This was the front half of Aurora R214 to Canada. It didn’t start too well as when the ferry from Caen docked in Portsmouth it was announced there wasn’t enough water in the sea, so foot passengers would have to wait until all the wagons were off and then we could disembark via the garage. It took about 45 minutes, so the taxi I’d booked left without me. Once in Southampton, I discovered hotel prices had tripled because of the boat show and I was out of pocket before getting on Aurora!
Straight to a meeting with the efficient Deputy Entertainment Manager, who advised me that as the late Queen’s funeral was on the first sea day, there’d be no talks, so I took out Charles Manson. The first talk went OK, as did the second. This was the first time for years I was travelling alone – I’m usually with Gail and/or my friend and fellow speaker Paul Stickler – so I spent the first few days just reading in the cabin. I decided to buy a WiFi package to call Gail and she told me we were headed for a hurricane, and it was serious. Sure enough, after the third talk the DEM advised me the ship was to miss the first port in Newfoundland, and could I do an additional talk? Manson’s back in, and the captain tries to avoid the hurricane. It was pretty rocky – a 15 metre swell – and lasted about 36 hours. People were sliding in their chairs across Champions’ bar, and one of the restaurants lost a load of crockery. The second port was cancelled as well as the ship headed for Québec for a two night stay, so eight sea days in a row. The audiences grew for the talks and a lot of people took the trouble to say thank you, which is always nice.
On the fifth day, I was greeted at breakfast by Manuel Martinez, the Cuban magician, whom I’d met earlier in the year in the Caribbean, and he introduced me to Maurice Grumbleweed and Wayne who did tributes to John Denver and Neil Diamond. We kind of teamed up after that, and I can now do some tricks… Québec was smaller than I thought with some splendid buildings and lots of small art galleries. But lots of souvenir shops selling tat. Manuel and I (he’s actually Gary from Canterbury – nice chap) found some nice bars and restaurants but it was very expensive.
On my last day aboard I was picked up on schedule and taken to the airport for the short flight to Montreal – it took longer to park the plane than the flight. And then I slowly discovered that the ageing Air Canada Boeing 767 due to go to Heathrow was broken and they were waiting for the part. Five hours sitting at the gate, wondering which part it was. An engine? Finally took off at one in the morning and the rather surly cabin crew (dragged from their beds, I imagine) served a meal at 3 a.m. Screaming child behind me. Needless to say I missed the ferry back to France but fortunately was rescued by Paul and his mate, who put me up in Romsey. Finally got home after a 48 hour journey.
Overall then a testing time (that’s a pun, because everyone on board had to be tested twice for Covid-19 before we got to Canada – ‘a small number’ did test positive and were isolated, while masks were compulsory all the time I was on board) but the talks were well received and the passengers, sorry, guests were appreciative, and that’s what I was there for. Gail had been a bit anxious as the news had said the hurricane was a once in a century event, but the ship handled it well – Aurora is the most stable vessel in the fleet. You do feel sorry for the people affected though – horrendous damage along the coast. Given all the hassle getting back, I may stick to Southampton-Southampton in future, but having said that Paul and I are booked to go to the Caribbean next month. Someone has to do it. And Gary fancies developing a joint talk about the psychology of magic. Keeps the leetle grey cells ticking over
thehairypsychologist 