Boat Rides or Roller Coasters?

I once thought that Roller Coasters were scary. 


I have a particularly vivid recollection of being persuaded to try one out at a local fun park while on holiday.  And whilst my stomach was doing somersaults of nerves prior to the experience, I was near complete and utter collapse by the time it was finished. 


Meanwhile my friends managed to get lovely snaps of them at the peak of the ride smiling and waving at the camera, mine showed a face of complete fear.  Actually it looked like something from a horror movie, hence the reason I never bought it.


So this brings me onto another quite different experience and something that has a sense of peace and romance about it, which is sailing along the coast of Italy. Well it can be peaceful, however sailing also has the possibility to turn out much like a Roller Coaster.

Easing our way into the weekend of sailing we were greeted by a beautifully warm 29 degrees, a little cloud and calm vividly blue seas. Some lovely italian food and wine along the way, swimming in the bay amongst the local fish and sunbaking on board. It couldn't get better. That was until we had to sail back to port. 


Now whilst I have to admit that I am not the best sailor and resort to qwells regularly where water is involved, having to sail over 10 foot waves for nearly 2 hours has to be placed in the same file as Roller Coasters and hence is not something I wish to subject myself to willingly in the near future. So for the purpose of imagery picture this, a boat lurching up and down massive waves, some breaking over the bow and completely drenching us. While I was told it was safe, I still had a life jacket on and my hands were clenched to two different positions holding on for dear life. All I could do was was stare out into the distance so as to try to control the sea sickness that was trying its best to fight the maximum dosage of qwells I had taken. I didn't relax until we had reached port and I had my feet firmly planted on solid ground - thank god I survived.


As for the next holiday... preferably no sailing and perhaps a hike!

The Sailing Boat

The trouble with children

It's Friday afternoon and after navigating our way to Gatwick Airport and all the check in procedures we're finally relaxing with a small tipple in the executive lounge. Actually I'm enjoying the tipple particularly as I find a Langmeil red and its not often you find a decent Aussie red wine in Blightly. Meanwhile, Hamish is frantically trying to finish last minute emails before the laptop is switched off for the weekend. 

At the gate for the British Airways Flight to Rome I look around at the people cuing for the flight and realise there are quite a lot of kids and a couple babies. I hold my breath hoping that wherever we sit is no where near the babies in particular, as there is one thing that gives me a really bad headache and that's a screaming baby. Particularly when you're about to start a holiday, it's just bad karma. 

You will share a sigh of relief with me when I realised we were not packed in next to babies. The only children in my direct vicinity was a mother and two children sitting directly behind. 

Shortly after take off and as we all settle into cruising at x'000 feet some little feet start kicking the back of my seat. Initially I think, well this is a small child, he's likely to get frustrated sitting down longer than 10 minutes and the mother will control him. But as the flight progresses it gets worse and the mother is doing absolutely nothing to tell him off or control his movements.

I decide a little nap will help the situation, escape into my dreams and hopefully I will wake up as we land. I do nod off for a while however are startled back into reality when the back of my seat receives a really big kick catapulting my body forward into the seat in front. That is about it. Hamish turns around and asks the mother to please control her child as he will not stop kicking the seat. She abruptly responds that she cannot control a 4 year old child and refuses to converse any further.

I know I'm stepping on tender ground talking about children and discipline but it's got to be said and I have to get it off of my chest. Where is the discipline and control that parents should have over their children? Not even that but basic manners. I doubt this child even knows please and thank you. Of course you can't control your child if you're not even trying to teach it right or wrong, the mother didn't even ask the child to stop kicking the chair. 

I don't doubt it would be difficult to travel with two small children however mothers need to adhere to the basic principles of teaching manners and discipline not just for their own sanity but the rest of the adults in the nearby vicinity of their offspring.

Volunteering in Richmond

One of the items on my ‘to do’ list has been volunteering work. Since I cannot legally work in the country I can at least contribute to society by doing something worthwhile (or try to).  

One of my fellow gym buddies recommended a homeless shelter in nearby Richmond called The Vineyard Community Centre which I dropped in to today to attend an afternoon tea for volunteers.

If you’re not aware Richmond is quite a posh area and I think the opening sentence on the Visit Richmond website summarises it ‘swimmingly’ as the posh people say... “Welcome to London's most attractive borough, which for hundreds of years has been a favourite retreat of Royalty, the rich and the famous.”

The bus ride to it from Kingston takes you through a very scenic road of green pastures, cobble stone roads and enormously large houses. You also cannot miss the well manicured polo ground.  I must say, it does seem odd going to Richmond to visit a homeless shelter and meanwhile the average resident probably earns well above the median wage in the UK and drives the latest Mercedes, BMW or Ferrari.

However, getting back to the topic at hand, the centre itself is located within the basement of a local church. It’s recently been renovated so looks more like a local cafe than what its real purpose is for.  It opens out onto a terrace with a large cottage garden.  It’s open for its residents so they can drop in, have a shower, get some food and relax in the atmosphere.  If you’re interested in knowing more you can visit their website at http://www.vineyardcommunity.org/ .

I met a number of different people, mainly volunteers who devote a lot of their time either working in the charity shop, in the cafe or in the garden amongst other things. One old lady in her 70’s looks after the vegie patch which apparently this year has not done very well due to the weather. Another very welcoming volunteer happily gave me a run down on some of the residents and who to avoid.

I have to be completely honest and say that other than participating in a fundraiser for an Adelaide charity called The Hutt Street Centre which was ‘Walk a Mile in my Boots’, I think that’s the correct term, I have not had anything to do with homelessness.  It can be quite confronting as there are a few odd people that you typically avoid when you see them down the street but I’m determined to at least give it a try and if it doesn’t work out then I’ll move onto the next one. Wish me luck, my first shift in the cafe starts next Thursday!

The cupcakes I baked for the Afternoon Tea. One person thought they were from Waitrose!