Otta's news, views and photos....

One Way!

2007-11-11T02:36:00.000-08:00

Hi Hi Hi!

Go the bokke!! What an awesome win! I know it was a good few weeks ago but the buzz is still on. Have to admit it wasn't too fun waking up at 4:30 in the morning - especially after a big night out watchingLinkin Park and Chris Cornell (Soundgarden and Audioslave singer) the night before. But we all made it, and were upstanding for Nkosi Sikilele with beer in hand! Was about 12 -15 maaates at my place watching and it was an awesome atmosphere. The final whistle went and the neighbours knew all about it!! Celebrated with a bit of screaming and yelling and then it was champagne corks (and beer cans and nearly a bike) flying off the balcony. Some pretty epic aussie friends snuck out during the game and bought the champers for us and they were celebrating as much as we were - nobody wanted to see the poms win! I bet the celebrations were a million times bigger in SA tho!

Daylight savings have kicked in now so it's only dark just before 8 which is good news for catching an after work surf. I normally get home just after 6 so it's bloody marvelous I tell u. And even had a few dolphins visit me the other morning and then some whales decided to come up and say Hi Hi Hi 3 metres from the side of the ferry on the way to work the other day! Was flipping awesome. First time I've seen whales close up and it was on my way to work! Not too many places in the world where you can do that.

Been a bit hectic socially the last few weeks. Been really amazing how quickly and easy it is to make friends here. Especially in Manly cos about half the people are ex-pats so everyone's in the same boat. Speaking if which, went on a boat cruise party last weekend which was real fun. There were 3 levels on the boat with a bunch of dj's and some live bands. Nothing like partying on the roof of a boat during the day with the harbour bridge and opera house as a backdrop! Also went to see The Killers (it's a band mom and dad) last night. And still got my tickets for Rage Against the Machine in a few months so can't wait for that.

Helped the Arrens move house 2 weeks ago which was pretty hard work. There new spot is really cool and I think they made a great investment buying there. 3 bedder with a big balcony so they're styling. There's a pub across the road and a few people were enjoying a Sunday arvo drink when Warren went to park the truck across the road. So Markus and I stood on the balcony waving and shouting at Warren like complete homo's so all his new neighbours will think he's completely gay! Mwooohahahaha.

Some visuals of the happenings:

Nkosi Sikilele fife aaaa em

Shaggy Claiming it!

Tropicana Boat Shindig

Don't get excited - that's my friend Kirk's girlfriend

Outta line! Where's the red card?

It's a grand old place to live in...

My private balcony - true love from when we first met.

And from inside the hammock. This is my new hobby - hammocking. Like and extreme sport. But not as extreme.

Photos, videos and more news

2007-10-16T03:38:00.000-07:00

Finally got broadband at the new place so it's good times! And as promised, some photos of the new place and boat and a special little video treat. But first and foremost - go the Bokke!!! Been awesomeseeing our boys in top form and just hope we pull off the win this weekend! Every other rugby nation seems to be behind us too as they just don't want to see the poms win 2 times in a row! And would be hardly fair after they lost 36-0 in the opening match. But I have faith in bokke and I think we gonna prove the same point twice! People who know me a little better know that I run a bit of a book on the odd game and I started backing SA at10-1 before the tournament (but I've closed half of it out already to make it a "free" bet so hopefully that will pay a few weeks rent if it comes through!

For the quarter final against Fiji we had a few people around to watch the game and Steve (Maritzburg boy) was feeling a little dozey!! Check out this video I posted of him on youtube! He honestly did this for about 5 minutes!! Eyes closed the whole time and no idea we were all taking the piss and laughing at him:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggXfdgCGUMU

A few people have asked me how the RWC fever is in Aus. Especially when Aus and NZ were still in. But in all honestly it is nothing like SA here!! I'd say less than a quarter of Aussies actually follow it! Most of them follow the domestic rugby league and Aussie rules games. And given that only about 1/3 of the people I know here are actual Aussies, there's surprisingly little rugby talk. Even when people ask you where you from, they don't ever seem to mention the cricket or rugby. Complete opposite to SA! Anyway, there's enough who are into it to have a bit of banter and rub in the quarter final losses so it's all good.

Other good news is that I got my business visa last week. Valid for 4 years but I can claim perm residency in 2. I can still go the route of skilled immigration but not sure I will now - very expensive and a pain in the ass! And the only downside of being on a business visa is that I can't buy property which isn't a bad thing cos prefer the house share idea while I'm still new. Also a lot cheaper to rent than buy right now (rents are close to half mortgages) so will stick it out until I'm ready to settle down permanently. My camera is still in for repairs and the photos I have of the new place are all at work so will upload them another time. Here's some others from my camera phone tho:

These are the wild birds here and swing by the verrandah for a bit of a feed in the morning:

And the boat!!

And messing around on the new boat. The judges robbed me - I only got a 9.2 for this dive:

Then this is the view from the new Sunday morning breakfast spot. Little bit better than Tony's in Wimbledon.

Fair bloody dinkum

2007-09-28T04:39:00.000-07:00

Usual story - time flies and unfortunately I've been without internet the last few weeks cos just moved places. So the internet will be in in 2 more weeks and then I'll be better I promise.

So the new place is definitely the best place I've ever lived in!! ON the beach again and it's the penthouse so double story and all the mod cons! It was a holiday flat but the owner decided it was better to get a long term tennant so every day is truly like a holiday here!! Lucky me sorted out the master bedroom so I've got my own massive balcony overlooking the beach and en suite bewthroom. Best thing is the shower is so big that it has two shower heads on either side. So I just point them both at me and it's like a car wash! But I call it the Col Wash! Other flatties are all super cool. One German girl who's in advertising and into surfing, then Wade Visser from the South Coast in SA who I've known for years through bodyboarding compos (complete coincidence he replied to an ad online) and then another Saffa who last night won a competition to find Australia's best unsigned musician or band (he won $150,000 worth of advertising and airtime)! So he'll be a famous singer/songwriter very soon for sure.

Other good news is that I got an awesome ski boat the other week! Went in halvies with my brother so will keep it at his place mostly. But there is soooooooo much coastline here and it opens up a whole new world! So bring on the fishing, wakeboarding and sunset cruising! Just had it serviced this week so will be christening the bow with a bottle of VB this weekend and taking her for a spin! Can't wait!

Work is going really well and they sent off my business visa application today. They pay for it which is a bonus and they're sponsoring me for 4 years (altho I can go on my own visa sooner). Will also go perm from December so it's all good.

Other news from Sydney is that Mark and Misty (my housemates from London) arrived about 3 weeks ago and are settling in slowly but surely (gotta chill out on the beach and take it easy for a bit). So good to have more of the really good friends from London out here. Went to a braai the other night down the road with them the other weekend and saw a bunch of people from school days! This place is slowly gonna be the next SW London!

Looking forward to all the visitors over the next few months too! Got my dad and stepmom coming for over a month, then Korvy, Oros, Dave (Booger), Sean Tickner, my cousin and his wife, Joey Jo Jo, Swithers and some old colleagues from London! So the lounge, verrandahs, laundry room etc are all booked out already!

Having a bit of a housewarming tomorrow so will try get some photos (my digicam is in for repairs). Hopefully the boat (and some fish too) so watch this space - once I've got internet again....

