tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70769681660403913072024-03-08T21:34:32.009+10:00*¨*•☆Bernie's World Odyssey☆•*¨*¸.•*¨*•☆I am an ordinary person living an extraordinary life but the time has finally come to close this book that has been my baby for the last 22 months.All good things must come to an end and it is now time to embark on a new journey.A new journey needs a new book, so please follow me www.berniesafricanodyssey.blogspot.com I am thankful for the reason why I am here,thankful for each new day and thankful for my second chance at life. .•*¨*•☆Bernie Jamiesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954108071836273912noreply@blogger.comBlogger629125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076968166040391307.post-54102147313777815172013-01-20T17:51:00.005+10:002013-01-20T17:56:59.992+10:00MY WORLD ODYSSEY FINALLY CLOSES-FOR GOOD<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I know I have said this before and you have heard it all
before.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But this time it is the very last day of Bernie’s World
Odyssey. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This is it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have had an amazing journey that has seen me travel to
all 7 continents, visited over 65 countries, thousands of kilometres travelled by
air, sea and land. I have seen things
that I will never forget, I have met amazing people who became friends for life
and I have experienced a life that not many people get the privilege to live.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I am thankful-to the core. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Thankful to my mum.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Thankful to the people who support me, no matter what
craziness I get myself into.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Thankful to a world that has looked after me during my
travels.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And thankful to each and every new day that dawns and I
get to experience.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Travelling is not all rainbows and sunshine but I wouldn’t
replace it for anything else in this world.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Even though it is time to close this book, there are so
many chapters that have made this book my finest to date. I now embark on a new journey and I have a
new book for the occasion. Please come
and visit me at <a href="http://www.berniesafricanodyssey.blogspot.com/">www.berniesafricanodyssey.blogspot.com</a>
where I will continue to write about my journey, discoveries and life as I head
into unknown territory. Everything I
have done, seen and met has bought me to this moment in time. All of it, the good the bad and the ugly of
it all. It has shaped me, I feel like I
am a better person for the experience and I hope to continue to be so as my
life moves forward. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A new culture, a new country and a new continent.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And I am scared. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But as they say “Fortune Favours the Brave”. So I have my AUSTRALIAN passport, I have my head
held high, my 60kg packed and a friend to meet me when I arrive into
Nairobi. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What else could a girl need? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I would like to thank all my readers. As of this morning I have had 45,665 people
click on my blog. To the repeat readers
and the support that has been shown to me over my 22 months away-thank
you. I would like to share a post that I
got yesterday and I think it sums up my feelings exactly. Thanks to Claire for the kind words, they
really had an impact on me:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> "You are driving to the mountain, there
is lots of fog and you are thinking of turning around and dri<span class="textexposedshow">ving back, there is even more fog and you think that's
it's I am definitely turning around and driving back. Don't turn back keep
driving the fog will clear and the view of the mountain is amazing and you will
be so glad you never turned back" </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So it is farewell from Bernie’s World Odyssey. I am sure in the future the site will be
added to again. A long way down the
road. But for now, it is time to plant
these feet for a while and if the truth be told I am looking forward to it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Thank you, to you all.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Love and friendship always<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Bernie xxxxx<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">“Always
believe in yourself to fly to your dreams”</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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Bernie Jamiesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954108071836273912noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076968166040391307.post-34832935383956912232013-01-20T17:26:00.001+10:002013-01-20T17:27:28.363+10:00BARCELONA BLUES<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So my last 3 days have been soul searching to say the
least. It has taken me a few days to get
out of the dark place I have been and it was an effort. I do get like this at times and I even felt a
little sick yesterday, where I think I have just worried myself that much about
my arrival into Kenya that I literally worried myself sick. I have received a lot of supportive messages
over the past few days and it strengthened my resolve and it is those messages
that helped me climb my way back. There
was a point when I seriously thought about coming home-just for a micro
second-well maybe a little longer as I also checked the cost of flights, but it
was a few minutes of madness. I always
know that I can come home if things don’t work.
A few people are worried that I won’t just to save face of some sort if
Africa doesn’t work but I know it will work, it may just not be straight away,
I may have to move a few times, it may take months for me to settle in, but I
have come this far and I intend to go and try my damndest to make this work as
I know deep down it is what I want to do.
As a few people mentioned it is the unknown. It is FREAKING me out, it is something I have
no control over where I am used to having things planned and I always knew
where and what I would be doing in 3 months time, 2 weeks time and I don’t have
that power and that feeling is new and foreign to me. I don’t like it, but it takes me out of my
comfort zone and THAT is what I am going to have to get used to as I enter a
new country and a new culture. All my
talk for the last 12 months has finally come.
It is now time to turn those words into actions and I think that is what
has finally hit. I chose this path and I
am determined to see where it will take me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I am also missing home and my God-daughters like
crazy. Part of that could be to do with
not having much conversation time during my cruise. I don’t want to use the word lonely but you
do miss talking to people when you are on your own and this is why I would
never be a back packer in the true sense and just bum my around the world. I enjoy tours, the people you have to meet
and mix with, the good and the bad. I am
certainly not an independent traveller in the true sense of the word and I have
always known that. The other downer is
my Ethiopian disarster keeps cropping its head.
I haven’t heard from Zeme, but the thought of how it all finished just
frustrates me at times and as Dave said I need to let it go or it will eat me
up and he is right. I can’t change what
has happened and I do need to let it go.
I was unspeakably hurt, my generosity was abused, I trusted someone
basically to my core and to know I made a bad judgement call has rocked
me. But I can’t let that one bad egg
define the future people I meet, black or white. I just need to use my head and do what I think
is right, it is all I have at the end of the day and one bad judgement can
happen to anyone. Right? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So I got proactive yesterday and sent out 3 emails to
people that had been referred to me over the last 3 weeks. One email went to Uganda, one went to
Tanzania and one went to a contact that used to live in Ethiopia but I now
believe lives in Senegal. My Senegal
lady came back pretty much straight away and explained that any contacts she
had in Ethiopia have long left. I was
told that volunteering or working in Ethiopia is not straight forward. It
requires a lot of effort. But it is doable. NGOs have restrictions on the
number of expats they can have on their books as authorities fear that they
will take the jobs of locals. I was told
to be prepared to be very proactive and also prepare myself for lots of false
starts. And she didn’t want to sound negative but in the four years she was
there she saw a lot of people who wanted to do good only to be met by the same
frustrations. It’s good to know and I am
sure that a lot of African countries will be similar but I have the time, the
patience may require a bit more work, but I am lucky I don’t have to start work
straight away and I just know that something will fall into place. I also used this opportunity to send an email
to the Australian Consulate in Kenya. I
asked if there were agencies that helped foreigners look for work and also if
they knew of companies that helped in looking for places to live. I know it is not the job of a consulate/high
commission to have this information but as I see it I have nothing to lose by
sending them an email. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have also decided to not get my stuff sent to me until
I have the right visa I need to have. I
am going to be entering Kenya on a 3 month tourist visa which is fine for
now. I will be making a trip to Addis
Ababa to collect some personal items from Zeme and then coming back, which will
I am assuming it will give me another 3 months, this I need to check and then I
have that London trip in May. I am
thinking I may get flagged in the system that I am coming back and forth on a
tourist visa and they may start to ask questions on what I am actually doing. Of course if I get work, that is a different
story and I would hope who ever I get a job with helps me sort that out, but if
I am just back and forth with no job I am sure I just cant keep entering on a
tourist visa and renting a place in their country. What I don’t want to happen is I do get
caught up in the system and I am not allowed into the country until I have all
the correct papers and I have all my stuff in a place somewhere unable to get
to it because I’m not allowed back in.
That would just be terrible. So
until I know where I am going to call home, make sure I have the right papers,
THEN I will get my things sent. So with
all that said, I am glad I bought all the extra clothes as it could be a few
months before I may have all that in order.
I wonder if you can get a non-tourist visa if you don’t have a job? Hmmmmm.
I can look into that when I get there.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I don’t have much option of TV viewing. Firstly the remote doesn’t work and I can’t
find the buttons on the TV to change the channels, only for the volume, so I am
stuck on a Spanish movie channel which I have turned down and I am relying on
my computer and IPad for entertainment.
What I have seen the last few days on Facebook is people commenting on
the Lance Armstrong interview with Oprah.
I really wanted to see this, so I searched for it in Youtube and I was
able to watch the full 51 minute part one interview. I don’t think I have ever used Youtube to its
full capabilities and I think I will certainly be using it a lot more when I am
in Africa. But back to Lance
Armstrong. Everyone has an opinion but
you know I have to say he handled himself well in the interview, he seems
sorry, yes he did some bad things and I’m not just talking about the illegal
substances, a lot of sports and careers do it-we shouldn’t seem so shocked that
a big named athelete has done it. He
isn’t the first and he isn’t the last. I
can totally see where he is coming from when he said the momentum just took him
and before he knew he was caught up in it and he was unstoppable. I felt sorry for him actually and I think it
will be one of those topics that will be discussef till the end of time and
no-one will ever agree. I watched the
second part today and I think it is a bit poor that he wants to come back to a
competitive level at some point if US-ADA lessen his lifelong ban. I think that is poor form-but that is all he
has ever known, how to compete. All
these people that have come forward telling people he owes the apologies, and I
am sure he does-but these are people that also made money from all of this,
they aren’t innocent either. Not all of
this was done just for Lance. Its very hypocritical
if you ask me. They are happy to ride
the coat tails and reap all the rewards and when things go south they speak
out. Shame on you. It is hard to believe a pathological liar-but
he deserves a second chance, maybe not at competitive sport as there will
alsways be a cloud, but at life, raising his 5 children to be better people and
to live a life that was nearly lost with his fight with cancer. I wish you the best of luck lance
Armstrong. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The other news I have been following is the heatwave in
Australia, the bush fires and then on the flip side the snow fall in London. Sydney had its hottest day on record at 45.7C. man that is a scortcher. I remember about 6 years ago, it was
Christmas Day and the temperature that day was 41C and I thought that was
hot. I wonder how hot it was in the ‘hottest
place in Australia’ was? . I saw a headline saying that Australia has
lost more lives in the heat than what the current road death toll is As serious
as human life is, so are our 4 legged friends and I had a friends remind her
fellow Facebookers to remember you pets when you head to work in the morning
and make sure they have enough water to last them during the day. Very wise words and I wish all my Aussie
friends a cool day and hope that you are all copping okay. A heatwave in Australia. That I am glad I am missing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So I have picked myself up, I have dusted myself off
again and I am now ready to depart for Africa tomorrow. TOMORROW.
I better get packing-for the last time.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So I just want to thank everyone for all your thoughts...
They mean more to me than I can ever express in words. I chose this road and I
guess it is the unknown that scares me and I just have to travel it and see
where it takes me and know that you are all with me on this journey. The life
of a traveller is not all rainbows and sunshine but I can see the clouds
clearing... THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart xx</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Bernie Jamiesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954108071836273912noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076968166040391307.post-57276204217559583912013-01-20T06:11:00.002+10:002013-01-20T06:12:01.403+10:00WELCOME BACK TO BARCELONA<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We’re back. We
arrived back into port sometime around 5 am-not that I noticed. I checked to make sure that the monster had
been taken, which it had, and I worked my morning around a 9am departure. As I was heading to breakfast groups of colours
were already being called at 7am, but they were people with flights to catch
and I was glad I had a few days in town before I had to head off. Firstly I was able to store bags-I couldn’t imagine
having all my gear in the cabin that I had-Linda wouldn’t have seen a mess if I
had of done that and I didn’t have the stress of getting to an airport and I
just hoped that there were taxis!!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I had a book to swap at the ‘book swap’ section of The
Library on deck 12. I had left a book
during the week, swapped it-read it and returned it this morning with another
book that I had finished and wanted to swap.
You always feel like such a thief when you put a book in and take one
out. I feel like I want/need to show
someone that I have put one in to take one out.
Ridiculous I know as people probably don’t really care. There were more foreign language books in the
swap library than English ones, but as long as they had one, I would take
it. I am still reading hard copy books
while I can. I much prefer that than the
Kindle. I wonder if books are expensive to
get a hold of in Kenya like it was in Ethiopia.
Like Ethiopia, my only things I need on my wish list are internet and a
bathroom. I don’t think that is too hard
to ask. I am assuming that the cost of
living will be more expensive in Kenya than Ethiopia and I have no idea on what
the cost of a place to rent is-all this I guess I will find out when I
arrive. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Breakfast was a quick one this morning as it was SO cold
outside this morning. I had my delightful
pancakes and fresh cream one last time and I was kind of happy that I didn’t see
Sahul, the waiter from the other morning-talk about awkward. I had nearly 1.5 hours till I was to leave
the ship. So I headed back to The
Library and read my book in the warmth and comfort of a big cushy arm
chair. There was no-one else in there, I
had the whole place to myself and it was a nice way to spend my last hour on
the ship. I headed back to my cabin at
8.30am as this was the time we were supposed to have vacated them by. I was hoping I could hole up in there for an
extra 30 minutes trying to maximise my time and delay my arrival to the hotel
as late as I could get. I got a knock
from Linda not long after I got back, but she said to take my time, she had
other cabins to do and she could come back to mine. My stewardess Linda was a breath of fresh air
during the week with her smile and saying good morning every day and I would
see her on my way out each evening as I headed to the theatre. She had one more cruise to do and then she
was heading home to the Philippines for 7 weeks for a break before coming
back. I decided to leave her a small
note on the dresser to say thank you for her smile every day and I also
attached a kangaroo hat pin for her to remember me by. Hopefully that made her smile. Gee I hope she gets it!!!! So at 8.50am I decided I better get my butt
off the ship and let Linda have my cabin-she was just across the hall so with a
hug and a quick chat I said my goodbyes and it was time to leave my home for
the last 9 nights.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Deck 7 was the gangway and there was a line-up of staff,
the cruise director and the second captain there all to say goodbye as we
swiped our ship cards for the last time.
Welcome back to Barcelona and it was a chilly one at that. The Barcelona port also looks quite new and
well laid out. After walking the access
bridges and down the escalators we arrived at the baggage collection point and
it was just like an airport, with bag carousels and each one was numbered with
the coloured tag that you had on your bag.
It was a great system and the monster arrived only a few minutes of me
getting to my belt. I was able to use
the edge of a counter to get the backpack on my back and then I was following
people out to the taxi rank. There was a
small queue but it was moving and there was a port policeman moving the taxis
into bays and another guy directing people to cabs as they pulled in and not
even 10 minutes of waiting I was in a cab whisked away to the city. There was a weird moment when I had a look
behind me and I saw the English couple, Lee and Adele were standing behind me
and didn’t say a single word to me. So I
thought ‘flip you’ and didn’t say anything to them. I think what may have happened was I had a
great report with Lee and I reckon Adele said something to him and they kept
their distance. I only saw them one
other time in the buffet on like day 4 and they were very off Standish then. I’m not sure what went down, but we never did
catch up for that drink we spoke about on the first day of the cruise which is
a shame as they seemed quite cool and we had a few things in common. Oh well it was their loss. That reminded me that I didn’t get to say
goodbye to my Danish couple. That makes
me sad as they were lovely. At least I
do have their email address so I will be sure to send them an email in the next
few days. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As I sat in the taxi as it drew away, I couldn’t see a
meter. I thought how much could he rip
me off. I knew I paid 11EUR for the trip
down so I had that price in mind for the return journey. I am glad I had my vouchers as it makes it so
much easier to communicate with the drivers when they know where they are going
without my pathetic attempts at Spanish-but in saying that I am staying on the
Ramblas and you can’t go too wrong saying that word. As I found out when I arrived and had to walk
the sucker, The Ramblas is a long tree lined street/pedestrian mall that
stretches for 1.2 kilometres and with this in mind my taxi driver popped out
right near my hotel-great work buddy. So
you can imagine my surprise when he told me the fare was 20EUR. Actually it was 20.15EUR but he was happy to
call it 20EUR. Well how swell of
you. I really didn’t have a leg to stand
on as I couldn’t see a meter anywhere so I just paid the 20EUR reluctantly and
exited the cab. I made him help me with
the monster to get it on my back-he was going to work for that 20EUR. I just don’t understand how an 11EUR cab ride
down was a 20EUR cab ride back. We were
travelling at similar times-there was no traffic to speak of and we didn’t travel
the whole length of the Ramblas. Any way
I wasn’t going to argue and I walked into the hotel to be greeted by the same
guy that popped my bags into storage for free when I was last here. He was also cute and my rip off taxi was immediately
forgotten! I asked if my room happened
to be ready and he did look to which it was no.
He told me the room wouldn’t be ready till 1.30pm, maybe earlier which I
did expect. But he said he would check
if there was another room that I could have.
He took about 10 minutes checking the computer and the log to no avail
telling me that there were no other single rooms free. I asked then how much extra would it cost to
pay for a double room and at that moment another staff member appeared (also
easy on the eye) and after a few words he said I could have room 207. AWESOME!!!
I was SO thankful as I know they don’t have to do it, or they could and
ask for money for an early check-in, but they didn’t and it really made my
morning. The first good looking chap
remembered I had bags stored without me even mentioning it and I said I would
take what I had up and be back for the other 2.
Once I got to my room I could see why he didn’t look at this room as it was
a disabled room-which I didn’t mind. It
had a single bed and the bathroom was as big as the actual room itself but
there was lots of room for my bags and would give me extra space for my final
pack in a few days’ time. I was
happy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I retrieved my other 2 bags and then I pretty much locked
myself away in my room for the rest of the day.
I had some blogs to finish, I had A LOT of support messages replying
back to my down status I had put up on Facebook yesterday and all the messages
just made me cry all over again, so I wanted to read them all and hopefully
reply back and my BIGGEST job was to finally load all my photos from the last 9
days. I had done all the hard work of
editing them while I was on the ship, so I literally only had to load them. It was nice to look over them again and it
made me think that I should take the time to look over a lot more of my
pictures that I have taken in the last 2 years, but it is just a time
thing. Well I will be a bit of a bum in
Kenya for a little while so maybe I will have some ‘down’ time to just soak in
everything I have accomplished over my time away and re read some blogs. It would be interesting to ready a blog from
the start of the Odyssey and compare it to how I am writing now. I wonder if there is a difference at all. I also have a few more things I need to do
while I have a good internet connection from internet banking, updating my antivirus
software, sending a few emails and of course the never ending blogging. Yes I had the perfect day ‘at home’ with no
constraints at all. I did go out at 3pm
to get some lunch and I just had to have some paella. Paella is a <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Valencian</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>cooking
metal casing, and a<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="text-decoration: initial;">rice</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>dish that originated in its modern
form in the mid-19th century near lake<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="text-decoration: initial;">Albufera</span>,
a<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="text-decoration: initial;">lagoon</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>in Valencia, on the east coast of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="text-decoration: initial;">Spain</span>. There are three widely known types of paella:
Valencian paella, seafood paella and mixed paella but there are many others as
well. All contain <span style="text-decoration: initial;">white rice</span>,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="text-decoration: initial;">green
vegetables</span> and meat depending on the option you choose. I was feeling a little adventurous and
ordered the seafood paella and lemonade and after the drink arrived I kicked
myself as I should have ordered a glass of sangria. Never mind.
So I settled on with my book in the warmth of the restaurant until my
meal arrived and it looked delicious and I wasn’t disappointed, it tasted as
good as it looked. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As I had eaten such a late lunch I knew that I wouldn’t be
too hungry for dinner but I would probably need something to get me through
till breakfast in the morning. So I
found a supermarket and bought some Doritos, some crackers, and some ham and
when I looked in the cheese section I was hoping to see Brie or Camembert but
to avail BUT guess what was there? Cow
Cheese!!! You know the cream cheese that
come in 8 segments in a round cardboard case?
In my books that was just as good as the Brie/Camembert and with that in
my basket, a can of coke and 2 passionfruit poppers I think I was set for a bit
of a snack later on tonight if I needed.
Perfect. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So it was a productive day for me. Maybe not in the sense of being a tourist but
I need to have ‘office’ days and I think after next week I am not sure when I
will have internet again-so I need to make the most of it while I have it. In my defence I have been to Barcelona twice
before and I have done a lot of the ‘touristy’ things. The only thing I haven’t really done here is
the museums and I am not really a museum go-er so I don’t feel guilty that I am
not getting around the city. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Tick, tick tick-Africa in 4 days…….</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Bernie Jamiesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954108071836273912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076968166040391307.post-40401452250792903122013-01-20T04:57:00.000+10:002013-01-20T04:58:32.270+10:00FINAL DAY AT SEA AND OF THE CRUISE<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrdBpzwXHS0MIW1HFV1aL_xa2WYeCnUrFcm0389O48U-ZfqpaRLqDKDahVL23yldXpdi6B6lQJcGPosSJVqXybipesQJDZCRL1impt9Bx595QVRElfFO1AImjn7CXW6d68wC97k7o4LfoE/s1600/IMG_6527.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrdBpzwXHS0MIW1HFV1aL_xa2WYeCnUrFcm0389O48U-ZfqpaRLqDKDahVL23yldXpdi6B6lQJcGPosSJVqXybipesQJDZCRL1impt9Bx595QVRElfFO1AImjn7CXW6d68wC97k7o4LfoE/s400/IMG_6527.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I am still sleeping weirdly and with the dresser lights
on. I was lucky last night, one of the
bulbs blew, so it dimmed the room considerably and I did get a better
sleep. I haven’t slept in a room with a
window for the last 11 nights, so it's a little strange to not see what time of
day it is and have no idea on what the weather is doing outside. I had a windowless room in London, a
windowless room in Barcelona and then the last 8 nights of the cruise-it is
very disorientating to say the least. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I’m glad that our last day is a sea day and not a port day. It just lets you unwind that last minute
without the pressures and constraints of time.
There seems to be a lot of new faces on the ship that we picked up in
Malaga. It would be interesting to know
just how many people disembarked and how many boarded. You spot the ‘newbies’ a mile off as they
have the deck plan in their hands and they have a look of ‘where the hell are
we’ on their faces. I have a kind of
smug feeling knowing where everything is and knowing my way around the ship and
how it all works. Pffftttt, newbies!!! In saying that though, during the week there
were people still getting lost that had boarded in Barcelona-after 5 days…… I must say there were a few places on the
ship that I didn’t go into, most of the eating venues, but I did know where
they all were. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I had breakfast at 9am and this morning and it was a very
smart move as there was an influx of people at 10am on my way out, so I was
lucky today I missed the car wreck of breakfast with all the ‘newbies’ learning
how to use the drink and coffee machines.
And to answer your question, they had cream and it was fluffy pancakes
again for breakfast. I know that I have
probably put on some weight on the cruise, but I have tried to choose my food
smartly but at the end of the day I should just make the most of what is in
front of me as there will be nothing like that in Kenya. Sure I am sure I could go to a 5 star hotel
for a breakfast, but firstly it won’t be the same thing and it will cost me an
arm and a leg. I may do that as a treat
to myself if I totally feel down, but there won’t be this where I am
heading. It is funny I have used that
attitude since going home in August, so I have just eaten like a maniac the
last 5 months-but in my defence I was heading to Africa in September and that
fell through. So I know I have definitely
wacked on some weight since August, but hopefully once I get into a routine,
cooking healthy food and maybe even throw in some exercise I will be able to
shift some of that when I settle. Just
think I have basically been ‘eating out’ for the last 22 months, so really it
is kudos to me for not being bigger than what I am right? I mean that is a lot of takeaway meals-based
on 3 meals a day-that’s 1848 meals. I
feel bad, I don’t feel healthy, but again I hope to rectify that in the coming
months. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As routine predicts I was in Galaxy of the Stars after
breakfast to blog and watch the 10am salsa class. It is SO cold in there I have my scarf up
around my head and my cardie on, my jacket on my knees and socks on my
feet. I wonder why they keep it so cold
in here-it’s been like this all week. Maybe
it’s for the exercisers? I don’t know
but flip its cold. It was busier up here
than usual with all the newcomers and I am now thinking that the ship mustn’t have
been full when we did our first 8 days, as it certainly seems a lot busier
today than any other day so far. The
average age hasn’t changed and we are still in that 60+ age group. I don’t think I even thought about the age
demographic when I booked the cruise.
Not that it would have mattered as I still would have booked on this
cruise anyway. A lot of the passengers
are Europeans getting away from their prospective winters. I guess the coldness of the lounge for them
is nice and cosy when the temperatures in Germany or Denmark are 0
degrees. Maybe I am just a hot blooded
person from the southern part of the world?
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So today is the last day of the cruise. I got a picture email from Shelly today of
Zoe doing her seal experience that she got for her birthday from Aunty Sandy
and it just bought a tear to my eye.
Gosh I miss those guys so much it actually makes my heart hurt a little. With Africa looming it really makes me think now
what I am actually giving up and what a big step I am undertaking. I have been so good for the last 8 days being
in my own company, in my own head, but today something has just flipped and I
am tearing up at the drop of a hat. I
really don’t know what is wrong with me.
I am missing home but I guess it is a lot of things, some of them I can’t
change and things that I just can’t foresee for my arrival into Kenya, the unknown. I find myself under a really dark cloud and I
hope that I will be able to move it in the coming days. Am I feeling sorry for myself? I don’t think so-there are a lot of people
that would die to be in my shoes, I know that.
I am lucky-but it doesn’t mean that I am not fighting my own demons that
surface every now and then. After all I
am only human I suppose. I updated my
Facebook status:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">“No one said it was going to be easy-that just promised
it would be worth it. I am finding that a little hard to grasp the last few
days. I am so down and crying at the drop of a hat-what is wrong with me? 5
days till Africa-let’s hope my mood improves .......” and it is exactly how I
felt. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I used the afternoon to have a good cry and then I had to
pack. I really did have stuff from one
end of the cabin to the other. Linda
must think I was a total pig not even having unpacked properly, literally-I didn’t
even store my ‘monster’ backpack away, it just sat at the base of my bed the
whole week. Oh well it was an organised
chaos, I knew where everything was, well most of the time. The main thing I seemed to keep misplacing
was the damn TV remote. I got 90% of my
stuff packed I will try and zip the monster after the show tonight so I can out
the clothes I am wearing in the bag before I have to out it outside my cabin
before midnight tonight for it to be collected.
You did have the option of taking it off the ship yourself at any time,
but I would be crazy to do that with the monster. I had the lime sticker on my bag, which was
the last possible departure you can have off the ship of 8.45am. I need to try and keep my departure as late
as I can as I am pretty sure my hotel room won’t be ready at 9.30am-but I will
still try and ask. I did keep the
airlines ‘HEAVY’ tag on my bag, so hopefully some porter guy won’t pull out his
back moving that thing later tonight. This
is the second last time will have to pack.
That is one thing I WILL NOT MISS and that is all the packing,
especially this section as I have all the extra clothes and bags with me. It really has been a nightmare and cost me
some money, but not knowing when I will get my belongings sent over, I needed
to make sure I had enough stuff with me to keep me going for a while. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The final show in the theatre the cruise was a guy named
Andy Buenger. He is a musician but not
just any old musician he can play over 15 instruments! He played 7 for us in the show including the
marimba (like a xylophone), vibraphone, the panpipes, the steel guitar, drums,
saxophone and trumpet. He played well
known tunes with all the instruments and he was backed with the amazing
Norwegian Spirit 6 piece band and it was a great show. I think the 2 highlights for me was the
marimba. He can play that thing like no
tomorrow and he said the song that he just played had 1250 stokes in the 2
minute song. He told us that he looked
for a song that had more strokes than that and he couldn’t find one-BUT he did
find a song that had 1200 strokes in ONE minute and he played that with
illuminated sticks and with the theatre lights dimmed we could see just how
fast he was moving those sticks. It was
incredible and to show my state of mind, it bought tears to my eyes. Now why would that make you cry? The second was Andy played a ‘drum off’ with
the drummer from the band and it was so cool as they played together in time,
then they played separate and then joined up again, t was well choreographed. You could see the band drummer was tickled
pink with his 5 minutes of fame and also looked like he enjoyed the
opportunity. Andy was a very clever man and
you need to add in the 4 languages he knew and spoke in during the show. It was a SENSATIONAL way to finish the cruise The last show of the 9 nights on board and
out of those 9 nights I think there were only 2 ‘ordinary shows’ the rest were
incredible. Well done on act selection
NCL. Well done. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">On my way back to my cabin I stopped at the reception
desk for the first time as I wanted to check about the gratuities.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In Australia when you book they add the
gratuities to the cost of your cruise fare.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I think Australian may have a bad reputation as bad tippers as we don’t have
to do it in our country, so I can see why they do do it that way and I don’t mind.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I am a tipper and the staff certainly deserve
the money.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">They work like dogs and long hours
and time away from their families.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Some
of the staff have small children that are being cared for my grandparents or
the other spouse.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It is a tough life.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So no I don’t mind paying the tips.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">NCL have a policy that will automatically add
15USD per day to your account and I wanted to check that I wasn’t going to be
paying the tip twice.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">As it worked out,
it wasn’t on their and my total bill came to 426USD.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It seems quite high for someone that didn’t buy
a single drink the whole time, except for my soda package on day one of the
cruise of 65USD, but 155USD was internet usage and I know it seems a lot, but
that was my ‘thing’.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">People drank,
people played the pokies, people paid the fancy restaurants, I paid for
internet.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I mainly did it to keep my
blog updated, as I was able to catch up on my blogs and I wanted to load them
as they were completed and of course some Facebooking to keep me in the land of
the living.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And the last of the bill was
the 3 shore excursions.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">If my bill was
426USD with no drinks, what did peoples account look like that did drink?</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">That people is where the cruise companies
make their money.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I can guarantee that
people will be shocked to see their bill and when it is double checked that it
is actually all correct.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I did a cruise
with a buddy back in April 2011 of the Mediterranean on a MSC cruise and we had
a drinking week on board the ship and my bill after 7 days was 1200AUD!!!</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Now that was a MASSIVE bill and I knew it
would be big, but that was 2 months into my Odyssey and I my budget was getting
hammered in the first 8 weeks!!!!</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Let’s
just say a lot of alcohol was consumed on that cruise.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I have to say I have enjoyed the cruise, but I am looking forward to getting back to Barcelona in the morning.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I have 3 days there to repack and prepare myself mentally for my last leg.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I have been so down the last few days and I really don’t know what is wrong.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I think I am ready to plant these travelling feet for a while and starting my new chapter.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">5 days till I leave and I am nervous as hell.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So it’s good night one last time from the Norwegian
Spirit and I’ll see you in Barcelona in the morning.</span> </div>
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Bernie Jamiesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954108071836273912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076968166040391307.post-56721227100411777882013-01-20T03:51:00.000+10:002013-01-20T03:52:49.325+10:00THE WHITE WASHED VILLAGE OF MIJAS<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcfaJdr1CExQXu7Sg_qkCND2SbUGQTgFt-b462iOF8B91qIwf3CMq-p46bG8Bd-uBkxu1CbpyMlYAEcOlkulabvPua3oVOpidgYUBOgOwsV8618fxVg7vYT6uVxVmDhE2AitGNVN9yJkR_/s1600/P1430630.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcfaJdr1CExQXu7Sg_qkCND2SbUGQTgFt-b462iOF8B91qIwf3CMq-p46bG8Bd-uBkxu1CbpyMlYAEcOlkulabvPua3oVOpidgYUBOgOwsV8618fxVg7vYT6uVxVmDhE2AitGNVN9yJkR_/s400/P1430630.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So today is the last port of call and the second last day
of the cruise. We have a day at sea
tomorrow and then we are back into Barcelona port first thing on Thursday
morning. Where has the time gone? My tour today was a half day tour to Mijas. The other tours that were on offer and more
popular was a transfer to the Rock of Gibraltar and the other one was to
Granada and the Alhambra which I had doe both when I was on my Contiki Spanish
Spree in May 2011-gee was it really that long ago? I was in my 3<sup>rd</sup> month of
travelling my World Odyssey and I made lifelong friendships off that tour…. You
know who you are! Anyway, so I didn’t have
to do those tours; that were also full days, so I chose a more leisurely ½ day
tour and thought I’d get out of the city and see one of the small
villages. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Based on that, there was no hurry for breakfast as my
tour didn’t leave till 12.50pm from the terminal so I had decided to relax on
the ship. I could have caught the bus
into Malaga and seen some of the city, but when I stepped out for breakfast, it
was cold-no it was FREEZING, so I decided to stay on board and just do the
tour. This morning they had CREAM, so I
was able to have my pancakes with fresh blueberries and cream and the last few
days I have just been having 2 small ham and cheese rolls, I’ve stayed away
from the fully cooked breakfasts and feeling better for it-I am sure that fresh
cream makes up for anything I am missing out of the hot food-but DANG it is so
good. As usual the dining room was
chockers, which surprised me as I though most people would have been out on
tours at 9am. I decided to brave the
cold and eat outside, which once I had wolfed down my food I had to go back
inside, it really was cold. . I guess we are well and truly back to a
European winter and out of the Atlantic Ocean and its warmer weather. I was talking to one of the waiters and he
was from Indonesia, so I told him the few words I have learnt at school in
Indonesian and we talked about food and he told me he had something (memory
fails me) in his cabin if I was interested in having some that he bought from
home. Ummmmmm my question was it spicy,
to which he relied yes, so there was my ‘out’ and I told him I don’t like super
spicy food. This was after he asked me
if I was cruising on my own. Had I just
been picked up? Oh Sahul-so sweet, but
no thanks. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So after spending the morning in galaxy of the Stars on
deck 12 reading my book with a beautiful view of the Malaga skyline I headed
out at 12.30pm to make my way to the terminal and our waiting coach. The port of Malaga looks new and the facilities
are all spotless and new. They had some
duty free shops (not for us) but we could pick up some shopping on our way back
if we wanted to. As we were in Spain a
duty of 21% would be added to the prices on things. I didn’t need anything but good to note. I got to the coach with 5 minutes to spare
and thankfully I wasn’t the last, there were 3 more people to come. It was busier than I thought it would be with
85% of the coach full. At 12.50pm we were on our way. Málaga is a city and a <span style="text-decoration: initial;">municipality</span> in the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Autonomous
Community</span> of <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Andalusia</span>, <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Spain</span>. It is the second most populous city of
Andalusia and the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">sixth
largest</span> in Spain. The southernmost large city in Europe, it lies on
the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Costa del Sol</span> (Coast of the Sun) of the
Mediterranean, about 100 km east of the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Strait of Gibraltar</span> and about
130 km north of Africa. Málaga's
history spans about 2,800 years, making it one of the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">oldest
cities in the world</span>. It was founded by the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Phoenicians</span> as Malaka about 770 BC, and from the 6th century BC was under
the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">hegemony</span> of <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Ancient Carthage</span>. Then from 218 BC it was ruled by the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Roman Republic</span> and later the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Roman Empire</span> as Malaca (<span style="text-decoration: initial;">Latin</span>). After the fall of the empire it was under
Islamic domination as Mālaqah
for 800 years, but in 1487 it came again under Christians rule in the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Reconquista</span>. The archaeological remains and monuments from the
Phoenician, Roman, Arabic and Christian eras make the historic centre of the
city an "open museum", displaying its rich history of more than 3,000
years. The internationally acclaimed
painter and sculptor <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Pablo Picasso</span> and actor <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Antonio Banderas</span> were born in Málaga. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The city is an important tourist destination, known as "the capital
of the Costa del Sol". Tourists usually visit the birthplace of <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Pablo Picasso</span> and the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Museo Picasso Málaga</span>, the
Carmen Thyssen Museum, the old town or the beaches. The Málaga harbour is also
the second busiest cruise port of the Iberian Peninsula. The <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Port of Málaga</span> is the city's seaport, operating continuously
at least since 600 BC. The port is one of the busiest ports on the
Mediterranean Sea, with a trade volume of over 428,623 <span style="text-decoration: initial;">TEU's</span> and 642,529 passengers
in 2008.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The tour was called Charming Mijas and Countryside and we were admiring
the countryside as we made our way via small back roads through the agriculture
area of Malaga. We were at sea level
when we started; surround by the Sierra Nevada mountains which span the Andalusia
region including the provinces of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Granada<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Almería.
