A-A packing… Part One
April to August 2016, the places, the packing
April 2016 saw us hit Blackpool in a big way. Yes, it was just before the May Day Bank Holiday, but even so, one would have expected warmth and sunshine rather than the biting winds and rain we encountered.
We did find some warmth, but that happened as Status Quo kicked off what’s been touted as their last electric tour.
So, what did we take with us for the two days/one night?
In my case it was a ten litre bag that I picked up at Imperial College, London last year whilst Caroline had a fifteen litre Healthy Back Bag.
I had my TNF hooded soft shell and was wearing a TNF microfleece zip neck over a Rohan tech tee plus Peter Storm Soft Shell trousers and Salomon Gore-Tex lined approach shoes.
Inside the bag was a travel towel, basic wash kit, my meds, socks, underwear, Rohan merino wool mix t-shirt, Rohan Microgrid Stowaway zip neck fleece, Kindle and travel tickets plus the all important concert tickets…
Inside the soft shell pockets were a merino wool Edz beanie and the trusty Nikon Coolpix S3100 digital compact camera.
Caroline was similarly attired, only she’d chosen her TNF Windwall fleece jacket, her Berghaus PacLite jacket and Rohan jeans. She did however hit Primani for some leggings as she was feeling the cold and Millets didn’t have any base layer leggings left in stock.
Her bag also contained a Rohan Microgrid Stowaway zip neck – it’s not often that we wear almost matching tops, but as we both wore them for the pre-show meal and whilst waiting around in Blackpool’s Winter Gardens, we didn’t much care about matching!
The mix proved to be ideal for the mooching around we did before heading to the B&B. The choice of t-shirts and fleeces for the walk back into town, our meal, the show and the walk back to the B&B was a similar success.
Friday saw more rain and we were pleased that we’d had good conversation with the B&B owners before grabbing our bags and checking out. It was cold, windy and miserable!
We sheltered for a while in the RNLI shop before braving the beach, but it didn’t take long for us to hit The Albert & Lion on the seafront for a coffee in this Wetherspoons pub.
The coffee prepared us for the walk along the prom and then back around town before we headed to Harry Ramsden’s for a fish & chip lunch. It’s not often that I have a beer with lunch, but I was pleased we were inside as some of those looked as if they’d arrived for the bank holiday weekend appeared to be underdressed and blooming freezing as they walked on by.
As we headed back to Blackpool North Station for our train, a strange apparition appeared in the sky. Yes, the sun had come out – too late for us, but right on time for the couple of hundred people we saw leaving the station in search of a Bank Holiday break.
Ten days later and we were in the car heading for a holiday of two halves.
There had been a tentative plan to try and get a week to ten days in somewhere like Rhodes or Zante for a relaxing break, but it didn’t happen, so we thought laterally and came up with a plan.
Yes, we have Internet access via desktop, tablet and Caroline’s smartphone, but the idea for the first part of our break came from a paperback book – The Independent Hostel Guide.
I’d spotted Dales Bike Centre at Fremlington near Reeth, made the call and booked ourselves in for four nights in a room at their hostel accommodation (there’s also a bike shop, bike hire and cafe on site – along with 24 hour cake supply via honesty box for those staying at the centre).
Swaledale was part of my old stamping ground as an instructor and whilst living in Darlington. Caroline knew it of old, but hadn’t been there for years.
As Caroline was taking her road bike with her to do some cycling, I was the Skoda driving equivalent of Thunderbird 2 – ready to offer assistance and with the hatchback available to be Pod 5… providing of course that both of us had a signal on our respective mobile phones.
Clothing choices for this trip were easy to sort out. The ten day forecast was set fair for both this and the next section, so in my case it was a mix of Rohan Core Silver t-shirts, Element t-shirts and the same company’s polo shirts to cover casual and smart casual situations. Trousers? Two pairs of 2015 Rohan Goas covered all eventualities.
The bag? The trusty Osprey Farpoint 40 that took all of the above plus jacket, camera, books, iPad, chargers and a bag of food too.
As Caroline was cycling, her clothing included Endura cycle pants, a Tenn cycle shirt plus a couple of Peter Storm pocketed tech t-shirts.
