Right on ... Bright on

Today was going to be a trying day. I awoke to feeling like shit. Since we'd come back from Munich, both Justine and I had developed Perry's illness - sore throat, coughing and all that. I gulped back a small truckload of various pills to get me through the day (travel pills, paracetemol, etc. not the other kind) and headed off with Justine to the Victoria bus station where we'd be taking the National Express, which I'd booked weeks ago, to Brighton. It wasn't until we were halfway to the station that I realised Justine had emptied everything out of my bag (with my approval) including our ticket printout. It didn't matter in the end anyway because I thought our bus was for 8:10am, but in fact was for 8:00am ... we'd missed it. We paid the £10 each for a oneway ticket on the next bus and would use the return ticket I'd previously booked to get back. Great start.

The first 1 minute of the bus trip was fine, but as we wound our way out of London through the suburbs. I began to feel more and more queezy. Despite taking a travel pill, I was very close to chundering a number of times. Fifteen minutes before we got to Brighton, there was a massive bang. Straight away I thought a tyre had blown ... but the driver did nothing. Soon after that, someone in a car driving past us was waving and pointing at the back of the bus ... but the driver did nothing. It took one of the other passengers to ask him to check it out for the driver to pull over and have a look. Sure enough it was a burst tyre on the back ... but the driver did nothing. He just got back in and carried on to the station where another bus driver pointed out the burst tyre. "I thought the steering was a bit funny" our driver lied.

I was very relieved when the bus rolled in to Brighton station. In order to stop from puking, I spent the next half hour spread eagled in the closest park I could find. I felt like absolute crap that only two more paracetemol could remedy. I will be trying to avoid bus journeys from now on. I have come to the conclusion that chemical reactions during illness have a detrimental effect upon the molecular interaction between anti-nausea travel medication and the inner ear stability and ... what? ... so I'm a chemist now?

Brighton is pretty much what you see in the movies, tacky carnival rides and corny entertainment, but somehow manages to be fun at the same time. We've been in England long enough now to appreciate why the English love their tack and simple holiday preferences. General English society is geared towards a focus on friends and family (as with almost every other society in the world) A good holiday to them involves family relaxation and fun, generally involving copious amounts of alcohol. The cheapest way to accommodate this preference is in places like Brighton and Blackpool (and now Spain "Meeyor'a").

Brighton is world reknowned for it's Royal Pavilion, it's pebbly beaches, it's pier, it's tack and for being the gay capital of Europe. I'm not sure if it had anything to do with Brighton's gayness, but very shortly after we arrived, an organised nude bike ride wobbled past. Now I'm not sure if it is just an English interpretation, but in NZ 'nude' means 'without clothing'. Not one single rider fronted up completely starkers ... very very disappointing.

We think New Zealand is bad for binge drinking, but we don't have anything on England. Drunk groups of guys and girls were chanting and swearing through the streets even at noon. It's an epidemic in Britian. England were playing Paraguay in their first game of the World Cup but the drinking happens every weekend and quite a few weekdays. I can't believe that it's actually an acceptable excuse for people to be hungover at work here. People I know get drunk every Friday, Saturday, sometimes Sunday and at least one day during the week. I'm just revolted ... or old.

Despite feeling ill for most of the day, Brighton was pretty cool. The trip back home on the bus was far less nausea-inducing. Maybe it was the driver of the first bus that caused all the problems. Good day out but.

10 Jun 2006

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