Matt & Michelle

Websites, Work, Weddings, Welton and Wimbledon...

2010-06-27T10:52:00.005Z

I was sad to read that Palace Fan is bringing his blog to an end after 5 years. He's had a good innings in the blogosphere and I'm sure he will start up a new one as he's moving with his family to Oz in the next couple of weeks. To be honest, it's touch and go if this blog will continue for much longer as neither of us seem to have the time to write even a few lines these days , let alone a whole post. We've both been that busy, which I'll come on to in a minute, and don't seem to get a minute spare these days. But we'll soldier on for a bit longer if that's ok with you!

So, the title of the post says it all really, and I'll go through them in order!

Websites; you probably know that since last August time I have been "experimenting" (that's probably the most apt description) with building websites for various different projects. I've put a lot of work into them and some of them have been quite rewarding financially, but for the most part it was my interest in IT, ecommerce and generally messing about with computers that kept me going. Well I'm glad to say that I've stepped away from 2 of these sites for one reason or another, and I'm now not stressing out trying to do a day job AND manage multiple websites.

When I started on these things were a bit up in the air (at Comet - and by the sound of it they still are up in the air!) and so I was just trying to have a backup plan in case I was handed a "thanks for all your hard work but we don't need you anymore" letter. Things didn't come to that luckily, which was a relief, but I carried on with the sites anyway.

In the end an argument over money (things usually come to that don't they?) put stop to 2 of the sites so now I'm just concentrating on our own venture, www.gardengear.co.uk, and hope to launch this very soon.

Work; the new job is going really well and I'm really glad I made the move from Comet. It was a bit of a gamble, but it has definitely paid off. I enjoyed my time at Comet, except maybe the last 6 months, but it was time for me to move on to pastures new. Republic is a smaller company but is on the rise and will become a big brand over the next couple of months/years. It's good to be in a team/company where everyone mucks in and the politics are not as prominent. Don't get me wrong , I'm sure Republic has it's fair share of politics , but I've been lucky enough not to experience them yet!

Weddings; things have slowed down a bit on this front for now. I'm sure Michelle will comment that they never even got going for me anyway ;0) My only involvement to this point was tasting canapes at Ramada Jarvis ; they were very nice too. Most of the invites have gone out though.

Welton; not quite content with having a new job and a wedding to contend with this year we decided to buy a house too! It's in Welton and is an absolute beauty! The garden is immense and we're both looking forward to getting out there and getting in touch with our Percy Thrower sides. We're hoping to complete the deal at the end of July, so not long to wait. One other added bonus is our new neighbours aren't French which is always good!

So finally onto Wimbledon; we "won" tickets in the ballot (well my Mum did really and was very kind to let us have them) so we hot-footed down to SW19 on the train on Tuesday. It was an absolutely glorious day, a bit too hot for me, and we saw some great tennis. Serena Williams, Rafa Nadal and Robin Soderling on centre court and a few random players on the outlying courts. We took a coolbag loaded with goodies and strawberries and generally had a top day out. I could have quite happily sat there for 2 weeks watching tennis, eating and drinking cream teas and for the most part doing nothing ;0)

Well, that's it for now, the sun is out, the sunday papers are in and England are up against zee Germans later on. Oh yeah and I forgot to mention I've become an uncle again. Andrew and Gemma have just had their first baby, a little girl weighing at 8 pound something. Congrats to them both.

Adios,

p.s. i'm sure you all got the connection with the photo of George W. Bush. Get it? All the words in the title start with W? Never mind!

Absolutely Airbrush...

2010-03-18T11:22:00.004Z

After many weeks of hard work, reading, photoshopping and general messing about on my iMac, it gives me great pleasure to bring to you Absolute Airbrush, a great new website (well I would say that wouldn't I??) for all your airbrushing needs. A big THANKYOU to Adam J for the cool logo and artwork.

Check it out , Click here

This site is build on the Open Source osCommerce platform Visit osCommerce here, and is hosted by OpenByNature, check them out here

And now the end is near....

2010-03-02T21:23:00.004Z

Well, it must have been years since I've written a post (Sunday 11th October to be precise) and I've got some news so now seems as good a time as any!

First off, the BIG news, I'm leaving Comet and moving on to pastures new, Republic, the fashion retailer, again to be precise! Should be starting there just after Easter in my new role. I started Comet 12 years ago, and although there have been a few trips round the world thrown in for good measure, it does feel like 12 years now and it seems like the right time to hang up my gloves! I didn't take the decision lightly and have been pondering and procrastinating for well over a month now, but I know I've made the right decision!

Anyway, there's plenty more interesting stuff to write about too! We went to our first wedding fare (together!) on Sunday which happened to be at the venue we have chosen. I say (together) but it's really my first but i can't vouch for Michelle as she seemed to be a natural at it. On entering we took a right into a room which had 5 roast dinners laid out on a table. Hey, this is alright I thought, and preceded to sit down and take out my emergency knife and fork (I always carry a pair with me, well you never know do you?). Anyway, I was just about to stuff a mouthful of turkey and stuffing into my mouth when I noticed "for demonstration purposes only". What a strange notice, "demonstration purposes only" How can you demonstrate food without physical eating it??! What they should have done is have a load of food toffs, or better still that Aussie and the bald bloke off Masterchef there scoffing the food and talking b*lloc.... sorry nonsense!

"That my friend is a triumph!", "I could quite happily lick that plate clean", "first you get the turkey dancing on your tongue, then the stuffing comes out of nowhere and there's an explosion of flavours in the back of your throat!". Pair of nobheads!

So, after wrongly sitting down to a roast dinner, I then found myself being drawn to the canapes that were neatly laid on a silver platter. Michelle had wandered off to look at some seat coverings so I downed a few of them when noone was looking and then wandered off towards the windows. Lo and behold there was some wine to taste! I soon came to the conclusion that this wedding fare malarky wasn't so bad after all. I sipped (I was driving!) a couple of mouthfulls of red and white , obviously dispensing of the tasted wine into a spitoon, and then headed off to the bar. The bar wasn't open but that was the only place I hadn't been too yet! There wasn't a great deal to taste there so after a quick "about turn" I caught up with Michelle again who was just agreeing colour schemes for the seat covers. I won't tell you what colour they are as it will spoil the surprise on the day (that's if you are invited ;0)

When we finally got home I jotted down the dates of the remaining wedding fares in the area and we are now booked into one a week for the remainder of the year! Not really, but it wouldn't be so bad if we were as I can thoroughly recommend the food and drink!

Well, I think I'll leave it there, I've got a week off in March (to use up my remaining holiday), so I'm going to get out on my bike and get some snaps with my nearly-new camera. And then after that, the obligatory round of leaving dos starts. I'm pretty sure this is my third time leaving Comet, so this time I'll keep the leaving drinks very low key ;0)

Adios,

p.s. It is my third time I've "left" Comet although this time, as the Governor of California once said, "I DEFINATELY WON'T BE BACK!"

Baby Baby!!

2010-01-29T17:22:00.002Z

Well I don't know if there's something in the water or what, but almost everyone we know (about our age) is having or has recently had children!!
Now I know it's only natural when you get to our age that people will be starting / extending their families, but it is all the people that I least expected it from.
You know the sort of people that you think you have a "real" connection with because none of you want children!!
It seems me and Matt are amongst the minority in our choice to remain childless.
Having said that we have just had a lovely weekend with Gary and Eve and their two Ella (19 months) and Xander (8 weeks)they are bloody hard work though!
Gary and Eve hardly had a minute to themselves as they constantly fed, changed and entertained their tots.
As cute as they both are (the kids not Gary and Eve)we are still sure that kids are not for us. We may increase the head count of guinea pigs when we get our own house but that's as close to parenting we are going to come ;-)
Congrats to those of you who have recently revealed their baby news(identities remain anonymous)I think we have just about over come the shock!!

Wedding planning is coming along nicely, although I wish somebody could do it all for us, what started out to be a low key / cost affair is already running into the thousands, and that is without going mad on things that are not needed. We have booked some cracking entertainment for the evening and I'm sure it will be a memorable occasion for all the right reasons!
We have talked about honeymoon destinations but we are still undecided as to what were going to do, might be a mini RTW trip, we might also go back to the Maldives for some R&R, which I'm sure we will both need once the wedding is over.
I wouldn't make a very good project manager, not when it came to managing budgets anyway. Either that or I genuinely underestimated the cost of "wedding" type things!

Bryn and Smiffy are fit and healthy and very settled now, we have them out a couple of times a week for a little cuddle (more for my benefit than Matt's ;-)) They are both completely different personalities. Bryn is the friendlier of the two and will let you stroke him, will come to you for food and is generally very sociable. Smiffy however is the complete opposite, he won't let you stroke him and run off as soon as you go near the cage to put his food in. He also fidgets a lot when we have them both out, where as Bryn will sit quite contentedly.
Love em to bits though, they are ever so funny, and really nice little creatures to have.

I've been on holiday for two weeks, which has been bliss. Matt was off for the 1st week too but the second week I've had all to myself. I've really enjoyed the break and could get used to being off!
However with a wedding to arrange and two Guinea Pigs to keep looks like there's no chance!!!

Bryn & Smiffy

2009-12-24T13:08:00.008Z

Me and Matt have been talking about getting a dog for a while now, but we have both agreed that we work long hours, love our holidays etc so it's not really the right time to get one. The thing is though I absolutely love animals and feel like I've been missing out on all the happiness that pets can bring, so we have opted for two male guinea pigs instead!!

See attached pics of little Bryn and Smiffy (characters from Gavin & Stacey) Bryn is the ginger one.

They are adorable and have brought us lots of laughs with some of their antics! I have had guineas before but I'd forgotten how funny they really are! Because they are only babies they have a lot of energy and do a lot of jumping about (aka popcorning) this can only be described as popcorn going off in the microwave. They just spring up into the air and then run off with a little squeak, it's hilarious!

they also love tube to run through, stacks of fresh hay to munch, and just chewy things in general, not to mention a healthy supply of fresh greens every day!!!

Anyway see attached pics of the little critters, Bryn and Smiffy Looby :-)

Going to the Chapel

2009-11-26T17:50:00.006Z

Hey folks - sorry it's been a while, once again not a great deal going on other than the every day razzmatazz! That said we do have some big news, and that is that, Gavin & Stacey is back on tonight at 9pm!!

No seriously, we have finally booked our wedding for Friday 29th October 2010. We will be having a Civil Ceremony (it could turn uncivil depending how much Matt and the best man have to drink the night before!) and it will be held in Hull.

Preparation is already underway, lists have been made up, frocks have been purchased and colours have been agreed!!! It's all extremely exciting, and to be honest i didn't realise just how much I wanted to marry Matt.

We are both looking forward to it, unfortunately we cannot invite everybody to the ceremony but we will be inviting as many people to the evening reception as we can (afford!!) Invites will be going out after Christmas so I will be contacting you all after Christmas for your addresses.

On a more mundane note, not a great deal else going on at the moment.
We will soon be celebrating my 40th Birthday, me and Matt are going to York and staying over at a nice hotel and then going out to dinner in the evening, so really looking forward to that, I've also got a night with the girls which my beautiful bezzy Anna has been busily organising, can't wait for that either, there are quite a few of us going so that should be a giggle! So many social events to attend in December, and so few outfits to wear!!!

Matt has been very busy too with his new websites that he is helping to design, and playing his new PS3 game, and spending every other spare minute on the internet. We have also been watching the Sex and the city box set that Nicola kindly lent to us the last time we were over there, it is a fantastic series and I would urge anybody to watch it, it is embarassingly hilarious at times, but really good fun and entertaining to watch.

Matt got a new SLR camera for his birthday but we haven't had much opportunity to get out and use it yet, so no interesting pics on Flckr just yet (watch this space)

Anyway, that's about it from me... more on the wedding to follow in the coming months (for those of you that are interested ;-))

Haystacks

2009-10-11T18:59:00.007Z

We missed a month of blogging again but to be fair (to both of us!) we have been extremely busy over the last couple of months. It just seems to be work , work and more work at the moment which is why this weekend , or the one just gone by the time most people are reading this, it was great to get away from it all and get some proper back to basics walking, eating and of course drinking in the glorious Lake District. We joined forces with Stew, Kirsty and loads of teachers and headed off to Braithwaite where we set up camp for 2 nights. The teacher/walking combination thing is a bi-annual affair for Stew and Kirsty but for us it was a first but definitely won't be the last!

We rocked up at about 7pm and met up with the school folk, who are a lovely bunch; they ranged from maths teachers, PE teachers, teacher assistants and more. I wasn't a big fan of teachers when I was at school but then I don't think anyone is really. This bunch were great though, they made us feel really welcome from the off. It helped that we went to an Indian and sank a few beers on the first night too, as you can't get much better than that really ;0)

We stayed in a kind of lodge cum hostel just outside of Braithwaite with proper bunk beds and everything! After a curry and some beers I was absolutely whacked so we turned in for an early night. Apparently we missed the entertainment which consisted of a reenactment of Mama Mia but the Hull version. It's called Mam I'm here, if you say it in a Hull accent you'll see why it's funny. Some of the girls are part of an amateur dramatics society and they have actually performed this to paying customers. I couldn't comment as I didn't see it, but it sounded like everyone was enjoying it, as we heard plenty of laughs and shrieks. At least I assume that was what the laughs and shrieks were for.

So, we rised and shined at 8am to a hearty cooked breakfast, and then before we knew it we were off in the car to Buttermere to begin the walk! Now we've been to the Lakes a few times before with Steen and Nicola but we have always escaped walking because a) the weather has been crap, b) we haven't made it past the pub, c) the weather has been crap, d) we've not made it past the pub and d) all of the above. So we were quite looking forward to actually doing a walk in the Lakes (at least I think we were!).

So we headed off from the carpark and started a gentle climb up a path-like track. The track soon became a steep, rock strewn path and after about 30 minutes we were about 3 miles high! Seriously, it was a baptism of fire! The path was really steep and it turned into more of a climb than a walk. We had quite a few short stops early on and when we turned to look at the view behind it was stunning (see below). I think we were all quite shocked (except Wilko, our guide, who had done the walk before) at how fast we ascended.

Once we got to the top, the way forward flattened out and we reached the edge of the plateau. This really showed off how high we were, I think it was about 2200ft, and it was certainly a lot cooler than when we started. After a short pause we then headed across a slate quarry to a stone hut in the middle of nowhere and it was time for lunch! (N.B. the last two paragraphs actual took about 3 hours of straining, huffing and puffing, but I though I'd summarise it)

After lunch we headed off towards Haystacks, the main goal of the walk. This is/was Alfred Wainwright's favourite part of the lakes and he described it as 'standing unabashed and unashamed in the midst of a circle of much loftier fells, like a shaggy terrier in the company of foxhounds’. Not sure I'd agree with that description, but it's definitely worth a look. The ascent to Haystacks was nowhere near as steep as the initial climb but it was still tough. This part of the walk was a lot busier, in fact I heard one party who were resting comment that they should have brought more tea and biscuits to sell to the masses!

Another rest at Haystacks and we started the descent. Now this part was actually the toughest part and really hard on the knees and calves. You're constantly leaning back so you don't go tumbling down the hill and take everyone else with you! We could actually see the carpark where we started after a while, but even after walking for 30 minutes it didn't seem to be getting any closer.

Sure enough though, after about another hour we made it back to the flat ground and were soon sat back in the car, aching like hell and wishing for a sauna. After a short drive we were back at the lodge with a cracking cup of tea in hand. It was a great walk, with many ups and downs, geographically and mentally, but one I'd love to do again. The evening soon began with a walk to the local pub and a HUGE 3 course meal, with a bonus piece of cake from the birthday party next door. Plus there was some top quality real ales including Theakstons. All in all a top night! Needless to say we missed the cabaret again as we were so tired.

Well that's about it now, I'm just catching the final of the snooker on BBC2, Michelle has collapsed in bed; I think she'll need to be ambulanced into work tomorrow as she's struggling with her legs!

Adios,

p.s. Did I forget to mention that we are off to Portugal next weekend for a week in the autumnal sun?? Woo Hoo!

Gadgets Gadgets Gadgets

2009-08-30T23:56:00.002Z

Well it's finally here.... and it's about time to! Check out the new site , www.ispy-gadgets.co.uk

Spy Gadgets Spy Gadgets Spy Gadgets

2009-08-11T11:11:00.005Z

Check out this link to a new website that a "colleague" of mine is working on. Please visit and add it to your bookmarks. Keep your eyes peeled for the launch date which will be publicised on this blog.

Click here for iSpy-Gadgets.co.uk

A blog is for life...

2009-08-02T14:18:00.001Z

You've all heard the saying a dog is for life not just for Christmas, well I feel a bit like that with our blog really. I've totally neglected it since we got home, for no other reason than; what is there to write about that anybody might be interested in and also just having the time.
I keep in touch with most people by FB nowadays,and on occasion actually manage to meet up with people face to face!!

There just isn't enough hours in the day for work, family, friends, loved ones etc..

We're settling into a Brough life, it took a month or so for me, as I do enjoy being in the city with lots of pubs, shops and restaurants on your doorstep, however the drive into work is now much easier and only take abut 7 minutes, as opposed to the 30 minute drive from Hull. Matt on the other hand settled straight in and loves getting the train in. The only thing the place lacks is a decent Indian Take Away, and any restaurants, it's very limited. Brough is an old place, but it has grown quite quickly and the infrastructure has not kept up with it. We have two supermarkets, 3 pubs, a charity shop, betting shop and some estate agents, and that's it really. Still we are only about 12 miles from Hull so we're not totally cut off.

We have finally managed to start saving, although we haven't got nearly enough to even contemplate a mortgage yet. At the moment the most we can borrow is around 85% of the property value, and even though the house we have had our eye on has just been drastically reduced by 15k we still don't seem to be any nearer to owning our own home. We have got the English wank, I mean bankers to thank for our predicament!!

For those of you wondering about our wedding plans, we have none ;-) we are going to get a house first and then plan a peter and Jordan style do!!

We have now made friends with our French neighbour, who has actually turned out be be very hospitable. She has invited us into her Orchard style garden to help ourselves to plums and apples, she still won't let us move our sat dish back though.

We're having a "quiet" weekend at home this week, well it was supposed to be but Matt is on call (which then means so am I) and he's not had the easiest of times bless him. Especially the call at 4.30 this morning when he had to get out of bed and log on to fix something. Talk about the 4th emergency service. He is an unsung hero!

Last week we got the train out to York and spent the afternoon in a few of York's finest beer gardens. It was a lovely sunny afternoon (I can hear the gasps of disbelief) and we had a really nice day, we finished with a curry in Akbars. Famous for their ginormous nan breads. For any of you that watch Hell's Kitchen with Gordon Ramsey you will remember his visit to Akbars in Bradford. Well they now have a successful chain of restaurants in the North. It never ceases to amaze me though when people order a side portion of chips with their Indian food. And then when the waiter comes across to take their plates and they start telling him how good the food was, but they talk really loud and animated as though the waiter is completely illiterate and does not speak fluent English. There was a group of lads in when we were there who had just come from York races. You can spot them straight away, all dressed in their dad's suits with their hair coiffed and gelled, and shiny slip on shoes with buckles on (puss in boots style!) Anyway this group of lads were all of the above, chip scoffing, shouting, gesticulating, shiny shoe wearing tossers, who couldn't grasp how to eat with their mouths closed. It was like dining with a group of camels!
When the waiter came across one of the camels said "F**ing-lovely-that-pal. I-go-to-the-one-in-Sheffield" (referring to another Akbars)(note the use of the hyphen to emphasise the mono tone in which he spoke to the waiter,as if he were mentally retarded)

We are back off to York again next weekend, as Matt's mum and dad are coming to visit our new place. We are doing the touristy thing and going to the Railway museum followed by afternoon tea at Betty's!!

Everybody needs good neighbours....

2009-06-02T21:10:00.003Z

Peas and Rice (Cockney rhyming slang for Jesus Christ!) we've got another blog on! It's only just over a week since our last blog; anyone would think we were travelling again (more on this later). Well we've moved into our new house, it's not ours really it's our landlords but it might as well be ours, and we've just about settled in. The aerial man has just left after moving our satellite dish for the 2nd time in a month, again more on this later.

I think we're both getting a bit sick of a) renting and b) moving as it's the 2nd move within 12 months, more than a lot of people have moved in the last 12 years! It's not the actual being in different places that bothers us (or me anyway!) as we both love seeing different places as you probably know, if we didn't this blog probably wouldn't even exist. No, it's the upheaval of everything we own, and a few things we don't, (sorry about taking that frying pan, I really did think it was ours!) from one place to another. When you're travelling, moving everything you own from one place to another, is a piece of p*ss as it's on your back, but when you've been living in a flat for 12 months you tend to accumulate a bit more clobber. TV, iMac, Wardrobe, sofas, guitar(s), clothes, etc., etc. We haven't got nearly as much stuff as most people but it's still a chore. We had to get the company who made our wardrobe to come and dismantle it and get a separate "man with van" to move all the other shi... sorry stuff. Then there's all the bills, accounts, magazine subscriptions to change address details over , the list goes on and on. Anyway, the amount of times we have moved over the last 10 years is well into double figures. We both worked out that between us we've lived in about 20 places in the last 10 years. When I say places I mean different abodes, rather than different towns/villages/hamlets! So you'd expect us to be naturals at moving. Well to be honest, it's probably a less stressful experience than some people have , but still a pain.

So onto the Satellite dish. When we moved in there was an existing satellite dish on the front of the house which we plugged into our Freesat and everything was dandy. Then after a couple of days of pouring rain suddenly the picture went. And I mean completely went! Couldn't even get Come Dine with Me on More4. So, I asked around and got Al's mate from work, or rather Al from work's mate. He came round one evening tested different cables, different positions (for the satellite dish!) and to cut a long story short, we settled on a place about the kitchen window.

All was going well, until our neighbour (SHE IS FRENCH!!!!) returned from a trip away (to FRANCE) and knocked on the door. After the pleasantries exchanged; "hello I'm your new neighbour", "Hello I'm Matt", "Hello I'm rfaiurehriuhf (some French name)", "there's a problem with your satellite dish", "No there isn't, Al's friend came round to fix it, look it's a brilliant picture, come in I'll show you....", "Yes there is a problem , it's on my wall","...look the picture on HD is brilli.....WHAT???? YOU'RE WALL? SILLY FRENCH BAS.....". And it turned out that the upstairs of the house, doesn't match the downstairs of the house and our satellite dish was about 3mm (actually about 18 inches) on her side of the house. I tried reasoning with her and said "well it's not really doing any harm though is it? It's only a satellite dish" but apparently it is a problem and would you mind moving it please because I'm trying to sell my house, and I'm sure the kind of people who want to buy my house wouldn't want a satellite dish on their wall. So I had to get Al's mate back round and he moved it to the opposite end of the house, as far away as possible from the French side of the house!

Now I know that neighbours are extremely petty when it comes to territory but I did think she was being a bit over the top! I don't know whether it is the French blood as I know they are suckers for bureaucracy or the fact that she is just an arse but it's all sorted now. To be honest I would probably have been p*ssed of if someone had put a satellite dish on my wall whilst I was away on holiday but I like to think that I'd be reasonable once the initial shock had wore off and realised that it was a genuine mistake! Oh well!

Anyway, I mentioned travelling at the start of this and we're off on our hols again, to Askrigg in the Yorkshire Dales. It's really close to Hawes where they make Wensleydale Cheese (Oh No Grommit , it's the wrong trousers!) and Black Sheep Ale. So you can guess what we'll be doing for the majority of the week. We're heading off on Saturday morning and hopefully by Saturday afternoon will be troughing on Wensleydale and swigging Black Sheeps'

So there you go , there's a good end to this blog, hopefully I'll have some non-French related stories to tell you in a week or so.

Au Revoir!

p.s. Oh yeah I forgot, we live in Brough now, pronounced Brough. It's about 8 miles from Hull right next to the Humber Bridge! It's a lot more rural here, although "The Avenues" is also pretty rural this time of year what with all the trees out.

They're Grrrrrreeeeeeaaaaatttttttt....

2009-05-24T20:30:00.004Z

Just a very quick blog to say well done to the Tigers for surviving their first season in the Premiership. I know they lost against the Dirty Reds (Man Utd) 1-0 but hey, they fought well and thoroughly deserved it! Once again Well Done to Phil Brown and the team.

Adios,

Laurel and Hardy

2009-05-17T17:16:00.004Z

Well we've been in our new gaff for just over two weeks now, and I have to be honest and say I'm still not settled 100%.
It's a really nice place, but it just doesn't feel like home just yet.

The move all went very smoothly, it's been events since we got in that have been unfortunate...
The house came furnished with white goods (fridge freezer, range cooker and a washing machine(!)) which was quite a positive as the flat we were moving out of had all those things too so it saved us (or so we thought it would) quite a bit of money!
It's amazing how you see things differently once you actually move in...
The washing machine was like something out of Steptoes yard, the cooker has never seen a brillo pad, let alone be acquainted with any type of cleaning fluid, and the fridge feezer was so small it belonged in a dolls house!
So first things first, I set about cleaning the cooker (this is after me and my mum had spent most of the 1st day cleaning cupboards, floors and cobwebs from every surface in the place)
3 bowls of black washing up water later and I had finished the hob top, it was minging!! that was without even looking on the inside! Anyway I guess you get the picture??
After I'd get that little unenviable task out of the way, I decided I would take out the old piece of scrap metal aka the washing machine, in preperation for the new one arriving later that day, Matt was still in bed and to be fair wasn't the least bit interested in cleaning / installing new appliances.
I went under the sink and turned off the water supply to the washing machine, pulled out the machine and proceeded to unscrew the connection hoses. First one came away with no problem, the 2nd one was like a Laurel and Hardy moment, water shot out into my face, and within seconds I was drenched. I quickly attempted to screw the pipe back in place, but as you'd might have guessed, it wouldn't go back on properly and water continued to spray everywhere. I panicked, and quickly got back under the sink thinking that instead of turning the water off, I'd actually turned it on. So I turned the tap in the opposite direction and went back to the leaking pipe, to try again. Same thing happened!!
I was breathless, both from panic and the volume of water thar had hit me full on in the face, and also from the amount of water that was leaking everywhere in the kitchen. I didn't have a clue what to do, so I threw all the bedding that was waiitng to be washed into the pools of water, adorned myself in rubber gloves and dashed outside to try and find the stop cock. I couldn't find it!!!! By this point I decided it was no good, I had to get Matt out of bed. He was not happy and proceeded to call me names that I will not repeat!!! This just upset me even more, in fact it actually upset me more than the water!!!
I went next door to ask the neighbour where the stop cock (all the while water pissing out) but she was away on holiday!!
Surely things can't get any worse... Oh yes they can!!
I called Yorks Water to be told they couldn't get anybody out for two hours...
At this stage we were really desperate so Matt started knocking on a few doors to see if anybody knew where the mains water supply was. As luck would have it there was a dear little old lady who has been a resident of the house a few doors up for over 25 years and was very familiar with every stop cock in Brough, ours included.
She pointed and told us it was under that car??? The car of our next door neighbour who was on holiday in France!!!!!
Anyway the long and short of it is, that the old woman knew who was looking after the neighbours property and they had they keys to her car, the car was moved the water supply turned off and we eventually got the new washing machine connected and, two weeks later we have just about dried out!!
We have had other incidents since we moved in too, involving some unwanted biting visitors, but I don't really want to talk about that :-(

It has cost us a small fortune this move, we have got more furniture than DFS, It's good to have something to call our own at last.

There are some cracking locals in the area too, the best one is a bit far out really, it's almost 100 yards door to door, with a pizza shop en route!
We have sampled just about every guest ale they have had on in the last fortnight, in fact I am starting to get a thirst now just thinking about it...

Moving house

2009-04-28T19:49:00.002Z

Does anybody still read this blog??

Well I can't even remember the last time I blogged, too busy on Facebook to blog.
So as the subject of the blog suggests, we are moving on again, unfortunately it doesn't involve quitting our jobs and purchasing RTW tickets. No it's just a few miles down the A63 to Brough.
Reason we're moving to Brough is to be nearer to my place of work, as an hour driving every day is getting on my nerves. I know this is nothing compared to what some of the cockenys do, but hey we're not cockeneys!!!
The new place is really lovely, Bridge Cottage, set on the railway embankment, we've even got an outdoor patio area too, which will be great in summer. It will be quite a novelty after living in flats for as long as I can remember.

