The Gap Year 2008

Sunshine & Injuries

2009-04-26T01:37:00.005+10:00

Imagine a snowy paradise, with pine trees covered in white powder, mountains reaching above the clouds and stretching as far as the eye can see.... this is my home. It has been for the past 10 weeks, they have been the best 10 weeks of my life, I’ve had experiences like never before, seen things I never thought I would see, it truly has been AH-MAY-ZING! That was until this week, when everything changed....

Spring arrived and with it, warmth! No longer do I have to walk to work in -35 degrees and walk to the bar at night in -47, my hair no longer freezes when I walk outside after a shower, in fact our freezer crate drilled to the outside of our window is now rendered useless with the heat. We now sit on the balcony in tee-shirts and boardies enjoying a beer or two after a long days work in the tropical 3 degree sunshine! Unfortunately with warmth comes the spring melt, and thus conditions get treacherous.

My CASI (Canadian Association of Snowboard Instructors) course had been booked for nearly 3 weeks now and the day finally arrived when it began, April 21^st. I was doing the course with my 2 roommates Dave & Keith and the standard was high. We were tested on both riding and teaching ability over a 3 day period. It hadn’t snowed in 10 days and the overcast weather was preventing the sun from softening the ice, which means we had to ride on rock hard icy conditions attempting to turn and teach without slipping and falling on our ass, for a fall was a nearly certain fail.

Two days went by quickly; evenings were spent studying in preparation for the final exam on day 3. Day 3 came and went; we each taught our 2 lessons and the examiner said “go for a ride boys, the results will be presented in an hour”. Feeling pretty confident that we had passed the course we decided to go for a quick lap through the snow park.

I launched off a kicker and caught an edge, rocketing through the air, the down ramp now long behind me I knew this wasn’t going to be pretty. The solid expanse of flat ice drew closer and closer towards me until I finally had to make the decision, “how the farqqqq am I going to land!” I opted for my left side, and I can’t remember why but my shoulder hit first followed by my hip, ass and legs. Its at this stage that I roared out in agony, my arm felt like it was going to explode! I laid there for a few minutes trying to attract someone’s attention, when no one came I got my phone out of my pocket and, just my luck...... “No Signal”........ unable to move the entire left side of my body, I tried to attract attention, 15 minutes passed before somebody stopped, luckily it was “Ski Patrol” at this stage my teeth were chattering, I was shivering which was causing my arm to shake. The Ski Patrol man spoke into his radio calling for help. Trying to keep me from passing out he asked “how the hell did you get here, your 20 meters from the down ramp!” Unzipping my jacket he tried to determine the cause of injury.

10 minutes later a skidoo arrived with a spine board and 2 more men, after an agonizing “1,2,3,heave” I was placed on the board and towed down to the gondola, every bump in the snow caused excruciating pain in my arm. I was loaded into a wheel chair and onto the gondola.

Thank God there was an ambulance waiting at the base, but my ordeal had only just begun... the paramedics were TRAINEES “ahhhh for goodness sake just give me some morphine!” it took 10 minutes for them to decide which drugs to give me. By now I had waited 25 minutes at the crash site, 5 minutes on the ski-doo, 20 minutes on the gondola to the bottom of the mountain and now another 10 minutes with paramedics, a total of an hour before I finally passed out from pain.

I woke up at the hospital with a neck brace and doctors crowded around my bed. My arm was throbbing and there were x-rays pinned on the wall. The doctor explained that she had to pull my arm back into place before she could brace it, my arm was pinned down by 3 nurses, they gave me an extra dose of morphine but I still felt every ounce of the pain the doctor caused when she yanked my arm. After another 2 x-rays I was given the diagnosis: A fractured humorous and 2 fractured ribs.At about the same time I received a message from Keith saying congratulations you are now a Snowboard Instructor!

I spent the night at the hospital which is when I realised the extent of my injury. I am unable to dress myself, unable to sit up in bed without assistance, unable to tie my shoes, unable to bend my elbow, or cut up my own meals. I can’t shower without my entire left arm being covered in plastic. I attempted to pick up my phone and dropped it on the floor, my left hand now rendered useless. I woke up to a $3000 medical bill and a note saying I needed a check up for surgery on Tuesday.....

