# @kirstenalana on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/Byu-zwXhfGL
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/2429588-kirstenalana-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/4e9bb5244d.jpg
- **Posted:** 2019-06-15T14:39:51.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Kirsten Alana (@KirstenAlana) — https://gondola.cc/KirstenAlana

## Caption

The Causeway Coast in Northern Ireland includes the Giant’s Causeway, Dunluce Castle, the Dark Hedges and the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. We did them all in one day on our hosted tour with @StellerStories. And we also went up in the air to see the coast by helicopter.
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I don’t recommend packing all this into one day but I do think you should see all of the above! I hope that Northern Ireland will be able to balance the effects of tourism with the need for the earth to be protected because it would be such a shame for this area not to be preserved for future generations.
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The bridge links the mainland to the tiny island of Carrickarede and it’s been thought to exist in some form or another for 350 years or more. Salmon fisherman once used it to go out further and get closer to the salmon during the season that ran from June to September but by 2002 there were not enough salmon to sustain a fishing industry and the area came under the protection of the National Trust. You can cross the bridge for a fee but I found the real draw was just the area as a whole; the geology of which is stunning, with water so blue it looked like the Caribbean through my polarized sunglasses.
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Not far away, much of the Giant’s Causeway is also managed by the National Trust. It mirrors the basalt columns at Fingal’s Cave on the isle of Staffa which are said to be the other half of a bridge built by Irish giant Fionn mac Cumhaill so he could fight Scottish giant Benandonner. There’s a lot of variety in the middle of the story from what I’ve read but it almost always ends with Benandonner fleeing back to Scotland and destroying the Causeway as he went.
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It was easy to see why this area is so popular and why Game of Thrones filmed at the Coast. The natural beauty vividly called to mind for me the mythical stories and fairy tale books that I buried my nose in as a kid!
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#loveireland #bestofireland #discoverni #discoverireland #nationaltrustni #wondermore

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## Tags

nationaltrustni, wondermore, discoverireland, bestofireland, loveireland, discoverni

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