Small hiccup in posting on wisepacking due to a new development!

A return to full time working – with Rohan...

As the work rota is now sorted, regular updates should start again next week.

Changing holiday plans isn’t something we normally do.

Last September’s two week trip was planned out and accommodation booked way before it was due to happen, but fortunately we’d made a savvy move by booking most of our overnight stays through booking.com which had free cancellation as an added incentive, just in case Covid rules were instigated at short notice.

The original plan for last September was to head up to Scotland and use trains and buses to get into the Highlands to explore the area and get to places such as Mallaig and Kyle Of Lochalsh by rail.

Why didn’t that trip happen? Not because of Covid, but a wedding…

Not ours, but Caroline’s son and his fiancee – who live in London.

The timing was going to be a bit close, so we decided to postpone it and cancel bookings in order to look for a break closer to London so Caroline was in striking distance for when the date/venue were finalised.

East Anglia became the location of choice, largely because we’ve been to both North Norfolk and Suffolk before, but we’ve never done the full circuit…

The process for cancelling the Scottish trip and booking (again by booking.com) the stays for the new plan took just four hours from start to finish – our favourite backpacker hostel’s ensuites in North Norfolk, a very good small hotel in Lowestoft, a chain hotel in Bury St. Edmunds, a coaching inn near IWM Duxford Air Museum and another chain hotel in Cambridge.

Our earlier than usual start on that first Sunday was down to our first port of call – Normous Newark Autojumble at the Showground on the outskirts of Newark which is next door to Newark Air Museum.

What’s an Autojumble? Think of a very large car boot sale devoted to predominately items for cars, motor bikes, memorabilia, bits for bikes and books, models, clothing and tools and you won’t be too far wrong.

We’d seen footage from Normous Newark on ITV4’s Junk & Disorderly TV show where presenters Henry Cole & Sam Lovegrove find things, fix them up and then flog them at other Autojumbles.

There was no sign of the dynamic duo though, but lots to look at and ponder on as we wandered around, had coffee and then wandered some more. We left empty handed, but now we know what’s what, a return visit could be in order when our Skoda has an empty boot to take any purchases!

Once lunch was taken care of, it was time to head for Deepdale Backpackers in Burnham Deepdale to find our room for the night. As the kitchen was closed due to Covid restrictions, we bought snack stuff and beer & cider for consumption later in the open air in the courtyard below our room.

As we had another early start on Monday morning, an early night was had, largely because we had a steam train to catch after finding our breakfasts!

Well, today is the day here in the UK.

The day when we find out what we can do, where we can go and when we can do it.

Boris will announce the plans in The House Of Commons this afternoon and then take to the airwaves later on to let the general populous know what the plans are and what the caveats are as to the timings and implementation.

So can we go or should we stay now? Time and BJ will tell.

All I do know is that there’s a jab with my name on it heading my way on Tuesday lunchtime – I haven’t jumped the queue, it’s just that events of seventeen years ago have ensured that I’m higher up the list than I expected!

The pics from Sunday were (top to bottom):

Sunset, Cadiz, Andalucia

Port Erin, Isle Of Man

Alfresco flamenco, Seville

The Mushroom, Seville

Sandeman’s Wine Lodge, Porto

The pics that got away last week!

Boggle Hole Youth Hostel is near Robin Hood’s Bay and Whitby on the Yorkshire coast.

Although Caroline and I both started hostelling through YHA in the 1970’s, neither of us had stayed there before.

Gone are the days of filling out a booking form, getting a postal order and sending both to the hostel along with a stamped self addressed envelope.

Our stay on this occasion was made via Expedia a few days before we headed off.

Comfy hostel? Yes…

Member’s kitchen? Yes…

Bar and cafe? Yes…

Will we go back? Yes…

Does the new app work on the new phone?

If you’re reading this, the answer is also Yes!

There should be a pic here, but new phone says no!

Will post it when we’re back home…

After writing a couple of posts recently regarding well known people, this one is about someone closer to home…

I’d seen a job advertised recently for a store manager’s post over in Halifax, but decided not to go for it as I’d worked for that company a couple of times and had walked away from their employ back in 2013 – I finished on the Friday and Caroline & I were having a good meal and some fine wine on a bar terrace overlooking Lisbon city centre 24 hours later.

As I’d got to know Peter the manager of Halifax quite well, I thought that he’d decided to retire after a sizeable length of service with the company. But no.

I found out on Friday that he’d passed away just before Christmas and that his funeral had apparently taken place on Christmas Eve.

Always one of the good guys…

As someone who has worn, tested or otherwise used Gore-tex in its many forms over the last thirty years or so, I was surprised to see this news story on the BBC here in the UK yesterday.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-34142486

Here’s hoping that there is a happier ending to the story.

So much for new technology – the future was looking bright as the item mentioned in the last posting was orange, but…

After assembling that new filing system, I picked it up to put next to the desk and guess what?

It fell apart…

So much for a mixture of design, metal and self-assembly!

I somehow suspect that the item in question is going to replaced by old technology – a similar item in wood!

Right, it’s a bank holiday here in England so it’s time to sort out a couple of bits that I couldn’t get in Leeds yesterday and then the Wisepacking Towers drawbridge will be raised for the rest of the day to indulge in some reading and to watch  a movie or two.

Yes, it’s typical bank holiday weather here once more – it’s raining!

Yes, there’s no comments on here at the moment, largely because the WordPress spam filters have been weeding out quite a lot of spam over the last month or so.

The comments facility may return in the not too distant future…

On a different note, Wisepacking Towers has been getting a coat of paint and a couple of vertical sideboards too.

A little bit of new technology is due on the scene shortly and once that’s been sorted, it will be all systems go once more!