Married by a Maori chief... in his shorts
Continuing our series featuring the holiday memories of famous people, this week actress and writer CAROL DRINKWATER, 70, recalls her lifetime of wonderful adventures…
First holiday I can remember: I was three and my mother took me on the train to Holyhead for the ferry to Dublin. In Dublin, we got on to the bus to Co. Laois to spend the summer with my grandparents. I remember the rocking train and Mummy trying to stop me charging up and down the carriages, unable to contain my excitement, and my grandmother running up the garden path, sweeping me into her arms. Her floral wrap-over frock smelled of potatoes and boiled washing.
First trip abroad: In the small fishing village of Sitges, south of Barcelona. We were served donkey steaks and my father spent the next three days ‘ill’ in a darkened room. I wore my first bikini and was stopped by a police officer who wanted to arrest me. I was 11.
My best trip: On a remote Fijian island. The first day we spotted a school where the children were doing a cyclone drill. The next day the island was evacuated – no one mentioned the foreigners in the villa! We saw out the cyclone alone with no electricity and watched the storm from our bed. Best trip of my life. My wedding and honeymoon: We were married on the island of Aitutaki one of the Cook Islands in the Pacific. We found a Maori chief in his shorts and boots who agreed to marry us. A crazy, joyous weekend.
Dream destination: Some decades ago, I travelled the Amazon on a cargo boat. I was destined for Peru. However, due to a cholera outbreak, I left the boat in Manaus. So I still want to go to Peru and discover more of South America.
Carol’s latest novel, The Lost Girl, is published by Michael Joseph and costs €18.19.