Tenn Ladies Sprint Short Sleeve Cycling Jersey
Rohan Essence t-shirts and vest tops plus her Rohan jeans were worn off the bike and a Rohan fleece cardigan came in useful on the nights we hit local pubs for a meal and a drop of Guinness for me and cider for Caroline.
Now I said that this trip was a break of two halves as we had a cunning plan.
It did get changed though as we had to head for home sooner than expected to sort out two tyres for the Skoda – one was punctured and replaced, but once we got to Kwik Fit, it became apparent that we needed two new tyres.
Our overnight at home had been planned as we’d already packed stuff for the next part of the trip. But it did give us a chance to have a curry and do some washing, safe in the knowledge that it would be dry in readiness for the next morning…
More on Friday!
Portugal
All this in one country – Portugal
When we did our first trip in Portugal in September 2013, little did we know that it would lead to another three visits between July 2015 and March 2016.
That first fortnight saw us flying in and out of Lisbon, spending time in the capital before heading to Sintra for a couple of nights then Evora, Tavira, Sagres, Lagos and a slap-up meal in Lisbon city centre before getting the Metro to the airport for a restless night in the airport seating areas and a 5am check-in the following morning.
Every trip has been done on hand luggage only, something that’s phased check-in staff at Manchester Airport, raised the eyebrows of fellow Brits in Tavira when they saw the size of our bags as we were checking out of our hotel and comments from a resident of Hawaii as she trundled her rather large wheelie case and matching hand luggage towards that same hotel…
So, why Portugal? It’s all down to a throwaway line (“Port comes from the port of Oporto in Portugal.”) from my geography teacher back in the 1970’s. There’s not much that I remember from my course, but the reference to Portugal alway stuck in my mind, hence that first visit years later.
And why have we gone back so many times? Probably because we’ve felt at home over there. Yes, we’ve had some rain in Sagres and weathered a storm in Porto, but there’s only been the odd couple of days when the temperatures have got the better of us.
We’ve used public transport to get around rather than hiring a car (haven’t done that out of the UK since the 1980s…) and haven’t had any problems.
Trains have been on time, as have both service buses and long distance coaches too. Feet have played their own part in exploring towns and cities, as have rechargeable travel cards such as the Viva Viagem card that’s available for use in the Lisbon area.
Eating out or getting things in to eat in a hostel dining area or our room in a guest house hasn’t been too difficult either. Yes, there was Cheekgate, but there’s only been a couple of times when we’ve been disappointed by what’s been put in front of us after we’ve ordered.
I did wince as one kitchen smothered a salad with olive oil (I prefer my salads to have no dressings) and whilst there was a lost in translation moment over chips being crisps in Portugal, it wasn’t a biggie and self and server both saw the funny side of things!
My use of Portuguese has got better over the years and I can now order coffee, drinks and food without too much difficulty.
Sometimes I’ve got a large beer instead of the small one that was ordered, but I’ve only become unstuck once when I tried to get a couple of beers in a cafe in the back streets of Aveiro last year. I got the beers, but there was a lot of pointing at bottles as a way of getting my message across.
Anything else? Just the small matter of forgetting about having some loose change on me to pay for coffee, ice cream, beer or bottles of water in a cafe or mini market. There were times when a €5 note wasn’t appreciated…
Only one person got really stroppy with me though as she couldn’t understand why we hadn’t got any change – it was something to do with having just landed at Lisbon Airport and we had notes, but no change!
Although we’ve made four visits to the country in three years, there’s still unfinished business across there. Out visit to Porto was hindered by the storm that hit the city last year, ensuring that a) we got wet – very wet and b) spent more time indoors or in the hostel than we would have liked.
So another visit to Porto and the Douro Valley is on the cards at some point, along with a week or so exploring the Atlantic Coast between Lisbon and Porto. Obidos during the Chocolate Festival sounds inviting too.
When will this take place? Who knows as whilst we want to head back and see some of the places we missed, there’s also a few other countries and areas we want to explore.
Some are in the UK and some are in Europe.
Where are they?
Some clues will be given out on Friday morning!
One year – June 2015
Deepdale Backpackers, Burnham Deepdale, North Norfolk
There are times when we just pack a bag and head off at short notice for a few days r & r to a place where there’s almost no mobile phone reception.
Which is exactly what we did in early June last year. Caroline had a few days between shifts and once a couple of things were rearranged, we headed pointed the car towards one of our favourite haunts – North Norfolk.
