Techniquest
Veteran Member
15/01/2023 - The Tri-City Trip, Day 8
And so the final day had arrived, that came round so fast! 0445 and I woke from a dream about learning to drive, or more specifically making a mess of learning to drive, and the shower was seriously welcome. A cup of tea was had, as I had no coffee left in the room, and with everything all checked etc, I was at the airport at 0528. Unsurprisingly, bag drop was very quiet, so was security, and at 0545 I'd cleared the queue at the Stag & Thistle for a coffee. I was sat around at 0546 waiting to board, devouring a punnet of black grapes for breakfast, and I was very disappointed with the fool who used the facilities ahead of me. He'd chosen to smoke in there, not even finishing it before rushing off to join the easyJet flight to London Gatwick. The stench of smoke was awful, I hadn't smelt that during the adventure and I was really not amused. I felt sorry for the poor souls next to him on the easyJet flight!
Soon enough it was boarding time for BA1467 0645 Inverness to London Heathrow, and I was in seat 9F to be next to the engine. The aircraft today was dud G-TTNJ, an Airbus A320neo. Boarding was complete at 0629, but it was another 20 minutes before the safety demonstration was done. Apparently we'd been given a runway slot of 0700, so no rush to leave. Departure was 10 minutes late at 0655, and it was into the air at 0704. Takeoff was pretty smooth, and as it was a Neo aircraft (Neo being New Engine Option) then it was pretty quiet. In the past, I've avoided Airbus craft because of the horrendous noise the engines make, but the Neo craft are much nicer.
It turned out I'd had that craft on the London Heathrow to Frankfurt leg of my adventure to Tokyo, way back in late 2019. When I'd initially seen it was dud (that is, something I'd been on before and therefore not a winner), I was disappointed but then found where I'd had it and the nostalgia was very real. All that way back in time, in the 'before Covid' times, such a different world back then!
Now it should be noted that I prefer to avoid domestic flying, when there is a sensible option by rail, sea or road then I'd prefer to do that. With the uncertainty and short notice ticket booking opportunities on the railway, it just wasn't a sensible option on this occasion. Given the new railway station was meant to have opened by the time of this trip, at least the flights would connect nicely into visiting that. However, delays with that have pushed it back until February 2nd 2023 as of the time of typing this. I don't tend to go out of my way to visit stations these days, if I can tag them onto something else in a trip then absolutely no problem, but specifically going out for them is just not me these days. As on Day 6, I would have to wait until returning to base to find out if this craft was a score or not.
An update from the flightdeck at 0730 revealed we were 80 miles north of Manchester, with 20-30mph winds from the southwest at Heathrow. 0804 and we were 10 minutes from landing, happy days! With the Day 7 report proof-read, and a smooth flight, it had gone well but I was craving coffee. My ears were having problems adjusting on this flight, so returning to ground level was very much being looked forward to, as I was hoping the headache would then go away! It was back at the ground at 0821, and arrival at the terminal was 6 minutes late at 0831.
Baggage reclaim was slow today, it wasn't until 0856 before I got my case. The lifts to the railway station were ultra unreliable today, in over 5 minutes only one lift turned up twice to take people down. Thankfully, another one eventually came into use and then the QR code on my Heathrow Express ticket wouldn't work the barrier. Eventually the guy manning the barrier accepted it and let me on to board 387133+387135 on the 0912 to London Paddington. I was more than ready for a Pret coffee at Paddington, that's for sure! By a long way, my least enjoyable and most delayed arrivals experience at Heathrow Airport!
A no-nonsense spin on Heathrow Express completed, I was at Paddington and my favourite station in all of the world. I got a Pret coffee here, then decided I'd have a go at getting some more 345s done. Bearing in mind I had my case with me, I had to do easy journeys. Not even I can stick to that sometimes, as you'll soon see! First up was winner 345003, which I'd seen at Heathrow Terminal 5 as I left! I bailed out (got off the train) at Farringdon, with a slightly crazy idea, but then chose to see what the next 345 going east was. Good call, as it was winner 345026, which I took to Liverpool Street to position for a different idea. Again, I checked the following 345 which was winner 345065, happy days!
