Congratulations and Well done to Phil at The Cruise Village

Phil Nuttall - The Cruise Village I did a bike ride from Manchester Airport to Southampton Port to the UK Cruise convention in aid of a fantastic “Sustainable & Cultural Tourism” charity in Tanzania. I am helping a small village named Buigiri to build 4 apartment style rooms to accommodate western tourists along with the daily fight against Malaria. I am helping to educate the villagers to develop their own tourism infrastructure.

I would like to thank everyone for their words of encouragement along the way and for the generous donations.

You would think that a couple of travel agents would have no trouble finding their way out of Manchester airport at 5.30am on a Friday morning..!!! Not so….we got lost from the Radisson Hotel to T3 and it took us almost 4 miles to get back on track..!! Oh and James fell off his bike…

The first day was Cheshire plains territory and we took advantage of this by clocking up 79 miles (plus 4) which really took its toll. Neither of us are cyclists and there were a few aches and pains that first night. Needless to say each day after that was restricted to 40-50 miles, mainly due to the hills south of Chelmsford and through the Malverns.

The weather was very hot after day one and early starts were needed to avoid the midday early afternoon heat, so it was a case of 25 miles before breakfast or an early lunch.

Don’t expect us to be taking pasta and healthy foods onboard for lunch…we are two Northern boys who took to club sandwiches and fish and chips with a pint of local ale to wash it down, oh and of course the 1pm world cup matches. I was known to take a quick nap after lunch before the afternoon session.

We cycled through some beautiful parts of England and Wiltshire was especially pretty. The cycle from Marlborough (where you will find the most expensive bacon butty in the UK – nothing under £5.50..!!) to Broughton nr Salisbury was stunning – even the walls are thatched!!

Not that my cycling partner was particularly interested – every time I slowed down to take in the scenery, including some amazing fly fishing spots, there was a word in my ear along the lines of “get a move on we haven’t come here to sightsee…”

At the end of every session there was always the welcoming sight of our trust support driver “Ketchup” Tony who by all accounts made a big impression onboard the NCL EPIC and is now a legend in the travel industry.

An absolute legend. Thankfully nobody was sprayed with Ketchup that we are aware of….Thank you Tony from both of us for your support 24hrs a day – especially waiting for us at the top of some massive hills to check we had made it to the top.

Southampton was a welcome sight for us on the Tuesday after a very eventful yet rewarding journey for two fantastic charities. I did go on record as saying I would never do it again, but it appears some people in the industry are already planning next years challenge…let’s wait and see…

Phil Nuttall

Director
The Cruise Village / The Travel Village