About Rhodes

After 16 hours of travelling we finally arrived in Rhodes.

In the build up to the 2007 Island Games much of the focus has been on the heat and after stepping onto the plane at Gatwick in the cold and rain. The contrast soon hit home as the hot air rushed over my face after landing on the Greek island.

32 degrees centigrade, and that was at one o'clock in the morning!

Jack Mabire stepping off the plane in Rhodes.

The usual hustle and bustle of getting through customs and the fear of our bags not making the connecting flight at Gatwick was plainly evident. But all was well with team BBC as our equipment for radio, online and television made the trip, some 600 kilos of gear, summing up really how big an operation this is for the Beeb in the Channel Islands.

As the dust settled at baggage claim only two lonely figures were left. Two of Jersey's island games organisers were a bag down. I caught one of their eyes and offered a conciliatory look to convey my sympathy for every travellers worst nightmare.

Later as we were organising the hire cars, he passed by, still minus a bag and told me what was missing. It turns out the piece of luggage was carrying the official Jersey tracksuits for the opening ceremony on Saturday.

I try to keep my sympathetic stare but my mischievous side can't help but thinking about the ceremony and our brothers across the water turning out in various bits of clothing from the lost and found box, the picture in my mind is various forms of Technicolor shell suits so loved by Liverpudlians in the early 1990's.

I really do hope they get the missing suitcase back…. Honestly!