Madrid

Damn I'm glad we ignored the Topdeck tour guides advice of "Nah- Theres nothing to see or do in Madrid". We got into town on Friday and went to check into our hostel. After some shenanigans of them being overbooked, they took us to our room. Needless to say we were a bit surprised when the walk to our room involved going down a 1910-style cage lift and being led out of their building, up the road and into another hostel on another street...

After we got sorted, he headed out for a stroll around town. There was a piazza (large paved communal area) at every other main road intersection, and there were about 8 blocks of terraces or one-way streets lined with vendors, pubs and restaurants behind our hostel. Come dinner time (about 7pm onwards we found) the entire district just erupts with people- Tables appear from no where and fill the piazzas, cocktail bars get wheeled out and salesmen spruiking their restaurants try to grab every passer by's arm. It was a bit of a change from 4pm when the entire town was asleep! We headed to the meeting point of the Madrid pub crawl, but after 10 mins we decided they took too long to get organised and we were parched as bro, so we shot through to get our own brews. Cinco cerveza grandes later, my wallet was $30 lighter and we were on our way to pub crawlery. We all wanted a quiet one, so including delis, we only racked up about 8 pubs.

The next day we took 2 hours to do the shower runs in our 5-bed room with en suite... No, one shower is not enough. On the road by 1pm my first stop was the cop shop to get a report done for my stolen camera. While in there I spoke to a bloke that just got mugged in the piazza we were in about 30 mins before- we were probably right near him at the time! 2 hours later, that was done and dusted and I met the guys who were having some breakfast cervezas ($1 for a 500mL can) in a park. I can tell how long they were there by the number of Sepia shots lyn had taken of pigeons. This made us miss the walking tour, so we contracted the services of Marco to be tour guide for us. A few statues into the tour de Real Madrid Espectacularro, we hit the Palace de Madrid which was more elaborate than buckingham palace! Being the tight arse "students" we are (or so our discount cards say) We didn't want to pay entry. We discovered the gift shop at the end of the palace, and asked to go in there. We promised the armed guards at the metal detectors and x-ray scanners we would only be buying a gift, and as discretely as a bunch of white aussies in a tanned country can be, we bolted to the back door and pushed through into the palace. Some 50 horse statues and a crypt or 2 later we were statued out, and made our way back home for a siesta and then to actually participate in the pub crawl.


We grabbed a paella on the way back home, hoping to get a more authentic one than we had in Valencia. Actually... we would have been happy with almost anything so long as it was served in a wok/steamboat. What came out was unexpected... We only had the option of pre-peeled seafood (?) so the options went from many to 1. When they came out they all looked identical, and were pretty flavourless. When I went to go pay the bill I saw it: an industrial Paella cooker. I've found out now that its like getting a slush puppy machine in your deli- You buy the system. The advertising, the ingredients, the process... you basically add the pre-prepped ingredients, put in the paella oven (a heating element) and get a ding when its ready. I was wondering how one bloke managed to wait on 20 odd tables in our piazza, serve the bar, cook the food and do payments. I just thought he had 4 twin brothers in the kitchen and they wore the same clothed because they bought in bulk or something.

The Holy Grail

Our small army assembled and not long after we were on the road to the holy grail. Its paved in cobblestones, has an underground car park to the side and ends in this cathedral. Went for a stroll through the place and saw all sorts of wierd stuff- A blokes arm in a box, a head in a box, statues of angels driving spikes through decapitated heads, Angels waving more decapitated heads, a 16th century canvas of a bloke alive and getting gutted while his entrails were wrapped around a roller someone was turning. Apparently early day missionaries had a pretty hard life. It was wierd seeing so much bling in this place- It was almost on par with the crown jewels display. Im told there was more before, but the silver altar was smelted to make coins to fund the Spanish civil war.

All the gore made us kinda hungry so we shot next door for some tapas- 20 euro for 20 selections which was awesome. The beers though... me and matt lost them in our hands they were that small. We had a boat cruise at 4 to get to so shot through shortly after to the port to meet up with Brad and Teresa.

We jumped onto a a huge 170-person catamaran about 4:30pm and slowly made our way out past the remains of the F1 podiums and track side entertainment and into the Mediterrenean. The water was pretty calm and we pretty much just spent the whole time lazing in the sun on the tarpaulins up front of the Cat chatting to other backpackers. We dropped anchor a while later a few hundred metres offf shore and went for a dip- It was surprising just how warm the water was compared to the indian ocean. I think we all regretted not investing in that inflatable octopus with drink holders after we were treading water and chatting for 30 mins though. It was a pretty awesome cruise hey- cold beers, warm sea and an awesome view of Valencia shrouded by the mountains in the background.

