Where is the Wind Blowing Today?

Elephants and More!

2010-07-04T21:42:00.000+10:00

Stayed Nothando Hostel in Plattenberg Bay (120pp pn)

A great night sleep and we were up early enjoying our fresh passion fruit that we’d bought on muesli and yoghurt! Looking around this old plantation is quite beautiful, they have really brought it to life with lush plants and layout. After returning the dishes and checking out we hit the road, with great excitement to the Addo Elephant Park! We’d been warned not to take citrus into the park because the elephants used to be addicted to it and it can cause problems…. Knowing this we packed it separately so we could leave it at the gate and what do we do at the gate, forget totally in our excitement, lucky for us the lady saw it and called us back!!!

We headed through the gates, and the second one, the lovely man at the gate told us that elephants had been sighted around the watering hole, so we decided to head there first! It’s a massive park by the look of the map, which is good, considering not so long ago the government hired a guy to shoot all the elephants and they were down to about 16 before it was stopped and the park was set up and now there are about 450 elephants wondering around this park, as well as other animals as well! The parks clearly thought this through and have given us a great map as well as a checklist of animals we might possibly see! Brilliant!

On the road, our eyes scan from left to right, ready to spot that elusive animal, whatever it may be! I think the first spot is one of the man types of deer, with its massive spiraling horns, they are quite majestic! They appear quite commonly throughout the day but are always a great site as they shyly move in and out of the bush.

Next to see and also commonly spotted through out the day is the Poombas of the Disney African World – the warthog! The first ones we spotted were UGLY!!! Seriously! Later in the day we saw some really cute ones with little baby ones, so we decided it must be the males that are the really ugly ones!!!

Driving on, I saw in the bush what I thought to be an animal, but we decided it was a rock only much to our disappointment! Driving on forwards towards it only to discover it was an ELEPHANT!!!! And then to our delight and mass excitement there is a whole herd of them!!! Babies and all!!! It has to be said that the baby elephants are gorgeous! They are so little yet so big at the same time compared to other young things! Its funny to see them drinking milk from their mothers, as their little trunk is raised up and head back as it suckles the teat! Very Cute!

We sat there for quite sometime, spellbound as were the other cars, watching the babies, young teenagers, mums and dads eat and play around, watching their trunks wobble to and fro, how they smelt with them and picked things to eat, a trunk it would seem is very versatile! There were probably around 40-50 in this group scattered around us, some no more then a metre away from us – lucky we got rid of the oranges!

We headed on for there was more to see and not a great amount of time, as we weaved around all the paths, we saw the following, deer’s, ostrich, various birds, jackals, zebras, turtles, and more! We didn’t end up leaving till about 4pm and could have stayed longer if it weren’t for the road calling us! What an exciting place to visit though, to be so close to a basically wild elephant herd – amazing!!

On the road we set forth for Plattenberg, the start of the garden route! We made a quick stop on the way at this chasm in the rock, a massive collision of the rocks it would seem, one of natures curious ways and very beautiful. We drove on, with a stunning sunset performing before our eyes!

We went out for dinner at a Mozambique restaurant where I had the most delicious steak with spicy piri piri sauce! Man they cooked it well! What a great day, the adventures don’t stop in South Africa!

Leaving the beaches behind for now...

2010-07-03T21:40:00.001+10:00

Stayed Homestead B&B, Addo (175pp pn)

We got up and had breakfast at the hostel, which we found out looks over a lush and tropical 2^nd beach, a very beautiful view and a surprise for how close we were to the actual beach – which by the way had cows walking on it! Random!

We headed to the beach to have a look, very white/gold sand and gorgeous blues and turquoise waters, too cold to swim at the moment and god knows what is in the water to kill you but a very beautiful beach. We headed on to 3^rd beach which apparently you have to pay for, so it must be the nicer of the beaches as they seem to have this game coined where you have to pay to get into the nicer places! We explained that we were only going for a quick look, and were going to just turn back as we weren’t really staying long enough to warrant paying to get in there, but the guy said to go on through. So we went down the rocky path, and passed an office which I think we should probably have stopped at as there was a man standing there looking official but we continued on regardless. Upon parking the car and wandering down to the beach you could see why they were making people pay, it really is a stunning beach and deserted, you could come and just spend the day chilling or walking around the area.

Heading back out quickly as promised, the guy asked us if we had been caught and if we had to pay, he seemed impressed that we hadn’t and we were thinking why did you send us down!! Too funny! As we drove down the road, we saw little Vevet Monkeys on side of the road, very cute little monkeys!

We decided as we weren’t going to get a chance to go hiking to drive up to airstrip as it was said to have amazing views, so we headed that way, we picked up one of the guys from the hostel who’d offered his services as a guide but we’d decided against it and dropped him off in town, but he gave us directions to the airstrip which was really helpful. We headed up the mountainside till we reached the airstrip and parked off to the side. Funniest thing is on this supposed unused airstrip there is a heard of cattle wandering around!

We walked around to see what we could see and decided that there would be a better view up the other end, as this was mainly looking off into the mountains which was lovely but we knew we should be able to see the sea, so we headed back around the airstrip only to look up to see a plane circling low looking to land! Jen and I looked at each other in mild horror as we thought and had read that it was a deserted airstrip! Then we were thinking of the car and where we had parked it! We jogged up the path, but by this stage the plane was circling again, but was coming into land, which was funny to see it going around the cows, luckily the strip is quite wide and it was a small light plane and thankfully our car was far enough over!!!

We headed up the other end where there was a stunning view, a chasm of rock with a river winding its way through the rocky tree covered area, meandering its way out to sea, which is a haze of pure blue. The rocks showing off all its colours with shrubs of all varieties growing out of it in all directions, a really lovely place to sit and contemplate the world and its natural beauty!

Sadly it was time for us to be on the road again, we stopped for petrol which is sitting roughly around 8.22-8.50 rand per litre, so roughly 82pence or around AUS1.20 I guess. The landscape was slowly changing as well, while still being quite dry and hilly it was starting to green up a little more. There are all these plants that look a bit like aloe vera plants at the bottom but have these really cool long orange/red/yellow flowers, they really look great in the landscape and stand out!

We slowly reached the mountains and hills again, driving through, which really is quite beautiful to drive through, rolling hills as far as the eye can stretch! We stopped off in a little town and had Nandos, which we think is actually originally from South Africa as they had a lot of Portuguese influence on there cooking apparently. Who knew!

The day slowly passed by, today was to be a long driving day unfortunately but to be expected in a place as big as South Africa. We often hope to be somewhere only to find by the time we get there its dark and is pointless. We forget its winter here, so it’s dark by about 5.40-6pm, as we are so used to day light savings! We reached Grahamtown and had this problem, it would have been nice to stop but it was dark by the time we got there, so quickly stopped at a supermarket to pick up some stuff before heading to our destination for the evening.

There had been a mix up with our booking, as we were meant to have a self catering room but we were in a normal room, so we ended up using the ladies kitchen and getting some free dessert off them as well! Bargain!! Let me explain our room, it was hilarious, very lush with its big double bed, animal print around the top, animal skins on the ground, it was quite something, with each one having its own garden out the front as well!! The gardens from what we could see in the dark looked lovely as well! We settled in with our dinner and watched Paraguay being defeated by Spain.

Africa's last hope Lost!

2010-07-02T21:40:00.000+10:00

Stayed Amapondo Backpackers, Port St John (100pp pn)

We packed up our things, made a delicious scrambled omelets and hit the road, only to find 10 minutes up the road that we had left our bible – our travel guide behind, so we dropped a U turn and headed back and picked it up and then were on the road again!

We were driving through the hills, which while dry and the occasional smoke from the burning off and charred edges really was a beautiful place. A long drive was on the cards for today unfortunately. Petal to the metal and we sped across the countryside, 120 km is there top speed although this it would seem is generally ignored in the country planes, with people cruising on about 140km!

We got hungry and stopped at one of our favourite spots – the servo and pulled up some grass and ate another lovely picnic! We were heading into the coastal areas now, more populated and a lot more cities. We had decided to bypass Durban as there was just not going to be enough time to spend there. The weather was great though, so far we haven’t really hit much crappy weather even though it is winter here. The occasional cold snap but nothing drastic (and nothing like the UK!!)

Its funny, we were driving along the coastal road, which could have been anywhere in the country!!! Occasionally we would grab a glimpse of the wild coast but mainly it was dry country side which was a bummer as we had taken the other route assuming it would be more scenic and along the coast, but its seems like a bit of a waste of time which is disappointing, but still its quite beautiful in its own dry way!

Soon we were back in the winding roads and villages with rondevelas (round houses) of bright greens and pinks scattered around other more debilitated housing but nothing as bad as what we saw in the cities of Joburg. Country living seems to be of a better quality – that could be said of everywhere in the world I suppose, more space to move and better built houses. One of my favourite things though was that they all hang their washing out on the fence, there are not really any clotheslines as such so they hang them over the fence!! Its quite funny to see a really dry yellow area and then a splash of there bright coloured washing! Very cool!

Jen has been dying to drive even though she can’t drive a manual so we pull over and I attempt to teach her how to drive a manual. You would think this is easy but it’s actually quite hard. By this stage I just drive with out thinking and to actually try and explain to someone how to do it is quite hard – I have a lot of respect for driving instructions. The good news is she at least knows how to drive an automatic so has the basic driving skills, and just needs to get a handle on the gears. She did pretty well, but has a hard time getting her head around the changing and clutch and before long we swap over again but for a first attempt she did really well and I wasn’t so stressed out by the experience which I thought I would be more so!!

The roads were getting quite hairy though, with lots of sharp bends and turns. If this but they are all over the roads, don’t get over, and when it starts to get dark, it’s harder to see them as the roads aren’t properly marked. So, so far we have badly marked and unlit roads with scary twists and turns, people walking wherever in the dark and blend in so you can’t see them, then we add in pot holes and the piece of resistance – bloody animals!!! Whether its cows or sheep roaming on to the road or feral dogs! Driving is turning into an absolute nightmare! Before long we are also driving through jammed pack little towns that are bustling with people and cars going everywhere, it’s a concentration headache and a half!

Happily we finally enter Port St Johns, I don’t this I have been so excited to finally arrive somewhere! We check in at what seems to be a very hippy sort of free loving sort of place, again we have no idea what the surroundings look like so it will be a great surprise in the morning! The people here seem really nice so that is a plus and the bunk beds are high up! Lots of space!

We head down to a local place called Delicious Monster\, as it seems to have good reviews and grab a table under the stars, unfortunately there is a man attempting to play the guitar and butchering a lot of songs, thankfully he stops after about 15 minutes!! We were thinking of changing restaurants otherwise as he was that bad! It was lovely hearing the waves crashing on the beach and looking up at the gorgeous stars while we waited for our dinner. Jen had a mixed platter and I had a Moroccan lamb swarma! Both very delicious – the food in South Africa is so varied with lots having an influence on how it’s prepared, its great exploring them all!

We headed back to the hostel and grabbed a few drinks and settled in with the locals to watch the big game, Ghana vs. Uruguay. This was Africa’s last chance in the competition so all hope was focused on Ghana! The room was filled with supporters for Ghana as you can imagine, and what a tensioned filled room it was! There were oohs and ahhs, head holding, nail biting, the works really! Even I was filled with anticipation and anxiousness for Ghana and I don’t even really like the game. As with any world games it’s hard not to get involved! Sadly Ghana missed the penalty, you have to feel for a player in that situation, they are under so much pressure, and then to miss the goal – gutted! As a result they went to a penalty goal situation and Ghana was beaten, the room was devastated, that was Africa’s last chance!

Headed to bed last night just as the DJ was starting to blare out his music, but strangely enough got a great night sleep!!

Walking in the Rain

2010-07-01T21:38:00.001+10:00

Stayed Inkosana Lodge in the Champagne Valley, Drakensberg (200pp pn)

We woke up to a less then sterling day, so were in no hurry to go hike, there was a slow drizzle over the valley/. We headed to the shops and got some food for breakfast and lunch and headed back to cook and prepare it all.

We decided a little crap weather wasn’t going to stop us from our hike, and the lovely lady at the hostel had sorted us out with a great walk to a place called Nandis Falls. We jumped in the car and headed for our destination. We had to buy permits, they do this a lot here, it was about 35 rand each and then we had to go sign a ledger with all our details so they know who’s in there and where they are and if they have or haven’t returned – hopefully we would return! (and if you are reading this you will know that obviously we did!!) They are very safety conscious like that, which is a good thing!

