Hello Regular Readers, this is a quick entry to let you know we have been stalked! It’s rather creepy and sinister as we have been invaded by an unwelcome visitor with malice aforethought.
At first we thought ‘how flattering, someone who isn’t a friend or family member wants to delve into what we are doing – so maybe we are interesting people after all and potentially can join the cool kids as influencers, ha ha’.
However, our initial chuckles faded when we discovered that this uninvited visitor deliberately searched through this blog for information with the sole purpose of damaging our reputation within our community. After taking some time to trawl through the entries, the meagre pickings were shared with a wider audience, and we were copied into this email so we would know what this person did. Pretty impressive drama for a small town we hear you say.
We understand the Interweb is not always a safe and cosy place and that this blog can be accessed by anyone with time on their hands and an axe to grind. As you also know we are lazy, and this blog was an ideal way to keep you all updated when we decided to travel all those years ago. We’ve also made some wonderful friends around the world and when we stopped the full time travelling, we used the blog to share our tales of renovating during the pandemic.
Realistically it was bound to happen. I guess we tend to judge people by our own values, and we usually see the good in everyone we meet even if we don’t always agree with them. We feel it’s important to admit that sometimes we get things wrong. After all, we are human and none of us is perfect and to be frank, Neil can be very annoying at times!!
However, there are times when we feel the need to call out bad behaviour and stand up for ourselves when we feel we are being bullied and harassed. This must have really upset this person as they firmly believe they are always right no matter what they say or do. We think you will agree that stalking isn’t a nice or kind thing to do, and that’s why you are our friends.
Don’t panic – we will continue to post our ramblings but sadly we will now be wary that our spy is still hovering and looking for ‘dirt’. We do need some time to absorb what has happened, but we do feel extremely disappointed as our stalker is in a position of authority in our town which makes this episode all the more shocking.
We also wondered if this behaviour was the result of some deep-seated personal issues or lack of self esteem on their part, and if this is the case then we sincerely hope this person seeks the professional help they need before they spiral out of control.
Maybe there is no problem, and they simply need to get a life.
Anyhow, as you know, we are big and tough and will bounce back as we know that we have the love and support from the people who really matter in our lives.
Stay safe – and don’t have nightmares wondering who is looking at your digital footprint right now.
It’s been a while since our last entry mainly because we’ve been very busy having a good time with family and friends. We did some new things and we managed to tick off a bucket list item for Cheryl. However, It wasn’t all plain sailing though as you will discover.
We shall overcome
Now we all know that the NHS is in a bit of a mess and Devon is no different. So, in its infinite wisdom Devon NHS haven’t used parts of Seaton Community Hospital but still paid huge amounts of ‘rent’ to NHS property services for the last 3 years. Having realised that this was a waste of money they decided they wouldn’t pay rent any more so the Hospital was at risk of closure or worse still being sold off. As most of the building was originally paid for by the people of Seaton in the late 80’s, a campaign was established to prevent it happening. The Hospital League of Friends charity have had plan in place for a few years to retain the space and use it for health care services but needed to persuade NHS property services to charge a fair rent or ideally give the building back to the community.
Our local MP asked questions in The House of Commons, there were public meetings around Seaton and protests in Exeter to gather support. We took part in our first public protest which was featured in the local press and TV news. As we write the League of Friends have been given more time to put forward a robust plan. Watch this space.
We’ll meet again
Lots of things have been happening at our local entertainment venue The Gateway. There was a 1940’s night with local players delivering a Dad’s Army sketch followed by dancing by the Lindy Hoppers from Exeter and singing from The Liberty Sisters. Regular readers know we don’t need too much encouragement to dress up and even got our fellow members of Marlpit Lane Social Club to get into the spirit.
It was such a huge success that another one is planned for next June to celebrate the 80th Anniversary of the Normandy Landings in which Seaton played a small part. There were the usual picnic film nights and a night of volunteering behind the bar for a live music event. A band called Riviera Dogs who specialise in 1980s music made their annual visit and we worked with Linda and Dennis serving. It was manic, taking over £4000 including one order that Neil took of over £70 including 10 shots!
Neil even managed to extend the celebrations for his 70th birthday which was back in August until the middle of November thanks to a gift from Leanne and Paul who bought us a voucher to go to The Elephant Restaurant in Torquay for the taster menu plus associated wine flight. As there was alcohol involved we booked into a really nice B&B a short walk away. It’s a Michelin Star restaurant and we weren’t disappointed with the occasion. Over 3 hrs we had 7 extremely delicious courses with different wines which amounted to approximately one bottle each. You don’t want to know what it cost!!
Crossing the line
November is normally focused on celebrating Cheryl’s birthday and she had always wanted to see the Northern Lights so we took another cruise, this time to hopefully catch sight of the Aurora Borealis. It started in Southampton, just a 2hr drive away where we boarded P&O’s Arcadia to set sail for Norway. Neil had warned Cheryl that this route crossed the North Sea which at this time of year could be extremely hostile, so she packed lots of seasick pills.
