Holiday cottages UK and Ireland: Causeway capers
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Search for holiday cottages in Northern Ireland: Causeway Capers … continued
Glenarm Castle
Try everything – from rock climbing and mountain biking to windsurfing and rafting – with the Ardclinis Activity Centre (tel 028 2177 1340) in Cushendall.
At Tildarg Fishery (tel 028 9334 0604), north of Ballyclare, you’ll pay £13 for a day ticket that allows you to keep two catches. It’s a 17-acre lake set in hills on the edge of the glens, and has boats that will take a wheelchair. Nearby is the 32-acre lake at Straid Fishery (tel 028 9334 0099) – one of Ireland’s top trout fisheries. Fish from boat or bank. Introductory classes for novices are available. £14 for a 2-fish day ticket. For sea fishing, head for Cushendall in Red Bay, where Hamish Currie runs Predator Sea Angling (tel 028 2177 1828). He’s got top class gear to hire and beginners will get expert tuition – which must be good because he guarantees a fish every trip. Species caught include shark, cod, pollack, mackerel and turbot. Hamish also runs sightseeing and birdwatching trips.
On a tour around the stills, vats and barrels you’ll learn the differences between the manufacture of the amber liquid in Ireland and Scotland and then taste the difference – you get to try various blends and single malts. This is the only place where you can buy – for £30 – a bottle of Bushmills 12 year Distillery Reserve. I resisted the temptation, but I can’t tell you if Tsar Peter the Great did when he came here in 1697. 
Causeway coast
The island’s cliffs are home to the biggest seabird colony in Northern Ireland, and from viewpoints in spring and summer, you can see – and hear – puffins, guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes, manx shearwaters and fulmars. Explore the island – it’s four miles long and one mile across at its widest point – and you’ll see seals, sea caves and three lighthouses. Rathlin is popular with divers – it has wrecks, reefs and underwater cliff ‘drop-offs’ to suit all abilities. Within the bay is HMS Drake – one of the most dived wrecks off the Ulster Coast. It was hit by a torpedo in 1917. Aquaholics dive centre in Portstewart (tel 028 7083 2584) does dives here and all along the Antrim coast – £35 for two dives if you are certified, or £49 for a ‘try dive’ (for 12-year-old and up).
A mile away is the Andrew Jackson Centre (tel 028 9335 8049), the recreated home of the former US president’s parents, who left Carrickfergus for the American colonies in 1765. Want to know more?I was a guest at Largy Coastal Apartments, a collection of four luxury self-catering apartments in Carnlough, Glencoy –
the second of the nine Glens of Antrim. The apartments are well equipped, very comfortable and have views over the North Channel.
On a clear day you can see Scotland. Guests get discounted green fees at nearby golf courses, and ferry discounts. Contact Mrs
Gladys Smyth: There are ferries to Belfast from Liverpool (two crossings a day), and Stranraer and Troon in Scotland, and to Larne from Troon,
Cairnryan and Fleetwood in Lancashire: |
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