Working holidays

WWOOFing - July 10th to July 16th

This week was work experience week for Beccy at school.  She originally wanted to do her work experience at the London Aquarium and sent an application and CV.  She never received a reply.  She also tried various football organisations but, again, no luck (but one was decent enough to reply).  While she was looking I got a message from my nephew, Joe, who said he was WWOOFing in Australia.  Realising that if I asked him what WWOOFing was it would take ages to find out as he only has intermittent internet access, I looked it up on-line.  I then remembered that my friend Viv had done the same thing in New Zealand.  Both Joe and Viv seemed to have had a good experience of it and so I suggested to Beccy that we try it for her work experience.  She would actually work for a week, while we lived with the family on the farm (WWOOF - Willing Workers On Organic Farms), our work would be our payment for food and accommodation.  This way she could use her work experience week to improve her spoken French (she has indicated that she wants to do French at A level).  I joined the organisation and started sending out requests.  We were accepted by Claudie and Bernard at their farm in Bretignolles-sur-Mer in South West France.

Deciding to drive there, as we needed to leave on Sunday after Beccy's army cadet testing for 1 star, we caught the 6.30pm ferry from Dover and drove from Calais to Rouen to find an F1 hotel.  We had no sat-nav and our map was too large scale to show individual roads, so we had printed out directions from Google maps.  The directions were perfect until we got near to the hotel when it started to use road names rather than numbers.  We didn't see a name sign on any of the roads and got completely lost by about 10.30pm.  It was dark and, after a while, we started to give up hope of finding the hotel (which I had booked in advance).  Suddenly, we had a brain wave and used the address to guide us, we found Sotteville (the right area of town), then Parc des Expositions and then is was just a case of finding the right road, which took about 5 minutes - phew!!

After a good night's sleep we drove on (5 hours) to Bretignolles, which we found very easily from the directions and with the map.  We were welcomed by Claudie and Bernard and were shown the caravan where we would be sleeping.  The caravan was clean but had no electricity or water, it was just for sleeping in.  We found it difficult at first to adapt to the way they had food constantly out on the table, many flies and how they re-used and re-served everything.  By the end of the week we had learned to value this greatly.  Very little was thrown away and the family lived with very little material comfort.  We did, however, eat very well and were treated like guests.  A German boy (16) was doing work experience the same as Beccy and the family had 4 teenage children.  The atmosphere was great, the work was good (we helped out at their factory where they made jams, preserves, vinegars for local shops, local markets and their own farm shop, we cleared weeds, picked strawberries, planted seeds and helped with chores around the house).  One evening, Bernard took Beccy and me to the concert of a friend of theirs at a local campsite, another evening we all went out to the Bastille Day celebrations to see fireworks and eat ice creams.  Beccy went swimming with the other children and we had loads of time to read.  No phones, no TV, no internet, peace and quiet.  It was great.

Voluntary wardening - July 30th - August 6th

 Our second working holiday of the year was at Llanddeusant Youth Hostel in the Brecon Beacons, South Wales.  We were volunteer wardens for a week (we have been doing this for about 10 years now but this was the first time at this hostel).  The hostel was very remote (7 miles from the nearest village, 12 from the nearest town) and so very quiet, peaceful and relaxing.  Again, no mobile  phone, TV or internet (although the hostel did have a landline). There was room for 22 guests but the most we had on any night was 10.  The kitchen was large and extremely well equipped and I was able to bake bread on a couple of days. We took all our food with us as we had realised that we wouldn't be able to just pop out to the local shop!

Beccy and her friend Allison came with us and they went out on their own for three of the days we were there.  This involved driving them 25 minutes to the nearest bus stop for a bus to Swansea and then picking them up again when they got back.  The hostel was extremely easy to clean and we had a reasonable amount of spare time in the afternoons.  We visited Swansea,Gelli Aur, Llanelli beach, Camarthen, Llandovery and spend one afternoon walking up to a mythical lake near the hostel (well fairly near - it was a 7 mile walk altogether).  We met some lovely people who were walking, motorcycling, cycling or just touring and the view from the hostel was so lovely you could just sit a look all evening.  We had the odd red kite flying over and we were able to watch bats.  There were plenty of sheep and we learnt quite a bit about cattle droving (we had wondered how the hostel we were in, a converted pub, had ever managed to survive as a pub in a place where there were about six houses in the immediate area.  Having read books in the hostel and some information boards in Llandovery we found that there was a string of droving inns where the drovers got their food and lodging and the cattle were fed and shod.

