Ireland day 1581. Monday 26 January 2026- Car Sold

Today’s summary	In the morning we did some more packing, cleaning and tidying, and went to the library to fill in and print an online mail-redirection form. Had soup with avocado on toast for lunch then took the car for a final wash at Applegreen. Then on return to the flat, two of Val’s work contacts came round to pick up some of our surplus belongings which we are giving them to help then set up their new flat. In the evening, I sold the Trusty Yaris to a car dealer. Very sad to see the car going to a new home but it had to be done. Afterwards, did some bathroom cleaning and had Siam Thai takeaway for dinner
Today’s weather	Stormy, heavily overcast, and wet. Gale force south easterly wind. Appx 7c

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

I have to be honest – today was a sad day. We sold the Trusty Yaris – our faithful and reliable travel companion for four years. Saying goodbye was almost as bad as saying goodbye to our friends at work and in the Walking Club.

But before we could get round to selling the car, there were lots of other jobs we had to do first. First up, of course, was a fortifying cup of tea in bed, without which none of today’s activities would have been possible.

Once suitably invigorated, we started to tackle the day. We are now almost in the home-straight as far as packing and returning our belongings to the UK is concerned. Today it was the turn of our files to get sorted out and packed away in suitcases. We’ve left them until more or less last, as we knew we would be almost certain to need various papers in order to terminate contracts, transfer car ownerships, and recover deposits. All of which we in fact needed to do today.

Then when we had taken the packing as far as we could, we made phone calls to our flat landlord, and to the gas, electricity and broadband companies, to arrange for our current contracts to be terminated and where appropriate deposits to be returned. Of course, that took ages on hold on the phone, but eventually we got through to human beings and were able to put the necessary wheels in motion. It’s amazing how easy it is to buy new services and get signed up into rolling contracts, but just how hard it is to terminate them again.

Next on the agenda was postal redirection. We want all our mail to be sent to the UK once we leave here, to make sure we don’t miss anything important. Bizarrely, An Post require you to fill in a form on line, then print it and sign it and post it to an office in Dublin. Then they will write a letter back to you with a PIN code and you go online again actually to activate the service. Positively archaic and because we no longer have a printer (it’s gone into storage), we had to go to the library and use the public PC and printer there. Eventually, amazingly, we managed it and the form was duly posted off.

By this stage we were in need of sustenance, so Val made us some delicious smashed avocado on toast (a hipster cliché I know, but delicious nevertheless) which we had with tomato soup from Donnybrook Fair.

Next, it was a final sweep out for the Yaris and a quick spin round to the Applegreen at Mountgorry to get a quick car wash, to ensure true beauty was restored in advance of the sale. We returned to the flat with a shiny car but slightly heavy hearts and finally our buyer came round to the Casino to take possession of the car at 7:30pm. (In fact it was the same dealer who originally sold us the car, but today he bought it in a private capacity for a relative). Hopefully it’s going to a good home. We sold it for €3500, which was €6000 depreciation in the four years we’ve had it. I don’t really know if that’s good or not, but I think we both felt we had had at least €1500 worth of value from it every year.

I should also mention that inbetween sorting out the printing, having lunch and selling the car, Val had arranged for the relatives of one of her colleagues from work to come round to pick up some of our surplus homeware that we won’t be taking back to the UK. Crockery, cutlery, ironing board, some tables and so-on. They are setting up an new home together, and it’s nice to know they will be put to good use.

Once Trusty had been bidden goodbye, we returned to the flat and got on with some more cleaning. The bathroom is spic and span now, and some of the dusty crevices behind the desk in the spare room have seen the light of day for the first time in many years, and have been sanitised.

Finally, to round off the day, I walked down to the post-box to send off the vehicle transfer documents to the Department of Transport, and then to pick up a Thai takeaway dinner that Val had ordered from the Siam restaurant earlier. It was a delicious, easy, meal and felt well earned after quite a long and busy day.

Finally, I think now, at 10:30pm, we might be able to down tools and put our feet up for a few minutes before retiring to bed. I feel like we have made a lot of progress today, but I am quite glad that every day isn’t like this, as it’s been pretty physically and emotionally draining. Phew!

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Essential start to the day. We have given away all but two of our mugs – these two should keep us safely supplied with tea for the rest of the week	Yet more packing. All our document files will be the last to go back

In the car wash again – second time in two weeks. This is unheard of!



I can see the red tail lights, heading for.. – who knows where. Bye bye Trusty – we’ve had some great adventures together and will miss you. We hope you are well cared for and will be happy in your new home