Friday the 13th on the Causeway Coastal Route

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:

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

Ballintoy Harbour --- just beside the actual harbour; nobody would bring a boat here

Ballintoy Harbour - used in Game of Thrones

At Ballintoy Harbour - can you tell it's windy?

Coastal view when it clouded over

Risked our lives on a narrow road for this view of Tor Head

A relatively ordinary day

We woke up this morning to bright sunny skies. Opening the door brought the quick realization that there was a price to pay with the temperature. I'm not sure exactly what the temperature was but it would only have had 1 digit. It didn't warm up and the sun went away.

After doing some laundry we went to a local garage to have the right headlight checked. Yesterday it seemed that we were operating with only one. It turned out to be just loose and that was remedied. Then we asked the mechanic to check the right side backup light. Apparently, you only need one backup light here. News to us but there you go. Then he checked and topped up our oil, using the supply we carry with us. This little car is thirsty for oil. Some conversation followed but I admit to understanding little of it. I have no idea where this mechanic lives but his accent was so thick and his speech so fast I would have appreciated an interpreter. I understood about 20% of what he said.

We went with him into the office to settle the bill and ended up in another conversation with the office manager. We understood every word she said and she understood the mechanic. In the end, there was no bill to pay - no parts were installed and the oil was our own. We didn't have to pay for the time spent on the job. Wow - if only that were the case at home. 

After getting the suggestion of Antoinette's cafe for lunch we set out according to the directions we got. The drive from the garage to the parking lot was "a one-way system" but you have to be in the correct lane. I wasn't and when I should have turned right into a parking lot, I couldn't. Simple fix - drive around the block. Not so fast. This block seemed endless and involved a couple too many turns but we came upon a parking lot that we thought was the other side of the lot we'd missed. Nope. The first pay and display machine rejected our coins. It would not take bills or a credit card. The second machine was more receptive.

We set out to find Antoinette's. Eventually, we did and at that point knew we'd parked in the wrong lot. Oh well - extra steps for the day. Lunch was fine if not spectacular. 

There are no tour buses operating at the moment because of Covid and they have not determined the processes required, so we opted for a walking tour of Derry. We found one that was oriented towards the history of the city. This included why it was originally something like Daoire, then Derry then Londonderry. Call it what you will it's the only completely walled city in Ireland. The walls are original but the surface has been upgraded over time.

There were only about 8 of us in the group and the guide was excellent. We walked on the walls which are wider than some streets, saw various cathedrals and learned their stories, and got a bit of a lesson on The Troubles and how that all started. Things are much better now in this city, with cooperation for the most part between Protestants and Catholics. 

The guide walked us back to where the tour had started so we could find our car. He was giving another tour shortly after we left him. Given that it was now about 3:40 we decided to try to get ahead of rush hour. That mostly worked. I only missed one exit of a roundabout and had to re-drive the route to get the right one. Then we were held up by an accident, but at least it didn't involve us.

The rain started just after we started home so all in all it was a good day. We'd been here for about 15 minutes when the host reported that I'd left the car lights on. I did remember turning them off but went out in the rain to check. Only one of the driving lights was on, the lights were in fact turned off. I tried every combination I could think of and that light would not go off. Finally, I realized that the left turn signal was on. We'd made a sharp left turn to park here and I turned off the car before realizing the signal was still on. Once I turned that off, all was well.

A quiet evening is planned. We haven't done anything about supper but soup is the likely choice. It's cold and wet out and we have no idea if any places around here deliver. Whatever we eat will involve whatever's in the house now. And thus ends another day. No photos today.

If we could only speak Irish ...

Today was a travel and sightseeing day although we revised the planned itinerary somewhat. A trip to Malin Head at the "top" of Co Donegal was just too far, so I've put that off for another occasion. We decided on a bit more of the Wild Atlantic Way. Now most sane people who want to travel from Enniskillen in Co Fermanagh, and go to Limavady in Co Londonderry, would not even give a passing thought to Donegal. But I'm not most people and some days I wonder on which side of sane I'm living. Today - it was that Other side. Here's how it went.

Departure went smoothly as we headed towards Omagh and on via Strabane to Letterkenny with a destination of Glenveagh National Park in Donegal. There is a lovely, not ancient, castle with beautiful gardens. I'd been there in 2008 but was more than happy to make a return visit. We decided to use actual paper maps and ignore Google, except for getting us through Enniskillen to the correct highway. That turned out quite well as we didn't need to be told where to go after all. The route was well-marked and easy to follow. The plan was working. OK - insert the questions: "Really? How long will this continue?" Answer: very briefly. And just to the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. 

