Despite forecasts of rain over the weekend (with the heaviest rain destined to be right over Kilbeggan – great), we were hopeful. As we got closer to Holyhead the weather wasn’t great and the signs said that the crossing would be mildly rough. Neither of us were particularly bothered by that as we can both travel well on a boat.

We got onto the boat, got some lunch and sat back for the ride. The crossing turned out to be very smooth which was unexpected but pleasant nonetheless. An hour and a half later we were in Dublin, where we disembarked to find the sun was out and surprisingly hot.

We found our way out of Dublin’s port and took the M50 ring-road to get to the other side of Dublin, where we could then get onto the N4 and travel pretty much due West for most of the way to Tullamore. Throughout the hour-and-a-half journey the sun was shining brightly in the sky. We got to the hotel – the same one we used last year – and checked in before getting a quick shower and change and heading into town for some beers.

At this point I should point out that in Ireland, a general rule is that everything is at least 1.5x as expensive as it is in the UK, and in some cases this is closer to 2x.

We had a good few beers in our 6 hours out before getting a taxi back to the hotel.

The next morning we awoke to the sound of rain, and indeed outside was grey, wet and windy. Disappointing, but we hadn’t gone all that way to be put off by some condensation! We arrived at the field to find that the grass was already starting to get muddy and cars were already wheel-spinning while trying to park. Vehicles continued to arrive as the rain fell but it was obvious that there weren’t going to be as many attendees as last year.

Eventually we decided to brave the rain and go for a walk around the field to look at what was there. There were some cars that were there last year but also a lot of new stuff. There were more trucks this year. There was also more entertainment, with a simulator and a fairground ride (the Yankee) in the centre of the field as well as some line dancing (no thanks!).

I took photos of everything that looked interesting before going back to the car totally soaked, and every so often went for another walk around the field to catch any late arrivals. Last year people were still arriving at 4pm; this year people had stopped arriving by around 1pm. At around 2.30 we decided to call it a day – both soaked – and head into Tullamore to get some lunch and then get ready to go out again for some more £4.50 beers.

The next day as we got up around 8am to start our journey back to Wales, the sun was shining and the skies were blue – as you’ll see in the photos of the speed boat at the port in Dun Laoghaire. Bloody typical!