Hello, all!!! Long time, no see. I apologise for the delay in posting, as you can see by the title, I have moved! To where you may ask?.... The Republic of Ireland :)
It has been a hectic week and we are still in the process of getting things sorted , but so far it has been such a nice change and a total new chapter in our lives. We are currently renting a house for a few months to scope out the area before buying our own. It is so different from our old area! There are hardly any houses around us, our view is fields and the beach is only 10 minutes away! All of these aspects contributed to our move here.
Today I am just going to have a general chat about my life right now, plus I am going to include some pictures from the move to show you the chaos that ensued. There are so many opportunities for landscape photography here and I am so excited to explore more and find some amazing photography to capture and showcase both here and on my Instagram.
I hope you are all well and enjoy my first post from Ireland; my new home.
The Road so Far:
The days before the move:
The first few days were quite rough but that is to be expected as moving is one of the most stressful things one can do in life. The first hurdle was actually getting confirmation that we were going to exchange. We had waited past the time we were meant to hear, and we were all rather anxious. I was trying to manifest the move and told everyone to not think negative thoughts lol. Then finally three days before our moving date (which we already had to move due to problems on the buyers end!) we got a call and all fingers were crossed. I listened from my room and I heard the news: we had exchanged and it was all going ahead. Phew! Then it was full steam ahead with sorting everything out.
These were just some of the boxes we had piled in the lounge, luckily ours is quite big so the weeks leading up to the move, we stored most of our belongings in there. Some boxes were more sturdy than others... We were getting to the point where we could not pack anymore because otherwise we would be left with nothing! So it was a full three days of packing non stop once the move was confirmed. Stressful!
We had actually already packed up most of the unneeded items and it was more organising the bigger furniture. We filled up a storage unit to the brim with all of our items that we can live without for a few months, as well as giving some away to neighbours and friends, plus storing some with a good friend of the family. We were a bit ambitious with what we thought we could fit in two cars... yes we moved house to another country in two cars. As long as we had our necessities like our clothes, medication and everyday bits, all we really need is ourselves to get by. That is the mindset anyway; otherwise I would of wondered: what are we really doing?
These were the storage lockers that we booked to store our stuff. You can see ours open at the end and let me tell you it was hard work manging to fit everything in. We originally planned to place both our sofas in, with the preference of getting rid of one if they did not fit. What actually ended up happening was, the one we really wanted to keep did not fit out of the lounge door so the one we favoured less, we ended up keeping... the way the world works eh? It was probably a blessing in disguise though as we would of never to fit both in. We then had to actually saw the sofa to pieces so we could dispose of it! That was a challenge.
Moving Day and First Part of the Journey to Ireland
I made sure to take plenty of pictures of the house so we can remember it and I did this the day we left because all the rooms were empty. I did not really feel anything about leaving my home of 22 years, it felt strange but I had many negative memories there so I was really just happy and excited for a fresh start. The only thing I was sad about was leaving the garden as I loved how we had done it. I was not really fussed about leaving my tiny box room, we had a good run, but it was time to move onto better things!
I waved goodbye to my tiny room, looking forward to choosing my new one and having a double bed! What a luxury that idea was and I have loved it since the day we arrived.
The journey leading up the ferry was smooth. We stayed overnight to spilt up the journey and had a lovely meal and continental breakfast *heart eye emoji*. One thing I love about staying in an Premier Inn' is their beds and food, one would say the best part of the travels. It look us around 5 hours to arrive at the Inn and for me it went quick, I did not really feel like it was that long. Our original ferry was cancelled so we were put on a later one, something I was happy about because I could have a lay in. However, you will find out later on how that turned into a disaster.
Two very contrasting images, me ready for the meal and then me ready to leave for the ferry! After a good nights rest, off we went to the next location. The journey was only 40 minutes so nothing too unpleasant. We left behind most of our kitchen stuff so on route we stopped at a Tesco and purchased four bowls and a kettle! We then had to squeeze them in the car somewhere, and of course we made it work.
The ferry was probably the most anxious time of the whole trip, with me and my mum in one car, and my dad and sister in the other. My dad had already visited so he knew his way around. However, me and my mother were rather anxious because we had all of our trust in them as we followed them the whole way. Let me tell you, the constant worry of losing them was so real. We also were misdirected so nearly ended up really far away for them and on the complete wrong side of the ferry. After some panic, we managed to speak to one of the staff and they let us on behind, so we were lucky. Everything that happened next was good and the ferry was perfectly fine.
