Portstewart and area, Northern Ireland

Irish Stone - Rick's Hostel

In October my Canadian pal and fellow traveller, Keri, and I headed to Northern Ireland's Portstewart, one of the many gateways to what is arguably Northern Ireland's most famous site: the Giant's Causeway. The train journey from Belfast to Coleraine was laid back and straight forward. We'd grabbed the dinner time train on a Friday, which was a bit crowded, so definitely make sure you get there in plenty of time to grab a seat. Two hours later, we'd arrived in Coleraine. We had an hour to kill before the next bus to Portstewart, so out we went to see what we could see of Coleraine. What a shame we couldn't stay for longer! The pedestrian shopping area was lovely and full of shops that I wouldn't have minded having more time to browse in and the townhall was gorgeous.

Then, it was quickly back to the train station to catch our bus to Port Stewart. We found our way to our hostel (Rick's Hostel, the Causeway Coast Independent Hostel) without incident and then, admittedly, took a little while to figure out how to use the phone in the hostel to call Rick to check in (it was all duct taped up and you had to hit the "call" button to summon Rick). However, once we'd figured it out (with the help of at least two other hostellers) we were on our way to an excellent stay in a very friendly hostel. Rick is extremely helpful and clearly a traveller at heart. The fellow guests at the hostel were all great fun – the hostel itself is small enough that you can really get to know your fellow backpackers. Our first night was spent in a small but tidy twin room (bunk beds only) and our second night we switched rooms to a 4 bed ensuite. There, the bunkbeds were luxury, as the bottom bunk was actually a double bed, and I was lucky enough to score it before Keri did (sorry, Ker!). It was also pretty handy having the ensuite shower as well, since the hostel was full and the communal showers were in high demand!

On Saturday, we were absolutely blessed with some wonderful late autumn sunshine and decided to head towards the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, a 20m long bridge from the which fisherman put up every year and run by the National Trust. It's around £4 to cross the bridge. The view out over the water was fantastic and the anticipation mounted as we walked closer and closer to the rope bridge (it's a bit of a walk from the road to the bridge itself). Finally, we were there and the moment of truth was upon us. Would we be brave enough to cross the bridge with a very obvious view to the water and rocks below? Oh yes we were! I'm not going to lie – my legs took a good 20mins to stop shaking afterwards! Keri and I spent forever taking pictures along the bridge, which was a luxury we could well afford since we were there during the off-season, although I have to admit it was still quite a bit busier than I expected! Apparently, in the summer, they have to operate a strict one way system on the bridge as so many people are trying to cross it at once!

The view down, from the rope bridge

The view from the island

On the island itself, there really isn't much to see except an old fisherman's shack. However, we amused ourselves by taking many, many photos. Eventually, we headed back up to the road to catch the bus to the Giant's Causeway . . . unfortunately, I hadn't kept good enough track of the time and our bus was long gone, and there wasn't another one for several hours! What were we to do? Well, we thought that since the Irish were such friendly people, surely we wouldn't have too much trouble hitchhiking? Out went our thumbs and car after car just drove by! Oddly, many cars honked their horns at us (in a friendly way) or gave us a wave while they drove by . . . but it didn't appear as though anyone was going to stop. Finally when we'd all but given up hope, I stuck my thumb out for one last hurrah, as a group of 3 cars approached (Keri had gone to see about getting a number for a taxi) and lo and behold, car number two stopped! Thank goodness! They were a lovely English couple who just so happened to be going to the Giant's Causeway, the same location as us.

The Giant's Causeway (free entry) is Northern Ireland's only UNESCO World Heritage Site. The mythology behind this area is that an Irish giant named Finn MacCool built the crazy rock formations as a part of bridge to Scotland. He needed the bridge so that when he got there he could fight Scotland's giant, Benandonner. The scientific explanation is not as interesting, has to do with the rock basalt formations forming as lava flowing through the area cooled, creating the hexagonal columns. See, I told you it wasn't as interesting.

Me at the Giant's Causeway

I'd been to the Giant's Causeway before, so I knew what to expect. There are two paths you can take: the upper path, which leads to a set of stairs, which after you go down them, you then get to the Giant's Causeway itself; or the lower path, which heads straight to the Giant's Causeway, but if you want to see the view from the cliff-tops, you then need to climb those steps up to the top. I personally recommend going along the cliff-top path first so you can see the views along the coast, and you also get the bonus of not having to walk up all those steps! Alternatively, if you don't feel you can face either walk there is a bus which will take you right to the heart of the Giant's Causeway, for just £1. The different formations of rocks are quite interesting, from the Giant's boot to the organ pipes, and if you time it right you might just get some spectacular waves hitting the rocks as the tide comes back in.

