Holiday in the Bahamas

This blog entry will be upgraded each day, hopefully, to record our time spent out in the Bahamas from the moment we left home until our return. Instead of individual daily posts it will consist of one post added to from time to time on a rolling basis.  Hopefully, photos will also be added as when they become available.

Friday 25 October 2013 – A frantic day as is usual when preparing to go on holiday – in fact, although I really love travelling and seeing new places, as I get older I hate all the upheaval which packing brings and always feel quite stressed.  Sara is the complete opposite so at least we do complement each other.  I took Thom to Nether Wallop and it was expected that Sara would pick him up but as you will read things didn’t work out quite that way!   Sara and I spent the day sorting out the house – I cleaned the car and also picked up all the dropped apples as well as picking off the tree some good ones which are now stored in buckets in the cool of the garage.   I had done quite a lot of packing the night before but today I had to hunt around for various leads for the different appliances which we were going to be taking with us – cameras, phones, laptops etc. etc.  Eventually I felt that I had done as much as I could.  I agreed to go and pick up Thom this afternoon from Nether Wallop but had been there about 15 minutes when Sara turned up to tell me that Thom’s bus had broken down at Up Somborne, only 5 miles from Winchester.  I hadn’t taken my mobile phone which necessitated Sara having to drive to Wallop to tell me. As her geography/map reading is bad, I agreed to go and find the broken down bus and retrieve Thom.  I had to take narrow country lanes and negotiated tractors until I eventually found the disabled bus and Thom all on his own apart from the relief driver.  Apparently a replacement bus had arrived a short time after the breakdown and all the students, except Thom, had been transferred.  If only he had told us that a replacement had arrived I wouldn’t have had to have driven nearly to Winchester!  This problem put us an hour back and we didn’t leave for Heathrow until about 6.30 p.m.  Fortunately the traffic was not as bad as I had expected, although it was still pretty busy around the M25 and we found our hotel with no problems. We had an enjoyable meal with a bright enthusiastic waitress called Nanci serving us.  We slept well but conscious that we had to get up at 6 a.m.

Saturday 26 October 2013 – I woke at 5.30 a.m. and after tea and repacking the clothes we had used the day before and overnight, we left the hotel at around 7.15 a.m. arriving at Heathrow Terminal 5 at around 8  a.m.  having found the car park and handing our car over for the week for safekeeping.  Check-in went smoothly as did Security apart from my Kindle causing the authorities to search my hand luggage.  This was only a small glitch in the proceedings and was handled sensitively and with courtesy.  Our flight boarded pretty much on time although we were somewhat late in taking off and the journey across the Atlantic to Nassau took nearly 10 hours in order to fly more northerly than usual to avoid a huge storm in mid-Atlantic which is heading straight for the British Isles.  It is expected to land tomorrow and cause considerable damage at home.  There is nothing we can do about it – my flag pole has been dismantled and we’ve had new stronger fencing installed.  The longer journey did have its compensations as we flew across to Canada (Newfoundland) and then down the eastern seaboard of the USA enabling us to catch glimpses of Boston, New York and other familiar locations e.g. Wilmington before flying out to sea from the north Carolina coastline and out through the Bermuda Triangle to the Bahamas crossing over Grand Bahama in the process.  We arrived at Nassau’s brand new air-conditioned terminal at just before 4 p.m.  The ground crew were unable to unlock the plane at first because they couldn’t find the key!  After completing immigration cards (not available as usual on the plane) we went through the usual checks and questions arriving eventually in the baggage reclaim area where our cases were the last on the belt!  After collecting these we then took an expensive taxi ride to Paradise Island along the brand new dual carriageway road which runs from the airport, past Lake Coyningham to Goodman’s Bay.  It is then a matter of the usual slow grind through downtown Nassau.  We were in our apartment overlooking Nassau Harbor by 6 p.m.  Thom and I went to the off licence and grocery store for some essentials – including Sands’ beer and later Thom and Sara went and picked up a huge pizza from the Marina for our supper.  I also made some hot dogs and this evening Thom and I watched the third game in the World Series between Boston Red Socks and St. Louis Cardinals which resulted in a narrow win for the Cardinals who are now 2-1 up in the series.  Sara went to bed at around 9 p.m. but I forced myself to stay up to watch the ball game although I eventually fell asleep before the end.

