bears blog

Three old dudes behind the decks II

2008-11-16T21:51:00.005Z

What a night! I'd like to thank everyone for coming down. It was fantastic. I got way to messy but after working 120 hours in the first 10 days of this month I grabbed the chance to let my hair down. There are plenty of photos here for you to look at. The next three old dudes will be our new years gig at the Vesbar. More detail on that when I have them.

Crowd 'aving it large at Three Old Dudes

Three old dudes behind the decks

2008-11-02T14:34:00.010Z

With there being no finger parties this year I've been hanging out to get in front of a crowed and spin some tunes. So when my good friend Anna asked me to play a few tunes for her birthday I jumped at the chance. I enlisted the help of my fellow djs Pete and Stu and Three old dudes behind the decks was born.
The night went really well and the venue has asked us to come back and play on a monthly basis. So keep watching this space or if you on face book then join the Three old dudes group.
Just follow the Facebook link here.
And you can check out the event pics here.

Beerfest '08

2008-09-29T21:13:00.009+01:00

Well it's that time of the year again. Time for me to pack up the van and head to Munich for a few days of drunken antics that is Oktoberfest.
And what would a road trip in either of my vans be without a break down. The last few times I've been away in the van she was overheating a little. Not enough to worry about really but enough to make me do something about it. All I had to do was replace the thermostat, a pretty easy job that should take me about an hour. So I thought Id give myself plenty of time to repair it any way and do the repair the weekend before. I started to pull the thermostat cover off when I ran in to one of many problems. One of the bolts had snapped in the manifold so I had to find and replace the whole manifold. It was a pretty big job but I managed to find the part but then ran into problem number two. I couldn't get it off. But after a week of running round I managed to get it all changed and running the day before we where to due to set off.
The trip over was pretty straight forward after a bit of a hiccup at the start due to me not tightening one of the bolts enough and having a water leak complete with steam everywhere.
We got on the late ferry to France then made our way across to Germany after a few hours sleep in Belgium. Late Friday night we found a little village, where no one spoke any English, to have some dinner before arriving in Munich about midnight, where we hit the sack in preparation for the next days activities.
Opening day at Oktoberfest is madness. The first beer is not poured till midday but you have to be in the cue to get into a tent by 8.30 in the morning or you cant get in at all. We got up early and raced to the HB tent to meet up with the crew and by the time we got there there must have been ten thousand people waiting to get in. Now the HB tent only holds nine thousand so some one's not getting in, and on this day it was us. We went down to one of the side doors where I had got in a few years ago but it was the one door they didn't open this year. No matter, it was an OK day so we grabbed a table out the fount and settled in for the morning. A few of the others that didn't get in came and joined us and it wasn't long till we had a few tables full of people. We sat and watched the first barrel been carried in with the band playing then sat back and waited for the beer to start flowing. And flow it did! We had a great afternoon sitting out the front of the HB tent when some of the girls decided to head back inside, as they had got in earlier in the morning. We tried to follow but while they let the girls through the doors, us drunken guys didn't get a look in. Pete tried again and managed to push his way through securty but I had no luck. In fact all I ended up with was a quick march down to the police station and told to stop being a nusince before being sent on my way. So just when I thought I had lost everyone I managed to find my flatmates at a table outside the HB tent, so joined them for the rest of the evening after resigning to the fact that I wasn't going to be seeing Pete for the rest of the night. He stumbled back to the van at about 2 in the morning.
I wanted to get in early the next day but Pete was to hung over, he's getting old now, so we had a sleep and headed in for lunch. It was a slow start to the day and it took us about an hour and a half to drink our first steins but once we had the first one down, half a chicken and a giant pretzel in our guts we where good to go again. It was a lovely day sitting outside again. The sun was shining, the beer was flowing, lovely people to talk to, it was perfect. So why we decided to go and ruin it I'll never know. We headed inside to join a few others that had a table and that's when it started to get messy. First we had the beer wench from hell! She was bloody scary. There is a photo of Pete looking scared as she was yelling at us at one stage. Then I went and knocked some beers over on the table next to us and made some more people angry. But I brought them some more beers and they soon got over it. In fact I ended up sitting with them for quite a while and Pete wandered off to find the girls in the pigpen. I caught up with him some time later in the early evening to find Pete in a bit of a state. In fact to say a bit of a state maybe an understatement as not long after I joined him at the girls table he was dragged out by security because he had no shirt on as he had thrown it in to the crowd in the pig pen. After I found him outside talking to random strangers I manged to get him into a cab and get him back to the van and put him to bed. A good thing really as we had an early start in the morning for the long trip home.
During the night we had a late night visitor in the form of my good friend Manfeet and we sorted out giving her a lift back to London town. So we got up early-ish and packed up the van and drove down to the camp ground to pick up our passenger then hit the road.
The drive home was pretty uneventful. Everything went to plan and the van ran like a dream although sit getting a little warmer than I would have liked. We even managed to stop at another little town and tried to order dinner in another restaurant where they spoke no English, but we ended up with a fantastic feed.
We arrived back at number 6 at about six in the morning tired but happy after another great Oktoberfest

You can check out the photos by clicking here.

the catch up blog!!

2008-08-28T22:18:00.009+01:00

Right guys its catch up time.

So way back in April I headed down to australia for Funky Mikes and Nats wedding.
It was a pretty short trip that was filled with lots of drinking, catching up with both old and new crew, games of golf (that demonstrated I still need more practice on the green!) playing with cute new additions to families and then of cause more drinking. Oh and not to forget the wedding!
There where highlights everyday and it would be a very long blog if I listed everyone but I'm sure your get am idea of the time we had from the photos.
I would like to give a special thanks to Hayley for getting all the London crew together and dragging them down to Kingscliff for one hell of a good catch up night. You can check out the pics here.

Summer here in london has been pretty slack this year but on the few good days the sun has managed to show itself we've tried to make the most of it. It's all about the out doors this summer. Pete and I took our camper vans for a run to the cheese rolling again this year. It was a shame that it rained the whole trip and we had to stand in the rain to see the cheese chasers then spent more time trying to tip-toe our vans out of the grassy hilly car park without rolling our vans before heading to a warm pub to sry out. I'd like to have some pics for you to look at but it was so wet I didnt even get my camera out!! So here's a photo of the hill. As you can see the weather's so bad you can only just make out the top of the hill.

The next outdoor pursuit was a nice picnic in the park for our flatmate Kimmys birthday. The sun played the game this time and we had a few friends come and put on a bit of music including Eric Clapton and John Mayer. We all put a bit of money in the pot and got a few drinks thanks to the good old staff discount at Mayfairs best wine store. Cheers Pete. I nearly forgot, we all had to wear a hat. We had a great afternoon in the sun and then finished with the a few more quiet drinks the Redback. Another great night was had by all. check out the pics here.

I also got to do some thing that I've wanted to do for a very long time a few months ago. As you might know I love flying and of cause I love planes. So when my flatmate Scott wanted someone to go with him to Farnbrough Air Show I jumped at the chance. Another of my flatmates tagged along and it was kind of a boys day out and a chance to be plane geeks. We had a strol round and had a look at the planes on display then headed to the runway edge to check out the air display which was amazing and included the new A380 and some classic old machines. You can check out some pics here.

Last but not least, I kicked off the summer with one of the things I love the most. The Isle of Wight Festival. We only had a small crew this year but I think it was one of the best yet. The line up was fantastic, a real old school rocks dream which included The Sex Pistiols, who blew me away, and The Police who of cause rocked! I took the van down as usual and she ran like a dream. The next big trip is in about a month when I head over to beerfest, again. I can't wait.
You can check out some iow pics here.

Well thats about it really. There's so mcuh more. I've changed jobs again and as I write this I'm working two jobs, days and nights. but more on that later as I need to go and catch up on some sleep. Later.

changes changes changes

2008-07-24T15:56:00.002+01:00

I everyone. Sorry for the long gap between posts but I've had trouble with the photo hosting website that I use. While it's still on line they tell me that there is going to be no more development and at for the last 4 months the uploader has been broken so I can't add any photos, and whats a good story without photos! Work has been keeping me busy up until a few days ago so I didn't have much time to find a website that can offer me all the same things that zoto did. I'm gutted as I love zoto and it was perfect for me but after much searching I think I've found a good replacement and I'm working uploading all the photos that I have from the last few months. I post again over the weekend when they are all loaded up and working and give you a quick run down on what they all are and what I've been up to.
Now the new site I'm using is provided by the great people at mac using there very nice MobileMe sevice and with this service I'm able to build a website and I'm working on two at the moment. One for the trip home and one for me. The one for me will be up as soon as I get it looking how I want and it will be a test for the trip home site. I'll let you know when its up and running as it has its own blog page so ill be using that one when its up and running. So that'll mean this blog wont be used anymore. It'll still be here for you to look at but I don't think I still use it unless I can link it to the new site.
But don't worry readers this wont happen for a long while yet!
Right I have to get back to it. Those photos wont up load them selves.

Later

pod cast

2008-05-05T00:58:00.002+01:00

Hey guys

Sorry for being so slack over the last four weeks but I've been pretty busy with trips to Australia, Amsterdam, the A1GP final and trying to work as much as I can in between.
This little post is to let you know that I finally have managed, thanks to Stu, to get a mix up on line for you to listen to. Just on the right of the page there is a nice big button for you to push that will talk you to my pod cast page where you can listen to my last mix online or you can subscribe via itunes and it will be transfered for you to put on your ipods. How cool is that!!
It's a groovy little mix that I hope you'll enjoy. I'm working on another one now so that should be up pretty soon to.
I also hope to have a few more postings up this week giving you the run down on my trip to oz and the A1GP.

boat race '08

2008-04-20T00:21:00.003+01:00

Hi everyone.

Just a quick one to thank everyone who came down to the old ship for the boat race. It was a wicked day and it was great to look into the crowd and see so many old friends and even more new faces. It was a great way to kick start summer, even if the weather was a bit rubbish!
There are a few photos here for you to look at but most of them are on my face book event page here.

foxes, phones and new jobs

2008-03-26T22:51:00.004Z

Hi everyone. You may have heard that Ive changed jobs in the last month. If not then I'm back on a building site and back on the tools and really enjoying it. I'm working in Clapham, south London. It's an old hotel that's being turned into very flash apartments. Its a great big old building that is 7 stories high that over looks the common.
Now that I'm back on a building site I have changed back to my old phone with the good camera as I don't want my lovely new touch screen phone to get scratched. So I arrive at work last week and head up to the 5th floor to start working. I set up by the window with my tools and fittings when some movement catches my eye out on the scaffolding. I look out expecting a painter or a bricky to walk past but instead I see this little fella...........

