In my last post, I discussed the process and some stresses around booking the bike's flight to Ireland.
Again, worst case was that I'd forget some piece of documentation that could only be retrieved by me from back in Canada. I had my passport, my booking numbers, hotel address in Dublin (required for the motorcycle shipment documentation), travel insurance, stacks of foreign currency.
The flight over was reasonably uneventful. I only had my laptop bag and my nearly-empty small waterproof duffel (with one change of clothing in it), so I kept them as carry-on. Spent some quality time in the Air Canada Lounge as usual. The flight was delayed almost an hour, but I was in no rush. The flight was originally due to land in Dublin around 11:30 or so, and I couldn't check into my hotel until 15:00, so any delay was welcome!
The flight was a bit bumpy though. I kept imagining how my K1300S, Raven, was handling the turbulence. 😟
When we landed, I started trying to get my iPad and iPhone online. Switched out SIMs, etc, and noticed that knowroaming's relationship with 3 seems to SUCK over here. No packets were flowing!
DUB doesn't have much of a border clearance area. The entire airport felt small, after the time I've spent in YYZ, SFO, LAS, MUC, FRA, LHR, BCN, etc. But immigration was anything but small-time. Most airports barely glance at your face while they distractedly ask one or two questions and stamp your passport. At DUB, every flier got an in-depth conversation.
"Where are you from?" "Why did you come to Ireland?" "What are your plans?" "When do you leave?" "Leaving so soon?" (rain predicted!)
In answer to my motorcycle plans: "You flew with a motorcycle? What are you plans for that?" and "When do you leave with the motorcycle?"
All in all, it was fine, just way more questions than I usually have to answer, but I had answers! I don't normally have more than "fly in on this day, fly out on that day." planned, but knowing I might have problems with the cargo customs office, I did a little more this time.
Walked out, and had to get directions to the cargo terminals since I couldn't pull up gmaps (no packets flowing!). Customs was in Cargo Terminal 1, and Swissport and my motorcycle would (eventually) be in Cargo terminal 2.
It was about a 15 minute walk to Cargo Terminal 1. I wasn't sure if I'd need anything from the motorcycle to provide to customs, but since I was passing by Customs on the way to the bike, might as well ask.
Hey, the outlets I'm seeing are UK sockets, not EU sockets. I'm in the Republic of Ireland, aren't I, a member of the EU? I'm confused.
This is when I realized that the only documentation I might have for the bike was the receipt I had been handed back at ACC and had so casually handled during my prep. Uhh, oh good, laptop bag. Holy crap, holy crap, probably one of the more important documents I had to have! Whew!
Anyway, the conversation went well. The customs agent asked similar questions to the immigration people, and was pleased that I already had my ferry booked as evidence that the bike would be leaving Ireland. He did ask if I had proof of my bike's flight back to Canada. I did not; can't book it until 28 days before, and I'm not flying back from part 2 until about 6 weeks later. He said "Okay, that's fine, I don't need that."
Handed over my Ontario driver's license (still wasn't sure where my IDP was. hrm, brb. nope, can't find it again!), Green Card insurance paper, ownership papers, shipping receipt, and waited about 5 minutes while he made copies. Then he handed me my customs clearance paper and I left.
Walked next door to Cargo Terminal 2. Talked to one of the crew, and they told me the bike wasn't there yet, but would likely show up in 30 minutes or so. Went over to the office at the side, paid the dock handling charge (based on mass, was about EUR140 for the 290KG bike), and continued to beat on my knowroaming SIM to see if I could make something happen. 25 minutes later, I was directed to return to the terminal, where I saw two workers pushing the bike out the gate for me!
That was it! No drama, no impossible questions (prove you're flying home with the bike), had all my paperwork, done done done!
Of course, it started to rain. One of the forklift drivers yelled over as it started to shower "Enjoy your rain, welcome to Ireland! *hahaha!*" I didn't care much about the rain though; it wasn't cold, it wasn't a crushing downpour, and I had been drenched with sweat about 6 times since I put these clothes on before flying over anyway.
Loaded the laptop and duffel on the bike, got my helmet and jacket out, fed the hotel address into the GPS, and got on the road.
Oh, the Republic of Ireland drives on the left side, like the UK? I am in the Republic of Ireland, yes? Isn't this the EU? I'm confused. Rain stopped for a couple minutes. Oh goody, showers are back! Jumpin' into the deep end of the pool here, with all the airport traffic, jetlag, other-side driving, roundabouts, motorway between me and the hotel. Certainly a brisk start to things.
The ride was short and uneventful. I had enough gas to not worry about filling up, so I just focused on driving where the locals drive (other side, ramps, roundabouts) on the way to the hotel. The room was ready, so I parked, occupied, and got ready to start my 8 hour remote work day (9-5 in Toronto is 14-22 local).
Work went okay. Internet in the hotel sucks, but I finally got my knowroaming SIM sorted out; it often defaults to using 3, but 3 seems to be very broken. I forced it to use Meteor, and that's been pretty good.
I use KnowRoaming a lot. It is a SIM sticker, thin enough to piggyback on your regular SIM, and you can switch back and forth using a "SIM Application", then running their app to change your APN back and forth between knowroaming and your regular SIM's settings.
I'm on a 7 day unlimited data package right now in the iPad, and knowroaming allows for tethering. Whew!
I switched my iPhone's SIM to a 3 SIM. They have an interesting 12GB roam-like-home option when you sign up for their All-In-One 20 plan, allowing me to roam across Europe within that 12G so I'm trying it out. Too bad 3 is SUCKING here. Sigh.
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