Happy New Year from Morocco

For those who remember our last blog (about a month ago, sorry!) our intrepid travelers were about to get on a plane and fly from Zurich to London to join our friends for xmas. Simple, eh? Well, the worst weather in 20 years had descended on Europe and pretty much all flights were cancelled. Chances were we would not get another one for days so rather than sit in the hotel with increasingly large numbers of grumpy holidayers, Christine suggested a strategy of 'continual movement'. That is, we move by any means necessary towards our destination until we get there... or fall over dead in the snow. So, at about 8:30AM on December 20th we packed our gear and caught a tram to the airport to see if we could get a flight to anywhere. No luck. There were also no high-speed trains. Instead we managed to score a regional train to Paris. We had to change at Lausanne, but otherwise made it there OK. The scenes at Paris Nord, the central station in Paris, were amazing. People were basically stacked on top of each other because everything was getting cancelled. One person we met described it as looking like a "Gucci refugee camp." Meanwhile, the temperature was plummeting as it was getting towards late afternoon.

By a stroke of good luck, Christine had chatted to a guard on the train from Zurich, and he had mentioned the ferry from Calais to Dover as being a possible option. So, we caught a suburban train from Paris Gare de Leon to Paris Nord which incidentally was just as crowded as Gare de Leon, the despair from the crowds was almost tangible, again catching a slow train which left 40 minutes later then it should we made our way to Calais. We had to change twice but eventually made it there about 10PM.

By now it was about minus 15c and (unbelievably) getting colder. Every hotel in Calais was booked out by people who were undoubtedly planning to catch the ferry the next day as they ordinarily don't take walk-on passengers at night, only people with cars. Another chance conversation by Christine with a security guard at the train station (she should work for ASIO or something) revealed they had changed that rule because of the appalling weather, so we could get on. We considered walking to the ferry terminal as they said it was only about 30 minutes. Well, we managed to find a cab and we were lucky because the drive actually took about 20 minutes. Another couple who did try and walk were picked up by the police because they were about to die in the snow.
The Calais ferry terminal was also chaos. A fight nearly broke out over our cab between people trying to get back to Calais. We managed to score a ticket on the 1:30AM ferry to Dover. It wasn't a bad trip and we actually chatted to a pleasant English couple who had the same thoughts as us about travelling. Why sit around when you can be moving? We thought the ferry would be jam-packed with people trying to get to London but it was practically empty. It seems most people had just sat around in airports and train stations complaining and waiting instead of finding alternative means of transport. Some are probably still waiting. Anyway, we made it to Dover but then had no clear way to get from the ferry terminal to the train station. No buses at that time of morning. So we walked. Only took about 30 minutes but the snow was thick and the wheels on our luggage had by this time failed completely so we were dragging them. We were with a group of people and at one point one of them looked up said "hey look, it's the white cliffs of Dover." Pause. Look up. Pause. Heads down, keep trudging. 1 minute from the train station the regular bus from the ferry terminal to the train station passed us. Doh!! We left Dover at 4AM, made it to London by about 6AM. Changed trains there a couple of times and then caught the regional line north to Beaconsfield where we were met by our friend Barry who chauffeured us back to their country manor. About 23 hours all up. Weird thing was, we enjoyed most of it because every time we got somewhere we had to ask ourselves, "what the hell do we do next?" Stops you getting bored.

Anyway, the next two weeks at the Padgetts were a lot less trying. In fact, it was downright luxurious. Barry and Leonie, and their kids, Dane and Harper, opened their home up to us again (we stayed with them last year as well) and it was fantastic to spend Xmas and New Years in a family home rather than a hotel. There was much eating and drinking, tobogganing in the snow, and more eating and drinking. There were a couple of shopping trips to London for presents (including the quest for the Tonka Ricochet - the coolest remote control toy car ever!! for Dane and, oh yes, a shopping trolley for Harper - practical girl ;-) as well as to replace our luggage which had basically fallen apart, and also a trip to the British museum. Otherwise it was chill out (literally) in Beaconsfield. We left the Padgetts on the 1st January to give them time to pack for their own trip to Canada and spent a couple of nights close to the airport in Gatwick. The best part of Gatwick was the flight to Morocco and we arrived in Marrakech on the 3rd January.



The last couple of weeks in Marrakech have been very, very relaxed. Christine found a serviced apartment in the Ryad Mogador just off the main avenue. Cheap as chips, far enough away from the Mosques that we don’t get woken by prayer at 5am and drowned out the other 5 prayer times a day plus only 20 Dh from the souks (approx $2.40). Basically a resort style with its own pool etc. A little too cool to swim but at an even 23c and sunny every single day, we are not complaining! Even has its own kitchenette so we don't have to eat out all the time. Marrakech itself is a beautiful place, big wide avenues and desert gardens everywhere, and in the background, about 100 kilometres away, the Atlas mountains just rise up out of the plain. Very impressive. Brad is using the time here to do some serious writing on his thesis, and is making good progress. Christine is immersing herself in the local culture, attending Moroccan-style cooking classes, getting Hammams (traditional body scrubs) and other spa treatments, haggling with the traders in the souk (markets) for their lamps, spices, and leather goods, they all call her the “Berber woman” have to look that up, still not sure if that’s a compliment or not. Our apartment will have a definite "Arabian nights" feel to it when we get back! We only have another three weeks of this living hell before we head directly for the Middle East, having decided to skip Tunisia because of the internal strife they are experiencing. Their "President-for-life" has gone for 'life' instead of 'president' and fled the country to avoid being removed from his office, and possibly his head. Ah, African politics. We could learn some things!






Bye for now, Love Brad and Christine.