Too late for “Happy New Year”?
Is the 30th January too late for me to say “Happy New Year” to you? Obviously, it’s too late (and too early) for me to being saying Merry Christmas, but “Happy New Year”? I don’t know. The thing is I don’t wish that you have a Merry Christmas in January. I just don’t. It would be mad if I did. But I DO wish that this new year that you find yourself in, is a happy one, and I genuinely hope that it remains that way.
I’ve recently come back from a contract on Cunard’s stunning Queen Mary II cruise line where we travelled from Tenerife to Walvis Bay, Namibia. It took 8 sea days to get there. You read that right. 8 days. No land. Just 8 days bobbing along adjacent to the land of which we won’t stop at, for 8 flippin’ days. It’s the longest I have done on a ship without stopping in ports, and I have to say, it wasn’t my favourite. But it can’t all be beaches, jungles, coffee shops and wineries on these gigs. Sometimes, it has to just be the ol’ salty wet stuff, your friend and mine, the sea. To be fair though, if I had to do that soggy schlep again, I couldn’t do much better than a Cunard ship for my vessel of choice. The food was exceptional, and somehow, the quality didn’t deteriorate as I expected, once we were hitting sea days 7 and 8. I don’t know how they did it, but they did it with finesse… and magic or something.
The cruise was made all that easier by the delightful company of the other acts onboard. I was joined by my good friend, the crooning silver fox, Glenn Macnamara, who I actually met on the Queen Mary II 10 years prior to this contract. Always good to see Glenn. One of those friends you can not see for a few years, and still carry on where you left off as if it’s been a week.
It was also a privilege to hang out with other guest entertainers such as the power-lunged opera duet, Bellissima, multi-instrumentalist jazz hound Kenny Martyn, and guest speaker, tv and radio presenter, the delightful Nicki Chapman along with her sidekick/buddy Krista. Without the company of these legends, the sea days would’ve oh-so-dragged.
Once we finally arrived into Walvis Bay, I had planned to stay there for a few days before flying home. It was a really interesting place, but my highlight has got to be my day of tours.
The day started with a catamaran trip where Cape Fur seals and a massive pelican (his name is Nelson) would get on board whilst we are sailing about. They were big fellas! We visited a seal colony that had anywhere between 10,000 and a trillion seals (I wasn’t countin’).
Then straight from the catamaran to a 4x4 where our lovely guide Max, drove us out into the desert along Sandwich Harbour and up into the dunes of the Namib Desert, the oldest desert in the world having been around for 55 million years. 55 million years, and still no coffee shop. Impressive! Max drove like he was in a hurry, and was fearless with it at that, which personally, I loved, although my underwear may disagree.
I’m now back home for a week where I am shaking off an annoying cold, but I’m plodding on (thanks for asking). Currently I am sat in Bristol Loaf sipping away at my second oat milk flat white in a row. BOOOOOORN TOOO BE WIIIIIIIIIILD!
In 5 days, I will be taking 3 weeks off to head to Costa Rica with Molly for our belated honeymoon. I can’t flippin’ wait. Maybe I’ll update you with what we got up to when I return, but also, maybe I won’t. I don’t want to put that kind of pressure on myself!
If you are reading this and you haven’t bought my book yet, then what are you doing? If you’ve gotten this far in the blog without closing this page, then you clearly like what I write. Imagine this sort of drivel, but with some actual thought put into it, and about something really cool. If you’d like a signed copy, then get in touch directly with me and I can sort it for you. Check it out here.
Right, that’s all from me now. I think I’ve covered everything. I hope you have a lovely few weeks. Eat nice things. Speak to animals. Dance around in your underwear. Tell people you love them. Compliment your friends. Really enjoy that glass of wine. Have an extra biscuit with your tea. Bye for now.