The North Coast

Pictures taken on the 9th of April

After an insanely early start to the day (that'll teach me to be cheap)
and a bit of paranoia after a ground staff said my hand luggage was too big
(it wasn't; it did fit into their luggage gauge and it's gone around the world as hand luggage)
we made it into Belfast Int'l Airport at 830
But i think i'll always be paranoid now when i fly with budget airlines

Our host, Tim, first took us to his place (at Antrim) where he fed us a traditional Ulster Fry (Irish Breakfast);
hot cross buns, irish soda bread, big fat sausages, mushrooms, egg and bacon
the second time (only) i've had nice sausages in UK
(i don't usually like the limp bits of starchy rolls they call sausage .. :P)
i refrained from taking pictures of the food;
this blog is at risk of becoming a food blog as my obsession with food grows

anyway.. i loved loved loved the North Coast
Mountains and cliffs and the deep blue sea!

Tim is the most gracious host
not only did he drive us around tirelessly, he'd stop at scenic points so I could get pictures
he even offered to clean his car windows for my benefit :D
that was one of the most scenic drives i'd taken
many of these pics are taken through the front windscreen

i don't quite know which way we went; i was still half asleep
But we passed through Randalstown past the railway viaduct over River Maine
as well as the Massereene army base where the shooting happened last month
i tried to get pictures from inside the car but I wasn't happy with the results

and we were at junctions that led to Ahogshill Ahoghill
(try pronouncing that, i promise you'll get it wrong)
Tim thought my pronunciation was hilarious
-_-

traffic was light.. even compared to the East Midlands
Light enough that whenever Tim stopped the car, I could cross the "highway"
to take pictures of the coast

this goat is nicknamed Thatcher (after Margaret T)
because he's quite nasty, and has a habit of nipping at people
O_o

i think i could live here..

in one of those stone cottages

rolling hills with stone fences and bushes of bright yellow

lambing season..
aren't those baby sheep cute?

cute little kid bleating away at my approach
i was at first surprised to see sheep and goats with red/blue colouration
it took me a second before realising they were just markings

wheeee!!
roller coaster ride :)
it was just so cool to go up and down
but I need to "revise" my manual driving skills before attempting that route

really, my pictures don't do Northern Ireland justice
especially as i'm still learning to handle this camera properly
NI's one of those places i wish all of my loved ones to see
i'm so going back :)