10/04/2024
DAY 44
We've left Europe ....as sad today as it was in June 2016.
Our 18 hour crossing turned into 27.5 sea voyage of Biblical proportions.
From trying to leave France to finally arriving at our accommodation in Portaferry, about 20 miles east of Belfast, Monday and Tuesday were truly horrible. Everything fell apart, plans were scuppered, no-one was helpful, people were obstructive, the weather was terrifying and I was ready to go home.
The ferry journey was a shambles. No information made sense, email updates were different from text updates, it left 20 hours later than scheduled and took 9.5 hours longer. NINE AND A HALF HOURS !!
We sailed into the Irish Sea in a Force 10 gale after the ferry hugged the coastline of Cornwall to try and stay in the lee of Storm Kathleen and apparently the ferry zig-zagged its way through waves and troughs being hurled up into the air and slapping back down. It was terrifying being on that boat. The noise and lurching was like nothing I've ever experienced. It wasn't just unpleasant it was totally frightening. And there was ZERO communication about the delays, only paid for internet - FIFTEEN POUNDS FOR FOUR HOURS - and because of the weather even that kept dropping.
Trying to inform fooking.com about late arrivals for accommodation and late pick ups for hire vehicles felt like a punishment for using budget options. Fooking.com's Customer Service is horrendously inadequate at best and pointless & indifferent most of the time.
Trying to do the above with very expensive failing internet and no ability to phone was soul destroying.
Moaning about hugely expensive town centre hotels, late taxis, cold, wet wind and more fooking.com antics doesn't actually convey the frustration, tiredness and unpleasantness of the last 48 hours on a bread based diet punctuated with a bag of liquorice torpedoes.
On the upside.. I haven't met an Irish person yet who isn't unfailingly cheerful and helpful, utterly friendly and completely wonderful. Thank gawd the reputation of Da Oirish is completely true. We've had delicious cod&chips&currysauce&mushypeas, found a fabulous off-licence, had our car upgraded to a VW Golf to compensate for the issues and finally watched the semi-final and final of The Great Pottery Throwdown.
Tomorrow - The Giant's Causeway.