Work is keeping us both busy, despite this massive recession we're in. We have both been extremely lucky (it doesn't always feel that way) in keeping our jobs, and we have both got friends and family who have lost their jobs :-(
The leisure world is picking up now and we are reaping the benefits of the £ being so poor against the Euro, as everybody decides to holiday in the UK and get back to some good old family camping. If anybody is looking for any camping gear etc check out our website at www.discover.co.uk we have got some great deals on at the moment!!

Our next holiday is only about 6 weeks away, we've rented a beautiful little cottage in Askrigg, The Dales. It's where they filmed It shouldn't happen to a vet. There's lots of nice walks and lovely little pubs that serve traditional ales and home cooked food, mmmmmmmm!!

We're surrounded by boxes now as Thursday is our last night in Park Avenue, it will be sad to leave as we have been very happy here, but we're also looking forward to pastures new. You know it's time to go anyway when you find mouse droppings and half a packet of Jacobs Cream Crackers missing from the cupboard!!!

Will try and get back into this blogging...

Thank (credit) Crunchy it's Friday!!

2009-03-20T16:48:00.004Z

Do you remember that advert "Thank Crunchie it's Friday?"

Oh Sh*t! We missed a month of blogging! In our world of blogging Feb 09 doesn’t exist. It was a pretty bad month anyway, more on later, so no point dwelling on it.
Well we’ve been back from our fantastic trip to Sri Lanka and I can honestly say it was a well earned rest. It was almost a year to the day that we had touched down from our 10 month jaunt around the world and it was good to be on the road again. After a gruelling flight of 600 hours we landed in Colombo airport with not a Tiger in sight. Now usually when you’re on a package holiday there’s loads of reps hanging around rounding people up on minibuses and carting them off to their allocated resort. Not here, we wandered around the ample-sized arrival lounge for a few minutes, exchanged some money (£10 to be precise) and generally looked lost. After a while I noticed out of the corner of my eye, a smartly-dressed chap standing near the exit, holding a little red card. We sauntered over and sure enough he was our Virgin Rep; when I say Virgin, I mean Virgin holidays, he wasn’t a virgin, well I don’t think he was, but he might have been. Anyway, it’s irrelevant!

But as they say “all good things come to an end” and the holiday feeling certainly doesn't last long these days does it? Especially when you come back to a country (or even a world) that is in the worst economical situation since god knows when. Still I can’t help wondering that it’s been on the cards for a while, what with this spend, spend, spend mentality that seems to be the done thing these days.

Anyway, there’s loads of stuff going on at the moment; at work, I won’t talk about it on hear as it’s depressing, and on the home front too! Yes, we’ve got to move again, although it’s no fault of our own. We’re hopefully moving to a gaff in Hessle, which if you ask anyone at work, is absolutely miles away from town, but for those of us who travel and indeed commute (more than a bus-ride anyway!) it’s about 17 minutes door-to-door. When I say door-to-door, I mean literally door-to-door. I can fall out of bed , straight on a train, stumble up St.Jamesons St, and into Comet House. It’s also a lot nearer to Michelle’s work so she’s happy about that.

I haven’t really got a great deal more to say. Things are still ticking along, nothing really interesting happening, everyone seems to be buttoning down the hatches and trying to power through this credit crunch. Hopefully I’ll have more to talk about next month when we’ve moved, and will be waiting for our next holiday.

Adios,

Flying High...

2009-01-15T18:03:00.005Z

Well it's almost a year to the day that we've been back and it's time we were off again. We fly out to Sri Lanka on Saturday from Heathrow for 2 glorious weeks of no work, eating curry, sun bathing, no Facebook, drinking, no work, swimming, lazying around, and oh yeah no work!

See you in 2 weeks. Adios.

Bloody Hell that was quick.....

2008-12-24T12:48:00.004Z

Well, it only seems like yesterday that we were wishing everyone Merry Christmas last year. I can definately say that it was warmer this time last year, but it probably is just as warm in Thailand this year too.

Just winding down now at work (as opposed to winding everyone up!) and hopefully only an hour to go before we're out of here.

Merry Christmas to everyone and no doubt see you in the New Year, where there will be more incessant ramblings from me and more sensible blogs from Michelle.

If you can't beat them, join them....

2008-11-25T13:40:00.008Z

Well it's getting close to the end of the month again and one of us needs to write a blog. (EDITOR'S NOTE - Michelle did actually write a blog the other weekend, but I threw a tantrum and made her delete it. Not exactly freedom of speech and democracy is it. Anyway I went into a strop but we’re over it now. What was the blog about I hear you ask? Well it was about my obsessive compulsive disorder of buying gadgets and electronic equipment which as you know is completely unfounded and probably potentially libellous. Anyway we settled out of court so let’s move on!!)

This leads me neatly on to the topic of this blog..... yes, yes, yes ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT AND GADGETS (hahahahaa). No not really. While we’re on the subject though, I just wanted to categorically say that I have bought my last gadget (of this year anyway) so you can all rest easy at night. I finished off my collection with a lovely black Onkyo HTX22HD 2.1 Digital Surround System. I decided that rather than spending about £800 on a fully operational 5.1 Surround system I’d go for the more compact one. It has all these features; 2 HDMI inputs, 1 output (with support for up to 1080p, Deep Color, x.v.Color, Lip Sync, DTS-HD Master Audio, DTS-HD High Resolution Audio, Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus, SACD, and multichannel PCM) but I don’t know what any of this means; Stewart does and he said it’s cracking. Anyway the main thing is that now films sound really good, we don’t need to watch them with the subtitles on anymore, there’s no wires trailing all through the house which would have been the case with a 5.1 system AND most importantly X Factor in HD will now be accompanied by cinema quality sound! (Is that really a bonus?)

Oh by the way, we also ordered a wardrobe and a dresser a few weeks ago, too. It’s pine, has two sections, one triple and a single, hand-made in Beverley, sports 4 HDMI inputs, has a built-in upscaling DVD player, has Audyssey Dynamic EQ for loudness correction and you can hang your coats in it. Obviously not all of the “features” are present, but I’ll let you decide which ones I’ve added.

Well it’s about 7 weeks to our holiday to Sri Lanka and it can’t come soon enough! It seems ages since we went anywhere and it will be a well earned rest. I’m not sure 2 weeks will be long enough though really; last time we went away abroad we had 10 months to do what we wanted. I’m really looking forward to the food too. Obviously being so close to India, curry features heavily on the menu, in fact it will probably feature in every one of my 4 meals a day. Yes, that’s right, I eat 4 meals a day, so what? Interestingly enough, Michelle has now ordered us both a Nintendo Gameboy from eBay. I think Michelle has just got sick and tired of watching me play LittleBigPlanet on the PS3 and thought if you can’t beat them join them.

Anyway, just a short one from me today, I’ll try and think of something interesting to say next time, and I promise I won’t mention technology once!

Adios

I haven't slept with your Grand-daughter...

2008-10-31T19:15:00.005Z

Well for no other reason than making sure we have a blog dated in October I thought I’d waffle on for a bit. Again, most of you probably won’t like this one, as no doubt at some point I’ll be talking about my new iMac, but heyho.

So, Brand and Ross, what’s all that about? I’m pretty sure the media (or especially the Beeb) hasn’t got itself in this much of a frenzy since Princess Diana was viciously killed by MI5 on the orders of Prince Phillip.... sorry killed in a car that was driven by a p*ssed up Frenchman, who had been paid by Prince Phillip to make it look like an accident! Anyway, you get the picture. Now personally I can’t understand what all the fuss is about. Anyone who hasn’t been in a coma for the last 5 years will know that Russell Brand has a certain “brand” of humour and to be honest if you don’t like it, don’t listen to his radio show. Most of the complaints have come from people who have subsequently read/heard about the radio show and weren’t even listening to it at the time. What’s the point of complaining about it, if you didn’t actually hear it at the time and therefore were not offended at the time. What a farce! Andrew Sachs (it’s ok , he’s from Barcelona!) didn’t seem that phased by it when he was interviewed on TV, again by the BBC, and he said he wasn’t after revenge. So why does the British, or more accurately the English public (I can’t see the Irish, Scots being interested, and no one cares what the Welsh think anyway) jump on the bandwagon and lose the plot. What a joke. I don’t particularly like Jonathon Woss, that’s not a spelling mistake, that’s how he says it, and only watch his show because it’s on BBC HD (cracking picture). He constantly interrupts his guests to make some witty remark and to be honest; most of his guests seem to get annoyed with him for doing so. Excluding the likes of Ricky Gervais, Noel Gallagher and I think even Russell Brand has been on the show, who have a bit more about them and give as good they get. Even “The Ramsey” , whose restaurant we dine in quite often LOL, got annoyed with him and made some joke about Woss having a small c*ck. At least it shut him up, Woss I mean not Wamsey, sorry Ramsey, even I’m doing it now!

It will be funny if Woss loses his £6m a year job at the Beeb, but to be honest I don’t think he gives a sh*t. There’s no such thing as bad publicity, especially in entertainment, and all of the involved parties, even the Satanic Slut (apparently Georgina Baillie, Manuel’s granddaughter is part of a dance-troup called Satanic Sluts. Allegedly Pauline Fowler and that other minger from Eastenders are part of it too) will move on to different if not better things. Brand has been here before anyway; he lost his job at MTV, for turning up to work dressed as Osama Bin Laden the day after September 11th attacks in New York. (P.s. That would be September 12th then!!)

Anyway back to the world of technology and gadgets! Since I/We last blogged we’ve now got FreeSat and a new iMac. Firstly, lets talk about FreeSat. Well, it’s basically Freeview but via satellite and you get a couple of HD channels thrown in for good measure. BBC Hd, which shows mostly repeated programmes from 7pm onwards, is cracking! Unfortunately we didn’t have it in time for the Olympics or Wimbledon, but we will have for next year, or 2012 for the Olympics. (Maybe Jonathon Woss can present the Paralympics; I'm pretty sure he couldn't say anything controversial or offend anyone there eh?) ITV HD is not a permanent channel, if the programme is available you have to select the red button. They did have the England game on the other week, which again looked stunning. I'm just waiting for Coronation Street to come on in HD. Can you imagine Deidre Barlow in full HD, warts and all??!? Not a pretty sight I hear you say!

Well on to the new iMac. My old one had been playing up for a while, and kept shutting itself down as if there had been a power cut. So, I read up on t'internet and found out that it was most likely the power supply that was causing this. So, I ordered a refurbed power supply and fitted it, and bob's your uncle, it worked a treat...... well for about a week anyway. It completely died after that and I can't even get the bugger to start now. Now I wasn't going to get a one for a while as I can always use Michelle's laptop (I'm writing this on it now!!), but after a few days, (and because we got our Christmas discount vouchers from work; sales are bad , we are in a credit crunch after all!) I bought one anyway. I went for the same model as Geoff (Michelle's Dad for new readers) and to be honest I'm well chuffed with it. It runs like a dream and although the glossy screen on it isn't to everyone's liking I actually prefer it to the old one. I've even installed windows XP on it, just cos I can, but I think that will be going this weekend.

Anyway that's about it from me, I had a sh*t day at work today, but that's all I'm saying as I've just read that some people from Virgin have been sacked for slagging off their company on Facebook!

Adios,

p.s. I love Comet, they are the best company in the world! Honest!

Tell me about the honey mummy!!

2008-09-20T14:40:00.004Z

I didn't think I was going to be able to remember my login details for the blog as it's been so long since I last blogged!! I just never seem to find the time now we're back at work, and then what spare time I do get to go on the internet I spend on Facebook and eBay!!

So we've been home nearly 8 months now, we were in NZ this time last year!! Work and home life are going great and Matt has really settled into his life Ooop Norf!. He is a an official Hull City fan now and hasn't missed a home game yet. Our life is much less hectic than when we were living and working in the south, but we do miss our pals down there. We have been down to see Gary and Eve (and baby Ella) a few times and they have been up to see us too. Matt also see's quite a bit of Gary at work as he still has to go down to Ricky every now and again (usually when he fancies a few beers and a curry!!)

We booked ourselves a holiday for the New Year to Sri Lanka, we haven't had a proper holiday since we came home. We did have a good week in the holiday cottage in June, but you can't beat a bit of R&R on a nice beach with an all inclusive food and drinks package!! We fly in the middle of January, which is the same time of year that we visited the Maldives. It is a really good time of year to go, as Christmas is usually stressful and expensive and it is really cold and dark nights. Can't wait!

We had another team night out on Tuesday as one of the girls was leaving Discover to go back to Uni. We went out to The Fox in South Cave. It was only supposed to be a quiet night but as usual I had far too much to drink and don't really remember talking to anybody. As far as I know though I didn't manage to upset anybody, which is always a bonus!

I'm really enjoying my new job, it did take a few months for me to settle in, as it does anybody I suppose. I can't remember if I blogged about the big fat hairy bird that I used to work with?, she was a bit like the honey monster from the sugar puffs advert, just as hairy too. Anyway I didn't really like her, in fact nobody did. She just spoilt the whole ambience of the place, just by being there. Every day I would go to work and think 'If only she didnt work here, what a great job and place it would be' The days turned into weeks and months and as they did it became more and more apparent what a lazy big fat hairy bird she was too. This just made me and everyone else in the office dislike her even more!! So you can imagine my delight when my boss came in and told me she was/had left!! We were victorious in our office, the lights were flashing, party popers going off, it was just like the stroke of midnight on New Years Eve. We still celebrate most days, and have a leaving party for her every other week, only we don't invite her!!!

Anyway I haven't got a real lot to blog about, not that you'd be interested in anyway.

Enjoy the autumn sunshine that we've been blessed with this last few days!!

He-Man

2008-08-26T18:15:00.003Z

I thought I'd better write a blog as neither of us have blogged in August and if we don't do it soon, that means we'll have missed a month in the archive (see right hand side).

Anyway, so I'll start the blog with a moan about fuel prices. Well it's not really a moan more of an excuse to put this funny cartoon on the blog, which one of the lads at work sent me (thanks Mark G). Fuel prices have gone up though haven't they? Still, I'm sick of everyone moaning about "the current climate" and "the credit crunch" so I'm not going to dwell.

So, what have we been up to then? Well, I've had quite a busy August to tell the truth; I've been backwards and forwards to Ricky a few times, up to Scotland (Ayr) for Al Green's stag do (my mate from Uni not the soul singer ; I couldn't make his stag do, I was double booked!), and then last weekend we went to Belfast for Al Green's wedding to the lovely Jennifer. Oh, we also watched the mighty Hull City beat Fulham in the first ever top-flight football game for Hull. They've got Wigan next week at home and I'm going to that too! Glory Hunter I hear you cry; yeah well I'm not bothered , I'll be dead one day, I may as well make the most of it.

That's about it really, we had a cracking weekend in Belfast, a place I'd like to revisit. It was really easy to get to; we flew from Robin Hood airport in Doncaster to George Best Airport in Belfast (no it wasn't full of pubs!). Al and Jenny put on a fantastic do, good food, a free bar - the Guiness was well and truly flowing, and even a covers band. They weren't as good as The Recovery at Owen's wedding; though I would say that being as though I was the rhythmn guitarist.

So, a fairly quiet September lined up; for those reading in Droitwich we are definately coming down this month, I promise.

Well, I'm off now, as Michelle has got the tea prepared and I've just had a bottle of beer placed down next to me.

Adios,

Questions, Questions, Questions!

2008-07-29T20:40:00.003Z

Now then, Here's a quick blog from an idea I got from one of Palace Fan's blogs. Click here to see what I'm talking about. Anyway so look above to see the "mosaic" that I created by following the instructions. p.s. And there's no sign of faggots, Simmo!

Here's some links back to the original photos too.

1. Matt, 2. Curry, 3. RGS, Worcester, 4. B l u e, 5. Sinead O'Connor, 6. Beer, 7. N.Z., 8. Cheesecake, 9. Happy, 10. Michelle, 11. Relaxed, 12. My Flickr

Foxtrot Oscar

2008-07-06T19:51:00.003Z

Just wanted to share my pic with you all. We are just back from a FANTASTIC weekend in London. We went for dinner at Gordon Ramsey's Foxtrot Oscar on the The Great Hospital Road, and who should show up but the man himself! I was totally in awe of him. I love him anyway, which is why we went, but to look up and have him stood at your table asking what you've ordered and if you're staying for desert was just something else.
It was a top night and the food was amazing. Gordon is a top bloke and very self effacing, not like the arrogant tw@t you all probably think he is from his TV shows.

Wedding Update

2008-06-20T13:56:00.008Z

Now then! I thought that title would get your attention! I will talk about the wedding later, but as per my last couple of blogs this one will be about technology or more specifically gaming. The fact that I have been playing “Grand Theft Auto 4” (GTA4) over the last couple of weeks has sparked this off so lets get straight into it.

This game has been in the press a fair bit recently, mainly in the US on scaremongering religious TV channels deeming it the Devils’ spawn. These channels seem to think that it will no doubt lead to multiple copycat killings, beatings, stabbings, drunk-driving and general naughtiness. I don’t know how the journalists over there have got the balls to say this as the yanks seem to be doing a good job of all of the above without any encouragement from a video game.

So what is this, this Grand Theft Auto game. Well for those that don’t know it’s one of the biggest video game franchises about, with 8 stand alone games in the series (so why is this one called GTA 4??) and sales totalling more than 70 million copies world-wide (thanks to Wikipedia for this info). The first game was a pretty basic top down view driving game, which I remember playing at Ben’s house most Saturday nights after Picasso’s night club but that’s another story! After a few sequels it’s morphed into an absolutely huge, free roam, “sand box” game. The “sand box” moniker is a term that’s used to describe the non-linearity sections of a game, where you can ignore the plot and just go off and do what you want. Now GTA4 is a classic example of this as there is quite a detailed storyline with set missions which introduce (introduce?? – no one will understand that except Stew!) characters at set points in the game. But if you just want to go off and cause some mayhem then you can.

The game is set in a fictional city, called Liberty City, but everyone knows that it’s really New York. The game area is absolutely mammoth, even with only half of it unlocked, and pretty much everything you see you can go and explore. There’s burger bars, bowling alleys, pubs, cabaret clubs, Internet café’s, Laundrette’s, everyfink! You have your own mobile phone and you build up contacts throughout the game, you have radio stations that you can tune into whilst driving, you can watch tv in your apartment, you can go and buy clothes from shops, you have even have your own in-game email that you have to check. You can even download ringtones for your in-game mobile phone!

Now this all sounds well and good, but is it just a gimmick or is it fun to play. Well I have to admit for the first couple of hours of gameplay it is a bit overwhelming getting to grips with all the controls, mobile phones, emails, characters, but it’s designed in such a way that you don’t have to learn everything in one go. Still, I couldn’t help feeling that the game was a bit overrated. In one incident I was driving around and went for a drink and a game of a pool. Now I was sat there thinking why don’t I just go out in REAL LIFE for a drink and a game of pool??!??. This takes me back to one of my previous posts and the youth of today. How the internet/PC revolution has changed their lives forever as they can do everything and anything in a virtual world from their own bedroom. Oh yeah, there’s even strip clubs in GTA4 where it’s $50 a dance from a virtual stripper, errrmmm apparently.

Anyway, as I as was saying, I must admit that after a while the game definitely does live up to all the hype. The main character Niko Bellic (who is Serbian, but sounds more like Borat from Khazakstan, it’s nice!) is well acted, and he even has a “shady” history that gradually gets unveiled. Everyone who’s into games these days knows that things have moved on from Horace and the Spiders on the ZX Spectrum and they are full-blown productions, some of them rivalling Hollywood blockbusters, with the amount of design, marketing and hype that goes into them. It’s the attention to detail that wins me over for this game though, just silly little things, that when you’re playing it you think that’s nice. If you “borrow” a motorbike that you find with a helmet Niko puts this on and when you finish and walk away, after a few steps he takes the hat off and throws it to the floor. When you crash through some dustbins little bits of paper fly up in the air and then gradually float down again. This game has different weather conditions; when it rains the roads become really slippery. The inhabitants of Liberty City are so detailed it’s almost like you’re actually living there. In some games where there are a cast of many there are only a limited number of characters and they start “repeating” after a while; I’ve not seen the same person twice on the streets in GTA4 and I must have seen thousands of different pedestrians.

I don’t think games are quite there yet, when it will be an all encompassing “life” that you can live and do absolutely anything you want, and to be honest I’m glad as I still like getting out and about, going to restaurants, going for a walk, etc. You have to draw a line between real-life and games, although Michelle will probably comment that I am living more in Liberty City than in Hull City for the last couple of weeks!!

Well that’s it from me. Oh yeah I did mention the wedding didn’t I? Well, it’s looking likely to be sometime in October 2009 but there’s no date or venue confirmed yet. Watch this space!

Adios,

Sticks and Stones

2008-06-15T19:21:00.004Z

Check out this link on YouTube.
This guy should try being Hull born and bred!!

Rant

Enjoy - it is funny!!

Pleading Poverty!

2008-06-13T13:04:00.005Z

We're just back from a week away in Foulridge, Lancs. We had a really relaxing time, despite seeing lots of places. Foulridge is about 12 miles outside of Skipton, the nearest place you may all be familiar with is Burnley? Anyway it's irrelevant really. Our holiday cottage was two mins walk away from the Leeds Liverpool Canal and the famous mile long tunnel, In fact it's probably that famous that you don't have a clue what it is.. Google it!

We did a bit of walking along the canal path and around the reservoir, but we didn't do any real 'rambling' as we didn't take any maps or a compass. We spent a day at Hebden Bridge and Howarth (home to the Bronte Sisters) we had a day at Skipton, mooching around the market, and trying out their fish and chips! we also spent a day visiting Grassington and Hawes up in The Yorkshire Dales. The weather was great at the start of the week although it did get a bit cooler on Tuesday, luckily though we never had any rain!
I have been to all of the above places before so knew what we were in for, Matt however has never visited any of these places, I think it's fair to say I picked out all the nice spots. We are hoping to go in the same area later in the summer and get some camping done, weather permitting!
England really is a stunning country when it comes to scenery, we were surrounded by rolling fields full of grazing sheep and lambs, it was just like been back in NZ, only there were far more people and cars. It was such a peaceful and tranquil setting, just what you need after the hustle and bustle of living in a large city like Hull.
It's not cheap though holidaying in the U.K, firstly there was the expense of the cottage in excess of £300 for the week, and then there is the issue of fuel, not to mention the extortionate prices at the moment. It was also self catering too so we had to feed ourselves for the week, then there were parking fees (£2 every time you stepped out of the car) £5 each for fish and chips, £4 for two cups of pissy tea, and then all the tat you tend to buy when you are aimlessly ambling around the shops on holiday mode. It's amazing the amount of tat you can accumulate in one week.
We did have a lovely Indian curry though and some decent pub grub, and more than a few pints of the landlords finest ales. My mum and dad also came up for a few days and wasted equally the same amount of cash as we did on nic nacs, it's obviously a holiday thing. At least we didn't bring home any fluffy donkeys or castanets!!

Anyway back to petrol prices as it seems to be the topic of all conversation at the moment. After much complaining about the price of it and the way it has steadily continued to rise over the last few months, me and Matt have agreed to just accept it. What else can we do? it's not going to come down again so we might as well just get on with it. For those of you that are feeling the pinch (which I think we all are) check out www.petrolprices.com, if you type in your post-code it will give you the details of the cheapest petrol stations in your area. It's not just fuel prices that are on the up though is it, it's your shopping bill too, a couple of pence here a couple of pence there and before you know it you are only getting half a basket of shopping for the price that you used to be able to get a full one for. Which means all your little treats have to go.. Campbell's meat balls, Fray Bentos meat pie (in a tin) Angel Delight!
And what about the cost of gas and electric city, they are just going up and up, and the weather is getting colder and colder. Can you believe it is mid June next week and we are still having to put our heating on in the evening as it's so cold! There has been a few articles on the news about poverty in the UK, what a load of rubbish, there is no such thing! There was an old girl on the TV complaining about the cost of heat and light etc and about the choice between keeping warm or going hungry, she also goes on to mention about the housing benefit she gets and the tax credits she so ungratefully receives (thanks very much I'll have them back then) and how difficult it is to cope. And she genuinely believes she is living below the poverty line. What I would say to that sad old woman is, save up your pension, your housing benefits, your tax credits and whatever other handouts you receive from the government and buy yourself a one way flight to somewhere like Ecuador, where 80% of the population DO live below the poverty line. Poverty in these countries is, no running water, no gas, no electricity, no food, no heat, no welfare benefits, no nothing! They also suffer extreme winters in houses that are no more than concrete huts, now that IS poverty!
However bad thing's get in Britain we can always be guaranteed a comfortable standard of living, we all live in habitable accommodation, we all have access to utilities (pensioners get a heating allowance every year) and we know that we can claim some kind of benefit from the government if we are unable to work or if we are retired.
In these 3rd world countries they live a hand to mouth existence every day of their sorry lives, they have never known a days luxury in their lives and the chance are they never will. So when I see a fat old woman, with nice clean clothes on, a lovely little flat with cupboards full of meatballs and angel delight saying "woe is me' I have to say I have no time for her and her wittering. My message to her is this 'Get in the real world love and stop feeling sorry for yourself!'

Anyway that's my rant over with.

We have uploaded some pics of our hols onto Flckr, there are also some of Edinburgh too. Our next jaunt is in a couple of weeks when we are off down to London on the train with Anna and Robin. We are booked in at Gordon Ramsey's Foxtrot Oscar for a slap up meal, we're also gonna do the touristy thing and jump on an open top bus and take in the delights, we're then off to Belfast for a wedding (not ours) and then who knows where?
Talking of weddings, we are just in the process of putting together a guest list for the occasion (a task in itself, you can't please everyone) so as soon as we have that agreed(!) we will be booking a venue and setting the date. It is difficult knowing who to invite etc, I might do it the Willy Wonka way and put so many invitations/golden tickets inside special packs of Angel Delight (or something similar) if you're lucky enough to land a ticket then you get to enjoy the celebrations, and if you don't land a ticket then you're even luckier as you don't have to worry about a wedding present, what to wear, where to stay, how to get there etc etc etc

Well done the Tigers!

2008-05-24T17:34:00.006Z

Just a quick post to say congrats to the Tigers (Hull City) for winning the championship play off this afternoon. We're off out now to celebrate with Ben, Dan and Cookie.

I'm sure the people of Hull will be celebrating tonight, they always seem to be celebrating something on Saturday nights whenever we've been out! They certainly know how to party, good luck to them I say!

Adios,

The Duchess

2008-05-16T17:57:00.009Z

I'm going to try and write a blog which could be difficult as I haven't blogged for soooo long. Well it's a year ago that we set out on our big adventure and it almost pains me to think back on what a great time we had. The overwhelming sense of freedom we had for those 10 months was just the best feeling in the world. I appreciated it at the time but now I'm back at work I appreciate it even more!

My new job is keeping me extremely busy as I don't get a spare minute in the day to even think about the blog, let alone write one, however we have just moved into our new swanky flat and today have just got our internet connection sorted out, so there really is no excuse not to update you on what we have and haven't been up to.

We had a great weekend in Edinburgh a few weeks ago for Stew's 40th, we spent a couple of nights there and it really was a good weekend. We ate and drank to our hearts content and luckily for Matt we didn't shop!! We took plenty of pics which I will get Matt to upload onto the blog. We have also booked a hol in June, we have hired a holiday cottage just outside the Dales at a place called Foulridge, which is in the heart of the Pendle district. We are really looking forward to that, we decided that we still weren't ready to get on another plane so opted to stay on home ground instead!

We have also just bought a new car, not brand new, it's a Ford Focus Silver. The one that we had was on it's last legs and it was becoming impossible to drive as the gear box was knackered. We had agreed before we went away that when we got home and settled that we would buy something bigger and newer so with the MOT just a few days away we decided to P/X it rather than waste money getting it fixed up. It has been a cracking little car though and it was sad to leave it at the garage. We haven't had any trouble with it and I have lost count how many trips it has done up and down the M40 and M1. RIP little Corsa!
The new car is lovely, its got leather interior, A/C, alloy wheels etc, it is complete luxury for me and Matt (especially for me as I use it for work)
On top of the car as I mentioned earlier we have moved into our own place, we have had a great time with Stew and Kirsty but we wanted our own space. We agreed that we wouldn't be getting a mortgage anytime soon with the interest rates being as they are so decided that we might as well just get on with it and rent somewhere while we save enough for the heft 10-20% deposit that is required from the banks now. Our flat is beautiful, it's down Park Avenue in a big converted house and is on the top floor, we've even got a glitter ball in the bedroom!! It's the sort of flat that we would consider buying, it really is just what we wanted. We are still set on buying a house though... we just need to save 20k!!