We had followed the weather forecast along the Norwegian coast in the run up to departure and it didn’t look too bad. However, as we cruised along the English Channel the Captain announced that there was a big depression welling in the North Sea so to try and reduce the impact, he had decided not to take the direct route but would hug the coasts of Holland and Denmark. He also warned passengers that he was expecting waves of 6 to 7 metres and if passengers were prone to sickness they should start taking medication during the night as it would start about 4am. Neil wasn’t so convinced as that night he saw the weather chart on Sky News and it looked like an extremely deep low pressure system.
Next morning it was getting rough. However, Cheryl found the tablets worked well, so well that we made it to breakfast and watched through the rear facing window where the waves looked a lot bigger than 7 metres! We also made it to lunch when the ship suddenly hit a big wave which made the whole thing shudder and lurch so much that there was crockery and food flying across the floor. It was carnage with people finding it hard to keep balance and hanging onto anything they could to stay upright.
Hold onto your wine glass
That afternoon we went to the cosy 40 seat cinema and once again we hit a very big wave which made the ship pitch and roll. We didn’t feel much of the impact as we were reclining on huge leather armchairs. Then Neil whispered to Cheryl so as not to worry the other cinema goers, ‘the engines have stopped, that’s not good’. Then the Captain came on the Tannoy with the message you really don’t want to hear, ‘will all passengers and crew either sit down or lie down and hang on tight – NOW!’ ‘F**k’, said Neil, ‘that’s definitely not good’.
A little later the Captain explained that the propellers had stopped because there is a failsafe system on the ship that shuts them down in the event that they are lifted out of the water. If they don’t shut down then as they have no resistance they will spin out of control and possibly cause major damage when they hit the water again. He then went onto to say that they were using the bow thrusters to keep the ship heading into the swell whilst the main propellers were started again. It was all over in seconds but it wasn’t our idea of a fun time. The captain also informed us that we had actually had Force 10 winds with hurricane force gusts of 94 mph!!
Baby it’s cold outside
Thankfully our near death experience didn’t stop us enjoying our food and drink or the excellent entertainment on the ship. We did miss a port day due to the bad weather and Neil was getting cabin fever after 4 straight days at sea. However the seas calmed down and we crossed the Arctic Circle to arrive in Tromso. Here we experienced polar nights where the sun does not rise above the horizon for part of the winter. There was a little daylight for a few hours with an eerie glow but it was brighter than a typical UK winter grey day. It was very beautiful with snow all around and it was extremely cold – minus 15 degrees during our Husky Sledding trip which was fabulous. We knew we would have the opportunity to drive the sled but didn’t realise that all we needed to do was slow or stop the dogs. They just wanted to run and run and clearly enjoyed what they did.
Later that evening we were driven further north to a quiet spot where eventually we did see the Northen Lights. It’s not quite as you expect from photos or video footage as the naked eye can’t see the depth of colour but it was still quite magical. There was a full moon and what light there was reflected off the snow so it wasn’t complete darkness. The pictures do look a lot brighter than it was. Another item off the bucket list.
In Narvik we visited a Polar Park to see reindeer, wolves, lynx, wolverine and very cute arctic foxes.
The last port stop was in Alesund which was very charming with colourful art deco style wooden houses.
The ship was decked out with Christmas Trees and decorations and from Dec 1st they went full on Christmas with themed entertainment, Christmas Jumper contest and a Pantomime. Thankfully, the North Sea was kind to us on the way home.
I wish it could be Christmas everyday
Safely back in Seaton and the run up to Christmas really started to kick in. We drove to Gloucester to stay with June and Roy and to also meet up with Sue and Bill for our regular sibling lunch. Great fun. This was followed by the U3A Wine Club Christmas lunch. The term ‘Wine Club’ really says it all as people were singing, telling silly jokes and playing charades. It was fab to see around 20 people, of a certain age, behaving very badly and generally having an absolute blast.
The following night we were at a fund raising Murder Mystery event with the neighbours and with none of us getting close to guessing who did ‘the dirty deed’ It didn’t matter, we had a good time and we look forward to the next one. So soon after that it was yet another Christmas Lunch, this time the neighbours AKA Marlpit Lane Social Club. It was at the Old Picture House and the food was excellent and the company very silly.
Time for visitors. First, we had Neil’s son and grandson to stay which was fantastic. We took them on The Polar Express at The Tramway when both Neil and grandson put on their reindeer onesies – very cute. Next day we had our first visit to the donkey sanctuary. When they left we headed to The Shed for a meal to have an evening on our own and we hadn’t been there for such a long time.
The very next day Alex, Freddy and Luke came to stay for Christmas and we took another trip on The Polar Express. It will come as no surprise to regular readers that Neil triggered the Elves ‘Naughty or Nice’ scanner and had to take part in a dance off with the other naughty dad.
On the Saturday before Xmas we had ‘open house’ for around a dozen people including the social club. We did the usual silly secret Santa and played charades again which came in the Christmas Crackers. Luke played his part well dressed as baby Santa helping Gramps Reindeer.
