Wilson relates his adventures.

Wilson is gradually getting used to being home again. He told me this morning that he can't sleep if his bed's not rocking as it did on the ship, so he's planning to invent and build a bed-rocking machine. 

He assembled the sTone Brothers and Diesel the Goldfish in the living room so he could tell them all about his holiday. He related quite a few adventures that I can't recall…  such as the time Captain Sørensen summoned him to the Bridge and begged him to take over the driving for a little while so he could have a break. Or when the Mayor of  Lisbon asked him to take their bi-plane up for a test flight. 

His audience was entranced by these tales which, I admit, are based on reality, but clearly a different reality to the one I remember…

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CHECK THIS OUT! 

What with his World Tour, January has been a very busy month for Wilson Vermilingua OBE!

I've just uploaded the latest monthly volume of Ant Wars II: January 2013 so you can catch up on anything you've missed.

Please tell all your friends, as it is Wilson's stated ambition for his life story to be, as he puts it, "As Popular as a cruise to the Canary Islands. Even though I didn't see any canaries."

You can download them or read them online at:

http://issuu.com/friendlydragon/docs/journal_jan_14    

http://issuu.com/friendlydragon

Original photographs of the lovely WILSON are by Tamanduagirl at 

http://www.livingwithanteaters.com/ and are used by kind permission.

We head for home...

We have come face-to-face with the reality of living in England in February: it is cold, it is wet and it is very windy. 

Considering how upset he was, Wilson ate a shockingly hearty breakfast. I've never known anyone who can down so many double espressos at a sitting!  

Following breakfast we had a very brief look round Southampton before setting off for home.

Throughout the journey I had to keep heating very high as W was constantly complaining about cold. 

We leave the ship for the last time...

We disembarked the ship without incident. As long as you don't count Wilson breaking down in tears and hanging on to the the deck rail, refusing to leave until security, and then Captain Sørensen himself, arrived to talk him onto the gangplank. 

Once we were safely back on dry land in Southampton we checked in at the Holiday Inn for one more night.

I was very tired and had hoped to settle down early, but instead Wilson sat up late telling Polly-B, Antony and Tiny Toy of all our adventures at sea. 

They sat spellbound, fascinated to hear about them, as they hadn't set foot outside the cabin; W had been afraid they would wander away and get lost. Or be toy-napped and held to ransom by foreign gangs of toy-thieves. 

Poor little Antony actually thought the holiday was just beginning, not realising that it was in fact ending. 

Tomorrow we'll have a quick look round Southampton, then drive home.

Wilson sheds a tear...

This evening we sat down to our final silver service dinner or, as Wilson mournfully called it, our Last Supper. I think I saw a tear drip into his soup, but overall he was very brave about it, hugging and thanking all our regular waiters warmly. 

Later he knotted his bow tie to have his photograph taken with Captain Sørensen, who remembered W from the 'Navigation' talk. W thanked him for getting us all home without crashing the ship or sinking it. 

Finally he went and stood on the deck, gazing at the distant, darkening horizon. He stayed there for about half an hour before it got too cold for him, and he returned to our cabin to finish his packing. 

Neither of us is looking forward to tomorrow — we just don't want this holiday to end…