I have no idea how the little fella got up there or even what he was doing but it was kind of a nice surprise for a Thursday morning.
After digging out my old phone for work I discovered a whole lot of photos that I had forgotten about so I have made a new album that I'm going to put all my phone photos on. You can see the the ones that I have up loaded to date HERE

Partie deux de la France (france part two)

2008-02-26T21:14:00.003Z

So as you may have read a few posts ago, Sams van broke down, due to a faulty fuel pump a few weeks back im France, so we had to do a recovery mission to retrieve the old girl. We also wanted to make it to Mount St Micheal as we didn't make it last time.
We made a plan. I booked an over night ferry for my van that landed first thing on Saturday morning, close to where we had left the van to be repaired. We would then pick up Alice(the van) and drive the 100miles or so to Mt St Micheal, spend the night and then make our way back on Sunday stopping along the way to check out what ever we felt like checking out. But once again the old van had different ideas. I had the Friday off so that I could make sure the old girl was up to scratch and we had plenty of gas, water, food and fuel as I hadn't used betty since beerfest last year. It was after I had filled up with petrol and was heading back home that betty broke down. The fuel pump had gone. How very ironic. Luckily I had a spare electric one on board and so after a bit of fiddling I had it wired up and running.
The girls got home from work and we loaded up and hit the road. We where making good time and the traffic was light so we stopped for dinner at the services. After filling our bellies we jumped back in the van and I went star her up and, nothing. The fuel pump had gone again. I thought that I must have wired it up wrong or that it was just a dud one so i have another fiddle with it but nothing. I couldn't do that much as I had left my tools in Alice on the last trip. There was bit of panic and as we tried to get any of the roadside assist company's to come to our rescue in the time frame we had. Finally a very nice RAC man turned up and with his trusty multimeter informed me that there was no power to the unit so after a quick rewire we where on the road again with a race against the clock to get to the ferry on time.
Mental note; don't leave home with out tools.
We arrived at the ferry terminal with only 1min to spare and luck was with us as the next leg of our journey was trouble free. We had a good sleep on the ferry and made it to the the garage to pick up Alice in good time. I got the garage to do a wheel balance while we where there as I had a bit of a wobble. Then, in convoy, we headed off again.
We arrived at Mt St Micheal mid afternoon and what an amazing place it is. If you get the chance to visit then you really should, and if you don't your really missing out. I think it's one of my favorite things in France, well apart from crepes. Its a huge rock rock sitting in the middle of some sand flats about a kilometer from the main land and when the tide comes in it makes it an island, if the road wasn't there of cause but on a spring tide even the road goes under water. On top of the rock is a beautiful cathedral built in 966 with the most amazing views. On the walk to the cathedral is a village that winds it way up the side of the rock. It's a bit touristy but it's still very pretty and the views on the walk up are great but the views from the very top, and from outside the cathedral are breath taking. It was a crisp and clear day and I could have spent all day up there just looking across the sea but there was a cathedral to look round. There where heaps of cool little parts to the cathedral like a little garden hidden on the far side of the out side of the building. And the archway on the edge of the garden that looks straight down the cliffs.
It was getting late in the day and the sun was low in the sky so it was getting chilly so we headed down the hill to get some thing to eat and warm up a little. We found a nice little pub at the bottom of the rock with an open fire and warmed up with hot chocolate and crepes. Yum!
The girls then headed back in to the village to find a camp site to park up at for the night while I stayed a bit longer to get a few sunset shots of the mount.
I caught with the girls and after Sam cooked up her now famous carrots, peas and pasta, we watched a dvd then went to bed as it was getting pretty cold. The plan to get up early and make our way back to the ferry at Le Havra kind of went out the window as our beds where just to warm to get out of. But hunger took over and I wandered in to the village to find a store that sold French sticks and cheese, for a good French breakfast.
It was another fantastic clear spring day making the drive a very pleasant one even though we didn't have time to stop along the way for anything other than petrol, so I just had to make do with sticking my camera out the window and taking photos. Not something that would recommend any one to do as the results can vary greatly and there is also the small risk of crashing!
The rest of the trip home was plain sailing. The ferry home was good if not a little to long after another action packed weekend, but we make it back to number 6 with plenty of time to get a good nights sleep.
So thats it really. Another weekend away. This time making it home in the vehicles we left in.
As per usual there are some photos for you have a look at here or check out the photo list on the right.

a pretty day in london

2008-02-18T16:02:00.007Z

Now winter in London can, and more often than not is a pretty dark grey place. But every now and then we get a clear crisp day that reminds us just how pretty it can be if you get out and have a poke around some of its wonderful nooks and cranny's

looking out over London, Greenwich park on fantastic Sunday arvo

For a few more images from this outing click here

france on film

2008-02-07T07:55:00.003Z

I’ve had the urge to get out and take some photos using film for a while now so when my new flattie/dosser Sam wanted someone to go to France with for the weekend in her camper van I jumped at the chance. You know me, any thing for a weekend away in a camper, even if it’s not mine.
The plan was set. We both had Monday off. We would head over to Calais on Friday night and drive south down the coast till we needed to sleep then Saturday keep making our way south to mout st Michel, stopping at a few places on the way, spend the day there on Sunday then drive back on Monday to catch the ferry back Monday evening. But you know plans with old vans, they never work out.
Friday after work we headed off a little later then we would have liked and ran in to Friday evening traffic. We got to the ferry 30 mins late but the ferries hadn’t run the day before due to bad weather so there a few extra sailings and we managed to get on one that was leaving 20 mins after we got there.
We took turns driving till we where both tired and when we stopped to fill up with fuel we decided that the services/truck stop was a pretty good place to stop for the night as it had everything we needed so we set the van up for the night and feel asleep almost instantly as we both where shattered.
We awoke to find that we had stopped at a wet land center so after a hot chocolate I had a quick look round and took a few snaps using my trusty old Minolta srT201, that I hadn’t used for about 3 years that I had dug out for the trip.
The weather was great when we set off, and we had covered a few miles when our stomachs decided it was time for lunch. After stopping in a very pretty village to stock up with food we headed for the coast and a beach for a picnic lunch. But by the time we got there the weather had different plans. We parked up just as it stated raining so it was lunch of French bread, cheese and smelly fish paste in the van till there was a break in the weather and we could take a stroll down the beach before jumping in the van and heading off to our next destination, what ever that may be.
I had always wanted to go to the D-day beaches and as we where in Normandy we thought that was a good plan but I had no idea where the US memorial was, as I had been told that was the best one to see. A quick stop in Le Havre for look round and a stop at the information center and after I had studied a few maps I knew where to head, sort off, but after we had one more stop. I had seen a building on the way in that was just a big square box with a column on top. I had joked to Sam how ugly it looked as it was just made out of concrete but while at the info center I found a book featuring the building and I just had to stop there on the way out of town to check it out. Now it still looked like a giant breeze block from the outside, with a million tiny Grey windows, but once we got inside we discovered that all the windows have colored glass on the inside so the walls where a sea of color. And the column was the same, and from the center of the building you could look all the way up the inside. It was amazing. It looked kind of futuristic.
Back in the van and on the road again it was getting late in the day and we started thinking about parking up for the night. It was decided to hit a caravan park so that we could shower and so forth. The only thing is that it was the end of Jan and there was nothing open in the way camping grounds. After driving round for a while we stumbled in to a little town called Supercamp thinking there must be some thing open here, but there wasn't. We did find a great little spot right on the harbor front though and after a drink a local pub so we could use the toilet, we headed back to the van to cook the first meal and watch a dvd about a crazy French man with chloroform.
The next morning we had ice on the windscreen of the van so it must have been pretty cold over night, about -1 we guessed but we had been warm as toast. But we had hunger in our bellies and we hit the road again to find warm food for breakfast and continue on our way to our destination.
As we made our was back to the motorway we stumbled across the U.S. war memorial. We had a long look through the visitor center as it was under ground and warm and then a quick look round the memorial garden as the wind had got up and it was freezing. It was pretty somber walking through the hundreds of crosses and reading the names and ages of those that where killed. In a way I was glad it was windy and that we only managed to explore one of the seven or eight fields that over look Omaha beach.
Now the rumble in my tummy was taking over and we hit the motorway with pace, a little to much pace. After sending a text msg to Pete telling him how good a time we where having, I looked over at Sam and those dreaded words came out of her mouth, "I think there is some thing wrong with the van!" The van had no power. We coasted to the side of the road and we tried to start her but nothing. I pulled the engine cover off and checked a few things to find that the fuel pump had given up.
What to do, what to do? We could see a SOS phone up the road a few hundred meters so we got our warm coats on and headed up to try and tell a lovely French lady on the other end of the line that we had broken down and that we needed help. We finally got to a point where we had an idea of what was going on and headed back to the van to snack and watch more dvds till the three, thats right, three rescue trucks turned up. One tow truck and two road work trucks with lights on to close the lane while the van was put on the tow truck. We had called roadside assist by then and they told us that in France you can't work on a car on the side of the motor way so we had to get towed off the motorway and then when we could call then and tell them our location.
Once we had got the van, who's called Alice, off the truck and paid the tow truck driver, then called roadside assist to let them know our location, we sat and snacked and watched more dvds till the next tow truck and a mechanic arrived to put Alice on another truck to take her to his work shop to take a look at her. Once there he confirmed that is was the fuel pump and that as it was Sunday we would have to wait till Monday until he could get a part. By this time the weather had turned pretty nasty and with the van not running it was pretty cold in the old girl and the thought of spending the night in her wasn't a pleasant one, so when the roadside assist people called us back to check everything was going ok we we very kindly asked them if we could get a hotel some where, fully prepared to pay for it as we had planned to to that anyway so that we could have showers etc. No problems they told us. They even sorted a cab to come pick us up.
The hotel was heaven. The room was really nice, and warm. There was free WIFI so we could check our emails and the shower was amazing. We couldn't have asked for anything better. It had been a long day and as it was dinner time we headed to the hotel restaurant to have dinner and a few drinks. Now when I say a few drinks what I mean to say is a very nice bottle of champagne to go with our nice dinner so we could truly relax after the stress of the days events.
After dinner we headed back to our room to watch a bit tv and then hit the hay as we had no idea what was going to happen in the morning.
After a great night sleep we had breakfast and stocked up on a few things for the van in the way of jam and honeys. It was as we had finished packing that we got the a call from roadside assist that the van part wasn't going to arrive until Tuesday! As we both had to be back at work on Tuesday morning we decided that we would try and get ourselves home, after having a quick look round the local cathedral. But after the cathedral we felt a little hungry so we stopped at one of the only places that we could find that was open ordered some grilled crepes with cheese on them. Yum!
While at lunch we asked about trains to the next town as the roadside assist had told us that they would look at renting us a car to get back to the ferry but by the the time that we had got to the train station and got the train to Cane they had worked out that it was cheaper to put us in a cab back to the ferry to La Harve, which was about 130Ks, and when the taxi dropped us at the ferry terminal the meter was at about 150 odd euro, paid for buy roadside assist of cause. From there we jumped on the ferry and chilled all the way to within a few miles from Blighty till roadside assist called us again to inform us that when we had departed the ferry that there was a taxi ready to take us form Portsmouth all the way back home to number 6 in London, which we guessed was at least a 200 pound fare.
We arrived back at the homestead about 11pm, about the time we would have arrived home if Alice had made it under her own steam, so we hadn't done to badly really for two people with no planned transport.
We both had a good weekend and I think that Sam discovered that having an old van means that sometimes it will break down and usually when you least want it to.
But the good thing is that the van is still in France so I guess that we'll have to plan another trip over to go and fetch it. Wicked! another van trip!

Of cause there are a few images from the weekend here and a link on the right for you to have a look at. Enjoy

its getting closer....Waitangi day!!

