Somewhere Over The Rainbow
When you arrange to meet someone at 11.00 am, the chances are that within half an hour either side you’re going to see them. When the name Arlene Stevens is mentioned in the same breath as punctuality, the laughing usually subsides moments before she arrives. So, knowing that there was the slightest of possibilities that we might be leaving at say, 12.00, we planned accordingly. At 1.15 the doorbell rang and as John later put it, “the people who are late are usually more cheerful than the ones waiting”. Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Now, we all know that officially there wasn’t a race to get to Saundersfoot and nab room no. 8, but I did hope that I might have an outside chance of reacquainting myself with the jacuzzi et.al. At this rate the broom cupboard beckoned!
A saunter to the Severn Bridge where the toll seems to go up on a daily basis. I can remember not that long ago only having to pay £2. £4.60 to go into Wales, they should pay us for the privilege of having our company and giving the sheep a rest. (Sorry, no more sheep jokes, I promise). Having missed Magor services, we end up in Cardiff West, here’s a little tip, just between you and me, don’t go there! I’ve seen more life in a dead hamster. We walked through the doors and I fully expected sagebrush to be winging its way across the empty floor. We went into the Little Chef and tried to order our meals. John ordered and asked the waitress if he could swap his mushrooms with beans, when I jokingly asked to swap my mushrooms with a steak and kidney pie the silence just got even quieter. Still, when you’re being served by the undead, I suppose a sense of humour is extra. I’m sure there are people who don’t come out of that place alive. It was a bit like the film Dusk to Dawn but without the entertainment, but probably still the vampires.
We casually arrive at Saundersfoot at around 6.15 and were at the bar at 6.20 (I know, what kept us?). I did notice two bikes that Bob and Julie had ridden down and thought about the weather forecast, but as it turned out the rain stayed away. Most of the gang that came in the Spring were there, plus Heather and Mart, Colin and Di (room 8!!!) and Chas and Nicky from our Essex cousins. A brilliant evening of laughter, badgers, alcohol, tall stories, puzzles, foxes, flying beer mats and eventually staggering to our room at a fairly respectable hour. It really was somehow reassuring that all was well with the world when you just took a few seconds to scan the room and see everyone thoroughly enjoying themselves.
The weather forecast was proving to be depressingly accurate, but after a full Welsh breakfast we were all ready for the day’s adventures. We all split up with some vague idea of meeting somewhere at some point, but the sun was breaking out and it was a day to savour. John, Arls, Heather, Mart, Jen and myself headed for Tenby, a town that I’ve never really explored. It didn’t disappoint. Tenby is a town on the Welsh coast with two beaches split by the harbour. On the one side there is a beach with one of the biggest “how did that get there?” rocks in the middle. Martin’s theory was that O’Reilly’s builders dumped the excess concrete from the harbour wall there at the dead of night, who knows? On the other side is another spectacular piece of rock which must have been part of the mainland at some stage but on top of it a solid Napoleonic fort. The view from that must have been spectacular. A group of kids with either no fear or a death wish climbed to the top but I thought better of it, I know I ride a bike, but there are limits. The sun shone all day and we shopped, ate at the Reef Café (thoroughly recommended, kept us waiting but discounted us accordingly) watched Mathilda getting chatted up by a local whippet and giving him a very positive brush off, shopped and enjoyed being alive.
When we returned, I thought that we had done some shopping, but the red rosette goes to……….Sue and Ed, Jacqui and Richard. There just had to be a few flexible friends well and truly knackered and a lot more smiles on the traders of Tenby that day.
A quick snooze and down to the bar for the evenings social whirl. A good and strangely well behaved meal was followed by the now traditional quiz. I refer you to the last write up about competitiveness. Nothing changed. The Basingstoke Bashers missed Pete’s ability to keep their score down, in fact the whole evening missed Pete. Heather and Mart were joined by Mart’s brother and wife and they must have gone away with the impression of what an erudite, well travelled, cultured bunch of bikers we all are. The Bazzers, with Ken and Becky came up the rails at the end, and Sue and Ed, Richard and Jacqui battled to the very last. The Ringo Starrs took being beaten by the home team with all the dignity they could muster. Is “F*** It” dignified enough? Sue hit the spot when she remarked about the winners “well they don’t count anyway”. The usual mutterings of “money must have passed hands, home advantage” etc, but full credit and thanks to Tony for what he introduced as “an easier quiz than last time”. There are definitions of easier, and that quiz wasn’t one of them! More alcohol, fun, flying beermats/question papers/Johns truly magnificent concorde creation and watching Mathilda enjoying the advances of the local lecherous dalmatian (I think his chat up line was something like “I spotted you earlier on” – sorry) ended another great day.
