Ballycastle Beach is one of our family’s favourite places to visit in Northern Ireland. My husband grew up nearby and is a real sea-lover, having spent his childhood and teenage years fishing from the rocks around this striking stretch of coastline. So, whenever we travel to the North Coast to visit our relatives, a wander along the beautiful beach is usually in order, often followed by ice-cream on the sea front and a dander around the harbour! It is such a special place for us and we have so many happy memories of spending time here throughout the seasons – swimming in summer, watching an unexpected fireworks display late one evening…

With Storm Ciara swooping in over the weekend we headed down to the beach last Sunday to watch the windswept waves and enjoy some time outdoors as a family. Thankfully, despite a strong breeze, it wasn’t really all that cold and we were able take a leisurely stroll the entire length of the beach and back, stopping along the way to create some pebble art, marvel at the size of the waves and generally have a good laugh together. It did me the world of good and was without a doubt the absolute highlight of my weekend!

We are so spoilt for choice when it comes to gorgeous wild places to visit in Northern Ireland – mountains, forests, coastline…we have it all to explore in abundance. I had been in the Mournes twice last week so a trip to the seaside was a nice change of scenery and we definitely worked up an appetite for the spread of food my lovely Mother-in-Law served us on return home, wind-swept and rosy-cheeked!