On our final day at the hostel, Brian took the girls out fishing all morning and most of the afternoon.  This left me loads of time to do a good clean of the hostel before we handed it over to the next warden, to bake some bread and to walk down to a nearby cafe in a local farm (3km away) for my lunch.  I had a platter of three local cheeses, salad sprinkled with seeds, oatcakes and home made bread.  To drink I had a pot of Earl Grey tea.  I rested for a while after eating then started to walk back.  As I did so I had the most enormous sense of well-being that I ever remember having.  Whether this was as a result of walking in the country on a warm, but not sunny, day with a full tummy I don't know but I could understand why a good number of hostel guests had been very enthusiastic about the cafe during the week.  A number of them went there for breakfast and were very impressed.

Ben's trip to South Africa - 26th July to 13th August

Ben and his scout group went back to Mpumalanga province where they had been four years ago.  This time they were going to build a library in an empty room in the Mlilo school.  A number of his closest friends were on the trip and he had the time of his life.  The work went well and they had plenty of time to do other activities like caving, mountain climbing and biking, swimming, kayaking, camping with South African scouts and sightseeing in Kruger National Park.  Ben came home full of enthusiasm for South African food and cooked us a bobotie.  They visited the project they worked on last time, in Sandzile School and Ben said that their work had made a huge impact on the school.  This time, the money they raised for the trip was used to complete the library and to buy the books and equipment needed.  Again, a huge impact has been made.

Out with Alexander

Alexander loves travelling on trains and buses and so I was sure he would enjoy  the Maidstone and District Bus company centenary event.  There were large numbers of buses new and old.  He ran around saying red bus or yellow bus, climbing on to have a look round and chattering away.  We rode on a couple of vintage buses and went to see an exhibition of vintage cars.  Unfortunately, Alexander was so excited by the cars that he wanted to try the door handles of each, trying to get into the cars.  As all were highly polished I was surprised that we weren't told off but I encouraged him to leave that area and we went back to look at buses.  We travelled on two buses to get to the show and two buses to get back.  Unfortunately, I forgot the camera and couldn't get my phone camera to work so don't have any pictures.

Over Easter Beccy and I travelled to Herne Hill by train then walked to Brixton to meet Helen and Alexander from the tube.  We spent the day in Brockwell Park.  We started in the children's play area where Alexander climbed on the train climbing frame, slid down the slides, climbed other climbing frames and rode on roundabouts and seesaws.  We had an ice cream and then walked across to the lido where we paid for a family swim.  We spread our towels out around the pool and Beccy and Helen sunbathed and read.  I tried to get Alexander to go into the pool, we put his arm bands on him and went to get into the water but it was very cold.  He immediately raised his legs, screamed and shouted 'cold'.  Despite sitting with him for a good while trying to encourage him to splash his feet in the water he wasn't having any of it and so we went back to sit with Helen and Beccy and I went for a quick swim.  The water was so cold it actually hurt.  My legs hurt for quite a while at first as they acclimatised to the water.  When I started to swim it was quite difficult.  My muscles weren't really interested in working efficiently and it took a while before it became easier.

After my swim we had lunch in the cafe by the lido.  I had a mackerel bap, battered mackerel with tartare sauce in a soft bap.  It was delicious especially accompanied by the still, organic Sicilian lemonade that Beccy and I both had.  Helen and Alexander had a salmon and dill tart and both Alexander and Beccy had chips.  It was a nice meal in an unusual place.

Bar work

Brian and I (well me mainly) applied to do some bar work for charity.  I had been contacted by the Campaign Against Climate Change, presumably because I had stewarded for them at the rally last December, to ask if I was interested in volunteering in this way.  You work a number of shifts of up to 6 hours and the wages you earn are paid directly to the charity you are representing.  In return you get free tickets to the festival where the bar is, a couple of vouchers for drinks after your shift and, if relevant, free camping in a secure area and some food.  We immediately applied to work the bar at Glastonbury but were, presumably, at the end of a long line of applicants.  We didn't get a place.  We did, however, get offered some work at the London Feis in Finsbury Park.  No camping but over two days.  I registered us straight away.  Brian was a bit worried about the bar work as he hadn't done anything like it before but I was sure that he would be very good at it (and it turned out that he was).

