The sunset at Elaghvale was brilliant – I missed yesterday’s post so decided to tag it onto this one.

I got up nice and early and hit the road just after 8.00AM, my destination being the Giant’s Causeway, one of the famous UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Stopped off at the village of Greysteel for some breakfast. Throughout the Republic, and it appears the North too, the filling stations with franchises like Centra and Spar always do a hot buffet. Items to choose from include bacon, sausage, egg, white pudding, black pudding, hash browns, potato scones and fried bread. As you can see, all nutrition groups are covered. For £2.50-£3.00 it really isn’t worth cooking in the van.

While I was enjoying the said breakfast, I remembered that I didn’t go to Maplin for some repair items. I also forgot to visit the River Roe which is where the Munro name came from, allegedly.

It wasn’t long before I had motored to the Giant’s Causeway with literally a couple of minutes to spare before the 10.00 guided tour departed. This took a little over an hour and amounted to my exercise for the day. I couldn’t get a clear picture of the causeway itself because half of Tokyo had turned up to make a film on it.

My next port of call was the Old Bushmills Distillery, I really fancied a tour of the place. Arriving at 12.05 I saw that the next guided tour was at 3 in the afternoon. This would have got me down to Newtownabbey too late so I abandoned the idea.

I found a nice chippy on the outskirts of Newtownabbey and treated myself to a sausage supper for lunch. Got to the Jordanstown Loughshore campsite just after 2PM and set the van up.

Now, this is an unmanned campsite and I’d never been to one before. It’s also supposed to be “the best caravan site in Ireland”. A pretty tall claim for a place that doesn’t even have any staff?

Well I have to give them credit, the place is owned and run by Newtownabbey Council and it is absolutely spotless. The loos had just been cleaned with blue “duck” squirted under the rims, everything smelling of cleaning fluid. The washing machine and dryer were my first call, these were £2 a go which isn’t too bad and are both made by Miele. I recognise quality when I see it…

At 4PM the cleaner man was round AGAIN so they obviously like to keep this place in tip top condition. Tried the showers out, they had a good blast to them and are free so no need to screw about with tokens or rush yourself.

It’s £20 a night, however you get free shower, free electricity and a water tap / drainage on your serviced pitch.

It’s 18.20 as I write this, not sure if I will cook up something to eat just yet or take a walk along the lough. The sun is out and it’s a pleasant evening. Tomorrow I’ve got the whole day in central Belfast. Bout Ye!