It contains the highest point of continental Spain,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Mulhacén<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>at 3,478 metres above sea level and its
spectacular from where we were sitting.
Agriculture of the area included bitter oranges, also known as<span class="apple-converted-space"> the </span>Seville orange,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>refers to a<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>citrus<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>tree and its fruit. It is hybrid
between<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Citrus maxima<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Citrus
reticulata. Many varieties of bitter
orange are used for their<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>essential
oil, which is used in<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>perfume, as a<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>flavouring<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>and as a<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>solvent. The
Seville orange variety is used in the production of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>marmalade. We also saw flowering almond trees. The almond is native to the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Mediterranean climate<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>region. It was spread by humans in ancient times
along the shores of the Mediterranean into northern Africa and southern Europe
and more recently transported to other parts of the world. I’ve never seen a flowering almond tree
before and it reminded me of a cherry blossom tree. There were thousands of banana plantations
and lastly the other MASSIVE export for the region-Olive trees. Olive tree cultivation originated in the
Middle East more than 5,000 years ago and spread to the West throughout the
Mediterranean area. From the wild olive trees that grew spontaneously, the
first cultivators of the Iberian Peninsula began to choose those that had the
best characteristics depending on the areas, productivity, adaptation to the
soils, yield, etc... The olive trees in the Iberian Peninsula are now, therefore,
hardy trees that can withstand diverse climate.
In Spain alone there are 260 olive tree cultivars and around 300 million
trees just in Andalusia making the area the number one producer of olive oil in
the world. A shame I don’t eat
olives. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After an hour and 15 minutes winding our way over the
mountains we arrived at the small town of Mijas. Mijas is a town and <span style="text-decoration: initial;">municipality</span> in the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">province of Málaga</span>. It is a typically Andalusia white-washed
village located at a mountain side about 450 m <span style="text-decoration: initial;">above mean sea level</span>, in the heart of
the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Costa del Sol</span> region.
There are some local history museums and many souvenir shops; Mijas also has
seven <span style="text-decoration: initial;">golf</span> courses (four more are under construction)
including <span style="text-decoration: initial;">La Cala Resort</span>, the biggest golf
resort in Spain. Economy is mostly based
on tourism. Agricultural producers include potatoes, cereals and <span style="text-decoration: initial;">avocado</span>. Founded in
prehistoric times by the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Tertessians</span>, it was known as Tamisa by the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Romans</span>; later the name changed to Mixa and finally to the current
Mijas. The Romans were replaced by the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Visigoths</span>, and then, after 714, by the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Moors</span>. At the time of <span style="text-decoration: initial;">emirate of Córdoba</span>, it was conquered
by <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Umar ibn Hafsun</span>, remaining under
the rule of <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Bobastro</span> until the latter was
defeated by <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Abd al-Rahman III</span>. In 1487 Mijas resisted to the attacks of the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Catholic Monarchs</span> during the siege of Málaga; later the
inhabitants surrendered and most were sold as slaves. During the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Revolt of the Comuneros</span> it remained
loyal to the Spanish crown, which granted Mijas the title of 'Muy Leal ("Very
Loyal"). In the 19th century,
Mija’s livelihood, were mainly agriculture and fishing, plus some farming and
mineral extraction. And vines were the main wealth of Mijas until the Philloxera
plague destroyed all the plantations. Also important was the paper
production’s. It was found some mills located in the area of “Osunillas” 1744.
At the half of the century, was the most productive time in the industry,
thanks to the arrival of Valencia’s papermakers. In 1873 they opened the road between Mijas
and Fuengirola. Fuengirola was segregated from Mijas in 1841. However, the
village remained isolated until the second republic, when the first newspaper
arrived. There was no phone until 1953 and as descriptions of the time; the
town consisted mostly of shacks. The population was scattered across the
countryside. At the post war period
there was much hunger and lack of work. In
the 50’s an asbestos factory came to alleviate unemployment and began building
small hotel because the fame that Costa del Sol was getting. The Climate of Mijas, due to the proximity of
the sea, conditions mild temperatures, with an average of 18 °C without
heat in summer and little frost in winter. The rainfall is below 600ml per
year. They occur mainly between November and January. The town boasts some 2920
hours of sunshine a year. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Once we arrived we were given 10 minutes for the ‘older’ generation to
go to the bathroom and then as a group we made our way from the main village
square uphill for a small orientation tour of the town with a rest at the ‘Wine
Museum’ and rewarded for our 10 minute walk with a glass of crisp white dessert
wine and then taken further through the small cobbled streets surrounded by the
stark white walls of the buildings to another small square and then given 1.5
hours to spend to our own devices and to meet back at the main square at
4.15pm. We were pointed in the direction
of up one more hill to get views over the valley and also over the white washed
homes that hugged the mountains and we weren’t disappointed when we got to the
top. There was a small reserve/gardens called
La Muralla, where there is a pathway around the mountain that you could follow
and just appreciate the view and at the same time get some great snaps. The Municipal Auditorium was also located up
here. It was windy and a little brisk,
but the sun was out to help counter act the howl of the wind and I spent a good
30 minutes walking around the path. It
truly was stunning here.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">On my way back down to start making my way back to the coach, like most
towns in Andalusia, Mijas has its own bullring, the Plaza de Toros. Situated in
the earlier mentioned La Muralla area, the bullring stands on a small square, within
easy walking distance of the gardens, the Municipal Auditorium and the centre
of the town. Built in 1900, the Plaza de Toros is one of the most interesting
sights in Mijas. It was a cute little
bullring, only the second one that I have ever seen after the one we saw in
Seville in my Spanish Spree tour, but here we were allowed to walk into the
actual ring. It was 3EUR to get in and I
think it was worth every penny. I was
the only one in the whole establishment, so I knocked myself out taking a bunch
of photos. This outstanding bullring,
built in 1900, stands in the higher part of town on a rock next to the Church
of Nuestra Señora de la Concepción. Its
most remarkable feature is its oval shape (one of a few in Spain). The first bullfighting event in Mijas took
place on 8 September 1900. Since then, there have been hundreds of young bull
running events. These have their origin in how young bulls were brought from
the meadows in the past. Instead of using boxes, they were driven along roads
and tracks to a rest place where now the Mijas Hotel is located. After the break, the young bulls where driven
across a deserted town centre to the bullring. In those days, just like they do
now, the assistants must have felt tempted to run ahead of the bulls, with
their legs and maybe a timely window as protection. There are no running events now. The bullring was closed
for rehabilitation from 1968 to 1977.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I found my way back uneventfully to the main square. All the little alleyways look the same, so
you have to pay attention to the stores and signs which are in Spanish and also
English as it could be quite easy to get lost in this small village when all
the buildings look the same. But never
fear, I made it back with time to have a look at the shops that faced the main
square-all selling the same stuff and then the coach arrived right on time, we
all got on, everyone was accounted for and we made our way back to the ship via
the main highway getting us back in 45 minutes at 5pm. It was a great little tour and I am glad that
I did it to get off the ship and see some of the Spanish countryside. Thanks to Miguel or driver and to Jose our
guide for a delightful afternoon. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The buffet dinner was closing at 8pm tonight as they were
having the chocolate buffet starting at 9pm which actually worked out okay for
me as I didn’t have any lunch so after dropping off my bag to my cabin I headed
to dinner early and figured I could always get something latter on should I get
hungry after the show. It was also a double bonus as I was on deck
for the sunset at 6.20pm and to also see the Holland America ship “Rotterdam’
leave. I still marvel at how those
little tug boats work. There was just
the one tugboat and it basically turned the 62,000 tonne ship 180 degrees for the
ship to then chug its way out of port.
Really it is amazing. There were
hundreds of seagulls all swooping as the ship left port. I guess the ship was churning up a lot of the
sea floor and they were hoping to scavenge some food. Literally there were hundreds of them and it
made for some good photos-if they come out.
I think flying birds are one of the hardest pictures to take. It was a shame that I only had my point and
shoot on me. There seems to be something
wrong with my little friend. I have some
black lines appearing on the screen and they seem to get worse when the weather
is cold and it currently won’t let me delete any pictures anymore. I do get my monies worth out of my camera’s
as they certainly work hard in the hands of myself, so I can’t really complain-but
I did only buy this camera in July. It wasn’t
super expensive; I think I may have paid 110AUD, so I just may have to keep my
eyes peeled duty free for a new one when I leave Barcelona. I mustn’t forget to mention that beautiful
sunset over the Sierra Nevada’s with the shipping container cranes silhouetted. It was
an incredible view. As soon as the sun
set, there was a distinct chill in the air and the wind was still blowing a
gale force, so it was time to head back to the cabin to freshen up and get to
the Stardust Theatre for the evenings show.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I feel so ridiculous now as I wait for the theatres doors
to open each night. I am getting that
pedantic that I want the same seat each night that I am now getting there
early, before the doors even open; to make sure I am one of the first in. The first 4 days there were hardly anyone
waiting, me and this old couple and an older dude travelling his own, to the
last few nights around 20 of us all standing waiting and I am embarrassed to
say I am the only one under the age of 50 out of that 20, not including the
wheel chair lass, as they need the extra time to settle in. When the doors open I feel like I need to pop
out my elbows and like a comedy skit push over all the old people to make sure
none of them get my seat. Funny and sad
all at the same time. I am lucky I am
the 6<sup>th</sup> row up and a lot of the first comers are after the first row
anyway. Lucky for them. The show was SENSATIONAL tonight. It was a combination of Cripton the Magician
and his wife Renata, the duo of Dou Amore-the acrobatic/dancers and the
Norwegian Dancers and the show was called Elements. Everyone was incorporated and the show ran
through earth, fire, rain, sunshine and finishing with snow. The costumes were magnificent, there were rope
climbers, the whole theatre was used for the show, including up the aisles and
it was a new looking set from what we had seen all week. It really had it all. The magician was great, but he had two tricks
that really didn’t work and I feel embarrassed for him. The first one was he had to blow a bubble for
his next trick to progress to the next part of the show and he took 3 attempts
to get a damn bubble and only just caught one to give you the idea of what he
was doing. And the second act was the ‘magic’
lifting of Renata in the air using the water tray he had her lying in which did
look impressive and he did the hoop over the body thing to show you there was
nothing holding her up but as she came down you could see she was sitting on a
small seat of some kind and see a bar going up her back, but still seeing that,
I don’t know how he gets the hoop around her.
The grand finale had all of the dancers, singers, and acts on stage in
their snow outfits and small pieces of paper getting blown around on stage
making it look like it was snowing and then they called up all the stewards and
stewardesses, the drinks guys, the bar staff, the wait staff in the
restaurants, the head chef and his guys and then the senior officers and
finally the captain. It gave me goose
bumps as all these people are required to make your holiday a special one and
the catch tag that NCL had was we are now their ambassadors. What a great end to a show and they all got a
standing ovation. The last people to
come out were the hand washers. They
have these guys at the entrances of all the restaurants and the catch cry for
these guys is “washy washy” and my Indonesian guy was up there with his towel
mate Roger. It is strange to have the
finale on our 2nd last night. I wonder
why they didn’t do the show tomorrow night for the Barcelona passengers? What a great show to start the Malaga people
on though! Beats our comedian guy who I
didn’t even see, but apparently he wasn’t that great. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As it worked out I wasn’t that hungry and after the show
made my way back to my cabin. I will
have to pack all my crap tomorrow that I have strewn all over the place. I never did end up unpacking properly. I could have left ½ the clothes I bought in
Barcelona but not knowing what the weather was going to be like I was better to
be safe than sorry. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">That completes our last port of call. A day at sea tomorrow and then back into
Barcelona. I have had a great time on
the ship but with only 22 minutes left of internet time and the buffet dinner
getting a little tiring I think I am looking forward to getting back to land
and then preparing for my last flights into Africa. Crap-Africa in 5 days. FIVE DAYS.
Still hasn’t hit me yet!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Bernie Jamiesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954108071836273912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076968166040391307.post-82302869281031151242013-01-18T04:30:00.000+10:002013-01-18T04:31:41.781+10:00GETTING MY SEA LEGS-JUST IN TIME FOR END OF THE CRUISE<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk7-5NfGQogVdGEoER7eVUjrUKv_kLbv58b-6-l6KyiOHg8HN3xn0O-rRa5VA1weIiEmMw85f81qxfOsIj9qIp8nwnK4dl99mOSjsv77G46remCgoQaTlK9RfcTd-vJrNfgFHott5MM9pb/s1600/IMG_6566.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk7-5NfGQogVdGEoER7eVUjrUKv_kLbv58b-6-l6KyiOHg8HN3xn0O-rRa5VA1weIiEmMw85f81qxfOsIj9qIp8nwnK4dl99mOSjsv77G46remCgoQaTlK9RfcTd-vJrNfgFHott5MM9pb/s400/IMG_6566.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We moved our clocks forward an hour last night which works
in my favour I believe when I wore at 7am it was really 6am, but 7am looks
better right?</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I got caught watching a
clip in E Entertainment on TV and didn’t leave my cabin till 9am.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Not sure why this feels so weird to me, but I
am normally just finishing breakfast now and heading up to Galaxy of the Stars
on deck 12.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">But what am I in a rush
for?</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">My daily routine had changed and it
felt strange!</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">After only mentioning last
night about not seeing my Danish couple I saw then this morning at breakfast
and have now got their names and details.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Frits and Elisabeth-they are so sweet and after they had finished their
breakfast Elisabeth came over and we chatted for about 40 minutes while Frits
went for a walk.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It was nice to have a
conversation again with someone and when I think the last time that was it was
probably day 2 of my cruise with Lee and Adele.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I speak to my room attendant each day-but that is generalities-a good ol
conversation has been a long time overdue.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Elisabeth asked for a card with my details and I think about the
business cards I got made before I left in August with all my Ethiopia details
and a picture of Zeme and I on them.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I
told her no-I didn’t have cards and I gave her my email and blog address on a
piece of paper.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I must say I did throw
all those cards out when I got back to Australia along with any photos I had
printed of Zeme and l, along with all my IPod photos deleted of the two of us.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It was like a big cleanse for me-but what a
waste.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I just LOVE the saying ‘remember
that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck’ and I
know that.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">There are bigger and better
things waiting for me out there.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It was a lot cool this morning and not many people at
breakfast at 9am. I wonder if they were
all still on yesterday’s time as when I left at 10.30am there was a hell of a
lot more people around. Looking at the
ocean the waves don’t look that big, but the ship is really rolling today and I
feel sorry for the old people trying to navigate their way around the
ship. I’m just at the ready to catch any
of them that are walking in front of me in case they fall. It really is disconcerting walking around on
a ship that has a roll to it, and that’s with my ‘young’ legs. Sitting in Galaxy of the Stars you get a 180
degree view of where we are and there is nothing as far as the eye can see, not
in front, port or starboard-just the horizon and a lot of water. I didn’t even see another ship-not one. Galaxy was just wrapping up a question and
answer time with the Captain and his senior officers. I caught the last 2 questions and one was
with the cancellation of the port call yesterday why we didn’t high tail it to
Malaga to give us some extra time there instead. The Captain answered that question and said
that the ports are booked 1-2 years in advance, it is quite hard to get a berth
at short notice and by the time the request went to Miami to Malaga and back to
the ship the Captain saw no positive in getting us into Malaga at
midnight-there was nothing to be gained in doing that. Good question and good response. The other question was when we had our
mandatory lifeboat drills on the first day we weren’t required to have our life
jackets with us-each cruise line is different and NCL had changed their policy
that you no longer needed to bring your life jackets with you as they were
cumbersome to passengers and to NCL the most important thing is knowing where
your evacuation station was rather then getting you there with the lifejackets
on. Interesting to know. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As the morning wore on I was in the lunge to see the
towel folding demonstration. For those
of you who may have not had the good fortune to cruise before each night your
steward comes into your cabin for a turn down service and they leave these cute
and crazy towel animals, made out of..well towels. So they had a demonstration of the top 10
animals they make. They had housekeeping
taking this talk and it gave one of the head guys a chance at his 45 minutes of
fame and he was actually quite good with his explanations and jokes. My stewardess Linda was up there with 2
others and I have to say she was the best roller and animal maker out of them
all!!!! All the bodies of all the
animals seem to be a standard roll and then it is the hand towels and face
washers that create and complete the masterpieces. I have to say my favourite one out of them
all was the mouse, which was left last night on my bed and I hope to keep till
the end of the cruise. He is a
cutie. They don’t keep the animals each
day, I guess there would be a shortage of towels if they let everyone keep the
animals ‘alive’ for the duration of the cruise-which is a shame as it would
have been a great photo to get the whole zoo in on the last night. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I was also still in the lounge for the next activity
which was ‘Name that 80’s Tune’. I did
turn my IPod off for this one and thought I would just play on my own to see
how I fared. There were 20 songs that
the staff played and when it came time to mark I got 13 out of 20. There were a group of 4 that got 20 out of
20-which is pretty impressive. I can’t
believe that I didn’t even get the name of Boy George’s song Karma Chameleon…
but Shelly would be proud that I got Maneater right, which was a song that was
played at my wedding. Was that PC back
then now that I think about it? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I was also still in the lounge for the next activity
which was ‘Country Line Dancing’. I tell
you they get the numbers on the dance floor.
There would have been 25 people out there and to start off with it looks
like a train wreck as they are getting taught the steps but I looked back up
after a while and they actually all looked quite good and all in time with each
other. It was funny to watch at times
when the ship got a roll the 2 steps would become 3 or 4 as they tried to then
compose themselves back to the steps, but they were all in time with the sway
as well. Good on them for giving it a go
is all I have to say. Half way through the
dancing my computer was about flat and it was 2.30pm and lunch time for
me. So I packed up all my gear and as I
was already on deck 12, so I headed to buffet and then into my cabin for a few
hours till it was time to get ready for the show. I didn’t want to be late for this one as my
fav band of the cruise FourEver were back again and they were just as good as
the first time. The poor buggers were
supposed to get off yesterday in Lanzarote but as we didn’t stop they will
disembark tomorrow in Malaga. I wonder
how they get paid and if it is worth it?
I guess it must if the acts come onto the ships.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So that sums up what was another day at sea. We have a port of call tomorrow in Malaga,
one more ship day and then back onto land and into Barcelona and even though I
have had a nice time on the ship, it is time for me to get moving onto my next
chapter, getting to Kenya and seeing if I can make a life there. I am still a little precious, emotionally, but
I think I am holding up okay all things considered and remembering that I
really haven’t had a lot of conversations with people the whole trip, I thought
I may have gone batty after a week-but again I am doing okay. </span></div>
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Bernie Jamiesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954108071836273912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076968166040391307.post-2743276222984834062013-01-15T07:23:00.004+10:002013-01-15T07:24:54.913+10:00LANZAROTE CANCELLED AS STORM FRONT MOVES IN<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Another busy day with a full day tour booked including a
buffet lunch. Well so we thought. This morning was the first morning that my
alarm woke me up, and yes I am still sleeping with a light on, so I must admit
my sleeps aren’t quite fitful-but I did have that slight heart attack when I
was in London in a windowless room (they are cheaper) and I woke at 10 thinking
it was am but it was pm. It is an awful
feeling-being disorientated and you would think after all this travel I would
be used to it. I guess not. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I was looking forward to my pancakes and cream this
morning and of course I still wanted my eggs and sausage as well. It is hard when you are eating on your own in
the buffet restaurant because if you need to leave the table to go and get
another drink or more food, the waiters swoop in on your table to clear it and
if it’s busy people will take your table thinking that you have finished. I don’t have anyone to stay put while I go
and get things. It can be hard at times
but maybe it has helped me not getting a second helping of something, but not
this morning. I had all my stuff with me
that I needed for the day tour, including a jacket, so I was able to leave the
jacket and my first course on the table and then head in to get my pancakes and
cream. When I came back and finally sat
down it dawned on me that we didn’t seem to be anywhere near port and it was 7.30am. We could see land, but it was a long way off,
hmmmmm I wonder what was happening to be late again!!! Well we didn’t have to wait long. An announcement came at 8am from the Captain,
which at first I couldn’t quite hear and didn’t understand much of what was
said except at the end he said enjoy your day on Norwegian Spirit….. Something
in that statement didn’t sound right…..
And then the announcement was repeated by the cruise director which I
could understand better. Basically our
port of call to Lanzarote had been cancelled due to high winds in the port and
the possibility of a storm front this afternoon of winds up to 35-40 knots
which I would assume would make us getting out of the port a nil impossibility. We were also going to cruise at 20mph as to
try and miss the storm front we were heading into and were told it may get
rough this afternoon and to be extra cautious walking around the ship. It sounded ominous but as I made my way back
from breakfast there were spew bags already adorning tables and banisters throughout
the ship. It must be serious.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It was a bummer that we weren’t stopping at Lanzarote as
it was one of the places I was looking forward to. My silver lining was it was the most
expensive shore excursion so it will be refunded to my account and there are
people worse off than I. Think of the
domino effect of a ship not coming into port.
The staff on the ship don’t get any time off-I bet they must look
forward to it no matter how long or short.
My steward, Linda, got off the ship for only 1.5 hours yesterday but she
said it was great and she went and had McDonalds. There are the tour operators that aren’t getting
the clients which in turn no work for the locals and tips. What do they do about the supply of food? They hadn’t counted on having 2000 people on
board at sea-do they have extra provisions for something like this or do they
dip into food that was for Barcelona and then pick up extra food in
Malaga? What about the food suppliers in
Lanzarote? I am sure that the ship must
be stocked with supplies from there-whether it be food, alcohol, supplies or
the dumping of waste or rubbish. Maybe there
is a ship stuck there and can’t get out till the winds die down? Where is our Costa ship? So looking at all of the above-it seems like
a logistical nightmare to cancel a port, so I am sure it is a difficult
decision to make. Not to mention some unhappy
clients on the ship. I haven’t seen any,
but I am sure there must be some whingers out there that have said their piece. I don’t understand people like that. The decision has been made to keep us safe
and the ship in one piece (especially after the track record of this particular
ship) and it is the same when flights are delayed due to weather or mechanical
faults-it is for their own safety and I just cannot believe that people don’t look
at the bigger picture when these things crop up and unfortunately that is the
beast of travelling. Not everything is
going to go to plan-things go wrong, planes are delayed, storms come and go, taxis
have strikes in the city where you actually need one and a multitude of other
things that are out of your control.
Touchwood I have been EXTREMELY lucky on my whole Odyssey that I had no
major setbacks. A few things here and
there like the date change of my Galapagos cruise, missing a flight in Cairo
heading to Nairobi, the cancellation of one of my internal flights in South
America but in the scheme of how much I travelled, again touchwood, I have been
lucky. The last thing is the new
activities on the ship now that we had a day at sea. They must have contingency plans like this, I
am sure it is not the first time that a port has been cancelled and I must admit,
again they work fast and a new schedule was up within the hour. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So another day at sea.
What was I going to do today? I’ll
get cracking on my Madeira blog-it’s a biggie-so I may as well tackle that
while I can. So with my computer in my
bag I made my way up Galaxy of the Stars lounge and ‘my’ spot was already taken,
but I think that worked out okay as I feel there is a lot of pressure sitting
there as you are up on a small stage and people look at you every time they
walk into that part of the lounge. Too
much pressure, so I found a nook at the back of the lounge that had a table and
if I needed a power point to boot and more room to spread my crap. I had also bought up my dairy as I needed to
also update that and that would happen once my battery went flat on the computer. I knew my Madeira blog was a biggie but man
it took me 2.5 hours to pump that puppy out but there is a relief and a feeling
of accomplishment every time I finish an entry and this one was no
different. I used my satellite account
to upload and realised I was getting low on minutes. I will have to purchase some more credit and
I was in a quandary on which package to buy.
Another 100USD got me 250 minutes or 55USD for 100 minutes. I try and limit my access to 30 minutes a
day, based on 4 more days at sea; I went with the 55USD package and hope that
it will see me through to the end of the cruise. It will be funny to see my account at the end
of the cruise. I don’t have a single
alcoholic drink on my account. I have 3
shore excursions, a soft drink package I purchased on day one of the cruise and
the internet credits. I wonder if I am
the lowest account they have EVER had for a 9 night cruise? The only way someone can beat me is to have
done no shore excursions, which is possible with the oldies and to have not
used the internet, which is probably a pretty good bet that they certainly
would be doing 100USD worth. So I guess
it is possible for someone to beat me. But
it would be close, I’m willing to wage. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It is a week today till I start my last journey to Africa
next week. It is a yahoo and an ahhhh
moment all at the same time. I am now
getting butterflies when I think about it.
I hadn’t really hit me yet as I was doing so much before I got to
Kenya. The good news is I have a friend
picking me up when I arrive, so that has settled my nerves a little bit and it
will be nice to see a friendly face as soon as I arrive. It feels like I left Australia months ago and
not just 19 days ago. That really is
insane, but I guess I have done so much in those 19 days that it seems longer
to me. I have all these stats in my diary
and it was good to read over them. Today
is my 574<sup>th</sup> day of actually travelling. It’s not counting the 2 trips I have had
home, if I count them that makes it a total of 658 days. I left Australia on the 29<sup>th</sup> March
2011. To think that I am coming up to a
2 year anniversary of travelling on my Odyssey is surreal to me as the trip
only originally started out as a 12 month gig, which extended to 14 months and
then added on the USA and ended up being
19 months. I was always planning on
coming home, I never in my wildest dreams expected that my life would change that
much and that I would be moving to Africa.
The thought never crossed my mind.
After talking to my BF Shelly, she said she knew deep down that I wouldn’t
be back to live, that I would find something or someone, and that I wasn’t going
to be moving back. She said that is why
she was so sad the first time that I left.
It is funny what people see that you just quite have the picture yourself,
just yet. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Lunch was busy today-like grannies and poppies everywhere
and it was difficult to get a seat inside or outside. The sun was out but there was still a small
nip in the air. The sea was rough but so
far not too bad-certainly nothing to warrant any sea sickness bags at
least. I think all the British
passengers were thankful for the day at sea as they all seemed to be crammed
around all the available TV’s to watch a football match. I was just reading my book at the table after
lunch when some old folk asked if they could join me as I was smack bang in
front of a large TV. I told them I was
done anyway and let them have the table.
I went to the library to see if there were any books available at the
book swap shelves. On the first day
there were a bevy of books and I took one (whoops I didn’t swap) but today
there was not much left and what was there was in Dutch. There was one book in English and can you
believe that I had read before. What are
the odds of all the books in the world, the only one left was one that I had
read. Priceless. Then I remembered I had my Kindle so I will
just use that. I was back to the cabin
at 2pm and chillaxed and watched the Bourne Identity on TV. I really have a craving for nachos and can
you believe out of all the places to eat on the ship they don’t have nachos on
the menu. There are pay restaurants that
you can eat at like the Sushi Bar which is a-la-carte, La Trattoria
15USD-Italian, Shogun 15USD Asian fusion, Le Bistro 20USD French, Cagney’s
25USD Steakhouse and Teppanyaki 25USD Japanese.
No Mexican. Bugger.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">7pm came and it was time to head to the show. Duo Amore was the act tonight and they were a
French act from Paris. They were, I
guess you would call acrobats/dancers.
