Northern Ireland

At the giants causeway. It was the windiest day I have ever experienced!
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From Carmels we had a short drive to get to Derry, just over the border to Northern Ireland. It was very strange going over the border - everything is in Miles, so it was a bit hard to tell if we were speeding or not, and the pound is SO expensive!!! I got £200 out at an ATM (the damn thing wouldnt let me get out anymore), which equated to $500AU! Far out. And then the bank charged me $12 to do. Bastards. Per transaction too. Bastards.

Had some lunch and a bit of a shop around, and decided to get back on the road and head towards the Giants Causeway - some big rock formation somewhere.

Mum in the wind at the coastline along the top of Northern Ireland. Next land is Iceland!
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We made it there just before closing time but decided we would come back the next day to have more time to look at it, and went off to find some accomodation. The only thing open in the town near the Giants Causeway was one hotel, and they charged... wait for it... £98 for one night! Thats like $270 bucks. So we went to Portrush, about 6 miles away to find something and stayed somewhere nice for a lot less. Bastards - think they can charge anything just because they are the only one in town. Just like the friggin banks. Bastards.

Me and mum at the giants causeway, in the wind.
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Anyway, now that I have had that vent, the Giants Causeway was amazing! Slightly scary though - as we arrived and parked the car in the carpark, we were just sitting there waiting for a good time to get out because the WIND was so so strong. The car was rocking with the wind, and we had to wonder if it was safe the leave the poor car all on its own. Lucky the suitcases are heavy to hold it down!

Its about a kilometre walk down to where the rocks are, so we decided that with the weather it would be safer to take the bus, but it was just as scary in the bus!!! It was rocking so much that I was really worried about it tipping. But we were alright. Got down there and just about got blown away but it was totally worth it - they are amazing. They look as if some giant has stacked rocks on top of each other. Hence the name? You'll understand when you see the pics!

Anyway the weather was so bad we just decided we would drive down as far as we could south towards Tony and Bernies house in Dublin. We stopped in Belfast for lunch and a bit of a shop but didnt buy anything as its too bloody expensive!

We made it back to Tony and Bernies around 5pm, and boy were we glad. The weather was terrible yesterday.