holiday – Page 3 – C J AIREY

Day 5 – Big Fat Zero

Well, this is going to be short! We’ve been really, really busy doing absolutely nothing today.

I found myself somewhat reflective today, having been reminded how much I needed this holiday last year.

On 13 July, 2023, I worked my last day at Airangel Limited – a company I co-founded, and it brought to an end 12,761 days without seeing a P45. I’d had 35 years of continuous service for one reason or another.

I can’t say it wasn’t disappointing to not get a call off anyone from work during the final 2 days. It just stopped and then I went on holiday. Very strange ending to a very long career.

Well it’s been a year! After Airangel was wholly purchased by an American business, I was made redundant (on 6 months statutory notice). Somewhat unexpectedly, I was also returned money that I had loaned into the business (at 0% interest). I was then taken on by said ‘Murcans on a consultative basis, through until January of 2024.

For those wondering, yes, I was also a shareholder, so at some points there may be some money coming my way. But also, maybe not. It’s complicated. Either way, it’s not a life changing amount, I’m not retired on financial and age grounds, put it that way.

What the above did mean was that I had the equivalent of 12 months or so, of income, pre-paid.

I’m very thankful of that. It gave me the opportunity to take a bit of time off, but mainly to then have a go at things that I really wanted to without the immediate pressure of replacing that income.

It was obvious to me what I wanted to do and I immediately applied to become a volunteer at the local NHS Trust Hospital – Stepping Hill, Stockport.

I can’t deny that it was an odd feeling going to my first interview since I was 18, even for an unpaid voluntary position. I was delighted when I was asked if I would be a Ward Helper on the Acute Frailty Unit (D4). Given that Dad ran the Path Lab & Mum was a Ward Aid on A14/15 back in the day, then my little Sis’ did a stint there as a Clinical Speech & Language Therapist, it meant I’d “squared that Blue circle”.

I’m still there 2 days a week, 12 months on. I think it’s probably the most rewarding job I’ve ever had. I really do mean it. I love helping the patients and clinical staff. The staff there are all heroes. Oh, and arranging the blue mugs above the red ones on every tea trolley round is a highlight!

Some of my finest work. Even got the ‘keeper in there.

I’d decided that after the New Year & my consultancy stint finished, I would start looking for other work, ideally flexible time-wise, so am presently an independent consultant that’s very happy to help businesses improve through Quality & Information Security Management systems and processes.

I also got a qualification in Spectator Safety & applied for a role at the new Co-op Live arena, on the same campus as the Manchester City Stadium. I did get a Fan Services role, but suffice to say, working in an office answering customer complaints wasn’t the most rewarding of days work, whilst it bumped and bathed its way through a very rough opening few weeks.

Thankfully, that role was deemed untenable, by the Co-op, and myself! After a short hiatus, I did a few shifts as a steward, working in the seating area for Eric Clapton/Doobie Brothers, and on the doors at Entrance F a couple of times. It was really good fun, being able to interact with & help fans have a great experience.

After three shifts I was asked to consider the Fan Service Assistant role that I’d expected the first one to be. I said “yes”, and within a couple of shifts we’d got a decent team together of regulars. It’s unfair to pick people out, but Maz (Maria) & Adam are top notch & we get on particularly well! They totally get the service delivery/customer experience bit alongside conflict management & thinking on our feet. It’s a buzz working with them & we keep in touch outside of the shifts, mainly talking work – we are a great team for sure! I’m looking forward to my next shift which is a 7pm-6:30am (yikes!) for a UFC Fight night event. That should be “interesting”!

One thing that’s also been interesting & frustrating is that because I’m ‘panurgic’ (a good Jack-of-all trades) and am able to put a CV together for all sorts of work whether tech, business process engineering or hospitality/customer relationship centric, I’ve applied for lots of roles.

I’m grateful for the companies that have had the good grace to reply, even with rejections. Almost all haven’t even bothered. I would never consider not replying. I’m now on my 4th ‘no reply’ for applications as a Bar tender, as an example. If you hear of anything, bear me in mind!

I’m even genuinely considering becoming a driving instructor, as it would allow me to carry on volunteering and working in the Fan Services role. Who knows what the future holds.

Anyway, all of this contemplation was in part because I’ve been avoiding the sun today. I’ve gone a bit “Jerry the Berry” (standard operation procedure, in my case), and so have been sat in the shade, reading, dozing, wondering if the house is trashed, for a large part of the day. It was about 4pm, before I finally ventured into the sun. I felt almost vampiric!

By six, and a few pool dips later we went & showered and then I fell asleep! Oops.

I was awakened by my cheap-but effective smart watch buzzing with messages from my Fan Services WhatsApp group. Some stuff happened. Some people were kinda happy as they could watch the England final. Then some other stuff happened. Now they have a tough choice to make. The craic in the conversations is superb! What a cracking bunch of nutters I work with!

As we have an early (pre-9am) start tomorrow, we decided to stay local and ‘light’, so we’ve been to Casibe -a shortish walk down the Ataturk Road, for a tapas style meal.