There was just the 2 of them, a male and a female, and their opening act
started on the ribbon cloths suspended from the ceiling. And he was wrapped in
one. She was definitely a dancer,
classical trained as she went right up onto her toes and the first time I saw
it I ooooooo’d out loud. To see some-one
actually do that pose is an incredible sight.
She was SO flexible and she also did a solo routine on a hoop suspended
from the roof and it was just awe inspiring.
Also taking into account the roll of the ship, as it was rough outside,
they were true professionals. There was
one move they all did that made the whole audience gasp and that was when he
had her over his head and she was in a ball position, with her hands grabbing
her feet and then he let her go and she dropped over his head and he stopped
her hitting the ground with his thighs and feet. WHAT A MOVE.
They also threw in some Dancing with the Stars routines and the Dirty Dancing
lift. His upper body strength was
remarkable as he had a few routines on his own with the ribbons and busted a
few great moves himself. They truly were
INCREDIBLE. They then continued to WOW
the audience for 40 minutes to an amazing end to them both on the ribbon
swinging around in stage all dressed in white.
She looked amazing as she had a twig figure and he was very deliciously
built and shirtless wearing those ballet tights that just magnify the crotch area. What a GREAT show! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">At the end of the performance the cruise director
mentioned that FourEver were going to be performing tomorrow night which
surprised me and then I remembered that they were supposed to get off at
Lanzarote today, the poor buggers. So I
guess why not do another show if they are on board. That’s a win for us as they were also
amazing. Hands down I would have said
they were the best act of the week so far…until tonight-now I’m not sure who I
would pick. Well done NCL for getting
some quality up on stage. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For dinner I just couldn’t stomach another buffet, so I
decided to head to the Blue Lagoon Café.
This serves what they call snack food (included in your cruise price)
till 4am in the morning. You still get a
choice of starter, main and dessert if you wish and it just felt like I was
having a normal meal. I am finding the
buffet is serving the same food every day in regards to the main staples of the
pasta, salads and the ‘American’ section and I have not really liked the looks
of the other hot food they have been serving.
They do have the carvery that has a new meat every lunch and dinner, so
I have pretty much been sticking to that and salads-but I just needed a
change. So with a won ton soup for a
starter and English fish and chips for main I felt half human again and made my
way back to my cabin. We had to wind our
watches forward an hour before we went to bed tonight so now it was 10pm
already-just like that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I was feeling a little blue tonight. Don’t get me wrong I am still enjoying my
cruise. I haven’t seen the English
couple or my Danish couple since day 2 but I’m okay with that, that’s not the
issue. But I think the reality of what I
am about to embark on is starting to kick in and then I miss everyone back home
and I was thinking about my mum and I gave Zeme a minute of my time as well and
it just made me a little blue and a little reflective. I think we all need that sometimes and it
makes me more determined to appreciate each day I have and to know that
tomorrow is a new day and life keeps on rolling along, literally at the moment
as the ship is in some pretty rough waters.
With those thoughts in my head I went to sleep with the image of
pancakes and cream in the morning. See I’m
feeling better already. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Bernie Jamiesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954108071836273912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076968166040391307.post-36202795384274410072013-01-15T00:59:00.001+10:002013-01-15T01:01:42.916+10:00THE VOLCANIC ISLAND OF SANTA CRUZ, TENERIFE-CANARY ISLANDS<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I was awake at 6am this morning.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I didn’t have to meet my tour at the Stardust
Theatre till 9.30am.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So I decided to get
some underwear washing done.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">There had
been a washing bag left on my bed last night that you could get done for
25USD.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It’s actually not too bad a
price, but I only had a few shirts, a skirt and undies to wash and didn’t seem
worth that.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So I washed my undies and I’ll
save my washing for when I get to Kenya.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I can’t remember the last time I actually hand washed any clothes; I
have always paid to get them done as the pricing hasn’t been too bad.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Sorry to my steward Linda when she walks into
my bathroom this morning……</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I am still
sleeping with a light on in the cabin as I am afraid if I turn the light off I
will just sleep through and miss the next day all together.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It really is pitch black in an inside cabin
at any time of the day-black-the darkest of darkness and perfect sleeping
conditions with the hum of the ships engine and a roll of the ocean to rock you
to sle……….snore….snore….snore… Yeah I think I will keep that light on-I
certainly didn’t want to sleep in today.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I had a full day tour booked of the island of Santa Cruz.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The great thing of a later tour is that sunrise was at
8am and I was at breakfast at 8.30am, so I got to see the beginning of a new
day. Tenerife looked bigger than what I
had imagined and as I ate my breakfast on the back deck of the ship I got a
bird’s eye view of us coming into port, following another ship and the new days
light hitting the very green slopes of the island as the city comes to
life. There were 3 other ships in port,
there were 2 from the German company Aida and a ship called the Saga Sapphire
which I have never heard of. Plus us
made 4. It was going to be a busy day on
the island. I wonder where Costa has
cruised to? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The buffet breakfast is starting to take its toll on me
and not food wise, even though that is getting to me but people just don’t
watch where they are going. They just
pull out without checking, people bang into you as they try and pass without
saying excuse me and not to mention old people that take 10 hours to put some
fruit on their plate. In my head
everyone is Pops and Grandma and I have been very patient for the whole cruise,
but today just seemed more pronounced than any other day. Maybe they are getting cabin fever-hell maybe
I am getting cabin fever? I do suck it
all up and smile as I know that one day that will be me. I did discover something awesome at breakfast
today and that is fresh pancakes which I hear you say no big deal, but I also
found the fresh blackberry jam that goes with them and for the piece de resistance-
the FRESH cream…. Oh yes-no pancake is complete without fresh cream on a fresh
pancake. It couldn’t have come at a
better time when I was getting sick of the bacon and scrambled eggs that I have
had every morning so far. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Welcome to
Tenerife-Santa Cruz-Canary Islands<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Tenerife
is an island created volcanically, building up from the ocean floor 20–50
million years ago. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We arrived
on time after yesterday’s 1 hour late arrival and we were just as swiftly
deployed from the theatre to our waiting coaches for our day tour. We had a few early hick-ups before we even
left the port. The air-conditioning was
working, so we spent a few minutes waiting as the driver fixed that and then
the microphone wasn’t working but a few more minutes and this was also
sorted. The coach looks brand new
actually-it still smells like a brand new car and was a lap of luxury with full
leather seats and clean windows. I did
the right thing again and took the back seat and again I was rewarded with
being the only person to sit there and with the seats in front of me also
spare. It was a perfect photo taking position
from the coach. Our guide must have been
65+ and I had to really concentrate on his English but he knew what he was
talking about as he had lived on the island his whole life. He said we were lucky with the weather as it
had been raining all week and was due to rain again tomorrow. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Santa Cruz de Tenerife is the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">capital</span> (jointly
with <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Las Palmas</span>) of the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Canary Islands</span> located about 210 kilometres off the north western
coast of Africa within the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Atlantic Ocean</span>. Between
the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">1833
territorial division of Spain</span> and 1927 Santa Cruz de Tenerife was the sole
capital of the Canary Islands, until 1927 when a decree ordered that the
capital of the Canary Islands be shared, as it remains at present. The port is of great importance and is the
communications hub between <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Europe</span>, <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Africa</span> and <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Americas</span>, with cruise ships arriving from many
nations. Its harbour is one of Spain's
busiest; it comprises three sectors. It is important for commercial and
passenger traffic, as well as for being a major stopover for cruisers en route
from Europe to the Caribbean. The city also has one of the world's
largest <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival" title="Carnival"><span style="text-decoration: initial;">carnivals</span></a>. The <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Carnival
of Santa Cruz de Tenerife</span> now aspires to become a <span style="text-decoration: initial;">World Heritage Site</span>, and is the most
important of Spain and the second largest in the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The area on which now stands the city and the municipality of Santa Cruz
de Tenerife has been the subject of human occupation since the time of the Guanches,
approximately 2000 years ago, as attested by the archaeological sites found.
The area was known to the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Guanches</span>, the first inhabitants of the
island, as Añazo. Later,
it became one of the most important ports of the Atlantic and the Canary
Islands, a status it retains to this day. This former fishermen's village rose
to prominence after a Volcano destroyed the port of <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Garachico</span> in the 18th century. Santa Cruz became the major port on the
Island. It first won its independence from La Laguna and, in the 19th century,
was awarded the status of Capital of the Canary Islands province by King <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Ferdinand VII</span>. Between 1833 and 1927 Santa Cruz de Tenerife
was the sole capital of the Canary Islands. In 1927 a Royal <span style="text-decoration: initial;">decree</span> ordered that
the status of capital city of the Canary Islands would be shared with Las
Palmas in Gran Canaria. This arrangement remains in place today. The Santa Cruz de Tenerife-La Laguna
Metropolitan Area forms the second largest city and metropolitan area of
the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">European Union</span> outside <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Europe</span>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The first thing we notice when we pull away from the port is the Opera
House. It is an interesting building
that resembles slightly of the Sydney Opera House in its unusual shape. It is an emblematic building of <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Spanish architecture</span>. The building has
an organic and famous structure in the shape of 'sails' with white blue rollers
and has become a symbol of the city, island and archipelago. Designed
by <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Santiago Calatrava</span>, the Auditorium
of Tenerife was constructed in 2003. It
is one of the main attractions of Tenerife and the Canary Islands. From here we started our ascent up to the
centre of the island and what was going to be the highlight of the day Teide
National Park. But first we had to pass
through a part of the island, The Esperanza Forest. Not only were there hundreds of massive green
pines, but the views and the landscape we followed along the mountain ridge
that runs through the north east of the island was INCREDIBLE. Not only pine trees but you could also see cypresses,
eucalyptus trees and a lot of other interesting plants. Apparently is often
foggy in the forest because it is located in the zone where the clouds of the
trade wind stick which in turn makes the forest so green-but we had a glorious
day and even Carlos our guide, said that it was unusual to have such a clear
day this time of year. I couldn’t stop
taking photos and I know I will have a lot to delete when I get home
tonight. We also got our first glimpse
of Mt Teide which is not only the highest mountain on the island but also of
Spain. It was a magical view and Carlos
stopped the coach twice for us to get off and be able to get some photos and
then he also stopped a few times for us to take photos from the coach. What a good man. The forests of <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Canary Island Pine</span> occur from
1000–2100 m, covering the middle slopes of the volcano. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We stopped for a coffee break and blue loo as Carlos like to call
it. He said that you don’t need to pay
for toilets on the island. The Canarians
see it as a human right to go to the toilet and don’t believe in charging you
for it. Nice sentiment I guess. The restaurant we stopped at was busy. There were another 3 coaches in plus
motorbike riders and day trippers. It
was after all a Saturday and there were hikers and walkers also out and
about. There was one smart business
woman selling chocolate coated almonds which don’t sound that amazing-until you
ate one and they were just delicious.
Her try before you buy theory worked on me and before I knew it I had
paid 11EUR for 2 small bags gift boxed.
I mean there weren’t even cashews which are always more expensive than
almonds and I am just grateful that she didn’t have them as they would have
been more expensive to buy. I justified
the cost as I haven’t really spent anything on this section, which is a GREAT
thing but one little splurge, well 2, I also bought a beautiful small ceramic
plate that I will be able to use for my jewellery or for nuts or something. It hit me that I can really buy up if I want
because my next stop is Kenya-Home. I
just have to carry the stuff, but what are a few souvenirs when I have 60kg of
luggage already? Pfffff a walk in the
park. For the record the plate only cost
10EUR-my almonds were more expensive than that!
But they were good and locally produced, so I was giving back to the
community! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After a 30 minute stop here it was time to head into the park. Teide
National Park is centred around 3718 m Mount <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Teide</span>,
the highest mountain of Spain and the islands of the Atlantic (it is the third
largest volcano in the world from its base). It was declared a national park on
22 January 1954, making it one of the oldest national parks in Spain. It is
also the largest national park in Spain and an important part of the Canary
Islands. Another volcano located in the park (next to the Teide) is the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Pico Viejo</span>. It is the second largest volcano in the Canary
Islands with its 3,135 m peak. The park
has an area of 18,990 hectares and was named a <span style="text-decoration: initial;">World Heritage Site</span> by <span style="text-decoration: initial;">UNESCO</span> on June 29,
2007. Since the end of 2007, it has also
been one of the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">12 Treasures of Spain</span>. Midway up the
mountain are the telescopes of the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Observatorio del Teide</span>.
Territorially, it belongs to the municipality of <span style="text-decoration: initial;">La Orotava</span>. Teide is
the most visited national park in Spain, with a total of 2.8 million visitors. The Teide in 2010 became the most visited
national park in Europe. The Teide is
the most famous natural icon not only of Tenerife but also of all the Canary
Islands. The Teide National Park has a
large historical value. This place had an important spiritual significance to
aboriginal <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Guanches</span> in the park where important archaeological sites
have been discovered. For the Guanches the Teide was a place of worship,
thought it was the gate of hell. The
Teide National Park contains a huge range of <span style="text-decoration: initial;">invertebrate</span> <span style="text-decoration: initial;">fauna</span>, over 40% of
which are endemic species, with 70 species only being found in the National
Park. The invertebrate fauna include <span style="text-decoration: initial;">spiders</span>, <span style="text-decoration: initial;">beetles</span>, <span style="text-decoration: initial;">dipterans</span>, <span style="text-decoration: initial;">hemipterans</span>, and <span style="text-decoration: initial;">hymenopterae</span>. In
contrast, Teide National Park has only a limited variety of <span style="text-decoration: initial;">vertebrate</span> fauna.
Ten species of bird nest in the park. Three endemic <span style="text-decoration: initial;">reptile</span> species are also found in the park. The only mammals native to the park are <span style="text-decoration: initial;">bats</span> and other mammals
such as the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">mouflon</span>, the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">rabbit</span>, the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">house mouse</span>, the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">black rat</span>, the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">feral cat</span>, and the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Algerian Hedgehog</span> have all been introduced to the park.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The minute we entered the park you could see the trees disappear and
what Carlos like to call the ‘lunar’ escarpments started and he was right. There wasn’t really a tree in sight the
further into the park we drove. There
seemed to be a lot of green tumble weed looking plants and a lot of rock
formations left from millions of years ago and old eruptions. With just the one road in and out and at
times tight on the side of small mountains traffic was a little congested at
times-nothing to disrupt the tour, but someone would have to back up to let the
coaches through and we also had week-end traffic that was on the road. On the straights of the roads and cars behind
us with the starkness of the landscape you did feel like you were on another
planet. Which seems to prove a little
realistic apparently. The similarity
between environmental conditions and geological that Teide National Park and
the planet <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Mars</span> have turned this spot volcanic reference
point for studies related to the red planet.
The analogies between the red planet and parts of Tenerife make the island
the ideal place for testing instruments that will travel to Mars and reveal
past or present life on Mars. In 2010 a research team tested at Las Cañadas del
Teide, the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Raman</span> instrument to be sent in the next expedition
to Mars, <span style="text-decoration: initial;">ESA-NASA ExoMars</span> from 2016-2018.
In 2011 a team of <span style="text-decoration: initial;">United Kingdom </span>researchers visited the National Park in June to
test a method for finding life on Mars and finding places to try in 2012, new
robotic vehicles. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My
question was when had the volcanos last erupted? Well Tenerife is a rugged and volcanic island
sculpted by successive eruptions throughout its history. There are four
historically recorded volcanic eruptions, none of which has led to casualties.
The first occurred in 1704, when the Arafo, Fasnia and Siete Fuentes volcanoes
erupted simultaneously. Two years later, in 1706, the greatest eruption
occurred at Trevejo. This volcano produced great quantities of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>lava which buried the city and port of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Garachico.
The last eruption of the 18th century happened in 1798 at Cañadas de Teide, in<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Chahorra. Finally, and most
recently, in 1909 that formed the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Chinyero<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>cinder cone, in the municipality of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Santiago del Teide, erupted. About
800,000 years ago, two gravitational landslides occurred, giving rise to the
present-day valleys of La Orotava and Güímar.
Finally, around 200,000 years ago, eruptions started that raised the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Pico Viejo-Teide<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>area in the centre of the island, over the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Las Cañadas caldera.
Carlos was saying they are due for an eruption! Hopefully not today. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The lava
plains were surrounding is and it was a surreal feeling. The<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Teide–Pico Viejo<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>complex and the Las Cañadas areas are the most prominent. It comprises a
semi-caldera<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>of about 130 km<sup>2</sup><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>in area, originated by several geological processes. There was view point in the park where every
man and his dog go to can see the crater, get to climb some stairs to get a
higher view of the surrounds and it is also the start of hiking trails as well. There were some clusters of volcanic lava
‘statues’ made millions of years ago that made for some great photography. Considering how many people were here,
surprisingly you get photos without too much fuss. I climbed the stairs as far as they went
before you had to walk on the rock face and then I was out. No need killing myself for a photo of a view
I had already taken 20m below. We were
given 30 minutes here and even though we were at an altitude of 2100m above sea
level with the sun high in the sky it made for a great day of 20C, quite
pleasant if nothing a little hot but I could see how it could get cold up here
and known for snow in the winter months which is definitely hard to
picture. <span class="mw-headline"><span style="font-size: 14.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We now had
to make the 1.5 hour journey back to sea level.
I had my IPod so it was wonderful to just kick back, listen to some
tunes and watch this amazing scenery pass me by. Both Madeira and Santa Cruz have surprised
me-I’m not sure what I expected but they are both stunningly gorgeous islands
and I am looking forward to seeing what Lanzarote has to offer tomorrow. We were now heading to the seaside town of Puerto de la Cruz which located on the north coast of <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Tenerife</span> Island, in the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Orotava Valley</span>. The coasts of Tenerife are typically
rugged and steep and we saw this as we came back down the valley. It really was stunning
scenery-MAGNIFICENT. We arrived into
Puerto de la Cruz at 2pm for a late lunch and a look around this beachside
resort. Prior to the development of
hotels and buildings, much of the area consisted of agricultural land.
Considerable fiscal pressure led to land development, which saw the character
shift from rural/agricultural to urban/tourism-based. Valle de <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Orotava" title="La Orotava"><span style="text-decoration: initial;">La Orotava</span></a> and Puerto de la Cruz
were the first holiday resorts on the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Canary Islands</span>. Puerto de la Cruz occupies a prominent place
in the history of tourism of the islands.
Before mass tourism existed in Puerto de la Cruz, minority tourism
catered for privileged elites who were interested in climatology, botany and
the tranquillity of the location. The proximity of the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Canary Islands</span> to Europe meant that
travel for health reasons was a primary driver for launching modern tourism
here. At the beginning of the 19th century, the
environment of Puerto de la Cruz meant that it attracted many researchers and
exclusive high-class groups from Europe. At this stage Puerto de la Cruz was a
leading cultural centre accommodating many travellers and writers,
including <span style="text-decoration: initial;">William Wilde</span> and <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Alexander
von Humboldt</span>. Puerto de
la Cruz therefore gained an illustrious reputation in Europe, and when it came
to the subsequent advent of modern tourism, the city was at an advantage
compared with other tourist sites. Tourism
began to have an important role in the local economy in the late 19th century.
It was in those years that the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Grand Hotel Taoro</span> was built and that old
family houses began to be remodelled, for example as Marquesa or Monopol,
transforming them into the first hotels in the city centre. Finally, the real
tourism boom came in the 1950s, when the city began its transformation into the
tourist reference point of the island and of the archipelago. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have to admit that I was hungry and after nearly a week of buffet food
I wanted something ‘normal’ and I had McDonalds and it was delicious. I would have loved to have done a little
Tapa’s but we were only given 1 hour and 15 minutes here, so I decided to hoe
into lunch, use the free Wi-Fi (welcome back) and then hit the streets to have
a look around. It was quite and I don’t
mean people wise, there were people everywhere and I would hate to imagine what
this place looks like in summer. I am
not sure I would want to be here in summer but I would expect music to be
playing from somewhere. There was one
guy on a guitar and people peddling bags and necklaces and the restaurants were
busy, but it was quite. The main part of
the promenade overlooks the Parque Marítimo César Manrique which is
basically an entertainment complex, designed by architect <span style="text-decoration: initial;">César
Manrique</span>. It contains a set
of pools (with water drawn from the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">sea</span>), hot
springs <span style="text-decoration: initial;">jacuzzi</span>,
children's play areas and a sports facility.
There were deck chairs all around the 3 pools and a lot of sunburned
looking British people sunning themselves.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I walked the length of the promenade as far as time would permit and
then turned around to walk the other side which was also the beach side of the
area. The island has 67.14 kilometres of beaches. There are many black sand pebble beaches on
the northern coast, while on the south and south-west coast of the island, the
beaches have typically much finer and clearer sand with lighter tones. I was standing on a black beach with the
white of the waves breaking on the sand it made for a great photo. There was a guy there selling rocks that he
painted faces on and I instantly saw one that made me smile and after asking
him how much they were I paid my 4EUR-I know you may think I got ripped off
paying that for a rick I could pick up myself, but the face was well painted
and it made me smile. 4 EUR well spent I
say. He signed the rock, dated it and
put the place on the reverse side of it and I was now the happy owner of a pet
rock. Wait till you see the photos-you’ll
see. It was also a great opportunity to
see the steep mastiffs of the coast-aka the steep cliff faces. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It was time for me to high tail it back to the coach for our last stop
of the day at a small village called La Orotava located within the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Orotava Valley</span>. It is only 5 km E of Puerto de la Cruz
and about 33 km from the island's capital, <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Santa Cruz de Tenerife</span>. La Orotava has a rich land for cultivation
and its economy was based on agriculture for centuries, with products such as
wine, tomatoes, bananas and others that were exported mainly to Europe and the
UK. It was not until beginning of
century XIX when the tourism industry began. The environment of La Orotava
meant that it attracted many researchers and exclusive high-class groups from
Europe. At this stage La Orotava was a leading cultural centre accommodating
many travellers and writers, among others <span style="text-decoration: initial;">William Wilde</span> and <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Alexander von Humboldt</span>. Currently, La Orotava is frequented all year
by Northern Europeans, especially during the winter months, due to its mild climate. This section was a walking tour and t was
nice to get off and stretch the legs.
The architecture has been looked after here and the buildings reflected
that. Main points of interest included Casa
Molina, Plaza de San Francisco La Casa de los Balcones and a few of the
majestic homes still in the centre of town.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We left Orotava at 5pm to head back to the ship. It took just under 45 minutes and with an all
aboard call at 6.30pm we had made perfect timing the whole day. High five to Carlos and our driver Roger to
sticking to the plan and all the oldies that had also kept up all day and what
a great day it had been.. One of the benefits of being on a lower deck is that
the gangway is always from deck 4 or 5-so no waiting for lifts when I get back
from tours. I only had an hour till I
had to get ready for my show at 7pm (7.30pm show-but need to get my seat) so I
switched on the TV and started watching Hunger Games. I pretty much mossed all the hype when this
movie came out but I was really getting into it when I had to leave for the
show. Even then I was 5 minutes late and
my German couple were already in place.
Since the second night the 3 of us have sat in the same seats. He reads his book, she has her IPad and I am
on my IPod playing solitaire till the show starts. I am in row 6 and the 6<sup>th</sup> seat in. There is no particular reason for me, it just
happens to be a good seat. I didn’t bother
to go on deck when we left at 7pm as it was totally dark and you wouldn’t have
been able to see anything anyway.
Tonight’s show as was Broadway with the Norwegian Dancers. They had picked 6 big shows and then did
around 5-10 minutes from each one. It
was pretty good. There was some cheesy
dancing but overall I enjoyed the show.
The costumes were pretty impressive, so I guess that is a plus. You could after the show, go and meet the dancers
and get a photo taken if you wanted to, but they all seem pretty stuck up and don’t
talk to the passengers when you see them around the ship. No thanks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A great day and looking forward to tomorrow. </span> <o:p></o:p></div>
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Bernie Jamiesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954108071836273912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076968166040391307.post-70226357652579219442013-01-13T22:16:00.002+10:002013-01-13T22:22:29.351+10:00MAGNIFICENT MOUNTAINOUS MADEIRA<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY_SnShqz_rhe01i7Gn4nG-5JmzBC6p1ruv5MjK2g8On3hph0Bq-AiAGYtESK4uwJ0_JSYF55nCEj4JNYePz9Uc1mg6iDjpEMsvtQn2DhyIQnjIU-lK2DNJQ8ZqDoc4nMGXznziMG2pW7v/s1600/P1430089.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY_SnShqz_rhe01i7Gn4nG-5JmzBC6p1ruv5MjK2g8On3hph0Bq-AiAGYtESK4uwJ0_JSYF55nCEj4JNYePz9Uc1mg6iDjpEMsvtQn2DhyIQnjIU-lK2DNJQ8ZqDoc4nMGXznziMG2pW7v/s400/P1430089.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I woke at 6.45am this morning. I had a day tour to catch and I was looking forward
to getting off the ship. The rocking and
rolling was getting to me. We were supposed
to arrive into Funchal (Fun-chal) at 8am and we didn’t dock till 8.45am. Doesn’t really look good for our first port
of call on the itinerary and we were late.
The weather didn’t seem bad last night, so not really sure of the reason
as to why, but the good thing is that sunrise was at 8.12am and we got to see
an amazing sunrise over the water as the ball of red popped out from what
looked like behind the ocean. There aren’t
many places where you can see a sun rise over water and this was a magic one,
and really I don’t think there can be a disappointing sunrise in this whole
world-the hope of a new day is born and another grateful day for me to be on
this planet.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Costa was also in dock-our nemesis had also arrived. I think there is always some unspoken rivalry
when you see other ships on a similar itinerary. I remember being in the Caribbean and there
were 4 other ships in port, but we were on the Oasis of the Seas-so we trumped
them all anyway, but as we pulled out of the Bahamas our tour director told us
all to go out on deck and we would give them all a cheery wave goodbye and with
the sound of the very loud ships horn we all screamed and waved as we pulled
out. It was so COOL. I’ll never forget that and all the smiles of
everyone around me. What a thrill. One of the ships tried to reply, I think it
may have been a Carnival ship replying, but they had nothing on us with a ship
of 6500 people versus 2000. I must say
that once we dock, it doesn’t take the staff long to get us all manoeuvred. My tour was leaving from the Stardust Theatre
and once our staff member got the okay on the radio, they start calling the
tours by tour code and name and then the groups peel left and right of the
theatre to the exits, for our tickets to be checked and a sticker given to us
to tell us what coach we would be on for the day. From there we walk along the promenade to the
middle set of stairs and we descend 2 flights to the gangway, to have our ships
card scanned that we were exiting the ship and then there were more staff to
direct you to the right coach.
Considering the move approximately 500-1000 people using this method,
from leaving the theatre to driving away on the coach was around 20
minutes. Not bad at all. There was the usual photo opportunity as you
come off the ship, and a lot of people were saying no and I felt sorry for the
staff and the photographer, so I stopped for a pose with no intention of buying
the photo-really I did it just to help out the guys-and I will just go and
check it later tonight to see how it turned out-really, just for a look………..
really……<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Madeira is a Portuguese <span style="text-decoration: initial;">archipelago</span> that lies just under 400 km north
of <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Tenerife</span>, <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Canary Islands</span>, in the north <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Atlantic Ocean</span> and an <span style="text-decoration: initial;">outermost region of the European Union</span>. Madeira was discovered by Portuguese sailors
in the service of <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Henry the Navigator</span> in 1419, and
settled after 1420. The archipelago is considered to be the first territorial
discovery of the exploratory period of the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Portuguese
Age of Discovery</span>. Today, it is a popular
year-round <span style="text-decoration: initial;">resort</span>, being visited every year by about one million
tourists, noted for its <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Madeira wine</span>, flowers, landscapes and embroidery artisans, as
well as for its annual New Year celebrations that feature the largest <span style="text-decoration: initial;">fireworks show</span> in the world, as officially recognised by
the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Guinness World Records</span>, in 2006. The main harbour in <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Funchal</span> is the leading Portuguese port in cruise liner
dockings, being an important stopover for commercial and trans-Atlantic
passenger cruises between Europe, the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Caribbean</span> and North America. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The first settlers began colonizing the islands around 1420 or 1425; the
three <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Captains-major</span> had led the
first settlement, along with their respective families, a small group of minor
nobility, people of modest conditions and some prisoners, who could be trusted
to work the lands. To gain the minimum conditions for the development of
agriculture, they had to rough-hew a part of the dense forest of <span style="text-decoration: initial;">laurisilva</span> and to construct a large number of canals (<span style="text-decoration: initial;">levadas</span>),
since in some parts of the island there was excess water, while in others water
was scarce. During this period, fish constituted about half of the settlers'
diet, together with vegetables and fruits cultivated from small cleared parcels
of land. Initially, these colonists produced wheat for their own subsistence,
but later the quantity cultivated was sufficient to begin exporting wheat to
continental Portugal. In 23 September
1433, the name Madeira Island,
or literally island of wood, began
to appear in the first documents and maps. The name given to the islands
corresponded to the large dense forests of native laurisilva trees that
populated the island during the settlement.
However, when grain production began to fall, the ensuing crisis
forced <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Henry the Navigator</span>, as principal
benefactor of the islands, to plant other commercial crops. The planting
of <span style="text-decoration: initial;">sugarcane</span>, and later
Sicilian <span style="text-decoration: initial;">sugar beet</span>, allowed the
introduction of the "sweet
salt" (as sugar was known) into Europe, where it was a <span style="text-decoration: initial;">rare</span> and popular spice. These specialised plants,
and their associated industrial technology, created one of the major
revolutions on the islands and fuelled Portuguese industry. The expansion of
sugar plantations in Madeira began in 1455, using advisers from <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Sicily</span>
and financed by <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Genoese</span> capital (it would become an integral part of
the island economy until the 17th century). The accessibility of Madeira
attracted Genoese and <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Flemish</span> traders who were keen to bypass <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Venetian</span> monopolies. By
1480 <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Antwerp</span> had some seventy ships engaged in the Madeira sugar trade, with
the refining and distribution concentrated in Antwerp. By the 1490s Madeira had
overtaken <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Cyprus</span> as a producer of sugar.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After the 17th century, as sugar production shifted to <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Brazil</span>, <span style="text-decoration: initial;">São Tomé and Príncipe</span> and
elsewhere, Madeira's most important product became its <span style="text-decoration: initial;">wine</span>. The <span style="text-decoration: initial;">British</span> occupied Madeira as a result of the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Napoleonic Wars</span>, a consented occupation starting in 1807 and
concluding in 1814 when the island was returned to Portugal. Nevertheless, the island was a British <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Crown Colony</span> for four months, and Britain had intentions
of keeping it after the Napoleonic Wars, owing to its strategic position, but
plans for its permanent annexation were abandoned shortly after the start of
the occupation. On 1 July 1976, following
the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">democratic revolution</span> of 1974,
Portugal granted political autonomy to Madeira, celebrated on <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Madeira Day</span>. The region now has its own government and
legislative assembly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The archipelago of Madeira is located 520 km from the African coast
and 1,000 km from the European continent (approximately a one-and-a-half
hour flight from the Portuguese capital of <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Lisbon</span>). The archipelago itself is a series of oceanic
volcanic islands that date back to the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Miocene</span> (about 20 million years ago), and constructed
from a hotspot in the Earth's crust of the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">African Tectonic Plate</span>. Madeira, and the
smaller Desertas Islands, are the youngest of these islands (dating from 4.6 to
0.7 million years), while Porto Santo, the smaller of the main islands, and is
the oldest (approximately 14 million years).
