As it turns out, I am still jet-lagged. Jet lag occurs when you travel across time zones, making you very drowsy and a little off psychologically. It pops up unexpectedly for me. Flying through the night can also throw you off unless you have lie-flat seats located in first class or business class.
My first day in Burnham on Crouch is a blur. I make it down for breakfast. A standard breakfast here is beans on toast and all the other regular breakfast items. I wake up still flustered about my Audi parked in the lot. I could drive up the coast to check out the area.
I am still not sure why I am there. I know that I plan to attend the Ocean Survival Course that starts on Friday. This weekend is known as a bank weekend, meaning Monday is a holiday. In Canada, this is referred to as a long weekend. Yes, banks are closed, but we don’t call it that.
Espresso
I can get my espresso here, which is an excellent discovery. I wandered along the wharf, checking out the area. There are a number of large boats that are homes. Many of them have concrete hulls. Several boats are moored here, including a yacht club and a marina. Burnham on Crouch BOC is on River Crouch, which does make its way to the ocean, a perfect place to train Ocean Rowers. The Crouch is home to Aurora Sea School, which I am attending and Rannoch Adventure, which manufactures Ocean Rowing Boats.
I find Aurora Sea School on my google maps and walk to it to see what my daily commute will be like going forward (do I need to keep the car). It is .7km from my hotel. Interestingly the UK doesn’t measure distance using the metric system. They use imperial here, which threw me for a loop on the drive down. I had assumed that it was a setting a previous renter had set, only to realize the speed signs were listed in mph and not kph.
Okay, so the school is an easy walk down the wharf, which means I have a costly rental car that will essentially sit in the parking lot for days only to be used upon my return to Heathrow unless I decide to travel around.
I decided that I am going to return the car to Heathrow on Monday (the bank holiday) and then take an Uber back to BOC.
The drive back to Heathrow Airport is pretty easy. It was a bank holiday so the roads were pretty quiet. I am travelling just with my backpack so it is a pretty easy outing. After returning the car, I decided to adventure a little, so I took the train back. It turned out to be about 3 trains to return. Luckily they had staff everywhere to advise you. I found myself at one point in some distant location and there was a guy with the blue vest on willing to give me the correct direction to find my way.
Paddington Station
In Paddington station in London I found a photobooth to grab a passport photo of myself for my soon to have radio license. I also had time for a cup of coffee and a biscuit. It was a hectic station with a ton of activity, similar to union station in Toronto. I was able to take a train all the way from Heathrow to BOC.
The internet and cellular coverage in the area is poor, so I was limited in what I could do. I took the opportunity to edit a course that was recorded almost a year prior. It was on my todo list, and needed to be done. So each day I would head to an area in the bar and set up my workstation and work away with earphones as to not disturb the other patrons. Video editing can be a monotonous task requiring your attention. You have to listen closely and watch for times when the instructor is speaking to the video editor to exclude a portion or add something.
I have a few days before my course starts so I have plenty of time to rest, meditate and video edit and explore.
End of Winter Colds
I discover that I caught a cold while out and about. I always seem to get those end of winter colds. This is especially fun because I am in a hotel far away from home and sick.
