Omicron is getting to be a Bigger Thing by the day... Jeez... When we were planning this trip to the UK, in the thick of Kuching's Delta wave, we speculated about how ironic it would be if the UK headed downhill again while Sarawak improved... Well, that's exactly what's happened. I don't know why we're not surfers. We're certainly adept at catching the waves...

We've been alert to the need to to get signed up for booster shots since we arrived, and as the recommended post-2nd-dose interval became shorter and shorter, so the mission grew more urgent. As we were missing the vital code that would allow us to access the book-online system (long, tedious story), we decided last week that we would today head for Derby (about an hour's drive from Newark), where there is a walk-in clinic with extensive opening hours and boosters in stock.

Then, yesterday, the prime minister appeared on TV urging the public to get themselves boosted asap. So today the health service headed into crisis mode. Mr Johnson is renowned for procrastinating, so the degree of urgency he's displaying at the moment is certainly galvanizing (not to say worrying)...



I have nothing to compare the Derby walk-in experience to, but the volunteer staff were friendly, and the facility was well-organized and efficient, though clearly busy. We arrived in the (free) car park at 10 am, inhaled a quick sandwich from our lunch supply (if there's one thing worse than queueing for an unspecified period of time, it's queueing hungry), and set off for the entrance. The whole waiting/jabbing/resting experience took us 1.5 hours, but by the time we emerged, the lines were much, much longer, and TV reports that evening said that people at certain sites had waited up to five hours for walk-in vaccinations. Meanwhile, the booking system had crashed...

So we're boosted, which I'm very grateful for. But I think an even larger dose of caution than usual will be needed in the coming weeks, as people are talking about a vaccine protection rate of only about 70% (quite a bit lower than the cover offered by the original vaccines against the earlier variants). Still, 70% is much better than nothing. And it's not as though we're being bold and adventurous anyway.

Having crossed this job off our list, we were free to enjoy a taste of Derby.

First stop, Alvaston Park, where we put paid to the rest of the picnic lunch, and walked down to the waterbird-encrusted lake.


From there you can walk back into town along the banks of the River Derwent (in fact, it looks as though you can walk miles along this waterway, so we're looking forward to returning sometime, and going a bit further).

Derby played its part in the beginnings of the industrial revolution (John and Thomas Lombe's Silk Mill, constructed in 1721, had a scale, output, and labour-force size that were unprecedented in their day). The city subsequently became home to the Midland Railway, one of Britain's major railway companies.






Derby has a varied history:




And who'd have thought it:


Prince Charles Edward Stuart, as he's more correctly styled, was forced to withdraw from Derby on 6 December, 1745, a mere two days after taking the town: "The prince had reached Derby after successfully taking Carlisle and had been anticipating French and Spanish forces to invade England in support of his cause. When this support failed to materialise and fears of an attack from a large government force grew, the prince was advised to leave Derby and return north to Scotland. The reports of government forces had been false but Bonnie Prince Charlie continued north, allowing the government forces time to mass and plan a march on Scotland, with the two forces meeting at the Battle of Culloden on 16 April 1746."



To round off, once back at Alvaston Park, you can grab a latte from the council-run kiosk, and watch the birds some more:


Looking forward to a vaccination-free return visit.