We debated and went back and forth between getting a cabin and in the end with the cancellation, we ended up getting two separate ones to share. This was lush, we were away for all of the crowds and we had our own space..... with a bed!! I was definitely uncomfortable with the mask situation so afterwards I was so happy that we chose to spend the 3 hours in them and not amongst the other passengers. People were of course supposed to wear a mask, most did but there were obviously a few who did not listen! If you read my ' Best Piece of Advice I Received this Year' post, you know how that makes me feel overwhelmed.
I just had to show you the cabin, I literally wanted to belt the theme song to 'The Suite Life of Zack and Cody' as soon as we arrived. I resisted.... sort of. It reminded me of a cruise so much and it is as close as I will ever get to being on one. The only thing I was not a fan of was the bumpiness. Like I said, they did cancel the earlier one due to weather but this ride was still quite rough. I got dizzy every time I stood so I mostly spend the time on the bed. Once they put the stabilizers on, it was a little better I heard from the fam, but I really did not get up to check, hehe.
The Second Part of the Road to Ireland
Now came the journey from hell.... Once we drove off of the boat, we hit immense traffic due to an accident on the road around Dublin city centre. This meant we had to head through the city and although it took a while, it was the best part of what was to come. It also was overly busy due to the cancellation, and our late arrival meant we were hitting rush hour on a Friday!! Although, I have never visited the city so driving through was quite pleasant, it is a beautiful place and some of the buildings are magnificent. It has a mix of modern and old fashioned vibes and the river is so pretty. I wanted to include some pictures to show those who have not been before, what it was like. I will also add a couple of videos but ignore my speaking lol. I cannot wait to spend some time there and explore what the city has to offer. Maybe a shopping trip and some good food, sounds like a plan?
After we exited Dublin, then came what was the longest journey ever. We intended to make it 5 hours, but the total hours ended up being 7. There is only 1 road that goes to our destination as it is not a hugely populated
area so with all of the accident traffic coming onto ours, it was pretty backed up. Once we finally made it out of the queues, we arrived at the toll which went smoothly, until we kinda got lost and came off of the road and then ended up having to go back on and do another toll.
It was so worrying/hilarious because my dad and sister got through and then when me and the mother tried to enter through the barrier, it would not open. We panicked once again and mum tried to wave her card on the thing but there was no scanner so she was just waving it randomly. Then she could not reach so she had to get out and she stressed swore. I could not contain myself, it was quite funny (mostly for me, as mother was not having the best time. She laughed after tho!)
Finally we realised that they had gone straight through and we just had to wait for some time until they opened them and then we could zoom. However, we had to catch up at the next services because they were so far ahead with nowhere to stop due for some unknown reason, they have no hard shoulders???? We sat in traffic for so long and to top it all of it keep raining, and my mother does find it more difficult driving in that weather and who can blame her! So the combination was not in our favour. The last hurdle was after the huge queues of the toll, six lanes full of traffic had to squeeze into two. I have never seen anything like it as the only toll I have ever done is Dartford and its nothing like what we did. Astonishingly, everyone was calm and onwards we went.
Arrival at our New Home (for now)
What a ride! Once we were past all of the traffic, the road was dead because there were no large cities nearby. We also finally found a MacDonalds which took a while as we did not know the areas at all, and with our tummies full, we were ready to get there and sleep. Food makes everything better, well in my opinion hehe. Then 1am rolled around and we were counting down the KMs (we had to do the equivalent in miles because we did not understand the distance fully in KM ) and when we were on the home run, relief hit.
Then it was all worth it, when we came across the house and pulled in the driveaway. Although it was dark, I was so excited. Of course we had to explore the house, well just the girls as dad had already done all the hard work; with coming over twice with a car load of boxes and organising the house etc. He is such a star and I do not know how he managed that journey three times!!!! Hopefully if we stay here, we will never have to do it again.
The house was so big!! Six bedrooms compared to our measly three. There is so much more space for us all and we are not on top of each other. I feel so blessed and lucky to be staying here. However, after a long day and it being 1:30am, we just wanted to make our beds and jump in. Then came another hurdle....
Which you will find out next time... hehe sorry. I think this post is long enough and I have chattered on for what seems like forever!! I hope you all enjoyed the rollercoaster of what my life was a week ago. It definitely put a lot of stress on my body and the consequence of that was rather unpleasant, something I will chat about in the next post. I always have to be careful and prepared when travelling due to my health, as things never go smoothly. Again, sorry for the delay in posting. I had a week off so I could settle in fully and now I am back on the horse (is that a saying??) Anyway I am just talking rubbish now; stay safe and well, Lucy xoxoxoxo
PS. Some nature photography will be included in the next post so make sure you stay tuned! The scenery here is amazing!
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