Brian's family then organised an event on the first day of the festival, which he didn't want to miss, and he got a compulsory place on a speed awareness course on the same day meaning that he couldn't do the Saturday.   We decided that I would do the Saturday on my own and then we would both do the Sunday.  I let CCC know and, unfortunately, it was too late to get a replacement but they were at least able to let the Worker's Beer Company know in time.

About a week before the festival we got our shift allocations: I had 11-5 on the Saturday (which meant that I could watch the Cranberries and Bob Dylan after my shift).  We then had the 5-10 shift on Sunday, shorter but we would be working during the main acts.  As it turned out the bar we were allocated to on both days was next to the main stage and so we could watch when we weren't serving and could listen all the way through.

A few days before the festival I received an email saying thank you being a team leader and giving me instructions.  I wasn't aware that I was a team leader and so contacted CCC to see if it was a mistake.  It wasn't.  Anton, the co-ordinator, had made me team leader of the team of four which, because two of the team were Brian and myself who knew each other, he decided that I might as well carry out that function.

I contact the other team members on Friday arranging to meet them at 9 for registration the next morning.   I met Martin at about 9.30 at the registration tent but the other team member, Navindh, had let me know that he couldn't get there until later.  I spoke to someone there who said that he could register at 11.30am.  In the end he turned up at 12.30 and was sent away.  After a long search I found someone I could ask about it and they said that they had already told him he couldn't work because he was only willing to be there for the shift time and wouldn't make the registration which was a requirement.

Martin and I reported for our shift which was quiet at first but got busier and busier as time went on.  The work was relatively easy and the shift went quickly.  You had scanners that you used to log each drink you sold and which would add the prices up as a check.  Unfortunately, they had a few hiccups and stopped working a couple of times.  Highlights were listening to The Undertones and The Waterboys.

After the shift a group of us got relatively near the front for The Cranberries' set.  The others were sharing round some vodka and lemonade but I hadn't eaten anything at all that day and I didn't want to drink on a very empty stomach so I waited until the end of the set and went off to get something to eat.  I chose a lamb wrap from the Hog Roast which was quite nice, although quite greasy.  I then queued about five deep at the bar to spend my drinks vouchers.  Half and hour later, after conversations with two Bob Dylan fans from Coventry, I was finally served.  I spent both vouchers at once with two medium red wines in one large cup!

I wandered over to the second stage to see what was going on there and found a band called The Afro Celt Sound.  They were excellent with a mixture of Irish, African and Asian Banghra music.  When they finished it was time for the Bob Dylan set.  I wandered back over to the main stage only to find that there was no way I could get back to the group I was with at the front.  I stood a long way back and found myself next to a couple with a small baby in sling.  The couple had met at a Dylan concert 7 years before and so couldn't miss this one and it was great to be able to bring the baby with them (a that very young age they can go anywhere with you).  I also met a Belgian woman whose male friend lent me his binoculars to see Dylan on stage.  She was overwhelmed by how happy everyone was and her outpouring of emotion made me quite emotional as well.

After the concert, still buzzing, I hobbled out slowly with the crowd onto the Seven Sister Road and, as if by magic, Brian and Beccy arrived to pick me up and take me home.  I had told them not to come as I had a train ticket, it wasn't very late and I had a good book for the train, but they came anyway.  Beccy got a peek at the Emirates stadium as we drove past it, which was a treat for her.

On Sunday we were able to have a bit of a lie in as we didn't need to register until 11.30am.  We walked to the station so that we wouldn't need to worry about driving home.  After registration and a quick look around the arena for Brian, we decided to go find a local cafe.  We ended up on a long walk which took us through Clissold Park and eventually to Stoke Newington where we found a reservoir.  The West reservoir was a sailing and boating area with a cafe next to the water.  We had tea and then walked back, stopping on the way to have a look at the Castle Climbing Centre in a large building that looked like it could have been a castle (it had towers and turrets) but was a water pumping station linked to the reservoir.

Back at the festival we arrived in time to get some really delicious chorizo and bean stew with an olive salad.  We sat on the ground and ate while we listened to the Jimmy Cliff set and then it was time to start our shift.

