Wow! It was 10:30 am when we finally woke up – we had slept nine and a half hours! And, it was cold in the room. The heat goes off at 9:30 and, while the radiators were still warm, the room was not, and we were loathe to get out of bed. I went first since I had to use the washroom and was amazed that I slept over 9 hours without having to go. And, I was pleased that I no longer had a migraine. Maybe sleep was all I needed.
KC mentioned that he needed to buy toothpaste because all I bring is dirt (I use clay and neem oil to brush my teeth) and that we should stop at a grocery on our way home.
Neither of us wanted to take the time to run a bath so we washed in the sink, had a quick cup of coffee, and were on the road around noon. It took that long for me to get all my hiking gear out and dress for a walk in the rain. Yes, it was raining. Not hard, but it was overcast and it didn’t look like it was going to clear up.
The Gatehouse is equidistant from the three places we want to visit, about 1 hour and 15 minutes away.
Route from Barbican to the distillery (B), the causeway (C) and Dunluce castle (D), 43 miles, 1 hour 15 minutes:
My original plan was to do the Causeway on Thursday, when there would be fewer people and, therefore, better pictures; but given the weather, I suggested we do Bushmills and Dunluce today, in case the weather was better tomorrow, but KC thought we should check out the Causeway first, in case it cleared up on our way there.
Here are some other options, if we have time (obviously, it wasn’t going to look like that to us, given the weather):
The rope-bridge
The Cushendun Caves, 4 miles north of Carnalough Harbour, on the way to the Causeway:
We took the Causeway Route along the coast and it was stunningly beautiful. Unfortunately, I didn’t get many good pictures because KC was driving too fast and the camera has trouble focusing on cloudy days even when stable.
Causeway Costal Route:
Right as we were getting to the first big outcropping, and were looking forward to the views, KC said, “uh oh.” The road was closed ahead. The detour was up the mountain along Tower Road, away from the cliff, but we had no choice, so we took it. It wasn’t as scenic as the coastal road would have been but it wasn’t bad, either. Once we find a surveyor’s map, we’ll see where it took us.
Detour:
There were several old stone bridges and a viaduct. About halfway, on our right between us and the cliff, was a stone wall surrounding a collection of old buildings – a castle, a church, a graveyard, and a few others all built of stone. What was it? Next to it, were two soccer fields. We hadn’t seen any signs. With the soccer fields, KC thought it might be a school.
We picked up the Coastal Route again right before Waterfoot and noticed the roads around the church there were lined with cars. It was noon on a Thursday, what could be going on? We figured out it must be a funeral and that whoever it was had been popular. The rest of the route was unremarkable except for the scenery which was gorgeous at every turn, even though it was partly obscured by fog. I took lots of pictures but with the fog and the windshield in the way, most of them didn’t turn out.
There were very few cars and none of them were in front of us for long – KC either passed them or they turned off – until 2 miles before the Visitor’s Center when we picked up this huge tour bus that hogged the road and refused to let us pass. We pulled into the Visitor’s Center together and then he blocked our entrance to the parking area while he sorted out some business with the attendant. We come in April to avoid this kind of annoyance. Imagine how bad it is during the summer….
Road sign and edge of bus:
Although it was still misty, we decided to attempt the Causeway anyway, knowing that if it was too bad, we could always come back tomorrow.
Pictures I found on the Internet, taken when it was not overcast;
these are the pictures that made me want to see this area:
There are a number of stunning walking trails at the Giant’s Causeway. Recently upgraded, all are colour coded and offer breathtaking views of jagged cliffs and bays. There’s a trail for every ability, from pram friendly to a challenging coastal hike and, in addition, a new accessible cliff top walk for families and people with disabilities.
• When walking on the coastal path, be aware of vehicles including the shuttle bus and move to the side of the path or when possible walk on the pedestrian footpath.
• When walking on the cliff path, keep your distance from the edge and do not attempt to climb or stand on the safety fencing. Be careful when there are strong winds and keep your distance from the edge.
