On Tuesday, we spent the day driving around County Down, starting off at the Stone Circle in Ballynoe. Assembled around the same time as Stonehenge, it's believed that it came to fruition around 4000 years ago. The circle consists of over 50 stones and it's believed that it was constructed to honor the spring and fall equinoxes. Dr. Campbell also gave us a brief geology lesson about the landscape surrounding the circles, explaining that glacial movement and melting had created the drumlins all around us. Next, we visited Struell Wells, historical healing wells that St. Patrick himself had frequented. We also saw St. John's Point Church and Jordan's Castle in Ardglass before reaching St. John's Point Lighthouse, a giant black and yellow lighthouse that's also visible from our house in Newcastle.Â
Later in the day, we visited the Museum of Orange Heritage in Belfast to get a taste of what the other side of the North had to offer. We were brought on a long-winded tour of how the order came to be as well as told about all the notable figures that had been part of the Orange Order. Though my personal beliefs differ from what was on display at the museum, it was interesting to hear about the other side.
To end the day, we had a quiz on what we had learned in the past few days and completed a full-size maze as a team, pictured below with incredible surrounding views.