Me in front of the Organ Pipes

Me sitting on the Giant's Boot

Sunday brought back the typical UK autumnal weather: rain, fog, and cold. We had wanted to head back to Coleraine to check it out before getting the bus home, but when we checked with Rick, we discovered that since it was Sunday, the shops probably wouldn't be open until the afternoon, so there wasn't much point for us to go to Coleraine. Instead, we decided to go follow the Coastal Walk to Portstewart Strand, a stretch of 2.5km of gorgeous sandy beach. However, it wasn't really the best beach day and by the time we'd returned to the hostel we were absolutely soaked to the skin. We spent the rest of our time in Portstewart warming up in the hostel, before catching the bus back home. It's worth mentioning that unlike the mainland UK, Northern Ireland doesn't overcharge for public transport and you can get a Sunday Rambler ticket for £8, which will gives you unlimited travel anywhere in Northern Ireland for that day. Not too shabby.

Portstewart's Harbour

Christmas Trees

Last week I set up my Christmas tree for the first time in Northern Ireland. It's just a wee tree that the BBC left behind when they were doing some filming and using my place as a back drop. What was really nice about this year's tree was that I got to use my very own decorations (the ones that I had in Canada) for the first time since I moved to the UK. It was nice to see all those decorations that reminded me of people:

There was an angel with a bell on it, which reminded me of my friend Shannon. She gave me and Vanessa similar decorations for our first Christmas in Edinburgh, where we hosted Christmas in our flat and had a rule about our tree (who we called Veronica) that we couldn't buy any decorations ourselves - they had to be borrowed, given, found or stolen . . .

Baby's First Christmas - I am proud to say that I still have my very first Christmas ornament and that it made it safe and sound all the way from Canada!

Edinburgh 2004 decoration - reminds me of my time in Edinburgh, of course, and all the good people I met then!

A friendship heart from Lori - it's good to know who your friends are!

Hand-made decorations from both grandmothers. They're so lovely to see every year and are definitely items that I want to keep for many years to come.

An angel from my mom, which obviously reminds me of her and also my grandfather.

I can't believe how quickly Christmas is coming this year. I just received another gift in the post today and I am looking forward to putting it under my tree! I will struggle not to open it until Christmas though . . . it's so hard!

Buses & Beckham

Riding the bus in the wee village is completely different from riding the bus in any other city I have visited/lived in so far. While there are bus stops in the village, and between the village and the closest town, these are largely ignored by the locals. Instead, apparently, you can flag down the bus wherever you happen to be on the road, rather like a taxi, and ask the bus driver to let you off the bus in any random spot along the road you like.

I have to admit that this works very well for me. Recently, JenMac and I ran the entire length of my village's main street in order to flag down the bus and jump on at a spot that was well after the actual bus stop. Luckily, the bus was caught in "traffic" on the main street, so it couldn't get away. We then had the bus entirely to ourselves for the entire ride into town. Luxury! haha

I wonder if the new bus system that we got in PEI is like that? I have yet to ride the bus back home, so I cannot comment!

On a side note, I think I may have been in the UK too long as I was listening to David Beckham in an interview yesterday and his voice, oddly, did not cause me to shudder in any way! I don't know what's happened . . . either I've been here too long or he's been stateside too long and we've reached a point of mutual understanding!

***This post is in response to Ali's well deserved admonishing for me not posting stories about my wee village recently. Until the next installment . . .

Rain, rain go away . . .

I don't know if I've mentioned to anyone or not, but the rain here during the month of November has been unreal! In fact, it's been raining in County Fermanagh for the past 34 days and counting, and the water level in the Lough closest to me is at it's highest level since records began (in the 50s)! And I get to be here for it . . . how lucky I am! haha!

Plus, did I mention I work outside every day? I'm telling you, my luck just keeps getting better and better. I am quite happy I invested in that Gortex jacket though - it really is a life saver!

I can't complain too much though. In Cumbria (the North west of England) they have had absolutely unreal rainfall amounts this week. One area had over 300mm of rain within 24 hours - that's over a foot! By contrast, the highest amount of rainfall we've had here in a day was just over 33mm. Not too shabby!

In more exciting news . . . JenMac might be coming to visit next week! Yay!

Christmas time! . . . ????

