Travel Stories - Ireland (Northern)

"bushmill" ("giant's causeway")



introduction


Today the plan is to go from here (Londonderry) to "Giant's Causeway". I check out from the hostel, walk to the bus station and wait for the free shuttle bus to the train station on the other side of the river. There it is crowded and the train goes almost immediately. The train goes beautifully along the Northern-Northern coast and after two short stops and three quarters of an hour I arrive in Coleraine where I take the local bus to the small town of Bushmill. I check in on an almost bare campsite and after setting up my tent on a zig-zag lawn, I walk back to the biggest attraction in Northern Ireland "Giant's Causeway". It will be a hike of about 3 km along the oldest legal whiskey distillery worldwide that is dangerously close to my campsite. Many British and English flags are my part through the village. 

 

After Bushmill, the footpath suddenly stops along the road and I will have to find my way along the hollow road next to the many passing cars, busses and lorries to the side. The wind is blowing firmly here because there are no trees and the sea is nearby and it also starts to rain. Luckily I took my umbrella with me and I have to take care of it so it doesn’t blow away. Finally I arrive at the "Giant's Causeway". I see a beautiful old building called the "The Nook" and behind it a brand new visitor center. Here are dozens of buses, a parking lot full of cars and campers. The entrance fee is £ 9 which shocks me. I decide not to go in. I walk underneath a gate and did I miss the ticket office or is this part for free? Suddenly I walk along a beautiful stretch of coast and appearantly you just have to pay fort he visitor centre/museum.



The way of the giants


On the path towards the site it’s very crowded with tourists of all nationalities. Then I see what I came for - the giant path with 40,000 basalt columns - it looks like stone piles standing upright in the ground and forming a path in the sea. Legend has it that a giant from Ireland saw another giant in Scotland. The giant from Scotland tried to challenge the Irish giant and built a long road (the giant path) to Scotland. When the Irish giant saw the Scottish giant sleeping he saw that it was much bigger than himself and ran back quickly. The Scott used the path made by the Irish and went looking for the Irishman. The Irish mother giant invented a ruse-she left the great Scottish giant in their house and poured him something to drink. De Scott did not trust it at all and went looking in the house and found a baby giant in a crib. If the child were already so big, how big would his father be? The Scottish giant left immediately and quickly ran back to Scotland, leaving the trail behind him in ruins. Reality is not half as fun; the rocks would have arisen at a volcanic eruption, some 60 million years ago. The poles are of different colors (light brown and even black); this is the only UNESCO site in Northern Ireland. Every time I want to take some pictures with few pictures, another bus stops and a crowd of people rushes over the stones. Nevertheless, there are possibilities to sit quietly at the poles where little pools of water has formed in the cups of the stones. At the beginning of the path it really looks like a road and there I walk further towards the next bay where you can see the organ - a strange wall of stone that indeed resembles an organ.


The Spanish Armada (La Girona)


If you walk a bit further from the actual (touristic) site under a stone gate you enter the amphitheater. Unfortunately you can not continue due to the fact that rocks have fallen down and it’s dangerous. The bay below is the Spanish bay. This is so called because here the Spanish Armada ship "De Girona" was hit by a storm like many other Spanish ships that were driven north by the Channel and went ashore by shipwreck. It was 1588 when the "Girona" fled north from a confrontation with Sir Walter Raleigh in the English Channel. When it hit the rocks there were not 500 (as was common) people a board but 1300 – these were mostly Spanish people from other ships that went down or were stranded somewhere. Many were highly placed Spanish aristocrats. About 12 people survived. It took until 1968 until the ship was examined at the bottom of the sea by archaeologists. The Spanish treasure with many valuables is now in the museum of Belfast.


The expensive visitor center


I walk back via the Giant’s rocks and take another path at the junction to the visitor center - the red "shepherd" path with its 162 steps. This will take to me to the top of the hill. At the top you immediately feel the wind of which you were partly blocked by the high "walls" of the rocks. After walking fora bout 20 meters on the plateau, where it is very green and behind the low fences sheep and cows graze, it starts to rain. An umbrella does not make any sense here because of the strong wind. I just hope it won’t go on all the way. From here you now have a beautiful panorama over the sea to Scotland and the beautiful coastline with the "Giant's Causeway" from which you can see from here that it actually runs into the sea like a real walkway.  

