There were no black cats in evidence but there sure were motorcycles. Tomorrow is the big race day for the Northwest 200 series of races from 10 am to 9 pm. We're heading to Belfast so we're very happy to have driven the coast road today. We'll avoid the entire area on our revised route.
This morning was cloudy, windy and wet as the forecast had warned us, but there was a promise of brighter skies later in the day. Not to be deterred we set out in the wind and showers with a first destination of the Mussenden Temple. I'd heard of it and even seen it in the distance on previous trips but hadn't bothered to check it out. It's well worth a visit, if for no other reason that to have a bird's eye view of the largest beach I've ever seen. It's 7 miles long. We didn't go anywhere near the cliff edge for fear of being blown off, but despite the overcast skies, temporarily without rain, the view was breathtaking.
The temple itself is not open but worth a close-up look. From there we walked uphill (it's always uphill) to the ruins of the Downhill Demesne. It was occupied by a family until 1922 and later for RAF personnel in WWII, and it sounds like there might have been a good few parties held there. It was a huge house and hard to imagine how it fell into ruin in the last few decades.
More or less "next door" is the Bishop's Gate and lovely gardens maintained by the National Trust - we are in the UK now. The gardens were worth wandering through as well.
Then it was on to the Giant's Causeway. Hah! We crept along the highway in the midst of all the race preparations, motorbikes of all sizes and noises, hundreds of fans, and lots of tents and RVs (caravans). Finally arriving at the Giant's Causeway there were dozens of motorbikes and their riders, there was a lineup for the little stone café we'd hoped to visit for lunch, it was raining and still very windy, so we just drove on.
We were able to visit Ballintoy harbour, White Park Bay for some amazing views in the wild wind. The Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge isn't open until Monday but even if it had been it was too windy today to allow anyone to cross. It was hard to stand up in the wind. We settled for a view of the bridge from a mile up the coast. Deciding that driving along the coastal route wasn't enough, we opted for a secondary road to get a view of Tor Head.
This road is so narrow and so winding and so up and down I was really grateful that neither Judi nor I suffered from motion sickness. It was scary not knowing if another car was coming over the steep blind hill ahead or around the hairpin bend on a slope. Luckily we and the car emerged unscathed. We were rewarded with some spectacular views. The weather was starting to clear.
Once we reached sea level again as Cushenden, we stayed on the main route and got as far as Carrickfergus, after a brief visit to Islandmagee, just in time to watch them lower the protective shutters on the The Gobbins visitor centre.
After dinner in Carrickfergus we made our way back to Limavady via the motorway and a couple of other very good highways and have now settled in for the evening.
Tomorrow we'll plot a new route to Belfast and get ready for the Titanic Experience.
And now for today's pictures:
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| Holding on to the gate so I don't blow away |
View from the ruins of the house to the temple 
And out the dining room window you see the causeway coast 
The seven-mile beach 
Mussenden Temple on a windy day 
In the Demesne gardens on the upper path 
Bishop's Gate and the gardens beyond 
Rejoining the lower path from a wander on the high path
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| Ballintoy Harbour --- just beside the actual harbour; nobody would bring a boat here |
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| Ballintoy Harbour - used in Game of Thrones |
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| At Ballintoy Harbour - can you tell it's windy? |
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| Coastal view when it clouded over |
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| Risked our lives on a narrow road for this view of Tor Head |
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