Otherwise all is 100% here!!! Loving it, loving it and back to the stage already where the weekends are choca's! But there's so much variety here that it's awesome. Not that I leave Manly much cos life here is too good.

The Holiday is over! (kinda)

2007-07-29T02:43:00.000-07:00

Yup, I'm finally back at work. Started on Thursday and after just 2 days, I feel like I need a holiday! ;-) Altho I can't complain cos where I live it feels like I'm permanently on holiday.

So I got the job at HBOS (Halifax / Bank Of Scotland) Treasury Services as a business analyst. Pretty similar gig to what I was doing in London but completely different area so a lot to learn which will be good for me (the last thing I think I actually learnt was how to say "fever" in Spanish). It's a temp to perm role and they ticked all the right boxes in what I was looking for - senior role, different area, not a huge bank, low working hours, lots to learn. Was a bit frustrating in the end as I had 2 other really good offers but they were gonna be roles with heaps of overtime which I want to try avoid - free time is so valuable in a place like sydney! So I was real close to taking one of the others when they finally got headcount approval to employ me. Glad I stuck the long wait out! But it's 2 days down and seems like a great company and working with some good people.

The commute here is very different to anything I've had before - catch a ferry which is hard to comprehend if you live in London or SA. So here's a picture of it below (you can click on any of the pictures to make em bigger!).

I work in the tall building that's about third from the right. It's a quick cycle along the beach from my place and then I cut across the corso to where the ferry leaves from. Hard to explain and hard for you to imagine I'm sure so here's a little piccy I doctored of Manly from the air.

My place is just off the bottom of the picture on the beach road. The Bower is part of a marine reserve with awesome diving (went for a snorkel there today - super clean but a cold) and perfect surf when the swell hits it right. Check the photos at the end of a big right taken from above. Rode that day and it was pretty hectic. Really big but an easy paddle cos you can start from the protected beach around the corner. The surfs not as consistent as Durban but there's soooo much variety and it also gets a lot bigger!

Went fishing with my brother on the Hawkesbury river the other day. I was nailing the shad man! No word of a lie - pocket siiiize, tails hangin out! Then a sea eagle saw all the action and came to hang out close by. So we decided to try get some photos and threw some fish for it to pick up. Unfortunately, they kept sinking before the eagle could get to them so we had to stuff one full of twigs (there's always a secret to every photo!). Anyway - got some decent shots but bummed the real money shot was slightly out of focus!

News from home was a bit scary this week cos my dad and stepmom had their house broken into while they were home. Luckily they heard the thieves downstairs and tried to make a bit of noise to scare them off. Nuh uh - one of them immediately heads upstairs to their bedroom! Luckily they have a trellidor (security gate) on their bedroom door which was locked and they then slammed their bedroom shut and locked it when they saw one of them come up the stairs! The thieving bustuds decided to make off after a bit more shopping downstairs so luckily they got off quite lightly (unfortunately the same gang got hold of someone else a few houses down about an hour later and stole his car and some other stuff after beating him up badly). We need to get the Boondock Saints into Joburg!!

46 Days to the world cup! Kamaaaan the Bokke!

New Spot

2007-07-11T06:29:00.000-07:00

So I finally got to move into the new place and it really is epic!! Was a bit of a mission moving and unpacking but my brother and his wife helped out so the majority of it gone done really quickly. The housemates are all pretty cool and sociable so it shouldn't be too hard making friends here.

The waves have been going mad today and yesterday. Tomorrow is going to be even better. There's about 1km of beachbreaks to choose from and then on the right hand headland is an awesome reefbreak called Winkipop/The Bower. When it lines up it's epic. Very similar to Vetchi's reef and just as dangerous. Shaggy got a few stitches on his foot there a few weeks ago. Anyway, check the photos (taken from the balcony). Oh ja - the cockatoos are the local wild birds here. Pretty weird after only ever seeing them in cages. And the flat I'm in is the one on the first floor and the blue car is yours truly's.

Still no final word on the job yet. Waiting for approval of the roles from London at this stage. So I am on holiday for a little bit longer - lukka!! Unfortunately I had to go to some follow up interviews and a backup one so gave the snowboarding a miss (not a problem when the surfs cooking).

Oh ja - they're changing the visa rules here from Sept to make it easier so I will qualify again on the points system. You now need to have only worked 12 of the last 24 months! hmmmm - maybe time for some more travels! ;o)

G'Day

2007-07-01T01:22:00.000-07:00

Shoowee - that Facebook sure is addictive. Been catching up with most people there so neglected my good old blog yet again. But while things are still interesting with the BIG move, I'll try keep it updated more regularly. But for those not in the know, I've been back in Sydney for two weeks and slowly but surely settling down.

Things are going a little better than expected so far. Sorted out an awesome place ON the beach at Manly. It's really massive, has a huge wrap around balcony at the front and my room has another balcony off the back. Massive lounge, kitchen etc and a professional Foozball table (bring it on)! Unfortunately it's just a 3 month lease while one of the housemates finishes a contract overseas but gives me time to make sure I like the area (bit far from the city but well worth it me thinks). So will be taking the ferry to work rather than the sh1tty underground - giddyup!

Also got an awesome car today. Holden (same as Opel/Vauxhall) Astra. All the little bits and pieces but the design and colour is epic and got a million cool little features. Pick it up on Tuesday so will post some photies when I have it. Looks like the below but in a v cool metallic blue.

The job hunt is going pretty well too. I finally updated my cv on Wed afternoon and within minutes all three agencies I sent it to wanted to interview me first thing the next morning. So went to those and they were literally bun-fighting to get my cv to their clients first. Had 3 client interviews since then and got 2 more tomorrow so far. Unfortunately they seem like fairly complicated roles with lots of overtime and I really feel like taking it a bit easier with work life but the money is awesome, bonuses ridiculous and even pretty senior positions too. So the carrot dangles.... Will have to see how the others interviews go.

For those who hadn't heard, I misread the fine print on my skilled immigration (points system) application. Because I'm a professional (hard to believe for some of you - I know), I have to prove that I have had full time employment for 12 of the last 18 months! And 7 months travels kinda means I no longer qualify! Sucks deluxe but not the end of the world. I'll just need to be sponsored for a year and then I can apply again on my skills. Good news is that it seems only too easy to get sponsored. Once you here and they interview you, they say it's a simple formality and no worry at all. So anyone else wondering about sponsorship, it seems very straightforward.

Been some really good waves lately! Went to watch the Shark Island compo which was pretty nuts. Dying to surf there but one of the heaviest waves in the world so will have to wait for my shoulder to get a bit stronger first. Manly has pretty decent surf (with the crazy crowd factor you'd expect), but there's about 20 awesome spots within 10kms so it's all good.

Hoping to make the Springbok vs Wallies game this Sat but the Arrens (Warren and Lauren) are off to go snowboarding nearby so might just join them for a long weekend in the snow. Missed the last season cos of my shoulder so looking fwd to getting back on the slopes.

That's it for now - will update again in a week or so when I've moved into the new spot and I'm rollin in the new wheels!

