Notes to myself...

Merry Xmas & Happy New Year to y'all. A big "Ha Ha" to all those suckers who are working right now! Managed to get some time off inbetween Christmas and emm - well today. Back at work on the 3rd tho which is a pain in the arse. Anyway, had a really good one this year. Was in Forfar for the 25th then off up the road to Newburgh for Boxing day. My Mum and Dads wee doggie died about 3 months ago but there is a litter of Labradors in the village which they are looking at. Me and Sarah went up to see them. A mountain of 6 week old puppies (10 of em). Needless to say, Sarah insisted that we take all of them. One night, we tried to decide on a name which degenerated into a drunken rabble and with names like "Wayne" and "Hughie" being banded about it's not surprising. Good laugh tho.

Had my Police driver training test today. Felt like 9 years ago when I had my proper driving test. I wasn't bricking it - just more thinking about what to tell everyone after I failed. Needless to say I passed ;-)
Was up in Forfar this weekend for Sarahs mum's 50th - was a really god night - I think - I had my works lunch and so was in the pub on Friday from 11.30am! Got another works lunch next week - It might be more alcoholically restrained this time though...
STILL haven't bought any bloody christmas pressies yet - me and Saz went uptown last weekend, got as far as the pub and didn't get much further - oops. Feeling a bit more christmassy this year than last year - the bloody freezing weather helps - oh and the Top of the pops christmas special - very sad.

I'm sure my last post has dissapeared into the ether but I cant remember if I actually typed anything or just dreamt it ;-) Speaking of dreams, my sister called me last week to tell me she had dreamt that I'd been killed in a car accident - today I was uptown and seriously, nearly fell infront of a car - not really spooky but I got a shock! Was in Wales last weekend doing some work for my dad. Met up with my Cuz in Bristol which was cool. Got the tour of Bristol - really nice city.
Got my DVD player from Saz for my birthday today. We're planning on having a massive DVD fest and not leaving the house for a while. Not much else going down. Cant believe it's December tomorrow. I got my first full pay since February yesterday. It's wierd having money - I've got bugger all to spend it on!

Notes from my death bed...
Feeling TOTALLY shite right now. Had a few days off work with the worst Flu I've ever had. Thought I was getting better but last night my ear was killing me. Went to the hospital to find out that I have an infection in both ears and tonsilitus to boot!
Och well - I may aswell get it all out the way at the same time.
Was up north last week for my birthday (thanks for the pressies - you know who you aren't!). Met up with Al before he left to go on his travels. Had a wicked night out on my birthday - very spooky!
Got to go and find some extra strong pills empty my bowl of mucus now... :-)

Decided that we were going to have an adrenalin coaster-tastic weekend and so hopped in the car to go to Blackpool Pleasure beach and Alton towers. I wasn’t sure what to expect but Blackpool is twice as kitsch as I could possibly have hoped! Stayed in a Lurvely B&B in Blackpool which only stung us £20 pppn – with 5 of us in a tiny room! Anyway, we came for that coasters and weren’t disappointed at all.
Had a mere 11 hour stint in the park before calling it a day.
On Sunday we left super early to drive to Alton. The branches bounding off the car on the M6 and the countless fallen trees in the middle of the road should have been indicator enough that things weren’t as favorable as they might have been. Regardless, we braved the roads and ended up there to find that the park was shut for the 1st time EVER in it’s history – sods law eh?! Still worth it though - we'll be back!

Well - Miracle upon miracles happened this week when I finally landed ma sel' a joab with THESE guys.
Going well so far. Bit of a shock to the system getting up before midday and I'm suffering from countdown withdrawl symptoms...

Was up in Forfar this weekend. Rather drunken shenanegans. Sarah's car exploded on Friday. The engine started making massive clunking noises - not healthy. Got the AA out and its in the garage @ the mo. The wedding last weekend was brilliant. Good to catch up with my Cuz's again. Did a bloody stupid thing yesterday - spilt an entire bottle of IrnBru on my laptop - which promptly started making loud buzzing noises and cutting out. Had to take it to about 4000 pieces and wash it. It's never worked so well tho...

Staying @ Dunc's house at the mo while they're off on holiday. Managed to block their sink and bizarrely enough had a shower with lentils swimming around my feet - I smelt GREAT! Sorry D :-( Off to London this weekend - got my Cuz's wedding. t'll be good to see everyone again.