Thank God for my roomies, Jenny and the girls down the hall!

I might be coming home a little earlier than expected guys.

My Baby's Been Stolen

2009-03-17T07:29:00.004+10:00

The day started out like any other, up at 730am for a sweet day of ripping up the slopes. Only today was different we just had 15cm of fresh powder snow and I thought I'd take advantage of my Staff Pass and snowboard at a different resort-'Lake Louise'. WOW what a great decision that was, 3 of us got the bus out there and the conditions wee AH-MAY-ZING. The day was going brilliantly right up until the lifts closed at 4pm and it was time to go home. Then it went all wrong.

I put my snowboard on the rack with everyone elses and went inside for a quick toilet break before I got the last bus back to Sunshine Village. I came out no more than 5 minutes later and thats when it hit me..... my baby had been stolen. 460 GBP ($900) worth of brand new snowboarding kit had simply vanished. AHHHHH! So annoyed! Its things like this that make me loose faith in society!

As if thats not enough suffering for one afternoon, I filled out a Theift Report only to leave empty handed on my way to the bus stop. Thing is the last bus left 20 minutes ago. It was 4.50pm at this time. By 5pm I had decided to hitch hike back into Banff, I couldnt go home now because the Gondola closes at 530pm which left me bedless, snowboardless, and downright cold. It was at this point that Mother Nature thought she would jump in on the 'make Matt miserable day' and pull a violent blizzard from nowhere, of course blowing into my face as im trudging along the highway with my hand out hoping that someone would take pity on me and pick me up. I have to also add that I was still wearing my snowboarding boots which are definatly not made for walking long distances! I endured this for another 4 miles before anyone stopped for me.

So by 6pm I'm back in Banff and need to fill out a formal report at the police station so I truddged along the road only to arrive and find out that the station is closed and only in opperation between Monday and Friday.

To make matters worse I had to be at work the following morning for ASIP training but of course I was stuck in town!!! Thankfully I managed to sleep at a friends place but I was violently ill all night long, dry heaving. So I got a grand total of 30mins sleep and was up at 630am for the bus ride to work. I arrived on time only to throw up during the training sesion and be asked to leave.

AHHHHHH the last 24 hours has been a bitch.

Thats me done complaining now.

The New Life

2009-03-04T15:15:00.007+10:00

It all began that fateful day of my job interview... my life sat in the balance between getting the ultimate dream job or failing and heading home. I was merely applying for a Cashier position but the stakes were high, Sunshine Ski Village was receiving 150 resumes a day, it looked tough, and it was. I scored the interview (I'd won the first battle) and it was flawless, I arrived on the first bus and was over an hour early, anxiously waiting by the log fire place for Craig to walk through the door of Creekside Restaurant. Smack bang on time at 9am he came and introduced himself to me. The following 45 minutes went brilliantly, I went home and anxiously waited on a phone call..... which never came.

9am the next morning was possibly one of the worst phone calls I've ever received "Hi Matt its Craig from Sunshine, I'm ringing to say unfortunately you were unseccussful in your interview". Well shit! Back to the drawing board and once again I was up against 150 people! Time to lower my standards... I applied for a Dishwasher Position (also at Sunshine) and once again got an interview offer within 24hours, score, praise God! I got the call while I was doing my shopping, "I know its late notice but can you make an interview in 30 minutes?" YES! I ran 2 miles up Tunnel Mountain to the 'HI Hostel' I was staying at and by the time I got to the top I was exhausted, sweaty and certainly in no state for an interview, but I had less than 10minutes to get to the coffee shop now! A quick deodorant shower was suffice as I threw my resume and visa papers into a folder and ran out of the hostel. Needless to say downhill was MUCH easier than uphill and I arrived with 2 minutes to spare.... phew!

Tick tock... tick tock, 10minutes passed, then 20. I was beginning to wonder if I had the right coffee shop. 30minutes, 40...... 45 minutes late Mark introduced himself to me, grabbed a coffee and sat down. The interview went like this " DO you want a job?" yes " can you start Monday?" yes "see you then!"
Oh man couldnt that have jsut been said over the phone!?