Yowsers - Time flies

2007-05-14T12:03:00.000-07:00

Been a bit caught up in the whole Facebook craze so I nearly neglected my good old blog!
Anyway - been great catching up with everyone on facebook and in Durbs! Managed to get back in the surf (not as much as I'd have liked tho) and on the golf course so it's been pretty chilled. Big events here have been the Sharks games (go boytjies!) and a couple of weddings and of course the obligatory bulls parties.

First Bulls party was Todo's and you can see how ridiculous we all looked (especially Todo in is unitard and penis mask). Crazy night though and hats off to Ant Gibb who got us through a roadblock after being breathalised with 7 beers under the belt! What a champ cos was pretty damn hectic at the time. Steves was the following night which was a lot more mellow but we'll let him off after the stories of how outta hand he got in Paris for his UK bulls party.

Unfortunately I got a bit of flu this weekend and missed Todo's wedding and the rugger semi final but back in action now so it's all good!

Anyway - the photos are way more entertaining than my writing so check em out.

Oh ja - coming soon is the "Retard Club" post. Hilarious - but I'm too tired to post em all now....

Hey Hey, I'm back - Hooray!

2007-04-12T01:46:00.000-07:00

Back in SA that is! What a mission but I made it. Travel Insurance were pretty set on making me rejoin the tour but I finally managed to pursuade them I wasn't fit enough to fly straight to the highest major city in the world and get all active again with my tour group. Luckily the tour leader wrote them a letter saying if I wasn't 100% then I couldn't rejoin cos they wouldn't take responsibility for me so they finally gave in and offered to fly me out. 11 days after lurking in my hotel!!

I mentioned my family was in SA and would rather go there and they said no problem at all! Pretty lucky as I would have had to change my London to SA flight which was 200 pounds plus any fare increases... Actual flight here was a bit long though as I had to go via Atlanta and then Senegal.

I had about a 7 hour layover in Atlanta so decided to go and check out the city. Bit of an eye opener! Think I ended up in the wrong part of town though cos I was in da hood with some pretty crazy characters around. One old dude with a hoodie even tried to have a go at me but managed to duck across traffic in a nick of time.

Saw one funny thing tho - there were a bunch of these huge posters in the streets. Prime advertising spots! They really will try sue anyone! I mean if a coke doesn't taste like u thought it would then take it back or chuck it! It's not hard....

Will be heading down to Durban on Fri night so hope to catch up with everyone on the weekend. Think there's an open party at Matty's house on Sat night!

Fear and Loathing in Lima

2007-04-04T17:17:00.000-07:00

Well I'm still stuck here and it pretty much sucks. Had to wait out the weekend to see a specialist on Monday and he did a bunch more tests (reckon my veins are now more punctured than a 70's rockstar) and finally got the results this afternoon. Good news is that they are all pretty much negative - I definitely have some sort of infection still but they don't know what it is specifically but most likely the Typhoid fever lurking around still. So the good news is that I definitely don't have TB which means I'm fit to fly.

Only problem is that if the medical team at my travel insurance decide I'm fit enough to rejoin my tour then they gonna fly me to Bolivia and make me carry on from there. Not first prize at the moment though cos I really don't feel like carrying on. 3 weeks in bed and so many drugs pumped through my body so my liver has taken strain and is showing abnormal levels now and I've also lost a fair bit of weight living on drips for so long. So hopefully they realise I need more time to just chill out and recover and they will make a plan to fly me home and reimburse me for the rest of the tour. Should find out tomorrow hopefully.

Otherwise not much news this side. Staying in a larney hotel with internet in my room, walk in closet etc in the "Hollywood" area of Lima but it's still flipping boring. Thank goodness for my laptop so I can follow the cricket, do a bit of trading and keep in contact with people. Those of you with skype drop me a line cos got a headset this week (username: myfriendcolin) or send me an email with your news. I need entertainment!

Anyway - was just checking in cos seems there's a lot of concerned fans out there! ;o)

If I don't see you before (which is probable), have a Happy Easter and enjoy the long weekend!

This Party sucks!!

2007-04-01T07:44:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the delay with the posts but I had a good reason and all will be explained!!

From Lima, we went onto Pisco. The trip there was along the coast and it was hard to relax or read cos there were so many damn waves to look at. Some really good setups that need some further exploring! On the second day of the trip I woke up feeling like hell. Bad headache, nausea and just feeling exhausted. Wasn't too stoked but decided not to miss a boat trip out to Ballestas Islands. Straight out of a David Attenborough documentary! These islands are a marine reserve and there are millions of seals, penguins, and a huge variety of sea birds. The locals actually farm guano there (birdshit) and it's big business. Anyway, it's definitely the most birds I've ever seen at one time in my life! Check the photos (all the black dots are birds). Just about everyone on the boat got "blessed" by the birds at some stage. It was like pearl harbour with the birds flying over and letting loose the whole time.

From there it was onto a desert oasis for sand buggying and sandboarding. I decided I was feeling way too sh1t and slept on the bus. The next morning was the world famous Nasca Lines. You can only see them from the air so I dragged my sick ass outta bed and went for the flight. They're really amazing cos it looks like they couldn't possibly have been created by humans thousands of years ago (hence the theory that aliens made them) but I think the Peruvians deserve the credit! There are hundreds of theories but I think it's just signs they made to the Gods to bring them water. Check the photos - bear in mind that each shape is massive!

After the flight I started getting a bit of a fever going. Made it through a night bus trip safely, only managing to soak my clothes with the sweats. By the time we got to the next hotel, things were not good. I was going into full on fevers and shivering with all the blankets and all my clothes on and then half an hour later dying of heat and unable to cool down. Time for the doctor! Luckily they do hotel visits and the doc was pretty convinced it was Salmonella. He did a few blood tests and announced it was negative and must be something else. In the meantime, I had to drop out of all tour activities and rest in bed. Didn't really make sense to me cos Salmonella seemed probable (a week before I was at a restaurant in Lima and 1/4 way through my meal, I noticed that part of the chicken breast I was eating was completely raw). Didn't notice at first cos there was so much sauce as well as ham wrapped over it. I sent it back to be cooked straight away but I definitely should have made like a supermodel and tickled them tonsils!

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I stayed in bed for 4 days, took the prescribed antibiotics and slowly felt better with fewer fevers. Managed to feel good enough to make the flight with the rest of the tour to Cuzco and was feeling pretty confident I'd make the Inca Trail in a few days. Wrooooong - that night the tune of "Night Fever" was blaring and pretty sure I cracked the 40's. Saw a new doctor who looked at the old blood tests I had done and said there was definitely a problem and I needed to hit the hospital (for a few days but I'd still make the Inca trail). Anyway, it just went downhill from there. I was living on drips and in and out of fevers all day and they were getting a bit worse. The nurses were actually showing signs of panic at times - not very comforting. The new blood tests confirmed it was definitely Salmonella which led to Typhoid Fever. But the doctors (some specialists were called in) couldn't work out why the antibiotics hadn't worked and were convinced there was a secondary infection.

After nearly a week in hospital, I'd missed the Inca Trail, Colca Canyon, Machu Pichu, and the Amazon! Pretty much the main highlights. I was pretty damned peeved but also felt over the trip - I just wanted to get better. Some new tests tested positive for TB but were very unreliable so they needed to send me back to Lima to a more advanced hospital for cat scans. But TB is infectious so travel insurance is not allowed to put you on a commercial flight or they will get sued. No problem for them - let's get Colin an air ambulance! Luckily my fevers start to subside and at the last minute they change the air ambulance (which is very slow) for a private jet. The 24 hours before I'm due to fly out seems like a turning point tho and I manage to not have any fevers.