Yet again, food, service & company all fabulous! Steak skewers, Chinese style prawns, smokey meatballs, a proper-tasty babaganoush, croquettes and a feta with sesame & honey dressing. Yum!

One of the fellas spotted I was pointing the microphone end of my phone towards their speaker (Shazam’ing, as I thought the singer sounded like Ruth B.). He gave us the link to the ‘streaming video’ service (YOU know the one), and told us the song, a cover of 1000 Years. Those are the details that make a difference. Great service doesn’t have to cost a penny when you have a great attitude.

Appetite suitably sated, we’ve headed home for a relatively early night, ready for our nautical adventures tomorrow!

See you laters, me hearty shipmates!

Day 4 – Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay

After finishing yesterdays blog this morning, I scoffed some bread, cheese, ‘meats’ & tomato & washed it down with fresh orange juice, apple tea & a pot of ayran (sour sheep yogurt, water & salt – it’s much better than it sounds, trust me!).

Given our late start today & our plans for this evening, we just spent a few hours around or in the pool, reading, snoozing or listening to music (probably Pet Shop Boys, in Jane’s case).

At around 3:30, we called time and headed up to the apartment for showers & a change into our finest feather. For me that meant a pair of garish checked shorts, a mismatched polo shirt & chilli-dip-splashed light grey Sketchers (they’re comfy, bite me).

The Dolmus throwing an anchor out to stop

We headed down the hill and caught the Dolmus north to Fethiye, this time on a bus with a better safety rail, but no brake pads (the smell as we braked down the hill into Fethiye was impressive).

After about 20 minutes and £1.40 lighter for the two of us, we arrived at the ‘last stop’ in the centre of Fethiye at 5:15pm. A short meandering walk in the sunshine took us down to the harbour where, ahead of our schedule, we called in at Cafe Geniş for a cold drink, before the 6pm Water Taxi over to Çaliş Beach (where we e-scootered to the other day).

We paid up, and headed to the water taxi, which took its usual 20 minutes or so to get to the stop near Çaliş Beach, from where we headed south on the other side of the estuary. We are heading for a ‘wooden jetty that’s 200m north of the Big Boy” or something like that.

Sure enough, at about 6:50 our next water taxi arrived to take us on our complementary ride over to Sovalye Island & the Ada Restaurant for our tea.

Wow! What a place that is – proper fine dining experience! Glad that we’d had a steer to book a Balcony table that is a) an incredible view; and b) no smoking. Also glad that I’d been recommended the grilled squid starter! The place, the view, the service, the food and company were all amazing!

Well, apart from the young couple sat opposite to us that had clearly had a row. She sat, stony faced with her arms crossed for the first half hour, only lightening up to take photos of her fellas head so she could prove to him that he was ‘thinning on top’. Bless ‘em.

We ate well & watched the sun set over the distant mountains and the sea. Pretty much a perfect evening!

The taxi back leaves at quarter to the hour, so at 9:30, we headed down the steps to the jetty to be greeted by a wet dog, who seemed to be commanding the boat!

It was a short 6/7minute trip back to Çaliş, where the dog got off to be welcomed home by his ‘wife’ dog. True apparently.

Then a quick stroll up the promenade back to just about make the 10pm water taxi back to Fethiye Harbour. It was a busy boat back, as to be expected at this time of the evening.

A short walk down the harbour-front to nosey at all the boats at night, many of which make a show of being lit up. Some proper swanky looking things in tonight!

That looks a fancy Dan boat! I’ll captain it one day!

Once in Fethiye, we decided we’d call it a day & so headed back to the apartment via a Dolmus that had brakes and a safety rail. Actually, it seemed to be brand new!

Had a lovely day today, and really relaxing in to this ’just Jane & I’ holiday, although I think Jane is less so, missing both her boys, Toby & Charlie. Me? I’m making the most of it before the Monday nights arrivals!

No idea what we’ll be doing tomorrow, but whatever, we’ll enjoy it! Plans made for Saturday & Sunday though, so all good!

Much love, y’all

Day 3(.5)- Vindaloo is Coming Home

Today (Thursday) starts with me being “tired and jaded” (slightly hungover). Hence the late post.

Yesterday however, began with a bright and breezy breakfast on the balcony, followed by us heading down to the pool.

It was scorchio! There seemed to be very little wind and as such it was feeling every bit of the 34°C that it was supposed to be. Jane sunbathed. I spent a chunk of time in the pool.

Suddenly, the wind got up & the sun was obscured by cloud. Within minutes, Jane & I were packing the cushions up behind the bar under cover, as dark clouds bubbled furiously over the Babadağ Mountain peak.

We were back on the balcony as the thunder began & we got to watch a first for us here, rain! It was a pathetic imitation of Mancunian rain, lasting for 10 minutes and hardly wetting the tiles.

The tiles were so warm, the rain dried faster than it fell.

We spent the rest of the early afternoon chilling out, rinsing our roaming data allowance & wondering whether our house has been trashed yet. The video doorbell snapshots suggest plenty of comings & goings and I suspect some are ducking around the side of Jane’s van, out of vision. Fair play.