Christmas Day started with glasses of fizz and opening of stockings and presents with the boys. This was followed by doing something very different. There’s a local organisation called Operation Rudolph who provide food boxes, cooked meals and a Christmas Lunch for older people, people who live alone or people who are having a tough time. Carly and James from Pebbles café in Seaton offered to cook over 100 lunches for delivery and eating in. We helped out and collected and returned an old lady from Beer who lives alone, and we waited on tables. It was really enjoyable and we feel that we have done something useful this Christmas instead of just eating and drinking too much.
The final count down
The boys left on Boxing Day which meant we had around a week to recover from the excesses of December and prepare for New Year. More volunteering, this time at The Gateway, cleaning the pipes ready for New Years Eve. The Zoots were the live band and whilst we had bought tickets we decided to work behind the bar for some of the evening as they were short of staff. As it turns out we spent from just before 7.30 until about 12.30 pulling pints, serving rums and gins, the odd dance in sequence by the four of us bar stewards and generally having a great time. When we got back home we sat in bed until 2am with a wee dram to chat and unwind. What a fab night.
New Years Day was yet another Marlpit Lane Social Club event, this time to celebrate Pat’s 75th birthday.
This is the end of Chapter 15, and we are now moving to calendar years for the blog instead of the usual October start which worked during our full on travelling days. We’re about to travel to London before flying to Goa on the 4th. The social calendar is already filling so we are really looking forward to catching up with old friends, getting some sunshine and warmth, fabulous food and getting away from the miserable wet and windy weather we seem to have been having for weeks.
The longed for sunshine and warmer temperatures finally arrived in June. The following Saturday our town council put on a free outdoor music event for the community in the park overlooking the sea. It was a glorious day and we had a great day marshalling at one of the entrances. We were a little concerned when the local Extinction Rebellion group started to congregate just outside our gate as protest groups had been staging disruptions at a number of events. However, they were happy to just talk to people as they arrived and even came in to offer us some very tasty homemade flapjacks. Our lovely local policeman, Sam also had a chat with them and came back munching on a flapjack as well. On reflection we then all wondered if we should have eaten them in case they contained any special ingredients and we did have a confession later from the lady who baked them – she had used butter so they weren’t suitable for her vegan chums!
With temperatures rising steadily we set off for ten days in the Loire Valley, where it was even hotter. It was a long day with a very early start to get the ferry from Poole to Cherbourg. The long drive to Saumur was straightforward and we arrived in time to shop before getting to the campsite. However, the accommodation was extremely disappointing with a number of faults which lead to an almost ongoing battle with the inept holiday reps and the head office back in the UK.
The temperatures were in the mid 30’s so we spent early mornings on walks and sight seeing in Saumur which was extremely pretty and afternoons relaxing and enjoying barbeques on the large decked terrace.
We stopped off on the return journey to have lunch with Jean-Phillipe & Chantal. We also asked Jean-Phillipe to put together an order of wine from his Cave for us. On collection of course he added a few extra bottles as a petit cadeaux. Thank you Jean-Phillipe! The restaurant we went to was the same one used for the Twinning dinner last year and the food was exceptional. It was a great way to end our trip and we look forward to seeing nos amis when we take part in the Twinning visit next year.
The ferry journey was the usual tedium topped off by a long wait to get through passport checks and finally leave the terminal. The late night journey was then complicated by closures on the A30 for roadworks and the most tortuous detour along tiny country lanes. We finally arrived home in the small hours after getting up at 4am the previous day.
No time for a long lie in next day as Freddy, Alex & Luke were already in the house and enjoying a few days in Seaton before we got home. The full impact of the hot and dry spell was clear in the garden as all the grass was now brown. Luke was in full crawling mode and was covering ground fast. He also enjoyed the beach and even tried eating the pebbles.
A week later and we were off to Bristol for number one grandson’s fifth birthday. This was the party afternoon for the grandparents and it was a lovely relaxed afternoon watching him playing with his new presents and performing his incredible magic trick of making coins disappear.
Then it was off to London the next weekend for Luke’s first birthday. Finally we had a journey by train WITHOUT a Train Strike – hurrah! It was great to meet Alex & Freddy’s friends and their families and to see Freddy’s parents Ann & Guy who we last saw at their wedding.
There was a gradual decline in temperature towards the end of the month, and a substantial increase in rainfall which was very much needed for the parched garden. Unfortunately this has now settled into a pattern of regular heavy rainfall making the start of the school holidays feel like the monsoon season. We dodged the showers to enjoy an Abba tribute night at the Tramway and Marlpit Lane Social Club came third in a quiz………..third from the bottom!!
We had a visit from Chris and Viv who are in Wales for the summer staying with Viv’s mum in Brecon. We managed a long walk across the golf course and the lanes around Axmouth on their first afternoon followed by an excellent meal in The Ship. Day two the forecast was for dry weather so we started with big baps at our favourite café, Jurassic Bites en route to Beer and then on the coastal footpath to Branscombe, one of the top ten coastal walks.