So the private jet eventually arrives and whisks me off to Lima. A doctor and a nurse have to accompany me. At Lima, an ambulance is waiting with another doctor and nurse and a driver who decides that even tho I look ok, I might die so busts the sirens out and tears across town at an impressive speed. At the hospital they do some quick tests and confirm it's not TB. My fever seems to have disappeared too so I get sent to a nice 4 star hotel nearby to monitor myself.

Luckily I've been ok the last 2 days so pretty sure it's all over. Feel like death tho! 6 days spent sleeping in my hotel and 7 days in hospital. I had soooooo many tests I'm pretty sure it was just an experiment to create a clone of myself. I definitely gave enough blood, saliva and urine samples but for a proper clone I think they'd have needed a few more stool samples cos as you all know I'm pretty full of shit!

So plan is to chill out for 2 more days to get some strength back and then await final test results on Monday. I could then rejoin my tour but at the moment I'm pretty over it. I missed all the best bits and my travel insurance will cover the cost of the trip so would rather restart from scratch another time. So I might be in SA a lot sooner than originally planned!! Just a bit worried about flights outta here cos it's Easter and I probably still have to fly via London. So chances are I will be in London soon for another week and then head to SA.

Lima

2007-03-17T20:26:00.000-07:00

Buenos Dias Amigos. I was warned that you need to learn Spanish to travel in South America and they weren't kidding. Very few people speak English here and if they do it´s only a tiny bit so my trusty little Spanish phrasebook has already seen as much action as Paris Hilton did on her prom night (safe to assume that I`m sure!).

Lima is awesome though. I´ve had 4 days to check out the city before the rest of my tour group arrived and at first it seemed like there wasn´t too much to do and see here. But I found my way to the beach and the waves have been awesome. Really didn´t expect it at all (wasn`t even sure Lima was a coastal city) but a 5 minute cab ride from my hotel there´s a choice of about 5 really good waves. Didnt bring my board though cos I figured it wouldn´t be too much fun having to cart it up the Inca Trail or through the Amazon´jungle. Anyway, I made my way down to the beach and managed to befriend a few locals who were only too keen to lend me a board (had to give the 1 guy a few dollars but the next day I met some other guys who were offended when I offered money). So ended up riding a 4 foot right that went for about 250m with only 6 guys in the water! And this was pretty much in the middle of the city! The locals all wear fullsuits but it was really mellow. Didn´t need one at all. Also got a fun little shorey the other day but had to take it super easy cos not really meant to be in the water with my shoulder yet. I went to some old pyramid ruins down the coast yesterday and could see about 5 km´s of beach breaks - there's soooooo much potential here! So much swell everywhere and hardly anybody riding - I definitely wanna come back on a proper surf trip and explore the whole coast here.

There's pretty steep cliffs right on the beach and it´s paragliding paradise. A Kiwi lady from my group who claims she's going through a mid life crisis (I read that as nothing to lose) managed to convince me to go paragliding with her. Those of you who know how shit scared of heights I am will be impressed. They also go super close to the buildings and cliffs here ( about 2 metres away) which is pretty daunting but my "pilot" told me had been doing it for 17 years and only had 1 accident. But he nearly died and said he was very lucky to be alive so that was comforting. Anyway, the launch was really easy and it´s amazing what a smooth ride it is. Feels like you just floating and you can´t feel turbulence or anything like that. After about 10 mins of climbing the thermals higher and higher we were waaay up! The view of the coast and city was incredible (8 million people live here so pretty big). Have to admit I was battling to enjoy it though cos I was getting pretty edgy being so high up and relying on a few tiny straps to keep me from falling.

Old "Mad Mike" then says to me "Ok amigo we gonna a do whatsa called a dith spiral and drop a good few hundreds of feet in about 5 secondas". "We gonna do a what??" mi says.

Too late, he`s already headed out over the ocean and he just sends us into this huge freefall spiral. Oh the death spiral I think! Death in Spanish is not exactly what it sounds. It actually just means "shit your pants". So there I found myself in the middle of the good old shit your pants spiral and it fealt like my head was gonna explode. It was more of a rush than any rollercoaster I´ve been on and I think we were definitely pulling a good couple of G´s there. When I say "we" I mean "I" and G´s is Spanish for sphincter muscles! I´m pretty convinced at the one stage we were actually a fair bit above the chute cos we were turning so hard - almost like doing a flip/flare. It was more intense than the pressure/forces you feel bungy jumping! Anyway - definitely the best experience I´ve had in years and would love to do it again!! Was pretty convinced it was just gonna be a scenic flight at first but was definitely proven wrong. Might have to try buy one of those things on ebay!

Couple photos attached. It´s hard to get them all in order and sorry there´s so many sunset ones but I like them so tough luck! Few waves there too and some pictures of the shanty towns and some pyramid ruins I went to. I was pretty amazed to find out the sum total of the annual rainfall in Lima is a big fat whopping zero!! Complete desert here but it´s not too hot cos the ocean wind cools things down a lot.

The minimum wage is only $150 per month and 52% of the population lives in poverty. Crime is crazy here! I nearly lost my mobile to a pickpocketer last night but managed to catch my phone as it was half way out. Then I saw some old dude get mugged right outside my bus window in broad daylight today! Security here is crazy though and the rich houses security systems would put some Joburg houses to shame! Quite a few have full time armed security guards who just stand outside in the street all day....

Asian memories and London

2007-03-11T13:38:00.000-07:00

It was a craaaaaaaazy week in London. I thought I'd have plenty of time to catch up with everyone and get all my bits of admin done but it was all go, go, go. Not a bad thing cos I've done lots and still managed to catch up with a lot of people. So to everyone who made a plan to catch up last week, thanks a lot - was great to see you all. And a big shout out to the Drewp Dogg and T for putting me up (up with me) the whole week. Sorry to the people I never got to see but my uk phone is broken so I could only get hold of people who's numbers were somehow still on my old sim card.

Being back in London was pretty weird. Going back after 3 months of chilling out was pretty crazy cos it made me realise how busy and crowded London is. I've always known it but being wrapped up in daily life means I didn't notice how bad it actually was and how stressed out I was living here. Don't get me wrong - I've loved every minute of livin in the Don but I've seen the light and that light is the sun so I'm gonna keep on following it a little longer looking for a few more clues about where I really wanna settle down and what I wanna do. (pretty sure it's still Manly beach and to carry on trading tho!)

People have been asking me my thoughts on Asia and they're pretty muddled to be honest. It's an awesome place to go on holiday and the people there are totally different to the West and Africa. It's a massive tourist destination and unfortunately it's getting more and more commercial so if you ever plan on going there, time is of the essence!

It really got me thinking on why it is so popular with tourists though and it's pretty much the beautiful scenery and beaches, the cheap prices and the safety of travelling there. But in all honestly, South Africa has as good if not better sights and activities for very reasonable prices too. So why oh why can't we sort the safety aspect out!! And the answer is pretty plain to see if you've been to Asia before: Religion!

