Yesterday we toured the northern Irish coastline taking in The Giant's Causeway, Dunluce Castle and Cushenden before heading 'home' inland via the Dark Hedges.

The Giant's Causeway is an amazing natural formation of basalt pillars and is (for want of a better word) gigantic. The columns vary between four, five or six edges but all interlock perfectly. Parts of the walking trail have close due to some pretty hefty landslides but the views of the coastline were simply breathtaking.

We decided to skip past Dunluce Castle and visit it on the way back and pulled in at Carrick-A-Rede rope bridge. We had all decided not to go over the bridge so admired to views instead before heading on to Cushenden to see if Scotland was visible.

The distances keep taking us by surprise. What looks to be a two hour journey on the map turns out to be forty kilometres. Everything is just so close together. I also keep missing photo opportunities because the roads are encased in hedges that need trimming about a foot.

The locals keep saying how hot it's been this week....until they discover we are Aussies. However, we have had a couple of gloriously sunny days so when we arrived in Cushenden, Scotland was clearly visible.

We ate out at a Tapas restuarant last night - not very Irish I know but it was divine.

Today we head off from Portrush and are planning to visit the walled city of Derry before heading on to Sligo.