Showered & pampered, we then headed down to catch the 23Tl (50p) Dolmus down to Hisaronu. Made me chuckle that the overhead ‘safety grab bar’ was the most dangerous thing on the bus, being entirely detached except for the front.

The “safety rail”.

We got off in the centre of His’ & wandered up past Sports Direkt, Harrools (Harrods), I.idI. (near to Nevv Look), Mark & Spensers, then Footaslyum to Shanghai Blues, a Chinese Restaurant that we’ve been to before. No other choice really given we were going to spend the latter part of the evening watching the Stockport Iniesta show Jude Bellingham how to contribute more than a spawny goal.

The service and food were lovely, although again, we managed to eat more than we really needed to. (Mixed starter platter, lamb with ginger & spring onions, beef & cashews, served with egg fried rice & prawn crackers).

As the table was being cleared, the chap serving us dropped the small bowl of chilli dip, which smashed on the tiled floor and spattered all around in red chilli & oil – his white shirt, Jane & my legs, shoes, shorts, the white table cloth, the white seat covers. Oops. Apologetically, we were handed a few hand wipes to mop ourselves down with.

After paying the bill (cash, as it’s the only place where our Revolut card gets declined, as per last year), we started to head towards Fez Bar, via a few clothes shops. I’m sure we’ll be buying a few things before the holiday is over!

I’d booked us a table via Jo & Serdals Facebook page, so on arrival we were seated in a nice corner with a good view of the big telly. Happy days. Jo had suggested we’d be ok for 9pm but slightly earlier would be better. As such we got in for 8:15pm – better early than late!

As the match drew closer, the background music stopped, and the pre-match playlist was put on loud, so rather than having to listen to Andy Gray & Richard Keys (ars*hole), instead we, the pub patrons sang to:

Three Lions (Football’s coming home);
Vindaloo; then
Sweet Caroline

Sadly this did mean we had 5 minutes of the joy of the BEIN panel where Ronald De Boor made Glen Hoddle look like a Poundland Glen Hoddle & Jason Macateer did his best Poundland Jamie Carragher impression.

Just before KO, I got a FB Message from Fez Bar “ Hi Chris, are you coming? Ok if not.”. I replied with a photo of our view, Jane drinking her very large & very nice Strawberry Daiquiri. I saw Jo check her phone & burst out laughing. She came over to apologise, having not clocked us. It gave them a table back that had been reserved for us, that got filled immediately!

After Sex on The Beach, Jane settled for a Strawberry Daiquiri

Then the match. Great first half. Mainoo & Phil (Stockport Iniesta) Foden doing Stockport proud! Bellingham being ‘continental’ by being tapped and making a meal of it, and Harry Kane doing his best David Blaine impression (a long time in the box doing nothing). Apart from scoring a penner with his “foot’s hanging off, he definitely caught me!” (according to his post-match interview).

Second half tense. Holland (it’s Holland isn’t it, if you’re of a certain age), had neutralised our threat. At 60mins it was crying out for Kane to get hooked and bring Palmer on, but Gareth had than on his spreadsheet for 98th minute, so we endured some more.

Finally! Substitutions! Kane & Bellingham surely? Oh, I forgot about the ‘Bellingham Clause’, so the best player on the pitch in the first half got subbed instead.

Gareth is a genius! Last gasp winner from Ollie Substitute! Fez Bar went wilder than it had been throughout most of the evening! Fireworks being swung around in the street by the bar staff, clapping, singing, hugging, dancing and drinking – lots of drinking!

We’ve booked the same table for Sunday. I’ll wash and wear the same clothes.

We finally got the dolmus back to upper Ovacik, and headed home, getting in at around 1:15am, way past our bedtime, and why today’s diatribe arrives at this time.

It’s coming home…

Day 2 – And… “Action” (of sorts)

Annoyingly, I couldn’t turn my head off last night, for the first time in a while. Not sure why, and the whirring mind was all positive stuff, unlike the previous few years. But it did mean I watched the sun come up from behind Babadağ mountain before falling asleep, so that’s a plus.

When I did finally wake up, Jane was downstairs on the balcony having breakfast. Bread, cheese, “ham” and tomatoes, with a cafetière of coffee (Colombian, not Turkish for now – maybe later), for me.

Then, a stroll down the hill and the 20 minute Dolmus (bus) ride into Fethiye.

Off at the final terminal, we then wandered down through the old town, past the spice stores, through the fish market and then narrowly swerving the very friendly chap looking to flog us some perfume (“English always in a rush”, apparently) and on to towards the harbour.

Having had a little glance in to a cafe that we’d been recommended, to spy out for later, we stopped and sat in the shade for a moment. Next to an e-scooter parking bay.

Needless to say, I downloaded the app, set up an account and then signed two scooters out on a group ride (I pay & am liable for both).

I began explaining to Jane how you “push off with a foot, then press the ‘accelerator’ thumb button whilst…”

I never got to the “covering the brake with your left hand” part. She shot off and, out of control headed for the nearest boats. Thankfully, intuition (& fear) kicked in and she regained her composure and her e-scooter.

We then had a fabulous half hour, riding the harbour side bike path, the 6.6km all the way to Çaliş Beach. It was great fun but not without its moments.