In Asia, nobody will steal from you (they will lie and lie and lie to you and try to con the pants off you but they will never steal a thing). And it's definitely not for a fear of the police cos there are virtually none around and are so corrupt you could bribe your way out of killing the president there. Their fear is that if they are bad in this life, then they will be punished in the next life and will come back as either a dog bound for the nearest Chinese Restaurant or possibly a pig (like the ones on the bike in my photos of Cambodia). They are all buddhist and are so superstitious/religious that they are constantly praying and leaving little gifts for the gods/buddha. Gifts are normally in the form of food but I've seen toothpaste, torches and bog roll! Anyway, that's the solution to Africa's problems me thinks. Give people a real reason to fear doing wrong and all the problems will go away. SA has the most potential as a toursit destination that I have seen in the world so hopefully the World Cup is a huge success and Batman and Robin can visit (they ARE real people) and sort the crime out until the Buddhists come and sort the shit out! ,-)

In Peru now and loving it. Been paragliding, surfing, sightseeing, chilling, almost dying on the roads again but will try and download some photos with a few stories tomorrow. Wrote this post about 5 days ago but it,s taken me that long to find an internet cafe that can log me into my blog for some reason.

Anyways - gotta run so adios amigos!

Halong Bay

2007-02-28T03:21:00.000-08:00

I'm back in Hanoi after 3 epic days in Halong Bay. If you ever feel like shooting a pirate movie then this is the place to do it! Picture perfect place with thousands of islands all real close to each other. Unfortunately it's the rainy season so the last day was a bit spoilt but we were lucky the first 2 days.

Stayed on a traditional junk which was by no means junk at all. The boat was refurbished to Western standards so was real luxury and drinking on (and jumping off) the roof was heaps of fun. Also did some trekking which the guide assured us was 12km but in reality was about 3km and some kayaking through a few caves and into some awesome coves. Plenty of cool caves to check out too.

I'm back in Hanoi now which is currently hosting the world hooting championships. Hootie (my driver from my story below) definitely made it and I felt really nostalgic when I heard him going mental on his little hooter in the street outside my hotel at 5 this morning. Bless his soul. He officially opened the games and it's been non stop all day. Even an afternoon rain storm just made them all a bit more excited (like frogs before the rains). I think the one guy was just hooting at the rain drops - must be part of the special olympics or something.... But he definitely showed those raindrops who's boss and I'm pretty sure he'll get a medal for his efforts!

Besides Halong Bay, Vietnam has been a bit of a letdown in all honesty. The locals are all out to rip you off as much as possible and always seem like they feel so hard done by. Also not shy to ask for tips (when not deserved at all) and make you feel really shit if you don't give or only give them a small amount. Quite a contrast to Cambodia where the people are all just so grateful for anything they get from the tourists and seem far more genuine, honest and friendly. But really glad I got to come here. I'm off to Bangkok tomorrow for 2 days before flying out to London on the 3rd.

This is a floating village - all the houses are floating on pontoons out in the middle of nowhere. They all farm fish in big nets on the pontoons cos the local waters are all fished out. Each house has about 3 dogs on average. Poor things can't really run around but they seem happy enough...

Good Morning Vietnaaaam

2007-02-24T06:01:00.000-08:00

As much as I was loving the beach in Cambodia, I decided I best keep moving and check out Vietnam while I'm in the area. The trip from Sihanoukville in Cambodia to Saigon is normally 14 hours via bus. Unfortunately there is no real option to fly or train it. The thought of a whole day spent on a cramped bus was not too appealing so when 2 Aussie girls who are living and teaching in Saigon told me there was a shortcut that they were gonna do and would only take 6 or 7 hours, I was well up for it. This is a brief summary of the trip:

1. Luxury Toyota Camry for the first 2 hours. Aircon, music, good roads, lovin it.
2. Road gets bad so we're told to climb into 1970 something clapped out skedonk. Sorry - only climb in once the locals have push started it. Car never manages to go more than about 30km an hour. Windows broken. Driver no speaka da English. Get to boom in road and driver kicks us out.
3. Cross border into Vietnam by foot (1 hour)
4. Walk 500m in blazing sun while we get the motorbike taxi riders to slowly drop their price. Started at 10USD and dropped 1 dollar for every 100m we walked and made them chase us. Backpack goes between driver's legs and my huge travel bag goes between myself and the driver so I was basically hanging onto the very back of the seat by my nads! Luckily I managed to get my hand at the back and grip on the indicator light too so when he hit the many bumps I didn't make an early dismount. Drove 25km like this!! He was goin about 90kmh overtaking buses on blind corners etc. We had 2 real close calls and even he gave a few nervous laughs. Decided best not to watch and rather count the number of times he hooted at other bikes and cars to pass the time. In 5 minutes I counted 72 times! I think he's in the Vietnamese Hooting Team! Serious talent that!
5. Hootie decides to make up for the cheap fare by trying to scam us by dropping us off at a bus company for the last leg where he gets a huge commission. Price starts off at 3 times normal so we decide we've had enough and leg it on foot to try find the main bus station. 1 km later we decide to regroup and rethink the plan.
6. Jump on local taxi bike to try find the bus station. Driver can't speak a word of English other than 1 Dollar and yes. Eventually find it. Drive back to others to let them know and pick up stuff.
7. Jump on new taxi bike with all my gear again.
8. Find a local minibus company that has 1 spare seat leaving in 2 minutes. Next one with 3 seats was in 2 hours so the Aussies tell me to take it. No worries they say - it's only about 2 hours to Saigon. Jump in - only Westerner and nobody speaks a word of English. They all turn around and point and laugh at me - no jokes. I laugh at myself too. 3 hours later I manage to ask the old dude next to me how much longer it is to Saigon. 4 hours it sounds like. Can't be right! Unfortunately after 4 more hours we still weren't there! Another hour later and I finally arrive in Saigon.
9. Only Westerner at the bus station and a million taxi and bike drivers are fighting for my business. Still manage to get ripped off a few dollars and arrive at my destination 15 hours since starting! Wish I'd just taken the bus cos it would have been a lot cheaper and a lot less stressful. Poor Aussie girls were still another 2 hours behind me and in a big bus which would have been a lot slower too.

Anyway, I made it to Saigon and amazing how different it is to Cambodia. Much richer country and waaaaay more people!! Really amazing how crowded the streets are and the traffic is ridiculous. Spent the first day recouperating and then decided to do a day trip to the Mekong Delta (huge river system).

The day after that I visited the Cu Chi tunnels (200km network of underground tunnels the Vietnamese used in the war). All I can say is that I would have hated to be a US soldier there cos those tunnels were really effective. Enemy just disappears in front of you and pops up behind you. And I'd hate to have been a Vietnamese soldier cos those tunnels are really, really, really tiny and ridiculously hot. I climbed through one of the bigger ones and it was pretty hectic. Not quite as hectic as seeing photos of the victims of Agent Orange and all the other chemicals though! Americans really messed this place up and the Vietnamese aren't too keen to let them forget it!

I'm running out of time in Vietnam fast so decided to skip the East Coast beaches and head up north to check out Hanoi and HaLong Bay. It's a 24 hour bus ride which is 20 hours more than my new limit so flew into Hanoi this afternoon and I'm off for a 3 day mission to the islands tomorrow.

