Saturday 20 August: Belfast and points north

On Saturay morning we were picked up from the B&B by our friends Julie and Johnny Reid and their family. They had very kindly offered to take us sightseeing along the east and north coasts.

From Carrickfergus we headed north, through various small towns, arriving at Carrick-a-Rede. This is the site of the famous rope bridge, which provides access to a tiny off-shore island. The coast here is very beautiful, with crystal clear water, steep cliffs and lots of very green grass.

Next stop was the world famous Giant's causeway. This is a world heritage site, featuring an extensive area of strange hexagonal basalt columns rising out of the sea. The geology is fascinating. It's a long walk from the car park to the causeway itself, but that didn't deter the thousands of people who had come to see it.

The weather was perfect! So much so that Paul became the first Australian in history to get sunburned in Ireland. :)

We finished off the afternoon with a visit to Portrush Strand - Julie's favourite beach. There's no carpark here - the beach is the carpark - and there were hundreds of cars and vans parked along its 2 kilometre length.

On Saturday night we went out to dinner with Julie and Johnny and a big group of their family and friends. Great fun and some wonderful people.