Ireland day 0672. Tuesday 1 August 2023- Drive to Ireland *

Ireland day 0672. Tuesday 1 August 2023- Drive to Ireland

Today’s summary	Drove back to Ireland via Stena Line ferry in evening from Holyhead
Today’s weather	Dry bright and breezy most of the day with occasional sunny intervals. Moderate southerly wind. Appx 17C

Today’s overview location (The blue mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (The blue line shows where we walked) (No GPX today)

Commentary

(Summary blog only. Last full blog was Day 0368).

Our main job today was just to get back to Ireland after a hugely successful wedding trip to the UK. Our ferry wasn’t until 8:30pm this evening but nevertheless we decided to make a reasonably early start, so we weren’t fretting about getting stuck in traffic jams on the M6. So we were away by 11:30 this morning and proceeded north at a relatively leisurely pace.

We only stopped briefly en route, but paused a little longer once we had crossed the Menai Straits and dropped into the ever-lovely café at Plas Newydd National Trust site just over the Britannia Bridge. Fortunately we arrived there at 4:30, before everything closed up at 5.

Suitably refreshed, we drove a little further and decided to sample the delights of Holyhead, as we still had a couple of hours before the ferry set sail. So we temporarily bypassed the Stena Line terminal and headed straight into Holyhead to find a fish and chip shop. Luckily, Price’s was still open and there was a car park right opposite. So we enjoyed our haddock sitting in the car out of the wind. Then took a short drive to have a quick look at Holyhead promenade – familiar from walking trips in the past.

Now, finally, we are in the queue of cars waiting to get aboard the Stena Adventurer, digesting our supper and reflecting on brilliant week which simply couldn’t have gone any better.

Ireland, here we come!

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


*Handkerchief tree (Davidia involucrata) complete with fruit (which I have never seen before) in the café garden at Plas Newydd*	Gourmet meal in Holyhead this evening!

Anglesey coast path runs right through Holyhead. We walked it a couple of years ago and it’s surprisingly excellent	Boathouse Hotel – I remember we had dinner here one night after walking a section of the coast path



In the café at the Plas Newydd National Trust site in Anglesey. It’s becoming a bit of a habit to stop there for refreshment before / after taking the ferry across the Irish Sea. And today was no exception.