In the arvo we Left Matt and Marco at the hotel and hit the Valencia Oceanogrfico centre with Brad and Teresa. We had been recommended to see a $20 dolphin show- I got told they are fascinating and pretty. Wow- with a price and review like that... We got in about 9pm and found the place closes at midnight (haha.. the first benefit to a country that sleeps during the day) I heard there were pubs inside too so I was sorted. Inside it was pretty similar to underwater world, but many more exhibits. As soon as we got down to the underground tunnel we saw huge 1m wide crabs that grow up to 3.7m getting tangled in coral, the biggest eels I have ever seen and more marine life than you can poke a stick at (or see on the menu at Kailis). We headed into the dolphin show after a bit and werent sure what to expect. When a drum crew rocked up sporting glow in the dark sticks I got a little interested, then the laser show started, along with gas explosions in time with the drumming, and dolphin trainers getting flung a good 12 feet out of the water by dolphins. Yeah- it was pretty worthwhile. Come midnight the huge fireworks show went for a good 15 minutes and topped the night nicely. We left contemplating starting our own aquarium centre and charging people entry, then serving up the displays that night.

The night before we had a bender Spain-style. That is: cheap booze with a side of lunch, tapas, tapas, dinner, tapas, tapas, bed. The pubs near Bradlo's hotel, which is in the University district all have 3x beers for $1! We tried for a pyramid of empties between the group of us (Me, Lyn, Brad, Teresa, Michael, Lee, Matt, Marco, Wilko) but the waitress kept cleaning em before we overfilled the table. Somehow that night we: Celebrated a 21st birthday with Loiuse, Jumped in on a Pub Crawl, Joined with a birthday group with Bar cards, Hit 2 cocktail bars, 5 pubs, a few discotechas ("nightclubs" are brothels) and found a bar that has a beer font at each table. Best night out in a while, and almost every person we ran into spoke english and still had some tomato in their hair haha.

Next morning we caught a sleep in, got sorted (stole tabasco and toiletries from the hotel) and jumped a traino from Valencia to Madrid. I thought the hotel caught on that there were 3 blokes staying in wilko's room when he went to cheeck out and they demanded he pay for another night, but no- turns out they just cant count to 4 nights accommodation, and we were in the clear. Matt n Marco say thanks for the free feed and board.

2 hours left of the train ride... At the moment we are cruising through a pretty barren landscape- The tallest things are the wind farms scattered here and there, then its just little shrubs. It kinda reminds me of the wheatbelt in summer but its not as flat here and the kangaroos have been replaced with olive trees.

La Tomatina!

We squeezed into the hotel restaurant for brekkie, had a quick briefing on what to expect and jumped straight onto the bus with our change of clothes and no real idea of what was to come. When the coach got into Bunol, we started our hike into town along with the other 500 topdeck tour punters to join the other 40,000 strong. We followed the crowd down narrow winding streets, between huge crumbling retaining walls and above parks at the bottom of cliffs. About a 30 minute walk later the crowds were packed tight.After a while of trying to figure out what was going on we saw the greased post in the background and the huge ham hanging from it up top. There was a mass of bodies piling at the bottom making a human pyramid desperately trying to get to the top. This went on for about an hour where they would get half way up the post, then the lard on the post would get the better of them and everyone would all come tumbling down in one well lube mess.

The crowd started the festivities early, flinging cups of water, sangria and beer around everywhere. At least it was a welcome change from the warm cups of what Im still telling myself was beer in the Reading pit.We were pretty far away from the post at this stage and wilko couldnt see so we trekked down a backstreet and came at it from the back. As we got close to the post from the other side of town we were introduced to another tradition- Rooftop water bucket snipers. When you least expect it, 10kg of water crashes down on you. I swear Spaniards refrigerate their mains water supplies. This stuff was freezing.Before too long horns fired up about 100m away from us and the trucks were on their way. It was a very slow progression of what looked pretty cool until it got close. It was a large dump truck, with about 12 people in the tray of each truck, and they were there for one thing- to spew tomatoes on the crowd. As the trucks pushed throught the tightly packed crowd in the street, we all got pelted with tomatoes all over. As a truck moved past there was barely room to bend over, pick up tomatoes and peg them around the place. After what seemed like half an hour of getting hit in the ear, face, eyes, stomach and everything around you had turned to red mush and your eyes were still blurred from tomato seeds there was another truck honking its way through the crowd and you needed to put your head down to protect your neck and eyes as the psychos on the truck tried to take your head ooff with fresh rocks. Or maybe they were actually tomatoes.

