24th Oct London
Went out sightseeing. Back at the accommodation I realise my wallet is missing. Cancel all cards via calls to NZ. Make calls to Police and Tube station.
25th Oct Bristol
Discover passport is also missing. Drive to Police station where I’m told I can’t be helped as Sargent is understaffed. The staff assure me I can report lost items at any police station in the country so decide to do this in Bristol to save time.
We drive to Bristol, getting lost on the way (thanks GPS!).
26th Oct Brighton
Next morning I go to the Police station where I’m told I can’t report lost or stolen items in Bristol, I should have done this in London. We find a loophole that involves some white lies.
I search for a photo shop for passport photos to go in to my emergency passport, which I have to have delivered to the NZ embassy in London 9am Sunday morning.
We hit the road but after an hour driving the car starts beeping and flashing warning signs. We brush it off. We arrive in stormy Brighton and check in to our rooms, quick bite to eat; then before you know it its soundcheck time. We’re late. We load up the car and head to the venue. The rain is torrential by this stage. The car keeps beeping and flashing. Then the wipers stop. The windows don’t work, the steering starts to malfunction and eventually the car dies.
We take a cab to the venue while Cherie waits with the car. When we hit the stage there are no monitors, cables, tables for our equipment, all things that were booked well in advance. Our fantastic sound op then went from bar to bar along the waterfront to find the bits and pieces we need. Cherie turns up and we got on to soundcheck, approx. 2 hours late. Then it was straight in to the gig. Crowd were awesome, which helped relieve some stress.
Head back around 1.30am and arrange for a tow truck for us and the vehicle to get to Heathrow. Pick up time is estimated between 5-7am. Around 6.30am I call the AA to find out what’s happening, I’m told they can’t pick us up til 8am at least. That won’t work as I have a 9am appointment at the embassy prior to a flight to Cork. The only option is a cab ride from Brighton to London, estimate £140.
So we take the cab and make it to the NZ embassy just in time. I pay my £400 for an emergency passport and we head to the airport to catch our flight to Cork, Ireland.
A few hours later we arrive in Cork where upon arrival I kiss the tarmac and we go to grab our luggage. On route I bump in to Alice Russel, we chat and grab a quick picture then it’s off to our next show.
