Ireland day 1569. Wednesday 14 January 2026- Seconds Out

Today’s summary	Attempt number 2 to transport our bulky possessions by car out from Ireland and in to storage in the UK. Another early start to catch the 10:15 am Stena sailing from Dublin Port. Today, we actually left 18 minutes early for a straightforward 4 hour voyage to Holyhead. Then a long drive to Hertfordshire and our AirBnB in Kings Langley. Arrived about 7:30 pm and went on a short walk to the nearby village of Bedmond. So far so good. We return to Dublin tomorrow.
Today’s weather	Dry cool and bright with some sunny intervals. Moderate southerly wind. Appx 7c

Today’s overview location (The blue mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (The blue line shows where we were) (Click button below to download GPX of this evening’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected): Bedmond Herts wet walk

Commentary

Second time lucky today. We are trying again to get our bulky possessions out from Ireland back in to a storage depot in the UK. Last week we were thwarted when our ferry was cancelled at the last minute so today we’re trying again.

That meant another early start – I’m actually getting quite used to this morning routine now but I don’t think I will ever enjoy it. I was up at 6:30 am making the cups of tea then it was in to the Yaris (which we hadn’t unpacked from last week) and off to the port. Apart from a hiccup on the M50 when it appeared as if the port tunnel might be closed, we made it to the Stena terminal in good time for out 10:15 sailing. We were soon on board and the ferry actually left 18 minutes early.

We’d paid extra for the Premium cabin – which was 100% worth it for a bit of peace and quiet – and actually quite enjoyed the 4 hour cruise.

Next on the agenda is a 5 hour drive from Holyhead along the A55 and down the M6/M1 to Hertfordshire, where we have an AirBnB booked for tonight in Kings Langley. We drop off our stuff into the storage depot, which is nearby, at 9 am tomorrow then have to repeat the whole journey to be in time for a 22:15 sailing from Holyhead back to Dublin tomorrow night.

I’m going to sign off now and relax before the drive. The next update will probably be tomorrow evening, once we have set sail. Watch this space!

(PS we safely arrived at out AirBnB in Hertfordshire at about 7:30pm after a straightforward drive. We had a snacky dinner then went on a short and rather miserable evening walk in heavy drizzle just as far as the nearby village of Bedmond and back. There wasn’t a lot to see).

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


We ground to a halt for at least 10 minutes just outside the port tunnel. So were about to re-route onto a 47 minute slow diversion when the tunnel traffic suddenly started moving again. A bit heart-stopping but we had allowed plenty of time so we should just about have made it to the port before the ferry left, even if we’d had to take the diversion	Down on Deck 3 – never been on such a low deck before. But the ferry was very quiet today so presumably more space than normal

We paid extra for the Premium cabin – which was worth every penny in my view. From our prime position right at the front, we had an excellent view of all the comings-and-goings	Time for some protein! A great start to the day

Land Ahoy! Approaching Holyhead port	Bedmond Town Centre on a cold wet January night wasn’t really buzzing with activity

Fortunately we boarded on time today, and actually left early