Ballintoy - Belfast - Newcastle (UK)

We woke early to beautiful dawn skies over the bay. It was so lovely that we popped out quickly before breakfast to walk across the field opposite the house to get a better view out along the coast stretching forever to both our left and right. It was windy and very fresh!

We enjoyed a lovely breakfast in the conservatory looking out over the beautiful garden, tiny birds outthere pecking away at the bird feeders. We had what is known as 'The Ulster Fry', Northern Ireland's equivalent of the Full Irish Breafast that you get down south - sausage, bacon, tomatoes, mushrooms, eggs. We asked for the small version! Yum!

We had decided to make a dash back for the first tour of the day at the Old Bushmills Distillery that we had missed out on yesterday. It was a very interesting tour. My Friend particularly enjoyed it. I learnt interesting stuff about how whiskey is made and things like that Scotch Whisky is distilled twice and Irish Whisky is distilled 3 times; also that in the making, the barley is heated over peat for Scotch whisky and over hot, clean, dry air for the Irish. The tour ended with a free whiskey; My Friend had a 12 year old single malt and I had a hot toddy. Hmmm - interesting at 10:30 in the morning ... for someone who had never drunk whisky before coming to Ireland, I'm not doing too bad.

Next stop today was to be the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge further along the northern coast road. Grey clouds had built up to the west of the bay and after buying our tickets, we raced along the path trying to beat the fast-approaching weather but a squall of rain and wind hit just as we approached the bridge. Nevertheless, with our parkas zipped up close around us and despite being buffetted furiously by the wet wind, it was a huge amount of fun - more so on the return crossing when the weather started to clear again as the weather passed over.

The bridge links the mainland to the tiny island of Carrickarede which is an old volcanic plug and spans 20 m and is 30 m above the rocks below. It is thought salmon fishermen have been building bridges to the island so they could check on their salmon nets - for over 350 years, but there are very few salmon left now. The area is exceptional in natural beauty with stunning views of Rathlin Island and Scotland.

Stunning views -

We then took the Causeway Coastal Road A2 towards Belfast. It was a beautiful drive south along the east coast and it was now a beautiful day once more (!) although it was very windy still, and we could see white caps on the bright blue water of the bay near Cushendall and water spray scurrying across.

We veered off on the inland route from here, following Tom-Tom which had been instructed to get us to Belfast the fastest wat as we had to be there by 2 p.m. We drove through lovely green valleys zipping around slow tractors on the narrow roads as we went. This area is the Glenariff Forest Park, home to waterfalls and walks; it would have been lovely to have the time to explore - but we had to push on through to Ballymena where we picked up another squall of rain.

We parked at the Titanic Quarter where we had arranged with Paddy of Belfast Black Taxi Tours to be collected at 2 p.m. for our Black Taxi Tour for which Belfast is famous. This area was used for many years by the shipbuilders Harland and Wolff and has been converted into a huge visitor attraction at a building cost of £77 million with an additional £24 million spent on pre-planning!

First we drove along Shankill Road which runs through the loyalist working class area known as 'the Shankill'. During 'the Troubles', the Shankill was a centre for loyalist paramilitarism. This was the scene of much vigilante activity and there were several bombings and shootings with many deaths. On 23 October 1993, a bomb exploded in Frizzell's Fish Shop, below the UDA's Shankill headquarters. The bomb exploded prematurely as it was being planted. Nine people were killed in addition to one of the bombers, Thomas Begley. None of the loyalist paramilitaries targeted were hurt, as they had postponed a planned meeting. Begley's accomplice, Sean Kelly, survived and was imprisoned.

Everywhere, there were memorials to those who had died - some simply innocent civilians who just were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

We stopped next at the Peace Line - a wall constructed as a border barriers to separate Catholic and Protestant neighbourhoodsmade of iron, brick and/or steel and are up to 7.6 m high. There are gates sometimes staffed by police that allow passage during daylight but are closed at night - unbelievable!; still today, they are shut at 6 p.m. and opened again at 6 a.m. - every day except Sunday, when they remain closed. These still have the barbed wire over them; during the Troubles, people crossing from one area to the next were searched.

Next was the Catholic area - the Falls Road area. Several streets around the Falls Road were burnt out by loyalists in August 1969. In response to the worsening situation, the British Government deployed the British Army on the Falls Road. Several streets around the Falls Road were burnt out by loyalists in August 1969. In response to the worsening situation, the British Government deployed the British Army on the Falls Road.

There was the story of Philomerna the pharmacist who was delivering medication to someone in the Protestant area and who was followed by 2 men as she returned to her pharmacy in the Catholic area - the men followed her in and shot her 5 times in the chest and once in the face - sobering.

On 15 August 1969, a loyalist sniper shot dead Gerald McAuley (15), a member of the Fianna (IRA's youth wing), as he helped people flee their homes on Bombay Street.

Our last mural was the Bobby Sands one. I'm sure a few other Baby Boomers remember this story. He was an Irish member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army who died on a hunger strike while imprisoned at HM Prison Maze. He was the leader of the 1981 hunger strike in which Irish republican prisoners protested against the removal of Special Category Status. During his strike he was elected to the British Parliament as an Anti H-Block candidate. His death and those of 9 other hunger strikers were followed by a new surge of IRA recruitment and activity.

So the Black Taxi Tour was a great success - thanks Jenny I !!

The Titanic Exhibition brings together (if out of order) our Titanic history tour which started in Cobh down south which was its last port of call before its fateful journey across to New York. Here in Belfast was where it was built. It was a tremendous exhibition - it really gave you an insight into luxury ships at the time and the building process involved and then the unfolding of the terrible tragedy when it struck an iceberg. So thanks Trish! Well worth it!

It was terrible traffic getting out of Belfast but we were rewarded with a very pretty road south to Portaferry. It was a beautiful afternoon. Superb.

We passed through the wee village of Greyabbey and saw a shop with the name Milliken Bros on the front - a stretch canvas maker!

We arrived at Strangford Lough as the ferry was approaching the port. It was an absolutely picturesque crossing with beautiful evening light. Both Portaferry and Strangford townships on each side of Strangford Lough are super pretty.

Once we reached Strangford on the other side, we continued south to Newcastle (UK) on the Mourne Coastal Road. We had sensational views of the Mourne Mountains ahead in the setting sun as we came into Newcastle, trawling slowly behind tractors at times as they made their home at the end of the day.

It had been a very long day and we topped it off with a terrific Italian meal just around the corner from our B&B. We are now in County Down.

Two nights here!