2008-01-31T14:54:00.000Z

Yes its that time of year again. Saturday the 9th is the official date for the annual Waitangi day pub crawl. This has got to one of the highlights of the year for any kiwi in London. I know it gets a bit messy and some would say too messy and they maybe right, but I still love it. Its just a great day for kiwis to come together and show a bit of love for little old N.Z.
Now I say this every year but dam it, this year I am going to see me a Haka! I'm going to leave pubs early so that I can still get on the tube before they shut them down and this year I will not be drinking from a ladies boot! But then again these are things I say every year.
Once again I'll be selling Waitangi day t-shirts for a tenner but this year I'm letting you all know early so that you can pre-order. The main reason is that on the day I'll only have t-shirts and maybe a few polos. The sizes go from small right through to XXL. So if you would like a fitted size for the ladies or a polo then let me know so I can make it up for you special. I'll also try and get them to you on before the day either I will drop them to you if I can of you can collect them from my work. That way if I don't see you on the day the you will still have a super cool shirt to wear and you wont miss out at they sell pretty quick. If you get in early then I could also Put your name on if you like.
There are a few pics of the shirts below, the first is how the front (tube logo) and back (tube map with official Nz town names and there relating tube stop) will look and the other is happy kiwis showing off their shirts. So tell your friends and let know what you need and I hope to see you on the day (for those of you in ye old London town of cause).

Click on images for a better view

And if you don't have to much of a big hangover on Sunday, then join me in the city in the arvo for Chinese New Year which will involve fire works, a big Chinese feed for dinner and maybe a beer or two!

And don't forget about I love lamp. check it out if you haven't already.

my new blog

2008-01-24T12:54:00.000Z

Hey everyone. Hope your all well. Now on this side of the world at this time of year things are pretty sad and uneventful as it's the middle of winter and it's cold, its just after the holidays and everyone is broke, work has slowed down and people are board. So I have started a little project to inject a bit of fun but I'm hoping that you all get in to it. It's called "I love lamp"
If you click on the link HERE it will take you to my new blog where it will all become clear.

another good reason to drive home

2008-01-20T01:20:00.000Z

As if I didn't need another reason for the big drive home. I know this happened earlier in the week but they have just moved the plane today so I thought that I'd share this with you all in case some of you southern hemisphere readers hadn't heard about it.

A passenger plane has crash-landed short of a runway at Heathrow Airport, ripping off part of its undercarriage.

All 136 passengers and 16 crew escaped from the British Airways flight BA038 from Beijing. Eighteen people have been taken to hospital with minor injuries.

An airport worker told the BBC the Boeing 777 pilot, named later as Peter Burkill, 43, said he had lost all power and had to glide the plane in to land.

All BA short-haul flights from Heathrow have been cancelled and others delayed.

BAA, the Heathrow operator, said it hoped to return to "near normal operations" on Friday, but advised all passengers to contact their airlines for up-to-the-minute information.

The worker also said the pilot had told him all the electronics had also failed.

happy new year! + two really good tips

2008-01-07T18:33:00.000Z

Happy new year readers.
I hope you all had a happy and safe one. I know its been a while since I've updated but work has kept me very busy the last few months as we have brought a new business and my quiet little store has gone from just myself and one other staff member to having four full timers, and during the Christmas rush I had another two helping out.
So with the madness of work keeping me on my toes I haven't really been up to much. There was a quick trip to Amsterdam where we ended up in Hamburg.
Tip 1. Don't go to Hamburg on cold and wet Sunday in November as there's not much to do.
December was a pretty mad month. I managed to do 27 days in a row at work so I didn't have time for anything else until Christmas day. Christmas day was the usual London affair. We headed to the restaurant round the corner for an amazing lunch. It was a little late but we just sat, waited and enjoyed a few more drinks. Then back to ours for a few more drinks but as I had worked so many hours I was knacked and in bed by 10.30.
New year on the other hand was a bit of a big one, well few me any way. I didn't have anything planned till the 30th when I decided to follow a few of the crew up to Edinburgh for Hogmany. Now This was my third time to Hogmany but I didn't want to spend new years in a club in London and after last years disaster of trying to see the fireworks on the river I just wanted out of the city all together .
So with leaving everything so the last minute trying to get accommodation was a bit of a nightmare but I finally found somewhere and jumped in the car to catch up with the others that had a few days head start. The first night was spent at the pub across the road from my accommodation and catching up with a few mates that live up there.
New years eve morning I dragged myself out of bed to be at the Three Sisters pub to see in the new year in Nz and then Australia. Then a quick round of shopping and the girls then headed back to the hostel to have a nana nap and get ready and I had ideas of doing the same but I was called back to the pub to catch up the other half of the crew. After a few hours and a few drinks in the pub the girls joined us and we headed into the street party for a few more drinks, live music and fireworks before heading back to the pub to catch up with the others.
About 2ish the girls decided to call it a night so I thought I'd do the same and walk with them. We said our good nights and they headed down the royal mile and I headed off in what I thought was my way home but it was late and I did have a few beers in me. After walking for about 20mins nothing was looking how it should so I wandered into a pub to ask directions home when I stumbled upon a few kiwi guys that where on a tour from Nz and they where a little lost to. Even though I now knew where I was going the other guys decided that I was going to drink with them for a while. After stopping at nearly every pub on the way home "for just one more" with the lads, I finally found my street and stumbled home and into bed at about 5.30.
The 1st was going to be a quiet affair. I slept till 12. Turned on the telly to watch rubbish new years day t.v. I then checked my phone to find 20 missed calls. I checked my msgs to find one from the local police. I called them back to find that Tia had got in to a spot of bother when she discovered that her purse had been stolen but only after she had got in to a cab and had got home. So I jumped in the car and went to fetch her. When we got home I cooked up some lunch and Tia went to bed. After an afternoon of napping, eating and watching telly I dropped Tia home and headed off to meet the girls at the movies. And here it comes......
Tip 2. What ever you do don't go and see the movie st trinians. It's rubbish. Sorry Leanna.
After a quick tour of the city in the car(I'm sure we've been here before) we dropped Tracy off at the airport and headed home giving me sometime to think about me new years resolutions. Now I'm not one for resolutions so the only one I've decided to make is to update this blog at least once a week. Even if its just one photo.
So thats it for another year. Almost back at work. I'm actually home sick with flu at the moment. No it really is the flu!

beerfest

2007-10-22T20:58:00.000+01:00

Well beerfest was a small affair this year and I hoped that with fewer numbers it would involve less dramas than it did last year. It also was the first run in the new van so I hoped that I hadn't brought a lemon and the old girl would make it there in back in one piece and that we didn't have a repeat of last year.
The weekend got of to a bad start. I had lost the cable for the satnav. I thought it was sitting in B1 and left it till last minute to check only to discover that it wasn't. My own fault really. I looked up on the net to find that Halfords sell them so a quick stop on my way home and we'd be back in business no problems. Problem. They only sell them on line so I had to buy a whole new satnav. Not money I really wanted to part with but there was no way I was going to try and drive across Europe in the middle of the night with out one.
So I arrived home and the two passengers, Steff and Leanna, where waiting for me. So we loaded up the van and attempted to get under way when I hit problem number two. I plugged the shinny new satnav into the cig lighter and, nothing. I jumped out and checked it in the car and it worked fine so I tested the plug and nothing. After trying for about half an hour to get it working I had to give up and come to terms with the fact it was dead. So we all jumped in the can and headed to the local car parts store that luckily stay open to 10pm and after a wiring up a new plug we where finally on the road.
Things where going well. The van was running like a dream, better than B1 even, and we where making pretty good time after the delay at the start.
We arrived at Dover in good spirits and excited about finally getting to Europe. Then we hit snag number three. Steff had forgotten his passport. Of all the things to forget. Thoughts of leaving him on the dock and heading on flashed through my mind as we had to meet Tracy first thing in the morning and time was already against us. But the French had no problem with Steff entering their country with just his drivers license, after a bit of ribbing about the rugby world cup games that where to be played that weekend. The next official that checked our ferry tickets had no problem with it either. Just a warning that if we got in to any trouble then we where on our own. Sweet! Things where looking up.
The rest of the trip there was without dramas, other than having to stop every 10 miles for Steff to pee and to stock up on goodies to keep us going.
We arrived in Munch just after dark to find a very board Tracy. We parked the van in the camp site and made our way to the local for dinner and a few beers which turned into the biggest night of the whole trip. The food was amazing and the beer kept flowing till the point we where smashing glasses and we where pretty much thrown out in to the night and stumbled through the woods back to the camp site for a few more beers from the vending machine, a few rides on see-saws and other silly things before heading to bed.
The girls where up first and promptly kicked us out of bed and we jumped on the first bus of the day to get in to get a jump on the crowds but when we arrived we discovered that every beer hall was already full and security wasn't letting any one else in anywhere. We later discovered that the last Saturday's a big deal to the Germans and you have to get up pretty early to beat them to a tent. We ended up with a good spot out side the Paulaner tent where we settled for a day of pretzels, chickens, special Olympics and of cause beer.
At about 5 in the evening we tried to get in to one of the tents and joined the line but after talking to people that had been waiting for over an hour we decided not to bother and try again tomorrow. So what else could we do but hit a few rides and make out way back to the camp ground and the safety of the van for an early night in preparation for our final day in which we where going to get in to a tent no matter what.
We all where struggling to get up on the last day but we had to get into a tent and we dragged ourselves out of bed and on to the early bus only to discover that all the Germans must have hangovers as the tents where empty so we wandered round and got some hot food for brekie and decided what tent we would park up in. Steff and I decided at the start of the trip that we would stay away from the HB tent as we wanted to hang out with the locals and not with all the antips so we decided on the Lowenbrau as it was the closest to where we had breakfast.
Now it started off pretty quiet. Tracy had to catch a train at 5pm which meant she had to leave the beer hall at about 2ish to catch the tube back to the camping ground to pick up her pack and head for the train station. After befriending pretty much every one at our table and much dancing on chairs and eating(and throwing) of radishes, buy 3pm, we where pretty much legless. We had convinced Tracy that we would all grab a cab and get her pack and get her to the train on time. We stumbled out of the beer hall at about 3.30 with a very worried Tracy in tow. We flagged down a cab and after collecting Tracy's pack from the camping ground headed to the train station in double quick time. We arrived with minutes to spare and with the train in sight we said our good byes but as we did the train pulled out leaving us standing on the platform. A dash across the station to the info desk to discover that there where no other trains heading back to Amsterdam that would get her home in time for work in the morning. Plan B, off to the Airport.
Now you may or may not know but Munch airport is about 45ks out side of Munich its self but lucky we had a very lead footed taxi driver driving a lovely new AMG merc so we where there in no time. Again Tracy and I ran in and tried to get a cheep flight back to Amsterdam but the problem with that is it was the last day of beerfest and every flight was full. But the very nice, and very camp Air France desk clerk did manage to find one seat on a flight that went direct to Amsterdam. And it was first class. Then there was one little drama with the check in operator not being able to read that we had just brought a first class ticket and thought we where on stand by. At this stage Tracy had had enough and just collapsed on the floor and the nice deck clerk came running over and called the check in guy an idiot in French and rushed us through security and Tracy was on her way.
I headed out to the cab to find Leanna just waking up and wondering what we where doing at the airport. Steff and I decided that after all the excitement we needed a beer and as we walked back into the beerfest grounds it was agreed that a session in the HB hall was what was called for after the excitement of the afternoon.
We walked in and the place was humming. Everyone was standing on benches if not tables. Even the ladies bringing us beer where dancing with us in between deliveries. There was a great band playing classic drinking tunes that kept us all going and every now and then they threw in the traditional German drinking song but after hearing them all weekend we could almost get away with singing along with our new German friends.
After a great rendition of Robbie's Angles where the whole beer hall was on the tables with there hands in the air we decided to call it a day and after stopping of to get a few tshirts we headed off to the catch the bus back to the camping ground and the safety of the van for our last sleep in Munich.
The great thing about the beer at beerfest is that its naturally brewed so there is much less of a hang over the you get from drinking beer from a can so when we woke up on Monday morning we didn't feel to bad considering we had been drinking for the last three days. We packed up the van and where on the road pretty early. The sun was shining allowing me to take some photos nice photos out the window of the van of the county side and the many wind farms the have in Germany We where making pretty good time to get the ferry we had booked that evening.
Back in France and after getting a little lost trying to find the ferry after a quick refuel, we where just about on time to get the ferry and pulled up to customs passports at the ready, for those of us that had them. It was then we hit our final problem. As Steff had no passport the very nice man at border control decided not to let him back in. Over an hour was spent negating, checking, double checking and a quick phone call to Kristy to get her to send photos of Steffs passport to us from her camera phone, we where finally let through to the ferry where we could at last get on the next ferry that had a spot of us.
We finally pulled back in to London town in the very early hours of the morning tired but I was happy that it was under our steam and happy to get right to my front door this year.
So thats it I guess. Although we had a few more problems this year and I spent a few more pounds than I would have liked it was still a wicked weekend. Probably my best beerfest yet. And as usual there are some photos for you to look at. Just click HERE or the link on the right.
Later

