It's Plume De Ma Tante Time !

As it might be some time before I get the chance or time to blog again, I thought I'd do a sort of 'bon voyage' post before setting off on my travels.

It could also be handy to have this as a record of my plans in case my smooth skinned boyish good looks get me sold into slavery by some marauding traders on the lookout for a houseboy with a bit of meat on him. If you hear nothing from me for, say, 3 weeks, please contact the Foreign Office and see if they'd be willing to send me some marigolds. That foreign water can ruin delicate hands !

I'm all packed and ready to go.....although I've now exactly 11 hrs to wait. Hopefully I'll be asleep for 7 or so of those hours but that rarely happens as I'm like a kid in bed on Christmas Eve. The Yorkshire puddings, baked beans and M&S microwave ready meals are all in the case because as we all know, those Frenchies know sod all about good food.

I don't think I've ever been so prepared for a foreign trip before as we have b&b's already booked for every single night. That's 14 nights and 7 different locations.

Setting off from Leeds at 6:30am tomorrow, we'll drive 270 miles to Dover, get the cross channel ferry to Calais and drive another 63 miles to the first b&b. Sunday morning and we'll be off on the 252 miles to Montreal in Burgundy to visit friends who run a stunning b&b there. Then it's 306 miles on to Provence and a 4 night stay there so we can really explore the area.

Friday morning and we set off on the 314 mile drive to Barcelona, stopping for a meal at Pasko's Balkan Grill in Roses, just over the Spanish border. Pasko and I worked together for many years so it'll be great to see him again - if we can get there before he has his siesta and the restaurant closes !

After 3 nights in Barcelona, we move on 168 miles for one night in the lovely old Spanish village of Ainsa, nestling in the foothills of the Pyrenees. The following day we drive north for 239 miles, crossing into France again and stopping in the Dordogne region to spend 2 nights in the stunning cliff town of Rocamadour.

On the 227 mile drive to our next b&b near Amboise in the Loire Valley region, we want to stop off at the village of Oradour-sur-Glane, the scene of one of the most tragic and despicable events of WWII. I'd encourage readers to go to the link and despite us being on a holiday trip, I think we'll all like to visit the village and see it as it was in 1944. A haunting testimony to the horrors of war and what we humans are capable of doing to one another. I doubt I will leave there unaffected.

After an all too brief exploration of the Loire Valley, it's a 252 mile drive back to our first b&b, the one 63 miles from Calais, for our last night before catching the 11:20am ferry back to Dover and then driving back to Leeds.

Even without any sightseeing mileage, the point to point total will be 2,422 miles. Probably a bit too much driving for a 2 week trip but again, we're after a 'feel' for these places so we can, if we want, return for a longer experience at a later date.

And there you have it. Our itinerary in Johnny Foreignerland. As usual Daphne will be our linguist when talking with the natives as my French is basic and my Spanish non existent. Given my miming skills, I can be called upon to do a few hand signals when necessary but then again, if I get them wrong, I'll may still need Daphne to talk me out of a punch up at best or a jail sentence at worst !

I'm a bit nervous about only taking my new compact camera and leaving the dSLR and big zoom lens behind but this is just what I got it for so fingers crossed it does the job. Time will tell and the post holiday blogs could be short on quality photographs if it all goes wrong !

Anyway, it's au revoir for now and try not to get into mischief until my return....................

Prepare The Bulls, We're Coming.............

Right, having got the Norn Iron photos out of the way, it's time for yours truly to get ready for the next trip. Idle hands and all that !

So, bright and early next Saturday morning, long before the Kellogg's cockerel has normally crowed over my cereal, the intrepid trio will be setting off again on another whirlwind adventure.

We'll head down to Dover and leaving the White Cliffs behind, take the SeaFrance ferry to Calais and spend the first night about 60 miles into France as that will be more than enough travelling for one day.