By the third truck the novelty was over and it was war. The crazy local man that was scooping buckets of tomato puree and dirty water off the street and dumping it on girls was getting pelted back, The snipers and their icy buckets of water were targets for all, and anyone with goggles or anything not red was a bullseye. If you saw something green in the air, you had better duck, because as wilko found out it draws blood. Wilko went to shelter in a back alley when he couldnt see from loss of blood, thanks to the help of a couple of local girls that ccouldnt speak a word of english. I found him well hidden from the tomato soup street, up an alley and around the corner. I couldnt figure out why he was that far out until the chick standing next to me copped one to the sternum and it knocked the wind out of her.

A bit later in the fight I went to grab a happy snap of a 5th truck coming through, and a guy slapped my camera out of my hand. It flew about 2m, hit another bloke then the floor. A few seconds later when I got to where it hit, it was nowhere to be found. Then the cash I brought and stashed in my bag in the bus dissapeared.. That aside, what a ridiculous day and i'd probly do it again. I dont know if the ham actually ended up getting knocked off the greased up post- Traditionally the tomatoes are thrown after it comes down, but the council now sends out the trucks when the streets are packed up. I saw guys still trying after the fifth truck of tomato devastation ambled past, but still no luck! Rumor has it about an hour after the fight finished some tourists were touching the ham, and a local climbed up their backs and whipped it off.

Stories are still coming out about houses getting raided by drunken punters bashing in doors, t-shirts being used as ammunition, someone falling off a balcony and breaking their arm, locals ripping off every other chick's top and all sorts of other stuff... Seems the clowns at the opposite end from us let loose coz they had no tomatos to keep them occupied. Glad we hit that alley and scouted around!

Being the Culturally embracing people we are (We had full english breakfasts each and every day we were in England) We have learnt some phrases:Hola! Hablo Ingles? No? Adios! and one that would have come in handy for wilko today: Llame a un doctor!We havent bothered memorising this one: "a que hora cierran?" (What time does it close) as NOTHING IS EVER OPEN IN THIS COUNTRY. We walked up streets today again in Valencia and they still all have rollershutters down.

Thanks to the little grandma that held her garden hose on us for 20 mins to get the seeds out of our hair.. Now I just have to wash my clothes and shoes 10 times to get that awful smell out. No spaghetti bolognese for me for a while i think. Anyway... into the shower then siesta, then the $3.50 carton I just got at the local supermarket, followed by a Tapas bar: plate of tapas, 3 beers for 1 Euro.Adios! (that means send me some money)

Spain - Day 1

Got into spain and its been pretty sweet. We all finished checking into the hotel about 10pm last night, then wilko met some mates from perth as they were checking into the room next to him. We headed out for dinner about 11pm and the midnight pizzas went down well. New spanish words learned: Hola! cinco cerveza? Gracias.

Headed out today after a sleep in, got lost in the deconstruction site that was the F1 race track a few days ago- walked through pit lane completely lost looking for Brad and Teresa while dodging fork trucks, reversing semis and trying to look like the 5 of us all worked there.... Finally met up at a corner pub and went for a stroll around Valencia. I dont understand this town... is it in shutdown or what? No shops are open, save a few pubs, cafes and shops. The vast majority are sealed shut. Fair enough the siestas here, but this is a joke!

We found a tourist strip on the beach front that was open, cranked a few beeros and did the spanish paella thing. Lyn questioned the $80 bill when a coffee appeared on there we didnt order... Turns out we got the wrong bill. The waiter came back with our correct one for $121. doh. After a decent feed we strolled off for a float in the Mediterrenean- Big contrast from the beaches at home. the sand seems volcanic- its sparkly and dark. The water is so shallow and warm it was bizarre. We spent about an hour waiting for the next set of waves to roll in... It never came. Barrels? haha no. We walked out a good 100m into shoulder deep water, then headed back after the only foaming we saw was in our beers that morning.

Time to check in for the tomatina tour group in about 10 mins... Speaking with a taxi driver last night (who knew about 3 english words) he did a bit of a dance to warn us that the tomato juice from the fight is quite acidic and will aggravate your eyes. He recommended we wear eye protection. I still dont know how he said this in 3 words... maybe he studies interpretive dance or something. Lyn scored a nice set of kids goggles from the el cheapo store over the road so she should be sorted. Also picked up a tub of washing powder and did a hand wash after an hour of unsuccessful Laundria searching. Yeah you can guess how that came out.... Im not retiring to the river ganges thats for sure, and now the bath tub is full of reading mud and grass.

Reading Festival

So its been 3 days since me and Lynda have had showers... Usually I dont share my sketchy hygeine info with others, but Im finally sitting in a hotel room in Spain and Im only minutes from a shower and shave and im amped.

