Archive for the ‘Cruising’ Category

The Big Six O

Posted: November 21, 2013 in Cruising, P&O, Travel
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Slight re-write of previous years 🙂

On this day, 60 years previous, the most beautiful bouncing baby boy was born to what must have been the proudest parents in the land. And those parents did look down upon their new son and did gaze in wonderment at how beautiful their new child was. Looking down upon him they had an overpowering feeling that this boy was going to grow into a most wonderful man who would bring great joy, not only to his family but also to everybody that would have the pleasure of meeting and knowing him, and rightly, both parents were proud. So proud, they couldn’t hold back the tears of joy.

Meanwhile, in the bed opposite were two equally new parents looking down on their new baby boy (who was crying with all the effort he could muster) and with tears running down their cheeks they thought, ‘God, that boy is beautiful, but look at ours! Not bad for a first attempt I suppose but we’d better try again, I’m sure we can do better and anyway, this one will never make old bones.

Ha ha, today I fooled them all and proved them wrong. Yes, today is indeed my birthday and yes, I was indeed that ‘other’ child and yes, I have made Old Bones, for today, I AM 60 YEARS OLD. See, I knew I could exceed all expectations.

Free Prescriptions at last. 🙂

Birthday Eve in Gran Canaria

Posted: November 20, 2013 in Cruising, P&O, Travel
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Today will be a short posting as tomorrow is my birthday and I’m too excited to write anything of any detail. But I’ll give it a go.

I’m pleased to report that after leaving La Palma, we managed to sail around Tenerife and onwards to Gran Canaria where we docked opposite two Spanish Destroyers (I assume they’re Spanish). Overhead were sinister dark clouds threatening rain. But the Captain promised us a nice day so we were quite happy.

For some reason I had allowed myself to agree to a shopping trip to Puerto De Mogan. This meant an early rise and early breakfast before catching the coach that would transport us, for an hour to what I thought was going to be 4-hours of shopping! I was not happy. At least the coach trip provided a sort of sight seeing trip of Gran Canaria. Not only did we see the hills, the airport and the wind farms but also the bowels of Gran Canaria as we spent so much time going underground through tunnel after tunnel.

When we did arrive at our destination, the clouds had disappeared, the sun was shining, the sea was shimmering, the bars were welcoming and the sort of shops I was dreading were non existent. This wasn’t a shopping trip; it was some time alone wondering around Gran Canaria’s own version of a Little Venice. As we wondered around the town, we crossed bridges, walked along jetties, gazed at boats, admired the beach and even admired a couple of the sunbathers on the beach. After an hour, maybe less 🙂 we selected a nice bar / restaurant and settled down for beer and food.

Thirst and hunger sated, we then wondered around the sea front where we found a nice little shop where Mrs Me was able to plant her plates of meat (feet) into a tank of fish (for a fish pedicure). The squeals and screams attracted many people, all of whom joined me to watch as the fish gorged themselves on all her dead skin. It was interesting to note that some of this kept swimming over to the air stone (used to aerate the water), seemingly to get a breath of fresh air before returning to what must have been an arduous task. 15 minutes later, Mrs Me withdrew from the tank declaring that her feet were now all nice and soft, if not a little fishy.

The only down side to our excursion was that as it was threatening rain, I had dressed in trousers, shoes and shirt. The wiser people (everybody else) wore sandals, shorts and t-shirts. I felt more than a little conspicuous :-(.

All too soon, we had to return to the lovely Oceana. Trouble was, when we got back, so had the clouds and the rain. But am I downhearted? Of course not, for tomorrow we celebrate the birth of His Podgeness.

I’m off for a drink now. And I won’t be having an early night!

Today, I Espied a Whale

Posted: November 19, 2013 in Cruising, P&O, Travel
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Actually, I didn’t see any whales at all. The title was aspirational: all I want see is one little, or big, whale, but so far all I’ve seen is sea. And of course the occasional landfall. Yes, that’s right, after sailing all night, we have found another island. I was going to name this island The Land of Folded Hills but it would seem that the island has already been discovered and is known as La Palma.