Thing is I had a job and I was stoked! 2 weeks later and i'm now living on the top of the mountain with 200 other staff members. Litterally 2 minutes walk from work and even less from the closest ski lift. With spectacular views of the Rockies from my window, cheap accomodation @ only $200 a month, a unlimited free ski pass for numerous different resorts, what more could I ask for..... oh did I mention after only 3 days they got me out of the kitchen and into the original position I applied for!? Bonus huh!

I now work 7am-8am shoveling snow (if it dosent snow, I dont work) 9am-12pm is my daily ride break where I can rip up the slopes at my own leasiure and have a brilliant time. Then I return to serve people and clean the buffet area from 12pm- 7pm. Add 2 days off a week and you have the ultimate of all jobs!

I LOVE LIFE!

STD's, Snowboarding & Sunshine

2009-02-19T14:56:00.015+10:00

I'M IN CANADA! Do you believe it? I still don't, that was until I stepped off the plane into temperatures of -21C! Wow what a shock to the system that was. Now 2 weeks later I'm well and truly adjusted to the sub zero temperatures and have learnt that if it gets above -5 then its a tropical day outside. So heres the not so great news I'm living in the STD capital of Canada with aids ripe for the picking amongst other diseases, oh man!

So after the snow cleared off Heathrow's runways I re booked my flight and I left the UK on Sunday the 8th Feb, 2 months later than originally planned. After a 9 hour flight I arrived at Calgary International airport and thankfully did not run into any major problems with immigration like my England incident, infact it took me less than 10minutes to get a 2 year working permit in my passport. I was picked up from the airport by my couchsurfing host Meaghan and I habitually went and got in the passenger seat door, which is infact not the passenger seat at all! After a frightening drive home on the left hand side of the icy Canadian roads I crashed on the couch.... my new bed.

I ended up staying on that couch for 7 nights while I got settled in to my new home, setting up bank accounts and phone numbers and trying desperately to find a job! In that time I went cross country Skiing, swimming, and to the gym. The most exercise I have done in MONTHS! As such I couldn't move the next morning. But the country side out here is beautiful, and despite the icy temperatures its always sunny.

A week later at 6am on Monday morning we road tripped out to Lake Louise and I had an opportunity to try out my new snowboarding kit, the weather was beautiful, not a cloud in the sky and the snow was powder.... heaven on earth. My new kit felt like driving Scotty's Lancer after a long day in a tractor, I hit a black run on my first day out on snow in 2 years and IMMEDIATELY regretted it after picking up too much speed and completely loosing control, it must be noted that when your feet are tied to a plank of wood, this is BAD! I managed to draw a significant crowd who all stood back and watched me drop down the near vertical slope totally out of control yelling look out to the people below me, I plummeted down the hill and stacked it directly below the chair lift, only this time it wasn't me laughing I was the one being laughed at. I didn't care it felt like I had broken my back and I'm surprised I didn't after sliding 200meters at about 60km an hour. I just wanted to fade out there and then.

However after about 5 minutes my dignity was long gone and I struggled to my feet. Went slowly down the rest of the slope and called it quits for a lunch break. I met some great people over lunch and all of a sudden I was compelled to get back out there on the powder no matter the pain! I snowboarded till the last lift closed at 4pm, at which point I realized this was going to be my life for the next 4 months!

Meaghan drove me into Banff on her way home and I made my way up to my hostel dragging behind me my snowboard, with my backpack on my back, my travel pack on my front and a load of shopping in my arms. Had I of known that my hostel was at the top of a hill I might have considered waiting to do my shopping. I immediately found my bed and fell asleep after a long day out on the slopes. I went for a wander around the town the following morning and found out some interesting facts; like banff was Canada's first ever National Park and I can see why its BEAUTIFUL.... I also found out that Banff is the STD capital of Canada. Looks like I'll be confining myself to solitude on the slopes, me and the snow are totally going to have little snowboard babies and its going to be amazing! 4 months of solid snowboarding madness I'm psyched!

It's now Wednesday night the 18th Feb and I have my first job interview bright and early tomorrow morning out at "Sunshine" ski village. I'm super pumped - if I get the job I get unlimited free skiing at 6 different resorts, staff accommodation on the slopes and meals! What more could I ask for!?

Wish me luck!

