Apart from the football, I had a great time.
I was in South Africa as long as the English team was. South Africa is a country of great contrasts. Each day was like a different holiday.
As well as the football, I went by cable car to the top of Table Mountain, played football in a township, night clubbed in Cape Town, wine tasted in the Cape Winelands, I went on safari, visited Robben Island and generally played the tourist.
I met lots of great people and made loads of new friends.
bafana bafana
I’ve uploaded some of my photos from South Africa. They capture the many different aspects of this trip.
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Posted in: Soap Box, The Beautiful Game
May 7, 2010 UK General Election 2010
general election 2010
11:00 I’m awake again. I can’t sleep much. I turn on the TV to catch up on the election results. What is going? What will the politicians do next?. I hope they’ve had more sleep than me.
I eat breakfast and read The Guardian online message boards. Time flies when I do this. A couple of hours later I eat dinner. I’ve not slept properly in 36 hours and everything is fuzzy.
14:30 I arrive back at Stevenage Leisure Centre. The local count’s in progress. This time I wander around. It’s a similar set up as yesterday but with each ward having a separate couple of tables.
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Posted in: Soap Box
May 7, 2010 UK General Election 2010
00:30 I leave the Red Lion and head for the count at Stevenage Leisure Centre. I am an ‘Official Counting Agent’ tonight. I’ve been advised to get there sometime after midnight, “Not much happens before then.”
As I walk from the Old Town I fall in with four guys. Three of them are Labour and one Conservative. In Stevenage You can’t tell who’ll be voting for whom from appearances. We’re definitely post-tribal.
One asks who I voted for today. I decline to say. He apologises for asking. Everyone takes the secret part of voting very seriously. They turn for the leisure park to go clubbing. I carry on to the Leisure Centre for the count. I feel very grown up and sensible.
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May 6, 2010 UK General Election 2010
general election 2010
05:30 My alarm goes off. The big day has arrived. Today in Stevenage we will be voting for a member of parliament and local councillors. I stumble around my flat, half asleep, hoping I will wake up soon.
I’m starting the day ‘telling’ at Fry Road. I need to be there for opening at 7:00. Telling involves sitting outside of a polling station asking for voters’ polling card number.
06:30 I leave home. It’s bright and crisp and way too early. I walk to the polling station, there are no other tellers around when I arrive. The Labour teller turns up. We shake hands and introduce ourselves. Howard is a Labour councillor for the ward although not running this year.
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Posted in: Soap Box
