Well we are now tourists, no longer researchers so we can travel where ever the mood takes us. First we headed to Northern Ireland and the fantastic Giant’s Causeway. If you like golf and motor homes or hotels, then the coastal route is the way to go. Not a skerrick of land between the road and the coast was left vacant; they all had golf courses on them.
Now the causeway was very interesting. We travelled via the bus rather than walking – lazy Miss W. Listened to all the stories on the audio headset – loved the one about Finn McCool that was back at the visitor centre. An amazing basalt rock formation and all of this is looked after by the National Trust of UK.
Now you all know we never travel the same road twice if at all possible, so we headed back to the B&B via the ferry at Magilligan Point which is at the entrance to the Lough Foyle . There is a Martello Tower on the point.
Across on the ferry then heading inland to the Famine Village at Doagh. Thought this would give Miss W. a look at what her great great grandmother might have been living like during the famine years. Learned about things like the hearth tax and how landlords evicted their tenant farmers during the famine years.
Back through the hills and noticed a sign to Carrigans ( great great grandmother got into a lot of trouble here) – maybe that will be a place to visit tomorrow.
Activity for students:
Have you been to the Giant’s Causeway or something similar in your country? What made it so amazing?
There is a funny story
about the giant Finn McCool
in our class readers.
When a giant from Scotland came to visit,
Finn McCool played a trick.
He pretended to be a baby.
The story said that the Scottish Giant
had travelled over the Giant’s Causeway.
He built a causeway starting in Scotland.
Finn Mc Cool, the Irish Giant built
the causeway in the North of Ireland.
G’day Jack,
Did you see me in the photos at the causeway, trying to climb up the rocks? They got a bit steep; I am not used to climbing in Tasmania. I like my feet firmly on the ground.
Would you like to visit the causeway?
This is a legend.
People long ago told stories to explain things.
We learned the Causeway was formed from basalt rock
because a volcano erupted 60 million years ago.
G’day Sarah,
We have lots of legends in Australia too, especially from the aboriginal Dreamtime. You might like to read some of them here. http://www.abc.net.au/dustechoes/dustEchoesFlash.htm
Here is one especially for the platypus. http://www.didjshop.com/stories/platypus.html
G’day Jack and Sarah,
That was the story they told about Finn McCool in the visitor centre. Where he tricked the giant from Scotland into thinking he was a baby.
We have a lot of basalt rock in Tasmania and a reddish soil grows on top of the basalt. This is great for growing vegetables as well as dairy cattle http://www.intodairy.com.au/index.php/dairy-regions-in-tasmania/14-north-west-dairy-region