 

I'm soaked when I arrive at the visitors centre en tell the guy that I just want to go to the toilet inside. I see that tickets are checked thoroughly and I wonder if it’s worth inside to pay the 9 pound entrance free. When a side door opens up I sneak in anyway to check if I’m right. First I go to the toilet to get out of sight and then I have time to take a quiet look around. A lot of souvenirs, information about the coast and for example the animals that live around here. Also a film about the legend of the giants and a large scale model. Do people pay so much money for this? I look on a screen to the movie about "coast" and then ask a girl how I return to "Bushmills".


playing shack


After an expensive pint in the "Bushmill Inn", which is a beautiful old pub I trudge back to the campsite. The Guinness feels good on the stomach when I walk back with my pinkish face in the wind. As always it starts to drizzle again too. When I arrive at the campsite at dusk I check if my tent (and all my stuff) are still there. At the laundry room I search convulsively for the paper with the code and I enjoy a well-deserved hot (and free) shower. I wash immediately a bit of clothing which is also necessary. Again I repack stuff and now I walk to the only building where I can still go because a kitchen is not there unfortunately. It is the children's shack and hear already a lot of noise stilll standing outside. Luckily there is no one at the one available table again which is full of games. There are two table tennis tables, two pool tables and a large football game and the rest of the space is empty. The Kids are screaming and shouting which echoing down on me. I try to do some work, eat my noodles and when the kids finally leave I’m so tired I want to sleep too. I shiver on my soaked slippers through the now swampy field to my tent - I hope I do not drown tonight.



tips & advice (2015)


Londonderry - Coleraine - Bushmill: you can take a free shuttle bus from the bus station to the train station in Londenderry at 9:33 am. The train costs £ 9.30 single ticket. Duration: 45 minutes. At the bus station of Coleraine (next to the train station) you can take the bus (no. 172) to, among others, Bushmill.

 

There is no bus or train station in Bushmill.

 

Bushmill - "Giant's Causeway" (visitor center); the bus goes about every hour (bus 172) and costs 2 pounds.

 

For longer distances you pay 3.50 pounds - I also had to pay 1.50 pounds. There are possibilities to buy a day ticket so that you can use the bus as "hop-on, hop-off". Ask about the possibilities at a bus station or at the visitor center.

 

Bus 402 (only runs during the summer high season) comes up the terrain and turns next to the reception house. If you want to take another bus (eg 172) you will have to walk to the center (monument WWI) of the village "Bushmill" - about a kilometer from the campsite.


  • Name: "Ballyness" Camping and Caravan park

Address: 40 Castlecatt Road

Price: £ 10 (small tent + 1 person)

Phone nr. : + 44 28 20732393

Website: www.ballynesscaravanpark.com

 

Content:

The campsite is located about one kilometer south of the village "Bushmill" near the famous whiskey distillery. There is also a small supermarket here. The park is quite large and as so often in this region there are very few trees unfortunately or other (natural) shelter options for you’re tent. The caravans and campers are situated in an open and exposed terrority. There is a reception house with a small camping shop and fixed to a large play-barn for kids.In the middle of the grounds is a very luxurious laundry room, neatly cleaned with toilets and showers, washing facilities and washing up. There is free WIFI and the showers etc are free. There is no kitchen and no room where you (as a camper) can sit quietly. There is also no restaurant, bar or shop. A great camp site (and children) but not for campers where there is also little space for it. Handy is that bus 402 runs into the terrain and from there drive towards "Giant's Causeway".


Spending time:

You can visit the super modern visitor center at the Giant’s Causeway complex and arrange a bus to the site itself (maybe a kilometer walk from the center), get information about the legend of the "path" and the flora and fauna. There is a large souvenir shop and films are shown and there is a large scale model of the complex. If you stay in the museum for about an hour (this costs at least 9 p.p.p.) and two hours at the actual site (Giant’s Causeway) including the walk that would be the minimal time you should spent here.

 

TIPS:

If you go to the "Giant's Causeway" take along rain gear - the weather can change from stormy, dark with rain to a blue sky in five minutes with sun and wind. Depending on how long you want to stay away (walking) take food and drink. The road is closed to the Spanish bay so getting lost is virtually impossible - a map of the area is unnecessary.

 

It’s possible to walk all the way from "Bushmill" (and therefore also the campsite) to "Giant's Causeway" - it is about 3 to 3.5 kilometers from the campsite. Until the end of the village is a footpath but after that not anymore. It is dangerous because there is a lot of traffic and the road is narrow. You can not walk along the road because it is a hollow road with high sides at both sides.



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