The island of Madeira is at the top of a massive <span style="text-decoration: initial;">shield volcano</span> that rises about 6 km from the floor of
the Atlantic Ocean, on the Tore underwater mountain range. Madeira Island represents 93% of the
archipelago's area, with 90% of the landmass above 500 m. It is the largest
island of the group with an area of 741 km<sup>2</sup> and a length
of 57 km while approximately 22 km at its widest point with a
coastline of 150 km. The island of Madeira is wet in the northwest but dry
in the southeast. In the 16th century the Portuguese started building levadas
or <span style="text-decoration: initial;">aqueducts</span> to carry water to the agricultural regions in
the south. The most recent were built in the 1940s. Madeira is very
mountainous, and building the levadas was difficult and often sentenced
criminals or slaves were used. Many are cut into the sides of mountains, and it
was also necessary to dig 40 km of tunnels, some of which are still
accessible. Today the levadas not only
supply water to the southern parts of the island but provide <span style="text-decoration: initial;">hydro-electric power</span>. There are over 2,170 km
of levadas and they provide a remarkable network of walking paths. Some provide
easy and relaxing walks through beautiful countryside, but others are narrow,
crumbling ledges where a slip could result in serious injury or death. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For such a small island it has a lot amazing history and the second we
left the port and started to ascend the mountains it was also a beautiful
island. I had no perceptions on what to
expect, no idea so to see the stunning views as we wound our way through small
villages, literally wound-the roads are so windy and at points not wide enough
for a bus to pass a car on a bend without one of us stopping to let one through
I started to get a feel for the island.
It really is hilly; the road we were travelling on was basically on the
side of a mountain. I wonder how many
accidents they have where the cars verge off the cliffs of these roads. I couldn’t imagine driving them at night
time. Scary. All the villages are set up on the side of
mountains and they all have terraces where they grow bananas, grapes and other
agriculture depending on the altitude.
Everywhere you looked was mountains, homes located on them and
terraces. I dong think I would like to
live here as everything looked like it was going to be an uphill walk. Everywhere is uphill. UPHILL.
Besides that the island has a nice feel, a country, clean and modest
feel about it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Our first view of the tour was <span style="font-size: 10pt;">Câmara de
Lobos. </span>The location of the modern
town is believed to be the original landing point for the Portuguese
discoverer <span style="text-decoration: initial;">João Gonçalves Zarco</span>, who is credited with
the discovery of the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Madeira Islands</span>. When the explorer disembarked
in this area (1419), he observed a thin cliff that extended into the ocean, and
another cliff face that formed an amphitheatre-like harbour that could shelter
ships from Atlantic storms. There Zarco and his men also found a large colony
of marine animals that would become the reason for naming this area Câmara
de Lobos. The name, lobos, is a
Portuguese derivation for sea-lions, which were the animals discovered by
Zarco and his men in the sheltered bay. Because of the large colony of these
animals, the area was baptised câmara dos lobos. The town is also known for Winston Churchill
paintings as it is apparently where he got inspiration for his paintings after
a visit here in the 1950’s. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We stopped at 9.45an for a view point photo at Pico da
Torre. This had an amazing view over 30%
of the island and also a bird’s eye view of Camara de Lobos. A well-known stop as there were also 10 other
coaches, taxis and rental cars all atop the lookout but it didn’t deter from
the view and it was magic. At 10.20am we
stopped again for the highest view we would have of the day and which also
happened to be at a small restaurant.
They had a tray ready of the local, traditional drink called Poncha for
us to sample and if we liked it we could buy bottles of the stuff. Poncha<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>is a traditional alcoholic drink from
the island of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Madeira, made
with<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>distilled alcohol made from
sugar cane juice, honey, sugar, lemon rind and with different fruit juices
according to the version of Poncha, but traditionally lemon juice is used. It is mixed together with a mixing tool
created in Madeira officially called a mexelote but more commonly known as a
Caralhinho (little cock), it is in fact a type of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>muddler<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>created in Madeira.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Caipirinha<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>is based on Poncha but tastes nothing
like it let me tell you. I had a single
sip and the stuff was vile. It tasted
like tequila to me and I really had to make an effort to drink the last
remaining but, as all the glasses were going back to the try empty. Surely I am not the ONLY one who doesn’t like
it-am I? It is said in Madeira that
Poncha cures the common cold and people are encouraged to drink it if they have
cold like symptoms and I can understand why.
That stuff would kill anything in its way-ughhhhh. I have to rate that up there with the Araki
that I had in Ethiopia-actually to be fair, Araki was so much more vile-just
thinking about it now turns my stomach. The
drink may be based on an Indian drink called Pãnch/Panch, in Hindi Panch <span class="apple-converted-space">which </span>means<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>five<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>and the drink was originally made with
five ingredients: alcohol,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>sugar,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>lemon, water, and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>tea<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>or<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>spices. This is also
where the English drink<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Punch<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>has originated from.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There were also bottles of Madeira for sale, of the wine
variety, but no samples unfortunately.
The island is also known for its own unique wine that is produced locally. Madeira is a <span style="text-decoration: initial;">fortified wine</span> produced in a variety of styles ranging
from <span style="text-decoration: initial;">dry wines</span> which
can be consumed on their own as an <span style="text-decoration: initial;">aperitif</span>,
to sweet wines more usually consumed with <span style="text-decoration: initial;">dessert</span>.
Cheaper versions are often flavoured with <span style="text-decoration: initial;">salt</span> and <span style="text-decoration: initial;">pepper</span> for
use in cooking. The islands of Madeira
have a long wine making history, dating back to the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Age of Exploration</span> when Madeira was a
standard <span style="text-decoration: initial;">port of call</span> for ships heading to
the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">New World</span> or <span style="text-decoration: initial;">East Indies</span>.
To prevent the wine from spoiling, neutral <span style="text-decoration: initial;">grape spirits</span> were
added. On the long sea voyages, the wines would be exposed to excessive heat
and movement which transformed the flavour of the wine. This was discovered by
the wine producers of Madeira when an unsold shipment of wine returned to the
islands after a round trip. Today, Madeira is noted for its unique winemaking
process which involves heating the wine up to temperatures as high as 60 <span style="text-decoration: initial;">°C</span> for an extended
period of time and deliberately exposing the wine to some levels of <span style="text-decoration: initial;">oxidation</span>.
Because of this unique process, Madeira is a very robust wine that can be quite
long lived even after being opened-our guide said even up to 10 years after a
bottle has been opened it would still be good to drink and would even taste
better. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">From here we were only a 2 minute drive to Cabo Girão which is
a lofty sea <span style="text-decoration: initial;">cliff</span> located
along the southern coast of the island. Cabo
Girão is a popular lookout point, and starting point for hikers. It is a diamond-shaped sea-cliff escarpment from 560
metres to 589 metres above sea level. Cabo
Girão lies between two river-valleys that flow into the Atlantic Ocean. The
escarpment/cliffs extend approximately one kilometre in length of the cliff and
reaches from approximately three kilometres between the urban sprawl of Câmara
de Lobos and the river-valley of Quinta Grande.
Although brochures explain that it is the second highest cliff in <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Europe</span>, at least
five European cliffs <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Hornelen</span> at 860 metres, <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Cape Enniberg</span> at
750 metres, <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Vixía Herbeira</span> at 613 metres, <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Preikestolen</span>at
604 metres and <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Slieve League</span> at 601 metres are
higher. Hmmm funny how our guide didn’t mention that small fact. Her spiel was it is the highest in Europe and
the second highest in the world after Taiwan where their cliff is 720m above
sea level. There has to be some
misinterpretation on some-ones behalf somewhere. You only had to walk about 5 minutes to get
to the cliff face and there was a glass floor that extended over the cliff-it
was pretty cool and with such a clear day we had a magnificent view, not only
of the drop and the terraced fields below us but also up the coastline as far
as the eye could see. MAGNIFICENT. The terraced fields located below the sheer
cliffs were at one time only accessible by boat. In August 2003, a cable car
was installed on the slope of the cliff so farmers could reach these low-lying
fields. It was busy here as well, with
other coaches all doing the same thing as us, but not so much so that I could
get all the photos I wanted without too much hassle and I have to say that was
the highlight of the day by far. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It was only a half day tour, so we had one more stop
before heading back to the ship and that was at a sleepy fishing village of Ribeira
Brava. It is located along the southern
coast approximately in the centre. In
2001 its population was about 12500 inhabitants. The<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Ribeira Brava<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>ravine and river valley extends 10-12m
from the slopes of the west-central mountains of Madeira. Its waters provide
the primary sources of drinking-water (a small reservoir collect surface
run-off) to the area and electricity to the island of Madeira. Approximately
ten tributaries feed this river, whose course ends in the Serra de Água, and
much later empties into the Atlantic along the village's coast. We were the only coach here at this small
village and we were given an hour to look around, have a coffee and visit the
church. The primary industry for the
village, besides fishing is handicraft and there were some beautiful handmade
lace products ranging from table clothes, napkins, bags, hankies, doilies and
pretty much anything that could be stitched and laced they had it. If my mum was alive she would have LOVED this
place, it was right up her alley. It’s
not really my thing, but I did find what I think maybe the purchase of the
cruise and that is a woven purse. I had
bought an exact replica when I was in Lisbon last year in June and it was big
enough I could fit my camera, phone and passport in and I loved it to death,
literally loved it to death. It lasted
till I got to Buenos Aries in February and after nursing a rip in the purse
that I had persisted with for around 5 weeks-it was time to let it go. It was that good, I couldn’t toss it and I
sent it home. Sad I know, but I have
found an exact same one here today-but instead of having Portugal hand stitched
on it, it has Madeira. What a score and
I am so happy. Sad again I know. After my AWESOME buy and a look in the church
I did manage to stumble on the post office!
Now this was also great as I was able to get my Globetrotters Book
stamped with my Madeira stamp. I had to
buy a stamp to go in the book and then he was happy to ink stamp it with the
date and place. You little beauty. There is a sense of accomplishment when I get
that book stamped and I would really, be really sad if anything happened to
it. After an ice-cram in a café that
looked directly onto the Atlantic Ocean we were back in the coach for the 20
minutes back to the ship. We bypassed
the small windy roads and took the major highway that runs from the north to
the south of the island. We must have
passed through 9 tunnels getting is back and the views were just as good the
whole way. Every time we popped out of a
tunnel we were witness to some amazing view, whether it be hundreds of banana
trees, terraces, villages on the side of mountains, it really is an incredible
island.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We were dropped back at 2pm to the ship. The Costa ship does look good. It think it maybe one of the new ships, the
Deliziosa. I was still loyal to my
Norwegian Spirit and after asking for permission to walk to the end of the dock
and get a picture of ‘our’ girl I was back on the ship and heading to lunch, I
was famished. I went back to my cabin to
relax for a few hours and then I was back on deck at 5pm for our
departure. I love this time of day when
the ships pull out. It is generally just
before sunset and you can get some incredible photos of the ship, the port and
also the sun on the water and today was no different. There was a nip to the air but nothing too
uncomfortable and we actually left a few minutes early AND before Costa. I guess if we are all on board ready to go,
why not. Try and avoid a late arrival
tomorrow into Santa Cruz aka Tenerife and our first of 2 stops in the Canary Islands. I enjoyed my hour on deck listening to tunes
till Madeira was a speck and the sun had lost all its’ glory’. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As a creature of habit, I think we all are in some way-I
was at the Theatre at 7pm to get to ‘my’ seat which is now officially 6 rows
from the front and smack bang in the middle.
Besides getting there early to get ‘my’ seat it also avoids the debacle
when people sit on the ends and there are seats still in the middle and people
have to ask them to stand, for them to shimmy past them to get to the middle
seats. In people’s defence there are
some older folks that this would be an issue for, but people who are more
mobile should be moving in. It was like
on the coach today. I like sitting at
the back anyway, but I should be taking these seats as I am young and can
shuffle my way to the back. It’s great
actually as I had the whole back seat to myself and no-one sat in front of me
either. A perfect way to enjoy a day
tour. The show tonight was a magician
called Cripton and his wife Renata. He
had a few big titles to his name including winner of the first prize for Great
Illusions and the Grand Prix of the Italian Magical Club, 1° Prize "Magic
Act and Great Illusions", 3° Prize "The Magic Hands" and last
year he won Magician of the Year 2012 which is up there with David Copperfield, Roy and Siegfried and Chriss Angel. It was performance that is
for sure. He did a lot of hand waving
and flourishes, the spotlights helped I think with some tricks and the crescendo
of the music all added to the act. He
was very much a showman always asking for the claps but I do have to say there
were a few tricks there that I just could not work out and he pulled them off
effortlessly. There were 2 that really struck
me over his hour long show and they were: one he got 2 people from the audience
and it was using balls and he started with the ball in the hand and then it was
gone oldie but as the trick went on the balls were ending up in the volunteers
hands. That’s impressive. How does he do that? The other one was he got an older gentleman
from the audience that had on a jacket.
Cripton then had his hands tied behind his back, Renata tied the knots
and then the volunteer tied some as well and then there was a larger rope that
was tied around his neck and then his arms with the help of Renata and said
volunteer again. Then old man was
blindfolded and they both went behind a curtain and a minute later Cripton was
wearing the old guy’s jacket under all the ties. Now how does he do that? It was a show of great illusions and as much
as I hate over the top acting I was astonished and I enjoyed his show of escapology
and mentalism. He is doing 2 more shows
on the ship, different from tonight, so I will make sure I go and see
them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">That was my day in Madeira and what a great day I
had. I’m looking forward to Tenerife
tomorrow. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I think I may have found my sailing mojo again. </span></div>
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Bernie Jamiesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954108071836273912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076968166040391307.post-24864649615745815672013-01-12T04:00:00.007+10:002013-01-12T04:01:57.504+10:00ROLLING DAY AT SEA-DAY 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihx3fYJAmZxaCQ9h81bR-mOfjPJr0HZc1BK7BljQJ90b87O-Q_wU4BEGiSCuDqWEBLdVCj-qeF9mqF9rxRiFd8KnOiCHk2Je4XXzzp5RiEhMVy4sBL08Mm9-ZC_6Ys3jsDflxgKey2Oefk/s1600/IMG_6488.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihx3fYJAmZxaCQ9h81bR-mOfjPJr0HZc1BK7BljQJ90b87O-Q_wU4BEGiSCuDqWEBLdVCj-qeF9mqF9rxRiFd8KnOiCHk2Je4XXzzp5RiEhMVy4sBL08Mm9-ZC_6Ys3jsDflxgKey2Oefk/s400/IMG_6488.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I woke this morning at 2am to the sound of the wardrobe
doors sliding open and close in sequence with the roll of the waves.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I guess we have exited out of the calm of the
Strait of Gibraltar and we are now in the open ocean.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I fell back to sleep with the roll of the
waves till 8am not thinking too much of it.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">When I woke at 8am the ship really was rolling and as I headed to
breakfast you really had to make sure you had a good foot on the ground and a
hand out for a rail.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It was like walking
2 steps forward and one to the side.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I
am used to saying that I don’t get sea sick/motion sickness but I have found I
have had my moments on the odyssey.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The two
that come to mind was the ferry crossing from Stornoway to the Isle of Skye, that
was a shocking crossing and one of the roughest water crossings I have EVER
done and I got sick.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And the other was
when Em drove home to London from Inverawe on the windy roads I was feeling
dodgy, but no sickness.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Is motion
sickness something you can get later in life?</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I finished breakfast and as I had done the previous day, I made my way
to the front of the ship, found my little nook that over hangs the ship and set
up my computer to get some blogging done.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I was joined by the Dutch guy that sat with me yesterday, so after a few
pleasantries he turned to his crossword and I listened to some tunes and typed
my little heart out.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So what was on the daily programme today? NOTHING at that interested me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Stretch and relax<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sudoku challenge<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Acupuncture for arthritis<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Latin Fitness<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Eat more to weigh less<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Behind the scenes bingo tour<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Basketball tournament<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Spa seminar-wrinkle remedy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Informal Cards and bridge game<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Napkin folding class<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Art Auction<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Belly dancing class<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Relieving back pain<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Indoor cycling<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So nothing really appealed. So again I was happy to just be typing with a
magnificent view. I do have to say that
sitting at the front of the ship when it is a little rough probably wasn’t the
best move for me and after 2 hours, at 11am, I had to pack up all my things,
say goodbye to my Dutch friend and head to my room. I really was feeling quite green. It wasn’t so much that it was rough weather,
but the open-ocean and just the natural roll of the waves in a 75,338 ton ship
was too much for me. There was one thing
I did miss on the daily programme was there was a shore excursion talk at
11am. I turned on the TV when I got back
to my room and they have a ship channel and they told me about it at 11.20am
for an 11am start. I have to admit I didn’t
look online at any of the tours or what is a ‘must’ to see before the cruise,
so I am a little torn on which tours to do, but I HAVE to do it today as we
arrive into Madeira tomorrow-so I will look at it over lunch and drop them off
at the shore excursion desk in the afternoon.
But man I would have loved to have gone to the talk. My boo boo.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For some reason at the buffet all the seats are always
busy inside, but if you head outside there are always free tables. It was a little windy yesterday, but it was a
glorious day today and the free air was going to do me good, so I was armed
with all my blogging tools and after a light lunch of salad I read my book till
4pm. I could see the Costa cruise was
still to our right, so in am assuming they will be in port tomorrow and I will
be able to see what ship it is. I wonder
where and when that cruise started as I could only find the NCL cruise, but to
be honest I still would have chosen NCL as they are an American Ship where-as
Costa is Italian and I know it doesn’t sound like a big deal but it can
be. Costa’s announcements are made in
the language that has the most nationalities on board for that cruise and being
an Italian line, they get a lot of Italians.
Then all the game shows, shows, shore excursion explanations are all in
Italian. It gets a bit much after a week
and I will always pick an American ship I think based on that. It depends what you are looking for in a cruise
I guess. I was surprised with Norwegian
Spirit that everything on board was in USD and staff spoke English as I was
just expecting Spanish for some reason and it really did make a pleasant
surprise, especially with everything in USD-nice to give the GBP and the EUR a
kick in the arse for a while. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have done a lot of cruising across a lot of companies
and I have to say they all pretty much have the same formula. From on board spa’s and specials, the sale of
chains by the meter, the selling of jewellery-particular stones for particular
countries, watches, the portrait photos, drinks packages, Bingo and the seminars,
they all pretty much mirror image each other.
It obviously works and certain ships would discern to a particular age
group. For example there are lot more
older people on this cruise so the seminars are more age appropriate, skin
care, weight loss, memory etc…. where the cruise I did in the Caribbean was more
geared to the younger generation and families to pub crawls, pool games, more
music and ‘how to’ seminars. It is an interesting
field cruising, and people either love it or hate it. I do still think that you need to travel with
people you know, but in saying that I am still enjoying my time on board-its
day 3 and I am looking at getting off the ship tomorrow. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I made my way back to my cabin at 4pm for a nana
rest. This cruising gig takes the wind
out of you. Walking back to my cabin you
can see remanent of the previous ship, Superstar Leo. There is a lot of Asian influence in the
specialty restaurants, there is a plaque in the main atrium, some of the art
pieces are Asian, there is Chinese writings on some things and my inside cabin
painted window is a shot from the Superstar Leo facing a tropical island. I cruised on the Superstar Virgo with my mum
6 years ago-the Leo and Virgo are sister ships, but nothing looks familiar to
me on this one. It is strange that NCL’s
catch call is Cruise like a Norwegian-but it is an America ship-so I am not
sure where the Norwegian theme comes in except obviously from the name. NCL are introducing 2 new ships into their
fleet-one this year called the Breakaway and one next year, but I am not sure
what they are calling that one. Amazing
to think that any company is still building new ships. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So what goes into feeding 2000 passengers for a nine
night cruise?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here is a grocery shopping list for the Norwegian
Spirit: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">907kg of cereal<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1,125kg of butter<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">675kg of pasta<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1,170 Cheese<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">9,900kg Fresh fruit<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">907kg of sugar<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">48,000 fresh eggs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2,925kg of fish<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">450kg of veal<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">450kg of lobster<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">5,400kg of poultry<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">5,400kg of beef<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2,250L of ice cream<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1,170kg of seafood<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">4,500 cups of yogurt<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">405kg of coffee<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">9,900kg of vegetables<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">7,200L of milk<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2,250kg of rice<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">3,600kg of potatoes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">3,150kg of flour<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">150 different types of wine<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As promised I was going to go to all the shows this week
and tonight was FourEver. I wasn’t even
sure what to expect, but at 6pm I got ready and at 7pm I made my way to the
Stardust Theatre. I like getting there
early, getting my seat and then I play solitaire till the lights go down at
7.30pm and then 4 men in black suits appeared on stage and sung their opening
song Sea of Love in Spanish. It was
AMAZING and the next 50 minutes were just like a paid concert for me. They were like the Ten Tenors, but only 4 of
them as their name suggests, and they had a hint of Human Nature with some
swanky little moves during their songs and they even had a very deep baritone
guy, just like Toby Allen, that was just phenomenal to hear, it was so
deep. If I wasn’t so tired I would have
gone back to their 9.30pm show to see them again. Now that is what I call a show! From the show to buffet dinner and I have to
say I still wasn’t feeling so great. It
will be good to get off the ship tomorrow to just get off a moving vessel. I always thought it would be cool to do a
transatlantic crossing from New York to London, which I believe is 6 days at
sea, but after today, I am not sure if I will have the stomach for it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So that goes down as another day at sea. It’s hard to believe we are on day 3 of the
cruise already and I still haven’t unpacked yet-my room steward must think I am
a lazy arse!!!!!! I have high FIVED
myself that my blog entries are nearly there.
To all the people who are sending me messages, I am only online to load
the blogs and then pretty much off again.
At 40c a minute I can’t be online for too long as the clock is literally
ticking using satellite internet. It is
killing me to not to be able to load any of my pictures, but at least I know I
have a good internet connection at the hotel in Barcelona and 3 days to do it
all before I have a clean slate heading into Kenya and also the start of a new
blog.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="http://www.berniesafricanodyssey.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">www.berniesafricanodyssey.blogspot.com</span></a>
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
</div>
Bernie Jamiesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954108071836273912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076968166040391307.post-40638701473894280772013-01-11T07:30:00.001+10:002013-01-11T07:32:18.149+10:00FIRST DAY AT SEA-IBIZA CHANNEL AND THE STRAIT OF GIBRALTAR<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNrqLG_KWNtqnvqXJXLG6QZKXW0H8O58yLKBzrcjO2G77g5iJAZrMgsc7TH7ruq8l3vZvqrsyiUxBmBQBUTAX6cMBbnf3YmJlx7MLQWKDS3iLUOTowyVRmhNSq8dFvKjQVovazcbOZ9Ejp/s1600/IMG_6455.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNrqLG_KWNtqnvqXJXLG6QZKXW0H8O58yLKBzrcjO2G77g5iJAZrMgsc7TH7ruq8l3vZvqrsyiUxBmBQBUTAX6cMBbnf3YmJlx7MLQWKDS3iLUOTowyVRmhNSq8dFvKjQVovazcbOZ9Ejp/s400/IMG_6455.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So I have 2 days at sea before we get to the first port
of call which is Funchal (pronounced Fun-chal)-Madeira which is a territory of
Portugal. I LOVE cruises that have days
at sea. Firstly it gives you a chance to
explore the ship without urgency, you get to sleep in and it just feels so much
more relaxed. In fact out of the 9
nights we are on the ship there are only 4 stops and 5 days at sea. PERFECT.
Especially for me as this is a time filler for me till I could arrive
into Africa and more days at sea means less money spent and more down
time. Maybe I am getting too old for
this travel gig? The sunrise in this
part of the world was at 8.18am this morning.
Hmmmm maybe I will be able to see a sunrise here before I leave? I told you it rises late here but according
to the programme it is due to set at 6.17pm, which is a little later to what I
am used to but then we are winding our clocks back an hour tonight. I wonder how many oldies will get confused
with that?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So Day 2 at sea and what’s on the entertainment
programme?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Balls of Fury-ping pong tournament<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Salsa dance class<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Awesome Abs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Body sculpt boot camp<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Acupuncture for back pain<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">General trivia<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Look 10 years younger seminar<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Detox for health and weight loss<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Who am I competition<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Dodgeball tournament-love to see oldies play that<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Crazy golf challenge<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">70’s line dance class<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Informal cards and bridge game<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Non-surgical facelift seminar<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Walking in comfort presentation<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Pathway to yoga<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The art of art collecting<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2-for-1 HAPPY HOUR-okay now we are talking-but not fun on
your own<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There were probably a few seminar/presentations I should
go to, but do any of them appeal-not really and you know what? I am glad. It meant I could find a corner of the ship,
or the bow as it worked out, and catch up on my blogging with a marvellous
sunny sky shining through the floor to ceiling glass windows without guilt that
I was missing out on doing something fun.
Guilt free blogging-love it and where I am sitting is a fantastic
view. It is an enclave that juts out
over the side of the ship and is full glass.
I got a marvellous view of the entire length of the ship and I could also
see the proceedings in the Galaxy of the Stars lounge. I watched the salsa dance class and the bingo
in the morning. There was no one here
when I got here at 9am and then at 11am there was a mad rush for all the
seats-it pays to be early but we got asked to leave at 12.15pm as there was a
private function in the lounge at 1pm.
It was probably a blessing in disguise as I had written and loaded 4
blogs and was working on another and I think I needed a break. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So after having breakfast at 8.30am it was time for lunch
at 12.30pm. I am really watching what I
am eating, as it would be so easy to put on so much weight on a cruise. I’m lucky, looking at the food it all doesn’t
appeal to me, not saying there is anything wrong with it, it just isn’t my style,
so it makes it easier for me to keep to my plan. Trying to fill my plate more with salads than
anything else…yeah well we will see how that goes over the next 8 days. I saw my Danish friends again at they are
always so nice to me-lovely actually and they are a breath of fresh air every
time I see them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The weather has been colder than what I expected. The sun is out and shining, there is just a
small nip in the air, especially at night and in the windy parts of the
ship. I was on deck this afternoon and
wind was blowing at 48mph-it was WINDY!!!!!
Looking at the weather forecasts they have displayed on TV around the
ship, it looks like it is going to warm up the further west we move, so that is
great news as I didn’t bring a lot of warm clothes with me, I left them in the
hotel in Barcelona! After lunch I took a
walk around the ship and I noticed that we were following a Costa Cruise
ship. I tried to use my camera to read which
one it was and my immediate thoughts were of the poor people that were on the
Costa Concordia, which is the ship that capsized and 20 people died. I asked myself how could people die in a ship
that just turned on its side. But after
now being in an inside cabin where there is no window and when you switch the
lights off you can’t see a thing. To
imagine people in there with no lights, no idea on what is happening and
disorientated I can easily see how confusing it would be and scary. Touchwood that we have no trouble on this
cruise and it wasn’t until yesterday when I Google’d this ship that I saw what
an accident prone history this ship has had that I am glad I asked myself the
question about Costa as I am now on a ship with a bad track record. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Points of interest for today included passing through the
Ibizia Channel at 4.50am at 2.30pm we passed Cabo de Gata TSS which is the
Traffic Separation Scheme and at 9.30pm we will enter the Strait of Gibraltar
where Spain will be on our right and Morocco will be on our left and at 11pm we
will pass the Europe Point and Gibraltar Rock.
Another interesting fact is that I have decided to not buy the ship
photos like I ALWAYS do when I do a cruise.
I am one of those people that buy the welcome photo, the port photos and
if I’m with people we will do pose photos.
Ideally I would love to just get them saved to a USB stick, I don’t need
a hard copy, but ships just won’t do it and at 20 USD a pop, I don’t need them
and I should be saving my money and not wasting on cruise photos-right? This is a BIG deal for me and people who know
me know that it is. I looked at my
arrival photo this afternoon and I looked and then walked away-yes I walked
away….. High five me!!!!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I was back to my room at 3pm where I had some down time,
read my book, watched a little TV and then continued my blogging. Tonight was ‘Dress Up or Not Night’ and you
could have your photo taken with the Captain and all those cheesy photo
stations were up around the ship to get your portrait pictures taken. I decided to don the make-up and wear one of
the dresses I bought with me, but not the wedding one, as I wasn’t going to be
eating in the fancy restaurant, but I also didn’t want to look like a dag and
it was a happy medium as there were about 50-50 that got dressed to the 9’s and
those who didn’t. I would have felt
super uncomfortable if I had of worn the dress I wore to the wedding. As promised I got ready for the show
tonight. I got to the Stardust Theatre
at 7pm and they had just opened the doors, so I was early as the show didn’t start
till 7.30pm but I wanted to get a seat and not look like a loser coming in on
my own and looking for a single seat. An
old couple from the UK sat next to me and we got chatting till the show started
and they were really nice, so I am glad that I did make the effort to get
out. The show was Soul Rockin’ Nights
with major rock songs sung over the ages it was good. It wasn’t an amazing show, but it was
entertaining and I found it funny that one of the staff I had seen strutting
his stuff around the ship, like he was King Pin, was actually one of the
dancers and he wasn’t that great. Dufus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After the show I headed to the buffet, ate my dinner and
then I was on my way back to my cabin at 9.30pm. I had my blog to complete getting me to
Barcelona and I am now officially only 2 days behind. I will have this all up to date by the time
we get to our first port and then I can write each day as we go. Yee ha……..
</span> <o:p></o:p></div>
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Bernie Jamiesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954108071836273912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076968166040391307.post-63773071515799775212013-01-11T01:44:00.000+10:002013-01-11T01:45:32.257+10:00MY NEW HOME FOR THE NEXT 9 NIGHTS-WELCOME ABOARD THE NORWEGIAN SPIRIT<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I woke at 6.45am this morning-again before my alarm, and
man was I sore. It felt like I had done
a gym work out my muscles were so sore!
Seriously-and the bruise on my upper arm was turning a lovely black
shade. I guess you can’t expect to carry
60kg for 20 minutes in the morning and then for 45 minutes in the afternoon and
not have some part of your body feel the effect the next day. Especially when I am so fit-NOT……….</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I had time to think about the last time I was here and it
was in the July of 2010 on my 2 week Contiki Spanish Spree. What a great tour that was. I made some great friends on that tour
including my 2 Contiki Husbands, whom I have seen since the tour-and my Contiki
Greek posse of which there were 6 of us from Spain continuing onto Contiki
Greece. To think of those trips now and
just how much alcohol I drank, it is amazing that I am still alive. Barcelona was a MASSIVE night for us as we
were here during the Football Final, don’t ask me which one as I don’t know,
but Barcelona were playing Manchester United I think and we knew either way if
they lost the city would burn or if they won they would party till the wee
hours. We started in a small ‘off’
street bar and from memory it was called The Black Sheep’ where you could order
a 5L tower of sangria, and we did, and then we moved down onto the waterfront
and found this great bar that was serving 1EUR spirits, 1EUR beers and 3EUR
jagerboms and we just danced and drank the night away. Needless to say it was massive and I woke in
the morning to a knock at my door and Marc standing there telling me I had 15
minutes till the coach leaves and I had clothes everywhere and vomit in my hair
from the kebab I had eaten on the way home.
Oh yeah-good times and great memories…….. So here is a fabulous shout out to my awesome
Contiki Spanish crew and I will make sure I have a glass of sangria in our honour
upon my return back to Barcelona. Who
can believe that has been nearly 2 years this July? 2 YEARS!!!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I’m on my last section of my travel. I know I have said it all before, but all going
to plan I will at least be in one place for at least 3 months, when I have that
ticket booked back to London in May. I
picked May as I can only stay in Kenya or Ethiopia on a tourist visa for 3
months, so I need to get out of the country around then anyway and by that time
I will know if there are things that I will need, I can buy them in London and
bring them back with me. I do have to
make a trip to Ethiopia at some stage as I left a bag of clothes, books and a
camera with Zeme that I want to collect.