Dunc showed me a brilliant web site the other day. The Internet Archive. They've been downloading web pages since 1996 and archiving them. My personal favourite is "A look at the fascinating world of antiques and what they're worth" from The Press and Journal. Shows you just how rubbish the Net used to be!

Sarah has just bought her Aunties car. It's in really good condition. No doubt you'll see her about in it - it isn't very subtle!

Today is a very sad day....I finally have to bid a fond farewell to the trainers that I have worn for nearly two years and that have taken me round the world - Twice! Mind you - it was only a matter of time before environmental health came round and removed them for me.

Long Long time since last update........Back in the UK

Living in Edinburgh @ the mo.

Looking for a job. Sarah has got her old job back so I'm a kept man for the mo - wich I don't totally mind!

Spend most of my time doing festival stuff and walking the streets right now. Thats what unemplyed people do isn't it?!

Had another great day in HK. Been to a temple and Sarah got her fortune read - freaked her out a bit!! Time is moving really quick - taken heaps of photos - quite good because we can't remember what we've been doing...catching the plane @ 11 tonight. Really excited now. See ya soon...F&S.

HK is ace :-) We're staying in Kowloon - across the harbour from Hong Kong island. Spent yesterday looking around - I dragged Sarah to the space museum. There were heaps of cool rides but I was 2 heavy (fat) to get on 'em. Got an ace photo of Sarah in a 0 gravity simulator! Caught the ferry to Hong Kong island today. Went up the highest peak for more photos. V smoggy - as you'd kinda expect. Then we went to Ripleys believe it or not Oddotorium - which was cheesy but kinda cool. Then off to Madamme Tussaud's for more photos of me with Elle and Naomi - you got to really ;-) It's getting dark here now and we're in the centre of town - the lights are amazing. Photo time again. Hope you don't mind Dad but I've got about 20 spools for you to develop when I get home! Can't believe we are leaving tomorrow!!! See you soon...

Hong Kong

Back in Bangkok yet again! Flying out tomorrow. Had the best week ever down south. Caught the sleeper to Surat Thani then the Ferry over to Koh Samui. Got totally ripped off getting our taxi there but found a beaut quiet place to stay and chill out. Beach bungalow right on the beach. Got totally burnt one day. The Malaria tablets we're taking makes you really photo sensitive so you burn really easy. Every night we sat on our balcony and watched the thunder storms roll in. After a couple of days it was off to Ko Pha Ngan. Full moon party was yesterday. Absolutly amazing! The atmosphere of 6000 odd people dancing on the beach and watching the sun come up was once in a lifetime experience. Check HERE for photos and stuff. We stayed until 7 in the morning then made our way home to pack, catch the ferry and then the sleeper back here. Needless to say after 2 days of no sleep I was a bit wrecked but made up for it last night and feeling much better now. Really sad to be leaving but it's not too far to cme back - any one fancy a holiday later in the year? Anyway, off to Hong Kong tomorrow. Looking forward to it but it'll be wierd coming home so soon - well it feels soon anyway. Rambling now - gotta go. C ya.

Back in Bangkok again. Just got the last of our money cahsed so it's penny watching time until we get home. Had a great time in Kanchanauri. Sarah and I managed to end up in a Brothel - completely by accident you understand. didn't realise until the staff kept walking past in towels and offering us "Marhi Joahna" - Whatever that is! :-)

In Kanchanaburi. It's beautiful here. Had a great time in Chaing Mai. Rained a lot so no trekking (this time!). Kanchanaburi is on the river Kwai (as in Bridge over). Went to Erewan falls today. 7 tiers of cascading waterfalls that you take your pick of and lounge about under for a swim. I managed to fall arse over tit and land in one. Only bruised my pride though - oh and my legs and head!!!
Going to the bridge (as in the Bridge over) tomorrow. Then it's back to the 'kok and down to KoPha-ngan for a wee bit. Can't wait.