There's a roundabout at that border, and one road leads to a Tourist Information office. It was well marked, but alas, closed. I should say that the day had been intermittently sunny and raining, and sometimes both at the same time up to that point and the rest of the day was no different. The windshield wipers were so busy I swear they were sighing at one point. We had discovered at that closed tourist office that one of the headlights on our car was not working. As we were not going to be out after dark it was not an immediate concern. And we had topped up the oil before leaving in the morning. We could cope. Hah!

Time to have another go at that roundabout and set out on our own. Again the road was well signed, by this time in English and Irish, and we easily found Glenveagh National Park, had lunch at the cafeteria and prepared to tour the castle and gardens. We took the shuttle to the castle - alas it was also closed, but at least the beautiful gardens were open for our enjoyment. We enjoyed them in the sun and the rain, well, the enjoyment was mostly when it wasn't raining if I'm totally honest.

When we had seen more than enough beautiful flowers we got the shuttle bus back to the parking lot, ready for phase 2 of the day. Phase one had gone according to plan. Well, that old saying "the best-laid plans of mice and men gang aft aglay" or something like that, was prophetic. 

The helpful staff at Glenveagh gave us enough directions to get us on our newly chosen route to see a bit more of the Wild Atlantic Way, heading towards Creeslough and continuing in the circle of highway N56 back to Letterkenny - that place with the closed tourist office. It should take about 45 minutes we were told. But they had no idea who they were directing. Getting lost is a specialty of mine and I outdid myself today. 

Off we went, in good faith, that this time the route was so simple that even we could not go wrong. Perhaps if we hadn't entered the Gaeltacht it would have been fine. Neither of us knows Irish and up to this point in our lives (getting the senior discount everywhere even without asking) that hasn't proven to be an issue. 

For those of you who don't know, An Gaeltacht on a sign indicates an area where Irish is spoken as a first language and the previously bilingual signs are now all in the Irish language. For some places you can easily figure out which place written in English on your map, is the place named in Irish on the signs. That didn't work out very well today. 

At no time were either of us aware of having headed off that loop of a highway. We were enchanted with the views and very happy we'd diverted from the normal route from our starting point to our destination. We just missed that one turn - because we couldn't read the signs. If you have a map of Donegal handy (doesn't everyone?) we were at Glenveagh, heading to Creeslough then around the top of the loop to Milford, Ramelton and back to Letterkenny. 

In time it became evident that we had been driving for more than 45 minutes and had not seen a sign that we were en route back to Letterkenny. Or any other recognizable places. We couldn't read the place names. We had passed through Dunfanaghy twice when we realized we were in a spot of bother. We had the same feeling at Gortahork. We weren't supposed to be anywhere near either one. Somehow we had missed the turn at the top of the planned loop. It's entirely possible that the places we considered the most scenic were on the wrong road. The song "We're on the one road, maybe the wrong road" came to mind. Repeatedly.

A bit of mild panic set in and we called upon Google - shortly before cursing her/it. That voice with a penchant for small roads leading off into the wilderness was back and taking revenge for having been ignored all day to that point. We finally found a place to ask for directions. We were only about an hour away from Letterkenny. Whaaaat? The directions we got did get us back to the right road, but it seemed that our destination was receding into the fog now shrouding my brain, so we stopped and asked at a gas station. It was the right road. By that point we were only about 50 minutes from Letterkenny. 20 minutes of driving and we were 10 minutes closer? We also asked for the Irish version of Letterkenny but only saw it on a sign when the English version also appeared.

Eventually, we found the place just in time for rush hour. If you don't care much for roundabouts when there is little traffic, you really won't love them when everyone is at the roundabout you are trying to enter. 

But, now using only the map again, with Judi keeping an eye on the signs and that they corresponded with where we were headed, we managed to find the right route, via Derry, to our destination of Limavady.

Our accommodations are quite lovely and the host had thoughtfully provided a lovely supply of essentials like milk, bread, soup, bacon, eggs, and much more. I was more than grateful that we didn't have to try to locate a restaurant for our evening meal. We even had a half dozen of bottles of cold Budweiser in the fridge. There are fewer bottles now and the beer went down a treat.

