12 of us set off to Gatwick Airport to catch the 8:40 flight to Belfast International Airport. We had hired a coach for the day to take us all around the coast and into Belfast City Centre.  We met up with 3 ladies from The Classy Sassy Hatters who had arrived the previous evening.

Our first stop was to see Carrickfergus Castle which was built by John de Courcy in 1177, conqueror of east Ulster, and garrisoned until 1928, this is a striking feature of the landscape from land, sea and air. Carrickfergus Castle greets all visitors with its strength and menace. It represents over 800 years of military might. Besieged in turn by the Scots, Irish, English and French, the Castle saw action right up to World War II.

We stopped for lunch at the Londonderry Arms Hotel in Carnlough. We then went on a tour of Belfast stopping at the Lord Mayor's Office for afternoon tea. Councillor Tom Harvey presented Helen & Tina with a plaque, and each of the Red Hatters with a china plate with Belfast inscriptions, as a memory of the day.

Finally, we visited the Harland & Wolf shipyards which is now a museum where we saw the dry dock that housed the Titanic whilst she was being built.