14th March 2025

After its electrics were damaged by a rat, Sue’s Mini was eventually fixed on 24 February; the rat’s damage had cost us £570. There is now a rat bait trap permanently installed inside the garage to prevent this from happening again.

Over the past few weeks, whenever I had the time, I copied the photos from my and Sue’s mobile phones and cameras onto my laptop to create a video of our travels. Sifting through hundreds of shots, separating the good from the rubbish, and arranging them in order quickly lost its appeal and has become a chore. However, I have managed to complete two videos so far: Canaries Cruise & Caribbean Cruise.

During a spell of frosty nights and mild days, I set about preparing the garden for summer. Several flower borders along the side of the house were slabbed over, and the soil dug out was mixed with compost from the allotment, ready to replace the exhausted soil in the greenhouse. Pot plants were then arranged on the new slabs, ensuring we haven’t entirely lost our summer display of blooms (and to keep Sue happy).

On Monday mornings, Sue plays pétanque with her U3A group at Harborough Squash Club. On 3rd March, she attended the opening ceremony of the new pétanque pitch in Welland Park and played afterwards. Over the past couple of months, the council has been constructing this facility for the town, though at times progress was so slow I feared it might never be finished.

It was my birthday on the 4th of March, and unusually, Sue and I were in the UK. The day was lovely and sunny, and after opening my cards and presents, I spent the rest of the day giving the lawns their first cut of the year and digging over one of the vegetable plots. That evening, Sue took me for dinner at the Little Thai restaurant in Harborough. Thai cuisine is my favourite, and the meal was superb.

The following day, I mowed the lawns again on a lower setting, and Charlotte took me to The Yews in Great Glen for lunch, where I chose one of their delicious pies. That afternoon, while Sue was on a U3A ramble and I was in the lounge enjoying music with the warmth of the sun streaming through the sun-lounge windows, I received a bombshell of a phone call.

Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) called to inform me that the company that had organised the package to attend Jamie and Ruth’s wedding in Bali had gone into insolvency. They offered to allow us to take the cruise from Bali to Australia, but as they hadn’t been paid, I would have to pay again. Suspecting a scam, I took a name and telephone number and disconnected, intending to verify what had been said. A search online indicated that the company was still trading, but none of their phone lines were being answered.

On contacting ATOL, they confirmed that their records showed the company was still trading and had not gone into administration. Strongly suspecting a scam, I found the official NCL number, only to discover it was the same as the one supplied by my suspected scammer. When I rang NCL directly, they informed me that Jetline had ceased trading and directed me to a website where I could check for confirmation. They gave me 48 hours to decide whether I wished to go ahead with the cruise. The website, depressingly, confirmed that Jetline HAD applied for bankruptcy.

Next, I rang British Airways to check if our flights were still valid. Though they had our details, it soon became clear that we would not be flying with them. I then contacted HSBC to confirm whether I would be entitled to a refund, as I had paid by credit card. They advised that I would be, but I should first try ATOL and my insurance provider. My insurance company took the details and also advised that ATOL should be my first point of claim.

The insolvency appeared on ATOL’s website on the 6th of March, but with no link to submit a claim. When I telephoned them to point this out, I was told that they were still investigating and that I should wait for the link to appear.

As I was flying to Malta on the 10th for a short break with the guys, it was crucial that Sue and I rebook flights, hotels, and transfers to attend Jamie and Ruth’s wedding. After confirming that we could reclaim our costs from ATOL, insurance, or my bank, we set about rearranging our trip to Bali. Since we had already purchased Indonesian visas and paid their tourist taxes from the 31st of March, we rebooked our seats on the same flights as before. However, although the cruise company had offered to hold our cabin (provided we paid again), we decided against it. This was partly due to the additional cost of booking a flight back from Brisbane and partly because we were already annoyed with them for previously changing our itinerary from Cairns to Brisbane, forcing us to rearrange flights, transfers, and hotels.

On the morning of the 7th, I replaced the soil in the greenhouse with fresh compost and soil, then mowed the lawns on a lower setting. That afternoon, I fired off instructions on WhatsApp to the rest of the party accompanying me to Malta, detailing the itinerary and necessary arrangements. Later, I and some rugby chums watched France beat Ireland in the Garden Room.

On the 9th, I watched England beat Italy in the Six Nations with the same rugby chums in the Garden Room before having a very early night in readiness for a flight to Malta the following morning.