Fraser dropped me of at the High Wycombe train station on the morning of the 27th so I could take the train to Aberystwyth, Wales. Caught the 8:00am train changing in Birmingham. Popped into a Marks and Spencer's Food Stop and got a ploughman's sandwhich and trifle, yum! Sort of a dull morning outside and once the train passed into Wales it started raining. After the first few hundred sheep the scenery turns a bit dull also so I turned on the laptop and watched a few episodes of Gilmore Girls. Arrived in Aberystwyth just after 1:00pm where Bev, Tanis and Austin were waiting for me.
Tanis split off from us as she had some errands to do so we made our way over to Ceilidh's apartment. Not bad digs for a student, overlooking the marina and about a ten minute walk from the city center. We hung around fro the afternoon. Ceilidh came home then a bit later Tanis arrived so I distributed Christmas gifts to all. Since it was still raining Bev gave Tanis and Austin a ride back to Tanis' apartment. Went to bed early as was still suffering a bit from jet lag but I tossed and turned until about 4am before I finally fell asleep.
The next day was bright and sunny although a little on the cool side around 5c. Bev and I went into town then met up with Ceilidh for lunch at the brasserie on the pier. After that we drove up to Devil's Bridge, a gorge and waterfall about 12 miles away. We did the hike on bothe sides, a shorter one called the Punchbowl and a longer steeper one down to the foot of the falls.
We then headed back to Aberystwyth and again got Austin so that Tanis could do a few things. We met them at a playground near the castle. I walked to otherside and I could see thousands of starlings flying overhead. They were all headed toward the pier where they roost for the evening. Took a few pictures but made a mental note to go over a bit sooner the next day. We did a little shopping then headed to Ceilidh's. We just relaxed, ate and watched dvds the rest of the evening. Bev went to bed early as she was not feeling so well. Again, I had massive insomnia when I tried to go to bed. This time I did a little better falling asleep around 3am.
On Friday 29th of December it was really windy. Looking out you could see a lot of surf. Ceilidh had gotten the bright idea of trying to find a last minute flight to go with us to Thailand like she had last time I was here and we went to the Canart Islands. She didn't have to work til 4pm. Bev was still not feeling well so we walked into town and went to a fish and chip place. After that it was off the a cafe with internet access. Ceilidh stopped by Tanus' and borrowed her laptop. We then proceeded to spend the afternoon surfing. Found acouple of deals but not all that great deals. She had to leave to go get ready for work and I wandered down to the waterfront to see the waves. There were quite a few people down there watching the waves. There were even 4 surfers out in the water trying to catch a wave! Kids were playing on a jetty, daring the waves by climbing up pilings and seeing if the waves could hit them.
It was getting close to 4pm and I could see flocks of starlings starting to arrive from various places throughout the city, joining each other to make a bigger black cloud. I moved closer to the pier. There were thousands, all swooping into a bigger and bigger. Quite the sight and the whole thing is over with in about 10 minutes. As you get closer to the pier through the pounding of the surf you can hear thousands of birds chirooing, sort of sounds like a squeecky motor. I watch the surfers and the jetty daredevils a bit longer before heading back to Ceilidh's along the waterfront. Quite spectacular waves, I was feeling a bit wind blown by the time I got back. The we proceeded to spend the evening as we had been doing, watching DVDs and eating. Bev was still feeling under the weather.
On the morning of the 30th Bev and I packed up to head back to High Wycombe. We were taking Austin back in out r car and Tanis was going to follow up a few hours later. Took about 4 and a half hours to drive back.
Not much more eventful than that....
Well, not really travel hell because the flight over was alright. Wish Air Canada would come into the 21st century and intall seat back creens like most trans Altlantic carriers. The movie screen was just too far away and little for me to watch the movie so I put in my earplugs and my mask but my jumpy legs just wouldn't let me sleep.
Wasn't really arrival hell because all went well in Heathrow as far as customs and baggage retrieval went. Flight arrived somewhat on time after about 7 hours. Collected my luggage, threw them on a cart and headed to the central bus station.
Travel to destination hell, that's it! After going through endless tunnels under Heathrow Airport I arrived at the central bus station at around 8:45, well ahead of the 10ish timing I had for the bus from Heathrow. Got in line. Soon enough I was at the counter for National Express and asked for a one way ticket to High Wycombe. She said they don't go to High Wycombe and to take the local service out the other doors, bay 4 or 5. Ok, I thought, maybe the info I had was wrong. I asked how much that costs and she replied it was their service so she didn't know. I pushed my cart out to bay 4.
