I put my wet socks and boots on, damp jacket and sodden gloves. Under a grey foreboding sky I headed off around the coast.
There were three main places I wanted to see today. The small town of Bushmills, the Giants Causeway and the Dark Hedges.
I walked around Bushmills, just perusing and taking in the history. It’s famous for its whisky distillery.
From there to the Giants Causeway. Today is Saturday so everyone was out. I managed to get a park for £5 (cars £10). It was a bit of a walk to the Giants Causeway, but worth it.
The Giant's Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic fissure eruption. It is located in County Antrim on the north coast of Northern Ireland.
It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986
From there to the Dark Hedges. The Dark Hedges is an avenue of beech trees. The trees form an atmospheric tunnel that has been used as a location in the Game of Thrones.
Looks like everyone in Northern Ireland must have seen the program because it was busy.
Then continued to follow the coast road. When the speed limit lifted to 100km/h the roads were very nice to ride, plenty of sweepers and tight curves all alongside beautiful ocean views.
Tonight I’m camped in a place called Larne.
I headed down to Belfast to check out one of the peace lines.
Peace lines are walled structures to keep the Protestants, who are mainly loyal to the British and the Catholics, who are mainly loyal to Eire separated to try and prevent ongoing violence. The first separation barriers were erected in the 1920’s and have been added to, significantly in the 1970’s onward.
Three-quarters of Belfast's estimated 97 peace lines and related structures (such as gates and closed roads) are in the north and west of the city.
I remember watching the news when the IRA were bombing not just Northern Ireland but Great Britain too. I remember as a kid everyone getting searched going into theatres etc.
From there I headed to the Titanic Belfast museum. It was opened in 2012, a monument to Belfast's maritime heritage on the site of the former Harland & Wolff shipyard in the city's Titanic Quarter where the RMS Titanic was built.
It takes you through the history of Belfast, the building, sinking and discovery of the Titanic. Lots of good visual interactive displays, but next to nothing as far as relics from the Titanic.
It’s a NZ$50 entry fee. I think if you knew nothing about the Titanic then it’s probably money well spent, otherwise not!
I then headed to Dublin and pitched up at the same camp I stayed at my first night in Ireland.