北愛爾蘭海岸的奇石 The Interesting Rocks at Giant's Causeway

愛爾蘭環島遊(第2天) Round Tour in Ireland (2nd Day) - 北愛爾蘭海岸 Coastal Line of Northern Ireland

行完吊橋，我們繼續行程前往另一主要景點 ─ Giant's Causeway.  只需15分鐘車程便可到達。
After visiting the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, we continued our journey to the next main tourist spot - Giant's Causeway which could be reached in 15 minutes by car.

其實，在Giant's Causeway遊覽是不用入場費的，但如果欲參觀那裡的遊客中心(內有展覽廳)、享用中心的設施包括停車場、咖啡店、取得導覽圖、音頻導覽機等等，則需要購買門票(成人9英鎊，預先上網購票可減1.5英鎊)。這裡的停車場是只提供給有購買門票的人士使用。有些人會把車停泊於附近的小鎮Bushmills Village，然後坐巴士到Giant's Causeway。
In fact, admission tickets were not required to visit Giant's Causeway.  However, if one would like to visit the tourist centre and use the facilities, eg. exhibition hall, cafe, car park, guide map, audio guide, etc, admission ticket (£9 for adult; advance online booking is £1.5 less) were needed to be purchased to enter the centre.  The car park there was solely for people who have bought admission tickets.  Some people would park their cars at the nearby town, Bushmills Village, and then took the bus to access Giant's Causeway.

由於行畢Carrick-a-Rede吊橋過來，還未午餐，我們便把車開進遊客中心旁的Causeway Hotel，因在這裡消費用餐(要保留單據)，便可把車停泊在酒店的停車場。它正位於遊客中心後，之後前往Giant's Causeway的起點也只是步行一、兩分鐘而已。
As we had not taken lunch after visiting the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, we drove the car into the car park of Causeway Hotel which was just a door step next to the tourist centre.  As we were spending at the hotel restaurant (remember to keep the receipt), we could park the car at the hotel.  Since the hotel was just behind the tourist centre, we, after lunch, could walk to the starting point of Giant's Causeway in just one to two minutes.

在酒店餐廳，點了幾道菜，包括典型愛爾蘭菜式Irish Stew，還有愛爾蘭著名的Guinness啤酒。這裡用餐不算便宜，但我們就是把免卻門票的幾十英鎊用在這頓午餐上。

At the hotel restaurant, we ordered a few dishes, including the typical Irish Stew as well as the famous Guinness Beer.  Lunch at the hotel was not inexpensive.  But, we just spent the savings from buying the admission tickets, on this lunch.

Blue Trail (Picture from www.nationaltrust.org.uk)

由於我們可以逗留的時間不太長(約一個半小時)，所以選擇了較短而最多人行的藍色步道。這是一下斜的步道，約步行三十分鐘便可到達Causeway stones.
Since we were not staying very long at Giant's Causeway (about one and a half hour), we had taken the short and most popular trail, ie. the Blue Trail.  This was a trail walking down the slope to access the Causeway stones in about 30minutes' walk.

順著步道落斜，可欣賞沿途的海岸風景。落斜約一半路程，便會見到「駱駝」石。

When walking down the slope, we could view the seashore scenery.  When it was half way down, "The Camel" Rock could be seen.

繼續順著步道下行，很快便可到達怪石嶙峋的Giant's Causeway - the Causeway Stones.  這裡的石大多都是六角形，有些整齊地排列成一大塊伸出海邊的「平」，有些高高低低地形成了一山丘及峭壁，不少遊客喜歡攀上山丘及峭壁拍照，由於臨近海邊，且陰天有雨，石面濕滑，攀上石上險象環生。

We continued to walk down the trail and arrived the Giant's Causeway - the Causeway Stones where we could find a lot of rocks formations.  There were plenty of hexagonal rocks; some of them laid tidily forming a "flat" pathway reaching out to the sea while some of them formed small hills or cliff.  Visitors liked to climb up to these small hills and cliffs to take photos.  As it was nearby the seaside and the weather was cloudy and rainy, climbing up the rocks was quite dangerous.

在這裡參觀完後，為節省時間，我們就乘坐來回藍色步道的巴士走原路回去起點處，巴士收費為每人1英鎊，班次頗多，約為15分鐘一班。
After visiting the stones, in order to save time, we had taken a bus ride back to the starting point.  The bus runs to-and-fro along the blue trail and the fare is £1 per person, with frequency at about 15 minutes.

之後，我們便開車前去Dunluce Castle。車程大約只需10分鐘。
Then, we drove to the Dunluce Castle which could be reached in about 10minutes.

有關這座中世紀城堡的記載始於十四世紀，估計是建於1300-1500年間，它傲立於懸崖邊，以吊橋連接。有傳聞它的部份建築曾崩塌並跌入海中。
This medieval castle was mentioned in the history of 14th century.  It was estimated to be built during 1300-1500.  The castle stood at the very edge of cliff, connected to the main land by bridge.  Legend stated that part of the castle, at the edge of the cliff, collapsed and fell into the sea.

有用網址 Useful websites:
Giant's Causeway - http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/giants-causeway/
Dunluce Castle - https://www.discovernorthernireland.com/Dunluce-Castle-Medieval-Irish-Castle-on-the-Antrim-Coast-Bushmills-P2819

..... 待續 to be continued .....