It was all going well until the drizzle started just before we reached Branscombe. The drizzle turned into full rain and by the time we got back to Beer we were a bit soggy. We took a break to have a Beer in The Barrel Of Beer in Beer whilst watching the second half of England women’s football team vs China.
Rain stopped and we walked on to have the usual ice cream stop at Jurassic Bites followed by walking along the beach from Seaton Hole to find pebbles with holes in them – we know how to have a good time with our visitors here in Seaton!
Talking of having a good time ……what has Neil been doing? You will have to wait until next time to find out.
March, April and May, what a difference a month makes! We arrived back from Goa to be greeted by cold and wet weather making us wish he hadn’t come home. It didn’t last long, it’s good to be home and preparing the garden, getting ready for visitors and getting stuck into volunteering and socialising.
Sadly, Doris our neighbour who lived opposite died and we had a funeral to go to. She was 94 so she had, as they say, a good innings. Mentally she was pretty sound but her body was very tired and she missed husband Alan so much that she really didn’t want to be alive. She had an amazing life working in the music industry even shaking hands with Frank Sinatra. The service was lovely and it was great to give her a good send off.
Marlpit Lane Supper Club was duly formed with a visit to Monsoon for a curry night. The idea that we had was well received and it looks like we’ll be having a supper night once a month. The only restriction is that we have to spend the money in Seaton which is good for the town and good for our legs but bad for our livers!
Cheryl had a girlie couple of nights at Champneys. Anna is still in remission so she was floating on air and behaving very badly.
Neil has a new skill. We had volunteered to serve drinks at a gala night in The Gateway and Dennis behind the bar asked Neil what he was doing Monday morning. ‘Not too much, why’? said Neil. ‘Ah, you could be here for 09.30 and I’ll teach you how to clean the pipes’. So, after two sessions Neil is getting close to being able to do this important task every two weeks. Another tick in the box at The Gateway and another skill for him.
One thing we had been so looking forward to was the visit of Chantal and Jean-Phillipe who hosted us last year when Seaton Twinning Association visited Thury Harcourt. They gave us such a good time and their hospitality was wonderful.
The group from Thury Harcourt arrived around midnight on the Friday so we quickly got them home and we chatted in Franglais over a glass or two of red before bed. The following morning we had crumpets with marmite for breakfast. Cheryl & Chantal walked the Labyrinth in Cliff Field Gardens before we all headed to the promenade to show them the beach and the cliffs.
Love it or hate it?
We took a ride on The Tramway and enjoyed a lovely journey to Colyton. Lunch in the Merchant Bistro was delicious and we took them to the church which is such a pretty one with incredible stained glass windows. Once again, back on the tram for an early dinner at The Malthouse before meandering home for more wine before bed.
J’aime le Fish & ChipsJe n’aime pas le HP sauce!
Sunday started with a ‘full English’ for breakfast and then the entire group travelled by coach to visit some water gardens and lunch before moving on for a stroll around Weymouth, a beer outside a pub, and then we made our way to Lyme Regis Golf Club for the formal dinner. Back home for some more wine and chat before bed. Having given Chantal and Jean Phillipe the choice between crumpets and ‘full English’ they went for the big one which hopefully would see them though the day and the journey home.
Sante
We really enjoyed having them come to stay, we hope they enjoyed it as much as us.
This blog entry couldn’t go without mentioning the Coronation of King Charles. Neither of us watched all the pomp and ceremony on TV but we did help put up some bunting in Windsor Gardens to celebrate the event. On Sunday, as part of our celebrations Bob ‘n Sheila hosted a lunch at which we had lots of fun, delicious food and a glass or two of something that you might fancy.
Finally, big news. We were both successful in our bid to be on the Town Council and have been to our first meeting. It was, shall we say, extremely unexciting and even now, Neil is still trying to work out how he talked himself into going through this monthly self-inflicted agony.
Around the middle of the month we set off for Bristol to see Neil’s son and his family. It was tiring with endless games of football in the garden with an energetic almost 5 year old and then to cool off we had endless games of table football indoors. On Saturday night we were taken to a Comedy Night at a local venue which was very good. The weekend was made all the more fabulous as Paul cooked some delicious food on Saturday evening and Sunday lunch.
Whenever we leave Seaton we try to make best use of the long journey so on our way to Scarborough we stopped off to see Leanne and Neil. ‘Dad, do you have a sledge hammer’? ‘Yes darling, I do’. ‘Please can you bring it with you’? On the journey up on Friday we stopped off at various places to shop for trousers, shoes and whatever. Whilst we love living in Seaton the lack of shops can make buying clothes difficult. Anyway, we arrived at Leanne’s to discover why we had to bring the sledge hammer. They had a large and rotten garden shed that needed demolishing and burning, plus quite a lot of undergrowth, so that was Saturday and Sunday morning accounted for. We did go out for a long walk on Sunday afternoon, had lunch out and then went to a fund raising quiz night in Macclesfield. Neil messaged Leanne two days after we had left and the fire was still hot!
