Along the Antrim coastline, Northern Ireland (24 Feb 08)

We booked a tour to travel up the entire Antrim coastline by coach. I must say it was realli very worth it for 18 pounds. The sights along were just fantastic and it was great to see the rolling hills, the coasts of Northern Ireland, plateaus and many other land masses tt geographers wld be interested in. Visited quite a number of towns and cities along Northern Ireland. The weather was shuffling between sunny and rainy at times, so it was a little irritating and very chilly. Anw, starting from Belfast, our first stop was to Carrickfergus, where the famed Carrickfergus Castle was.

Carrickfergus Castle, a 12th century Norman castle

The journey carried on after the stopover at Carrickfergus. Some of the sights along the Irish coastline......

Stormy weather seen here...like i said....weather tt changes often

Miraculously sunny again!

And we reached Carnlough, a small town famed for its harbour.

The view from the right side of the harbour

I'm flying!

View from the left side of the harbour

Town of Carnlough

Moving along, we stopped at a very scenic high point at Portaneevey, and the view was just insane.....haven realli been to high places overlooking the sea, so this was definitely a first. Plus there were other interesting sights too...

Oooh....a plateau

Rathlin Island in the distance. We were fortunate tt we were able to see it cos according to the guide, the past few months have been foggy and rainy so it wasn't realli visible. Rathlin Island is the most northerly inhabited island off the Irish coast, which just goes to show how north and ulu the place we are at.

Me and Jinyang

The next stop was lunch, and we had it at the Fullerton Arms Inn at Ballintoy, another town.

The Beer Prayer......beer-lovers go memorise it...hahaha

Me personally endorsing the Guinness Stout here....never realli liked Guinness back in S'pore, but I must say i was realli surprised of the taste of Guinness here....it's much more smoother and richer...guess have to leave it to the Irish to come up wif the authentic brew!

Next stopover was at the White Park Bay, an incredible viewpoint overlooking the coast. It's so named cos the waves tt hit the beaches are always white, and it's so true! One of the most scenic place I have ever seen in my life. Loved it!

Me and Wanping

We reached the Old Bushmills Distillery next. It's the oldest licensed whiskey producing place.At some points can't help but feel a bit like industrial visit cos of all the tanks, process....argh...chem eng shit....anw.....enjoyed hanging arnd the souvenir shop and gallery though

Wanping, me, Hazel and Yi Si....we just couldn't help but to grab onto something to flash at the camera! I grabbed the largest whiskey bottle...hehe....but if break heard it costs 2000 pounds!!

Barrels of whiskey

Another interesting sight....hard to spot a rainbow in S'pore...but over here, since the weather keeps going b and forth from sunny to rainy, managed to catch sight of a rainbow in its full glory...all the way to its arch!

Another funny sight. An emo cow!! Actually heard it's some cross breed. Anw Northern Ireland apparently is more filled with sheep instead...Saw dozens of them along the way.

And we finally reached the major highlight of the whole tour, the Giant's Causeway! It's a world heritage UNESCO site, an area of 40000 interlocking basalt columns due to a volcanic eruption.

The trail downwards

The trail upwards

Hands up!

Dun push me...or i jump!

Giant's Causeway so named cos of all the huge rocks tt line up and form a pavement...for a giant

I realli hate my cap

Hate it even more....

Standing tall upon the rock columns

Me, Jared, See Hwei and Shiwei

It's kinda liberating to be up close to the huge waves

The Giant's Organs, so named becos it looks like entrails or guts or something

Help help i'm stuck!

Let's put our feet together again!

Tour ended with a stop to Dunlace Castle, or more like the remnants of it.

On the whole, I was very impressed with the whole trip. Only complaint is tt like all guided tours, sometimes timing was a bit rushed. There were some landmarks tt we missed at Giant's Causeway like the Giant's Boots! But all in all, for the price point and the places we covered, it was well worth it!