Our ultimate destination will be Barcelona and with all of France to drive through to get there, we had choices galore in terms of the route. After some planning, we've decided to take the Jenson Button option over the James May option (probably lost on most of you....sorry) and head south pretty much as fast as we can.

The reasons for this are several. We want to revisit friends who own a stunning b&b in the small village of Montreal in Burgundy that we last visited in 2009. Then we want to spend a few days in Provence by using one b&b as a base for exploring the area which we're told is the French version of Italy's Tuscany so I'm excited about that description. Next, on the actually day's drive to Barcelona, we want to visit an ex IBM work colleague of mine who owns a restaurant in the famous town of Roses, south east of Perpignan but just over the border in Spain.

So to fit all that in, we need to drive between those locations without hanging around.

It's hard to miss Paris on any drive down through France but we'll be doing just that. Tempting as it would be to enter the city, whip out my traveller's guillotine, lop of Sarkozy's head and claim France for Her Majesty Queen Liz II of England and some other places, we'll drive east of the city and leave France as French.

Sorry world.

Much as I'm looking forward to touring Provence, the highlight of the trip should be Barcelona as few people ever have a bad word to say about it. Our hotel is right in the city centre, within walking distance of most of the usual tourist sights. It's also at the end of an avenue leading to Barcelona's world famous Camp Nou stadium and I feel sure a visit there will be on the cards, for me at least. They're even playing at home while we're there so seeing a game might be the cherry on that particular cake.

With only 5 days to go, we've not actually planned on anywhere after Barcelona. We'll only have 4 full days to get back to a b&b near to Calais for the return ferry on Saturday 3rd September so we may just potter about in Northern Spain for a day and then head straight back up through France again. Taking 3 days to tour Provence and 3 to explore Barcelona doesn't leave much time for anything else. We didn't want to be driving hundreds of miles each day but this itinerary makes it almost inevitable.

But that's all part of the fun I think. Brits all have Cliff Richard's Summer Holiday gene and we regard driving along scenic back roads full of beret wearing, onion strewn Johnny Foreigners on push bikes as part of the experience. Personally we'll have to make do with a Renault Clio instead of a big red double decker bus but nevertheless, I'm sure we'll be singing silly sixties summer songs and loving every minute of it.

Anyway that's the plan. We still have to book the Provence b&b so better get back to surfing for a good one.

"Bonnet de douche", as Del Boy would say !

The End Is In Sight.

Twas the night before Christmas and all....wait. No it wasn't. It was the day before we left Norn Iron having had a wonderful touring week and anything good from now on would be a bonus as I'd nothing really planned.

Well actually I'd put in the GPS co-ordinates for a set of waterfalls at Gleno, near Larne but that wouldn't keep us busy all day. Over breakfast I checked out the guide books and decided that we should go straight to Carrickfergus, pay the castle a visit and then go to the waterfalls. That might be a good final fun day out.

And so it was that we headed towards Belfast and then veered north to Carrickfergus, a town much older than Belfast and with a stunning Norman castle dating from 1177. The view of it from the car park wall was pretty impressive, despite the overcast skies.

A short walk took us to the entrance and once inside, we came upon more cannons than I'd ever seen outside of the Vatican. First up though were a few items of siege weaponry including this wonderful machine for announcing your arrival with some authority. The drugs squad could learn a thing or two about breaking and entering from it.

Mind you, if you did break down the door, you might have been faced with these beauties for your troubles........

But even these weapons of destruction had nothing on their bigger brothers, used to ward off invaders from the sea.

These tracked RML monsters (Rifled Muzzle Loader) reminded me of the old movie "The Guns Of Navarone" and I'd never seen their like up close before. Very impressive.

But just as awesome as the guns, were the walls of the castle keep. This 90ft internal structure was like an inner fort in its own right and its stone walls were 9ft thick as can be seen in this photo of the main doorway.



I still think I'd have felt a bit safer behind those walls if it hadn't had a wooden door ! Still, there wasn't much option really and as it probably didn't come in a flat pack from IKEA, I'm sure it was pretty sturdy. The walls explain why the keep was used as an air raid shelter during World War II.