Today was a very Christmasy day for me. Not only was I wrapping Christmas gifts . . . .-keep in mind I have to send them all the way to Canada and I plan on sending my items by surface mail, as it is half the price or air, and therefore need to send my items asap - but the outside of my house is completely decorated for Christmas! It's got lights, a mini-tree in the window, and a LARGE tree sitting out front. Also, there are, as I type this, about 15-20 primary school children singing Christmas carols outside my door.

I'm not kidding.

There is a reason for all this madness, however . . . the BBC is filming a special with the kids from one of the local primary schools! And, they are using my house as a backdrop. I love it, but I think I will feel somewhat deflated after they have left . . . you know, like the holidays have finished and I have nothing to look forward to for a whole year.

I wonder what they are going to do with the leftover tree when they're done???

It's November????

I can't believe it's November already. Time is FLYING by and work is absolutely hectic at the moment! I don't really have time to type, but I just wanted to post to say I'm here and still alive, but absolutely swamped at the moment. I am teaching everyday in November, while trying to accomplish other things both at work and out of work, so life is a bit mad.

I'm taking my second driving lesson in Northern Ireland tomorrow. I haven't had time to practice, so it's a bit of a concern! Also, I'm teaching a new session tomorrow and I don't feel completely trained for it, so that's a bit nerve wracking. And, I just finished work now (at 7pm) . . . hmmmmm, maybe I should go practice and look over my notes for tomorrow???

Or, I could work on my Christmas shopping . . .:-) I must send everything off soon, as it has to make it to Canada on time. There have been postal strikes here recently, but things seem to be sorted out now. I certainly hope so. My next goal then should be to get everything sent off by the end of the week. Surface mail: it takes way longer but is way cheaper.

Any snow in Canada yet? We just have lots and lots and lots of rain here. Boo.

Mr Cabdriver

(Another gem, found on my laptop!)

Besides being a good song by Lenny Kratvitz, it also refers to a rather popular source of employment. Recently, I went out for a walk in a two mile loop near my house. While I was walking, I suddenly became aware of the sound of footsteps coming up close behind me. They came closer and closer and eventually I knew I was about to be passed. Now, I happen to be somewhat competitive and I hate when I get passed by fellow walkers, as it makes me feel rather incompetent. Especially, when the walker turns out to be someone in their 70s or 80s! *sigh – that happens more often than I’d like to admit*

Enter Gary, the cabdriver. He was my walker-stalker on that fine evening, and, naturally, he appeared to be in his 60s. I slowed down to allow him to pass by, but instead he suddenly shouted “Hello!”, slowed his pace, and started asking me questions. He wanted to know all about who I was and what on earth a Canadian was doing in this wee village. I also learned a fair amount about him along the way. We walked for around a mile together before we parted ways. I had to laugh at the situation – this would certainly never have happened in Edinburgh! If someone suddenly shouted “Hello!” and started asking me questions about who I was when I was walking through the Meadows or Holyrood Park, I probably would have turned and ran the other way!

UPDATE: I have since ran into Gary several times! Once, he picked me and Keri up in his cab, and once he walked in on Keri and I trying to get a photo op with two unsuspecting donkeys on the side of the rode (see picture evidence below - the second donkey is behind Keri).

Random Odd Facts

Here's an old post that's been hiding on my laptop . . .

1. When I moved to Scotland, I learned that they didn’t say the word “lake”, they said loch instead. For example, think of Loch Ness. However, in Northern Ireland they use the word “lough”, which is pronounced the same as loch, but spelled in a completely different way. Therefore:

Lake = Loch = Lough

2. Number of churches I’ve seen so far called St. Patrick’s: 3 and counting.

3. Funniest school name I’ve seen so far: Tempo Controlled Primary School. It’s found in a wee village called Tempo. I’m not sure what the controlled part refers to though . . .

4. Names that make me laugh:

• Ballyshannon, Ballymoney, Ballynakelly, and pretty much any town/village/hamlet with the word "bally" in it
• Belcoo. It's a village not far from here that I just like the sound of. If you divide it into the two syllables of "bel" and "coo" you get "pretty cow" if you use the french word for pretty "belle" and the scots word for cow "coo". At least, that's what I think of every time I see it.
• Smurfit something something. This is the name of some company that we drive by whenever we go to Belfast. OBVIOUSLY it reminds me of the smurfs!
  

Aix-en-Provence, France

I know I seem to be skipping around a lot here and not writing for a long time, but the problem is that I have a few items to post on my laptop, which is at home where I have no internet. When I am at work, where there is internet, I do not have my laptop. So, I will skip ahead to my upcoming adventure in France and, hopefully later today, I will find time to post about my more recent adventures.