‘Half-Throttle h’Airey” seemed intent at stringing this out despite me repeatedly reminding her that we get charged by the minute. “Time is money”, but not for Jane – “half speed and a bend means a visit to the bushes”. She was fine, and it entertained the lady on the e-bike behind us (dog in front basket, obviously).

For me, it was a more chagrin experience, as the clutch began slipping, the motor overloaded and a “weight overload” message came on as I tried to ascend to slight rise over a footbridge.

After rolling down the other side, it seemed to recover, although never seemed as keen to shift forward afterwards. I won’t be using XC9VX again, it seems, and it’s unlikely anyone else will for a while.

We dropped the scoots off near where the pubic water taxi leaves for Fethiye, stopped the group ride on the app, took the required photo to prove we were responsible in our choice of parking and then went for a stroll.

A very hot stroll down the ‘prom’. Definitely a lot warmer down here at beach level, in my opinion. After mooching the beachfront for half an hour, we stopped for a snack and a beer at Nil Bar.

Not shaming anyone, especially not Jonny Vegas, when they’re switched on enough to bring their own glass insulators. Genuinely impressed.

As I checked my phone to see what time it is, I noticed a timer running. About an hour. Bugger! Seems when you ‘end a group ride’ you still have to stop both scooter rentals individually. And to do so, you need to take a photo. As Jane ordered for both of us, I ‘jogged’ back to the bikes and confirmed the ride end, for both bikes.

We paid 30 minutes more than we needed to. Even so, both rentals cost us £8 & £5 respectively, which was still value for the laughs & fresh air. Highly recommend having a go!

After an ‘all in’ omelette for me & jacket spud with bacon & cheese for Jane, we “Hesap, Lűtfen’d”, paid the bill and meandered back the long way to the water taxi.

“The long way” means we sussed out where the water taxi leaves from when it heads to Sovalye Island. More of that later in the week.

The water taxi is about a half hour trip across the bay back to where we nabbed the scooters from, so was perfect – cool breeze, nice views & 200Tl (about a fiver) for both of us.

From there we meandered back into the old town, and on to Büyükev Kitchen & Bar (remember the cheeky cats from previous years? Still here.).

Cheeky cat reaching for some punters scran. The black Lab sat opposite sorted that out.

I had to slake my e-scooter inspired thirst by ordering a Maß (glass version of a 1L stoneware Stein) of Bomonti Filtresiz (unfiltered, fyi) and we both sat & watched the world go by for 3/4 of an hour or so. That and an episode of Netflix Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders that they were showing on the big screen (allegedly).

Jane is tiny. It’s a normal size glass, honest!

From there, we headed the short walk back to The Mulberry Tree cafe for our tea. We weren’t that hungry, and knowing what we’re having for tea on Thursday, budget played a part. That said, wow! Brilliantly simple but top notch scran & service.

Jane had the lentil soup (hence she’ll be sleeping on the balcony tonight), whereas I had garlic creamy mushrooms (plate licked clean), served with the complimentary side salad, balloon bread, and some of the finest pickled cabbage I’ve ever had! Both of us had also ordered the Pide (“Pee Day”), which is hard not to describe as a Turkish version of a pizza. Perfect for our needs! It’s part owned by a lovely English lady, who also served us an apple tea (Jane), and Turkish tea (me), both of which were also spot on.

The ‘Hesap’ was daft value, so we did tip heavily to push the bill to just over £30 total, including drinks. We’d estimated what we would expect to pay, and so payed that, rather than what the bill said, which seemed a fairer approach!

Then, a stroll back to the bus stop and the Dolmus back to ‘Upper Ovacik”. A tired and slow walk back up the hill & a collapse on the balcony. We were both hot & sweaty and as such, tired.

After a quick FB messenger exchange with Jo & Serdal, tomorrow nights hosts have put a table aside in front of their big screen for tomorrow’s “entertainment”, down at the newly restyled & re-opened Fez Bar, in Hisaronu.

So that’s tomorrow and Thursday sorted. Both late nights (for us) so I have no intention of taking up the reins & nipping to the corner shop for bread, Ayran etc.

Until tomorrow. Peace & love, all.

Day 1 – Maybe We’ll Do Some Shopping

A windy night last night! Weather, not nether, just to be clear.

So, I got out of bed at half past ten, then phoned up a friend who’s a party animal. We turned on the news and drank some (pomegranate) tea. Jane agreed with me, we’ll do some shopping.

And that is today’s summary, basically!

A stroll down the hill to the corner shop, where the main man then whizzes the shopping up to our door on his little moped.

Some coffee, bread & tomato for brunch and then down to the pool to test drive the new layout. It’s fab! There’s a nice little shallow section where you can sunbathe and some steps that allow for a gracious exit from the pool. Happy days!

Around 5pm, we called time on the “Slow Cook Chris” and headed back up for a chill, then a shower & freshen up, ready to go on our now-traditional first evening meal at Shiraz.

After a short walk, we were greeted immediately by Suat, who welcomed us back & sat us at our table. I had to have the amazing Lamb Shank (with extra mint sauce!) and Jane had the Sea Bream. Food excellent, service impeccable, as it’s always been!