The Neverending Story

2009-01-29T00:38:00.016+10:00

I'll jump at any excuse for a party but when your hit with 3 in a row, life goes crazy. From birthdays to casinos and everything in between I have had an IMMENSE Australia Day weekend! Sure it differs from Australia in that its below zero here, Brits are lucky to know what the abbreviation BBQ stands for and there are certainly no beaches, but the people and the night life nearly make up for any losses.

Now that Luke has gone home to celebrate Australia Day on home soil its given me the motivation to get up and leave the UK after weeks of procrastinating. Originally my flights were booked out for the 29th Dec but after 7 date changes the date is finally locked in for the 4th Feb, in fact I've changed my flights so much that the entire call center working for Air New Zealand now knows me by my first name, saying "Hey Matt, its Lisa, how have you been? I take it you want to change your flight dates again?" haha now thats service!

With leaving only 10days away all of a sudden I realized that I NEED to squeeze all the things I've been wanting to do into my final week. So here goes:

Saturday the 24th Jan was Jessica's 20th Birthday party and also the start of my 82hour party streak. We went to Rich's place for pre-drinks and pizza before heading out to hit up Liquid. No-one wants to take a jacket out clubbing so we all left the house in shirts, sure it was freezing but at least it wasn't raining as we made the 2mile walk into town. We arrived at 11pm and didn't leave till the club shut at 3am, where low and behold we all suddenly wished we had jackets. It rained the whole way home, the only break was when we stopped for a kebab.

I crashed on the sofa at Richs place at around 4am and was up at 8am to catch the train home. After I got home I chillaxed on the sofa and cleaned myself up ready for a night out at the Reading Casino, and what a night it was! Dad gave me 100 quid to gamble and it was my lucky night!! We got picked up in Steve's twin turbo charged Jag and FLEW to Reading where I got signed up and went on in. First stop was the pokies which are nearly a guaranteed loss, I mean ask any of the lads who came to Jupiters Casino with me on Schoolies week, right boys? Turns out I once again managed to hit the feature and my 5 quid gamble quickly turned into 65 quid!

Counting myself lucky I went for a meal with Dadio, Steve and his son, before once again returning to the gaming floor. This time I went to the Roulette tables, where I put 1pound on red 7.... what do you know red 7 came in. followed immediately by a 1pound bet on 0.... dah dah dah it came in!! Now 70 quid up on my 2 quid bet I was going alright. My luck continued through the night and I ended up winning about 500 quid which is just under $1200 AUS. Then it all went tits up! It's now 3am and I was left with 6 quid which I put on and around 24, lucky last bet..... it came in and paid 200 quid! I happily walked out and the night was over. Got home at 4am and was on the phone till 6am.

Up early the next morning admittedly I didn't feel too bad after my winning streak last night but was still in need of some relaxation time, so what did I do? I organised an afternoon of go-carting with Dadio on Thurxton raceway, with a top speed of 58 m/ph these karts were not to be messed with! I drove foot to the floor along the back straight which ended up in me driving through a tyre barricade and onto the grass... oops. I quickly learnt from my mistake and came out winner with a best lap time of 58.095 VS dads 58.109 heck yes! Thats an ass whooping. haha. After that we went to the cinema and watched Role Models, which was about the time I realised its Australia Day and I although exhausted could not turn the opportunity down. I caught the train into London with nothing planned, no where to stay, 80 quid in my pocket and alone.,after all it was a Monday and most sensible people are in bed early for work on Tuesday morning. Hitting the most logical bar in town, 'Walkabout' I was in for a treat. Finally some real beer, VB stubbies were on sale and thats unheard of in these parts. To top that off they had an Australian band playing and it was easy to spot the real Aussies from the London wannabees! The Aussies sung along patriotically to songs like 'A Land Down Under' and 'I'm a Bloke' where as the Londoners just danced mouthing unknown lyrics to try and fit in lol.

So amongst all the Australian celebrations I met some Brazilian girls who invited me to hang with them for the night, not such a bad deal I didn't think. We caught a cab from Temple Walkabout on route to Piccadilly Walkabout where the party continued. We danced all night long and for a fleeting moment I actually thought I was at home. But 3am came and the bar closed, having lost the Brazilian girls at this point I meandered out of the bar en route to some unknown place to rest my head. I went back to the only place I know.... Waterloo Station. Found myself the most comfortable rock hard bench I could find out of the wind and pulled my hoody tight around my head put my gloves on and plugged my iPod in and what do ya know a bed was born. Sure it was the most painful and cold sleep of my life and honestly I only laid there for an hour before realising that the hope for sleep was long gone. I caught the first train from the station and rode around on the subway for 2 hours waiting for the shops to open.