• For all emergency situations dial 999. Please note, mobile phones may not work.
Advice below in italics was copied from Webpage with Best Directions:
I have incorporated it into our experience where appropriate.
Coastal Walking Maps website offers surveyor’s maps of the Causeway trails that you can print at home. I’m sure they are available for purchase at the Visitor’s Centre but we printed them before we left so we could determine which trails we wanted to follow.
Here is a video of the area:
We bought two passes, each of which entitled us to an audio tour: a handheld device the size of an iPhone that you hang around your neck (and connect to an earpiece, if you want to, which I did but KC didn’t) and then listen to as you follow the path. There are buttons for each attraction if you want to repeat any of the commentary. I have to admit that I didn’t listen to much of it.
As you leave the visitor centre the coastal path leading you to the stones has a steep descent and the cliff top path has approximately 162 descending steps before you can explore the stones.
There are two pathway options: the “medium difficulty” trail, which is a gentle slope (described above as “steep descent”) down to the Causeway which is at the base of the cliff on a paved path alongside the road the tour busses take, is blue. If you can manage the slope, the rest of the path is wheelchair friendly and could be negotiated by anyone who can walk the half mile or so and back again.
The red trail, along the upper edge of the cliff, is described as “difficult” due to the uneven rocky surface and the Shepherd’s Steps, a series of 162 stone steps that join the two trails. When I read the description of these steps as, “steep, uneven, and slippery when wet” I was sure I would not be able to manage them but they are not as bad as they sound.
Yes, there are 162 of them, but they are no steeper than normal stairs, there is a handrail, and they are made of square stones, not boulders or Causeway rocks, which are what I had imagined, and I had little difficulty climbing them. I wouldn’t want to go down them in the rain but up was no problem and down would also not be a problem if it were a dry day.
We decided to start on the blue trail and take the Shepherd’s steps UP only after we had seen them. In retrospect, this was absolutely the best way to do it.
The first feature is the Camel which can be seen sitting in Portnaboe (Port of the Cow).
At the start of the blue trail is The Camel but I must admit that I couldn’t make it out. Can you?:
The Camel:
The stones are made of basalt (lava) and were formed naturally thousands of years ago. The columnar stones are hexagonal and some of them have concave tops. I noticed that many things in the Visitor’s Center were also hexagonal – the paver stones in the parking lot and all the mesh underlying the walking path by The Camel (you can see it in the middle picture above).
Opposite the camel is another interesting stone outcropping:
Interesting rock (could this be Granny’s Rock?):
As you come to the end of your decent and at the base of Great Stookan (known locally as the Windy Gap), the path takes a sweeping right hand bend and across Port Ganny (Sandy Port) the Causeway formation (The Little Causeway, The Middle Causeway also known as the Honeycomb and the Grand Causeway) unfolds.
Looking back to the Great Stookan, you will notice an outline of an old lady walking up the steep hill (known locally as Granny’s Rock).
In the Middle Causeway, you will find the Wishing Chair. Legend says all wishes made sitting in the Wishing Chair will come true.
Take time to explore and walk upon the expanse of basalt columns that stretch out before you and disappear under the sea (the tallest columns are about 12 metres high).
Finally, we started towards the Causeway itself.
The area around the Causeway is AWE INSPIRING. Whether you are close to the stones or further away, they look amazing. No matter which way you look at them, they take your breath away. I took a dozen pictures of every “vista”. I have wanted to see them for YEARS, and I was not disappointed. Unfortunately, our pictures did not capture the how impressive this area is.
Giant’s Causeway Blue Trail:
I attempted to climb the causeway rocks but only got halfway. KC went to the top of the rocks nearest the cliff and warned me that it was slippery up there. Because of that, he decided not to go to the end of the spit. Although my (ugly) new SAS slip resistant shoes were really NOT slipping, and his new Timberland boots from Zappos WERE slipping, I was much more unstable partly because the “steps” are too steep for my short legs and partly because my balance is so bad.
