Aug 26 Land of the Giants

Jackpot!!  We’ve made our way from Killyleagh to our new accommodation, Hare Cottage just out of the village of Dunloy.  For perspective, Dunloy is a 13 minute drive from Ballymoney (less if you actually go the 60 miles an hour that is the posted speed limit on the narrow country lanes).  Ballymoney, in turn, is 21 minutes from the Giant’s Causeway.  The Giant’s Causeway is 17,000 km northwest of Melbourne, Australia.
Hare Cottage is amazing.  The owners have renovated a 200 year old livestock building, retaining the stone walls and rustic look, and then outfitted it with all the modern conveniences a traveler could want.  There are three such cottages on the property, and Chelsey & Rob have now moved into the one across  from us.
Yesterday was a good adventure as we made our way north to the Giant’s Causeway.  There, the four of us met up with Jeremy, Angela & Avery, and were pleased to find the Irish weather gods smiling benevolently upon us. These gods are often a testy lot.
We spent hours there, photographing every rock from every conceivable angle.  Avery was amazing, hiking and climbing great distances and heights without complaint.  My thought was that the Causeway was ideal terrain for anyone with one leg shorter than the other.  If I wasn’t one of those people before, I suspect I am now.
We followed up our Causeway visit with a trip to Bushmills to appreciate Ireland’s oldest distillery.  What we didn’t consider is that, when there are Irish people and whiskey in the same place, you’re gonna need an appointment.  We had no such appointment and the tours for the day were sold out, so we wandered a bit and then walked into town for a bite to eat.
Our next stop was Dunluce Castle, which was likely the poster child when the term “ruins”was coined.  It was another good opportunity for Avery to let off some steam, and we all enjoyed the vistas from the edge of the cliff.  No one fell off.
It was a good day.

Here we are at the Giant’s Causeway.
Debbie’s grandparents stood on these very stones 66 years ago on one of their trips to Ireland. 

These columns are named the Guant’s Organ
Chelsey, Avery, Jeremy


Angela and Avery and Jeremy sitting in the “Wishing Chair”
Legend states if you wiggle back and forth 3 times and make a reasonable wish, it might come true!


(L-R) Chris, Debbie, Chelsey, Jeremy, wee Avery, Angela, and Robbie

Robbie, Jeremy and Chris on the stones

Avery was such a trooper! She scrambled around these stones for 3 hours!

Robbie and Chelsey at the giant’s Causeway

Then it was on to Bushmills Distillery! We go to see inside and walk among the buildings but the tours were sold out for the day. Probably just as well😉

Don’t tell anyone that Avery is under age !

Dunluce Castle









And she still had energy to spare but the rest of us did not so we went back to our respective rentals and retired🍷








Comments

  1. RuthAugust 27, 2024 at 9:19 AM

    Gorgeous, been there, loved it and everyone looks happy. What more could you want.

    ReplyDelete

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