The shift went just as quickly as the previous one.  Brian took to it brilliantly (he was actually offered tips)!  We both really enjoyed it.  It wasn't very busy and so the work was quite leisurely and you got a chance to talk to people as they bought their beers and other drinks.  The bar started to shut not long after the headline act Thin Lizzy started.  There had been a bit of a rush on the bar after Van Morrison and the customers kept on coming as they started to close off the bar at each end.  We were gradually coralled into the middle of the bar and started bumping into each other.  I decided to find other jobs as there were far too many servers in the small bar space left.  I picked up litter as the bar was gradually taken to pieces.

Once everything had been cleared up we were allowed to take drinks that would otherwise be thrown away.  Brian had some gin and lemonade and I had more red wine.  We had enough to keep us going until we were ready to go home.  A tube, train and taxi ride and we were home at around 12.30am, exhausted but having had a really good weekend.  We will do this again.

Ben's bike ride for South Africa

Friday 29th April 2011

When everyone else was watching the royal wedding, Ben was cycling across southern England from Borstal, Medway to Poole Harbour and the view of Brownsea Island. Brian and I were driving along in support.

7.15am

Ben set off from the start point at 24^th Borstal Scout hut (outside the gate – there didn’t seem much point trying to go in).  Cai got up early and came to the scout hut to see Ben off. 

The first part of the route took him over the M2 bridge, over towards Leybourne, through Offham, through Shipbourne and on to Edenbridge where we had decided on the first checkpoint.

Unfortunately, although we had the route planned on two iPhones, the checkpoints were not showing on either.  Communication by mobile phone allowed us to set up a meeting point where Ben’s route met the A22 after Lingfield.  He arrived at 10.15am.  Luckily, I had just happened to ring him while he had stopped for a break so communication was possible!

After a drink, bottle refill and plenty to eat he set off again.  We had lost the checkpoint details and I had thought that the next one was Petworth.  Ben thought that Stroud, a small village on the route, was not too far past Petworth and we decided to aim for there.  We drove on ahead and nearly got to Stroud when he rang to say that he was in Pulborough, had run out of drink ages ago and needed a break and some food.  We turned round and drove back towards him.  He phone again to say that he was stopping on the edge of Hensworth Common, Fittleworth and we should meet him there.  It was a good 15 minutes drive back and, when we got to the common he was waiting up a path that made him invisible from the road in both directions!  We drove past him twice!

He had a high energy lunch (chocolate spread sandwiches, cereal bars, chocolate and nuts and a banana) similar to his high energy snack on the last stop.  After taking plenty of fluids on board and, again, refilling his bottle, he set off towards Midhurst, where we saw him briefly to allow him to remove one layer of clothing.  Our stop in Midhurst allowed us to have some lunch and we then saw Ben again just before Petersfield.  He was starting to ache.  His neck was hurting and his knees were becoming sore.  As Stroud was only 2-3 miles away he decided to carry on and then have another lunch break.  He had a small fall off the bike earlier on when he couldn’t unclip the cycle shoes, possibly a sign of getting tired.

We had agreed to meet at the village sign on the way into Stroud village. But when we got there we found the village sign to be quite understated and on a blind corner so Ben cycled past while I photographed the sign.  He had another break but was unable to eat or drink any more and his stomach was hurting.  We found a pub and used the toilets, had a coffee and a seat for a while.  He really looked like he didn’t want to go on but after a while he got himself ready to go and set off again.  Next stopping point, Bishops Waltham.

Brian and I drove along Ben’s route along a small winding road through the South Downs.  Attempts at stopping to go for a walk on a public footpath were thwarted by signs preventing us from parking anywhere.

When we met Ben in Bishops Waltham he was doubled over in pain.  He had a pain just left of his belly button and couldn’t move.  He said his legs felt fine but he was pale and in great pain.  The pain didn’t subside and, eventually, we decided to get him and his bike in the car.  We checked his mileage and he had done 113 miles.  As there were at least 48 miles to go according to the map, he decided to cycle the last 33 miles of the trip and skip Southampton.  We drove through Southampton but the pain was getting worse and eventually we thought we should try to consult a pharmacist.  We couldn’t find one that was open and Ben was saying that maybe he needed some different types of food (protein? salt?)  We decided to get him something to eat and found those palaces of nutrition, McDonalds and KFC!  They had what it seemed he might be needing, plenty of salt.  He had a piece of chicken from KFC (I went in there by mistake and couldn’t understand why they said they didn’t have chicken nuggets!) and then a bag of chips from McDonalds.  He very soon said he was feeling a bit better and we assumed that he may have had cramped intestines.  He felt more positive and said he wanted to carry on.  We decided on the gateway to the New Forest (Ashurst), which seemed to leave about the right amount of distance.

