Day 12 - Back to Nottingham - and 26.5C!

After another good breakfast, we bid our fond farewells to everyone and humped our luggage down to the kerb.  However, Paul had just warned us that there were ‘No Waiting’ cones now on both sides of the street – including ‘no loading’.  His laundry man had been warned by a traffic officer/warden, that if he left his vehicle, he would be ticketed. So, he had to ring Paul, who had to go down and bring in his own laundry.

Both sides were coned, because there was an issue with a house on the corner, so the street to the left was closed.  Anyway, I had to walk through the shopping mall and out the other side, to get past the closed stretch of street, and then then rescue the car.  The traffic officer was standing in the road, Paula with the cases at the kerbside and so my plan was for her to get into the car, slide across to the driver’s seat, whilst I loaded up! But, she’d already sweet talked the officer to let me get out and heave the large case into the boot, whilst she chucked the smaller cases into the car.   We were off about as quick as a Lewis Hamilton pit-stop, to the end of the road and had to turn right – but the only option then was either the car park or a pedestrian only zone.  A quick U-turn and back up Adelaide Street, a cheery wave to the traffic officer (again) and away.

Once in Nottingham, we checked into the Park Inn Hotel and this was another step up in the accommodation stakes.  Top floor (three floors only) and a room at the rear of the property, overlooking the car park, rather than Mansfield Rd.   Immaculate bathroom, air-con, tea and coffee facilities but no fridge.  Once connected to the interweb, we sent a message to Bournemouth, to see if Simon could slot Paula in for a dance lesson.  In fact, we even volunteered to leave Nottingham a day early, if that would help.

Up to the local Wetherspoons a bit later and silly me, I’d forgotten that ‘Thursday night is curry night’ at all Wetherspoon’s establishments.

Paula’s chicken wrap was enormous and so I had to help with that as well as doing my best with the lamb curry and a glass of cider.

After calling on Dave and Sue, we headed back and I found that although we had free internet access, it was somewhat limited, as I couldn’t get into this blog site to edit or publish the blogs that had already been emailed in. That means that blogs may not be coming through daily, but in batches, as and when I get full internet access. (I’m already several days behind anyway, as usual.)

Day 11 - A day trip to Liverpool.

 

A reasonable sleep after an intense day (for some) and relaxation to look forward to.  Once again, Paul managed to provide breakfast early and we met Barry and Trish in the foyer at 9:15am, ready for the walk to Blackpool North railway station.  By my calculations, or rather, Google maps, it was a walk of about 800m and we arrived OK and this is when the fun started, yet again.

I punched our booking code into the ticket machine and inserted the credit card.  A notice on the machine warned the user to ensure you had all your tickets.  The tickets were to Liverpool Lime Street, return. Four tickets came out, then a fifth (a receipt?), then just as I was walking away, another ticket, then another.  OK, return = two tickets – and another receipt.  We approached the manned ticket barrier, to be told that our 9:56am train had been cancelled!

No worries, we could join the queue for the 9:40am train.  (A good job we were early.  There are some people we have travelled with who would have been left an hour waiting for a later train…) Then I checked the tickets. Apparently, as we had to change at Preston, in both directions, there was yet another batch of tickets I should have collected!  So back to the barrier and the rail employer kindly went over to the machine and returned with them!

Doors to the platform opened only when the train had arrived and we piled on for the trip to Preston where we managed easily enough to transfer to the platform for Liverpool and even had time for a decent coffee.

Once at Liverpool, we grabbed a taxi for the run down to the Albert Dock area and the Beatles Experience.  The fare was about £5 plus tip, so between 4 of us, cheap enough, as we didn’t really want to waste time walking.  A bright sunny day and down at the entrance to the exhibition, there was no queue at all!  When we tried to visit during our round GB cruise in 2014, the queue was along the corridor, up the steps and out to the pavement, but people with tickets were walking straight in.  After an hour queuing, we gave up.  But, no cruise ship in today.

You are issued with an audio visual machine and you can travel through the exhibition at your own pace.  Very impressive.  I was so pleased to see the recognition of the Chris Barber and Ken Colyer Jazz bands and the emergence of Skiffle and Lonnie Donegan as the first major musical influence of the Beatles.  As my friends all know, Chris Barber is my own musical hero and is still leading his Jazz band at the age of 87.

The exhibition is extremely well done and we came across the recreation of the famous Cavern Club. Just as we reached this point, we were caught up by Sue and Geoff, who had left Blackpool before us. The music being played in this Cavern was enough to get Sue, Trish and Paula dancing… More moving pictures.

Once out of the exhibition, we opted to return to the sunshine and a Costa coffee, rather than stay in the basement café.

Suitably refreshed, we ambled along the excellent Mersey river front towards the cruise terminal.  Our destination was the second part of the advertised tour, another exhibition of the Beatles Story.  This was included in our ticket and was even on the map, clipped to our receipt and obviously, on the website when we booked.  But either we got the wrong building or the exhibition had finished. What we arrived at was the history of British Music Exhibition - and we weren’t paying another £16!

Ho hum.  (Examining the map later, we may well have got the wrong building!)  We wandered towards the city and enjoyed the traffic free environment  - and the Lindt chocolate shop.

A short photo opportunity with a couple of friendly armed policemen before heading back towards the Lime Street station.  This was very well signposted with the approximate walking times.  As it was only 9 minutes, with time in hand, we walked in the still warm sunshine, in plenty of time for the trip back, with another train change at Preston, getting back about 6:30pm.

The general consensus was to eat at Bella Italia, a short walk from the Boomerang and so we collected Aubry and her mum Ester on the way.  Now I can eat, but so can young Aubry!  My linguine carbonara was somewhat lacking in sauce, so it wasn’t the best I have ever had, but at least it was a decent sized portion.  We didn’t bother with a dessert – but Aubry did!

A bit of a natter back at the hotel with Inge and the others before retiring for the last time in Blackpool.  The general consensus was that despite the problems, it had all been well worthwhile especially as the group got on so well together.  My task when I get home may well be to try and put a short video together from the photographs - and moving photographs.

 

Day 10 - Dancing by day, laughing by night.

Well, this was what the trip was all about.  Most dancers had set their alarms for ‘early, and most were awake and slapping on the war-paint, ‘very early’.

Paul, true to his word, was ready to sort out the breakfast orders well over 2 hours before normal.  Most dancers wanted to be at the Empress by the floor opening time of 7:30.  Simon appeared at the Boomerang and most headed off in a group, keen and eager, but with a distinct lack of nerves. 

This time, the west doors were open and we headed through into the rather magnificent Winter gardens complex and found the Empress ball room.  This was the day after the terrible Manchester suicide bombing and the first security guard I spoke to, was at the Manchester Arena the night before.

There were notices about “No Video recording allowed”, but whilst the dancers were practicing, there were heaps of people with i-Pads and cameras, filming.  A chat to security established that once the competition started, videoing was not allowed and that was partly what they were looking for.  We could however, take as many photographs as we wanted.

Needless to say, I didn’t take any video, but I did take lots of pics – some of them appear to be moving.  Ahem.

Despite the minimal practice and obvious disruption to the learned routines, practiced over several months - and at huge cost, the girls were just fantastic, having had about ten minutes each with Simon.  Sure, some didn’t manage to progress to their next rounds, but when you looked from above as Barry and I did, (more of that later) with up to 20 couples on the floor at once; the 5 judges, standing side by side; looking for the best 12 from 20 in just 60 seconds, c’mon!  These girls have paid £50 for one minute on the floor, per dance, (not the two minutes they thought they were getting), so we assume the judges saw immediately two or three who were going through, at a glance and wrote their numbers down, then just put any of the other numbers down.  A bit cynical of me maybe, but it does really mean that the dancers have to make an immediate impression - and that is not going to come at 45 seconds or later in their learned two minute routine!

Congratulations to young Aubry, Ellen and Trish for their medals but the real hero has to be Simon. He was just fantastic, taking on such a huge task, as without him, for many, it would have been a wasted trip.

Barry and I both bought bottled water from the venue for Simon, and were horrified to find they were charging £1:60 a small bottle.  (At Pound Land, about £4 a dozen.) As Barry and I often viewed from the upstairs balcony, we were likened to Statler & Waldorf from the Muppets…

Only Trish made it to dance at night in front of a live orchestra, so the rest of us grabbed a meal on site before cheering her on in her final.  Alas, only a 4th place.

We all then headed back to the Boomerang and Simon joined us for one of those evenings that will be remembered for a long, long time.  So many laughs and so much Mickey taking.

Paula reckoned it was one of her best day’s ever and even though she didn’t gain a medal, she absolutely loved it. She enjoyed dancing with Simon too and hopefully, we’ll be able to squeeze in a lesson with him when we are in Bournemouth, before and after the cruise.

Tomorrow, we have Liverpool to look forward to and we are travelling in by train.  As the train from Blackpool heads towards Manchester, which has been badly affected by the suicide bomber, hopefully all will be well.

 

 

      

Day 09 - A leisurely day - for some, the day before the dancing.

Well, at least we were warm and my toes didn’t feel frozen when they got out of bed.

We headed downstairs to the basement for a very nice breakfast.  On offer was cereal, juice, tea and coffee, fresh fruit and then Paul took the cooked breakfast orders.  “The works” was egg, (fried or scrambled), bacon, hash browns, sausage, baked beans - and for those who like such things, black pudding.  Judging by the reaction of some around the various tables, this was not on their favourites list or they’d never seen it before.  It was a very nice breakfast and nicely cooked and to finish off, Nutella on toast for me!

Our first task was to walk to the Winter Gardens office to grab a programme.  Our hotel is right opposite the south wall of the Winter Garden’s complex.  To explain, the term ‘Winter Gardens’, is a little confusing, as it is a massive, totally enclosed building, containing the Empress ballroom, café, restaurant, juice bar etc. We walked down the street to the first corner and turned right, which is the west wall, facing Blackpool Tower and the sea – where you’d expect it to be the main entrance.  No such luck.  To the top of the street to Church Street where we turned right and found the Box Office and the front entrance, where we were able to purchase the programme, which was £7 and is so heavy, it will shift probably shift our luggage allowance over the top.

I have to say, that as an occasional event organiser, communications from Blackpool were less than ideal.  No map.  No running order.  No competitor number. just a time for each major session.

With Trish and Barry, we headed back and into the Hounds Hill shopping centre for a coffee (Costa’s of course), then a walk down the sea front again, before walking back to the Boomerang, where the ladies all tried to work out what their timings were, from the programme.  That took some doing!

We then headed to Pizza Express for lunch, again, with Trish and Barry.   

Kingsley arrived from NZ and then Simon from Bournemouth.  I warmed to Simon immediately, as he introduced himself to the ladies and before they all headed off to the practice venue.  Once they’d gone, I headed to the room to try and catch up with the blog.  I went out and grabbed a sandwich, a couple of yogurts and cold drink, as we expected that no one would really want to go out again after practice.

Generally, the practice went very well, considering the pressures of time and complexity of original routines.  A couple of the ladies weren’t very confident about competing with some of their dances, but Paula had a great attitude and was determined to do all that she’d entered. There was a point where Kingsley might have stepped in and danced the American Smooth, but he wisely decided not to.

Simon stayed at the Boomerang for a drink or two and he seemed very settled with the group and just exuded confidence so people turned in before 11am.  Paul was fantastic by saying he’d have breakfast available early.  Most wanted to eat about 6:45am and some wanted to be at the hall, sorry, ballroom, by 7:30am, to have a warm up.

So, tomorrow is THE big day of the whole trip.  Fingers crossed that it is a good one.         

   

Day 08 - 'Oh we do like to be beside the sea-side'

 

We didn’t sleep too well again.  With sun up - well, daylight anyway, at about 4:30am and no blackout curtains, it is no surprise that getting back to sleep isn’t easy.

We loaded the car, said farewell to our host, and set off – initially to Costa – but they weren’t open until 9am. So we headed straight for the M1 motorway (south) and stopped at Trowell south services, before turning off and following the dual carriageway west, towards Stoke-on-Trent, then north to Blackpool.  Apart from a few miles of 50mph speed limits, an easy enough run.

Originally, we were booked into the Alumhurst Hotel, but the dance group were all moved into the Boomerang Hotel on Adelaide Street, run by the same proprietors, Paul and Mandi.  Boomerang?  Adelaide?  Makes sense, though the Proprietors Paul and Mandi certainly aren’t Aussies!

For anyone who has never visited an old British seaside town, you have to remember that they sprung up at a time when the average person didn’t have access to a car, so the holidaymakers arrived by coach or by train.  Posher ones by taxi.  What that meant was that side by side hotels and boarding houses, were built with the front entrance either right on the pavement edge – or very close to it.   So, zero car parking and with narrow streets, either no parking in the street at all, or pay and display for certain hours of the day only, is normal.

The Alumhurst did have about six spaces out the front, but the Boomerang had none at all.  Fortunately, Paul had moved us all out as the Alumhurst was hosting a film crew, who were probably going to be a bit noisy, but he was happy enough for us to leave the rental car at the Alumhurst, with a business card in the window.

We humped the case up two flights of stairs (a bit tough on my aged knees…).  The room wasn’t large, but was at least fresh and warm.

We met some of the others in the foyer and arranged to catch up later in the bar/meeting room.   We went for a walk along the sea front and for a bite to eat and ended up at Harry Ramsden’s, a chain of fish and chip establishments and had a large platter for two.

Afterwards, we headed for the iconic Blackpool Tower ballroom, up on the first floor, for the daily tea dance.  We had to pay to enter, but it is a very popular venue, with live music. Initially, the music was an electric organ, then when he packed up, the next player was on the Mighty Wurlitzer organ, made so famous by Reginald Dixon.  The signature tune was always “I do Like to Be Beside the Seaside”.  Needless to say, that was played…

We had to take to the floor and managed two or three dances.

Meanwhile, Tina had been busy communicating with various people to co-ordinate a replacement for Artur and was in constant touch with two professionals and also busy with Sue, trying to arrange a practice venue for tomorrow afternoon for a couple of hours. 

Our original plans before we left NZ were to eat at a Wetherspoon’s establishment tomorrow night, but we opted to eat tonight.  Nice.

That worked out well enough.  There were loads of messages going around and Tina managed to email copies of some of the routines that had been filmed, to Simon, a professional based in Bournemouth. The other professional they were in touch with, an-expat Kiwi went nowhere, but Simon agreed to come up to Blackpool tomorrow and give the 7 girls a run through late afternoon.  That is one tall order.  Multiple dances and 7 girls in 2 – 3 hours?   However, no American Smooth possibilities.   Remarkably, the girls were in surprisingly good spirits when we all retired for the night.

We couldn’t get a Wi-Fi signal in the room (we weren’t the only ones) so we had to do any connecting down in the bar, which was a little inconvenient.

So we have traded up from a cold, cramped room, with a less than satisfactory bathroom, with a large TV and good internet access, to another smallish warm and fresh room, a modern bathroom but with a smaller TV and no internet.

A ‘rest day’ tomorrow, for me, but a dance practice for Paula – hopefully, as long as Simon is able to make it.  Breakfast is from 9am to 10am – a bit later than most places.

    

Day 07 - This isn't going too well at all! Saturday May 20th

Another less than perfect sleep and once connected to the internet, a bombshell email.  Paula’s Russian dance teacher, on a work permit in NZ, Artur, needed a visa to visit the UK for 48 hours.  The Blackpool organisers had to send a confirmation letter to Artur, that he was coming to the event, which he had to produce at the Auckland office for the UK consulate – or whatever it is called.

The letter from the UK didn’t in fact arrive until May 9^th (even though the 7 kiwi ladies had to have their entries in by March 24^th.) The dance school principal. Kingsley, went with Artur and lodged the application and paid an extra $355 on top of the $160, for a fast track, 5 day processing fee May 9th.  The passport has been lost…  Could be in Auckland, Manilla or who knows where, but despite strenuous efforts to resolve it, the chances of him even making it to Blackpool are about 99.9% against at the moment.

This is of course devastating to all 7 ladies who have spent thousands on lessons, travel, accommodation and entry fees for a ‘once in a lifetime’ experience.  The office is closed for the weekend and they were due to fly out Sunday, NZ time…

Kingsley has even emailed the local MP (Minister for Culture and Arts) to see if someone could get into the office.

So with heavy heart, we called on Stewart and Noah, had a bite and a coffee (Costa!) and then headed out in the sunshine for a game of crazy golf at ‘Pirate’s Island’.

Half way round, we had to seek shelter as it rained.  Oh dear.  More rain on this trip so far than the total UK days we’ve spent over the last 30 years. 

Fortunately, it cleared and we carried on and it was won by Stewart – of course, yet Noah was the only person to get a hole in one.

We then headed for Brookfields and it was Stewart’s turn to sample the meat pie.

After dropping them off home, we crashed out again for yet another nana nap.  We are looking forward to the luxury of a decent night’ sleep sometime soon. 

Sue had invited us around for the evening so Dave ensured I did some ukulele practice, whilst he played guitar.

Back to the AirBnb, thankfully for the last time, as it hasn’t been the best of choices.  The last pic shows the total lack of hanging space, towels on the door, 1 suitcase on the floor, the other is at Sues.

A check of the emails before bed and despite pleas of various sorts, the NZ dancers heading to Blackpool are unlikely to have Artur, their teacher.  The passport appears to be ‘lost’.  We know that some dancers are on their way and without email access so won’t yet know about the change of hotel or the fact that Artur won’t be there.  This is shaping up to be an interesting situation and the full story will probably mean some finger pointing, with the UK being the bad guys in all of this, with Blackpool being slow but the NZ based Consulate and their systems (or lack of them) being the focus of the current finger-pointing.  What will the girls do about their dancing?  The mind boggles.  An email to their former teacher, UK based Richard, was the first thought, but he is unable to make it.

We are off to Blackpool tomorrow anyway, determined to be positive.  So far, every cloud had had some form of silver lining.  Fingers crossed.  

 

Day 06 - More rain. Decent food and yet another minor change to the plans.

After the usual erratic sleep, and another damp start to the day, we headed out to Ikea – for breakfast!  Sounds odd, but it is a hugely popular destination, even though a fair way out of town.  At a guess, 90% of the hundreds of people there at 10am, are not buying furniture or homeware.  The queues for food are adequate proof.  We had a small breakfast, a regular breakfast, two slices of toast, a wedge of delicious chocolate/nut/caramel tart, two (bottomless) hot drinks, for just over £6.  That is about $12NZ.  About a third or a quarter of what it would cost in NZ.

As always, we did browse the store and Paula went mad and bought no less than 3 wooden spoons – at a total cost of 9p.  She is going to have to curb her spending soon.

Back ‘home’ and to Morison’s supermarket for a few bits and pieces – then another much needed nana nap. 

Off later to see the family and a look through their house for the first time.  It was also Manu’s 40^th birthday.  Noah was quite taken with the sticker book I bought him and it wasn’t too long before he’d produced a water/beach scene, complete with a queue for the ice cream van!  He’d donned his Indian wedding outfit for the occasion.

We headed then to the local fish and chip shop and opted to eat in.  No prizes for guessing what I had, but Paula had a chicken wrap.  When we were growing up, this was our local fish and chip shop and all you could get was chips (of course), haddock, and plaice to order, plus mushy peas. There was no local competition either. They also had a large jar of pickled onions on the counter.  People used to be queuing right out the door on a Friday.  How times have changed.  A massive range of food options both within the shop and at several local eateries and takeaways, that have sprung up over the years but Beardsley’s fish, chips and peas from all those years ago, are still the standard against which all others are measured. 

On to Dave & Sue’s where Dave demonstrated his recently acquired electric drum kit.  Most impressive.  We headed back to the chilly AirBnb, through the rain and whilst the fan heater took off the chill, we got an email to say that our hotel accommodation at Blackpool had been changed.  A move two streets closer to the Winter Gardens.  We are now to be housed in the “Boomerang Hotel” – on Adelaide Street…  What next I wonder?

Day 05 - We saw the sun - and Jasper Carrott, but mislaid a passport.

Well, as expected, another night that wasn’t exactly totally restful.  Although the room was decidedly cool, at least there was a fan heater which we switched on for a while before bed.  Even though we’d rested on the flight over, the lack of solid sleep and time changes don’t really help.  Luckily, the large TV set, though positioned too low to see easily (needs to be mounted up on the wall), re-reuns of ‘Lewis’, ‘Frost’ and ’Law & Order’ (with Bradley Walsh from the Chase, quiz programme), until about 4am, in the background, helped.  What we find difficult to understand is, that with dozens of TV channels, both here and the USA, dedicated to ‘home shopping’, who the heck watches them?  How many insomniacs are there who spend all night surfing the channels, looking for stuff to buy?

It is of course light quite early here and I got out of bed early and crept next door with the lap-top.  Hooking into the free internet, then catching up with the blog was first on the list. I found out that unlike last year and earlier, emailing the blog post now only goes into ‘draft’ and isn’t published.  I was wearing long trousers, a shirt and my rally jacket but was frozen!   Yup, early summer in the UK.

The shave proved a massive contortionist act.  Bending over a tiny sink, with a deep shelf situated about 300mm above it proved difficult enough to wash the face then leaning over look into the low mirror, my backside was up against the door.  Diabolical ergonomics.  As is often the case with home showers in the UK, particularly recent fittings of second bathrooms or minor renovations, they are electric.  That means a high pressure cold water feed and a couple of dials.  It should be easy to get a decent flow and temperature, but believe me, often it isn’t.  So I went in the shower first and set things up for Paula.  No towel rail, heated or otherwise, so drying the bath towels wasn’t so easy.  We’ll probably have to use the fan heater – again.

Back then to the computer to search for local accommodation, and we settled for a reasonably good hotel for the 8 days after Blackpool.  After a Costa coffee and toastie in Mapperley, we went down to the hotel and made the booking, rather than doing it on line.  It even has an indoor pool, (wow!) and was warm inside in the lobby (a sharp contrast to the AirBnb).  When first built, it was very modern (for Nottingham) and was privately owned and run,  and with a good restaurant.  Now gobbled up by a major chain of course, but at least we are guaranteed a more comfortable return.

However, before we went out, I realised I’d mislaid my passport and a flip through our belongings and a check of the car hadn’t turned it up.  It wasn’t at Dave & Sues and by the time we’d returned to the AirBnb, I was getting a little anxious.  At least it was in the UK!  Another more comprehensive look, and - nothing.  I was now getting stressed (believe me, that doesn’t happen very often) and even rang the car hire Heathrow desk, as I obviously had it at immigration, so it was then a case of retracing stops.  They didn’t have it.  That didn’t really help.  So frustrating.  We went right through the two full size cases, and both carry on's.  Nothing.  At long last, just before giving up and reporting it lost or stolen, I found it.  Where was it? Tucked into my travel documents folder, where it was between the several car hire pages and when I’d checked earlier, folding the pages over, I hadn’t felt its bulk.  The sense of relief was measurable…

That settled, my stomach was also settled, and we went out again to one of the small local street shopping areas, Arnold, but the market wasn’t operating.  Paula did find a couple of real bargains in a shoe shop.   On then to our favourite UK garden centre and café.  Brookfields.  Even though by now it was after 2pm, I opted for a slice of the home made meat pie, with roast potatoes and vegetables.  Absolutely delicious!

A bit of a nod – and we very nearly overslept, waking at 5:50pm, just enough time to literally, say ‘Hi’, to son Stewart, grandson Noah and Manu, before heading to brother Dave and Sue, with every intention of catching the bus to the City.  Dave and Sue have bus passes and he very quickly calculated that it would cost a total of £8 for Paula and myself, but only £1 for on-street parking, 6pm to 8pm and free afterwards.  Take note Auckland…  So that is what we did.  We parked near what was always “The Art College”, but now named after a famous local artist, Bonington.

A short walk to the old Theatre Royal - just as it spotted with rain.

THEATRE ROYAL

To my mind, Jasper Carrott is one of the three very best British stand-up comedians of the late 60’s early 70’s.  The other two being Billy Connolly – who most of you will have heard of, and Mike Harding - who most of you haven’t heard of.

As brother Dave had kindly obtained the tickets some months after he managed to get his own, we were in the upper circle, rather than with them in the dress circle.  One floor  below what was always known as ‘The Gods’.     

Oh dear.  The seats were so short and legroom so limited, that my shins were jammed up hard against the seat in front, but my knees were either side of the head of the person in front!   The sound system wasn’t the best either.

Fortunately, there were a couple of seats spare on the row behind, the very back row, so we moved.  Great performance as always with JC doing half an hour, then a rock band for half an hour, an interval, then same again.

It was raining again when we left.

“Last week, there was a beauty contest in Wolverhampton.  There were 32 contestants – and no winner…”

“Las Vegas and Mansfield.  The only two places in the world where you can get sex for chips…”

 

  

Day 04 - Wet, wet, wet...

A good flight and on time arrival. Flight time was only just over 9.5 hours, which is pretty good. The breakfast eggs Benedict were excellent – much to my surprise.  I started to watch Wallace & Gromit’s ‘Curse of the Were Rabbit, but didn’t manage to finish it.

We were off the aircraft smartly but it is a LONG walk through to immigration.  We are both on UK passports, so the ‘smart gate’ option for us and although out of 15 gates, only about 4 were operating, we were only queuing for a couple of minutes.  Both through OK.  Five minute wait for luggage was no problem and with nothing to declare, straight out to the arrivals hall and to the Enterprise check in desk to process our hire car.  Paperwork completed, we then wheeled our baggage through and joined the mob trying to get into the lifts, to go down to the ground floor. 

Dragging luggage onto escalators is not advised so the lifts were our only option.  There are 5 lifts, but strangely enough, for a modern airport terminal, where the expectation is that people will have luggage, they are surprisingly small.

The Enterprise shuttle bus arrived after a couple of minutes to take us to the depot.  Since last using their shuttle, they have plastered the exterior windows with signage, so for anyone trying to learn where the depot is when returning their cars, they have no idea where they are!  We couldn’t see a thing out of the windows.

A few minutes wait until we were pointed to our car, a SEAT Leon, diesel.  Seemed OK and once we’d heaved the two cases in the boot and one wheelie bag, one wheelie bag inside, we set off.  Couldn’t find the light switch!

Steady misty, drizzling rain but thanks to the guy on the gate, he told me where the light switch was.  A rotary switch to the right.   

Sat Nav included on this model, but as with most modern cars, you now need a 30 minute acclimatisation session to learn all the electronics.  We missed the turns, twice, and had to do a couple of U turns before we finally found ourselves on the M25 heading in the right direction, ready to join the M1 North.  So slow.  A 50 mph speed limit and some stop/start motoring and a lot of surface water.

A Costa coffee stop on the M1 and we managed our AirBnb booking location OK in Nottingham.

We have to be realistic here. This was a very cheap option, as anyone who has stayed at AirBnb places will know, there is a huge variation of price and also facilities.  Our room is effectively a basement but to reach it, in the rain, down a steep flight of steps, with heavy(ish) cases wasn’t easy.

Access is then through the owner’s craft studio.  The positives are free Wi-Fi, and no car parking charge, (street parking…) with tea making facilities.  Bear in mind that Wi-Fi at the Marriott was $13US a day and car parking at our last night in the UK is £25, (about $48NZD), which is about the cost of this accommodation, and you have to take a pragmatic view.  Very much a case of you get what you pay for.  No wardrobe/hanging space, a tiny en suite, the width of the standard shower, with another of those tiny wash basins, but the killer here is that there is a heavy wooden shelf just above, with a small mirror, that effectively showed my stomach.  Not a pretty sight. Straightaway, having a wet shave was going to be an issue.

At this point, we realised that this wasn’t a good choice. As we’d also booked for 8 days after Blackpool, we very quickly made the decision to not return.  Rather like the US TV having a big screen, but poor content, this was a nice host with not such good accommodation – for a couple.  Had the weather been bright and sunny and we could have enjoyed the outdoor area, it might not have been too bad, but with a cool drizzly day...

We nipped out to see brother Dave and partner Sue and although we were fairly tired, we accepted Sue’s invitation to enjoy a chicken chasseur and on the way back, tried to catch son Stewart, but they were out.

So, we crashed early, but had to put the fan heater on for a while.  No pics as yet.  It would be nice to get a good night’s sleep, but somehow, going to bed a bit early usually means a poor night’s sleep.  With sunrise (ha-ha-ha) at some ungodly hour, no doubt I’ll be wide awake early.

Day 03 - Relaxing - even at LAX!

Not a brilliant night’s sleep – again, but at least we were up in time for breakfast.  A reasonable amount of food available, with just scrambled eggs and that terrible crispy streaky bacon that some love, on the hot section.  But plenty of fruit salad, pastries, breads etc., so we were happy enough, as it cost us nothing.  A leisurely remainder of the morning just lounging around and packing.  Paula was fine and we dragged our cases down to the pool area and just enjoyed the fresh air.  Neither of us are too keen on air-conditioning for very long, so with the prospect of the airport and then the flight, with a minimal amount of fresh air and daylight, grabbing it whilst we can is always a good policy.  Paula was studiously watching her dance videos in lieu of actually dancing, so she might need to loosen up a bit between now and the ProAm competition on Tuesday, which is after all, the number one reason for this trip.  Four weeks on the Crown Princess are merely time fillers…

Most airlines for International flights say allow a check in time of three hours, so why is it that when you do arrive three hours early, the check in desks often aren’t open?  We arrived a bit early, to join a small queue, but thankfully, the check-in desks opened a couple of minutes later, so bags dumped, we headed straight through. We no longer have to wait around at LAX whilst the bags are scanned either.

Now LAX has a terrible reputation for slow processing and in December, even though we were in the fast track line, it still took over 30 minutes to get through.  The major blockage being scanning.  This time, zero delay at immigration (though the staff there weren’t as friendly as at arrivals) and we were told we didn’t need to remove electronic devices, didn’t need to remove shoes.  Just empty pockets of anything metal and whoosh.  Through in two minutes. Easy.   Whether they have new scanners or a changed policy, who knows? But it sure was fast.

We haven’t really explored the Tom Bradley terminal since the relocation of Air NZ fights and the revamp, but there are certainly plenty of eating options now.  We just walked around then headed for the Star Alliance lounge, to relax, connect to the internet  - and snack.  I tried to add some pics taken of the hotel – and the directory just disappeared  No idea where that has gone.  

Easy boarding and on time with a great cabin crew once again.

Not really a very informative day, followers, and still no pics, and certainly nothing for new cruisers!

Tomorrow, we arrive in the UK at 11:30am, but sad to say, the five day forecast is rain, rain, rain, rain – and rain.  As Nottingham hasn’t had any rain for ages, the gardeners will be delighted.  Not so sure the NZ dance contingent will be too thrilled. First time I have been back to the UK since 1983 and had more than a couple of wet days per trip. 

Day 02 - Green sees red

Having sampled the nibbles in the Concierge Lounge last night, we fully expected to sample the breakfast, but it wasn’t to be.  Having crashed out quite early, we were both awake 12:30am, so put on the TV. It was a massive screen with excellent picture quality and even the remote buttons lit up when you pressed them, which is a great idea.  However, as anyone who has experienced US TV will know, having a fancy screen is all very well, but it doesn’t mean there is anything worth watching.  Apart from an old episode of ‘Castle’, which we’d seen before anyway it wasn’t too long before it was switched off again.

So we slept, woke, slept, woke, slept  - and we missed breakfast!  Oh drat.  So we slept, woke, slept and finally got up just after midday. That was half a day gone, but at least Paula was OK again, which was the most important thing.  Due to the renovations, we couldn’t easily grab a light bite in the hotel (no Starbucks remember) so we just had a swig of water and walked down Century Boulevard to Dennys.

We wondered why people seemed to be avoiding the main entrance.  We soon found out.  An aggressive character claiming to be a Vietnam Vet, was accosting customers on entry and virtually demanding cash.  When we didn’t contribute, he got really snarly and abusive and said that (amongst the many expletives) he hoped that we’d get cancer and die.  Charming fellow.  At this point I saw red, turned back at him and said that getting cancer was a bit late at which point he got even more abusive and said he was glad - but the Denny’s staff came out and moved him on.  Apparently he is a regular and gets just as abusive if people toss him a dollar, querying ‘what he is supposed to do with just one dollar?’ and he has been moved on by the police - several times.  The Denny’s staff were like me and doubted if he even was a Vietnam Veteran anyway, and were most apologetic.

Once that drama was over we just had a very light bite (bowl of beef and veg soup for me and an English muffin for Paula) and walked back.  As I seem to have put on the kilos recently, mainly through lack of physical exercise whilst a surgical wound heals, (nothing at all to do with over eating of course) eating light for a day or two is probably a good thing, before I get stuck into the fish, chips and mushy peas, or decent curries, or Wetherspoons breakfasts, in the UK, then of course, 28 days on the Crown Princess.  I might also succumb to at least one of what are now called ‘elephant’s feet’. For the uninitiated, a large chocolate éclair on steroids. 

Marriott Hotel LAX

One of the major benefits for us is that the hotel operates a 24/7 shuttle to and from the airport and so what that really means is that you aren’t hanging around the airport for long, nor at the hotel. At busy times, they don’t even stick to a 20/25 minute service from the hotel, but as soon as one shuttle is full, it is despatched and they have at least 2 vans on the go at busy times.

For those interested in such things, the revamped rooms at the Marriott have well and truly been brought up to date.  Although there is still no free Wi-Fi fir general guests, there is now a clock – with two USB ports; the double power-point by the bed on the opposite side also has 2 USB ports; the desk has a double power-point - with 2 USB ports;  as does the cabinet, with fridge and coffee-maker.  Even the bedside wall lights have a USB port.  When I/we stayed previously, in the older rooms, no fridge and definitely no USB ports. They were very ‘dark brown and dingy’. The new rooms have very light grey walls, grey carpet and decent lighting.

The bathroom is also very modern with the old baths replaced by a double length shower and the bathroom light comes on automatically when you walk in.  Although 5 minutes away from LAX, it is parallel with and almost within the runway complexes, so we can see the smaller aircraft seconds before they touch down, but can’t hear a thing.

The pool area is within the 4 main blocks of rooms and is a very pleasant place to relax and kill time, down on level 1, but it wasn’t warm enough for us to swim. The lobby is level 2.  We skipped the health club, also on level 1…  No surprises there. 

Another visit to the Concierge Lounge, where on entry, we chatted to a nice American guy who was into Formula 1, then on exit, the door was held open by another jovial character.  Back to normality as far as Americans are concerned.  It only takes one to upset the equilibrium.  A very light snack only this time, with a small chunk of braised beef on creamed potato as the hot dish, plus a little cheese and crackers, just to tide us over as we decided that a proper meal would be in order. 

So, we headed for the cheaper of the two restaurants (no surprises there…) and I had the rigatoni pasta, with sausage-meat and also the mushrooms, which is normally an option.  The mushroom was sliced and tasted as though it was cooked with balsamic vinegar.  It also included spinach (I DO eat my greens…) and about 10 small tomatoes plus shaved parmesan cheese.  Very nice too.  Paula had a turkey burger with delicious shoestring fries.

We managed to stay awake to a respectable time and watched the semi-final of the USA Dancing With The Stars. Simone Biles(?) an American gymnast got 4 x 10’s by the judges, twice, but was knocked out presumably on the public vote. The worst dancer of the four was a football player, so obviously the football supporters outnumbered those who saw real talent.  Even the judges were suitably shocked.

Paula has NOT been practicing her dancing - but she has been watching the videos and pointing out Artur’s mistakes… 

Tomorrow, we are determined to be up in time for a light breakfast and check out is 12 noon.   Another relaxing day ahead with a5pm flight. It will be interesting to see how busy it is at LAX.

 

 

Day 01 - We're off - but...

Well, the travel blog proper starts here, so leaving NZ on Mother’s Day, and arriving in LA, still on Mother’s Day, should have been great for Paula.  It was memorable, but great wouldn’t be the first words that come to mind.  Nice for her to catch up with daughter Julie first thing in the morning (and I do mean first thing), as Julie arrived early as she had sold a 3 piece suite that had been clogging Paula’s dance practice area for a while.  Once that had been shifted, we headed for our usual Garden Centre coffee stop early.  Being Mother’s Day, they had over 300 bookings! 

We managed a table OK and then headed for home, to do the last minute stuff – then back to the Garden Centre again for another coffee, to meet Paula’s number 1 son and his two charges.  No wonder the takings drop when we are away.

From then on, all went to plan, with the Super Shuttle as reliable as ever, picking us up at spot on 6:20pm.   Sunday evening, so a straightforward run to the airport, where the Air NZ check in was a breeze and great staff as usual.  (My case was spot on the limit of 23kg, Paula’s 21.3…  But mine had 2.5Kgs of Whittaker’s chocolate in it.)

Usual lounge and easy boarding and all went to plan again – until 9 hours into the flight.  Paula didn’t feel at all well.  Very nauseous.  The cabin crew were fantastic and brought an oxygen bottle; arranged for a doctor passenger to have a word; constantly checked that she was OK and even arranged a wheelchair at LA.

That turned out to be a Godsend, as the queues at LA as usual were horrendous. A slight hiccup when Paula’s fingerprint failure at the Kiosk meant going to the ‘reject’ line, instead of the fast track we’d expected, having been through the USA on that passport in December.  Fortunately, the wheelchair meant a faster exit and what a coincidence.  The friendly immigration officer was the same one we’d had in December!!!!  He confirmed that by checking the passport stamp.  We were through quite quickly and picked up the luggage, only to join the other long queue to exit.

Patricia, the lovely wheelchair assistant took us right through to the hotel shuttle stop and we only had to wait three minutes before the Marriott shuttle arrived.  Paula was already feeling a lot better after a good dose of fresh air. The driver heaved our cases on board and we walked to the rear of the shuttle – but he accelerated away rather briskly, before Paula was even seated, at the rear of the coach, but I just managed to stop her smacking her head on the rear!

But wait, there’s more!

I have now stayed at the Marriott LAX 4 times and every time, the staff have been marvellous. The hotel is undergoing a massive renovation at the moment, so Starbucks was closed.  Easy check in and up to the 3^rd floor.  We took two steps into the rather dingy, pre-renovation room - and walked straight out again.  This is supposed to be a smoke-free hotel, but the stench of stale cigarette smoke was all too obvious, so I left Paula there and went back to reception.  The delightful receptionists was most apologetic and relocated us to a room on the 10^th floor – which had been renovated.  Woohoo! 

But wait, there’s even more….

We opened the door to a bright, fresh room but as I dragged the cases in, I noticed what at first appeared to be carpet fluff (new carpet) at the bathroom doorway,   It wasn’t fluff.  A ceiling panel in the bathroom had collapsed, due to a water leak from upstairs and the bathroom floor was awash.  Back down to reception again…

But wait, there’s yet more…

This time, the receptionist’s face dropped when I walked in - but she was busy with other guests, so Alex, the Concierge dealt with it.  He too was very apologetic and after a bit of time on the telephone, sorted out a room on the 14^th floor.  PLUS access to their Concierge Club on the 16^th floor, where they have free nibbles and non-alcoholic drinks from 5:30pm (plus beers and sprits at what looked to be good prices) and also have a complimentary breakfast in the morning, rather than the $25 breakfast in the restaurant.

Third time lucky, the room was freshly renovated and at last, we felt as though we were checked in properly.

We opted to spend a bit of time in the fresh air, down by the pool, then about 5:45, thought we’d check out the Concierge Club on level 16.  This hasn’t yet been renovated, but the nibbles were excellent (the coffee machine had broken so it was pump pot coffee) but we had enough to keep us going, (we were rather taken with the prawns on a cauliflower puree…) before heading back to the room.  Paula was feeling a lot better, but was happy to try and get more sleep, even though it was early.

I returned to reception yet again, to get a form for the Marriott reward’s club.  Once again, Alex was brilliant as he signed me up there and then – though I still couldn’t access free Wi-Fi and wasn’t going to spent $12.95 either.  (Thanks to son Stewart, he has got me on the phone using ‘WhatsApp’, but I removed the Sim card to make sure I’m not paying a fortune on data. I’m no Luddite, but haven’t hooked into the whole mobile ‘phone thing, but WhatsApp may just change things a wee bit.

So, day 1 was a bit of a mixed bag, but hopefully, things will be much smoother from now on.