This page details a few things about the places I've lived for a while. It covers London a.k.a. the City a.k.a. The Smoke, Iona a.k.a. Isle of St Columba, Lochmaddy a.k.a. Oevis a-Hoea, Edinburgh a.k.a Auld Reekie, and Pitlochry a.k.a. third place winner for most antipodians per square meter outside of London.
London
End of March 1996 till end of April 1996.
Londen is die hoofstad van die Verenigde Koningkryk. Net soos Kopenhagen is Londen eintlik nie deel van Engeland nie (wel, so-te-sê nie). Pryse daar is gemiddeld een derde tot twee derdes hoër as buite Londen, en die social welfare assistance reflekteer dit. London is about the size of Cape Town areawise, and had (when I was there) about 10 million inhabitants. Rumour had it that in my day there were 100 000 South Africans in London. This meant 1%. It also meant statistically that if you're on a tube with more than 100 ppl on it changes are good that a shout of "Wie praat Afrikaans hierso?" will be answered with an affirmative.
My best experience or happiest memory of London was right at the beginning when I had coffee with a group of unknown South Africans who were late for church and instead invited a bunch of us to coffee at some place. I really liked these people but for the life of me I wasn't even able to remember their names the next day, nor did I see them at the hostel during the following week. Other happy experiences usually include having coffee with someone friendly, such as Amna, Melissa Venter (whose wedding I attended in South Africa), a bunch of South Africans and other friendly folk in the basement of one of the churches near the South African embassy, and meeting up with Danie Kotze from school and two other guys from school and from college. London sure makes the world seem a small place.
My worst experience was a bout of depression that hit and I had no one to talk to and no one to hear me. I was also unable to find an open church to go sit in, and I wandered the streets endlessly for half a day.
The most expensive lesson learnt in London was that you must get out of London as soon as you can until you've build up (a) some cash reserves and (b) a stock of Britain savvyness. I've also learnt that if you can prebook in advance a week at your agency's hostel of choice in South Africa, do it, pay in Rands, and use that week to explore London on a budget. O, and another expensive lesson was that if you can find cheap digs, don't trek op jou neus daarvoor and say "I'll call you if I'm interested" because then you'll lose the opportunity. I had two such misses because I waited for something better to come along, which didn't.
Top tips I'd give people that I learnt in London: Get a London A-Z streetmap, and get to know the tubes. To combat depression, use the bus instead of the tube... it doesn't take that much longer. Buy a weekly ticket. If on a budget, go live in Earl's Court or some other place where you are in Zone 1 and 2 at the same time. Shop at Safeway... they're the cheapest. Use Arial washing powder... it's safe for cold washes on most fibres. The Rennies foreign exchange at Knightsbridge tube will exchange your Thomas Cook travel cheques for no commission. Buy a diary and go write in it in the library. Don't try to make English friends... they're aloof and they won't regard you as an equal unless you stay for years and years; rather, mix with the other antipodians. Get all the free papers you can find. Some telephone vendors give huge discounts on telephone rates. In my day there was a company named "Swiftcall" with excellent rates from any phone or tiekieboks.
Isle of Iona
30 April 1996 till 1 July 1996
The Isle of Iona is three miles across and five miles long. The highest point is Dun I (say "dunn-eeh") which is 100 m tall and can be climbed in 5 minutes if you take a direct straight line approach from the road. Dun I is also the perfect spot for a cheese and wine (no, actually, hot chocolate and biscuits (and wine)) with friends at sunset. To get to Iona you need to travel to Oban on the Scottish west coast, take the ferry across the water to the Isle of Mull, and then take the bus to the little town of Fionnphort. If you take the wrong bus you end up in Salem and Tobermory, which is also beautiful and very charming, but not quite where you wanted to be.
My best experience or happiest experience in Iona was making friends with a Kiwi named Daphne and having wine and biscuits with her and some other ppl on the top of Dun I. I also enjoyed playing the part of the ship captain in The Tempest, a play which was performed at mid-summers night in the open air. I bought a map of Iona and explored many places (so much so that I could name several geographical spots in both English and Gaelic like you would remember the street names of your own neighbourhood.
