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Hi folks, I'm back! I left you the last time safely ensconced in the Iberia business lounge in Madrid airport where I had to wait about 10 hours for my flight as all earlier flights had been delayed or cancelled due to the French strike (bloody typical!). I was so close to home and civilization (well, England!) and after that nightmare of a 48-hour period trying to get out of Venezuela, was gasping for a proper cuppa tea! Not going to happen that easily as whoever has been watching out for me over the last 12 months was on his or her own tea break and seemed to think I'd had enough good luck for now! So, after sitting on the tarmac for about 2 hours (and me falling asleep), we finally took off and had to fly over the Atlantic instead of France so when I finally reached Heathrow it was the middle of the night. After trying to find a bus (still on a budget you know!) I gave up and forked out GBP10 for a taxi ride that took about 30 seconds; got to my hotel and went straight to bed. I awoke feeling totally refreshed at what my phone said was 01.45 which was impossible as I had only just gone to bed; the TV clock said 13.50; the TV had no channels with the right time on and so, totally confused.com I called reception where a very chirpy lady told me it was 2 in the afternoon. WHAT?? I was supposed to be up at 9am, have had a hearty fried breakfast, picked up my hire car and be well on my way to Jan and Roger's (via Bluewater or some necessary shopping) by that point. Aside from the fact that I was supposed to check out at 12 noon! A speedy shower and takeaway cuppa later, I was giving the guy on reception a pleading smile not to charge me for over-using the room (he ended up charging me for 1 hour instead of 3) and then I was on my way in a humongous tank of an automatic Freelander. Great car but for those of you who have driven with me, you know I like the smallest cars possible as I can't manoeuvre, reverse, well, drive really!
Anyway, that was a while ago now and, after a 2 month break from my break, I'm back on the road again. I've spent the last 2 months lying low and catching my breath back - in and out of the UK catching up with friends and family in the southeast, East Anglia and the north, visiting Steve in Canada coupled with a trip to Niagara Falls and going back home to HK and Singapore for 2 weeks which has reaffirmed my decision to return to Honkers and finally find a job (what a culture shock that will be!). I have just spent the last 2 days (when I finally found the house after an hour's drive took me over 2.5 hours - bloody AA directions!!) with a heavily pregnant Sophie (good luck for 7th!) where we went to the local pub last night for a remembrance evening - everyone was dressed up and Alvin Stardust's wife (big friend of everyone in the village) sang some old war songs. What a nice way to end my stay in Blighty. Thanks to everyone too who has put me up (and put up with me!) and fed and watered me - much appreciated.
Anyway, before I start thinking of that awful 4-letter word called work, I have more places to see and things to do!
My first stop and where I'm heading today is Gran Canaria where I'll be chilling out and doing a bit of practice for my forthcoming participation in the ARC. This is an annual transatlantic yacht race that crosses from Las Palmas in Gran Canaria to Rodney Bay in St Lucia. It's the largest trans-ocean sailing event in the world and there are over 200 yachts involved. It's 2,700 miles and should take us between 2-3 weeks to complete! We set off from Las Palmas next Sunday (21st) and you can track my whereabouts and read what we are up to on this website: http://www.worldcruising.com/arc/. Once we set off, if you click on Fleet Viewer, you can see where my boat is and then the link to Entry List and Yacht Info will give you more details. My yacht is Lancelot. There are 8 crew and I don't know any of them!! Yikes!
After what should hopefully be a few days of relaxation in St Lucia reacquainting myself with the land, I'll be stopping over in the UK for a couple of days before heading to South Africa to participate in a wildlife project near Port Elizabeth over Christmas and New Year - working with lions and elephants on a game reserve. After 10 days in the Cape Town area in January I'll be travelling overland through 10 countries, hopefully managing to spot some wildlife this time (!) taking in umpteen safaris in Botswana, Tanzania, Malawi, the dunes in Namibia, Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, diving in Zanzibar, spotting the mountain gorillas in Rwanda and the chimps in Uganda and finally arriving in Nairobi where I plan to do another voluntary project before hopefully heading out to Lebanon, Syria and Jordan although a visa for Syria is proving to be a bit of an issue right now. That should all take me to mid-April when I will (she says!) be finally DONE! Only, of course, to have created a further list of places to go for the future!
So, that's where I am. I'll probably drop you all another line before I set sail but don't forget to keep me up to date with your news!
- comments
cate on the road again.. what a good place to be! lovely to cath u in HK.. and yes, its the coolest place to live and work in.. I may be in SA in Jan too.. enjoy x