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Introduction
Introduction At the age of sixty I decided to retire from teaching at Sheffield College and head to Australia and New Zealand overland by bus to get around my fear of flying and ten years later with nothing better to do I began recording my first and only CD Basking in the Sun.
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Sheffield to the Embankment
Introduction Arrived at Sheffield Midland Station on time to find that someone had stolen the electrical signal cables at Clay Cross and all trains were cancelled. My first thought was perhaps they wouldn’t have had to if Thatcher hadn’t closed the mines and destroyed the only source of work in the area. So we started…
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London to St Goa
Introduction London to St Goar Sunday 23rd September: London Embankment I awoke with a start to Chris’s banging on the door, him bringing us the time and a cup of tea. Thanks to Chris and Jo we made it safely across London to Cleopatra’s Needle, the bus and the awaiting media from the BBC. After…
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St Goar to Prague
Day two started very early with breakfast in a kind of garage area under the restaurant. I attempted to jog up and down to get warm and was complimented by Simone, who approves of personal fitness. It was at this point that I noticed that there was still someone asleep in the caravan next to…
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Prague to Vienna
Introduction Day 4 Wednesday 25th September 07: Vienna Thank goodness the rain had not returned during the night but there was not enough sun to dry things out: everything was wet and damp except our spirits. The breakfast crew had the food on the table and cleared away in 30 minutes. I had to run…
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Prague to Vienna
Day started very early at 6.00am. By breakfast, 7.30am, the lads had slept for a whole two and half hours. Scooby and Co left the Oz bar at 5.00am having paid a drinks bill totalling 500 euros. This was after they had negotiated a special deal with Barry, one of the oz waiters, who did…
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Budapest
Day 5 Thursday 26th Sep 07 The day started very early at 6.00am and by breakfast, 7.30am, the lads had slept for a whole two and half hours. Scooby and Co left the Australian bar at 5.00am having paid a drinks bill totaling €500. This was after they had negotiated a special deal with Barry,…
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Day Eleven: Turkey (Asia Minor)
Fell in love with the city the moment I stepped out onto the cobbles of the Sultanahmet district and stood outside the Orient Hostel, our home for the next two nights. On the surface it’s just another mad, bustling, chaotic jungle of cars, yellow taxis, buses and trams all vying for the same space and…
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Day 12: Istanbul to Gallipoli
Thursday 4th October Instead of the briefing as usual when we set off on the bus we were treated, as a warning to all travelling fools, by Andy and how he was relieved of his money by four or five Turkish gorillas in night club. It conspired that he and a New Zealand backpacker, who’d…
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Day 13: Gallipoli to Selcuk via Legendary Troy
Friday 5th October Out of the campsite by 8.00am and quickly bordering the ferry that will take the bus out of Europe and carry me back into my old history and geography lessons and the evocative land called Asia Minor. Once on the other side after a pleasant thirty minute crossing we were quickly handing…
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Day 14: Selcuk to Egirdir via Ephesus and Pamakkali
Saturday 6th October I was awoken by Noreen shuffling things in her rucksack. Outside another fine warm day emerging but not one for photographs. Although the weather has been a great improvement since entering Turkey it has been very hazy. It’s almost two weeks now since we set out and yesterday was the first time…
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Day 15: Egirdir to Goreme
Sunday 7th October Slept reasonably well and awoke to voices talking about the showers being cold. Lucinda announced later they had warmed up and so I partook. The earlier voices were correct but it did wake me up. Have been suffering from a dickey stomach for the past two days. Caught short after a picnic…