It is now about 4 days later and I feel I cannot miss the opportunity to comment on whats been on TV of late. On Sunday night we decided to watch Brokeback Mountain, or should I say some of it. The thought of watching Jake Gyllenhaal strutting around in a pair of dusty Wrangler drain pipes was quite appealing to me, that is until I saw him taking his 'friend' Heath Ledger (who I expected to look equally as handsome) from behind. I like to think I'm quite open minded when it comes to such matters, but I have to be honest and say to see two blokes cavorting in such a manner in the small confines of a tent was a bit disturbing. So much so that I turned it off. Now last night was very entertaining viewing, no I'm not referring t the Omnibus of Corrie, but the Duchess comes to 'Ull!! Now I'm not a fan of anything big and ginger and Sarah Ferguson is no exception, but I have to say that after watching this last night that my whole perception of her has changed (not all things fat and ginger, just her!) She is such a nice person and was genuinely concerned for the Hull family. I have to say though that the Hull family were as you would expect, absolute cringeworthy to watch. It is unfortunate that they chose Hull to record this documentary as there are far worse places to live, apparently? it can only leave people thinking what a hell hole the place is, when in actual fact it isn't that bad at all, and that family are not necessarily a stereotypical Hull family. I know Hull has more than it's fair share of dysfunctionals but hey they've got to live somewhere, and we have got more than enough pound shops for em to spend their invalidity benefit when they've finished watching the Jeremy Kyle Show on their rented TV from Bright House, before getting back to pick up Roxy-Chantelle and Tyrone-Leeroy from school (providing they're actually in school and haven't been taken into Social Services!!) Ey I'm not cynical though, each to their own.

We were walking along Princes Avenue on Saturday night coming home form the Thai Restaurant and there was a couple of bike riding, baseball cap wearing chavs on the pavement. In jest Matt shouted to them 'ey, where's your lights?' Well having lived in Hull most of my life I know that this is like red rag to a bull if you get the wrong person. Luckily for Matt it was just a couple of yobs who had plenty to say for themselves, it was like getting an outburst from a tourettes victim, just a string of obscenities. At least he never got his head kicked in and the chavs got the opportunity to demonstrate their vocabulary to us.

I'm not allowed to watch the 2nd part of the Duchess tonight as Matt is climbing up walls, shooting people and just generally making a nuisance of himself (like most people living in Hull this evening) the only difference being Matt is on his PS3!!

Technophobes unite

2008-04-13T19:25:00.007Z

I thought I'd put a girly blog on as Matt seems to be getting ahead of himself with all this technical crap that I for one am not the slightest bit interested in. I am sick of hearing TLA's (three letter abbreviations) relating to TV/PS3/DVD. We have enough cable in our hoose to go the full length of the British Isles, we also have more remote controls than Corby RDC. We have tech magazines laying around all over the place, every other bookmark on the web browser is of a TV/Audio site or a PS3 blog. I am SICK of hearing the words 'look at the picture on that' ' look at the graphics on this game' etc etc. Me and Matt have had a few words about his over use of the PS3 (if you spoke to Matt he would say he NEVER gets to play on it!) He went through a particularly obsessive phase a couple of weeks ago, at which point I decided to call a PS3 crisis meeting. We have agreed now that PS3 is ok in moderation.

We have just come back from a weekend in London catching up with Matt's UNI mates (Al and Wigan) and girlfriends (Jenny and Kate) We went down on the train yesterday and met up with them late afternoon for a few beers and a Polish/Mexican meal last night(!) I know you must all be wondering how you can combine Polish Cuisine with Mexican, and the fact is, you can't. Me being Veggie was never happy about going here anyway and after much unsuccessful nagging at Matt to try and get the restaurant changed decided that I would just have to go along as everybody else seemed quite satisfied at this strange choice of Al's. Me and Matt started drinking about 12.30 yesterday lunch time which was quite foolish in view of the fact that it was going to be quite a late one. I did manage to down a few soft drinks in between pints and halves so when 5 o'clock came I was still relatively sober. After the introductions and a lot off cooing over engagement rings the drinking got underway once more.
A good night was had by all, even more so by Matt who was bordering on paralysis when we all departed each others company around midnight. I took great delight in being sober the next day and reminding Matt just what an animal he had been, needless to say he had no recollection of the past 12 hours! It was a lovely sight from the coffee shop in Kings X seeing Matt slumped over the railings breathing in the traffic fumes. Never one to say I told you say I'm just glad that I insisted that Jenny didn't buy him a Jamiesons whisky in the last pub!
It was a good night though and it was good to see Al in a more civilised environment as opposed to our first meeting at Reading!

Last Wednesday I had my first works night out with my new boss Trevor and the rest of the team, we went to The Westwood which is a swanky restaurant in Beverley, there was about 20 of us in total. At the beginning of the night Trevor told us to drink as much wine and beer as we could and to enjoy ourselves, so, we did! I was so drunk I don't even remember getting home, not to mention going to the bank on the way home to get some cash to pay the cab (that Keelie had already paid once!!) We were drinking a lovely NZ red and I don't think I realised just how much I'd consumed... until I tried to get up on Thursday... and couldn't!! I was still drunk, I felt shocking, I couldn't even stand up! Luckily it was my day off so I popped a couple of headache tablets and crawled back into bed to die in peace. I resurfaced at 1.30pm took two more tablets and laid on the couch for another hour, before then getting in the bath and laying down for another hour, by this time it was almost time to go back to bed. It's fair to say I wasted a very valuable day off!

I've been doing my bit for nature by filling up the bird table in Stew's garden. Stew always complained that he never got any birds (in the garden!) and I told him it's because he's not putting the correct food out. He thinks if he throws a full slice of Warburton Toastie on the garage roof once a week that we will get a myriad of birds flocking round. Well after watching numerous nature programmes and even before that actually I knew we were never gonna have a Blue Peter garden throwing random slices of bread out, so that's when I went to Wilko and got the biggest sack of bird food that I could carry. It took a week or so for the birds to start coming in (I think they wanted to finish the bread on the garage roof first) but they are coming thick and fast now. We've got Robins, Blue Tit's, Great Tit's, Hedge Sparrows, Blackbird's, White Collared Doves, the ubiquitous pigeon and even a squirrel is frequenting the table. It is so funny to watch them all coming in, it gets really busy and I think we might even have to start organising two sittings. The squirrel is the funniest of all, he has to jump up on the plant pots, across onto the recycling bin and then he hops onto the table. I think he must have a family as he fills his face up with nuts and then scurries off down the garden and under the fence, to God knows where, and then within minutes he's back again repeating the sequence.

Parking is proving to be a bit of a nightmare while we're staying at Stew's, luckily for Stew and Kirsty they have car parking space for 2 cars outside their house, but we have to park on the road. Because the houses are so big down the avenues just about every house has 2+ cars so parking is sometimes impossible. So much so that the other night when I parked I was actually 1/3 on double yellows. I didn't give it too much thought as I was more off them than on. I was mortified to find a parking ticket on the windscreen the next day! I have disputed the ticket, and have provided a pic of how I was parked so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I get off with it?!?!?!

Just going back to the subject of remote controls. I once read in one of those silly magazines that chavs read (I must have read it in the dentist's waiting room) that if you have trouble with remote controls and you keep losing them down the back of the couch or under the chair, that you should instead get an old pair of oven gloves and hang them over the arm of your chair to safely store your remote controls!!

Folksonomy and the wonderful World Wide Web (2.0)

2008-04-09T12:30:00.007Z

web (web) noun
1.A complex, interconnected structure or arrangement.
2.Something intricately contrived, especially something that ensnares or entangles.
3.A membrane or fold of skin connecting the toes, as of certain amphibians.

Now Then! Amazingly I felt like writing a blog again today, as it has again been a while. I must warn you though that this one is again, about technology and will be boring to most of you. It’s also a bit of a rant about social networking sites and the internet too as they have been in the news recently, like for the last 12 years.

So of we go. I’ve been trawling round various blogs, websites, forums, newsgroups, Wikis (during either my lunch hour or at home, Sweeney, in case you’re reading this!) and just generally reading about what the hell this Web 2.0 actually is. It seems to be a bit of a buzz phrase and is quoted all over the place, probably nowhere more than in corporate boardrooms and marketing strategy meetings. And you can guarantee that only a small percentage of people actually know what it means and the other 98% are too embarrassed now to ask what it means as the phrase has been in existence since 2004 apparently!

So I thought I’d have a stab at it.

Usually when you see a version 2 next to something, especially in IT, it means an upgrade of software, hardware or technology. This is where Web 2.0 doesn’t really follow that trend as it’s still the same World Wide Web that was in existence in 1989; Web 2.0 is more about the content, personalisation and how people use it.

Incidentally, for those that don’t know the WWW, was actually started at CERN, in 1989, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (it’s French don’t ask how they came to shorten it to CERN). It started as a way for nuclear physicists to share important information on scientific research from each of their computers. Little did they know what it would evolve into! This site actually brands itself on being the most pointless site on the internet, surely that belongs to this site (In case you can’t be arsed clicking on the last link, it’s Vanessa Felz MySpace page. p.s. I think it’s a wind-up check out some of her friends. Mr.T??? )

Anyway, where was I? Yes, Web 2.0, is a trend that encourages creativity, information sharing and collaboration; exactly what the WWW was invented for, but this second wave is all about you and me posting our own content. The example that you’ll all have heard of is social networking sites, e.g. MySpace, Facebook and maybe Del.icio.us. I only started using Del.icio.us a few days ago and to be honest I’m still not convinced that it’s anything else than an online bookmark depository, enabling you to access your browser favourites from any computer. But others use it for sharing bookmarks; like I said I’m not convinced.

Now depending on your age and/or social ability you’ll either be using some or all of these sites or completely not interested. Now to tell the truth I did use Facebook while we were away as it was a good way of keeping in touch, posting photos, playing scrabble (??), but now that I’m back I’m really not interested in whether an acquaintance from 15 years ago has added the “Which Thundercat character do you most resemble” application. I did try to cut down my use and even delete everyone but my real friends, but it still got on my nerves. Some Facebook addicts in my initial “friends” list updated their status that often I used to get 4 pages of news feed when I logged into it. Some people have over 300 people in their friends, I don’t think I even know 300 people let alone be friends with them. I’ve even heard of one Facebooker who has been sacked from work as he/she was penning less than salubrious comments about their employer on their Wall (must have been someone from Dixons). There will be some people who are reading this who are lucky enough to have never used Facebook and won’t have a clue what I’m on about. You don’t know how lucky you are.

I’ve come to that conclusion that there are 3 types of these social networking whores, and I’ve categorised them below:

1. Under 25’s. This bunch are probably the biggest users and to be honest, these sites are aimed at them. They spend most of the life on the internet anyway, and haven’t really developed the social skills to hold a conversation. Most have at least one ASBO and probably know someone who is/was a member of a Welsh suicide pact. They are members of every single social networking site available and need to spend 4 hours every night, after Eastenders, Corrie and Emmerdale obviously, updating their status, photos, emotion, writing on their 300 friends walls, joining the latest “If I get 1000 members I will name my first born child Charlton Heston” group. They have very pasty skin, ginger/dyed black hair, wear hoods with everything and listen to “My Chemical Romance”. These people are a paradox. They are the most anti-social of all social networking users!

2. 25-40 Year Old’s. These people are either single and trying to cop off with the boy/girl (or both) that they fancied at school or they’re trying to find out what all their “mates” are doing, where they are living and how much they are earning. In fact, I’m surprised that Facebook haven’t added a Salary field in the personal details section for these users, as lets face it, that’s what it all boils down to at this age. People in this group are quite sociable actually, but feel a need to go on these sites as they don’t want to get left behind or feel they are missing the next technological phenomenon.

3. 40 years old (and beyond). Let’s face it, people on Facebook over 40 probably signed up by mistake and can’t work out how to delete their profile. There really is no need for people this age to be on Facebook. Usually their profile picture is one from the 1960’s when they were cool and their religious views are probably set to atheist or agnostic as they don’t want to give too much away. They only have a few friends as they can’t find anyone they know. They may have offspring listed as their friends, but only with limited access to their profile.

I read somewhere on a blog some comments people had on a relatively unknown social networking site (can’t remember the name of it). Some users were championing the fact that you could keep some professional friends (work colleagues) separate from other friends and so information you would share with your non-work friends wouldn’t be visible. An example was cited of uploading pictures from a friend’s stag-do for instance. Now, forgive me for stating the obvious, but would you really upload photos that you considered risque onto the internet. Regardless of whether you want your professional colleagues to see them or not, surely common sense would prevail and you wouldn’t do it in the first place. People are getting carried away with this whole concept of publishing everything you’ve ever done on the internet and even more irritating is they think that everyone else is interested in it. Even this blog, for instance, is a little bit “me, me,” or rather “we, we” by this I mean the 1st person plural not urine! The blog was written as much for our sakes as it was for your sakes, as a memento of what we did on our travels and how we were feeling at the time. (Admittedly you could argue that I’m as guilty as anyone for even writing this blog in the first place!)

So, I won’t be using social networking sites such as Facebook anymore. Or MySpace, Bebo, iLike, FriendsUnited, Habbo, Reunion.com, Student.com, etc. However, I will be using Flickr as a means of backing up my photos, not necessarily for sharing them, and Del.icio.us, for again storing my bookmarks online and not sharing them.

And just to wrap it up, a word on the WWW itself. I remember first “seeing” the web in 1993 in the computer lab at Surrey University. A non-professional friend of mine, (he wasn’t in anyway professional at the time although he probably is now), showed me a browser, Mosaic, to be specific, and said “Look at this page, it’s hosted on a computer in the US”. I wasn’t exactly bowled over by it, and said something along the lines of “So what, what’s the point of that, I can’t see that taking off”. I think that comment even beats the one from Surrey University’s Entertainments’ Officer saying, when asked if he wanted to book a band called Oasis in 1993, “No thanks they’re crap. No-one will pay to see them”

Adios,

p.s. Going back to the definitions at the top I think the 2nd one is the most appropriate. Once you use the WWW you’re hooked, or I know I am (and Geoff is)

p.p.s. Folksonomy is a posh word for social bookmarking apparently. You learn something new every day.

p.p.p.s. Check out the links to the social bookmarking sites on the right. Just because I’m not using these sites doesn’t mean some of our many readers aren’t!

Green

2008-04-03T13:07:00.004Z

Hola, just a quick note to say, obviously I’ve changed the style of our blog to give it a more “green” theme. Everyone seems to be jumping on the green bandwagon at the moment, and we’re no exception. Obviously Michelle’s last post “Keep Britain Tidy” was a lot greener than my last post “If you don’t like computers or technology then don’t read this!”
Well, that’s it for me, I’ve got work to do and all that and should really be getting on with it. See you Soon.

Keep Britain Tidy

2008-03-19T21:08:00.007Z

Does anybody get as wound up as I do about litter? When we were travelling through South America it was like touring through a rubbish tip. I never seen so much garbage, and so little disregard for the environment. It really is about survival out there and they think nothing of throwing their rubbish on the floor, out of the bus window etc. They don't even try to do it discreetly, they don't need to as everybody does it and doesn't know any better.

When we got back I didn't realise just how untidy Britain really is, it's a pit! I was doing a bit of walking before I got back to work and that's when I started to realise just how bad it really is here. There are cans, bottles, carrier bags, fag packets and just litter in general strewn everywhere. There is literally tonnes of the stuff and it is EVERYWHERE! On my drive into work now I go through the little villages rather than try and get caught up in the school run. It's a really nice drive round the country lanes, passing fields with little lambs and even the office I work in is in a rural setting surrounded by rolling hills and greenery. The other morning I was driving behind a Ford Focus and all of a sudden I started seeing litter in the road. I was totally incensed when I realised that it was the driver of the car that was blatantly throwing his rubbish out of the window, with no regard whatsoever for the environment. I felt like driving after him and having a lot off, but whats the point??

Any road..

It's Easter Sunday now, I started this blog last week and realised how boring it was so I decided to stop it. It is really difficult carrying on a blog about your every day existence, because in reality that is all it is, an existence. Got up, went to work, came home watched telly went to bed and did it all again the next day.

We have just been out with 'the family' as it's my mum and dad's 41st wedding anniversary, we also went out with Kirsty's mum and dad as it was Karen's B'Day yesterday. It was lovely we had a BIG carvery and it was spot on, the only thing that spoiled the day was a FAT anti-smoker. Now I'm not a smoker but each to their own, I'm a lot happier that it's now banned from pubs as there is nothing worse than going home stinking of smoke. My mum and Kirsty's went outside for a fag before their lunch and while they were out there a (fat) woman walked past and expressed her views on smoking, which was something along the lines of 'dirty smokers' nothing was said back but then the same woman came back and gave my mum and K's a mouthful and said that she 'hopes they both die of cancer' Well for a couple of women who were out trying to celebrate their wedding anniversary and Birthday I'd say it was a bit harsh. Alright we all have our own views and fair do's that she called em dirty smokers, but to wish that upon them. To Karens credit she did come straight back at her with some expletives and reference to the womans size, but even so it was very uncalled for and we were all a bit annoyed about it. Luckily the lovely lunch more than made up for the fat womans remarks.

On Friday Ben, Dan and Cookie came up for a night on the razzle dazzle, again it was a good night but the weather was lousy. We had planned to go into town the next day, but it was agreed that we had all had a little bit too much to drink, to fully appreciate the copious amount of £ shops in Hull. Don't worry though kids there will probably be twice as many next time you come up, Hull people love £ shops. I do remember trying to convince Ben and Dan to move up to Hull, you would think I was an estate agent the way I was rattling on at them, so apologies for the rant. That said though you would have felt a lot better on Saturday morning if you hadn't had a 2.5 hour drive to do back to Droitwich, we have some great fish and chips here too ;o)

Carry on Camping

2008-03-09T21:48:00.006Z

I can't believe it's Sunday night again already, these 2 day weekends need a review!!

We have had a bit of a nightmare weekend this week with cars but I can't be bothered to go into all the detail and tell you about it. Suffice to say, it's going to cost money :o(

I still haven't been paid yet as I actually started my job on pay day, so the only money I have had since we returned from our jollies is £200, courtesy of the tax payer. Roll on the 20th March!! We have managed to get saving, well I say saving, my parents have very kindly and generously donated 1k of their hard earned cash (and believe me it is hard earned as my mum is a nurse!!) to our mortgage fund, so we officially have 'savings' People keep asking us about the wedding, but the wedding is not as important at the moment as us buying our own house is. I could hardly expect Matt to carry me over the threshold of somebody elses house when we tie the knot could I? So once we have a house we will set a date for the big day, we hope to achieve both within the next 18 months, so Jo and Di you wont have to wait too long to buy your hats!

I'm loving my new job, I spend most days putting processes in place for our new call centre and trying to recruit some staff. I have managed to secure 2 up to now and have another to interview on Tuesday. The settling in period is well and truly over too and last week I was dealing with customer complaints. I'd forgotten just how much I love Customer Service and sorting problems out, my phone never stopped ringing last week and I've only been there 3 weeks! It's also great talking to people who want help and advice on their motor homes and caravans and finding out where people are going on their travels, it's not like a job. I'll tell you what I can give Judith Chalmers a run for her money! I did get a bit of unexpected news last week though, that I wasn't really expecting, and that is a trip to Barcelona!! Not sure if I mentioned this on my last blog... anyway we have a supplier of awnings (google it for all you non campers!!) in Barcelona and we are going out to their factory sometime soon. We also have a supplier who is based in Bradford, I think I'll opt out of that one, for obvious reasons!!

Matt has finally stopped spending money and buying gadgets, I think he's getting it out of his system. He did buy me a iPod Nano for getting a job which came as a complete surprise. I hadn't even worked out how to use my new phone or boot my laptop up before I had another gadget to contend with. I've taken all his bank cards away from him now, it's for his own good!

Some of our friends are coming up to Hull for Good Friday, it really will be GOOD Friday for them as they're from Droitwich and nothing ever really happens there. I think somebody from Droitwich once applied for a passport, and then somebody from Droitwich passed their driving test and even contemplated buying a car, they have also just got an Aldi supermarket there so it is an up and coming town, I think most of the houses there have electricity now too, although there are still a few locals who are struggling to adapt.
We will be showing our mates the cultural delights of The Avenues, and the many bars and restaurants that we frequent. I think it's safe to say we are going to have a 'cracking' Easter weekend!!

If you don’t like computers or technology then don’t read this!

2008-03-03T12:22:00.005Z

Now then! It has been an absolute age since I've blogged, in fact I know exactly when it was, the 22nd Dec 2007. Michelle has blogged a massive 16 times since then and as usual her blogs are a lot more interesting than mine. In fact ‘I’m getting bored just trying to write this and I’m only 3 sentences in! I remember reading “Palace Fans Blog” a while back, where he said he’s getting quite “blogged down” with all this blogging business; “nothing interesting to say”, “can’t be bothered telling people about mundane, every day life stuff”, “not allowed to slag off work as some regular readers are from work, and I might get sacked”, etc.etc. Well I’m not stupid enough to slag off work on here, and to be perfectly honest, I’ve got nothing to slag work off about (at the moment!) as things are going well. I promised myself I wouldn’t get (as) cynical as I used to be and definitely wouldn’t get stressed anymore. There’s people in Bolivia who live at 4500m above sea level in concrete huts, with no running water, heating, let alone a 50inch plasma tv and 4 computers under one roof (more on later!)

So what shall I write about then? Well there’s not a lot I can write about except maybe my new PS3!!. At this point I have to apologise in advance to Michelle and Kirsty as to be honest they’re getting sick to the back teeth of me and Stewart talking about gadgets, tv, computers, routers, WEP, DLNA, PVD, BluRay, HD, etc. So, sorry girls.

So on we go. You probably don’t know this but a vast amount of my time during the last two weeks in Chiang Mai was talking and thinking about technology with Alan (from eComet). The remainder of my time was spent sunbathing, eating Thai food, and drinking Chang beer usually in that order. Anyway, back to technology. Alan is, like myself, and Palace Fan for that matter, an Apple geek. We love to talk, think, live, breathe and dream about Apple computers, iPods, iPhones, and iAnything. I can understand Michelle showing no interest in these conversations and to be fair I show no interest in shopping conversations, or discussions about applying foundation cream before blusher. In case your wondering we do have a lot of things in common though, we both love travelling, obviously, reading, watching films, walking, eating, drinking, sleeping, I could go on. Another point worth mentioning is that Alan is such an Apple lover that even his wife is called Apple! And along a similar line, Palace Fan called his first-born Max, get it Macs, Max?

Anyway, back to Chiang Mai. One of the things I promised myself when we got back and had earned some money was a games machine of some sort, be it an XBOX360 or a PS3. Now I’ve always favoured Sony Playstations and have owned all of them at some point. I sold my PS2 before we left for the bargain price of £30 to Wellsy from eComet. I hadn’t used it for ages and knew that it would be obsolete by the time we returned. There seems to be a massive debate at the moment in various forums over which of the two games machines are better, XBOX or PS3. There are all sorts of factors, which I won’t bore you with here, to consider. To be honest I think the XBOX is probably winning at the moment, for two very good reasons; there are more games out and the Live/Online play looks better than the PS3. New games are usually written for the XBOX and then ported across to PS3, with the old PS2 this was the other way round. However, one of the main reasons I opted for the PS3 was the Bluray player. Anyone who is remotely interested in TV/DVD will know that Bluray was declared the victor in the High Definition DVD wars (not to be confused with the War on terror that has probably had less coverage!). So, now that Toshiba has thrown in the towel it seemed a good idea to opt for a games machine with a built-in player. It’s worth noting too, that the Bluray player in the PS3 is by all accounts a pretty damn fine one. I remember when I bought my PS2, with build-in DVD player, and DVD was really taking off at the time. However the player in the PS2 was absolute sh*te; every film watched through it had a slight green tinge. This worked fine with the George Romero classic “Dawn of the Dead” as he purposely filmed it to give everything a green tinge, but anything else was appalling. I suppose Shrek would have looked quite decent though!

I’ve read that not many of the games out currently stretch the PS3 to it’s limits, but this will change over the next 12 months, when the developers get to grips with all the technology. Incidentally, the games that I’ve played on the PS3 look pretty damn fine, so I’m looking forward to the next 12 months. It’s not just about the games though anymore, as now this black box is supposed to be the centre of your universe, or as they call it a media hub. You can surf the net, look at your photos, watch tv through it (or you can when Sony release the Play TV attachment in a couple of months), stream music/video from your PC/Mac. Now this topic deserves another blog on it’s own and that would be really boring. I spent most of last week trying to get the streaming working from the iMac to the PS3. This is where XBOX wins again as this is a lot easier to do. I’ve seen Ben’s working and it is pretty cool. Obviously a Mac isn’t as straightforward as a PC and of course it didn’t connect to the PS3. I even had to download some software (Nullrivers Medialink) which I got working but only intermittently. I’ve still not finished tinkering so maybe on my next blog, sometime in May at my current rate, I’ll have sorted it. I’m sure it’s something on the router, and my theory is that the traffic coming from the PS3 is caning the router which thinks it’s a Denial of Service attack and then just blocks it.

So, the PS3 is sitting underneath Stewarts brand new 50” Pioneer plasma TV. The picture quality on the games is absolutely stunning and the TV is not even full HD. It’s only 720p, the maximum is 1080p, although this is a bit of a sore point in the house, as it means Stew will be wanting another TV in about 12 months. (If Kirsty’s reading this, which I doubt as it’s turned into a rant about technology, she’s probably cursing me at this point! Sorry Kirsty!). I’ve been playing a game called Heavenly Sword last week in between fiddling with the router settings. It’s the usual story; lots of hacking and slashing, fighting medieval-type knights with huge swords, and generally trashing everything in sight. There’s one scene where you can smash food-laden tables up, and then pick up the food and throw it at the enemies. I picked up what looked like a grapefruit, threw it at a huge shield bearing knight. Needless to say it did little damage and he followed up with a skull-crushing blow to my head. Oh yeah, the main character in this game is a girl, I can’t remember her name, who wears a bikini (or something similar) and wields, yes you’ve guessed it a Heavenly Sword. She is hard as nails and some of the moves she pulls off are fantastic. I don’t know how she does it though as I’m just pressing buttons as fast as I can in any order. It seems to work though as I’m on the 6th level now.

The Bluray movies look even better. I’ve rented the BBC Planet Earth series, the one that BBC constantly broadcast on the BBC HD preview channel on SKY. I’m not that much of an AV geek like Stewart is and will settle for a fairly decent picture on a TV, but when you see this it just blows you away. You find yourself not really concentrating on the DVD itself, but just marvelling over the picture quality. “Look at that ant in the background, look how detailed it looks, you can even see the hairs on its legs”. This reminds me of a classic Carry on Film joke; it’s the one when they’re all going on holiday. One guy Bernard Bresslaw, I think, says to another, possibly Kenneth Williams, whilst sitting on the plane and looking out of the window, “Look at those people down there they look like ants”. The other replies “They are ants, we haven’t taken off yet! Classic.

The only downer is that Bluray disks cost about £20, so it’s not even worth thinking about upgrading all your existing DVDs to Bluray, like everyone upgraded VHS to DVD. I’ll probably wait a while before I buy any Bluray disks to be honest as I’m not willing to pay anymore than £10 for a film. Currently I/We rent them from Lovefilm.com which works out pretty well. You can rent games from them too, so even better. You can have any 2 films at home for as long as you want. You send them back when you’ve finished with them and then the next 2 off your list turn up. All the postage is free too. You can add what you want to your list and prioritise them. Most of the time they do send you what you want in the right order, although sometimes if you have a 5 disk series in your list, like Lost for instance, they send you them in the wrong order. You end up watching the end of the series finale before you’ve seen the start, although in the case of Lost I don’t think it makes much difference do you?

