We are off on our hols to Ireland, and this and the next few posts are the diary of events. As well as a break for Gill and I, we decided to go to the south-east of Ireland to try and meet up with Lorraine of Wexford Pet Helpers, and Mary of Dungarvan Rescue as both had played a role (greater and lesser respectively) in Monty's rescue. We hoped they would both like to see Monty, and to have a chat about the events. Gill had e-mailed Lorraine a couple of weeks ago to let her know we were coming.

Today was the Journey. We left Northampton for Fishguard at 8:00. The trip was uneventful and we arrived with an hour to spare so decided to grab some food. Fishguard itself had nothing open, but we eventually we found an excellent chippy in Goodwick (which is where the Fishguard ferry terminal is - so why not the Goodwick ferry?) opposite the Rose & Crown; just up the hill past the ferry terminal.

When we left Northampton it was sunny and warm, and so it stayed while we were in England. Then we got to Wales. It was almost as if the rain defined the English/Welsh border. And it rained, all the way, a lot; the further into Wales we went, the more it rained. Even the Police at the ferry commented on how naff the weather was.

On the way we had stopped at Cardiff West services were we met Tara, a retired lady greyhound. Tara's owner admired Monty and Jack's collars and wanted to know where she could get one; another potential Greyhound Gap customer.

On the ferry the Beasts were not allowed upstairs, the options being in the car or in the kennels. As it's a 3.5 hour crossing we opted for the kennels as at least they would have their own space. Kai and Jack went straight into theirs; Monty was not so keen but did settle down once persuaded to get in.

At Rosslare Harbour the Beasts were (of course) pleased to see us, and seemed extremely glad to get back into the car. A short drive (compared to the first stint anyway - just 30 miles) later, and we were at Ballyhack, HQ for the week. Here we met Mrs. Carrol who showed us the house, that is to be ours for the week.

One of the requirements was for a fully enclosed garden for the dogs. This qualifies; 4m high stone walls on three sides, and the house on the fourth!


View from the house

The house is excellent, though the brochure images that suggest the views across the Barrow are a tad optimistic. As the pic shows, we are directly opposite Carolls boatyard; the family business. However, I guess they must be quite a good boat yard as they had two lifeboats in. And todays piece of trivia; the RNLI (that's the UK RNLI) provide the lifeboats for Ireland.