Author: Peter

Day 4 at the Okovango Delta

Posted on by Peter

Either we are getting used to sleeping with the sounds of elephant and hippo eating or they both weren’t around last night (we think it was the latter). We decided not to go for an early morning drive as we had to leave at around 10am to be taken to the landing strip for our next flight to Xudum (pronounced Koo – dumb). We had a leisurely breakfast, packed up and said our goodbyes to the staff at the camp (who were excellent – we think the best we have experienced at any game lodge we have visited). We decided to take a slow ride to the landing strip and see if we could add to our bird list which was now over 100 birds. We did add one or two on route and in addition also saw another pride of Lion quite near the landing strip. We then had to clear the landing strip of game which turned out to be quite entertaining as there was a herd of giraffe (I am sure that is not the right collective noun for giraffe but can’t think what it is at the moment) on both sides of the landing strip.

The plane landed slightly earlier and after we had obtained our boarding passes and passed through security (of which there were neither) we switched places with another family who came out of the plane. The plane was a 6 seater Cessna. The luggage went underneath and we had to repack it slightly to ensure it fitted in. Then I got the seat next to the pilot (he wanted the heaviest upfront with him), and then Helen and Stephen behind us with Michael and Chloe at the back. The take off was smooth and I thought it was a fantastic 20 minute trip but when I turned around to see how the family was doing it was evident that only Stephen was enjoying it like me. Michael was as white as a sheet and looked as though he thought the plane would drop from the sky any minute and while Helen was smiling she told us later that she didn’t like the bumps and bobs that the plane did.

We did get a fantastic view of the Delta and while I didn’t see any fame from the air, Stephen saw elephant and giraffe on his side of the plane. We landed at about 11:45am at Pom Pom which is the airstrip for Xarana (sister camp of Xudum). The Xudum airstrip was under water about a month ago and had not yet been approved by the government for re-opening yet though the Xudum manager says it is now repaired. We therefore had to take a game vehicle to Xarana (about 40 minutes) and then a boat from Xarana to Xudum (another 40 minutes). The road trip took slightly longer as we ended up seeing a whole lot of birds and our ranger (Stanza) tried to spot a Pel’s Fishing Owl for us at various places. Eventually we were radioed to ask where we were as they needed the game truck for another collection. Xarana is a beautiful tented camp which (if we ever come back to the Delta), we would definitely select as a place to stay. We just had time for a quick pit stop and then we were onto the boat. 2 minutes outside of Xarana the fuel ran out and we had to switch over to the reserve tank. Unfortunately they then couldn’t get the engine going again and I had visions of someone swimming back to Xarana to get help. Fortunately they figured out where the blockage was and we were off again up top speed with Sta (our tracker) at the wheel. As he was going quite fast the water was spraying up and wetting us from time to time which was really cooling in the hot Botswana midday heat.

We arrived at Xudum at 2pm and had lunch and then we were shown to our rooms which are beautiful wooden structures with their own splash pools on the side of the Delta. You have your own viewing deck over the Delta. We met back at the lodge just after 4pm and then went on a Mokoro again with Stanza taking the kids and Sta taking Helen and myself. It was very peaceful and we were in the Mokoro for about an hour and half. Very enjoyable even in the heat and despite the insects and spider webs. We got back and had a drink and watched the sunset from the lodge and I downloaded and sent some emails. After dinner it was back to the rooms and asleep at around 10pm as we had a morning game drive again at 6am.

Cheers from the mozzie chewed Temples!

Day 3 at the Okovango Delta

Posted on by Peter

We were again up for the 5:30am morning drive and it was pretty much a repeat pattern in that we didn’t see much game but we did see quite a few more birds.  By the end of the drive we were on over 90 birds and closing in on 100.  Our target is 150 so that definitely seems reachable.  When we got back Speedy said we were going to fish for our lunch so we had 30 minutes to ‘freshen up’ and then we were into the boat.  The giveaway sign was that Thusi (our butler) also came with us so we knew we were going to have lunch somewhere else.  They took us into the Santandibe River and we followed the main channel until we got to an Island which was previously used by the local people when they hunted (they usually hunted hippo as they believed the meat was very good for you).   On the island was a picnic laid out for us under the trees and so we disembarked from the boat, got our land legs back and once we had gotten rids of the ants that had attacked the ‘stokbrood’, we settled down for a peaceful lunch under the trees and did a little more bird watching.   On the trip back everyone nodding off for a few minutes as it was so peaceful on the river and what we our full stomachs it really was the only thing you could do.