My worst experience was probably the rejection I had to face owing to cultural differences between me and the locals and other non-antipodian travellers. I kept using the wrong words, my pub-manners were appalling and I struggled to make conversation.
The most expensive lesson I learnt on Iona... hmm, let me think. This is difficult, because I arrived in Iona with practically nothing, and I didn't really spend a lot of money either. I guess the only thing I learnt the hard way was that you should try to stay three months instead of two, because two months is just just not enough to bond with the place *and* leave it satisfiedly. I mean, two months is long enough to bond with the place but when you leave, you feel uprooted instead of blessed.
In Iona I learnt (to quote Cath, my fellow KP), "you must take pride in your work". This is possibly the best piece of advice and/or wisdom I can pass on to anyone. If you take pride in your work, you'll enjoy it more, and you'll do it better to boot. Tips? Open a bank account when you can (I opened a post office account, but I would've been able to join Clydesdale bank whose little mobile bank came to the island once a week). If you can join a bank and get a bank account, you have a foot in the door. Your employer will help you get an account. Plattelandse banke is meer geneig om jou te hulpe te wees. Tis good to have an international drivers licence, too. Get to know the area well, and try to get involved with local happenings (as I did when I played a part in the play). Visit all the small places and get to know ppl from the start. I arrived on Iona at the same time as Daphne did, but despite the fact that the total night time population of Iona is less than 200 ppl, I only met her towards the end of my stay. This is really, really sad. O, one nice thing about working in a hotel in a small place is that you don't spend your money... you save more easily.
Lochmaddy, North Uist
approx 10 July 1996 till mid September 1996
As 'n mens na 'n foto van Lochmaddy en die Uists uit die lug kyk, dan sien 'n mens hoeveel land en hoeveel water daar is. Dis 'n bog. Dis 'n meerlandskap met stukkies land tussenin, nee, dis 'n landseeskap met stukkies see tussenin. Dis 'n swart landskap met gras en klip en 'n eeue-oue siel wat jy kan aanvoel as jy op die veen stap. As ek ooit in Skotland vestig, sou dit graag in die Wes-eilande wil wees (as ek werk sal kry...). Die kaal landskap roer jou soos geen van die ander asemrowende Skotse graslande, gebergtes en ooptes kan nie. Lochmaddy is die hoof-"stad" van North Uist, en is die aandoenplek van die voorraad-ferries van die hoofland of van Skye af. Daar is enkele ander dorpies met so drie of vier huise elk. Lochmaddy het 'n bank, 'n poskantoor en 'n petrolstasie. Wow, dis 'n massiewe plek :-).
Die lekkerste experience in Lochmaddy was toe ek 'n naweek weggegaan het na die eiland Berneray en op inskrywings in die gasteboek afgekom het wat deur Suid-Afrikaners geskryf het voor die nuwe bedeling. Hul inskrywings het my laat dink aan eensame reisigers van 'n verworpe land wat hier op die klein Skotse eilandjie kom sit en terugdink aan hul vaderland en die mooi en die seer en die hoop op papier uitspreek dat die nuwe era sou aanbreek. Other nice happenings were the church attending with Mary and her family. Mary was a receptionist at the hotel where I worked. I also learnt to speak English with a real nice accent over there (so much so that when I returned to England I was teased for it).
The worst experience was probably the domestic violence that ocurred in the staff cottage. By and by my stay at Lochmaddy was a happy one, but I left after a while because of little things which bothered me, such as smoking in the kitchen, etc.
Hmmm, the most expensive lesson learnt in Lochmaddy was that, in retrospect, I should have spent more time with Mary, I should have tried harder to get Victoria to sleep with me (just kidding, Victoria), and I should have returned to the Uists as soon as I was able... I really miss that place. O, yes, and I forgot to contact the Mensan up in Lewis so I was unable to spend the night at Calanish, which would have been great.
