A better day

Tuesday, January 24:

After an early breakfast and a "farewell" to our host, it was back along the coast road toward the Giant's Causeway. We could now see what we had missed the night before in the dark. I know you keep hearing me say this, but this area is yet another uniquely beautiful part of Ireland.

We had decided -- well I had decided -- that we(I) wanted to see Dunluce Castle. This is a fantastic ruins just a few miles from the Giant's Causeway that I had long desired to visit. We both enjoyed exploring the grounds and a few snow flurries to boot.

After Dunluce, it was on to the Causeway. Much to our relief, the shuttle bus to the bottom was running by the time we arrived. We spent maybe half an hour crawling around the rock formations and taking photos and then returned to the visitors' center to grab a cup of tea for the road.

When we got to Balymena, we called William Olphert, who pastors Harvest, a small fellowship that is styled after the Calvary Chapel model. He and his wife, Rebbecca served us lunch at their house and we spent a couple of hours with them. Our time with the Olpherts was very enjoyable and William will be a good contact with other worship leaders in the North.

Once we left Balymena we drove through the heart of Belfast. Interesting city. It was much more appealing than we both thought it would be. I'm not sure what we had in mind, but found it rather attractive.

The drive to Dublin wasn't a lot of fun. We got a little lost on the south side of Belfast looking for somewhere to eat and ended up at a Subway. It drizzled most of the way and a good portion of the route was narrow, winding roads with heavey traffic. That combined with worn windshield wipers made for a tiring bit of driving.

We got back to the Kingleys' house and collapsed for the rest of the evening, or what was left of it.

So now we had to decide how late we could sleep and ensure that we would make it to our appointment in the City Centre the next morning. This meeting was with a person that would turn out to be one of our most significant contacts yet.