From Ship to Shore

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Well, time flies when you are at sea! Busy, busy, busy. No Internet, no phone etc. So this is the first entry for a while. I finally got over the cold and was able to spend a few days with Cynthia and Bill, also Bill’s brother and sister-in-law who were on a bus trip through the former Yugoslavia two years ago. We went to Ocean City and a few different places before I flew out to Ft. Lauderdale. I have been to Mark and Warren’s place in Ft. Lauderdale a number of times, so it was just a pleasure to catch up with them and spend Easter with them. Yes!, the Easter Bunny found me. Then it was off to St Maarten for the beginning of the sailing trip. St Maarten is divided into two sections, one French and One Dutch – I was staying on the French side, the Capitol Marigot, I found lovely sandy beach and hung out for two days. I was by the pool and a gentleman was having trouble getting through the gate, so I told him the trick to getting in – he asked me if by any chance was I on the Star Flyer. On giving him an affirmative – we started talking and he introduced himself as a child Psychiatrist from Boston who was travelling sans wife (as she hated the sailing ships) and we had great chats, he and another fellow traveller and myself ended up going to a great restaurant for dinner before setting off the next day.

It was good to get back on board the ship, there were even staff who were on the last trip so reconnections everywhere. There were only 43 passengers, lots of interesting people, only one other Australian from Sydney, lots of German and English passengers. It was a busy crossing, lots of bad weather, good food and wine, lots of creative people and fun times. Pirate nights, talent quest, quiz times, cocktails of the day, lectures, backgammon games & tournaments, even a poker game or two. All in all – exhausting, pleasurable and fun. I did have to participate in 3 sessions of exercise a day to make sure the ice cream and great food did not stick to my hips (so far everything still fits!). Two of the classes were fairly do-able, the third however, was tough – our cute instructor Martin taught us everything from rigorous exercise regimes to boxing and kickboxing – which is reeeealy difficult on a moving sailing ship! I loved it!

With rough seas, wind on the nose and lack of possibility for sails, the ship was very late, so we could not stop in either the Azores or Southampton – we had a short stop in the Azores for two hours just to get supplies, it meant that I could walk (or sea wobble) down the street and pick up supplies of wool – yes, taught another couple of people how to knit teddies! Then off to England, again running very late, so I had the offer of staying aboard until Hamburg (not bad when you have your son living there). We landed in Dover for 3 hours, then off to Amsterdam, which was to be for 3 hours so no one got off the boat, only to find we had a safety issue which kept us overnight. The captain was furious, but it meant that we had to stay on board (it was cold, miserable and raining hard, so this was not a hardship).

I had not had Internet of phone access since I had left Fort Lauderdale so I was pleased to get at least one or two emails off when we landed in Dover – here is a copy of one to home “Hi, sorry there has been little contact on the ship, running way behind schedule, have skipped ports and instead of getting off in England, I am now on my way to Hamburg where the ship is due on 10^th for a special meeting of all the tall ships. It has been a busy and fulfilling trip, lots of lovely people, great food and wine etc. It has been a fairly rough trip with great consternation going up and down very wobbly stairs. I began the trip in a lower berth cabin where there was a constant washing machine action in the port hole (although it was often closed due to rough weather). I have kept a punishing fitness regime (at least two gym sessions a day – tai chi – kick boxing, and other heavy duty workouts), none of which is easy on a moving deck! I have to keep at it, as the food on board is great. I am now on the top deck in a suite with my door opening onto the pool, (however the temperature is about 8c, so not quite appealing. I have a spa in the bathroom, so a gin and tonic, book and spa rest period in the afternoon is a great experience. Will blog once I get to Hamburg” You can see I was doing it tough! The best thing about winning any of the quizzes on board was getting a free cocktail of the day; the worst was having to come up with the questions for the following day.

We arrived on 10^th in Hamburg – the ship was taking part in the Hamburg Harbour birthday celebration of the Tall ships which was worth it just to see them all as we arrived. It was really great to catch up with Phillip and Nadine and have a few days with them before flying to England. I cycled with Phillip down to the harbour to watch the Tall ships parade, Nadine joined us after work and we walked up and down looking at the ships and the fair along the length of the wharf. The next two days we toured around Hamburg and spent quality time with them both.

On the Monday I travelled to London and stayed with Philip and Gary for the next few days. Philip and I went to the site of the London Olympics where Gary works for John Lewis (catering, on a huge scale). Participated in a local quiz night at the pub down the road and headed off to Shrewsbury on the train to spend time with Shirley and Pat (they are the couple who house swap with my neighbours Fran and David each year). I had a great time with these two – Shirley was a great tour guide although she was miffed that the weather was so poor, she wanted me to see all the local sites with the sun shining, but no luck, rain and grey skis were the order of the day. Went to the local hotel for a meal on Saturday night, great food that would not be out of place in a good restaurant in Melbourne.

Pat and Shirley live near a helicopter-training base and are in a quiet little village. It is quaint and we went to nearby Morton Corbett ruins and the church next door – the castle was first established around 1100 by the Torets, a family of Saxon descent. It passed by marriage after 1239 into the hands of the Corbets, who gave their name to the village. The Corbet family still owns the castle today, although English Heritage manages the site.

The first castle buildings were probably built entirely of timber. From around 1200, however, these were gradually replaced in stone. This process of extension and adaptation culminated in about 1580 with the construction of a massive residential range, built by Sir Robert Corbet (died 1583).

During the Civil War Sir Vincent Corbet (died 1656) fought for the king and the house was damaged in the course of repeated bouts of fighting. The buildings were later repaired and re-occupied. In the 18th century the castle was abandoned as a residence and soon became roofless. Plans were drawn up in 1796 to build a new house on the site, but the project was never realized and the castle remained a ruin.

Also in Shrewsbury we went to a garden and gift centre similar to Linton’s in Mt Eliza, but I loved the name Dobbies – reminded me of Harry Potter. Shrewsbury is a lovely town, as with all other English towns, steeped in history. Cathedrals and Castles on every doorstep.

Shirley took me to the Dorothy Clive garden, similar to the Buchart Gardens in Victoria Canada, (only on a much smaller scale) which was beautiful, It consists of woodland plantings in old gravel quarry. Spectacular waterfall cascades between rhododendrons, azaleas and woodland plants. A south-facing hillside has scree garden, water features and island beds. For more info and pictures - http://www.dorothyclivegarden.co.uk/. We went also to the Attingham Park a magnificent House and Deer Park built in 1785. Again, for more info http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/attinghampark/.

Oops, running out of time, just about on my way home - suffice to say after Shrewsbury, I travelled to Ireland and saw a lot of Belfast, learned a lot about the history of the war, travelled along the coast which is a mini version of the Great Ocean Road to see the Carrick a rede rope bridge (in Guinness ad!), the Giant Causeway and the Titanic museum. Then on to Dublin and around the city and of course the Guinness factory!. Then back to the UK, where I caught up with Phillip and we went to the Harry Potter tour at Warner Brothers studio. Played more quiz nights at the local pub and won a number of Sunday lunches (given to other team members as I will not be there for any Sundays to come!) and a bottle of wine!!! Now last day in Singapore before I head back home.

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