When we land at Dublin, I wait for everyone to get off as I have a couple of hours to wait before I get the transfer flight to London Heathrow so I’m not in any rush.
I have something to eat and then make my way to the gate for boarding. The gate is quite a way away and when I get there it’s really cold… OMG I don’t bloody believe it, I’ve left my Harley leather jacket in the overhead luggage bin on the other plane. I talk to a member of staff at the gate, but they’re British Airways so advise me to go and see if I can find an Aer Lingus staff member at one of the other gates. I have a good look around, but there aren’t any Aer Lingus flights around. I have to make my way back to my gate and I talk to the staff member there again, he takes the details from me and says he will inform someone, I’m not sure who, but assume it will be Aer Lingus.
I am absolutely gutted… I tot it up in my head and I have lost, off the bike and with the jacket, over £1000 worth of stuff… replacement value that is… I don’t understand why this trip has been so riven with mishaps?
The flight to heathrow is uneventful and I’m soon on the Heathrow express to Paddington, then onto the tube to Kings Cross and change onto the Victoria Line to Blackhorse Road. My partner comes and collects me with our grand-daughter, it is lovely to see them.
So the adventure is all but over… the only thing left is to get the bike to the UK, ride it home and then sell it around April time next year. There’s no point in trying to sell it now as it’s the end of the riding season.. well for some that is, I ride all year round, but a lot of Harley riders over-winter their bikes.
I have to sort out my passport too… I’m working in Gibraltar next week and just realise I don’t have a bloody passport. As I have dual citizenship I can apply for a British passport and can get one in a day, so I make an appointment with the passport office for Tuesday. I will have an interview and then can collect my passport 4 hours later… a really good service. Irish passports take at least 6 weeks, if you are not in Ireland, so I will go along to the Irish embassy on Tuesday while I wait for the British one, and make an application.
The final entry for this tour blog will be when I collect the bike, then I will record my usual end of trip analysis for those of your who are interested.
Can I say a huge thanks to all those who took the time to follow my story and especially those who bothered to leave comments for me.
I have no plans for another tour at this time… I expect the next one will be in a couple of years, finances willing.
Bye for now….
Welcome back to cold cold England. What an adventure to share
With your grand daughter. Well done xoxo
Well done Pad – I’ve really enjoyed reading your blog. You showed good old British grit through adversity, I thought we had bad luck on our holidays (wheel came off caravan on French motorway, floods, ants, break-ins, forgot mobility scooter battery etc) so I felt for you. I’m glad you had some amazing experiences too.
Hope you get your jacket backf
Aer Lingus have no record of my jacket.. which is bloody suspicious as I was the last person off the plane so either one of the crew has it or the cleaning staff. I think I’m going to have to claim it all from my travel insurance so hopefully I can get a new GPS, Jacket and Gloves at least.