This morning when we woke in the oval that has been our home the past few days, the smell of burning tents was so strong in the air (people torch their gear to not have to carry it home) we were hanging out to strike camp and get everything packed up so showers weren't on the list of priorities. Still covered in mud and after waking up in yesterdays clothes, we packed as quick as 3 scattered monkeys could, did the runs of all our camp gear to good sammies and bolted from the venue. After another bum steer from security, we found ourselves lost in streams of concert goers looking tired and sore searching the town of Reading for the train station. The National rail misfired again by sending an 8 car train to the 80,000 strong concert goers with 3 First class coaches and threatened fines to anyone sitting in the first class seats. I actually got to sit on the floor this ride around so was i pretty happy.
Reading festival was awesome! The incredible bands just kept coming day after day. Slipknot cancelled and was replaced by a local act I'd never heard of (not happy) and there was another band that was struck from the lineup too. When I was interviewed by the BBC I let them know my dissaproval.

Not a comprehensive list, but most of the ones I saw as I recall them: Anti-Flag, Rage against the machine, Metallica, Pendulum, Dropkick murphys, mxpx, Pennywise, Less than Jake, Tiger Army, Dirty Pretty Things, The killers, Bloc Party, Raconteurs, Serj Tankian, Queens of the stone age, Dizzeee Rascal, Taking back sunday, Tenacious D, Feeder, The ting tings, sea sick steve, The music... damn ill stop, Thats about half of em. I missed Jus+ice and Manic Street Preachers- about the only things I regret.
Friday we got rockin for the first day. Headed out to get lunch and all the other supplies we forgot (Wellies, wilko's bed roll, more beers, some cutlery...) by the time we got back to camp there were even more people setup around our tent. Said a quick g'day, had lunch and headed into the pit for some tunes. Ended the day with Queens and Rage- The rage crew drew a bit of attention launching into the set dressed as gitmo detainees, and Zach fired up with a bit of a speil about tony blair and the war for oil. Wilko got pick-pocketed during the RATM mosh and lost his wallet (both me and tom felt people in our back pockets but moved our wallets). We found it handed in to security at the end of the day though, minus credit cards and a few hundred pounds. While looking for the wallet we also ran into Tom Seeber- glad to hear he made it and caught rage.

Saturday came around and we shot off to town to try and help wilko sort a replacement credit card. Thanks bankwest for the runaround- just what we needed. A few hours and some pricey phone calls later he had made alternate arrangements. A quick shower in the internet cafe and we were back into the tunes. At the end of the day we caught Bloc Party and Killers on the main stage. Half way through killers cannons of confetti fired and the entire place was filled in white paper snow for 10 mins- it looked pretty speccy. We ran into a good crowd including some aussies there and my night is kinda hazy after that. Lynda cashed in her effort at recycling beer cups and she made 4 pounds. wow.. all that cup collecting really paid off! I love the idea of that though- 10p refund per cup, so theres little kids (and lyn) running around all over the place like drunken bower birds on caffeine grabbing trash off the floor.

Some other highlights: When a punk band was replaced by the clowns that sing Hey there Delilah, bottles flew towards the stage and the fattest craziest circle pit I have ever seen fired up in protest. Seeing Pendulum and getting caught in a mosh heavier than any I have ever seen (It took me n lyn about 20 mins to push out 15m). My shoulders are still aching from carrying 20 odd kilo logs across the campsite instead of buying 5-pound chairs to sit on, If spain had a customs authority they would have had kittens over the amount of mud on my shoes from the mad cow paddock we had been living and wallowing in, I am only just getting over the DT's from such a fat weekend and my liver is pickled but damn Im keen on doing it again. Definately the top of the list though was the crew of strangers in the tents immediately around us. Cranking a camp fire, some brews and a chin wag topped each day nicely.

So for spain, I dont know what the better point is yet- The fact we are now in one place for 4 whole days or the point it creams the accommodation we have seen anywhere else. ooh... pink panther dubbed in spanish is on.... La Cheta rosa.

READING!

FINALLY!

made it into town, got to the gig, almost got denied entry by security because we didnt have tickets (we had to go inside to get our tickets) Got setup with the tent after a bit of a challenge, then got told to strike our tent and move because we would get stampeded in an evacuation. No probs... but there was no room left for us anywhere. After dark we were finally setup again and sorted out. A few beers with our neighbours and a short stroll later we crashed out.

It rained all night- we were woken up to the sound of squelching mud. Straight off to the local camping store for wellies and we should be all good now... 30 mins till the first band and its looking good.

