Tuesday 7th September 2010 Larne to Ballycastle

On Tuesday we took the 10 am boat from Troon to Larne,  arriving at noon. We set off on our tandem along the very scenic and varied Antrim Coast.  We passed under very high cliffs on our left, sometimes through bridges cut in the rock. The sea looked very blue and the rocks very black; it was a joy to see cormorants on the rocks. Roadside flowering fuchsia bushes were common. We were surprised that there were no shops before Glenarm, where we bought supplies for a picnic and the lady said the shops had closed recently due to the recession. By then it was well past 1 pm and we sat at a picnic table on the grass by the shore, watching the very busy Little Gulls on the beach.

The road continued to follow the edge of the coast until Waterfoot, where it passes the opening of Glenariff – a wide glacier-formed valley with high green sides.

At Cushendall, we took a minor road up and over the cliff and down a steep hill into Cushendun. At the bottom, we heard a hissing sound and the back tyre blew out - the rim and spokes had become hot from too much application of the rim brake and melted a hole in the tube! After fixing the puncture we passed over a river with little boats and rested  by the shore in Cushendun - very attractive with a few white houses by the shore. We tried to take the minor road along the coast via Tor Head, but the ascent was really challenging and we gave up: taking the more direct main road to Ballycastle. This involved a very long climb up to 260 metres onto a big moor with heather, sheep, bogs and spiky grass where we had to stop to fix another puncture. It started to rain and we sheltered under a tree for a while, but when it started to drip, we carried on and got very wet. The rain stopped as we approached Ballycastle and we finally arrived in a drenched state at the B and B by 7.45, to be greeted by our landlady with ‘I heard you were coming, come in and dry off’ and after a towel-down and a change of clothing we went out to catch a late meal of fish chowder and fish and chips at the Central Wine Bar.