Ireland Day 5/6: Northern Ireland – It’s a Little Different Here

We’re not in Kansas anymore Toto

Our push to get into Northern Ireland drove most decisions that day, as mentioned the previous night when looking ahead there were quite a lot of things that interested us in the area so much so that we felt we didn’t have enough time to slowly meander through the countryside, with this thought we skipped past Fanad Head which was on our list of things to see and officially crossed over the border to Northern Ireland.

Now crossing the border isn’t anything, actually there is not official divide all you notice is that the road names change, the roundabouts get a bit bigger and a little more stressful and the Union Jack is present. You do notice that the drivers get a bit more aggressive on the main thoroughfare but we pushed through some of the larger towns to get to our place to stay for the night.

We checked into Browns Country House and couldn’t help but notice the family pictures on the wall all were posed in a way that made you think they were involved with Harry Potter in some sort of fashion.

We asked our hostess for recommendations for places to eat nearby and she recommended the restaurant up the road, it almost seemed that the vibe we were getting from here is we wouldn’t find much due to the hour of day. When we arrived we took a seat and weren’t really feeling it at all so we got up and left and decided to go to Portrush and their restaurant district. Driving through this area is super stressful, I don’t know exactly how to describe it but it just wasn’t the same as when we were in Ireland proper. The area we went to for restaurants felt a little seedy, it was definitely the place to be as it was packed it was near the arcade, ferris wheel section. I don’t know why but it felt like the tv show Big Fat Gyspy Wedding. We were not digging the vibe at all so we said nope again and moved on. We just felt like we were striking out and in essence of time and knowing the morning would be an early one we decided to find a place to eat near our intention stop for the evening so we left Portrush and drove onward.

We missed a turn, well I was driving now so I missed the turn, I think I was distracted by this fantastic rainbow we were seeing. Sometimes a missed opportunity leads you to better things as we stumbled upon Dunluce Castle against a lovely sunset.

Dark Hedges

Now I willingly chose a bad restaurant, I mean there didn’t seem to be very many options available to us and with daylight retreating on us faster than we can count. Our one goal for the night was to visit The Dark Hedges, and nearby there was a Dark Hedges themed restaurant (again read not good), but it served its purpose of giving us sustenance.

The Dark Hedges were actually kinda neat. They are these beech trees that were planted among this road that creates a really nice foreboding illusion at times. The road that it is on has been blocked off for traffic, however occasionally a car does go by to those who live down the road. It had recently rained and I was enjoying grabbing a reflection shot here and there.

Back at our lodging for the night we were game planning the next day. We had hopes to going to Rathlin Island, but this is almost a full dedicated day, getting the ferry, spending time, there and back, etc. Rathlin sounded cool but what had really intrigued us was that Robert the Bruce who was exiled at the time stayed for quite some time and it was on this island within a cave that he had watched this spider who kept trying to make it to this rock and it was this what gave him the epiphany to return to Scotland and fight for his homeland. We wanted to go to this cave but that evening we found that it isn’t as accessible unless you are at the right time of day and potentially need a boat. So with those ideas dashed we chose to skip Rathlin Island.

Giants Causeway

My sister expressed that she was not a fan of Northern Ireland. It has a different vibe and we just weren’t feeling it, and wanted to flee back to Ireland as soon as possible. In the morning we went to the Giants Causeway. We parked and it appeared that you needed to wait until the visitor center opened to explore so we hung out in the car for a bit as we were early, but as we looked at more reviews it appeared that you can bypass the visitor center and just visit so we decided to chance it.

Guess what? Its true, so skip the center and go early to avoid the crowds and enjoy the place at your leisure. That does mean that you need to use the power of your own two legs to get about so if you need the assistance of a shuttle van to get you in between you will need to wait. As we are quite able to pushed on and got a good walk in for the day. It was quite a foggy misty morning and visibility was limited.

I rather enjoyed the Causeway and the basalt columns. I can understand why the legends of Giants were created here.

Getting back into the car my sister had one request. Get out of Northern Ireland as soon as possible. So I had to find the quickest route back to Ireland, bypassing and skipping the other areas we had originally intended for Northern Ireland.

Ah a sigh of relieve washed upon us as we started to see signs in Gaelic again, Ireland we have returned. We needed to stop for gas but specifically waited until we crossed back to the border to do so. Stopping into the station, filling up and grabbing our sandwiches we felt the warmth and welcoming of the Irish Folk. I guess that was the biggest shift we felt, Northern Ireland the people didn’t seem as warm and friendly.

Links

Our daily drive (Day 5)