I bailed out at Whitechapel to change onto the Overground lines, as the next 345 was dud. I saw a pink reader and thought I had to tap on it, but it was eventually realised I only needed to do that if changing from the Underground to the Overground at Whitechapel. Hopefully the system will be smart enough to know what I actually did! I ended up jumping on dud 378214 to Canonbury, and this seemed like a good place to tap out for a bit. A look at Maps, by now on crazy idea number 3, then abandoning the other plans to instead walk to Finsbury Park! Considering I had my case with me, this was probably a bit silly, but it got done!
I followed the road past Clissold Park, which looked beautiful but would have to wait for another day, and ended up outside Manor House's Underground station. Across the road was the Manor House Gate entrance to Finsbury Park, my choice of destination. The surface on the pavements was not very good in places, and when facing the wind it was challenging to walk along but I eventually got to the other end. Given the wind, I didn't feel it appropriate to try and finish the last bit of the park, and I will absolutely be back in the future. How I've never done Finsbury Park before I have no idea, but now I want to return ASAP for it and Clissold Park.
It was probably just as well that I decided to leave when I did, as I found big crowds at Finsbury Park's station. Ah, I see, Arsenal and Chelsea scarves everywhere, definitely a good time to get out of that part of London! Upstairs, I found Puccinos was open, to my pleasant surprise, and a medium black americano for £3 just had to be sourced! The first 717 was fresh dud from Day 5 717012, so I waited an extra 15 minutes for what turned out to be winner 717023. This was taken to Highbury & Islington, and upstairs I had a look at options. No, surely I wasn't going to do that walk? Well, sure as a sure thing, I got my SuperNovas doing their thing and moving themselves as fast as the case could manage, with the walk I had originally looked at for Day 2. That walk was the one between Highbury & Islington and Dalston Junction.
It went quite well, and once I reached the crossroads with Essex Road I was back on familiar terrain. The walk was only 1.2 miles as it turned out, not too bad at all. 150km for the year so far with logged walks on Strava! Downstairs on the Overground once again, I found myself quite quickly onto winner 378141, my penultimate 378/1. I hoped I'd also find 378137, and sure enough I saw it go the other way at Canonbury on a West Croydon service. The chase was on!
Real Time Trains told me it would be due to do the 1348 West Croydon to Highbury & Islington, I had plenty of time then. At Highbury & Islington, I eventually managed to board dud 378225 on the short leap to Caledonian Road & Barnsbury. Going back the other way was assisted by the island platform, and I joined very busy 378231 as far as Hackney Central. I had been going to Stratford, but an ultra smelly person encouraged me to move it. This did give me an opportunity to source new wireless earphones, and in TK Maxx I found some good ones at a good price, but the queue for the tills was massive. OK then, no I won't bother! Instead, I took advantage of the opportunity to get lunch, and the chippy I visited on Day 1 was open.
Therefore I got a very good portion of chips from Sutton & Sons, devouring them on the platforms at Hackney Central. Not only did that give the crowds a chance to go away, but I soaked up some sunshine too, happy days! Dud 378205 took me to Stratford, with a much lighter load than the previous trains. After refilling my water bottle, at the very helpful filling point not far from the entrance to the station, I was finally getting onto the Docklands Light Railway (DLR). Those who know me well will already know I only wanted one more train on this awesome little system, number 66. For the journey to Poplar, I joined 149+145, making a connection to Shadwell in no time at all onto 32+51. I hung around for a bit, just in case 66 turned up, but no luck there. I made my way to the Overground station to position myself for that 378, hoping I'd not read it wrong.
Sure enough, winner 378137 returned and I took it to Whitechapel. I had considered trying to make a fast connection onto the Elizabeth line for a journey to Paddington, but as it was nearly 1426 when I got off at Whitechapel, and my intended train from Paddington was at 1443, it just didn't seem likely to make it, so I went up to the sub-surface Underground platforms. I ended up joining 21565+21566 to Tower Hill, with a bid to connect quickly over to Tower Gateway to get back onto the DLR.
Once there, I was soon onto 155+125 to Shadwell, and my luck was in almost as soon as I got there, with 82 leading winner 66 with dud 75 on the back. Yes, finally, after getting down to just 66 on the DLR in September 2021, I had got my last DLR train for the short run to Bank! That cleared the DLR just as the new trains are starting to be delivered to Beckton depot, so there will soon be brand new trains on the system to do one day!
