A cause to see the Causeway Coast

 Hello!

I'm now not in NI, and am back to where I was at the beginning (well, slightly tenuously, albeit) of the trip- Dublin, for the last leg of the journey.

But it would be remiss to not reminisce about the last full day that we hid in NI, so here goes...

And from the not so rural- to the rural- after 2 days of city-hopping, we visited the Causeway Coast, with its variety of landforms- some of which are known more than the others.

There are many scenic places along the Causeway coastline, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out why it draws in the tourists. First up on the agenda was Mussenden Temple and the Downhill Demesne. The temple is perched on the edge of the cliff face, overlooking the wild seas. Some chap in the past had a lot of money and built it to use as his library.  Any person of a certain age would have flashbacks to "Storm on the Island" from their GCSE poetry anthology- especially thinking about the typically clement Irish weather! You couldn't go inside the temple, but it was fully intact- unlike the Downhill Demesne, a country house with castle-like features, which was located next to the temple. It was now roofless (don't think the wind blew it off), but the structure was largely upstanding. Either way, it was a good way to start the tour for the day, and after picnicking in the car, we made haste to the next monument- the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge.

Mussenden Temple

Downhill Demesne

Now for those that know me, heights aren't my bag. To try and combat this, I "like" to go up skyscrapers to try and overcome this fear- but like The Cranberries once said- the feeling still lingers. For context, the rope bridge is over 100ft tall and hangs between the mainland and a little island. Beneath, the sea crashes against the cliff faces in ferocious fashion, but I was semi-willing to give it a go. After enduring taunts on the way about my fear of heights, we pulled up to the car park, only to be told by the attendant that the bridge was temporarily closed off due to high winds, but that the situation would be reviewed in an hour. My endurance of taunts continued as I was accused of manifesting the bridge's closure. Nevertheless, we still walked a kilometre along the cliff face to see the bridge from a bird's eye view.  At this stage, with the fencing below my waistline, any ambition to potentially walk the bridge if it was to reopen was quelled. We opted not to wait around in the Baltic Irish wind, and ventured back to the car,  

Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge

And with the area being known as the Causeway Coast, and that we were in Northern Ireland- we couldn't pass up on seeing the Big G- The Giant's Causeway. I was done in after seeing the rope bridge, anticipating an increase in anxiety brought on by my tiredness, but! I had the foresight to purchase two cakes at a shack we visited earlier on in the day, and that second cake option was a game-changer. I was suitably feeling more energised after my brownie, and spent fifteen minutes or so descending down to the causeway. What you see is what you get, really. You expected to see such formations, and you get them, and you expect the tourists, and you get them, But still, it is almost a bucket-list site to visit in the area, so it has to be done. I'd probably avoid the striking visitor centre, though- £18 for entry was not worth the money, unless you're a National Trust member- then you don't have to pay an £18 fee for entry.

Need I say?

After scoping out quite a lot of Northern Ireland over this trip, the Causeway Coast is probably the jewel in the crown. Catch it on a sunny afternoon, and you'll have a glorious vista that makes you understand why Northern Ireland has so much to offer. I admittedly didn't really want to leave, but Dublin beckons tomorrow, before we double back on ourselves and head home.

'Til the next time,

Tom :)