Welcome to Ireland, country number 59 for us!

It's hard to believe we've never been to Ireland. I was traveling with our son once, back in 2003 where we had a flight stopover in Dublin, but we never left the plane so of course it doesn't count. It's always been on our list though, and exploring it by motorhome seems to be the best way to do it!

When we left you in yesterday's post, it was morning on the ferry and we were about to sit down to breakfast...

But we wanted to have a bit of a later breakfast, so we brought our laptops to the restaurant, and bought a coffee and tea to sit and do our computer work.

The actual meal prices were on the high side of reasonable, but still not bad. But it's the drink prices where they really get you. A cup of coffee and tea cost €5.35 ($7.85 CAD, $5.85 USD) for two small mugs. Fortunately, it was really good coffee. But still, what a profit center that is! 

Just before 9:00am we went and got some food...

It was actually a really good meal!

Good thing because it cost €11.40 ($16.75 CAD, $12.55 USD) each. Oh well... you have to eat!

Bar with big screen TV.

Ruth playing shuffleboard with the entertainment director.

Not the best weather as we approached land. Overcast, but not to the point of raining.

Land ho!

Rosslare Port.

We docked at 3:10pm, pretty much right on schedule. It took a while to get off the ferry, and it was about 3:55 by the time we finally drove Max onto Irish soil.

Ruth took a video for you of us getting off the ferry...

At customs and immigration, they stamped us in, then asked a bunch of questions about Max and how much alcohol we had. All very friendly, and with a "welcome to Ireland, enjoy your stay", we were sent on our way.

Looking back at our ferry.

The SIM card we had been using in Spain was supposed to work here in Ireland for the next five days, but it would not connect to the network. So I had to used our emergency Keepgo MiFi that works instantly in over 100 countries. The data is pricey, but it has saved us several times being able to access the internet right away when entering a new country.

So I looked up the closest Three Cellular store which happened to be in Wexford, only 17 kms (10 miles) from the ferry port. Found an Aldi grocery store with decent enough parking for Max, and that's where we drove to.

On the wrong side of the road!

I've driven right hand drive vehicles on the other side of the road several times... Namibia, South Africa, Australia. But I've never driven a left hand drive vehicle on the wrong side of the road. No problem! Much easier when you don't have to worry about all of the mechanical differences!

Heading into Wexford.

Ruth went into the Aldi while I walked to the center to find the Three Cellular shop. It felt really odd to walk right in and speak English! The guy was really friendly, and got me all set up with an unlimited data package for €20 ($29.40 CAD, $22 USD) for 28 days. Cheap!

Back at the Aldi, Ruth found the food prices aren't much different than in Spain. Meat might be more, but it's only first impressions. Salmon was cheaper. We'll have a better idea once we've done a bigger shop. Alcohol is expensive though... pretty much the same as in Canada, so when our supply of cheap Spanish booze runs out we'll be cutting back our consumption drastically. Which is not a bad thing.

It was getting late afternoon, so we found a quiet side street and spent the night there. We weren't originally planning on visiting Wexford, but now that we're here we'll go for a wander around town this morning before we leave.

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Good deal on this Magic Mill Food Dehydrator.

And in Canada...

Fire TV Devices.