For those of you in London I will be back from 3rd March to 11th so hope to catch up with you all soon!

Sticker on local minibus door.

Back to da beach

2007-02-18T22:54:00.000-08:00

So I'm back on the beach and it's flippin awesome. Staying in a real friendly place and most days involves just lying on a big sun lounger in the shade, reading my book, swimming in the sea and playing pool against some other travellers I've met. The beaches aren't as clean or picturesque as Thailand but they are still really good and there is an awesome atmosphere here. Everyone is super friendly and the only drawback is the constant begging from landmine victims and children. But after a day or so they get to know u and if u give them a small amount of money or food they're happy to leave u be.

Met a crazy German tourist the other day and his collarbone is sticking out really badly and he has a bunch of roasties so I asked him what happened. About 10 days ago he was riding home on his scooter on the way back from the pub and he fell asleep at the wheel!!! His friends saw him just slowly drift up onto the pavement and he went flying!

He broke his collarbone really badly and needed a steel plate put it in. So he went to the local hospital where they did the op the next day and the aneathetist had to travel in from a nearby town. It took 3 injections to finally get the guy asleep. The aneathetist apparently looked a bit worried. So guess what happens - poor guy wakes up in the middle of the op!! Has to listen to them drilling and screwing into his bones for the next 2 hours! Couldn't move cos he was heavily sedated. Not cool!

You see crazy things on the road too - like 5 people on 1 motorbike, or an 11 year old kid riding a motorbike while talking on his mobile phone and driving on the wrong side of the road. But u see it all the time. These poor pigs are still alive - it's the only way to move them around.

Yes the beef is very fresh sir!

If you're looking for a good book then I can definitely recommend this one. It's an autobiography of a Cambodian who survived the whole Pol Pot regime and then went on to win an oscar for best supporting actor in the Killing Fields (Hollywood movie). Anyway, if you ever think you've had a tough life then this book will make you think again. It's an easy read and not very political or anything like that. Enjoy!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Survival-Killing-Fields-Haing-Ngor/dp/1841197939/sr=8-2/qid=1171868213/ref=sr_1_2/026-7628268-9705201?ie=UTF8&s=books

Cambodia

2007-02-14T03:41:00.000-08:00

So onto Cambodia it was starting in Siem Reap - home to the famous temples, the most famous of which is Angkor Wat. Wasn't expecting much but have to admit they blew me away!! Probably the best architecturally cool thingy majigs I've seen in the world. More impressive than the pyramids and Rome in a lot of ways. The old empire stretched for miles so the distance between some of the buildings is about 30km and the main temple is meant to be the biggest religious structure in the world! Dates back about 700 years ago. The whole area is where they filmed Tomb Raider (mmmmm... Angelina Jolie). Here's one or two photos but to get a better idea click on the link below (it's easier to post them on the other website):

http://myfriendcolin.shutterfly.com/action/

It's a real interesting country besides all that because 30 years ago they had the holocaust here where 2.5 million Cambodians (about a third of the population!!) were killed under the notorious Pol Pot regime (he was waaay worse than Hitler). Everyone in the country had to abandon cities and homes and go and work in the fields for the new communist governement. Anybody who wore glasses, spoke a foreign language or gave any other indication of being intellectual was tortured and then killed. I visited the Tol Sleung prison today which was used for the torture and was one of the most hectic places I've been to cos it's still in a pretty original condition and there are some hectic photos of what went on. It was tne place where my camera didn't come out cos don't really want to relive that.

The commies were overthrown in about 1980 so the country is relatively new in a lot of ways. There are very few old people (most died in the 70's) and the people are all super friendly. A beer costs 40 pence at a restaurant here and you can hire your own tuk tuk driver for a full day for 6 pounds..... And I didn't even try and bargain him down (which u normally do in Asia). I don't think that would be fair here cos everyone is so poor and therefore desperate for work. My room now costs 5 quid a night with aircon, hot water and cable tv. That is pure luxury here. My last room was 2 pounds a night but that's for a small fan room....

Hmmm - some other prices. Today I got taken to a shooting range where the artillery is supplied (backhandedly) by the army. For $200 you can fire a rocket launcher!! For an extra $500 they will give you a live cow as a target! Crazy place this.

You can't take photos of the "menu" at the shooting range but how's this for my hotel room door!

On a much lighter and brighter note, there are a lot of people doing volunteer work here as well as teaching English etc. I was pretty keen to do some volunteering too and try help out so visited an orphanage the other day and it was pretty crazy to see where they lived. There's basically 1 room that's not totally enclosed (so if it's windy and rainy they get wet). This is their classroom, bedroom and playroom!! They had to sit on the floor for their lessons (the teachers are volunteers) and at the end of the day they pack the books away and sleep on the floor right there. 25 kids in a pretty small area.

But the kids are all super happy and only too keen to learn!! All they want is to go to school and learn as much as possible cos they know it's the only way out of poverty for them. So decided to do my bit and went to the local town and bought them 10 desks and benches and a bunch of books and pens. They were soooo stoked that when we were offloading them at 4:30pm on Saturday afternoon they immediately set them up and wanted to be taught with their new desks. Not a "bunker" among them! Speaking of which, I actually wonder if they gonna use them as bunk beds now too!

So to bring you riiiiight up to date now, I've been in Phnom Penh for 3 days. Original plan was to spend 1 day here and then head to the beaches and then try and make my way to the Phillipines to join Badger and a couple other mates for about 10 days or so. Unfortunately, I got put on the Cambodian diet the first day. Very effective weight loss program where you basically just go to the toilet all day and don't eat a thing. Thought it was pretty mellow at first but after 24 hours of not going further than 10 metres from the toilet I was eventually forced to go to the hospital. Scary thing is that the worst toilet I've seen in all of SE Asia was in that hospital. Little bit worse than the infamous Trainspotting one! Luckily I only needed some medication and didn't have to be admitted. But it was still 2 and a half days in bed so became a bit too late to get flights to the Phillipines.... So tomorrow I will hit the Cambodian beaches and then on to Vietnam from there!

This is the view from the restaurant of the $4 a night hotel.

I'm Back

2007-02-09T03:06:00.000-08:00

Ok - so been a bit slack on the blog updates but plan to sort that all out now cos I'm in a fancy hotel with internet connection to my laptop and a few hours to spare so this will be a pretty big post to catch up!

Luckily my trusted travel writer has been on the ball with some good stories so check these links out in order and then I'll update from there afterwards:

http://badgerstravels.blogspot.com/2007/01/krabi-to-ko-tao.html

Just to point out that the burn on my leg there is probably a bit more hectic than it looks. Still a long way from healing properly and kept me out the water a fair bit (more on that later). Moral of the story though is to always check your bike fully before renting it. I overlooked the rather important fact that bikes really do need the front brakes (helmets are not so important cos on this island there were none at all). Cos the back brake is a foot brake and the front brake is a hand brake. And if you're trying to go down steep dirt tracks with a million rocks, you're eventually going to have to put your foot down for balance. And when your foot is on the floor, there's no more brakes. And when there's no more breaks on a steep incline, there's trouble!

The snorkelling in Koh Tao was awesome squared so check out some more shots from the underwater camera:

The bungalows we stayed in...