So that’s about it really; turned out to be one of my longer blogs, but I’m sure most of you are thinking it’s my dullest blog. Maybe I should have called it “If you don’t like computers or technology then don’t read this!”. In fact that’s what I’ll do, I’ll call it that and hope that only Palace Fan, Stew, Geoff, Ben and Alan reads it! If you have got this far down and you don’t like technology then sorry, but to quote Little Britain “ I did warn you!”

Adios

P.S. There’s over 1600 words in this blog! I used to struggle in GCSE English to write 400 words on “Discuss Wilfred Owen’s poetry and his use of alliteration and onomatopoeic phrases in relation to the First World War”. It’s amazing how much you can write when you’re not put under pressure or the subject is boring!

Trailer Park Trash

2008-02-27T21:32:00.005Z

"Editors Note - I've been going through some of our old posts and adding relevant (in most cases) pictures. Now we all know Britney is trailer park trash but to be fair to the girl I thought I'd at least put a fairly decent picture of her on this post"

Talk about feeling the earth move! We was in bed last night and you know what it's like when you're half asleep? Well I was aware of movement in the bed and in my semi conscious state decided to blame Matt, as he is prone to a bit of fidgeting. Well this was like no fidgeting I've ever experienced before and the bed was literally shaking and juddering. I said to Matt 'what are you doing?' to which he replied 'it's not me it's you!' As I started to wake up I knew that it was some kind of earth quake we were experiencing, as just after the big judders I started to feel some slight tremors too. Anyway not one to be kept from my slumber I just fell back to sleep and didn't think any more about it, until this morning. I put the BBC news on and there was a scene in Lincoln, that was being broadcast live and there was rubble in the street. Then they started talking about the quake, so I woke Matt up and told him that neither of us was guilty of fidgeting. Fancy that though! Anyway it has been the main topic of conversation all day at work and on the radio and I can honestly say I'm sick of hearing about it now.

We're starting to get back into a kind of routine now, especially now we're both back at work. I'm finding the constraints of a 9-5 life really imposing at the moment. After 10 months of doing our own thing I guess it was always going to be difficult. We are already starting to talk about holidays, we're not going far though probably a week in The Lakes to start with, and maybe a long weekend in Bonnie Scotland too. We both want to see more of England now we have travelled the world as there is so much beauty and heritage on our own doorstep.

We are also going on a stint 'darn sarf' in April to meet up with some of Matt's old Uni mates, one of whom I've already met at Reading a couple of years ago, he probably wont recognise me without the muck and big tide mark around my neck. The other mate I've not met, although I've been reliably informed I will get on with him 'cos he's 'from the North!' So that should be a good weekend.

My new job is going really well, I'm starting to piece things together. There is so much gear involved in camping, it's mesmerising. I have poached an old colleague to come and work with me, Keelie. She came in for an interview on Monday and is starting in a couple of weeks, I'm really looking forward to working with her again as she is an absolute star. When we were in the interview I mentioned to my boss about some supplier training, Keelie's eyes lit up when he said that he would fly us out to Spain to some of the factories and we could tag a long weekend onto the end of it. There's bound to be some perks working in the leisure industry?! Oh I remember the days when I was working for Eurocamp cleaning the seals of the windows with a cotton bud and scrubbing the shower tray with a tooth brush, God knows whose tooth brush it was. I don't know if anybody else shares my enthusiasm for camping/caravanning, but I think there's something really exciting about buying a packet of bacon that you are going to cook on a camp stove and then wash the pans in cold water, and I don't even eat the stuff. For anybody that is stuck for some inspiration as to where to holiday this year, try it, you will love it. You don't have to go on the trailer park at Withernsea either, you can go to most places in Europe, or why not go long haul and spend a couple of weeks caravanning with the Ozzies, cozzies and mozzies.

I can sing now I'm winning!

2008-02-23T15:53:00.007Z

Well I started my new job on Wednesday, at a company called Discover Leisure, they are a company who deal in caravans, motorhomes and anything else to do with camping. I am the new Customer Service Team Leader, what a result!

I first heard about the job when I went to register at a recruitment agency, Beardshaw Murray. We talked through my CV and chatted about what sort of role I was looking for, what experience I had etc. The recruitment consultant then told me of this opportunity that had come up with a leisure company, she told me all the details and said that the guy was looking for somebody who was well travelled and had a genuine interest in the outdoors. We both agreed that it had my name all over it. I was really excited when I left the agency as up until this point I hadn't really seen anything that I wanted to do. I had been to an interview at the infamous Welcome Finance, but if I'm honest it was the last place I wanted to work. It is full of ex-Comet staff and after a fatal blow dealt to me by an ex colleague I really was looking to move away from all things to do with 'Britains most trusted electrical retailer'.

My interview at the agency was on the Thursday and on the following Monday I got a phone call to say that I had an interview the following Tuesday. I was over the moon. I did the prep, read up on the company, revisited all my work experience, skills, strengths, achievements you name it I read it, I thought my head would explode I'd read so much stuff. On the Monday before my interview I had to go see my retarded mate at the Job Centre to sign on. Sure enough he was his usual retarded incompetent self, we went through the script, what have you been doing to find work? what websites have you looked at ra ra ra. At this point I told him that I had an interview the following day and that I didn't expect to be seeing his ugly mug in another 2 weeks. It made no difference to him, there are 1000's more unemployed scrotes in Hull that will always ensure that he is never on the other side of his desk claiming Job Seekers allowance.

On the day of my interview I was a little bit nervous, but was looking forward to having the interview and just getting it all over with, it was over a week now that I had known about the job/interview so I really was sick of thinking about it. It went really, really well and it was more of an informal chat than a structured interview. I chatted about my travels, my time at Eurocamp in Italy and all the other experience I had in Customer Service. It really did go well and when I left Trevor, (my new boss) said I will give you a call this afternoon and let you know. It was such a relief to walk out of there and I was feeling pretty confident about the way things had gone. A couple of hours later I got a call from the agency to say I had been offered the job and could I start tomorrow!! I was a little taken aback by the pace at which everything was happening, but after 10 months off work I decided that I might as well get on with it. So that's what I did, I started work last Wednesday, and I love it. I have no team at the moment and have full responsibility for recruiting, I have poached an ex colleague already, I know it's a bit naughty but hey it's dog eat dog in this world!

It is such a good feeling to be back at work, it was a lonely time being unemployed when everybody around me was busy getting on with it. Agencies don't return your calls and you don't even get rejection letters for anything you apply for, not even a thanks but no thanks. But that's all in the past now, I don't envy anybody living in Hull who is genuinely looking for work, you have got your work cut out!

My first day at work I was late, not fashionably either! The offices are just outside of Hull so I left the house at 8.15, thinking it would allow me plenty of time to get there. Well at 8.50 I was still in Hull and wasn't even half way there, the traffic is manic in a morning with everybody taking their kids to school. Why can't they get the fluffin bus like we had to!!! Anyway I phoned ahead to let them know and have now picked out a short cut that takes 10 mins off the journey and also cuts out a lot of traffic. No I haven't got a helicopter before you ask.

All in all life is really good for us at the moment, we can now get saving to buy a hooooose in the Avenues, I've already set my heart on one down Victoria Avenue. It's a beauty, 4 bedrooms with all the period features, French doors, polished wood floors, dado rails, cast iron fire places in the bedrooms, just what we're looking for. And for all our Southern readers I have to tell you that it is a snip at 234k By the time we get our deposit saved though the house will be long gone. I've already got my eye on a few motorhomes at work too ;o)

Matt seems to be settling into the Northern way of life, he addresses everybody with 'now then'. When I look back we have just about picked our life up from Berkhamstead, packed it way for 10 months, travelled round the world and come back 'oop North' unpacked and now getting back on with it. We are back on top, even if our savings are 20k lighter. Whats 20k though when you've seen and done what we have this last year!

Back to work!

2008-02-20T20:12:00.005Z

Hi all, just a quickie. I will post a blog at the weekend and tell you all about my new job. I know you'll all be really excited now (not!) It took me a very long and lonely 34 days to find a job, but it really is just what I was looking for. Will reveal all when I get a few minutes to myself!!

Giz a job

2008-02-05T16:40:00.001Z

Sorry it's taken me so long to blog, it's just that I'm living a normal life like everybody else now so I'm a bit stumped for a topic! I will make an effort though as I know people are still looking us up, so thanks all you avid readers!

Well life 'Ooop North' is all I hoped it would be, it is fantastic to be 'home' where all my friends and family are. My mum and dad have never gone through so many tea bags (and cake for Matt!!) We're staying with Stew and Kirsty at the moment and that's great too, they have got a lovely big house and we have been made right at home, they've even laid us on a wide screen TV and DVD player in our room ;o)

We have spent the last couple of weeks catching up with everybody and everything, although I have to say very little changes. Everybody is still going about their day to day business while me and Matt get under everybody's feet. I have been looking for a new job, a task in itself in Hull, and I have a few 'irons in the fire' so to speak. Unless you're willing to work for 12.5k though you're a bit limited as to what you can do. Yesterday I went to the job centre to sign on for the 1st time. It was an experience in itself. I had been a week or so earlier to make a new claim and was done up like a dogs dinner as I had just had an interview at a recruitment agency. Needless to say I stuck out like a sore thumb. The guy who my appointment was with was 20 minutes late seeing me and when I finally did have the pleasure, he stunk of beer! He had very little interest in getting me a job which wouldn't have been so bad if he tried to hide the fact. Don't get me wrong I wasn't expecting to come out of there with a 30k job, company car and all the trimmings kind of job tucked under my belt, but he didn't ask me the 1st thing about me, typical male I suppose!!!!!!

So this week when I went back I had to 'sign on' and then prove what I had been doing to find work. Well believe me short of going door to door looking for jobs, I have been very busy trying to find something suitable. I had it all documented on the silly form that they give you to keep. When I sat down he asked me in his best Hull accent 'So Michelle, what ave you bin doin to find work' well this was my opening gambit, I blurted it all out, I didn't stop for breath for about 30 seconds. He was shocked, the only thing he could come back with was ' Did you remember to look in the 'Ull Daily Mail on Wednesday' (it's jobs nght in our local rag on a Wednesday, and yes of course I looked!) I told him that yes I had, but to be honest it was a load of twaddle. He then said "Well that's as good as it get's in Hull, that's Hull for yer'.

What I want to know is who employed that big hapless b*&$@rd, how can somebody as BIG (and believe me he was) and gormless as him have a job and I have to rely on the likes of him to get me back into work!! What chance have I got?, any road rant over.

We went to Hornsea at the weekend with Kirsty's mum's dog, it was great. We took him on the beach for a frisk about and he loved it. It was a freezing cold day and the wind was whipping round our ankles and through our layers, it was great to get some fresh sea air though. Another good thing about living in Hull is that you are right on the coast, well good unless there's ever a Tsunami I suppose. Tomorrow we are off up to Scarborough for the day with my folks, so that will be another bracing day no doubt.

Since we got back we have done loads of walking, when we were travelling we literally walked for miles and miles so now that we're home walking down to the local shop or into town is nothing, wheras before we went we would have just jumped in the car. Travelling does make you appreciate so many little things that we take for granted on a day to day basis.

On Sunday we went out with some people from Comet, Hull, again it was good to see so many friendly faces (some not so friendly) I had a good old hangover on Monday morning as a result, luckily there was no work though ;o)

So that's about it in a nut shell, loving life and glad to be back!

The Sunday Post

2008-01-20T12:36:00.002Z

I didn't know whether to carry the blog on or not when we got home, and to be honest I'm still not sure that I can write anything interesting enough for anybody to want to read, but I'll give it a go..

We've been home 4 days now and I'm still glad to be home (so is Matt) I've being staying with my mum and dad and on Thursday Matt went back to Droitwich to see his family, which is where he is now (or at least that's where he's supposed to be!!) I have spent the last couple of days finding all my clothes and shoes (a task in itself) updating my C.V, drinking gallons of tea and watching trashy t.v, as well as spending time with Stew in his lovely new HOOSE, oh yeah and getting the much talked about new hair doooo!!

Travelling certainly opens your eyes to a whole new perspective in life, and I can safely say I feel a totally different person for the experience. Life back at home is an absolute walk in the park to the life we have lived for the last 9 months. Everything at home is familiar to us, even the faces of people driving up the M1 on the way home from Heathrow looked familiar. I know what bus to catch (my dad will be thinking well why do you keep asking me for a lift and to borrow the car then!!) I know the route the bus will take, I know where all the shops are, I know where to buy what I want. I can talk to anybody (I just don't want to) I don't have to convert the price of everything into Sterling. I don't have to find somewhere to do our washing, I can use the phone and know it isn't going to cost me 50p a minute, I know where to get good fish and chips. Are you getting the picture?

Life at home is soooooo easy and at the moment relatively stress free. Every day that you are away when you're travelling you are constantly thinking and planning, where you will travel to next, how will you get there, how much will it cost, how long will it take, where will we stay, how long shall we stay for. At home your life is almost a matter of habit and we can manage most days without even having to actually think about what we're doing. Get up, have a shower, go to work, come home, have dinner watch T.V and go to bed. I'm not criticising that kind of life, quite the opposite, I now appreciate the most simple of pleasures.

Yesterday I walked to Stew's house which is about 2.5 miles away from my parents house, I loved it. I could have taken one of a hundred ways to get there, because I know them all, I knew where I was going and roughly how long it would take me to get there. You probably think all this sounds really crazy, it may make more sense to other people that have travelled, surely it can't just be me who feels this way after 9 months on the road?!?!

I think back to all the buses, trains and planes that we have travelled on since we have been away, and all the people who have got us to our next destination, i.e the bus driver, the pilot, the taxi driver. I'm home now back in my comfort zone and all those people are still out there, driving the taxi's, driving the buses over the Andes in shit weather on hazardous road, none of the experience is lost on me. It is like being dragged out of 'reality' and thrown into a surreal existence for 9 months and then all of a sudden being plunged back into the 'real world'

We are already talking about our next trip, which won't be for another 6 years as we have a few 'grown up' things we have to tend to first, like me getting a job, us buying a house and getting married. It all takes time and money.

On Tuesday I am back on the road again and getting the National Express to Birmingham to meet Matt, we are going to hopefully get me an engagement ring (oooooh how exciting) and I will see Matt's family and friends, so really looking forward to that. We are then going 'darn Sarf' to see Gary and Eve and the infamous bump, and hopefully catch up with a few work colleagues (only the elite) before we head back 'Ooop North' so start 'Life in a Northern Town'

I can honestly say that 2007 was the best year of my life in so many ways, our travels, Gary and Eve's pregnancy, our engagement, Stew and Kirsty's new house, and so much quality time together. We have enjoyed so many new experiences together and seen so many amazing places, it is difficult to put it all into words.

It was sad when Matt left on Thursday to go and see his family, I felt like I'd lost a limb after spending so much time together, he has being an absolute rock while we have been away. I can't wait to see him again on Tuesday. Matt Looby you truly are the best friend this girl could ask for and I can't wait to be your wife :o)

They think it's all over... It is NOW!

2008-01-16T17:47:00.001Z

Well, we arrived back in the U.K at 6am today and it was fluffing freezing (STILL IS)!! It is such a great feeling to be back, as much as we have loved every minute of our travels (even Oz!) it is good to be 'Ome.

Anyway, I'm not writing a BIG blog 'cos I'm suffering from travel/motion sickness and finding it difficult to form sentences, which is most unlike me!

It was a great feeling driving up the M1 on the way home from Heathrow, knowing that we are making a fresh start 'Ooop North'

Not sure if any of you ever used to watch Victoria Wood, but she used to have a comedy show and one of the sketches was a woman reading the news. One of the news readers gags went like this "We'd like to apologise to all our viewers in the North... It must be dreadful"

I love the North, it's full of Northerners, and they ALL acknowledge you when you give way to them on the roads!

As Oasis sang... It's good to be back!

Suited and Booted

2008-01-13T05:52:00.003Z

Ooooh I'm feeling a bit delicate this morning after a late night on the Chang beer, we didn't get in 'til 3am courtesy of a tuck tuck! They should have tuck tuck's in England. Hull is a nightmare place to get a cab on a weekend and it's not uncommon to be waiting well over an hour in the freezing cold after a night on the toooown! Here tuck tucks line the streets at all hours of the day and night, you often see the driver slumped in the back seat catching 40 winks before his next fare. It usually costs 60 baht (1GBP) to go anywhere in Chiang Mai, for tourists anyway, it's probably 20 for the locals!!

We haven't being doing much this week, just spending our last days of freedom relaxing by the pool and chilling out. The sun is out every day here and never a cloud in the sky, we have also seen some magnificent sunsets. Unfortunately we don't get up early enough to see the sun rise!

We have also been to get measured up for some new "Saville Row" style attire. I'm not sure if anybody knows but in Asia (mostly Thailand I think) they are fantastic tailors and can make you anything to wear with any fabric of your choice. We went in a couple of days ago to select some styles and fabrics, the shop has Armani catalogues etc and you just pick out the style you like, chose your fabric from the many different types they have in the shop and then they do the rest. Once we had told him what we wanted he measures you up and draws a small diagram of the specific requirements you have, this includes how many buttons you want on the cuffs of your shirt, if you want a back pocket, pocket with buttons, slits at the side of your shirt, rounded bottoms to your jacket etc etc. They really do go into the most intricate detailing to get the garment just how you want it. We arranged to go back the following night to see how our clothes were shaping up. Within 24hrs they had made us 4 shirts and 2 pairs of trousers, we then had to try them on to make sure that the fit was OK and to check the cut of the trousers. When I tried mine on I have to say I felt like a million dollars. The fabric we chose for our suits is Cashmere and the cut of the trousers was just amazing. I have never had anything made to measure before, I don't suppose many of you reading this have either. I normally buy my suits from Next straight off the shelf, opting for the best fit from the small selection they have. Having something made to fit though really is something special, and if you ever get to Thailand I would definitely recommend it. My trousers were a little bit big around the waist and baggy around the crutch, so the guy marks it all out with chalk where they need to be cut and sends them back to the anonymous seamstress. They came back another 24hrs later fully altered and perfectly fit. I was that impressed with the cut and quality that I ordered another pair of trousers and a shirt. I did enquire about having a wedding dress made but he said that it would take longer than a week so I didn't bother. We have both got Cashmere suits each, an additional 3 pairs of trousers and 5 shirts and it came to less than 300GBP. I'm sure my new suit will get me the job that I want when we get back ;o)

Matt went for a Thai massage the other day as he has been suffering with a bad neck for quite a while now and pain killers aren't giving him much relief. I left him in the shop as it was going to be over an hour that he would be in there. He looked like a child whose mum is dropping him off for his first day at school ;o) It wasn't one of the "dodgy" massage parlours, maybe that's why he looked so worried?!? He came back over an hour later like a new man, he was bending, stretching and full of beans, telling me how good he felt and going into detail about how they bent and stretched him this way and that way. He also said that all the pain in his neck had gone and that he could almost turn it 360 degrees. Definitely 3 pound well spent. But the effects were to be short lived I'm afraid, yesterday he woke up complaining that his neck was aching again, and he's never shut up about it since. Now I know where the saying comes from "what a pain in the neck". Anyway he is going back for another one tomorrow so we'll see if that cures him.

Massage and pedicure are so cheap here, as is hair dressing, dentistry, opticians, plastic surgery, handbags, sunglasses... No wonder they call it the land of smiles!!

2 more sleeps and then we are on our way...

It's the final countdown...

2008-01-09T08:34:00.001Z

Well we're into the very last week of our travels and I have to say it feels good knowing that we're homeward bound.

We've being having a great time in Chiang Mai, doing far too much eating and drinking and very little exercise!! Last week we went out with Alan and Apple and some of their U.K friends to a brand new 5* hotel for an all you can eat buffet. The hotel is the Shangri La and it only opened on the 22nd December last year, so you can imagine how new everything is, you can actually smell the fresh paint when you walk in. Not a familiar smell in Thailand!! The carpets are those that sink as you walk over them they are that plush, and the attention to detail was amazing. The food was also 1st class although being a veggie my options were slightly limited. They had a sushi bar, an Italian section, local Thai dishes and an abundance of fresh salads, not to mention the delectable desert section. I think it's safe to say that between us (me and Matt) we polished off about 8 portions of desert!! You may find this difficult to believe but I'm not a big fan of sweet stuff either, probably just as well! It was a lovely night and it cost us just over 5 pound each. In currency that is not weight.

On Saturday night we headed to the Riverside on our mopeds (Apple and Alan driving) to a really busy bar where all the wealthy Asians and holiday makers hang out. It was soooo busy that we had to wait to be seated. We had another good night in there with some fine Thai tucker and lashings of Singh Beer. There was a Thai band playing too, doing covers of The Eagles, Queen, Coldplay etc. We were a little bit worse for wear when we left, or should I say I was! Sunday was spent sobering up by the pool.

Monday and yesterday we headed off to the Thai Cookery School for an introduction into Thai cooking. The classes are anything between 2 - 9 people. Luckily for us there were only 6 in our group, the only downside is that 4 of them were ozzies!! I'm only joking they were a decent crowd actually, it's not their fault they're from Oz. The first day we made a Pad Thai, a crispy Catfish Salad, some green curry paste (which involved a lot of pounding) and then a green curry with the paste. It was all delicious, despite the cockroaches jumping out of our eating bowls as they were set out ready for us to serve up our food!! We finished off with bamboo shoots in coconut milk, I wasn't too sure about those?!?!

Yesterday we made Chicken and Cashew nuts, I had to substitute all meat with tofu which was incredibly bland, despite the over powering presence of chilli's in everything. If I was cooking at home I would change tofu for fish. We then made a chicken and glass noodle salad with a chilli dressing, red curry paste and then a red curry with the paste we had made, and some Thai fishcakes with a chilli jam. Again the results were fantastic, even if I do say so myself. Both days before we started cooking we headed out to the local markets to get all our fruit and veg, it was great to be in the markets were all the locals do their shopping. Also everything was so cheap. At home we buy a Thai cooking kit from Waitrose when we want to make a Thai curry, it has a few shallots, a couple of leaves of coriander, garlic, lemongrass and a few other random leaves and it costs us 5 quid. At this market we were getting massive bunches of coriander and huge bulbs of galangal and all for about 20p each!! The cookery classes were great and we both enjoyed the experience, but the recipes are quite similar and we decided that we didn't need to do the 4 days that we had planned. We both got a recipe book to bring home so we can always refer back to that for some pointers. God only knows where we will get all the ingredients.

We have done a fair bit of shopping since we arrived too, our room is starting to look like Del Boys lounge with dodgy knock off gear in every corner and on every surface. I'm sure we will get hammered for excess baggage on the way home. We will just have to layer ourselves in clothing, adorn ourselves in jewellery and fake watches and carry a couple of designer handbags each and we should be ok. We don't plan on taking much (if any) of our original clothing home with us so we should have created a bit of space in our packs by the time we leave.

Today and tomorrow we have/will be lazing by the pool soaking up the last of the rays before we brace ourselves for the biting temperatures back home. I'm getting regular updates on the weather from my mum and dad and I think it's safe to say we are in for a very cold welcome when we get home :o(

Chilling in Chiang Mai

2008-01-04T04:34:00.000Z

We arrived in Chiang Mai on New Years day after a 60 minute flight from Bangkok - what a breeze! It was such a relief to get away from the hustle and bustle, not to mention the intense heat.

We were met at the airport by an ex work colleague and his family (Alan, Apple and Andrew) Alan used to live here a few years ago and is currently on a career break and back in Chiang Mai soaking up some culture. It is not difficult to see why he has come back. Chiang Mai is a fantastic place. It is much cooler than the rest of Thailand and without the humidity, it is less busy than the touristy resorts and it has so much to see and do and fantastic restaurants, bars, shops etc. It is going to be difficult for us to leave!!!

We are due to fly home to the U.K on the 16th January, a little bit earlier than we anticipated but we are both ready for home now, despite it being mid winter there! So rather than clock up more miles travelling to Cambodia for a week or so we have decided to put down our packs for the last time and spend the rest of our trip in Chiang Mai, it has got everything we need to end our already superb trip on a high. Cambodia will have to wait for the next trip when we will have the time and inclination to do the country justice.

On Wednesday we hired some bikes with Alan and Apple and they took us to the Elephant Reserve, about 20k outside of town. It was a great drive (despite the pot holes ;o)) through windy roads up into the hills and away from city life. Myself and Matt went on an elephant ride, it is something I have wanted to do this trip and obviously Thailand is the perfect place for such activities! There are loads of elephants at the reserve and they are amazing creatures, I love them. Our elephant was a female and she was called Mae Moo, she was 38 years old which meant we were the same age, she did seem to be aging better than me though, although I'm not sure I had quite as many wrinkles as she did!! We were on Mae Moo for an hour, we sat on a seat that is attached to her back and there is a local sat up front (on her head) giving her directions and steering the way. I couldn't help but think that it was a cruel thing to be doing, but the elephants handled our weight with ease and it is such a relief knowing that these animals are protected and looked after daily without the fear of being hunted or separated from their herd. Elephants are extremely protective of their young and the rest of their herd, and they become very distressed when one of them is captured by predators or runs into difficulty. They do everything they can to protect each other, they really are something special and it was a real treat for me. It was a slow and bumpy ride, and often quite smelly when one of them would stop to do their business ;o) We also went into one of the rivers where the elephants had a drink and sprayed some water around, it was a great experience and one I will never forget.

After that we headed off to a great Thai restaurant for a lovely Thai lunch, because Alan and Apple have lived here before they know all the best spots so we really have being spoilt since we arrived. We then went to see some waterfalls before heading back. A fantastic day. Yesterday we opted for a lazy one, so we headed across the road to a "posh" hotel and made full use of their sun deck and swimming pool amidst the Germans. We sat sipping ice cold drinks soaking up the rays, thinking of our friends back home venturing back to work after the Christmas holidays!

We have been doing a bit of shopping since we arrived here as we have put it off our whole trip as we couldn't afford to pack any more weight. They have a night bazaar here every day and it is huge. The handicrafts are beautiful and if I had my way I would but them all. There are shoes, handbags, t-shirts, dvd's, cd's, jewellery, souvenirs you name it it's all here for the taking. The only thing I'm not too good at though is the bartering, they come in with a ridiculous price and then we have to haggle. I have had a few attempts, some successful and others not so. We have another week and a half though to get the rest of our pressies so I hope to have it cracked by then.

On Monday we begin our 4 day cooking course. We attend cooking classes Mon - Wed, 10am - 4pm and then our last day is Sunday. We are shown how to make our own curry pastes, Thai soups and other local dishes, this involves a trip to the market to buy our own ingredients. We are really looking forward to this. We get to eat all our own cooking too so we will be stuffed by the end of each day, it's a hard life!!

Today we are just going to amble into town and have a look around, we have had Alan showing us the sights and delights of Chiang Mai since we arrived so we have being spoilt not having to get the maps out finding somewhere to eat, best places to shop. We'll probably end up in some girly bar paying through the nose for our drinks being accosted by lady boys!!

Whacky Races

2007-12-31T10:48:00.001Z

Well Bangkok is certainly banging there's no doubt about that!

We are not staying in the Backpacker side of town which is Khao San Road, we are in the "better" side of town, where dare I say it's a bit quieter??

Yesterday we took a taxi to The Grand Palace, it is easy to see where it gets it's name from, it is an absolute splendid sight, and well worth a visit. It was a blistering hot day yesterday around 32c with not a breath of air. Matt had been going on at me about appropriate dress for the said Temples and told me that I should dress respectfully (as if I don't normally!!) So with that in mind I opted for a long cotton skirt, a vest top and a jumper to cover my bare shoulders with when we went into the Temples. Matt went along in shorts and a t-shirt. As soon as we tried to walk through the gates we were shouted at through a loud speaker and told that we weren't dressed appropriately and that we would have to go and "borrow" some clothes from their office. This didn't prove to be a real problem as there were 100's of Westerners there all with the same problem, us Westerners seem to have no regard for other countries culture. We were wondering what the particular problem was with our dress (or lack of) as we really thought we had it covered (no pun intended) anyway it only turned out that Matt was showing too much leg!! He was handed a beautiful pair of pea green elasticated waist trousers for the tour. Well I just fell about the place laughing at him, he looked ridiculous, especially as he was wearing a trendy blue t-shirt and flip flops, he wouldn't let me take a photo. I was in hysterics, it was one of those "you had to be there" moments! Anyway we took lots of snaps, we went to see the Emerald Buddha and a few other bits and pieces but because it was just soooo hot we cut our visit short. Matt couldn't rid himself of his newly acquired pants quick enough he he!!