Next stop a brief overnight outside York to shop some more before heading up to Scarborough on Tuesday. The reason for our visit was to celebrate Tony’s 70th birthday. We had booked a small B&B and once settled we set off to explore the town. We discovered an Indian Restaurant which was BYO with the added bonus of a Tesco shop opposite. Job done for dinner!
On Wednesday we met Tony and Brenda in The Wetherspoons which was to be the venue for the big party. We also met with Annette and Keld who had flown in from Denmark. We had a great evening with food and drink and a meeting with the pub manager to check he was OK with us trying to take over a part of the bar. Whilst he couldn’t reserve any seating he was more than happy for us to ‘dominate’ an area. The following day we walked along the coast to Filey which was about 10 miles. It wasn’t the prettiest walk we’ve ever done but the exercise was good and the apple pie we had at a farm shop/café was enormous and quite delicious. We had a walk around Filey and then took the bus back to Scarborough. That night we all met again for a meal at the Indian and by this time Connie and friend Ann had arrived from Newcastle. It was a really good night with lots of laughs over the size of the nan bread and the cabaret with which it was delivered to the table – the waiter dressed in a cape and mask and dry ice just to make more of the occasion.
The party was on Friday afternoon and evening. By now almost 20 people had arrived in town for the 3pm start. Annette and Keld had come the furthest, Denmark, followed by us and Sue with us both about 6hrs drive, there were some from the Midlands and others from Lancashire. Sadly Sue had driven up to Sheffield to see Tim the night before only to have to drive back home to Kent because her cat had been run over. Thankfully, the cat was OK. The party was great, lots of food and drink, lots of reminiscing, lots of laughs and some fine presents for Tony to open. We left the pub just after 11pm so it was a long evening and Neil did feel a little jaded the next morning.
Saturday morning we drove down to Gloucester to see June and Roy and help with their tax returns and then Sunday we had a very bad Sunday lunch with Bill and Sue before driving back to Seaton to enjoy what had become a fabulous weather pattern. Whilst Scarborough was cool, hey it’s on the North Sea, it was dry and sunny and that continued at home but a few degrees warmer. So, May finished with warm sunshine and June was going to be the same, at least for the foreseeable future.
It’s been a while since we last posted as we’ve been away in our favourite place in Goa and frankly we’ve been too busy enjoying ourselves to post a blog entry. We’re back and getting used to the unseasonably cold weather which we thought we had cleverly planned to avoid! Here’s a roundup of what we’ve been up to since early Jan.
We started with a lovely few days with Alex, Freddy and Luke in London. Can’t get over how chilled Luke is – and how expertly the Dads have settled into their new roles. The journey to Heathrow was event free (no strikes!!!!) and we were soon enjoying the treats in the Lounge. The BA flight was very comfortable and the food at dinner was almost back to the way things were before BA started cost cutting. We were both excited about going back to Goa and soon got into party mode with a couple of drinks and a long sleep…..rock ‘n roll! Despite a poor breakfast the flight was good, and it was on to the stage we really hate as we had to transit through Mumbai for our onward flight to Goa.
This is where the euphoria ended as it didn’t take long for India to frustrate the hell out of us with immigration being a total farce. It was 7am and there were long queues everywhere for both foreign and Indian passport holders. People were switching queues because there weren’t enough staff on duty and the long queues were hardly moving. Then one of the officers would ‘go on break’ leaving a huge queue with no officer to process them. Add to this was the toe-curling performance as each passenger took at least 10 minutes to process as pictures and fingerprints were taken. An hour later and the frustration was starting to boil over. People were getting very angry and at one point we really thought there was going to be a riot. Eventually a ‘suit’ got the message that he could no longer ponce around doing nothing and he put some kind of order into the whole process. It took us over 2hrs to get through and even then we had to shout at him to say we had a connecting flight before we were placed at the front of a new queue. Only in India!
On the bright side, at least we didn’t have to wait for the luggage as by this time the whole flights worth had been taken off and placed next to the belt. Then it was the queue to get into the domestic departure hall, the check in desk and then the security scan but we made the gate in time for our made our connecting flight with Indigo. Hurrah! Then after a swift boarding process we sat on the tarmac for almost an hour because we were one flight attendant missing. Only in India!
Our booked meal turned out to be a tin of either almonds or cashews and a coffee! On arrival at the now tatty Dabolim airport there was the usual scrum for taxis with guys wanting to charge twice the rate of the prepay taxi rank despite us pointing to the price chart on the wall. We finally got to Benaulim and met our new landlord, Tony, as he showed us around the apartment in La Grace Resort. It’s a mix between hotel and private apartments and we were on the first floor with an incredibly private apartment which at 1000R’s/night (£10) is extremely good value. We also have a proper thick mattress, new pillows, a water filter and Wifi – woo hoo!
Tony and Brenda had arranged for a table for 10 people at Tansy Restaurant which is now run by Karam and Rahul, formerly of C5. What a welcome back, great company, great food and 30C. Food and drink prices were only just a little higher, but still amazing value. The food was one of the things we missed most about Goa and our first meal did not disappoint. Most of favourite restaurants were still in operation, same old waiters and, generally, the world felt as if it was back to normal.