On Wednesday, I will land in Aix-en-Provence, France where I expect to get up to much mischief with my friend JenMac over the course of the next few days. I have never been to that part of France before and I am a bit nervous about purchasing my train ticket to Aix, as I have no idea how to pronounce it. Also, I think I just have a slight complex when it comes to buying rail tickets in France anyway, due to a previous embarrassing experience: I can speak French well enough, but when I go for long stretches without using the language I tend to forget key words that I would normally know. Like the word for "Tuesday". One of the first things you learn in French are the days of the week and for some reason when I was traveling in France a few years ago and trying to book a train ticket for the following Tuesday, I completely forgot the word for Tuesday. Instead, I managed to say (in French, I might add) "Not Monday, but the day after" and the lady at the counter looked at my kind of funny and said "Mardi?" and I said, rather enthusiastically,"Oui!!!!! Mardi!!!!!" and managed to successfully book the ticket.

Anyway, I am really looking forward to travelling in another country for a bit and France is one of my favourites. I am not sure what we will get up to, but there has been some talk of hiking, visiting Avignon, and of course plenty of French cuisine (aka baguettes) and eau de France (wine).

See you soon Miss JenMac!!

Life in the village continues

Recently, I went to register with the doctor's office here in my village. They were very friendly and nice and wanted to know all about me and why in the world I would leave "sunny Canada" for Northern Ireland. I also found out that there is a Canadian doctor, from Ontario, who sometimes covers the clinic, which is somewhat exciting. Since I've moved here people like to point out the other Canadians that they've heard about living in the same area. I have yet to meet a fellow Canuck, but I know there is one living somewhere nearby in "the sticks", which I thought was where I am now living, but it appears I have been misinformed!

Last night I went to watch Gaelic football for the first time. It's different from regular football (meaning soccer to you Canadian folk), in that you are allowed to pick up the ball with your hands. You can also score both points and goals . . . a goal goes in the net, and a point goes between the uprights, kind of like in the CFL. If you pick up the ball, you can't just carry it, but you have to either bounce it once (kind of like basketball) or do a solo, where you kick the ball back up to yourself. It was all very interesting and fun. People really take it seriously here . . . there was lots of swearing! And my current housemate, who almost never speaks and is someone that I consider quite shy, suddenly became this whole new person and barely stopped yelling at the pitch. It was bizarre! The first match I saw was a cup final, called the New York Cup, and it was very exciting. I am glad that I went and will likely continue to go support my local team, who's pitch is just up the road from where I'm living.

I'm still not in my own flat yet, which is frustrating! I better be in asap this week, or else I will be one unhappy lady!

Little Village = Little Adventures

I wrote this blog earlier in the week, but I haven't had a chance to post it until now . . . enjoy!

I have been in Northern Ireland for almost a week now and I like it so far. I haven’t settled in yet though, as all my stuff is still in boxes and shoved, rather precariously, into a closet in the house I am sharing. There’s no point in unpacking it yet really as I am moving again in a week or two to a private flat. I can’t wait to move, not only so I can unpack and start to make this place feel a bit more like home, but also so I can find my phone charger . . . my battery is definitely going to die at any moment and then I will truly be cut off from the world . . . not that I can get much phone signal here anyway! ;-)

I survived my first day of teaching. It went alright, all things considered. I was flying blind because I hadn’t had the opportunity to observe the session I was teaching in advance, so it was a steep learning curve. I am glad it’s out of the way though!

My most recent adventure in the village involved visiting the local shop to see what they stocked on their shelves. Answer: not much, but it’ll do for staples like milk and bread. The shop lady looked up when I came to the till, and seemed quite disappointed when she didn’t recognise me (she’d called everyone else by name who had been ahead of me in the queue!). I am not sure what was required of me, in terms of social etiquette; in that situation . . . should I have introduced myself, telling her who I was? That seemed a bit much, as there were a few people waiting behind me. I decided to leave it for the time being. It won’t be long now until she finds out who I am on her own, I suppose.

My upcoming adventure is as follows: On Saturday, I plan on travelling into the nearest town (pop. 10,000) by bus to do a bit of shopping and nosing around. The only annoying part of my plan is that once I arrive in the town, I am then stuck there for about 9.5 hours before there will be another bus to take me back home. Oh, the joys of small town living!

Those city lights are calling!

First Impressions

I arrived in my Northern Irish town (location to be kept secret from the public domain) about an hour ago. “Town” is a term to use loosely here, as there are only around 600 people in the area, so village would be more appropriate. I am currently exhausted, having not slept well the night before the move, and being on the go since just after 4am. Yuck.