I changed onto the northbound Northern line, as far as Euston, with 51638+51639. As per Day 5, I had no idea what I may or may not have scored on the Underground yet, but I would find out soon! Upstairs at ground level, I grabbed a celebratory Pret coffee, before heading to platform 9 for what turned out to be dud 710266 for a journey to Queens Park. That cleared the Watford DC lines as far as Willesden Junction on the class, and I got settled in for some Bakerloo line train hunting. 3461 remained my only want on the line, and I was hoping it would turn up.
Eventually, I did a journey to Kilburn Park on 3233+3467, taking a short break outside. I did consider doing the walk to the Overground station in Kilburn, but decided against it. Back downstairs, my patience was wearing thin, does 3461 even exist? Eventually I gave up and joined 3441+3251 to Willesden Junction. Outside there, I took advantage of the chance to get some photos, and my plan to go via Shepherd's Bush got binned when I realised there was no way I'd make it in time to Paddington. So I ended up scoring winner 710267 as far as Queens Park, changing for 3262+3458 to Paddington.
I made it upstairs quite quickly, and while I found what I wanted in Sainsburys fast, the queue to pay was far too long and slow. So I gave up and made a fast move to platform 10 for the 1643 to Port Talbot Parkway, as far as Newport for me. 800318 was very busy, not helped by it being only 2 hours to South Wales due to flooding. I had observed earlier that the 1546 London Paddington to Hereford was showing as just 5 coaches, that wouldn't have been fun! I managed to grab an unreserved aisle seat at a pair of airline seats in coach J, and it took until most of the way to Swindon to catch up on my trip report and update my spotting book! As it was dark outside, I decided to use the time to plug the phone in and go through the many photos taken on the trip.
For reasons unknown, while the phone was plugged in, it just would not behave properly. I couldn't even unlock my phone when I tried to clean my screen! After unplugging, it behaved again, how very bizarre! So I left the charging until I returned to base, no point doing it before then after all. I had received warning both in the GWR app and on screens at Paddington that South Wales services were being diverted between Swindon and Bristol Parkway, due to flooding. Well, I don't know when that stopped applying as the 800 certainly didn't divert! In truth, it had been one of the reasons to head back to Hereford via Newport, to get some track done on the class that I hadn't done before. In reality though, I was rather enjoying getting back to my side of the UK at a good speed, so it was well worth the extra money!
As the train sped through South Wales, I decided to count up my scores for the trip. I haven't included the stuff in Amsterdam, and as of the time of typing I was on an impressive 25 scores. Once I got my Underground journeys checked, I would have a better knowledge of the final total (all the LU stuff was dud, as it turned out). With a little over 27 minutes in Newport, I had plenty of time to go up to the nearby Tesco Express and get some bread and a couple of other little bits. Back on the station, I tried the relatively new vegan katsu curry slice from Hi Coffee, which was OK but definitely not worth £2.70! With the banana also had, with lunch having now worn itself off, the stomach was satisfied for now.
The final journey of the day fell to the 1855 from Newport, and to Hereford I would take 150236. I had not missed the noisy brakes on these trains, that's for sure, and it felt rather ancient compared to all of the trains, trams, Metro, Underground and so on! However, it was also warm and I got a table seat which was a nice bonus.
So, looking back at the adventure, what were my final thoughts? Well, I have to say that I think I enjoyed this more than the 7 day First Class All Line Rover that I did in the final stages of 2022! Yes, that's right, a week of continuous First Class travel was not as enjoyable as an 8 day trip in multiple countries, two flights and a whole ton of exploring. Don't get me wrong, the All Line Rover had many good bits, but that adventure also ended with a trip from Paddington to Hereford via Newport, and I remember my brain just melting into chaos before leaving London. This time, however, I was not as glad to be getting back to base, I'd had a really good time away overall, and it was a shame it was coming to an end.
