Island Holidays Blog

A lot about birds

Well, that's the brochure out and the 2008 British Birdwatching Fair done and dusted. It was a super show as always - bigger and busier than ever. It's really exhausting but, on the other hand, it's wonderful to see so many friends and be stimulated in terms of enthusiasm. We get lots of laughs as well and perhaps the best one this year was a gentleman who wandered on to our stand, looking somewhat bemused, and said: "There's an awful lot about birds at this show". Isn't that wonderful? We drove north again yesterday and I say "we" because Johnnie, my adopted Ugandan son and probably the best bird guide in that country, has come to stay for a few days to see where "Mum" lives. We had great fun on the way north playing "Spot Eddie Stobbard trucks" and it quickly became apparent why Johnnie's such a good birder. Until he got a handle on what the trucks looked like at a distance I was streaks ahead but then he caught up, overtook and ran away! Well, it passed the time! Needless to say, Johnnie leads our Uganda tour - check it out on the website. You couldn't ask for a better man to show you the Ugandan birds and the mountain gorillas.

Today's the Day!

Months and months of work culminates today when the brochure is delivered this afternoon.  Once again the miracle happened and it got to the printer on time although never quite as perfect as I want.  There are several destinations I had hoped to include but it simply wasn't possible.  Never mind - there's always next year and I'm also going to try putting one on the internet only and see how that goes.  Perhaps one day I won't need a brochure at all!   

Now you might think because the new brochure is arriving I can rest on my laurels, put my feet up and read a good book.  No such luck.  There are still 10 day by day itineraries to be written by this time next week!   I've also been surprised that bookings have continued to come in on a regular basis throughout July and already August is looking healthy.   Really good news - but handling just one booking takes rather a lot of time and, of course, Karon's on school holidays.   She'll cover for me while I'm away at the Bird Fair but meanwhile ......

So I thnk I'd better stop having fun here and getg back to the grown-up work. At least there's no temptation to go out:  it's pouring with rain!

A sticky business!

It's that time of year again.  The brochure is now with the printer and the job of sticking stamps on to polylopes has begun.  Actually we started last week but the next morning all the stamps fell off again - they'd sent us the wrong polylopes!   A phone call put that right and the correct ones arrived yesterday afternoon.   It's just bad luck on Karon that her one morning a week (she's off most of the time during school holidays) found a pile of stamps on her desk.   She's been very nice about it.

To make up I took Karon to see the Osprey.  A couple of friends and I saw the youngster taking a test flight on Sunday which was wonderful.    We couldn't see anything in the nest - it wasn't a very nice day so perhaps they were hunkering down - but there was an adult on a nearby tree giving excellent views.  Then we came back to the office and there was a tiny Goldcrest flitting around outside.  From very large to the smallest British bird in 10 minutes!   

Now I'm pretending to be busy doing the blog so that I don't have to knuckle down and stick on stamps. My turn will come!   There are still quite a lot of day by day itineraries to be finished and things never really ease up but I'm trying to take a bit of time off over the next week to prepare for the onslaught.

Bingo!

At last!  The brochure is away to the printer.   So now all we need to do is check the final, final proof which should be here towards the end of the week and then set to sticking stamps on to polylopes!   Why the post office can't make a stamp worth the correct value is beyond me - it means two on each which (fairly obviously) takes twice as long.  It's a job I hate - not least because you have to be really careful they're stuck on properly or they'll fall off, resulting in cross recipients!

Meanwhile there are still lots of day by day itineraries to be finished, to say nothing of the exhibition panels for the Bird Fair - and it's hard to believe it's only just over 3 weeks till that starts or, to put it another way, we'll be back here with it all done and dusted this time in 4 weeks.  Where time goes I have no idea but I do rather wish it would slow down a bit.  So there's no rest for the wicked and I don't antiicpate doing the blog as often as I should.  So no surprises there!

