London-Wales-Ireland

When my alarm clock rang on Sunday at half past six, the time had come to say goodbye and I slowly realized that I wouldn't see my family for a longer period of time. I gave them my farewell gifts and my dad had to wipe away a tear from the corner of his eye. My mom saved it for Germany, as her farewell was already difficult enough.

Even though we got up so early, I ended up being late. It was time to say goodbye, the motorcycle was packed, I was wearing full motorcycle gear plus rain clothes, and the four of us were on the verge of tears. We hugged each other again, set the GPS, took some more photos here and there, and told each other how much we love each other, and then we started, albeit with tears.

The combination of a fully loaded motorcycle and driving on the left side of the road was a bit unusual, but after a short time it became manageable.
So I rode from London to Pembroke, Wales. I rode for a whole 5 hours straight to Pembroke, as I was already quite late in the morning... Even though I didn't take a break, I still ended up being late for the ferry. Partly due to a traffic jam caused by an accident, just before the destination.
I arrived at the dock at 2:30pm and wanted to check in for the ferry, according to the ferry's booking confirmation, check-in is available 30 minutes before departure. The ferry was scheduled to leave at 2:45pm. So I thought I was still on time. Then I was told that the check-in is 30 minutes earlier and I was too late, at that moment the ferry was already leaving... if you think that's not so dramatic, you're wrong. The ferry from Pembroke, Wales to Rosslare, Ireland only leaves twice a day, which means I had to wait for 12 hours before I could take my journey to Ireland. It was annoying, especially after riding through the countries with a fully packed motorcycle for half the day.
I called my mom first, who as usual only answered on the third call. My sister then booked a room in an accommodation for me for the evening, where I slept for a while. At half past 1, I went back to the dock. After changing my ticket for almost €50, I had to wait until 2 to check in.
Then finally it started, I was assigned a lane after check-in, and I was the first one. Next to me was a van and suddenly the woman spoke to me. The couple came from Hamburg and we talked a bit until I was allowed to board the ferry as the first one.

Fortunately, we had booked the club lounge for me... because I was half starving, as I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast all day. So I quickly got something to eat and drink and went to sleep. I had already slept a bit in the hotel, but it was still in the middle of the night.

When I woke up again around half past 5, the sun was already mostly up. I went outside to the deck (yes, I didn't know that I could go up there... :D) then I had a drink, squeezed back into the super uncomfortable clothes, and went back down to my motorcycle.

And so the journey continued. Fortunately, the speeds in Ireland were indicated in km/h again :).

I drove for another 4 hours until I reached Ballincollig. I would have loved to stop and take pictures every 2 minutes, but unfortunately that wasn't possible.

The landscape in Ireland is simply fascinating.

Now I had finally arrived at my new home for the next year. I was a bit anxious about how everything would turn out and especially how the current au pair of the family would receive me... but I'll tell you that another time.