Sunday, Monday

Pancakes for brekky and then off to church! CSI folks and Shilladays went to Newcastle Presbyterian, Bebe and I went to Newcastle Methodist. I was happy to see our Bible study ladies, Lottie, Mita, Louie and Sadie were there. They were almost as happy to see me! Church was over at 12:30 and back to Murlough.

Deirdre is off today so Jo came in to prepare lunch. Baked Chicken, Roast potatoes, Mashed potatoes, cabbage, carrots and parsnips and corn with a nice strawberry mousse dessert. Love those carrots and parsnips!

Tom, Vange and Mandy walked down to the sea and then Richie took them off for an afternoon of sightseeing nearby. I stayed in to just relax. Bebe went to the apt. to read. After an hour or so, the doorbell rang and it was Torie and Emma….a couple of teens from Crosspoint. They had gone to the beach to do their homework and it started raining so they ran up to Murlough to get in out of the wet. I fixed them tea and within a few minutes the rain stopped, the sun came back out and they walked home.

Richie came for us at 5:30 to go to Waringstown Presbyterian for evening services. Deirdre lives in Waringstown and had gone home yesterday for her day off. As we drove, it rained. Then the rainbow appeared….it was a glorious one and seemed to end just outside the mini-bus. Very nice!
We arrived at church just as it was about to begin (6:30). I slid into the pew Deirdre directed me to and introduced myself to the fellow already there. Turns out that Terrill has been to Kenya ten or more times to visit/work with a Presbyterian missionary who is serving the Masai near Narok. I told Terrill that I knew the area. He mentioned Maralal and I said “I have been there.” We had a nice conversation (after church) about the area as well as other Christian concerns.

The worship was rich. The church has a great worship team, 4 women lead the singing accompanied by a piano, keyboard, guitar, drums and a flute! I was duly impressed with the flute and talked with the flutist after service. The preaching was good and the church was nearly full.

Afterwards we drove to Banbridge and ordered pizza from the mini-bus but online. You get a discount if you order online so we were parked just outside as Richie sent the message! He chose well on the pizza! He drove to a nearby lough and we ate in the mini-bus while looking out at the water where the swans were swimming….but not seven swans a swimming!

Monday, March 19, 2012
Up early to pack lunches and begin our long fun day! Deirdre, Bebe, and I joined the CSI team of Tom, Vange and Mandy, Katrina (a Murlough House intern), her cousin Emily visiting from her job in Germany, and Anna and Tori, teens from Crosspoint, along with Richie, driver par excellence, for the day. Our first stop was Belfast for a couple hours of shopping and sightseeing.

After purchasing a sweatshirt for me and an Irish doll for Berkeley, I made my way to Victoria Square. It’s an upscale shopping mall with an observation deck at the top. I entered at street level and took the elevator to the top. I could see Samson and Delilah, the cranes used in building the Titanic, the whole of Belfast and the mountains surrounding the city. I decided to take the stairs down….all 90 of them, then 3 escalators to get to the ground floor. Since today is a bank holiday, there was a small craft show. I browsed that a bit and bought some fudge, then headed back toward town centre. I stopped for a latte, and then met up with Bebe. We stopped at the Tourist Centre and then made our way back to the mini-bus.

Next stop, lunch in a small village located on the sea. We enjoyed the fresh air as we ate our brown bag lunches outside. Richie told us we had 15 minutes and 25 minutes later we were again on our way.

Next stop…Carrick-a-Rede in County Antrim. This is a rope bridge. The bridge is high but the trek from the carpark to the bridge is more strenuous than the bridge itself! We climbed and climbed…seemed like cliffs to me for about one kilometer. Then there was the descent down many stone steps to the bridge. That went well…meaning I did not slip or fall…and I enjoyed the view from the tiny island. I returned by the same route and the same kilometer distance…and I started ahead of our groups because I knew I would be slow. As I went UP the stones steps, I counted—87, nearly 90. I had to stop a couple of times to catch my breath! But it was worth it!

(Incidentally, I often count steps…I don’t know why, I just do. In Downpatrick there are two ways to get from the Cathedral to the Visitor Centre. One way is along a path that winds back and forth. The second way is the steps…90 of them…which I climbed on Saturday!)

Pat and
Deirdre on the way down from Rope Bridge

I wondered today if there is any significance to 90…but didn’t come up with anything. It did give me pause however!

Back in the mini-bus and onward to Giant’s Causeway. Most of us walked down from the carpark and took the bus back up. No steps here but still a 15 minute walk. We wandered around, took photos, saw the various formations and “areas” of volcanic results. The stones are the “amphitheater, the harp, and the organ.” This was fascinating in 2010 and still most impressive. There are only a few such formations in the world.

The castle at Dunluce was closed so that stop was very brief…just enough for a photo from the road. Some of us napped while Richie drove. There was also lots of music in the mini-bus. Richie played lots of Irish tunes (connecting his iPod to the radio speakers), then several others passed their iPods up so we had quite the assortment…all good!! I didn't bring my iPod this trip but I doubt if this group would have been impressed with my Beatles collection!  : )

We stopped at Murlough House to collect Andrea, the other intern, and went to the Galley in Annalong for fish and chips---a great end to a wonderful day!