Brian decided to cycle to Ben’s start point, to get the bike out of the city.  Ben and I drove to Ashurst and then spent ages trying to find Brian, getting a little cross as Ben was now keen to get going and finish the ride.  Once we found him and Ben had started to cycle again we drove in hops, waiting for Ben to get a good way ahead and then driving past him to a stopping point then waiting for him to pass us.  Just before Christchurch we had been driving for quite a while and hadn’t passed him.  We felt sure that we must have missed him but equally fairly sure that we had followed the right route. We phoned him and found that he was miles ahead of us and already on the promenade along the Bournemouth seafront.  It then became a race to get to the viewing point for Brownsea Island before him.  The road is much longer than the promenade route and it took ages for us to get there.  Brian and I were like a rally team, me driving and him navigating (only we were driving at a small fraction of the speed).

We reached the ferry dock and quay for Brownsea Island and, luckily (for us, maybe not for Ben), found that Ben had been so held up by revellers on the promenade that we had beaten him to it.  Only just, though, he arrived at around 9.15pm, about 10 minutes after us.  He had averaged a speed of 17 miles an hour on the final stretch (having averaged around 14.4 mph up until then).

It was already raining but as we were celebrating on the quayside the heavens opened and the thunder and lightning started.

Ben rode the 146 miles he set out to do and reached his destination.   We are so proud of him.

Our friends Fiona and Colin, who live in Poole, gave us a meal, cups of tea and squash and let Ben use their shower.   They even sponsored him.  We left their house at 11pm , getting home at 2am.  Not much time for Ben to recover before he needed to be at work at the tennis club at 10am!  He has a doubles match in the afternoon then, I hope, he will take a well-earned rest.

Campaigning, volunteering and fundraising

Earth Hour 26th March

Dan, Helen and Alexander came over for the evening and, after dinner, we turned all the lights out and sat by candlelight playing games.  We started with building Jenga towers but Alexander found it great fun to knock the towers down as quickly as they were being built.  The next game was to make sculptures out of one A4 sheet of paper, some sellotape and a straw.  Each team of two had an element (fire, earth, water, air, etc) and had to make a sculpture to represent it.  We then guessed what each team had made.  Brian and Beccy started by making the word 'fire' with their straw!  We had the lights out for well more than the one earth hour and we all decided that we should do it more often.  All our candles are now much easier to find.

TUC Rally - 26th March

Earlier in the day I marched with my union ATL and many other public service workers on the rally against the spending cuts (March for the Alternative).  It was a very peaceful rally until, apparently, the later part of the day when some groups started to make trouble.  I met other teachers in my branch of the union and from this volunteered to be union rep at work with a role of communication with members.

Youth Hostel Voluntary wardening

We signed up for one week at Llandeusant youth hostel in the Black Mountains/Brecon Beacons in Wales.  Having wardened at a number of hostels in Devon, Pembrokeshire, Northumberland and Bushmills in Northern Ireland we know what to expect.  This hostel will be quite remote but will allow us to do a lot of walking in the mountains as well as trips to Swansea and the beach.

WWOOFing

I heard about this from Joe, my nephew, who is in Australia and has been volunteering on a farm there through this agency.  When I heard about it I thought it might be a good experience of real work for Beccy when she needs to do her work experience week.  As she wants to do French for A level a farm in France was likely to be doubly useful and I could learn more French at the same time as Beccy.  I joined the organisation and started to send emails asking for places.  After a while I started to get some replies and have so far had two offers, one of which we will take.  The farms run businesses where they sell either organic meat, vegetable or fruit products direct to the public, through their own restaurants or at local markets or they make bread, jams, wine, etc which they also sell.  Some also have sustainable building projects on the go as well.  We should get the opportunity to help with bread making (if I can learn to make French bread as well as learn to speak French more fluently then I will be really happy).  In exchange for our labour we will get food and accommodation.  Can't wait to try it out.