A slow “full as a bull” walk back up the hill and we’ve crashed out on the balcony.

A much more dynamic day planned for tomorrow, so hopefully some more great experiences!

Day (Ground?) Zero – Guess Who’s Back, Back Again?

Well, I firstly apologise for anyone reading this thinking there’d be an improvement on my potential daily diatribe. Unlikely. Very unlikely. Switch off now, is the Doctors recommendation (the original, not the reboots and not Disney ‘New’ Doctor).

I’m sat on ‘that balcony’ again in Ovacik, Türkiye, pondering and remembering what’s gone on in the last 24 hours’ish & trying to put virtual pen to virtual paper.

Ve-ery different this year for us. Jane & I are here, as we have been for the third year in a row (thanks to our wonderful friends), loving the place & the people.

That’s where there’s a difference. This will be the longest we’ve been just ‘a couple’ since around 1996. We had Scooter (beautiful dog girl) and a vast menagerie, before stumbling into having a kid in 2005.

So I am aware. Loads of folks will have experienced this and will be ahead of where we are, as Charlie isn’t with us.

He’s at home. “Alone” (very unlikely). He has the house to ‘mind’ for a week on his own, and our favourite son, Toby (dawg) has been strategically re-sited for the next week or so, and has been given full access to all surveillance available (there’s a lot!).

“We are relaxed. We are confident. We are”…well, that’s the mantra. He will be fine, in all seriousness. It’s us as parents that are constantly adjusting to the ‘letting go’ phase (which I’m told by my Mum, never ends).

There’s a freezer full of ‘ping’ food. A cupboard full of pot noodles. The brewshed has been boarded up. All other accessible vehicles have had the distributor cap loosened. He’ll be fine.

He did get up to see us off the premises & thank you to Noz for the handover & taxi ride to the airport – very much appreciated!

The rest of today has been a breeze – flight on time & good, transfer (Ozgur Eser, Blue Lagoon is a legend), and now we (me & a Tuborg Filtresiz, as Jane is now in bed), are settled on the balcony writing this.

There may be more of this written effluent. There may not. As always, it just down to my head.

Day 7 – Dealing with the Job(bie) in Hand

Today started with an unexpected knock on our door, which panicked me, as it made me think we’d not done something we are supposed to – there are a few requests from the Cottage owner for today & before we vacate tomorrow morning.

Turns out it was just the Gardener, letting us know they’d be making a racket for a while. All fine with us.

And he made good time because by 11am it was hissing down. The first proper rain we’ve seen during a week in Pembrokeshire. That’s a rare event for us! On that basis, we definitely can’t complain.

May just make this a day at the cottage at this rate, which is absolutely fine by Jane & I. So on that basis, I used up some of the remaining fridge supplies by making a 3-egg, cheese & onion omelette for brunch.

The rain continued through until around 3pm, after which it eased off, leaving it very warm & humid. Moist, even.

When Jane spoke with Grain (in St. Davids) yesterday morning, trying to book for this evening, they did suggest that early on there was a chance of a walk-in, so we though we’d give it a go.

So around 3:45 we set off up to St Davids, which is around 45 minutes drive. We parked up in the car park & managed to blag a ticket (offered one from a day-parker that was leaving earlier than planned).

From this point on, Im not sure how our visit could have gone worse, tbh, though. St Davids was, as you would expect, very busy, with lots of tourists ambling between all of the lovely shops.

We walked up and around the high street towards where we thought Grain was. It was at this point that poor old Toby has a poonami attack! Out of the blue, he suddenly stopped and “dog gravy” ran in a stream like fashion from his arse. It was horrific, and didn’t seem to want to stop!

What a bloody nightmare! Jane bent over, scraping what she could from the pavement with poo bags as gloves, which inevitably split, leaving her with diarrhoea-covered hands.

I stood over the disaster zone to stop folk walking through it. “Watch out”, said a man behind me, as his 5 year old kid that wasn’t watching where she was going, tripped over my foot, stepped in the crap, and then fell to the shit-covered pavement on her hands and knees! Crying, the mother the glared at me, pointing out that she’d also holed her leggings. Knees and hands now also covered in crap!

As Jane finished the clean as best she should, I left the scene & nipped into the tourist info centre opposite, and the wonderful ladies in there loaned me a 2l jug, and filled it with water. I ran back across, and rinsed the pavement as best as we could. Another refill and the pavement was safe again at last.

By then, the lady had her daughter on her kneee, sat on a bench, comforting her. I assume after cleaning her hands, leggings and shoes?!

Back to Jane, who we then led to the public toilet so she could wash her hands and Tobys arse. What a bloody nightmare!

Once the chaos subsided and our party was turd-free, we headed to Grain, only to be told they weren’t taking walk-ins. I asked if we could sit outside on one of the many empty benches & order a drink given we were there, only to be told “no”! Strange approach for sure.

It was the last straw, and we decided we’d had enough of St Davids for today! We headed back south and called in at the Victoria Inn Brewpub (where I’d been earlier in the week).

