When God gives you lemons…

Posted on May 20, 2010 by lindaharley

I know, the textbook answer is “make lemonade”. Although after a fab weekend with my best friend Sarah, we decided the answer should be “pour gin and tonics!”

I’d gone to London for the h2g2 meet, managing to wave to Prince Charles en route, and get an upgrade to first class on the Stansted Express as I went. Flight uneventful, sitting in my comfy carriage using my newly acquired dongle to keep in touch with the interwebs, Sarah texted and said she was in need of a hug – it was her last day of Law lectures before exams (she used her redundancy money to go back to Uni and convert her degree to a Law diploma). You’re in luck, I said, I’m just pulling into Liverpool Street now!

We met at a little pub round the corner from the station, then schleped in a taxi over to the pub where her fellow students were drinking, then had a cocktail at the posh hotel across the street, me admiring a young Weim passing by, still with its gorgeous blue eyes. then we got a taxi to my hotel to dump my bag, realized how late it was, had fabulous rare steaks in the Argentinean Gaucho restaurant in the basement, before schleping to the pub where we supposed to meet the hootoo lot – only to find they’d gone home!

The hotel proved its worth by managing to procure a bottle of contact lens saline solution at midnight, and having a computer especially for printing off boarding passes (I’d printed mine out on double sided paper so on the outbound flight they tore off the portion I’d need for the return leg – d’oh!)

pc dedicated to printing boarding passes

On the Saturday I met up with my son Harry, who is looking great, and earning plenty of money doing local rigging and sound-man work (including the moving of works at the Tate Mod for it s 10 year anniversary – my next port of call.)

Met up with the hootoo lot at the museum and spent a fun evening in eh pub, where Io, my little netbook, played a blinder! It managed to skype to a non-attendee, and download the half a quiz that had been prepared. I was given the most wonderful gift by one of the Editors – a signed CD of “Better”. Back at the hotel, I settled in to a good sleep…

…and was woken by text from Roger asking if my flight was OK. Why would it not be, I thought, and turned on the tv. Oh no not again – the Haveakerfuffle volcano ash cloud is back! I wandered up to Liverpool Street station, yet again unable to use the first class lounge, and managed to get lost on the way back to the hotel. I phoned Sarah, expressing my frustration at not knowing where to go. “Come to me!” she said. “I have a bed, I have internet” Mmm-hmm, I replied. “I have gin!” she offered – I’m on my way I said! and headed out to Heathrow. If the planes started flying again at least I’d be near an airport. But my hopes weren’t high, having been caught out last month.

At Sarah’s house I started looking for alternative routes home. I wasn’t keen on taking the old National Express coach as last time, and I knew there was a train and ferry link provided by Stenaline. I tried booking online, but because there was less than 7 days before travel I couldn’t do that. I tried phoning their all centre – it was closed on Sundays. I cried.

Despairing, I tried googling for rail links between Belfast and Dublin, and found a brilliant site called raileasy. It allowed me to choose a route and time online, pay with a credit card, and make a reservation there and then. Brilliant!

On Monday morning I headed for Euston, giving myself plenty of time to contend with any later rush hour commuters. I found a helpful Virgin employee who used my credit card to produce the tiny tube-ticket sized card which would take me all the way home. I enquired about reserving a seat, but their computer system was down. I did get some good advice though – head for coach A as soon as the platform was announced. This was the quiet zone coach, and I was glad I’d got there quickly, as the train was very soon full with many passengers standing in the corridors. I gave up on an attempt to reach the buffet car!

I declined to pay Mr Branson £5 for one hour’s worth of his wifi, but was able to reassure friends and fmliy via Twitter of my safe journey through the stunning scenery of that part of northern England and the Scottish borders. Change at Carlisle, and again at Kilmarnock, and I was very swiftly and painlessly esconced on the ferry, thankfully half empty. The HSS has a very chic cafe bar at teh stern, where I was able to access the free boat wifi, enjoy a glass of wine, and admire Ailsa Craig fading into the dusk.

view from the back of the HSS

This is actually not a bad way to pass the day, I thought to myself! Home shortly after 10 pm, I did get a lot of ribbing from work colleagues the next day, who all want to be informed the NEXT time I’m flying anywhere, as I’m obviously being stalked by a volcano.

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The Gambia

Posted on March 2, 2010 by lindaharley
a beach with palm trees

the view from our hotel

Gosh I’ve been back from the Gambia nearly 3 weeks now, but what with moving house, involving loss of internet access, I haven’t had much of a chance to get caught up on blogging. Those of you familiar with h2g2 will have been able to follow the journey of the 7 bikers in the Rear View series in The Post,

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/brunel/A63617682

and what a real adventure it turned out to be, incorporating minus 10 temperatures across France, broken ankles in Spain, delays due to tyre changes, and ferries, and visa applications. Roger aka Thunder has done a detailed report on
http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=218794

I’d agreed to be one of the WAGs flying out to meet the guys – in the end there were only 2 of us, myself and Katherine, and we were on the same flight to Banjul from Manchester.  We’d booked on a cheapish package, as that was the best way to get flights, and were coached to our 2 star hotel, which lived up to its billing.  The rooms were basic, but it did have a lovely pool and a poolside bar.  We also found, braving the bumsters outsdie, that the view of the setting sun from Solomon’s Beach Bar down the road was wonderful, and that the mezze served by Shiraz, the resraurant opposite, was delicious.