The evening was spent watching mostly YouTube videos of old SNL episodes on TV. We had watched a bit of news but decided on something that would keep us in holiday mode when we found TV access to youtube.

I'll download a bunch of photos, add them here for your viewing pleasure, then turn out the lights for a nice long rest. My good humour has returned after our trying afternoon of being lost in a land where the road signs were a mystery to us and we were so ignorant that we didn't realize when we'd gone so far off track. But the views were lovely and probably worth all of the aggravation. I can say that now that we finally found our way.

The photos that follow somehow uploaded out of order. If this is a problem for you, just skip the pictures altogether. I can't seem to move them around without messing them up.

The sinks in the ladies' room at Grannie Annie's in Enniskillen

Enniskillen Castle; the Keep is the centre building and now two storeys short of its original version

Shamrocks, what else?

Bluebells, and some kind of interesting lily

special fiddleheads

Judi en route to the RC and Church of Ireland churches in Enniskillen

the upside down room on the ceiling at Grannie Annie's

The end of the rainbow was almost at our door

well this speaks for itself

and then inside the cave

And this was today: the flowers at Glenveagh Castle gardens

a different sort of sphinx

The fabulous beach somewhere that we had no idea we were in Donegal

Is Ontario missing some trilliums?

Sheltering from the rain at Glenveagh Castle gardens

Azaleas - am I at The Masters in Augusta?

Judi at that same unknown beach - if only we could have read the signs in Irish

meanwhile back at the gardens

It's sunny - nope - yes it is - not anymore - oops, sun again ... and so went the day

Showers off and on - bingo, the forecast got it right. I don't recall being advised to wear especially warm clothes to keep out the wind though. We kind of went with the flow and had a great day. Starting off we were in bright sunshine.

The first stop was Enniskillen Castle for a video and tour. It's very well organized and laid out which made it enjoyable. You could only visit the first floor of the Castle Keep but that was fine. The Maguires were quite the clan in this area and this was their castle. Aside from having quite the arsenal of weapons, they enjoyed poetry - now there's a new one on me when it comes to Irish chieftains. 

Once finished the tour there was a brief rain shower which we used as an excuse to have lunch in the cafe there. The potato and leek soup was fine and garnished with whipped cream. First time I'd seen that. It was naturally accompanied by brown bread and butter. 

The rain stopped again and we walked along a path and dock to the River Erne which joins the two lakes, I had a little task - to toss a ball marker into the water. So, with photographic evidence already sent to the person whose token I tossed, this task was ticked off the list.

Then we walked up a narrow alley to visit the RC Cathedral of St Michael and the Church of Ireland, I believe it was St Andrew's. They are conveniently located about 30 feet apart. I'm sure that tourists were not the motivation for this placement but it was nice for us.

And again the rain came down and hurried us back to the car - where the raincoat and umbrella were safe and dry. Timing is everything and ours was a little bit off.

Our next destination was the Marble Arch Cave tour which is very close to where we're staying. Because of all the recent rain (not just today's), the river running through the caves was very high and running fast. It actually covered part of the walkway inside the cave so the tour was an abbreviated version. Caves are fine but to a non-spelunker like myself, kind of ho-hum another stalactite, kind of thing.

Outside - still not raining - another delight awaited. We could walk to the actual Marble Arch, which is made of limestone. There's no marble around this area but when wet it can look like the real thing. The path and steps led quite a long way down but every step was worth the effort. The scenery was a real display of the 40 shades of green produced in a damp climate. There were bluebells in their thousands and the pictures I took almost made them invisible which is a shame. The fiddleheads were more decorative than any others I've seen. One special area must have had all 40 shades with the moss, ferns, trees, shamrocks and other flora.

We walked down almost to the spot where you are supposed to view the arch only to find it was closed off. We could see the edge of what we figured was the arch and got a good look at the swiftly flowing water - and then began the ascent. With more photo-ops as the excuse for stopping it really wasn't too taxing.

And then it started to rain again so we headed back to the car. It was late afternoon, we had nothing in the cottage for dinner and decided to drive back to Enniskillen. We parked the car, asked a woman in the parking lot for a recommendation and then followed her suggestion and went to Grannie Annie's.

What a great choice. The food was delicious and the decor was incredible. The originality was amazing. There was an entire room upside down on the ceiling - complete with papers on the coffee table, upside-down chairs and lamps, a television, etc. I took a couple of pictures but they just look like the images were flipped so you don't really see the effect. However, the ironing board and teapot combination made a great chandelier and the metal pails as bathroom sinks were efficient.