just not enough hours in the day

2007-10-04T00:52:00.000+01:00

Sorry readers for not updating last month but I've been so busy at work setting up a new businesses we have brought to run out of my office. Thus in one month I managed to rack up 90 hours over time! I did manage to get a few things in during the few hours that I wasn't at work.
The first I'm still really excited about even though it took a large chunk out of my savings and I'm now poor again. I brought a new van. Betty 2 she's called and she rocks. Well I haven't had a chance to take her away yet so I hope everything works but she looks the part. She's an 1984 CF Bedford Autosleeper. What that means is she is pretty much the same as Betty 1 but without the poptop roof. I had been giving it a lot of thought about the trip home and I thought it'd be better to take two vans the same so that we can carry one set of spare parts then we can change them if we have to. The high roof also gives me a bit of extra room. There's a full height wardrobe that I'm going to fit out with shelves for my paraglidering gear as that was the one thing that I couldn't find room for in Betty 1 as its quite big. There are heaps of other little things like the bed is set up in the roof so I don't have to make the bed up every night(I'm getting old and lazy!). Autosleeper are like the Rolls Royce of camper vans so its set out a little better e.g. the water tank is under the van not in a locker like in Betty 1 so it gives a bit more space. Another great thing is that with the high roof the bench and sink are higher so there is less bending down for my old back when I do the washing up. The first run in her will be to beerfest so lets hope I don't have a repeat of last year.

Betty II

The other exciting thing that happened last month was I had some visitors from New Zealand. My good friend Sarah that I lived with for a short time at number 6 come for a very quick visit with her sister and the number one man in her life, her son Conner, who rocks! Now I'm not much of a kid person but this little guy is amazing. We had a great catch up and a mini pub crawl. Well we went from the pub over the road to the pub on the corner as it has a beer garden for the C man to play in. And play he did. He ran round chasing other kids and eating crisps till some how he ended up on my knee and I introduced him to ice! It was great fun as he didn't quite know what to make it. It kept the both of us entertained for ages.

Sarah + the C man

Well that's about for now. The next post will be after I return from beerfest.

just a quickie

2007-08-14T17:20:00.000+01:00

Hey Kids.

This is just going to be a very quick date as I've been super busy at work the last few weeks as the best staff member I've had has left to go traveling and back to Australia so there are only two of us here and at the office. That means that I havent been able to up date my blog as much as I would like. But there are a few changes starting with the images below my heading. At the moment they link to my flickr account but I dont really like so I'm trying to my I.T. people to get sorted to link to my on line folio. Another change is since I have started my blog I really enjoy looking at others, mainly to suss out the competition, so I have stated a list of blogs i like.

Here are my the three main highlights from the last few weeks.

I was given a free set of bullbars for betty (thanks to bedford-cf.co.uk). I had to go and get them from Ipswich, but hey they where free and it was a good excuse for Pete and I to take the vans for a run. The weather was a bit pants on the way up but we left in the evening so it was getting dark anyway. I awoke to the police taking our number plate details so we got up, cooked up a feed and head on our way. We picked up the bars then headed home. It was a lovely sunny day, perfect for a Sunday drive. A good weekend and Pete spent the first night in his van.
The Finger has returned! Summer is finally here and that means finger parties. We kicked off the first of the season with an outdoor party. I even ended up at The Cook for the after party!!There are only a few pics of the house area for ya to look at as I stayed well away from the hard dance area.
Street Wars has started again. I'm not going to say to much as I don't want to get wet!! More to follow as and when it happens.

Well thats about it for the moment. Oh one more thing. How annoyingly addictive is facebook!!

i love live music! (in case you hadn't noticed)

2007-07-19T12:12:00.000+01:00

With a few festivals out of the way I find myself back in love with live music and looking for my next fix. I managed to satisfy my addiction twice over the weekend.
Friday night was Kasabian at Somerset house with Adam then on Monday the Poppets and I went to the recording of channel4s album chart show at Koko in Camden.
Kasabian where amazing and Somerset house is a great venue as you feel like your at a festival as its in the court yard so has no roof. The only thing was the ques for the bar when we got there. I had to scrum my way in there and the buy 10 beers so i didn't have to go back! So you might guess we got pretty wobbly and after the gig we where singing all the way down the strand with about 1000 other people of cause.
Then Monday was on to Koko. The only person I knew was playing was Mark Ronson and The Coral but Biffy Ciro ended up closing so that was wicked. It was nice to spend the evening with the poppets as the number that they have left I can count on one had.

I also need to use my camera Phone more. It's not the greatest camera but it takes OK pics.

Kasabian at Somerset House

Go the Biffy!

aaaarrrrrggggghhh!!!

2007-07-16T16:12:00.000+01:00

Thar she blows!

After feeling sad all day at work watching Crowed House I decided the best way to cheer myself up was to dress up like a pirate and head on over to Ambers for a few drinks. Now Amber had invited me to a pirate party. I don't just dress up like a pirate normally but I think I might do it more often, it was a great laugh. It was Coopers birthday but he was away at a health spa for the weekend, I still chuckle just thinking about that.
A few of the others from number 6 turned up after Live Earth and we settled in to walking the plank, talking to parrots and other such pirate like carry on till the early hours of the morning. We stumbled home and into bed as the sun was rising over the yard arm for a few hours sleep before I had to drag myself out of my bunk for the British F1

captain red beard + me cabin bitch (hehe)

I love the interweb!

2007-07-09T10:06:00.000+01:00

Just how good is the Internet.
Its Saturday and I'm at work watching Crowed House playing live earth in Sydney on MSN while emailing my good friend Phil In Auckland about his new baby, fatherhood and his crappy car(sorry Phill). To be honest its making me a little home sick.
The internet just makes the world a much smaller place and friends seam just a little closer that they really are.

Look, im in the Simpsons

2007-07-06T17:08:00.000+01:00

If you've been living in a cave and don't know that there's a Simpson's movie coming out I suggest you go take a look at the website. There are all sorts of games to play and you can have a poke round Moe's tavern. But the best thing is you can make yourself into a Simpson's character. It's great fun! I've been making my friends all day but I'm not going to put them up as those people might be offended.

You can make your own by going to the the Simpsons movie website by clicking HERE

This is me as a Simpsons character.
The likeness is amazing don't you think?

Glasto!

2007-07-06T10:21:00.000+01:00

What a festival. I haven't been since 2002 and wasn't that fussed about going really but a friend of mine, Sarah talked me into it. Now when I say talked she called Me one day and told me that i was coming. But I'm so glad that she did.

I could go on about it for ages but I'm not going to. I'm just going to give you top 10 high and low list of things that made my weekend.

Highs

Traffic. Or lack of. We left on Thursday night expecting it to take 8 hours to get there but it only took us just under 3.
Our campsite. We had a great little campsite all together where it was nice and quiet and not to muddy.
Camping stores. Saved us from getting wet on the Friday in the "big old fat rain" I loved my army poncho(which I ended up giving away) and my chair(which i ended up sitting on for 7mins).
Random midnight walks. Wandering after the mains stages had finished and finding cool wine bars playing the Beatles back catalog and selling sangria to drink in the rain.
Food. The great thing about glasto is that is really is a whole town and you can find any thing that you want 24hrs a day. Including every food you can think of.
Music. The main reason for going! With so much on there is so much i wanted to see but missed. But some highlights for me where.
- The Arctic Monkeys - Headlined Friday night and started with a bang! Then about 6 songs in belted out "you look good on the dance floor". Madness.
- Bjork. I headed over there after the monkeys hoping to catch the last few songs but she was running late and Imanaged to see her whole set. She ended up playing till 1.30 in the morning (should have finished at 12). Finishing with an out of this world version of hyperballad.
- Lilly Allen + Paulo Nutini. Two great UK artist. I saw Paulo at iow and he's so good. Great happy sing a long songs. And Lilly, well I'm in love with every thing about Lilly!
- Maximo Park. Just a great band that plays driving jump and sing along songs. They have so much energy. They where on the other stage and they had more people dancing than any other band I saw all weekend.
- Silent disco. Dancing and singing along to all sorts of random songs at 3 in the morning then taking your headphones off and watching everyone dance to no music. Just so funny. Adam and I had great fun yelling rude words at each other. Its not like any one could hear us. I felt like a 12 year old.
- Hearing bands. We could hear bands on the other stage from our tents so we only had to get up in the morning and sit under the gazebo to get ourselves motivated.
The weather. Yes the weather. Apart from 1 wet day last year at V Ive never had a really wet festival. And glasto mud is legendary. I'm glad I got to experience it.
Madge. I was so glad to get back to her on Sunday night. A nice warm, comfy, dry and fast car. Made the trip home to bed so much better.
A good tent. When camping in the rain you need a good tent and thanks to Amber we had a great one. I just wish it wasn't so wet and muddy so I could have brought it home.
The company. It's not all about the drink and music, its about the people.

Lows

Traffic. Leaving on Sunday night was a nightmare. Like us, a lot of people where tired, wet and just wanted to head home so getting out of the muddy paddocks took ages. But we did get a push by a tractor across a which was kind of cool.
Our campsite. While is was a great campsite it was at least a 2 hours walk to the car. As Nikki and I discovered on Saturday when we walked back to get her pack. And that dam red tent! Every time!
Toilets. Probably the worst festival toilets I've ever seen and smelt. They increased the number of tickets this year but I swear they reduced the number of toilets.
Midnight walks. Trying to find the campsite in the early hours of the morning after drinking all day was a bit of a challenge but I did make it back every night.
Food. Like the bands there was just so much to explore and there was always going to be something that was missed out. I'm still hanging out for a stone cooked pizza.
Music. Now with all the good music, there where a few things that I didn't like and some that just made me down right mad.
- The Killers. I was so looking forward to seeing them. I saw then at iow last year and they went off and I love the new album more than the first but the sound guys got it all wrong and we couldn't hear anything. The crowed around us where shouting "turn it up, turn it up!" We left about 4 songs in.
- Silent disco. Was wicked but I wanted it to stay open for longer.
- Missing bands. This happens at every big festival but with the mud it made it even harder to get around so motivation to see other bands was pretty low. But when I did go and find other bands it was wicked.
- Arcade Fire. I was really wanted to to hear lots of there songs so we stopped on the way to the pyramid stage and the first 3 songs they played I didn't know so we left.
The Weather. The mud was getting on my nerves by Sunday. It was so deep it made it so hard to walk. so many people had their gumboots stick in the mud and they kept walking and ending up with wet , muddy socks.
Madge. A real low point was getting back to Madge and then getting her stuck in the mud. I had to get everyone out in the rain and get them to push while Paula drove. I wasn't very popular as everyone was nice and dry. And then Nikki fell in the mud. Funny now but she could have quite easily snapped my neck at that point.
Mobile phones. I had full bars but I couldn't get through to anyone. Wouldn't have worried about it but my service provider had two massive chill'n'charge tents with bars etc. If they can spend money on that then they can put up a few more phone towers surely?
Being old. I'm having to accept the fact that I'm getting old. We all had big days on Friday and Saturday then when Sunday rolled around I was broken. I woke up at lunch time and we all sat under the cover of the gazebo listening to bands and eating. I went for a quick man nap and didn't wake up till 9pm! Gutted!

