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I’m sitting
in the Air Canada lounge at Toronto’s Pearson International airport awaiting my
overnight flight to Dublin with Zach.
This weekend is Canadian Thanksgiving and so he and I are on a boy’s
weekend and heading for adventure in the “emerald isle”. The three of us (Sami included) went to Ireland for March
break (school holidays) two years ago and drove the southern route for 8 days including
the beautiful Ring of Kerry.
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“Hanoi Posting” A series of fictional micro-stories by Terence Wallis
Come visit "Hanoi Posting" at its new home! New episodes added
This week I'm adding a few from our adventures today in Portrush, Bushmills and Dunluce Castle.
Enjoy!
Facebook - Google+ - Twitter - Instagram - LinkedIn - ImageBrief - National Geographic
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With Sami
already safely ensconced in Vienna on a girl’s weekend with my ex, her mum,
sister and aunt this weekend it was a simple decision to head out with
Zach.
Where to
go??? Such a first world problem I know…
I left the
choice to Zach after my ideas fell on deaf ears “how about Tokyo…well, what about
Hong Kong…okay, perhaps California?” all to no avail. Too far, way too far and been there too many
times, how about Europe he said breezily.
“Sure,
where did you have in mind?” I’m
thinking Iceland or Ireland… Once we had
decided, it was sort of easy as Iceland was booked solid this coming weekend –
go figure? It was interesting, that we
both loved Ireland on our last visit, but were both keen on seeing a different
part of Ireland so Zach helped me piece together a nice little itinerary that
has us staying in an Inn tomorrow night in the pretty and picturesque village
of Portrush on then Northern Ireland coast in County Antrim.
This
idyllic village is close to three world class sights – first the Giant’sCauseway, which is arguably one of the natural wonders of the modern world. This World Heritage site serves as a natural
barrier to the whims of the Atlantic and the constant stream of storms that
lash its rugged shores. It’s one of
those places that captured my imagination as a boy, and so far from the hot and
dusty rural community I grew up in Australia and so excited to be actually
visiting it and spending time exploring.
The next
must see during a visit to County Antrim is Dunluce Castle. This well preserved and now ruined medieval
castle is perched high on a basalt cliff overlooking the sea, having served as the
home to many an Antrim local chieftain’s over the centuries. However, it was during the 18th
century that a good portion of the castles outer walls collapsed into the ocean
and has thus been uninhabited ever since.
I’m looking forward to scouring the ruins with my camera in search of
the unique and often overlooked. J
The third,
and possibly depending on who you ask, most important site to see in this part of
Northern Ireland is Bushmills. This
sleepy little town (pop 1391) is home to one of the best known Irish
distilleries – Bushmills. Although Irish
single malt whisky doesn’t share the same legendary status nor popularity as
scotch whiskey it’s still a popular drink with the locals as well as those in
the know and is exported to all corners of the earth for your sipping pleasure. Last year alone they produced 98 million bottles. Don’t worry, I’ll be visiting the distillery
to check it all out…purely as research of course!
Interestingly,
now that I’ve outlined my list, I’ve seemingly missed the Royal Portrush golf
course which is stone’s throw from where we’re staying. This highly rated golf course is one of the
best kept secrets in the British Isles, and considered a pure gem in golfing
circles. I wish I had an extra day or
so, but alas not to be on this visit.
One of the other
things we’ve both agreed upon visiting during our visit to Northern Ireland is
the Titanic museum which is situated in the heart of the Belfast docks. The mystery and mystique surrounding the
Titanic continues to capture the imagination of history lovers everywhere,
which is precisely why Zach and I will be checking it out on Saturday as we
make our way back toward Dublin.
We’re
slated to spend the night at country Inn overlooking the Irish Sea about an
hour north of Dublin on Saturday night.
Mixing it up with the locals and trying to soak up as much of the Irish
culture as we can during our visit, I’m just hoping we get to experience some
local music over a pint.
It was at
Zach’s insistence that when we were searching for accommodation we look to
small, local places to stay – pubs, B+B’s and the like. It certainly paid off on our last visit to
Ireland with both Zach and Sami rating our road trip around the Ring of Kerry
as one of our best trips yet.
Dateline: Friday October 7th - Portrush, County Antrim,
Northern Ireland
Since
writing the first portion of my blog last night as we crossed the wild Atlantic
on our overnight flight touching down a little after 7:30 am GMT this morning I
wanted to update you on our day so far. Btw
I know I shouldn’t be, but I’m always astounded by how green the countryside
is, especially bright when you’re coming into land. It’s simply stunning!
Day one has
been a roaring success. After picking up
our car rental we jumped on the M2 freeway and headed north toward Belfast and
then onto all points aforementioned.
Admittedly Zach was a little nervous about the drive, because like in Australia, the Irish drive on the left side of the road, and indeed have the cars controls
on the left as well which freaks him out.
Although after a stop for breakfast he fell asleep for the remainder of
the journey so no more jittery co-pilot. :-)
In
addition, we took the Bushmills Distillery tour early this afternoon and would
highly recommend it. At the end of the tour you get to choose what variety of whisky you’d
like to taste, so of course I chose the 12-year-old. Vastly different from the scotch whisky I usually
enjoy, and so they may have a convert on their hands. A smooth, less peaty aperitif with no
lingering after taste…just my cup of tea if you get my drift.
I'm definitely
having an early night tonight as I’m starting to feel the effects of a week of ultra-early
mornings (yes, 4:30 am) and then to top it off last night on the plane I only got two hours of sleep and so I’m feeling about done in.
And as they
say in Gaelic - Taitneamh a bhaint as!
(Enjoy!)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Hanoi Posting” A series of fictional micro-stories by Terence Wallis
Come visit "Hanoi Posting" at its new home! New episodes added
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This week I'm adding a few from our adventures today in Portrush, Bushmills and Dunluce Castle.
Enjoy!
 |
| Every village still has a red telephone box - so quaint! |
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| There is an Irish pub at the center of everything - adjacent to the Giant's Causeway |
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| The Giant's Causeway is a protected UNESCO World Heritage site |
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| Lava bubbles finally making their way to the surface as rocks |
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| Zach at the Giant's Causeway - yep, it was chilly! |
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| The stunning bay with the rock formations in full view - marvelous! |
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| The coastal headland with the path marked |
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| The towering columns of basalt rise out of the ground and up the steep cliff face |
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| Ruins of Dunluce Castle in County Antrim, Northern Island |
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| A castle outer wall collapse put an end to its use as a family home - you can see why... |
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