We hit the trail with a damp misty rain falling around us. We were walking in through a stunning valley with tall mountains all around us, the lushness of the foliage was vivid in the misty rain, with pinks, green and yellow grasses, shrubs, trees with leave shapes like I have never seen, little different coloured wild flowers popping up randomly, its quite fascinating to look at and see the different plants and flowers.

The rain was getting heavier before we even realized and the paths a lot more slippery and by this stage Jen and I were soaked, had to laugh though, after yesterday was so perfect and we spent the day in the car! We were determined to reach these falls, so we continued onwards regardless, up and down the path. We were walking a little blind at this stage as the map had fallen out of Jen’s pocket but there were a few signs around but we weren’t exactly sure we were on the right path!

Eventually we came to a sign that said Nandis Falls and thank god as it was pouring, so we took the turn off and all of a sudden it was like we were in a rainforest, the foliage had changed and we were surrounded by trees covered in moss, ferns, trees bent into all shapes and really green, quite lovely! We turned up at the end to see the falls, not really a thrilling falls by any stretch of the imagination but still lovely, we sat briefly there, as we were getting cold by this stage and had decided to call it a day and head back and get dry and eat our picnic somewhere warm and dry!!

On the way back the mist started to clear and would you believe it the sun came out! Slowly we began to dry out and the walk became a totally knew one as the sun glistened on the rain drops clinging to the plants, the mist revealed the true magnificence of the mountains around us, it was even more beautiful! We decided to take our detour to the pools since the weather was improving and we were slowly drying out! We headed down the still slippery path towards the pools, which was a part of the river system that seemed to create naturally formed crystal clear pools of water, which I imagine would be awesome in summer time to swim in.

We pulled up a rock and ate our homemade salad rolls (awesome) and admired the views around us, as there was another little waterfall, really is a great spot, one you could come back to and spend a week just exploring this area, and is a shame we don’t have more time to allocate to it. We headed back, nearly completely dry by this stage, we never did find the map we dropped!

We headed back to the ranch to dry off and sit in the lovely chairs provided to us and soak in the sun and views around us and enjoy a drink for a bit before heading into town to pick up some wine to go and enjoy the sunset. We’ve made it our mission to sample as many wines from South Africa as possible, although we do get the occasional bottle of rum (such as this evening’s sunset adventure) as well!

Back at the ranch, rum in hand, we trek across the property to a spot our host has pointed out as a good spot and pull up some grass and settle in to watch the sunset. Sadly it’s not as great as other days we’ve seen it (usually in a car!) but still enjoyable! My head torch has decided its not going to work anymore, so we are walking back in the dark guided by the moon, we make a few wrong turns much to our humor but eventually find our way back! The beauty of this place is that there are limited lights, so the entire sky is lit up with stars – I have missed just chilling out and looking up to the stars, can’t wait till we are on our trip and camping under the stars, really looking forward to it!

Jen has taken control of the kitchen, red wine in hand and a mission to make a great curry I am banished to the bathroom where there is a bath!! You all know my love for baths and the absence that this has had in my life recently, so I take my wine and enjoy a lovely hot bath!!

Before long Jen has made a great curry and we are plowing it down. Tonight’s wine is a Shiraz by the name of Obika, a lovely drop!

Black and White Segregation

2010-06-30T21:37:00.000+10:00

Stayed Inkosana Lodge in the Champagne Valley, Drakensberg

We headed out early this morning to get to the mall, where we were hoping that my card would have been retrieved and to get a boost as well (had to be done!). I headed to the bank while Jen headed to boost. Lucky for me the lady remembered me and had my card, no explanation as to why it was swallowed, but it was given back to me no questions asked – so who knows – I am a little hesitant to put it in a machine now though!!

We headed out and decided to head to the A partied museum, as we’d been informed that it was well worth a visit and even though we were short of time, we decided to do it/. On arrival when you buy your tickets, you are split into black/coloured/or white citizens and are made to go in a different door, to show how the segregation once worked, its quite a daunting thing and is a good way to show you how that must have felt, even though it was just a simple thing and can no way represent what people must have really gone through. Before long Jen and I were reunited and headed around the museum.

They had a really interesting temporary section on Nelson Mandela, which we checked out and found out a lot of interesting facts that we wouldn’t have normally known. The museum itself is brilliant, there is so much information, laid out in wall panels, items, video footage, audio etc. I guess as this all happened not so long ago all these mediums were around, but even so, it really is one of the best museums I think I have been too and really shows the struggles that has gone on in South Africa and what still goes on.

We hit the road later then expected due to the sheer volume in the museum – really we could have spent the whole day there to do it properly but we had to get on the road to Drakensberg – which was our home for the night. We stopped to have a picnic on the side of a really dry grassy hill near a service station – spoilt for choice we were (not!). The land we were driving through was very flat and dry, with grasses and small shrubs in abundance with the occasional tree. After a while mountains suddenly appeared and the scenery while remaining very dry shifted and became a little more interesting!

There was lots of burning off and grass fires, I assumed to be fire blocks, which our host later confirmed, as it’s so dry if a grass fire started it would sweep across the land taking all in its sight. So they burn off a lot now to put blocks in place.

The sunset was quite spectacular as we continued the long drive, and we had entered the winding roads through canyons of massive rocks, and the area known as the amphitheatre, it reminded me a big of what I’ve seen of the grand canyon, really very impressive and beautiful as you look down the massive drop as the rock drops off and off into the distance. Stunning.

We eventually arrived after our tom tom guide Bruce got us slightly off course but we clawed our way back to arrive at a beautiful property but seeming as it was so dark it was hard to know what it looked like – a surprise for the morning.

The hostel arranged dinners which we gratefully jumped at and it was a vegetable soup – which was amazing, home made bread, salad and potatoes with my new favourite ingredient – peppadew! They are these sweet hot capsicum like peppers and are so tasty, I am going to have to see if I can get them at home! We headed to our room after dinner exhausted!

Come out Come out whereever you are.....

2010-06-29T20:56:00.007+10:00

Up early we headed down to the mall after breakfast to sort out some cash, and on arrival at the Mall we were excited (sadly) to see Boost Juice!! A nice bit of home! Upon putting my card in the machine and confirming my pin, about to get a balance on screen when the ever so lovely bank machine informs me that it has and I quote, ‘we’re sorry we’ve swallowed your card’…..not exactly what you want to hear!! Found the bank and the lady was very helpful, sad it happens regularly and that we’d have to come back later in the after noon as they didn’t know what time the people would come to open the machine, well this is Joburg I suppose and security would be at a maximum!

Deciding not to waste the day at the bank, we grabbed a boost and headed back to the house to pick up Ellie and Josh and head to this lion park we had heard of! We hit the road and after a little configuring and help from a bunch of roadside work men who told us to go STRAAAIGHT man, STRAAAAAAAIT we made it to the park.

We headed in to purchase our tickets, passing a man dressed up in very tradition (fake I’m sure) Zulu outfits ready to pose for a price and into the enclosure. There were a few different types of hyenas, which while being the scavengers of the African bush were really quite sweet and cute looking – while they were asleep!

Once in we could straight away see the lion cups and what a bunch of cuties they were too!! We joined the line, which was thankfully short and then were told we had two minutes in the enclosure with about 4-5 lion cubs and that we shouldn’t pat them on the head or pick them up! Well as you can imagine, it was a beeline for these cuddly bunches of fluff!! They aren’t as soft as you would imagine, but more stiff – probably from rolling in the dirt all the time! The two minutes seemed to go like that and we were saying goodbye to our furry friends!

Out of the park Josh realized that his ticket hadn’t been ripped which mean that he could go in again and into the other side, where the cubs were a little bit more active, we were of course very jealous!

We decided to head on over to the other places, where a firm favourite of mine, the graceful giraffe was waiting! We got some food and before long I was feeding the massive beast! The colouring’s on the African animals never cease to amaze me, they are all different and varied and you really do wonder how they fit in, yet they do, the giraffe is no stranger to this, with its gold and brown patches, cute little horns, massive neck – it’s a freak of nature and yet so beautiful as it gazes at you with its big black eyes. An experience I won’t forget for a long time! Meanwhile there is a fluffy huge bird – otherwise known as an ostrich wanting to get in on the act and walking around strutting its stuff checking out what every one was up too! Quite stunning birds as birds go! Its feathers are amazing.

Off into the distance we could see some grazing zebras, another one of those animals where you go, what the hell??? A black and white striped horse – craziness! They seem to fit well into the landscape of dry grasses and silhouettes of trees, a really lovely setting.

Nearby is another firm favourite, the cute and tiny yet cheeky and inquisitive meer cats! They really are very funny to watch, from a plane flying over in the sky, to us approaching, it would seem that nothing escapes there little creatures, there eyes and heads darting around all the time/ They are quite inquisitive and come up to you, hoping for some food no doubt!

We headed to another enclosure to see the fastest animal alive and a rather spotted one at that….the cheetah! What a magnificent animal, it’s spotted black and gold coat, a face that watches everything, eyes sharply gazing at everything, it really is simply stunning! Even resting its watching everything.

Behind here was another enclosure of slightly older cups and white cups at that. We had to wonder what they do with them all once they are past the ‘cute easy to pat with minimum damage’ stage, we were to find out! They were quite lovely as they played around with each other or simply dozed in the afternoon sun.

Josh decided to try his luck and somehow found his way into the other enclosure and spent the next two minutes playing around with one of the cutest cubs! His paw swiping his as he tried to take photos, as she lay perched on top of the rock! He managed to stay in for two sessions, as he hid behind the rock so the lady didn’t see him! Unbelievable his luck!!

We decided to head out into the park and check out what other animals were lying about, so as we left we passed some more wild dogs, porcupine and hyenas and headed for our car. As we reached the gate to the park we had to stop for the resident giraffe who had decided to stop for a feed at the gate, not that we minded stopping!!

We found our way into the park and started driving on the path created, before long we had spotted the zebra, deer’s of all kinds, ostriches and we thing buffalo as we drove around. We headed around, dodging holes, spotting wildlife, even managing to get our little car through a massive hole of mud – all good fun!

We headed up to see another cheetah enclosure which was cool as you could see them running around a bit more and spotting something in the other area. We then journeyed on to a part we nearly missed totally, the lion enclosure. We assumed it was going to be more fenced off enclosures but we couldn’t have been more wrong! Signs around the park warn you to stay in your car (ok I admit we did get out once or twice) and to keep your windows up.(totally disregarded this one) and in this enclosure it was repeated prominently.

As we drove in through the gate – which was manned, we immediately spotted a lion in the distance. We weren’t sure if it was behind a fence, so we continued on the one way system which was like 5 loops – a bit like a four leaf clover design, each gated/fenced off to keep the prides separated it would seem/ Before long we were right along side a lioness which was NOT fenced off, and it would seem would be roaming around along side us! There were no fences and we would definitely NOT be getting out of our car here!!

We headed into the second enclosure and were spell bound and entranced, here were around 20 lionesses and cubs of varying ages lounging around, play fighting, eating some meat, chilling and doing whatever it is lionesses do when they aren’t hunting!! We were literally less then a metre away from them as we hesitantly wound the windows down and the clicking of cameras commenced! As you can imagine we went a bit crazy on the shots! Frustratingly though there were a few cars behind us who seemed determined to beep these beautiful animals to get there attention – I guess some people have no respect for nature, it’s not a circus after all! They are sitting there in their environment doing what they do, us driving through is enough of an invasion I think!

We must have sat there for a while watching them when we heard a rumble or growling sound, and we turned and looked on the other side of the car when in all his glory out came a huge lion, his mane a dark brownie black colour, calling out to his ladies, who in turn growled/rumbled back to him, and before we knew it he was walking straight to our car, right past us, we were spell bound and frozen except for the fingers clicking on the photos!! He stopped just behind us to growl at a car, the rumbles coming deep from within him and really the sound is indescribable, there is so much power in it, a real testosterone filled power, it sends shivers down your spine! We circled around again to see these beautiful animals, who had now seated himself with two of his leading ladies, and watched the cubs frolicking around on a log and then climbing a tree, they are such playful animals!

We continued on after this excitement into the other enclosures, each one having a different pride, all separated so they don’t damage each other I would guess. Funnily enough in one of the sections the lion and lionesses were situated near the fence, watching the other pride, monitoring all that they were doing! One of the sections also had the white lioness, with stunning blue eyes, this one also walked straight up to the car and right past my door, I could have patted it if I dared – and clearly I didn’t!! Each of the enclosures seems to have a different type of lion, with different colouring. The last one we went through had a pale golden coloured lion with light coloured eyes, no less commanding or dominant, but it was really interesting to see the different colours.