Our place of choice on all bar one of our visits to the area has been Deepdale Backpackers, a hostel with both dorms and en-suites plus a campsite, tipis, yurts and shepherd’s huts. There’s a supermarket and petrol station next door, a cafe, a few retail outlets and a couple of decent pubs in walking distance.
Holkham Hall is just down the road, as is Holkham Beach (as seen at the end of Shakespeare in Love) along with Burnham Market (if you can find a parking space and successfully negotiate other road users who make you remember a memorable Bruce Willis line from Die Hard (“Who’s driving this car? Stevie Wonder?”).
National Trust has several properties in the area and whilst we’ve been to Fellbrigg Hall and Blickling Estate before, Oxburgh Hall was a new one on us and visited as we’d just renewed our National Trust membership just before our visit.
Oxburgh Hall near Swaffham – a National Trust property
Also in the area is Holt. Bakers and Larners department store. It’s always worth a visit as it has a food hall that caters for all tastes, especially if you’re a foodie.
We’re not, but we can usually find something in the food hall for a snack, evening meal or a top up on sweet stuff such as nougat or Turkish Delight.
The kitchen department has also had some trade from us too as we had some difficulty a couple of years ago in finding decent potato peelers.
Did we stock up on three of these? Yes, even though they were flagged up as Lancashire Potato Peelers (we’re from Yorkshire!).
On the outskirts of Holt is one of the end stations on North Norfolk Railway, the other being Sheringham on the coast. Steam and classic diesel trains run between the two, giving passengers a hint at what rail travel used to be like before before Beeching’s axe fell on so many rail lines around the UK.
The beach at Sheringham, plus granite blocks to prevent erosion..
Guess why there’s rope near the slipway in Sheringham
Sheringham is another place we try to visit when we’re down there, either to wander along the promenade or do the odd bit of shopping for bags of fudge at the RNLI shop in the town.
Thankfully this was a sunny day so we could wander around without wearing two down garments (one down jacket, one down vest) each or ponder what steps to take when we spotted the Amy Bomb Disposal Team taping off the beach (the answer to the steps question was easy – bloody big ones!).
Yes, both of these had happened during a past visit – on the same day!
Caroline also likes to get out and do some cycling when we’re in North Norfolk, either on her own charger or on a hire bike. Coffee stop is usually at Holkham Hall or Wells-Next-The-Sea and lunch is wherever we find that’s worth stopping off at.
On this occasion it was a pub we’d driven past, but had never visited. It was pleasant enough place, but there were a couple of perceived problems with my meal…
When did it become almost compulsory to serve decent burgers in Brioche Buns? And when it did it become almost compulsory to slather salad with a salad dressing?
After this experience, it’s now compulsory for ask for a standard bun on a decent burger and for any salad to not be coated in salad dressing. Any that don’t comply get sent back, no messing!
Just don’t get me started on places serving roast beef or lamb which is pink, bloody or both. You wouldn’t like it when I’m angry!
Wells-Next-The-Sea
Next stop? Liverpool John Lennon Airport & Lisbon!
http://www.deepdalebackpackers.co.uk
One year – the answers!
Wells, Somerset – one of the locations for Hot Fuzz – May 2015
Ogden Water, West Yorkshire – June 2015
Tram 28, Lisbon, Portugal – July 2015
Padrao do Descobrimentos, Belem from Rio Tejo, Portugal – July 2015
Torre de Belem from the Rio Tejo, Belem, Portugal – July 2015
Centro Cultural de Belem, Belem, Portugal – July 2015
It’s a sign! Between Estoril & Cascais, Portugal – July 2015
On the beach near Cascais, Portugal – July 2015
Sandeman’s Port Lodge, Vila Nova de Gaia, Porto, Portugal – September 2015
Viana do Castelo, Portugal – September 2015
Canal Central, Aveiro, Portugal – September 2015
Praca 8 de Maio , Coimbra, Portugal – September 2015
View from a room, Newcastle-upon-Tyne – October 2015
Villa Real de Santo Antonio, The Algarve, Portugal – March 2016
Fishing boat, Cabanas, The Algarve, Portugal – March 2016
Tavira skyline, The Algarve, Portugal – March 2016
To Swaledale – and beyond! Keld, North Yorkshire – May 2016
Broad Haven beach, Pembrokeshire, Wales – May 2016
Hail Blackpool!