After that we walked to the Khao San Road, it was full of Westerners and pervy old men. It was more like home than Bangkok. We went for a beer and half a Pad Thai which was horrible and then had a walk around some of the shops/markets. We didn't do any shopping though as we aim to do it before we fly home so that we don't have to cart it around with us. There are lots of bargains to be had though!!!!!

The traffic here is like Whacky Races, there are about 3 lanes on the road but with 8 lanes of traffic, it's mayhem in places. There is also a constant smog about the place and difficult to breathe in places where there is a lot of cars and buses. A lot of the locals wear the masks over their noses/mouths. If the locals think it's bad you can imagine what it's like for tourists. It is much cleaner than I expected though, a lot cleaner than Kualar Lumper, although the stench of rotting food and sewers does not escape you!!

The buses here are like something from a Bollywood movie, they are painted in bright gaudy colours and have the same interior as a tacky Indian restaurant, with tasseled curtains, red and orange lighting and dodgy piped in back ground music. The only thing is you can't order a curry on one!!

Today we went to one of the many shopping centres as it really is too hot to be wandering around the streets aimlessly. We ended up in the cinema to see I am Legend. It was really funny at the beginning as the Thai National Anthem comes on and you all have to stand up and pay homage to the king. Can you imagine that at home with all the cheeky little brats, they'd all be swearing and shouting out obscenities! It was a great film though.

I'm not too familiar with the Thai religions although I know it's mostly Buddha and Hindu. One of the things that the Thais do though is have a little temple of worship outside their property, whether it be a shop, house, cafe etc. The only way to describe these little temples is to compare them to a bird table. On them they have a little Buddha and lots of flowers and crosses and other paraphernalia, they also leave food and gifts out for whoever it is the table is set up for. They believe that if they feed their God that it will keep any evil spirits away. It is quite funny actually, if you could see some of the crap they leave out. In Ko Samui they had a bottle of cherryade with a straw in and a pack of 10 cigars. I thought it was hilarious. I thought with it being Christmas that they may leave a glass of Sherry, a mince pie and a carrot for Rudolph!!

We fly to Chang Mai tomorrow so will post more then and let you know how the cooking lessons are going.

Happy New Year!!

One night in Bangkok..

2007-12-30T04:46:00.000Z

... actually you better make that 3!

Well we are unexpectedly in Bangkok, we arrived at our lovely beach resort on the 27th only to find that there had been a mix up with our reservation and that there were no rooms left!! The rest of the resort was also busy as it is now a popular time for Thais to holiday, and the resort we had chosen was popular with Thais not Westerners. Anyway I'm not going to bore you with the whole fiasco, suffice to say it was just that.

We got on the bus for Bangkok yesterday, another 6 hours on top of the 14 hours we had done the day previously and we are now here until 1st January, when we will fly up to Chiang Mai for about 8-10 days. It is much cooler in Northern Thailand, which will be a welcome relief from this heat. Bangkok is as busy as you would be expect, we haven't seen too much yet as we only arrived late afternoon yesterday, but we are going to see some sights today, including The Grand Palace, so watch this space for an update and some pics.

We are staying in a lovely hotel, totally blown the budget, we seem to have forgotten that we're backpackers since we arrived in Thailand, oops!! I am loving the country so far, the only thing that annoys me about the Thai people is that they think Westerners have a licence to print money and try to rip us off at every opportunity. We are trying to stand firm but we have found ourselves in a situation that didn't leave us any room for bartering, or bantering for that matter and as a result we were taken to the cleaners!! It's a long story and one which I can't be bothered to go into, you will lose the will to live if I go into any kind of detail.

Food here has been superb, which we always knew it would be especially as it's my favourite cuisine anyway. When we get to Chiang Mai we will be both going on a 4-5 day cookery course, it is hosted by a top Thai chef who has been on lots of BBC cookery programmes!!! So no doubt our folks will be the first to sample our Thai culinary skills when we get back!!

We aren't going to Cambodia now, instead we will enjoy what time we have left in Thailand, Matt has a friend that he is due to meet in CM and we will also try and do some trekking, riding elephants and other Thai touristy nonsense before we fly home, date TBC!!

So that's it for now, just a short one, will update on Banging Bankok in a few days!

Homeward Bound

2007-12-26T13:56:00.002Z

So Christmas is as far away as ever now, hope you all got lots of lovely pressies!

Today is our last day in Koh Samui, tomorrow we leave for Prachuap Khirikhan, where we will spend new year. It is apparently the best beach in Thailand and much quieter than all the touristy beaches. So that is why we chose it as we don't like new year. We will be there for 5 nights so we still have a bit of beach left yet!

Christmas day was weird, there has been a Christmas tree up in our resort with decorations up too but there is no Christmas vibe. Christmas eve all the young party goers went to the full moon beach at the next Island (forgotten the name) we contemplated going along too but decided against it in the end. We've heard a lot about these "party's" so we opted for a quiet one instead. You're probably thinking what a miserable pair of gits we are but it is difficult getting excited about it all with no friends and family about.

Christmas day we got up as normal and had breakfast by the beach, which is a bonus obviously. We then spent the rest of the day lounging about, drinking beer and eventually had a Christmas lunch of vegetable Pad Thai. We rang our families later in the afternoon and I managed to compose myself, I couldn't help thinking about them all sat round though enjoying the festivities.

Last night there was a party at our resort with some live music and a BBQ so we were looking forward to that, it was packed too with a good atmosphere, everybody wishing each other merry Christmas etc, some people wearing party hats and silly earrings so it did feel better. We also got chatting with a few Brummies so we spent the night with them, we didn't get in til 2am this morning. The band were appalling I have to say (Matt will agree) it was 2 cockney blokes of about 50 years old, dressed in checked shirts that you buy from Florence and Fred at Tesco, chinos with creases down the fronts and boating shoes. The 3rd guy was a Thai kid of about 25, now he really looked the part with long straggly hair, faded denims and a vest, with a fag dangling from his mouth. So you can imagine it was a bit of a strange combo. There was no drummer, it was all backing music run through a PR system. Well the 2 older guys were an absolute joke, talk about wooden. Their opening tune was The Shadows, Apache. Let's just say you had to see (and hear) it to believe it. We just took the proverbial out of them all night, they were that belligerent though that they didn't give a monkeys and just turned the music up even louder! I'm sure Hank Marvin would have had something to say if he'd have heard them...

Today we didn't get up until lunch time, easy life. The weather has been pants today with lots of rain and cloud so we haven't been on the beach or by the pool. We have spent it playing Scrabble and watching cheesy T.V.

It's safe to say now that we're looking forward to getting home, Christmas aside we are just weary from been on the road for 8 months. So we have brought our flight dates forward and we will be flying home in 3 weeks instead of 5. We still have a lot to see in that time though as we head off to Cambodia and up to Northern Thailand so don't give up on the blog just yet.

Christmas - Thai Style

2007-12-24T09:47:00.000Z

Hello All, you must all be buzzing now with the anticipation of Santas arrival this evening and what he will bring all you boys and girls that have behaved this year. He will be mafted when he gets to Thailand I hope he has his swim wear with him :o)

Well we have had a very exciting couple of days as you can imagine, Matt's proposal and my Birthday yesterday, I'm on cloud 9. Thank you all for your lovely messages and well wishes it means a lot to us both. My engagement ring at the moment is a stainless steel band bought from the lucky lucky man on the beach, we're going to shop for a real one when we get back so I'm looking forward to that, not sure Matt is ;o)

We have had a really relaxing time since we arrived in Koh Samui and the weather has been superb. The resort that we're at is full of westerners and chavvy Brits which is a bit of a come down after 8 months on the road, but I guess it conditions us a little for return home. It is really touristy here and is not like travelling now at all, it's more like being on holiday. Thailand is beautiful (what bit I've seen) but I can't help but notice the seediness that consumes the place. There are so many fat, balding old men here who are just out for the Thai girls and there are also lots of the same kind of men married to the Thai girls. It's shocking to think that these beautiful women are exploited in this way, but as Matt said it's the life they choose and they don't see anything wrong with it. The men are just sad pathetic old perverts who can't form a relationship with a woman because she loves him, it's all to do with the size of his wallet.

Yesterday we spent another day relaxing by the pool and then late afternoon we decided to start my Birthday celebrations early. We had a wander along the Lamai Beach taking in the other resorts, some of them really luxurious and others not quite so. The beach here has surprised me, while the sea is that beautiful aquamarine colour and the sand is white, there is litter strewn everywhere, plastic bottles, fag ends, numerous shoes and flip flops, drinking straws, and there are loads of random dogs wandering up and down. No I'm not referring to the ugly women I'm talking the 4 legged variety. Not the sort of thing I was expecting. Having said that there are some parts of the beach that are spotless. Luckily for us we stay by the pool on the loungers, it's easier to get to the bar!!

So we went in the 1st pub yesterday, a Swedish pub and ordered a couple of Singah Beers, to be told the distressing news that they weren't serving alcohol that day as there were some presidential elections taking place, and it was against the law to serve alcohol. It didn't seem to have a negative effect on the prostitution laws in Thailand just the drinking ones. So we order a fizzy drink and made off back to the beach to our resort where we knew they were serving beer as it is off the main road and out of earshot of the police. As we were heading back we heard some Reggae music and saw some candles flickering away at some beach side bar so we parked our butts and spent most of the evening there, watching fireworks and sipping ice cold beer. We also bought a kind of balloon to celebrate my B'Day. You light it inside and then it takes off into the air and drifts off into the Thai night. It was quite romantic actually he he. After the beer we went to a nice little Thai/Italian restaurant for some food, we had been there a couple of nights previously and enjoyed a great Thai curry so we agreed that we would go back.Matt told the lady that owned it we would be back on Sunday as it was his girlfriends birthday, I didn't think she was paying much attention to us crazy westerners but last night when we had finished our meal she came across with a big cocktail of ice cream and fruit covered in chocolate sauce with two dessert spoons and wished me Happy Birthday. What a lovely gesture.

Today has been much the same as any other, we have been laid by the pool listening to Brits bickering at each other, touts trying to sell us sarongs and pancakes, and crazy kids diving about in the pool, with some dodgy 80's music playing in the background. It does not feel like Christmas at all. We are enjoying it though, we have had no stress of getting up the M1 in rush hour traffic, no Christmas shopping to do, no planning of our logistical Christmas between Droitwich and Hull, and to top it all it's sunny and we're in a lovely little resort on a Thai beach.

There are no signs of a Christmas lunch anywhere on the menu here for tomorrow so it will probably be red and green curry for lunch, at least the colours are seasonal :o) Tomorrow night we are having a BBQ and there is a live band playing so we think(!) we're looking forward to that. If it's rubbish we are heading to the 7/11 for a bag full of goodies and beer and will barricade ourselves in our room and watch some trash TV, it will be just like home!!

Well you must have known it was coming...

2007-12-22T14:20:00.002Z

Well lets get straight to the point, I've just proposed to Michelle! Yes, that's right we're going to get married, not sure where, when or how yet but I'm sure most of you who are reading this will be invited to the special day. That's it really, nothing else to say, but again have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Adios until 2008!

Lifes a beach

2007-12-20T03:16:00.001Z

We're now in Thailand, the Island of Ko Samui to be more specific, it is lovely!

We arrived in Thailand on Monday direct from the Cameron Highlands, it wasn't planned that way. We jumped off the bus in Butterworth after about 7 hours and thought that we would stay the night there before going across the border to Thailand, but as we got off the bus we were mobbed by touts all trying to sell us bus tickets for our next destination. We were a bit weary after 7 hours on a ram shackle bus but we were on travelling mode so rather than mess about trying to finds digs for the night we decided to hop on a mini bus to Hat Yai instead (another 4 hours!!)

We had an hour to kill before the bus departure so we went to an indoor food market for a cup of tea. Well I had been spoilt in C/H as far as tea goes, the one we had here looked like tomato soup with some white stuff floating at the bottom. It turned out to be condensed milk it was vile!!

The mini bus into Thailand was a bit of a white knuckle ride, the driver stopped for no man. We made the border crossing and got all the necessary stamps before setting off again. Once across the Thailand border the Malaysian standard of living (such as it is) came to an abrupt end, much the same way as Singapore did when we left there for Malaysia. Thailand is very raw and reminds me very much of Bolivia (at least that part of Thailand did) in fact I'd go so far to say that it made Bolivia look like Hollywood!! It was hustle and bustle everywhere and a certain sense of frenzied mania everywhere.

We were dropped in Hat Yai at about 7pm in the midst of typical Thai life. We had been on the road since 9am and were in a totally new country, it was also extremely humid and we were both knackered and a bit tired. We picked out the first hostel in the Lonely Planet and went in to make enquires about a room for the night. Well words fail me. The hostel was a pit, there was a HUGE corridor that we had to walk down to get to our room (similar to the kind you would see in One flew over the cuckoos nest, but dark instead of sterile) we opened the door to our room and I was almost floored. It was basic and just a little bit on the shabby side. BUT it had a beautiful clean bed,and after 10 hours on the road I would have slept in the gutter, so we dumped our bags and hit the town for a few beers and a lovely Phad Thai!!

We stayed in Hat Yai for two nights, it is a really busy, noisy place with nothing much to do there but eat and shop. Its not very touristy and is only a stopping off point for the border crossing with Malaysia. It is an absolute shit hole if I'm honest and there are as many rats there as there are people. It is a smelly run down place, not too dissimilar to say, Bosnia??

Anyway we had a decent couple of days there before getting another mini bus yesterday (and ferry) to where we will now spend Christmas. Ko Samui. We have blown our budget and are staying in fantastic beach side resort. We couldn't have found anywhere nicer and it has exceeded our expectations by far. So much so that we are staying an extra 4 nights, so we will now be here until 27th before we go back to the mainland beach for New Year.

This morning we ate our breakfast by the sea, sat in our shorts and t-shirt. It must make you shiver at home when you think of such attire ;o)

So that's us for the moment. You must all be wondering are we feeling home sick? I'll be honest with you and say yes I am particularly so, Matt is but not as much. But we know that we are home in 5 weeks and back into the rat race and all the last 8 months will be a memory so we intend to make every minute count.

This is my very first Christmas away from home and as much as I have known all along that it would be difficult I didn't realise just how much. So make the most of yours at home with your loved ones and try not to worry too much about us laying at the beach side sipping cocktails to numb the pain he he :o)

Merry Christmas everybody, have a good one Michelle and Matt xx

It's proper Boh I tell thee!!

2007-12-16T07:14:00.001Z

For all you non Bo Selecta fans you wont have a clue what the title of this blog means, oh well.

Today we went on the tour, we had a cracking day out eating and drinking our way round the C/H. We were picked up about 9am in a little mini bus we then went around the local hotels picking up other tourists, most of them were Malaysian. Our first stop was to a Rose Garden! We weren't particularly excited by the prospect of trailing around some poncey roses but I think it's safe to say that we both enjoyed it. It wasn't just roses there were hundreds of different types of flowers and cacti. Anyway not much to tell other than we took lots of snaps (see Flickr)

After the rose garden we headed to the Strawberry Farm, this I was looking forward to as Strawbs are one of my favourite fruits so I couldn't wait to get my grotty hands on them. We were allowed to go inside one of the green houses but were advised not to "pluck" the strawberries.We never even got the chance as it seemed other tourists had beaten us to it, the plants were bereft of any fruit :o( Luckily there was a small row of shops selling souvenirs and all strawberry related products, these included (to name a few) fresh strawbs, milkshake, waffles, jam, ice cream, scones and jam. I was like a woman demented, wondering what to try first. We tasted some of the jam, it was sooooo sweet with a bitter twist to it, delicious. After that we opted for some fresh ones, these too were really sweet, although we were told that because they had had a lot of rain the last couple of weeks, that the strawbs weren't as sweet as they normally are because they hadn't had enough sun. Lack of sunshine aside they were still better than the English ones we get back home. We washed all that down with a milkshake which was more like a smoothie, absolutely spot on and well worth a visit.

We left the Strawberry Farm and went to see some butterflies amongst other things. Other thing's being a tarantula, lots of snakes and hundreds of insects. I'm sure you know me well enough by now to know that I didn't enjoy this part one bit, they should have left me with the strawberries. In the tank with the tarantula was a little mouse, obviously the spiders Sunday lunch. There was also a snake with a rat hidden away in the corner looking so unhappy, obviously aware of it's fate. I hate stuff like that and made a quick exit. I don't mind butterflies too much but there were hundreds of them all fluttering about so I never went in there either, although Matt did and he took some stunning pics. Again we were told not to touch the butterflies (as if I would!) but you know what tourists are like, they're not to be told and there were loads of dead butterflies on the floor where people had grabbed them for photo opportunities.

After the butterflies we headed for the tea plantations, it was great. We drove round the windy roads through the plantations, the scenery was amazing. It just looked like a sea of green velvet from a distance, and you would think that if you touched it it would feel the same way, but the leaves are actually quite brittle to touch with absolutely no trace of tea? We then had a tour of the tea factory where all the rolling and drying of leaves takes place. It was really interesting and the aroma was lovely, all you could smell was tea! The factory that we visited belonged to a company called "Boh" and is owned by a Scottish family who live in KL. Boh alone produce enough tea each day to make the equivalent of 5.5 MILLION cups!!! That is a lot of washing up!! The factory was really basic too using lots of old fashioned methods and machinery, none of this high tech state of the art stuff. There wasn't a computer operated piece of machinery in sight, hard to believe they produce so much tea using such methods.

After the tea factory we went to the Boh Cafe for a bit of tea tasting, we opted for a mug of Cameron Gold Blend. Now if there is one thing I hate it's a pissy cup of tea, but this stuff is strong enough to put hairs on your chest. It is orange in colour and no matter how much milk you dilute it with it stays the same colour. My kind of tea. We were told that they use the tea dust off the floor to make Tetley Tea which is why it's like piss. We also had a home made coconut pie, it was just like been at my Nana's house where we would ALWAYS have a cup of tea and a home made coconut bun, yummy.

After the tea factory we were taken to a honey farm, but we had eaten and drank that much by this time that we weren't particularly interested in seeing some bees and a pot of honey. We had a quick look round the local market, bought some lovely juicy sweetcorn for our lunch and hopped back on the bus back to Tanah Rata.

Tomorrow we will leave here unfortunately back to the humidity and lowlands of Malaysia. We will head to Butterworth and then possibly across to Penanag for a quick overnight stop. We want to get to Thailand now as we hope to spend about 3 weeks on the beach, before we head further North to Chang Mai, where we hope to take a Thai cookery course. We will then make our way back down to Bangkok and into Cambodia for a week or so. We were going to do Vietnam but there simply isn't enough time to do the place justice.

Maybe next time...

Tea and sympathy

2007-12-15T04:51:00.001Z

Hi All, we're now in the Cameron Highlands enjoying the cooler temperatures and lack of humidity. It is about 20c here so compared with the mid 30 temps we've being experiencing it is really pleasant. We will stay here for 3 night's before we head to Butterworth for a night just as a stop over ready for our border crossing into Thailand, whoopee!!

All the time we were planning our trip Thailand was THE one place that I was really looking forward to, and now almost a year later we're nearly there. It is rainy season in most of Asia at the moment so it's not glorious sunshine every day as you might be expecting. We have had our fair share of rain this week but it soon clears up once it stops. We have experienced all elements the last 7 months so rain to us is like water off a ducks back ;o)

The couple of days we spent in KL were a bit hectic. It is an extremely busy and noisy place with lots of built up areas and sky scrapers, it is also a filthy, smelly place too. The drains are just full of rotting food and stagnant water, and in the kind of heat they experience you can imagine the effects. All that aside though it is a really exciting place to spend a couple of days although I don't think I could manage any more than that. It is also extremely humid here and even just ambling around the place was hard work. We did get a great deal on a hotel room though, 10GBP for an A/C room with our own bathroom and T.V. Where in London could you get that kind of deal?!

The bus station in KL was very similar to those in Sth America, you are pounced upon as soon as you walk in and everybody wants to know where you're going and to sell you a ticket. We were ushered to one of the many ticket desks and told how much it would be, what time the bus leaves etc. Anyway Matt being the worldly wise traveller that he is now decided to try his hand at a bit of bartering, and told the guy that is was too expensive (4GBP each!!!!) and that we would try another operator. We went to the next desk only to find that it was exactly the same price there too. We paid our money and scuttled off embarrassed that we had tried to get one over on the locals. It's all part of the fun though!!

The drive to CH was pretty spectacular once we got off the main highway, the road was one of those full of hair pin bends and right at the edge of a massive drop (if you dared to look!) It was just like driving through the jungle as all we could see for miles and miles was trees and forestry, with a few indigenous communities scattered along the way.

CH is a busy little place, with emphasis on the little. It is full of tea shops (surprise surprise) and curry restaurants. Needless to say we have no complaints, it's like we have died and gone to heaven. Tomorrow we will go and visit the tea plantations and go find out what it's all about (Alfie) There are also lots of strawberry fields, and cactus farms so we will be taking in some of those and sampling anything that is going, although I don't think the cactus is necessarily for eating, I'm sure it's more common for it's healing properties? No doubt I will find out just what you can do with a cactus tomorrow.

We're in an internet cafe at the moment and again they are just like the South American ones, full of young kids who would be better placed in a classroom, but instead playing beat me up games aimed at 18+'s. They can't play these games quietly either, they screech at the tops of their voices while they pound away at the key board. So I'm now sat with a pair of Mickey Mouse earphones on listening to some "banging choones" on Facebook (AC/DC Whole lotta Rosie) and as noisy as this song is it still can't block the little blighters out.

We have both really missed listening to decent music while we've been away. We decided that we wouldn't bring our ipods as it was just one more thing to keep our eye on in addition to money, camera, passports etc. But I think it's safe to say that next time we travel our ipods will be high up on our list of things to bring. Matt has already been chatting to Ben about going to a music festival at Benicassim in July next year. It's like "a posh version of Reading" apparently. Anyway hopefully there are two tickets with our names on, posh Reading or not we need a fix of loud music. If it is like Reading I'll be "Dancing with tears in my eyes" (Only old people will know that song)

Gary we're looking forward to a noisy weekend at your place when we get back too ;o)

Have a nice weekend all!

Mafted in Malaysia

2007-12-12T06:41:00.000Z

We arrived in Malaysia on Monday after a 5 hour bus trip from Singapore. I was sorry to leave Singapore as I really did love it, but the temptation to shop was killing me, so we left there more for my own safety than anything. I would love to visit the place again and take my mum, she would LOVE it and would make an ideal shopping companion.

The border crossing into Malaysia was really plain sailing, and we got yet another stamp on our already bursting at the seems passports. I know we have only been in Asia for a few days, but already it is evident that when we started our trip in South America we really were throwing ourselves in at the deep end. Travel in Asia is extremely easy, in part as there is no language barrier, but also because the route were taking is also so well travelled. It makes me more proud of myself though when I think of some of the situations we found ourselves in, within a few weeks of leaving the safety and comfort of our lives as they were then. Within 3 weeks of leaving home we were on a 40 minute flight in Ecuador (speaking no Spanish at all) that would get us to a connecting bus into the Amazon for 5 very hairy days. Pretty impressive even if I do say so myself.

We have both agreed that next time we come travelling (we're aiming for Matt's 40th) we will miss out westernised countries and stick to places like South/Central America and more of Asia. It is far more interesting and challenging, and you learn so much about different cultures, religions and it also gives you such a greater geographical and political understanding of the world.

I wasn't the most academic of pupils at school, in so much as most of the time I didn't even go to school as I hated it that much. I actually left school having taken no exams at all and got a job working on a YTS in the local supermarket for 27.50GBP a week. But ultimately your future isn't about academic achievements and what grades you passed at school. The best education I have ever had is this trip around the world. It should be compulsory. I have learnt so much these last 7 months and met so many interesting people, and none of these experiences can be learnt through a book or a classroom. It's about getting out there and living life among the locals, it is priceless.

We are in Kuala Lumper now, we will probably stay here for a few days as it is a big place with lots to do (including shops) Melaka was a great place, the Malaysians are so laid back it's untrue. There are also many different religions here but they all seem to live harmoniously with no undercurrent of bad feeling.

The hostel we stayed at in Melaka was a bit of an eye opener, although it is no worse than some that we stayed in in Sth America. It was that bad that I did actually attempt to clean the bathroom (I am my mothers daughter) but to no avail. It was always going to be difficult with a tin of vim and a nail brush, but at least I tried. The toilet didn't flush, it was the sort where you have to fill a pan of water (or any other receptacle you may have to hand) and do the job yourself, which if it were your own toilet at home may not be too much of a chore. But when you consider there were about 30 other guests sharing this toilet, well I don't think I need to go on!! Mind you it was only 5GBP a night for both of us so you can't grumble eh??

We're heading up to the Cameron Highlands after KL and will do a few days touring the tea plantations. It may sound quite dull to you office folk but we're actually looking forward to it, I'm hoping that we actually get a decent brew while we're there too. One thing I have missed about home is a decent cup of Yorkshire tea at my mum and dads (one of life's simple pleasures ;o)) The only thing about the Cameron Highlands is that they are in a kind of, dare I say it "jungle" kind of area. So as much as I'm looking forward to the tea, I know it will be a tense couple of days and will really push my reserve to the limit. But as I said earlier, that's what we came for and that is what it's all about.

After the CH we're not sure whether to go up to Penang or head straight into Thailand, we will play it by ear for now and see how it goes.

Matt has posted our first Asian pics today so do enjoy them from the comfort of your arm chairs in the freezing cold he he!

It's not a question of curry...

2007-12-11T12:58:00.001Z

Well hello there, as you can probably tell by the flag, or maybe you can't as it looks similar to the last one, we are now in Malaysia. We crossed over the border yesterday to Melaka (or Melacca depending on your spelling) which is/was a very important port city on the west coast which has been conquered by the Portuguese, Dutch and of course the English at various stages throughout it's history. It's still bleeding hot, before you ask, but we seem to be coping with it ok and only need to stop for a drink every hour. There's an old fort and palace that we visited today and hopefully I'll post some pictures within the next few days.

So on to the subject of food. Anyone reading this who knows us will know that we are both partial to the odd curry be it Thai, Indian, Chinese. Michelle can stomach even hotter curries than me which is a bit embarrassing really but hey ho. Now being in Asia it's not a question of whether you're going to eat curry (when I say curry I'm really referring to anything that's mildly spicy really, I know that's a bit of a culinary stereotype but as I've said before it's my blog and I'll write what I want to!). Sorry where was I, yes it's not a question of whether you're going to eat curry (I actually typed that out again I should have cut and paste) it's at what time of the day you are going to eat your FIRST curry and then how many subsequent meals that day will consist of the stuff. Do you skip breakfast and have an early lunch of curry? Do you have curry for breakfast but of a sufficient portion to last you through to teatime? Do you go for the triple whammy and have breakfast, dinner and tea (breakfast, lunch and dinner for all the southerners) of curry and then spend the rest of the evening in the W.C. Incidentally we bought 20 (twenty!) packs of tissues earlier from the chemist as none of toilets here have toilet paper in. Plus if they do they are the toilet of the squat variety and you have to take your shoes off when you go. That's not some religious rule it's just that your ankles end up getting covered in ..... anyway that's enough of that!!

Talking of food we made a bit of a food faux pas yesterday. Michelle ordered a bit of a curry medley and it's served on banana leaves in this particular restaurant. You don't get knives, forks and eat with your hand(s), specifically your right hand as the other one is used for doing the business in the toilet if you don't have twenty packs of tissues; seriously it is. So there we were eating away with our right hands when the waiter bought over a little silver cup of water. Now being thirsty I started to drink it and after a while Michelle had a few sips too. Strange I thought why he didn't bring one each. What we can only guess today, after both having crippling stomach cramps for about an hour yesterday, is that the water is used for washing your fingers in. Obviously the water would have come out of the tap rather than from a bottle of drinking water so God only knows what sort of parasitic filth was in it. Still we're all right today and even went back to the same restaurant tonight so it can't have been that bad. We didn't drink the water today though!!

