Ireland day 1276. Thursday 27 March 2025- A Taxing Day

Today’s summary	Drove down to the Northpoint 2 NCT centre to get the car tested but it failed because of a faulty lightbulb. Returned to the flat to start doing income tax for a couple of hours then drove up to Ashbourne to get the car fixed at Tadg Riordan. Once sorted out (on second attempt) drove back down to the NCT centre for a re-test and it passed. Returned to the flat to continue with tax. Eventually I had had enough so went on a walk while Val went running. Poached eggs on toast and “Mad Men” in the evening.
Today’s weather	Dry but overcast most of the day but some rain in the evening. Moderate to strong south westerly wind. Appx 15c

Today’s overview location (The green mark shows the location of my route)		Close-up location (The orange line shows where I walked) (Click button below to download GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected): Walk round the demesne after Tax and NCT stress

Commentary

Today was a taxing day, in more ways than one.

The excitements started at 4:30am when Iarnród Éireann thought that it would be a good time to start re-ballasting the track through Malahide station. Eventually, through the application of earplugs and pillows, I was able to nod off again. But in seemingly no time, I was re-awoken by the insistent ringing of the alarm, reminding me it was time to get up and drag the Yaris off to the Northpoint 2 NCT centre to get tested. You can see the test centre in all its semi-derelict glory in the picture at the top of this blog.

The NCT (National Car Test – equivalent to the UK’s MOT) seems to come round with alarming regularity and normally, to ensure a pass, I arrange a pre-test service at the garage. But this time, in the interests of saving time, money and effort, I decided not to bother. Mistake. The Trusty Yaris proved to be not so trusty today, and promptly failed the test. It was all down to a faulty side-light: easily fixed (in fact I can’t really see why the test centre can’t rectify minor faults like this on the spot) but still a load of hassle to sort out.

So, rather grumpily, I drove back to Malahide where Val and I consoled ourselves by doing two hours of tax. This is probably my least favourite job in the world and today, as usual, the frustration was compounded by websites that wouldn’t work, passwords that were forgotten, and guidances that were incomprehensible. We stuck at it for a couple of hours before I decided it was time for a break.

I used the rest of the afternoon to drive up to Tadg Riordan garage in Ashbourne to see if I could get the light fixed. As it turned out, they couldn’t have been more helpful. A young mechanic came out straight away and replaced the bulb quickly and efficiently. There was of course a complication because when I tested the lights prior to setting off, I discovered that in the process of fixing the right hand light, the left hand one had decided to fail in sympathy. So I had to get the mechanic back and he fixed that one too. And all at no charge! Very impressive service and I was most grateful.

From Ashbourne I headed off back down the M2 to the NCT centre where – lo and behold – I was able to get the car re-tested there and then and it passed! What a lot of hassle, but also what a lot of relief.

To celebrate, I drove back to Malahide where Val and I did another couple of hours’ work on tax. Eventually, with my head about to explode, I thought we better call it a day for today. Anyway I think we have broken the back of it and it should be possible to do most of the rest tomorrow.

At this point, Val decided to head out for a run and I followed in her footsteps – albeit much slower – for a walk round the demesne just before it got dark and just before it started raining (for the first time in a couple of weeks, actually). Afterwards, Val rustled up some delicious poached eggs on toast for tea, which we washed down with a couple of glasses of beer while watching “Mad Men”. So it was quite a tough day, in many ways, but I felt strangely satisfied at the end of it.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Everywhere is very dry – it won’t be long before the greens turn to browns, at this rate	Putting a brave face on it!

I always enjoy the view along the Tree-Fern Walk	A lot of the footpaths in the demesne seem to be sporting coats of tarmac. There has been a lot of building noise coming from the direction of the demesne overnight for the last few months so Fingal council must have decided to do the repairs under the cover of darkness



Delicate pussy willow catkins decorating the pathside