Don’t get me wrong, but I do like to be beside the sea…
But I’m not particularly fond of rain, hail and high winds when I’m trying to walk on a beach. I thought it was bad whilst trying to do so at Sheringham on the North Norfolk coast a couple of years ago, but that was nowt compared to tackling the beach at Blackpool just last week.
We had seen the weather forecasts and had dressed and packed accordingly, even though our respective bags had capacities of 10 litres (mine) or 15 litres (Caroline’s).
Despite a mix of soft shell trousers and jacket (me) and windproof fleece and tech jeans (Caroline) plus an effective use of tech t-shirts and micro fleeces (both of us), the wind and rain still presented problems once we got to Blackpool North Station and started to walk down to the town centre.
When it got really bad, there was only one thing for it – get into Marks & Spencers and head into their cafe for a hot drink, food and the chance to dry out. Once this was accomplished, it was time to head back out and see what was out there…
Caroline had already decided to try and find some thermal leggings to help combat the elements and as she hadn’t seen anything in M&S, we sought out the local branch of Millets.
Which had moved and had everything but thermal leggings as they’d been recalled back to the warehouse in order to make space for summer stock. Fair enough I suppose given that it was the end of April and it should have been fine and sunny…
After a quick side trip into Sports Direct in search of leggings, it was Primark that saved the day. One set of black leggings in Caroline’s size at the princely sum of £4 – bargain!
Once that was sorted, we tracked down the venue for Status Quo’s show and then headed to our resting place for the night – The Ascot Guest House in nearby Hornby Road.
Although we were the only ones booked in for the night, the sign in the window said No Vacancies – after all, it was going to be the calm before the storm that is the Great British Bank Holiday Weekend…and the Hotel Inspector was due to take a look at the premises at 6pm on the day we arrived.
Once settled in, we freshened up, headed out and then went in search of fodder. The first port of call was full and didn’t have any tables free for about an hour or so. The next one was busy, but had tables, so that’s where we ate.
Good pizza, good beer, but we’re still waiting for our coffees to turn up. They’d been prepared, but as the place was busy and hadn’t enough staff, the coffees had been made and placed on a tray, never to be served.
After asking for the bill, the coffee error was realised and whilst an offer was made of fresh coffee at no charge, we had to go, so the bill was handed over and paid, but not before I witnessed the £5 or so being taken off the bill for the coffees that never were.
And so to The Empress Ballroom. Posh? Yes, Pricey? Yes – £4 for two jackets in the cloak room and £4.50 for a half of bitter and a half of cider and £15 for a tour programme (from Quo’s merchandising stand and well worth the cost after looking at it a few times now).
The following day saw a reasonably early breakfast and a good chinwag at The Ascot, one of the friendliest places either of us have stayed in over the years.
By the time we left at 11am (an hour after the time to go listed on the back of our room door), we decided to hit the seafront and see what was out there.
Wind, and plenty of it. A brief respite came about through heading into the RNLI shop at the lifeboat station to stock up on bags of fudge and a new ‘coin’ substitute for use in supermarket shopping trollies, but the weather had to be faced once more. And it was.
Blackpool beach was almost deserted and stayed that was as we quickly went back on the promenade in search of shelter and coffee. Both came about in The Albert And Lion pub – coffee, shelter and warmth for half an hour.
The wind had dropped a bit, but not enough to tempt us along the beach once more, so we headed up the seafront and passed Harry Ramsden’s and a few pubs. One Irish bar had a bloke with a radio mike dressed up as a leprechaun as a potential means of pulling people into the pub.
We gave it a miss, but were rather amused a few minutes later when we headed back past the pub and heard said leprachaun broadcasting an interesting comment from inside the pub – he’d forgotten to turn the radio mike off before making said comment to another member of the pub’s staff! Oops…
As a late afternoon train had been booked for the journey home, there was a whole lot of mooching around going on after a fish and chip lunch at Harry Ramsden’s.
Now I don’t normally spend much when I’m away for a couple of days, but one shop window display caught my eye – an array of Corgi die cast models including FAB1 and a joint set of Thunderbird 2 & 4. Not cheap at £20 per box, so a decision had to be made.