We were picked up at 6 am the next morning by Musa Bah, so famous he even gets a mention in the Lonely Planet guidebook.  He parked at the eerily scray ferry terminal and left us while he went off to sort tickets (ie pay some bribes so that we could have a place in the queue).  It was a ferry journey like no other:  almost 3 hours we’d spent in teh queue, eventually being squeezed onto the boat with no room to open teh door to get out.  I was glad I’d bought some peanut brittle last night in teh shop, and I shared it with the others as a sort of apology for breakfast.  Barra, on the northern shore, was even dustier and more bustling, and we failed miserably in our attempts to buy some beer to take to the guys.  We stopped for lunch in Farrafenni, a border crossing which was just so unlike anywhere else I’d ever visited in my life that it rendered me speechless. Katherine and I took one look at the flies buzzing round the meat in the chop shop, where one knife and one chopping board was being used for everything, and ordered omelettes.

We continued down the dusty wide road, African scrub to either side of us, goats and cows crossing in front of us, and very frequent police checkpoints.  A few hours later Musa turned off the main road, and announced that the next part of our journey would be by boat.

a little boat on the River Gambia

N'fally's boat

N’fally was a sharp-eyed captain, and enjoyed pointing out local wildlife like pythons and chameleons, while we soaked up the sparkle on the river, and felt like we were in The African Queen.  On the far shore, we waited to see what our next form of transport would be – and Roger arrived on the back of a little 125, accompanied by a horse and cart!  Katherine took the pillion position and Rog and I and all the luggage piled onto the cart.  We trotted off to Sambel Kunda, waving and smiling to the many children who greeted us as we passed.  SK is home to the Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust, which is the charity co-ordinating the fund raising for the new Calum’s Road, but which also carries out veterinary and educational work in the area.  The 7 bikes were parked up outside the buidling, which had no electricity, a little bit of running water, but plenty of cold beer and warm welcomes.

Bikes in Sambel Kunda

More later….

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2009 review

Posted on January 1, 2010 by lindaharley

Started the year with walkies on the beach, and enjoyed Scottish Dancing at Burns Night.  Jem auditioned for High School Musical and MT4UTH.

In February Max had to go to the vet’s for his shoulder to be X-rayed, and Jem went skiing on a school trip.  In March we went to see Flashdance, and Jem sang I’m Still Hurting at her school concert.  During April we went on a bike weekend to Kesh, and saw Evita.  At Easter Jem went to a course at Bird College, and was awarded the hardest working student cerfickatick.  I went to a weekend Scottish dancing course in my alma mater, Coleraine High.

In May, my nephew did well with his goats at Balmoral Show, and I received my favourite text of the year from my sister: “Cld u get some cabbages, and if so cld u bring 6?”  We went to the North West 200, which was badly disrupted by accidents and weather.  We went to see Fame and Cabaret, and I ran a 10k run for action cancer.  At the end of the month my son turned 18; we celebrated with a family party in the Hilden brewery, and I made a montage of photos from throughout his life.

In June, Jem got to meet the President of Ireland, and appeared as Martha in High School Musical.  In July, we went to see Never Forget, and Evelyn Glennie, before heading to China for an amazing trip.  The high point for me was seeing that glorious diamond ring of the eclipse, although dancing on the Great Wall was rather fabulous, and the whole trip was truly magnificent.

In August, Jem appeared on the stage of the Grand Opera House in Godspell, and my sister described her when she dances as looking as though it’s the most wonderful thing she’s ever been asked to do. She got her photo on the front of the local paper.  Mum and Dad celebrated their Golden wedding anniversary, and we had a wonderful party with cake and a song wot I wrote: I’d converted some old camcorder tapes onto DVDs for them, and had fun making covers and and labels.  At the end of August I rode my new bike, Zucchero, to Skye, and only dropped it once!  And was able to pick it up myself. In Skye we visited Calum’s Road, where R and a group of about a  dozen bikers will be setting off next year to ride to The Gambia.

In September Harry started university, and Jem auditioned for Guys and Dolls. She also did a photo shoot for the pantomime, and her picture was used many times for publicity.  We looked after my sister-in-law’s dog, Mack, when she had to have breast surgery.

During October, Jem played the Narrator in her school production of Blood Brothers, and had her Just Dance audition.  I visited old friends in Luxembourg and Frankfurt.  November brought parents evening, where for the first time I got nothing but glowing reports!  She then totally wowed the audiences with her charming portrayal of Miss Adelaide .  In December we went to London and saw Legally Blonde, and I decided to do something about the 2 stone I’ve put on since I stopped smoking 2 years ago, and re-joined the gym.  I also decided that the deteriorating atmosphere at home, which had included many flouncing outs, 3 day sulks, and a laptop flung across the room, was untenable, and I found a little apartment for Jem and I to move into in the New Year.

I’m approaching the new decade with a positive attitude – I will lose some weight, I’ll be visiting The Gambia in February, and help Jem get through her GCSEs.  Come September who knows where we’ll all be!

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