That evening we decided on only a short game drive as it had been a full day and so we left at 5pm (you usually leave at 4pm) and we just stayed close to the camp.  Speedy took us to see the remains of an elephant bull (including his tusks which were still there).  The elephant had been injured in a fight with another one and as he was hanging around the camp and being quite aggressive (and the wound wasn’t healing), the government had agreed that it could be shot.  (You cannot do anything in Botswana without the government approving it.)  The tusks are meant to be collected by a government agency but as they already have so much ivory stored they haven’t been yet to collect these but it is illegal for them to even move them off the spot (and it seems no one does!).  We then got a lesson in poaching & culling from Speedy and Steve who were both very passionate and knowledgeable on the subject.  It was a very educational drive.  We then stopped to have drinks next to a patch of water and as we did a hippo came up out of the water and grunted and opened its mouth in a show of aggression to us.  He just wanted to chase us away and Speedy just clapped his hands and shouted out him.  The hippo kept up his show for about 10 minutes or so while we were having drinks and snacks and watching the sun set over the Delta.  It then figured we weren’t going to do anything and ignored us until we pulled away again when he again displayed his aggression.  It was an amusing and entertaining drinks stop.

Day 2 at the Okovango Delta

Posted on by Peter

We were woken up at 5:30am for a morning game drive.  After a quick breakfast we headed out in the game truck and while we saw the usual game (giraffe, elephant, impala, lechwe etc), we didn’t see much else except adding significantly to our bird list.  While looking at one particular bird and trying to identify it (we probably spent 15-20 minutes doing that), Michael suddenly pointed out the buffalo on the other side of the game vehicle!  We were so busy watching the bird that we didn’t even notice the buffalo for the first 10 minutes or so.

That afternoon we were taken for a trip in a Mokoro.  This is a traditional dug-out canoe which they use in the Delta.  It was traditionally made from the trunk of a sausage tree but the government stopped that about 10-15 years ago as it was resulting in too many trees being chopped down.  Now they are fibreglass only.  They are poled by a person standing at the back.  We were just told to sit like a bag of potatoes as they do not want you shifting your weight as they do the balancing with their feet.  It was a very peaceful and pleasant experience.  The kids went with Speedy and Helen and I were with Steve.  It was only a short ride (about 10-15 minutes) and then we spent the balance of the afternoon with another game ride.  At the end of the day we finished on around 80 birds.

It is probably worth saying that by the end of Day Two we had been bitten by mozzies all over.  Peaceful Sleep seems to attract mozzies in the delta rather than repel them.  That night Chloe got bitten 14 times on her hand, I have multiple bites around my shins (and so does Michael) and it seems that only Helen doesn’t get bitten much (we think it something to do with the sourness of her blood).  They even manage to bite right through our shirts – both Stephen and I have had bites through our shirts.  As there is always water nearby there are generally insects around so if you can’t take insects then the Delta is definitely not for you!

Michael didn’t sleep that well as he woke up at around 2am to munching outside his room.  He said it was so loud he was scared stiff (and I know the feeling from the previous evening).  He thought it was a hippo originally until we saw the elephant tracks on the path around their house and the large present he had left behind on the path as well.  Helen and I also heard the hippo splashing around in the water again that night.

Day 1 at the Okovango Delta

Posted on by Peter

We woke up at 4am as we had to catch a 6am flight to Johannesburg. It is amazing how quickly the kids wake up when you are going on holiday versus trying to wake them up for school! We left home at 4:45am and got to the airport in plenty of time to check in. The flight was on time and uneventful with most of us sleeping for the 2 hours to Jhb. We then had to go to international departures to check in for our flight to Maun (pronounced Ma – ung 2 syllables not 1 as we discovered). We travelled on Air Botswana and it was a prop plane (4 seats across). The plane was pretty full with what was clearly mostly tourists and the balance being a few school borders heading home for the school holidays. Our plane left at 10:10 and again the flight was uneventful. We arrived in Maun at 12:30pm. The heat immediately hit us as they opened the door (it was around 30 degrees Celsius). We then all walked from the plane to the airport building (not hard to find as it was the only building in sight!). Clearing passport control was a tedious process as they had 4 counters with only 2 open – one for residents and one for visitors. As there were only 3 or 4 residents on the plane that queue quickly dissipated. As most of the tourists were Europeans, they all remained in the ‘Visitor’ queue while the South Africans all tried their luck in the residents queue (including us). That mean we got through passport considerably quicker than most people.

