Breathless in Kinbane: The ruins of an old castle on Kinbane head
Sheer drop: The high rocky promontory and swirling waters below
From a small car park at the top, a long flight of steps takes you down to a long narrow chalk promontory which leads out from the cliffs. After passing the ruins of an old castle, which could only be reached by a narrow path, it is possible to walk carefully right to the end of the high rocky promontory and gaze down the sheer drop to the swirling waters below.
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It took a lot longer to climb back up all the steps to the car park than scampering down earlier and by the time I returned to the car I was quite breathless!
The next item along the scenic Causeway Coastal road towards Londonderry is the island of Carrick-a-Rede. A 15 minute walk from the visitors car park brings you to the main point of interest – a narrow rope bridge consisting of planks strung between wires, which sways 100 feet above the churning sea to the forenamed island. There is a modest charge to cross this bridge which was first erected by salmon fishermen to check their nets in 1755. Apart from several seabirds wheeling overhead, and some camera laden
10 GROWLER SEPTEMBER 2016
twitchers cautiously stepping one foot at a time over the bridge, I couldn’t see anything worth crossing the bridge for, so politely declined to purchase a ticket. I was amused to learn that there have been many instances where visitors, unable to face the walk back across the bridge, have had to be taken off the island by boat! Driving a further eight miles to the west, and we arrived at the Giants Causeway Visitor Centre. The Giants Causeway with its unearthly shaped basalt columns is a
place I had been looking forward to, and it certainly didn’t disappoint.
Like so many scenic locations in the world, one has to pay to visit them, and after paying a straight adult fee, as there is no concession, and being given an ‘aural tabletp’, I followed the path down to the strange heaps of dark columns that stretch away towards the sea. The aural tablet gave a commentary on things to look out for. This
was quite informative at the start of the ‘recording’ but after a few minutes, I found listening to this corney irish voice quite annoying and turned it off. For once it had stopped raining and I found an excellent location with some of the columns in front of me, and the panoramic amphitheatre of the high cliffs in the background to take a photograph.
“I REALISED THAT I HAD LEFT MY CAMERA IN MY CAR IN THE CAR PARK, DOH”
Imagine how I felt when after reaching into my empty coat pocket, I realised that I had left my camera in my car in the car park at the top of the cliffs
way above me! Oh what a blow after coming all this way! Doh!! So alas, no photos of the Giants Causeway for you. I didn't have time to trudge all the way back to the car to collect the camera, then back to the bottom of the cliffs again, so I just gritted my teeth, and thought, “Oh well, it's a good excuse to come back again one day”, and after looking around, and trying to memorise the spectacle of highlights
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