So how many of us are actually going (hopefully)

[Jimbo]

It's very strange that Australia and New Zealand haven't started vaccinating yet. Quarantine and lockdown could go on for years without it.

[Jimbo]

You've probably seen this rough-and-ready video of our summer 2018 trip to Agios Stefanos - but anyway - here it is, featuring:

• Train from Hull to a hot Leeds-Bradford airport
• Tsaros and its lovely views
• Birthday party at Zorbas
• Manthos and Mistral
• Gillie trying not to smile
• Sad homecoming

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uu7_iaQXKbQ&ab_channel=jimhawkins2

[Charlie]

Nice one!

[Karen]

Oh trip down memory lane, Jim..Thank you...

[Rod]

Well done Jimbo.  It got me all nostalgic.   

[Grounded]

Hello Winkie. In 2017 we flew via Hong Kong to Heathrow, about 26 hours. Overnight at Heathrow then BA from Heathrow to Corfu, about 3.5hrs. This year flight choices were somewhat limited and we were due to fly Auckland to Hong Kong to Zurich to Heathrow which was going to be a couple of hours longer. The journey is pretty exhausting, especially at our age.
As to the vaccine, it is a very good question why we have not yet even got supplies in the country. The Government would have it that they have allowed those countries which needed it most to get supplies whilst we benevolently hung back. In my own opinion, they were just too darn slow out of the blocks, as with so many other aspects of the Covid-19 response. Don't buy the press fawning over our Saint Jacinda of the Virus. She talks it up very well, but what saved us was our location and isolation. We may get supplies at the end of March.
Chris

[Jimbo]

That is one hell of a trip! Even in Club I'm sure you'd ending up feeling like a chicken in a factory egg plant!

[Jimbo]

The solution to all these flight problems is, of course, the evergreen Yorkshire Airlines. See what you're missing out on, Grounded:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQcjanPGqAA&ab_channel=wirrallad12

Jet2 is based at Leeds-Bradford. For those who live in benighted regions such as the Antipodes or anywhere in the UK south of Derby - Leeds (where I was born) is in Yorkshire, the greatest and most blessed county of England. Inspired by Yorkshire Airlines, Jet2, however, sensibly changed the livery from blue to a lurid red. This was so that when you chuck up your chicken tikka it blends in better with the décor. They have, however, continued to employ air-crew built like wrestlers, and if you say "Gosh. Jolly good morning" when boarding instead of "Ay oop" you'll never get a drink. And don't order wine whatever you do - the hold is full of Tetley's bitter, and you'd better drink it.

The menu is creative and multi-national. You can get Yorkshire pudding with gravy, Yorkshire pudding with chilli, Yorkshire pudding with limp lettuce. On flights to Greece you can get the delicious gyros special, which is chicken, tsatsika and chips wrapped in Yorkshire pudding.

The world is a big place, but it's not as big as Yorkshire!

[Grounded]

Hi Jimbo. I too am a born and bred Yorkshireman, having been born along 'essle road in 'Ull. You could say i have moved from God's own county to God's own country. I still have mushy peas with my red snapper and chips.
Chris

[Jimbo]

:-) I were on rerred yester..

[Jimbo]

Probably not to everybody's taste, but I wrote this poem a few years ago, when I'd had a stroke and couldn't go to Corfu - and not long afterwards was diagnosed with bowel cancer. But maybe it catches the current mood of hoping, longing, to go, but not sure whether we'll live or die before it happens:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kt38pd8G4w&ab_channel=jimhawkins2

[Karen]

Oh Jim...very poignant...

[Karen]

So today, we are seriously considering changing our holiday again to next year. Who knows what restrictions will still be in place through the next few months. What are others thoughts on this?

[Jimbo]

A huge amount depends on how successfully the South African variant is contained. It's even more dangerous than the Kent version. All the current vaccines are slightly less efficient against it.

However - the less social contact there is, the lower the chance of the virus being able to reproduce. The current lock-down is working well against the Kent mutation, so there are grounds for cautious optimism. But it is far too early to bet on success within at least a year.

[Karen]

Yes, I agree Jim. It's great we are all getting vaccinated and of course, it seems that we can still catch and transmit the virus. It will be months before everyone, who wants it, is vaccinated.