We had to head out of the park as it was getting late, as we headed out of the park, we noticed the giraffe again, this time it was out near the main house where you enter/exit and it seemed determined to ruin or fix this fence! It was taking out the loose bamboo sticks from the fence. It would wrap its tongue around the fence, shake it to see what was loose and then target it, taking the stick in its mouth and raising its head up high and then throwing it!! Very funny to watch and no idea if the owners or managers of the park knew this was happening!! They were due to get a surprise if not!

We headed home and down to the local shop to get some food and then cooked dinner, the others headed out, but we stayed in to pack and sort our crap out as we were heading out the next day! The others came back as some ungodly hour, obviously drunk and noisy so not much sleep was had!

Let the Games Begin!

2010-06-28T20:53:00.001+10:00

After a not so great nights sleep, we are up and head down to the local mall to get some food. It would seem that South Africa is the Mother of Malls – almost as much as America, they are EVERYWHERE!!! Again the usual parking attendant in the car park guarding your car, we head and grab some breakfast and do some food shopping, before heading back to the house to pick up people. We’ve decided to go to Soweto, the largest Township in South Africa, where the traumatic evens of 1976 has made it infamous and worthy of a lot of visits. We drive into the town, park and head up to the house where Nelson Mandela lived before he went to prison, and for 11 days after he was released. It’s a small house, nothing amazing about it, and decked out as if it were still his home. Very interesting place, lots of pictures, video footage and things around the house.

Heading out of there, there are a couple of guys who are singing……Ice-cream chocolate, ice-cream chocolate, choc chip caramel…….etc to an awesome beat, and have us all grinning and singing this silly tune for the rest of the day, it even entices a few to buy ice creams! As we wander up the street, there are lots of stalls selling various prints, African carvings, beaded animals etc, but the thing you do notice is how friendly most people are, always greeting you with a smile, enquiring where you are from and just generally having a chat.

We headed up to Soweto’s museum that tells the tragic tale of the 1976 uprising by a bunch of students – children really who were protesting against the introduction of the Afrikaans language into the schools, regardless of whether they spoke it or not, combined with a history of pool treatment and bad living conditions. Unfortunately it got out of hand and the police killed a number of the kids protesting and also innocent by standers who had nothing to do with it. An amazing museum that explores the events of the day, talking to people involved, explaining all that happened and who died and why and how it shaped the movements to come in South Africa. A really amazing story of kids, 12-13 years and up, who went out to peacefully protest and what turned into a massive unnecessary massacre. A very sad part of the history.

Heading out, we were starving and found a little corner shop which sold a South African delicacy called Kota. What is this I hear you ask, what delicious combination of food could this be. Well let me tell you! It is a chunk and I mean a healthy chuck of break, which is carved out, so imagine the middle cut out into a U shape, and then imagine hot chips, a slice of cheese and some weird type of pickle thing, and then on mine there was hot dog and some sort of meat (not 100% sure what) and then a thing slice of the bread back on top…………….completely healthy I don’t think!! I made it maybe a half way through before feeling a bit ill and throwing it out – not for me!

We headed back up through the township. A township is like a slum, an informal village and this one seems to go for miles. Its shanty towns, shacks put up, sometimes houses but with the bare minimum of services, dusty roads mainly, but a few paved ones here as it’s now becoming quite a tourist place to visit, but only in certain areas, with strict warnings not to travel alone to parts of the town. Kids running around the streets, schools sponsored by Heineken (what the!) and the houses (shacks) going for as far as the eye can see. Quite an eye opener/.

We headed back down the street t the music of the ice-cream men, the young boys doing tribal dances, the kids running around and the market stalls and paid the men guarding our car. We headed out of there to Fan fest – which is the name of the place where you go to watch the soccer when you can’t go to the games. The first place we went was totally empty strangely, we bumped into this really friendly lady who was a security guard there, and she told us we were in the wrong spot and this was another set up by a TV station and offered to escort us to the other place! So we jumped in the car, she took us down a short cut to the annoyance of another guard, but one who let us through and we were at the other fan fest. There still wasn’t many people there, but I guess it’s to be expected, Joburg is not an easy city to get round. The transport is crap and dangerous and unless you have a car, you are screwed, so I hardly expect a lot of people can get there.

Having said that, there were heaps of kids running around, playing football, trying to get money out of us and just generally having a good time! It seemed a shame as they were well set up for it, food tents, alcohol tents, big screens and a stage. We went into the alcohol tent and found out that all the unnamed alcohol really was big brand booze, but as Budweiser was the sponsor of the football they weren’t allowed to sell any other beer – strange but there you go! We grabbed a few drinks and went to watch the game, man it was a cold night though! We watch Holland beat Paraguay (??) then we headed out as we had tickets for a World Cup Game, Brazil vs. Chile which promised to be an awesome game!!

On arrival at the grounds, we got a guy to do some face painting for us – his first ever attempt it might later seem! Jen and I, to the disgust of Ellie got each of the country flags on our cheeks and headed to have a quick bite to eat before joining the massive line to get in! The crowd was pumped, many in their countries colours, wigs, flags, outfits, you name it! Lots of others there in neutral colours of their own countries colours, just there to see a game! We got chatting with a few in the crowd, but the line was moving slowly! Finally we reached the top of the line and this poor lady was patting people down, being screamed at by this obnoxious man to hurry up and not be so thorough, bit of a catch 22 really. Risk the entry of something dangerous or get the crowd in quickly, had to feel sorry for her!

We dashed into the stadium and found our seats, a buzz in the air and also another annoying buzz – the bloody vuvuzulas. Its like a massive swarm of bees are on the attack, I can’t explain it any other way! Our seats are superb, up on the corner of the Brazilians first half goals, with an excellent view of the stadium! This my first ever soccer game, was pretty exciting, I really would have liked to see Chile win, as they were the underdogs and everyone seems to jump on the Brazilian bandwagon, but sadly it wasn’t to happen. Brazil just ran circles around them and won 3 nil. The poor Chilean fans behind us took it well however, with the Brazilians heckling them all the way!! We even had all the half time cheer leaders – proudly sponsored by maces (urgh) in front of us and the kids that walked onto the field with the players. It was pretty exciting to be in there, and the game always seems to go so much faster when you are there live and it was over before we knew it, with the vuvuzulas and drums drowning out the final whistle!

We headed out, on the way Josh managing to run into barb wire and cutting his eye open while trying to go to the bathroom caused a bit of stress and commotion! First aid training down comes in handy in the oddest of places!

A great night out, we headed home exhausted!

Arrival into South Africa!

2010-06-27T20:42:00.000+10:00

Awoken to the smell of breakfast, I forced my eyes awake, clearing not having enough sleep but with no other option! Breakfast served and before we new it, Jen and I had landed at 9.30am in Johannesburg for the beginning of our African adventure, the city with the highest murder rate in the world but also the home of the World Cup for 2010! What adventures were to come we wondered!

The airport was decked out in Coca cola merchandise and world cup signage everywhere. We made it through immigration easily and headed out into the airport to the sound of vuvuzelas trumpeting out there buzzing noises, to people dressed in soccer (football) paraphernalia to the excitement of arrivals and greeters! There was a buzz in the air!

We headed to pick up our car, only to find that it was tiny! Clearly barely going to fit us, let alone our bags, and having been warned of the car jacking, we knew we had to have a boot big enough to store our bags at the very least! Jen headed back in to change us over to a slightly (not much) bigger car that barely fitted our backpacks in! The next challenge was to find a GPS as apparently this doesn’t come standard with a car and then had run out of them!! Doh! We asked around a few places and they were all out, we changed some money and then went on the search again, to no avail, nearly ready to give up, we bumped into a couple of guys who were heading off and they offered to sell us theirs. Turned out they had Serbian backgrounds and we talked about the soccer, did a deal with them and got the GPS for just under what we would have rented it for, so we are now the owners of an South African GPS!

We headed back to the car and were expected to pay this guy who supposedly had been watching the car! WTF, we’d just picked it up, we gave him so coin that we had, but he didn’t look impressed but we headed out. In the car we realized it was a manual and Jen wasn’t able to drive as she’d never driven a manual, so it looked like I was the driver for this trip with Jen determined to learn and disappointed she couldn’t drive.

We had heard for a friend of Jen’s that we were able to stay at theirs as they had hired a house for the world cup but that he had had to go home to Aus, so we were basically heading to a place we weren’t totally sure we were welcome or that they knew about us. A few texts and we were on the way. Unfortunately they had shut a few of the major highways – no idea why – and we ended up doing a few circles but we finally made it to the house. They weren’t home yet, so we headed to a place called Melville which we had read about and was apparently a cool place to eat and hang out.

We walked up and down this small street and settled on a Chinese place, and had a two course meal for about 5 pounds – amazing!! Lots of great restaurants there and the England vs. Germany game had started while we were there. It seems like we weren’t even in Africa, the place seems abnormally normal, it’s hard to explain really. We wandered back up the street and to the information centre to get some info on a place called Soweto (South West Townships) which Jen had been reading up on. We were deciding on doing a tour and booked a place, but it was quite expensive for what it was.

We headed to our car and noticed the usually African man hanging around the cars – minding them I suppose which is apparently their job and you are meant to pay them for this service, to mind your car so it doesn’t get robbed or stolen………interesting idea!

We headed back to the house to see if the guys were back having received a text from another of them (there are 11 people staying at this house!), arriving in a rather normal neighbourhood except for the fact or massive fences with what would seem like electric fence around the top and large gates, we pull up to the house, and are let in!

The game is in its final stages with England being slaughtered much to the delight of everyone present!! We are greeted with friendly smiles and settle in. Exhausted after the long flight and drive we settle in to watch the next game and order in pizza – continuing the non African food! Strange! We eventually get to bed shattered!

Will we make it!?

2010-06-26T20:52:00.000+10:00

The day started out with last minute frantic packing, did I have everything, possibly not, more then likely not, but it would have to do as my bag was so over stuffed and I am sure over my weight levels!

Typically it’s the hottest it’s been in the UK in years and I am carrying god knows how much weight and heading to the airport! Argh1 I get the bus, get off at the totally wrong station, get the tube to Liverpool steer and meet Jen and pick up the malaria tablets that are bound to send you a bit nuts, hey that’s Africa, you make the health sacrifices.

Jen is pumped, I am pumped, we head onto the Piccadilly line, for me leaving London, the place I have called home for the last 18 months, and with a mood that I can hardly call sad, there will be people I missed and yes I did have a good time, but I am ready to move on! Jen and I are jabbering away when I look up and don’t really recognize where we are, and realize we are totally on the wrong part of the line! We jump off at the next stop and head back to Acton Town and get on the right line, but are a bit stressed about the time!!

We arrive at the airport and are flying with Swiss Air, find the desk and look to get the sternest woman possible! Start making inane conversations with her, telling her of our adventure getting to the airport and then what we are doing, meanwhile she is checking me in and weighing my bag which is a whopping 27kg!!! Way over the weight it should be!! She asks if there is anything I can take out and to see my carry on, which is also crammed to the max and realizes that isn’t an options, muttering to herself I shouldn’t be doing this but takes off 5kgs and puts it through for me, sometimes it pays to be nice and chatty to the check in staff! With a smile she wishes us well for our journey, next stop security!

I get through security with no problems, Jen however is searched! We head into the airport, get a few last things, cash in my Vat receipts and realize out gate is closing, doing a dash to the gate seems simple except for the fact that we seem to be the very edge of the end of the airport! We are running through the airport and finally reach our gate with the cheeky lady saying you just made that and ignore the disgusted looks and comments – just joking!! But it does seem that we are the very last on the plane!! What a start!!

Swiss Air though is great to fly with, comfortable – well anything seems comfortable after Ryan Air/Easy Jet!! We are fed a sandwich, given Swiss chocolates (of which we get a few as we made friends with the lovely man who was giving them away – had to be done!!) and within an hour and half we landed in Zurich.

We managed to get our next flight at a more comfortable rate, and found our seats. Lovely dinner was served and then I settled in to watch Invictus which I thought was appropriate for the place we were headed! Gave a good basic (very) history of what had gone on in the past here and how influential Mandela was. However struggling to keep my eyes awake I headed off into the land of zzzzz’s dreaming of the adventures to come.

Its Started

2010-06-20T20:41:00.000+10:00

Apologies all, my computer died in Europe so no blog entries for that.....stay tuned for Africa! I promise to be better!!!

Volcanos and God knows what else!

2010-04-22T00:11:00.003+10:00

Well I have officially moved out, we had a great send off party at my place on Saturday and sadly I can't say I am sad to leave that place or the people behind, what started out as a good place to live turned sour very fast. Oh well onwards and upwards as they say!