Yes there were bits of this adventure that weren't amazing, like the tedious bits of the Eurostar journeys and the poor departures lounge in Amsterdam, as well as the disapproval of the adult activities and drug culture there (it's not everywhere, obviously, but if there's one thing I hate more than anything else, it's cannabis). However, they were more than balanced out by things like the cycling culture in the Netherlands, and my first ever non-UK cycling adventure on that bike from the hotel. Finally ticking off the Eurostar to Amsterdam, even though I was bored of it and the 374s after much of the journey, was good to do. If I did Eurostar to the Netherlands again, I would have to do it in either Standard Premier or even Business. The cycling in the Netherlands showed just how many opportunities there are, but equally that I won't be taking a cycle over there until at least the summer. As I can't do that on Eurostar, as they deem cycles a security risk or something equally weird, that trip will be by ferry from Harwich.
I also had a nicely social day with an excellent friend, and saw some of the most beautiful parts of Scotland with more ideas for exploring in the future. My first flights of 2023, while I'd have loved to done them with a much longer adventure, the short flights were good to help me get into the swing of things with flying again. I absolutely didn't enjoy the pain endured during that cycle ride, but thankfully it got back to normal. The exercise bike, that was a challenge but I know not to try such a big distance on one again unless wearing more suitable gear!
Did I regret not going the more direct way back to Hereford, and in First Class? In a way, yes, but I also enjoyed the speed on the way to Newport. I'd have liked the extra space in First Class, no question of it, but this wasn't too bad. So, was the trip a good one? Absolutely! Would I do it again? Certainly, but with upgrades in places. Money well spent? Oh my yes, it cost me a lot of money and a lot of it is sat on the credit card, but 2023's first adventure was an epic one!
Where to next? Well as discussed earlier in the trip report, New Zealand is a priority for me, as is the Grand Canyon. I also have fitness and health goals to achieve, as well as a desire to move to a nicer place to live, get a new job and learn to drive amongst other things, so how I'm going to do it all I have no idea! What I can promise you all though is that there will be some massive trip reports for the two big trips. Europe is going to have to wait until 2024!
The journey to Hereford eventually finished, it always seems to feel like an eternity at night. Newport to Hereford's only a little under 44.5 miles by rail, but it can feel like double that! 1948 and I was through the barriers, and Strava was on. The weather had got to the skin on my hands and wrists, so the gloves were absolutely out for this walk! Despite having my case with me, and it protesting at the speed of the walk, I was back a little under 15 minutes later. 4.73mph according to Strava for the speed, not bad with a case weighing in around 10.6kg. I doubt very much It Luggage ever tested the wheels as much as I did on this adventure! It's fair to say it got put a lot during the 8 days!
After a mighty good meal of baked beans on bread (I had no patience for toasting bread!) with a decaf and 8 biscuits, I soon had the MacBook out to type up the 2023 moves list. That was followed by looking up my LU moves, no I didn't score anything there. 25 scores on the rails it was then, again not including the GVB stuff in Amsterdam. My good gravy, it occurs to me my sighting scores for 2023 would have gone through the roof if I'd bothered to note them all down!
How did I do on the aviation side of things? Surely I scored both British Airways craft? Well no, as it turned out! G-EUYL was a score, but G-TTNJ was dud. I had to find out where I'd had it, so dug out my flight logs. 11th November 2019, London Heathrow to Frankfurt. Oh yes, more than 3 years ago, as part of the quest to explore Tokyo, way back in the 'before times' also known as the pre-Covid years. In the same notes, I saw it was 3 years ago on this date that I flew from Heathrow to Kraków. Not that many days later, on the way back to Heathrow with G-NEOP (same craft both ways on that Poland trip!) it was my last flight for a long time, not that I was expecting my entire world to change forever!
Enough nostalgia tripping, I also got my sightings processed. To my incredible surprise, I had 20 new sightings! 1 easyJet, 4 Loganair, 1 Aer Lingus and 14 with BA. It is mighty unusual for me to get that many new ticks with that airline, given how many I already have! Not that I was complaining at all, each new tick was very welcome! My book is now 3 years old though, and I've added getting an updated book to the long list of things to do.
So, until the New Zealand trip, take it steady and keep safe!
-----
Argh! Why the random order of photos? By some way, this is not my entire lot of photos from the day, but an insight into it. This concludes the first World Frenzy trip report for 2023, there are more to come soon I hope. There's one more day trip report from January to come, that might get shared at break time tonight. For now, I must hurry up and head to work!