There is no baggage belt at Maun airport – only a place where they simply put your luggage and you go forward and take yours and head out. Ours was waiting for us already when we got through passport control and so we were quickly out into the arrivals hall which was smaller than our lounge with about 20 tour operators all waiting for us. We were met by an &Beyond agent and were told that our next flight to Sandibe (our lodge) would depart at 1:30pm. We had to wait for 2 other groups of people so while the family waited I went to draw some Pula. No banks to be found in the airport. I discovered that there was a bank across the road though in the local strip mall (for the Americans reading this take your usual strip mall and divide by 100 and that is the size I am talking about). I did find a Standard Bank and an single ATM which did incredibly dispense some money to me.

When I got back to the family, Helen had been provided the airtickets for the next 3 flights we would do on Safair Air (paper handwritten ones which I could have done myself on some spare scrap paper if they had told me too!). We then were told to proceed through security to the domestic departure lounge. Now at this point you all have a wrong picture in your mind of what that looked like. Firstly it was a single scanner through which we scanned our luggage as well and after taking about 10 minutes for us to get through it (I am not exaggerating), Helen concluded by saying they should hire her to improve/change their system. (I don‘t think they thought anything was wrong with their system!) We were then in the departure lounge which only had about 30 chairs in it set up in school room style (all facing the same direction for those of you who have forgotten what a school room looks like). The departures hall was directly next to the arrivals – like a lounge next to the dining room (and about that size as well!). I ventured going to the toilet and there was a notice up inside saying “No water in the toilets by order of the management”!

After waiting around for about 10-15 minutes we were called – no not over a loudspeaker – in person by the pilot and his assistant – for our flight. Our luggage was loaded onto a bakkie and we had to walk. Our plane was the furthest parked from the departures hall out of any of the planes. We walked over chatting to the pilot who was from New Zealand. It was actually the biggest ‘small’ plane in Maun – about a 15-20 seater. As we were first on, we got the front few rows of seats and so Michael & I were directly behind the pilot. It was fascinating watching everything from take off to landing. After we were loaded we got the 10 second safety briefing which was “First Aid box at the back, exits front and back, fire extinguisher over there, let’s go”. Prop fired up, we taxied to the main runway and off we went. Very smooth takeoff and generally a smooth a pleasant flight and all too soon (in my opinion) we were heading down to the landing strip in the middle of nowhere it seemed to me. Great landing and with a few seconds we were off the plane and meeting our ranger for the 3 days (Speedy). We had to wait for the arrival of another plane with a couple on board. Our luggage was loaded onto one game truck and we were on the other. We couldn’t understand why they didn’t just put the luggage at our feet but we soon discovered why.

Speedy told us that it would take roughly an hour to get to the lodge. The reason is that the landing strip is the only piece of dry land large enough to hold it nearby. We set off to the lodge and Speedy told us there would be 3 water crossings we would have to do. We saw a reasonable smattering of game on route (giraffe, kudu, impala, elephant) and one new buck for us – Red Lechwe. It is found predominantly in the Okavango Delta and likes standing in the water and apparently runs very easily through the water to get away from predators. It looks very similar in size and colour to Impala. Within about 30 minutes we came to our first water crossing where we saw a Slaty Egret (endangered bird) and a Pied Kingfisher (these were some of the first of many birds for us). The water crossings are all incredibly deep. The water comes up to the bonnet of the Landcruiser and floods the driver seats and the first row of seats have to pick their feet up or they get very wet. Speedy had to open his door to let the water out when we got to the other side. We had another 2 of those to do and we navigated some of the worst roads I have ever experienced in a game park. They are wet, muddy and seriously in need of re-grading. Who needs a roller coaster when you can experience the thrill in a game park instead!

We did get to the camp safely where we were met with singing and dancing from the staff. It always amazes me how quickly they remember each of our names. Fortunately they were name badges otherwise I would be terribly embarrassed. As we hadn’t yet had lunch and it was now 3pm, we agreed to simply drop our bags in the room and be back at 3:30pm for High Tea. We did that and then headed off (after meeting our tracker -Steve) for our first game drive. There is only one road in and out of the camp so the 3 water crossings happen each time you leave and return. The game drive was enjoyable and we saw 4 of the big five (they don’t have Rhino in the Delta at the moment). We saw the leopard on the way back into camp after the sun had already set. We also finished the day with around 35 birds and about 8 lifers. As we were all exhausted we had dinner and we were in bed by 9:30pm and Helen was asleep by 9:31pm. The kids slept together in one “hut” and Helen and I in the other. At 1:30am I woke up (wide awake) thinking they had knocked with our wake up call. I checked my watch and my cellphone (no reception but I use it as an alarm clock) and they both said 1:30pm which I didn’t believe as I was sure they had knocked. I woke Helen up and she checked and it was 1:30am on her watch too. I was obviously dreaming but it took me about 30 minutes to convince myself I was!