Read the signs on the wall and it said there was a bus at 9:20am. Great! I'll get into High Wycombe earlier. The bus didn't go through Hemel Hempstead like the website had said but then I figured they didn't update their website. Anyway, 9:20 went by and no bus so I took acloser look at the schedule on the wall and noticed their was another set of timings for Sundays and Public Holidays. Ok, it was the 26th so maybe they are on holiday time. The next bus for that was at 10:00 which gave me time to push all my crap back into the bus station to find a bathroom.
Took care of that and went back bay 4. After sitting around for a while 10:00am came by with no bus. Hmm, there were other buses that had stopped a couple of times to other bays. Maybe they are just a little behind. Some people waiting at bay 5 walked back toward the terminal and said they heard the buses were canceled. I took out my agenda and my print out of the National Express schedule and it said the bus left for Hemel Hempstead at 10:10 so I trudged back inside and went to the info counter.
I explained my situation to the guy and he took me over to a door and said that is the bus but it's leaving. By this time I was getting angry. Why was I told there were no buses to High Wycombe and told to take local transport when local transport was not running. He took me up to the ticket counter where we spoke to the lady I had spoke to before. She said why didn't you say through Hemel Hempstead? I replied am I supposed to know these things, do I sound like I'm from around here? Anyway that went nowhere because although there was another bus that afternoon going to Hemel Hempstead they weren't sure if any buses beyond that was running.
Great, it was supposed to cost 10 pounds (about 13.00) get there and now who knows how much it was going to cost. Bev and Fraser were still in Wales, the national train system was in the midst of a 24 hour strike so no trains were running and the tube was on reduced schedule and not all stations were open. Arrggghh. The guy at the info counter said he knew someone who give me a taxi ride for a good rate. Well, that good rate ended being 60 pounds, that's like $140cdn! I said no way.
I wandered back downstairs and checked at the tube station. I know I can get fairly west with the tube system but again, because of the holiday, I wouldn't be any better off in getting closer to High Wycombe. There was a student counter near by so I asked them about a taxi and they quoted me 70 pounds. Geeze, this is getting worse! I thought it can't cost that much to rent a car but after spending a half hour checking online at a nearby internet cafe I came up empty handed as all cars appeared to be booked.
Getting really frustrated by this time. Went up to the taxi stands and asked there, 80 pounds! What is this, some sort of conspiracy to drive me nuts? I decided to trudge back under ground to Terminal 3 to see if maybe I could find someone else going that way to share a ride or a cab. It's close to lunch time by now. I tried to find Bev and Fraser's phone number (which, of course, I did not have on me) via the internet and through the telephone information. What the hell is going on? I know a couple of weeks ago I got their address and phone number off the internet and ow nothing was happening. More arghhhh!
By now it was close to 1:00pm and I was getting really frustrated. I even went as far as writing out High Wycombe on a piece of paper but by then was tired and hungry and just wanted resolution of this thing so I went out to the taxi stand at Terminal 3. I asked again and this time the guy said 75 pounds. I decided to try to bargain and asked if there was anyone who would do it for 60 pounds. One of the other taxi drivers said sure so away we went. As we approached High Wycombe he asked the first exit of the second exit. Gee, I didn't know. So I said first but as soon as we got off I knew it wasn't the right one. We were headed toward downtown High Wycombe. I knew how to get to Lane End from the other exit but not from downtown. He had no Idea where where Lane End was. As we went through High Wycombe I said oh, that was the street that leads back to Cressex and the other exit to which I know the way as we passed it by. Eventually we wound our way to Lane End. I felt bad that I had led he astray so much so I gave hime 70 pounds.
A trip that was to supposed to cost me 10 pounds and get me to High Wycombe by 12:00pm actually cost me 70 pounds and I arrived around 2:00 pm.
So I let myself in, popped a dvd in the TV and spent the afternoon watching TV sulking. Fraser called a couple of times and arrived around 5:20pm. A few beers later and a visit to the local pub helped a bit.
The England portion of the trip is starting to take shape. I wasn't sure what I was going to be doing for a week and half but now a few days are clear.
Bev and Fraser are going to be in Wales over Christmas, spending time with Ceilidh, Tanis and Austin. They were coming back the 26th and I'm arriving the 26th.
Yesterday I was talking to Fraser on Messenger and he asked if I was interested in going to Aberystwyth for a few days. Fraser will coming back on the 26th (he has to work 27th to time we leave for Bangkok) by train but Bev is going to stay til the 29th or 30th. So, I'll take the train on the 27th, meet up with the gang then drive back to High Wycombe with Bev on the 29th or 30th.
Not quite a Welsh Christmas but almost...