Northern Ireland - Part 2

Some of the other places along the Northern Ireland coast are lovely too - I stayed in Bushmills famous for it's whiskey distillery. Now there is so much to see you need a hearty breakfast to set you up for the day and my B&B lady certainly delivered on that score - a full Irish breakfast:-

Home made Irish soda breads - white 
and brown - divine!

Egg, bacon, sausage, soda bread, potato 
farl and pancake - TDF!!!!

Two of the ladies at the farm - they all had calves.

Bushmills Town Centre, complete with bunting!

The Bushmills Distillery.

Licensed since 1608.

The River Bush seen in the valley near 
my B&B.

One of the mills on the river in Bushmills.

Someone In Bushmills has a hedge sofa in their 
front garden - how adorable is this?!

 

Out on the road east from Bushmills you 

will pass by Dunseverick Castle - just a 

ruin now but scenic nonetheless.

Pink bikes adorned the area in advance of 
the "Giro d'Italia" bike race staged at the 
end of May - it was a great success apparently 
and the people truly embraced the event!  
This one was in Bally Castle.

However in Ballintoy they really had gone 
pink with a bike outside the local youth hostel.

The local pub painted pink....

A tractor and the litter bin painted pink...

And even a pink fisherman and bike stuck 
out in the bay!!!

Here a few views of Ballintoy's harbour 
and church as well as a pair of Eider Ducks.  
This harbour was used for Game of Thrones. 
(PS I am trying to learn how to make collages but 
it's not going very well - tips welcome!)

After Ballintoy you come to Bally Castle.  
Here is a beautiful sculpture near the port 
called  "The Children of Lir".  Legend has 
it that King Lir's new wife did not like his 4
children so she turned them into swans - 
and they lived on the river in Bally Castle.

Heading west from Bushmills you pass Dunluce Castle.

A ruin from the 13th Century, Dunluce 
has a wild romance about it!

It certainly is perched high upon the rocks!

Dunluce at sunset on a grey day(!)

The silvery light plays on the Ocean

On my last day on my June trip the weather 
turned to rain and you can see how damp
it looks at Dunluce.

These young cattle were totally bedraggled 
and wishing they had some shelter!

Mussenden Temple near Castle Rock - this 
coastline features in the TV series Game of Thrones

The farthest east that I went was 
Magilligan Point, in Co Londonderry, 
famed for it long beach - the sea has 
made lovely patterns in the sand!

Looking across to The Republic of Ireland 
from Magilligan Point - you can cross on 
a small ferry that runs on a regular basis.

One day I stopped to take some photos of the 
scenery and these sheep appeared 
VERY surprised to see me LOL!

And back at the B&B Shadow was 
always there with a warm welcome!