However, it took me longer to fall asleep again thanks to the hippo splashing around right in front of our accommodation. I know at night the sounds of the bush travel far but this really was right in front of our house and the next morning when we woke up it was clear that he had exited the delta right next to our house and gone back in again that way too. In fact at about 10pm just before I went to sleep it bumped again the house and made a thudding noise probably while it was climbing out. At 2am it sounded rather scary and so it took awhile to convince myself it was safe to go to back to sleep. What didn’t help was the elephant trumpeting in camp as well (and his footprints were clearly evident on the path the next morning!). Then if you added in the heavy rain (thunderstorm actually) that happened during night it was quite an eventful first evening.

Final Day of UK Trip

Posted on by Peter

Yesterday I went to the office at my usual time and only Chloe was awake when I passed the bedrooms.  I took the tube as per usual into the office.  I forgot to mention in yesterday’s blog that the tube in front of us had an emergency passenger alarm pulled while in the station so we ended up being stuck between stations for about 10 minutes.  Not a good experience for anyone that is claustrophobic!  Fortunately the tubes are much less congested at the moment (at least in the morning) because it is now school holiday’s in the UK.  Makes for a much more pleasant trip to work as I now can get a seat.  I had a reasonable amount of work to do in that I needed to wrap up with my senior staff and sort out a few outstanding client matters as well.  At 9:30am I tried phoning the flat but got no answer so I thought that Helen and the kids were out.  I tried both their mobile phones and also no answer, so I sent a text to their phones telling them to call me when they could.  I got a call from a sleepy Helen saying ‘What do you want?’  I quickly established that they were all still in bed.  You could just see how busy the day was going to be for them!

They spent the morning cleaning the flat with everyone having a task to do.  They had no plans to go out and so all they did was pack up and clean up.  Helen had to take some wine to the chairman of the company that owns the school that she works at and the kids are studying at.  He is a member of one of those clubs on the Mall.  You have to take a taxi to it because you wouldn’t otherwise know which club it was – they either don’t have any name at all (or number) or they only have a very small name plate.  Visitors aren’t welcome at these clubs (especially women usually) and so they don’t advertise themselves much if at all.  Most of them only have membership by invitation.  She did manage to find the club (courtesy of a taxi driver) and besides this outing the only other she did was to the hairdresser.

By the time I got back to the flat (at around 2:30pm), most of the packing was done and I just needed to pack the final suitcase.  The problem was that there were way too many things to fit into that one suitcase.  We sifted out the read books and put them to one side and I will bring them back on my next trip.  Even with this there still seemed to be too much for the suitcase. Some repacking was done of the kids’ suitcases and with a little pushing and shoving we managed to get everything in.  We did have to take an extra backpack for the books we brought back (at least 30).  I had organised for a taxi to take us to the airport and he called just before 4pm to say he was downstairs.  As there really isn’t any space to park downstairs (the flat is on Victoria St), he did a trip around the block while we came down with the luggage.  Of course, just at the point he returned it started to rain (again).  We managed to get everything into the minivan including ourselves and we headed for Heathrow.

It was just the start of rush hour and so we got stuck in traffic and it took us around an hour to get to the airport.  We left from Terminal 5 (the new terminal) which is nice looking but there are a number of practical flaws.  We checked in and then wanted to go through the nearest security checkpoint only to be told that we could use it as I flight departed after 6pm.  This meant walking all the way to the other side of the terminal to the other security check point.  Of course another 1000 people were also going through security at that precise moment.  Fortunately they are quite organised and we didn’t have to wait too long.  Michael though set off the security body scanner – it must have been his electric personality that did it because he had nothing else on him.  They wouldn’t search him until I had given permission (I wonder what they would have done if I said no?).

We then headed for the BA lounge which was on the other side of the terminal building.  By the time we got there I was looking forward to sitting down.  When we turned our backs, Michael and Chloe had vanished and Helen set off to find them.  They had found the food, dished what they wanted and were sitting down at a table eating.  Helen and the kids went out to have a brief look at the shops and Michael bought himself a large chocolate (which he plans to share with his friends at school) and Stephen bought a Digital photography magazine.  Otherwise everyone was shopped out.  We left the lounge at around 6:35pm as we had to get to satellite B for our departure gate.  This requires that you take the longest escalator I have ever seen down to the train and then the train across to B and then another escalator up into the satellite terminal.  By the time we had done that our plane was about to board.  The plane was ready to leave on time but as a squall had hit Heathrow about 10 minutes prior to our departure; it resulted in a slight delay.