Where do I start? It's only been a week but we've done shit-loads!
Had a great couple of days in Singapore. Had brilliant - if not a bit humid - weather. Went out to Sentosa island for the day and did the Night Safari which was excellent. Just a nice couple of days chilling before.....
...landing in Bangkok! This place is unreal! We were staying just off KohSahn Road - think the beginning of "The Beach" cos it was set here. Pretty full on but really good fun. Just about everyone tries to rip you off. We were told in the Airport that if we left our bags in the lockers then they couldn't gurantee the ll our valuables wouldn't get nicked - this is in the airport! Then the Taxi tried to rip us off and we continued on from there! It's good fun tho. Had a couple of nights in Auttayha, full of temples. Hired a 100cc bike to take me and Saz around. I haven't been on a bike for years and this isn't the best place to learn. Traffic on the wrong side of the road/pavement, everyone undertaking, chickens, dogs, etc. Between my closing my eyes and Sarahs screraming we managed to get through it and saw some amazing places - another 2 rolls of film!
Caught the night sleeper to Chaing Mai last night and thats where we are now. Going for a look about this arvo.
Catcha.

Chaing Mai

Leaving this afternoon. Went to the North Bondi RSL club (retired servicemans league) last night with Libby, Oli and flatmates so a little bit hungover today. Just finished re-repacking - there is still heaps of shit to carry :-) We should have left it in NZ. Hopefully I can get over the sweats enough to make it to the airport - I'll be sleeping right through the flight tho!


Singapore

Back in Sydney again. Have had a great few days in Wollongong with my rellies and up to the Blue mountains with my Uncle. It's amazing up there. It was really cold - which made a change. Did a lot of walking - Sarah managed to pull her calf muscles on the "Giant Staircase", 879 steps down! Caught the steepest railway in the world back to the top which was well wierd....you start off horizontal sitting on a seat looking at the sky! Cant believe our Oz time is over already - it's been really cool. Me and Saz are gonna coming back though - save more money next time. We're flying to Singapore tomorrow. Got a few days there before we fly onto Bangkok. Cant wait.

Sydney

In Byron Bay. V nice but the weather has turned to shite - it feels just like Scotland today!
Apart from that it's really nice here. Went to Dreamworld - was ceeewlll. Have now been on the Tallest, Fastest freefall ride in the world. Of course me & Saz had to go on every bloody roller coaster - twice. We both had roller coaster neck the following day :-)
Catching the bus back to Sydney tonight - a mere 12 hour jaunt. Getting the bus hasn't been as bad as you might think - I'm totally glad that we won't be doing it again tho - flying everywhere next time.

Having a great time here in Brizzy. Job prospects look pretty bleak but don't care amy more! We've decided to leave Oz a bity early and head onto Singapore in a week or 2. As soon as we planned it, Sarah started jumping around singing the lyrics to the Game of Life and swinging round lamp posts! (I think she was happy :-)
Went to the Castlemaine XXXX brewery tour this morning. Really interesting. Did you know....ahemm...there are 12 fermentation tanks and if you drank 6 beers a day it would take over 500 years to drink the contents of one of 'em. 2 million litres of beer a day - 4600 stubbies of beer every minute - and best of all - 4 free beers when you're finished!
Maybe going to Dreamworld on Friday - on our way back to Sydney - can't wait.

Had a great time at the Casino. We spent at least 2 hours just walking around it. theres an amazing lazer show and the fountains catch fire every hour (see pik). v Cool. Went to the Melbourne Museum and the IMAX last night - we've been before but were still well impressed. Nothing to report on the job front and we can't really affoard to spend another week here without earning so it's on the road again - hopefully to Adelaide next...

Very lazy - and hung over day today. Somehow we managed to score tickets to the Comedy channel short film festival after show doo...can't remember much about it. Free drink and canapes all night. It's a total blurr now. I burnt my mouth on a piece of fried tofu - that's all I can remember! I'm sure you'll be glad to hear, it's totally pissing it down here today aswell. Going to the casino tonight - don't worry Mum, it's just to look!

Hows it going? We'll, the 17 hour bus journey to Melbourne wasn't too bad. They show films and stuff so the time passes quick enough. Melbourne is a Beaut of a city. We spent a couple of days here looking around the city. Caught a tram down to the beach at St Kilda and walked round the Botanical gardens. We came across a group of trees with hundreds of what we thought were huge birds. When we got closer though we saw that they were bats - the size of a large dog! Needless to saw Sarah was most freaked out. She's hates all the new beasties here - and theres a lot of 'em. We went to Phillip island for the weekend. Really nice place. They've got a park on the island where you can go and feed Kangaroos and Koalas - pretty cool. Caught the train back last night and currently looking for jobs :-( Really hot at the mo - 33 degrees yesterday. If work here doesn't happen soon we'll probably head of west and do some friut picking. Hard work but it's pretty much guranateed at this time of year and we need the cash. C ya.