The ferry crossing was beautiful though, as was the drive to Stranraer (where you catch the ferry from Scotland to Belfast). I wish I had explored that part of the country before. But, I digress . . .

My first impression so far of this village and of the accommodation supplied is that of claustrophobia. And, it’s not because there is anything wrong with the village or the house . . . it’s just that they are quite a bit different than what I am used to! I was living in Edinburgh (pop. ~450,00) where no one that you pass on the street really pays attention to you and my flatmates were very much interested in keeping a distance from each other. This is in contrast to here, where already I have been the subject of much staring and a few waves from the local children! Also, the house that I am in at the moment is probably smaller than the flat that I was living in before, and I feel like there isn’t much privacy. It’s just the complete opposite of the flat where no one spoke to one another and you would often go days without seeing someone. Here, you can see/hear the other person without any difficulty.

On the plus side there is a lovely garden though. Also, I have about 20 pillows on my bed. Bonus!

I will need to decide over the next week about staying in this place or moving to the flat that the girl I am replacing is currently staying in. I haven’t seen her place yet, so I am not sure what I will end up doing!

Deep Sea World

Here's a video of my recent visit to Deep Sea World in North Queensferry. It's quite dark and a bit blurry, but hopefully it'll give you an idea of what I got see. It was taken while I rode around on a conveyor belt through a tunnel surrounded by clear glass with fish, sting rays, and sharks swimming overhead!

"No More Than Two MPs Allowed at a Time"

****My friend JenMac recently (and rightly so, I might add) got mad at me for my lack of posting lately. I humbly apologise. For some reason, I tend to start writing blog posts, save them, and promptly forget about them. Here is a post I started from way back - June 10th!****

On the walk home from work today I spotted a sign with the above slogan written on it. It was hanging in a local shop in the Cannonmills section of Edinburgh and it made me laugh out loud. For those of you not in the know, many of the UK's politicians have been recently plagued with negative publicity for using public funds in inappropriate ways. For example, two MP's, who are married own two properties. No problem so far, but wait for it . . . . Both claimed "second-home mortgages", which they are completely allowed to do, but they claimed it for the opposite property to that which their partner was claiming it for. Clever that. Another employed family members to do secretarial work of some sort, while said family members were living in a completely different part of the country from the MP. Another's husband paid for porn and had the tax payer foot the bill. There's more too, but I am getting too annoyed to write about it. .

The downside of all of this, is of course that people are feeling rather uninspired by our politicians. The MPs have broken the public's trust to such an extent that they cannot be allowed within local shops more than two at time for fear of them stealing! This is a huge problem. Recently, the European Elections were held and voter turn out in the UK was an uninspiring 34.7 percent. Furthermore, out of the 27 nations eligible to vote, our percentage of voter turnout was ranked 21st. Ouch. I helped count the votes for the election in Edinburgh and one voters showed his/her displeasure by writing the word "crooks" beside every party on the ballot. They had to be pretty angry because they actually took the time out of their busy day to make it to a polling station and then write "crooks" beside all 13 parties (including one independent candidate) of this election.

Perhaps one of the consequences of the low voter turnout was that BNP (British National Party) scored two seats in European Parliament. I feel the need to point out that neither of these seats came from Scotland, but, nevertheless, their apparent rise in popularity does send a shudder of dread down my spine. They're not exactly "pro-foreigners"! I certainly hope that this is not a sign of things to come.

Collect the Country

Next month I will be beginning the next phase of my adventure in the UK, as I have been offered a job in Northern Ireland! It's a job in my field, pays more than the my 2 jobs here do (combined) and it also includes a place to stay and food! Plus, I will get most weekends off!

Sounds too good to be true, doesn't it?

Only time will tell and all I can say is that I am looking forward to this next adventure. Tomorrow, or more accurately - later today, I will be calling the company to accept the offer and confirm my date of arrival. Hopefully, it will all go smoothly!

So far, I have worked in Scotland, England, and soon . . . Northern Ireland! I will somehow have to find a way to make it to Wales for employment of some form. Really, I'm not doing too bad - not including UK countries I have also worked in Canada and France. I wonder where life will take me next???

Stay tuned for a funny/typical story about me, the interview, and procrastination!

Badgers!

I went badger watching at the weekend. It was only the second time I have seen a live badger . . . although I have seen lots of dead ones! They probably don't count though. The first time I saw a badger, it was so dark it was really hard to see it. This time though I got pretty lucky.

Here's a video of one of the badgers coming out of it's sett: