Teddy's Adventures - Fourth Quarter - April to June 2015

Quarter 4 covers from April 2015 until the end of June 2015 and the end of the Rotary Year.  On the Home straight now!!

April’s travels kicked off with a flying start on April Fool’s Day – travelling south with the Whipp’s again to the south of France.

Staying in the beautiful Les Hauts De Vaugrenier overlooking the Bay of Angels provided a most relaxing time with unseasonably good weather for the time of year.

A few days down the coast in Cannes allowed Edward to literally “Hang out” with some famous faces and to savour some of the most remarkable Sea Bream which were entirely filleted without the remotest evidence of an incision anywhere on the fish.

Back to Villeneuve Loubet for some hill walking with a little exercise mixed in and whilst British Rotarians may not promote their presence particularly, our French counterparts had no difficulty doing so.

All too soon we were leaving the warmth of the Riviera coast on our way back to Soham.

After chilling for the rest of April and recharging my batteries – it was time for another UK few days away – it was the 4^th May.

I joined the Sutherland’s again, this time for a trip up to York where they were meeting up with two other couples they get together with every year after having initially all met while on holiday in Lake Garda. That weekend past it had been the “Tour de Yorkshire” and one of the group had been involved in a sportive associated with the weekend.

Travelling by train, we set off from Ely Station, changed at Peterborough and waited for the London train to York – being a bank holiday Monday, there was concern in the party that as we didn’t have reserved seats that we might need to stand all the way. Turned out that the train was almost empty and we had the pick of any seat we wished.

Once in York, our friends picked us up and we headed for our city hotel that would be our base for the next few days. Rooms ready, we checked in then decided to hit the town.

Open top bus tour seemed a good way to get the bearings. When the bus driver saw me posing for some pictures, he introduced me to Dennis, his bear companion, who travels with him everywhere – we had a good chat.

With front seats on the upper deck – I got a great feel for the many historic buildings that York has. The hop-on, hop off facility was used by my companions to either visit different shopping areas or pubs as appropriate. I teamed up with the lads and on their historical pub tour. York Minster was a must see place. Guy Fawkes birthplace (also a pub) seemed worthy of a visit.

On the Tuesday after a leisurely start, on a short cut through some historical muses, between pubs, I came across a Teddy shop. Went in and introduced myself and posed for a picture with the large bouncer Ted at the door.

The lads separated for the ladies – this allowed a trip round the British Rail Museum – many famous trains including a replica of Stevenson’s Rocket and the Mallard – the fastest UK train – spot me at the driver’s window !

My companions certainly seemed to us the short space of time we had to pack in as much as possible including long lunches, early evening cocktails by the jug and even an interesting late evening pub folk night which seemed to keep everyone in good spirits.

The Wednesday started with me sharing a full English with one of the Sutherland’s friends – they were far more sensible to indulge in this start to the day. Jonathan had taken a real shine to Edward.

At the station for the return journey, we bumped into Rtn Geoff Fisher, Margaret and friends also travelling south – what a coincidence – I was looking forward to the rest when back at Soham.

I lived with the Sutherland’s in between their short York trip and a visit to the Island of Sardinia – fortunately during that time I was able to rest and did not get roped into what seemed like some pretty intense garden preparation for the trip away.

An early morning flight from Gatwick meant a very early departure from Soham, or maybe it was a very late departure the previous day, anyway all went well and despite being a bit tired, we soon arrived in Alghero in the north west of the Island – flight time had been less than 2 hours. It was also only about 15 miles to the resort hotel, which was great. The weather was very pleasant but a constant wind kept it cool in the sun hid behind a cloud.

Initial views of the island were of very green, rolling countryside with some evidence of agriculture on a small scale.

The hotel complex was impressive, recently refurbished and looked like some exploring was required. A private beach in the bay had the Mediterranean lapping onto the sandy shore – plenty of green areas around the several pools, tennis courts, kids areas and evening restaurants – shame the outside of the building looked like Colditz – seemingly a planning requirement that seemed to apply to most hotels we came across.

My first couple of days were spent just chilling by the beach and pool areas doing a bit of reading and listening to music – only interrupted by leisurely lunches and dinners where must deliberation was required to decide what to chose from given the enormous selection of typically Italian cuisine.

It was soon time to explore a bit of the island – an early coach pickup saw use travel back through Alghero town, past the marina and down the rugged coastline to the colourful town of Bosa – a really interesting place to wander and stop for a coffee and a gelato. We then headed inland where the scenery changed to very much like an English rural environment supporting mainly agriculture and sheep rearing – our guide indicated that it would crisp up a bit as summer progressed.

We visited a bread museum, caves and ancient dwellings ( 1500BC) called a Nuragha  - quite impressive.

After a further day’s rest, we then took an open top bus tour ( a common theme here) – which went form Alghero town out past our hotel out to the headland past the bay then back to town – hop on, hop off meant we could go exploring both countryside and in particular the old walled town of Alghero – tiring these days out!

All too soon, it was time to make the homeward journey – it passed very quickly and I think the Sutherland’s were suitably impressed with the island that they’ll be back, next time exploring with a hired car. A nice break away!.

May rounded off with a trip with Rtn Chris to the Royal Veterinary College at Potters Bar, Hertfordshire just north of London.

It looks like ten years of hard work for Chris and his colleagues is coming to fruition with the recent announcement from the governing body of the veterinary profession that they are accrediting both a new qualification and an enhanced recognition of GP Vets for the profession based largely on the groups work.

As a consequence of this the Vet Learning Group were invited to the largest of the veterinary universities to discuss how they might collaborate into the future.

An interesting day  out.

Early June provided another exciting new experience for me – I joined Sheila Palmer, the wife of the late PDG Jack Palmer for a transatlantic adventure.

We set off to Toronto on June 4^th and had a good flight with Air Canada.

In Toronto we stayed in the newly-built Hotel Delta, and from our room we enjoyed a good view of the city including a view of the oldest hotel, The Duke of York, built in 1929.

The highlight of my trip was a visit to Niagara Falls, where the scenery was wonderful, although he was disappointed not to be included in a helicopter trip over the falls---helicopters in Canada are not licensed to carry bears!!.

After a wonderful week I flew home with Air Canada again, and is now safely back in Soham. What a rush.

There was still time to have one more adventure within the one year challenge time

I left Soham on Thursday 25^th June for a three night retreat to Greethams Retreat in Lincolnshire with Rotarian Lynne T and her two Border Terriers Archie and Albie. After a 2 hour drive we arrived at our accommodation, very rural and peaceful.

Our weekend was spent having walks in the surrounding countryside, sitting in the sun in the grounds and some amazing beauty treatments. It was lovely to have some doggy friends for company and we all behaved ourselves impeccably !

This was a lovely relaxed way to finish my year of travels.

I’d just like to end my journal by expressing a huge thanks to all the Soham Rotarians and their partners and friends for allowing me these wonderful experiences I’ve had over the past year, it’s been fantastic

I do hope all their effort will generate a large amount of money to support the End Polio Now campaign

There is still time to donate by guessing the total mileage I’ve travelled – Good Luck with your guesses and please give generously.