Whether I see him or not is still to be decided as I can get Minalu to
get them for me and I can do a weekend run to Addis to get it. The flights are only 145USD return so it is
all do-able and I want my stuff, assuming that he still has it all. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But today I am off on a 9 night cruise of the Canary
Islands. I have always had this on a
travel list somewhere, but it hasn’t been high, well as high as other places
anyway. But timing, dates and price all
worked in, so I know find myself in Barcelona and about to start the
cruise. I always swore that I would
NEVER do another cruise on my own after the cruise I did of the Caribbean 4 or
5 years ago now on a Royal Caribbean ship called Oasis of the Seas. At the time she was the biggest ship in the
world and I had booked with a friend to do a 7 night cruise of the
Caribbean. Well things went a little
pear shaped and 6 weeks out my friend told me she couldn’t go. Well it wasn’t from lack of trying, but I
couldn’t find anyone to travel with and I had a choice to make I lose the money
I had paid if I cancelled, or I still go and I pay double as I was now a single
in the cabin. With all things weighed up
I still decided to go, as I was doing a week in Las Vegas beforehand thinking I
would make friends at dinner and I would have some company. Well how wrong I was. Oasis of the Seas was the largest cruise ship
only to be surpassed by her sister ship 12 months later by 5cm and they both
hold 6500 guests. Yes that is a lot of
people, but it certainly didn’t feel like it on the ship, she was massive, so
much so that of I did meet people on day tours and say we’ll catch up on board,
you would never see them again. There
were 24 eating outlets on the ship and after the 3<sup>rd</sup> night of NO-ONE
turning up at my table at the al-a-carte restaurant, I decided to eat the last
4 nights in the buffet with my book. It
was a lonely cruise and I was lucky to see the same person twice for the whole
cruise. It was depressing. She was a great ship, beautiful, different
from any other cruise I had done-but a ship that should be done with people you
know. So after that I swore I would not
do a cruise on my own again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Well I think I am now in a different place to where I was
5 years ago. I am much more grateful
for….well everything and I do know that this will be my last lap of luxury for
a while. Even if I do decided to keep
travelling if things go south with my plans, my backup plan is to travel West
Africa and I know there certainly won’t be any luxury on that trip of 3 months. Oh yes, one always needs to have a trip up
their sleeve, even if I don’t do it for another 12 months, that is the trip I
would want to do next. So how did I end
up doing a cruise again…on my own? Initially
I was heading to Ethiopia and Minalu wasn’t able to help me till early February
as he had 2 trips in January, and with my wedding in London in December, I was
in Europe, and had to find somewhere cheap (in Europe) where I could kill 3
weeks. Cheap being the operative
word. I was lucky I was able to extend
my stay in London without it costing me a cent due to Paps and Em and I started
looking at packages to the Canary Islands, staying for a week or 2. The prices didn’t seem too bad, but it was
low season and then I thought of a cruise, Google’d it, found the NCL cruise,
the cost was cheap and I decided to just book it. This was going to be me time anyway. I was prepared this time and if I meet people
then that would be a bonus. I knew I
would have blogs to catch up on and the great thing with this cruise was it was
9 nights and there are only 4 ports of call.
I love days at sea, so this was a perfect time filler for me and I went
ahead and booked it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The cruise leaves at 7pm tonight and you could start
boarding from 12 noon, last check-in was at 6pm. As I have 3 nights back in Barcelona after my
cruise and having been there 3 times previously I didn’t feel the need to race
out and see the city, I can do that when I come back-so I had a leisurely
morning at the hotel, breakfast was included and at 11.30am decided I would
start to get my bags into storage at the hotel and make my way to the
ship. With my 2 bags in hand, I went to
the first floor as directed yesterday and you need a key to get into the storage
room, so I headed to reception, go a key and made my way back to the first
floor. Once I got in I found out that
the storage is actually the self-store lockers where you pay money, like at
airports. Well I didn’t have my purse
with me did I and I had to make sure I had enough change as it was 2EUR per
day. I was gone 9 days so needed 18EUR
in coins. So I left the bags in the
unlocked locker, headed back to my room to get my purse, found I only had 10EUR
in coin, went back to reception to get change and he could only give me 5EUR in
coin, so I had to go 4 doors down to Subway to purchase a water to get my last
3EUR I needed and then headed back to the hotel and the first floor. There was another couple in there and after
speaking to them they were on the same cruise as me and they told me that the
lockers weren’t working. GREAT. But there were 2 coins slots, so with a wave
from them and a see you on the ship-I tried my luck with the other set of
lockers. Well mine worked just fine for
1 coin and which gave me a time of 24 hours.
There was no other way I could slot in more coins to give me more days
in sequence. One coin = 24 hours, that’s
all you could have. It’s one of things
if you keep putting in money, you don’t want to lose it so I left my stuff
there not comfortable with the fact that this time tomorrow my door was going
to pop open and not be locked for the next 8 days. Not happy, as I was leaving some valuable
things behind. The alternative was
taking it all with me and this thought just broke me into a cold sweat. There had to be another way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I headed back to my room and collected the monster and my
wheelie bag and made my way down to reception.
They have to have somewhere in the hotel they could keep my things
surely. So I told the reception guy that
it only lets you store stuff for 24 hours and were they able to store it for me
somewhere, I said I was happy to pay and his suggestion was to go to the train
station as they have lockers there. Hmmm I thought about that and told him I
didn’t have time to run around the city and the key that unlocked it all was I
told him I was coming back to the hotel for 3 nights after the cruise. Well this seemed to change everything and he
made a phone call and then told me he could take my bags and there would be no
charge! How nice and totally
unexpected. It’s all in the attitude,
everyone is just trying to do their jobs and there is always a way. I went back to the first floor, retrieved my
bags and then handed them over to reception and with a wave and a wish for a
good cruise I was out on the Ramblas. A
taxi came past straight away, he stopped for me and I showed him the address of
the port and I was on my way. Lucky I
had snafu time to sort all that out. I’m
telling you these bags will be the death of me seriously. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The port was only a 10 minute drive away and I arrived at
12.15pm. There is a form of excitement
when you see your ship from afar for the first time. It is a little like the A380 when you wonder
how that thing can take off, I feel the same way about ships-how do they manage
to move to effortlessly and like a floating city-just …well float? Today was no exception and no matter what grievances
I had about solo cruising I was till excited.
When we arrived the taxi meter said 6.65EUR but the charge was 11EUR-so
not sure what the extra charge was for but I paid leaving a 2EUR tip and as
soon as I got out of the car there was a baggage man with a cart waiting to
take my bag. He tagged it with my cabin
number-I was keeping the wheelie bag with me and I headed into the cruise
building. There was a security scanner
to be cleared and of course I set the alarms off with all my bangles, so sent
back, I disrobed all my bangles and I was through. There seemed to be a lot of check-in people
around and the queues didn’t seem too long.
I was handed a health form that I had to fill in and sign and then I was
next up at the counter. After showing my
e-ticket, my passport and giving my credit card for a 300USD hold, given a map
of the ship and my ship card I was then able to board the ship. The whole process from me arriving to getting
foot on the ship was 25 minutes.
AWESOME. NCL had a lot of staff
standing around but none of them offered to point me in the right direction, so
I decided to turn left and get to some signs and then I could work out where I
was. There was a staff member at the
next section which had lifts and stairs and he was very helpful and I was told
to head down 2 levels and make my way forward and I would find my cabin. I sued the stairs and within 3 minutes I was
inside my cabin. It couldn’t have been
an easier.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The cabin was ok.
I had paid for the cheapest inside, so I guess I couldn’t expect much,
but it looked tired. I was in what could
be used as a triple room with 2 single beds and a folded away bunk bed. I sleep better in a double bed-but I never
use the whole thing-but I enjoy twin beds as it gives me room to throw my crap,
so I didn’t even bother to ask if the room converts and I will stick with the
twin bedding. It wasn’t crappy-but it
wasn’t fantastic. It would be fine for
my stay. I had my own bathroom and a TV
and being inside I had a fabulous painted view of a tropical island from a ship
with SuperStar Leo painted on it. NCL
Spirit has not always been in the fleet.
Norwegian Spirit (built for <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Star Cruises</span> as SuperStar
Leo) is a <span style="text-decoration: initial;">cruise ship</span> currently operated by <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Norwegian Cruise Line</span>. The vessel was constructed in Germany.
Named SuperStar Leo in 1998, the vessel was the first of <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Star Cruises</span>' Leo-class.
She was then home ported in Singapore in 1998 and operated 2-5 Night Cruises to
Malaysia and Thailand. One year later, SuperStar Virgo arrived in Singapore. She was then based in Hong Kong in September
10, 1999 and offered 1-5 Night Cruises to China, Hainan, Vietnam and South
China Sea Cruises. I knew the ship had
been Superstar Leo but she has had a few ‘accidents’ in her time including: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In 2003, SuperStar Leo was transferred to Australia due
to SARS in Asia and she returned back to Hong Kong afterwards. In 2004, Norwegian Cruise Line was planning
to launch <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Pride of America</span>. However, just prior to
completion, the vessel partially sank when a storm hit the Lloyd Werft
shipyards. To meet the already booked cruises for Pride of
America, SuperStar Leo was transferred to the NCL fleet, and after
only two weeks of refits, emerged as Norwegian Spirit. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In 2005 Norwegian Spirit hit a pier in <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Juneau</span>, causing
minor damage. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In 2007, Norwegian Spirit again struck a pier,
this time in New York Harbor. In both cases, repairs were made to the ship. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">On 25 May 2008 at approximately 9:00 am
the Spirit contacted Pier 90 in New York City at the end of an eight
day cruise to the Eastern Caribbean. She damaged the parking garage support
columns and the bow of the ship.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In January 2006, Norwegian Spirit encountered
a <span style="text-decoration: initial;">rogue wave</span> off
the coast of <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Tortola</span>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In March 2011 the Norwegian Spirit was over 12
hours late due to a death on the ship and a collision into the pier in Mexico.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Quite an exciting history. I am glad I have found all this out now that
I am on the ship!!! Not that I wouldn’t
have booked the cruise, I would have-but that is a lot of accidents for a
single ship.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So I dumped all my things and decided to spend some time
looking around my new home. I got rid of
all my bags and pulled out my eco-friendly bag I bought in Boracay, popped in
my IPod, my book, my camera and my ship card and that was all I was going to
need for the whole duration. No purse
(except when on shore) and no heavy bags-it was bliss already! I saw the hotel couple who are from Denmark
in the main atrium and I have to say she is always so happy to see me. They are an older couple and so nice. I must get their names. I spent the next 2 hours walking around and
taking photos and then I found the buffet so I had a late lunch keeping in mind
my food portions as this is the ‘downside’ to cruising, the amount of food
available to you pretty much 24 hours a day.
I did tell Shelly I had plans of using the gym while I was on board, but
I am wondering how that is going to go…not far I am thinking! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There were packages galore being sold on the first
day. The drinks packages seemed to be
the most popular and there were a few on offer.
They did have pretty much an all you can drink package that included
premium spirits and most cocktails for 49USD per day. As tempting as that sounds, drinking on your
own is just no fun at all, so I decided to go with the ‘soda’ package which was
6.95USD per day for all you can drink soft drink. There were wine packages, spa packages and
internet packages which was my next thing on my list. There were 2 packages you could choose from
50USD got you 100 minutes and 100USD got you 250 minutes and then if purchased
today you got an additional 20 minutes for free. It sounds expensive but of you bought the
packages it worked out to be 40c a minute and I only really need it for loading
my blogs and a little bit of Facebook, and as I wasn’t going to be
drinking-this was my vice I was happy to pay.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So after all my exploring I was back to my cabin at
2pm. There was the mandatory lifeboat
drill at 4.30pm. It is a compulsory US
Coast Guard lifeboat drill that all guests have to attend. The good thing with this one was that life
jackets were not required and at 4.30pm the seven short blasts followed by one
long blast indicated our participation. I
found my safety station on deck 7, 2 above from where my cabin was and we all
have to wait for everyone else to arrive and I got talking to a young couple
from the UK. They has travelled to
Australia and done a few months of travelling so they understood where I was at
and Shelly would have been proud that I found that ‘map’ over, finding
something that you have in common with a new person you meet and it just helps the
conversation flow. Lee and Adele were
really nice and when the drill finished they said that we should hook up for a
drink sometime and I said I would really like that. So I have met my Danish couple and now Lee
and Adele, this cruise was shaping up to be okay so far and we hadn’t even left
port yet-so it has trumped my Oasis of the Sea experience already. I guess what they say of you have lower
expectations anything great that happens is a bonus. That, and I am also doing this trip with a
whole different attitude as well. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The demographic of the ship is older. I would have to say 60+. There are a few younger couples, a few young
families but I would say 85% are the old folks.
I guess I didn’t really think about the demographics of the ship and it
really doesn’t matter to me. I find them
all quite friendly and I have had people stop and say hello, ask what I am
reading or just say hello as you walk past them or in the lift. It is actually quite refreshing and I think
the younger generation could take a leaf out of the older generation’s
books. I look at people and wonder how
their life was. What did they do for
jobs? Is there anything they would change? And to think that most of them have probably
been married for longer than I have been alive is really sweet and I can’t help
walking around smiling at them as they head into their ‘twilight’ years. Good for them. Here I am at 38 and I have no idea on what I
will be doing next year. I used to worry
about getting old, not 40 old or 50 old but 60+ old and looking at these
people, they have friends, (there groups here together) they are all talking to
each other (strangers making new friends) and it hit me then as long as I also
have that then I am okay at getting old-but I guess young also have to have
your health, but all that-you can be happy being that ‘old’ and I hope that
that will be me in 20 years’ time.......
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I got 2 blogs done in the afternoon and I feel like I am
finally getting back on top. The ship
was to set sail at 7pm, so I headed up to deck at 6.45 with my IPod and ran
back into Lee and Adele again. So after
a quick natter we went our own ways, and now I know that they are on their
honeymoon, I figured they are not going to want a third wheel and I will make
sure I don’t invite myself along to things.
It’s a fine line when there is a couple and a single and I don’t mean
that in any other way than the way it is intended. It was dark as we left Barcelona and it is
amazing to me how those tiny little tug boats can move a large vessel like
this-another one of those engineering marvels and with the pilot boat guiding
is after the tugboat had done his job we were turned around in the port and made
our way out past the shipping yards and petrol containers and 45 minutes after
leaving, the city lights started to fade and we were on our way!!!! While I was out I went back to the buffet
restaurant for dinner where I can blend in and not look like a total loser
eating on my own. That is one thing I
will not do here and that is the al-a-carte meal. Fancy dining on your own is just not a fun
experience, and I don’t need the fancy food and I am okay with that. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There was a show on tonight in the Stardust Theatre. It was a juggling comedian. It didn’t really appeal to me and I was
actually quite tired so I decided to give the 9pm show a miss but I will make a
deal that I will go to all the other shows each night. They have a 7.30pm performance and then a
9.30pm performance, so I am sure I can make the earlier one each night. So that was my first day on the ship and I
think I am going to enjoy my time here.
It is special for me in so many ways.
My last stop before Africa. My
last ‘live it up’ section for a while.
My last taste of ‘western’ mod cons and although it makes me a little
sad at the thought I am looking forward to it all and can’t wait to land in Kenya,
as scary as it is, all at the same time.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Welcome aboard the Norwegian Spirit. </span></div>
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Bernie Jamiesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954108071836273912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076968166040391307.post-13127941275495053322013-01-10T01:22:00.003+10:002013-01-10T01:24:31.404+10:00LONDON TO BARCELONA<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It is time to leave London and move my 60kg to another
country. After this leg I only have one
more check-in to worry about and then I am finally in Kenya. If I am to do any further travel from there I
will either have my own place or know of a few people that will be able to look
after my things for me. I did check the
baggage allowance of Qatar Airways, the next and last airline, and there was an
option to pay for an additional bag and it seemed reasonable, so it is just a
matter of getting it now to Heathrow and then a taxi in Barcelona to the hotel and
I am nearly there.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I was up at 5.40am this morning, which was earlier than
the alarm, but I figured I was up, so I may as well finish the packing, get ready
and just head to the airport. It is hard
to comprehend that the train to the airport only takes 15 minutes. I remember last year I was doing the shuttle
transfer by minivan and the journey would take anything from 1.5 hours to the
worst ever when we were stuck in Harry Potter Premier traffic that took me
nearly 3 hours to get to the hotel.
CRAZY. And then when they came to
pick me up it was always 3.5 hours before your flight. Now I was leaving 2.5 hours before and that
was generous as I was allowing some snafu time.
I also figured I may need some extra time walking with my bags and I
tell you what I did struggle. They are
heavy and they are awkward, it’s not so much my large backpack aka ‘the monster’
once that is on it really isn’t an issue, but it looks the worst as it does
look massive, but it is the small backpack on my front and the red gym back is
just a funny shape where I can’t quite reach to get it on the wheelie bag, so I
had to walk with it in my hand and I had to stop several times of the 400m to
take a break and keep swapping hands.
Add this to me all rugged up for the cold, working up a sweat and people
steering to get out of my way I finally made it to Paddington Station, locating
the platform, which thankfully was right at the front and having 7 minutes to
buying a ticket for the next departure.
It wasn’t a massive drama if I missed this train as they depart every 15
minutes, but I struggled with a 20GBP note, it wouldn’t take, so I tried my
credit card and that didn’t work and I was about to pick up all my gear and try
another machine when my card was accepted and I had my ticket with 3 minutes to
spare. The first carriage was business
class but the one after that had a disabled section at the front of the
carriage which was perfect for all my crap, so I was able to drop it all and be
able to sit next to it without having to pack it in racks or get it out of
people’s way. Phew…… that was going to
be the hardest part of the day, as there are trollies at Heathrow and a taxi in
Barcelona I was home and hosed….. well so I thought……..<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The train to Heathrow is 15 minutes for terminals 1, 2
and 3. Terminal 5, and my final
destination is a further 4 minutes on the same train. I think paying the 19GBP is worth every pound
for the stress free and ease of getting to the airport. And I was right, there was a trolley right
out of the turnstiles, so I loaded up, felt like I had just shed 60kg, oh that’s
right, I had and then made my way via the lift to departures. I know I have said this before but T5 at
Heathrow is amazing. All sparkly and new
with plenty of staff to help with your pre-check-in which is mandatory or to
ask questions. I wanted to check-in, but
figured with my broken bag I needed to get that issue solved, so I asked one of
the staff members about bag wrapping and there was one at the other end of the
terminal and I also asked about buying a new bag and it was the same
company. So I made my way down and the line-up
for the bag wrapping was seriously 11 people deep with all of them having at
least 2 bags each. There was only one
guy there and he would wrap and then go to the counter to take the
payment. The poor thing! Flip that though, I wasn’t going to wait that
long, so I perused their bags and I actually found the perfect bag, it is cabin
approved, it’s got those strong zips and was about the same size, different
shape, as the one I was replacing and was actually good quality. I figured whether I bought the bag here or in
Barcelona I had to get one, so when the dude came to the counter to process the
next payment I jumped in and bought the bag and I was out of there leaving all
those poor people still standing in line.
For interest the wrapping was 7GBP and I bought my bag for 35GBP. So with new bag in hand, I found a bench and
proceeded to unpack the gym bag and load the new bag, and it all fit
perfect. Problem solvered. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">From here I went to the check-in kiosks to check myself
in and there came up with an error and I had to make my way to the ‘special
assistance’ counter. Man do they have
camera’s there alerting staff of the amount of luggage or something? It may have been a blessing as I was going to
have to pay for the additional bag and probably would have been referred down
there anyway. As it turned out it was
just my passport number wasn’t in the booking and I popped on my first bag and
it was 11.9kg and the monster was 24.5kg and luckily he let me though with that
as I was only supposed to have 23kg, but them the other [bag I had paid for was
well under weight. Either way I paid my
40GBP and it wasn’t till I was through security that I forgot to show my RTW
ticket to try and avoid the extra charge.
You goose!!!! Never mind. I am just glad he didn’t ask me to weigh my
hand luggage as I rekon I was packing 23kg between the 3 bags I was taking hand
luggage. I must say I have never had an
issue with British Airways; they have always been so nice, so much so they have
a BIG world odyssey tick from me. I had
no issues at security, the line up didn’t seem to be super busy and then I was
airside and it was only 9.15am. My
flight wasn’t till 11.20am, but pre-boarding was starting at 10.45am, so I
really only had 1.5 hours to have a look around, grab some breakfast and to
just chillax. My arms still felt like
jelly after carrying my bags, and I decided to just grab a sandwich and just to
find a seat till my gate was allocated and I could make my way there. It is always so busy here at T5. People all scurrying everywhere, always lined
up in shops and food outlets. They must
make a packet of money out here, nothing like a captive audience paying exuberant
prices for things (besides duty free stuff).
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The flight was called on time, we all bordered like human
beings and we left on time as well which can be a miracle at times with traffic
control sometimes holding up flights as they arrange their flight plans, but we
were slotted in and before I knew it and with a tear in my eye we were in the
air and I was one more step closer to Kenya.
2 weeks today and I will be touching down in Kenya. My new life-what-ever it holds. This was the last section before that and it
terrifies me. I am entering the unknown
and it was also time to let Minalu know that I wasn’t coming and that I was
going to try Kenya first. I am just glad
that he hadn’t done too much work for my arrival, as I would have felt like a
real heal, but I do need to let him know that I wasn’t going to come. This was a little sad for me as well-being
honest with myself that I didn’t have a point to prove to anyone about keeping
Ethiopia as my country of choice and maybe at the start I was thinking that
things with Zeme could have worked out.
But I am a better person that firstly to think that I would ever get
back with someone like Zeme and secondly that I had anything to prove to
anyone. I need to go where I will feel
safe, have the support of the Embassy should I need it and a country that is a
little more advanced than what Ethiopia can offer me at this point. I’m not saying no forever to Ethiopia, but I
need to make my own contacts there, have my African feet for a while and then I
can decide what and where I should be, and I need to pass this onto
Minalu. The flight was only ¾ full and I
had my row free and I had my wonderful window seat. The flight time was 1 hour and 40 minutes and
we were sitting on an A321 with a configuration of 3 x3. We were fed a wrap and a drink, offered duty
free and then with some wonderful scenery coming into Barcelona we landed at
3.25pm local time. We had to wind our
watches forward an hour. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Barcelona International Airport looks new. After passing through immigration, locating a
trolley and waiting a little longer than normal for my bags I was cleared
through the green channel of customs and I was out. The airport is well laid out and well signed
so I followed the signs to the taxis-where there was an electronic door that wouldn’t
open. There was a staff member standing
there talking to another passenger in French and when he finished he said in
English that the taxis were on strike, well from the airport, they were still
running in town and I was told I would have to take the A1 or A2 bus into
town. WHAT! ARE YOU SERIOUS? Well I didn’t say that to him, but that is
what I was thinking in my head. Well I
had no choice, so with my trolley I now followed the bus signs-thinking it
would be a bus with an undercarriage where we could pack in all our bags and
then jump on but I guess the key word was BUS and not COACH and as I walked
down the not working escalators and losing my bags twice off the trolley I saw
that it was one of those airport busses with luggage racks and it them dawned
on me how the hell was I going to get all my gear onto a BUS!!! Well it just had to be done, so I stood in line,
with people behind me thinking the same thing and I rounded the last bend I had
to lose the trolley and I just had to kick the monster along new bag on my bag,
red backpack on my front and my bluebag in my spare hand. I thought I was doing well, getting my money
out before getting to the counter to hand it over to find out I had grabbed the
pounds and not the euro. DOH!!!!!!!!! So I had to struggle to get my purse back out
to get the right currency and then make 2 trips to the bus because I just
couldn’t load it all in one go. What a
nightmare and something I could ever foresee, a taxi strike of all things. Didn’t they know I was arriving with 60kg today? F#@uckers.
So with my 4 bags stored all over the bus I was able to find a seat for
the 35 minute drive into the city. I am
thankful that Beth had booked me into a hotel on one of the most popular roads
in Barcelona, Las Ramblas-everyone has heard of that, and that I wasn’t booked
in some little obscure street that I would be unable to pronounce and nobody
knew-so that is the only positive thing I could pull from this situation at
this point. As we pulled into Plaza Cataluña,
we passed Las Ramblas, so I knew where I had to go, so I was the last one off
the bus with my 4 bags as it pulled away and I found myself in the heart of
BARCELONA…..with 60kg of baggage. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Well I had come this far, so I loaded up again and made
my way to Las Ramblas which just happened to run to my left and also to my
right. So I stood out of the path of
pedestrian traffic and looked for building numbers and I could see on the far
side of the road 129 but I couldn’t see numbers on either side to work out
which was 33 was going to be. So I asked
one of the taxi drivers that were parked at a rank and he pointed left. Man I hope he understood I was after 33…. So
picking up my bags I turned left and kept a beady eye on the street numbers and
saw indeed they were getting smaller in numerical order and I was heading in
the right direction. To get from 129 to
33 took longer than I thought and if I had of realised I was going to walk half
of the Ramblas to get there I would have taken a taxi from the bus drop off
point. Bloody hell-it was forever away
and I really struggled. I had a massive
bruise already showing up in my upper arm from my struggles this morning! I had people staring at me again and I just
have to remember they don’t know my story and what I am doing, so let them
stare and then the bloody slow walkers in front of me and people who don’t know
how to walk in a straight line were frustrating but with a few stops for a rest
and hand swapping bags I made it 35 minutes after getting off the bus. I had arrived! I was sweaty, my arms felt light and I was
knackered, but I had arrived and safely.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The reception guy was super nice and for a second it
looked like they didn’t have my reservation, now that would have been funny,
but my name had just been spelt wrong, I was given my room key and like before
I had to make 2 trips to get all my bags in my room. I did ask about luggage storage and he told
me on the 1<sup>st</sup> floor that could be done tomorrow. SWEET.
I checked the Wi-Fi, updated my status and before I got too comfy and lost
all energy I decided to go out for an early dinner so I could chillax back at
the hotel. On my way out with just my
purse in my hand the reception guy called me back in and told me to hold my
purse tight to my body and to loop the strap around my wrist and to be
careful. I think I may have forgotten
just how dangerous Barcelona was and when I got back to my room there were 2
messages saying I should be thankful I wasn’t pickpocketed while I was
struggling with all my bags. I don’t think
even if I was a professional thief that I would have come anywhere near me
either. I think I would have been too
tricky…... See another positive! With all that said I do enjoy Barcelona. It has a lot of things to do with beaches to
visit, museums and churches, mountains and shopping. I have 3 nights here when I get back, so I
will get out and about when I return. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There are literally only 3 English channels out of 100
and like any country you visit they are all news channels. I guess that’s not a bad thing as I have no
idea what is happening in the world and it was here I found about the bus fires
that are ravaging the east coast of Australia.
I knew that the temperatures were high due to Facebook statuses but didn’t
know there were fires. So my thoughts to
my fellow countrymen and I hope that people listen to authorities and that the
plans they have in place from the last fires that took so many lives work out. My blog went down the wayside and I just used
the time to reflect and read. It is the
7<sup>th</sup> of January and according to my plans of last year I should have
been in Ethiopia now. I haven’t given
myself much time to think about that-I have honestly moved on-but I still get a
pang the way things ended with Zeme and I have come to second guess my judge of
character, I am normally pretty good with that sort of thing and never in a
million years would I have believed I would be blindsided the way I was. But we live and learn and at the end of the
day I did some really good things-I am the better person and if they were misconstrued
by some-one else then they are the ones to have to deal with themselves and I
just have to believe that I did good to bad people. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My cruise starts tomorrow and I am a little apprehensive
as cruises really aren’t geared for single travellers, really. I mean you can get out there and make it what
you want and I am going in with a plan to chill, self-reflect and just
appreciate some creature comforts of the western world before I start my new
life in a continent that could only dream or read about in books (if they are
lucky) of what I am going to be doing over the next 9 days. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Welcome to Barcelona.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Bernie Jamiesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954108071836273912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076968166040391307.post-23962850594260850982013-01-09T20:34:00.004+10:002013-01-09T20:35:10.271+10:00I WAS A COUCH POTATO FOR 2 DAYS AND IT’S JUST WHAT I NEEDED<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicWddT_LPI30Jk1PRwofrufnXzbI-VKUpmPZtMpTXibYiTY0ZVhEyf-mAtQ7VEDnHfisrF2I8y6s3IVP53rpXY0L8MDh93-_KY-NEY-iRTNbo74tmjznL1disdL4NHUs2twazlivAUcHGn/s1600/IMG_6264.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicWddT_LPI30Jk1PRwofrufnXzbI-VKUpmPZtMpTXibYiTY0ZVhEyf-mAtQ7VEDnHfisrF2I8y6s3IVP53rpXY0L8MDh93-_KY-NEY-iRTNbo74tmjznL1disdL4NHUs2twazlivAUcHGn/s400/IMG_6264.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Need I explain any further? I had NOTHING organised for the next two
days. I even cancelled my date with Kate
and my trip to Cambridge to see her. I
was SO TIRED. I needed some down time
and I know that I will see her in May when I come back. Gee I think I am going to be busy in May-I
may have to stay 3 weeks to see everyone I am promising to see again. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Poor Emma had to go to work for the next 2 days, which
was Friday and Saturday as she had children she had to assess, so Paps and I
were left to our own devices over the 2 days.
One of them was so much a couch potato day that I didn’t get out of my
PJ’s for the whole day-AT ALL. I literally
was in my pyjamas for a consecutive 36 hours…….
I can’t remember the last time I EVER did that. Certainly, not in the last 2 years
anyway. It felt GREAT. I did promise Em when she came home that I wouldn’t
do it for the second day in a row and still be in them for the 2<sup>nd</sup>
day running.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I am happy to report that I finished my MASSIVE departure
day blog and got the next one done as well, so hopefully now that I am over
that hurdle I can now get on a run and get them all done in the coming days and
actually be up to date when I start the cruise.
This is a little ambitious and I am not too worried as I have 2 days at
sea when we leave Barcelona, so hopefully I can use that time to blog and then
I can blog live again, which hasn’t been done in a long time. Let me think when I was actually blogging
about the day I had just done….. heck I can’t even remember when I was totally
up to date….. I replied to some overdue
messages, check what British Airways were going to charge for my second bag and
it was going to be 40GBP at the airport or I could save 6GBP by doing it online
beforehand. 6GBP is 6GBP, but I had an
idea, I still hold a current round the world ticket from London to South
America that I really don’t intend to use.
So I was thinking maybe I could show that ticket as well and just try my
luck that they would let the second bag through. RTW tickets on the One World partners let you
have 2 pieces of luggage unlike the normal point to point tickets only let you
have one bag, well to Europe anyway. I
decided to run the gauntlet and see what they say tomorrow at check-in and
worse case I just pay the additional 6GBP in the hope to avoid the 40GBP fee,
worse-case scenario. I have never had to
worry about luggage so much in my travels EVER and I can see why I always want
to keep my bag to just one piece, but in my defence this trip is a little
different and I know it will be worth the hassle to have a variety of clothes
to choose from when I get to Kenya. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This also gave me some time to update my actual blog. I had been contacted by G Adventures that
some of my links to their web were out dated and if I could update them with
the links that they had provided for me in her email. It’s nice to know that companies are checking
web sites/blogs and that mine came up. Any
awareness out there for me is a positive and I replied back that I had updated
the links and I asked if they were looking for someone to blog their trips that
I would be interested. The agent replied
back, she’s super nice, that it wasn’t her area and I was given an email
address to send a message to-but the automated reply back from them was they don’t
reply to everyone as they get so many requests and if they were interested they
would contact you back. Oh well, again I
can only put it out there. I have my
writing to show what I do-I’m doing it anyway and if I can hook a free trip or
some cash from it why not ask the question?