Michael sat by himself (one row in front of the rest of us) and then Chloe had the window seat with me next to her in the aisle, Mom had the other aisle and then Stephen in the window again.  The window seats face backwards and I don’t like flying backwards – just feels wrong.  The service on the flight was good, it was slightly bumpy but everyone got a reasonable (though shortened) night’s sleep after we had finished watching the movie we had each chosen.

It was an enjoyable and relaxing trip and we are already thinking & planning for next trip.  We have a game park visit booked in September which is just a short break of 3 days.  I will probably blog it as I usually do – the most enjoyable part will be the photos (hopefully) from that trip.

Hope you enjoyed the read … we enjoyed the holiday.  We’re now back in CT where it is icy cold but at least clear.  It will some time to get used to the darkness at 6pm rather than 11pm!

Until next time.

Peter, Helen, Stephen, Michael & Chloe

Day 18 of UK Trip

Posted on by Peter

I knew that I would eventually forget to type an update before I went to bed and it happened last night.  So here it is a little late but at least you get to read it still.  I was awake and off to work again before anyone else in the flat was up.  Michael did wave to me from his bed before I left but that was the closer it came to having anyone awake.  I had a no-client day in the office so I was able to catch up on a lot of emails and internal work that needed to be done.  It is amazing that while I sit in London working I think of all the things that need to be done in SA and when I am in SA I think of everything that needs to be done in SA.  There must be some type of ‘Murphy’s law’ for that.

Helen and the kids went out to Little Venice yesterday.  Now most of you probably haven’t head of that – don’t worry – neither had I.  They took the tube to Paddington and then walked from there to Little Venice.  It is a series of canals and Helen says it is really beautiful around there and where she could live if we ever moved to London.  I can only just imagine the price of the houses!  They took a boat on the canal which passes under London Zoo and under the largest aviary in the UK (maybe even in the world?).  While they found it fascinating to see they all felt a little sorry for the birds who were so constricted in space (even though it was the largest aviary in the UK).  The boat trip was about an hour and went from Little Venice up to Camden Town.  They went to see the series of locks (canal locks not house locks for the ignorant types that read this – Marcus) and then had lunch at a pub in Camden.  They then caught the tube back again to the flat.  They seemed to have a thoroughly enjoyable day.

I got home at about 6:30pm and after playing 2 games of tennis on the Wii against Michael & Stephen (the result is of course obvious), we went out for dinner at the Spanish Tapas restaurant which is nearby (Janet – you know the place).  We ordered way too much but it was a really nice meal and then walked back and stopped in at Sainsbury’s to buy a few things to take back to SA and also to stock up on a few ready-made meals for me as I am back again in a week’s time.  Then the rest of the evening was spent packing.  A lot of packing still needs to be done but so far we have 1 suitcase full & closed, a new acquired backpack full of books (don’t ask how many books we are bringing back!) and Helen and the kids will have to do the rest this morning as I am about to go to work!

One last update will be sent tomorrow morning when we get home.

Day 18 of UK Trip

Posted on by Peter

What still staggers me about the UK is the number of people smoking outside.  Of course they can no longer smoke indoors so they are all outside but there seem to be an inordinate number of them outsiders.  It struck me again this morning as I was walking to the tube at 8am (while everyone else was still sleeping) that almost everyone I passed was smoking.  Unfortunately I had to walk twice to the tube station because I forgot my tie the first time.  Just as well that I did because I found the key in the door of the flat from last night still!  Helen would have been looking for it everywhere.  Just as well England is a safe place.

I had my usual time at work going from meeting to meeting and taking and making phone calls to the SA office in between.  We had a client lunch today and as we always do we walked there.  It was about a 20 minute walk (there and back).  We went to an Italian restaurant and the food was quite good (more Italian Chris but I avoided the pasta as I am very self-conscious now following your hurtful remarks).  Helen and the kids were going to come through to the office today so they could see where I worked but when I phoned to check if that was still on, Helen said that because it was raining (yes again), that they wanted to stay in the flat.  That meant I could work longer so I eventually left work at 6pm and headed back to the flat.

Helen and the kids had pretty much spent their day in and around the flat.  They had gone out to fetch the boys’ Oyster Cards (for them to go on the tube/buses at reduced prices) from Victoria Station and they had done some shopping especially for dinner (from Marks & Spencer).  Michael had been getting in his Wii tennis and even Chloe is now playing in tournaments.  I tried my hand at beating Stephen and Michael and to ensure that they maintain a healthy self-esteem (unlike mine was has taken a battering from Chris), I let them both win.