Thankfully we snagged the last table and the last food order. One ‘Mosaic’ 4.5% IPA & a ‘Black Scar’ 5.4% BIPA later, washing down their ‘Fine & Dandy’ Beer-battered fish & chips and we set off back to the cottage to pack.

Bins out, bags packed, fridge contents ready to be put in the camper fridge for the journey home.

Plan tomorrow is be out of here by 10am, and then to press on tomorrow and try to get back before the rush hour starts affecting traffic. No plans other than than for tomorrow.

Pretty much the end of our hols on that basis, so thanks for reading if your did, and don’t worry if you didn’t, as my ramblings are as much for me as anyone.

See you next time folks, I’m signing off for this hols.

Chris x

Day 6 – Under an Iron Sky

We’ve realised we’re not used to coming away in peak season. What’s prompted that realisation is us now starting the day by trying to book somewhere for tea, and then heading in that direction if achieved.

Not going well again at the start of today with attempted bookings at:

The Brewery Inn, Cosheston – voicemail message “we are booked up all week”

Milton Brewery Inn, Milton – closed because the building is falling down around us (source: https://www.westerntelegraph.co.uk/news/19910918.milton-brewery-closes-alleging-buildings-falling/)

Grain, St David’s – “sorry fully booked for tonight & tomorrow. Maybe risk a walk in earlier on?”

We’ve eventually managed to book a table at the St Govans Inn, in Bosherston), so that’s where we’ll head today! No bad thing, as that means Stack Rocks, the Lilly Ponds, puffin & seal potential.

After a long wait for Romeo to come down from his Juliette Balcony, we eventually got going and headed south east via Pembroke Dock, but give the fuel light had com on we dreaded having to stick diesel in the van. It’s got a very big tank, so with fuel prices as they’ve been it can be a £145 fill-up.

Spotting a Texaco, I reluctantly turned in, expecting £1.90+ litre , but was delighted to see £1.76. Happy days, so I did fill to the brim, avoiding the need to stop until we get home on Friday evening.

Off the main roads, and down the wiggly-windies again, until we reached the tank crossing & headed across the Castlemartin Firing Range. Over the years we’ve parked up and watch tank & infantry exercises, with the best being the firing of live shells out into the sea. With a good pair of binocs & a keen eye, you can see them hit the sea on a clear day.

At the end of the road, literally, is the Stack Rocks car park, where we stopped, and the key to the Van finally snapped.

It’s a design fault on the flip-out key fobs and is a PITA (pain in the arse) to sort. The Amazon or EBay copies have differing locking pin sizes, so for our model it requires ‘fettling’. I can get it to work in the short term, but we do have a spare back at the cottage, if needed.

Anyway, we sorted that and then headed out with Captain Miserable in tow, heading for the sheer, vertical cliffs, needles & arches of Stack Rocks.

I think the last time we were here was with Jane’s Dad, my Mum & Dad & my Auntie & Uncle, Judith & Frank. Charlie was a toddler, and we’ve a raft of embarrassing photos of him, ready for when required. What I will divulgeHe used to have a ‘poo-light’ – a birthmark on his scalp that ‘lit up’ when he’d filled or was filling his nappy. Quite a handy feature at the time, tbh.

My Dad, bless him. He was probably at his happiest when with his eponymously-named Grandson, as brief as that was.

The coastline here is once again different to other areas with another change in the geology. The Carboniferous Limestone is being worn away by the crashing waves, meaning cracks appear, they can then join either side to create an arch (the Green Bridge of Wales being the nearest example from the car park), the top of which eventually collapses to leave the ‘stack’ – a pillar of rock.

I hope Mr Smith, my ‘O’ Level geography teacher would be proud of me. He definitely encouraged my love of physical geography (you can stick yer human geog up you’re arse, though), with it’s mohorovic discontinuities, thalwegs and dry adiabatic lapse rates!

Credit: Jane (otherwise I risk castration).

We had a good old wander around the coastline, adding more Choughs, Razorbills, Fulmars, Guillemots, Black Back & Herring Gulls & Cormorants to our spotted list, as they swooped around the cliff faces.

And on top of that we once again saw loads of seals. We’re pretty sure they are grey seals, which are some of the rarer species in Northern European seas, with their pups being born right about now, accounting for white ones we’ve seen – as they turn mottled grey after a month.

Having had our fill of vertigo for the day, we decided to head over to Broadhaven 2 (South), but as we parked up, we saw our first raindrops of the holiday, although they were light and lasted about 5 minutes. So instead we had a moral argument about paying for a parking ticket.

My view was shouted down on the basis that a) the machine didn’t take cards; b) we didn’t have £3 in change; c) there wasn’t enough internet connection to pay using the app; and d) we were parked for about 15 minutes maximum.

On that basis, I still protested however as we are using facilities run by the National Trust and the payment helps other sites not just covering our limited use of the car park. As such, I refused to stay any longer and we headed back towards St Govans where we were due to eat.

Although the table was only booked for 6pm, and at the point we parked up it was 5:30, we decided to go in and eat earlier and/or have a pint.