An underwater tortoise!

Swimming with sharks was awesome. Up to 4 at once and some decent sized ones around.....

Anyway - after Koh Tao we hit Koh Pangan for (probably) the biggest beach party in the world and then also some real relaxation time:

http://badgerstravels.blogspot.com/2007/02/ko-phangan-and-full-moon-party.html

From Koh Pangan it was onto Koh Samui which was pretty awesome. A lot more developed than the other islands but good to have some civilization and entertainment again. Entertainment being in the form of a monkey show (it's not cruel - they only make the floor a little hot to make them dance). Just kidding!

Lead guitarist of the "not so" arctic monkeys
We got to see the only monkey fire dancer in the world (other than my friend Reeko who has since retired).

A boa constrictor. After this photo, it tried to kill me and we wrestled for an hour. I won!

After 2 days on Samui I realised I needed to make a decision on where to go next and soon cos my visa was expiring. I wasn't too keen to spend 24 hours to do a visa run (go to the nearest border and leave and come back in). If you overstay your visa then you pay about 7 quid a day as a fine - doesn't sound like much but u can almost live on that for a day in Thailand. I was super keen to make a plan to go back to Koh Tao and do a dive course but my leg is taking forever to heal and 5 days of scuba would be no good. So finally decided on heading to Cambodia. Only sh1t thing is that I have to do it on my lonesome cos Bren and Laura have gone back and Badger is enjoying Thailand too much. Check the photo below to see why.

Is it just me or is she trying to look up Badger's little skirt?

It gets pretty difficult to get all the photos on a long post so will have to split it here. Next stop - Cambodia!

Photos of Phi Phi

2007-01-28T03:54:00.000-08:00

Finally managed to hook my laptop again so thought I'd share a few photos with you:
First, for an update on the Phi Phi story, check out my dedicated travel writers story (it's good to be on holiday from all responsibilities):

http://badgerstravels.blogspot.com/2007/01/koh-phi-phi.html

And for those of you who enjoy boxing, wrestling, UFC etc then check this out:

http://badgerstravels.blogspot.com/2007/01/thai-boxing-in-koh-phi-pih.html

They definitely don't put it on as a show. No acting here - the ous were goin balls to the wall. I think the one guy had called the other guys sister a ladyboy or something like that.

Here's some photos I took from the boat around Phi Phi Island. Epic beaches, snorkelling and a bit of fishing. I'll start off with my favourite one... I think this is the pinnacle in my photography career. If anyone wants to buy my camera equipment then make an offer cos the search for the perfect picture is over. Yes, this is the Holy Grail of Photography. I'm sure any girls (and my mom) reading this are rolling their eyes at me. Anyway, I know the guys (and my dad) will love it so it's uploaded as very high resolution in case you want it as a desktop or something. Just click on it for the super size feature:

There's Nemo!
Plenty of shacks in the water.

Bren's Barracuda. Good eating!

This has got to be the fattest monkey in the world. Too many tourists feeding too few monkeys....

Glimpse of the scene before the tsunami...

Some photies and a close call!

2007-01-23T05:24:00.000-08:00

Phi Phi was awesome but had a bit of a hectic ending to it. Had a bit of a late night last night and ended up having a few beers on the beach with some people I had just met and we all decided it would be a good idea to go for a quick swim in a fancy hotel pool nearby. Unfortunately we made a bit too much noise and woke the security guards up. They were super bummed and decided to arrest me (cos I was the last one in or something stupid like that)! I managed to duck and dive for a minute or two by trying to talk to him but he eventually slapped some handcuffs on me. I was rattled!! You do not want to go to a Thai jail. So I offered him 1000 Baht (13 pounds) and he said no no no - go jail. That scared me even more cos it's not like he asked for more.
I thought it was no real use but offered him another 200 Baht anyway and he consulted with his mate and they agreed it was now enough to bribe my way out of it. Very strange. I'm pretty sure the whole thing was to scare me into paying my way out cos all Thai's are like that! Bribes etc everywhere. But a small price to pay for what could have been a nightmare. Will be on my best behaviour from now on!

My publicist is working on the next exciting chapter as we speak. Will have that link tomorrow. But here's some photos so far. Got some epic ones at Ko Phi Phi this week but haven't had a chance to get them off the memory stick yet... Will try tomorrow.

Lifes a beach

2007-01-21T05:42:00.000-08:00

So a lot has happened the last week or so. Laos, Long necks, watching Badger down snake whiskey, chilling on the beach, snorkelling, reading etc. It's all good.

My trusty publicist has all the details for you so check it out!

http://badgerstravels.blogspot.com/2007/01/to-beaches.html

We're on Phi Phi now. Hasn't changed too much since I was here in 2001 but if you plan on visiting then do it soon cos they are building hundreds of resorts and business is thriving. Prices are pretty steep cos all the hotels are full up! But we still only paying about 5 quid a night so it's all good. We're chartering our own private boat with driver tomorrow to do some snorkelling, fishing and to check out Maya Bay (where they filmed the Beach) and some other islands too. 10 hours on the boat is costing us 30 pounds. Bit better value than a black cab!

Thailand begins

2007-01-14T10:03:00.001-08:00

Well the last 5 days have flown and it's been all go go go! So far we've done 3 days of trekking, been into Laos, done a quick stint on the Mekong River, seen the longneck hill tribes, some hot water springs and epic waterfalls. So much for taking it easy. Haven't had a chance to download photos and write some detailed notes so will leave it to the badger. Check out his blog post and photos. I will try smile a bit more in future!

http://badgerstravels.blogspot.com/2007/01/up-in-north.html

(sorry but you will need to cut and paste again - need a lesson from Steve on how to do this properly).

Tomorrow we are off to the beaches! We were gonna do cambodia first but it's too much of a mission from here so we'll go chill on the beaches rather. Got my new fishing rod I bought today for 2 pounds (collapsable with reel, line and tackle) so it's time to catch my dinner as all otters should.... Or just get lazy and pay the 30p for the restaurant food.

Anyone bored of work and wanna come join us?

Photos and stuff

2007-01-08T06:26:00.000-08:00

So I finally managed to get my a into g and upload some photos.

http://myfriendcolin.shutterfly.com
(You need to copy and paste it manually unfortunately)

There's 2 albums there so should keep u entertained for a bit if work is boring you.

New Years here was awesome and got to see the best fireworks display I've ever seen (by a looooong way). There were a million people watching apparently. Lucky there's so much coastline with heaps of viewpoints. Photos can't so it justice unfortunately. Been jolling with Markus and Brett the last 10 days or so but they have headed back to the UK now (crazy fools).

Anyway - I'm off to Thailand tomorrow. Original plan was to go to the beaches of Cambodia for a week and chill but Bren (BOC) decided he couldn't miss the flower festival (he really loves those crysanthinums) so it's straight on to Chiang Mai instead now. Will be up in North Thailand for about a week. Bit of a jungle trekking mission and all that! Will update when I know more cos Bren is my travel agent for the next month (I'm taking this being on holiday thing seriously). Hope it's not all flower festivals and playing with barbie dolls and stuff. He's changed since he got engaged I tell u.