In Lochmaddy I finally got a bank account. If you're on a small island, you should hitch hike more. I missed a library on Iona, and on South Uist I found a large library and media centre. Joining a local church is a nice way to make friends with locals and to build up contacts for further travels, especially if the denomination is small. I also discovered, afterwards, just how useless my Go-25 youth card was when I tried to use it to book cheap accommodation in Edinburgh.
Edinburgh, Auld Reekie
mid September 1996 till end November 1996
The place is called Auld Reekie because a couple of decades ago it was really reeking with smoke. I've seen pictures taken from one of the hills and you can see perhaps 500 meters far. Today you can see 5 kilometers or more, depending how high you stand. An aggressive programme to remove cars from the city centre and to encourage people to use bus transport gave Edinburgh one of the bests public bus systems I've seen. All hours, sometimes more than one bus per minute during peak hour traffic, etc. Edinburgh is colourful and it's a nice place for tourists. They say Glasgow is grey and friendly, while Edinburgh is colourful and aloof. I don't know if this is true.
My best experiences in Edinburgh during my first stay certainly was being able to visit real people as if they were real friends, even though they were locals and I was a foreigner. It really made my day(s). I also enjoyed being able to ride the buses, visit other South Africans (I made friends with one guy in particular), and to belong. Belonging is nice. I also enjoyed enrolling at the Edinburgh University for some courses (which I didn't finish). I can't believe I stayed only two months in Edinburgh on this leg... it seems like a year or more if I think about all the things I was able to accomplish.
One of the bad experiences in Edinburgh was being unable to connect and make good friends with my host where I crashed for 6 weeks before moving into a room in a flat. And moving into the room was also kinda a let-down because I had some expectations which were not met.
The worst mistake I made in Edinburgh was to think I could find a room in a house to rent and live with the inmates as fellows. I should have stayed in the youth hostel like I did the second time. You have more freedom that way. You can also up and leave any time you want. The downside to staying in a hostel is that you have no place to receive friends... but as it turned out, the best place to receive friends anyway is the Elephant House just off the Royal Mile. Another mistake, in retrospect, was no sticking to a single congregation but rather shopping around to the more "liberal", "studenty" one en dus nie jou wortels op enige plek te skiet nie.
Okay, when in Edinburgh, buy a map that shows the bus routes as well. Learn to phone ahead and find out which buses are good, and learn to use the bus system. Buy a weekly card or a monthly card for the buses. I used the maroon buses. Also, go for walks and hikes up Arthur's Seat or other such hills. Don't be afraid to try out the hostels. Agency work is not as hot as in London, but you can get by. Buy a coach youth card if you're young, it'll take about half off the ticket to Glasgow or other nice places. In Edinburgh I joined an internet cafe and go mail from a lot of family and such. I was able to do a lot more, that way. Another tip... tell your folks where you stay as soon as you can.
My grandfather died while I was in Edinburgh. At the time my parents did not know where or how to find me. They only knew that I lived possibly in Edinburgh and that I was an attendant at some church. Amazingly they were able to contact me in less than 24 hours, using various contacts of theirs, but it could well have been entirely different and the news could have reached me months later only. I sent a fax to my grandmother, but I decided not to go home for the funeral, which was a wise move.
Edinburgh II, second leg
mid February 1997 till approx mid April 1997
The Edinburgh I returned to for my second lap was pretty much the same as the first one, except that some people were happy to see me and some others were kind yet aloof, as if I lost the novelty value I once had.
The happiest experience of moments on the second lap was happy returns and being recognised and being welcomed back. That was nice. The hitchhiking tour a friend and I did to Skye and Inverness for 7 days was nice also.
The worst was that I was unable to reconnect some of the contacts or friends that I made earlier. Dit was 'n gemis gewees, daai.