I have nothing to lose. I hope I
hear back from them one day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sunday was my departure day from the Addletons. I still had one more night in London that I
had booked back at Tune Hotel, firstly it was where my entire luggage was stored
and secondly it was easy as pie to just walk the 400m to Paddington station in
the morning and catch the Heathrow Express out to the airport. I was trying to keep the moving of all my
bags to a minimum and this was the best option.
I was lucky I got to see CD and Jimbo one last time as they stopped in
for a quick tea and then I was escorted up to the train station by Paps and
Em. These guys are also in that very
special category of lifelong friends. We
met on my 2 week Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda trip and we were also lucky enough to
be in the same ‘gorilla’ group when we trekked the national park to meet our
gorilla group for that unforgettable hour we got to share watching these
magnificent animals, who are more like us than some people care to admit and it
is an experience that I will never forget.
And to share that with 2 people like Ems and Paps will be long
remembered for years to come. They are
great friends, we have a lot in common including our love for Africa and I am
eternally grateful for them housing me over the last week and inviting me into
not only their home but also to their friends and family. I LOVE and going to MISS you guys, but we
will meet again in May-and maybe another house guest again? So with hugs and kisses it was time for me to
catch my train which was due in 4 minutes.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I’m getting the hang of this train and Tube thing and it really
is a transportation marvel of this century.
Something that was built 150 years ago still operating in the original
tunnels is a feat in itself. The
frustrating thing for me is it is so cold outside you rug up, big jackets, hats
and scarves and then when you’re in the train it is hot as an oven. Nobody seems to take their jackets off, they
all have them on and I guess if you are only going a few stops it isn’t such a
big deal, but when I have 4 stops on the overland and then 9 stops on the Tube,
it gets warm. It can’t just be me
right? Add in to that the walking, you
really heat up and get sweaty. People
think it; I am just saying it out loud. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I got to Tune Hotel at 2.40pm and check-in wasn’t until
3pm. There were people all standing
around in the lobby all waiting for 3pm to tick around. Really….. you are making people wait 20
minutes? I can understand that there
maybe a few rooms not quite ready, but to hold everyone up doesn’t make sense
as they will have a rush at 3pm and just makes it all that much more
chaotic. Oh well, they are lost cost, if
you want your room earlier they charge you a fee of 10GBP, so if they let
people in that haven’t paid and people had paid, I would be cranky if I had
paid, which I had on my last 2 visits, so all fair in love and business. I did ask about the twin room upgrade and
they said they did have a room and when I came back at 3pm I could just pay the
difference then. Sweet. I decided to go for a late lunch to kill time
and when I returned at 3.30pm, there was still a line up at the reception desk,
so I just took a seat and when I was waved to come up to the counter and he
checked me in, even when there were 4 people in line in front of me. Well didn’t I feel special! He may have regrated that move when I asked
for my 4 bags in storage, but after 2 trips I had all my things in my rooms and
yet again it was time to pack. Before I
got started I thought it would be best I get to the shops and buy a few last
minute things. I needed some more hand
cream, nail polish remover, 2 thank-you cards and I got a light dinner of a
pasta salad for later with a juice so I didn’t have to head out again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It sounds like I spend half my time re-packing bags. But every time I do it, it is for a reason
and this pack was to try and get my cruise clothes into one bag, and leave 2
bags in storage at my Barcelona hotel. I
AM pretty smart you know. Well as I was
zipping the small red gym bag at 9pm that night you can guess what happened,
the bag ripped! I was horrified for
about 30 seconds and then I just burst out laughing! Crap.
What was I going to do now? It
was 9pm; nothing was open for me to buy a new one. I was going to be leaving in the morning
before the shops opened. Well I was
lucky that the rip was at the top, so nothing was going to immediately fall out,
so I figured it could wait till I got to the airport tomorrow and I could
either find a bag wrapper or buy a new bag.
This was the best I could come up with and just hoped that the rip wouldn’t
get any bigger. These bags will be the
death of me I swear and little did I know that there was worse to come…. Oh yes……
much worse….<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So goodbye London.
Thanks for a great trip. I always
have a great time here. Thanks for the
people I caught up with and the people who I met for the first time and sorry
to those who again I missed out on catching up with. A big thanks goes to those also involved in
getting me some Africa contacts. It
means a great deal and even if nothing comes from them at least I have started
and one of them has come back asking for my CV which has been forwarded. If only to get myself out there now-my
African journey has well and truly started now for me. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Bernie Jamiesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954108071836273912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076968166040391307.post-3156597232870280462013-01-09T20:30:00.004+10:002013-01-09T20:32:11.201+10:00REUNITED WITH UNITED-BACK IN LONDON<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I was sleeping on the couch last night in the lounge
room. A very comfy couch, but when you are in someone else’s house it just feels
rude to be sleeping in and I was the first one up, especially since I was in
the heart of the flat, I didn’t want people to think they had to slink because
I was still sleeping. So I was showered
and changed and trying to remember how to turn on the TV with the 3 remotes I
had to use when the house stirred. I
guess when it gets light late, people sleep in till later. I think I may have my internal travel alarm
clock going off as I generally don’t sleep past 7-7.30am anywhere in the world,
well except when I don’t get to bed till 2am or 6am, then my body needs at
least 6 hours. I know people who if they
don’t get a full 10 hours they can’t function the next day. Madness. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The only thing, well 2 things I HAD to do today was to
get cracking in my blog. As the days
tick by so do my entries and after reading how far behind I was in Thailand, 22
days, that just makes me shudder to think I was EVER that far behind. I am currently a week and that is the maximum
for me. The holdup is I am up to my
departure from Australia and sometimes those big blogs take so long to write, I
lose my mojo and then I leave it and then another few days tick by and I get
further behind from not wanting to crack into a certain entry. Well I HAVE to get it done and the next few
days were going to be my catch up days.
The other thing I HAD to do was meet my United Hostees, David and Cheryl
again this afternoon at 4.30pm. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Em and Paps had been away for nearly 2 weeks, so they had
unpacking, washing and sorting to do. So
I stayed out of their hair, found ‘my’ spot on the couch where I stayed till I
had to get ready at 2.30pm to leave home at 3.15pm to catch the overland train
and then the Tube to the Hilton Metropole, which quite ironically is 100m down
the road from my Tune hotel and where all my things were currently been
stored. Paps and Em were saving me
200GBP, which is around 330AUD by letting me stay for the 4 nights, so I was
very grateful and didn’t mind travelling the 2.5 hours return trip to see my
Hostees. I met Cheryl and David on a
cruise of the Middle East in 2009. They
were on our dinner table for the week and as experience has shown me on my
travels there are some people in this world who you just ‘click’ with. It can’t be explained, I don’t know why, it
just happens and I have met many people with this ‘click’ factor who I am now
proud to call lifelong friends and Cheryl and David well and truly fall into
this amazing category. The first thing
that strikes me about both of them is they are GREAT listeners. We had a lot to catch up on since the last
time I saw them which was in August last year when I was back in London. We are lucky, when I am in London, I let them
know and then they make sure they are on a flight so that we can meet
again. I never in my widest when I met
them both that we would have so many meetings afterwards and my stay with them
last year in their amazing city of Chicago was a true highlight for me. We always pick a pub or restaurant in the
area, order a meal, and then before we know it 3 hours have past and it is time
for us all to get going, me travelling my hour home and with them needing to
get to bed for their morning flight the next day. I LOVE and MISS you guys and look forward to
catching up with you both in May with my return back to London. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I was home at 9.45pm and I sat down the computer was
staring at me, I hadn’t finished the departure blog, but I was ½ way through
and I am just going to have to finish it tomorrow. I can’t write a blog when I am tired as I
just write crap and it doesn’t make sense, so it’s best I finish it
tomorrow. FINISH IT. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Bernie Jamiesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954108071836273912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076968166040391307.post-51640057602769538852013-01-09T20:26:00.003+10:002013-01-09T20:27:53.998+10:0011 HOUR DRIVE WITH THE ADDLETONS BACK TO LONDON<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipvsw2GHuUC6uevAT23jWh12_7gdFabYqJ9_Y2CbZ3q9GHDo5AWOHb3eK0yGmRBVcJdwHrZhvblF6OUwRmR5cb82xCqrNxXK_GyuzMSkHka_nAfY-iYozYWZ3iz8rYsD4vCYvdZeERquZo/s1600/IMG_6230.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipvsw2GHuUC6uevAT23jWh12_7gdFabYqJ9_Y2CbZ3q9GHDo5AWOHb3eK0yGmRBVcJdwHrZhvblF6OUwRmR5cb82xCqrNxXK_GyuzMSkHka_nAfY-iYozYWZ3iz8rYsD4vCYvdZeERquZo/s400/IMG_6230.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We were heading back to London today. It was time to farewell Inverawe, Rosie and
Robert. I wonder how they feel when
after nearly 2 weeks of having mass people in their home they were back to 2
people, oh and Ludo-the family dog. I
bet it is quiet and I guess they like that too.
We had a departure time of 8.30am and ended up getting on the road at
9.30am. Girl, Jamie and Fiona were on
the road 30 minutes before us and we all had a full day of travel to get us
back to London. Lucky for the Addletons
that I didn’t bring the monster and my other bags as the car was packed to the
rafters as it was already. I took the
back seat and after a final wave to R&R we were on the cold and wet
road. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As mentioned in my last blog Paps and Em had their
reception at Inverawe and we passed the church where they got married, so we
stopped briefly so that I could have a look around and it was a beautiful
church and it had a headstone at the front with a date of 1898. St Conan’s Kirk, <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Church of Scotland</span>, is located in <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Loch Awe</span>, <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Argyll and
Bute</span>, <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Scotland</span>. It is situated on a crag high above the water amid
vegetation which includes roses, honeysuckle, and ivy, and is surrounded by
large trees. It was established as a <span style="text-decoration: initial;">chapel of
ease</span> by the Campbell’s of <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Innis Chonan</span>. The
Bruce Chapel is renowned for the fragment of bone that is rumoured to have come
from <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Robert the Bruce</span>, <span style="text-decoration: initial;">King</span> of Scotland. It was designed by the self-made architect
Walter Douglas Campbell, great-grandfather of the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Duke of
Argyll</span>, and built in 1881-6; with renovation in 1906. The heavy
oak beams in the cloister are believed to have come from the (then) recently
broken up wooden battleships, <span style="text-decoration: initial;">HMS Caledonia</span> and
<span style="text-decoration: initial;">HMS Duke of Wellington</span>. An eccentric
blend of church styles, from <span style="text-decoration: initial;">ancient Roman</span> to <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Norman</span>, it is built of local stone. It
consists of a <span style="text-decoration: initial;">nave</span> and
<span style="text-decoration: initial;">chancel</span>,
with the chancel-stalls being canopied. Large, unsmoothed boulders of granite
from nearby <span style="text-decoration: initial;">Ben Cruachan</span>, form the piers which carry the
chancel arch, and the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">transepts</span> make the Sacred Cross. There is also a tower
and spire. It was a stunning church and
again I didn’t get a chance to see the view due to the low laying fog but Paps
and Em recreated a wedding pose for me in one of the stone entrances.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It really was a crap day to be on the roads. Em took the first shift of driving and it was
a little tricky. They were not very
narrow roads and they were so windy that I was starting to get a little car
sick. I am normally a good traveller, I
don’t get motion sickness, but I was feeling very dodgy while we were on the
bendy roads. I am going to say it had
nothing to do with Em’s driving of course.
It was shame it was so foggy as I had been told by several people just
how pretty the scenery is around this area, I missed it coming up as it was
night time when I arrived and now this morning it was super foggy I couldn’t
even see the loch to glens at all in some places. I guess that is Scotland and it could also
happen in the summer months-it weather is just so unpredictable! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We finally made it onto the freeway around lunch time and
it was like an instantaneous feeling of better.
The weather unfortunately didn’t improve and after a toilet stop at a
very busy road stop and a swap of drivers we were back on the road and getting
caught in some delays due to the fog. At
one point it was so heavy that you were lucky to be able to see 3 cars in front
and you can see how the mass pile up of car accidents can happen when you sit
in this kind of fog. Apparently there is
a welcome to England sign along the road, but it was that foggy we didn’t even
get a chance to see that. We stopped in
to see Paps grandparents on our way home and for a quick cuppa and then back on
the road again to London. Paps was given
a GPS from his dad for Christmas, so we were giving that a crack on our way back
and it was interesting the way that it wanted to take us and what our actual
arrival time would be back home. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Pap’s mum, Sandra and Brian were at the Addleton
residence when we got home. They had
spent New Year’s Eve in London and had used the Addlepad while the guys were in
Scotland. They were staying one more
night so when we got home dinner was in the oven and ready to be served. Ahhhhhh Sandra you are a lifesaver! We were ravenous only having eaten 2 ham
rolls that Em had made this morning for the trip. It is funny I have nearly met all of Justin’s
relatives over the course of the week and meeting Em’s parents and all their
friends as well. It was a great week but
I must say I am looking forward to a little downtime over the next few days as
I am feeling a little burnt out. I think
the last week has finally caught up with me having travelled nearly 19,000km in
8 days. Today we travelled 800km and it
took 11 hours but we did have a stop at Grand ma-ma’s for 45 minutes but
otherwise we were on the road all day. I
only fell asleep as we entered London around 7pm and to say I am now tired is a
bit cheeky when I didn’t even drive today, but that always seems to be the
case. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have made one New Year’s resolution. I don’t normally make them, as I am not a
firm believer or believer in them but this year I have made one and that is to
keep in touch with my family more. I
have the email addresses of them all and I also have Facebook for some too. So there is no excuse and I think it is a resolution
that I will be able to keep.
Hopefully. </span></div>
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Bernie Jamiesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954108071836273912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076968166040391307.post-77568410033768385392013-01-09T06:22:00.003+10:002013-01-09T06:23:52.749+10:00RECOVERY DAY INCLUDING THE EATING OF WOODCOCK-UGH<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDM0EULahl45888Ot2sP46yI_pRfhepVOdWC7wwZlhY928FMIwEOa_SzG0sBJKZU67nutMJ6wgwbTBT6YiY1j34g5qJrdvGXKZT3mQKlEzLDPSUKwjkTjs6GamRvp1MaPTiZ80MYaUqMsG/s1600/IMG_6216.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDM0EULahl45888Ot2sP46yI_pRfhepVOdWC7wwZlhY928FMIwEOa_SzG0sBJKZU67nutMJ6wgwbTBT6YiY1j34g5qJrdvGXKZT3mQKlEzLDPSUKwjkTjs6GamRvp1MaPTiZ80MYaUqMsG/s400/IMG_6216.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For last year’s words belong to last year’s
language</span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And next year’s words await another voice<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And to make an end is to make a beginning<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">T.S Elliott<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">HAPPY NEW YEAR!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Welcome to 2013. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So with a 6am bed you would think that we wouldn’t be up
till the afternoon, but we were all up at 12 noon and unfortunately we had
missed the departure of 6 people who left at 9.30am and at 11.30am. That was a shame, but they had cars to return
and planes to catch and maybe it was sort of okay as I hate good-byes
anyway. The good thing for me is I hope
to see them all again in May when I return to London. I have a return portion of a ticket I didn’t
use last year, so I picked May for want of a better month, so I guess that is
the only thing I do have booked and considering I have no idea where I will be
in May it is a little comforting to have that in place. I also got some grand news that my Scandi
Contiki gal pal Aimes was engaged and her wedding is to be the 3<sup>rd</sup>
August in Canada. I would LOVE to be
there for that, but that is something that I just cannot commit to at this
stage. We will see later in the year,
later in 2013!!!!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Again my timing was perfect as scrambled eggs and bacon
was on the menu and sizzling in the kitchen when I got down there this
morning. I was feeling a little
ordinary, but considering it was a 12 hour drinking session I was actually
doing okay. It really is beautiful here
and with massive glass window overlooking a paddock and a view of the fast
flowing river with the glens in the background it was a great place to nurse a
hangover. There were showers, some
sunshine poking through black clouds giving an amazing light on the bare trees
and I couldn’t think of anywhere else I wished to be. Paps and Em got married here and I can see
why. The family home also needs a
notable mention. Inverawe House first
appeared on the map 300 years ago. It became an important stronghold of the
Campbell Empire and boasts its own <span style="text-decoration: initial;">trans-Atlantic
ghost at Tigonderoga.</span> The original
house has an incredible story. Having
established himself at the mouth of the River Awe around the early 1500s,
Campbell of Inverawe decided to build more comfortable quarters for his family.
He settled on a more sheltered site further up the river and built a
tower-house on the site of today’s Inverawe House.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The original Inverawe House has been altered and expanded
much over the years. One Laird who carried out many improvements was Major
Duncan Campbell of Inverawe who also sent barrels of seeds and young trees back
from his final voyage to America, which ended in his death at Ticonderoga in
1758. When he died, Inverawe came into
the hands of his only surviving child, Janet, who was married to an English
officer. In 1765, she sold the estate to her maternal uncle, Colonel Robert
Campbell of Finab and Monzie. His line
died out with his daughter Jane, who inherited it in 1888. She married another
neighbouring Campbell Laird, the Captain of Dunstaffnage. In 1912, Mrs Campbell of Dunstaffnage sold
Inverawe to the Currie family, owners of the Union-Castle shipping line. They commissioned the well-known Scottish
architect, Sir Robert Lorimer, who carried out major alterations to the house,
forming a great panelled hall with high windows in the central tower and
demolishing the former porte-cochere in favour of today’s front door with its
steps. Of this, a protesting neighbour
remarked that “it was more suited to an Edinburgh street than the Highlands”. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In 1923, the house was sold to Major Ian Bullough whose
family had made a fortune in textile machinery and who had built Kinloch Castle
on Rum. He died in 1936 and Inverawe, now held in trust for his sons, was
leased for 15 years, to cousins of Major Bullough, the Blakeney family.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In the 1950s Inverawe was sold to Mr Anderson, who
divided the house into flats. In 1958 the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric
Board which was constructing the Awe Hydro-Electric Scheme, the largest in
Europe, bought the estate to act as its headquarters. It provided accommodation for its staff in
the house and in Nissen huts built around it. It was at this time that the
ballroom was demolished and the top floor of the house removed. Inverawe House is still a family home, with
the Campbell-Prestons living there since 1962. They took over in 1980, having
found the idyllic place to start a business and bring up their four children.
Robert was brought up on the banks of the Awe. He is a born fisherman and
naturalist. What an amazing family
history, and something that we would never get in Australia. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Robert and Rosie now run a successful smoked salmon
business that is on the estate. Robert
was trained in the art of smoking by old Mr Pinney, and found that he was a
completely 'natural smoker'. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">He knows exactly when something is ready, when something
needs a little more smoke or heat. Rosie and Robert soon found smoked fish from
Inverawe House was in great demand.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">They
started with 400 addresses from all the family’s address books – and the
business just grew. Today this figure has multiplied many times over, and yet they
have managed to keep the personal family touch.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">If you live in the UK they do post and all their products can be ordered
from their website at </span><a href="http://www.smokedsalmon.co.uk/" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">www.smokedsalmon.co.uk</a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br />
So then there were 13. The next car load
left at 1.30pm and then there were 8.
Jamie, Fi, Girl the Addle Paps, Em and I were smart and knew that we
would need another day to recover and they were right. My afternoon consisted of going through the
120 photos I took at the clay pigeon shooting and the 363 photos I took over
the New Year celebrations. Thank
goodness that Facebook have lifted their very first photo restriction of a 100
photos per album. In my defence I did
have a lot of photos to cull and when I had finished I was left with 99 from
the shooting and only 256 from NYE. Not
a bad number and in my defence there were 19 of us right- we need to have some
leeway for all the people right.
Right? I saw in some-ones
Facebook feed about having a photo to represent each day of 2013, a photo
journal as such, and I thought I would be up for that challenge and I have now
signed up for <a href="http://365project.org/berniejamieson/365">http://365project.org/berniejamieson/365</a>
So keep up with my daily photo and the small story that will go with it each
day as the year progresses. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A stocktake was done of the 2 days/2 nights alcohol
consumption and as a group we had drunk 1 bottle of vodka, 3 bottles of gin, 5
crates of beer, 2 bottles of whiskey, 10 bottles of champagne, 2 magnums of
champagne and 34 bottles of red and white wine.
Not a bad effort and the great thing is that Em and Paps bought all the
food and drink and then they just gave us a bill at the end of our stay, so
nobody was out of pocket and Rosie and Robert weren’t left footing any bills
either. It was perfect. After a pizza lunch that totally hit the spot
we all retired to the TV room on the second floor and watch Stardust. An easy going movie that we all
democratically decided on out of about 50 movies and it was a chill afternoon. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Dinner was going to be a push for me. I walked into the kitchen just as ‘dinner’
was about to go in and they were Woodcocks that had been killed 3 days
before. As their common name implies,
the woodcocks are woodland birds. They feed at night or in the evenings,
searching for invertebrates in soft ground with their long bills. Paps had gone out on the shoot, but hadn’t contributed
to the now dead birds lying on a try with a bit of bacon wrapped around them
and a slice of orange on top. One of
them still had its head on, as Paps said that you can eat their brain, it is
supposed to be quite a taste-yeah I bet it is.
They looked disgusting, but being in Scotland I just had to try
something that had been caught fresh off the estate and when it was served on
my plate, my first cut into its small breast the innards popped out the end and
then that was me done. Literally the innards
came oozing out. It was also a little
red for me and after small bite, the flavour which is very gamy if you’re into
that, I was done. My bird was popped
into the oven a little longer and then it was eaten by someone else. They aren’t the biggest things in the world,
but to serve that to a bunch of hung-over people was a BIG call and I am
embarrassed to say I was the only one out of the 8 that didn’t eat it. But I did give it a shot. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So that people summed up my first day of 2013. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I can’t believe that it is the start of another
year. Come 29th of March this year
(2013) marks 2 years since I left Australia on my World Odyssey, it doesn’t
even feel that long ago but then when I look back on what I have done and seen
it does make it a bit of a reality check for me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2013 has begun and I am ready for whatever it has in
store for me. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Bernie Jamiesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954108071836273912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076968166040391307.post-61393747590387322552013-01-09T05:36:00.002+10:002013-01-09T06:15:01.384+10:002012 WHAT A YEAR FOR ME IN SO MANY WAYS<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcazIuk7awKd1U1e45HgRot8ozdNB-KwgFPkLSrqaqaNYPn2zhNOdhOEDknHtuR-RFZ2S5P26vUxIfh2QCe7IfS6fJNcK7KCN1YuYFXFxKE3nrpyI-Tr0ww2NHxu1ALBqZSxd1acep35jW/s1600/IMG_5989.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcazIuk7awKd1U1e45HgRot8ozdNB-KwgFPkLSrqaqaNYPn2zhNOdhOEDknHtuR-RFZ2S5P26vUxIfh2QCe7IfS6fJNcK7KCN1YuYFXFxKE3nrpyI-Tr0ww2NHxu1ALBqZSxd1acep35jW/s400/IMG_5989.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Today is the last day of 2012.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What a year it has been for me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">From continuing my travels for another 12 months, meeting
who I thought was the love of my life and the subsequent breakup, visiting my
mums grave for the first time since her passing, catching up with family
members I haven’t seen in years including meeting my new nephew for the first
time, visiting home after 14 months and seeing all my friends again, saying
goodbye after 7 weeks, the giving away of every single thing I own (including
my mums furniture) and then my final goodbye to Australia for an unknown amount
of time-it has been an amazing year of highs and lows. Throw into the mix all the UNBELIEVABLE
people I have met, counties I have seen and the way, last 12 months has shaped
me and led me to the realisation that I wanted to move to Africa and be part of
a bigger picture. What that picture is,
remains to be seen. I am moving to a
continent where I only know a handful of people. I am leaving a home I love, friends I LOVE,
family I have just reconnected with and a life I know and will miss. Yes 2012 has been a great year but I believe
that 2013 will be an even greater year for me.
It will be challenging and hopefully a satisfying year-I would like to
give back to a world that has been good to me over my travels and I hope that I
will find my ‘home’ somewhere on the great continent of Africa. It still hasn’t sunk in yet, the magnitude of
what I am doing, and it probably won’t until I land in Kenya on the 21<sup>st</sup>
January. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The thing that surprised me the most was my
resilience. 2012 made me a stronger
person than what I gave myself credit for.
With the very public breakup of Zeme and I and the support that I got
from all my friends and from people that I haven’t heard from in a long time
was very humbling to say the least and I am truly grateful to everyone I have
in my life. To the people who read my
blog, the people who send messages, the people that do the simple task of
liking a photo on Facebook and for all the virtual shoulders I got comfort
from-I could not have got through this without you all. Just like the passing of my mum and the
process of my divorce-you guys have always been there for me and I am
lucky. After all my travelling I have a
new appreciation for the world we live in and just how lucky we have it. Things that don’t kill us make us stronger
and I take comfort in the fact that Happiness will always Follow Sadness, no
matter what and I have friends by my side all over the world that are there for
me. For this I am grateful. 2012 has taught me a lot of things. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">All that being said, as I did last year I have to go
through my travel highlights of the year that was.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Seeing the moon through a 40,000USD telescope in La Serena,
Chile-amazing<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The spectacular Perito Moreno Glacier in El Calafate,
Argentina<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The stunning city of Buenos Aires - we got 10 wonderful
nights in this city <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Telling the world about Zeme becoming my boyfriend in
Pucon<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The stunning Torres Del Paine National Park<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The thundering Iguassu Falls with the helicopter ride and
the amazing Bird Park<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The scenic city of Rio de Janeiro<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Rio Carnival 2012 was incredible<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Getting 'inked' in Addis Ababa with Zeme<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The grand castles of Camelot in Gondar<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The rock strewn churches of Lalibela-amazing structures<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hand feeding a Colobus Monkey in Awassa<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hand feeding wild hyenas in Harar<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hacking through the Brazilian Amazon jungle<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Seeing the disappointing Angel Falls-Venezuela but the
National Park was AMAZING<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Speed boating over Lake Maracaibo the largest lake
in South America-Venezuela<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Spending the day in the flood plains of Los Llanos and
seeing Kappa Barra’s<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The stunning Tayrona National Park and beaches-Colombia<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The historic and beachside town of Cartagena-Colombia<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Holding the amazing creature called a Sloth<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The longest truck day of the trip from Cartagena to
Bucaramanga of 18.5 hours-Colombia<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2 nights on a Colombian coffee plantation<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Saturday Otavalo Markets-Ecuador<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Crossing of the ‘real Equator’ line-Ecuador<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The conclusion of my 5 month Tucan South American
overland trip<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My incredible 4 days on Easter Island-the Moai are awe
inspiring<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The pure white beaches on the Caribbean Island of
Barbados<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">An African sunset-no matter what country you are in<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Meeting and making life ling friends- this a top MMM<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The beautiful city of Ottawa-Canada and visiting The
Canadian Mint and holding a 15kg gold bar<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Getting some cottage time with my Contiki Scandi gals xx<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Seeing a Cirque du Soleil show in Montreal where the show
was created and started<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The stunning French-Canadian city of Quebec<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The city of Chicago was amazing and a cocktail from the
95<sup>th</sup> floor-I LOVE Chicago<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Roof top patios in Minneapolis<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sunbaking for a week in the Las Vegas sun-the brownest I
have EVER been with a great mate<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A bike through Venice Beach-Los Angeles- that’s the way
they roll there<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">6 glorious weeks at home with my BEST friend,
God-daughters and friends<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Seeing Tower Bridge with the Olympic rings hanging from
it<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Visiting the National History Museum in London for the
Scott's Antarctic Exhibition<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The seaside town of Brighton-England-so beautiful and the
BBQ we had on the beach<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Seeing a 5,000 year old village on the island of
Orkney-Scotland<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Visiting the most Westerly part of Scotland-The Butt of
Lewis-the wind was gale force<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Seeing the Callendish Stones-Stornoway-Scotland-mini
Stonehenge to touch<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Isle of Skye was breath taking-a piece of heaven on
earth<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Getting to tour inside Dunrobin Castle still owned by the
original family after hundreds of years<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After 65 international flights the flight from hell on
Ethiopian Airlines from London to Addis Ababa<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Reunited with Zeme again for 9 precious days-it was still
a good stay and worth a mention<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Blue Nile Falls in Ethiopia-in full flow with all the
rain and the dam was open<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Officially 22 days behind in my blog and 11 days to
update while in Phuket-Thailand<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Catching up with my best friends SA and Shelly and my
God-daughters in Phuket for a wedding<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My fabulous 14 days in Sri Lanka as a whole and my
AMAZING group and tour leader<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My introduction in the religion of Buddhism-it resonated
with me<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My 2 day hike through Sri Lankan tea plantations was a
personal challenge for me<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Climbing the ancient rock fortress of Sigiray-this was
also a personal challenge-and I DID IT<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The beautiful beaches of Marissa-Sri Lanka<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The beautiful beaches of Boracay in the
Philippines-stunning<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Standing 1m away from the world’s smallest primate the
Tarsier-Cebu/Philippines<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The entire country of Nepal<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Getting my tattoo in Pokhara-the wheel of life and the
saying Happiness Always Follows Sadness<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Getting a firsthand glance at the Himalaya Mountains and
Mt Everest on a scenic flight<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sunrise of the Himalaya’s at Pokhara<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The ancient cities of Patan and Durban<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The tourist area of Thamel-the vibe and the souvenirs are
like nowhere else-Nepal<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My 5 weeks back home for my birthday and for Christmas
were precious<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Attending the wedding of Paul and Liz in Brighton-great
to catch up with fellow SA travellers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">…and even though it hasn’t happened yet, if I can’t be
home, then spending my New Year with Emma and Justin is the next best
thing……………..<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What a year it has been.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So with all that said there was still one more day in
2012 to finish and I was in Scotland with precious friends I know and a group
of their friends I didn’t. I took Emma’s
advice and I did sleep till I couldn’t sleep anymore and I woke at 11am. Em’s parent’s house is massive. It is a 300 year old home that has a lot of
character and being on the 3<sup>rd</sup> floor I couldn’t hear a thing of what
was happening anywhere else. I just
hoped that I wasn’t the last one out of bed.
Not knowing the ‘Brit/Scot’ etiquette about coming to breakfast in your
PJ’s or not, I decided to have a shower and change before heading down. I would hate to rock up and they were all
dressed and I looked/ felt like Annie.
