100. Coolroe, Wexford - Republic of Ireland

 For over a year now, it's been a to and fro with the passport office trying to get a UK passport issued as, by law, I'm entitled to one. Having all documents lodged and confident that the passport would be issued, we booked pet sits in the UK through to July. Silly me for thinking a government department would do what it said it would and the result was an unexpected rejection which forced us to cancel all plans we had including a beautiful sit on the south English coast for 7 weeks.

We had to cancel because I am on a visitor visa (Max has a UK passport) and I/we had to leave the UK for some time as running over your visa time limit is not recommended. So here we are in Ireland after frantically cancelling all sits in the UK and trying to book some in Ireland. Being a small country, there are few sits available and even though we were successful in 3 cases, we have many gaps which we'll need to fill with other accommodation. 

So after completing the Somerset sit, we drove to Fishguard in West Wales and took the three-and-a-half-hour ferry ride to Ireland. Having an EU passport allows me to stay as long as I want and Max's UK citizenship allows her the same privileges.

Nice and Comfy seats

I have appealed the passport decision however it can take up to 8 months to be reviewed so where we go and what we do is up in the air. Meanwhile, we'll be making the most of the time we are here. We're staying in an Air B&B for three nights before we head one hour north to Gorey for our first sit. Being back in Ireland, the first thing we noticed was the wider roads and distinct lack of traffic congestion.

30 minutes up the road was the village of Duncannon where cars could drive right onto the beach.

Cute mules

Not far away is the Tintern Abbey which was founded by the Earl of Pembroke in the 13th century and later used by a religious order that managed surrounding farmland. It was a cash-only entry fee and we only had cards. As we were about to walk away, they said they had a policy of non-refusal so they let us in for free. You gotta love the Irish!

The path to the Abbey

Bluebells are in season

One of the defence turrets outside the abbey. They must have been short folk.

The Tintern Abbey 

The next sit is an hour north of here. Until then...