Yay! we’re back
No sooner that we were back it was off to see Rahul the dentist for a check-up, quiz night on Wednesday with John and Suz (winners!), frequenting Rex’s beach shack, Sunday lunch at the much-acclaimed Farmhouse Restaurant (very disappointing and shan’t go there again in a hurry) and our first evening boat cruise of the trip.
By now we were well and truly back in Goa mode and Connie organised a girl’s day out for High Tea at The Taj Exotica Hotel whilst some of ‘the boys’ went for beer, food and several games of pool at Blue Corner beach shack. There was another day boat trip with those delicious giant prawns for lunch.
By now we had come to the conclusion that nothing much has changed here. We had feared that the influx of domestic tourists during Covid would have changed things beyond recognition. Yes, some restaurants have gone or changed, some new ones, new shops and new hotels including The Fairfield but generally the 3 years have seen very little change and that includes prices.
We continued to attend the weekly Wednesday quiz nights coming second and then first and then second. The quiz was organised by DJ Paul to raise funds for the girl’s orphanage in the next village. Of course, all winnings are donated and Paul slowly amassed a large amount of money which he and Connie went to present to the Manager. Great fun nights for a great cause.
Next it was time for a posh Sunday Brunch at the local new Fairfield by Marriot Hotel. £18 gave us as much delicious food as we could eat and as much as you could drink. We knew we had been in India for a while now as we got really excited by having 3 different types of lettuce and olives on the salad bar! Free flow alcohol including Jacobs Creek Ozzie wine, a huge array of deserts which Cheryl and Suz worked their way through diligently, and it goes without saying, great company. It was so good we had booked to go again the following week.
John and Suz had picked up on Facebook an organised trip to the temple town of Udupi and asked if we wanted to go. We have been to Udupi a couple of times before but we quickly said ‘yes’, hey it’ll make a change. We were taken to the railway station in Margao to catch a 2nd class train to Udupi, journey time about 5hrs. We had an excellent hotel for two nights which had a very good restaurant and bar. Our sightseeing was to be crammed into one day, 15hrs of full on touristy stuff which included a beautiful walk to an ancient fort, a tea factory, a Jain Temple and much more. We finished off back in Udupi to see the evening procession of chariots around the main temple. The whole day was amazing if not knackering, but it was well worth the trip. Next day we were back on the train early in the morning for the journey home.
On the return journey we met Penny and Steve who were staying in North Goa, Candolim. They had booked a boat trip with one of our local boat companies along with a small bus load of their friends. They had also decided to come to Benaulim on a recce for a possible stay next season. We quickly agreed that Suz would find them a place to stay and that we would organise a booking on the boat for a few people plus a taxi to get everyone to Betty’s Boats. It all went fantastically, and we’ll probably be meeting up with them in the near future because Penny’s mum lives in Honiton, a twenty minute drive from Seaton!
Most of our time was spent just lazing on the beach, chatting to old friends, reading books and enjoying all the random things that make Goa and India such an interesting place to visit. We ate out every night as the food is so good, it was an opportunity to socialise and with a meal for two including drinks costing an average of £15, why would you bother cooking?
By now we were in serious Sunday Brunch mode. We had another few visits to The Fairfield plus a visit to The Alila Diwa in Majorda. This was a fabulous hotel with a magnificent infinity swimming pool which meant it was great for a treat visit as it was a more expensive plus needed a taxi ride to get there.
With two weeks to go before the journey home we were on countdown. We took a taxi to Martin’s Corner for an excellent lunch of delicious Goan food before taking the 2hr walk back to Benaulim along the beach. Our last quiz resulted in victory for our team, it was a fantastic evening with lots more money being raised for the girl’s orphanage. Dinner at Tansy for lots of people to say ‘goodbye’ to John and Suz and then a final visit to the Fairfield for brunch, well that was the plan until we found out it was not doing brunch because the place was being taken over for a wedding. We were gutted as we really wanted to have a bit of a blow out before we headed home. Fortunately, Sue, Francesca, Alan and Tim came to the rescue. Sue found out that weren’t going and said ‘we’re going to The Alila Diwa, why don’t you come with us?’ Result!
A few more days on the beach, flight to Mumbai, and funny 1hr taxi drive using google maps as the driver had no idea where our hotel was. The hotel turned out to be excellent and included a drive to the international airport the next morning. The flight to Heathrow was very pleasant, immigration took less than 5 minutes via the E-gates and as we only had our cabin suitcases with us we were soon on the new Lizzie Line heading for some family time with The Mortons. We were not, however, prepared for the Arctic conditions!
Luke is still a chilled and happy little soul and we had a lovely time with the boys. Neil had a great afternoon out with Freddy who managed to get him a ticket to see Arsenal vs Bournemouth at The Emirates. Neil had one of the best pies and a few beers before being treated to an exciting match with a goal scored in the first 9.1 seconds and the winner in the last kick of the match.