As it worked out I was the only one that was dressed, so I was glad I
erred on the side of caution anyway. My
timing was impeccable as bacon and eggs were being cooked and I had a plate in
front of me within 10 minutes of arriving and a steaming hot tea to wash it all
down with. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The good or bad thing about sleeping so late is that the
day just passes so quickly. I find it
more so when the sun goes down at 4pm, it always seems later than what it
is. Well I guess we had to rest up for
tonight’s shenanigans. Paps bother
Jamie, Jamie’s girlfriend Fiona and sister, Kirstie arrived just after 12 noon
and now the NYE gang was complete. There
were 19 of us including Emma’s mum Rosie and her dad Robert so I was guessing
it was going to be a great night and then later in the afternoon I found out
that we all had to don something out of the Inverawe dress up box and that
bought a tear to my eye as that is something that we would have done back
home. It is funny as I was given a pair
of Lady Ga Ga glasses for Christmas from SA which I had bought with me, the
merry-oke machine and also the nerd glasses-so I was well equipped for a bit of
fancy dress. I was told that I still had
to get something out of the box and I was lucky I was first in and grabbed a
Nepalese looking jacket that fit, as a lot of the clothes in there were from
Emma and her sister’s childhood when they were younger, it was all a size 6
wardrobe. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Paps had lined up with the neighbour to go clay shooting
at 2.30pm. Clay pigeon shooting, also
known as clay target shooting, and formally known as Inanimate Bird Shooting,
is the art of shooting at special flying targets, known as clay pigeons or clay
targets, with a<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>shotgun<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>or any type of firearm. The terminology commonly used by clay shooters often
relates to times past, when live-pigeon competitions were held. Although such
competitions were made illegal in the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>UK<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>in 1921, a target is still called a
"target" or "bird", a hit is referred to as a
"hit" or "kill", a missed target might be described as a
"bird away" and the machine which projects the targets is known as a
"trap". It sounded very
British (Scottish) and something cool to do on New Year’s Eve. So we all rugged up, I was given a pair of
wellies to tackle the muddy ground, this was one job the Crocs were not up for,
and we headed out for a 15 minute walk to a clearing near one of the lochs of
the area. As there were so many of us
and we were going to be using live ammunition it was decided we would stand on
the grassy knoll, well the hill, where the clay targets were being shot from,
for our safety and then 2 people at a time would go down for their shots. The view from here was breath taking. Scotland never fails to impress me each time
I have come. This is my third trip and
it is just a piece of heaven on earth, cold, but heaven all the same. I was all keen at the start for the shoot,
but as the time ticked on, the light was going bad and figured I was actually
okay not having a go and letting people who really wanted to, go before
me. Freddie, the neighbour was down
there reloading the gun and giving advice and when it was a girl’s turn,
holding them upright as they fired. When
we were getting down to final numbers you could see a weather front moving in,
right before our eyes and before we knew it, small hail stones dropped from the
sky and that marked the end for half the group and we scaled down the now
slippery muddy knoll and headed back to the house.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Now it was time to get stuck into Hogmanay, New Year’s
Eve-Scottish style. Girl and I had a few
quiet vodka and Irn Bru’s (very Scottish) to get warmed up and then we went and
got ready to come back downstairs and to just enjoy the rest of the evening as
it unfolded. Dinner was to be served at
8.30pm and Emma had place settings for us all and what a great idea as it gave
me a chance to meet more of the group properly.
In<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Scotland, Hogmanay<span class="apple-converted-space">, with an accent </span><span class="nocaps"><span style="text-decoration: initial;">hug</span></span>-mə-<span class="nocaps"><span style="text-decoration: initial;">nay</span></span>,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>is
the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Scots<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>word for the last day of the year and
is synonymous with the celebration of the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>New Year<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(Gregorian calendar) in the Scottish manner. New
Year's (Hogmanay)
is celebrated with several different customs, such as<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>First-Footing,
which involves friends or family members going to each other's houses with a
gift of whisky and sometimes a lump of coal.
Edinburgh,
the Scottish capital, hosts one of the world's most famous New Year
celebrations. The celebration is focused on a major street party along<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Princes
Street. The cannon is fired at<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Edinburgh
Castle<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>at the stroke of
midnight, followed by a large fireworks display. Edinburgh hosts a festival of
four or five days, beginning on 28 December, and lasting until New Year's Day
or January 2, which is also a bank
holiday<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>in Scotland. Other
cities across Scotland, such as Aberdeen, Glasgow<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Stirling<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>have large organised celebrations too,
including fireworks at midnight. The Island
nations of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Kiribati<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Samoa<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>are the first to welcome in the New
Year while Honolulu-Hawaii is among the last places to welcome the New Year. So it was strange to see all my Aussie mates
celebrating their New Year’s Eve a good 10 hours before me, seeing all their
status updates and pictures hit Facebook before we even had an alcoholic drink
in hand. The upside was I was able to
ring home and speak to everyone before they got to drunk and before the phone
lines got too congested. It was great to
hear all their voices!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Dinner was served at 8.30pm and we all wearing a piece of
fancy dress and I have to say we all looked magnificent. If I was to announce a winner I would have to
give the best dressed award to HT. He
donned Pap’s old rowing outfit that was skin tight and then to complete the
outfit he pulled on a pair of pants with a rather large ‘sock’ area-if you get
my drift and wore it ALL night. Now that
is dedication. Well done Huffy-you get
my vote and prize for the best dressed.
A close second was Jamie in his crochet top and vest, Pap’s of course in
his Cameroon cultural dress and Emily with her massive clown bow tie. High five to all and as we sat down for our
first course I felt I was amongst friends, even though I had only met them not
even 24 hours before and me being true to form, I must of felt comfortable, I
started taking a gazillion photos, and you know what-they didn’t mind. I think we were going to get along just
fine. It is amazing how Rosie can put a
dinner together for 19 and make it restaurant quality. We started with salmon terrine and crusty
bread and it was delicious, and this is coming from some-one who doesn’t even
like salmon. Main course was fresh
venison that was caught back in September and for desert were profiteroles with
fresh cream custard. All that for 19
people. Can you imagine? And it looked like it was done with no fuss
if you looked in the kitchen, but then I do know that there were many hands in
there at one stage-but what a great meal to line the stomach with. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The rest of the night was spent with a little ‘reeling’
which is Scottish for dancing and to me it looked like line dancing that you
used to do at school and then to get us into New Year’s we played charades till
just before midnight. We were divided
into 2 teams and my team went into the dining room to pick 5 movies or book
titles and our counterparts were doing the same in the other room. Once we had our picks we then took it in
turns deciding who from the other team would act out the titles and the games
began. There has to be a few special
mentions for the acting and that goes to Team Octopussy, Team Human Centipede that
finished off with a royal fart from Robert in Jamie’s face-priceless and I have
to say HT and I’s rendition of the movie Freddie got Fingered. It was hilarious to see us all up there and a
great way to keep all the spirits high as we were also consuming a great amount
of alcohol as well. We got the nod from
Robert with 10 minutes to go which gave us a chance to pop some bottles of
champagne, fill our glasses and get into the countdown from 10. Robert was all over the radio, with it glued
to his ear so as not to miss the countdown.
By this time we were all merry and it was nice to receive hugs and
kisses from people that I felt totally comfortable with. I am so lucky that they all accepted me into
their fold and it will be a night I will remember for a long time. The Hogmanay custom of singing "Auld
Lang Syne" has become common in many countries. "Auld Lang
Syne" is a traditional poem reinterpreted by Robert
Burns, which was later set to music. It is now common to sing this in a
circle of linked arms that are crossed over one another as the clock strikes midnight
for New Year's Day, though it is only intended that participants link arms at
the beginning of the final verse, co-ordinating with the lines of the song that
contain the lyrics to do so. Typically, it is only in Scotland this practice is
carried out correctly. I am a little hazy if we all linked arms-we could have,
but I do definitely remember singing the song with a small tear in my eye as I
thought of home.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">From here we all moved outside to watch the fireworks
that had been organised earlier. This is
also a little blank for me and I am kind of glad as I know Paps was telling me
the next day that he was looking down the barrel of one of the crackers at one
point, blind as a fart, which is like an accident waiting to happen but I do
recall (after seeing the photos) having a puff on a cigar with Katie and
getting a few photos outside as we all enjoyed the fresh, really fresh air of
2013. The group started to thin out
after 1am. But for some of us the party
was just getting started and we got a great performance from Fi and Jamie doing
a dance for us, and with me laughing so hard my sides hurt, it was a great way
to bring in 2013. Some people had to
drive New Year’s Day (sucks to be them), so they were doing the smart thing and
heading to bed. For those that didn’t
have to drive well we just kicked on and before we knew it there were 6 of us
left at, get this, 6am. YES 6AM!!! It didn’t even feel that late and I do recall
that I still had a glass of something in hand.
So with some ‘proof’ photos, a hilarious video of Em and I it was time
for us to stagger to bed and get some sleep.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What a great way to see in 2013. If I couldn’t be home with my gang, this gang
was the next best thing that is for sure.
So a BIG shout out to all those who made the journey firstly to Inverawe
in the Scottish Highlands, secondly to Rosie and Robert for having us in their
home and their awesome hospitality and thirdly for giving me a great send off
as I head to Africa in 3 weeks. This
will always bring a smile to my face when I think of this night.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365 page book. Write a good one…..<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">WISHING YOU ALL A YEAR OF LOVE, SUCCESS AND GOOD HEALTH.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Bernie Jamiesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954108071836273912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076968166040391307.post-5534383548572593272013-01-08T20:20:00.003+10:002013-01-08T20:22:43.858+10:00HEADING TO SCOTLAND-TAYNUILT TO BE EXACT-WHERE?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQKaZOhSchUXSgzINk9t0wIxHXDIY4LE2-iFWnX5xgUY19VCh26w8rEM1rxQZafeYRz0NaYBrD6MxbKAF-zDUx2Lf-nupqmTrNaGkt3IiGw_DAJHs0D7sDwVaq4i1edu9sbahKJEFpT2ei/s1600/543769_10151179425592234_1258126311_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQKaZOhSchUXSgzINk9t0wIxHXDIY4LE2-iFWnX5xgUY19VCh26w8rEM1rxQZafeYRz0NaYBrD6MxbKAF-zDUx2Lf-nupqmTrNaGkt3IiGw_DAJHs0D7sDwVaq4i1edu9sbahKJEFpT2ei/s400/543769_10151179425592234_1258126311_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So I’m on the move again.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I am tired, but I know that the trip north today to Scotland will be
worth it.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I’m looking forward to 3
nights in one place and chillaxing with Paps and Em and hope that the rest of
their friends like me.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I was going to
avoid the debacle of my train trip to Brighton and I had double checked what
station I needed to get to this morning and made sure I gave myself plenty of
time for connections.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It was also more
imperative that I was not late for these trains as there was only one train
this evening from Glasgow to Taynuilt and if I missed that I would have to
overnight and then catch one up in the morning.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This place is certainly off the beaten track.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">After handing in the shoulder bag back into
reception, I now had my wheelie bag packed for the next 8 days.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Looking at what I had packed into this small
bag made me think of all the stuff and 3 other bags I had in storage and
wondered if I really need it all?</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Short
term and for a holiday the answer would be a big fat no.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">But I am moving and I need clothes, especially
as I know it will be difficult for me to buy clothes in Africa and I am not
sure when I will get my boxes sent from Australia and had to be sure I had
cruise clothes, work clothes, tour clothes, gym clothes and good clothes just
to tide me over till my belongings finally arrive.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Yes I think I do need all that I have, but I
am glad that I only have to carry my wheelie bag around for the week.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I asked at reception about getting a twin
room upon my return next week (they are bigger than the twins) but for them to
make a change they would have to cancel the booking costing me 10GBP and then
rebooking and paying the difference.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This is the hotel, they can’t make a change-stupid-but then I guess they
are a low cost hotel and with everything else there is a fee.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">They told me to leave it; they weren’t full
and then just pay the upgrade when I check in.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I’ll try my luck.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I was out of the hotel at 9.30am. My train wasn’t until 11.25am but I have what
I call snafu time and I will always want to be early than running late and having
the stress of missing the train, especially today. I figured out today that Edgeware Road is
closer than Paddington so with a 4 stop pass I found myself at Kings Cross station
at 10am. I found the ticket machines,
got my prepaid tickets printed and then checked the massive departure boards
they have with the train departures listed in time. It is a great system and the thing that
stresses me a little is that you can see your train on the board but the
platform isn’t advised till 10 minutes prior to departure, so once you see the
platform number I feel like I have to haul some arse to get there thinking that
it will take me more than 10 minutes to find it and then miss the train. It hasn’t happened yet, but I don’t like that
bit of the system, but I guess it works and everyone else is in the same
boat. I had an hour to kill so I was
able to buy a bacon and egg bap and found a seat to while away the time till my
platform was displayed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I booked my ticket online 2 weeks ago and I had no end of
trouble trying to make the payment. I
had to do it like a 100 times for it to finally work and I was told that I couldn’t
make a seat reservation on the London to Edinburgh sector of the trip. So you can imagine my surprise when I got
into the first carriage and saw that 90% of the seats were reserved. How did these people manage to reserve seats? There were 8 carriages in total and each one
was exactly the same 90% of them reserved.
I walked the length of the train (not going inside yet) and I could only
see 2 seats that weren’t taken. Both
were an aisle as the window was already taken and the first seat I was advised
by the male passenger that he had a friend getting on at the next stop in 45
minutes, but I was more than welcome to sit there until then-no thanks and the
other seat was next to a female and she looked ok. Seriously where do people sit if all the
seats are reserved? I had popped my
wheelie bag in the luggage rack near the door and once everyone was settled I
saw that I could pop my bag in between the backwards seat across the aisle,
which was a great move when I had my laptop in my bag plus my travel kitty of
USD that I carry with me-yes this was a smart idea indeed. I hate my bag being near the doors as you are
always paranoid that someone is going to steal it when they get off. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There was an option to upgrade to business class as the
train departed the platform. Depending
where you were going starting at 15-25GBP.
I thought about it for a second but I was now all in and settled so
decided to just stay where I was. In
economy they offer you 15 minutes free Wi-Fi usage per journey. So I jumped on for the first 15 minutes on my
IPod and then I pulled out my computer and pumped out a blog and then used my
other email address to upload it to the internet using another free 15
minutes. Gee I am smart sometimes J it was then time to
look out the window and enjoy the scenery.
It was a suuny-ish day and you could see just how much rain there had
been with fields filled with water.
Trees and fences in the middle of small lakes. I am glad that I wasn’t joining the train at
other stops as people would just all pack on and then they all had to squeeze
past each other to find their seats and to find unreserved seats all carrying
their bags etc…. what a chaotic organised mess all at the same time. My chicky got off at 1pm-so I was able to
move to the window and my seat was taken by a mother that was travelling with
her husband and 2 small kids-and all 4 of them were in 2 seats. It reminded me of the Nepalese family on the
bus on our last travel day in Nepal and they were squished onto 2 seats with 4
family members. It goes to show all
cultures will try and save money where they can. Passing through some of the larger towns
Durham and Newcastle look like pretty cities and maybe worth going back to when
I have time down the track. I have to
say I enjoy train travel.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We arrived into Edinburgh 10 minutes late at 4.20pm. It is so weird to see it get dark here so
early, today was at 3.50pm. I am glad I
had a 40 minute window here to get my bearings and find my new platform for the
50 minute journey to Glasgow. Waverly
Station is massive and I have to say their signage is a little confusing. I did stop at the information booth to double
check where I needed to get to, found the platform and only had 10 minutes to
spare. The good thing about getting to
the platforms early is that you are one of the first onto the train and you are
90% sure you will get a seat. Not really
thinking that at 5pm it would be full of rush hour shoppers and workers’
heading home, the train was packed. I
worked out that my wheelie bag fits in the overhead rack, so I was able to keep
an eye on it till we arrived into Glasgow at 5.50pm. I then had 25 minutes till my next train to
take me to my final destination. I
decided I should use the bathroom facilities here and there was a charge of
30pence for the privilege. I am happy to
pay than to wait and use the train for free, so after my pee stop I bought a coke
and then my train was pulling in and ready to board. If nothing else all has gone to plan so
far. This section from Glasgow to
Taynuilt was on a reserved seat basis and after finding the right carriage I
got to my seat to find people already sitting in my seat, and it was a goodie,
it was at a table. I was hoping to get
some blogging done. As per the first
journey, 90% of seats were reserved-so the 3 of us were all looking at our
tickets trying to work out who was supposed to be sitting where and it looked
like I had their seats and they had mine, so we just decided to stay where we
were and got comfy for the 3 hour journey to Taynuilt. The couple across from me were Scottish and I
had to really concentrate to understand what they were saying. They were going through to Oban, the last
stop. I was travelling backwards, so I
could see the automated sign telling you of all the stops and I couldn’t see my
stop listed on there and I started to panic.
I asked the couple across from me and they said don’t worry the train
divides and then your station will show up.
WHAT THE TRAIN DIVIDES? How will
I know which train to get on? They said don’t
worry they will let me know and I said well worst case I miss my stop and you
will have a guest for the night. I found
it funny and they laughed but I may have seen a glint of concern as well that I
may have been serious.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I sent Em a message to let her know where I was and I was
on time and she replied back exactly ‘are you coming tonight’? ARE YOU KIDDING? I would normally have thought that it was a
joke straight up, but last time I came to visit I told them I arrived into
their station at 6.45am and Em thought that it was 6.45PM at night. So when she cracked this funny, I initially laughed
and then she played it on and then phoned me and kept playing on that I finally
believed it and they weren’t expecting me till tomorrow and I had an image of
me at this small village station and nowhere to go! I normally hate answering phones on buses or
small confined spaces as I hate people listening into my conversations but Em
called and I felt I had to take it as I was devastated that I wasn’t due. I asked Em about the train stops and listed
them all off to which I got a few giggles from the locals as my pronunciation
of the names was obviously not right-have your laugh-I’m okay about that and I
am glad I have ‘my couple’ across from me keeping an eye on the stations. Em’s advice was to just get off at 9pm. That would be the right stop and she then let
me know that it was all a joke and that her or her mum would be at the station
to meet me at 9pm. I really would have
cracked it and got on the next train back to London. I was so tired and was just glad that she had
just been kidding!!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I did arrive at the RIGHT station at 9pm and Em’s mum
Rosie was there to meet me. There were
only 4 people that got off there and it was slightly raining and not much
cover, so I was glad when Rosie came over to me and asked if I was Bernie and
knew it wouldn’t be hard to find me. Em’s
family home was only a 5 minute drive from the train station and as I put my
bag down and entered through the door there was a massive table of people all
just sitting down to dinner. Talk about
an entrance and it felt a little daunting that I didn’t know anybody. I hate that first initial reaction of smiling
when inside you are going what the hell knowing you don’t know anyone. But Em swept me up, found me a seat at the
table and before I knew it I had a bowl of soup in front of me followed with a
plate of crusted salmon and vegetables and I was in a comfortable conversation
with Katie to my right and George to my left.
Throw in a few glasses of white wine that was flowing freely and desert
to follow I felt I was going to be okay this weekend. Em and Paps friends all seem like a nice
bunch and I got to know them all a bit more as we played a few games as the
night wore on. The last of us went to
bed at 2.30am and I was shown to my room on the 3<sup>rd</sup> floor where I
would be sharing with Pap’s sister ‘girl’ when she arrived tomorrow. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So it was MASSIVE travel day-I was tired and knew I would
sleep well. I am surprised I lasted till
2.30am and was told to not worry about waking up early in the morning-sleep
till I could sleep no more was the wise words of Em as we all climbed the
stairs and I swear the second my head hot the pillow I was fast asleep. What a way to spend the last Sunday of 2012. </span> </div>
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Bernie Jamiesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954108071836273912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076968166040391307.post-49735142606326304092013-01-07T05:52:00.001+10:002013-01-07T05:57:10.145+10:0018,721KM IN 5 DAYS=TIREDNESS <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I was so tired last night that the second my head hit the
pillow I was fast asleep. And what a
great sIeep it was. We didn’t wake up
too badly at all after all the wine we consumed and both Kate S and I were glad
we got a few waters in after the main course last night, as it could have been a
lot messier. I think I either maybe
getting older or maybe just wiser with my drinking not wanting to have ‘that’
feeling the next day when you wake up feeling like crap. It’s an awful feeling and I think I have only
had it once when I was home and previous to that it would have been my Scotland
trip-we drank like fish on that tour. I
was booked on a 12.03pm train from Brighton back to London today, so we had a leisurely
breakfast at 9.30am with Mike and then we were on the road at 10.45am for the 35
minute dive back to town. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After saying goodbye to Kate S at the station and the
promise to catch up again during the week, I only had 20 minutes to wait till
my train left. It was perfect timing all
round really. The train was uneventful
and I went back the same way that I had come down the day before. The weather seemed colder today and as we
travelled through the cold and damp countryside I really wasn’t able to see
much with the fog hanging low over the fields.
I am not sure I could live in London based on their winter weather-but
even if I did want to I think I am too old now anyway. It’s funny the thoughts that run through your
head when you have the time to contemplate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I arrived into St Pancreas at 1.30pm connecting onto the
Tube back to Paddington and finally the hotel again at 2pm. My booking yesterday was in a twin room, so
it was a large room on the lower ground, it was cheaper than the double that
night. Tonight I was in a double and I
was back to the small size which basically had a double bed, a small cubicle
bathroom and just enough room to swing a cat.
The rooms are small, but they are new and in great locations. Tune Hotels.com is a “<span style="text-decoration: initial;">limited
service</span>” hotel chain claims to provide a claimed “5-star sleeping
experience at a 1-star price” accommodation.
Tune Hotels claims it is aiming for 100 hotels in its global portfolio
by 2015. The limited service model used
by Tune Hotels is similar to the <span style="text-decoration: initial;">no frills</span> business
model practiced by <span style="text-decoration: initial;">low-cost carriers</span> such as <span style="text-decoration: initial;">AirAsia</span> and
has been adapted to the hospitality industry.
As with 'low-cost carriers', Tune Hotels limited service and
pay-as-you-use of add-ons concept omits many traditional hospitality services.
Instead, services and extras are offered on a pay-as-you-go basis, including
toiletries, 12 or 24 hours air-conditioning, TV and internet access and also
single or double occupancy. For tonight
I paid 50GBP for the night, which for a new single rom in the heart of
Paddington is not a bad price at all.
When I went back to reception to collect the single bag to swap my
clothes around for my trip to Scotland in the morning I was told that the hotel
chain is opening 3 hotels in Australia next year. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Even though I was tired.
The jacket I had bought with me was not going to cut the mustard up in
Scotland, so I decided to take a walk to Oxford Street, which is only a 15
minute walk and look for a new jacket.
There are 2 shops in Oxford Street that are for the ‘fuller’ woman and I
was able to find a suitable one in the first shop which was a bonus for me as I
really didn’t have my mojo for shopping and I really don’t have the room to be
adding more clothes to my bags.
Proud? I am proud of me, so after
having a good look around the store, buying the jacket, I was on my way back to
the hotel where I was going to mini repack and then hunker down for the
night. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have finally used all my credit on my Australian sim
card so I am now back on my UK sim again.
I have found the network ‘Orange’ pretty good with coverage and costs
and was happy to be using them again. I
still owe Rach T from my Contiki tour money for topping up my Vodafone account
last year as they wouldn’t accept foreign credit cards online. Big, big mistake and a pain in my arse as I
had to hit up all my British travellers to top up my credit and then give them
money in the local currency where we were.
Paul and Liz were also big cash cards for me as well. I am sure I won’t have issues in Spain and as
for the cruise I am sure when I am in the islands I will be okay and then when
I get into Kenya I will be getting a local sim card there. Ahhhh the joys of keeping in touch while on
the road.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I did some last minute photo loads and then made plans to
meet up with my United Hostees next week and also to see Kate again on
Saturday. I know there are a lot more
people I know in London and who I would like to catch up with, but time and
energy are just not on my side on this trip.
I knew I would be busy for the first few days of getting here, but
seeing it all on paper and then actually putting it all into action is a
different story. So in 5 days I would travel
17,799km to London, 142km from London to Brighton return and then tomorrow I
would be travelling 780km to a small village on the west coast of Scotland
called Taynuilt. That is 18,721km-not a
bad feat in 5 days. No wonder I am
feeling a little tired. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So it’s a goodnight from London town from a weary
traveller. I am looking forward to 3
nights in one place tomorrow, a great new year with new friends (hopefully they
are all nice and they like me) and what will bring in hopefully an exciting new
year for me full of love, laughter, compassion and adventure. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Tomorrow is the last day of 2012. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Bernie Jamiesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954108071836273912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076968166040391307.post-31431080354986185542013-01-06T20:56:00.003+10:002013-01-06T20:56:39.850+10:00Fortune Favors the Brave<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.78333282470703px; text-align: left;">This quote popped up in my Facebook feed today and I like it because it seems so close to home-what I am doing and feeling-2 weeks before I land in Africa xx</span></div>
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Bernie Jamiesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954108071836273912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076968166040391307.post-75356304546058059892013-01-06T01:14:00.002+10:002013-01-06T01:31:37.081+10:00PAUL AND LIZ GET MARRIED-MY TRIP TO BRIGHTON<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Today I am attending the wedding of Liz and Paul. They are an amazing couple that I met while I
was on my South America section of my World Odyssey and we travelled from Lima
through to Rio together which was around 10 weeks in total. The bonus for me was that Kate T was going to
be there, she was my tentie for 4 months of the same trip, Kate S was attending
and we did 6 weeks and also Mike who did 12 weeks of the trip. It was going to be like a mini reunion and I
was looking forward to the day ahead. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I woke this morning at 4.30am. I guess my time clock and possibly some
jetlag was kicking in and I was feeling fresh as a daisy. So I used the time to finish packing and
before I knew it, it was 7am and I needed to get moving. I was going to get breakfast at the station,
so I just needed to get my bags into the storage room and get myself down to
Paddington Station. So with this in mind
I wanted to be leaving for the station at 8am.
I also had to collet my ticket from the ticket machine and I wanted to
make sure I left myself some ‘snafu’ time in case there was a problem. I took my bags to reception, I have 4. The monster, my small backpack, the gym bag
and the environ bag with the things I would need for tomorrow that I would swap
with the clothes I am taking with me today.
So I was told that it would be 2GBP per day per bag!!! I wouldn’t need them back till the 5th of
January making it 10 days-it was going to cost me 80GBP to store them. That was ridiculous. I don’t mind paying some money but that was
just a rip and I told them as much (nicely).
There were 2 behind the counter, so they had a small discussion and then
gave me a price of 20GBP. There we go,
that is much better price and one I was happier to pay. So with my bags safely delivered I made my
way to the station. I was hungry at this
point but I wanted to make sure that I had my tickets before I started fluffing
around with breakfast and it is just as well.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I got to the ticket machine, popped in my credit card and
then my confirmation number and as the tickets spat I got an awful feeling in
my stomach as I realised that I was at the wrong station to catch my train to
Brighton! It was now 8.15am and I was at
Paddington and my train departed from St Pancreas Station at 8.56am. Holy Cow!
I was travelling on a travel anytime ticket, so it wasn’t the issue of
losing my fare but I had Kate S meeting me at Brighton Station and I certainly didn’t
want to keep her waiting. So I had 40
minutes to work out what Tube I needed, I had to get cash from an ATM and then
find my way to the right platform at St Pancreas which is massive. Well little did I know how HUGE Paddington Station
was and of course the Hammersmith and Circle line was on the other side of the
station, walking seriously 10 minutes, flying past an ATM and getting cash,
using my credit card to purchase the Tube ticket to St Pancreas I was sitting
on the tube at 8.25am. I had 5 stops to
go through to get to Kings Cross which is connected to St Pancreas and then I
had to haul some serious arse once I arrived.
I pulled into KC at 8.40am and then had to find where the hell my train
was leaving from. I had to traverse the
whole length of St Pancreas to get to the platforms and it was here I asked a
staff member where I had to go which was lucky as I was heading in the wrong direction
and I made it to the platform with 4 minutes to spare. PHEW. Can you believe I made it? Talk about a panic start to the day! I knew when I booked the ticket back in
Australia that it left from St P, it just didn’t dawn on me till I got my
tickets and that I was at the wrong station.
I am going to blame jet lag on that one.
Clearly and squarely. Damn
jetlag.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The train from London to Brighton took an hour and 15
minutes. It wasn’t too busy and had the
seats to myself for the whole journey.
The weather outside looked dreary though and I am not sure that the
jacket I have bought from home will be warm enough, especially as I head to Scotland
in a few days. I may have to head to the
shops tomorrow afternoon when I get back to London and see what is around. At least it is the right time to be buying a
jacket, in the English winter. In my
defence it would have been hard to find a jacket in Brisbane as it was 35C when
I left there only a few days ago. Kate S
was waiting for me when I arrived and we drove to the Mecure Brighton where
Kate T and her mum were staying. We were
going to get ready in their room, as our accommodation for the night was out
near the wedding reception 35 minutes away.
I hadn’t seen Kate T since our tour in April and it was great to see her
again and to meet her mum. We decided to
have an early lunch as we weren’t 100% sure when we were going to be fed and didn’t
want to start drinking with no food in our tummies. As it worked out this was a very smart idea.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The church was only down the road from the hotel so to
give us enough time we decided to leave at 12.30pm for the 1pm service. Kate T and her mum, Carolyn, were in a car
and Kate S and I were in another.
Someone failed to mention to us that the traffic on the esplanade was
going to be shocking, not just bad-shocking and that there are a lot of one way
streets in Brighton, so after a wrong turn into a square estate- then setting
the sat nav and it directing us into a very busy supermarket car park-we asked
for directions-got back onto the esplanade and then finally found the school where
we could park to find that it was closed!
By this time it was 1.10pm. We
were officially 10 minutes late and just hoped that Liz, the bride, was also
stuck in this traffic and that we weren’t going to be too late. With the gate locked, I did a run to the
front of the school to try and find someone, which I couldn’t, the place was
locked up like Fort Knox, I went back to the locked gate and the girls were
just driving in. Somehow-some-one in a
waiting car had a key and let us in.
Thank goodness. We then had to
hightail it up the street and around the corner to the church and as we climbed
the church stairs we were told that the bride was about to arrive! Hooray-we weren’t late!!!! When we entered the church we were asked if we
knew the bride or the groom and said both-which side of the church needed a
numbers boost and we took some seats in the middle-and I think it was the bride’s
side. We waved to Paul as he sat
nervously waiting for his bride and we also saw Mike, so with us all sitting
together our mini reunion was now complete.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As we waited for Liz to enter the church I was able to
have a look around the beautiful church. St. Michael's Church<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(in
full,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>St. Michael and All Angels)
is an<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Anglican<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>church dating from the mid-Victorian
era. It is one of the largest
churches in the city of Brighton and Hove. The church is rated in the top
100 churches in the UK and I can see why.
Plans for the church were drawn up in 1858, and construction took place
between 1860 and 1861 to a design by<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>George Frederick Bodley<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(whose father had been a doctor in
Brighton and a resident of the Furze Hill area of Hove. The design of the exterior was reminiscent of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>the Italianate style, in red brick with
horizontal bands of white stone and a steeply pitched slate roof. This featured
a modest<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>flèche<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>spire containing a bell recovered from<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Sevastopol<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>during the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Crimean War<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(1854–1856). The church took two years to build at a cost
of £6,728, and was<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>consecrated<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>by
the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Bishop of Chichester<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>on 29 September 1862. There was room
for a congregation of 700; pew rent was charged on 300 of these seats at
first. No payment for us today to
witness the union between Liz and Paul and I don’t think there is a better part
of any wedding than your first glimpse of the bride and Liz was no
exception. She was stunning. The service went for around 45 minutes and
with a choir singing the hymns and the use of the church’s organ; it was just
amazing to be part of the whole service.
We weren’t allowed to take any photos inside the church (photographer’s
request) but once the ceremony was finished and we stood outside to farewell
the happy couple I took some to catch up.