And so the final day had arrived, that came round so fast! 0445 and I woke from a dream about learning to drive, or more specifically making a mess of learning to drive, and the shower was seriously welcome. A cup of tea was had, as I had no coffee left in the room, and with everything all checked etc, I was at the airport at 0528. Unsurprisingly, bag drop was very quiet, so was security, and at 0545 I'd cleared the queue at the Stag & Thistle for a coffee. I was sat around at 0546 waiting to board, devouring a punnet of black grapes for breakfast, and I was very disappointed with the fool who used the facilities ahead of me. He'd chosen to smoke in there, not even finishing it before rushing off to join the easyJet flight to London Gatwick. The stench of smoke was awful, I hadn't smelt that during the adventure and I was really not amused. I felt sorry for the poor souls next to him on the easyJet flight!
Soon enough it was boarding time for BA1467 0645 Inverness to London Heathrow, and I was in seat 9F to be next to the engine. The aircraft today was dud G-TTNJ, an Airbus A320neo. Boarding was complete at 0629, but it was another 20 minutes before the safety demonstration was done. Apparently we'd been given a runway slot of 0700, so no rush to leave. Departure was 10 minutes late at 0655, and it was into the air at 0704. Takeoff was pretty smooth, and as it was a Neo aircraft (Neo being New Engine Option) then it was pretty quiet. In the past, I've avoided Airbus craft because of the horrendous noise the engines make, but the Neo craft are much nicer.
It turned out I'd had that craft on the London Heathrow to Frankfurt leg of my adventure to Tokyo, way back in late 2019. When I'd initially seen it was dud (that is, something I'd been on before and therefore not a winner), I was disappointed but then found where I'd had it and the nostalgia was very real. All that way back in time, in the 'before Covid' times, such a different world back then!
Now it should be noted that I prefer to avoid domestic flying, when there is a sensible option by rail, sea or road then I'd prefer to do that. With the uncertainty and short notice ticket booking opportunities on the railway, it just wasn't a sensible option on this occasion. Given the new railway station was meant to have opened by the time of this trip, at least the flights would connect nicely into visiting that. However, delays with that have pushed it back until February 2nd 2023 as of the time of typing this. I don't tend to go out of my way to visit stations these days, if I can tag them onto something else in a trip then absolutely no problem, but specifically going out for them is just not me these days. As on Day 6, I would have to wait until returning to base to find out if this craft was a score or not.
An update from the flightdeck at 0730 revealed we were 80 miles north of Manchester, with 20-30mph winds from the southwest at Heathrow. 0804 and we were 10 minutes from landing, happy days! With the Day 7 report proof-read, and a smooth flight, it had gone well but I was craving coffee. My ears were having problems adjusting on this flight, so returning to ground level was very much being looked forward to, as I was hoping the headache would then go away! It was back at the ground at 0821, and arrival at the terminal was 6 minutes late at 0831.
Baggage reclaim was slow today, it wasn't until 0856 before I got my case. The lifts to the railway station were ultra unreliable today, in over 5 minutes only one lift turned up twice to take people down. Thankfully, another one eventually came into use and then the QR code on my Heathrow Express ticket wouldn't work the barrier. Eventually the guy manning the barrier accepted it and let me on to board 387133+387135 on the 0912 to London Paddington. I was more than ready for a Pret coffee at Paddington, that's for sure! By a long way, my least enjoyable and most delayed arrivals experience at Heathrow Airport!
A no-nonsense spin on Heathrow Express completed, I was at Paddington and my favourite station in all of the world. I got a Pret coffee here, then decided I'd have a go at getting some more 345s done. Bearing in mind I had my case with me, I had to do easy journeys. Not even I can stick to that sometimes, as you'll soon see! First up was winner 345003, which I'd seen at Heathrow Terminal 5 as I left! I bailed out (got off the train) at Farringdon, with a slightly crazy idea, but then chose to see what the next 345 going east was. Good call, as it was winner 345026, which I took to Liverpool Street to position for a different idea. Again, I checked the following 345 which was winner 345065, happy days!