Photographs

One of the most difficult things about doing the brochure is sourcing photographs and that is proving particularly the case for Tristan da Cunha.  Granted not all that many people have been there, but even so you would think that I'd be able to lay my hands on something suitable.   I thought I'd cracked it last week when I was put in contact with a Dutch chap but then his mum went and died and he vanished off the scene (understandably).   The latest and last ditch attempt has been a really helpful chap at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office - and I'll bet you didnt' know there's a desk there covering Tristan da Cunha and Pitcairn Island!   He's given the email address for Tristan's webmaster so I'm now hoping that he hasn't just gone on his summer holidays.   One of the photos will have to be an Albatross (this one's the Yellow-nosed) but I want a dramatic scenic as well.

Otherwise the brochure is almost ready to go - just 4 pages with bits missing.  Most of it's been proofed by two people already and hopefully there won't be any more corrections when it comes to reading the final proof from the printer (as opposed to the PDFs from the designer).  All we have to hope now is that people will buy the holidays and make all this effort worthwhile!

So forgive me for being brief today, but I need to concentrate on the job in hand!

Prize Draw

Can't remember if I've mentioned this before (probably have - ad nauseum!) but, as part of our 21st birthday celebrations, we're running a prize draw.   Two places on our anniversary expedition cruise next June worth over £4,600 are on offer and the proceeds of the draw will go to various conservation projects, including the British Birdwaching Fair where the draw will be made.   Tickets are quite expensive - £10 - but, on the other hand, you can't raise much at £1 a time!   Sales are going reasonably well but never well enough to satisfy me.  So tell your friends and send off those cheques - payable to Island Holidays Prize Draw because it seemed sensible to have a separate bank account to keep everything above board.   It's all very legal - registered and all that.

The schools are on holiday in Scotland now and that means I only see Karon once a week.  It's lovely for her to have time with young Shane, now 8 years old, before he no longer thinks it's cool to be with his mum and she comes back to work every year looking really well.   Lucky lass!  Maybe we should all take the summer off and just work in the winter.  What do you think?

I've just been listening to Open Country on Radio 4 (it's on at 6 o'clock on a Saturday morning) and they were talking about a Best Green Village project in Essex.  It's good that so much emphasis is being put on being green these days but sometimes I find it vaguely amusing given that we at Island Holidays have been banging on about it for over 20 years!  Suddenly beards and sandals are being taken seriously and roles are reversing as it's the 4 x 4 drivers who are considered to be the bad guys.  These ridiculous vehicles are no longer a status symbol but rather label their drivers as selfish and unnecessary.  There are some folk for whom they are absolutely necessary but these folk don't get the big flashy ones - they use practical vehicles which do the job.

Anyway, "Miss Perfect" here better get back to work.  Don't worry - I've got my carbon footprint faults along with everyone else and am very well aware of it.  But if we all do our wee bit in our wee corner we can make a difference.   And if I get back to work I might be able to make a difference in the amount on my desk although I doubt it - it's never worked over the past 30 years since I went self-employed!

Lord Howe Island

Running a tour to Australia to include Lord Howe Island (which lies roughly between Australia and New Zealand) has long been in my mind and now it's going to happen.   Plans are in hand and some time in the next couple of weeks will be firmed up enough to get that particular page of the new brochure finished.   So imagine my surprise and delight when some neighbours up the road mentioned that their friends' daughter was marrying someone from Lord Howe Island and going to live there!

To cut a long story short (because that brochure STILL isn't finished and I really must get on with it), Emily and Anthony are in Scotland at the moment prior to moving to LHI and we're meeting up for lunch tomorrow.  It will be really good to meet them and to learn more about an island which has long been in mind imagination.   Sadly I don't think I can afford to go out there when I'm in Australia in November but I might just get persuaded tomorrow!   There had to be a reason why I haven't finalised the travel arrangements for my trip and this might be it!

It's another lovely morning and I had the joy and delight of two Roe Deer watching me suspiciously as I walked round the woods.  I am so lucky to live in such a beautiful place - particularly at this time of year.  Winters can be a bit dark and drear but you can't have everything!  (Will someone remind me I said that when it comes to February?!!!

