Giant's Causeway Coastal Drive

Started by visiting the tower Scrbo, an were ver glad we saw Belfast yesterday, as it was raining in the morning. Did a little driving by the force as some of those roundabouts were a bit tough in the morning rush. Made it to the tower, it's the highest point around. The tower itself was closed, renovations, but the public path and view were open. Headed back through Belfast, and up and around the Costal Causeway- absolutely georgeous. 

Next stop was the Crac-a-something rope bridge - the bridge was originally put in by fishermen so they could string nets to catch salmon. The walk was sunny and the path went up and down, so left mom at the visitor's center. The area also used to be a limestone quarry, and the largest limestone kiln was located there as well.

Headed around the top end, and to the UNESCO site, the Giant's Causeway. Good thing there was a shuttle bus as otherwise mom wouldn't get to see it. Again, quite an amazing set of geological formations, and that it is also under the bulk of the area ground.

Continued around the road, and ended up through Portrush in the middle of a race route for motorbikes - good thing the race wasn't for another 2 days! Hit Derry (Londonderry) at about 7pm, and the B&B was waiting for us - a cup o' tea, and she led us to a local Chinese place for dinner. 

And the photos!

The Scrbo Tower

The first sheep

The rope bridge - sea is only a meter deep

The Giant's Causeway

Beautiful day in Belfast

Day started a little late as we slept in - but slept well. A hot breakfast, then waited for the cab tour - they were late due to a flub with th company, but enjoyed seeing and hearing details and finding out the current attitudes. At the end, we had John (the driver) drop us off at city hall. We signed up for the 2 pm tour of the hall, then headed back to The Bobbin, the cafe in the hall for a tomato soup and toilet break. 

Met the tour guide at 2 pm, along with about 40 others, and got to go up the central staircase, and spend a few minutes sitting in the councilor's chairs. The, to the retiring room with a Titanic theme, and the grand ballroom, being set up for a banquet as we walked through. Tour well worth the time. Ten spent the next few hours wandering the streets looking at the architecture ( an old bank building converted to a Tesco) before wandering back to the waterfront and the Big Fish. A break there for a snack at 5:30, then headed back to the town square and caught the number 9 bus - along with the help of a friendly young man who helped us get off at the right stop.

Another quick break at the hotel, before we walked down to the Barking Dog - had at thought of fish & chips, but the don't serve that on Mondays. However, had a burger that was apparently rated one of the best in Belfast - we would agree. The potato was a St. Mary's strain - excellent for fries! Back to the hotel to bed down for e night - more than 10800 steps ( photos will follow after we find the cable...)

And here are the photos!

Belfast!

Arrived! Spent Saturday morning cleaning out and planting a few new bulbs in the backyard before Doug (Marie's husband) arrived to give us a ride to the airport. Full flight to Toronto, and had listed her as wheelchair, so we had an easy escort through the airport and hit the flight with a few minutes to spare.

With a newfleece blanket, Mom slept quite a bit of the flight. Landed in Dublin, apparently along with 15 other planes – very glad again for the escort once we saw the line for immigration, as he had no qualms about skipping to the front. Quick trip to the car rental agency an a little Renault - working well so far- then headed to Belfast. Stopped a a Sainsburys and got snacks, as well as a sausage roll and Cornish pasty for lunch.

Without getting  the SIM card in Dublin, didn't have a map of Belfast, so after driving through downtown twice, figured out we needed to park and go to info booth. Got there with 30s to spare (they close at 4 on Sunday's) and armed with the map, headed to the B&B. Didn't mind the drive around the town as we got to see a lot of the art and buildings. Found the Gregory, and came in to hit the sack.

Since it is Mom's day, she got her cards and decaf coffee in bed!

Vegas!

Off we go - met right on time in YVR, with Mom's ride ready and waiting. Headed though security, immigration and customs without a hitch, and straight to the lounge for breakfast before picking up the cart again and heading to the gate.