It was cold outside, and windy, but Liz battled the elements and didn’t pop
a coat on from the church to the car the poor thing, but boy she was beautiful. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There was to be drinks at the reception venue at 3pm, which
was about a 30 minute drive away. So we
has an hour to get there from Brighton and based on our knowledge of the area
and with the debacle we had getting to the church, we were a little more wise
and made sure we had the address and everything we needed for the drive. So our plan was to drive to our
accommodation, check-in, drop off our bags, leave Kate S’s car at the
accommodation and then we were going to get a lift with them to the
reception. As it turned out Mike was
also staying at the same pub-so this plan worked in well for everyone. Even though the sat nav had given us the run
around this morning it is what we relied on to get us to Newick and it didn’t let
us down this time. The Bull on the Green
is a pub, restaurant and bed & breakfast in the heart of the Sussex
countryside situated right on the Green in the East Sussex village of Newick. The accommodation was renovated
garage/stables out the rear of the pub and our room was on the ground floor and
had 2 double beds. This would do us just
fine for the night. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">By the time we had found the pub, checked in, and arrive
at the reception venue it was nearly 4pm but when we walked through the door,
our jackets were taken and then we walked into a large room that had a log fire
roaring, the bar was located in the adjoining room that had a magnificent Christmas
tree and then there were small rooms that branched off that. One of the finest traditions to be found in
England is that of the country house, and what an amazing country house this
was. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Newick Park is one of the few homes to still be privately
owned and it shows with its fabulous antiques and wonderful staff. The lovely Georgian house is Grade II listed
and is surrounded by its own private park of 255 acres with the most fabulous
views over the lake and nearby South Downs.
It was just about dark when we arrived so we didn’t get to see too much
of the grounds but it was a beautiful house.
There are sixteen bedrooms which are individually designed, but cost
wise and the lateness of Kate and I booking accommodation we were staying at
The Bull 10 minutes away.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The theme of the wedding was winter and Christmas and the
venue reflected that. From the beautiful
Christmas trees, Christmas decorations, the cake had snowflakes, the colour
theme was the Tiffany blue colour and when we made it into the dining room our
table settings included our name tag with snowflakes and a bonbon to
crack. The ‘South American’ crew were a
little shocked that the seating arrangements had Kate S and I on one table and
the other 3 on another table but in saying that we had a nice evening with the
other 4 people we had on our table and after dinner we were able to hang back
together. I do need to mention that the
food was amazing and the service of the staff was exceptional. Kate S and I had to take a break from the
wine as it just kept getting topped up all night so much so that nobody had to
reach for a bottle themselves, seriously not once, and not just the wine, the
water was also kept topped all night. It
is hard to remember when I have seen service like that, in a long time. After dinner the DJ kicked in and the dance floor
was laid. Paul and Liz are known for
their taste in 80’s music and movies and local bands and the music played
represented this and it was a great way to finish off a wonderful day. I hate to say that my jetlag was catching up
with me at 11pm and after saying our good-bye’s Kate S, Mike and I got a lift
back to the pub and then Kate T and Carolyn continued back to Brighton to their
hotel. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So my heart felt CONGRATULATIONS goes to Liz and
Paul. Thank you for letting me share in
your day and I wish you all the happiness in the world as you keep embarking on
your life together.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">To Mr and Mrs Paul Mills <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">xx </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Bernie Jamiesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954108071836273912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076968166040391307.post-3192437888192147682013-01-05T04:49:00.000+10:002013-01-05T04:49:12.402+10:00Words of Writing Wisdom<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Bernie Jamiesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954108071836273912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076968166040391307.post-54402619872411219802013-01-05T03:43:00.001+10:002013-01-05T03:44:49.858+10:004 CONTINENT HOP BACK TO LONDON TOWN –THE JOURNEY BEGINS<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">What a Christmas Day! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What a great way to leave, my last day in Australia on
Christmas Day. It may seem sad,
especially to Tess, but I am happy to report the gifts from Santa have helped
lessen the blow, well at least for her.
There were times during the day, seeing everyone laughing and sharing
jokes and it tugged my heart strings. I
was going to miss this. I would be lying
if I said I didn’t. But there are bigger
things waiting for me out there and I will find new friends and know that I
have these life-long friends with me forever, no matter what and this picks me
up when I need it. It always will.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We didn’t end up going to bed till 2.30am and I wanted to
leave for the airport at 11am. I figured
that I could sleep on the plane and I had finished my packing the day before,
so I was all set. Besides Shelly
everyone slept till 10am, and I think this was a good thing as it didn’t give
the girl’s time to dwell on my departure.
The neighbours came over at 11am just as we were loading the car with my
bags to say goodbye which was sweet and with kisses and hugs we were packed
into the car and off to the airport. It
was Boxing Day, so the car park was full.
Well the one multi-layered one and after getting to the 5<sup>th</sup>
level and not being able to find a park, we headed back down and parked
outside. This all took an extra 20
minutes and by the time we got into the terminal I was inside the 2 hour
check-in. There was only one couple in
front of me at the counters and then it was my turn. The monster was 22.5kg and my second smaller
bag was 12.2kg so I am glad that I did date change my Malaysia ticket and
bought the Emirates ticket as I would have been up for 1320AUD excess baggage. THAT is just a rip Malaysia Airlines. I had prepaid the extra bag but it wasn’t
showing in the system. So he checked
both my bags in and gave me my boarding pass and told me I had to head over to
the Sales Desk. So we headed there and
20 minutes later the payment was sorted and I was all set to go. . I
was so focussed on my second bag talking to the check-in dude that I forgot to
ask about my window seat. It was Shelly
that reminded me about the window seat, so I went back to check-in for the
second time to ask about it and a different agent helped me and said there were
no more windows left. When I enquired
about the secret squirrel seats that airlines usually keep, he smiled and said
the flight was full. When I asked about
paying for a window seat (which I could have done 3 days ago for 25AUD) he
smiled and turned his computer screen around to show me there was only one seat
left (a middle) and that he was the supervisor and there were none to be
had. I even asked for an aisle, as I was
in a row of 4 in the middle and it was still no, well I said you would know to
him (nicely) we laughed and I left with my shitty middle seat. Little did I know that this was going to be
the least of my worries of the morning.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Now was the difficult part, the part that I had been dreading,
and that was to say goodbye to my Elkins.
Tess had started to cry and we aren’t just talking crocodile tears, she
was really crying her little heart out.
Zoe was brave and it was really sweet that she was trying to console
Tessie. There were watery eyes as I
hugged Shane, a massive strong hug from Zoe, tears flowed when I hugged my BEST
FRIEND in the whole wide world and then there was my little sobbing
Tessie. What can you say to a 5 year old
that is asking you why you have to go, telling you to stay. All I could do was give her a BIG hug, tell
her I will always be thinking of her, love her and that I will be back
someday. Shelly asked if we wanted to go
for a drink but for me and for Tess’s sake I think it was best that we just
parted there and then. Beside the face
that it was 12.20pm and I still had security and customs to get through, I
wanted to change some of the USD 100 notes I was given into smaller notes at
Travelex and to get a drink before boarding.
So with a final wave as the lift doors closed I was now on my own and I
could do nothing but let my tears fall.
For the friends I am leaving, the life I am leaving and into the
uncertain future. I found a bench away
from everything, composed myself, packed away my jacket and then made my way to
security and immigration. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I had filled in my departure card while I was at the
check-in desk, so I was feeling okay, had stopped my tears as I headed down the
escalators to security when I saw that there were 2 staff standing at the
entrance and they were standing next to a set of scales. It is funny what you can notice in a split
second and I just hoped that I would make it through without getting my bags
weighed as I knew for a fact that I was over the 7kg allowance and then
realising that there was a third staff member catching the people that tried to
slink through the first 2 when they were attending other passengers (which was
going to be my play). As it worked out
everyone had to have their bags weighed and I just had a dread in the pit of my
stomach. So inevitably I was stopped and
asked to out my rolly bag on the scales and it was 9.9kg. She looked at me, I looked at her and she
told me I had too much. I said my jacket
was in there, so she said take that out, so I unzipped my bag and then she
noticed my backpack on my back. She said
she couldn’t let me though and that I would have to head back to the check-in
counters and speak to them about what I could do. Just when I had composed myself, this just
tipped me back over and as I made my way to the lift to take me back to the
check-in counters for the 3<sup>rd</sup> time I was an emotional wreck. It may sound a little OTT (over the top) but
it is a sad moment that I am happy to savour, I think you need to cleanse
yourself, know and accept that you are making a massive move, a decision that
has changed my life-but at the end of the day, these people are just doing
their job, they don’t know my background (and probably don’t care) and I know I
must look like a complete loser. At this
point all that hasn’t really sunk in and as I stood back in line and after
telling yet another check-in agent my issue, I was referred to the supervisor
and as I made my way down to the end of the counter and rehashed the story
again I just lost it. I was sobbing like
some crazy woman, so much so that I couldn’t keep talking, and I was trying to
say it was ridiculous the way I was crying, but I couldn’t get the words out
and it made me sound more manic. The guy
came around to my side of the counter, rubbed my back and told me I had to
check in one of my 3 hand pieces, it would be for free and asked if I needed
help. I was finally able to take some
deep breathes, apologize, told him I would be happy to pay (which was waved off)
and then I took out the valuables from my rolly bag, swapped some things out of
my backpack and was then directed to a check-in agent to check in my 3<sup>rd</sup>
bag to a weight of 12.1kg. This in turn
made my backpack on my back heavier, but the supervisor signed off on the
bottom of my boarding pass that I was allowed to take a heavy piece of hand
luggage and with a watery smile, a sincere thankyou and a wave I was back on my
way again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The same ‘scale’ lady saw me coming again and I think she
was just happy that I didn’t have the rolly bag with me, she looked at my
boarding pass and didn’t even bother to weigh my backpack but after throwing it
on the scales when I was upstairs it was just as well, even though I had the
‘ok’ on my boarding pass the backpack weighed 12.1kg and it was a relief that I
was finally through the check and I wasn’t even at security. I had the fore thought to take off all my
bangles when I was checking in, so I just had my laptop to pull out, pass
through the scanner and into immigration.
There weren’t too many people here and I was at the counter in no
time. Last time I passed through here in
August the customs guy had to refer me with a problem with my passport. I only remembered that fact as I stood there,
and waited and waited. This can’t be
good and when I saw a supervisor looking guy come to our booth, I knew that
things weren’t going to be plain sailing through here again. Talk about a drama on my last departure from
the country. So I was escorted away to a
counter located at the end of immigration and told to take a seat as they
checked over my passport and he placed a call.
Thank goodness there was no TV crew and that I featured on border
control-now that would have just topped off the morning!!! I sat there for 20 minutes until I heard my
flight being called to start the boarding process, so I mentioned it to the
border guy and he made another phone call, spoke to some-one and then handed my
passport back. I asked him what the
problem was and seriously he could have been speaking another language, what he
said made no sense, as his mind was already onto the next task and wasn’t
paying any attention.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As the flight had only just been called there was still a
line up at the gate, so I had to abandon the drink and the currency conversion
I had wanted to do and I just joined the queue.
So this is why people, you need the 2 hours prior to allow for ‘snafu’
time. And to top off the whole drama, I
was sitting on a Boeing 747 with a seating configuration of 3x4x3 and I was in
the 4 seats of that in a BLOODY middle seat.
Now if that doesn’t top off the start of a 34 hour day I don’t know what
does. The upside was that I had a small
child, well a 10 year old to one side and I had a small Asian guy to the other,
so I had what could be possibly a really bad seat turned into an okay
seat. I guess things could have been
worse. So after dealing with a check-in
guy, a sales desk chick, another check-in guy, a scales chick, a supervisor guy
and a border control dude they all worked (for or against) to finally get me to
my seat and finally on my way. As I sat
in my chair I received a last minute text message from Shelly and the girls and
the tears that I thought I had controlled tried one last time to escape as we
made our way down the runway and the last time I would see my homeland for an
unknown amount of time. It was weird not
being next to a window or to even be able to see out of one, but maybe this was
a blessing in disguise as I HATE crying in public and being in the middle of
the aircraft gave me no privacy to shed any last tears.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The flight was uneventful and I have to say not bad. A lot of people bag Qantas, refuse to fly
them blah, blah, blah blah but I have always found their European flights/staff
more than acceptable. Maybe after all
those years in the travel industry with clients telling me how much they hate
them that I now have a low expectation when I fly them and I am always
pleasantly surprised. The flight was a
little hot if I was to complain about something and I’m not just talking about
when we were on the ground, the whole flight I had to fan myself every now and
then to get some air moving (and I want no cracks about menopause thank-you). I slept for a few hours watched a few movies
and then after 7 hours and 20 minutes we came into land at Singapore
International at 7.10pm. Being in the
very last row of the plane, in the middle seat, it was lucky that I was in no
rush to catch my next flight. My
Emirates flight wasn’t until 1.20am-so I had 6 hours to collect my baggage,
hope that the Emirates check-in counters would be open, off load my bags-see
how badly I was going to get hit going through the whole stressful check-in
procedure with Emirates and then be able to pass back through immigration and
kill time airside. It would have been a
pain if I couldn’t check-in, as I would have to stay curb side where the
facilities are not as good as the other side.
So after checking my emails at one of the 500 free terminals on my way
to immigration, I collected my 3 bags weighing 46.8kg on my free trolley and
headed out of customs. I must say I had
no idea on what terminal I had arrived into and no idea on which terminal I
needed to get to. Once you are through
customs there are plenty of arrival TV’s that let you know where you are, but I
had no idea which way I had to go from there.
I found an information brochure rack that had booklets on Changi
International, so I flipped to the terminal pages that showed me that Emirates
depart from Terminal 1 and for the first time out of my last 10 visits I was
arriving into Terminal 1 and departing from the same one. Woo hoo!!
So I just needed to make my way up to the departure level, find the
Emirates counter and with my biggest smile, hope on a wing and a prayer that
they would be nice to me with all the luggage that I have. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Lucky for me, Emirates had flights to Australia and an
earlier flight to London and the counters were open. It did say on my ticket that check-in for my
flight was 2 hours before, but I just wanted to get rid of my bags and the
worry of not knowing how I would be processed at check-in. The counters were open so I thought I would
try my luck and with no-one in line I was called to the business class
check-in. So the monster was thrown on
the scales and hadn’t changed weight-22.2kg and before I was asked to pop on my
second bag I was asked to show my ticket leaving the UK as I had booked a one
way ticket in. I did have
this-somewhere. As I had to re-organise
my bag in Brisbane, I was not sure where I had popped my documents to be able
to show him. So I looked like a right ol
arse flicking in and out of my rolly, my handbag and my small backpack looking
for my document wallet. So much for
trying to keep a low profile with my luggage!
Anyway I found the e-ticket and was able to them pop on my 2<sup>nd</sup>
bag and it was 13kg giving me a grand total of 35.5kg where I was allowed 30kg
on Emirates. So this is where the crunch
was to come, would they let me through or would I be charged. Well he looked at me and said that I was over
my luggage restriction, to which I just smiled and nodded and he said that
there was going to be a charge of 78AUD per kilo. I just kept smiling and said well I would
just have to pay it as I had no choice here making it a total of 472AUD of
excess baggage and I am not sure what then transpired, it must have been my
attitude as he looked over his shoulder and then said listen I’ll just pop 3
kilos on there for you! Maybe my luck
was starting to change, so instead of paying nearly 500AUD I was only going to
pay 238AUD. What a relief. There were no questions on my hand luggage,
so with my rolly bag still on the trolley and my small backpack on my back
(they can’t see it properly there) I headed to yet another sales desk to make yet
another payment for my excess baggage.
But I was done, literally unscathed and I now wouldn’t have to see my
bags till London. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My time at Changi seems to always pass quickly. After passing through immigration, which I
think is the easiest in all of the airports I have visited and part of that is
the random security checks they do, unlike all the other airports that make
every single person pass through they don’t do that here and part of that is
that process is done at the gates. Once
through I found the information counter to get my free Wi-Fi password to find
out that they have now changed the process of their Wi-Fi-ing and you now don’t
need to show your passport and you can now connect without a password. Brilliant.
So armed with this I made a visit to ‘my’ BK (Burger King) ordered ‘my’
usual (12 drumettes and a passionfruit Iced Tea) and killed a few hours there
reading and making notes and thinking about the details for London and just how
busy I was going to be the first week. I
moved on after a few hours and found a lounge area where I re-arranged my bags
back to the way they were in Brisbane and then it was time to make my way to
the gate at midnight when the shops started to close. I made sure that I stayed away from the
Pandora shop this visit, so it was a relief to see that closing on my way
past. That shop is just trouble with a
capital T. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The flight from Singapore to Dubai was full but I did
have a window, so that is the best it will ever get on a full flight. I was the first one to arrive in my row and
after trying to put on my seatbelt and finding that I needed an extension belt;
this was a good thing to lessen the embarrassment of having people in my row
and then asking. Certainly the width of
the seats on the Emirates plane, the 777-300 was not as generous as the Qantas
flight with a seating configuration of 3x4x3-we were all set for an on time
departure and the 7 hour and 6013km flight to Dubai. I had been on the road since 11am that
morning and by the time we took off I had been on the road for 13 hours and I
was asleep before we had even taken off.
I missed the cart round of drinks, but I somehow never miss the food
cart and woke up for a 5am dinner service a movie and with the time difference
we arrived into Dubai at 4.40am. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Upon arrival in Dubai we had the longest walk to get us
from the plane to our new gates. Whether
you were connecting or stopping we all had to trudge the distance and we
divided up at the end with those with boarding passes to go through
security. The laptops etc…. didn’t have
to come out of our baggage here but I did have to take off my bangles again and
realised this is the first trip where I haven’t worn my Ethiopian bangles and I
can’t anymore use the excuse that they don’t come off…. That was a good line
and always got me through without having to de-jewel. Once I finally made it to the gates it was so
busy. All the shops were open at 5am,
there were hundreds of people everywhere and I had to walk another 300m to find
the departure TV screens to find out and orientate myself on where my next
departure gate would be. I had 2 hours
to kill here, so I found a waiting lounge next to one of the departure gates that
had no people and paid a solid 2 hours of solitaire listening to my IPod. I also noticed for the first time, my feet
were so swollen. I have never had swollen
feet from travelling before and they looked like they belonged to the elephant
woman, to some-one else, they didn’t look like my feet at all. So as I sat there I kept them moving up, down
and all around to keep the blood circulating.
They didn’t hurt, they just felt tight.
I didn’t even bother to enter any of the shops and after my 12 drumettes
in Singapore and breakfast on the plane I wasn’t that hungry. A tip for Dubai International is that the
ladies toilets always seem to be so busy.
The line ups are out the doors and I checked 3 locations. If you can wait, wait till you get to your
departure gate as each one has their own set of toilets and you are pretty much
guaranteed to not have to wait. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The flight from Dubai to my final destination, London,
was operated by the mighty A380. This
plane is phenomenal. As you walk down
the air-bridge and look up, you can just see the top of this massive manmade
structure. It is the size of a small
house and it really makes you wonder how this thing ever takes off. The<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Airbus
A380<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>is a<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="text-decoration: initial;">double-deck</span>,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="text-decoration: initial;">wide-body</span>,
four-engine<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="text-decoration: initial;">jet airliner</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> and i</span>t is the world's largest
passenger airliner and, due to its size, many airports have had to upgrade
their facilities to properly accommodate it.
The A380 made its first flight on 27 April 2005 and began commercial
service in October 2007 with<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="text-decoration: initial;">Singapore Airlines</span>. The A380-800's cabin has 478 square metres of
floor space; 49% more floor space than the next-largest airliner, the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="text-decoration: initial;">Boeing
747-400</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>with 321
square metres, and provides seating for 525 people in a typical<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="text-decoration: initial;">three-class</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>configuration or up to 853 people in
all-<span style="text-decoration: initial;">economy class</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>configurations. The A380-800 has a
design<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="text-decoration: initial;">range</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>of 15,400 kilometres, which is sufficient
to fly from New York to Hong Kong, and a cruising speed of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="text-decoration: initial;">Mach</span> 0.85
(about 900 km/h at cruising altitude). As
of November 2012<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>there had been
262 firm orders for the A380, of which 92 have been delivered. The largest order, for 90 aircraft, was from<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="text-decoration: initial;">Emirates</span>.
I was in the last row again (this never worries me) and with another 7
hours in front of me and 5504km it was a great feeling I was on the last
stretch. It felt like I had left
Australia a week ago!!!! Apparently they
offered Wi-Fi on the plane and I could connect to the network (it was free) but
it wouldn’t let me on to the internet.
Oh well I didn’t really need any access I was just jumping on for the novelty
of it. This was a day flight and after
the last 2 flights I had done at night I tried to stay awake by watching 2
movies, getting fed lunch and finally closing my eyes for an hour before the
plane was prepared for landing, finally into the UK. As we flew in through the English mist you
could see that the fields were full of water, apparently this was one of the wettest
years the UK has had and it looked like it.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We arrived on time into London Heathrow at 11.30am. It’s all well getting 525 people on a plane,
but getting them all off is a mission and took a fair amount of time, but again
I didn’t have anyone picking me up so I was in no rush and being in the last
row of the plane, it was just as well.
There weren’t too many people at immigration and with the line moving it
only took me 10 minutes to get to my officer.
This entry was probably the most I had been questioned but I guess with
this being around the 7<sup>th</sup> time in the last 12 months I have visited
I guess it is worthy of a few questions.
The upside of taking a long time to get off the flight is that the bags
were out by the time we got to the carousel.
Mine were one of the first out and with a free trolley and the green
channel I was out and on my way to catch the Heathrow Express. I had changed my London accommodation and I
was now staying walking distance from where the Heathrow Express terminates at
Paddington Station. I figured that the
less trains and moving around I had to do with my luggage the better and it
proved to me more difficult than I had anticipated. To catch the Tube from Heathrow costs 5GBP
and takes around 1 hour and 10 minutes and without looking at the map I am assuming
I would have to change somewhere along the line. The Heathrow Express is 19GBP and takes 15
minutes on 1 train to Paddington. For me
that is money well spent and there was a ticket guy at entrance selling them
but there is also a counter further in if you don’t see one. So with ticket in hand there is only so far
that the luggage trolley will go before reaching the train platform, so it was
now time for me to don the monster and pack up all my bags so that I could walk
with them all. It was good in theory and
worked…sort of. I just had a small issue
of getting the gym bag on the wheelie bag with the small backpack on my
front. If I take off the small backpack
to pick the gym bag, I then have to hold the wheelie bag to put on my small
backpack and I can’t do this with one arm.
Okay, so my technique needs a little work and maybe I should have had a
practice run at home before I left, but either way I will be able to manage-it
just may not look very pretty-awkward.
Which is exactly how I must have looked as I had a group of 3 American
guys ask if I needed help for when the train pulls in and I replied thanks, but
if I bought it all I need to manage it all-but I can tell you when the train pulled
in I actually did okay-awkward but okay.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I arrived into Paddington Station at 1pm and I knew where
I needed to head, I always check this information before arriving anywhere and
when I orientated myself I was on my way to the hotel which was apparently 400m
from the station. Well with 60kg of
luggage it felt like it was further than that, but I arrived safely and was
able to check straight into my room as I had paid an extra 10GBP to have an
early check-in and I am so glad that I did.
I was officially knackered. One
of the reception ladies asked if I need help with my bags, but again I declined
and I made 2 trips to get everything down the one flight of stairs to my room
for the night. This was the first time I
had stayed in this hotel as I normally stay at their sister property in
Westminster, but with its location, for me this was a winner and being in a
twin room was a lot bigger than the ones I have had previously. It was perfect as I had to go through all my
bags to get enough clothes to last me for the next 10 days as I would be
leaving everything except my wheelie bag in storage as I traverse the country
during my stay. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It was nice to be in my room by 1.30pm. It is a windowless room, you have to pay more
for a window, so it is a little disconcerting to what time of the actual day it
is. I had to get some sleep, just for a
few hours and I woke at 4pm with a knocking at the door with the previous
guests looking for a lost cord that wasn’t there. It was a blessing in disguise to wake me up,
so I got up and went to the local chicken shop for an early dinner, came back
to the room, packed my wheelie bag for the next 10 days. It was a little hard as I was heading to
Brighton tomorrow for the wedding so I needed proper shoes and a dress and
makeup to the following day I would be back to London for the night and then on
a train the following day heading to the country side of Scotland with a
different requirement of clothes. So
without being a pain to the reception staff when I come back tomorrow and
making it easier for me as well I organised a small tote bag that I could ask
for tomorrow to do a swap of items and clothes and then recheck that in when I
leave on Sunday. I am not just a pretty
face you know! After sending off a
messages to Kate, KWT and the Addletons to let them know I had arrived, the
lights were off at 6pm and I woke at 10pm in a panic because I looked at my
watch that said 10 and I immediately thought it was 10am the next morning and
had a crazy second that I had missed my train at 9am. But it was still the same day, it was 10pm
and I closed my eyes and fell into a fitful and well-earned sleep, even with my
elephant feet. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Welcome back to the UK!!! </span> </div>
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Bernie Jamiesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954108071836273912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076968166040391307.post-45857447807649750742012-12-30T23:07:00.000+10:002013-01-05T04:50:20.685+10:00GOODBYE AUSTRALIA<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3qG2JX0wf4YsstSQ3UznYDbutEP7C0u2JAHzqiOBBwcblStyBuOcihFCqEWAaFy-yc2E91Fx6LKQ9ulX4CbqPpgE09prRkAkBtABQHB0-w0tdgCmt-ix6tRYrZ4_-Vt6658u08__AcaGg/s1600/gb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="37" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3qG2JX0wf4YsstSQ3UznYDbutEP7C0u2JAHzqiOBBwcblStyBuOcihFCqEWAaFy-yc2E91Fx6LKQ9ulX4CbqPpgE09prRkAkBtABQHB0-w0tdgCmt-ix6tRYrZ4_-Vt6658u08__AcaGg/s400/gb.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizr3dDXfyq_I-D67VRO6EMP-pIO7du2WfenFrwxuGXFX8Bcz2IMwa0ahsdkP_VNYjuUZFJrh1ShxL0q_mPxEwgMdyD5gzbrhaJ0ha6e5sBrs1VOWL__pA5QlTWEbFHJJNEDup-Xda6-pLl/s1600/1316416639-australian-flag-reduced.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizr3dDXfyq_I-D67VRO6EMP-pIO7du2WfenFrwxuGXFX8Bcz2IMwa0ahsdkP_VNYjuUZFJrh1ShxL0q_mPxEwgMdyD5gzbrhaJ0ha6e5sBrs1VOWL__pA5QlTWEbFHJJNEDup-Xda6-pLl/s320/1316416639-australian-flag-reduced.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So the time has come. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It is time to say goodbye to friends, family and to a
life that I know and love. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It’s time to say goodbye to Australia-my home for the
last 38 years with no return date.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I think one of the hardest parts of leaving is that I
have a good life here. I am part of
something here. I know I have people who
love me, include me in their lives and I am sad that I am leaving that. The kids, the parties, the race days, the
concerts, the BBQ’s, the movie nights, picking the kids up from school, seeing
their smiling faces, their outlook on life as kids, yet to experience the
‘other’ part of life that is not always build a bears and lollies. I am so privileged to see what the world looks
like through their eyes and it is refreshing and I will miss that as they grow
up into small adults. It brings tears to
my eyes just thinking about it. Don’t
get me wrong, I will be back for holidays, hopefully at least once a year-it’s
not goodbye forever. But not having a
date of return is a little off putting for me.
I have always known I would be back for Zoe’s birthday (much to Tess
disgust), back for my birthday and Christmas and now…nothing….. I am just not in a position to know where I
will be in 8 weeks let alone in 5 months’ time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have been thinking, and with some help from my friends,
that maybe I should be looking at Kenya rather than Ethiopia to set up my new
life and I am starting to think that this maybe a good option for me. Ethiopia was picked initially because of
Zeme. I like the country and I liked the
challenge it was going to give me BUT with some-one by my side. Very little English is spoken there, tourism
is still in its early stages, westerners are not common, let alone voluptuous
ones and it will be hard. I’m not scared
of hard work, but when people don’t even speak the language, I am up against it
before I even start. I have Minalu, who
will help me set up when I arrive.
Finding somewhere to live and also helping with my visa. But what happens when he has to go away on
tour for 2-4 weeks? I am sure by that
point I would have neighbours and they could help, but the last thing I want to
do is get that stuck that I would have to ring Zeme. I would HATE that. I want nothing to do with him and to be that
desperate to be reliant again on him just makes me cringe. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So enter in Kenya.
I am visiting a friend there at the end of January and I am going to get
a feel for the place. Kenya is certainly
more geared for tourism which in turn means they are used to westerners. They speak English, well certainly not the
whole population, but I would have a better chance of English speakers in Kenya
than in Ethiopia. They were once
colonized by the Brits, so they drive on the same side as us and some of their
basic laws are similar to ours. I would
assume that the job prospects would be better also in Kenya. Certainly with paying ones and earning a
wage. For me this is not the clincher
though. I am more than happy to do charity work or volunteer work and I know
there is plenty of that in Ethiopia and I am still more than happy to settle
there should I not like the feel of Kenya.
But I want to give it a try. I
owe it to myself to try. I have always
said I will not be coming back to Australia.
Africa is going to be my new home and I just need to find the right
country for me. I’m not scared to give
them all a try if I have to and with contacts in Cameroon, Tanzania and
Mozambique. So I am not all out of
options and I just have to see how it all goes once I am over there. This is the scary thing for me. Not having a plan past the 21<sup>st</sup>
January 2013. I am not that type of
person and I just have to accept that it is just the way it is and when I say I
am in the hands of fate, I really am-it isn’t just a saying for me, it is a
fact and that SCARES me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">People tell me how brave I am, but to be honest I am
scared. What about if I don’t make
friends? What about if I can’t find a
job? It’s so much for the money side of
things the job. It is more for me to
meeting people and learning the language.
Money would be a bonus as that means I can save for airline tickets
home-no work, means no trips and that fact makes me sad. No I will definitely need to work, but the
beauty is I won’t have to do it full time.
My quality of life will hopefully be better. It may not be a western quality of life, what
people would expect back home, but I can have a good life without all the
pressures of mortgage, massive bills and the cost of living and health
insurance. For me this is a small
sacrifice and you don’t need all the western comforts to be happy. The African people have shown me that and to
complete the picture I hope to meet that ‘some-one’ special one day and that
would complete the picture for me.
Thrown in some children, whether I bear my own or adopt, this is also
something else that is on my future cards.
I have so much to offer and I need to remember this in times of
doubt. Not only am I hoping to improve
my own life, but also of those around me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Shelly and I can’t even look at each other the last
couple of days without getting tears in our eyes. We don’t even have to speak. Tessie is finding it hard. Even though she knows why I am going they
still have to ask why I have to go. The
easiest explanation I can give them is that I am going to help the children
that don’t have mums and dads and I can’t do that from here in Australia. I have to go over there to help them grow and
to make them believe in themselves-give them love and friendship. You can see their little 5 and 7 year old
faces think about this fact and they accept it, but they still want to know
why. Tess keeps saying that she is happy
that Christmas is coming but she is also sad as it also means that I will be
leaving and tears spring to her face.
What can you say to a 5 year old that is breaking your heart when you
see her cry because of you and there is nothing I can do about it? The girls have memories like elephants and
Tess keeps asking why I came home for Zoe’s birthday in July and why I won’t
come back for her birthday in April? She
asks the tough questions that kid! So I
have made a promise to her that if I don’t come home for her next birthday
which is unlikely I will make sure I will be home for her birthday in
2014. Yu may laugh, but I know she will
hold me to it, and if I make a promise I keep them, so if nothing else I know I
will be home in April 2014. I am
dreading our airport goodbye. DREADING.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I feel like an idiot now when people ask me where in
Africa I am moving to? Before it was
100% Ethiopia, but now I just don’t know and I am going to just have to keep
looking like an idiot a little longer until I get my feet back onto the
continent I have fallen in love with and see where I land. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So with all my belongings donated and given away and my
life condensed into 20 boxes waiting for shipment- it is time to say goodbye.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The time has come.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">They say that fortune favours the brave……… we will see
……… </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Bernie Jamiesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12954108071836273912noreply@blogger.com0