Day 1 Going Abroad

We have found it quite difficult to remember that this is a 'foreign' holiday. Early on I filed emails away in a 'UK Breaks' folder and only recently remembered to dig out European Health cards and passports.

After a smooth drive of a little over 2 hrs from home in Northwest England we arrived at Holyhead where we were to board our ferry to Dublin. We had left home 30 mins later than our deadline, which will come as no surprise to those who know us, so only had 30 mins before check in close to dive into Tesco extra for sandwiches, cash, euros, fuel and air. All was accomplished apart from the euros as the Bureau de change was closed. Fortunately we had some left from a previous holiday to start with so no disaster and the time saved meant a comfortable arrival at check in.

All along the North Wales coast it had been misty and rainy so we were delighted when we found ourselves sitting in sunshine and under some blue sky waiting to board. The novelty wore off a little as we waited through a further 30min delay but eventually we were on board the Stena Adventurer and leaving the UK mainland behind. On the car deck an Irish family were next to us and we were struck by the alien sound of Gaelic being spoken as a native language. That said, we heard more German and French being spoken that Gaelic during the crossing.
The ferry was pleasant and the crossing smoother than we had expected, very windy but dry and the swell was interesting but not sickening , enough to create amusing staggers. It really felt odd crossing sea on a ferry and not ending up in France and after disembarkation I really struggled not to drive on the right after so many holidays in mainland Europe and the US.

Warning: part way across in International waters I found myself connected to mobile data on "Maritime" which a text warned me of prices like £8 per M. Maybe best to switch off roaming until in Irish waters. Due to EU, roaming in Ireland itself does not incur higher cost than at home in UK.

We were surprised that at no point in the journey did we pass a border post and our passports were unopened. I guess this is part of the agreements between Ireland and the UK which are currently threatened due to Brexit.

Leaving the port we had looked at Google traffic and Dublin was a spiders web of red, however, we exited straight into a long tunnel (€10 toll) which took us all the way out to the M50 north of the city which we joined heading west and south around Dublin. The motorways were very full but moved well including through a toll section which I only noticed a few days ago. There are no booths, it is all processed by ANPR and you must pay online or at some shops by 20:00 the following day. Pre-registering online is supposed to extend the payment time, reduce the cost and email you to remind you; I'll find out tomorrow whether it worked.

We booked into the Keadeen Hotel at Newbridge for tonight which is 42 miles out of Dublin on our route SW which proved ideal. We arrived just before 7pm and have had a lovely meal, a couple of pints of Guinness and I'm now sitting on the bed writing this.

Statistics (from Dublin):

Miles today: 42; Miles so far: 42; Fuel added so far: 0 litres;

Track since Journey Start: