39 feet high!
(This is me, showing the giants wherever they may be that I surrender peacefully!)
On a side note, this was also the location where I spotted a few wild dolphins! You know it’s a good day when dolphins come to say hello!
Ireland’s natural beauty does not go unnoticed and its no wonder then that many films and television shows have chosen to film here. One of these locations is Dunluce Castle, where scenes from Game of Thrones were filmed (right). The ruins of the medieval castle are on a tiny island connected to the mainland via a small bridge.
In Game of Thrones, it’s a stand in for the seat of House Greyjoy, Pyke Castle (the rest of the castle is digitally created overtop the ruins).
Continuing along the Antrim Coast drive, we finally came upon the last activity of day, something I hadn’t quite decided if I was up to try. What was it? Crossing the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge! When I signed up for this day trip, I hadn’t thought twice about participating in this crossing, because really, why not? I’m not afraid of heights and this didn’t seem like an adrenaline sport of any kind. However, I started having doubts when the guide mentioned that it happens often that visitors cross onto the island and then are too terrified to make the journey back and must be rescued by boat. Hmmm. Why in the world were people so afraid after trying it? There was no way I was going to be one of those that took the boat of shame.
The Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge links the mainland to the tiny island of Carrick-a-Rede near Ballintoy, County Antrim. For 350 years, salmon fishermen had been building these makeshift bridge to help them cross to the island from which they set off to fish. In recent years, a more secure bridge has been constructed for tourism purposes. It spans 66 feet and is 98 feet above the water! Only 8 people are allowed to cross at a time and the bridge often gets closed due to the danger of high winds. Now, I have never had a fear of heights but I’m fairly clumsy on a good day and do tend to feel uneasy when high up and facing strong winds (it feels like the wind is going to push you off!). So, would I be able to do this or would I chicken out?
To reach the bridge, visitors have to walk approximately 20-30 minutes along the coastal trail. Luckily for my nerves, the views were absolutely stunning! Despite the rain, one had to pause repeatedly to just stare out at the scenery. I’ve seen first hand that Ireland is truly the “Emerald Isle” (the plus side of so much rain) however I hadn’t realized that extended to the water! So many shades of green!
The walk gave me time to realize I was a fiercely independent world traveller, and there was no way I was going to pass up this opportunity!
As only 8 people are allowed to cross at a time, there’s a small wait in line while you watch others cross. I noticed 2 kinds of people: those who took the time to take selfies, peer over the edge, record the crossing, etc. And then those that never looked down and walked cautiously. Finally, it was my turn.
I held tightly to the handrails on the way over and kept looking ahead. I made it! (it really wasn’t that bad). There isn’t a whole lot to see on the island but it gives you spectacular views of the coastline (the first photo of Carrick-a-Rede above was taken from the island).
Feeling emboldened from my successful first go, I decided to take a video on the return crossing. Even more, I decided to look down. Everything was all good until I arrived to the halfway point. By then, the 7 other people crossing behind me were all on the bridge making it undulated up and down, as if we were riding the waves on the ocean. This made my knees a little weak and I held on a little tighter to finish the crossing. I made it! (seriously they should give out certificates or something). Ok, ok, maybe it wasn’t that bad; I’ll let you judge for yourself (you might notice the exact moment my knees turn into jello as that’s when the camera stays pointed in exactly the same spot)
In true Irish tradition of four seasons in a day, the rain finally subsided and we were rewarded with a rainbow!