Inside the keep was a model of the castle as it was back in the day (oh come on, I HAD to get it in with a blog about a castle !!).

As we worked our way up the keep steps to the banqueting hall, we passed King John on the john which proved that even a King doesn't look very regal when on the throne.

He looks like he's waiting for a serf to arrive with some toilet paper but you know, serfing speed was pretty slow back in 1210.

Ahh ye olde jokes are the best !

The banqueting hall was pretty spectacular and it seems it can be hired for wedding receptions. What a hoot that would be. I'm not sure if the huge chess set was left over from such a reception or if the Normans were keen on a game or two while the enemy were trying to breech those 9ft walls below.

On the way back down, it was possible to get views out over the main castle walls to the sea beyond.

Back on terra firma, we had a look around the rest of the castle even though there was a wedding party on site and a bloody bagpiper was strangling his cat and disturbing the peace we had enjoyed inside the keep. Those walls were the best bagpipe insulators in the world.

With a final look around, we left the castle and went across the car park to a Brewers Fayre for a lovely lunch with views back across the marina to the castle.

Then we briefly rejoined the A2 before heading north on the B149 to the village of Gleno or Glenoe depending on which sign you looked at. Like I said at the start, I'd put the co-ordinates for the waterfalls car park into the GPS before leaving England and was I glad I had. These waterfalls must be a local secret as they are so hard to find. There are a couple of National Trust car park signs in the village but after that, you're on your own trying to find the entrance to the car park.

Even driving down along the B99 (cunningly named Waterfall Road to throw you off the scent) we could have easily missed the sharp turnoff as it wasn't signed. At the bottom was a small dead end area with no bay markings and initially, no obvious signs where to go next. We parked up and noticed an almost hidden pathway which after only a hundred yards or so, opened out to a picturesque wooden bridge leading across to the first waterfall.

The whole area was a photographers dream and everywhere you looked, the scenery was breathtaking. But the waterfall took most attention.......

Just like at Glenariff Forest Park earlier on our trip, a huge amount of effort had gone into building a fenced walkway to easily take visitors up the side of this waterfall to those above it. This walkway was much steeper and not as wide as Glenariff but it never presented a problem and the up side of the location being so hard to find was that we almost had the place to ourselves.

Back down at ground level, it was hard not to take more photos of the main waterfall and its surroundings. I'll settle for posting this final photo as it shows the stunning setting in front of the waterfall and gives a good impression of this wonderfully lush gladed location. If only I'd had my new camera then as a seamless panorama would've given more justice to the scene before me.



Back at the car we headed on to Larne and then the unanimous decision was made by Daphne to go on around the A2 coast road to Carnlough for one last look at THAT harbour. We enjoyed a last ice cream and set off for Magherafelt as my cousin's family were returning home from their holiday in the south of Ireland and we wanted to take them all out for a meal to thank them for letting us take over their house for a week.

They didn't want any fuss and so we went into town and brought home a Chinese takeaway for us all and that was very well received and saved them cooking a meal which was the whole idea.

Next morning, the trip home to Leeds was uneventful and so I'll end these Norn Iron trip posts at this point. We had a wonderful week thanks to the mostly lovely weather, the absolutely stunning scenery and the wonderful people we encountered, some for the first time. My eyes were really opened to the beauty of my home country and maybe with 'The Troubles' a thing of the past, more overseas visitors will discover this jewel in the Irish Sea.

But as a large part of the delight in touring there is the lack of traffic, hopefully, not too many !

That's One Giant Leap For.....A Giant !!!

The BBC weather forecast for 15th July 2011 had not been good. In fact it had been pretty naff, even by UK summer standards.

As a result, because it listens to BBC forecasts, the sun rose early, had a quick look and decided to have a lie in.....all day. But it wasn't going to spoil OUR day. Oh no. We were going to explore funny shaped rocks and a bit of cloud and a lazy sun weren't going to stop us.

