Made it through our first week but not quite unscathed! I think we will have the good news first Celtic Star is now and the road and had a baptism of fire of Tuesday with a private tour for a very nice group of 30 from Austria, the tour took in our normal Burren Tour but with a twist – I had to take the group down to Killarney, so a really long day and I must admit to being fairly shattered when I pulled into the yard at 11 on Tuesday night, the coach however performed great and I have it with me today, I must say I’am particularly enjoying the good air conditioning, we still have a couple of niggles but I’am steadily working through them and my seat is beginning to feel like home already!
Unfortunately Chris had a minor shunt in Celtic Princess on Tuesday evening which has meant a bit (well, a lot really!) of work for me panel beating and painting, the results probably wont be perfect but major repairs will have to wait for the winter, thankfully Chris is fine – only her pride is a little dented! (It’s her first knock in 11 years so not bad really!) Just to add to the misery Celtic Pride needed a wheel bearing replaced which coupled with the previous hassles of getting the new coach ready has made for a tough week for both us and our long suffering mechanic Tom, at the moment it feels like the only way is up!
Away from vehicle problems we are still beavering away on developing new tours and one thing I’am engaged in at the moment apart from increasing our web presence is to offer a custom tour option for smaller groups on Monday or Wednesday at a great price so, as ever, watch this space!
Not much time for music this week but I have been kept (relatively!) sane by listening to the new Elbow CD and DVD, The Seldom Scene Kid live at Abbey Road with the BBC concert orchestra – highly recommended, the arrangement of the tracks surpasses even the studio album which takes some beating in particular “The Fix” which is a duet with Richard Hawley – I might tell you about him next week!
Monday, May 18, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
Richards Blog 25.04.09 – Another season, hopefully another dollar!
Well today is the day it all starts again! As usual I’am typing this at Caherconnoll on the Cliffs tour and I must admit that much as I try to fight it I do have a feeling of trepidation, we had flying start to our spring tours and business has definitely been up but it has been back to earth with a bump for last 2 weeks as passenger numbers have been very low. We have made a huge investment (for us!) in vehicles over the last couple of years and we are really proud of our fleet but fact is we do need customers to survive! We try to run all of our tours but it is really tough when we make a loss, however as Chris reminded me this morning I do feel a bit this way every year!
On a much more positive note I think our new coach will be making its debut on a private tour on Tuesday and I’am looking forward to that although I cannot say a first trip with a new vehicle is my favourite – it takes a while to get used to heating, air con etc but I’am sure it will be fine, my few trips locally getting it tested etc. have been very pleasant and we are delighted with the way our ‘Celtic Star” (aka Rambo!) has turned out, “he’ really is a handsome devil – much like his regular driver!
Now starts 26 weeks of constant work but I do love the predictability of our jobs particularly if we are lucky enough to get good numbers over the season, we are also working on a couple of projects that will bring us a boost, one being a new offering from Dublin that will include return rail travel, accommodation and a tour for less than the cost of one of our competitors day tours! Also we have commissioned a new website that will be a fun micro site that will link with this site but make our web presence a bit more fun and light hearted as well as revieling even more facts about your favourite tour operator - There is no hiding place it seems!
My music this week is still consisting of a joyous exploration of Elbows’ back catalogue which has led me (some would say inevitably!) to another Manchester band Doves who are currently impressing me with their incredibly diverse sound, too many influences to mention I think! They are possibly not as wordy as Elbow but just as creative and best of all they are from the North!
On a much more positive note I think our new coach will be making its debut on a private tour on Tuesday and I’am looking forward to that although I cannot say a first trip with a new vehicle is my favourite – it takes a while to get used to heating, air con etc but I’am sure it will be fine, my few trips locally getting it tested etc. have been very pleasant and we are delighted with the way our ‘Celtic Star” (aka Rambo!) has turned out, “he’ really is a handsome devil – much like his regular driver!
Now starts 26 weeks of constant work but I do love the predictability of our jobs particularly if we are lucky enough to get good numbers over the season, we are also working on a couple of projects that will bring us a boost, one being a new offering from Dublin that will include return rail travel, accommodation and a tour for less than the cost of one of our competitors day tours! Also we have commissioned a new website that will be a fun micro site that will link with this site but make our web presence a bit more fun and light hearted as well as revieling even more facts about your favourite tour operator - There is no hiding place it seems!
