Crossing the Irish Sea to Belfast and the Causeway Coast

The crossing from Cairnryan in Scotland to Belfast on Stenaline Cruises was a little rough at first because of the wind and rain and high swell in the sea. Everyone had to hold onto their drinks and food or it slid off the tables. On arrival in Belfast we picked up our hired car, this time a Kia Cee’d, and headed north to the Causeway Coast to stay at the Welcome Rest B&B.

After a wet day travelling to Northern Ireland, it was great to wake up to sunlight pouring in through the skylights of our B&B...a house we had all to ourselves.

We started the day’s coastal drive with a visit to Dark Hedges, an avenue of birch trees planted especially along the road. It is now famous for its inclusion in the Game of Thrones series. The avenue had a kind of magical atmosphere to it as the branches intertwined to form arches. Walking to the avenue, Irish craftsmen (or maybe leprechauns) had constructed magical houses and creatures from tree trunks.

Dark Hedges - an avenue of intertwined birch trees that have an ethereal atmosphere

It was also very windy!

The drive along the Causeway Coast had some spectacular scenery

At Carrick-A-Rede and Larrybane (means ancient white site) you can see the Larrybane disused Limestone Quarry that was filmed for a Game of Thrones episode. Further around the coastline, a rope bridge connects Carrick-A-Rede to Carrick Island. For over 350 years fisherman have strung the rope bridge 30m above the sea so they could get to the best places to catch salmon. One way to overcome a fear of heights is to walk over it except when others on the bridge try to shake or swing it!

Larrybane Limestone Quarry

Views of the coastline between Larrybane and Carrick-a-rede

On the coastal path to the Carrick-a-rede rope bridge

Thanks Patrick for the great shot!

On Carrick Island



Further west along the coastline is The Giant Causeway, a well known landform of Northern Ireland. Irish legend has it that the giant Finn McCool laid the Causeway to create a path across to Scotland to battle with Scottish giant Benandonner. But the more feasible explanation is that the basalt columns are a result of volcanic eruptions with the basalt lava cooling rapidly making it shrink and crack evenly into polygonal shapes. Eventually the sea ice from the Ice Age ground them down to form the Giant Causeway.

The Causeway is like millions of evenly shaped stepping stones of different heights. There are about 40,000 basalt columns that extend from the headland out to sea.

The basalt columns formed in the headland nearby.