Sunday 27 October 2013 – First full day in the Bahamas and we decided to make it a fairly lazy one.  We have no internet connection and want that to act as a bit of a holiday in itself – although I do wonder how the storm has or has not affected things back home.  Thom and I went down to the Pools in Atlantis this morning and Sara and Mary were to go to the supermarket to buy all the essential groceries to enable us to keep the holiday as cost effective as possible – eating out is so expensive with four of us.  In fact Sara and Mary arrived about an hour later to say that they had missed the bus to the supermarket.  I went to see the concierge and established that the main supermarket was only about twenty minutes’ walk away over the huge bridge which spans Nassau Harbor but that it closed at 3.30 p.m. on Sundays. Sara and I decided to walk the distance and bring the groceries back in suitcases which we could wheel.  The journey out was fine – light empty suitcases and after walking over the bridge we were at the supermarket within ten minutes – very easy.  The reverse was a bit of a nightmare.  The groceries we bought were extremely heavy – including a gallon of orange juice, a heavy water melon and a bag of potatoes.  The trundled back very slowly and the high bridge was a “killer” and as I write this on the following morning my lower back is hurting.  The decided that this was not an experience we would want to try again and it reminded me of those charity stories about women having to walk several miles with pots of water on their head – also in the searing heat.  Tonight we ate fried chickens’ wings with fresh corn and potatoes – very enjoyable and all the more so because we know what we had to do to get them.  We had also brought back a lot of cans of drink and in this heat it is most important to drink plenty.  Mary, Sara and I played with the “wobble ball” in the large pool by the apartments.  It was “chilly” tonight as the temperature has dropped to about 70 degree F.  Thom and I watched the fourth game in the World Series which saw Boston equalise the series by winning 4-2.  The teams have now won two games apiece.  It certainly looks like the Series will go its full length.  Tomorrow I guess we will stay around the resort especially as I haven’t been on any of the water rides yet.

Monday 28 October 2013 – Woke early this morning with the sun shining into our bedroom.  I had a good night’s rest in the large kingsize bed which we have in our apartment out here. The weather seems much cooler today – not the usual high temperatures we are used to.  I watched the mail boat come into the harbour and dock opposite our apartment – the bay being quite busy today.  Just one ocean liner in today – Azure of the Seas.  Sara and the kids went across to Atlantis after a large breakfast of American pancakes, frankfurters and fruit.  I stayed behind for an hour and wrote up the first three days of this blog from my recollections since leaving home.  We have no internet connection and this is quite liberating.  It will also mean that this blog is not likely to get posted until after our return to England.  As I write this up I am sitting on our balcony overlooking the harbour sipping Canadian Dry whiskey and feeling like Ernest Hemingway.  After my journalling I walked across to Atlantis via the aquarium and joined the family for the rest of day enjoying the slides and water rides and also had a lovely dip in the ocean whose water was much warmer than the pools.  I really enjoyed the Rapids and the Tidal Wave but did manage to crack my head against the wall just where the wave machine is at its most powerful. Later on I was also tipped over and found my head on the bottom of the canal. Still, that’s all part of the fun of Atlantis – there has to be that slight element of fear in the rides.  Tonight we ate beans and rice and then went out to the Marina for Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.  I had a particularly interesting combination of banana yoghurt with peanut butter.  It may sound disgusting but out here it seems perfectly normal.  I watched the fifth game in the World Series which saw Boston beat the St. Louis Cardinals by 3-1.    So far it has been an extremely low scoring series.  A break from the baseball tomorrow night.

