Ireland day 1382. Friday 11 July 2025- Phones Cars and Swims

Today’s summary	Had a long chat with a friend in Scotland first thing then went over to Ashbourne to get a broken lightbulb on the Yaris replaced. Almost(!) bought a new Landcruiser while we were there. Then went back to Donabate for swim and a picnic on the beach. Salad for dinner and Wimbledon semi finals in the evening.
Today’s weather	Dry sunny and warm. Moderate south easterly wind. Appx 23c

Today’s overview location (The blue mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (The blue line shows where we walked) (Click button below to download GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected): Donabate beach for a swim

Commentary

Today was busy, varied and relaxing.

We kicked things off as per usual, with a relaxing cup of tea in bed. Then after a suitable period putting the world to rights, we got up and I had a long phone call with a friend in Scotland. Very enjoyable, sharing all our news.

Once that was done, Val and I had some porridge for breakfast then headed off on our next task – to get the Yaris mended.

Actually that sounds a lot more dramatic than it really was. All that was wrong was that a headlight bulb had failed and needed replacing. I could have done it myself, if I had the right tools and if I wasn’t so paranoid about getting the lights out of alignment. Anyway, we drove round to Tadg Riordan at Ashbourne – about 30 minutes away – and a helpful engineer fixed it on the spot for €25.

This was all very good but we were rather seduced by the new Landcruiser sitting temptingly on the forecourt. So I just had to get one of the salesmen to let us have a look. It felt great to be in the driving seat and to hear the powerful diesel engine ticking away. Hugely bad for the environment but hugely good for the ego. Curiously all the models sold in Ireland will be commercial models – with blacked out rear windows and no seats in the back. Even this basic model costs €72,000 and if you want seats it’s double that. Oh well, it’s nice to daydream sometimes.

Once my boy racer fantasies had been satisfied, we jumped back in our rather more modest (and, now, fully functioning) Yaris and headed out to the east coast. We ended up at Donabate, after stopping off for fuel and a picnic lunch. After eventually managing to find a spot to park (why aren’t all these people at work??!) we walked down to the beach.

Predictably, the area nearest the road was super busy, but if you walked a couple of hundred meters, the crowds thinned out so we soon found a suitable spot to settle down. Without further ado, we pulled on our swimming things (Val – more sensibly – had a wetsuit whereas I just had shorts) and got in the water.

To say it was cold would be an understatement. But at least it wasn’t as cold as the Louisburgh Atlantic last Christmas. So I took a few strokes just to say I’d done it whereas Val, being encased in Neoprene, stayed in a bit longer.

Afterwards, we lay in the sun and had our picnic lunch, enjoying the rare warmth of the sun’s rays (but even today – which was probably the warmest day we’ve had since coming to Ireland almost four years ago – there was a cool wind which pegged the temperatures back).

Once we’d finished, and there was an increasing risk of getting chilled through whilst simultaneously getting sunburned, we packed up and returned to the car for the short drive back to Malahide.

For dinner this evening, we’re having chicken salad again, followed by fresh strawberries. All while watching more Wimbledon semi-finals. The quintessence of summer.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


In the Landcruiser driving seat – a great, commanding view	Lots of knobs and buttons to push. Fortunately, Toyota are listening to customer feedback (and safety concerns) and replacing touch-screens with physical controls

The Donabate Martello – where the road meets the beach	The world and his wife was on the beach – and all on a Friday afternoon. Is this what “Working from home” looks like, perhaps?

Val looking full of beans as she strode out of the water	Down at the quieter end of the beach. It’s incredible how short a distance people are prepared to walk to get away from the crowds. Or maybe most people aren’t like me and like to be in close proximity to everyone else!

A monster, maybe, but I did like it. So much better looking than the previous model