By now, I'd got into the overnight routine of recharging my camera batteries as well as my own and so my phone and dSLR were on my bedside table all ready to go snapping. Sadly for blog purposes, the dSLR remained there all day as I somehow forgot to take it with me. Given the choice, I'd have left the phone but I wasn't given the choice and so fate dealt me a nasty blow and thus it was that I went to the only World Heritage Site in all of Ireland without a decent camera.

I say for blog purposes as of course I'd been many times before, even back in the day when it was free to visit. Back then, Finn wasn't Cool yet and so tourists could visit his partly finished causeway and compare it to the stretch of motorway nearby which also went nowhere and never would. Giants aren't all that dependable it seems and easily give up on most projects. Employers beware I'd say.

Squillions of UK pounds are being spent at the moment hiding the Giant's Causeway Visitors Centre underground. I'm not really sure why as it's not like any building would hide the causeway from passing eyes as you have to walk down a long pathway to get to it. There is also a whacking great hotel on the site already so unless they plan on hiding it underground as well, the exercise seems pointless to me.

Anyway we got parked in one of the few remaining bays (parking is severely restricted during construction work) and were soon standing at the top of the pathway with a view of the possibilities just around the corner. No really. I'm being literal. The Causeway WAS just round the corner. I mean, ever one to keep tourists in suspense for as long as possible, Finn had built it well away from the casual passer by.

See the path over on the right ? Well follow it to the left and it comes to the V where the hill bit meets that sleeping camel bit (I must lay off the little red pills) and that's where the path goes around a corner.

Once there, we got our first view of The Causeway and even then, it didn't give off much of a 'wow' factor. Well it never has for me but then my eyesight isn't the best and I need to be much closer to things before they impress me. Mostly. Add to that the overcast weather and I had to get right down to the rocks before I heard an 'ooohhhh' and a few 'aaahhhhs' and even a 'wow' from Daphne.

Considering we'd left her in the restroom at the top of the path, that was pretty impressive hearing on my part !

For the next 2 hrs we walked all over the rocks and enjoyed taking photos of each other taking photos of each other.

In that last photo, Daphne looks like the atmosphere has got to her and she's about to give us a burst of Riverdance.

The rocks ARE amazing. No doubt about it. I was looking over them trying to find something different for a not-so-usual photo and this one seemed unreal, as if it was a man made entrance cover leading down to secret passageways full of leprechauns, pixies and fairies - like similar underground passageways in Disney World where the characters move around under the park unseen by the tourists. Yes, I know, I have an overactive imagination.

Mostly though, the rocks were flat and multi-sided but just as spectacular for all that.

Waves constantly crashing against the rocks have caused erosion over the centuries and it's only a question of time before The Causeway will be no more. I don't mean you need to book a ticket over to it any time soon but let's just say that if another giant isn't found to do some rebuilding, Ireland may lose its only World Heritage Site. Maybe a sea barrier would be a better idea than an underground visitor's centre but what do I know !?!

Here is a panoramic view of The Causeway. I'd advise muting the sound as the phone camera's microphone picked up a lot of wind noise and so far I've not found any editing software for reducing the audio or adding music to phone footage.

We didn't want to walk beyond the main causeway and so by 2pm we were ready to leave. The climb back up to the top and then down to the car park was completed just in time as the rain finally arrived. We drove to nearby Bushmills (of whiskey fame) and had lunch at 'The Coffee Shop' before heading back towards Magherafelt. We wanted to see some part of Lough Neagh before leaving the country as at 20 miles long and 9 miles wide, it's the largest lake in the UK.

Just a few miles short of Magherafelt, we stopped off at Ballyronan marina but the rain was still lashing down and so there wasn't much of a view, which was a shame.

Back in Magheraflt we rested up and then went out for supper. It was Daphne's 21st birthday (ha !) so I took us all out for a meal at our favourite restaurant there, Sizzlers. Going in first, I quietly asked the greeter if they did anything for people celebrating a birthday and she said they did. I just had time to tell her it was Daphne's birthday when she and Stephen came in and we were seated.