On another front, the volcano in Iceland is throwing its two bits in, god knows when the planes will be back running or running properly, here's hoping mum and sam can fly there time on Saturday! I Excitment is high, I just want to hit the road now!

Bought another camera today, one with a great zoom, so should be all set now for Africa and hopefully should get some good shots!!

Sun is shining here in London, the trees are blooming to life and people are turning into happy people once again for the short period of time they call summer, its a lovely time to be in London, and a great time to hit europe!!

See you on the road!

2010-03-27T03:28:00.004+11:00

So I am aware I have been super slack on this but I am hoping to catch it all up for Africa!!!

Not long and I am hitting the road again, excitement looms, but a bit of sadness of yet again leaving another place! But at the end of this I am heading home, which I am super excited and scared about!! 9 years away, lots of changes, and yet probably not as many as I might think! :)

Anyway, stay tuned for more adventures......

home

2009-06-15T06:15:00.000+10:00

So I have moved into a new place, it's exciting, it's small and a shoebox, but in an amazing location, right near Hyde Park and Holland Park and on the Circle Line! And best of all cheap rent! Whoop Whoop, so here are some shots of the place!

We have a small courtyard, which doubles as a dining room in summer, don't ask me what happenes in winter! This is the long kitchen which leads up to the other two girls room and the tiny bathroom, no swinging of cats!

This is my little shoebox which is separate from the rest of the house, it's small but it's all mine and i've added a few decorations! :)

A Little Bit of Country Side

2009-05-18T04:01:00.065+10:00

It's been a shocking week what with one thing and another going on. It's been a while since I have looked forward to one ending quickly.

Friday I headed up to Paul's place in North Hampton. It was with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension that I decided to do so. The bus trip was relatively quick, 2 hours, which let me de-stress from a busy day at a conference I had to attend for work.

Arrived into Milton Keynes, and waited for Paul to turn up, which he did shortly after. It's been a year since I'd last seen him, which he reminded me of. How much things can change and how much can happen in a year is pretty amazing I reflected quietly to myself.

We jumped in the car and headed off back to his place. On the way we stopped in a centre where there is a giant snow slope. It is kind of random I have to say, you wouldn't know its there, it’s in the middle of what seems to be a shopping centre! But sure enough, arctic conditions are met and snow is on the slopes and many people are storming down the hill on skis or snowboards!!

Did a quick grocery shop and then headed back to the house. I had heard a bit about North Hampton, some bad, some good, but it's funny, you get an image in your head and then it turns out to be nothing like what you imagined. I was kind of imagining a little village, very quiet but full of chavs and what I got was not really anything like it! It's a relatively big place, lots of shops and centres around, a couple of big parks etc. Sure there are some chavs around - but hey, this is London!!!

It was also interesting seeing Paul’s place for the first time. I kind of found the whole thing quite strange to be honest. I had seen many pictures, but the reality is always a bit different. Anyway he set to work cooking me a great dinner, and I think by this stage we were both pretty hungry. We chilled out and chatted over some wine, wrestled (quite a bloody work out too!) and watched some TV.

Photos; 1. Paul's House, 2. Cooking up a Storm, 3. Lounge Room

Saturday morning, we were up early, after a great breakfast we hit the roads, heading for some hill walking and ended up at Bradgate Park. Bradgate Park is an ancient deer park given to the people of Leicestershire by Charles Bennion in 1928 for their quiet recreation.

Bradgate is a beautiful area of rolling bracken covered hills, walled spinneys, and small craggy outcrops of slate and granite. There are many ancient hollow oak trees, reputedly topped after the execution of Lady Jane Grey. The house, well now a ruin was the birthplace of Lady Jane Grey. Lady Jane Grey , also known as Queen Jane of England, was a claimant to the Kingdom of England and Monarchy of Ireland, who was de facto monarch of England for just over a week in 1553, later Queen, ruling for a mere 9 days before being overthrown by Mary I. Clearly the shortest ruling in history! Poor Lady Jane.

Anyway back to the park, it’s really lovely, rolling hill sides, a river running through it, loads of massive hobbled trees, deer’s running around, with the birds flapping around as well.

We headed down, catching some shots of the deer, before heading the ruin, which is in pretty good condition for its age, and man what a house it would have been. Situated partly up a house, the views in the surrounding 360o area are stunning!

Photos; Park Gate and Entrance

Photos; Upon entering you are greeted by ducks, lots of em!

Photos; Then you see all the little bambi's munching on the grass, pretty cool entrance greeting!

Photos; Striking a pose, and wandering along the river, very lovely

Photos; Pondering the world, and looking over the huge estate

Photos; Lots of lovely big trees, young deers checking you check them out and river life

Photos; Then we found the big mommas and daddies!!! Such beautiful big animals, not at all phased by us stalking them!!! In the background the ruins of the old house

Photos; The ruins of the old house, quite a spectacular place in the past I imagine with a great view!

Meanwhile I should mention that one moment it’s a glorious day, the next it’s pouring, then the sun’s out again – quite comical really, it’s almost a battle to make it to the shelter of the trees or whatever you can find for that in between time!!

We head back around the ruins only to encounter a peacock, which we stopped to look at and take some pictures, mean while it seemed to quite like me – well more the banana skin that was in my hand, so it kept coming up to me! Quite funny really, but its amazing the brilliance of the colours of the peacock, they really are startling.

Photos; Meeting the locals, a very friendly - or hungry peacock!!

We headed up the hills from here, destined for a part castle on the top of the hill, of course do to scheduling, the rain belted down for 5 mins, lucky for us we found trees, the further up we went the more the wind howled in protest! Lots of rocks, green hills and the most stunning view of all from the top, right around, even in the gentle haze the rain was causing, couldn’t distract from the beauty of the area.

Photos; Gorgeous colours of the rocks and cast views as we dodged the rain and endured the wind!

Photos; The little turret was our destination, upon the hill, no sign of jack or jill!

Photos; Views around the Country side from the top, nice lovely storm clouds!

Photos; The Tower at the top

Photos; Around the Top

Photos; Where are we exactly, and oh yeah strike a pose!!!

Photos, Looking back up the top and the ruins of the house in the distance

We headed back down via an old War Memorial, and messed around in some burnt out trees, really not sure how they are still alive, as the inside is completely burnt, yet the trees have thrived! Again on the way down it really started to come down, so timing was perfect really to get out of there, but it was really nice to get out into the hills, in the sunshine, rain and wind. Can’t beat it really.

Photos; The War Memorial

Photos; Another vantage point of the views, really was quite spectacular

Photos; Paul messing around and shooting in the Rocks

Photos; Walking back down the hill

Photos; Awesome Trees, and communing with nature!! :) Everyone should hug a tree!!

Photos; Messing around in the trees, which are hollow or have been burnt out

Photos; Hours of entertainment with the trees but unfortunately it started to pour!!

Photos; Estate church and grounds, lovely little old place

On the way home, we stopped to take a look at the canals, and saw a guy paddling up them, I would imagine that would be awesome to do, must look into it, how much fun would that be and a great way to see some of the country side! There was the most lovely dog there too, a really friendly excited dog too! This place is quite a popular place in the summer I imagine, with a large outdoor restaurant are.

Photos; The canals and gorgeous dog

We stopped via the Althorp Estate – where the late Lady Di is, but unfortunately the place is only open to the public for one month through July to August, so we could only look at the massive house and land from the road, impressive place though.

We headed back and chilled out and watched the movie Yes Man, or as I better know it, Si Senor! As that was the name of it when I kept seeing it all over South America!!! It was pretty funny I have to say, well I got a laugh!

We went out and got Thai for dinner and set about watching another movie, but half way through, Paul got yet another call, and so we stopped the movie to watch Eurovision as it was a compulsory thing apparently! First experience watching Eurovision and I have to say it’s random! Some countries go all out for glitter and glam and others rely on the singing abilities (well it is a singing competition!!) A few reds, and then a case of not needing a point to be proven anymore, I headed to bed! Really sometimes I just wonder……

Sunday was a more subdued day. Headed out to Delapre Park, which is another huge park, where we walked around, dodging puddles, ducking under low trees, tramping through long wet grass, observing the flowers and beautiful trees and old buildings. Quite lovely in there.

Photos; Entering the park and the little restaurant and gardens

We headed deeper into the park and found a big lake, which was glistening in the sunlight. In addition there were swans, geese, and ducks, all with their respective babies. It was lovely to see them all lined up in a row following their mummies and daddies!

Then aggression hit the lake, a rogue swan had obviously upset one of the other two swans, and it was on for young and old. Firstly he chased the other swan half way out into the lake, jumped on his back and submerged the other swan, pushing him under. Clearly not happy with this the other one tried to escape, and clearly the other wasn’t going to let this happened, so continued to chase him around, nipping him, feathers were certainly flying. It was captivating, but yet not a pleasant thing to watch. In the end he got him in the bushes and was pecking him, and attacking him. Not sure what happened then, the other swan came out to the family and paddled away while watching. I honestly thought he was going to kill this other swan!!! But he got up, shook the loose feathers off and waddled onto the shore. Bit of excitement for the day though!

Step 1 Chase the crap out of your enemy, Step 2 Jump on his back pecking him, Step 3 Try and drown him

Step 4 Get the family over to watch the action, Step 5 Try and Run away only to be chased further and pecked and strangled nonstop, Step 5 Mum comes to join in while kiddies paddle around

Step 7 Escape to dry land, Step 8 Get some loon with an umbrella to go into battle for you, Step 9 Float off with the misses and plot the next attack!!!

Meanwhile, life goes on in the pond!!!

Photos, Cygnets, Ducklings and Goslings galore! Circle of life in abundance!

Headed back around the lake and wandered through town and headed back to the house. Packed up my stuff while Paul held true to his promise and cooked me a lovely Christmas (delayed) dinner.

Then it was a race to get me back to the bus station, clearly missing the bus not an option! Too funny. Overall it was a pretty good weekend, it was nice to get out into the country side and catch up with Paul. Could have done without the texts, calls, obviously conversation topics and point that was being made the whole weekend, which couldn’t have been more off base or unnecessary, but hey whatever people need to do to make themselves happy. It is funny though how you think you know someone and then it’s not until later you find out how wrong you were. Why does this happen, do you suddenly put blinkers on, do people hide their true identities, do you just not want to see it….I don’t know, I really don’t! Energy stealers as someone once pointed out to me………..food for thought!

A couple of hours later and I was back into the hustle and bustle that is London!

Piri Piri Portugal

2009-05-04T17:00:00.001+10:00

Friday night, I head over to Katrina’s for dinner so we can celebrate the booking of our trip! I think its going to be awesome and I can’t wait! I fear we are going to sweat our arses off while there, but it will be totally worth it. Now to get a camera and find out what shots we need. I think we are covered, but Rabies has come up, not sure whether to just wing that one or what! Katrina is investigating!

After that, I headed back across to the other side of London to meet up with Mila, Jo and Jodie, whom of which the current trip to Portugal is with. Excitement levels are high with the prospect of sun and sand imminent! Little sleep is had, as we stay at Jodie’s the night before, as she is the closest to Luton Airport. It reminded me a bit of a school camp or sleep over, lots of giggles and excitement!

Before long, the alarm shrieks and its 5am! Ouch! We get up and get our taxi to the Luton Airport and check in. Before long we are in the extremely long queue to go through customs/immigration. I am not sure when, or I might have forgotten, but I swear it used to be 50mls you were allowed and now its 100! Am I going crazy! Maybe so!

A women tries to cut in front of us in the line, where she thinks she is going I do not know, so we cut her off at the next point! Silly women, it isn’t really a hard concept this lining up business!! You would think so being over here sometimes!!!

We board the plane and I am asleep in no time and before we know it we are landing to the bluest of skies and great weather! Nice! Passing immigration with no worries, we get a cab heading for our resort! I swear drivers over here are speed enhanced! We are cruising in to town sitting on 150km/hr. pretty sure this is not the speed limit!!! But it seems to be the done thing!

We arrive at the hotel, we stayed at OurAtlantico (http://www.ouratlantico.com/?ac=lang&lg=en), driving through town to get there, it was plainly VERY touristy! Our hotel is a lovely big white resort, much like all the buildings around, actually apart from the main strips of shops (beachy/touristy shops) and restaurants/bars, the place is just full of resorts! We check in and walk through the pool area, lots of English/euros tanning (burning?!) themselves by the pool deck! Great size swimming pool, but not so heated!!

Our apartment is a fully self catering one and is pretty cool. Plenty of room for us and a few balconies as well! Suits us just fine. We dump our stuff, throw on the summer gear and head out for food as we are starved!!!