It's now Tuesday morning and I've had a total of 9 hours sleep since Friday night, I just spent the last 2 hours on the subway and partied for 3 nights in a row... I looked like death, and Death is in my experience not what you want to look like when going to meet some girlfriends for coffee later on in the day. I dashed into Primark on Oxford St and got myself a new outfit- one that wasnt sweaty and covered in alcohol- followed by a quick dash into a chemist to permanently borrow some aftershave and I was as good as new!
I went to Tower Bridge for the rest of the morning and ate my lunch before heading out to meet Alexis Medrano and Hayley Parker.... the first 2 girls, and two of the best, I met on my trip all those months ago in Thailand!! After some serious catching up I went back to Alexis' place and waited for my train home. Not surprisingly I got on the c2c train from Rainham and fell sound asleep, after all I had over an hour to get back home to Hook, or so I thought. I overslept my stop and had to get off the train and turn around so the journey took an extra 30minutes ahh!!

Finally the walk home from Hook station took 20minutes, I stopped off to get Indian takeaway on the way home. Then collapsed into bed which is where I have remained for the last 12hours until now.

With only 7 days to go before I leave the country the countdown is still on to squeeze in as many events as possible before 130pm on Wed 4th! Let the fun begin....

SMILES =]

A white Christmas?

2009-01-13T05:20:00.000+10:00

Well as you all know I spent my Christmas this year in England with dad, Luke and the family. Unfortunately there was no snow! But the incredible 3 course meal we had on Christmas day soon made up for any other disappointments, it melted in our mouths. Johnny & Jake had spent the entire day in the kitchen preparing a feast and it was exactly that!

On Boxing Day we had 38 people over in the new house in Holt Lane, talk about crowded =] But we had a great time, family and friends came around for the celebrations and Georgia and Elliot brought their Wii along with Shaun White Snowboarding and Guitar Hero! Well man I was set, JD and coke in one hand and a guitar in the other, we partied the night away.

Some might say that I’d already had enough partying in 2008 but I was ready to see in the New Year in style. The night was organised, the girls from Bristol had invited me to a house party and I was all set to go, copious amounts of alcohol and fireworks sounded like a night that I would never remember but never forget! That is until the death flu got a hold of me and confined me to the sofa. Home alone on New Years.... not anybody’s idea of fun, talk about a quite night in!

I couldn’t move my muscles were aching, I hadn’t eaten in 4 days, I couldn’t swallow, I was shivering in the cold, I thought the world was all coming in on me. But I powered on through, trying not to listen to the loud music coming from down the road, or the fireworks and celebrations from town. I think I may have fallen asleep before the clock struck midnight only to be woken up by my mobile ringing and screaming voices wishing me a Happy New Year. I guess I’m just gona have to make New Years 2009/2010 twice as good!

It’s now Monday the 12^th Jan and I’m currently sat in Dublin International Airport waiting to check in for my flight back to the UK. I’ve been in Ireland all weekend and it’s been a blast (on the credit card that is!) at $13 a pint it’s nearly too expensive to go out, souvenirs are way over priced, actually I’d go so far to say that Ireland is even more expensive than the UK. But with all that aside I had free accommodation with the lovely Maire who was a fellow Gap Year representative, and he has been an absolute angel. I arrived into Dublin on Thursday the 8^th Jan to a smiling face at the airport, and after 8months of travelling alone it’s a great feeling to have someone meeting you once you get off the plane in a foreign country! We spent the afternoon wandering the streets of Dublin and the rest of the weekend doing the tourist thing.

I get home in a few hours, heck the flight is only 45minutes followed by an hours train journey. Now in all logic a flight should cost more than a train right? WRONG! My train costs $37 return and yep you guessed it I only paid $21 for my return flight!! Now why can’t Australia offer these deals!? Luke heads home on Thursday back to the sunshine ‘Down Under’ which means I’ll be heading back to work soon before leaving for Canada on the 2^nd Feb.