Some surprises- There is booze a plenty in there- people walking in with 5 cartons sometimes (I'll be one of them soon), the toilets are like a plate of steel with holes in it suspended over a pool-sized septic tank- the sound of waterfalls from the surrounding 12 cubicles in each block is a nice distraction for your mind though. Would be nice if the doors had locks, or even closed. The night markets are pretty damn big- went for a quick stroll through and it was already pretty muddy. Me n wilko found a huge guitar hero bar- Thats getting a call up in a few hours I reckon.

Edinburgh - Reading

The 7-foot tall girl dressed in fluoro pink with pink hair and kiss style makeup is scaring me.We have just got off the train into Reading, UK for the festival and there is the fruit of the forest here. Lynda sorted important point #1: Can we bring booze into the camp grounds? The group of blokes she asked (each carrying 3-half cartons, or a "box" in UK-speak) laughed and walked off. thats good enough for me. Cant bring glass in though so she is off on a mission to get some placcy water bottles to hold our 2L of Dubai special.

So far the entire day has consisted of being in or waiting for transport. Had a close shave this morning with the plane from Edinburgh to London- we were told its a 1 hour bus ride from town to the AP- Its more like 1.5 hours. Which was cool coz we had the wrong time for our flights anyway- it was 40 mins later than our itinerary. Trip out on the bus: the Royal Scotland bank has its own bus station at their office. there was a queue of buses there on our way to the airport!
Edinburgh was awesome- the Fringe festival turned it on for us and we were into it like the free beer tap at u brew it. Jugglers, comedians, fire breathers, performance acts, live gigs, the works. The first day we got into town (back from Glasgow) wilksy was there to meet us at the bus station. Nice surprise hey- cheers man. We sorted accommodation and stuff, then headed out to meet elspeth at the omni centre for a few drinks. Cranked up a tapas for dinner- there wasnt enough room on the table for all the food! Started a boozer of a pub crawl from there and had an awesome night. In the end I think we got to 8 pubs. Fine form. This bloke is a local at wilksy's local- he comes through each night and get a pint for him and woof.

I heard Xavier Rudd was playing somewhere so we ducked out and got tickets. He was on at the Corn Exchange (wtf?) awesome gig though. We rocked up about 10 mins before he started up and he was straight into it. Every other person I spoke to there was an ausssie... No West Aussies though. Seems they are a rare breed here- everyone is from the east coast. After the gig it was straight back into the pubbing.

Hit a thrash metal pub- I had a good laugh when wilko asks the DJ after half an hour there "are you gonna play any english tunes?" the DJ just hands him the brochure- Every tuesday is Latino thrash metal night. We hit a few of Wilko's Locals, I got an introduction to the UK tabasco shots and sampled a pint of every beer on tap. Finished up in a pub the size of my bedroom with about 50 people crammed in.

Lyn and wilksy hit some comedy shows the next day- one involved gingers dropping their dacks and holding a bucket like a fig leaf for tips. I guess its the opposite of the Kalg tip jugs- you'd be paying this bloke to put his pants back on! Cranked a few beers at some pubs the rest of the night, had an early one though after the last nights bender so into bed by 1am. As soon as we were up the next morning it was public transport time. 1.5 hours on a bus, 1.5 hours at airport, 1.5 hours on a plane, 1 hour waiting for a train, 30 mins on a train... you get the idea- The train from London to Reading was a joke. It was so packed we were standing in a doorway the entire trip. Heres a pic of it:

Score... lyns back with shopping for food for reading and water bottles, Wilksy just walked past the pub im sitting in ... Its all go!!!

Edinburgh - Glasgow

Scotland- Day 1. We had been warned this place does nothing but rain, but we haven't seen it yet. Its pretty warm and sunny at the moment- about 25. Everywhere we go that little bankwest logo is following us. Must be the reward for the fees he's charging on my account.

Leaving London this morning was a pain in the arse. 6:50am flight meant a 3am wake up and then almost 2 hours of shenanigans with buses (The tube only starts at 5:30am). We opted for a $120 cab ride which came free with an extra 1.5 hours sleep. Good plan, but at 3:30am there was some clown yelling and kicking an empty can around for 30 mins in the alley below us that woke half the inn up- I crapped myself thinking it was the cabbie rocking up an hour early and was wide awake. Turns out it was a drunk Italian tourist that forgot his hostel swipe card, but I couldn't get back to sleep and ended up missing the $120 sleep in we paid for. I spent the next hour thinking of what I could throw at him from the window instead. I settled with the plastic chair in the room, but it didn't fit out the window.

Flew Easy Jet to Edinburgh- Pretty cool. Comfy seats, no leg room, no service or entertainment without an extra charge. Enter the ipod. I crashed out with a smile on my dial listening to Death cab for cutie in a pool of sunshine with a nice breeze blowing. Got into Edinburgh, went to call Wilksy and Elspeth but wilko gave us a bum steer with his mobile number and Lyn had lost Elspeth's number. Hiked through the city streets as the town slowly woke up on a Sunday morning and within a few hours the empty streets were packed with markets, street performers, musicians, magicians, peddlers and crowds. The first act we heard was bagpipes on a street corner in Scotland. Fitting.

