Norq From Ork

So it seems I’ve reached that stage in life where your secrets are perfectly safe with me simply because I will forget whatever you told me within seconds of you saying it.  Based on my packing to come away this weekend you would think that anyway.

I’ll start at the beginning.  Every year a group of us leave the mainland of Orkney and come to another island called Hoy for the weekend.  It’s a great weekend where we all come and relax for a couple of days and generally eat our body weight in homebakes.  The idea of getting a boat to another destination gives you a distinct holiday feel even though many people commute daily to or from the mainland.  Hoy is only 30 minutes on a boat, if that, so it’s no different from a drive or train ride to work for many people except you’re crossing water.  Despite 8 years here this is still such a novelty to me having always lived hours away from the sea.

Anyway back to the packing.  I was due to catch the boat after work so threw some stuff in a case for Orkney Beef to take across with the car earlier on in the day.  I don’t need much for a couple of days away but I need more than I ended up with when we arrived.

Often times when it comes to packing and organising for a holiday I find myself not only getting everything washed and ready for myself but also for everybody else.  So over 20 years of organising everyone to come away means I’m well practised.  I usually pride myself in being super organised with packing and generally taking too much stuff rather than not enough.  However, pride comes before a fall….

I arrived in Hoy after work on Friday and Orkney Beef met me at the boat and took me up to the place we were staying. I’ve no idea what planet I was on when I packed or what I was thinking but  I opened my case to find no shower gel (forgotten to pack it.) No toothbrush and toothpaste (even though I distinctly remember cleaning my teeth in the morning and putting it in the plastic toothbrush travel thingy all ready),  no hair brush (no idea where the one I always carry is but nope not there) no long sleeved top which goes underneath the floaty sleeveless top which I always wear together (despite picking it at some point but obviously not putting it into the case I discovered) This is to name but a few.

I ended up showering with Orkney Beef’s Lynx and smelling like a boy and buying a toothbrush, hair brush, other essentials from the local shop (isles shops are a treasure trove of goodies, better than mainland shops by a mile!) Thankfully I can mmanageon my few meagre things packed because I go home tomorrow but I’m not sure I’ve learned a lesson because I’ll have forgotten by next time.

Sorry, what was I talking about?