At one point, one of the guides advised me to remove my hood as it was obstructing my view, AND not to rely on my walking stick as it would get no purchase on the rocks. This was good advice except that I needed the hood to keep the rain off my face – I hate getting my face wet – and I was only using the stick in the dirt around the stones. KC raced down to help me when he saw me being chastised and together we made it safely back to the path.
KC’s climb to the top
(smudges on pictures are rain on camera lens):
Looking back on where KC had climbed:
If we saw the Wishing Chair we didn’t recognize it….
On leaving the Grand Causeway, a narrow pathway takes you between tall vertical basalt columns, known as the Giant’s Gate, where you enter Port Noffer (the Giant’s Bay).
Along the coastal path is the Giant’s Boot, a basalt rock weathered into the shape of a boot.
We continued on to the Giant’s Boot, took a few pictures, and then walked up to The Organ.
The Giant’s Boot:
KC slipping as he gets off it:
One of the most visible landmarks on the coast is the Chimney Tops. They have been formed by a number of columns which have been separated by erosion from the cliffs.
Zooming in on the only pic I have of them:
Is this part of Chimney Tops visible behind the boot?:
As you look across Port Noffer, you will see the impressive Giant’s Organ Pipes which consist of 60 visible columns which are 12 metres high, set into a steep grassy slope.
Just past the Giant’s Boot the trail gets quite steep and I’m not sure whether a wheelchair could manage it. I was short of breath but I didn’t have to stop until we got to The Organ. At that point, the trail was closed due to falling rocks so I can’t comment on how difficult the rest of it is.
The path to The Organ (you can see it nestled in the cliff-side behind me on the left):
Right after taking the shot above KC say, what are you wearing on your feet?! I guess he didn’t like my new slip-resistant shoes….
The path to The Organ:
The Organn Pipe are impressive, but not as much so as the Causeway. There was one couple following us as we approached it so we waited until they left and then took people-free pictures. The man was trying to tell the woman how easy these stones would be to climb. I wonder if anyone has attempted it. On our way back, we passed a couple of women with their dogs. Other than that, there was no one on the trail between the Giant’s Boot and The Organ.
The Organ:
The Shepherd’s path connects near the Organ to the upper cliff walk via the Shepherd’s Steps (the Shepherd’s Steps are made up of 162 steep and uneven stone steps).
At the top of the steps you can take the path in the direction of Dunseverick Castle or you can return to the Visitors' Centre.
When we got back to the point where the red trail joins the blue we decided to walk to the base of the steps and see whether they were doable. We thought they might be, because we had seen other people walk up them when we headed over to The Organ, and when got to their base, we decided to go for it. I went first and didn’t slip once. The steps wind around and there are two areas where you can catch your breath if there are people behind you. The women with the dogs caught up to us on the steps but they needed a rest then, too, so we went on ahead and there was no one in front of us for the remainder of our walk.
The Red Trail:
The Shepherd’s Steps:
Looking back on where we’ve come:
At the top of the steps you can take the path in the direction of Dunseverick Castle or you can return to the Visitors' Centre.
The path to Dunseverick Castle follows the headlands above the bays including Port Reostan, Port Na Spaniagh, Port Na Callian and towards Benbane Head. Port na Spaniagh is where the Spanish Armada galleass ‘La Girona’ sank in 1588.
At Benbane Head, Hamilton’s Seat (named after Rev. W. Hamilton, the first observer to describe accurately the origin of the basalts in 1786) is the highest point and offers superb views of the Causeway Coast and its geological successions in a series of bays and headlands.
At this point the weather was getting worse: the misting had changed to a drizzle and it was getting colder. While I always start out bundled for the arctic – as you can see in the pictures – I usually peel once we get going but today I stayed bundled. My gloves were wet and my hands were cold. Next year, I need to bring warmer waterproof gloves. The camera, too, was having trouble with the weather. We were using the small Canon Elph and had to wipe drops of water off the lens more than once. We didn’t dare take the big camera out of my knapsack.
