putting the win in winter: a near-death experience in Brighton

With the tragic news that my housemate Pip is moving back to Perth in February, the only silver lining is the fact that she has a bucket list of 'London things to do before I leave' and that means fun things get organised, like yesterday's day trip to Brighton.

Things that I learnt in Brighton...
1. Brighton has local buses that run on recycled bio-fuel, obtained from locally-sourced used cooking oil. yep. indeed.

2. Sometimes, 4 year olds know best. We strolled down to the Brighton Pier for the promise of icecreams with flakes in them and roller-coasters surrounded by salty air and seagulls. We got that, plus more.
The family in front of us in the line for the big roller-coaster had a scaredy-cat kid who took one look at the track and refused to go any further. Her mother was not pleased and actually said the phrase "I paid £4 for this and you're scared??! that's it. we're going home" woah. I mean, i watch Teen Mom, but even I know that's not really the greatest parenting.
Regardless, with them out of the way, it was our turn! But, after climbing up and twisting around a few times we got stuck. Yep. stuck.
We were on a roller-coaster, strapped in, suspended over the ocean. stuck.
It was cold up there. cold. and scary.
I thought we were going to die. Libby kept our spirits up by discussing our escape route options. Ams was pretty vocal that we should get our money back for our inconvenience. Louise was pretty bummed she hadn't brought her scarf up with her. I tried not to die.
A crowd formed at the base of the ride and people took our photo.
Eventually, a little man climbed up the roller-coaster through the emergency ladders and said hello.
Hello little man climbing up the emergency ladder. Are you going to save us?
The little man got out a dodgy looking pulley devise and attempted to tow us around the corner so we would continue the ride. yes. cause that sounds like a great plan.
Ams suggested many times that perhaps it would be easier if we got out and climbed down the ladder like heros... but the little man was insistent. He towed us around the bend, and we finished the ride.
It was traumatic.
And to make it worse, Pip (who had waited at the bottom) hadn't even noticed we were missing and had just narrowly missed dying on a tragic roller-coasted called the Crazy Mouse. crazy.

Just.

Rewards for being so brave and nearly dying. yep.

3. Vegetarians get my vote. Libby has bizarrely become a vegetarian in 2012. Yep. Crazy Mouse indeed. So, she'd booked us into a fantastic vegetarian restaurant in Brighton called Terre a Terre. It was amazing and restored my faith in leaving meat out of things. I ate:
Crispy potato, onion and garlic rosti topped with griddled tandoori halloumi, channa tamarind dhal, coconut, green chilli and curry leaf chutney, with deep fried chick peas, chilli slivers, dressed with tangy lime and mumbai mix spice dust.
It was the best thing I've eaten in forever.
The restaurant also, fittingly, spawned pretty intense conversation topics about fur vs leather farming, sustainable living and (as always when Pip is around) Shale Gas. Oh Shale Gas, you're such a conundrum.

4. Pip has a gambling problem. There's always one isn't there... Pip was our one. At one point she was 40p up and was pumped. Pretty soon she had lost it all and was back at the Change machine. It was a dark time.

just one more hit. one more.

5. Nothing... absolutely nothing beats a sunset over the ocean. When i moved coasts from Perth to Sydney, it was one of the things i missed most... and realising that I can take a 51minute train from London and have it again... best. xx

A lovely Welsh woman cornered me for 15minutes and told me all about the roosting habits of birds in Wales vs those in England. Those birds were craaaazy. I actually really enjoyed myself. Pip was still at the slots no doubt.