I bailed out at Whitechapel to change onto the Overground lines, as the next 345 was dud. I saw a pink reader and thought I had to tap on it, but it was eventually realised I only needed to do that if changing from the Underground to the Overground at Whitechapel. Hopefully the system will be smart enough to know what I actually did! I ended up jumping on dud 378214 to Canonbury, and this seemed like a good place to tap out for a bit. A look at Maps, by now on crazy idea number 3, then abandoning the other plans to instead walk to Finsbury Park! Considering I had my case with me, this was probably a bit silly, but it got done!
I followed the road past Clissold Park, which looked beautiful but would have to wait for another day, and ended up outside Manor House's Underground station. Across the road was the Manor House Gate entrance to Finsbury Park, my choice of destination. The surface on the pavements was not very good in places, and when facing the wind it was challenging to walk along but I eventually got to the other end. Given the wind, I didn't feel it appropriate to try and finish the last bit of the park, and I will absolutely be back in the future. How I've never done Finsbury Park before I have no idea, but now I want to return ASAP for it and Clissold Park.
It was probably just as well that I decided to leave when I did, as I found big crowds at Finsbury Park's station. Ah, I see, Arsenal and Chelsea scarves everywhere, definitely a good time to get out of that part of London! Upstairs, I found Puccinos was open, to my pleasant surprise, and a medium black americano for £3 just had to be sourced! The first 717 was fresh dud from Day 5 717012, so I waited an extra 15 minutes for what turned out to be winner 717023. This was taken to Highbury & Islington, and upstairs I had a look at options. No, surely I wasn't going to do that walk? Well, sure as a sure thing, I got my SuperNovas doing their thing and moving themselves as fast as the case could manage, with the walk I had originally looked at for Day 2. That walk was the one between Highbury & Islington and Dalston Junction.
It went quite well, and once I reached the crossroads with Essex Road I was back on familiar terrain. The walk was only 1.2 miles as it turned out, not too bad at all. 150km for the year so far with logged walks on Strava! Downstairs on the Overground once again, I found myself quite quickly onto winner 378141, my penultimate 378/1. I hoped I'd also find 378137, and sure enough I saw it go the other way at Canonbury on a West Croydon service. The chase was on!
Real Time Trains told me it would be due to do the 1348 West Croydon to Highbury & Islington, I had plenty of time then. At Highbury & Islington, I eventually managed to board dud 378225 on the short leap to Caledonian Road & Barnsbury. Going back the other way was assisted by the island platform, and I joined very busy 378231 as far as Hackney Central. I had been going to Stratford, but an ultra smelly person encouraged me to move it. This did give me an opportunity to source new wireless earphones, and in TK Maxx I found some good ones at a good price, but the queue for the tills was massive. OK then, no I won't bother! Instead, I took advantage of the opportunity to get lunch, and the chippy I visited on Day 1 was open.
Therefore I got a very good portion of chips from Sutton & Sons, devouring them on the platforms at Hackney Central. Not only did that give the crowds a chance to go away, but I soaked up some sunshine too, happy days! Dud 378205 took me to Stratford, with a much lighter load than the previous trains. After refilling my water bottle, at the very helpful filling point not far from the entrance to the station, I was finally getting onto the Docklands Light Railway (DLR). Those who know me well will already know I only wanted one more train on this awesome little system, number 66. For the journey to Poplar, I joined 149+145, making a connection to Shadwell in no time at all onto 32+51. I hung around for a bit, just in case 66 turned up, but no luck there. I made my way to the Overground station to position myself for that 378, hoping I'd not read it wrong.
Sure enough, winner 378137 returned and I took it to Whitechapel. I had considered trying to make a fast connection onto the Elizabeth line for a journey to Paddington, but as it was nearly 1426 when I got off at Whitechapel, and my intended train from Paddington was at 1443, it just didn't seem likely to make it, so I went up to the sub-surface Underground platforms. I ended up joining 21565+21566 to Tower Hill, with a bid to connect quickly over to Tower Gateway to get back onto the DLR.
Once there, I was soon onto 155+125 to Shadwell, and my luck was in almost as soon as I got there, with 82 leading winner 66 with dud 75 on the back. Yes, finally, after getting down to just 66 on the DLR in September 2021, I had got my last DLR train for the short run to Bank! That cleared the DLR just as the new trains are starting to be delivered to Beckton depot, so there will soon be brand new trains on the system to do one day!