Stepping out of the van onto the verge next to the tea shop & garden, I managed to step in some dogshit. Annoyingly there was plenty to step on. As dog owners ourselves, we cannot understand how people don’t pick up their own dogs turds. It’s disgusting. Good news was that my shoe soles were turd-friendly and it was an easy clean up, thankfully.

It turned out that the pub only started taking food orders at 6pm, and it also seemed that other diners knew that, so we’re getting orders ready and we’re limbering up ready for the 6pm sprint to the ordering terminal. I wound up my knee spring, stretched my various sections of Achilles & readied myself.

Delighted to say, I came second in the bullrush & our orders soon arrived from the kitchen. Jane made the best decision having the Cawl, with cheese & bread. I wish I’d copied her as it looked & smelled superb, and having tasted it later, it was a great choice.

Cawl, if you’re not familiar is a cross between a soup & a stew, classically made from pheasant meat, but typically now chicken and/or lamb, with the expected base veg (potatoes, carrots, leeks, onion, parsnip), but the twist being you then add mature Caerphilly cheese to the bowl as it’s served. Bloody lovely!

Food eaten, and with Captain Miserable reaching new heights (due to a complete lack of internet/working Wifi), we paid up, dodged the dog-crap, and then headed “home”.

Only to spot that Romeo, whilst left alone last night, must have spilled some of his pizza when taking it out of the top oven, and it’s dribbled into the door of the bottom oven. Between the outer glass and one of the inner panels.

So I sit here having stripped down an oven door, cleaned it, then reassembled it. I’m having a beer. It’s deserved!

Night folks,

Chris

Day 5 – The Best of People

We were knackered again today! A nice stroll, fresh air, good food, a beer or two and wham! Knackered.

Working back from fixed time-points, we wanted to be at Betty & David’s farm for 4pm, with a meal booked 15 minutes away for 7pm.

Unsurprisingly, Romeo wasn’t having any of it and is staying here in his self-enforced hormone prison that is his room. As such, we showed him how to oven cook a frozen pizza & garlic bread without burning the cottage down and planned the rest of our day.

We decided to head back to Lobster & Môr, bag ourselves some fancy crustaceous lunch & head to Solva for a mooch and a beach stroll.

Waving goodbye to the Grunt, we set off up the coast to Broadhaven 1, then the jump over to Nolton, and then on towards Newgale. At least today, we could head north from Nolton. Two days ago the road was blocked off due to the wildfires.

Holy cow! We drove down the road to be greeted by the devastation that the fires left behind.

The scorched earth spread over large areas, and had (I presume) been controlled so well that it had left pockets of I damaged green, just a few metres from a cottage, and a farm, and further on, a static caravan park.

We were passed by a fire engine with its blues on, which I suspect was heading back to something we’d seen that was still smouldering.

Out the other side of the carnage, we hopped over the last headland before dropping down into Solva, to begin the Car Park dance – that one that’s a lot like musical chairs, where you circle an asset but don’t know when it’s becoming available.

We were really lucky and managed to get a space on lap 3. So having parked up and paid, we took out crustacean bag of goodies over to the estuary to eat alfresco.

It was too windy and that wind had a slight bite to it, so that plan was soon abandoned and we retired to our Camper & split the Lobster Roll in two & took half the crab sandwich each. Oh, my they were lovely!

Lunch over, we had a stroll through the very small village, mooched through the shop “Window On Wales”, and then headed off down the estuary towards the sea, letting Toby have a good run on the sand.

We sat a short while at the tide line, but to be honest, it was a tad too windy & again had that unfamiliar cool bite to it.

Walking round the corner of the estuary, I’d been listening to the latest 93:20 podcast, so phone was on full volume. Jane stopped and bent down to pick something up and my phone rang – “Jane Airey (Mobile) calling” it said. I told Jane she was ringing me.

I answered it. And a female voice said “Hi”. I began a conversation with “Hi” and Jane haha’d me for dicking about. Until I thanked “Hi” and told her Jane was wearing a pink hoody, and would be back to the tide line in a mo, and thank you for letting us know she’d left her phone behind. Oops!

Phone retrieved, we walked back to the van, I donned a pair of jeans, and we set off towards Puncheston using Waze satnav to guide us. Part way across the farmers field that it sent us on to, we realised we were in too deep with the route that we had no choice but to plough on (farming pun intended).

Eventually we hit tarmac but only after driving through a farm yard. Delayed slightly, I pressed on. We crossed the A40 and headed towards Letterston only to get to a point in the single track road where a Telehandler had broken down making this road impassable.

A 100-point turn later and I set off back the A40 north, and took our usual route in, with no further tribulations.

It was fantastic meeting up with Betty & David, who’ve not changed a bit in the decade since Jane & I last saw them. In conversation we also realised it was Jane’s 50th (!) anniversary of coming to stay with them.

Even better that that we got a surprise visit from Lisa & the two girls, and their lovely Cockerpoo, Coco, followed by the very-much unexpected arrival of Betty & David’s hard-working son, Pete. Fantastic!

Not going to say too much more, but after a good old chat over a cup of tea & some bara brith, we had a fabulous meal out at the community owned Tafarn Sinc, which also happens to be the highest licensed pub in Pembrokeshire. More importantly, the locally sourced food was superb. I had a 10oz sirloin medium rare, which was one of the tastiest & best-cooked steaks I’ve had in years.