So that's it really. I did try and take as may pics as I could but the rain meant that i couldn't have the camera out and it was a bit of a hassle to get it out in the wet so when I did get it out I took a lot of pics so there are lot of the same sort of thing. But there are some really funny ones and some great ones of the mud.

later

terrorists, a little to close!

2007-07-03T17:05:00.000+01:00

For those of you not living in London I'm sure that you're aware of the attack on Glasgow airport a few days ago. What you may not know is that London is now on the highest terror alert and the whole place is in a bit of a tizz.
Every car with no tax or plastic rubbish bag blowing down the street is a potential security risk. In the last two days there have been at least two news reports every hour of another airport closed or package destroyed by "controlled explosion".
I arrived at work this morning to hear on the wireless that Hammersmith station had been closed due to a suspect package. Now that's a little close I thought to myself and carried on with work. Not ten minutes later there was a police man with caution tape running across the road blocking it off from traffic and tying it to the corner of our building!
It's been a year since the last bombs where found here in Shepherds Bush and we where evacuated in a hurry without being to close up or grab any of our things so with that in mind we gathered our keys, wallets, jackets and any work that we could get done in our other store and waited with baited breath as they closed another road across from us. It wasn't long till more police arrived . Then the fire brigade and a few ambulances parked up opposite work and we knew this might be quite serious. So of cause we stopped work and sat at the window watching and hoping that we would be asked to leave and we could have the day off.
No such luck. The bomb squad arrived and after inspecting what ever it was around the corner they declared it was safe and as quick as the arrived they left. But not before we had our own mini run in with the Terrorism Act. Mike and I had been taking photos of all the action, Mike using his phone and Me using the shop passport camera. As the police where packing up, one of the officers noticed Mikes phone told him that he would have to delete any photos that he had taken and stood there and watched while he did. Meanwhile he had completely missed me standing there with the work camera. Not there was much to take photos of. But the few that i did take I have posted a link to.
So that's the excitement for my day. I just hope i can get home without any more dramas.

Scotland

2007-06-26T10:56:00.003+01:00

Grab ya self a cup of tea and a biscuit, this is going to be a long one.

After returning from the madness of i.o.w. I had a day to rest up before packing up Betty again and heading up to Edinburgh to pick up my mate Pete and move him and his worldly possessions back to London but not before taking a few days to journey north and have a quick tour round Scotland.
I started out early Wednesday morning and was zooming up the M1 and I hit my first Betty problem. She was running like a dream when i started to feel a slight wobble which slowly go worse and worse till it forced to me pull over on the motorway and check it out. I discovered that one of the old tires that i hadn't replaced had gone a lovely oval shape so after a quick stop at nearest tire shop i was back on the road but a little behind time.
I arrived at Peters work about 9pm to find him half way through a bottle of red wine and on fine form. We threw his backpack in the van, topped up with gas and hit the road again heading toward our first destination, Inverness. The plan was to spend the first night there so we would be closer to Loch Ness but by about 11pm I was pretty tired from being in the driving seat for just over 12 hours and decided to give myself, and Betty, a rest for the night. We found a nice little spot on the third attempt, set up camp, cooked dinner, drank some wine, talked a bit, went to bed, passed out.
Thursday arrived and the sun was shining when we awoke although it was only about 5degs. We packed up pretty quickly as we discovered that we had forgotten to get bread for our bacon sarnies. A quick stop at tesco in Inverness to stock up on a few more vital bits and bobs then it was south again but this time along the banks of Loch Ness. We stopped a few times to take some photos of the loch and the castles that sit on its shores. In doing this we entered a game of leap frog with a couple in a blue Ford as every time we stopped to take a photo they where either there or whizzed past us only for us to run in to them again a few miles down the road.
A quick stop to take a few photos of the actual (concrete) "Nessy" our stomachs decided that it was time for lunch then back in the van for a few more hours on our way to Isle of Skye. We drove through some amazing valleys with very barren hills. Again stopping to take some photos and a bit more leap with the blue Ford. At one stop we where treated with the sight of a lone Royal Air Force jet screaming down the valley at about 400mph and no more than 100 feet about the valley floor.
We arrived in Portree, Isle of Skye, mid afternoon and as we where thinking about dinner we decided to pick up a disposable BBQ and some meet.
Now Portree is a really lovely place. There is a town square with shops all round it and that's about it. Very pretty place. And speaking of pretty, guys if you are looking for a Scottish lass Portree is full of them and we noticed a huge lack of men. If only we had more time but we had a schedule to keep so it was back in the van and on to the north of Isle of Skye where we planned to spend the night. Early evening we spotted a local pub and thought it a nice idea to have a beer before finding some where to spend the night. One beer turned into two and a packet of crisps so the call was made to go and find camp and have dinner and a few more beers. The only thing is that there aren't that many places that you can just pull up and park in the north of Isle of Sky as first there aren't many roads are main roads, or road at all for that matter, and the few they do have don't really have any where to just pull over and stop. Then second is that there is a huge lack of trees so there's no where to really park that's not out in the open. We must have spent an hour driving down side roads and down to beaches to find that there was no cover or that there was house right in the spot that we thought would be great. The sun was still up so as there was still plenty of light we decided to head south a bit more where there might be some more places to stop. I checked the map on the trusty sat nav and found a road out to a spot I could see out the window so I hit the "navigate there" button and off we went. And what a spot it was. Right by the water with a few fishing boats in the small harbor with a grassy knoll for us to park on. It was perfect.
We jumped out and Pete lit the BBQ I opened a beer for the both of and we where about to enjoy our surroundings when we where hit but midges, thousands of them. The air was so thick with then that we had to put out hoddies on to keep them off our face. Poor old Pete got bitten all over but they didn't like me much as i didn't get bitten at all. But as quick as they arrived they left and we could finally put some meet on the BBQ and have some thing to eat.
After a beautiful sunset we settled down with a beer and feeling tired we looked at out watches and discovered that it was 12.45am but it was still light! Dam being so close to the arctic circle.
Friday morning we slept in and after cooking a very quick breakfast we hit the road again but stopped after 5Min's to have a look round the local whiskey brewery then back on the road to Armadale to catch the ferry to Mallaig, then over to Fort William to look at a fort, a quick stop at the bottom of Ben Nevis, then on to Oban. Oban is another place that I'd love to spend some more time at is one of the prettiest harbor towns I've seen in the UK.
The plan was to spend a bit of time there but we decided that it would be better to head back and get as close to Sterling so we could pick all Pete's stuff that he had left at his work.We stopped to get a few things so that Pete could cook dinner and who did we run in to, our friends in the blue Ford. We pushed on and that's when the rain started. We got closer to Sterling and after a few wrong roads trying to find a camp we finally found a place to spend the night right next to an animal safari park. Pete cooked up a great dinner and we sat back and ate, drank and watched big brother before hitting the hay.
Saturday started with more rain. So it was straight in to Edinburgh to pick up Petes belongings before heading home.
It was a pretty easy trip home apart from getting stuck in a village gala day parade then true to form betty started playing up about half way home. We had to stop by the side of the motorway again but it was just a case of having to open the point gap right up and then she was away again like a rocket.
So another great weekend away in Betty. With i.o.w. and this trip all with in 10 days I've done about 1800 miles in Betty and nothing has broken down!(that i haven't been able to fix, OK apart from the tyre)

A goggle map of the route we took

Check out the photos by clicking the link on the right

I.O.W

2007-06-25T18:02:00.001+01:00

I'm not going to go on about it. If you where there then you know how good a time it was and if you wasn't then you misses out on a great weekend in the sun with some great bands. Click here for the full line up to see what you missed and check out the photos to see how much fun we had!

The next festival I'll be writing up will be Glastonbury. Bring it on!

wales + cheese rolling

2007-06-19T15:54:00.000+01:00

With the poppets leaving soon i decided to get a few of there friends together and have a weekend away some where.
After our great weekend away at Easter i decided that we should head back there for the last weekend in May as it's a bank holiday and the weather should be warmer and a bit more summer like than it was last time we where there. How wrong could I be!
It started out great. We headed off from number 6 in betty and madge with the others to follow behind. After a few stops for food and gas we arrived at Fishguard caravan park and set up camp. After the tents where up and the others had found us we set about cooking dinner and having a few quiet beers. Much later in the evening and many beers later and only after a few complaints from the locals I headed off to bed and many of the others did the same.
The next morning I awoke and stuck my head out the window of betty to find the weather had turned a bit nasty. the wind was up and while it wasn't raining yet it looked like it wasn't to far away. I pulled my head in and the ladies that had cramed into betty started to cook me breakfast in bed. Jase and poppet on the other hand had decided to have a bottle of rum for breakfast to ward off the weather.
As the rain started the decision was made to hit the town for some drinking indoors. The first group headed of but by the time Nikki had returned to pick up the last group the wind had picked up to and some of the tents looked like balloons. So after a quick run round to save a few tents we headed back in to the village. After consuming just about all the drink we could we headed up the hill to the village Indian restaurant for a curry. And i must say that's the first time that I've had a curry after a big evening and it was one of the best things ever!
We headed back to camp to discover that the last group tent had been blown over. I finally curled up in bed after a quick change of sleeping location for the poppets and the de villiers.
The next morning some of us where up early and ready for action but there where a few of the team that where a bit slow on the up take but the weather was looking a little better and with the excitement of watching people throw them selves off a hill we set off.
Unfortunately with all the stopping for gas,toilet breaks and hangover feeds we missed the cheese rolling by minutes. Two car loads if us did park up and made the walk up to the bottom of the hill to watch a the last few people throw them selves of the hill while first aid was still there to help give them any aid if they needed it. There was the usual array of people dressed is silly costumes to chat to. We even met the guy that one the main race.
The other guys in madge hadn't come up the hill with us and we decided to head back and meet them and make our way home.
Just when I thought that the excitement of the weekend was over and that we had a breakdown free weekend betty threw us a curve ball. Just as it started raining the fuse for the wipers and a few others things blew. But with two mechanics and a sparky looking at it we where soon back on tack for home.

Id like to thank every one that came. I know that a few of you didn't have a great time but i had a bast!

There are a few photos to look at but they are all mrs poppets as mine are at work but ill add them in the next few days.

my birthday weekend

2007-06-02T11:51:00.000+01:00

I know it was a while ago since my last blog but ive been busy as the next few posts will reveal.