I changed onto the northbound Northern line, as far as Euston, with 51638+51639. As per Day 5, I had no idea what I may or may not have scored on the Underground yet, but I would find out soon! Upstairs at ground level, I grabbed a celebratory Pret coffee, before heading to platform 9 for what turned out to be dud 710266 for a journey to Queens Park. That cleared the Watford DC lines as far as Willesden Junction on the class, and I got settled in for some Bakerloo line train hunting. 3461 remained my only want on the line, and I was hoping it would turn up.
Eventually, I did a journey to Kilburn Park on 3233+3467, taking a short break outside. I did consider doing the walk to the Overground station in Kilburn, but decided against it. Back downstairs, my patience was wearing thin, does 3461 even exist? Eventually I gave up and joined 3441+3251 to Willesden Junction. Outside there, I took advantage of the chance to get some photos, and my plan to go via Shepherd's Bush got binned when I realised there was no way I'd make it in time to Paddington. So I ended up scoring winner 710267 as far as Queens Park, changing for 3262+3458 to Paddington.
I made it upstairs quite quickly, and while I found what I wanted in Sainsburys fast, the queue to pay was far too long and slow. So I gave up and made a fast move to platform 10 for the 1643 to Port Talbot Parkway, as far as Newport for me. 800318 was very busy, not helped by it being only 2 hours to South Wales due to flooding. I had observed earlier that the 1546 London Paddington to Hereford was showing as just 5 coaches, that wouldn't have been fun! I managed to grab an unreserved aisle seat at a pair of airline seats in coach J, and it took until most of the way to Swindon to catch up on my trip report and update my spotting book! As it was dark outside, I decided to use the time to plug the phone in and go through the many photos taken on the trip.
For reasons unknown, while the phone was plugged in, it just would not behave properly. I couldn't even unlock my phone when I tried to clean my screen! After unplugging, it behaved again, how very bizarre! So I left the charging until I returned to base, no point doing it before then after all. I had received warning both in the GWR app and on screens at Paddington that South Wales services were being diverted between Swindon and Bristol Parkway, due to flooding. Well, I don't know when that stopped applying as the 800 certainly didn't divert! In truth, it had been one of the reasons to head back to Hereford via Newport, to get some track done on the class that I hadn't done before. In reality though, I was rather enjoying getting back to my side of the UK at a good speed, so it was well worth the extra money!
As the train sped through South Wales, I decided to count up my scores for the trip. I haven't included the stuff in Amsterdam, and as of the time of typing I was on an impressive 25 scores. Once I got my Underground journeys checked, I would have a better knowledge of the final total (all the LU stuff was dud, as it turned out). With a little over 27 minutes in Newport, I had plenty of time to go up to the nearby Tesco Express and get some bread and a couple of other little bits. Back on the station, I tried the relatively new vegan katsu curry slice from Hi Coffee, which was OK but definitely not worth £2.70! With the banana also had, with lunch having now worn itself off, the stomach was satisfied for now.
The final journey of the day fell to the 1855 from Newport, and to Hereford I would take 150236. I had not missed the noisy brakes on these trains, that's for sure, and it felt rather ancient compared to all of the trains, trams, Metro, Underground and so on! However, it was also warm and I got a table seat which was a nice bonus.
So, looking back at the adventure, what were my final thoughts? Well, I have to say that I think I enjoyed this more than the 7 day First Class All Line Rover that I did in the final stages of 2022! Yes, that's right, a week of continuous First Class travel was not as enjoyable as an 8 day trip in multiple countries, two flights and a whole ton of exploring. Don't get me wrong, the All Line Rover had many good bits, but that adventure also ended with a trip from Paddington to Hereford via Newport, and I remember my brain just melting into chaos before leaving London. This time, however, I was not as glad to be getting back to base, I'd had a really good time away overall, and it was a shame it was coming to an end.
