Switching Club Tropicana for streaking, surf... and pineapples
Continuing our series featuring the holiday memories of famous people, former Wham! star
ANDREW RIDGELEY, 55, recalls his lifetime of adventures… My first holiday I remember: A two-week family trip to Swanage in Dorset when I was five or six. I built sandcastles on the beach with my brother and the weather was nice. We stayed in a caravan and took a boat trip out to The Needles. My first trip abroad: Was to the Loire Valley, when I was 10. We drove from the UK and stayed on a campsite in a big family tent. My father got lost en route, which was a bit trying for my mum. She dragged my brother, myself and my dad around numerous French chateaux which we weren’t keen on seeing. We were far more interested in playing in the river, even though I had broken my arm just before the holiday.
My first school trip: We went to the Wye Valley between England and Wales when I was at my primary school. There were four of us to a chalet and it was the time when streaking was a new and exciting pursuit, so there was a fair bit of that going on. We locked one of our mates out of the chalet and he was desperately running around the camp trying to get back in before the teachers came to check on whether we had gone to bed. My most adventurous holiday: A few days visiting Nicaragua from Costa Rica in the early 1990s. It wasn’t long after the revolution. There was no food to buy so I ate a lot of pineapples and the inside of my mouth began to peel. I rode in the back of a pick-up truck and got covered in dust. We camped and had to survive on very little. We were also searching for surf and that didn’t go well either. I waited at border control for three hours and had to give them a few dollars to get through.
My best holiday: For my 50th birthday, I took some friends to Selva Val Gardena in Italy’s South Tyrol for a week. I rarely go to the same place twice but I’ve discovered a very nice hotel there and often go back. That week was a corker – the skiing was great and the company was terrific. I have been there in the summer, too, for cycling. The Dolomites are stunning. My worst holiday ever: A 10-day surf trip on a boat out of Malé in The Maldives. I went with a group of friends but there wasn’t any surf. Plus there was no booze on the boat, so I had to eke out my one-litre bottle of whiskey. The carefully measured sundowner was the highlight of our day.
My dream destination: Sardinia for a beach holiday. At home in the UK I’d choose a Cornish beach and sit in the marram grass, having a picnic with a pint of ale. You can’t beat the sound of a lapping sea and the wind in the grass. Kynance Cove beach is one of the most beautiful.
Andrew is taking part in the charity Dallaglio Cycle Slam, a 1,800km ride between Evian, France, and Split in Croatia. To sponsor him, go to uk.virginmoney giving.com/AndrewRidgeley