Despite setting off in plenty of time for the train home (no strikes again!!!) public transport in London let us down and with time rapidly running out we had to resort to getting off the bus and flagging a taxi. One nail biting journey later we ran into Waterloo and made the train with just 2 minutes to spare. It’s good to be back – but can someone do something about the weather? brrrrrrrr
December brought us around 2 weeks of bitterly cold weather with temperatures down to -6C and some days it didn’t rise above zero. This is very unusual for Seaton as we are on the coast but it wasn’t as cold as some parts of the UK where it dropped to -15C.
It was now time to get into the spirit of Christmas.The Gateway had asked us to help with a children’s seasonal activity day as well as promoting the pantomime which was scheduled the week before Christmas.We teamed up with Liz and Graham from the gym and U3A to dress up as pantomime characters and, of course, Graham and Neil were ugly sisters, Liz played The Fairy Godmother and Cheryl was Principal Boy.
Our initial job was to welcome the children to the entertainment, craft tables, and meeting Father Christmas before they sat down to watch a Christmas Film.We encouraged a lot of silly photo opportunities for the kids and their families as well as having some ‘he’s behind you’ fun. Then we set off for a wander through the town to hand out flyers for the panto.We went into many of the businesses to jointly promote them andThe Gateway’s Pantomime by getting them to take pictures of us and post the crazy pictures on their social media pages.Of course we did find time to pop into a couple of hostelries for some well earned refreshments. We definitely encouraged some additional ticket sales with our silly antics and it was a great way to spend an afternoon.
Ever since we moved here, we have had at least one pheasant and sometimes two take up residence in the garden over the winter and spring.Neil has been trying desperately hard to get them to be tame enough to feed from his hand.Well, his patience paid off and Ringo finally took food from his hand and now each time he feeds him Neil takes just s few moments to keep him happy to feed from his palm.
By now we were seriously into party mode.Volunteering behind the bar at The Gateway for a matinee of The Nutcracker from The Royal Ballet, a Gateway volunteers beer and buffet evening, a Marlpit Lane Social Club Christmas Dinner at The Shed, dinner at our new Thai Restaurant with Eric Laila and a U3A wine circle Christmas lunch which got extended with Graham and Liz back at ours – and all this was in one week!This was followed by a trip to Champneys for Cheryl and the girls whilst Neil had some time with his grandson.
We had a brief visit back to Seaton when we managed a trip to The Gateway to see Dick Whittington, ‘oh yes we did’!We love pantomime and it’s slapstick humour and the entire show of about 2hrs was put on by just 5 actors.They worked really hard and made us laugh so much especially the Panto Dame who just happened to be a very tall Scotsman with fabulous outfits, drag queen make up and a booming voice.As usual with panto the kids got really involved especially the little girl behind us who was frantically shouting ‘he’s behind you’, it was fantastic.
Dick Whittington at The Gateway
We were soon back on the road to travel to June’s for Christmas.Cheryl had started with a slight cough and cold a couple of days before we left but it didn’t bother her too much.Neil, however, succumbed on Christmas Day of all days.He was very unwell and spent most of the day in bed.Still, it was great to see Anna looking so radiant and having such a good time.Lisa was over from Oz with Callum and Jack so it was a very festive and loud Christmas Day which meant that whilst Neil was in bed feeling grotty he didn’t get much sleep.
We drove back on Boxing Day and started back at the gym the following day.By now we were on countdown for travelling to Goa and making sure that all the bins had been emptied, the fridge and freezer down to a minimum, the Christmas decorations packed away and the final batch of washing ready for packing.
Just a few days before the end of year we booked a trip to cross off The Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis off both of our bucket lists.We’re taking a 12 night cruise from Southampton with P&O later in the year and will spend Cheryl’s birthday in November 2023 taking in the Norwegian fjords.It’s a long time off but as we will be crossing the North Sea during the winter we decided to go for it so that we could book a cabin with balcony midships to minimise the risk of Cheryl being sea sick. New Year’s Eve was spent with Marlpit Lane Social Club plus lots of friends from the gym at The Gateway.We saw in the new year to a 12 piece big band who played two long sessions interspersed with disco and a buffet to get us in the mood.It was a great night and by the end of the evening everyone was dancing and singing.We even had a good old fashioned conga line lead by a Scottish friend with his kilt swinging. Neighbour Maureen wasn’t impressed with her Happy New Year kiss from Neil as he was a tad sweaty after all the dancing!
New Year’s Day was Pat’s birthday and everyone was invited around for drinks and finger food in the afternoon.It was a chance for us all to see her brand new kitchen and building alterations, wow, what a difference it made.It was the usual jovial event with some fine food and wine. Monday brought us yet another social event, this time to Lisa and Sean’s house for drinks and food.We know Lisa from the gym and also she works the check outs at Tesco one day a week for some extra money but also to help keep her brain in gear.