We had lovely entrees and then ordered desserts. I was beginning to think they'd forgotten about the birthday as, of course, I'd no idea what they were going to do. Suddenly a few staff members appeared with our desserts and Daphne's had a single lit candle in it. When presented to her, the staff sang 'Happy Birthday' and looked as self conscious about it as anyone would do.

It was a nice touch but unlike when this is done in most American restaurants, only the candle and song were free !

So despite the rain and generally dull day weatherwise, I think we had a great time. The next day would be our last full day in Norn Iron and we were to visit the best preserved Norman castle in Ireland and a waterfall system even better than we visited in Glenariff Forest. And best of all, I would have my camera !

To be continued..........

Norn Iron Day 6 - Garron Tower !!!

After the great weather we'd had so far on the trip, Thursday 14th July was due to be overcast with a chance of scattered showers. For this reason, I decided to visit my old school as my memories of it were dreary anyway so it seemed appropriate !

No seriously, it was just because I knew we could be inside a lot of the time that made my mind up. I mean, who wants to look at scenery from inside a car on a wet day ?

The previous day we'd driven the route to the school as I would've taken it when I was a kid and so this time we drove there directly from our base in Magherafelt. Now many years ago the school ceased to be a boarding school and then it ceased to be an all boys school and last year, it ceased to be an independent school. It merged with two other schools and the name changed from St. MacNissi's College to St. Killian's College although it still retains the colloquial name of Garron Tower, being that it contains a 'tower' and is located at Garron Point along the Causeway Coast Road.

As the weather was overcast all day and I'd taken many good weather photos on previous visits to today's locations, I pretty much left the cameras in the car. I did take some however, so this won't be a totally boring text post. If you want to see the others, I published a post just over 2 years ago where I described what I felt when I first went to the school as an 11 year old back in 1963. Feel free to ignore that text and just look at the photos as the weather was much better.

Right, back to now and I was pleased to see that the old sign was still there at the entrance to the steep road that led up to the school.

I'd rung before leaving England to make sure it would be ok to visit and explore the school buildings and basically to check that the main gates wouldn't be closed. I was told that they closed them at 3pm and that was why we made it our first stop of the day. As we pulled in to the reception car park, we followed the advice on this new sign and tried to find someone to 'report to'.

We walked along a warren of old and new corridors till we finally found an office and a woman came over to us. I said I'd rung a week go and was it still ok to look around the school ? The bemused woman wasn't sure what to say but in the end she said it would be fine and so we retraced our steps and returned to the main foyer, a focal point from which to explore the building we were in.

The closest corridors were just as they had been back in the day.......my day. The classrooms had changed out of all recognition but it was still slightly upsetting for me to go into one room in particular - where I'd been taught Latin and Greek by the most physically abusive priest in the school back then. I've no wish to drag up those memories so I'll leave it at that.

We went into the gym and I was able to show Daphne the stage on which the boys performed a Gilbert & Sullivan operetta every year. With only a pool of boys to chose from, it was easy to cast the younger ones in the girl's roles and the results were very professional and were well received by the parents and friends of the pupils who made the plays an annual sell out. I still remember most of the songs from those operettas so at least something good came from my time there.

After fully exploring the rest of the building, we retuned to the foyer and went outside again. We walked down the length of the main internal road and up to the playing fields, which involved climbing over a padlocked gate. We weren't to be stopped !

We went up a steep grassy hill at the side of the main gaelic football pitch to see the Calvary statues close up. The hill top gave commanding views looking back towards the school and although most of it is hidden by trees, this photo still shows how it is built on a plateau, about 200 ft (61 m) up from the sea and the coast road and with the rest of the mountain behind it.

As we came down the hill, I looked back and snapped this photo which reminds me of the end credits for The Little House On The Prairie...but that's just me !