Photos; Our Hotel and the main party strip during the day!
Trying to find a Portuguese restaurant here is hard! Very hard! It seems that we have hit little Britain with a few euros thrown in for good luck! Its all beans, chips and fatty foods! L
We finally find a place that has the famed piri piri chicken, which we are all keen to try, so we settle for this place. Our waiter is great, and very charming, and brings us bread and a jug of sangria – holy crap the sangria is GOOD!!! Before long our chicken was brought out, wasn’t bad, but I expected it to be more spicy, but nice nonetheless.

From there, we headed for the beach, all of us very excited to be hitting the sand and water! The beaches were full of people, frolicking at the waters edge, sunning there already brown (or red) bodies, some sun baking topless, others playing soccer or hitting a ball to one another. We took off our shoes and headed for a walk, crunching the sand between our toes, wriggling our toes deep into the golden sand, heading to the water…………when……….the first wave hit our toes, holy crap!!! Talk about cold!!! Mental note, I will not be swimming in the sea here!!

We headed around the coves, climbing on rocks, investigating caves, paddling (after adapting to the coldness of the water) on the waters edge. A great way to spend a day and reminds me how much I miss living near the beach! We wandered for ages and then turned around and wandered up the other way, it’s a gorgeous coast line, and all the little flowers are out, so it’s even more gorgeous!

Photos; Wandering around the beach with Mila, Jo, Jodie and Narelle

We decided we had earnt ourselves a drink, so went and sat at a bar on the sands edge, gorgeous views and entertaining watching the fashions and burnt people going to and fro! Our waiter was Hungarian – is anyone in this place from Portugal I have to wonder! After this we wandered back up the hill, stopping for supplies on the way, and headed back for showers before deciding to head out for dinner. I was so tired, I went and jumped in the FREEZING cold pool, and I mean ice cold, clearly the weather hasn’t been warm enough to heat up the pool just yet!! But eventually going numb it was ok! Refreshing anyway and woke me up!!!

We got advice from the reception desk and headed off in the other direction, and found a nice Portuguese (ish) restaurant. I ordered a Portuguese steak which was interesting………the others ordered fish (not my cup of tea clearly!) but said it was really good! So we did well. After dinner, we were well and truly full and exhausted, having been on the go for 17 hours now! We wandered up the street and did a massive blocky, heading up the main drag where it seems little Vegas is the theme but in a tackier way! Its neon light city, bar after bar, full of drunk English hens and stags and a other randoms, with touts on every corner beckoning you in with offers of free drinks, or deals and discounts. We decided tonight was not the night for us and headed back, shattered after a busy day!

Sunday Morning came, and feeling much more refreshed we were up. The girls taking a little while to wake up and make themselves beautiful (which they did successfully) we finally headed out for breakfast. The girls having decided they wanted to do a cruise around the coast. I decided to sit this one out, seeing the rough seas, and having flash backs to my last boating experience and the lack of seasickness pills, well I decided it wouldn’t be the smartest of ideas! Unfortunately for them it wasn’t running today – whether this was due to high winds or it being Sunday we aren’t sure.

We headed down to the old town part of Alberfiera, and wandered around the old town. A lot of the place is newly built up as the earthquakes had done a lot of damage. But it there are still some older buildings and cathedrals around, and lots of bougainvilleas hanging over lovely buildings which makes it really beautiful. We walked around the top of the cliff which is built up and looked down and over the coast. Gorgeous views.

A lot of the places and houses have tiled fronts, in glorious patterns and colours. No idea why, maybe for decoration, but its brightens the buildings up and adds to the feel of the place, I quite like it.

Photos; Walking around the old town part of Alberferia

Photos; Wall Decorations

I decided to head off from this point, as I had planned to go to Tavira. The girls deciding to stay in town and do their own thing, I wanted to explore a bit more of the area, hoping to find a less touristy part, and this place had come recommended to me. I got a taxi to the train station and bought my ticket. Trains are quite good here, a return ticket cost around 9.50 euros, not bad for a 3 hour journey in total!

The train journey was gorgeous, soon we were speeding away from the coast, going a bit inland, passing farms, orange orchids, vineyards, small little towns, getting into more of the Portuguese landscapes. Finally an hour and a half later I landed in the small little fishing village of Tavira. Getting some vague directions off the ticket seller I headed into the direction of the town.

The town is lovely, as I walked down the tree laden streets, with the buildings covered in tiles of various colours, pot plants in the windows, ornate iron protecting the windows, and mainly that lack of hustle and bustle and tourists as I found in Alberfiera! This is what I am talking about!

I headed down, wandering in and out of alley ways, finding hidden delights, searching the skyline for things one wouldn’t automatically see. First detour was up to see St Francis – which is a former monastery and now operates as a church. It’s a lovely big yellow building and more intriguingly, behind it is a huge and what looks to be ancient bell tower with lovely gardens! This monastery/church dates back to the 13/14th century! Pretty impressive, part of it had to be rebuilt from when the earth quake hit. In the square around the church, there are lots of detailed buildings, all so ornate. I really do think it’s a shame we have lost the ability to build things so beautifully. Or maybe we have just become tightarses with our only concern being the cost and time to put up these modern buildings.

I continued up the cobble streets till I bumped into another monastery! Man there are a few here, must have been the place back in the day! Can understand why, it’s a gorgeous town. This one is huge as well and called Convent of N. SRA DA Gracia (no idea what that all stands for) and the church is the Church of Santa Maria! Again the main features of these churches are the huge bell towers, pretty cool.

Opposite this church there are the ruins of an old castle and inside you can walk through the gardens which are lovely as they are all in bloom and walk up parts of it, which gives you amazing views or the town around you. For a little town, there are a lot of houses!!!

Photos; Wandering around the streets and ruins of an old castle

From there I wandered around more alley ways, and made my way down to the main plaza, which like every good plaza has restaurants, cafes and the like where you can sit outside and soak up the sunshine, also it has a mini amphitheatre, where I can imagine shows and performances going on, meanwhile in the background is the river, Gilao, and the gorgeous old bridges, and a park to the side. It’s such a colourful little place.

I wandered over one of the bridges which looked upon the older of the bridges, and the river being at low tide, there were fishermen in there with nets and what seemed to be like a big mining tool. I wondered what they were up to, as they clearly weren’t catching fish. I asked a man who was clearly Portuguese and he told me in Portuguese what was going on, and no before you ask, I haven’t suddenly gotten the ability to speak multi languages but with a bit of charades and common words I worked out that they are getting mussels and apparently this river has an abundance of them and this is a common thing to do here. Pretty cool to watch them and how they do it.

Photos;More alley ways and ruins found

Photos; Main Square and Parks

Photos; The River and Fishermen

Photos; Parks in the area

Photos; Some of the various colours and patterns of tiles which people have on their houses

Photos; Pieces of Art, saying Goodbye as he heads off to war I guess, found at the train station, or maybe he was waving to me??!!

It was lovely to just wander around this town in the sunshine and my time passed by too quickly, this is more of what I came to see, and would like to see more of Portugal – the real Portugal anyway!

I headed back and grabbed a toasted sandwich (hard to find any places serving food as it was a Sunday) and seriously this was one of the best toasted sandwiches I have had! The Portuguese do great bread!!! Then I made my way back to the train and was even recognised by the conductor who was on the earlier train and he assured me I didn’t need to swap trains! Great advice and saved me from having to find out!

Got a taxi back to the hotel and bumped into the girls, they were heading out for dinner so said I would catch up with them, exhausted after a big day out and the hay fever kicking in was killing my eyes. Chilled out for a bit and then went and met them.

They managed to find another more Portuguese restaurant and managed to escape the chips that go with nearly all meals here!!! Opted for vegetables and potato instead – a much better option. In addition I got the piri piri chicken again, just for one last time, and boy it did not disappoint! This one had a great kick to it, and probably was the best meal of the trip! This place is called Festa da Praia, on Av Infante D. Henrique. I highly recommend it! I even managed to have a glass of Port! And again, it didn’t disappoint, they even gave us a free glass each! Great last meal to have in Portugal!

The next day, we were up early to get a taxi back to the airport, and the weather was a warm and lovely 24 degrees……..just perfect really! But we weren’t too worried, as apparently the weather was meant to be great in London for the weekend with Monday hitting a glorious 22 degrees!

…………our excitement was soon shut down when the pilot announced that unexpected light showers and a temperature of 10 degrees was to meet us…………….

Welcome home!

No Longer Homeless!!!

2009-04-28T18:52:00.012+10:00

Another great week, met up with a mate from home for lunch. Nic and I used to work at the cinema, so it was great to catch up with her and all her news and travel stories. Sadly she is off in a couple of weeks to go travelling before going home, still it was good to see her!

Next up was Michelle and Ken, over from Ireland to see Dirty Dancing on the stage! Man I so have to go see this!!! Anyway we caught up with drinks and I think I have found my new cocktail! It’s called a WOO WOO!!! I think I partially ordered it for the name I have to say! But what’s in it I hear you ask, how do I make it??? Well it goes like this;

Ingredients:-

1 oz vodka

1/2 oz peach schnapps

4 oz cranberry juice

Garnish: lime wedge

Mix all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain into a tall glass over fresh ice.

Garnish with lime wedge.

Great stuff I tell ye!!!

But anyway I digress, great to see these guys as well! Time was too short, so will have to do another catch up soon! Maybe at the MJ concert?!?!! Here’s hoping we find tickets!

Moving on, I am pretty darn bored at work, not yet met my boss who is off sick, so its limbo land and not much to do – you might note from all the updates I have time to do! Still better to be getting paid to be bored then not, so happy days!!

The weekend was a busy one, I was moving all my stuff from about 3 different locations to my new location! That’s right I have a place to live!!!! Its exciting I tell ya!! I am now living off High Street Kensington (la-di-dar apparently). So if you don’t have my new address, drop me an email and I will send it on to you! Those who do have it, I made a boo boo, the last 2 digits of the post code are LZ (not L2 as I had put in an email) and if you want to send me something cool for my wall to decorate, please do!! I will put pictures up on my new place soon!

Anyway back to the weekend, in between moving stuff, a friend of mine, Trish was having a housewarming for her new place down in She Bu (the posh way to say Shepherds Bush apparently!!). Got there a bit late, but had a great night with Trish and her friends, before heading back to Eggers place for the last night.

I have to say, between Kristin, Eggers, Mila and co, I can’t thank them enough for housing me over the last few weeks, they have made staying here possible! So thanks guys!

Saturday morning I headed out to the park with Eggers and Lola and played on the swings – well clearly neither I nor Eggers did, but Lola had a great time on them!!! The sun was shining for a lovely day in London! A good omen possibly?!

I moved my stuff from Eggers place and unpacked. It’s so nice to be able to unpack, know where things are, or more importantly being able to access them without the dramas of having to repack them again is amazing!!!

My new room mates, and there are two of them are;

Jamie – she is from San Fran – well all over the states really, but is now living in London permanently, works in the medical field and is into the deeper side of life. (Jamie in Blue)

Jo – is from New Zealand, a laid back chick, who like me is over temping but has a law degree, but not sure she uses that! Well why would you!! :) But she is awesome too! (Jo in Pink)

I will put up another blog about our house and the area with some photos soon!

That night I headed out to Jamie’s parents place for a BBQ to celebrate her birthday, lovely of her to invite me! Met some great people, had quite a few laughs and drinks and then headed back to my new home for my first night in my place!

Photos; Jamies BBQ Birthday Bash

On Sunday I headed into town to meet Katrina and a friend of hers Logan to go to the Shakespeare’s Globe for the birthday celebrations. The sun was out, so it was a great day to do it on!!! We were all starving, so we headed down by the banks of the Thames and enjoyed a hearty brunch before making our way to the Globe.

A line up already was forming, even though it was free, we grabbed our tickets and made our way into the place fairly quickly. This is a rebuilt replica of what Shakespeare’s globe would have looked like. Not sure if its in the original place as they keep finding them everywhere around London!!! Nonetheless its an impressive structure that took quite a few years to build, using old style building materials and methods.

We headed into the museum first, with the masses of people, looking for clues as well so we could enter the draw. Lots of things on display but hard to actually appreciate it and stop and read due to the large amounts of people. One of my favourite sections has to be the costumes, awesome old style costumes were set up and old instruments as well. This place even lists and you can listen to all the re-enactments of Shakespeare’s plays.

Photos: Costumes and instruments

In addition to this the organisers were looking to break world records here today and who were we but to say no to this, so we joined the line and went in and repeated a line of one of Shakespeare’s Sonnets, so we are officially a part of a world record attempt!! (no idea if they broke it or not, I’d say they probably did though!) My line was

'And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries, And look upon myself and curse my fate'

Which i delivered with all my acting talents (pfft!)

