One of Ms B’s and my biggest regrets in 2019 is that we only visited Dale Chihuly’s ‘Reflections on Nature’ exhibition of glass sculptures in Kew Gardens a few days ago, and not much earlier, thus missing out on the opportunity to return again and again. The exhibition will close forever on 27 October after a hugely successful six months. Ms B, whose nick name at school apparently was ‘voucher chick’, managed to find us a 50% discount, which brought the ticket’s price down to £9 per person (deal can be found here) Even the full price of £18 is extremely good value for what you get. They also offer great deals for families. We’ve been big fans of Chihuly’s for many years now, and especially of his large-scale outdoor sculptures. His equally well-received 2005 Kew Gardens exhibition was one we missed out on, because Ms B was busy settling […]
Off-Roading Training Lesson with True Grip in Kent – Wahoooooooo..!!!!!
I had been a passenger on four-wheel drive off-road trips on a number of occasions, lastly near Porto (post here), and I had known for a long time that I wanted to learn how to actually drive off-road myself. Last week I used a Buyagift.com voucher for £98 (I topped up for an extra hour at additional cost) to do a driving course at True Grip Off Road’s Eastwell Park site. They hold a Tripadvisor Certificate of Excellence and out of 1,244 reviews, 1,184 are ‘excellent’, 90% of the rest ‘very good’. From St Pancras, London, a high-speed train takes you to Ashford International in just 40 minutes. From the train station, a cab will set you back another £12 or so for the ten-minute ride (best to pre-order). Guy, the friendly owner and chief instructor, greeted me upon arrival. After a quick five minutes of paperwork and […]
Flying Lesson on a 1953 Piper Cub with Perry Air, Brighton
I recently found a voucher on Buyagift.co.uk: £89 for a 20-minute flying lesson on a 1953 Piper Cub with Perry Air. There are even cheaper offers around, if you’re average height and weight. As I knew, my voucher was only good for weekends, but I wanted to fly during the week, when the minimum is 35 minutes. So for £35 I topped up. The lesson takes place at Shoreham Airport, which is close to Brighton. However, public transport does not get you there, and a cab from Brighton station to Shoreham and back would have cost a fair bit of money. I shopped around using Holidaycars.com and found an excellent deal with Sixt: a brand new Range Rover Velar for 50% less than the next best offer. Usually I go for something the size of a Volkswagen Golf, but the offer was too good to refuse. I arrived early at […]
Off-Roading on a Segway around Leeds Castle, Kent
During our recent visit to Leeds Castle, Kent, Southern Segway very kindly invited us to check out their Twilight Castle Tour (GBP 59 per person, including admission to the castle grounds). Ms B and I had done a Segway tour once before, in Paris, and thought we knew it all, but it turned out to be so much more fun going off-roading on those amazing vehicles. For those of you who have never tried riding a Segway: be assured it’s very easy to learn. It will literally take you a few minutes to get the hang of it. The technology is mind-blowing. I’m roughly 100kg, but I felt perfectly comfortable going full speed on my set of wheels and never felt scared of falling off. The Segway will keep you from falling over forward or backwards by subtly counteracting your move so as to always keep the balance. […]