After a few hours of the fringe festival markets, hecklers, performers and sideshows we hit the bus station and jumped the 14:15 bus to Glasgow. Their buses have free wifi on them! awesome. It was 6 pounds each for 1.5 hours wifi. Decent deal, AND we got a ride to Glasgow haha. I'm tripped out by the number of Ginger Ninjas in Scotland- Its scary. I swear I saw a GM ginger today- His arms were the size of my legs and he was almost a foot taller than me. Daywalker mercenary maybe. One hard ginger nut. A giant carrot top.

Got to the Euro hostel in Glasgow, it was all looking good- spoke the the chicks behind the counter and they gave me some free bar money, then we head up to the room. Officially the first time this trip we have been dished out a double bed to share. The booking says twin single ensuite.. somehow that is now double ensuite and all 10 odd floors of this place are at capacity. Looks like its a heads and tails effort.

Tomorrow: A sighting at Loch ness: more gingers. Now: back into the 90 pence pints of Fosters

London

London peak hour in a train isn't too awesome. London peak hour in a train humping a 20kg backpack is pretty cool though. The blokes in suits that were bouncing off my backpack might disagree though.

We left Brunei pretty uneventfully- Picked up Lyns camera from lost n found, got through security and all and got into the departure lounge. Met yet another aussie doing the same as us- a few days in London, then reading, then tomatina festival- Popular itinerary.

Got into Dubai half asleep with a 30 min refueling stopover but managed to bolt to the duty free emporium there and score a few litres of top shelf spirits for $40- not bad for a dry country. From there is was back onto the plane and land at Heathrow at 6am. We couldn't check into the hostel until 2pm so figured we'd burn a few hours bumming around the airport. Bad move- we forgot other people are working and use public transport to get to work. By about the third station the train was pretty full. By the 7th station people were almost standing on my bag. I thought Perth was bad for people pushing in your way... London is worse both on the streets and on the pavement.

The first day we jumped on a bus/river tour of the city and sleep-walked through after being awake for 30-odd hours. It was pretty relaxing and gave a nice run through of the city. Saw most of the sights from the bus- Shakespeare theater, Leicester square, the gardens, tower, eye, wobbly bridge.. got lunch/Dinner in Greenwich meandered back to the hostel. The day after we fired up a free walking tour- Awesome value, and a good laugh. We met up with a high school mate of Lyn's in the arvo and hit the same company's pub crawl. Also pretty decent- cheap drinks, shooters, and a good crew to boot. Finally got to see the walkabout- awesome place (till the air con was shutdown and the YMCA started pumping...) Cheers to the blokes from Jersey that led us back to London Bridge come closing time- We all would have been hiking the wrong way up the Thames otherwise.


Pretty late start today after the pub crawl, Me n Lyn hit 5 pubs with the crawl group, and another 4 during the day- Solid effort for 2 non-drinkers I reckon. I hate to say it, but I'm actually getting used to fosters and marmite. WTF? Another thing to note is that both these items are easily available from the local supermarket. They used to have the same appeal to me as bonox and the coopers 0% beer in woolies, but I'm changing my tune slowly. To marmite and fosters that is, I haven't completely lost it yet.


After the sleep in we hit the Tower of London - That's the big castle in the middle of town that has been constantly added to since 1078. Its large. Saw some rocks (crown jewels), some sticks (jousting) and some poms (beef eaters). Again, our awesome timing and weather couldn't have been better- it got us front row at the jousting and straight into a tour of the place. No rain at all here so far, which I'm told is a miracle as its been hammering down the past few weeks, but stopped as soon as we got into town.

Probably should have done more to organise this plane trip tomorrow (We fly to Edinburgh at 6am from one of the 3 London airports) meh... I hope the trains are running at 3:30am.

oh yeah.. went to Tate modern and blew a few hours there.
I don't know how to describe it. Maybe akin to scattering kids paintings through a house under construction that has homeless bums living in it. Seriously, I shit you not- there is: a pile of bricks, A painted canvas with a stripe on it, a hessian sack with blood-soaked canvas (I hate emos) stuck on it, and steel tiles on the floor all on display. Its so mind numbingly incredible. There were some great things in there but bloody hell a mouth-painting dolphin with an amputated dorsal fin could do better than most of that crap.