It was a genuine pity that the weekend had to wind down, but the next morning we all said our farewells and left for home. It had been one of the better ones. It was about to get better, when soon after leaving Saundersfoot one of the most beautiful, complete rainbows anybody could wish to see appeared on the horizon. A truly spiritual moment.
As before, a big thangyooverrrymuch to Mr John Stevens for organising another great weekend.
P.s. I know you can’t believe that I haven’t mentioned it and not that it bothers me in the slightest, but it was Geoffrey Rush and not Peter Sellers!
Tel ‘n Jen
Well Friday arrived and after dropping Fiona (our West Highland Terrier) off at her holiday home at 09.30 we decided to hit the M4 and head straight for Saundersfoot. Despite horror stories of a 4 hour journey we soon arrived after an uneventful trip.
On being greeted by Roy, we soon discovered that we were first to arrive. Di, still unable to give up the killer weed, asked if any of the rooms were smoking rooms. Roy said all the upstairs rooms were smoking and gave us room #6. Not knowing what to expect when we entered the room we thought we’d walked through a window into another world. Colin’s eyes lit up as he thought this must be where the orgy’s are held – wrong.
After checking in we decided to go and explore Saundersfoot and find a bite to eat. As we were leaving the hotel, Barry, Irene, Ken and Becky had just arrived so we exchanged handshakes and kisses and sauntered off to the local town. We soon found a place to refuel and people watch.
This was followed by a visit to the £1 shop where Di spent an hour and a fiver (cheap weekend so far thought Colin). About a dozen shops later we bumped into Barry, Irene, Ken and Becky and continued to bump into them. A new coat was purchased for Colin (so much for a cheap weekend) and it was still only Friday afternoon. Barry – Colin never did get those sexy bookends.
As Colin modelled his new coat, who should walk in but Ed, Sue, Richard and Jacquie. The shop was soon in uproar and disarray as we all started yakking at the same time. Di had an ice cream and naively offered Richard a lick which led to much innuendo and laughter. Di and Colin left Richard and his blushes and went for a stroll on the beautiful expanse of sandy beach with Barry, Irene, Ken & Becky.
Back to room #6 where we enjoyed a bottle of bubbly as we soaked in the Jacuzzi. (sod the badger watching, we’d spend the weekend in the bath). This lead to much leg pulling when we eventually appeared in the bar later in the evening and this continued throughout the weekend.
Much to John’s relief and everyone else’s pleasure, the badgers made their appearance. We also saw a fox try to steal toast from the badger but the badger gave it the evil eye so the fox eventually skulked away. Matilda wasn’t too bothered about these furry animals as she got her fair share of loves and cuddles but found the fire a little on the hot side or was it that she couldn’t get near enough as Vicky was laid across the hearth in front of a raging fire, just needed another 5 minutes and she would be ready to be turned over for her other side to be roasted.
Well done to Julie and Bob who were the only two to travel down on their bikes and prove that we are not all whimps.
The only ‘accident’ during the weekend was Jenny falling out of her single bed, twice.
Saturday was spent strolling round the quaint shops of Tenby where Sue and Jackie managed to buy some more clothes – no surprises there then. Bob and Julie were unfortunate not to race their bikes on Pendine sands due to a ban by the council. Chas and Vicky spent lunch watching the Swans on the river in Pembroke, whilst Colin & I travelled inland to Narberth to find some quaint and unusual shops.
Saturday evenings quiz was hilarious with questions ranging from ‘how many locks are there on the Suez canal’ to ‘what’s the capital of Turkey’. There was also a debate about a photo which we were told was of a young Peter Sellers !!! The teams scored as follows: Hotel team - 76, Ringo Stars - 74, Bassa 4 – 72, Old Codgers – 71, Basingstoke Bashers- 62 and Hicks – 59.
We departed Cwmwennol Hotel having had a wonderful weekend. The drive home was interrupted at Newport Services for about 15 minutes as we watched about 2000 bikers ride past. Apparently this was their annual charity fund raising event known as the two bridges run.
Colin & Di