Tuesday 29 October 2013 – Woke early again but had a really enjoyable lie in with Sara. After finding out about the times of the church services in Christ Church Cathedral, Nassau, I decided to spend the day in downtown Nassau and not on Paradise Island. After watching an incredible piece of American daytime TV called the Maury Show (Jeremy Kyle style) I set off for Nassau via ferry.  The ferry has now gone up to $8 return fare but still with the “cabaret” entertainment from “your friendly tour guide who doesn’t get paid by the captain”. The patter has actually changed from previous years – the Bridge Suite is no longer the “Michael Jackson Suite” but Stevie Wonder did still once stay there (“or so they told him”) and it appears that Nicholas Cage is no longer one of our neighbours.  Conch is still “Bahamian Viagara” but there was no mention of the absence of “hanky-panky” at the Yoga Retreat – although it stills remains in existence.  Four liners were in today – Carnival Sensation, Carnival Expectation, Majesty of the Sea and Disney Dream and as usual we passed them close to as we entered the dock at Nassau.  On disembarking the ferry I walked up to Bay Street and to the Effy jewellers where they had been advertising free semi-precious pendants. In fact the pendants were indeed free in a pack with two earrings.  Sara wanted one of the brown tanzanite pendants so I bought a pack for $10.  Unfortunately the Pompey slave Museum is currently closed for refurbishment and so it will not be possible to take Mary there tomorrow as she has wished.   I went into McDonald’s to use their free wi-fi before going on to Christ Church Cathedral (Anglican/Episcopalian) to attend Holy Communion in the chapel.  There were only three of us in the congregation but Revd. Father Colin Humes conducted the short service including a short homily on the parable of the mustard tree.  He asked me to read the set intercessions which I was pleased to do.  The other two members of the congregation were tourists from Spain and couldn’t speak much English.  After the service we had a long and interesting chat about things both theological and Bahamian and struck up a good rapport.  We parted agreeing to keep in touch via Facebook and I discovered later in the day that he had done just that. I had lunch back at McDonald’s and picked up my email using my BlackBerry.  I went up the hill to the General Post Office and bought stamps for some postcards and letter we want to send.  It was then time to return to Bay Street where I wandered around the various souvenir stores close to the ferry dock and liner terminal.   Tonight after a supper of pasta for the children and tuna salad for Sara and me, we played a few hands of gin rummy until going to bed quite early.  No baseball tonight.

Wednesday 30 October 2013 - We had to wake up early today to attend an Owners' meeting at the offices of the timeshare we are staying in.  The presentation - advertised as 20 minutes lasted an hour and twenty minutes and was, as we had surmised, a sales opportunity to see if we wanted to add to our existing timeshare.  We did want to discuss options for moving our weeks into another season but the cost for us at the present time would be prohibitive.  We listened to and noted the options, took our free gift (a professional photo opportunity) and politely left taking American muffins for the children.  We then all went to the water park and spent a few hours on the slides and Sara plucked up the courage to go down the Abyss - a steep slide in darkness from the top of the Power Tower - about a 100 feet drop.  She had to admit that it wasn't as bad as she had thought.  Thom and I came back to apartment early and went onto the internet - him to do some college work and me to pick up any essential work emails.  Nothing too onerous thankfully.  Tonight we had supper in the apartment - hot dogs and burgers and I watched the final game in the World Series - Boston Red Sox winning 6-1 at Fenway Park to win the series 4-2 and become "world" champions.