 

Easy flight, easy trip through the airport with the wheelchair guy to the rental car shuttle. Headed up to the north outlet mall where we spent the next 4 hours. Back to the In-n-Out burger for dinner

Over to the Bellagio we went! Nice guy checking in, and lots of marble in the bath!

Planning out tomorrow's day and route through the Valley of the Sun and Death Valley.....

 

North to South

Today, we set out with the intent to go to the north end of the island to see what we could see, then finish down to the southern end where there is an archaeological site. As we headed out, what did we see but road work! Graded out the bulk of the pot holes in the dirt road for the last mile or so heading to the condo. Followed most of the usual route, until downtown when we went to "Back Street" and kept going north.

 

There we hit the toll bridge - $5 BZ for each crossing. Not everyone was quite understanding of this, as we heard it being explained going both directions. On the north side, the road is concrete, and flat. We tooled along as fast as the cart would go for quite a while. The North side has much larger (5-6 story, ~60-80 unit) places, unlike our little complex, as is further from the downtown, not to mention the toll charge. The vegetation also changed - more mangrove swamp on the bay side, and fewer trees.

The top end, where we turned around - my guess was about mile 7 north.

On the way back, there was a road west - we headed that way. A beach was at the far end, but due to road wash out we stopped about 1/2 km short. There was an observation platform on the side of the road, so Harley climbed up to take a view. Not too much to see, except the bay in the distance.

We stopped in the downtown core to have lunch, then people watched for a while. Headed south after, following our usual route. We stopped for OJ from the "the Baker" and milk from the store - but they were out - our little corner store to the rescue! They had it. We stopped at the condo, for a pit stop and to put the liquids in the fridge. We then headed south.

The far end was much the same as around here - but there were a large number of lots for sale.

 

Hol Chan Marine Reserve

Today, Harley and I had a snorkeling trip booked for the afternoon. In the morning, Mom remembered that she had seen a disposable waterproof camera at a sore downtown. So,, she and I headed down to pick it up, and grabbed sausage rolls and cinnamon rolls for lunch from the Baker.

Harley and I headed out at 1, joining the rest of the group for a total size of 10. We headed out promptly, arriving at the site when only one or two other boats. We were given the rules - don't touch anything, stay with your group ( having been split into two groups of 5), walk to the ladder with your fins in hand - and two of the other groups promptly broke all of the rules within 10 minutes.

Still, the reef is quite impressive - green turtle, sting ray right away, along with numerous other fish and a nurse shark. We got to swing around the reef once - the name Hol Chan means 'break in the reef' - it's at the narrowest deep break in the barrier reef. After we all were back on the boat, we headed off to the next reef with a cold Coke in hand. The second reef was called Shark Ray Alley - there was an eagle ray that swam under the boat as we arrived. The area certainly holds to the name. As soon as we were in the water, there were about 8 nurse sharks - of course the small amount of bait fish the guide was adding to the water helped gather them - they hung around for about 10 minutes before moving on to other areas. We got to spend more time wandering around the reef before heading back to the dock. Photos won't be available until the camera is sent in, as it's an old fashioned film camera...

We made plans for tomorrow and the 31st, then had dinner - Harley got Mom an after meal treat at the local store. Not a crumb was left - as Harley said, she was a clean plate ranger!

 

Dec 27 and 28

Easy Days! We slept in Sunday, and spent the whole day doing as little as possible - Mom read her book on the couch, Harley read his kindle on the beach, and I worked on a puzzle. We had a late lunch of a sandwich, so Harley and I made nachos for dinner. That was the excitement for the day, as it was extremely windy outside.

Monday, Mom and I headed to to the downtown again after making snorkel plans for Harley and I. We spent a pleasant few hours souvenir shopping, stopping for another break on the beach.

We picked up some more shrimp from the grocer, and had a shrimp salad for dinner. Quite yummy!