Hot n Humid Brunei

Well its day 3, and we have only been ripped off 2 times. We are winning this game! Ripped off count: 2. The latest casualty was actually our new friend that we met in the hostel.... We walked through a market place to buy some fruit. We thought we were pretty clued up on what was what after our star tour guide taught us about 20 new types of fruit last night. Well with all our memories combined... we still got ripped off. Some guy had red pomegranate seeds in a cucumber looking fruit and we had never seen this one before, so had to try it. We bargained him down to $1 for a kilo then walked out, cracked open our yummy new fruit - it was a vegetable, and there was no sign of red pomegranate bits on the inside. It was a fraudulent fruit! And it smelled so awful. Needless to day, we didn't even try it - they all went in the bin. Lucky food is so cheap here. I'm about to have a sweet corn icy pole for about 30c.

Breakfasts here are interesting too. They only cost about $2-3 and you basically eat a Hahns meal. I think Hans should open for breakfast - and drop their prices. Really, $8 for a meal is way too expensive. We could go to Brunei, and eat for $3. I have been putting chili Sambal on food here. The chili is really mild - so even softies like me can eat lots of chili. Maybe cos they know we are westerners - they tone it down...

we went on a boat cruise yesterday. The boat was more like a flash wooden dingy. It was so cool! We went to check out the village set on stilts. Now that is a wicked concept. all along the river Families live in wooden houses built on wooden stilts. They have electricity, fresh water, sewerage and telephone. Its awesome. However the quality of the wiring is something to be left to the imagination. Every few months, houses burn down = to the point where they have this huge fire station built on the water. Let me say, that I would not be surprised if the cause of the fires is due to electrical fault. Once a house burns down, they can not rebuild on the same site, so the government puts them up in accommodation somewhere, until a new house can be built for them. The new places are small in comparison to the old wooden homes. We had afternoon tea in one home that had 7 bedrooms, and 1 bathroom. The new places are only 3x2's. However they are much cleaner, made of concrete, not wood, and the paths between the houses are also made of concrete Not rickety wooden slats - some of which are missing, or about to break.

When we were at the new section, we met a local who was in a motor bike accident. He was riding his motor bike when a bus hit him (and ran over him), a car then ran over him after that. He broke his arm, pelvis, jaw and skull. He was in a coma for 3 weeks and obviously required neurosurgery!! Guess where this was managed... Brunei and Malaysia. He spent time in the Brunei ICU, however they became full, so they transferred him to Malaysia hospital. This kid is now well, and intends to return to his job of working at the palace again. Wow! For a town of 60,000 people, and a country with 400,000 I find that truly amazing!

Part of this tour, and what the Brunei people call the highlight of Brunei, is finding the Proboscis monkey. This is a crazy money with a huge nose. We couldn't actually see the monkey's nose - even with my glasses on, as the monkeys were high in the trees of the jungle. After lots of searching, we found the allusive proboscis monkey family. There were 2 babies, and a couple of others. It is sad to say, but i was far more interested in this massive lizard that was next to our boat. he was moving really slowly, and our guide said he was lazy cos they normally move fast. After a few minutes, the lizard reared up and started dancing... then power spewed his dinner around the floor. It looked like he either ate baby mud crabs (which were everywhere) or a massive spider. As much as I really think it was a massive spider, I'll hope it was a mud crab....

Later that night, we went to another night market for dinner - fried green mango snapper. It tasted so good. We later got slushy's, I got Lychee, Dale got Yam, and Ben got Durian, Ben lost that game. Let me warn anyone and everyone against Durian. We were all burping it up hours afterwards. It was awful. Yam however is really nice!
We are now about to jump on the plane for our 27 hour flight to London....

Brunei - Day 1

Brunei!
Made it to the airport, and although we were well and truly not the last through check in, we were the last onto the plane. I just enjoy the personal service of having your name called out over the airport PA. The friendly "We are now unloading your bags from the airplane" just made it that much more welcoming- I didn't expect her to remember what my bag looked like.

The 5 hour flight over to Brunei was pretty decent- Butter chicken and Chivas 12, complemented by a DVD of Maid of Honour on repeat in case you didn't get a joke the first 3 times.

Close call this morning picking up the ipod- I still have no idea where Spearwood is, but apparently its not a round trip you can do from Dianella in an hour. The chick I bought the ipod off actually drove half way to meet me after I woke her up so I wouldn't miss my plane. What a champ! She even had it loaded with good songs and charged to boot. It made for a nice distraction from watching that chick flick that I couldn't get away from.