Wait they just called my flight over the PA system that’s my que to go. I wish you guys all the best of luck at uni this year and I’ll see you all back home in June!

Till next time...

SMILES =]

TIME FLYS!

2008-12-24T12:10:00.007+10:00

Wow I'm sitting here and it's Christmas Eve and has been 2 months since I left my last blog! So sorry for the delayed and lazy blogging. I guess we have alot to catch up on!

So in a nut shell: I got a job, Luke arrived, I went on another traveling adventure, and amoungst all that I've been renovating the new house!

So the New House has been nicknamed the Whitehouse where Dad is the President as EVERYTHING is being painted white. We thought we might have it ready for Christmas but putting in 3 bathrooms, a new kitchen, 3 bedrooms and changing all the plumbing jsut dosent happen in 10weeks so here we are at Christmas eve after weeks of hard work with a house that is half finished but livable and hopefully able to contain the 38 people coming on boxing day!

As for my new job, I'm working as a barman/ waiter at a pub and I'm having a ball! Possibly the best job I have ever had! So good infact that I've delayed my Canada trip by another month to hang around and spend some more time in the UK. So with that job and working on the house I was racking up 70+ hours a week which helped pay off some debts to dad and the bank but I was in need of a hard earned break.

On the 4th December I left the house headed on the midnight train to Gatwick Airport, I had planned a weekend away in Amsterdam with some American friends that I've met along the way on my travels. The flight didnt leave till 615am so when I arrived at Gatwick at 1am I still had alot of time to waste. I ducked upstairs and checked in my baggage then went downstairs to try and settle in for some sleep on the chairs, apparently every other man and his dog had the same idea and so there was zero room for me to lie down. So I did the next best thing, I scanned the room for some good looking girls and spotted two, conviently-with one spare seat beside them. So I got over there only to realise that they were speaking a TOTALLY foregin language which never helps when you are trying to make conversation. I tried Hello in numerous different lanugages and after several failed attempts and loads of girlish giggling they said hello in English.... GAHH! Why couldnt they just do that to start with? Turns out they were from a country called Estonia which is apparently somewhere in Europe. We went and got coffees and chatted for the next few hours waiting for our flights.

Come 615 I was on the first flight out of the country on route to Amsterdam. I imediatly passed out from sheere exaustion on the flight only to be woken 30minutes later as everyone was disembarking the plane!! Short flight!
The American crew arrived at 830am and we made our way into the city on the train. When we got off I was shocked to see a place I recoginised! Not from my own travels but rather the movie "Euro Trip" haha. It was Amsterdam Central Station. We got off the train and were confronted with an icy blizzard of snow and rain only to find out that we couldnt check into our hotel for another 5 hours. Being as we were in Amsterdam we went into a coffee shop, which arnt hard to find! Now it shoud be noted that Amsterdam is one of the only countries in the world where it is legal to publically smoke weed. So instead of being given a menu for coffees we were given a menu of joints and hash. And I was shocked to see this sign posted on the window....

It's legal to get high but smoking a cigarette inside can get you behind bars for the night. lol But I'm not a smoker never have been and never will be so I stayed well clear and stuck with my trusty bottle of English water!

We stayed at a fabulous apartment not far from central station for 150Euro ($300) a night, might seem expensive but between 5 of us it was affordable. Next day we hit up all the sights, and of course being the home of Heniken we went to the original brewery. Imagine 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' but replace Chocolate with Beer and you have the perfect vision of this factory. Complete with beer waterfalls and beer tasting, with a lounge room bigger than any normal house complete with 7 projector screens and suround sound, with the roof made of beer bottles, it was the ultimate boys day out! Top the day off with a city organised club crawl throughout the streets of A'dam we didn't get in till 4am!

Unfortunatly though it was only a weekend away and 3 days quickly passes, before I knew it I was on a flight home. On the 9th at silly o'clock (5am) Luke arrived from Australia. Was great to see him after 7 months of being away from home and family. The past few weeks have been spent working and chillaxing saving up some cash for the Snowboarding season in Canada. Last week Luke, Dad and I went and played Laser Tag which was a blast, followed by Ten Pin Bowling and I kicked some serious sibbling ass! 151 Vs 110

Now its Christmas Day tomorrow and we have loads of people turning up so this is me signing out! Hope you all have a GREAT Christmas season, I'm missing you all loads and look forward to seeing you next June! Have an AH-MAY-ZING New Year.

