Began as Game of Groans but ended Wizards of the Coast

Much needed sleep but no rest for the wicked, got out and tested my failing hip on the pretext of exploration.

Spot of breakfast in our home for the next few days.  Chrissi ain't happy with it, but it is a base, no more than that, and does what it said on the tin.  The rest of us all quite content.  Our first port of call of the day was Dark Hedges, apparently Northern Irelands top natural attraction. A few trees planted 200 years ago, a couple of which are reaching out across the road does not meet this criteria in my opinion. Clearly written by a Game of Thrones fan I suggest you jog on off down the Kings Road.

The only way was up and it was very quickly assisted by hitting the coast and the first signs of  .. well now that is a question? Not the Atlantic, possibly the Irish Sea?  Some geographic clarification of the coastal seas would be helpful.  We pondered a little while in the Red Cafe above the small harbour of Ballantoy. The latter looked lovely from the car, get down there early if you want to recreate a Game of Thrones landing I would say.

On we drove from there, noting that some of the main attractions, rope bridges and Gobbins walks all very difficult to book on to or closed in these Covid times. Many attractions and car parks are closed so you make your own fun ... which we did.

Next stop was a definite turning point, the village of Cushenden. Both car park and caves open. And a red phone box too, they are everywhere over here. Red was of course the Game of Thrones colour here, and very evocative in and around the caves and coast.

From there we began to take the coastal road far more seriously, and I can say this has been recommended as one of the great drives of the world (one of a few hundred I grant you) but thoroughly impressive. Miles and miles of meandering alongside the sea, and stopping wherever and however we pleased.  Freedom to enjoy beaches (some very deserted), Glens (pretty deserted) and coastal towns and villages.  We stopped a number of times to breathe in the sea air, drink in the views, eat up the scenery etc etc 

Highlights were curry and chips in Carnlough, and any number of pauses to look upwards at the Glens of Antrim.  Much talk of waterfalls led us to take an inalnd detour near Larne to check out and scramble alongside the Gleno falls.  

We closed the touring part of the day in Carrickfergus, the pre eminent Ulster town before Belfast got in on the act.  Great castle and toilets I thought.  And an avenue of statues and tanks alongside the Belfast Lough.

Chrissi fascinated by the flags in each village, perhaps giving you an indication of the prevailing political thought.  Staying well away from that line of conversation or reflection in the main, but was able to get some first hand insight (accompanied by first class hospitality) from my old Uni friend Kelly (and family) who are longstanding residents of these parts.  Our catch up covered a broad range of subjects around her experience of growing up in 'The Troubles', her son Alex providing some more modern commentary on this matter, integrated schooling and the like.  Also returned to fairly standard topics of getting drunk on cheap alcohol (cuts across the generations) and Dungeons and Dragons (cuts across the generations). 

And so the last point a weak link to the sword and sorcery theme that has hung with us throughout the day, definitely a bit of magic in the air in these parts.

-Carys-

I had a really great sleep, which I was well chuffed about, and as mentioned above, it was definitely needed for another busy day. Quick breakfast of rice krispies, like at home and then we were off and out of the house in our little car door.

Lots of Game of Thrones references as we visited many of the set scenes today, some on purpose and others we stumbled upon on our adventures. First was the windy trees - a slight disappointment in some people's eyes but I quite liked them. If they had cast some shadows on the floor, or the lighting had been better they could have been really beautiful however I think we caught them at the wrong sort of time for great photos - especially with the lots of people around.

Brief-ish stop in a cafe for a drink and snack and unfortunately couldn't get parked in a little harbour called Ballintoy. It looked lovely with lots of rocks - though I suppose there's a lot of that with our drive being along THE COAST.

Anyway, some nice drives with foggy roads and tall mountains brought us to an very interesting attractions. More GoT filming had taken place here in Cushenden , and a good decision too as the caves were amazing. Naturally eroded rocks forming big caverns with the sea coming eight up. The rocks were slippy with moss and seawater which caused for some risky moments when posing for photos but we managed to leave without any new injuries or casualties - a trip to A&E would not have been the best thing to spend our day doing.

Then the long awaited rain came - for the first time properly since we arrived in Northern Ireland. It prevented Bryn and I from getting out on a couple of occasions at some beaches and viewpoints - hope we didn't miss too much. 

We didn't find any food until our next stop - where the rain slowed to a stop and things were just soggy. I still took the umbrella, and was glad since the rain started again momentarily. Carnlough the town was called, another nice dock. Some kids were jumping into the water in the harbour and shouted out that we should join them. absolutely not. It looked freezing. We did however enjoy a nice bit of grub from the chippy - chips and curry sauce, a meal I'd been moaning about for a couple of weeks since I hadn't had a chip shop meal in a long while. Thankful I got to have one today as it was delicious.

Our final official tourist spot of the day, the lovely waterfall Gleno. It was a climb to the top but felt amazing to be in a really green area with lots of nature, and the sound of waterfalls is always beautiful. Didn't go for a dip but if we find another waterfall over the coming week, I might consider it.

We stopped for tea in the lovely Milligan family's house and had a nice time there (thank you for having us). It got late really quick so we headed off back home and it soon became very dark. Another late night so off to be soon to get more rest for tomorrow, another busy day.