Now I'm not really in to birthdays. I like other people having them but I'm not a big fan. But this year I had something on from the Thursday night through to the Sunday and not all of it planned
I decided that on the Thursday evening just to pop across the road to the local for a drink or two but my lovely flat mates decided that i need to have a couple of shots with every beer that I had so by the end of the nightIi was well sloshed!
Lucky for me I had the next day off and enjoyed a big sleep in. I did have one work related thing to do. That was to go out to one of our suppliers to get a few things. Its not far from home, just a quick blast down the M4 but I thought I was going to die by the time I got home and just wanted to go back to bed. Unfortunately I didnt have that luxury as I had to get ready to head into the city to see the Royal Philharmonic at the Royal Albert hall. And it was wicked. They where playing rock songs both old and new. A bit of everything from Oasis, Coldplay, Queen and Meatloaf (whats up with that?!?). We all headed to the pub for a quiet one after but I was shattered so we headed home for an early night as I had to work on the sat.
Work was uneventful and I was still hung over so it made the day drag on a bit. After work I dashed home to get changed as i was out again to Fulham to have a few drinks for Slobs birthday. I stopped past Ambers to pick her up to find that it was here flaties birthday to so I had to have a quick drink there with them while Amber was still putting her war paint on.
Slobs drinks where a great laugh and a chance to catch up with a whole group of guys and girls that I hadn't seen for ages. After a great meal and some belly dancing, MaCoy, Ragdoll and I held up the bar for a while, telling the young ones there that "if you don't remember Solids, you not old school!" I always enjoy catching up with MaCoy. Everyone left the bar and made their way to various kick ons I decided to call it a night as i had a big day on the couch planned for the Sunday.
So Sunday I enjoyed another sleep in and had just got myself settled when the phone rang. It was my boss calling. For a split second I thought about not answering it but I'm glad that i did as he was calling me to see if I wanted to go join him and a few others at the Heineken Cup final at Twickenham. Now I've been there for the sevens a few times but to be there for a big game is just amazing. We had great seats on the third tier so we where quite high up but nearly on the 22 line so we had a great view. There where 84,500 people all going off.

Kick off

Prize giving

We then walked up to Richmound to a little Irish pub that was packed with people that had just come from the game. We had a young fella with us, he was about 11, and he ended up playing rugby in the beer garden with a group of 25(ish) year olds for hours. Complete with line us ups and scrum's. The funniest thing was when the guys set up a line up with the young guy and his dad. The thing was that his dad was about 6' 2 and well over 100kgs but they lifted them in to the air and held them there while the ball was thrown. From there a few of us headed down to a little restaurant on the river for a late dinner then back to the bosses for a night cap before I stumbled home about11.30.
So for some one that doesn't really like birthdays, I sure had a busy one this year.

amsterdam - Sams bithday

2007-05-14T17:06:00.000+01:00

It was my first time over to Amsterdam. I don't know why I hadn't made it over there yet. I think I had it in my mind that it was going to be very different to what it actually is. I guess its also who you go with and what you make of it so when Sam deiced to go there for his birthday i thought that it would a good crew to go with. And i wasn't wrong!
The first thing that surprised me was how clean it was and that it's a really clean city. You hear all about the red light district and the relaxed drug laws and you'd think it was a very dirty city but its not. In fact its one of the nicest city's Ive visited.
I arrived on Thursday night after work and the others had been there for most of the day so by the time i got to the hotel everyone was chilling out at the bar after a day of checking out a few cafes.
Friday morning we headed to Ann Franks house which was a lot bigger than I had thought it was going to be. We had decided to head down to the Heineken factory but as the weather was so good and we where a thirsty we found a little pub in with tables out side and sat down to enjoy the sun, beer and pancakes! oh the pancakes! As the weather was so good and with the beers from lunch kicking in we thought it would be a great idea to hire paddle boats and cruise round the river, but cruse it wasn't. They are bloody hard things to keep in a straight line. I'm going to blame the beers! It was great fun though and a good way to have a look round the city.
After another stop for a beer or two we headed back to the hotel via the main square. We had discovered that Friday was a public holiday, the Dutch version of ANZAC day so we joined the masses of people in the square for a service and a minutes silence before heading back to the bar for dinner. Later in the evening we headed to the red light district for a walk round then a sex show, which I must say was one of the funniest things I had seen a while.
Saturday we had plans of hiring bikes and doing a bit of a ride around but by the time we got up and walked around for a bit and then had lunch in the sun half the day had gone. We had a bit more of a stroll round and found a park with a festival with live music and all sorts of little stalls to look at. We set up camp in the park and just lay in the sun and watched people doing pretty much the same thing as us. Sam, Marie, Shanz and I then headed to the Heineken factory to have a look round. Its more one big Heineken advert than a factory but with free beer along the way its still fun!
As it was Sams birthday we had to celebrate Amsterdam style! Which involved Leah breaking out her new red lava lamp, placing it in the window and showing off for passers by. It wasn't till later when we took another walk that we discovered how close the actual red light district we really where which just made it even funnier.
Sunday we all got up early as we had booked bikes for a ride out of the city to try and find windmills and twolips (hehe). We had been told that as April had been so warm that most of the tulip farms had now dried up so there wouldn't be much to see. We got the ferry out of Amsterdam and headed north with a few stops along the way for food and ale. Now the first half of the ride was lovely. The sun was shining, the wind was light. Hayley and I had a tandem and after a wobbly start we had it sorted and where cruising along. We rode through the out skirts and then along the sea banks to a little village where we stopped to wet out whistles, again and to have a bite to eat, again. We then started back but while we had stopped the wind had picked up and we had a head wind the whole way back. Just as we got within sight of the ferry the sky opened so it was a mad dash to the cover of the ferry. Then one more ride through the city, ringing our bell and yelling at dam pedestrians to get out of the way just for fun.
All that cycling had taken it out of us and some of the others had early flights so we turned in for an early night. Or so we thought. Enter the monster! I don't think that any one got any sleep due to the the monsters snoring and other strange noises during the night.
till 9pm but the weather was still rubbish. I decided to head to the airport with the others, as they had flights at 1.30We packed up in the morning and checked out. I had hoped to do a day tour as my flight wasn'tish, and try and get on a early flight or at least dump my bag and then head back into town. I rock up to the BA desk at 11.45 to see if i can get on an early flight but everything back to Heathrow was full but I managed to get on a 12.05 flight back to Gatwick So I was home napping and relaxing on the couch before most of the others had even left Amsterdam!
A great weekend with some great people. That's what traveling is all about.

A1 Racing

2007-05-09T20:17:00.000+01:00

Im going to keep this one short as i need to catch up a bit with writing this blog.

Sunday the 29th of April the saffas and i packed up two cars and headed down to Brands Hatch for the final of the A1 world motor racing tour. It was a great afternoon and the New Zealand ended up 2nd overall in the world standings. We manged to get very close to the action thanks to P as she got us paddock passes which we used during the last race to get to the back of the pit area and nearly right down on to the track. Jase and a few of the others even raided the the German port-a-com for beers as we had German passes.
In between the two main races there where plenty of other races to watch and the paddock to stroll round and take a look at the cars.
I did take heaps of photos of the last race from our great advantage point and i could have spent all day behind the camera as there where so many nice cars around but there where more important things to do like drinking!

Least we forget

2007-04-30T20:34:00.000+01:00

Sorry readers I'm a bit behind as I've had a few busy weeks. But ill try and catch up over the next week or so as i have a lot on and have lots of stories to tell.

As I'm sure all you antipodeans know it was ANZAC day last week and as last year i was driving across the Nullabour in Australia i felt it was time i went to a dawn service here in London.
Two years ago three of my closest friends and I went to the 90th anniversary at Gallipoli in Turkey and was I moved by the service there. So when my friend Shanz mentioned that she would like to go to the dawn service at hide park corner I jumped at the chance to join her, although it did mean a 4am start.
Another friend, Shawn was waiting outside my place when i loaded up the car with my camera and tripod and we headed in to Paddington to pick up Shanz then made our way down Park Lane to Hyde Park corner. We arrived there just before five and there was already a good sized crowd gathered round the war memorial by the time we got there.
Now as you might guess London is a very busy and noisy place at the best of times and even though it was five in the morning there was still very heavy traffic as the city was waking up. As we approached the site of the service I though to myself how where they going to have two minutes silence with all this traffic noise. Well the service stared with welcome prayers, a reading then a hymn sung by Canberra Grammar School, Australia. After a few more readings and the prayer of Saint Francis (a soldiers prayer) it came time to observe the 2 minutes silence. It was only then i noticed that the hustle and bustle of early morning London had subsided. The 2 minutes started and it was only then that i spied that all the traffic had been stopped all the way round Hyde Park corner and i only noticed as just before the end of the two minutes as a motorist in a hurry tooted his horn a couple of times. As it was my first dawn service in London i couldn't say if it was a large or small turn out but there was a good sized group which included a good mix of both young and old and when the elderly gent in fount of us fell over during the two minutes silence there where plenty of people on hand to help in to his feet and fetch St Johns.
I had my camera and tripod out with the intention with taking a few photos of the event but like in Turkey it just didn't feel right. Then there was the usual national anthems sung very badly then it was over for another year.
We stood around for a few minutes and just absorbed the atmosphere, spotted a few faces we knew before we headed back to to make sure the car hadn't been towed(dam London parking). I dropped Shanz and Shawn back at their homes then headed home to have a quick man nap before i had to get up again for work.
So that was it. My first ANZAC day in London. I really enjoyed it, if you can really enjoy a memorial service. It was just humbling to see that 92 years on we can forget the cricket, forget the rugby, forget that we're 20,000 miles from home and get together and remember those that that died not only during WWI at Gallipoli but all those that have died in all pointless wars.

Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives… you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets where they lie side by side here in this country of ours… You the mothers who sent their sons from far away countries, wipe away your tears. Your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. Having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.
Mustafa Kemal

I love picnics

2007-04-16T16:14:00.000+01:00

It was another great weekend here in ye old London town. 26 degs on Sunday. There was nothing for us to do but have BBQ's at number 6 and picnics in Richmound with friends. I love this city in the summer.

Easter in Wales

2007-04-12T11:51:00.000+01:00

Easter weekend!
A full four days off and time to take Betty out on her first outing of the summer. Nikki , Paula, Adam and Ange hired wickedcampers for the weekend and grabbed a few others to make up the numbers.
It was an early start on sat morning and everyone was chomping at the bit to go and once the campers arrived at number 6 the others loaded up and headed off. I had a slightly different plan for the first night. There was a Bedford van meet that i was going to head to first then meet the others in wales on Saturday.
But I woke to bad news. Some nice person had decided to smash a window in Madge. I put a call into Auto glass and booked some to come out as soon as they could which would be first thing Saturday morning. But I was going to head off to the van meet anyway and leave the keys for Madge at home. So i set off but only got about 45miles from home and Betty started to play up. I changed the points and she was a little better but i decided to head home, tinker a bit more with Betty and wait for the glass man and try again in the morning. As the weather was amazing i arrived back at number 6 to find everyone at home getting ready for a BBQ! Nice! I even got the lawn mower out and gave the lawn the first going over this summer. I forgot how nice it is to have a lawn to lay around on.
Saturday morning and the glass man came and sorted out the Merc then Betty and i headed off to catch up with the others. Still not herself it was a slow trip up to meet the others in Snowdonia but i had plenty of time to get there and I stopped to smell the flowers(canola) to fill the time.
After one small hiccup i finally caught up with the others and found a site to set up the camp for the night. Now as warm and sunny it was during the day it was freezing at night. After dinner when the sun went down it got very cold so I wasn't up to late drinking.
The next morning was spent cooking breakfast then having a look at poor old Betty. Lucky for me Sean(who is now my new mechanic) was one of the ones in Ange and Nikki's van so we broke out the tools and discovered that one of her problems was that she had driven all the way up on only 3 cylinders! Good on her. We changed a plug as that seamed to the cause of the problem and she was off like a rocket.
We stopped to have a look at a water fall before heading over the hills to the coast. the first stop was Aberystwyth. after sitting on the beach for a bit we decided to keep heading down the coast till we found a good camp site. We stopped in a village for a few supplies and some fish'n'chips before heading south again after one more quick stop to sort out Betty, where there three of us working away on her. It was like a F1 team pit stop. Sean had the engine cover off and was playing with the mixture, Micheal was under the bonnet adjusting the timing and i was under the van sorting the alternator out.
The others found a campsite and had booked us in by the time we caught up and all we had to do was park up. We set up the van as best we could to try and shelter from the wind and proceed to start on dinner and a few drinks. When we arrived at the camp ground we noticed two other wicked campers and another arrived after us so we invited them over for a few wicked camper group drinks.
The next morning after another cooked breakfast we packed up the vans and one van headed straight home the rest of us went for a nice walk along the coast and decided that we are going to come back in the middle of summer just to hang out as its such a nice place.
On the road again and we hit the back roads and country lanes all the way down to Swansea for a look round and a good old pub lunch in the sun. The final push and in to holiday traffic. I had to stop and fill Betty and cars where 5 deep waiting to fill up so i though that traffic might be heavy the rest of the way but its was a very good run home down the M4. One of the best runs home Ive had in fact.
So it was a great weekend. The weather was amazing and we found a great place to head to again in the summer. Betty in now running like a dream thanks to Sean. And we all had a relaxing weekend away doing not much but eating and a little drinking. It looks like summer is here at last so we will be heading away on as many weekends like that as we can. Weather and Betty permitting of cause!
Oh and of cause there are a few photos from the weekend, just click on the link on the right marked easter.

