Plane view of the Aurora BorealisWhen my mother died over 13 years ago she was laid to rest in a beautiful churchyard in the village where she was born and brought up. The village is called Stogursey and is situated in Somerset, about 10 miles from Bridgewater.
My father paid for a double plot, so when he died recently I knew that my final service to him would be to ensure that he was taken to Somerset to be buried with my mum. Thanks to the efforts of the same undertakers who dealt with my mum's funeral my dad was finally laid to rest this week. The undertakers concerned are a family business run by father, Geoff, and daughter, Sarah, and I am eternally grateful to them for their care and support at this difficult time.
Thank you also to the friends who read this blog and have kindly taken the time to send messages of condolence. They were much appreciated.
As mentioned in my last blog, I had planned to be touring Vietnam right now and not being there presents a few difficulties with achieving the list of targets for my gap year.
One item on the list is not Vietnam related and is difficult to achieve. That is 'See the Northern Lights'. Given the gap in my itinerary I have been looking into trips to Norway or Iceland to tick this one off the list. But even for a few days the trips are expensive, generally around £1400 for 4 days. That is more than I paid for the 2 week overland trip through Vietnam.
There is a way to visit Lapland by way of a day trip for around £400 though. But this involves joining one of the 'See Santa' trips that are obviously aimed at young children. I just can't bring myself to sit on Santa's knee and tell him that all I want for Christmas is to see the Northern Lights. And if I turn up on the Winter Wonderland tour with Wainwright tucked under my arm then I am almost certain to be arrested under the Mental Health Act or even as a potential kiddie fiddler. Not good.
So I have taken a gamble and gone for the cheapest option available. On March 16th I will travel to Doncaster airport to receive a short lecture on astronomy and the Northern Lights from a couple of experts. We will then fly due north towards the Arctic Circle and look out of the window in eager anticipation of seeing said lights.
The picture above is one taken from one of the flights. As you can see, it is not as good as lying in the snow and watching the lights overhead. The picture was taken with a 10 second exposure, so I will have to brush up on using my Canon 50D if I want to get any similar shots. Not easy I imagine from the seat of a plane.
The trips reckon on an 80% success rate at seeing the lights so it could yet be a failed task.
Another task on my list is 'Catch a big fish'. I am a big fan of Robson Green's Extreme Fishing, so that was the inspiration for this goal. I had hoped that I might achieve this in my final week in Vietnam when I had booked myself a quiet hut on a beach on an island called Phu Quoc.
I am turning my attention instead to the coast of East Yorkshire. I do own a beach casting rod and reel, although it has been about 30 years since I fished off the coast.
I have set aside next week to put my father's estate in order, but after that I am awarding myself a week of 'me' time. My plan is to include a visit to the coast and catch a mighty denizen of the deep.
If past experience is anything to go by then I won't catch a thing except a cold. But I will not be deterred and will persevere in my quest all winter if need be.
If all else fails I will swallow a full packet of sea sickness tablets (you know how weak my stomach is) and set sail for the depths of the North Sea in search of my leviathan. I know you're out there Moby Dick. Beware! The middle aged gapper is coming to get you.
Live long and prosper.
My father paid for a double plot, so when he died recently I knew that my final service to him would be to ensure that he was taken to Somerset to be buried with my mum. Thanks to the efforts of the same undertakers who dealt with my mum's funeral my dad was finally laid to rest this week. The undertakers concerned are a family business run by father, Geoff, and daughter, Sarah, and I am eternally grateful to them for their care and support at this difficult time.
Thank you also to the friends who read this blog and have kindly taken the time to send messages of condolence. They were much appreciated.
As mentioned in my last blog, I had planned to be touring Vietnam right now and not being there presents a few difficulties with achieving the list of targets for my gap year.
One item on the list is not Vietnam related and is difficult to achieve. That is 'See the Northern Lights'. Given the gap in my itinerary I have been looking into trips to Norway or Iceland to tick this one off the list. But even for a few days the trips are expensive, generally around £1400 for 4 days. That is more than I paid for the 2 week overland trip through Vietnam.
There is a way to visit Lapland by way of a day trip for around £400 though. But this involves joining one of the 'See Santa' trips that are obviously aimed at young children. I just can't bring myself to sit on Santa's knee and tell him that all I want for Christmas is to see the Northern Lights. And if I turn up on the Winter Wonderland tour with Wainwright tucked under my arm then I am almost certain to be arrested under the Mental Health Act or even as a potential kiddie fiddler. Not good.
So I have taken a gamble and gone for the cheapest option available. On March 16th I will travel to Doncaster airport to receive a short lecture on astronomy and the Northern Lights from a couple of experts. We will then fly due north towards the Arctic Circle and look out of the window in eager anticipation of seeing said lights.
The picture above is one taken from one of the flights. As you can see, it is not as good as lying in the snow and watching the lights overhead. The picture was taken with a 10 second exposure, so I will have to brush up on using my Canon 50D if I want to get any similar shots. Not easy I imagine from the seat of a plane.
The trips reckon on an 80% success rate at seeing the lights so it could yet be a failed task.
Another task on my list is 'Catch a big fish'. I am a big fan of Robson Green's Extreme Fishing, so that was the inspiration for this goal. I had hoped that I might achieve this in my final week in Vietnam when I had booked myself a quiet hut on a beach on an island called Phu Quoc.
I am turning my attention instead to the coast of East Yorkshire. I do own a beach casting rod and reel, although it has been about 30 years since I fished off the coast.
I have set aside next week to put my father's estate in order, but after that I am awarding myself a week of 'me' time. My plan is to include a visit to the coast and catch a mighty denizen of the deep.
If past experience is anything to go by then I won't catch a thing except a cold. But I will not be deterred and will persevere in my quest all winter if need be.
If all else fails I will swallow a full packet of sea sickness tablets (you know how weak my stomach is) and set sail for the depths of the North Sea in search of my leviathan. I know you're out there Moby Dick. Beware! The middle aged gapper is coming to get you.
Live long and prosper.
You'll not believe this, but I forgot to mention it; many years ago (around 1993 ish) I was in East Hull one evening in winter when the sky became bright and a uniform purple colour of all things. It was a weird sight and I remember everyone talking about it at the time and locals coming out of their houses and looking at the sky. It didn't last long, perhaps twenty minutes and it was only in the following nights paper that I discovered that the weather conditions were very unusual and we had (and it's the only time I've ever) witnessed the northern lights.
ReplyDelete