We decided to return to the Visitor’s Centre rather than walk to the castle.
The Red Trail along the upper edge of the cliff, looking down on the Causeway:
As we walked along the upper edge of the cliff we wondered why this trail was deemed “difficult” as it wasn’t steep, slippery or muddy. We decided it had to be due to the fact that it was a gravel strewn trail, not a paved pathway like the blue trail. We had no difficulty with it, though, and the views it provided were worth the effort of climbing the Shepherd’s Steps to get here.
The drizzle had now turned to sleet and we were pretty wet so we welcomed the sight of the Visitor’s Center. It was 3:15 – the entire walk had taken us about 1.5 hours – and I suggested we go on to the Bushmills Distillery and have dinner at their hotel. KC was famished – all he’d had for breakfast was one piece of bread and some cheese – but he didn’t want to rush our visit at the distillery, so he suggested we have a late lunch in the hotel next to the Visitor’s Center and a late diner in Glenarm. Since there was plenty of time to do both the distillery and Dunluce Castle tomorrow, and we do like to patronize the local establishments, I agreed.
We returned our audio-tour contraptions and walked over to the Causeway Hotel. ,
Yes, they had a restaurant. They gave us a table by a window and took our order – goujons of cod with chips and mushy peas. Wheat breading is an avoid for me but fish is a superfood and there was nothing else on the menu that appealed to me. I figured the breading was less risky migraine-wise than any of their other options, peas are also a superfood for me, and I didn’t intend to eat the chips.
The Causeway Hotel dining room:
Two waitresses brought our plates with great fanfare. We each received 5 small pieces of heavily breaded fish, more breading than fish in fact, and a large serving of peas. I had one taste of the fish and knew it wasn’t worth either the calories or the avoids. I gave KC two of my pieces and peeled most of the breading off the remaining three. The peas were edible but the side salad was browning at the edges and unappetizing. KC thought it hit the spot but he likes overcooked fish and doesn’t mind copious breading although he did admit that it was a bit dry.
Gojons of Cod:
We paid our bill and headed home. It was 4:30 now which would get us home around 5:30. We went through the same Tower Road detour as on the way up and discovered that the stone buildings on that road are indeed a school – St. Killian’s College. What an incredible location for a college!
Causeway Costal Route return:
There seemed to be a lot more snow on the way back so I pulled out my Height Finder app and discovered that we were 250m above sea level. The temperature was 6.5C and fell as we descended. At 150m it was 2.5C and then it climbed back up to 4C. But…why weren’t we home yet?
We checked the map and, somehow, between Cushendall and Waterfoot, we missed the turn onto Garrion Road and ended up near Ballymena, 20 miles inland and out of our way. We realized this when we went through two roundabouts that weren’t there on our way up – there weren’t any roundabouts on the way up – so we backtracked to Cushendall, at least we hoped we were backtracking to Cushendall as we couldn’t figure out where we’d gone wrong, found the place where we had gone wrong (right before Waterfoot), and got back on track.
Where we went wrong, just before Waterfoot:
Snow on the wrong road:
We stopped at the SPAR in Carnlough for toothpaste, water, and some sausages just in case dinner out didn’t materialize. We bought some more cheese and KC asked me if I’d like to try the medium cheddar. I asked what was special about it and said, “Well, your other options are mild cheddar, sharp cheddar, or extra-sharp cheddar. Oh, look, they also have low fat cheddar.” He was right; cheddar seemed to be all they had. Then, I noticed a package of Red Leicester, which we decided to try even though it looked like cheddar.
As we were getting back into the car, commenting on how we were tired of the wet weather, KC mentioned that, “unfortunately, we aren’t going back to a nice warm cottage.” I reminded him that the heat will have been on since 5:00 pm and that the Gatehouse should be toasty.
