It actually was a bit hard to leave Maddybenny’s in the morning. The playground was just so convenient and both kids played so well with the other kids, even though the Agent used exactly zero words to do it. Flo and Number 3 did a goodbye lap so Number 3 could give a wave to all the kids he’d played with. Despite all these extras, we were on the road early, even too early for our first attraction as it turned out.

I had picked the Downhill Demesne and the Mussenden Temple as my next “want to see” spot. The area featured in Game of Thrones and is said to be beautiful on its own. However, when we turned up at Lion’s gate, it was still closed. It would open at 10am which, obviously, it wasn’t yet. Flo drove on into the town of Downhill but the cafe there was closed too. While turning, we saw a tunnel leading to the beach though and discovered to our surprise that you actually drive onto the beach if you go through the tiny tunnel.

I tried to debate but Flo wouldn’t even listen anymore so we ended up with our car on the beach. It was fine as the sand was quite well compacted (obviously, a lot of cars had been here) and the location was stunning. Both kids loved to run around barefoot in the sand while I enjoyed that the Mussenden Temple was already visible from here.

Shortly after 10am, we pulled into the almost empty parking lot at Lion’s Gate. The Temple is closed for the public so National Trust only charges 5 pounds for parking. Walking by the coffee place, we couldn’t resist first getting hot beverages and baked goods before we actually looked at the place. I enjoyed wandering around, enjoying the views down to the beach and the ocean, the wind and the kids running around, discovering things on their own.

It was an A+ morning with the unexpected beach and the expected grounds. On to the city of Derry for lunch and then a walk along the walled city which has never been breached. Plugged in the car, walked to my pre-picked lunch place…and discovered that it only opens at 1pm which was too far away to just wait around. Poor hungry Number 3 but we switched things around and went on the walk first. The wall is pretty impressive even though a lot of it has been incorporated into the city by now. The walls are 9m thick which makes it a nice stroll to walk the whole length. The canons along the way were a highlight for the kids with the Agent demanding to walk a good part of it, rather than sleeping in the carrier.

Leaving through the Shipquay Gate again, we walked into the Carnival of Colours which is a festival in Derry on August 6^th and 7^th this year. There were food stalls, stages with performances and people in costume moving about. A lady in a butterfly costume impressed both kids a lot when she told me all about the programme of the carnival. We still decided to have lunch first as we were pretty much starving by this point and then come back for the carnival.

The queue of the face paint was too long for my taste so we negotiated to watch two shows (acrobats with staffs and jugglers, a lady doing gymnastics on a ring) and a streetside magician/juggler. Both kids were in awe of all the things and the second “Rummel” we’ve encountered in a couple of days.

From Derry we went up north, as our campground was already on the way to the northern most point of Ireland. We arrived quite late, fortunately, as it was the lamest campground we’ve been on so far. It was just a long road of caravans, one next to another and us right at the end of the lane with a walking distance feeling like 1 km to the toilet.