Conversation and locally-brewed cask ale flowed, meaning Jane did the taxiing back to the farm, where we said our “goodbyes for now”, as we all knew 10 years was too long, and then headed off back through the wiggly-windies to Little Haven.

What a fabulous day! The company making it so!

Night, night!

Chris

Day 4 – Choughin’ ‘Seals

We took advantage of the marginally cooler weather & I for one slept much better. We also had a lie-in & an inevitable subsequently slow start.

I ovened-up some Cumberland sausages, and made a butty for breakfast, while we tried to decide what to do & where to go. One thing that’s proving tricky is finding somewhere to eat. It’s not that there aren’t any, it’s that they’re all booked up for this evening!

Jane took Toby for an ablutory (made-up word) walk, whilst I had a quick shower. As Jane arrived back, she was on the phone to Betty, for Jane an almost lifelong friend, who’s family & hospitality are the reason we know this area so well.

For those not aware, Jane’s mum & dad, along with their neighbours Kath & Colin (who’s son is also my best mate) began holidaying each year at Betty & her husband David’s farmhouse B&B, in the very early 1970s. They all swiftly became more than guests & that friendship continues to this day, despite both Ian & Jane’s parents no longer being with us.

We’ve arranged to go & meet up with them at the farm tomorrow afternoon, and go out for some tea somewhere. It’s been way too long since we last saw them, so we’re really looking forward to catching up.

Back to today, though…

By 2pm, we’d moved no further that the patio (it’s not raining yet), and still undecided where to head. On that basis, we decided we’d do one of the walks that Jane fancied over at Marloes. Romeo was told of our plans, which included not coming home for tea, so his choice was:

A) come with us and get a bought tea
B) stay at home and cook his own tea

He came with us. And boy, I bet he regretted that, later on in the day!

We packed a bit of “day-van stuff”, (lightweight waterproofs, cameras, chargers, Tobys raw meat tea in the fridge, that sort of stuff), and set off the 15 minutes down the wiggly-windies to the National Trust car park at Marloes, briefly confused ourselves as to whether we were at the right car park (we were), paid the ticket & then set off.

It was a 5 mile cliff top walk around the wonderfully Silurian/Ordovician geologic coastline of this particular section of coast. Even Skokholm & the larger Skomer nearby islands throw in some red sandstone that gives a section of the walk a purple rock tinge.

We set off in a clockwise direction, from the carpark, crossing some fields before the overlook to Marloes Beach. An awkwardly accessed beach means it’s not for the lazy, making it a great place, if you can make it down (and back up!).

Hang a right and follow the cliff tops. And then realise that there’s no chance of it raining, and in fact, it’s still hot & sunny, and. It’s not a day to be wearing a black tee shirt (or even worse joggers, a tee & a Moncler jacket, as per Romeo).

Wow! More Chris Packham, than Chris Airey, and my Michaela nailed it with her spotting skills!

Tally was:

Loads of dogs on leads
Cattle & their associated pats
At least 4 Choughs
Loads of black back gulls
Raptor feathers
Loads of European Common Blue butterflies (poor sods will be on the next flight out)
A cormorant or two
Two ravens
15+ seals, of which 2 deffo kids, one young adult.

We’ve never seen so many seals! It was amazing! Some on rocks sunbathing, some asleep on the shoreline. We even heard a little one that was inside a big cave, calling to it’s parents! Fantastic to watch, especially when I’d remembered to take the Zeiss binoculars!

A baby that we thought was dead, did move! (Photo taken through binoculars hence the ropey refraction).

A lesser-spotted Moncler Romeo (a very rare sighting)

Then my knee caved in. Mainly because we were heading home and it was uphill. So we cut the walk short, missing the northern coastline, and trudged up the hill back to the car. Still, it’s miles under my knees, so that’s good.

Plan was to try the Lobster Pot (a local pub), where we’d had good food in the past until we saw their “Apologies. We are not serving food tonight” sign. So we headed back to Little Haven hoping to snag an outdoor table at the St Brides Inn.

We parked up at our cottage and walked down, only to find it was packed inside & out, so we had one last chance. “Let’s try the Castle”. Turning the corner, it looked hopeful. Spaces outside at least. Until we saw the “We no longer serve food on Mondays” sign! Aaaargh!

We turned around and started walking back, but I suggested we had a drink at the St Brides, and say waiting or see if a table came free, on the basis that if not after finishing the drinks, we went back to the cottage & made a cheese & ham toastie.

Thankfully a table became free, we ordered and got served super quickly. (Chicken curry & rice for me).

Turns out there are as couple of missed opportunities in Little Haven. The cafe is closed down & empty, and the pub on the harbour side, the Swan Inn has stopped serving food. I nipped in to suss it out. Not sure that decision is going well for them, as I was the only one there!

Once we were done we wandered back up the road, all of us shattered, and just crashed out. This fresh air and hilly walking is exhausting!

And that’s why I’m publishing this at 8:53am the following day!

Have a good one!

Chris!