We're off to Kualar Lumpur, the capital, tomorrow so will probably be away early as it's only two hours from here and we can spend most of the day sightseeing and eating. The south of Malaysia is predominantly Muslim and so there are quite a few Mosques around. In fact, there's one about what sounds like 10 feet away from our room, as this morning the "Call to Prayer" aka "Early Morning Alarm call" blasted out at 5am. It's actually a recorded voice these days but in the old days the head of the Mosque I presume would climb the tower or Minaret as it's called, next to the Mosque and start wailing at the top of his voice. God knows (or should that be Allah knows) who they've got to record this wailing as it sounds like a cross between Barry White and Roadrunner, it really is awful, the last thing you need at 5am that's for sure.

So that's me, I better stop now as it's getting late here,

See you Soon,

Shopping galore in Singapore

2007-12-09T13:05:00.000Z

We have had a fantastic, wet couple of days in Singapore, it really is something special this place. Matt had warned me previously about all the shopping malls, but nothing could have prepared me for the amount and the immensity of these places! They're that bad that once you get inside one, it's very difficult to find your way back out again. It really is a shoppers paradise and I would recommend it to all my girlfriends. Stew and Kirsty spent a couple of days here on their way to Oz and Kirsty told us how much she loved it (Kirsty loves to shop!!) but Stew really struggled with the humidity which we can relate too!!

We have visited some really exciting cities on our trip, but Singapore is something else. It screams efficiency. We have completely exhausted the underground (MRT) which is so simple to use and 100% reliable. Everywhere is really clean and there is just a really positive energy about the place, I love it!!

The one thing I do hate though (oh yes there's always something you must be thinking) is the humidity. We have the luxury of A/C in our hotel so you can have a nice shower, blow dry your hair put on clean clothes, but the minute you step outside the hotel the place just steals the air from your lungs and you are damp in an instant, and remain that way for the rest of the day, which is why they probably have so many A/C shopping malls. I swear to God I have never seen so many shops. I don't even think Buenos Aires can compete, and that is another huge shopping city.

But we're backpackers and so whatever we accumulate, we have to carry, which kind of spoils things a bit. That said I am going on a shopping rampage when we get to Bangkok (where we fly home from) and will be doing all our Christmas shopping. I think I can get gifts for my whole family and friends for about ten quid, it is soooooo cheap!! The only thing we have bought today is a fake G-Shock watch (1.70GBP and it's still working 7 hours later!) and an umbrella for Matt as it seems to rain every 5 minutes here. No let me re-phrase that, it teems down!!

So we have spent much time on Orchard Road which is where a lot of the big malls are, we did Raffles, we've spent more than our fair share of time in Little India, Bugis Village (more shops) we have been along Circular Quay where all the trendy restaurants and bars are, and lots of other places in between. James we didn't get to the Zoo as we only had two full days here and half of one of those was spent trying to get out of the shopping centre!!

We also booked our bus tickets today, and tomorrow we get the bus for a 4.5 hour trip to Melaka, Malaysia. I think we could have quite easily spent more time in Singapore but the urge to shop is just too much to bear any longer. Today we also booked some accommodation for the Christmas period, and we will be staying on the Island of Ko Samui in Thailand. We arrive on the 23rd December and will stay until 27th, it will be so strange been away for Christmas, we are both looking forward to celebrating ours late with family and friends when we get back in Feb.

One thing I really envy of Asian women and that is their poker straight hair, it totally defies humidity. I've spend most of my time here with a gaping jaw wandering how it stays so straight in all the humidity and rain. Unfortunately my hair does not tolerate humidity and I am looking more like Bonnie Tyler every day. I'm going to get my mum to book me an appointment for Toni & Guy for the day after I get home, I am in desperate need of some serious cutting and colour. I used to have my hair cut ever 6-7 weeks at home, it is now 10 MONTHS since my hair saw a professional pair of scissors. Initially I did try to "keep it tidy" using the scissors from our first aid kit but it was like trying to fit a new carpet with a butter knife so I gave up.

It's all girls talk this hair and shopping stuff!

Missing you already

2007-12-08T03:12:00.000Z

We're now in Singapore and it's ace!!

Yesterday we packed our gear away after 6 easy weeks in Oz, ready for some more hardcore travel through Asia. We took the van back to the depot, which was almost as stressful as when we picked it up. Despite my bragging at how good we were getting at driving around the cities, nothing can prepare you for the roads in Sydney, it's a nightmare to drive round/through. We agreed that I would drive and Matt would be chief navigator (damage limitation!) that way if we did get lost (or should I say when!) it wasn't my fault, I was simply following instructions ;o) Anyway we did get lost, a few times. We eventually stopped at a petrol station and asked a taxi driver where the address was, as always when you're lost we were practically right by it.

We got our full deposit back too which was good news, as obviously coming to the end of our trip we need all the financial resource available to us. We jumped in a cab back to the airport and apart from a slight delay (1.5 hrs) due to an electric storm in Sydney we had another good flight on a Boeing 747! We saw the new Airbus at Sydney airport, it is HUGE. We took a few pics so will post them on Flickr soon.

As you will have probably gathered I'm not too sorry to have left Oz. I don't know why I didn't take to the place, I can't really put it down to any one thing, all I know is that it feels great to be in Singapore where nothing is familiar (apart from Mcdonalds) and nobody has yet told us where to go(!) and what to see.

Our last few days in Oz were spent at the campsite where we started off, Lane Cove and it really is a lovely park with lots of trees and greenery, it's almost like camping in a wood. The other night I was on my way to phone my dad to wish him a happy birthday. The phone box is a few minutes walk from the camp site, but it is pitch black down the footpath and there are LOTS of insects, beetles, flies, moths you name it, and they all come out at night. So me being the arachnophobiac that I am, you can imagine what an ordeal it is for me venturing out in these conditions. I went fully armed with a tin of fly spray much to the annoyance of Matt whose patience is quickly running out with my obsession of creepy crawlies. Anyway there is no real reason for me telling you all this, other than to say when we got to the phone box (unscathed) we realised that we had forgotten the phone card (I say we!!) so we had to go all the way back to the van, at which point Matt decided that he wouldn't come back with me so I had to brave it alone. Yeah thanks for that!! When I got back to the phone box, trembling, there was somebody in it, so it was another wasted journey. I wafted and swatted my way back to the van (God only knows what I looked like to passers by) and decided to text my dad instead. Much easier and insect free ;o) We did see a MASSIVE spider though on our first attempt, and I'm not exaggerating it was the same size as a small tarantula, obviously being in Asia now for the next 7 weeks means that I'm not out of the woods yet either!!!!!

We arrived at Singapore at about 1.30am this morning, totally cream crackered and probably half cut, thanks to the complimentary beer and spirits on the flight. We exhausted their supply of red wine and had to go onto the white in the end, we only drank to help us relax though ;o) We got a taxi to our hotel which took about 15 minutes, we had a bit of banter along the way with the taxi driver, who now wants to work for Comet as they pay well enough to allow us to go travelling and they even allow you to have 10 months off work and keep your job open for you.

The hotel we're staying at is on the outskirts of the main city so we are just making our way in now, on foot at the moment, and then we are gong to get the tube for the rest of the journey. It is 5* luxury to be back in a hotel, with our own bathroom, a T.V and A/C, I felt a million dollars this morning getting ready surrounded by such comfort and luxury. As much as we loved camping in NZ and Oz, it has been a bit much after 13 weeks. We are in Singapore for 3 nights altogether so we will get to Malaysia on Monday, all being well. We will head to Malaka for a couple of nights and then to the capital Kuala Lumper. I can't begin to tell you how exciting and challenging it feels again to be back in the thick of travelling. I think that is what we have missed since leaving South America.

So look forward to a lot more happy blogging and a lot less moaning from me. I am loving it already and we've not even seen anything yet!!

Up close and personal

2007-12-02T02:41:00.000Z

We're now back in Sydney after a very relaxing few days at Batemans Bay and more recently Kiama. For our avid fans who remember the nightmare day we had when we arrived in Oz, well you would be impressed if you had seen us get to Sydney today. We drove straight to the camp site, we never even broke a sweat.

We stayed 4 nights in Batemans, we had a really nice spot by the beach and the weather picked up too, we got chatting to an Ozzie (Bill) who insisted on showing us the interior of his newly acquired caravan. We oooohd and aaaahd a bit before getting back to our van. He was a nice old bloke, just a bit lonely, so much so that he asked us to go to Surfers Beach with him, hmmm. Matt made some excuse though and we managed to let him down lightly.

KIama is a great little sea side place too where we spent three nights. We popped into the local while we were having a wander round the town, to receive the welcome news that it was Happy Hour!! So we indulged in 6 pints of Tooheys (not each) and left an hour later with a slight swagger. She knew we were hard core Brits when we ordered proper "pints" instead of the poncey schooners that the Ozzies drink ;o)

We went back to the pub on Friday night as there was a live band playing, we made enquiries at the bar about them and were told that not a lot was known about them as they hadn't played there before. Anyway we went down there Friday night and got among the locals, it was a typical working class pub, loads of big hairy fellas in the work gear spending all the house keeping money on ale. There were also a few groupies gathering around the front, bleached blonde permed hair, skin tight black leggings and cerise pink stilettos (that was just the fellas). Their trotters left a lot to be desired. So as you can imagine we blended in quite nicely ;o)

It turned out to be a good night, the band were really good although they played a lot of Ozzie stuff that we're not too familiar with, they also did some Police, Snow Patrol etc. I could tell Matt was chomping at the bit to get up and have a go on the guy's Les Paul. We were a bit worse for wear when we left there and had a bit of a hike back to the camp site. I don't know how we started but we were throwing our flip flops down the street and brawling like a couple of yobs. It was an expensive brawl though because Matt's flip flops snapped!! He has now started wearing a pair of mine, and has taken on a feminine air all of a sudden ;o)

Last night we were having a BBQ for tea, so we got all the stuff prepared and went across to the communal area. As I mentioned previously we don't make much eye contact with people now for fear of a full on Ozzie lecture, so we probably look quite sheepish. Anyway we got some fodder on the hot plate and we heard "you wont cook them on there" (No it wasn't Matt's old flip flops we were cooking) we turned round and it was a big Cockney/Ozzie (Cozzie??) our worst nightmare. We gave a pleasant little snort as we usually do and carried on. He then said "go and use the other BBQ in the kitchen" we insisted that we were fine with the one we were using, to which he just grunted (how could we have minds of our own!) He then started asking where we were from, we went through the rigmarole of Worcester/Yorkshire. He told us he's from England "Oh yeah, what part?" Wait for it.... Essex! surprise surprise. Anyway I can't be bothered to bore you with the details but he did say "what would anybody want to live there for" (England) He is one of the patriotic Ozzie wannabe's that we just don't like. Once our food was cooked he asked us to join him and his wife at the dining table, I told him I'd left a pan on and we made a hasty exit back to the van and slagged him off.

Only 5 more days now before Singapore, our RTW tickets are nearly finished :-(

Sun, Sea and Sand

2007-11-26T00:58:00.001Z

We only stayed one night in Eden, the weather wasn't great and the camp site was deserted so we decided to get some mileage covered instead. We headed along the coastal road and stopped at a very small town called Tathra, again there was very little to do there but we were right on the coast and about 100 yards to the beach. The sun managed to break through too after 3 days of showers so we were more than happy.

On our second day there we decided to drive to The Mimosa Rocks National Park which was about 5k from where we were staying. We took the camper van "off road" onto a little winding dirt track, which we shouldn't have done really as our insurance only covers us for sealed roads, but you know what Backpackers are like. We weren't really sure what to expect as we had only seen the name place on the map, after a while we started to see lots of tents pitched in the trees and caravans and then people milling about, and we realised we had stumbled upon a little metropolis of campers. It isn't a camp site as such and is really only for the hard core of outdoor people, in that the only facilities that are available are two outdoor toilets, so you have to be fully self sufficient. But that is not a problem for Ozzies 'cos they are into their camping BIG time.

So we parked up next to what looked like a football team of male campers, there was camping gear and fishing rods strewn everywhere, it was obvious that they had been there a while and enjoyed themselves judging by the amount of stuff they were surrounded with. It was almost like an expo for camping and fishing. We caked ourselves in sun cream and headed off to find the Mimosa Rocks. Well unbeknown to us the rocks are on the beach and we found them by chance really as we ambled for about a mile along the most stunning piece of coast line. The sea was the colour of something you would expect to find in a cocktail glass and the sand was like gold dust, it was lovely. It was also a great spot for surfers (apparently(?)) although we did only see the one.

The rock formations were great too, I think Matt is uploading the pics now, lots of jagged edges and different colours, which against the green sea and golden sand back drop was amazing. By the time we got back to the van about an hour and half later the campers we had parked next to had gone, as if by magic, they had left without a trace, unbelievable. I don't even think a decent forensic team would have found any trace of their having been there.

After that we headed back to the camp ground for some R&R, it's hard work all this ambling about and lazing around on beaches ;o) and spent a lazy afternoon in the sun.

The next morning we got up and I headed to the toilets (we hate not having our own like we did in the "posh camper") as soon as I walked through the door I saw it, as my sixth sense kicked in. It was a cricket or stick insect on the door frame of the toilet, the only thing was it was the size of my hand!! I let out a gasp and a few expletives and didn't know what to do, obviously first thing in the morning I was desperate to use the loo but I was gripped with a fear that this "thing" would vault over the toilet door and land on me (as if) Anyway I braved it and went in, I left the door ajar ready for a speedy getaway, should we find ourselves occupying the same cubicle. I have never pee'd so fast, I never even washed my hands I just shot out of there and back to the van to tell Matt. By this time the insect was twice as big as my hand, ( needed a bit of sympathy ;o)) I sent him back to have a look for himself, but as always when you see something big etc,it had gone! Needless to say I never went back for a shower!!

So we had breakfast and headed along the coastal road (towards Sydney) and are now staying at a place called Batemans Bay, it's a lovely little seaside town with lots of fish and chip shops and fresh fish from the locals who go out on their boats. We've got some Ozzie cod for the BBQ tonight so we're looking forward to that.

Oh one last thing, JH never won the election, he was defeated by the labour leader Kevin Rudd, every radio station we tune into now is about politics.

Strewth!

2007-11-22T05:02:00.002Z

Hi All, we're now back in the state of New South Wales at a place called Eden, just on the coast. It's pi$$ing down and is now our 2nd day of rain, we are even back to full clothing, i.e jeans and t-shirts!!

We left Mount Gambier all Ozzied out, but since then we have mellowed a bit, I think the blog helped us vent our spleen and we both feel much better for it. That said we do still walk around with a permanent scowl just to put people off talking to us, it's helping although it doesn't deter everybody.

After Mt Gambier we drove to a place called Ballarat, which is just outside of Melbourne and is a famous old gold mining town, there are some quite old buildings by Ozzie standards, dating back to the 1800's, one of them was an old weighing house were the miners used to take their gold to be measured, they also had a rather palatial cinema there so we indulged ourselves and went to see Elizabeth (with the Ozzie actress Cate Blanchett) The film wasn't much cop to be fair, but the cinema itself was like I would imagine the rooms at Buckingham Palace to look like. It was really grand and ornate and really luxurious. At AU$28 though I suppose that's what you would expect?!

We stayed in Ballarat for a couple of days, the weather was glorious so we spent the next day being idle, we're getting really good at it. After Ballarat we headed past Melbourne and down to a place called Waratah Bay, as we were heading onto the Wilsons Promontry(?) National Park the next day. There wasn't a great deal to do there and it was a maftingly (is that a word?) hot day, which meant there were 1000's of flies, nightmare! We did have direct access to the beach there though which stretched for miles, with hardly anybody about. In the evening we went down to watch the sunset and there was a couple of guys fishing. One of the fellas had a seagull taffled up in his fishing wire, so Matt being the good Samaritan that he is went and gave him a hand and managed to free the seagull who had become quite distressed.

So the next day we headed to the National Park, it was probably our hottest day in Oz so far, 30c+ there wasn't a cloud in the sky and Matt was insisting we do a 3k hike to see Squeaky Beach (it squeaks when you walk on it) I wasn't happy to say the least and I was like a sulking child getting my things ready, tying my shoe laces etc (my parents will be familiar with the scenario!) We had had the A/C on in the van on the way down so didn't have any real concept of just how hot it was, it almost stole the air from our lungs when we jumped out the van. So caked in SPF15 with 3 bottles of water we headed off for Squeaky Beach, with me squeaking about how unhappy I was about it. We were covered in flies the whole time, there was hardly any shade at all and the whole hike was a real effort. I have to say though when we climbed the hill and eventually saw the beach and the sea it was definitely worth while. The only thing was we couldn't sit down on the beach long enough to truly appreciate it due to the lack of shade and the flies. We dipped our toes in and made our way back to the comfort of our A/C van, luxury! (Pics of Squeaky Beach not on the blog yet)

After Squeaky Beach we hit the road again and headed to a small town called Lakes Entrance, again there was nothing much to do here it was more a stopping off and resting place, we stayed for 2 days before getting to Eden this lunch time.

I know I have mentioned the flies previously but believe me when I say they are now even worse, even the locals are complaining about them and have said they have never been this bad before. We have given up on the fly swatter and have invested in some heavy duty fly spray. Swatting them usually results in instant death, where as fly spray is a long slow and painful death for them, and when you have been plagued by them like we have then it seems like a small victory seeing them wriggle around helplessly, awaiting their doooooom!!!
God only knows where the saying comes from "I wouldn't hurt a fly" well I bloody would and will be hurting a lot more before I depart in 2 weeks.

As we left Ballarat we had to drive into Melbourne to get to Wilsons Prom, we were about 70k (approx 45 miles) outside of the city and we could see their impressive sky line. It kind of puts NYC to shame.

So the rain is due for another day I think before we can carry on enjoying the typical Ozzie blue skies and sunshine. I know we complain about the rain but Oz really do need some, the land is really parched and in some places there is no greenery at all it is so dry. They also suffer extreme water restrictions when there is a drought and prices of fresh produce like fruit and veg shoot up in the super markets as a result. It has a big impact on the wine business too as the vineyards suffer. We do what we can though and are buying up as much as we can, you've got to do your bit haven't you!!!

It's the General Election over here this weekend and voting is compulsory (not for tourists luckily) so we have been listening to the radio and all the fighting talk from Johnny Howard and the opposition leader Kevin Rudd. It looks like JH is probably going to get back in, one thing the Ozzies do love to bitch about is their government and immigration.

Any road that's about it for now, we leave Oz 2 weeks tomorrow for Singapore, we then have 7 weeks left of our trip to see Asia. As Muse sang "Our time is running out"

Aussie Aussie Aussie!!

2007-11-15T03:02:00.002Z

Well hello there, it's been a while. Michelle is also posting too, so some of you probably won't bother reading this as it won't be as exciting as Michelle's! Well we're in a place called Mount Gambier which is famous for some crystal blue volcanic lakes apparently; we haven't seen them yet, but we've just been told by "the local friendly campsite neighbour" , more on this subject later. We were hoping to hire some bikes tomorrow and ride around them, but unfortunately can't find a bike-hire shop so looks like we'll be doing it on foot.

We spent last weekend at my cousin's house thanks again Andy and Lisa for a great (and heavy drinking!) weekend. They live in a gorgeous part of the country right on the doorstep of the Barossa Valley, home to Jacobs Creek amongst a multitude of other fine wines. They've recently moved into their new house, the size of which would put most houses in the UK to shame. Not only does it have 4 bedrooms, 2 lounge rooms, study, double garage it also has a fantastic alfresco (patio to you and me) area which we made full use of. In fact we probably spent all our time out there, either drinking, eating BBQ or recovering from drinking and eating BBQ. Friday night was a quiet one in the local pub with what seemed like all the locals all of which we're now on first name terms with. Saturday night was anything but quiet and we had a mammoth BBQ and drinking session with the same locals from the night before plus about 500 others! There was a constant stream of people coming and going, eating and drinking, laughing and shouting and generally having a good time. I made the mistake of mixing my drinks and had a pretty bad hangover, (the first one since drinking with Kirsten in Auckland) and spent most of the next day trying to stay out of the sun and drinking copious amounts of water. I don't know how Michelle did it but she seemed unaffected by it, even though she drank at least 10 bottles of Coopers Pale Ale, and that's just what I saw her drink! Sunday was really hot so once it had cooled down enough for us to start moving around, about 5pm, we took a drive to Mount Crawford forest and then through the Barossa to Jacobs Creek retreat, where Andy and Lisa will be tying the knot next March. One thing I have to mention also is that we saw some live kangaroos, as opposed to dead ones in the side of the road. Now some of you may know they I spent most of 2001 in Australia and in that time only saw one live kangaroo and that was in Tarango Zoo in Sydney.

So that was the weekend that was. Since leaving there we had a very relaxing 3 days in Robe on the South coast below Adelaide, mainly not drinking and definitely not driving.

Onto the subject of Aussies (I've just been reading what Michelle is typing next to me, so apologies if this is old ground). Now before I start this rant I just want to say that the majority of the Aussies that we've met have been extremely friendly, very hospitable and generally great folk (especially Judy and Snow in Melbourne, Wayne and Jan in Robe and of course Andy and Lisa in Williamstown although Andy isn't really an Aussie yet!). However there is always a bad apple(s) in the bunch who seem to go out of their way to annoy us by interrupting whatever we are doing and giving us not only their life story but every single route to anywhere in Australia. It starts off with a "where you from?" quickly followed by "where have you been?". "Sydney to Adelaide" is usually my response and then that triggers off a tirade of "You didn't wanna go that way", "Did you go here?", "Why didn't you go to this place?",etc., etc. This goes on for about 30 minutes and ends with either the Aussie either passing out from over exertion or me just walking off muttering under my breathe something along the lines of "why don't you just mind your own business you friggin know all". Now most of you are probably thinking it's just the Aussie's being friendly, but believe me when you get it day in day out for 3 weeks you start to get a bit fed up. The two worst examples have been a knob from Sydney who we bumped into at Wagga Wagga. He actually got the map out and showing me the best route to go to Darwin from Perth, which we're not even going to whilst breathing cigarette smoke in my face. The second worst offender was about 30 mins ago here in Mount Gambier. This guy didn't even bother asking where I was from but just launched into "have you been to Port Victoria" or something along those lines. I had a mouthful of tuna sandwich at the time so I couldn't respond appropriately with "Why don't you p*ss off you big fat nonce". Anyway, that's how we feeling at the moment, both of us, just a little bit "aussied out". As I said these people are in the minority so sorry if I've offended anyone with this but it's our blog and I'll write what I want thanks.

To end on a positive note though, we are enjoying the aussie BBQ and have probably had about BBQ for the last 5 nights now! The steaks are to die for (although I'm sure Michelle won't agree) as is the seafood.

Well I best be off now as I've just seen a guy in the window of this Internet cafe and I'm sure he's eager to give me some directions.

Good on Ya Mate.

The English Reserve

2007-11-15T02:57:00.001Z

We are now in a town called Mount Gambia, in South Australia, we arrived this morning and will stay a couple of days.

We left Williams Town on Monday morning, it was a great weekend. On Sunday we drove by some of the wineries in the Barossa Valley, we saw the huge Jacobs Creek vineyards, there are acres and acres of them. It was quite late by the time we got out though so wine tasting was out of the question, especially after the late night on Saturday.

After we left Williams Town we decided to head to the coast as the heat in the Adelaide region was unbearable for us, the sun beats down all day with not a cloud in the sky and temperatures of over 30c. All you can do is sit in the shade and try to keep cool (no real hard ship there!)
After some research in the Lonely Planet we headed for a place called Robe and we were glad we did. It is a very small and very quiet town, but the cost line is stunning. Aquamarine waters and white sands with a lovely cool breeze, it was just what we needed after a full on Ozzie weekend. We managed to get the best pitch on the camp site too and access to the beach was maybe 30 metres away, heaven.

We booked in for 3 night's and was even going to do a fourth we were enjoying the peace and quiet so much, but yesterday the peace and tranquility came to an abrupt end when an Ozzie mother and her two young kids invaded the pitch opposite. I'm not totally anti kids, in fact it wasn't even the kids that were the problem it was the grown up. She was one of those loud types, that has to talk the children through everything that she's doing, do you know the sort? She NEVER shut up and was extremely loud, constantly telling the children off, threatening to take them home if they carried on mis behaving, all this was going on while she was also telling them what she was doing. "I'm putting the tent up now, then were going to have some tea, then maybe we can go into town and have an ice cream, if you do that one more time Joshua you will sit in the car, Mummy just needs to get the chairs out, Joshua what did you have to do that for, you have destroyed it (God knows what she was referring to?!). Anyway this went on and on and on, she never paused for breath. We knew then that we wouldn't be staying a 4th night.

I mentioned in my previous blog how friendly the Ozzies are, and believe me they are, but they are friendly bordering on irritating. No matter where we go or who we meet along the way, we are bombarded with information, it kinda goes like this:

Ozzie:where ya from
Us:England"
Ozzie:how long ya got in Oz?
Us:6 weeks
Ozzie:Where ya going?
Us:Not too sure really, no concrete plans

Then it starts and we get a tirade of instructions of where to go, how to get there, where not to go, why did you go there, how do you plan to get here, what do you want to go there for. This goes on and on and on until we eventually lose the will to live. Were quite polite people me and Matt and wouldn't dream of offending people, but the fact is we are two pretty intelligent, independent, well travelled individuals, who have just travelled half way around the world to get to Oz, do you think we are the kind of people who welcome this inane advice day in day out. It is getting to the point now where we keep our sunglasses on for fear of making eye contact with anybody and having to go through the whole damn charade again.

I asked Matt if it was me that had a problem as I have to admit I'm not the most patient of people (ask Stew!) but Matt is as dog tired of it as I am, the only difference being that he is much more laid back than I am, which is probably just as well!

We leave Oz 3 weeks tomorrow for Singapore, we really are looking forward to getting back to some proper travelling and getting hot and sweaty with our back packs again. We are culture vultures at heart and unfortunately Oz does not tick all the boxes for us. It is a lovely country to visit, the climate is superb and their alfresco living is also good, but there is something lacking that I just can't put my finger on.

On the road..

2007-11-11T03:17:00.002Z

We're now in a place called Williams Town which is about an hours drive from Adelaide, we have been staying with Matt's cousin Andy and his fiance Lisa since we arrived on Friday. It is great to be staying in a "proper house" and sleeping in a comfy bed :o)

On Monday morning after a weekend in Melbourne we left for the Great Ocean Road. We both really enjoyed our time in Melbourne, despite the weather which was quite cool and quite a bit of rain. We spent a lot of time in the City which is lovely, we enjoyed it far better than Sydney. They have a great cafe bar culture there and there is a really good vibe about the place. We decided to blow our entertainment budget while we were there and went to see Priscilla Queen of The Desert at the Regent Theatre, it was worth every penny. The soundtrack to it is all 70's disco music and it really was a great show, there were over 500 hundred costumes used in total. If it ever comes to England I would definitely recommend it (as long as you don't have a problem with gays and cross dresser's?!)

So our first stop along the Ocean Road was a small seaside town called Lorne, the camp site was just beside the beach and the sun came out, so we hit the shops stocked up on supplies and had a day in the sun with a BBQ in the evening, bliss! We left there the next day and headed to the next resort Apollo Bay, it was nice here but not as busy and pretty as Lorne, the weather was a bit cloudy again too. After Apollo Bay we set off again taking in the 12 Apostles along the way, these are rock formations in the sea that have been worn away by the salt water. The coast line here is stunning with golden sands and green sea. We took lots of pics which we will post soon. After Apollo Bay we had to start getting some driving done as we had about 500k to do to get to Williams Town. We stayed at a place called Warnembool (I think that's right?) the camp site here was fantastic, it had a large indoor pool and jacuzzi which we made full use of, we were the only people in there! After W we stayed at some place that I can't even remember the name of (it's the drink it's killing off my brain cells!) and then our drive on Friday to here.

We have done a lot of driving since we arrived and not seen a great deal in between stops, Australia is HUGE and until you visit the place it's difficult to comprehend just how big it actually is. Luckily there are very few cars on the road so travel is easy but the distances are so vast, it's really tiring, especially in the temperatures were experiencing at the moment 30c+!!

We leave here tomorrow morning and we were going to head to Broken Hill and take in some of the outback, but we have decided (with some gentle persuasion from the locals) that our time would be better spent seeing more National Parks and beaches than some barren desert with nothing to see except flat red dusty landscape, dead kangaroos and emus in the scorching heat.
So we will head back inland and take in the Grampians, back towards Melbourne where we will take in some of the Melbourne shoreline and work our way back up towards Sydney. Everybody we speak to tells us to visit a different place, it is nigh on impossible to visit all these places. We will have to come back!!

