Archive for September, 2008

Away by just after 9am to Hammersmith Station, where the Group of 4 said their goodbyes – Pete was off to Wales and then Ireland, Trudz was headed for Paris (maybe) and Dean and I were making for Cambridge. Amazingly everything ran to schedule and we arrived in the university town at 11am. Jay picked us up and we pretty much messed around all day – walked into town, had a mediocre lunch at Wetherspoons (yes, that will be the last time I eat there with any luck), a general wander round the shops and then emails, blogs, washing and other such excitements in the evening.

Up, up and away around 10am for an easy couple of hours motoring to Fiskardo, on the island of Kefallonia. I helmed for quite a while, which was awesome! After tying up and having lunch, we hired a little VW and drove along some suitably hair-raising roads down to Assos, a picture perfect little town of brightly coloured buildings perched beside a hilltop Venetian fortress. We hiked up to and around the castle, which was heavy going in the afternoon heat but made for some stunning views over the township and peninsula. Back down to the waterfront for a well-deserved Mythos before tackling the roads again for the short drive to Myrtos Beach, one of Greece’s best apparently.

After the obligatory ‘roll out of bed and into the sea’ first thing in the morning, we headed out of the harbour and down the Meganisi channel, stopping halfway to row into a cave in the rocks for a look around and a swim for a while. Back out into the channel and it was such an idyllic scene seeing all of the other yachts under sail that we just had to do the same. Sails were unfurled, the motor was cut and there were, sailing on the cool and bright clear water, as the Little River Band would say. As the Little River Band did say, in fact, given that Cool Change was featuring heavily on the playlist at the time. It was truly heavenly, and strangely both incredibly relaxing and highly exhilarating at the same time.

After leaving a suitably cold rainy day in Putney, Pete, Dean and I met Trudy at Victoria and took the train to Gatwick. In typical British Rail fashion, it cost the same amount to buy four tickets as it did for two, so long as we travelled as a group. After being referred to as ‘The Group of 4′ by the ticket agent, the guys at the barrier gate and the train conductor, we decided to adopt that name for the rest of the trip. Never gets old.

Arrived in London late in the afternoon of Sep 2nd, breezed through immigration, waited forever for my luggage to arrive, and sorted out an Oyster Card (electronic travel card thingie, didn’t have them back in my day…). The plan was to take the tube to meet Tony at Hammersmith. In typical London Underground fashion, the timetable suggested a faint possibility that trains might arrive perhaps possibly maybe every 5-8 minutes. No surprises, then, that the overhead signs said that the next one was due 15 minutes later.