It's now getting late and we want an early start so I'll add the pictures tomorrow once we're settled in Limavady tomorrow. We're taking a roundabout route to see more things (probably in the rain) and cover more territory. Instead of a direct route, we're going west to Donegal town first, then Glenveagh castle and gardens, on to Derry city and then to Limavady. 

Bye for now.

A rather damp day

After a relaxing day yesterday topped off with massages at the Breaffy House Hotel Spa in Castlebar, we were back on the road in late morning today. Our destination was Enniskillen and it wasn't too far away, or so we thought. It's in a whole other country of course, where we have switched from € to £. 

it's a big place and the spa is in there somewhere

Most of the drive was in the rain. It wasn't a deluge but it was a lot more than a passing shower. We stopped for lunch in Manorhamilton. The rain had stopped for a bit when we walked from the car to our chosen restaurant. Well, we didn't choose it but were directed there as a decent option that was close by. It was fine. It was a rather wet dash back to the vehicle afterwards.

Today once we'd topped up our phone plans, we used Google maps to get us headed in the right direction. Once we were on the right highway we shut her down. The highways were great and we didn't get lost once and we just used the roadmap. 

For the last part of the trip we did call on Google again to lead us to our current digs. Once again we're in a remote location, high in the hills, around many bends. We have an entire home to ourselves, once occupied by the mother of our current host. The bathroom is very modern and bright. And oddly, situated by the entrance, is not near the bedrooms. Right next to the bathroom is the 1/2 bath or powder room. Hmmm - odd placement.

The rest of the house is not so modern but it has what we need, including pretty good wifi. There is almost no phone signal be we aren't calling anyone from here in any case.

After unloading our luggage and assorted supplies, both of us having forgotten to take the butter, milk and leftover pizza from our previous location, we needed a grocery store. The sun came out for this journey which turned out to be rather longer than we'd thought. Eventually, we did find the Spar gas station, filled the tank, then drove across the highway to the Spar grocery store. Supplies replenished, we headed back - using Google. And of course, she preferred a longer route, not the one we'd just used. But in the end, we got back and are now settled for the evening.

The heat is on a timer which is supposed to have the heat on right now. It doesn't seem to be working very hard. Shortly I'll check the setting and turn it on manually. At times like this, it's nice to have a fleece jacket. 

There are some lovely views nearby, of Lough MacNean, best viewed when the sun is out so we got the timing right.

Looking one direction

And looking in the other direction

And just out the kitchen window we see this

There are two other cows and calves but they didn't cooperate and stand together

The forecast for tomorrow includes a bit of everything so we'll try to time it right. We're off to see the famous Lough Erne outside of Enniskillen and in the afternoon will visit the Marble Arch Caves - hopefully, while it's raining outside. This is just a 2-night stay before heading north for 4 nights to explore Donegal (back in the Republic) and the Antrim coast.

Spa Day

 we are relaxing today - nothing else to report

Without google we found a better route to Achill Island

We gave her one last chance and Ms. Google blew it. From now on the map will be our navigation device of choice. Ms. G took us down one too many byways along roads so narrow it was impossible to pass another vehicle. One of the facing cars/vans/tractors had to pull in where the road was a wee bit wider and allow the other to pass. Usually, it was me pulling over. We barely got out of second gear and I was a very shifty character by the time we found our way again.

Having reviewed the route on my laptop before we set out this morning, I gave Ms. Google the selected destination on Achill Island. The route seemed to be on main roads all the way. Hah! She found a back road that took us precisely nowhere and cost us time, not that we were on a schedule. Eventually, we came upon a live human who gave us directions - back to the highway that Ms. G. had led us off. 

Achill Island did not disappoint and neither did the weather. We had bright sunny skies and about 15 degrees Celsius all day long. The weather we've been getting has always been better than the forecast and we are more than a little bit grateful.

There's not much to say about Achill Island other than it is beautiful, and has a spectacular coastline with Caribbean blue water on the beaches. The photos will speak for themselves.

The slowdowns on the roads were mainly due to wandering sheep, most with their lambs in tow. They are somewhat sensitive to traffic but we did have to stop a few times in order to let them get out of the way. 

Keem Beach

Keem Beach is where the arrow is pointing

A common sight

Imagine having such a beautiful hedge