Ireland day 0051. Thursday 18 November 2021- Testdrive
| Today’s summary | Took the train to Drumcondra to have a look at a 20 year old Toyota Yaris being sold by a friend of a friend. Took it for a quick test drive and will buy if various tests and documents can be sorted out next week. Val to work in the evening and I took a short walk as suffering a bit from vaccination after-effects | ||||
| Today’s weather | Another dry and overcast day. No wind, rain or sun. About 13C | ||||
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| Today’s overview location (the red cross in a circle shows where Val and I are at the moment) |
Close-up location (Click the button below to download a GPX file of my walk this evening): Portmarnock moonlit |
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Commentary
Being carless is a bit like being careless – it can easily happen but is annoying and can have inconvenient consequences when it does.
We have been in that state for a couple of weeks now, since the old one went back to the UK. We need to get a new set of wheels if we are to resume our explorations of Ireland. So today was a big day as we went to have a look at a second-hand Toyota Yaris that a car-dealer friend of a fellow member of the Dublin Walking Club was selling.
This entailed a trip to the car-dealer’s workshop in the northern suburbs of Dublin and then him giving us a detailed download on the history of the car, his life story, and the recent progress of Shelbourne Football Club. It was all very interesting but it was about half an hour before we actually got to see the car. In essence, it’s in decent condition considering its age, and has a relatively low mileage. We took it on a short run round the block and to my inexpert eye it seemed OK. It has to take its NCT test tomorrow (equivalent to a UK MOT) and if it passes we will probably buy it. At only €600, provided it’s safe and reliable, it should meet our needs perfectly. The eye watering insurance premium (more than the car value) is exacerbated by the fact that the car is over 20 years old, and because neither Val nor I have any no-claims history on an Irish policy.
Hopefully, it will pass the NCT so we might be able to take delivery next week. This will dovetail nicely with the process to exchange our driving licences, which kicks off with mandatory eye-tests next Tuesday. Fingers crossed it all works out!
After the morning’s excitements, we returned to the flat for lunch then Val set off to work (on the Brompton!) in the early evening, and I set about domestic chores. Next on the list is some quick shopping and a short walk. But I am feeling a slightly groggy after yesterday’s vaccination – only a bit tired and gritty, and with a sore arm and nothing too serious – but I’m not going to push it too hard for the rest of the day.
You can check out a few photos of my moonlit walk this evening, which took in Portmarnock and the beach as well as SuperValu, below. Hopefully I’ll be firing on all cylinders (to continue the motoring theme) tomorrow, so we can spread our wings a bit further while we keenly await the Yaris’ test results!
Today’s photos (click to enlarge)
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| In all its glory (the car that is) | Down on Blackwood Lane to Portmarnock. There aren’t many streetlights but the moon was bright so it was easy to avoid tripping over your feet |
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| Looking out over the Irish Sea. A beautiful evening. The orange hue, by the way, isn’t cast by the setting sun but by a nearby sodium streetlight | Down on the shore. And all only 5 minutes from our front door. I can’t get over it. |
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| So now we know what the Gaelic for “All-Ireland pollinator plan” is. I shall be sure to test Val before her next lesson | One of the back-lanes of Malahide tonight. There is a multitude of expensive-looking places to eat, and you could easily spend a fortune here if you wanted to. |
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| This splendid freight train came thundering past as we were waiting to return home from Drumcondra, after looking at the car. It was so exciting that I had to resist the temptation to jump on one of the low-loaders as it trundled past the platform edge, just for the thrill of it! PS: we were particularly privileged to see this locomotive. It is the original and oldest locomotive in the type 71 class, and all the others are numbered sequentially upwards from 071. It is the only one to have been repainted in the original Irish livery of the 1980s. Excitingly, it also has a commemorative plaque beneath its handbrake in recognition of its 40 years of service to the railway. Apart from Northern Ireland, the only other place in the world where you can see these particular models is Serbia. So we were truly blessed today. |
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