My music this week is still consisting of a joyous exploration of Elbows’ back catalogue which has led me (some would say inevitably!) to another Manchester band Doves who are currently impressing me with their incredibly diverse sound, too many influences to mention I think! They are possibly not as wordy as Elbow but just as creative and best of all they are from the North!
Richards Blog 18.04.09 – Back to normal!
After my deviations over the last few weeks it was firmly back to earth with a bang at 6.50 this morning when the alarm went off to wake us up for what will be an interesting day. There are 2 events that will spoil my well ordered and rehearsed plans for today’s tour.
Firstly we have the Ballyvaughan hill climb motor sport event which will result in closure of part of our route causing me to divert and miss out part of Black Head, I have come up with a plan that will involve a bit of doubling back but will at least mean the group will see Galway Bay so hopefully it will work out.
The other hassle is tonight as there is a big rugby match in Limerick (Munster v Leinster) which kicks of at 7.30 so the traffic will neatly coincide with our return toLimerick and to add to the fun I have people to make the Dublin train – Lanzarote seems a long way back now! When I eventually make it home we have to jump straight into the car and go to pick up the new coach which has been having its air con serviced locally so no early night!
Next week promises to be hectic with tests on buses, meeting and picking up and handing out our new brochures in Limerick and Dublin as well as one of us having a private tour on Friday, so no rest for a while, also of course we will be starting our full programme next weekend so starts 26 weeks of work without a break – good job we enjoy our work, it sounds strange but after all the traveling and being apart in the winter a bit of normality might be no bad thing!
Firstly we have the Ballyvaughan hill climb motor sport event which will result in closure of part of our route causing me to divert and miss out part of Black Head, I have come up with a plan that will involve a bit of doubling back but will at least mean the group will see Galway Bay so hopefully it will work out.
The other hassle is tonight as there is a big rugby match in Limerick (Munster v Leinster) which kicks of at 7.30 so the traffic will neatly coincide with our return toLimerick and to add to the fun I have people to make the Dublin train – Lanzarote seems a long way back now! When I eventually make it home we have to jump straight into the car and go to pick up the new coach which has been having its air con serviced locally so no early night!
Next week promises to be hectic with tests on buses, meeting and picking up and handing out our new brochures in Limerick and Dublin as well as one of us having a private tour on Friday, so no rest for a while, also of course we will be starting our full programme next weekend so starts 26 weeks of work without a break – good job we enjoy our work, it sounds strange but after all the traveling and being apart in the winter a bit of normality might be no bad thing!
Monday, May 4, 2009
Richards Blog 13.04.09 – Station Approach
“I haven't been myself of late
I haven't slept for several days
But coming home I feel like I Designed these buildings I walk by”
Copyright Elbow
Back to my currently favourite band, Elbow this week they seem to have a song that reflects my every mood and no wonder they have such dedicated fans. We are travelling yet again this week and taking a last chance to visit our folks again in Sunderland over in NE England this week. Chris is spending some time looking after her mum leaving me to be looked after by my lovely mother – a real hard job but hey such is life! I’am being fed to excess and generally spoilt – bliss! Chris and me had a great day yesterday and headed out for a long walk round some of my old patch from when I was a kid, I took Chris up to Tunstall Hills which brought back great memories ranging from going up playing to going up rather later with bottles of cider – all good stuff and great memories from a great child hood, as I hope my regular readers realise I love our life in Ireland but there is always something magical about going back to where you grew up. That’s what I think my Guy Garvey is talking about as he returns to Manchester in the above quote, this feeling might be peculiar to us Northerners but I have a feeling it wouldn’t matter where you grew up the feelings remain the same, its just it’s a bit more ‘grim up north!” – only kidding!
