Ireland day 1570. Thursday 15 January 2026- Seconds In

Today’s summary	Up relatively early and left our AirBnB at about 9 am, then dropped off our belongings into the storage depot, which was nearby. Called in to see family for a quick cup of tea then Val drove us all the way back to Holyhead through heavy rain most of the way. About six hours to Holyhead and now in McDonald’s waiting for the 10:15 sailing to Dublin. Should be back in the flat about 3am
Today’s weather	Overcast with heavy rain in the south of England, then dry and bright from Stoke on Trent onwards. Light south westerly wind. Appx 7c

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

Commentary

Today, we did a back-flip and came back to Dublin. But there were a few twists and turns along the way on our path to redemption.

We were up early in the morning, enjoying the regulation cups of tea in bed, in our AirBnB (fortunately we had stocked up of milk and teabags on the journey south). Then we got up, tidied the apartment, and were away by 9am. The main purpose for our journey south has been to deliver our car-load of bulky possessions into a storage depot in Hertfordshire. Fortunately, we’d been able to get an AirBnB just round the corner so we were there in less than ten minutes.

Val had arranged for someone to meet us there and together we unloaded the car and started loading it into the storage container. Quite what we will do with it all eventually isn’t quite clear at the moment, but that’s something we can work out in the longer term.

The unloading and accompanying paperwork only took until about 9:30am, so we said our goodbyes and headed north. Our first stop was in Oxfordshire, where we dropped in to have a cup of tea with family. At around this time, I got a call from a garage in Ireland which might be interested in buying the Trusty Yaris when we leave Ireland at the end of the month. We will be very sorry indeed to let it go – it’s been a brilliant little run-around – and had even considered importing it into the UK with us. But import duties and various bureaucratic complications made it uneconomic, so we’re going to have to sell it and have a clean start when we get back.

But the garage needed some photos in order to value it, so a hasty visit to the car wash was called for. Car and occupants duly emerged spic and span from the Esso wash, photos were taken and sent to the garage, and initial negotiations started. We hope to be able to finalise something in the last week before we go.

Then we set off for the main journey back to Holyhead, and then on to Dublin. Val volunteered to take the helm for this stretch – which was pretty heroic of her as the driving conditions were appalling – heavy rain, spray, and lots of trucks. Anyway, she ploughed on while I indolently put my metaphorical feet up and enjoyed the ride. Thanks Val!

We made it uneventfully to Holyhead by about 6:30pm, with a brief comfort stop halfway, somewhere in the Midlands. With almost four hours to pass before our ferry departure at 10:15pm, we headed to McDonalds to see how long we could make a big mac and a cup of tea last. All being well, our ferry should dock in Dublin just before 2am so we may be back in the flat again by 3am. Yawn! Then we do it all again on Saturday.

Wish us luck!

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Ready to start unloading. The Yaris was practically floating once we’d emptied everything out of the back!	At the car wash. We have a potential buyer in Ireland for the Trusty Yaris , and they needed some photos. So important that the car should look its best!

Val at the wheel in unpleasant conditions on the M40. But the skies almost miraculously cleared north of Stoke-on-Trent and we enjoyed a brilliant sunset as we were driving west along the A55 through north Wales, as the banner image shows.	Magnificent McDonald’s – a lovely relaxing spot 😉 to while away the hours in Holyhead during our three hour wait fore the 10:15pm ferry.

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Opening up – getting the storage box ready for our stuff