Yes there were bits of this adventure that weren't amazing, like the tedious bits of the Eurostar journeys and the poor departures lounge in Amsterdam, as well as the disapproval of the adult activities and drug culture there (it's not everywhere, obviously, but if there's one thing I hate more than anything else, it's cannabis). However, they were more than balanced out by things like the cycling culture in the Netherlands, and my first ever non-UK cycling adventure on that bike from the hotel. Finally ticking off the Eurostar to Amsterdam, even though I was bored of it and the 374s after much of the journey, was good to do. If I did Eurostar to the Netherlands again, I would have to do it in either Standard Premier or even Business. The cycling in the Netherlands showed just how many opportunities there are, but equally that I won't be taking a cycle over there until at least the summer. As I can't do that on Eurostar, as they deem cycles a security risk or something equally weird, that trip will be by ferry from Harwich.
I also had a nicely social day with an excellent friend, and saw some of the most beautiful parts of Scotland with more ideas for exploring in the future. My first flights of 2023, while I'd have loved to done them with a much longer adventure, the short flights were good to help me get into the swing of things with flying again. I absolutely didn't enjoy the pain endured during that cycle ride, but thankfully it got back to normal. The exercise bike, that was a challenge but I know not to try such a big distance on one again unless wearing more suitable gear!
Did I regret not going the more direct way back to Hereford, and in First Class? In a way, yes, but I also enjoyed the speed on the way to Newport. I'd have liked the extra space in First Class, no question of it, but this wasn't too bad. So, was the trip a good one? Absolutely! Would I do it again? Certainly, but with upgrades in places. Money well spent? Oh my yes, it cost me a lot of money and a lot of it is sat on the credit card, but 2023's first adventure was an epic one!
Where to next? Well as discussed earlier in the trip report, New Zealand is a priority for me, as is the Grand Canyon. I also have fitness and health goals to achieve, as well as a desire to move to a nicer place to live, get a new job and learn to drive amongst other things, so how I'm going to do it all I have no idea! What I can promise you all though is that there will be some massive trip reports for the two big trips. Europe is going to have to wait until 2024!
The journey to Hereford eventually finished, it always seems to feel like an eternity at night. Newport to Hereford's only a little under 44.5 miles by rail, but it can feel like double that! 1948 and I was through the barriers, and Strava was on. The weather had got to the skin on my hands and wrists, so the gloves were absolutely out for this walk! Despite having my case with me, and it protesting at the speed of the walk, I was back a little under 15 minutes later. 4.73mph according to Strava for the speed, not bad with a case weighing in around 10.6kg. I doubt very much It Luggage ever tested the wheels as much as I did on this adventure! It's fair to say it got put a lot during the 8 days!
After a mighty good meal of baked beans on bread (I had no patience for toasting bread!) with a decaf and 8 biscuits, I soon had the MacBook out to type up the 2023 moves list. That was followed by looking up my LU moves, no I didn't score anything there. 25 scores on the rails it was then, again not including the GVB stuff in Amsterdam. My good gravy, it occurs to me my sighting scores for 2023 would have gone through the roof if I'd bothered to note them all down!
How did I do on the aviation side of things? Surely I scored both British Airways craft? Well no, as it turned out! G-EUYL was a score, but G-TTNJ was dud. I had to find out where I'd had it, so dug out my flight logs. 11th November 2019, London Heathrow to Frankfurt. Oh yes, more than 3 years ago, as part of the quest to explore Tokyo, way back in the 'before times' also known as the pre-Covid years. In the same notes, I saw it was 3 years ago on this date that I flew from Heathrow to Kraków. Not that many days later, on the way back to Heathrow with G-NEOP (same craft both ways on that Poland trip!) it was my last flight for a long time, not that I was expecting my entire world to change forever!
Enough nostalgia tripping, I also got my sightings processed. To my incredible surprise, I had 20 new sightings! 1 easyJet, 4 Loganair, 1 Aer Lingus and 14 with BA. It is mighty unusual for me to get that many new ticks with that airline, given how many I already have! Not that I was complaining at all, each new tick was very welcome! My book is now 3 years old though, and I've added getting an updated book to the long list of things to do.
So, until the New Zealand trip, take it steady and keep safe!
-----
Argh! Why the random order of photos? By some way, this is not my entire lot of photos from the day, but an insight into it. This concludes the first World Frenzy trip report for 2023, there are more to come soon I hope. There's one more day trip report from January to come, that might get shared at break time tonight. For now, I must hurry up and head to work!