After dinner we went from a walk down into St James Park and probably added 10 ‘lifers’ just from the park.  It had turned into a lovely evening and we walked around the park and enjoyed the birds and the scenery around us.  It was twilight and the lights from the historical buildings on the Mall and from the London Eye looked beautiful as a backdrop.  We got back to the flat at 9:30pm which gave me some time for a little Wii playing and unfortunately I was knocked out of the Australian Open by John McEnroe after an epic struggle that lasted 18 minutes.  I must have burned off at least the desert today with all that playing and my shoulder is really hurting now.  Might have to phone in sick tomorrow.

Kids in bed, Helen watching TV and I am sure we will soon be heading for another night’s peaceful sleep.

Day 17 of UK Trip

Posted on by Peter

It was back to work for me today again.  We were still in Scotland but I had to catch the 8:30am train to Glasgow to visit a client.  While I getting up I got a text message from our marketing head to say that his plane was delayed and after a few text messages and then phone calls we agree to try and push back our 10am client meeting but still go ahead with the visit.  I decided to catch the 9am train to Glasgow and got there at just before 10am.  Our marketing head arrived at 10:30am (the BA crew hadn’t arrived for the flight – something to do with swine flu!).  Fortunately the client was still able to see us and it was quite a productive meeting.  We walked back to the station.  Glasgow is (in my view) a deserted city.  There is hardly anyone around, parking is freely available on the streets and you hardly see anyone walking around.  Where are all the people?  Who keeps all the shops and especially all the coffee shops going?  We caught the 12:15 train back to Edinburgh as our next meeting was back there again.

Helen and the kids in the meanwhile slept on though Helen was disturbed by the room cleaning people wanting access to the rooms.  They had breakfast (I assume because we never discussed this minor detail) and then they went back to the room until check out (which they had managed to push back to 1pm).  The plan was that we would meet for lunch back in Edinburgh and we timed it perfectly as we got back to the hotel at 1:15pm just after Helen had checked out.  We went back to the pub we had eaten at for our first lunchtime in Edinburgh and finished up at about 2:15pm.  Helen and the kids went shopping and I later evidenced their handiwork in that they managed to buy about 15 or 16 books (who knows where we are fitting those in the suitcases – just as well I am back in a week’s time again).   We headed off for our next meeting and while the plan was to walk, it was of course raining again (though this morning there was not a cloud in the sky!).  So we picked up a cab instead and it took us about the 500 yards we needed to travel (but at least we were dry).

Our second business meeting also went well (they are a client who like us) and then I walked back to find Helen and the kids at the station.  They had gotten all the luggage to the station and were reacquainting themselves with Cafe Nerd again (it was familiar territory).  I arrived at about 4:20pm and our train was scheduled to depart at 5pm.  We moved everything to the correct platform and waited for the train to arrive which is duly did (on time) and we managed to get on an stow all the luggage and settle in for the 4 hour 45 minute journey back to London Kings Cross.  It was an uneventful journey with the kids reading, playing cards and just generally annoying me from time to time.  Helen always gets to sit be herself on these types of trips so she was fast asleep and oblivious to the world.  The scenery for the first section of the journey is quite spectacular as the train runs along the East coast (and sometimes right along the edge).  After about 45 minutes the scenery changes to farm lands and dales which is equally interesting but not as dramatic.  It is really quite an enjoyable train trip.   I tried to do a little work and my plan was to write the blog on the train as well but the Wi-Fi connection was incredibly slow and erratic and it was just irritating me so I quit and read instead.

We got back at 9:45pm and took a taxi from Kings Cross back to the flat.  London is definitely a few degrees warmer and the flat even hotter & muggier than outside – thank goodness we have some aircons in the flat.  I challenged Michael to a quick game of Wii tennis which turned out to be a very quick game given that I was trying to go for winners as Michael boringly just stroked the ball back (he just wears you down!).  I suggested that we leave the Wii here in London (my secret plan was to get some practice so that I can properly challenge and whip Michael) but that wasn’t met with a lot of enthusiasm.

A long day and sitting around travel always takes it out of you (not really me as it is now 12:15am and I am still quite wide awake).  The kids are fast asleep though and I am sure by the time I press send Helen will be as well.  I have to get up early tomorrow for work so I better finish this now and head for bed.

Good night!

PS: Some people have requested to view some of our pics.  We (being Stephen) has loaded some on the blog.  If you look at the top of the page you will see tabs – one being Home the next one being Photos.  Click on photos and then click on the link to Flicker and you can see some of our trip photos.  I am sure he will add some more tomorrow as well.