Last day in Wollongong today. Catching the bus to Melbourne (17 hours!!!). Repacked our ruck sacks and left about 30 kilos of underwear and jumpers behind at my uncles house. Really looking forward to being on the road again...

Tried Boogey boarding today @ Bondi. After drinking a lot of sea water and nearly snapping my back in half, I think you could say that I'm not a natural - It's really good fun tho so gotta stick at it...

By Popular demand....Sarahs Hairah....

Cable Skiing was ace. It's like a lake with a ski-lift type tow running all the way round. Just sit in the water and hang on - We're all totally paying for it today tho! In the pikkie is Libby (in the water), Oli, Miles and Sarah (obviously not wanting her photo taken...

Hi. Back with Libby now in Bondi. Had a good look round "the gong". We've been looking around the city (Opera House from the Sydney Harbour bridge - right). It's really wierd seeing the Opera house - it's a lot smaller than I thought it was going to be - v cool tho. Weather is really nice - not too hot and the humidity is heaps lower than NZ. Me and Saz are trying to plan our route around Oz right now. Think we're gonna bus/train it. You can get a car quite cheap but I know pretty much bugger all about cars and you don't want to break down in the middle of nowhere...off cable skiing tomorrow - can't wait...

G'Day. Well finally in Oz! spent the first few days with my cuz Libby in Bondi, Sydney. Really nice place. Just arrived at my uncles place in wollongong last night. We're still kinda finding our feet. Not sure what the long term plan (i.e. next week) involves but it's gonna be fun. Turned up in Sydney just in time for the Gay Mardi Gras. It was a good laff. Half a million people so it was rather bizee. We left just after Harry Potters Queerdich match! Not much else to report so far. Sarah is the big 2 - 7 tomorrow. I think she's going to have a reverse birthday this year so that I can catch her up. C ya l8r.

Yo. Pikkies still not working yet? I'm told it'll spring into life any day now. Anyway. Still in NZ. Starting to pack - it's crazy how much stuff you can accumulate in a year. Me and Saz have spent most if today chucking out a heap of stuff. She's got her Birthday coming up so she's had her hair braided - full dreads with extensions etc.....looks V cewl. Really hot here today - about 27 degrees. Dont know how we're going to cope in Sydney.....Catcha.

Got my last day of work today. Still got a few days left to sort stuf out then it's off to Oz on Friday. Pikkie on the left was taken on my walk to work this morning.

Sold the van yesterday. Amazingly made $400 profit on it - who said you always loose money on a vehicle?! Still working away - got another week added onto my contract. Looking forward to Oz. 1 1/2 weeks and counting...

Just had a brilliant weekend. We're selling the van soon so it was kinda our last chance to get away. Went to Taupo on Sat and decided that I was going to do a Sky Dive. Amazing! A 12tho Ft jump above the lake with 45 seconds of freefall - I was screaming all the way! Can't explain how exilerating it was. Sarah did her Zorbing that she's been talking about doing since we got here. She really enjoyed it. Now into my last week of work and then it'll be time to think about leaving NZ. Catcha.

Went up to the Far north this weekend. Spent a night round the Bay of Islands. Went to Waitangi and saw the Treaty House. We've got a holiday on Wednesday (Waitangi Day) so it's good to find out what it's all about. Spent a night on 90 mile beach (as far north as we've been). Me and Saz were swimming in the surf - really warm water. Spent Sunday driving back to Auck. Really cool area - photos comin'!.

Fiji Photos...
Click for a big 'un

Local holiday here in Auckland today but still working hard. Trying to get as much cash together for Oz as Possible. Went to the Starlight Symphony this weekend. V cool - Sarah thought the Laser show was Naff tho :-( I was well impressed - no surprises there then.

Still working for the Insurance company. Got some photos scanned so I'll upload 'em soon. Sarah has got a job now working downtown. She used the time off to improve her cooking -she can now make Scones! I was V impressed :-) (She'll kill me if she reads this!)

Watcha. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. If you got my rather cryptic mail then I apologise for that and blame Hotmail. Had a great Xmas - a wee bit different from normal. Had our Barbie and all that. Spent about 3 weeks touring about in the Van making the best of the weather (v hot) and our unemployment. Went Black Water Rafting which was brilliant fun. I'm working right now for an insurance company in Auckland. Sarah is still looking but she's working on her guitar technique in the mean time. Hope you're all doing ok. Catcha later.