Its only 909 miles there and back!

Well I'm glad that's behind me!!

A quick trip to Moyhill in a rented car with a load of household stuff and clothes. How much stuff do you need for 6 months? Luckily the car was a Vauxhall Zafira which would have done the Doctor proud. No matter how much I packed in there was always room for more! It was only 62 hours but full of events and stories - more on some of these later.

Left London on Monday evening as Tamil protesters were laying down on Westminster Bridge and creating the sort of traffic chaos that local government road planners can only dream of!

Then almost punched a hole in the radio listening to PM on Radio 4 and a story about Claire Balding upsetting that down-trodden minority with decaying teeth because she made a joke about Liam Treadwell's teeth after he won the Grand National. In the midst of financial meltdown, traffic pandemonium and at least another year of a leader who was accurately described by Clarkson as a "one-eyed Scottish idiot", Eddie Mair decides it is appropriate to interview an orthodontist who appeared to be representing the human rights of all those people who don't brush or floss regularly. Roll on Clare FM and the morning bulletin of the death notices!

There is one serious drawback to the drive from London to Ireland - you have to go through South Wales. With apologies to at least 3 people who I probably won't see for 12 months, I saw it at its best - in the dark with rain teeming down. Fishguard is a decidely unwelcoming place even for a ferry port, while the Stena Europa had clearly seen better days when she was trading on the Baltic from Poland to Sweden (my old friend Ernst worked around there many years ago and used to tell tales of what the Polish girls would do for a pair of nylons!).

Arrived in Rosslare in glorious sunshine - only 4 hours to Moyhill. Signed the lease, collected the keys and started unpacking.