Not the flashest start to the day once we landed in Bandar Seri Begawan- We were sold tourist visas instead of transit visas (4x the price), we got forgotten at the airport by the hotel shuttle and later found we got jibbed on the bus we arranged to get to the hotel. At the hotel they jacked the price up of the rooms so we gave up on them and went up the road to the youth hostel that was pointed out by the bus driver- $10 a night each. sweet. It is pretty decent, but a few things to note: the showers don't have taps and they don't provide dunny paper. Im told it has just been renovated, though im sitting on a tube steel bed I could swear we took out in a bring out your dead day in 1995. Oh.. and Lynn has lost her camera already.

Went for a great tour though- saw the sultan's palace, a 6-star hotel, the night markets, princesses house and a bunch of other sights. Im still struggling with the fact that booze, gambling, smoking in public etc are all banned. We were cruising through the city centre and there were no other cars on the road at 9pm. Night markets here are awesome hey.. $1 for everything! a big container of curry and rice, a drink, a bunch of sweets- We pretty much had a 4-course dinner for $4. Durian, Lychees, Jungle fruit, chesnuts...

Tomorrow is roti for breakfast for 60c.

Pilau

So after getting a serve from all the family over dinner for not having a bag packed (My Aunt says she has packed her bag already and isnt leaving to EU for months..) I got home and packed my bag. Im pretty much bang on 15kg, so everythings apples. Oh- forgot the 1.1Kg lonely planet EU book.. dead weight anyway.

Now its pretty much little stuff to sort out- Park up my car away from home, get international roaming enabled, pickup the ipod I bought last night at 11:30pm...

Went with Lyn to drop her keys off to the settlement agent just then but couldnt find the key drop off point (An outside dunny haha) Turns out we were in a restaurant's back yard a few doors down from where we should have been.. try #2 ended in lynda walking through the back door of the agent's office... at 10:30pm sunday night. There were alarms; we bolted. According to lynda, "Their door was wide open" then turned into "The door was a bit sticky" then turned into "I put my shoulder into it and it opened" Maybe they should give you the emergency exit seat on the plane.

Got an email from Wilksy saying he is back on the Reading Festival trail with us.. Its gonna be BDO '08 all over again. If we get separated, I'll see ya under the G on the showbags sign.

The Keg

Oh shi... Theres about 14 hours before I jump on the plane and I cant be arsed organising stuff. Bag is not packed, I dont know where my passport is, the house is still a mess from the party last night... Yeah I'll sort it out tomorrow.

Cheers all for the bash last night- was good to see so many mates before shooting through. Could have wound up a little better if stretch armstrong didnt come out of the woodwork at the club at the end of it all though.... "The Keg" made a solid appearance and was a good call up for dealing with those bloody tabasco shots. Cheers Stoffa for sorting the return and all that. If theres any ronas left in 3 months mate, I reckon that'll be high time for a brewski. Thanks to the resident chef for the mini dogs and Sambo the Chef de partie- Top effort guys, Cheers!

Change is as good as a holiday

I love how lazy people succeed so well in passing time. Im pretty much counting the days till take off now, and though I reckon I've made some solid progress, theres been a fair share of well-built brick walls.


3 hours after trying to organise tickets around just 3 greek islands we gave up. The greek islands are now on the wing it list. The itinerary (yes Lyn, theres two R's) is looking alot more solid, and we actually have the first 3 nights of accommodation in the UK booked, along with stupidly early plane rides from London to Edinburgh and back followed by a record time cross-town effort to catch a train to Reading. Seriously, whoever said planning is half the fun of a holiday needs a better hobby.


Anaconda has been pretty helpful so far in cranking up our excess baggage weights, and U Brew it has helped alot in giving me excuses not to do any preparation. Luckily, both of these are hobbies for me, so I reckon there goes satuday morning making sure I havent missed anything on either point. Sunday arvo is 4 Wheeling and finishing off the kegger, so I guess Im left to about an hour on monday before I get on a plane to sort out the house, its tennants, my phone and all the other stuff I forgot. Cheers Timbo for the backpack- Theres one thing off the list!


Lyn has sold her place now, with settlement sorted for monday, and the $$$ should be in her bank then- Nice timing! Speaking of timing, after a fat night on the town last saturday, the house leaving party is now on Saturday, 2 days before we leave Perth, then a sunday sesh and dinner after. Call me psychic, but I reckon I'll be wearing sunnies inside an airport again on monday. On the psychic thing, had a dream last night that came true today as forseen- not good.. I was kinda pissed when the second part of rolling the car on Tonkin didnt follow through- no insurance payout for me yet. Maybe the bloke that threatened to torch it will actually follow through for me- getting the paperwork to the cops to get him in a lockup is getting tiresome.


Wilksy has bailed on me and Lyn from Reading Festival to duck off to Portugal, so Im looking for someone to flog his reading ticket and return train tickets from London to. Any takers...?


Yeah, we're comin back then with another bombtrack.