Dear reader,
There’s no time like the present! Unfortunately this fantastic weekend is drawing to a close. Mum and Jens take to the air today and more down to earth the rain keeps pouring down. My metal horse is dug up again and all my gear is loaded: time to set off once more! But before that there’s hugging and kissing! The goodbye is not for long as in 3 weeks time we’ll have another family reunion in Friesland.

Just outside Dublin the sun peeks out from behind the clouds and I cycle northbound via County Meath and County Cavan. A friendly rolling landscape with switchback roads and views on the lakes: that’s the scenery I’m passing through these days. After spending the night in Cootehill I arrive at the Northern Ireland borderland. I hope my guidebook got it wrong saying that this desolate region is also called " the land of the bandits!"
Soon after passing the border I get this indefinable feeling of insecurity. Walled police stations and friendly, but watchful people. They are always on their guard, something I experience personally that same night. As usual I ask a villager if I can put up my tent for the night on his property. « Sorry, I’m afraid that’s impossible! » He explains me that it’s a bit difficult but refers me to his neighbour who surely wont mind. The neighbour does mind, and so does the next one and so on: in the end I’ ve been knocking on half the village’s doors! The couple of minutes it usually takes me to find a place for the night now turn into hours. In the long run I find a friendly villager who doesn’t mistake me for a terrorist. Thanks!

I’m on my way to one of the most favourite tourist’s haunts on the island: The Devil’s Causeway at the northern coast is part of the World Heritage. It’ an irregularly formed path made by 37000 multilateral blocks which fit in accurately. The basalt blocks have a hexagonal shape and are neatly ordered in a honeycomb pattern. They have a diameter of about 30-cm and were formed millions of years ago when lava flows cooled off after a volcanic eruption. The sight is so breathtaking I can easily imagine while the inhabitants named it ‘Giant’s Causeway’. The legend tells us that a giant called Finn McCool made this path so it could take him oversees to the Scottish Island of Staffa where he had a secret lady friend! If you ask me that’s what I call being cool!

Via Ballycastle and the magnificent ‘glens’ van Antrim – nine green valleys ending in the sea I arrive at the small harbour of Larne.
But unlike the giant I won’t manage to walk over to Scotland without getting my feet wet! See you!