 

 

Holiday Preparations

A day at home apart from a short trip to Nether Wallop to pick up Thom from the Winchester bus at 5.30 p.m.  Spent the morning doing some gardening - picking up the numerous apples which have fallen off the tree and picking others to store in the garage.  They are the best crop I can ever remember from our tree and have grown to become green and rosy red and very sweet and crisp - a joy to eat. It will be fun to dip into the garage and help ourselves from our own grown apples.  I also tidied up the lawn and, hopefully, gave it its last cut of the year.  After yesterday's torrential rain the weather has been much milder and drier today.  Sara spent most of the day ironing and I went into the loft to get the various suitcases for our trip across the Atlantic. This evening we started the task of choosing clothes and putting them into the suitcases.  I checked the hotel and flights and cannot check in until tomorrow. A violent storm is predicted at the weekend - described in the Daily express as the worst storm in 26 years.  As a precaution I have dismantled the flag pole and it can remain in that condition until we return.  Klynn came around this evening and has taken our season tickets for the Fulham game.  So glad that somebody is using them as I hate to think of them sitting on my book shelf untouched when somebody could enjoy a Premier League match.  The house is in quite a mess this evening but hopefully all the necessary paperwork on my desk will be in some order by the end of tomorrow.  A response to a settlement letter which was due today was not forthcoming and so it seems that I shall have an Employment Tribunal to handle on my return.  At least the fees will defray the cost of our expensive holiday.  Really looking forward to a few days away from the law, the church and general domesticity - and also the English damp weather. 

Ministering to the Homeless

The usual start to the day - up early, cup of tea, trip to Nether Wallop with Thom.  Sara did her stint at Morning Star, making sandwiches for the banquet run whilst I stayed at home to await a parcel - some clothes for Thom to take with him on holiday.  I also checked on details of our flights and currency situation.  I went into Salisbury this morning and did an hour's stint as chaplain at the drop-in centre.  Very quiet today which gave me an opportunity to read a couple of interesting articles in Christianity magazine about some of these dubious prosperity TV preachers/evangelists.  I become very sceptical about those who have so much money and private jets.  Whilst their meetings are free to attend the offerings made seem to be obscene and I think their whole philosophy is based on very dodgy theology.  As I left the Centre I met one of my "client's" friends who would later be eating the sandwiches which Sara has made this morning.  I recognized the New York Mets logo on his baseball cap and asked him if he really supported the "Mets".  He was astounded but pleased that I recognised it for what it was, and not a Yankees' hat as so many had. He did indeed support the Mets as he had lived in the states for many years and had a family in Florida.  We struck up a conversation about American baseball and football and I have to thank Thom for giving me this interest which proved so useful in gaining the trust and respect of one of those homeless people to whom I am now ministering. It goes to show that no knowledge is wasted, After my stint, I visited M&S and topped up our dollar currency and also went into Vodaphone to check the situation regarding the cost of phoning and receiving calls from outside Europe.  It was recommended that I switch off the mobile phone but use free Wi-Fi wherever possible.  Our apartment has Wi-Fi so we should be okay if I take my small netbook with me.  I shall do this in any event so I can continue to write up this blog and journal. torrential rain again this morning (which followed on from the violent thunderstorm we had yesterday evening).  Tonight I attended a special committee meeting of the Parish Council to discuss budgets.  This will go before the full Council next month but it does appear we shall have some spare money which we can put to use in some special way.

Paperwork

Another early start with me driving Thom to Nether Wallop.  My original intention had been to join Nils for Morning Office afterwards, but I received an email to say that he couldn't attend which was just as well as Mary missed her school bus this morning and I had to take her into Salisbury where I got stuck in heavy traffic. Back home I had a cup of coffee and took a shortened form of the Office and read my devotionals. Sara went into Salisbury herself to visit her niece and go to the gym and I worked in the study ploughing through papers and writing letters and dealing with finances. Paperchasing I call it.  I had been expecting to go to Southampton to see a client today but the meeting did not happen although I was ready and prepared should that be the case. Sara had to attend Mary's tutor's evening at her school at teatime where she was delighted to hear that Mary is progressing really well and is ahead of her targets.  We are both very proud of her academic achievements so far.  This meant a bit of a rush for Sara tonight as she was being picked up at 7 pm. by Linda G to go to the Alpha Course at St. Paul's.  Mary has now finished school for the half term and spent the evening watching TV.  