Newsflash: Mrs Me actually came out of her slumber in time to see us arrive. I think this is a first

As we had no pre-booked excursions we had the luxury of time and so we were able to enjoy a relaxed breakfast while looking out over to the island through the early morning rain and resultant rainbows.breakfast this morning was indeed a lovely experience. Mrs Me didn’t even moan about two fried eggshell had hidden under the scrambled eggs, bean, mushrooms, sausage, etc., etc. Yum Yum.

We then planned to our 3.2 laps of the Oceana but the maintenance men had other ideas and closed parts off. So, that plan thwarted, we went ashore and elected to walk into town instead of taking the shuttle bus.

I have to say,Santa Cruz de la Palma, the capital of La Palma, where we were berthed (see, I know all the nautical terms) is quite the nicest of towns and probably one that I / we would happily come back to for a few days. The town just felt welcoming, relaxed & happy; especially the bars. Of course there were other shops but I was canny. Leaving for town so late meant that before long it was siesta time and most of the shops shut for lunch until 17:00. What a result. During this time, I did find a rather nice jewellers who had a stunning array of pendants and gold chains which of course I did point out to Mrs Me: this was when she realised it was siesta time, and smacked my, already cauliflower, ear. 😦

After such trauma, I clearly needed to find a bar where we could sit, relax, enjoy a beer and watch the word go by; a world by the way that consisted mostly of passengers and crew from the Oceana. But would you believe it, we had found a bar that, itself, was closing down for a siesta. So we finished our beers and headed back to the boat.

We reached the boat just as lunch was finishing. Crickey I thought, what am I to do. It’s another hour until tea time (sandwiches & cakes), how am I going to manage? Well, fear not. All we had to do was head to the sun deck where we found the Horizon Grill. Here they would cook just about anything that goes with chips to order. So, fish, chips and mushy peas were ordered, cooked, delivered and consumed, and all washed down with a nice glass of Rioja. Lovely.

Looking forward to this evening, we have two birthdays that I know of; one on our table and even more importantly, my new hero who is 100 years young today. What a legend. I just so want there to be 100 balloons over his table.

Anyway, we’ve checked the charts and it’s quite a short trip, by-passing Tenerife (why I thought we were going to Tenerife I have no idea) to our next port of call, which is Gran Canaria. Perhaps we’ll see some whales on the way!

Made it; Land at Last.

Posted: November 18, 2013 in Cruising, P&O, Travel
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Well, after three days and four nights, through stormy seas (!), avoiding all whales, and despite the vastness of the sea, we made Madeira, virtually on time. Actually we were on time but three other ships in front of us took their time parking which delayed us by about 30 minutes. But, we’re here. We’ve reached dry land; we’ve reached Portugal, and so many of the passengers couldn’t wait to get off, onto terra firma and stretch their legs. As for His Podgeness and Mrs me, we relaxed, had a lazy breakfast and went ashore around three hours later.

Having been to Madeira before and having done the coach trip round the island, seen the churches, seen the lace factory, seen Madeira wine farms and tasted the product, we decided that we would do our own thing. So, we walked into town, that’s right, we walked. Straight into a market: it’s almost as if it was planned. Have you ever noticed by way how markets have all sorts of things for Mrs Me’s but very little for us blokes? Anyway, we made our way through with little wallet damage and down to the sea front where Mrs Me declared that we should head towards the cable car as she would like to ‘give it a go’. Now, this is the same Mrs Me that froze when we went on the London Eye. Are you sure? I ask, have you seen where it goes? Looking high up the ‘mountain’ where the cable disappeared into the clouds. Absolutely she said, so long as I sit in the middle. Fair enough I thought and cable car direction we went.

Well, give her credit where credit is due. She went through with it; she even bought the tickets for the trip and the tropical gardens at the top. The ride up was fantastic, and I wish I’d done it before. Mrs Me sat there, looking straight ahead, not moving. Briefly I took hold of her hands, but I soon let them go again: they were all wet and sticky, yuk.