By the way, I felt really guilty turning the heat so far up, because I know these properties are managed on a shoestring budget and fuel is very expensive. So I contacted them when we returned to compensate them for the additional heat we used and they sent me a nice letter explaining that, there really is no need to pay any extra amount. We want our guests to be comfortable and sometimes the weather is so extreme (or the guest is used to much warmer weather) that extra heating is necessary. They sent me a link where we could make a donation, which we did.
When we got back we changed into dry clothes and settled into the living area, KC on his iPad and me on this webpage. He asked what time I wanted dinner and I told him no later than 8:00pm. We lost track of time. At 8:20 I suggested we either leave or make the decision to eat in. Neither of us wanted to cook so we threw on our coats and went in search of a food. We had seen a restaurant in Carnlough on our way back from the Causeway so we made our way there.
The restaurant we had seen on our drive back to the Gatehouse:
We found the restaurant, and it had a “food all day” sign in front, but when we went in they told us their chef leaves at 8:00. In fact, no one serves dinner past 8:00 pm and it was now almost 9:00. Our only option was Chinese Takeout. We saw a Fish and Chips Takeout, too, but having had a bad experience at lunch I wasn’t willing to risk it; so, we drove back to the Gatehouse and resigned ourselves to scrambled eggs and sausages. Given that this is not yet the high season in this part of the country, we really should have done a better job researching our food option BEFORE it was too late to make alternate arrangements. Our bad.
When we pulled up the drive to the Gatehouse he remarked on how inviting it looked from the bridge (we had forgotten to turn the lights off). I suggested that KC let me out in the sally port, so I could make sure the heat was on while he parked the car, and he agreed, but he didn’t get out of the car to open the gate. He expected ME to open the gate. Argh! I was trying not to get wet again, but I did as he asked.
As soon as the gates started to open, I slipped through, and let myself into the utility room. When I looked back, the gates had not fully opened and KC was still waiting outside them. I walked over and tried to push them with no luck. All of a sudden, KC came charging through the gates, “Dear! You keep tripping the electric eye, and every time you do, the gates stop moving! Oh. I’d done that at least three times now. No wonder he was frustrated. But…did he really expect me to wait in the rain while he pulled the car through and then go into the utility room? What was the point in that?
Inside the Gatehouse, we put out the bread and cheese for nibbles and KC started washing yesterday’s dishes, which I had left to soak overnight in the bucket in the sink, so that we’d have a pan to cook in. He couldn’t find anything with which to clean a dirty pan – no scrapers, no steel wool, nothing – so he managed with just his hands and a dishrag and then I dried them.
I guess we’ve been spoiled by Phil and Alec’s cottage which has everything you might possibly need. The Gatehouse, on the other hand, really gives you a feeling for what it was like to live during the time when it was built and that is a valuable lesson. It really makes you APPRECIATE our modern conveniences.
Red Leicester:
KC put his sausages in the oven and I agreed to fix the eggs once the sausages were cooked. I opened the Red Leicester and KC had a taste. “You know what Red Leicester tastes like” he says, “Cheddar.” Ha, ha. It doesn’t, actually, it’s much creamier and has a very nice taste. It was the right choice.
We continued with our respective activities until we heard the doors rattling. Was someone coming up? KC went down to make sure the entry was secure. An hour later we heard it again! We figured it must be someone going through the gate so we peered out the windows, to see whether they were going in or out, but saw nothing. When it happened a third time KC said it must be a ghost; but, he went down to double check the door. On his way out, he determined that it was the wind blowing the doors and causing the handles to rattle. The wind does blow through the windows a bit (remember, the building is over 200 years old) but I didn’t think it was strong enough to rattle the doors. Perhaps it was a ghost!
At 10:30 pm KC called his friend, Rick, to find out how he broke his ankle. It was a long story which doesn’t belong in this blog except to note the time KC spent on the phone and the fact that he had a good connection.
It took me until 12:30 to finish updating this page and I hadn’t processed any of the pictures yet. This might not work for the entire trip if I spend 5 hours every night on the computer. I didn’t have time to process the pictures but I did download them, in case something happened to our camera, and then we went to bed. It was 1:44.
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