Before continuing on with camping stories, I thought it would be good to pause and discuss some of the events between 'camping' in the New Forest and my more recent camping experience.
I managed to catch a lift to London from summer camp with Ben, one of the overall leaders and organisers. He had borrowed some minibuses from his school that we were able to use for the week and we drove one back, full of kit and junk, back to London. Likewise, the second bus was headed back to London.
A while into our journey, I got a phone call from Sam, who was in the other minibus, asking if I knew if it took petrol or diesel. Ben and I didn't know and had no documentation at hand to tell us, so the only advice we could offer was "Don't make the wrong choice!". Sure enough, we got a phone call later telling us that they made the wrong choice. They had managed to add a quarter of a tank of petrol to three-quarters of a tank of diesel, which did not do well for the bus. The other bus had pulled over to a nearby service station on the M3 near Winchester. Ben and I joined them, but there wasn't much we could do.
As it turned out, quite a few cars heading home from summer camp had stopped at the same services and so we had a little party/reunion. After much waiting around and an attempt by a friend to drain the tank himself, help eventually arrived.
Ben and I were debating whether the other driver, who made the mistake, was an idiot or a muppet. We posed this question to the man who came flush the engine, to which he replied "neither. I'd say he's normal." This was a fair point. If you can run a profitable businesses based on flushing tanks and engines when people make this sort of stupid mistake, then this is what you see every day.
So after that delay, I spent the night at Ben's before heading to Heathrow the next day. Now, for the past week my back had been absolutely killing me and I dreaded the prospect of a long trans-Atlantic flight. At check in, there was a slight delay with the computers which meant that I had to wait an extra five minutes before my bag could be tagged. It wasn't a big deal, but I remember thinking "wouldn't it be great if I were compensated for this delay?" I knew it was unrealistic and me just being a selfish customer because five minutes really isn't much of a delay, especially when boarding is 2.5 hours away.
After checking in, I went straight to Boots to see what I could get for my back. I have to say, Boots is amazing. Even their own brand of generic drugs seem to work better than the name-brand versions. But the best thing was Co-codamol. Co-cocadamol is a potent concoction of paracetamol (Tylenol) and codeine available without a prescription in the U.K. It works wonders on pain...with a slight risk of addiction to be heeded.
Anyway, with drugs in hand, I past security and endured the waiting/forced shopping experience of Terminal 5. When I was called my gate to board, I was quick to the front of the queue. I had my passport and boarding pass checked and was on my way when all of a sudden "I'm sorry Mr. Rackus, could you please come back? I can't believe I overlooked this!" It turns out I was to be upgraded to business class!
What luck! If there ever was a time to be upgraded to the most comfortable accommodation on an aeroplane, now was the time. I couldn't believe my luck and walked to the plane with a light spring in my step and a huge smile on my face. I walked up to the door and was greeted and asked to head upstairs to my seat. I think flying business class on the upper deck of a 747 was something I only dreamed of.
As I got to my seat, I was offered a choice of water, freshly squeezed orange juice, or champagne. Given the drugs I had just taken, I opted for the orange juice. I didn't have a camera on hand, but below is a picture to give you an idea of what the seats/beds were like.
I also happened to have my violin with me as carry on, and was tempted to enact on Brian Regan's description of first class. I chose not to, though, because I wasn't flying in coach! See the link below if you have no idea what I'm talking about.
The food was pretty awesome during the flight. There was a three course dinner, and I had a filet mignon for my main. So much better than "beef or chicken?" There was also an afternoon tea served before landing, clotted cream and all.
So, as you can see from the photo, you aren't allowed to travel alone, although there is a divider should you want your privacy. I ended up sitting opposite a beautiful young gal named Diane on her way back to Canada from a holiday at the Black Sea. I won't get into details, but she was quite emotionally distraught about her fiance potentially cheating on her and just time away from home. Not to mention, she had been travelling and awake for nearly 30 hours when I met her. She proved to be a very entertaining travel companion, and all the more so as the wine flowed freely in business class! We had some light conversation about the selection of films and the joy of being upgraded (I think the whole cabin was there on a free upgrade) as well as insightful chats on the state of politics in Canada and the U.K. We also got into some really deep chats about relationships, goals and careers, the meaning of life etc. It proved to be a most amusing flight! In fact, she beats the deported, intoxicated, hadn't-had-a-smoke-in-48-hours American I flew with a couple years back, but that's another story.
"Make someone in coach fiddle for me!"
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