Off to an early start by our standards - on the road by 9.15 - good drive, with hardly any farm machinery to manoeuvre around. Even some long straight minor roads - a bit disappointed, as there are so few cars out here I couldn't practise overtaking. Got to the Giant's Causeway by 11.45. Again, another excellent visitor's centre with lots of information and a good build-up to the main event. Also discovered that the area is managed by the National Trust - meant we got in for free - woo hoo!! Pleasant half-hour walk (downhill), and a bit of a frolic on the weirdly honeycomb-shaped basalt rocks jutting out of the ground to various heights, scared Julianne by walking out as far as we dare with the waves crashing in, and then cheated a bit by catching a bus back up the hill (again, free for us NT card carrying members).
Unfortunately the steam train between the causeway and Bushmill (our next port of call) only runs on weekends and on special occasions, and what with today being Monday we had to rely on the 'Special Occasion' clause - oddly, our presence was not special enough. So we drove the 2 miles into Bushmill. There to the Old Bushmill's Distillery - the oldest licensed distillery (1608 - it's on the bottle) in the world. The distillery near the mill on the Bush river, from whence the town derived its name. Another interesting tour with a very well informed tour guide and a small group, so there wasn't the overwhelming number of people as where at the Guinness museum/marketing promotion. Not big whiskey fans ourselves, but we had to go even if only to make Julianne's dad, Allan (who quite likes the odd tipple), ridiculously envious.
Now driving in Northern Ireland - no Irish/English road signs - that's a bit of a plus. Speed limits (when they happen to be posted - which is rarely) are back to miles - a definite minus, as the hire car only has a speedometer which works in kilometres - keep having to do quick mental calculations when coming into towns or entering motorways. Roundabouts still as confusing at times as back in England - you think you're in the correct lane to effect a beautifully executed right-hand turn, and then the lane suddenly disappears half-way around and you end up cutting someone off - nobody (so far) seems to mind this particular transgression, I am assuming because it catches a lot of people off guard. The concept of using an indicator to signal one's intention to turn a corner - still seems to be more of a guideline rather than an actual rule.
Fairly pleasant (if one discounts the fractious children niggling each other in the back seat) trip down to Dungannon to locate our B&B - very modern, very spacious, well appointed, and excellent bathroom facilities; however, the soap holder in the shower has obviously been broken off at some point, so it's not perfect, but it almost comes close to Diane and Sean's. Not many places open for dinner on a Monday, so our host suggested a couple of restaurants he thought might be open - Chinese or Indian. Followed his instructions (fairly loosely as it turned out, but we got there in the end) and decided on Chinese. Not sure if it was a happy coincidence or whether we were being stalked, but no sooner had we sat down than our host walks in (? to get his take-away meal) and informs us that we have parked the wrong way in a one-way street [not, as it happens, because we drove up the street the wrong way, we just turned around to park, but we would have got into trouble when we left, so it was just as well he came in]. To add to my paranoia, amongst the few books available to guests in the room is one about SAS survival techniques - the sort written by former military personnel. Personnel who, by the very nature of their work tend to be a bit wary and paranoid themselves - a bit like our host - possibly just a bit shy and socially anxious, as otherwise he seems very pleasant, but I don't like to take chances, and we are after all now in Northern Ireland......I think it's fairly clear where anyone's rational, logical, level-headed thought processes would take them in such a situation. If there are no more blogs after this one, you will know why.
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