I have spent a great day today in Sunderland just aimlessly walking around and taking in the sights and sounds of a city that has changed beyond recognition since my childhood. Sunderland was one of the biggest ship building ports in England as well as a major coal mining town and I always felt it was an amazing place to grow up, I could write a book about sights and sounds but I will just share a couple of vivid memories:
The launch of a ship was always a big event and I well remember seeing one, the ship would tower above the buildings and if you think a ship looks massive in the water it is nothing compared to how it looks on the slipway. There would be the platform at the bow which would contain the inevitable dignitaries like yard directors, ship owners and the chosen one for the naming ceremony! After the long and inevitably boring speeches would come the breaking of the bottle of champagne over the bow! While all this was going on the underside of the ship would be a hive of activity as workers started removing chocks and shoring before the leading ganger would knock out the last chock and several thousands of tons of steel would start gracefully moving towards the river punctuated by chains snapping and clouds of dust. The ship would then float into the river where it would be caught by tugs, turned around and moored before the start of months of fitting and finally sea trials. There are still Sunderland built ships around the world so they certainly built them well!
As well as the ship yards there were dozens of other industries involved in supplies components and equipment so here goes one more, when I was a kid and inevitably being sent to bed early I became aware of a strange but somehow comforting sound that could be heard in the still night air over the town, it was a kind of low drone or rumble which would vary in pitch every few minutes. I never really thought about what this could be until curiosity got the better of me and I found out that the noise was a Doxford engine. Doxfords built some of the finest marine diesel engines in the world and when an engine was completed it was tested and set up on a test bed for several hours right through the night. I never reallt thought about this until recently but I think this might account for the “diesel in my veins” but I do still have a love for the sound of a good internal combustion engine in particular the mechanical symphony offered by a Napier Deltic – all another story!
I hope that you have enjoyed this bit of indulgence, I promise I will be back to business next week!
I haven't slept for several days
But coming home I feel like I Designed these buildings I walk by”
Copyright Elbow
Back to my currently favourite band, Elbow this week they seem to have a song that reflects my every mood and no wonder they have such dedicated fans. We are travelling yet again this week and taking a last chance to visit our folks again in Sunderland over in NE England this week. Chris is spending some time looking after her mum leaving me to be looked after by my lovely mother – a real hard job but hey such is life! I’am being fed to excess and generally spoilt – bliss! Chris and me had a great day yesterday and headed out for a long walk round some of my old patch from when I was a kid, I took Chris up to Tunstall Hills which brought back great memories ranging from going up playing to going up rather later with bottles of cider – all good stuff and great memories from a great child hood, as I hope my regular readers realise I love our life in Ireland but there is always something magical about going back to where you grew up. That’s what I think my Guy Garvey is talking about as he returns to Manchester in the above quote, this feeling might be peculiar to us Northerners but I have a feeling it wouldn’t matter where you grew up the feelings remain the same, its just it’s a bit more ‘grim up north!” – only kidding!
I have spent a great day today in Sunderland just aimlessly walking around and taking in the sights and sounds of a city that has changed beyond recognition since my childhood. Sunderland was one of the biggest ship building ports in England as well as a major coal mining town and I always felt it was an amazing place to grow up, I could write a book about sights and sounds but I will just share a couple of vivid memories:
The launch of a ship was always a big event and I well remember seeing one, the ship would tower above the buildings and if you think a ship looks massive in the water it is nothing compared to how it looks on the slipway. There would be the platform at the bow which would contain the inevitable dignitaries like yard directors, ship owners and the chosen one for the naming ceremony! After the long and inevitably boring speeches would come the breaking of the bottle of champagne over the bow! While all this was going on the underside of the ship would be a hive of activity as workers started removing chocks and shoring before the leading ganger would knock out the last chock and several thousands of tons of steel would start gracefully moving towards the river punctuated by chains snapping and clouds of dust. The ship would then float into the river where it would be caught by tugs, turned around and moored before the start of months of fitting and finally sea trials. There are still Sunderland built ships around the world so they certainly built them well!
As well as the ship yards there were dozens of other industries involved in supplies components and equipment so here goes one more, when I was a kid and inevitably being sent to bed early I became aware of a strange but somehow comforting sound that could be heard in the still night air over the town, it was a kind of low drone or rumble which would vary in pitch every few minutes. I never really thought about what this could be until curiosity got the better of me and I found out that the noise was a Doxford engine. Doxfords built some of the finest marine diesel engines in the world and when an engine was completed it was tested and set up on a test bed for several hours right through the night. I never reallt thought about this until recently but I think this might account for the “diesel in my veins” but I do still have a love for the sound of a good internal combustion engine in particular the mechanical symphony offered by a Napier Deltic – all another story!
I hope that you have enjoyed this bit of indulgence, I promise I will be back to business next week!
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