Winchester

The weather remains warm but very wet.  I took Thom to Nether Wallop as usually in very wet conditions. Thom had forgotten to ask for any money for his lunch this morning and when he asked me just before he boarded the bus I had to tell him that as I had come out without my wallet I couldn't give him anything.  Fortunately we are going into Winchester later this morning and could take him some emergency money.  The wind was blustery and instead of hoisting the White Ensign to commemorate the Battle of Trafalgar as I would normally have done, I actually dismantled the flag pole to protect it - in fact it will probably remain dismantled for a couple of weeks.  Later this morning Sara and I drove into Winchester to meet up with an old friend of Sara's Mum and her husband who is a lay minister in Winchester Diocese. We met in the coffee shop of C&H Fabrics in the High Street for morning coffee and then went on to the Refectory by the Cathedral for lunch.  I had an excellent vegetable curry with Sara enjoying some excellent salmon fishcakes.  Although the refectory isn't quite as ambient as the one in Salisbury the food is considerably cheaper and more extensive.  We chatted about many things connected with the family and, not surprising as two lay ministers inn ecclesiastical setting, about our ministries and church in general. After lunch we went our separate ways and Sara and I visited the City Museum and enjoyed looking at the Roman exhibits.  We also visited Waterstones and bought some guides to Marrakech for our forthcoming trip.  We picked up Thom after college and returned to Winterslow.  This evening I attended the sixth of my sessions for the Christian Ethics module and  we spent the evening looking at Utilitarianism or ethics based on doing what is better for the greater number of people rather than on Christian principles and considering whether utilitarian principles can ever be applied.  Quite heavy stuff which I will need to read further in the text books.  I need to start thinking about planning my two assignments for this module which, I have to confess, I haven't found easy.  Back home, Sara and I talked to David and Andrea in the USA via Skype about family news. 

Another Catch-Up or Love is like a Violin

Wednesday 16 October - Sunday 20 October 2013

Yet again I must apologies to my many regular readers who have noticed that I haven't posted anything here since Tuesday 15 October. The simple fact is that we have had quite an emotional week with, in particular, family difficulties.  Let me hasten to add, however, that I am not talking here about any problems between Sara and myself or within our own family unit here in Winterslow but within our wider family.  Much of what I would have wanted to write, therefore, has had to be confined to a private journal and not published in this blog.  There has been much reflection, theological and otherwise, and as I write this, feel so much better.

 

Picking up from Wednesday morning, I attended Mid-Week Eucharist at Whaddon as usual followed by a meeting of the Team Staff at Alderbury Vicarage.  On Thursday I met with my Rector at the Rectory for our monthly 1:1 meeting and following working on consultancy matters in the afternoon I was picked up by Mike M-J to attend Deanery Synod at Sarum College in the evening.  It was a most unusual meeting in that the Deanery Mission Project chosen for 2014 was, in fact, two organisations - there being a dead heat.  We chose The Bridge Project (Christian Education in Schools) and Living Water (a charity whose main purpose is to provide clean drinking water to villages in Africa).  It will be interesting to see how this develops as we have never before had two different (and in this case quite different) charities.  Sara and James together with Ivan and Paul held the House Group and watched Nicky Gumbel in an Alpha Course session on "Why did Jesus Die?"

 

Friday morning started at the Grasmere House Hotel with Ambassadors Business Breakfast where the speaker was Mark from Downton who gave a short illustrated talk about how Salisbury has changed in the last 50 years with great anecdotes.  The biggest change came about by the building of the inner ring road.  I had morning coffee with Bill at Alderbury before doing a three-hour stint at Alabare Place.  The three hours flew by as I was engaged with clients the whole time and had some great talks with many.  Trying to get work is proving difficult for many of them - those particularly who want to work.  This afternoon we had a pastoral visit from Cynthia after which both Sara and I were feeling much better. In fact, my stint at the homeless drop-in centre had actually done me the world of good. This evening we had our great nephew, Rio, over to stay with us for the weekend.  He really does love staying over.  I went down with James and Richard to the Lord Nelson this evening as we shall not all be available for our usual Sunday evening at the Lion's Head (Aston villa are playing at home!)

