We went on a tour - Giants Causeway

So starting on this trip we had this insane desire to do things all our own way and not be 'traditional' tourists. But, the Giants Causeway is way out of the way of any regular buses or major towns and we figured for 15 pounds we could afford to be traditional tourists for the day. This is the tour - 

 We started out by going to a castle, which is very old and we weren't allowed inside, but we did get kicked out of the bus to do a 'photo shoot' with the castle. I was significantly more interested in my first decent view of the open sea since arriving in Ireland, which is below.

Next we went to a remote location that has a rope bridge that use to be used by fishermen to throw their lines off of into the sea, we had quite a nice walk along the seaside to get to the bridge. 

 It was VERY windy and quite cold up there, but the sun was mainly shining, with some clouds, a perfect day really.

 This is the bridge, you can see it spans over a small section of ocean. Because of the wind, it actually sways and twists quite a bit.

 I was sitting by this Kiwi woman (New Zealander) on the bus, and I took her picture after she successfully braved her fear of heights and swaying things over large bodies of water. Perfect work Jeannie! But then of course she had to cross back over still!

 The coastline on the walk back to the bus. Serious there is something to be said negatively about being on a schedule to see beautiful things and then get back in the bus in X amount of time!

Then we drove on, had a traditional Irish lunch. The sun was still out, but it was much colder, at least I felt much colder by the time we got to the Giants Causeway. 

 We took a different turn then everyone else and ended up on a trail high above the Causeway and every one else. If you look carefully at this photo below, you can make out small black specks on the roadway that are actually people. :P

 But because we are awesome, we got to take pictures with the WHOLE Causeway, not just a section. :) We were a little proud of ourselves for still being non-traditional even though we were on a tour.

 Random coast shots, a little further down from the Causeway, we hiked up along the ridge of the cliff for quite a ways...

 It was COLD, see the ice? No joke. Then the sun disappeared and it felt even colder.

 We finally made our way down the cliff to the Causeway, it is very strange. A formation of hexagonal rocks all the way out into the ocean. They told us stories of the two giants from Ireland and Scotland who had it out about who was the biggest and through the fights the Causeway apparently got smashed up and so that is why it doesn't reach to Scotland anymore. :P

 Ruthiey walking down to see the sea.

 It was a stunning and wonderful place, and the ocean is always incredible. We sat for a while and just listened to the waves. Then, completely chilled to the bone, we headed back to Belfast in the bus. :D But it was worth it. We'd had a great day out on the coast.