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Arriving at the top,the temperature had definitely dropped and it was spitting. But did this phase us? Of course not. We are intrepid travellers. We laugh in the face of such adversities. So it was onwards, and downwards, into the tropical gardens. I have to say, they were magnificent. I reckon may through September must see them at their best but even today, in November they were still worth the visit. They do however present one problem, especially one as old and frail as His Podgeness 🙂 To see them all, and enjoy a well earned break in the coffee shop / bar, you have to go down. Down, down and then down some more: down, down, deeper and down. Inevitably, The Only Way Is Up has to follow.

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And then, the only way is down, via the cable car. Mrs Me was a little more relaxed going down! It was almost a pleasure to hold her hands!

All that remained was the long walk back through that market where I regret to say that Mrs Me failed to get through without succumbing. She bought a Murano Glass bracelet. it was touch and go at the shoe shops but we got away with it. Phew.

At last we reached the Oeana, just in time for the sail away. And, as we sailed away, leaving Madeira behind us, we headed for La Palma before which, Mrs Me and His Podgeness had yet another evening of fine dining to look forward to, where we would share our adventures with our dining friends and they would share theirs. After all, that is half the pleasure of P&O cruising.

In the mean time, it’ s all at see again.

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Still No Land!

Posted: November 17, 2013 in Cruising, P&O, Travel
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Don’t tell her but today I’ve moved along from my balcony to Mrs Me’s Balcony. She won’t mind though as she’s too busy sleeping off her breakfast. A breakfast which was particularly special as we were privileged enough to sit with a young gentleman who will be 100 years old in two days time, on the 19th November. I thought I was doing well having my 60th in four days time: that’s the 21st for those that can’t do sums :-). An ex tank driver, this young gentleman is still independent, living in his own home and only gave up his [clean] driving licence at 96. He is my new hero.

Anyway, back to me. What have I done in the last 24 hours that’s different to the previous 24 hours. Not a lot actually, and that is good: total R & R. We did our 3.2 laps of the Oceana (that’s three miles we’ve walked so far). We have made some more new friends, eaten more fine food ( you’d expect nothing less on the Oceana) and re-discovered the Champagne Bar. Also, it being the first formal night, we met the Captain (from Italy) at the welcome aboard cocktail party. This pleased Mrs Me, as listening to the voice of an italian just makes her go all dreamy (not sure what she’s dreaming though). But wait, we also found the Gymn. Ok, it was an accident but nevertheless we had a look inside and was actually quite impressed. So impressed in fact that yours truly, His Podgeness, went straight to the onboard shops and bought a t-shirt to wear in the Gymn the following day (today). That’s right, you heard correctly, His Podgeness is going to try out the Gymn!

In the meantime however, I continue to sit on [her] balcony watching the sea drift by. It’s a calmer sea now, still a vast sea, but a calmer sea and the temperature is edging ever closer to 20: lovely! And, looking at the map, we seem to be just West of the mouth of the Meditterranean. So from here on in, it’s going to get even warmer. Perfect birthday weather methinks.

Newsflash – His Podgeness is off to the Gymn

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His Podgeness is back

Time once more to sit on the balcony (my balcony this time) and gaze out to sea, seeing nought but the sea and just listening to the sounds made by the Oceana as she makes her way south to the Canaries and hoping, ever hopeful, to see a whale or two. All I’ve sen so far are gulls, lots of gulls. How far do gulls fly? We must be a hundred miles from land. Not sure if the distance is correct but we certainly can’t see any land. All I can see is sea, lots of sea: a sea without whales :-(.

Tomorrow, we reach Madeira, or to be more precise, the Ilha da Madaira (apparently it means Island of Timber), which by all accounts is twice the size of The Isle of Wight, but a lot hillier and a lot warmer, especially in November, the birth month of His Podgeness. By all accounts Madeira also has a long road tunnel, the longest in Portugal in fact. This also confirms that Madeira is a Portugese Island. Before we get there however, there are three more meals to conquer. So, until we meet again:

Bom dia

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