Day 16 of UK Trip

Posted on by Peter

Another day and the one thing that you could be assured of is more rain.  However, at least today it was minimal and didn’t disrupt our day at all.  We learnt from our experience of Saturday morning and gave Chris sufficient time to put on his make-up and therefore agreed breakfast at 9:30am.  That still really isn’t late enough for all the eateries in the area who seem to only serve breakfast from 10am.  We did find a place up the Royal Mile called the Filling Station.  After being ignored for about 5 minutes I wondered if it was a self-service place and the name was illustrative of the fact (as all petrol stations here are self-service).  Maybe we had to cook our own breakfast in the kitchen and pay on the way out?  And then I eventually got the attention of the waitress was obviously wasn’t coping with the other 2 people in the restaurant that she was serving.  Go back to ‘After being …’ and repeat again about 5 times and that seemed to be the way breakfast went in that we had to get her attention to order, get her attention to get milk for the coffee, get her attention to point out that she hadn’t brought the juice, get her attention to bring the bill etc.  Fortunately we weren’t in a hurry and so we used the time to talk and enjoy each other’s companies (the only other thing to do was try to get the waitresses attention).

After breakfast we headed further up the Royal Mile to visit Edinburgh Castle while the Nels went for another walk.  We agreed to meet one last time for coffee and parting farewells.  Unfortunately the rest of Scotland (and some of Asia and Spain) had also decided that today was the day to visit the Castle and so we spent about 25 minutes in the queue for tickets.  Stephen (of course) pointed out when we were about 5 minutes from the front of line that we should have just booked on the Internet using my mobile phone.  Pity he didn’t think of that 20 minutes earlier!  I had forgotten that we now have a teenager in the house and I should have asked him for advice on the situation at the beginning so it really was my fault.  I learn by my mistakes though so the next time we visit the Castle I will make sure to book online before arriving.  Fortunately it wasn’t raining and in fact the sun was out.

We did get into the Castle eventually and walked about the various walls and museums including queuing for 25 minutes to see the Scottish Crown Jewels (which weren’t that impressive).  The chapel in the Castle was built in 1100 – apparently the oldest standing building in Scotland.  It really does put things into perspective when the building you’re in was around 900 years ago!  We visited the dungeons and prisoner of war exhibitions as well.  When we finished visiting the last exhibition, as we exited back outside the wind was suddenly howling and then it started to drizzle again.  We had finished seeing what we wanted to see so we headed back to the hotel and met up with the Nels again.

Alison was very happy because she had found a handbag for her outfit for her son’s upcoming wedding.  I was ‘horrified’ that she had shopped on a Sunday and Chris immediately replied ‘It twas the woman’ – I stayed outside.  He then proceeded to say that he stayed outside the shop.  All he needed to be doing was eating an apple at that point and I could have mistaken him for Adam.  We enjoyed our parting ice creams and then Chris and Alison headed back home to the Yorkshire dales.  It was good to see them again and catch up and I did pass on everyone’s good wishes that sent them to me!

We came back to the hotel room so that I could watch the golf for the afternoon.  There is no better way to spend a Sunday afternoon in July than in watching the British Open and it was all the better for actually being in Scotland while it was happening.  It is a pity that Watson at 59 didn’t win but it was enjoyable to watch anyway.  Helen went out shopping while I was watching (Twas the woman) and came back with less money and more books.  We had dinner this evening at an Italian restaurant (again) which made it 3 evenings in a row eating Italian.  This was probably the best of the 3 restaurants we visited (sorry Chris & Alison) except for the fact that Helen found a spider in her pasta.  Fortunately when she noticed it, it still had seven legs so she hadn’t eaten most of it.  They were very gracious & apologetic in replacing it but Helen never quite recovered.  Stephen (our all-knowing teenager) did inform us all of an interesting fact about spiders though.  For those of you who didn’t know, in our lifetimes we (on average) swallow 8 spiders during the night while we are sleeping.  So Helen has probably increased her intake to 8 1/8ths.

This is the end of holiday for me as I am back to work tomorrow (someone has to pay for holiday).  Sleep well.