Old Times

I'm not really big on reunions (except the Island Holidays one we had in November which was really enjoyable).   The thought of going to a school reunion fills me with horror and I have turned down such invitations with alacrity - leaving school was the happiest day of my life!   So you may be surprised that I went off to a reunion last night!

As some of you may know, I spent a large part of my life as a PR consultant specialising in tourism, country house hotels and top class restaurants - nice work if you can get it!   I was privileged is representing some of the best in Scotland, not least a wonderful restaurant in Perth called "Let's Eat".  After about 12 years the owners decided to quit while they were ahead - it's a hugely demanding business and utterly exhausting.   Another top class chef took over but it's not the same.

Meanwhile, the original sous chef who later went on to cook with Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles before returning as Head Chef at Let's Eat Again (a sister venture of the original Let's Eat).  Since then he's moved on and now runs 63 Tay Street, also in Perth.  And that's where we had a reunion of many of the folk who had worked in Let's Eat as chefs, waiters, book-keepers, kitchen porters and - yes - PR person.  What fun.  Graeme (of 63 Tay Street) cooked us a lovely dinner and much fun and laughter ensued.  It was good to see everyone and remember such a happy interlude in my business and personal life.   

How come?

How come this week didn't happen?  At least I don't think it can have done because it went so fast that there must have been a mistake.  On the other hand, I know that the school sports day was last Wednesday (Karon says it's not as much fun as it used to be on account of that dreaded "Health & Safety").  So that means that Wednesday happened.  It's always the same at this time of year.  You would think that with the long days and non-stop sunshine it would be all lazy and slow but not a chance.

On another subject, I'm having awful trouble with spam - over 1,000 (yes - one thousand) an hour!  It started overnight on Friday.  I've always got a lot of spam - it comes of having a website and there's no way round it - but this is ridiculous.  Does anyone know any way of stopping it?   I'm spending literally a couple of hours getting rid of it.  The spam filter doesn't start working until the stuff comes into the inbox and now it's only dealing with 50% and that very slowly.   What I can't understand is what satisfaction the senders get out of it.   Are there really that many people out there who simply enjoy making life difficult for other people?   

Anyway, I'd better get on.  Being Sunday, I'm heading off to St John's Kirk in Perth.  When I get home it's going to be domesticity while I listen to "Humph Sunday" - a repeat of Humphrey Littleton on Desert Island Disks and then a tribute to his chairmanship of that wickedly funny programme, I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue (or "The Clue" as it used to be known amongst friends of mine).   Then a siesta and a walk - I'll probably go off to check on the welfare of the Ospreys again - it's a beautiful walk and just about the right length for me.  At this time of year, and in this weather, there really is nowhere more beautiful than Scotland and Perthshire has to be one of the loveliest parts.   Not that I'm biased or anything!

Ospreys and friends

The pressure of trying to get the brochure together on time can sometimes get a bit much and the whole thing looks like "Mission Impossible".  So it's a good thing to stand back a while and remember that we live in a wonderful world and that work isn't the only thing that matters.

So it was that I was really pleased to see Mary & Rod, friends from Edinburgh, yesterday.  Mary and I shared a flat in that city in 1971 so we go back quite a way!   They insisted on taking me out for lunch, bless them (not that it took much persuasion) so we went along to St Fillans.   We got a window seat in the dining room and watched an Osprey fishing as we ate our lunch.   On the way home we took the back road past the birds' nest where the chick is now peering over the edge.  The adult was flying around in the distance so we didn't stay long - didn't want to disturb it in any way.

We watched the Men's Final of the French Open which was a singularly disappointing event - no contest as Nadal wiped the floor with that most gentlemanly of competitors, Federer.   Then Mary & Rod left, giving me just 1 1/2 hours before going out for supper with a neighbour and friends which was a super evening.

All in all it was a lovely day, set against the backdrop of Scotland at its early summer best.  Now then.  Back to that brochure.....!