It rained a lot in the morning. In fact, it rained pretty much ever since last night, with differing intensity. It made breakfast a cold affaire. At this point, I was quite tired and on the lookout for a place to stay an extra night. This was not it. Too few people to keep the kids entertained, a tiny playground and Flo had itchy feet. After the “catered” experience at Carrick-a-rede, Flo really wanted to do the longer hike towards the Giant’s Causeway.
Instead of paying the fee for parking and the visitors’ centre, we decided to walk from the town of Bushmills. The Lonely Planet advises that you can walk along the heritage railway line for 2 miles and thus see the Causeway for free. In total, one way would be 3 miles as it is another mile from the visitors’ centre to the actual Causeway.
With the kids, it felt like a bit of a mission. We broke down our camp in the rain, drove the 20 minutes to Bushmills and assembled our kits: From sunshine to storm, you must cover all your bases. Starting the hike, Number 3 was delighted to follow the tracks, or rather walk in between the tracks. The railway only operates on weekends and as it was Friday, we were confident that no train would use the tracks. We were wrong though. Luckily, the train was moving only very slowly and no one could have missed it coming down the tracks but it spoilt Number 3’s fun of walking on the tracks for the rest of the day.
The train tracks wound their way through a golf course and along a beach to an intersection: Go left and along the cliffside or straight along the tracks right to the Visitors’ centre. Since it was a return hike, we opted for the cliffside walk now and the straight track on the way back. The kids were already hungry, and the Agent looked quite sleepy in the baby carrier.
We turned onto the cliffside path. It started with a small crossing over a stream, continued with a narrow path through brambles and gorse and led to the stunningly beautiful cliffside. It was well worth it to take this hike. Number 3 also enjoyed it as well, but by now, he’d slowed down a bit. Flo kept us informed how long we still had to go until we reached the picnic tables and thus our lunch break.
The Agent made it to our lunch spot but didn’t eat a lot as she was so tired. Everybody else was cheered up and refreshed by the food and break and we continued to the Visitors’ centre, right around the corner as it turned out. The picnic area is already a part of the complex. A fact which Flo hadn’t pointed out on the way here. Right after our lovely little lunch break, we walked headfirst into busloads of people, and overflow carpark and queues at the toilets. It was a bit of a shock to the system, I have to admit.
From here, it was another easy mile down a bus operated road to the Causeway. As we had seen from a distance, it was crawling with people. Well, with as many people as were allowed in today as the National Trust also sells tickets for this attraction and not too many people did the hike.
Taking our time, sitting down, letting the kids roam, we got to take the sight in. The Causeway’s hexagonal stones are quite amazing. Number 3 climbed all over the place and even the Agent demanded some leeway for climbing and walking through puddles. Flo and Number 3 moved towards one of the edges, talked to one of the wardens there and then explored a big puddle where some sea-life could be observed.
At some point, I had to face the fact that we had to hike back. Number 3 was starting to get tired after roaming around and climbing all sorts of stones. In the end, I convinced Flo to take the bus up the one-mile-long road to the Visitors’ Centre. It gave Number 3 an unexpected bus ride, saved us a mile of walking and it was just so damn convenient for a pound a person.
This time, we walked along the railroad tracks all the time. It dragged. Number 3 was still walking but slowly now. Distracted by a conversation about his next birthday party, we finally made it back to the car. Yippie! No rain showers, mostly sunshine, a couple of clouds and a great day at the Causeway was over. I was ready to head to the campground and call it for today.
Flo and I had a brief exchange about having coffee somewhere as a reward for the kids and I managed to put “Koko” in Portrush into our Sat nav. Great coffee and maybe a slice of cake sounded lovely just about right now. Driving into Portrush, we were taken by surprise by two things: The coffee place was about to close and only offered take away – which were still top notch. Number 2 there was a big fair at the waterfront with a building full of rides right next to it. Both kids were determined to go have a look even after we told them that we’d spent our last coin on the bus ride.
Since they were so good during the hike and the café had closed, they got two rides worth of tokens each and we headed inside. They rode carrousel horses and a fun bus before we left. Number 3 got a special bumper car ride all by himself as an extra as the Agent did not meet the height requirement. She and I waited outside so that it wouldn’t be too hard on her.
Now we were more than ready to go. Just…one more thing. A stop at a grocery store to pick up supplies for breakfast.
Our pre-arranged campground turned out to be lovely. We got a grassy pitch, electricity, a playground, and LOTS of kids to play with. In fact, it was so lovely that we asked to extend our stay for another night and I finally get my rest day tomorrow.