Four great things happended this weekend and lots of people to thank

2007-04-02T14:43:00.000+01:00

Yep that's right. Four really wicked things over last weekend.

First thing was Nikki's birthday. i got there a bit late, but i always do, so by the time i got there it was in full swing. Nikki had booked a section at the blag club in Holland Park. It was an OK kind of place. The pictures on the net made it look a bit flasher than it really was but that didn't matter as there was a good group of us and they played music and sold drinks, what more did we need! I really enjoyed the music. The DJ on the other hand is a whole different story. I thought i was a grumpy DJ! It's been a very long time since Ive out and the music haven't been all dance or cheesy sing along stuff. We then headed back to number 6 to carry on in to the morning but i didn't quite make it. I did the old "going to get some Cd's" number. The thing is i didn't even mean to. I even opened a new bottle of Jacks, poured a tall glass, with ice and then took one sip from it and fell asleep. But it meant that i was feeling great the next morning for the afternoons Redback session. So thanks Nikki for a great birthday weekend.
Then next thing is getting Betty running again. Now as you may or may not know Betty has been having a long rest over winter due to the fact that her gear box gave up while driving back from beerfest last year. As she's an old girl and parts are getting few and far between but i did manage to get hold of a reconditioned one for her and that went in last week. Because she has been sitting for so long a few other things decided to give up during that time. Nothing major. The batteries went flat and a brake piston stuck on but nothing the AA man (very very nice man) couldn't fix. But then on the way home from the garage the engine started to play up and then died after i got her home. I had all the spare parts in the van (the joy of owning a Bedford) and changed them all on sat morning but she was still running rough. So while at Nikki's b'day drinks i got talking to Sean and he offered to come round and have a look for me on Sunday morning. Now that's a pretty brave thing to say at 1am in the morning after many beers as no one wants to do that sort of thing with a hang over. But at 11 in the morning he came over and had Betty running in 10mins. Turns out he doesn't get hang overs. So many thanks go to Sean.
The third thing's Glastonbury. Yep I'm going to glasto this year. I wasn't going to bother this year as I'm going to Isle of Wight and V but my friend Sarah has never been and really wanted to go this year. Rather than asking if i wanted to go, she just called me and told me that i was going with her and she was going to get my ticket so i had to go. OK i said. Now i thought about it for a bit and found out that a few other people where going as well and the more i thought about it the more excited i got. So 9am Sunday morning rolls round, who ever decided to start selling tickets at that time on a Sunday should be shot. I'm tucked up in bed when i receive a few text MSG from people trying to get through to get tickets and cant. Then my friend Ange calls me as she has got through and has getting tickets for everyone all morning and wanted to know if she need to get mine. Well, after sending her number on to a few other people including Sarah tickets where booked and we are going to glasto! Rock on! So two big thank yous here. One for Sarah for making me go, we're going to have a a blast! And another big thank you to Ange for leaving Nikki's party early and then getting up early and going into work and getting tickets for the masses. I still owe you a few more drinks.
The forth and final thing I'm keeping to myself. I may disclose more later but at this stage I'm keeping it quiet.

So that's it friends. My weekend was filled with amazing things and again thank you all that helped me out. It would have been just another weekend with out you all. If you haven't spotted it already then there are some photos from Nikki's drinks at blag. They are mostly from Carla's camera as my batteries went flat. So a big thank you to you aswell friend.

billy t james

2007-03-30T17:42:00.000+01:00

Some really nice person has posted a heap of billy t james clips on youtube. I love "wool power" its still funny today. Brooke and any one else form number 6 also needs to watch "Aussie Rivalry" you'll know it when ya hear it! The link is on the right there. No not there. Just below the photo album links. Thats it.
Enjoy

five days in malta and me with man flu

2007-03-29T17:34:00.000+01:00

Well everyone, I'm sick! I have man flu.
Its not nice and its serious. The worst thing is that i was feeling great all last week then i woke up Thursday and felt rubbish.
Now that wouldn't normally bother me as it would just mean a weekend in on the couch watching DVDs and drinking lemonade. But last Thursday Nikki and I flew to Malta for 5 days so being sick meant that i was going to have to pack tissues and and cough medicine and stuff.

I finished a bit early on Thursday then we headed of to Luton to catch our flight. we checked the car into parking, got to the the check in to be told that we had 4mins to get to the gate. We raced to the gate only to find that the flight was going to be a hour late anyway. Dam you ryanair.
Arriving in Malta the captain gave us the run down on the local weather. Thunder storms. Great weather for man flu. We arrived at our accommodation in St Julian's a bit worried about it. Nikki found it on the net and it was very, very cheap. So cheep in fact that we had already decided that it had to be a dive and that we would spend one night and the find something in the morning. To our surprise our room was really nice. It was a good size. It was clean. It had a view down to the beech and was close to shops and pubs etc. We couldn't have asked for any thing more for £4 a night! So we slept well that night. Even though i had a bed made of jelly.

We Had a bit of a sleep in Friday morning and the man flu wasn't to bad so we headed out for some brunch and a bit of a look round. Nikkis grandparents are from Malta so we headed off to catch the bus to find their houses. Then caught a few more buses to Valletta and decided just to have a look round our selves. We had a quick nosy round St Johns cathedral then hit a few more back alleys then round the walls of the city all the time dodging a few showers and taking photos when the sun came out. Then we headed back to the room for a power nap then headed out for dinner a few drinks and then bed.

Saturday we got up early as we had booked tours for the rest of our time on the island. The sun was out and the forecast for the next few days was for nothing but sun. The tour for the day was Malta highlights. This included stops at the Mosta dome which is the third biggest unsupported dome in Europe. It was also hit by a stray bomb during WWII but the bomb failed to go off and all 300 people in the church at the time walked out with our a scratch. Then in was of to the blue grotto. A mystic sea cave with a deep bottom reflecting the brilliant colors of the sea. There was a boat trip you can take but after the previous few days weather it was to rough for the little boats so we just had to look down from the top of the cliff. Back in the bus and off to a craft village via a quick stop to look a quarry. The final stop was Mdina, "the silent city" which had a great view over the island. After all that running around we need a few drinks so it was off for dinner then to the Black Bull to sample a few local beers and watch the football.

Sunday started with a bit of confusion due to the late night and daylight savings but we made it on time although we did have sore heads. I even had trouble keeping the vitamin C down first thing. The days tours was a coast sight seeing tour which was great as it meant that most of the day in the van driving round the island. We started by driving through Valletta and the grand harbour. Over to the three cites including the Maltese Brixton. Then to a few lovely little villages, the Dingli cliffs and last but not least the Popeye village. It was a tough day. Napping in the back of the van and seeing the sights. So it was dinner then straight to bed for a good night sleep.
Monday, our last day and our earliest start of the weekend as we headed of to the island of Gozo. Its just like Malta but one quarter the size. Again we hit churches, a few spots on the coast, a few more craft and local spots of interest before ending up in the capital to sit in the town square with a pint of the local brew and soak up the culture. After getting the ferry back to Malta to grab our bags, hit the airport we find another flight delay. Finally making it home very tired but very happy after a great weekend away.
You can check out the images from the weekend by clicking the link on the right there marked Malta. Original aye.
Oh and i still have man flu!

Another update, more birthday madness + the weather!

2007-03-13T11:39:00.000Z

So Ive been trying to keep pretty low the last few weeks, hence no updates. Ive got a lot of things on this summer so i need to have a few quiet ones so the old bank account doesn't look to drained come Autumn. Although Ive spent way to much money on festival tickets in the last month and I'm still to get my reading tickets.

Last weekend was Mr Poppets birthday which was a great night. A Great drunken night. We started with what has become a bit of a sat afternoon regular feature at number6, rugby. There was a 6 nations game, Ireland v Scotland, Ireland won but only by one point! Then a few drinks at home before heading down to the Puzzle. Now I normally don't like the Puzzle but i have to say that i had an entertaining evening. There was a good game of football (soccer) on the telly and a good group of us doing what we do best, drinking. We ended the night with the tri nations in over sized connect four then Ozzie v NZ in deer shooting! Then back to number6 for a few more drinks and a few more listens to Dove by Mooney! (that ban is never going to stick!)
Then Sunday was nearly the official start to summer! More on that in a bit. The sun was shining and it was warm enough to sit in the garden and have a few beers before heading to the redback. I know, I know, the reddie. Nikki, the Poppets and I went down to sit in the beer garden to sip on a few £1 Lion Reds then home to order Chinese for dinner. A nice little weekend!

And now, the weather.....

This summer is going to rock! They, being the weather people, are telling us already that it's going to be the hottest summer ever and yer i know they say it every year but i think this year they finally have it right. We have just had the mildest winter since Ive been here and that's a while now. And so far spring is off to a great start. We've had great weather since last Friday and today it feels like summer as its blue sky and 16 deg. Ive even broken out the shorts! And according to the weather man its going to be like this for the next 7 days! YAY!

EDIT So i wrote that great spring/summer weather out look yesterday,then saved it as i was going to add a few other things about this great warm spring we are having Then i looked at the forecast for the weekend and found this little bad boy on the BBC website. So it looks like just when i start singing the praises of this country she taps me on the shoulder and reminds me that it is actually rubbish. Oh well, hopefully next weeks blog will see the return of the the snow slapper and other such snowy madness!

I love spring!

Roll on summer!

2007-02-25T00:44:00.000Z

Now I know its the end of February and we are still in the middle of the hash British winter but I'm excited about summer already. Now we are having a very mild winter here this year, Ive even managed to get in 3 days paragliding already this month but that's not what has me excited. They are talking about this summer being the hottest and longest ever, but that's not why I'm excited. Its that time of year again that festival tickets go on sale!!
And with it comes all the rumours of who's going to be playing, and where. Also what other surprises each festival is going to put together to get punters to come sleep in fields, drink warm beer from paper cups, not shower for 3 days, put up with stinky port-a-loos and £7 burgers that consist of nothing more than a half cooked patty and two stale buns.
Still with all the draw backs of the festivals, i still love em!! Every year i get more excited as every year the festivals just seam to get better and better. This year is no different.