Where dreams do come true

2006-12-30T18:29:00.001-08:00

True story - I was in Coogee yesterday meeting up with Markus and his sister Wendy. So we went for a long walk along the beachfront checking out all the awesome houses there (some of the best views in the world). After about 45 mins of walking in the sun chatting about how good things are here in Aus, I was just thinking, everything is gonna be too good here and all that is missing is a nice dolly. Next thing, I look up and see this cute blonde running towards us. Tight red top, short shorts - u get the idea. So I'm thinking my prayers have been answered - a nice dolly! Next thing she gives us all a free ice lolly! Some promotion thing going on. So I figure I need to work on my accent a bit or something cos the powers above obviously misheard me. The lolly wasn't the best in the world to be honest so found myself secretly wishing for a milk shake rather. Would you believe it - my prayers were answered almost immediately as we watched that milk shake as she jogged off into the distance (baywatch style)! Ahhhh, the good life!

Anyways, I know I said I'd start the propaganda soon to tempt some more of you over here. So here are some of the pros and cons so far:

Pros
1. Everyone is super friendly here.
2. I don't think I've seen any litter yet (at all). Everything is really tidy.
3. Some of the most amazing beaches in the world.
4. The waves have been super good almost every time I've been to the beach (5 foot Dee Why on Wednesday was insane to watch). Can't wait for my shoulder to heal!
5. There is 270km of coastline in the Sydney harbour alone! Then there's still 2 other huge harbour/water systems in the Sydney area.
6. The diving and fishing is unreal.
7. The roads are so safe I actually heard them announce on the radio yesterday that a pet dog was the latest fatality on the christmas season road toll!
8. They have drive through bottle stores!
9. Everyone is super well off here. The mimimum wage is $15 an hour so there are virtually no beggars, thieves etc.

Cons
1. There's a chance you might run into Shane Warne or George Greegan
2. There's no longer a chance you'll run into Steve Irwin
3. The ozone layer is a thing of the past. I swear - even Shaka Zulu hinself would turn into a tomato here without his suncream.
4. It can be an expensive place at times. Some things (like drinks out and parking) are London prices.

Hope you all have a jol for new years and have a wonderful and prosperous 2007! Would love to hear what you all got up to over the silly season so drop me a mail with your news.

Sydney so far

2006-12-21T04:33:00.000-08:00

So, you might have heard I had a bit of a stressful start to the trip. I basically got to customs at Sydney Airport and they told me I had no working holiday visa assigned to my passport (they are electronic visas) and I needed to remain in the holding area as I might have to rush for the last flight out that night (being deported). What the @&$#???

So I decided I better phone Angela (my sister in law who was picking me up) and let her know I was having a few issues.... Next thing, Chopper Read himself (dressed in a customs uniform) comes running over to me swearing and shouting "You think you bloody special maaaaaate?". Confusion, jet lag etc sets in so I ask him what the/his problem is and he points to a tiny sign saying u can't use mobile phones in the customs area and will be liable for a 1000 dollar fine. And he seemed pretty intent on slapping the fine on me (and 1 of his great big paws). So there I am, thinking I'm about to start my asia travels a lot sooner than expected with a lot less money in the travel fund and also minus my jacket (the air hostess thought it was ok to pick it up off a seat I had left it on by mistake and make a quick announcement for a lost jacket on the pa system and having no response decided to take it off the plane - and probably into his locker). So I was a bit rattled to say the least.

Anyways, lucky for me I managed to finally find my visa issue number, got hold of the UK embassy and sorted it all out. Chopper decided he'd rattled me enough to teach me my lesson - in Aus you do no break the rules (very true here). And Thai airways managed to find my jacket in London and post it back to me. So all's well that ends well!

Haven't been up to too much since arriving. Been spending the nights doing my currency trading and the days just chilling out really. Catching up on a lot of sleep too (last few weeks in London were a bit manic) and just enjoying the weather and all that. Hopefully catching up with Pommie Steve, Shaggy and Matt Gohl this weekend and the week after that Marcus and Brett should be here so it's all good.

Sydney life is awesome though and pretty sure I'm gonna fit right in. Everything is super easy to organise (bank accounts, credit cards, medicare etc). Hell - they even got drive through bottle stores here!! But that's all another story so will save for it later.

Not sure when I will make another post - so merry christmas to you all and have a safe and happy holiday!

My new blog

2006-12-19T01:29:00.000-08:00

Ok - so I decided to set up my own blog cos all the cool kids are doing it these days. So instead of spamming u all with group emails while I'm on my travels and then settling down in Aus, I figured I'd just post it on a website and it gives me a place to store my photos etc.

So a little bit about what is going on....

After 6 years of living in London, it was time for a change. I set out for that little island off the French coast in Feb 2001 with dreams of travelling the world, saving up as much as possible and having a jol doing it. I'm happy to report - Mission accomplished! The savings are looking good (once I manage to close my company down), the travels have been beyond incredible (considering my arrival in London was the first time I'd ever left Southern Africa) and I've enjoyed the ride the whole way.

But that island was far from tropical and having travelled the world I know there are better places to live. It's easy to get sucked into London life and there are lots of things I already miss but it's definitely not the long term lifestyle for me. Once my shoulder recovers fully from the last op, I wanna go surfing before and after work, have a boat to go fishing or wakeboarding in on the weekends, and have more than 6 hours daylight in winter. It's not too much to ask so stuff it - I'm gonna doooooo it!

So it wasn't too tough a choice to leave London. 5-6 years was always the time frame I had in mind. The hard part was choosing to go to Aus rather than SA. I love Durban to bits and feel like a traitor in a way now. But I figure that SA is still going thru some crazy changes in the grand scheme of things. Quite exciting rather than scary but planning ahead for 20 years time, Aus seems like a really safe and good option (having grown up in Zimbabwe makes you look at things slightly differently). Who knows tho - if it doesn't work out then I will be back in Durban in a flash. But I'd rather check out Aus first and then head back to SA rather than be in Durban wondering what Aus was like....

So the plan is to be in Sydney til 9th Jan. From here, I will head to Bangkok where I'll meet up with Bren O'Connor and his new fiance Laura (not that he had an old one) as well as Steven Ash - aka Badger. We're basically gonna head all over Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vieeetnaaaaam. 2 months of chilling out and trying our hardest to spend more than 10 quid a day. Gotta love it.

From there I'll be making a quick stop in London for a night or two (cos that's the cheapest flight route) before heading down to Lima in Peru. Gonna join an intrepid tour there (about 15 strangers) for the great trek across South America for 2 months. Too amped for that one!! Gonna do the inca trail, the Amazon rainforest, the pantanal, Iguassu falls, Rio etc etc etc.

From Rio, it's back to London again for a night or two and then on to Durban for a month from the middle of May to middle of June. My mom is getting remarried to George (super cool dude) so really looking forward to the wedding and the celebrations. My brother and his wife (who I am staying with now) will also be back so a good old family reunion is on the cards. Will hopefully be heading up to Chobe in Botswana again with my dad and boet for a bit of fishing, pinting and piddling. After that it's back to Aus to find my own place and possibly a job. Either that or continue with the currency trading I've been doing since I've been here. Nice and profitable so far but the trading hours are no good (8pm to 3am) and it won't do my career any favours so something to consider.

Will be taking lots of photos so be sure to check back for them.