Picton makes Larne or Portavogie look like a big port. Picton is the gateway to the north island of New Zealand. For those who despise flying as much as me, this place is perfect for getting a boat from the south island to the north island, and vice versa. Plus it ain’t dear. The service,…
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“It’s the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine” – Michael Stipe. It was all so surreal like a childhood dream or a Norman Whiteside World Cup goal. Back in 1986 I got the Norman Whiteside World Cup goal. A free kick in an impressive 1-1 draw with Algeria (which…
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It really felt like the end of the world on arrival in Ushuaia. I flew down from Buenos Aires. From the flight, the last 20 minutes the view out of the window was nothing short of sensational! Mountains, sparse countryside and forest, covered in snow. With the sun bating down. Welcome to the world’s…
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2009 was a sad time in my life and this job would have been a dream job for me had I stopped and realised how amazing it actually was. Serving customers on board cross channel ferries was surely a dream come true. In the future I will write properly and more detailed account of life…
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Bruny Island is one of many islands off the coast of Tasmania. Obviously it’s Australian. Again I decided to visit there as I wasn’t sure how long I’ll stay in Tasmania and whether or not I will ever be in Tasmania again after this long stint on the island. Bruny Island is situated on…
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I have always loved ships. Ever since the days of getting the St David or the Galloway Princess from Larne to Stranraer or from going out boating with my mate Peter Bell and his step -Dad Ken Taylor on the Impala yacht in Ringhaddy. Then in 2008 I worked on the Isle of Wight ferries…
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It was June 2008 and I was looking for a new seasonal job, to accompany my quite temporary and inconsistent (and with hindsight, non-contractual, casual) job in the bars and retail points in the Pavilion Theatre in Bournemouth (and also in the BIC), and because I wanted to do something different, yet again. By chance…
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Bizarre things happen every now and then. Certainly this time a few months ago, I had NEVER heard of the town of Fleetwood. Then, having started working on ferryboats recently and the fact that I often travel back to Northern Ireland, I decided to get the boat back this week for the Northern Ireland v.…
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As I have mentioned before I always had a fascination with transport and travel. It was more the doing of it than the technical and manufacturing side. In the 1980s, back in them days Summer holidays would be spent in Northern Ireland (we would have seen no need to leave our home country). This meant…
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