Bar Work

I tried to get places for Brian and I at Glastonbury in the stewarding team provided by Oxfam.  I have tried a number of times to do this before but have never been lucky.  We need to steward at some smaller festivals in order to get our names on the priority list.  It was disappointing not to get a stewarding place, especially as the tickets sold out really quickly and I wasn't able to get us any.  I decided to look for other organisations that might be organising stewards (they do this to raise funds for their own charity - the stewards work for 8 hours and the payment for the work goes to the charity).  I couldn't find this but did find out about the Workers Beer Company (coincidentally I was sent an email by the Stop Climate Chaos coalition who wanted bar workers to work six hour shifts in exchange for free entry to the festival and a couple of free drinks. Again, the money you earn for working the bar is given to the charity - your wage is the festival ticket.  There were no places left for Glastonbury but we did get places at a festival called London Feis in June.  There are many bands on at the festival that I want to see and, if we work well, we should find it easier to get to our choice of festival in future years.

Ben's 18th

February 6th.  Ben turned 18.  He had a party on the 5th.  About 20 friends came round for pizzas, games, drinks and many stayed the night (although I don't think many slept).  The theme was an 8 year old's party and they played musical bumps and pass the parcel.  I made Ben a Dr Who cake and he was given a sonic screwdriver by Waqar (definitely his favourite present!)

Pyrenees Skiing Trip

Our friends (from a previous house swap), Ana and Fernando, offered us their apartment as the return part of the exchange from when two of their daughters, Natalia and Beatriz, stayed with us to improve their English.  We were very grateful as we had been struggling to find an apartment (the whole of the south of France was on holiday that week and everywhere was full).

We were on a tight budget and we decided to drive to Panticosa, just across the border from France to Spain in the western Pyrenees.  This would mean that we had the car with us so that we could ski both at Panticosa and at Formigal (a much bigger resort).

We caught the ferry after Ben's tennis coaching session on Saturday morning and drove to Saintes where we had booked an F1 hotel.  On Sunday we drove to Panticosa and met up with Ana and Fernando in the apartment at around 3.30pm.  After a coffee and some cake they handed over the apartment to us.  We went out for a nice meal at Sampietro's that evening.

Ana's friend Chris O'Sullivan sorted us out ski hire and lift passes.  He runs a hotel and language school (O'Sullivan's) and could get us favourable rates.  By around 9.30am we were ready to get the gondola up to the ski runs in Panticosa.  Beccy now snowboards really well and can stay with Ben and Brian.  I pottered around on the green slopes all morning and then went down the mountain to sort out some lunch, which I took back up to the others.  We bought cafe con leche and chocolate to drink with lunch.  The chocolate was an interesting very thick syrup, quite bitter.  I took the boxes and other stuff back to the apartment and went back up to ski some more, eventually meeting up with the others so that we could all ski together before the end of the day.


In the evening we cooked a meal (paste in a tomato sauce with solomillo and mixed vegetables, fresh bread and olives followed by crema catalana).  Ben and Beccy played on the game cube and then Brian took Ben to play pool in the pub while Beccy and I stayed at the apartment reading.



On Tuesday we started skiing together.  We first did a blue run and then at the bottom of this run Brian suggested that we carry on down a red run to the bottom.  Ben and Beccy assured me that it wasn't too steep and I got to the bottom without incident, although some parts were actually quite steep ( my problem is lack of confidence rather than lack of ability).  I did the run again before the end of the day and also spent a pleasant ride on the chair lift conversing with a Spanish ski instructor in French because he didn't speak enough English and I didn't speak enough Spanish!


The snow was quite heavy and by lunchtime we were all soaked.  We ate lunch while we decided what to do next and then Beccy and I went back to the apartment and Ben and Brian braved it for about another 30 minutes.  The trouble was that you collected snow while you were on the chair lift and became very cold.  Also, the chair lifts were collecting snow on the way round so you sat in snow and got a very wet bum!

We all amused ourselves with revision, reading, game cube games, card and TV and then cooked macaroni cheese, chicken escalopes with ham and cheese and mixed veg for dinner followed by chocolate cakes.  They have a good butcher's counter in the village grocery store from which I was able to buy some interesting meat cuts each day.  After washing up we all went to the pub to play pool.  Ben managed to beat everyone and I was beaten by everyone else, although in a game of doubles Ben and I beat Beccy and Brian.  Before bed we all sat and watched "The Panic Room" on DVD.


On Wednesday we got up late and decided not to ski.  It was still raining/snowing heavily and we didn't fancy getting wet and cold again so we drove to Balneario de Panticosa (thermal spa) to see how it had moved forward from when they were developing it 3 years ago - it still wasn't complete!  Then we drove to Jaca to have a look around.  There were some shops but nothing exciting to buy (and we forgot to take enough money with us anyway).  We visited the Citadel (built in the reign of Felipe II, a fortified town with moat).  Deer were being kept in the moat.