Photos: One of the many sonnets, the Globe, Katrina, Logan and Moi
From there we went and became knighted! Oh yeah! You heard right, just check the pictures out! Then I talked to this old guy who apparently gave advice to Romeo, which was to put Juliet asleep with some magic potion, only the message didn’t get to Romeo so he thought she was murdered and kicked off a whopper of an argument apparently!!! Who knew!! He asked me if I needed any advice, I asked him what he could offer, so he told me about a flower in which I can use to make any one fall in love with me, well that has to come in handy surely! We bid our farewells to the man and headed into the actual theatre part of the complex.

Photos; Officially Knighted?! Getting Advice. Inside the Globe

The, well I am not sure you would call it a theatre, it feels like it needs to be called something more ancient and worldly, the Globe is built beautifully, all wood and a thatched roof! We went and checked out our seats as we have booked to come and see Romeo and Juliet – maybe I will figure out what that man was actually talking about! Nonetheless, very pumped to come and see something here! Back to the day, there were actors running through little skits involving the audience, very entertaining, and our seats should be great!!!

We headed back along the river side, lots of people out and about enjoying the last of the days sunshine, with second hand book shops set out under bridges, street acts, cafes etc. All in all it was a great day out!

Photos; Book Stalls, London Skyline

Tim the Tool Man is in da House!!

2009-04-26T21:13:00.000+10:00

Another jammed pack weekend, on Friday night, I went to Becky’s birthday in Soho, where they were handing out free cider and a few shots went down as well! Oh dear! But a good night out. Some photos from the night…….

On Saturday I went on a shopping spree, it seems the girl before me was a bit of a crazy laaaaaaaaydeeeeeee!! She tore down the blinds, trashed a few things on her departure, so have permission off the landlord to get some curtains/blinds, lampshade, mirror etc to replace them and he will pay for them! Nice! So I went shopping!

On Sunday I went into London to meet Nic and see her man run in the London Marathon! The place was mental and this is on a Sunday, I really don’t know how they will operate the Olympics, as the place was seriously in chaos – I don’t think I want to be here for it that is for sure!!!
Unfortunately we seemed to miss Ben, as we were in the wrong place, but the crowd was very entertaining and the sun was shining, whats this, I think I might have gotten a bit of colour – can you believe it!!! Shock horror!!!

Headed back to the house to put up the stuff I had gotten and I have to say, very happy with the results, Tim the tool man I am not, but hey we got there!!! I now am the proud owner – well renter of a blind, funky curtain rod and curtains, a bling bling lampshade and the mirror is still to come! The place is starting to come together, photos will come soon!!!

Naz is Realising another dream and heading to Morocco!!!

2009-04-22T23:53:00.002+10:00

This is the tour we are going to be doing!!

Easter Weekend

2009-04-13T20:00:00.001+10:00

Easter is here, and I don’t even remember Christmas flying by! It’s insane how fast time is going at the moment! So before I forget,

I hope the Easter Bunny found you all, and you all filled yourselves with yummy chocolate and hot crossed buns (man they are good, they should be a yearly thing surely, I mean chocolate is!)

This week saw me start my first week at the IDeA, very exciting! I actually quite enjoy this role, so could be a future career path to pursue! Headed out for drinks with everyone on the Thursday night, and was great to get to know some of the team, and who knows, hopefully this role may continue. Fingers crossed anyway!

Mates, Eggers and Alison, have offered me their place for the weekend, which is awesome, they are off to Spain for the weekend, and gives me some space and the other guys at the other place. They have been fantastic about letting me stay on their couch, can’t tell you how much I have appreciated it! And its always great to see them as well, and their gorgeous daughter is now walking! I can’t believe how fast she is growing!

Eggers apartment is lovely as well, newly build, it overlooks London Fields, a reasonable size park, which has many trees (yes you know I do love my trees) which are currently all out in bloom, so I went for a few walks in the park over the weekend! The other delight was I was able to have a bath! I know I know! But it’s the small things you miss when you are on the road and being able to chill out with a book in the bath……..heaven!

In addition near there place on Saturday is a Farmers Market. London seems to specialise in these, and you can get loads of goodies there, from baked goods, fresh fruit and veg, to clothes, fresh flowers and cheeses and plenty more! Often a great bargain can be found, but it’s lovely to just walk down the street and see what’s on offer and watch the people go about their business!

Photos; The local Farmers Market

I caught up with a Habiby mate on the Sunday for lunch and we have planned some upcoming trips and things to do in London. One of the things we have planned, which I am pretty excited about is seeing Romeo and Juliet in Shakespeare’s Globe, a recreation of the original that would have once been there! Very excited!

The day was gorgeous on Monday, so I checked out a few more parks, in between house hunting, man I have been to some ghettos, and I am beginning to wonder if I will ever find somewhere half way decent to live! I am not that fussy, I just want a bed in a reasonably safe area – surely not a hard request!! Hmmm………

The day ended with a lovely sunset which I watched from Eggers balcony as the sun set on another week in London town, what will the following week bring one wonders!

Photos; London Fields Blossoming!

Photos; Another park in bloom down in Hackney

Photos; The stages of the day from Eggers Balcony! Gorgeous!

Spring Has Hit London

2009-04-07T23:29:00.016+10:00

The birds are twirping, the blossoms are out, and most of all, the people are smiling! (i know, shock horror!!!)

This has been a good week, I have managed to secure a job, its for 4-6 weeks, pays reasonably well and is for the position of a Project Coorfinator. I kind of feel like I have winged my way in, but hey, I just need to continue bluffing my way through. A lot of its going to be event management things, the other finance (gulp), so fingers crossed, it will all go well.

We headed out to a local old man's pub to watch england play someone in the soccer, clearly not really there to watch the soccer, it's one game I just can't get my head around! Anyway had a great night out, but didn't get to bed until 3am! Work the next day! eek!

Photos; A night out

In other news, the weather on the weekend was FANTASTIC - well maybe a slight exageration, but for London, it was as good as it gets! The sun was shining! Saturday, Mila, Jo and I set off for the park, how could you not on such a gorgeous day! The park was packed, dogs running around, people soaking up the sun, some sun bathing (a little extreme i think), picnics, soccer, you name it, people were out and about!

We wandered around the park, Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens looking mainly for the little statue of Peter Pan. I have memories of me and Mum doing laps of this park looking for the bloody thing, and history was to repeat! Finally after asking for directions we managed to find the boy who never grew up! It was being used by children as a jungle gym much to the delight of their parents and horror of others watching! Art is not a play ground! grrrr!!!

Photos; Hyde Park

Photos; How awesome is this duck!

Photos; Mila Hugging the bears, awww. More of the park

Anyway it was a lovely day of roaming around the park. We made our way to Westfields (which has just finished being built in London) as we heard a delightful rumor that Boost Juice had arrived and we weren't disappointed! Man its nice to have a fruit smoothie that you know so well from home. Naturally they are not as good as back home, a little runnier and ingredients just not quite up to our fresh standards, but still, it was good!!!

On Sunday I mMet up with an old collegue, Seb, for lunch on the Sunday, we headed to a little pub with a beer garden! It was nice to sit outside and catch up on news! That evening I cooked mexican, as I have finally perfected guacamole and salsa after being in Central America, the recipes I collected on the way round have sure come in handy!!!

Another bit of good news is that we have booked a trip to Portugal for the bank holiday in May! Now there is something to look forward to!

Other trips being looked into are; Morocco, Croatia, Africa, and Scandanavia! Stay tuned! and if you win the lottery, please think of donating to the Narelle World Fund! :)

Finally!

2009-04-02T03:23:00.002+11:00

I have secured a short term contract! You are now looking at a Project Coordinator!!!!

wooooooo hooooooooooooooooo

Monopoly vs EastEnders

2009-03-29T11:00:00.000+11:00

I have to say, walking around this city feels like you are playing Monopoly with the cast of East Enders. As you walk around London, you see all the familar roads you learnt as a child, Angel, Mayfair, Piccadilly etc, its stupid, but it still gives me a giggle, I am sure after a time I will be oblivious and unreceptive to it as the people walking around me.

Then there is the mix of people here, every culture you can imagine in one big melting pot. But the funny thing is the coldness of the place. No one talks, no one helps one another. Being on the tube is like being on your own individual planet. Whether the person is immersed in their music, books, or newspaper, or simply looking anywhere else but at the person near them, its strange. Very strange. No one helps one another, they are an isolated bunch. Not sure if I like that at all. But yet, if you approach someone, or signal them out in work or on the street, then whoosh it's like a complete character change and they are helpful. Maybe this is an English trait, I don't know.

Then you have the chavs as they call them, or the lower class, that really have no problems with sharing their problems with the world and in fact scream them out in a massive confrontation, be it in the street, in a restaurant or where ever. It's often cringe worthy. Clearly there is no in betweens!!!

This week has been exciting with actually 4 days work, crap pay, but beats sitting at home going mental!! Hopefully this will continue........the working that is!!!

On the weekend, Jo and some of her friends were heading down to the Thames to watch the annual boat race between Oxford and Cambridge. She invited me along, so off I troddled. We met up with her friends, had a quick pint and then headed down to the river. The place was packed!!! They had a big screen up, with everyone congregating around that or over by the banks, hoping to catch a glimpse as they sped past.

The race itself is short enough, the record is 16mins, 19seconds. We struggled on tip toes to see the race, but caught a mear glance as they sped past through the masses of heads, so some of the pictures clearly aren't mine, the ones that aren't will clearly stick out! But I am happy to report, the team I was supporting (thanks to Kim and her time there), Oxford took out the winning place!

I have to say I was pretty disappointed with the crowds response, maybe again, its an english thing, but the atmosphere was ordinary. Usually for that amount of people, you would expect some excitement, a bit of cheering and stirring going on in the crowd, but instead it was more a case of the occasional lacklustre cheer and a general muttering of the crowd! Strange!

Photos; 1.In action, 2.The crowds, 3.The race

Photos; 1.If you look carefully in the back you can see the boats, 2.Massive crowds, 3.Disappointed Jo's with Cambridges efforts!!

We headed back for a pub crawl on the way back! The sun was shining, so a nice day regardless! Go Oxford!!!

Photos; 1.Church in Hammersmith, 2.The Jo's

Work Day Blues

2009-03-22T02:28:00.003+11:00

What can I say, not working is doing my head in, and it's not for lack of trying!

The girls, Nigel and I went down to a local comedy night, deciding we all needed a laugh. I have to say it was a really good night out, and the comedians were all pretty funny, which is always a bonus! An unexpectedly good night!

This week has been all about agencies saying, yes we have a role, then no it's fallen through, more frustrating then I can say! Then other agencies just not returning your call as the job has clearly fallen through. I have signed up with a further 6 this week! Fingers crossed.

Friday saw a bunch of the Habibies meet up for Brigitte's leaving do, she is heading home to Australia. (there seems to be a theme of people heading back I have to say! hmmm) But again a great night of catching up with them. Egypt really was an awesome trip for meeting people, and will be up there with one of the best I have done I think!

Photos; The Habibies

On the Saturday I met up with Kristin and we wandered around Spittalfields market, which amazed me, as the stuff there really is quite pricey, not what I was expecting for a market. They do have great food stalls here though in all the markets, lots of varied cultures coming together with fresh gorgeous food!

Kilburn Rock City

2009-03-15T10:30:00.001+11:00

Time for a move again, this time, Jen my mate from Central America has hooked me up with people from where she used to stay, a very generous lot of people with a lot of compassion for people who need a kick start in London. So Mila and Jo thankfully offered me the use of their couch and I have become an honory member of the Kilburn Rock City group!

At the time, they were currently looking for a new housemate, so quite entertainingly I got to meet some of the candidates, which only enforces for me what a mixed bag of personalities and races London is!

Finally they decided on an Irish guy called Nigel from Waterford.

I have been and logged in with a bunch of agencies and just twiddling my thumbs currently waiting and calling them! Most frustrating I have to say.

Highlight of the week, I caught up with Correen and Katrina and we headed out. Met a bunch of loons that work at Shell, so they bought us drinks all night. Strange bunch though. Was great catching up with some more of the Habiby bunch though!

Saturday I went and caught up with Trish and we watched Ireland vs Scotland in the 6th Nations, with Ireland coming one more game closer to winning the Grand Slam, it brought back memories of being back in Ireland and watching the rugby! I have to say I much prefer the rugby over the soccer!!!

Arrival in London!

2009-03-15T09:16:00.002+11:00

Well I have arrived back in London, its cold, although not as cold as I thought it would be!

I will upload some photos and stories of the last 5 months soon! Stay tuned!