We have had a great weekend with our hosts Lisa and Andy, it is a really small town where they live and everybody knows each other. We have been made to feel so welcome that I almost feel like one of the locals. We have met a few "poms" while we've been here too. Last night we had yet another BBQ, and Lisa and Andy invited round some of their friends. We started about 5pm and got to bed at 3am this morning, it was a heavy one!! I only have to look at the recycling bin for confirmation. A good time was had by all though, including Matt who has gone back to bed as he feels so ill!!

Oz is pretty much as I expected it to be to be honest, just a lot bigger. Everybody is really friendly and loves a drink ;o) It is a very relaxed, chilled out way of life that they live and they are big into the alfresco life style. Obviously it's so hot that you can't stay in for any period of time. There is so much wildlife too, all the birds and animals that we have to go to a zoo to see back at home you can see in the country here. Parakeets are like the sparrow back home, they are everywhere, also red and green parrots everywhere. We have also seen lots of reptile type creatures and lizards when we have been out walking. Luckily no snakes though, although we were briefly introduced to a Red Back Spider by Andy as he cleaned the BBQ yesterday. It was on the underside of the cooking tray, which could have been quite nasty if he hadn't have seen it as a bite from a Red Back can kill you. Nice eh to think that these kind of spiders can turn up in your house at any moment!! My sixth sense is on red alert, looking out for anything big and hairy with more than 2 legs...

G'Day Possom

2007-11-02T00:58:00.001Z

Hi all, We're now in Melbourne after some pretty hefty driving the last couple of days, we have already clocked up a 1000 kilometres in the camper.

We spent a day in Sydney, although I have to be honest and say that we didn't really do much, it was a really overcast, humid and sultry day and we were still both tired from the previous days travel and events. We had a wander round, visited the Paddy Market, Opera House etc took lots of snaps (see Flckr) and then jumped on the bus back to the camp site for some more R&R. We fly out of Sydney though to Singapore in December so we hope to feel more energised on our next visit there, where we will spend a couple more nights to really do the place justice.

After leaving Sydney we decided to head to the Blue Mountains, we were both dreading the drive out of Sydney for obvious reasons, but we observed the map before heading out and made sure we had a clear idea of what roads we needed and when. We never took one wrong turn and drove out like a couple of locals, strewth!

It's about 100k to the Blue Mountains so it only took us a couple of hours to get there, we stopped off at Echo Point on the way and took in the stunning views that stretch for miles, we also saw the Three Sisters Rock. The reason they are called the Blue Mountains is because there is a constant blue haze in the air from the millions of Eucalyptus plants in the area. We then drove to the nearest town, Katoomba and chilled out for the afternoon. Well I say chilled out, we were plagued with flies, so after 30 minutes of fly chasing we decided to lock ourselves in the van out of harms way. The flies are an absolute nightmare, they last for around 6 months of the year and there is no escaping them. The rolled up newspapers we had are almost in tatters where we have bludgeoned them to death, it's actually quite rewarding knowing that you have just spread one of them the entire length of the camper van (even though it is quite small!)

On the way to Katoomba an extremely large insect came hurtling towards us while we were driving, it was like the planes going into the twin towers, I think it was a kamikaze beetle. Anyway it hit the windscreen and almost rocked the van over, it was so BIG. It split in two and what I can only describe as yellow custard started to spill out of it, all over the windscreen. Matt put the wipers on but all this did was spread the custard like substance across the windscreen. It is still there now despite Matt's best efforts to remove it. God only knows what it was, I kid you not when I tell you it was the size of a small bird, anyway it's dead now.

After Katoomba we decided to start heading towards Melbourne which is a long long drive to do in a day, which is why we didn't. We stopped off after 6 hours of driving in a place called Wagga Wagga which is a half way point. We also chose Wag as they have a great Indian restaurant there, and yes we went in and had a lovely curry after sinking a few of the local ales. After Wagga we carried on our journey and did another 5 hour drive yesterday and got to Melbourne mid afternoon, and without getting lost. We were both really pleased with ourselves, there was no shouting and screaming, but it was really stressful as we came in the main highway, and all the lanes turn off and merge etc, there were cars and lorries all around us, but we held our own and made it unscathed.

The campsite is 9k outside of the city so we got on the bus this morning and left the van "at home" I have actually done some of the driving whilst we've been in Oz, it's a breeze on the country roads as there are not a real lot of cars once you get out of the city, if you get out of the city!! Credit to Matt though he has done the stressful driving.

Yesterday once we had got the van powered up, been to the supermarket for some supplies and had a shower we got chatting to our Ozzie neighbours (no not Madge and Harold) Snow and Judy. They live just outside of Melbourne, when I say just, its about 1.5 hrs drive, but Oz is just so bloody big that a 1.5 hr drive really is nothing. Anyway we got chatting, Snow cracked open a few cold ones and the night went from there. We had a BBQ with them, drank copious amounts of wine and beer and fell into bed about midnight. When I say fell I mean literally!! It is quite a task trying to put the bed together when you are under the influence, there's probably a law against it somewhere. We both woke up this morning with a really thick head. We're feeling much better now though after a hearty breakfast and some fresh air. Snow and Judy are a really nice couple, about the same age as our folks, it's really interesting chatting to the locals about their way of life, their politics and their take on current affairs and the world in general.

We are staying in Melbourne until Sunday after that we will head down to The Great Ocean Road and start making our way across to Adelaide to see Matt's cousin Andy and his girlfriend Lisa, so were looking forward to that.

The weather is a bit dull today although the sun is trying to get through, it rained yesterday too, which was met with relief by the locals as rain is very scarce here. It is blatantly obvious too when you are driving through the country side and all the trees and the grass is scorched and everything is really dry, it is easy to see how bush fires spread so rapidly.

We have seen loads of Kangaroo's since we arrived here, which I didn't expect at all, the only thing is they're all dead ones at the side of the road. Apparently there is a book available to buy in Oz called Roadkill, in it are lots of different recipes for animals that you scrape up off the road and BBQ, Nice!!

Down Under

2007-10-28T00:14:00.001Z

We arrived in Oz on Friday morning, it was a 4.5 hour flight from Fiji and the plane was MASSIVE, it was a Boeing 747, the type with an upstairs, and we were sitting upstairs, and unbeknown to us we had been allocated emergency exit seats which meant we had LOADS of leg room, it was a great flight (unlike the toy plane we flew from Chile to NZ on!!!) the food was good to (Air Pacific)

Once we got to the airport and retrieved our back packs we rang the camper van company to come and pick us up from the airport, only to be told that they don't offer a pick up service, so we had to jump in a cab. The camper van we have now is probably half the size of the last one, but much more fun as it really is proper camping now. The weather here is superb and there is no need to use the camper for anything other than sleeping and preparing food, unlike NZ where it was raining and often quite cold.

The camper van depot is in Sydney, so once we had done all the paper work and necessary checks we were given directions to the campsite at Lane Cove which is 14k outside of the City. Well after 12 days of Fiji Time you can imagine that driving through Sydney in Friday rush hour traffic in a camper van is a bit stressful to say the least. We got lost 3 times! We had to drive across the Harbour Bridge through lanes and lanes of traffic and the road signs are so confusing, it really was a nerve wracking experience, and to make matters worse we hit a BIG thunder storm with fork lightening, it wasn't the best of starts!

So after 3 attempts of finding the campsite up and down the toll road at a cost of $5 a time (a toll road that we didn't need to be on at all!!) we managed to find the exit that would take us to the site, and luckily we found it with no further complications. Once we had checked in and got a local map we decided to head out to the supermarket and get some supplies and frozen mixed veg (I'm not sure if anybody knows this but Matt has actually been to Oz before, in fact to the very same camp site that were at now, where he lived for quite a while, which is why he kept insisting on knowing the way, roads looking familiar etc) so we were following directions given to us, when Matt said "I know where we're going now, I remember this road" and as he said this he took the wrong turn and got us back on the toll road!! Anyway to cut it short after a lot of shouting and screaming we managed to find the shops, by which point we were so stressed and tired from getting up early that neither of us could be bothered to shop. We threw a couple of bags of frozen veg in the trolly and headed home.

On the way back to the campsite we realised that we hadn't got any beers or wine, so we did a detour (talk about asking for trouble!) and went to the local "bottle shop" for some much needed alcoholic supplies, we staggered out of there with 6 bottles of beer and 3 bottles of wine. We felt better already ;-)

As we were driving back to the campsite the steering went on the van, Matt was still able to control it but it was extremely difficult and potentially dangerous. He managed to steer it back to the site and I drove it just to confirm that there was something wrong with it. There was no doubt that there was something wrong as it was almost impossible to turn the wheel, God knows how Matt got us back. Matt rang the breakdown company and they agreed to send somebody out to have a look at it, which they did and he advised us to drive it to the nearest garage as the belt that controls the power steering had broken. Matt agreed to this and was advised to call the breakdown depot again the next day to confirm the details, luckily for us when he did they agreed to send somebody out the next day to fix it, which is just as well really as neither of us had a clue where the garage was and the vehicle was not safe to drive anyway. Our stress levels were racing now, it was about 8pm by this time and we hadn't had a drink, anything to eat or managed to get our stuff unpacked. It really had been a nightmare day!

We fell into bed after a few beers and good old beans on toast for our tea, we couldn't work out how to erect the bed so we had to sleep on the benches, both too dog tired to start messing about trying to work out how to put it up. After a good nights sleep we managed to find the boards for the bed, the guy turned up to fix the camper and we spent the rest of the afternoon by the pool, so all in all a much better day than Friday.

We are now in Sydney and plan on doing the whole tourist thing, Harbour Bridge, Opera House, Paddy Markets, China Town. You name it we plan to do it, today. Tomorrow we leave Sydney and as far as I know were heading to the Blue Mountains. We have planned a kind of route for the time that were here. We aren't doing the backpacker trail up the East Coast, I will update you as we go along.

So that's us..

It's lovely been in the sun after so much cold and rain, the Ozzie weather is superb, as was Fiji. The only thing here though is there are thousands upon thousands of flies, and they don't leave you alone, flying round your face and in your ears. We have a couple of rolled up newspapers in the van to swat them with. I think we should get some kind of score card going to see who can swat the most! There are also lots of mozzies and I'm covered in bites from Fiji, even Matt who doesn't normally get bitten has some bites. So they will be getting the rolled up newspaper treatment too. It gives us something to do while we're busy doing nothing ;o)

Fiji Time

2007-10-25T08:22:00.001Z

Hi All, We're in Sydney, Australia now after 10 relaxing days in the Yasawa Islands and 2 days in Nadi, Fiji. We didn't go Island hopping we just had 10 lazy days in one resort, The Coconut Bay it was heaven. The resort is extremely basic, it has no hot water, apart from the sea(!) and electricity only between the hours of 6 - 11pm. It was almost like being back in the jungle.

Our time spent in the resort was ruled by a succession of gongs, 8am breakfast, 12 noon lunch, 4pm afternoon tea and then 7pm dinner (and dancing!) Everything is run on Fiji Time, i.e there is no urgency or rush to do anything, definitely my kind of place! there are no clocks anywhere.

We were like part of the family when we left and it was a bit emotional saying goodbye to the locals who have made us feel so welcome. Every night around 3-4 of the guys would dress up in grass skirts and tops and do their welcome Bula Dance, which we then had to do too, then there was some kind of Fijian dance that we didn't have to partake in (thankfully!!) there was then a farewell song sang for anybody that was leaving the next day and then we would play cards and listen to some dodgy Fijian music drinking ice cold beer, it's not a bad life eh??

It is a very simple life they live, no telephone or T.V, there was internet access at the next resort to where we were staying, but other than that the locals have no real contact with the outside world. Matt spent many hours showing them card tricks, talking about England, the internet and music. They loved him!! Everyday it would be "yo bro" or "hey Matthew" which made it all the more sad to leave. He was even dragged to the internet place a couple of times to set the locals up with email addresses and facebook logons.

On Sunday it was Matt's Birthday and they baked him a massive Birthday cake and sang Happy Birthday to him (about 12 of them) they also made us necklaces from flowers, it really is a beautiful resort with friendly people.

The food wasn't really much to write home about despite the good reviews in Lonely Planet, I think I have eaten my own body weight in mixed frozen veg while we were there, they put it in everything! We did have a curry one night (a mixed frozen veg one for me!!) but on the whole it was pretty basic. There was lots of lovely fresh fruit for breakfast and would you believe weetabix!!

So that was our 10 days in Fiji, not a lot to tell you really, it was just a lovely relaxing time doing nothing but chill out.

It's a good life

2007-10-13T00:41:00.001Z

Today we took the camper van back to the depot, it was a bit sad as we really have enjoyed every minute of the camping lifestyle. We are now staying in a hostel right in the centre of Auckland, it's really strange being back in a hostel with lots of scrotes with no money living on jam sandwiches. Luckily for us it's only one night.

Taking the van back was a bit stressful as there are so many things that they can charge you for when you return it, i.e the toilet not being empty, the over flow tank not being empty, the inside being dirty, and marks inside/outside the van and so much other detailed stuff. Thankfully we hadn't had any bumps or scrapes and we returned the van in tip top condition so we got our full deposit back, which means we wont have to come home early ;o)

We haven't booked any accommodation for Fiji were just going to wing it, after all whats the point in being independent travellers?!?! We have looked at a few of the resorts though and have an idea of where we want to stay which is probably the Yasawa Island. A lot of people go island hopping and stay at different resorts for a couple of days at a time, but we can't be bothered to spend time on boats and packing our stuff up so were just going to find a decent resort and chill out for the duration.

Tonight we are meeting Kirsten (Steens sister) so were looking forward to that, we're going for a few beers and hopefully a curry of some description.

So to summarise NZ, it really is a beautiful, friendly and laid back country, their hospitality knows no bounds. Everybody wants to chat and find out where you're from, where you're going and to tell you of great things to see and do here. The scenery is amazing, you can't drive anywhere and not take in some mountainous peaks, stunning coast line or a few thousand sheep along the way. They have an excellent standard of living, great pubs and restaurants and it is considerably cheaper than the U.K, although the cost of living over here is rapidly on the increase. It is certainly a place where we both feel we could one day live and integrate into the NZ lifestyle and culture with no difficulty.

Who knows maybe when we're 65!!

Sing when you're winning!

2007-10-10T00:08:00.001Z

Hi all, sorry for the delay in posting, we have been busy getting back from the South Island, Up North again. We are now back in Auckland, well on the outskirts really and we will stay here until we take The Shed back on Saturday, once we've done that we have booked to stay in a Hostel in the centre of Auckland for Saturday night, ready to jet off to Fiji on Sunday, woo hoo!!

The last time I blogged we were in the Abel Tasman Region and the weather was a bit naff, well luckily for us it picked up. We managed to get to a campsite with views overlooking the sea and there we booked our trip to the Abel Tasman National Park, for anybody that looks at our pics on Flickr you've probably seen the place already.

You are taxied by a boat round the coast line taking in all the wildlife reserves and stunning beaches. The seas were green and the sands golden, it was also gloriously sunny this particular day which we were really pleased about. We then got dropped off at a beach literally in the middle of the National Park and told where we are to meet up again 4 hours later. We then did a 10k walk through the park and round the coast line, it was great although a little muddy underfoot due to all the rain. We had our lunch on the beach with the waves lapping round our ankles, amidst the sand flies. We then walked further along the coast to a place called Anchorage where we had arranged to be picked up it was a really nice day, we were cream crackered when we got back.

There have been a few earthquakes whilst we have been in NZ, nothing major according to the locals and they are also not uncommon. Anyway the day after we had our jaunt out we were asleep in the camper it was about 7.30, and all of a sudden it started to judder for about 10 seconds, it felt like there was somebody rocking it from side to side (there wasn't as we looked out of the window to check!) after speaking to a local guy at one of the campsites, we told him where we were and he advised that we had probably felt the tremors from one of the quakes. Fancy that!!

After Abel Tasman we drove up to Nelson, a busy place for NZ. We went to the cinema to watch The Kingdom (great film) and swapped lots of books that we had accumulated at a second hand book shop, then it started to rain again. It seems for every dry 24 hours you have you have to endure 48 hours of rain. So we headed for the nearest and driest place we could find, which just so happened to be a pub!! complete coincidence. It turned into a good night, we managed to sample many of the beers from the nearby Macs brewery. I can't remember much of the night once we left there ;-)

The next day (still in Nelson) we hired some mountain bikes from the campsite and headed out to the next nearest town which was about 25k (I'm out of breath now just thinking about it!) Again it was a lovely sunny day, but it was blowing a gale, not ideal biking conditions for two lazy office workers!! But we managed it, we stopped off for a fresh fruit ice cream and strawberries on the way which made the whole day completely worthwhile, it was yummy! We got back late afternoon like a couple of cripples, we could hardly walk. We cooked our tea, polished of a bottle of wine and hit the sack at about 8 o'clock, proper rock and roll lifestyle!

After Nelson we headed back up to Picton as we were to catch the ferry that day (Saturday) back to the North Island. We had hoped to stay a few more days on the South originally, but due to bad weather and cold temperatures at night we decided that it would be better to head North where it is always a few degrees warmer. The ferry crossing was plain sailing (no pun intended) and we got back to Wellington mid afternoon. We then headed up the West coast and decided to stop of when we had had enough of driving, which wasn't long as we had been up since 6.30 and was a bit tired, we stayed at a place beginning with O?? (I 'm sorry but I have completely lost track of all the different places we've stayed as the names are all in Maori) Next day we hit the road again and continuing North stopped off again at Lake Taupo, it was a lovely sunny and even warm day so we sat out for a bit before we set off for a place called Matamata where we stayed the night.

After this we headed up to The Coromandel Peninsula, which is kind of East of Auckland, and not an area we stopped at on the way down. A few people we had met on the camp sites had said how nice it is so we decided with the extra days spare we had from the South Island we would spend up here. Well it didn't really do anything for us to be honest, it was just full of drab little places along the coast with nothing much in the way of entertainment (For all you Northerners imagine Paull in winter?!?!?) The only hustle and bustle we came across were some road works. We carried on to Coromandel and stayed there a night, again the weather was really hot and sunny so we got our deck chairs out and had a lazy day absorbing some much needed rays.

After Coromandel we went to Haihi which is another small coastal resort with absolutely nothing to do, not even a supermarket. We got another beach side site and had ANOTHER lazy day doing nothing in particular except reading and cryptic cross word puzzles. Oh yeah and Matt had picked up a newspaper so he has been catching up with all the Rugby news, a bit of comedy always help eh!
We left Haihi this morning and here we are..

So the rugby.. I'm not big into Rugby Union to be honest or league for that matter, although I do get regular updates from my dad who is an avid FC fan. All I can compare the All Blacks defeat to is 9/11. They are absolutely gutted by the result, every day the headlines are about the team, their performance and their future. They were so confident that they would win it this time round that most of them have been saving for years to make the trip to Europe, buy tickets to the final, and one guy has even had a tattoo done on his leg of dates and some other nonsense.It really is a tragedy for the Kiwis, it will be a long time before they recover from it, if they ever do? As for the England result, me and Matt are both made up, especially as we will be out there at the end of October. The Ozzies are also taking it quite badly, especially loosing to The Britz. All we hope now is that we can beat France on Sunday and get through to the final. We will also be rooting for Argentina too.

We fly to Fiji on Sunday at 2 o'clock, so we should hopefully be stripped off and on the beach for 5 o'clock he he! I cant wait to buy some sun tan cream and mozzie spray and get my summer togs out from the hidden depths of my ruck sack, I was beginning to think they would never see the light of day.

Bring on Fiji...

England 12 - (S)Oz 10

2007-10-08T00:00:00.000Z

Not a lot more to add to this blog...

Will post more in a couple of days when we get to a BIG City.

Sheep, Books and Rain

2007-10-01T01:02:00.000Z

Were now in the Abel Tasman region after working our way up the wet and miserable West Coast, and it's still wet and miserable! It hasn't stopped raining for almost 3 days now!!

We went up to Lake Wanaka after Queenstown and stayed there for a night, we managed to get out and do some walking, even though it was blowing a gale. It's a nice little place but not a great deal going on there. After Lake Wanaka we headed 'Up North' to Franz Josef where we were hoping to go up in a helicopter over the Glaciers and then do some walking on them. Well unfortunately the weather would not permit heli rides up there, so we didn't manage to see the Glacier at all. We wouldn't have even been able to see it from the viewing areas as the visibility was so poor. Heavy rain and cloud is how I will remember Franz Josef, which is a shame, especially for Matt as this was on his list of top things to see and do.

We left there after one night, in the persisting rain and headed further North towards Nelson, by now it had been raining over 24 hours, with no respite. We really were feeling quite deflated, it's not just showers, it really is throwing it down. We decided to spend the day driving as we knew we wouldn't be able to do anything if we stopped off anywhere, we arrived at a small town called Murcheson yesterday at about 4pm. Miraculously the rain stopped, the cloud began to break and we managed to see a bit of blue sky, hurrah! It was to be short lived though as it was raining again within a couple of hours and hasn't stopped since.

The campsite we stayed at yesterday was lovely, in a really rural setting, it was quite idyllic really. When we were checking in the woman who owns it told me she had a baby lamb that they were hand rearing and that she would be out to feed it soon if I wanted to have a look. Well me being the animal lover I am didn't need telling twice, we parked "the shed" up and I went across to the lamb enclosure where there were 3 lambs and a sheep. The story is that one of the lambs is a triplet (2 boys one female) and she wasn't getting any milk from her mother as they boys were taking it all, so they decided to feed her themselves. She is beautiful at 1 month old and she is called Amanda. Now for those of you that work in ecomet and are reading this the first person that will spring to mind is Amanda Hodson! Well I'm sorry to say that unlike AH this lamb really was as pure as the driven snow ;-) She was bleating her little lungs out as we came up to give her the bottle of milk, and she guzzled it down greedily, nearly taking the bottle from my hand (see pic) It was a great experience, and I have to say I was a bit sorry to leave after the morning feed today. She is in great health though and is eating grass too now which is a good sign (obviously)

We've been reading lots over the last few weeks, especially when the weather is like this. I picked up a great book in Auckland called The Boss, and it is a really good read. I would recommend it to all my (ex) colleagues at Comet to read. Basically it is made up of lots of different horror stories employees have about their bosses, and things that they have suffered at work, how it impacts their home life etc. There really are some shocking examples in there and probably some that you may be able to relate to. I think I can safely say that I have never worked for anybody quite as horrific as some of these people. It is written by author Andrew O'keeffe, check out the website for more info http://www.greatbosses.com/

Ooo, I think the sun is on it's way out, I should probably take a photo!!

Tattooed Up!

2007-09-26T23:43:00.000Z

Two posts within a week, Jesus that's more than Van Gogh sold in a lifetime!

As promised here is a pic of our newly "engraved" tattooes, and yes before anyone asks it did hurt. Imagine someone scraping glass along your arm, not really deep but really slow and delibrate. It felt like that. Anyway, I'm not going to write anymore as I'm too busy reading the news.

Adios,

Sweet as a Nut!!

2007-09-26T01:29:00.000Z

Hi All, we're now in Queenstown which is an absolute hive of activity (and YOUNG backpackers) we never realised NZ could be so busy!

We left Dunedin on Monday after a couple of uneventful days there due to really bad weather, we did manage to get to a Thai restaurant and the pub on Saturday though. We then went to Te Anau on the West Coast, it was quite a drive at almost 5 hours, probably our longest one since we arrived in NZ, but it was well worth it. The scenery on the West is stunning, massive lakes surrounded by snow capped mountains, with a bright blue sky and that lovely crisp air (that you don't really get at home!!) We stayed at Te Anau for 2 nights and yesterday we went on a tour down to Milford Sound, what a spectacular place that is. It is home of the Fiordlands, mountain after mountain and natural waterfalls cascading everywhere. The roads are really steep and wind round and round through the mountains and down to Milford Sound where we then got on the boat and sailed through the Fiords and into the Tasman Sea, we even saw a bottle nosed dolphin. It was a gloriously sunny day without a cloud in the sky, we couldn't have picked a better day. On the way to the cruise we stopped off at many view points to take in pics and short walks, it really was a good day.

While we were on the boat the Skipper gives you information on the surrounding area, wildlife and conservation that kind of thing. I commented to Matt that the guy had a really strong Northern accent, that strong in fact that I thought he was from Hull. Matt agreed. A bit later I went to the Skipper and asked him where in the UK he was from... "I'm from Hull originally" he said. Anyway after a bit of banter and reminiscing about the place he started talking about some of his family members coming out to visit at Christmas and mentioned their names, he only turns out to be the cousin of Barrreeeeeeeey Meanwell (for all you non Comet people, he works in IT in Hull) I was speechless (well almost!) It is the furthest I have ever been from home in my life and I meet somebody from my home town. Amazing. If you checked the odds I've probably as much chance of winning the lottery! Anyway we had our pic took for Bawwweeeeey, so here ya go Baz, me and your cousin Darren "at sea" :-)

On the tour we also spotted a guy with a really big hooter, so we have taken a picture of him too, we know it's rude, but hey we're Britz on Tour!!!

Today I made enquiries about a Skydive, I'm still toying with the idea, although the chances are that I wont do one. Matt is really not into Skydives/planes so I'm not really getting the vibe and enthusiasm to do it, not that I should let that stop me, maybe I'm just looking for an easy cop out??

We have just over 2 weeks left in NZ before we head off for some beach in Fiji (bliss) we will continue to head North, taking in Lake Wanaka and then up to Abel Tasman and Nelson. We are doing plenty of walking and hope to get some mountain biking done in Lake Wanaka, the only problem we have is that the weather is so unpredictable and we have certainly had our fair share of rain since we arrived in the South. We will then cross back to the North and work our way back up to Auckland via the West Coast(ish) When we get to Auckland we are planning on meeting up with Steens sister Kirsten who is also in NZ at the moment, it's going to be the night before we fly too, maybe a night out with a beer drinking Dane is not such a good idea before a flight ;-)

We have booked our camper for Oz, we have come right down in size as we have both agreed that driving a small porta kabin type vehicle around Oz is not going to be the most economical and environmentally friendly way of travel! That said we have got a 3 man (or 1 man, 1 woman and a child) size camper. The one we have at the moment is quite ostentatious by camper van standards and is a bit big and square. You could quite easily swing a cat in it if you were that way inclined, luckily for NZ cats we're not.

So today we are going to be wild and wacky.. were off for a tattoo!!! I can hear the GASPS from our folks, but hey, you know what kids are like when they're away from home!! Don't worry were not going for one of the BIG Maouri style tatts that the All Blacks adorn themselves with, were going to have little butterflies... I'm joking, you'll have to watch this space, pics will follow.

For anybody that is interested there are pics of Millford Sound on Flickr and also the guy with the big hooter.

Part of fish with friend at last...(7)

2007-09-22T02:30:00.001Z

Well it has been about 3 years since I last blogged, and Michelle has written 10, so I thought I'd better write one or change the name of this blog to Michelle 2007. So we're in the South Island of New Zealand in a place called Dunedin (which is the Gaelic name for Edinburgh). There is a big Scottish contingent here, not sure why exactly, and it is one of the most historical places in the whole of New Zealand. It think it is also the most Southerly point either of us has been to in the World. There are Victorian buildings here that were actually built in Victorian times, rather than replicas. I know they are still only 100 years old but that is ancient in NZ as most things are (and look) like they were built in the 1970's. I suppose it's only fair though as this is a very young country compared to most in Europe and it really is obvious to us Brits. Still Dunedin seems like a nice place so far, and we're haven't even made it in to the main town square (or Octagon apparently) yet having just stopped off for a Thai lunch and now wandering into an Internet cafe!

So as to the strange title of this post; obviously being away for 10 months we are finding ourselves with a lot of free time on our hands. Now we are managing to fill this with tours, eating, sleeping, walking, sand boarding, ferry crossings, amongst other things, but now that we have a camper van (with electricity in most places!) we probably spend more time chilling out there. It is easier and nicer to spend time in our own space as it was in South America as most places we were in was hostels that we didn't really fancy spending time lounging around in. So we are spending a lot more time chilling out, drinking copious amounts of tea and coffee and yes... wait for it... reading "womens" magazines. I may as well come clean and admit that I am enjoying them as much as Michelle as I haven't got an excuse really. We've got a TV in our van too which means I could watch TV instead of reading magazines but I don't.