So it’s Thunderbird 2 & 4 that’s on the shelf to my right as I type this up and FAB1 will arrive at a later date, as will Thunderbirds 1 & 3 when they’re sighted in a shop.
Apparently this latest batch of Thunderbirds related items aren’t being sold to the same potential customers as the ones relating to the ITV animated activities of International Rescue.
The Corgi models are being sold to nostalgic fifty somethings! Like me…
Poshpacking…
The cloisters at Pousada Convento da Graca, Tavira
Keith Rickaby, Nikon Coolpix S3100
It all began in October last year when Caroline’s workplace approved a week away in March and then Expedia came up with an offer that we couldn’t refuse – flights from our local airport, private transfers from and to Faro airport and a week in a hotel in Tavira on the Algarve.
Not just any hotel you understand, but one that Berlitz Algarve described as “one of the most desirable places to stay on the entire coast” – Pousada Convento da Graca, a converted 16th century convent complete with cloisters and its own church.
We knew that Pousadas had special rates for those of us who are over 55, but as the offer we were made beat a few of the prices we had last year for stays in guest houses or boutique hotels, it would have been madness to turn it down…
Which left a couple of problems.
The first was what to wear during our stay, given that Lonely Planet Portugal‘s comments on the Pousada started with “If you can get past the front door (there’s a bit of an attitude here)”…
The second was packing to cope with any potential dress code, given that we were flying with hand luggage and that our airline – Monarch – had a 10kg weight restriction on hand luggage.
In the end, we needn’t have worried, even though the temperatures encountered during the first full week of March were below expectations after reading the ten day forecasts for Faro and Tavira.
We packed by taking our cue from these forecasts and perceptions based on looking through the photos in the Pousada Convento da Graca section of the website dedicated to the Portuguese Pousadas.
I ended up packing virtually all Rohan kit once more. Four Progress polo shirts, a couple of Stratum long sleeved polos, two Merino t-shirts, two pairs of 2015 Goa trousers, a selection of Cool Silver trunks and a few pairs of M&S silver containing socks.
Wash kit had the usual contents – factor 30 Nivea suncream, disposable razor, King of Shaves shaving oil, Via Sonic battery toothbrush, travel size toothpaste, Lush shower gel, and Sanex roll-on anti-perspirant. Spare shoes? One pair of espadrilles.
Caroline’s choices were somewhat similar and yes, most of it was also from Rohan. Ultra Silver camisoles and briefs, a couple of Serene vests, a brace of Malay tops, a pair of travel linen trousers, a pair of Trailblazer trousers bought during the Rohan sale at Trek & Trail Saltaire and a Malay dress – just in case. Oh, and a couple of Stria long sleeved tops, again just in case.
Our choices coped admirably with both the expected dress codes and the changeable weather conditions encountered. We’d layered up in readiness for the early start to the airport (3am departure from the house with a car thermometer reading – 1C), so these warm layers (Rohan, Peter Storm, Lowe Alpine) came into their own on the cooler nights during our trip.
We didn’t have any problems once we checked into the Pousada or in fitting in whilst wandering around Tavira, eating in family run restaurants such as Bica, Casa Simao and Churrasqueira O Manel or on the local buses and trains used to get us around the Algarve and the ferry used to have a few hours in Spain.
Yes, there was a bit of washing and wearing going on during the week to keep things sweet, but we stayed smart and our bags came in at 8kg each so no worries on the plane!
And we weren’t the only ones using Rohan in the Pousada either as fellow Brits were sporting Rohan trousers or shirts in and around the hotel.
An account of our visit to Tavira will be posted here soon!
Caroline, Sunday morning, 7.15 am, waiting for the car to Faro Airport.
Keith Rickaby, Nikon Coolpix S3100
On the beach…
Bamburgh Beach, Thursday 26th November 2015
Keith Rickaby
Nikon Coolpix S3100 digital compact camera
Bamburgh – the morning after…
Bamburgh Castle from the beach, Thursday 26th November 2015
Keith Rickaby
Nikon Coolpix S3100 digital compact camera using B & W menu option
Bamburgh…
Bamburgh Castle as the sun goes down, Wednesday 25th November 2015
Keith Rickaby Nikon Coolpix S3100 digital compact camera
Seahouses sunset
Seahouses, Wednesday 25th November 2015.
Keith Rickaby
Nikon Coolpix S3100 digital compact camera
wisepacking 
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