We returned to the main path going past the large concrete playing area which is very prominent in that 3rd photo above. I remember playing on it during a study period and being caught by the dean (of discipline). It was during my A Level exams and just a few days before I was due to leave the school forever so I didn't care. I'd mostly managed to stay out of trouble, mostly, for 7 years there and in a fit of rebellion and to kind of justify all the punishment I'd been given by both teachers and priests over those years, I simply told the dean to 'give it his best shot.' I think he put me off my privilages which was usually a big deal but with so few days remaining, it was a pretty futile punishment and we both knew it.

I'd stuck it to the man and did it feel good !!

We then went down to the 1st year dormitory but the doors were locked so I've no idea what that building is used for now. We walked along the battlements which overlooked the sea and seeing the row of cannons which pointed out to repel an enemy which never appeared, I was taken back over 40 years to a time when we would perform Shakespeare plays like Julius Caesar on those very battlements. I'd recited the "friends, Romans, countrymen" speech there and I guess the speech was made a little more memorable by my standing up there above the rest of the cast.

Finally we walked round to the front of the school and I noticed that the lawn, a huge area of grass in front of the castle part of the school, wasn't in the pristine condition it always had been in my day. In fact we weren't ever allowed to walk on the lawn and a path ran around it. We students just walked ! I know.....groan.

Now the lawn looked like it was open to all and sundry which was a shame really as it forms part of the first view that visitors get of the school.

Don't get me wrong; it was no Glastonbury on a wet weekend but it just wasn't how I remembered it either.

On one corner was the old round structure that we used to call the smoker's hut as when smoking was allowed for the older boys, this was the only place they were allowed to use for a quick light up. As a result it always reeked of stale cigarettes and the inside wall (being round, there was only one !!) was covered in teenage graffiti and inaccurate anatomical drawings which always seemed to defy the normal laws of nature and scale. Although yours truly didn't smoke, my bon mots were up there somewhere and I was saddened to find the door was padlocked so I'll never know if they still exist or have been wiped out by a generous coating of whitewash.

At this point I need to insert a portion of the Wikipedia entry for the school.

Garron Tower was built as a summer residence by Frances Anne Vane, Marchioness of Londonderry. She had inherited this part of the Antrim estates from her mother, Anne Katherine MacDonnell, Countess of Antrim who had married Sir Henry Vane-Tempest of County Durham. The Tower and grounds were purchased by McNeill's Hotel in Larne in 1915 and were acquired by the Catholic Bishop of Down and Connor in 1950 for use as a boarding school for boys. The history of Garron Tower dates from 1850, but its life as a school began in September 1951 when the Most Rev. Daniel Mageean D.D., Bishop of the Diocese of Down and Connor, officially opened the building as "a diocesan grammar school for boys" and named it St. MacNissi's College.

I've done this because the next bit is relevant to this historical reference. The smoker's hut lay at the start of a series of steps leading up to a dog's grave. This dog, Urisk, belonged to the original owner and as the headstone inscription is much weathered and thus hard to read, I'll add it here and save anyone trying to work it out from a photo.

Here Urisk lies and let the truth be told, This faithful dog was blind, infirm and old.

Deaf to all else his mistress' voice he knew, Blind though he was, his step to her was true.

So strong an instinct by affection fed, Endured till Urisk's vital spirit fled.

Stoop grandeur from thy throne ye sons of pride, To whom no want is known, nor wish denied.

A moment pause, and blush, if blush you can, To find dogs more virtue than in man.

And share, 'midst all your luxury and pelf', one thought for others out of ten for self

Lovely. I still think "Here lies Urisk. He was a dog" would've been just as good and saved a lot of carving.

The path was very overgrown and not as easy to negociate as it had been in my time there. Near the top, where lay the grave and therefore the dog's remains, the sun cast a pleasing light through the greenery and so I positioned Daphne and Stephen carefully and took a photo. Awwwww.