I am now "up-to-speed" with all the celebs affairs (news affairs not adulterous affairs although to be fair most of their news affairs do involve someone elses husband or wife or both!!); Nicole Richie's eating disorders, yes she has got all of them I think, Brangelina's adoptions, they seem to be averaging one Cambodian a week at the moment. By the way Brangelina is the correct way of saying Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie apparently and anyone who doesn't use this is so last season. Following the same nomenclature Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are called TomKat for short and David and Victoria (Beckham obviously) are called David and Skinny Bitch. Anyway where was I; yes also appearing in every single one of these mags, is Jennifer Aniston, Hugh Grant, Britney Spears (showing some shaven part of her anatomy), numerous black rappers, Pink, Oprah Winfrey, Paris Hilton, Keira Knightley and a host of other screwed up people! p.s. I don't think Hugh Grant is screwed up by the way, although saying that he did have an incident with a black prostitute a few years back. What also makes me laugh is the fact that one week you'll be reading about some celeb couple getting hitched, e.g. Owen Wilson and Kate Hudson, and the following week you'll be reading about them splitting up (and one of them trying to commit suicide and failing - sorry that bit has only happened once, and I actually quite like Owen Wilson, the Wedding Crashers is a good film.)

But, I hasten to add, in my defence, the reason we buy/borrow these magazines is not for the news (if you can call it news, I've not seen one article on the deforestation problems in Bangladesh) BUT for the puzzles. Yes, each one of these mags has umpteen puzzles in them ranging from Sudokus, crosswords, word searches, gridwords (whatever they are) and cryptic crosswords. Our favourite at the moment is the cryptic crosswords. Now, I've never been any good at these really. I know my Mum and Dad do the Daily Mail one and Michelle's Dad (Geoff) does the Telegraph one on Sundays. To be honest he completes it in the same day which I find quite a feat when you read the clues. Even when he explains the answers and how to get there I still don't follow more than half of them! And Deyesy and Roly attempt the Sun Cryptic crossword at lunchtimes in the Fox but really it was Bryan who used to finish them (sorry for any non-Comet people reading this you won't know who any of these people are or indeed what the Fox is.) Luckily the "women's" mags cryptic crosswords are relatively easy but it is still quite taxing and at least it's giving our brain a good workout and we're not turning into retards!

So as you've probably guessed by now the title of this blog is in fact a cryptic crossword clue , the number after it is the number of letters in the answer (derrrr!). My challenge to you is to email me the answer (I won't write my email here otherwise I'll end up getting even more adverts for Viagra than I currently get!) and the first correct answer will receive errrr.... nothing, but I'll give them a special mention in my next blog (probably in February next year judging by previous posts). Also please don't post the answer as a comment otherwise you'll spoil the fun for everyone else!

Well, that's all from me, I'm off to check my Facebook, shares, bank account, weather, news!

Adios,

The South Island - Untouched

2007-09-19T22:35:00.000Z

Were now in the South Island, after taking the ferry across The Cook Straits on Monday morning from Wellington to Picton.

Wellington is a funny little place, to say it is The Capital City of New Zealand it is another very quiet City. We went in on Saturday on the bus, it took about 30 minutes and was a great drive along the harbour with the Sky Line (such as it is) in the distance. We expected it to be quite busy with it being Saturday but when we started wandering round it became apparent that Wellington was less busier than Auckland, which is really weird. If you go into London on any day of the week there is such a buzz, with lots of hustle and bustle. There is no barging around with people bumping into you, it's just all really civilised and laid back. It takes some getting used to!!

We're still using the Lonely Planet as our guide, so on their recommendation we headed down to Courtenay Place which is where "it's all at" in Wellington. There are lots of English style pubs and Asian restaurants, cinemas, shops etc. We were ambling along when we saw a sign outside an Indian which read "All you can eat buffet $10 each". Matt was in through the door and onto his first plate before I had even finished reading the advert! It was a bargain, especially when you're on a (kind of) budget and trying to watch what you spend. We bounced out of there about 90 minutes later, not caring if we never ate Indian food again :-)

The South Island is like being in another country compared to the North. On Monday we drove to Kaikoura from the ferry in Picton, and then yesterday we left Kaikoura and are now in Christchurch. In the time that we have been on the road we cant have passed more than 50 cars maximum. There are practically no houses, only farms, and we have passed field after field full of Sheep! It is certainly safe to say that since being in the South we have encountered more sheep than people. There are millions of them, all with little lambs too frolicking in the fields. I said to Matt yesterday it's not a bad life being an animal, all you have to do is eat, drink and sleep all day, and the only thing that is expected of you is to gain weight. What could be better, my three favourite things and no weight worries. Bliss!!!

In Kaikoura we went on a whale watching tour off the East Coast, it is a place that is visited for this particular reason. It was an amazing tour and we actually managed to see 3 sperm whales, it was fascinating. The only thing neither of us enjoyed was the boat ride. We had to go out 13 miles to see the Whales and the sea was reportedly quite choppy that day. What an understatement, on the way there we were almost lifted out of our seats as we bounced off the waves, then once we spotted the whales and had to hover around the boat was just bouncing about all over the place, so much so that Matt lost his Breakfast to the Pacific Ocean!!

It is normally expected to see one maybe 2 whales maximum, so for us to see three, we were very lucky. They are spotted by the water that they spray out, they then just float (even at that size and weight) on the surface, after about 5-10 minutes of this, they slightly raise themselves out of the water and flip their tail up in the air before going deep down into The Ocean for a monster feed. They eat the equivalent of 5.5 human beings a day!!! On the boat trip we watched a DVD and were given a talk about whales and their existence, they are truly amazing creatures and it was money well spent.

On the trip we got chatting to an English couple (Mike and Katie) who we had seen a few times on the North Island, and again on the ferry crossing, they asked us if we fancied going to the local pub quiz that night as they were sick of going to bed at 9pm (it's a common theme with campervanners) So that night we headed into "town" to the local, the streets were deserted apart from a few tumble weeds. The inside of the pub didn't appear to be much busier either, although it did soon liven up (by NZ standards) We named our team "The Britz on Tour" and the quiz began. Well I'm not the best at quizzes to be honest and our new found quiz enthusiasts were about the same, we came out of the 1st round with a mere 2 points! But what you have to understand is that we had 2 points more than anybody else!!! Oh yes, if we were bad the other teams were appalling ;o) The quiz went on for about 10 rounds, and every 2 rounds or so (we lost count) we were given a free Aftershock. We were in quite a sorry (and loud) state by the time the quiz ended. But, after much banter with the Kiwi Quiz master and his accomplice it turned out that we won the quiz quite convincingly and were rewarded with $50NZ to spend behind the bar. Result! NZ did beat England at cricket though while we were in the throes of quizzing, at least all was not lost ;-)

We are heading further South tomorrow for Dunedin, then we will probably start heading across country to Milford Sound, and then to the Adventure Capital of NZ, Queenstown. We have been a bit boring in NZ so far in that we haven't undertaken any extreme activities, yet!! I was a bit put off after my 1st attempt at Sand boarding, I did take a really bad tumble and was in pain for days as a result. So watch this space and see if one of us will attempt a tandem sky dive or a bungee!!

Life Is Sweet

2007-09-14T21:53:00.001Z

Hi all. We are now in a place called Lower Hutt which is about 20k outside of Wellington, the Capital City. We have worked our way down through Rotorua, Taupo Lake, Napier, Upper Hutt. The drives have been spectacular with some stunning scenery. The weather has also been quite kind, although it did pi$$ down all day yesterday. We get the ferry to the South Island on Monday morning at 8.30.

On Thursday while you were all sleeping we took a wine tour in the Hawkes Bay region, which is famous for all it's wineries. We were picked up by a Kiwi called Vince (aka Vunce!) who was a bit of a character, he then taxied us to 5 different wineries while we got pleasantly intoxicated. Not bad for an afternoons work. The tour was really interesting, especially if you like fine wines. They explain the different varieties of grape, the growing conditions that are required, and what wines are suited to particular dishes. I say the tour was interesting, it was until the 3rd winery, at which point I was so drunk I couldn't take in half of what they were telling us. It was a really fun day though and we came back with 4 cracking bottles to enjoy on our travels!!

We are just about to head off into Wellington, it is only a small place for a Capital City, and Auckland is reported to be a much bigger place.

New Zealand is so laid back and sparsely populated it is difficult to get stressed about anything. There is no rush hour traffic to speak of, and the towns and cities are deserted in comparison to back home (and Sth America) Every day is like a Sunday. There appear to be far too many shops and restaurants for the amount of people that live here. The South Island is even more sparsely populated, with about a million of the whole 4 million NZ population living there.

We have just booked our Camper for Oz, we have had to downsize from the luxury we are enjoying at the moment, for two reasons really. One is that it is high season when we get there in Oct (26th) whereas here in NZ at the moment it is low season so we got more for our money, and also due to the amount of mileage we will be covering in Oz, we needed something smaller and more economical on the roads. We have got a 3 berth Backpacker Camper, with it's own kitchen and microwave etc, only thing were missing is a toilet and lots of space. The beauty of being in Oz though is that the weather will be hot most of the time. It will be easier for Matt too as the camper we have at the moment is like driving a small house. To be honest I bet there are some City dwellers in London that don't have as much room as we have in this camper!! I'm going to arrange to have my drivers licence posted out too so that I will be able to share some of the driving, I can't imagine that being much fun though as Matt doesn't make a very good passenger!

Every time we hit the road, we have to go through a check off list before we set off. It's called Cabin Crew prepare for take off!! We have to check all the overhead lockers are closed and that all bags are firmly positioned under your seats and that were all wearing seat belts!! Good thing is though unlike flying we don't get any turbulence ;-)

Have a nice weekend all!

Kiwi Fruit's

2007-09-08T02:40:00.001Z

No I'm not referring to the New Zealand Gay scene, I'm talking about the little brown fury on the outside and lovely and juicy green on the inside fruits. As you no doubt know this is where Kiwis come from, although they did apparently originate in China (Chinese Gooseberry) They are BIG business over here and it is a billion dollar industry for NZ. We have just driven through a place called Te Puke, which is the Kiwi (fruit) capital of NZ, there are literally acres of fields growing them. A lot of Backpackers work for the farmers picking them allegedly. Me and Matt would love to help out but I'm afraid working is not on our list of things do to ;-)

Yesterday we went to visit Mount Maunganui, in the Bay of Plenty. We weren't expecting anything other than quite a large mountain and a bit of beach, so it was just going to be a bit of a stop off en route to Rotrura, but when we got there the sun was shining and the beach was stunning with a campsite right beside it, so we decided to park up and stay the night. That really is the beauty of having your own accommodation in the back, if you like somewhere that much then you can just decide to stay. We then climbed up the mountain (see pics) which was an absolute killer, just a constant climb for about 40 minutes, we were gasping when we reached the top. It was worth the pain though as the views across the Pacific were stunning, and the coastline you could see for miles.

We have being having some top notch gourmet camper van grub since we've been on the road, I cooked a cracking vegi Chili the other night, we've also had a vindaloo and rice(!) and some great pasta dishes, it's surprising what you can muster up with limited resource, although a 3 ring gas stove with grill and a microwave oven is hardly call for improvising is it??

The camp sites are really well equipped in NZ, they have great showers with 24 hour hot water (unlike Sth America where your lucky to get 2 hours of hot water!) the kitchens are fully equipped with hobs, ovens, microwaves, fridge freezers and toasters and are really clean. There are on site laundry rooms with iron and board (again though I didn't come away to iron!!) The point I'm trying to make (to all you non campers) is camping is not about "roughing it" like it was years ago. There is so much hi tech camping equipment you can buy now and so many on site facilities that it really is like home from home, but with the bonus of being in the great outdoors and in touch with nature ;-)

There seems to be an unwritten rule of the road here in NZ for camper drivers, in that they all give each other that knowing nod as they pass on the road, as if we all have some great secret that only caravaners know about!! he he.

Geeks ;o)

Heading 'Sarf

2007-09-05T02:07:00.000Z

We are now South of Auckland and on the East coast in a place called The Bay of Plenty. We are camped up in a place called Tauranga, which is quite a busy little place (by NZ standards) There are lots of English style pubs, lots of Asian and Indian restaurants etc. The only downside is that its persisting down, it has been raining for almost 24 hours non-stop!

We arrived yesterday after leaving a place called Dargaville, it should be re-named Darkerville, it was a bit of a sleepy hollow and me and Matt stood out like sore thumbs. We would have just driven straight through it but we had been driving quite a bit that day and it was about to get dark. For anybody that knows Hull it was like camping on St Andrews Quay?!

We are here for another night before heading further South to a place called Rotorua, Matt has visited this place before so we know what to expect, it also has some thermal springs where we hope to bathe our trotters, in temperatures much higher than Bolivia!

NZ really is a beautiful country and totally different to what I was expecting, it is really hilly, there are hardly any cars on the roads at all and they have some stunning beaches that would easily compare to Thailand, unfortunately it's not that hot though!
NZ has a population of just over 4 million people and the whole country is apparently the equivalent size of England, Scotland and Wales. When you think in the UK there are approximately 6 million people living in London alone (I don't mean living alone) so it gives you an idea of how sparsely populated the place is?

We have been taking in lots of sights and beaches on our drive round and its great not to have to rely on public transport and tour companies to get us anywhere (exc our trip up the Cape) It is still very early in the season for campers in general so we can pick and choose where we stay and where we pitch (which makes me wonder how we ended up in Dargerville!!)

Nobody here understands a word I say, it was easier for me to converse with South Americans than it is with Kiwi's, it's obviously my Northern accent. We have met quite a few Northerners while we've been here, some from Nottingham, Oldham, and a guy who had actually emigrated here 30 years ago from Middlesborough, the woman who owned one of the campsites we stayed on was from Darlington, and the place were at now, the family travelled round the UK, down the East Coast through York and down into Bath.

Oooooh it's a small world!!

Nuts in May

2007-09-02T05:55:00.000Z

We are now living a life of luxury in our Camper Van and loving it. NZ is a beautiful country (so far) really green and some fantastic beaches, all deserted and really clean. The weather has been good so far and hasn't actually rained since we left Auckland on Wednesday. It is also the 2nd day of the NZ spring today so thing's are only going to get better!!

We have just been on a tour up to Cape Reigna, which is the furthest point of NZ (our John O'Groats equivalent!) it was really windy and overcast though but still enjoyable, we then headed down the 90 mile beach as the tide was out (obviously) it was pretty spectacular racing along the beach for about 70km. The driver was quite a comedian too singing and cracking jokes the whole time. We actually had a go at sand tobogganing too, needless to say I fell off and nearly broke my neck, I was doing so well until I tried to steer it to the right a bit, at which point I flew up into the air and then crashed flat onto my stomach, I was totally winded. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so I did neither. I was more worried when I realised my Oakleys were in 3 pieces!! Luckily Matt found the arms and they clipped back into place!

We have being driving up the East coast so far and are now heading back down via the West, we will probably spend another 10 days or so in the North Island before getting on the ferry down to the South Island where all the mountains and glaciers are, as the North is predominantly beach.

We are loving the Camping lifestyle, as some of you will know I spent 5-6 months in France/Italy working for Eurocamp with Stew in 2002, so I'm an experienced camper, although not used to such luxury (own shower, toilet etc) The camp sites are particularly busy with other campers and we look the business when we turn up in our Rolls Royce of Campers, it's a bit of a curtain twitcher compared to some of the smaller budget options. We have started offering tours around it for $10, we also sell tea and coffee and light refreshments out the back window when we pull up in laybys.

NZ is a lovely place so far, and we are experiencing a totally different style of travelling to that of South America. We will post some pics up when we get to a city.

For anybody who is into a bit of camping check out the Mike Leigh drama, Nuts in May with Alison Steadman, it's about a square couple who go camping, it's hilarious!! If you watch it, think of Matt as Keith and me as Candice Marie. Enough said ;-)

Oh my God I can't believe it...

2007-08-27T00:27:00.000Z

I've never been this far away from home (for all you Kaiser Chief fans!)

We arrived in NZ yesterday morning at about 6am, after a 13+ hour flight from Argentina. From Argentina we had to first fly back to Santiago, Chile, our flight was 11:40am so we were up early packing all our stuff up and enjoying our last Argentinian breakfast of coffee and croissants (hmmmm!) We took a taxi to the airport as it was 35km from Buenos Aires so we didn't want to chance Public Transport. Our flight was no hassle, there was a bit of confusion with our flight though as it had changed from the original booking and everybody was sending us in different directions to get checked in, we eventually managed it and headed off to the departure lounge. The flight to Chile is only 2 hours so we seemed to be getting off just as we were getting comfortable. Once we got to Chile we had to go through more security checks and through the "In Transit" section back into another departure lounge to wait for our NZ flight. The only downside to this was, our next flight wasn't departing until 22:45, which was made even worse by the fact that when we got to Chile we had to put our watches back an hour because of the time zones in America. It was a long long day, has anybody ever seen the film Terminal with Tom Hanks??

The flight to NZ was a bloody long one, we were both tired after being up all day and just sat about so we were looking forward to getting some shut eye on the plane. When we boarded and got into our seats it was quite obvious that we were in for a very uncomfortable flight, the plane was tiny for a long haul trip, we both agreed that we had been on bigger flights to Europe. I haven't got particularly long legs but even I was cramped. The flight was full too, we were packed in like sardines! But there wasn't a lot we could do so it was a case of grin and bear it. The in flight entertainment was good with loads of good films and games and it was good to be back among so many English speaking people again (even if they were all loud mouthed Ozzies!!) The flight was really bumpy too, we had constant turbulence for over 2 hours. Im not a nervous flyer (unlike Matt who isn't too keen) but I have to say it's one of the longest and most uncomfortable I've ever been on.

It got dark in Chile at about 6pm on Friday and we didn't see daylight then for about another 15 hours, because you cross over the date line too on the way to NZ we lost a whole day. We were totally disorientated when we landed (still in darkness) and mentally and physically exhausted.

We got through the tight Passport Control without any real hassle, the Kiwi's really are friendly people, and it was all "good on ya" kind of banter all the way through. We did get our shoes checked and asked if we had any feathers or "raw hide" in our back packs!! So once we got out of the airport we were as excited as we could be considering our mental state, we were a pit pi$$ed off as we couldn't check into our hostel until 8am, and even then couldn't have our room until 11am (which actually turned out to be nearer 1pm!!) as there was somebody still in it. From the airport we took the "cheap" bus, there were a few options of getting to the hostal but we decided that because it was English speaking that we would take the bus, if we got lost we could quite easily ask somebody the way, ask the bus driver to tell us where to get off etc, all the things that we could never communicate to people in Sth America because of the language barrier.

Once we got our room we had a shower and unpacked our stuff (all in desperate need of washing!) We didn't want to go straight to bed as we knew we wouldn't sleep in the evening, I had quite bad motion sickness from the flight though and still felt like we were on it, it was a weird feeling. We went for a walk in the area where were staying which is Parnell Road. It's full of restaurants and pubs, heaven. They all speak English and the majority of restaurants are Indian and Thai. We could probably spend the whole 7 weeks here quite happily ;-) We headed for an Irish Bar, The Bog as they were doing a Sunday Roast and we had really missed not having one since we left in May. So we had a BIG belly buster, a couple of pints and watched the local Rugby League (a perfect afternoon for my dad!!) it was after the alcohol that we really did start to tire. So we headed back to the hostal at 3pm, got into bed and slept until 7am this morning!! We both feel much better for it.

Obviously we haven't seen a great deal yet so theres not a lot to tell you, we get our Camper on Wednesday and were heading straight off up to The Bay Of Island, where the beaches are superb (90 miles long) it is also a couple of degrees warmer "Up North" The weather is much milder than Argentina (which was freezing!) but it is only Spring here so were not expecting any heat waves, we will have to wait for Fiji for the beach wear to come out.

We wont be blogging as regular in NZ as most of the time we will be on the road and hopefully in the middle of nowhere, and obviously because were not in hostals there will be no free internet. I know this Camper Van we've hired is a good one with all mod cons but I don't think it included internet access!

South America - Summarised

2007-08-23T14:31:00.000Z

Hi all, no doubt you`re all looking forward to the B/H weekend and the good weather that is forecast! As you know we fly to New Zealand tomorrow, we are soooo looking forward to it even though we lose a day of our trip and don't sleep for 2 days!! The last few days we have been walking the length and breadth of Buenos Aires, we know the place intimately now. We went to the BA zoo on Tuesday, you may have seen the pics. I`m not sure how I feel about zoo`s to be honest, on one hand the animals are safe from extinction and well looked after and kept, but on the other hand it`s not a natural environment for the animals to live in. Most of the animals we saw were hunters so the thought of them being hand fed everyday is a bit strange. Anyway that`s just me having to much time to think ;-)

So I'm not going to write a long blog today, instead we have put some numbers together regarding our time in Sth America which I hope you enjoy. I have posted extensively about Sth America since we have been here and it is difficult to summarise the place up and put it into words. I can honestly say it has been the most exhilarating experience of my life, and if I never travel again (highly unlikely) then I am just glad that we chose Sth America to spend the majority of our trip. It is an experience I will NEVER forget. So rather than go on anymore I will post the facts and a summary of words that spring to mind when we think about Sth America.

Time spent in South America from Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile to Argentina was: 90 days

Hostels stayed in: 32 (1 dorm)

Buses travelled on: 29
The time spent on buses was 190 hrs which equates to 7.9 days.
Longest bus journey was 26 hrs, Buenos Aires to Iquazu.
Shortest bus journey 2 hrs, Quito to Otavalo.

Planes travelled on: 3
Boats: 4
4 x 4 wheel drives: 2

Geographical Highlights
Ecuador - Jungle, Andes, The lush green landscapes
Peru - Maccu Piccu
Bolivia - Salt Flats, Uyuni, Andes, The remoteness of the country
Argentina - Buenos Aires

Lowlights
Bolivian Roads, Poverty, Altitude

Highlights
Hospitality, Argentinian Wine, Scenery and diverse landscape, Culture, Value

South America - The Summary
Diversity, Poverty, Resourceful, Friendly, Colourful, Cold, Fruit, Handicrafts, Rawness, Dog Muck(!) Stray Dogs, Altitude, Value, Currency, Politics, Indigenous, Markets, Animals, Injustice, Happiness, Hectic, Noisy, Pollution, Police, Taxis, Sweets, Vegetables, Finger puppets, Buses, Diarrhoea, Protests, Culture, Landscapes, Climate, Winter, Incas, Silver, Desert, Spanish, Borders, Remoteness, Snow, Architecture, Llama, Amazon, Equator, Volcanoes, Religion, Coca, Pisco Sour, Passport, Government, Pacific, Beer, Costumes, Dust, Derelict, Anguish, Hospitality, Transport, Punctures, Tradition, Farming, Love, Improvisation, Cultivation, Basic, Injustice, Happy Children, Football, Road Blocks, Hope.

It`s difficult to chose a favourite place or country here but mine is Bolivia. Everyday life is a chore, the majority of Bolivian families living in poverty, transport networks are also the most difficult in South America, yet they take it all on the chin and always with a smile. It is such a heart warming place to visit and it has been a truly life changing experience for me.

Happy Birthday Gary!!

2007-08-18T17:08:00.000Z

Were back in the bustling city of Buenos Aires, we LOVE it. It is the most exciting city I have ever been to, it`s knocks spots off New York!!

We got back here on Thursday night, a little unexpectedly! On Thursday morning we left Cordoba for a 6 hour bus trip to Rosario, our Lonely Planet Guide book insists that Roasrio is the best thing since sliced bread so we were quite up for a few days there before heading back to BA. We arrived at the bus terminal about 4.30 in the afternoon and got a cab into the centre to a hotel that we had picked out of the guide book. Unfortunately (or should I say fortunately!?) they were fully booked so we decided to try a couple of others that we knew about in the area. It was as we left the hotel that we agreed that we didn't know what all the fuss had been about in our LP book as Rosario looked to be a bit of a dump, litter and rubbish everywhere, really noisy and pollution from all the cabs/buses and a few unscrupulous individuals eyeing up our back packs (although I`d love to see somebody attempt to run off with my 13 kilo pack!!) Anyway we trudged along to the next hotel, where again there were no rooms or hospitality for that matter, we tried the 3rd one same story there. We spotted a hostel on an opposite corner so decided to try there instead but luckily we couldn`t find the doorway. So we considered our options, we could try some more hotels and rather than stay the planned 3 nights there just stay for one as we were getting a bit tired by this point, OR we could jump back on a bus and just head straight back to BA (another 4 hours) So that's what we did. We arrived in BA at about 11pm totally cream crackered, we decided to try the hotel that we stayed at the last time we were here but they were full, so off we went again with our packs weighing us down and really taking their toll on our mood. We tried another FIVE hotels before we found one that could only guarantee us 1 nights accommodation. By this stage we were so tired, crabby and in need of sleep that we decided to take the room, knowing that we would feel much better after a good nights kip. We went down for breakfast the next morning and then checked with the reception again if there was a possibility that we could extend our stay for another 7 nights, to our surprise the guy said that yes we could "no problemo", Hurrrrah!!

So here we are, a whole week in BA. To say it`s a relief knowing that we don`t have to do anymore mammoth bus journeys is an understatement. I don`t care if we never see another bus again, although Asia will be the same, and not half as luxurious :-( It actually feels like were on holiday for a week now, we`ve unpacked all our stuff and made ourselves right at home in the hotel, it`s a great feeling after all the thousands of miles we have bussed.

Yesterday we had a walk round BA, there was a local radio station broadcasting live in one of the busy roads (18 lanes wide, it`s THE widest road in the world) and the radio show could be heard in the street and we could see the broadcaster. It was some kind of phone in, we didn`t have a clue what about as obviously it was in Spanish, so us being the tourists we are Matt waved at the guy who was speaking live on the radio, and the guy waved back. Me and Matt were giggling like a couple of stupid school kids, we thought it was hilarious (this is what happens when you spend too much time in someones company ;-)) We then went to an Irish Bar for a bottle of wine, we fancied a chilled out afternoon, it was Friday after all and we were thinking of people at home who had been at work all week, we knew they must be exhausted ;-) So this one bottle turned into, 2 bottles, many beers and finally finished off with a curry. What a treat that was, the curry was lovely too. It was all really for Gary though who is celebrating his Birthday today. Happy Birthday Gary, we miss you and will definitely be out for your next one!

Tomorrow we are visiting the San Telmo District, they have massive Antique Markets on a Sunday (Massive market, not massive antiques) and then you can go to one of the many cafe bars and take in a Tango Show. Although there is a pub in the area called Gibraltar where you can get an English Sunday lunch so the Tango may have to wait another day.

For anybody that enjoys the cafe bar culture and fine restaurants then Buenos Aires really is the place to be. Everything is in abundance and you are really spoilt for choice. We have made a shortlist of good places to eat and drink, we have 6 days left to get through them all...

How long?

2007-08-14T13:06:00.000Z

Hi all, just wanted to draw attention to the fact that we have now been away 100 days, woo hoo!! (I can hear all the party poppers, and streamers going off at home!!) It certainly doesn`t feel like a hundred days. Although the time really is flying by, it`s starting to hit home now that we are planning our time in NZ and Fiji, as when we came away those countries seemed a lifetime away!

Yesterday we took the bus from Salta to Cordoba, it was just over 12 hours which was quite a short trip by Argentinian standards. Cordoba is "The Heart" of Argentina, and is the 2nd biggest city to BA, it is also where all the Argentinian Universities are so you can imagine it`s quite a young and lively place with lots of bars and cinemas etc. We will stay here a few days before heading off to a smaller place called Rosario which is reportedly another busy place, and nearer to BA which is where were heading back to for next Friday.

We went on the trip on Saturday and to be honest we were a bit disappointed, were not sure if it`s because were all cultured out, but everything we saw we had pretty much seen already in the other countries we have already visited. It was 15.5 hours on a little mini bus too, right at the back getting bounced out of our seats. It was good to get off the beaten track though and see some of Argentina, it is a beautiful place but a little bit too big to do the place justice in 3 weeks.

We are definitely ready to leave Sth America now, although we will be sad to leave, mentally we are now geared up to NZ and having our own transport again, and not having to eat out EVERY day/night! I also feel like I`m running out of thing`s to blog about!!