The week in Crouch End

2009-03-08T03:39:00.011+11:00

Upon arriving back I departed from Eggers and Alison's place and took up residence on my Habiby sisters couch! The lovely Kristin has kindly loaned me her couch and on noneother then her birthday!

We headed out for an absolutely gorgeous Moroccan meal, which only enhanced my need and want for a)going to Morocco and b)doing a Moroccan cooking course!! Another note, I finally met Kristin's man, Ruairi, who is from Northern Ireland!

Photos; Crouch End

Another week of mindnumbing rejections and applications for jobs, it is really not looking positive. I did one day's temping this week, better then nothing, but argh, it's slowly getting to me! I am employable dammit!

So during the week, I set off on an adventure, getting completely lost, I stumbled on the holy arsenal arena, not really meaning much to me but to the die hard Arsenal fan's, a holy ground no less, but to other 'normal' people a mear stadium!

Putting myself back on track, I headed for the famed Camden Markets, a mishmash of ideas coming together along with an interesting bunch of people. I have to say, this area is all about the people, with a few markets thrown in but man, the people! All sorts of walks, fashion, hairstyles, and colours here! It's an awesome spot for people watching!!! Highly entertaining! There are some great funky markets here as well..........but I was too transfixed by the goings on!!!

Photos; Famous Camden Markets

Photos; The Canal
From there, I headed up the street to wander around Regents Park, which was quite lovely, a gorgeous brisk day with a splash of the golden stuff, I enjoyed strolling around this massive park, watching the ducks, admiring the flowering daffodils! Then I happened across the London Zoo, from the outside, it looks very ordinary, and why they don't have a more natural environments I don't know, but from the park, I could see the very obvious Australia section, with some emus and wallabys in a dirt fenced in area..........not really a place I want to visit I think. Up from there were some two humped camels and llamas hanging around outside a concrete looking building. hmmm.

Photos; Regent's Park

Friday night we went out with some of Kristin's work collegues, which was nice to meet them and I got to see Kristin's classroom, a great place, very colourful and decorated!

Saturday I went up to Alexandra's Palace to check it out and get some fresh air. Quite an impressive building and is now used for conferences, and the park land overlooks the valley and gives a great view over parts of London. I really must get out and explore more, it's just hard when you are trying to save money and have none coming in! Grrr!

Photos; Alexandra's Palace

Another week over, at least the weather has been nice this week, although I fear I am losing my tan already!

The Emerald Isle

2009-03-02T17:00:00.005+11:00

I made my way back to the Emerald Isle for the weekend, planning to catch up with a few of the old crew!

I arrived in on Thursday night and was able to catch up with Jim and Phil, old collegues from Schering Plough. Was great to catch up on their current going on's and talk about the old days. It's amazing, but the day I was stuck in the office with an exploding sewer always seems to happen with the popular phrase, 'I got a call and shit was hitting the fan...literally!' We went out to the old favourite Kehoes, which always reminds me of drinking in someones lounge, and even though there is a massive crunch on Ireland's finances, the place was still full! We grabbed a very late dinner and parted ways!

Photos; Pulling a pint at the old local, Jim, Naz and Phil, Therese and Naz, and Tony and Naz

From there I did a dash down to one of my favourite places in Dublin, where I spent many a weeknight, the Ha'Penny Inn Pub where the famed Battle of the Axe takes place! What a blast from the Past that was! I was able to catch up with my old boss Tony, and my favourite bar wench Therese and the other guys there. Ending up heading out to Temple Bar with her and Rob (a fellow comedian) and drank late into the night! Ahhh the mighty Bulmers was calling my name that night!

The next day I headed back to Dundrum, the office I helped to build, and met up with a few of the crew for lunch at our favourite lunchtime spot in the Dundrum Mall. Not much has changed, a few more offices filled, a couple of buildings in the area shot up, but on the whole, all still the same! From there, I headed to meet up with one of my Irish sisters, Michelle, whom I was travelling up to Donegal with!

We headed off on the long drive up, stopping briefly at her place on the way, was great to sit and chat with her and catch up on all the news! Upon arriving in Donegal, a true favourite of mine out of all Ireland has to offer, I was greeted with a big hug from Mammie and Daddy McGinty! Was lovely to see them again and felt like I had never left!

We settled in for the weekend, catching up on adventures of past. I love spending time up there, its like home away from home! Thanks for a great weekend!

Sunday night we headed back to Michelle's where I was able to catch up with Fi, who wasn't able to make it up for the weekend and catch up on all her news. All in all it was great to see them all! Brought back lots of good memories I have of spending time with the whole family over there. Headed back to London early on Monday morning!

Photos; Mammie

London Town

2009-02-25T10:00:00.013+11:00

Well I never thought I would be in London, but with the economic crisis I find myself in the place I never imagined being!
I arrived from Buenos Aires via Frankfurt on Luftansa, travelling firstclass thanks to my mate David! (Thanks David!) I have to say, it was both awesome and dreadful to see how the other half live! Extreme flying luxury, with complete reclining beds, unlimited alcohol and food at your service, a rose with dinner, you name it, nothing is too much here! Upon arriving in Franfurt I was able to access the brand new lounge which again is amazing!!! I could have had a bed to catch some z's, have a bath or shower (which I totally did - 8 months without access to a bath and then being presented with one that you can practically float in, well hell yes I did!!), full access to an open bar and restaurant, nibblies, internet access, and to top it off a limo service to the plane! Man! What a way to travel! I was driven in a Porche to the plane, where all the economy kids were locked on there hot crowded stuffy bus, while me, complete with mini backpack, was escorted on the plane and greeted by name!!! Too funny!!! But great memories that is for sure! The downside is, how will I ever go back to cattle class! Oh well!!!

Photo's; Dining in style in first class!

Arriving to a cold brisk english night, I was met by a good mate Eggers who graciously offered up their place for me to stay at for a few days. I was able to meet his lovely wife and daughter again, which was great.

Following this Alison, Lola and I went out exploring the area. Alison knowing my pashion for graffiti, took me around the area showing me the massive toasters, owls, banksys and other artists work! We had a great lunch at a little farmers market, not what I expected to see in the east of London and then wandered on, stopping for refreshments and some colouring in and then a quick stop in the park on the way home for a swing and slide (for Lola obviously! although I was tempted!!) It was great to hang out with these guys again!

Photo's; Some of the local artwork

Photos; Colouring in fun with Lola and Alison!

In between of course, I have been busy hunting down jobs, setting up bank accounts and working out what on earth I am doing! Easy stuff you could say..........

Charming Chicago

2008-10-06T10:18:00.027+11:00

27th September

Big thanks to mum, Mags and Stepha who saw me off at the airport, was lovely to see you guys and catch up that one last time! Strangely enough, due to our conversation I'm sure, I had quite a few chatty travel companions on the plane so had some interesting chats on the way over!!

Arrived after a few hiccups with the American immigration firmly believing I was lying and that I had indeed lost passports, much to my exhaustion and dismay they almost had me believing that I had indeed lost my mind and that I had lost the passport, but I stayed strong and insisted and was directed to that other 'line' or room. Border control ideas going through my mind, I sat down with great horror! Seemingly it was merely my frequent flyers displaying my old passport and they let me go……phew!!

Thanks for the footy update Stepha, got your message and thought, awesome work Hawthorn!! Got to Chicago Airport which has to be the sweetest smelling airport I've ever been in, it's strange, like a candy floss/lolly smell! Maybe I was just delirious with tiredness too!! But I got my bags, and headed for the train. I seriously hope Chicago get the 2016 Olympics as an upgrade to their rail lines is much needed! Riding on their trains is like being on a rollercoaster and you know your chances are 50/50 as to whether you will derail!!! One bumpy scary ride! It still never ceases to amaze me, that with all my bags and jet lagged eyes hanging out of my head look going on people still come up and ask me for directions!!

Making it to the hostel after what seems hours of train travel and scary rides, I check in, top bunk and basically die, not even hearing the roaring trains going past the open window or the extraordinarily loud fan situated right next to my bed, and sleep till about 2.30am before thinking man it must be morning, only to realize, err, NO! Go back to sleep!!

28th September

After a decent night sleep, I approached the main desk, got a map and headed into town – well really the wrong way, with the help of a very nice bus driver I was back on the right track and bound for the city. Passing by what looks to be an ocean but in fact is a large lake – one of the big 5, Lake Michigan. Apparently its fresh water but they are having problems with boats bringing in foreign bugs and problems, but it's raging today much like the sea at home! It's so big you can't see over the other side.

I catch the bus right down through the main city and decide to work my way back. Getting off the bus I discover that Chicago is a pretty city, a lot having to do with the massive rebuild back in the 1800's after the great fire. It's done them well, and they did an awesome job of rebuilding, as I look around I am reminded of TV shows such as Ally McBeal as I see common buildings shown on these shows.

Photos; Main Stream Chicago

I head over towards the park, remembering that someone had told me about a fountain that used to be on the married with children TV show at the start, I wander around for a while looking for this only to find it all fenced off and renovations being done, so I took a picture through the fence!

Photos; Gardens and if you look at the top right, that is the fountain from Married with Children - under construction!! Check out the flowers though, the city is very colourful!

From there I walked up to Millennium Park where I spent my afternoon watching people and enjoying the sites, it's a great park! For starters all the gardens are relatively still in bloom, then there are the artwork and exhibitions on in the gardens, at the moment there is a poster art competition going on with some really cool posters. Great idea. As I wandered through I hit another exhibition – a wired one – a look at the technology going forward, robots, advanced technology etc. Pretty interesting as I walked through and some very cute guys too!! Cute nerds operating here!!

Photos, The Wifi exhibit and the fountain after it sprays water is like a gushing waterfall

From there I walked down to another of the famous fountains, massive walls with people's faces on them and then every 10-15 mins they blow water out of their faces! It's cool! The faces continually change as well, or all races, they look around and smile, pretend to be about to spray you, grin again and then finally do! Kids love it, running through the water, dashing closer then away from the mouths much to their parent's dismay!! Comical!

Photos; How cool is this water fountain, the people change and spray water every 5-10 mins!

I continued on to what has to be the best and most popular piece of art, in which I think every city should have – the jelly bean! What's this I hear you saying, I've clearly lost the plot, but nope it's not true (well not on this instance), it's this huge mirrored jelly bean and it's totally cool! People run up and touch it, posing etc. But just looking at it, as it reflects people and the Chicago sky line behind it is awesome. It sounds silly I know but at either end, standing back, its like a giant rain drop reflecting the city, very very cool. Then in the middle underneath you look up and it's like a kaleidoscope! Very cool, you can't help but be drawn towards it!

Photos; Probably my favourite thing in Chicago - every city should have one - the mirrored jelly bean!

I wandered down to the garden and chill out and read my book and people watch for a while, there's even a wedding. It's a nice way to spend the remainder of the afternoon, before I start wandering down the magnificent mile, as it's called! Basically it's a long shop with all the high price shops on it, tiffany's, Macys, apple, art shops etc. BIG money in other words!! It's cool to walk down though.

As I make my way, I walk over this seriously wobbly bridge –the main bridge mind you, and arrive at the Chicago Tribune – a famous Chicago paper, and there are some cool statues around here as well, the buildings all shooting up around, with a new Trump building hitting the skyline as well. Nearby is NBC as well. It's all around me!!

Jumped on a bus eventually and headed back towards the hostel, totally missing my stop again, but its ok, the bus driver takes pity on me and shows me the right way back!! A good first day!

Tuesday 29th September

Waking up after a shocking night's sleep, trains clearly starting up this morning and running every 5-10 mins past my ear, not great!! And too boot the weather has taken a turn and its pouring down! Oh well, I head back in on the bus – the right way this time and decide to go catch a movie, so end up seeing Towel Head, which is a bit wrong and a 'oh my god, don't go there, oh too late, you went there' type of movie!

Heading back out a little shell shocked I bumped into an older lady who had been to see the same movie, and I ended up hanging out with her for a while, she took me to some cool hidden gardens in the city, telling me about her life and what she had done, a bit of a self confessed nerd and loved her movies and music. A nice lady.

She invited me to see another free movie, but I had to catch up with a couch surfing potential for the evening, and headed back to the hostel to pick up my bags and make my way out to her place. Couch surfing is where you stay on someone's couch and they tell you about their city or show you around at times too. Beth is housing me tonight and lives in a great neighborhood, and a really nice chick! She is also heading to Australia in December so I am able to help her out with a few suggestions and packing ideas and we chill out chatting about travel and watching Heroes and One Tree Hill with me trying to work out what the hell has happened as clearly these are up to date episodes – quite strange to see them firsthand!!