Day 15 of UK Trip

Posted on by Peter

I just realised (12:20) that I forgot to write the blog for today (or actually strictly speaking yesterday now).  I woke up at around 8:15 and then eventually got up at 8:45 when I couldn’t resist the call of the bathroom.  When I came back into the room Helen was stirring and she asked what time it was.  I said 8:45 but she didn’t believe me since she thought it was around 5am as it was dark in the room.  The black curtains definitely do their job!  We had agreed to go to breakfast at 9:15am with Chris & Alison and as that seemed unlikely to happen (as the kids were still sleeping), I sent a text to Chris to suggest 9:30am breakfast.  They readily accepted and then even at 9:30am when we were ready; Chris was still putting on his makeup so we had to wait a few more minutes.

As the hotel breakfast was £24 per person and as we didn’t think we could eat that much for breakfast, we went out to find a place. Helen has spotted the pub across the way did an ‘All-day breakfast’ (not a liquid one!) but when we got there we discovered the pub only opened at 10am.  We did find a place up the Royal Mile without having to walk the full mile.  Stephen was the only adventurous eater in that he had the Traditional Scottish Breakfast which came with Haggis.  He gave it a try and deemed it to be ‘flowery’.  I tasted it too (I have eaten Haggis previously so I am now a connoisseur) and I agreed it was a little ‘flowery’ and not as nice as the one I ate previously.  Might have been too much bone and too little brains in it.

After breakfast, the Nels went-a-walking (up and down the Royal Mile we heard later).  Chris reckoned they be doing 2 miles with all the walking they be doing today (one mile up the Royal Mile and one mile back again).  We went on an open-top bus tour.  The kids sat outside in the light drizzle (of course it is still raining) and Helen and I sat on the top but under shelter.  The hotel concierge suggested we use the Green bus as it had entertaining live guides.  We took his advice, the only problem being we didn’t understand much of what the guide was saying.  He should have warned us that they were speaking a foreign language as we would have taken the English bus then.  We did pick up the odd word about gallows, hangings, ghosts, exhuming bodies and selling them to the Royal College of Surgeons etc.  We also got a good overview of Edinburgh, saw some people playing Croquet (much to Michael’s amusement), some more playing soccer and a smattering of Scottish History (which Helen says is unimpressive that is the history not the croquet).  The bus tour took just over an hour and we disembarked at the same place we embarked and then walked back (with a few stops in the shops on the way back) to the hotel.  The morning had passed us by and due to the strenuous activity of the morning we decided on a short rest before going out for lunch.

We picked a sandwich place (O’Briens – I thought we were in Scotland not Ireland?!) and lo and behold, who were sitting there relaxing but none other than the famous Nels.  We got our lunch and joined them for a wee bite and drink (which would later cause us to need to do the thing that came before bite).  After lunch, we ambled down to the Museum of Childhood.  On the bus tour we were told that if there was one thing we definitely should do is visit the museum and as it was free, we gave it a try.  It was so good actually that I think they should charge for it.  We spent just under an hour wandering around.  They had various exhibits mainly of ‘old’ toys – many of them I recognised as things we played with.  Big Ears & Noddy plasticene sets (I am sure my brother and sisters would remember those if they saw it again – well maybe not Meryl she is getting old now and her memory is fading), toy cars, box cars, tricycles and dolls (including even Gollywog who we thought would be banned from such a museum).  There were also some old toys you could play with and Chris was forever fighting off the kids to get his chance at it.  Fortunately Alison was there to restrain him.  It was quite enjoyable (for everyone) and I happily gave a donation when we exited.

That had really tired out Helen who now needed her afternoon nap and so while Chris & Alison went down to use the hotel’s pool and sauna (Chris assures me that while he was naked in the sauna, he did hang the Do Not Disturb sign from the room on the sauna door handle), Helen got in afternoon nap while I did some CBD work and watched the British Open golf.  I am looking forward to the final round tomorrow … Tom Watson (at 59 years old and is a previous 5 times champion) is leading by one stroke and at least one South African (Retief Goosen) is in the running as well (at 2 shots back).  Will be a really interesting afternoon tomorrow (so you know what I will do for worship tomorrow).

We went out for dinner at 7pm and it took us until about 7:30pm to find a place to eat at.  We discovered that the pubs can only take children up to 8pm (not sure if that is a Scottish thing or an English thing as well) and so after walking down the Royal Mile for about 300 yards, we walked back up it again and eventually found an Italian restaurant to eat at.  The owner was very friendly and the food was again good.  The owner came half way through and asked me if I wanted a spoon to eat my spaghetti with because he said I ate like an Italian (I was wrapping the spaghetti around my fork like Italians do and he was clearly impressed).  Of course the Brits cut up their spaghetti into small bits so I did stand out I guess.

It is incredibly noisy (we have the window open but I am going to close it now) as there are bachelor and hen parties going on downstairs in the road.  There will be a few people with sore heads tomorrow am!