Finally with all the partying done it’s time for us to set off for Goa.As usual our trip to London is messed up with train strikes again so we’ve had to resort to taking another expensive taxi to the outskirts of London to enable us to catch the tube to get to Alex & Freddy’s house.This time we will be catching the newly fully opened Elizabeth Line for the first time to spend a couple of days cuddling Luke and catching up with the boys before our flight to sunshine, 30C, Kingfisher beer, lots of friends behaving badly and delicious food.It’s been over 3 years and we are so looking forward to it. More to follow when we’ve settled in Benaulim.
Trips away, fabulous family news and lots of social events in the town.
Cheryl has wanted to go to Egypt ever since she studied the Ancient Egyptians at primary school. This was to be our very first package holiday, booked by a stir crazy Neil in the depths of lockdown. Starting with 4 nights in Cairo, a Nile cruise and then relaxation in an all inclusive resort at The Red Sea. In Cairo we had an excellent guide for 2 days enjoying the wonders of the Pyramids, Great Sphinx, The Mosque of Mohamed Ali and museums. It was full on.
Inside the pyramidDoes my bum look big in this pyramid?
We then flew to Luxor to board The Esadora for a 7 night cruise down The Nile to Aswan. Every day we had excursions taking us to temples, The Valley of The kings, The Valley of The Queens, the Aswan dam and much, much more. We thought that Cairo was full on but this was exhausting as we were always up very early so that much of the sightseeing could be done in the cool of the mornings. What made it a lot more heavy going than it need have been, which was self-inflicted, was that we had a very sociable group of fellow travellers which meant a few drinks in the bar each evening.
There was a surprise awaiting us on our return from excursions as the cabin staff were a dab hand at towel art, and their creations were quite spectacular. Neil decided he would have a go as well but had to concede he should leave it to the experts.
Neil’s effortThat’s how it’s done
The next stage of our trip was to be spent on The Red Sea. We travelled by mini bus across the desert to the resort of Hurghada. The journey was interesting as we travelled through small towns where life is pretty traditional and in stark contrast to the glitz of the upmarket hotels and holiday resorts.
We had booked 10 nights of R&R which unfortunately wasn’t as pleasant as we had hoped. The hotel was aimed at families with loud music playing at the beach bar and the swimming pool making reading a book very difficult. To be fair, all the staff at the hotel were absolutely fantastic so if we weren’t eating or drinking in the bar we were on our balcony reading the books we had brought. We had a fabulous view and it was good to get back into reading which is something we don’t really do at home. In the evenings we walked along the track in both directions from the hotel which had been laid for miles in both directions. Hurghada itself is a strange place, a purpose built resort town, almost Disney like, with hotel after hotel along the seafront. It had no real soul and many of the hotels were partially built empty shells having been abandoned when Covid hit the world. Of course, they will get finished at some stage but for now they remain the homes of foxes and other wildlife. Very sad.
our balconyThe road to nowhere
Our first experience of proper package and all inclusive was mixed – it was great not to have the work of selecting and booking sightseeing and transfers, but not great to have no control when things weren’t to our liking such as the hotel at Hurghada. On a long stay we would probably have booked a couple of nights and then extended if we liked the place or moved on if it wasn’t for us.
We flew back in early November and spent a couple of days in London with Alex, Freddy and baby Luke. He is growing fast and is still such a chilled little guy getting more and more aware of what is happening around him. Then it was back home to Seaton to get back to the gym as the scales weren’t good for Neil, probably something to do with the all-inclusive food and liquor in Egypt! The social life kicked in with a Marlpit Lane Social Club film night was quickly followed by a wild night at The Gateway with Riviera Dogs, an excellent 80’s tribute band.
Whilst at the gig we bumped into Chris who used to frequent The Hat. He told us that Gary the bar owner was back in town to renew his passport so Neil contacted him and before we knew where we were we had a impromptu guest. He had been sharing his old flat with the guy who took it on but things were tense to say the least. So, we offered Gary a bed for 3 nights and enjoyed his company and tales of his new travelling lifestyle.
Just before we headed off to Cornwall to celebrate Cheryl’s birthday we went to a get together for the U3A wine appreciation group. We were most certainly the youngest there, some well into their 80’s but they were a great group and as the wine flowed we had a lot of laughs. We provided the 3 Reds – all connected to the letter C. It was a fun afternoon and went to prove the point that 80 is the new 60.
Cornwall was just the same as last year, wet ‘n windy, although not quite as windy as last year. We had a day out at The Eden Project and the second day walking near Padstow along The Camel Trail. We had the same deal at the hotel, bed, breakfast, evening meal and a bottle of wine, once again not good for the waistline. For some reason we also had a room was upgrade to The Courtroom which was a huge room with a lounge area containing 2 x 3 seater sofas.
Let’s end this post with some fabulous news about our niece, Anna, who has been receiving treatment for cancer for many months. She’s been unbelievably positive and cheerful despite feeling absolutely shite at times. At the beginning of November she was told that she is in remission! We are so pleased and we’re looking forward to the family celebrations that are to come at Christmas.
Cheryl & Neil Our Story 