Any question answered...

efficiently without flying?

Why rule out the most efficient way?

Cycling?

Carbon emissions look at least 3 times higher compared with train/coach plus ferry

Are you new here?

Nope, but at 1am it looks great. I'll read properly in the morning. Thanks

There is an overnight ferry from Liverpool, departs around 9 and arrives at 5am. Unsure if it would have come up as it's a lot longer than leaving from Holyhead.

Should be a couple of hours on the train + 20min taxi to the port.

Thanks I'll check it out.

Edit:

Although we don’t accommodate for foot passengers on this journey, you don’t have to worry – you’ll be able to get to Ireland on foot via our Cairnryan to Larne route instead.

Rural Scotland > NI is too much of a detour...

Make a new account and sync that?

Anyone done a passport renewal recently? How long did it take?

Struggling getting a picture accepted using my iPhone to take the picture. Did you use yours or get it done at Post Office / Tesco photo booth / Snappy Snaps / other?

make sure you're taking the photo from far away then cropping in so you can get a proper profile with ears.

Yes, my two daughters. Eldest needs it for a trip, figured I'd do youngest while at it. Both expired in lockdown.

Tried a phone photo for the first. It was rejected due to 'head tilted to the side'. Went to Snappy Snaps and that photo was accepted. Whole renewal process took 24 days including postage and 4 days while I sorted out new photos in the middle.

Got photos from Snappy Snaps for the other passport straight off. Application to approval was 9 days, currently being printed.

https://www.irishferries.com/uk-en/Travel-to-Ireland-Specials/rail-sail/

Have you looked at this? apologies if you have...

That is such bullshit.

Ghent is better than Bruges IMO. Brussels is amazing, and I enjoyed a few days in Oostende but I can imaging there's not too much to do with kids there.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a thru axle security skewer? For an MTB front wheel.

Hexlox?

Thanks @Sumo and @jellybaby - Gave up trying to do the image myself and paid at the local Snappy Snaps type place. The dreadful picture was accepted first time.

Just noticed a flat magnet sewn in next to the zip opening of the laptop compartment of my bag (Millican rucksack).

• What's it for? (apart from holding a spare teaspoon)
  
• Can it damage devices? (eg my laptop)
  

2 Attachments

Is it meant to hold the flap closed over the zip? Looks like there might be another magnet in the corresponding position

Is it okay to replace the clipped bearings in this Deore hub with new loose bearings and would it be good practice to add an extra one?

https://si.shimano.com/api/publish/storage/pdf/en/si/3CZ0A/SI-3CZ0A-002-ENG.pdf

https://www.active-traveller.com/gear-reviews/accessories/millican-smith-the-roll-25l-backpack

Bingo!

"And it has a laptop pocket against your back, with a long, easy-access opening (first surprise; an easily overlooked sewn-in magnet that holds the storm-flap closed over the laptop compartment zip. Genius simplicity)."

Ah ha! Thanks both :)

would it be good practice to add an extra one?

It's probably going to be essential to add at least one, but the exact number is a matter of trial and error (or careful measurement and calculation)
At the low speed of a bicycle hub, cageless ball bearings have worked fine for more than a century, in some cases literally an individual hub bearing.

Carbon emissions look at least 3 times higher

I thought that might be why you were acting weird, so I checked. It's true that rail travel can have lower CO₂ than flying, but it relies on a lot of factors which may not apply to your route. I wouldn't put money on either side of that bet, and you're about to expend a ton of time and money backing a hunch that you've come out on the right side. Either that, or you've done some proper research, taking account of such things as load factor, energy source mix, and the full lifecycle CO₂ emissions of not just the transport vehicles but the supporting infrastructure.
If you actually gave a fuck about the environment, you wouldn't go at all.

Ta tester.