On the way to Panticosa we stopped at a place called Gavin and walked up into the mountains on a closed road that had clearly had a number of avalanches.  Having seen a good number of birds of prey in Jaca and its surroundings (kites, lammergeyers and others) we didn't see any in the mountains.  On the way out we had driven around a large lake at Puerta de Jaca, crossing the dam and driving through a tunnel through the mountain.  Apart from birds of prey we saw no wildlife.  In the mountains we did see hellebores and an interesting looking plant that seemed to be growing out of the rock (not sure what it was).  Having originally decided that we might ski the afternoon we ended up doing no skiing at all but did plenty of mountain walking to exercise our legs.  It was incredibly warm.

On Thursday the sun came out.  We went to Formigal as early as we could (9.30am) and skied there all day, leaving when they shut the lifts.  Ben and Beccy both did some jumps and Ben did a black run.  We managed to stay either together or in contact all day, meeting at the bottom of each run to decide where to go next.  We managed to cover the whole resort and did blue and red runs at every one of the 5 stations.

After skiing we drove to the French border (about 10km) to see if the road was open (there had been information that the road was closed due to an avalanche) but it wasn't.  They had closed the border as the road on the French side was still blocked.  this would mean our journey home would probably start with a detour.

We had pizzas and salad (not very Spanish) for dinner followed by pancakes and then went to play pool.  We had three games of doubles and then played killer which Beccy won twice.  Her addition to the rules (pot the balls in number order) made the game more challenging and more enjoyable.

On Friday Ben, Brian and Beccy went up to ski while I cleaned the apartment ready to go up at 12.30pm.  Unfortunately, Beccy fell and jarred her wrist so Brian brought her back to the apartment and went back up to join Ben.  That meant no skiing for me!  Just as well really as it took most of the day to clean up and pack the car.

At 3.30pm we met Brian and Ben at the bottom of the gondola, returned the skis and snowboard to the shop and met Chris at our apartment to sort out payment for everything.  After the boys had eaten we left the apartment and drove to Bordeaux (about 4 hours).  Our drive through the mountains was in daylight and, luckily, the road through the border and Portalet was now open (cleared of avalanches) which knocked some time off the journey.

French motorways don't have streetlights and generally have just 2 lanes and it was good to do most of the driving during the day.  In Bordeaux we found an F1, checked in and then walked along to a restaurant (Grill Courtepaille) where we had the best meal of the holiday (rillettes de sardines, chauvre en lard avec toast, a fish dish in foil, chicken kebab and pave of fillet steak).  This was also the best meal we have had anywhere in a long time.  We walked back to the F1 for a good sleep.

The next day we drove first to Poitiers where we found a cafe and had panninis and pastries.  Our next stop (apart from motorway services for snacks) was Calais, arriving at around 7pm.  We filled up with cheap diesel and visited the Carrefour supermarket for cheese, wines and something to eat for dinner before heading for the ferry and arriving at passport control at 7.45pm.  Unfortunately, there was such a queue at passport control that we didn't make it through by 8pm to check in for our booked ferry.  We also didn't make it through by 8.30pm when the ferry was due to leave.  Although the ferry actually left quite late and we could have made it onto that one, they put us on the next ferry at 9.50pm.  We didn't mind, we had the biggest laughs of the holiday.  Brian tried to display a message with his iPhone to another car (something the children used to do to other children) but only succeeded in showing half his message to a very worried mum while the rest of us hid below the windows in fits of laughter.  Luckily, they went on a different ferry to us.  We were also amused by an Englishman who was pushing his 2CV through passport control and was being cut up by impatient drivers who didn't want him to get in front of them.  He had at least 2 female passengers in the back who didn't get out to help push.  Once he got through passports his passengers did get out and helped him to bump start the car, which he was then able to drive onto the ferry (we were disappointed as we had wanted to see how he would get the car up the ramp onto the ferry and off at the other end!)  We were also amused by the number of different ways that people were getting over a chain link fence to get to the waiting area, some jumped, some went to great lengths to get underneath and some walked round.  We tried to guess what each would do by the way they were dressed.  It was a nice end to the holiday.  We had all had a good rest from work and had spent some valuable family time together.  Thanks Ana and Fernando.