 

An exciting and different Saturday.  Sara, Rio, Mary and I went to Devizes to witness the sale of Wallace Hartley's violin which was recovered from his body after Titanic sank.  This was the same violin on which "Nearer my God to Thee" had been played in the final moments of that great and tragic ocean liner. The instrument finally went to telephone bidder for £900,000!  Sara and I bid £50 for a bit of fun knowing that we were quite safe to do so. In the same sale I successfully bid for the cheapest item - a set of ship's biscuit tins for £10!  In the news tonight the BBC said that the auction had resulted in items being sold for between £10 and £900,000.  I was the £10! Great fun.  After the sale we had drinks with our friends Nicki and Richard whom we hadn't seen for such a long time.  Both looked younger than ever and in great health and spirits.  We have agreed that we must try and attend Titanic conventions again - especially as next year they are being held back in Southampton.  Rio had a wonderful time and remarked that he thought the buyer of the violin had been ripped off because he couldn't even play it!  We ended the day in Devizes eating rather good fish and chips from The Lemon Plaice.

 

On Sunday I had arranged to get somebody else to administer the chalice at Winterslow's Parish Eucharist and went along with Sara and Rio to St. Paul's Church in Salisbury instead. A wonderful uplifting service.  Rio really enjoyed going to one of the children's groups and Sara and I were treated to a really good sermon from the Rev. Brian Meardon who spoke about Mission in a most engaging way - entreating us all to live out the Christian life in our everyday life.  He spoke along similar lines to my own preaching and had the congregation spellbound.  I felt on quite a high again after the service which also consisted of Holy Communion.  This afternoon I went along to the Italianate church in Wilton to witness a number of  Clarendon students receive their Aldhelm Certificate from the Bishop of Salisbury.  He spoke very well and expressed his concern that so many of the candidates were women (probably 80%) and wondered if this was indicative of the churches in the Diocese.  I think it probably is and was something I had also remarked upon earlier in the week when I saw the list of Clarendon candidates (100% female).  This really does show the need for men's ministry and I am currently thinking of ways of widening pub theology within the Team.  Busy week ahead as we prepare for our holiday in the sun.

 

A Strange Day

A strange day today and quite untypical.  It started off normally with me taking Thom to Nether Wallop arriving only 3 minutes before the bus arrived to whisk him and his fellow students away to Winchester.  Instead of coming back home as normal I drove on to Amesbury for a meeting with new clients from Surrey who had been introduced to me by my HR contact in Devon - hence the decision to meet halfway between the tow on the A303 at the Holiday Inn at Solstice Park.  I arrived well before the clients and had a cup of coffee and a bacon butty from the bar.  Pam, my HR consultant arrived just before 9 a.m. and we then had a 3 hour meeting to discuss the client's issues and agreed an action plan.  I returned home for a light lunch of tomato soup and whilst I was eating this Peter and Steve turned up to repair our hall ceiling - by removing the artex, repairing the water damaged part and finally (tomorrow) plastering the smoothed surface. I worked on completely the Night Sky article for the Parish Magazine and started writing up the minutes of the last lodge meeting.  Mary came home with her arm in a sling - apparently she had fallen awkwardly on her arm at school and so Sara had to take her to Salisbury Hospital for another x-ray (she has only sprained it thankfully).  Richard came round this evening and we watched the England v. Poland qualifying match for next year's World Cup.  England won 2-0 and thereby have now qualified for the finals in Brazil next summer.