Team Muz on tour in Iberia

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I used to live just down the road from the Headington - Bill Heine (the creator and owner of the shark) used to own 3 local fleapit cinemas, had a column in the local paper and a phone in prog on local radio.

I went on the big hovercraft just before they cut the service. It was like the longest taxi down a very bumpy runway - ever, but noisier.

You were sat there wishing it would actually take off.

[helen&tony]

Hi Muz...
Italy....NOW you're talking...then a ferry to Greece, pop across to Turkey for a quick trip to Istanbul, up through Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Austria, Germany and Holland...
Cheers
Helen

[Muzorewa]

It's a nice thought Helen but time would be a problem. If I did Italy I'd want to go to Sicily too, and with enough time to explore the likes of Milan, Rome, Pompeii and Venice I'd be struggling to fit anything else in within a maximum three week tour.

I can't say that any of the former Eastern Bloc inspires me, perhaps I'm missing out on something but it's not high up on my radar. You could possibly convince me otherwise

[helen&tony]

Hi Muz...
Well, don't miss Ravenna in Italy...it MUST be seen...eastern Bloc. ....well, you're right in some cases...BUT Istanbul must be on the list!...not Eastern bloc. Greece is a definite...some fantastic interest...nice people!...Bulgaria...well it's worth a miss ...living here is quiet and slow, but for places to see...mmm...I wouldn't rate a couple of old Roman ruins any more than elsewhere...Thracian remains...well, Thrace was only part Bulgarian. Romania...now that's a whole different matter...some extraordinary castles...full of legend and paleontological interest in Transylvania (an island in pre-history) with many species remaining smaller than elsewhere, due to island status....Then Austro-Hungary..origin of the Celts, and heaps of history....and FOOD . Oh...the only real thing Bulgaria has to offer is the Orpheus caves...(I tend to call Orpheus in the Underworld "Awfulness in the Undergrowth") and the worst food in Europe
Cheers
Helen

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I used to live just down the road from the Headington - Bill Heine (the creator and owner of the shark) used to own 3 local fleapit cinemas, had a column in the local paper and a phone in prog on local radio.

I went on the big hovercraft just before they cut the service. It was like the longest taxi down a very bumpy runway - ever, but noisier.

You were sat there wishing it would actually take off.

That should have read....... the Headington shark....................

[Muzorewa]

I figured that

I'm envious of your trip on the big hovercraft though. There's a kind of hovercraft museum at Lee-on-Solent (where my photos were taken) and there are two of the big birds there, amongst other things, but their opening arrangements are a bit hit & miss. But you can see the big stuff well enough through the fence anyway.

http://www.hovercraft-museum.org/

[helen&tony]

Hi
We took the Hover-Ferry to France once...'twas a rough day, and they nearly cancelled, but risked a small window...WOW...tremendous fun!....especially the rough bit....best trip ever!
Cheers
Helen

[briwy]

I came back from France about thirty ago on the hovercraft.
Big scramble for window seats on boarding, as soon as it left the concrete couldn't see a thing, water and sand everywhere. Horrible thing, noisy, rough, only advantage was the speed of the crossing.
Brilliant technology though.

[Muzorewa]

It was the old HoverSpeed terminal at Dover that SpeedFerries used to use for their Boulogne-sur-Mer service, the other (west) side of Dover from the normal ferries. But after the demise of SpeedFerries I think that area has now been flattened.



EDIT - Allegedly it was flattened in 2009 and is going to be a truckstop

[Alison01326]

I've been on a Hovercraft several times both Dover to Boulogne and somewhere or other to the Isle of Wight (little hovercrafts).

The big ones were, as has already been said, noisy, bumpy and with no visibility. I'm sorry that they're no longer with us, but not sorry that I am not going to go on another one. Unless, that is, I can save up for a personal one and race it http://www.hovercraft.org.uk/racing.htm

[Muzorewa]

The only one I've ever been on was at Blackpool must be the best part of 20 years ago, a geezer was running a small one out from one of the piers. You only got a few minutes but that was plenty, especially once he got it sideways against the incoming breakers

[Muzorewa]

I've been on a Hovercraft several times both Dover to Boulogne and somewhere or other to the Isle of Wight (little hovercrafts).

They still run these from Portsmouth (Southsea) to the Isle of Wight (Ryde) and these are the only passenger hovercrafts in operation in Britain now

[Muzorewa]

Spookily enough.... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-29568551

[boyfrombrasil]

LD Lines still appear to be operating the Gijón to St Nazaire route, it's just the Poole routes they've axed.

Just a quickie to say that the ferry we caught back on that route was the Norman Atlantic. The route has been axed as well.

The ferry was sold on to the ANEK lines in September and is the same ferry currently on fire off of the coast of Corfu.

[Muzorewa]

The Norman Atlantic looks a sorry state of affairs. But it looks like we all went at the right time, now BF have the Bay of Biscay to themselves again they'll presumably charge what they want. Not that that's stopped us booking BF for one of next year's adventures