NORTHERN IRELAND

FRIDAY – Today we continued to head north into Northern Ireland. We stopped at Enniskillen to change Euros to Pounds sterling. This came out in Twenty Pound notes and we had to pay 30 pence for the car park. I thought I’d had a good spit at the pokies when the change kept dropping out – all I could do was fill my pockets with change. We stopped at Omagh and had lunch then walked around till we found the memorial for the victims of the Omagh car bombing in 1998. There are signs in shop windows asking for a full enquiry into this bombing still. We then took a few country roads through little villages and came across the mountains to Coleraine where we booked into a B&B for the next 3 nights. This was a nice drive and occasionally the sun broke through cloud which really showed just how green the hills really are. We went looking for a pub for tea and found these in a lot shorter supply in Nthern Ireland than they were in Ireland. We finally ended up in a Pizza place that was packed. There were at least 8 waitresses and I have never seen waitresses move so fast. They literally ran in the tiny spaces between tables. The couple next to us finally asked what part of Australia we came from and told us they had lived there for three years but the wife wanted to come home after she had had their first child. He certainly hankered to go back.

SATURDAY – Ian went off on one of his long walks around Coleraine this morning whilst I had a rest. I am really feeling very tired because I have trouble sleeping whilst it is so light and not many of the places we have stayed have very dark curtains. After lunch we went for a drive around the nearby headlands to Port Stewart and Port Rush. Point Stewart has what is known as ‘the famous long white beach’. For 4 pound 50p you can drive your car onto the beach almost to the water. There were heaps of cars there along with a couple of Ice Cream vans. It was overcast, blowing a gale and freezing but a few hardy people were ‘surfing’ in the surf which had a few good waves. Port Rush is very much a seaside resort, loads of apartments, the usual fair grounds etc. This is where the really good surf is apparently. The cliffs are fantastic. Again it was very overcast and drizzling with showers. We sat in the car and waited for the sun to break through the cloud over the cliffs but it didn’t really happen. We will drive back there on Monday and hopefully this weather will have cleared by then. Finally found a pub for dinner.

SUNDAY – We caught the train to Derry (Londonderry) today. Again the showers continued and the wind is just awful. Derry is a walled city and we walked around the wall (always against the wind) then down into the city itself. There was a great police presence at each of the wall gates and we were talking to one. Apparently they play a pro-active role in case of troubles. He said it will be a long time before the troubles here are over, so much is handed down from one generation to the other. The Bogside fly the Irish flag whilst the other side fly the St George flag. The orange people were just getting ready to march as we passed the Apprentice Hall however we found out later they were laying a wreath at the memorial to commemorate the Battle of the Somme. I found the place a bit depressing. Ian walked into the Bogside area to have a look at the murals. I was happy to find a coffee shop and wait out of the wind. We caught the train back to Coleraine. The train journey was described by Michael Palin as one of the nicest in the world and it certainly is nice – only about 50 minutes through mountains on one side and the rivers Bann and Foyle on the other

MONDAY - Today has been a big day even though we only travelled 81 ks.  Again it started out overcast and we retraced our steps around the coast to Port Rush and then continued on the Causeway Coast.  We saw a little steam train steaming up and Ian was ready for another train ride.  I went along with him on this real Thomas the Tank engine.  The smell of coal was very strong and the steam really going full force.  It was only a couple of miles and most of the journey was through a golf course. The golfers seemed to accept that they had to wait for the smoke to disappear before they hit across the line to the green.  We then went to the Giant's Causeway.  What an incredible formation this is.  Much bigger than I imaged it would be.  We did the cliff walk around the top overlooking the causeway and then down the steps onto the rocks and bassalt formations.  Later found a great pub nearby for lunch which we felt we really deserved after the climb up and down the cliffs and back up again.  A Guiness went down well today.  Thankfully we were blessed with some sun during the day and the wind calmed down a bit.  It is so unpleasant walking against it.  We drove on around the coast to Cushenden which is a pretty little village on a bay - they call it a beach!!!

TUESDAY - We continued around the Causeway Coastal road today driving along a road that was build almost on the shoreline and fantastic cliffs and mountains on the other. Really quite spectactular.  Once we reached Larne we headed inland and are now at Armagh tonight and have decided to base ourselves here for the next three nights.  We will go into Belfast on a bus or train and also do the various historic sites from here.  Again we have been through overcast and showery weather today.  It is nice when you get some sun occassionally.  Starting to look forward to some ozzie sun and blue skies again.