30th September

The weather has cleared up and I head around the neighborhood with a map and suggestions from Beth, looking forward to seeing a new part of Chicago otherwise hidden from me. I found a cool little coffee shop and chilled out and had ordered a medium hot chocolate and was presented with a huge bowl cup – mental note – next time order small!!

Chicago is cool in the way that it doesn't allow a lot of the larger chain stores within its city limits, and looks after the little businesses, which is pretty cool. I wandered up and down, and around the neighborhood, getting an incite into every day life, and passed so many dentists that I took it as a sign that I needed to get my tooth looked at as it was still killing me, so I walked in and made an appointment, following that I needed to call my insurance company. Now finding a public phone is quite a challenge I have to say, I understand that most people these days have mobiles, but what about the people that don't or who are on holidays, what are they supposed to do! So I walked up and down in the other direction, asking people if they knew where one was and I swear they looked at me like I was asking them for the fare to the moon or something equally outrageous!!! Pretty funny I guess, but quite frustrating.

Finally I met two little old ladies, who asked me for directions, and I asked them where there might be a public phone, quite a debate broke out, in the end, one of them telling me to try the bank and that I should ask to speak to the president of the bank himself!!! As if they don't have enough going on to be worried about as it is!!! So I tried the bank and luckily I got a nice lady who let me use the phone! Didn't need to speak to the president after all!

After this I caught the train down to another part of town that Beth had recommended and wandered about there, lots of funky little shops and cool areas, would have liked to explore some more but had to go back to the dentist – not something I was looking forward to.

Found my way back, had some x-rays and then sat and waited, finally a nice man came out, as dentist goes (Mike/Magda you clearly are exceptions too) he was pretty cool! He explained it all to me and what not, the tooth to come out! So he hands me a piece of machinery, I looked in wonder and said, err what's this for?! He said, oh it's a suction thing, you can use it when you need to!!! Never had that happen before, so that was a bit strange to say the least!! Anyway he shot me up, numbing my mouth and proceeded to push, pull and tug at my tooth, but apparently it's quite well stuck in there, so he stopped, and decided I need to go to an expert! What was he I wondered! He reassures me these other guys pull teeth all day long, it's their specialty and he didn't want t have anything go wrong as he knew I was off on Sunday! So he took out some of the nerve, chopped off half the tooth and sent me off with pain killers, a number and his private number if anything went really wrong before I got to the other guys! Great!!! Now my mouth hurts even more!

Got back to Beth's and her ex had arrived, having been in Puerto Rico for the last month or more. He was the one that got Beth into couch surfing and was a really nice guy. We ended up going out for Thai and had a few drinks (2 buck specials!) where I got asked for ID!!!!!! I couldn't believe it and haven't been carded in I don't know how long, so didn't have any on me and ended up chatting with the owner/manager who let me off! Clearly as I look 16 and all!! Pfft! We also caught up with one of Beth's other friends, Mylina, who was also involved in couch surfing. Great night of laughs, as we traded stories and ideals on the world, and I endeavored to explain some Aussie slang, much to the humor of us all!

2nd October

Up at the crack of dawn, I make my way down to the dentist, a sick feeling in my stomach, the 4 blocks told to me turning into more like 20 blocks, finally finding the place. I'm showed in and fill in forms and before long I am quietly freaking out waiting for the dentist in the chair while his assistant explains different things to me.

To cut a horrible story short, a few needles, so pulling and tugging and I am now one tooth lighter! I am in recovery for about 15 mins and then am sent on my way…. I wander back to the hostel via the supermarket to stock up on soups and yoghurts and then luckily they let me into the hostel – as its shut from 11am – 2pm!! I veg out on the couch and end up sleeping as these tablets have me really dozy and dizzy! A nice man I met the night before from Australia, took pity on me and cooked my soup and brought me water!! Nice huh!!

In the end I ended up watching the vice presidential debate with a bunch of Americans and foreigners, and I had to laugh! It's pretty entertaining when one candidate has so much to prove but won't actually answer a question unless it suits her!! Go figure!! I haven't really met many people – actually any – that support Palin and McCain, go Obama apparently!!

3rd October

Still feeling ordinary, but needing to check out, I packed my stuff up and just cruised down the main street and did some people watching and wandering up and down the main streets. I found the main theatre area and went back to my favourite spot, as the sun was shining, so got some more pics of the jelly bean - can you tell I love it!!!

That afternoon I was meeting my new couch surfing host, Sherry. So I dashed back to the hostel and grabbed my bags and made my way to the meeting spot. Sherry had been great in helping me find Beth, so was looking forward to meeting her. She is a 40 something woman, single, lives in a one room apartment near north shore, has one grown up son and seems to be in a bit of financial difficulty but has a passion to travel – just no funds to do so – so lives through couch surfing. We head down the local neighborhood and catch up with some of her friends who also are couch surfers/hosts and have a good night out with them.

4th October

We get up this morning and have some breakfast and head down to Andersonville which is having an art festival on. This is a very cool neighborhood and if I lived here I would be hanging out here, lots of arty farty, nicnac shops, great restaurants and just a general great buzz about the place. We wander in and out of shops and museums for the afternoon, time easily passing by! We meet another of Sherry's friends, Don, who is from Thailand and living and working in Chicago. We stop at this awesome little café called the travelers café – Kobi. Kobi being the Indonesian word for coffee, anyway it's a great little café to hang out in, and naturally very busy!

We head back later and decide to grab Thai for dinner, and Don joins us. It's a great little Thai place, and we head to this little English pub, where the game is on – the baseball that is, so the place is pretty full. Unfortunately the cubs aren't doing so well, but these are loyal hardcore dedicated fans regardless!

Sherry has decided that she wants another tattoo and we encourage her to get a couch! She loves the idea, and if she had the money (or if we had of paid) then she would definitely have gotten one!!!

5th October

Plans a bit awry today after Sherry does a look-over at her funds, so we decide to head into town, as she needs to buy her mum a birthday present, and I need to change over some traveler's cheques! Easy you would think, not so! Eventually a local supermarket is able to do it for me! Thankfully, I would never travel with them normally but they were left over from my job the summer before. I won't be getting them again!!

As we walk around the city, you get the distinct smell of chocolate! Apparently there is a chocolate factory near by and its a regular thing - can you imagine the temptation of living in a place where you regularly smell chocolate!!! Oh my god!!!

It's been interesting meeting some locals, getting their thoughts on politics and the city they live in and seeing the conditions they live in. It's a vibrant city, beautiful on top, with some rusty structures underneath. If they were to get the Olympic Games as they hope to in 2016, it would do wonderful things to their infrastructure and bring some much needed change I am sure!

Economically, it seems that Chicago is the only major city for a few nearby states, so brings in a lot of people for work, but yet has a high unemployment level, and for some making a life and living is a lot harder. But then it also comes down to sacrifices and what you are willing to do to get yourself out of it. I am finding you can try and help people, but sometimes its not enough, they have to make the first step……frustrating as that might be to watch and see! I'm heading out to the airport tonight for my 3am flight to Guatemala! I'm guessing not much sleep is going to be had, but I am pretty excited I have to say! Let the adventure continue!

That wind has got me caught again

2008-09-01T14:11:00.009+10:00

Well its that time again, after a rough time, I am heading off again, and heading off on Grand Final Day no less, 27th September. The plan goes as follows;

I'll be in Chicago for a week

Heading down to Guatemala and starting the following tour on the 10th October

http://www.tucantravel.com/tour.php?tour_id=73&wl=

Then we'll (Robyn and I) be wondering around South America for a few months starting up in Panama and working down and around - see map of South America, ending up in Carnival in Feb!(feel free to join us at any point!!)

Then luckily for me, I have snuck in before the rule changes in the UK, so finally have my visa (AND passport) in hand and I will be heading over there, so watch out all of you!!

Bare with me, I am slowly updating China and Thailand, hopefully it will be updated soon!! China is almost done!!!

See you on the road........

x

Good times in Aus

2008-09-01T03:32:00.000+10:00

My time is Australia was only meant to be a few months and turned into a bit longer. It was awesome catching up with family and friends, hanging out at the beach, seeing a good friend tie the knot with a lovely bloke, catch some good old aussie rules football and being back in my home country.

Here are a few photos of my time back home, not even covering all the time, but a few snapshots of the last couple of months of my time there! To those who I did catch up with, thanks for making the effort and it was great to see you! To those who are making plans to come over next year, i look forward to seeing you!

Photos; My second home

Photos; The mighty bombers defeat the pies!

Photos; Isabel and Jimmy's wedding

Photos; Kylie and Josh as his birthday party

Photos; Steph, Sal and I messing around, The Mornington Peninsula and Picnicing with the family

Photos; Briony, Mikayla and Darren, The Cat Family and me and my sisters!

Day 22 - Macau

2008-06-13T16:11:00.001+10:00

So we try this morning again to get to Macau, in hindsight, I think I should have taken it as a sign we weren’t meant to go!!! We board the boat, and set off, the sky is dark grey and stormy and the water matches. The waves progressively get worse, the spewing starts all around us, the boat is going up at an alarming angle and slamming down, we should have probably turned around, but we are stuck in the middle so they press on. We have to stop a few times its so bad. It’s all I can do to hold it together and my gaze stays focused on the drenched window and hazy horizon. What a nightmare. To make things worse, Paul clearly doesn’t suffer seasickness, hasn’t ever experienced the horror that it is and finds it greatly humorous and his banter making it a lot worse. They guy seriously needs to learn some compassion and sympathy for his fellow man! Not impressed!!

Finally we make it to Macau and not a minute too soon, still feeling really ordinary, I try for the ginger drink and push through, ignoring Paul’s comments, and eventually he shuts up about it! grrr We have some lunch after deciding to do a day trip, which we organise at the ferry terminal.

Photos; Our not so stable craft!

While waiting I sold Paul to a dodgy looking Pilipino man, I could have sold him a few times during the trip, but thought I best save him!! We set off on the tour, which was very rushed, we found we were not given the allocated time at each point.

Firstly we hit this giant golden lotus, which against the dark sky looked quite impressive, as we dodged the rain, got our happy snaps and were rushed back to the bus!!

Photos; The Golden Lotus!

We hit an old ruin and city/fortress wall firstly, and had to rush around there to see it all, which we did. Saw the most adorable puppy there, so soft and friendly, fell in love immediately!! Then there were these snails that were half the size of your hand, never seen such big snails before! There were cannons protecting the old fort, and you could get a great view around the city from up there.

From there we were rushed through town, not helping that people on the tour just wandered off, so we had to wait for them, the guide having no control at all! The city is beautiful, lots of old styles of buildings in a variety of colours, quite pretty and it would have been nice to have more time wandering around.

Photos; Old Ruins and the township

From there the rains poured down, and we made our way to the tall observation building and made our way up, its very tall and high with a glass floor of course! Which Paul loved! It again gave great panoramic views of the city. Oh and he informs me that the Grandprix is held here so he is a little excited over this being a HUGE fan!

Photos; Observation Tower

We went to an old temple here, most people on the bus not even bothering to get off and have a look, we felt bound to and so went and had a quick look, pretty standard temple though!!

Photos; Old Temple

From there we headed to where there are a series of old colonial buildings, and they are quite nice and surrounded by a lake filled with water lilies. They are all painted green for some reason, not quite sure why though!

After that we went to a shop where of course we are flogged stuff! We were told we needed to give money to the guide for the ticket, which we thought was a little odd as it was all meant to be included. We did try the egg cakes, which are a must if you do go, they are delicious! They also gave us these seaweed biscuit things, which were disgusting! I didn’t like them at all, and then these other little almond shortbread type things, not great either, but apparently a specialty of the island!

Photos; Colonial Home

Photos; Cooking up their specialties and Paul weakens and buys some to take home!

From there we were back on the bus, and after speaking to some of the others on the bus who spoke English and Chinese, we found out that this money for a ticket was actually a tip for the guide! We were none to impressed with this who tour, it was rushed, she barely spoke English (which we were assured she did) we got back 1 and a ½ hours early and then tricked into tipping! Don’t ever book a tour at the ferry terminal for this place is my advice!!! We couldn’t even speak to the operators as they had conveniently closed when we got back! So overall the day in Macau wasn’t very successful or enjoyable!

We tried to get an earlier ferry back but so were about 300 others, so we had to wait it out, thankfully the ride back wasn’t as bumpy and I was able to sleep my way through it!! We got back to Hong Kong around 8:30, and grabbed some dinner before having to go back to the hostel and packing, it was a late night as we had a lot to do! Not a great way to spend our last night, but maybe this was meant to be!

Photos; Home of the Grandprix, we walked on the track, terminal and our calmer journey home!!