Zorbing

Woke up in the morning a bit heavy-headed but nothing too serious and then got up around 9.00am to have a bacon sandwich with the family all up. Lewis and Sian left around 10.00am as he really had to get back up North to do last minute preparation for his exams tomorrow and the next couple of days. I really don’t think him coming down for the London tour was a good idea but there you go, it’s done now!

We’re putting him up in a hotel for x2 nights so that he can focus on what he needs to be doing. I shouldn’t put this in writing but I don’t think he’s going to get through the exams, he’s crammed as much into a week but it’s just not enough time to improve on what his previous results were. Of course I hope I am wrong as I don’t want him to fail but I am just being realistic. We’ll see soon enough!

We then met up with Wayne & Kerry and Paul & Pauline came too as we drove down to Reading for the Zorbing experience that the kids had got for me and Wayne for Father’s Day. Hard to get to place and when we arrived it was busy and didn’t look much to be honest, the hill wasn’t very high and the balls we saw coming down weren’t quick or anything. So we signed in and got the H&S briefing and then harnessed up. There was the zorbing we were signed up for and an aqua zorbing which was a lot milder apparently because the woman was pleased when she learned what we were doing – I think the majority do the water one!

So we were driven to the top of the hill and once up there it looked a lot higher and steeper than at the bottom! We were told what to do and then got into the zorb and were strapped in against the walls and then rolled off down the hill…

…if I said it was enjoyable I’d be lying! As you rolled over we started bouncing and each bounce was a real jolt for the back and neck and was uncomfortable, I wouldn’t say painful but you were definitely bracing each time the bounce landing took place. It was funny being in there and I am glad I’d done it, not sure I’d have done it again if they’d offered straight away!

Got out quite dizzy and queasy and Wayne was the same and unsurprisingly complained of neck problems later in the day, as did I. Certainly pleased I’ve done it though and the kids all enjoyed watching us do it.

We dropped Charlotte and Jack home and then Tash & I went to the Fox in Boar’s Hill and met up with all the Holdens for a meal. The food there was fantastic, I had curry and it was really good. Had to wait for a bit but it was definitely worth the wait. It was good to catch up with everyone and we talked about Cornbury and everyone was very excited. We had to leave as they were ordering pudding, because the main had taken a while to arrive, but we weren’t eating more anyway so it wasn’t an issue. Paid our bit and went and got Jack from his Leadership thing he’s being doing for karate. Thankfully that’s over now so no more interruptions to our Sunday afternoons!

Back home we got the tent and other stuff out in preparation for Cornbury and then I did some work, I have a lot on my plate this month and with the amount of time I want to take off I really need to get as up to date as possible. In fact I have taken the wrong decision already by sat here on the train to Birmingham typing up my diary instead of planning the day and doing other work! Ah well, long nights ahead…

I’d decided that I’m not going to work all the time and at 7.00pm I called Jack down and we watched Mad Max together, had to explain a lot to him to give him a background on what it was about but also as things were happening to help his understanding. It’s action packed all the way throughout so he enjoyed it, I liked a couple of instances where there was clearly an homage to the other Mad Max films like the mis-firing sawn off shotgun and the winding music box. There really wasn’t too much story line to it but it was definitely enjoyable, bet it was amazing in the cinema.

I then went back out to the office and did some more work and then to bed around 11.30pm

A fantastic weekend, really enjoyed it.

Family Trip to London

Today was the family trip to London that we’d organised for everyone. Well, Tash had organised! I was up early and down at Sainsbury’s at 8.00am buying more beers and food and then back at the house getting sorted out before picking up Tiff, Paul, Brendan & Ivy so we were all at our house for the pick-up. The workmen arrived as well so were starting on the patio as we left. The minibus we had was actually a coach so that was a nice surprise and we were able to leave our cool box on there so we had cold beers for the journey home!

Once on the coach everyone opened up the beers and cocktail drinks and started on it…it was 10.00am!! Went steady and only had two by the time we were dropped off at Marble Arch and then the fun began…we went and had the picnic in Hyde Park and left after 45mins to get the coach for the first part of the tour.

We were all able to get on the coach together and I enjoyed listening to the facts and showing people where I’ve been working etc. Got off as planned at Trafalgar and looked round there and took some photos and then back on the bus. Sue was struggling a bit with the heat as it was quite hot but she was okay.

The tour took us to the places I’d planned and wanted to see so we went through the London Mile and St Paul’s, the Tower and then back down to Westminster where we got off and boarded a boat for a trip back up the Thames to the Tower again. That was enjoyable on there and listening to the guide was interesting, always nice to hear pieces of information that can be useful in the future.

Off at the Tower and back on the bus for a 10 mins ride to Blackfriars bridge where we walked along South Bank to the Wharf restaurant that we’d booked, we were 30 mins late but it was fine and the location was fantastic. Nice meal and loads more to drink…couple of hiccups with food orders but it was good until we got the bill and they wanted to charge us £49.00 in service charge which we refused and made our own cash payment which turned out to be about £35.00 anyway!!

We walked back to Blackfriars only to find that we’d missed the last bus 20 mins earlier so that was a pain and a bit embarrassing, so we had to jump into taxis to get back to Marble Arch where we waiting for a bit and the bus was 30 mins late to get us but got there in the end. The journey home was fine, not mad as I think everyone was quite tired out, as we left London there was a massive pall of smoke rising into the sky and as we got closer there was clearly a factory fire taking place – it was incredible.

As we passed Barton we dropped the Foxes off, and Miles, then all the Bulls got out at Five Mile Drive and Sue at her road and finally us. We’d had a fantastic day, it really went well and everyone enjoyed themselves I think. We quickly dumped stuff at the house and then made our way to the White Hart as Jake & his mate Shak were performing and when we got there the place was packed out with friends and locals, it was a really good night I was pleased for them and we saw loads of familiar faces.

I got some good feedback from the staff at the pub about my social media work so that was flattering – didn’t get a free drink out of it though! I periscoped some of the performance but we never got more than 6 people viewing which was a shame…then my battery ran down.

Had a few more drinks there but Tash was conscious of my zorbing experience in the morning the next day so dragged me out of there even though I wasn’t ready to leave…ah well. Sulked a bit at home and then went to bed, such a lovely and fantastic day, loads of photos that I need to get uploaded.