The day the boat was sold, we stepped off each with a rucksack and carry on bag and into a car which took us a mile up the road to a deserted bay where a lovely 57ft Bowman was anchored. A shout brought the dinghy across the bay and we climbed on board with nary a backward glance. We had found great delight in giving away our accumulated past life, although I must confess that tears were shed over a teapot of all things! We spent a delightful week in the company of Anna and Bones aboard Emily Morgan, the aforementioned Bowman. They charter her throughout the Caribbean and were in the BVI for a show. They were willing to stay around for a week until our flight out and used the time to do a recce around the nearby islands. That meant a week of lovely bays, swimming, snorkelling and some great sailing. Truly a 'quintessential Caribbean sailing experience' ( I had to get that one in as advertising ) Also a lovely holiday with friends. We weighed in at the airport, unloaded more ( hopefully ) useful 'stuff' onto Anna and Bones and waved goodbye. I won't go into the fiasco that was the flight .... suffice to say, we will do our utmost never to fly with British Airways again. We had thoughtfully dressed according to the usual UK weather and on landing found ourselves decidedly overdressed for the UK weather. What is going on ...?
Our friends Richard and Liz had very kindly offered to have us to stay during the two months before flying out to Ho Chi Minh. Again, we have been overwhelmed by kindness. The time has proved to be invaluable - not just for the organising of official documents and recharge our batteries, but in giving us the time and space to reorientate ourselves for the time ahead. Also invaluable in giving me the time to recharge my wardrobe from the local charity shops.
Richard and Liz have a lovely home on the outskirts of Bristol and we have been spoiled rotten.
 |
| The house overlooks the Bristol Channel and across to Wales. We've had some stunning sunsets. |
Their generosity ( that word again ) has been embarrassing, not only giving us the run of the house, fridge and freezer, but the use of an exceedingly smart VW Golf Tdi Coupe. Somehow mowing the lawn, watering the plants and doing a bit of cooking doesn't quite cut it in comparison. However we may get a reference should we ever decide to advertise in The Lady for a joint post at some stately country pile .
As departure day looms, we've had a trial packing of bags and you'll be relieved to know that all my new clothes fit nicely. In between and balancing the whole, is flute choir and wind group music, some of which is for Christmas. I've been whistling Sleigh Ride and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, But I can't whip up any enthusiasm. Funny that. I've also been frantically contacting former colleagues for material with which to make an impression. Thank you Frank for helping me realise my dream of being paid to legitimately make a spectacle of myself. Also thanks to Dave for mailing me so many of his own compositions over Facebook that he was threatened by the Faceless with a ban if he didn't desist! Brian, in between pruning his fingers and the occasional bush, is maintaining the calm aspect of a soon-to-be kept man. Actually, I put it down to two months of summertime TV -the best thing to induce a coma-like demeanour.
Best of all, we're getting back into the travel game. Did you know that you can get a coach from Bristol into London Victoria, and then take the tube to Heathrow cheaper that one direct from Bristol to the airport? Bizarre ....
It's great to be back ....
No comments:
Post a Comment