With the first tickets to the first festival (Isle of Wight) winging there way to me in the post, the excitement is just building and building. With many bands like Snow Patrol, Muse, Kasabian, Keane, Amy Winehouse, James Morrison, The Fratellis, Wolfmother, Paolo Nutini, The Feeling & Ash announced at IOW already with the headliners for Friday and Sunday still to be confirmed its going to be a great start to the summer festivals.

This year also see the welcome return of Glastonbury. This monster festival is back from having a break last year so that the farm on which its held can have a break and both the ground and the organiser can have a years rest.
Bloc Party, Kaiser Chiefs, The Killers, Stereo MCs, Lily Allen, Arcade Fire, Arctic Monkeys, Bjork, Chemical Brothers, Chumbawumba, Hot Chip, Kasabian, The Kooks, Mika, The Saw Doctors and The Who to head line Sunday night are just the start of the many people to play Glasto.

Then there's V festival and Reading/Leeds

It's the same thing every year. The rumours, the will they wont they and where will they play and when. But this year there are some big rumours flying round. Police have reformed and may be playing some where this summer, my guess is glasto. Rage Against the Machine have also reformed and have said that they are going to play select UK shows, I'm hoping its going to be V. Then my favourite that i really hope it comes about is that Smashing Pumpkins are going to play here this summer, very strongly rumoured to be playing at Reading/Leeds (hopefully Sunday at reading on so i can get a day ticket!)

So thats about it for now. Like the title of this post says,

Roll on summer!

I need to get out more!

2007-02-22T11:27:00.000Z

I found this cool map thingie on line to day. It's on one of those really annoying travel contact meet people keep in touch sites. But you can enter all the countries you have been and it tells you how much of the world you have covered. You can run your mouse over the green countries and check out where i have been (for those of you that don't know your Canada from your Croatia!) Cool aye?!?!

You can click on the orange bit and make your own map. Email me them when your done and let me know how much of the world you have coverd. If you dont have my email address then give me call and ill send it to ya. If you dont have my number, tough.

Enjoy!

Brooke Carrigan..........Its time to go

2007-02-19T22:05:00.000Z

Sorry about the photos Brookie but i love 'em

Well the time has come for my good friend Brooke Carrigan to leave us. I can honestly say that I'm not happy about it either. I'm
really going to miss her. From the first time I meet her at Kurdurs tree huts in Turkey I found her very entertaining to say the least. Then when she moved to London, and moved into number 6 she hasn't stopped bringing a smile to our faces.

From the moment she shacked up on our couch and made herself at home she made things interesting as you never know what she's going to do. Mainly because most of the time she doesn't know what she is going to do! From getting care work out side of London where we would drive out for Sunday lunch. To deciding she wanted to be back in London so she could join us on picnics in the park with Jools Holland.

Ive really enjoyed dragging Brooke along to things that she wouldn't have normally gone to. Finger party's for one. Some thing I love going to and playing at. And seeing a little red faced Brooke in the crowed, dancing her "girls" off and waving her "black chick" arms around was wicked to see. Another thing I'm glad Brooke joined us at was the Isle of White music festival. Now i love festivals. That's one of the things that keeps me going over here. They rock!! And the IOW is no exception. It was funny to see Brooke (and her white legs) kicking back in the sun rockin' out to Suzan Vega!

Then there where adventures!! Adventures on boats at new years. Which involved a mutiny in where the girls, lead by Brooke, took over the boat and forced us boys over board to fend for ourselves(o.k. we did have our own boat to retreat to!) Then onto new years night and the very posh ball we stumbled on to. Then back to the boats, one (ours) with no power, for card games till the wee small hours! A great if not chilly new years!

But what i think I'm really going to miss about my Brooke Carrigan is the chats that we had and how intense those chats would be. Some times they got very intense and we have had a few good disagreements over lots of things from women wearing a hijab, to what's happening on Grays Anatomy. But we've also had some great chats. Sitting I'm my room watching DVDs talking about photos and cameras. In the pub talking about flat politics. And one of my favourite and most memorable conversations we had was so good I ended driving north for 100 miles when we should have been driving south for Sunday lunch!!!

There are lots of little things that I'm going to miss about Brooke Carrigan. She has been, and I know that she will continue to be a very good friend. She has brightened up number 6 the short time she has been here (not just because of her painting skills) and has made many life time friends, myself included.
Now I know that she's slack at keeping in touch (but so am I), trying to get her on the phone is hard enough! So she'll just have to keep her eye on this blog for her fix of London life and the going ons at number 6.

Have a great time in S.A. and a great trip home. Say hi to Mary for me. Ill be over your way the end of next year and ill need a place to park Betty for a few day and check out the sights of Goondiwindi!

Take care.Your a great chick. Ill miss ya heaps. Big love. Bear X

Oh yer, one more thing Have you seen my bike? hehe

It's back...............

2007-02-12T10:35:00.000Z

YAAAAAYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!

That is all.

oooooohhhh the weather out side is frightful........

2007-02-08T16:20:00.000Z

But the fire is so delightful,
And since we've no place to go,
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

Well they talked it up as going to be the heaviest snow fall in years. Up to 5 inch's they where prediction in many places. It did get cold last night but when i went to bed at 11.30 ish there was no sign of snow at all. Carla woke me this morning by bounding in to my room to get my laptop as she was not going to work in the snow! (So she could stay home and make cool snow hoes!) The rest of the flaties where buzzing round the house like they had all been up for hours, even Brookes hang over had disappeared! Its was the usual routine for a morning of snow. Break out the cameras, run round taking photos, make a few snow balls then worry about getting to and from work. I'm so glad that i don't have far to go!
I decided to take the car as in the back of my mind i knew that if the snow got worse in the afternoon then the tubes would be down and then the bus would be a shit fight to get home.
While it did continue to snow till about 10, with a few heavy(for London!) spells. It's now all but gone. They are saying on the radio that there is going to be much more but its all moving up north so it looks like that's all us Londoners are going to get today. but there's always hope that it will snow again tomorrow!!
The photos that Ive added are of our quiet little street just before i went to work, our back garden, the snow woman Nikki and Carla made and our recycling bin!

Tūtira mai ngā iwi!

2007-02-05T01:23:00.001Z

So that's it.
Another Waitangi day pub crawl over.
To be honest I'm glad is it. I was worried about it. After last years disaster i just wanted to make it through this years celebrations without ending up drinking out of a stolen boot outside Bed bar in notting hill because i was to drunk to be let in (and because i wouldn't leave my boot outside!)
So this year I promised myself to be much more behaved due to the memory of a hangover that was so bad that i thought i was going to dye (thanks Shanz for saving me that Sunday morning!). Thanks to global warming the winter this year has been amazing. I popped my head out the door in the morning to find nothing but blue Sky and as i checked tinternet for any tube works or delays i had a quick look at the weather to find that it was going to be 12 degs and sunny all day. WOOT!!
As some of you know i made up shirts to sell last year and on the back of there success i decided to do the same again this year but to increase the numbers a little. So with my box of shirts under my arm we headed off to the first pub The pride of Paddington. As it just so happens this is where my friends Lee and Shanz now live. All be it 1 million stairs up! After a few starters at their flat and a few photos we all headed down to join the activities.
We where off to a great start. A few drinks at the Pride then on to Bayswater where there is no real pub so it was just a case of having a roader outside the offie on the side of the road. The crowd didn't feel as big as it was last year but getting in and out of a the tube stations was still a nightmare that added to the fun. Then back on the tube to head to the next stop Notting Hill Gate. But there the crowd must have been to big on the platform so the train decided not to stop and we ended up on Kensington high street, much to the dismay of the many elderly people out doing there Saturday shopping. By now most of the 5000 odd crowd needed the toilet so it was straight across the road to the friendly MacDonald's. Poor staff didn't know what hit them!
By the time our group was ready to move on they had closed the station so off we started on foot to Gloucester Road. Now the weather was fantastic so the walk was rather nice. Along the way there was a great roar as outside a very flash hotel someone had taken a St George flag down form in front of the hotel and had run up a New Zealand one in its place, much to the disgust of the hotel door man.
We where meet at Gloucester Road with a closed station. After a bit of lunch and a few more drinks and toilet stops filled in the time the crowd thinned out a bit and they reopened the tube station. It was getting on a bit in the afternoon at this stage so the decision was made to head straight to Westminister to get a good spot to view the haka.
Phil, the ladies and i dashed across the bridge to the aquarium to use the faculties and ended up loosing the rest of the group so on the way back i gave Lee a call to find out where they had set up camp to which he informed me that he was behind the "stat-you bro" which i think was the call of the day!
After walking round the park for a while to find a good spot by the road to get a good view of the road and the haka, they decided to move the location of hake to the other side of the park. So there was mad rush as big Ben hit 4pm and we ended up as far away from the haka as you could get. dam it! another year down and i still haven't seen a haka! oh well. after regrouping again behind the stat-you bro we decided to get the hell out of there and make our way back to paddingtion to the pub. But on the tube we ran in to a few more of my flatties that where heading back to Acton so we decided to follow and have a drink at there old house. After trading a few stories us number 6s headed home for a few quiets at home to round off the day.
I think we all had a great day. We all got just drunk enough to enjoy our selves. There definitely was a lot less people than last year but i think it was a better crowd. Every one was there for a good time but also keep the public in mind. I found it a funny sight of two sheep dogs helping an old lady through the crowd at high street ken! Also just a quick thank you to everyone that brought a shirt and a bigger thank you to those that helped me sell them. A huge thank you to Sarah who nearly had me wanting to buy one with her great sales techniques!
So that's it. All over for another year. Again i didn't take as many photos a id like but there are some on my photo page HERE. But i made it through alive (i was even up at 7am to check the weather for flying!). A bit gutted that i didn't get to see the haka, again, but hey there's always next year aye bro!!

Mrs Poppets birthday drinks

2007-01-28T18:43:00.000Z

Well what a night it was! It was always going to be big, as these things always are and this one was no different.
It started off with a pretty quiet day then had a few drinks at number 6 before we all headed round the corner to the new local, The Chatsworth for a few more drinks and a bit of dancing to the worlds cheesiest DJ.
I surprised myself by staying awake till the morning. Something that i haven't done for a very long time!! (yes I'm getting old!) it must have been smoking shishs(sp) that kept me going. Nothing to do with the many JDs and cokes i had been drinking all night!
Well done to both poppets for not falling over all night. Although there was some dodgy dancing on the sofas by Mrs poppet. How the bouncer didn't throw you out i just don't know. It mush have been all that biting him. Yer yer kisses wit teeth!
It was also great to catch up with some of the guys and girls that had been away for the festive session visiting family and their home lands. And I'm shocked that home many of them are now pregnant science i saw them last. Congrats to you all. There really must be some thing in the water!
So as i lay here on my couch recovering I look forward to next weekend when we get to the the whole thing again. Roll on Waitangi day!! This year i really am going to get past Westminster!

oh yer there are some photos of the evenings antics on my zoto page so go have a look

Happy Birthday Mrs Poppet!!

2007-01-25T01:06:00.000Z

It was Carla Childs Birthday yesterday. A very low key day as we are going to have a big one on Saturday night But we did wake up to snow this morning so i guess she will remember that birthday for a while.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY POPPET!!

So hear it is............

2007-01-23T09:42:00.000Z

My first first blog. Just thought that id use my first post to show you this great image of Girls Aloud. Enjoy!!