Back down again and it was almost time to leave. We walked around the lawn, past more cannons and up to the front of the castle facade. Turning left, we came to an archway and a tower where the nun who taught music....ah....taught. Again the door was locked and so I wasn't able to go up the stairs to the large music room where a few of us had spent many happy times polishing the wooden floor by standing on yellow dusters and doing an early Torvill and Dean impression to bring it to a potentially bone breaking shine.

These were pre 'Health & Safety' days, remember.

By now we were back at the car in front of the main reception area and while we got ready to leave, I took a final photo....of the school church. Yes, again it had been locked !

We returned down to the Causeway Coast Road, the A2, via the other road and passed the playing fields, the cliffs where I'd honed my climbing skills and the White Lady rock formation that was just a few yards from the sea.

Our route north then took us to White Park Bay and despite the overcast weather which held a hint of rain, we drove down to the small car park and then walked down to the beach. A few hardy souls had done the same thing as without the sun to warm us all, it was pretty chilly on the sand. The views were still spectacular but once again, there are better ones on that old blog post link above I posted earlier.

When the rain came, it was obviously on for the rest of the day so we headed to Ballymoney, my old home town, to explore a bit. We parked half way down Main Street as I wanted to show my friends W & J Walkers, an amazing store that was old even in my day. It has a narrow frontage which belies its internal size and I'm sure it was the inspiration for Dr. Who's Tardis. It goes on and on till you're convinced you'll exit outside the town's boundary.

I've always loved how the layout of the stock has been very carefully planned with small tourist type items of dust catching souvenirs giving way to larger pieces of china, glass and silverware. Then comes general household items found in most hardware stores from cutlery and kitchen tools to microwaves, cookers and fridges. These units lead on to the DIY section with paint pots of every colour you can imagine and every handy tool and item of equipment known to man. Finally, for those who have the stamina to get that far, comes the carpet area with full rolls lining both sides of a narrow pathway.

Aladdin's cave doesn't do it justice and it was wonderful to explore it again and I even spent £1.40p on two nail brushes which I use to scrub baked potatoes !

We walked around the main shopping area, ducking into shops when the rain came. I was delighted to see that our butcher's shop was still there, Olphert's, and I popped in to have a quick word with the son of the owner who still remembered me through my parents. We'd bought all our meat from Olphert's when I was growing up and my mum still did so until 2004 when she left Ballymoney for the nursing home where she died a month later. I vividly remember us calling for bacon and sausages on the way home from church every Sunday morning and then dad 'slinging the pan' to cook up his version of an Ulster Fry with eggs and soda bread added to the meat.

Back in the shop, I could've done without the parting firm handshake as the owner's son had just been packaging mince and passed a few grams onto me. Free meat. I shouldn't really complain. Pity he hadn't been cutting steak !

After a while we were getting tired (and wet) walking in the drizzle and headed back to the car. Our touring was done for the day and we headed for Magherafelt and supper.

It hadn't been a scenery day but it had been memorable none the less. Many memories had been awakened within me, some good, some bad.

And let's face it; it still beat working !

The next day we finally went to the area's most famous tourist attraction and the only World Heritage Site in Ireland, the Giant's Causeway. And someone forgot their camera !

To be continued.........

Forests, Fens And Facebook Friends

When we left our intrepid threesome, Daphne, Stephen et moi, it was the end of Day 4 of our tour around the Causeway Coast and now it's the next day, Day 5........which just happens to be July 13th 2011. Get it ? Got it ? Good.

Dawn had broken, fixed itself and was now having some porridge and a cup of tea. We, on the other hand, made do with cereal, toast and bananas.

This was to be a wonderful day, a day of exploring glens, discovering waterfalls and meeting friends from Facebook for the very first time. So sit back and let me tell you the story.....

We left Magherafelt and headed for Logan's Corner on the A26 between Ballymoney and Ballymena. Why ? Well although we were going to Glenariff Forest Park, this was on the route I took many times back in the day when going to my boarding school. I wanted to retrace that trip, or at least most of it, and so a good starting point was from Logan's Corner. We passed through Cloughmills, Clough and Martinstown and once beyond the hamlet of Cargan on the A43, we came to the entrance to the forest park.