My advice, gleaned from the second lap in Edinburgh, is that if you are not breaking even in the city, get out. Get out and go for two or three months to a country hotel and then return to try again. Sometimes the job market is lull and there is nothing you can do about it. You just end up losing money and losing hope. That's what I should have done when I didn't make money during my first four weeks in Edinburgh. Second, don't trust people in the youth hostels with precious things such a money. Quite a few people were ripped off by a scan while I was there and lost thousands of money because of trust in strangers. In a youth hostel you quickly feel like you know people and you trust them, but this is false. Keep vigilant.
Pitlochry, Perthshire
late April 1997 till approx end October 1997
Pitlochry is about one third of the way from Edinburgh to Inverness. Going north to Inverness you can either go via Fort William and Drumnadrochit on the west side of Loch Ness, or you can go via the road that passes Pitlochry and runs on the east side of Loch Ness (although I think the road does not actually pass within sight of the loch itself). You can say good things about Pitlochry and you can say bad things. The good thing is that it is high enough into the Highlands to be touristy and low down enough to be accessible from Edinburgh or Glasgow. The bad thing is that hotels outnumber houses by at least two to one. It's a sizable town, make no mistake. But you don't want to spend more than two months there.
My best experience in Pitlochry was meeting Genevieve. She was a delight and we became friends as soon as I was able to arrange it. I'm quite a loner, actually, and I had a lucky break with her, I guess. We went walking together on many occasions and I remember the meeting in the Moulin pub quite well.
At Pitlochry I couldn't get along with the other staff members. Daar was twee Ozzies en hulle het my mal gemaak. Hulle het 'n heel anderster dinkwyse en dis moeilik om enige sinvolle gesprek met hulle te voer. Hulle laat my dink aan die stereotipe van smalltown meisies wat op 'n woestyndorpie grootgeword het en hul eie eiesinnige idees het wat nie versoenbaar is met enige soort konversasie nie. Maar dalk juts en hulle te hars. Die hoteleienaars het gemeen dis omdat ek eensaam was en omdat dit 'n spul meisies was wat met 'n man/seun nie lekker oor die weg kom nie.
Die duurste les wat ek geleer het, is dat as dit blyk dat jou hotelbaas vir jou anderster betaal as wat julle ooreengekom het, beëindig die kontrak. Moenie in sinnelose diskussies betrokke raak nie. The agreed wage was £120 per week, but the hotel owner deducted tax in a different way from the way any other hotel did it before. I used to get at least £105 from a £120 gross, but at Pitlochry I got £80. Which was not good. Die hele rede vir werk in die platteland is om baie geld te maak. But I told the owner I'd work for a few months and I thought the tax thing would sort itself out. It didn't.
My tips for you, well, where to start? The same as in Iona, try to find out if there are other working holiday makers working in the area and make an active attempt at befriending them. I missed two South Africans in Pitlochry until right at the end. Feel free to walk away from a job. If the job aint right, walk. Even if you told them you'd stay for X number of months. Even if you have to up and leave, and lose a week's wage... if it's not worth it, don't stick around hoping that it will get better. If you can't get along with other staff and all attempts fail, don't sit around getting depressed about it. Walk away.
Other spots
Hurstburne Tarrant is a little town in Hants, where I stayed with Corinne. The area is rather developed compared with parts of Scotland, but you still feel like you live in the platteland. My best memory of the place was after one month in London I was surprised to hear the sheep opposite the house in a field bleating away.
Berlin, the capital of the unified Germany, is quite different from Britain. In the UK you can walk anywhere without fear of stepping into doggy poo, but in Germany you have to watch your step. Berlin, on the other hand, is highly efficiently organised and civil, compared to the rampant barbarism of London (no offence, Londonites). The Berlin tube system is okay, and their bus system is also not to shabby. I used both.
Neunstein and Öhringen are both in Swaapland waar die swape vandaan kom. Die Duitsers vier op hul eie manier fees en dis eintlik baie gesellig sonder dat jy vriende hoef te wees. Die landskap is baie mooi, baie goties en baie middeleeus.
My memory of Amsterdam is that this was the first spot where I've ever seen those tube packets for sugar instead of the traditional square or rectangular ones.
