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Garry McGivern Travelsonabike2 is bicycle touring England on Friday, 3rd-May-2024. Brockenhurst to Brighstone. 26 miles, and some of those miles have been cycled over the past couple of days.

I wasn’t in any rush to leave Hollands Wood this morning as I knew it was only a short ride to the ferry in Lymington and across the island to Brighstone. Even though I was in no rush, I was still up at my usual time, 5.30/6. I just took my time packing away.

Off To The Isle of Wight

I timed it to perfection, catching the ferry across to the Isle of Wight (not that it was planned.) I turned up, brought a ticket, and jumped straight on. And I managed to pop my old codgers discount cherry. They gave me a discount on the ferry ticket. I’ll make sure I remember that one in the future. And guess who I bumped into on the ferry? Some of the bikers from the legendary bikers do, which was always the highlight of the early May Bank Holiday weekend. And the reason I’ve come over here this weekend. It’s the annual Isle of Wight bike ride.

Unfortunately, it’s not an annual thing anymore, and the bikers are no longer in the field next door. They moved to a different venue a couple of years ago. But the ride is taking place this year, which will be fun. I think there are around forty people of all ages and abilities. I’ll cycle across the island tomorrow to meet them off the ferry.

I might not post anything over the next few days. I’ll see how it goes. But I’ll definitely post something when I leave to go home. I have to be home on Tuesday for the hospital.

Subscribe to my blog and follow me as I travel around on my bike. Plus, as a subscriber, you’ll be among the first to receive news and updates on future tours. And, of course, you can always follow me on social media: Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest. I’m also on Flickr, where I’ll publish the photos from this tour once I’m home. Pictures from all my tours and monthly photos can also be found on Flickr.

You can also follow my progress and see where I stop each night by visiting the Where’s Garry web page; there, you’ll find a map of the route I’ve taken so far.

Garry McGivern Travelsonabike2 is bicycle touring England on Thursday, 2nd-May-2024. Still in Brockenhurst. What was I saying about the noise of the rain on the tent yesterday keeping me awake? Well, it was rather loud, but that wasn’t my problem. I had more of an issue with the rising water.

I don’t know whether I slept through a lot of the storm because it didn’t seem that bad to me. But then, when I did wake up, I remembered the start of a puddle outside my tent door when it was raining last night before I went to bed. I thought I’d better lift the groundsheet so the puddle would go underneath. Haha, too late. The outer tent was under two to three inches of water. And my inner tent was floating on water. It was like being on a water bed.

That’ll Teach You

After realising how much water there was in my tent, I quickly gathered everything together. I’ve become very lacks and lazy lately. Ever since I was blown away in a tornado in 2008, I’ve always made sure everything is ready to go, just in case. I’d even had a conversation with one of the wardens about how I pack everything away each night, literally just before the rain started last night. How stupid did I look this morning? Still, there was no harm done, and it was only the outer tent that got wet.

There are a couple of short videos of my ordeal on my YouTube channel. Or my Facebook and Instagram pages.

Subscribe to my blog and follow me as I travel around on my bike. Plus, as a subscriber, you’ll be among the first to receive news and updates on future tours. And, of course, you can always follow me on social media: Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest. I’m also on Flickr, where I’ll publish the photos from this tour once I’m home. Pictures from all my tours and monthly photos can also be found on Flickr.

You can also follow my progress and see where I stop each night by visiting the Where’s Garry web page; there, you’ll find a map of the route I’ve taken so far.

Garry McGivern Travelsonabike2 is bicycle touring England on Wednesday, 1st-May-2024. In Brockenhurst, again! My interview went okay this morning and lasted just over an hour. Whether I was any help, I don’t know. But at least I’ve tried to help.

There seem to be loads of midges in camp at the moment. I noticed it last night. They were so annoying that I closed the tent up early before it got dark. I thought it was just in the evening they came out. But it wasn’t. They were around again today.

Unsurprising

It might be because of all the wet ground that’s around; who knows? I’ve never noticed it before, but then I’ve never spent so much time down here before.

And speaking of it being wet. There’s a weather warning for heavy rain with a chance of thunderstorms tonight. It could be a long night. I might need to stuff some socks or toilet paper in my ears. Rain makes a lot of noise in a tent, even when it’s not heavy. And it’s already started. But at least I get to try my new tarp out, which I’m very pleased with so far.

Subscribe to my blog and follow me as I travel around on my bike. Plus, as a subscriber, you’ll be among the first to receive news and updates on future tours. And, of course, you can always follow me on social media: Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest. I’m also on Flickr, where I’ll publish the photos from this tour once I’m home. Pictures from all my tours and monthly photos can also be found on Flickr.

You can also follow my progress and see where I stop each night by visiting the Where’s Garry web page; there, you’ll find a map of the route I’ve taken so far.

April-2024 Garry McGivern’s regular monthly update. Well, what can I say? Once again, the weather has been pretty awful with plenty of rain, which at the beginning of the month was so bad it put me off from going away. And if it’s not the weather that’s stopped me, it’s been my health, but eventually, I managed to get a few days away camping, although that got curtailed.

After last month’s trip to the New Forest, I decided I needed to buy a tarp for my Hilleberg tent, which arrived at the beginning of this month. Unfortunately, with all the rain we’ve had, my garden was too wet to try it out, and I had to wait until the middle of the month before I could get away and try it. I had planned to go to the New Forest for a couple of days. Try my tarp out, then head over to France. However, after receiving a phone call from the hospital, I had to change my plans.

Health, And The Ongoing Saga

You may remember last month that, I had an MRI scan that showed there had been some changes in my neck. After the scan, my local hospital decided that they needed to have a meeting with the neurosurgeons in Southampton to discuss my case. Haha, well, I learnt this month that the meeting was scheduled for the end of March, but for some reason, Southampton couldn’t or didn’t receive my scans so there was no discussion. But not to worry they would try again this month. I really can’t believe that one hospital can’t view or receive another hospital’s scans. Unbelievable.

On the second day of my trip to the New Forest, I received a call from my local hospital. They had managed to have a meeting with Southampton, and they are now going to operate on my neck. (I’m not too sure how I feel about that. But it is what it is) But they now need to do a series of X-rays on my neck. And could I get to the hospital tomorrow? I could, but not until late in the day. I was down the New Forest, so an appointment was booked for the following Monday. That scuppered my plans for going to France, and I stayed down the New Forest for the next few days.

Back Home

I returned home on Sunday, ready for my X-rays on Monday morning. Guess what? My local hospital couldn’t do them! Once again, I’m now stuck in limbo, waiting for an appointment to come through from another hospital, unable to go away. Except I have and I’m currently down the New Forest again.

Subscribe to my blog and follow me as I travel around on my bike. Plus, as a subscriber, you’ll be among the first to receive news and updates on future tours. And, of course, you can always follow me on social media: Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest. I’m also on Flickr, where you’ll find pictures from all my tours, along with a monthly photo update that I publish each month.

If you want to find out if I’m away touring at the moment and check my location, visit the Where’s Garry web page.