Glenariff is one of the Nine Glens of Antrim and if you place your hand face down and then imagine you have 10 digits, the fingers would be the mountain ranges and the gaps between them, the nine glens all sweeping down to the sea. Ok a bit of artistic licence there but basically that's the idea and of the nine, Glenariff is 'The Queen.'

At the end of the entrance road, you only pay a small fee to park and then you have access to several very well signposted walks and we chose the 3 kilometre Waterfall Walk for obvious reasons. We love waterfalls.

The route to the waterfalls was stunning. It started as a lovely wide path with trees, plants and woodland critters on both sides.

Yeah, those were some of the critters I was talking about and here are some more. Well ok, birds actually.

After a while we really got deep into the bowels of the forest and the path became an awesome wooden, fenced deck that took us all around the initial waterfalls. To quote the website, "this path features the waterfalls and National Nature Reserve. There are stairways and pathways cut into the near vertical sides of the gorge and boardwalks on stilts in the river. It is a spectacular walk."

I would agree. The work that went into creating this walkway was clear to see and made visitor's lives a LOT easier, I can tell you.

Then we came to the waterfalls but even if there had not been any, the walk down through the forest would've been worth the car park fee.

By now we had worked up, or walked up, a hearty appetite and lo and behold, we came upon a full blown restaurant, Laragh Lodge. Here we had a much needed sit down and delicious light meal as we knew we had more walking to come. As locations go, Laragh Lodge has to have one of the best, situated as it is at the mid point of the Waterfall Walk and surrounded by forest, streams and waterfalls. A stunning and very welcome eatery.

That was the view looking back at the restaurant and turning around, this was the view the other way. Not too shabby.

We had now seen all the waterfalls on this route and started the steep ascent back to the visitor centre and car park.

While Daphne and Stephen looked for souvenirs, I stayed outside and enjoyed the views from the beautiful picnic area in front of the building which overlooked the forest and led the eye right down the glen to the sea in the distance.

Leaving the park, we rejoined the A43 and drove down the glen to Waterfoot where we met up with the Causeway Coast Road again, the A2. There were stunning views all the way down and although I never really enjoyed them when growing up as they meant I was close to school again, I can enjoy them now.

Now we were on a part of the A2 we'd seen before but it didn't matter.....you see new things on every trip. We passed round Waterfoot Bay and headed towards Garron Point and my old school but as we were to visit there another day, we didn't stop.

Soon we were back in Daffy's favourite town, Carnlough, and we just had to stop again and yes, take similar photos again. First up is the lady in question about to take one of her many photos of the harbour entrance.

After a short walk around and then ice creams, we left to drive on to Larne to meet up with those Facebook friends, Fiona, JB and Liam. I'd first met Liam on FB as he too went to Garron Tower, my old boarding school. He'd left the year I arrived so we never knew each other but we'd chatted online and that's how I got to meet his sister Fiona and her hubby, JB. Here is a photo of Fiona sandwiched between two hunks.

It was too warm to be inside so we talked and had tea outside on their patio. Fiona and JB have a lovely home and I'd like to take this opportunity to say thank you to them both, and Liam, for making us so welcome and we really enjoyed our all too short time with them.

We left about 6:30pm and as it was too early to return to Magherafelt, the consensus was to return to Carnlough and make our way home from there. Actually for consensus, read Daffy bullying us to return. She can be quite scary at such times.

When we got there and parked up, the pre sunset light was beautiful and so.....yes again......we took MORE photos of the harbour. The reflections were very pronounced and I can image the second photo as a jigsaw as it would drive anyone nuts.

Then it WAS time to go home and what a day we had to look back on. The Causeway Coast Road is a must to see and if nothing else, I hope reading these blog posts will give some idea of what it's like to drive its length and visit the area in general.

To be continued..........