BLESSINGS & SMILES FOR 2009 =]

Matty

All the latest in London- Birthday Celebrations.

2008-10-30T07:48:00.018+10:00

Heya to all you guys back home reading this, I want to wish those of you with HSC exams all the best of luck over the coming weeks and for those of you who are working well take a shot of cement and harden up caus its the real world haha. Seriously though guys I'm missing you all loads epically over the last weekend with my 19th birthday just come and gone, would have been good to celebrate it with some familiar faces. I can't believe its been a year alrea

The last few weeks has been HECTIC to say the least. After I got back from Hillsong Conference we began the mission of moving house. With less than a week to my birthday I was keen to get out of the old house and into the new one ASAP. With the help of 6 other men and 3 trucks we had all the gear shifted within 24hours but unpacking it was another story altogether!

As Friday loomed closer and with it my last day of being 18 I made some pretty rough sketchy plans for a good weekend out in London. Turned out to be the greatest birthday weekend ever! Compared to Sitting in a Mathematics examination this time last year it didn't have much to live up to. Friday morning I made my way into London with dad on route to the 'Metro Ski & Snowboard Show' at Olympia where I picked up some ace gear for this coming season in Canada but with sweet gear comes a hefty price tag. Thankfully it was my birthday though and so all my (birthday and Christmas) presents came from this show. Luckily too- with goggles alone costing $250 AUD and gloves a close second on $180 AUD. I also picked up some thermal gear and the best is yet to come I still haven't brought my actual board, bindings, jacket, pants or boots. The morning of the 24th before I headed up to London I got a Happy Birthday call from mum and with it some GREAT news. Tax man likes me this year with a nice tax return of $1157 AUD that will go a long way in helping me get kitted out with some more boarding gear.

Friday night I went out for dinner with the family to an Italian restaurant and retired home for some cake and champagne. It was about this time that I wish you guys were here to share some drinks with me! Even so we were up till 2am on the Wii talking the night away.

Saturday morning came...... and went. Saturday afternoon I arose from bed. (haha lame)
But after a nice sleep in I woke up for some breakfast left my cousins place and got the train over to my sisters place in Brentford (London). Where I met up with Jessicaaaaa 'ohhh chicka chicka'. Tonight was the night we had been waiting for... you know when your so desperate to see someting that even when tickets are SOLD OUT and sales staff tell you that your 6months too late for booking you still try to screw with the system and get what you want? Okay so maybe its just me but a show being SOLD OUT certainly was not going to stop me going! After a few days of serious thought of just winging it and telling them that I lost my ticket, or just simply jumping the baracades if they tried to stop me entering, I decided against my thoughts considering Brixton is one of the 'most dangerous suburbs of London to walk at night' I came up with a plan, a plan that might just work and legally too!

I grabed my trusty laptop and typed the letters E.B.A.Y into google.And there it was my answer to prayer 2x MIGHTY BOOSH LIVE ON STAGE TICKETS what more could I ask for on my birthday weekend. So Jess and I once again had the problems we had at Hillsong COnference with tube lines across London down, and so the trip to the Brixton Arena took about 40minutes longer than it should have but every second waiting on that tube line was worth it when Vince and Howard walked out on stage!

What followed was a night of crazy crimps "bouncy bouncy oh such a good time" extreme lighting, ridiculous costumes and endless laughs at the hilarious stupidity that only the Boosh can conjure!

But thats only Friday & Saturday! Sunday morning Jess and I woke up and headed out across London to Hillsong Church in Tottenham Court Road (but not before having the most AH-MAZE-ING breakfast ever cooked by the one and only Johny. It was like heaven in my mouth) At Church we met up with Danni =] After a great service and amazing worship from their new album 'Hail to the King' we were on the move again. This time a trio and on our way to Waterloo Station. Jess caught a train home for the Isle of White and Danni and I made our way back to my new house in the village of Hook. Where come Tuesday night it was SNOWING!!!! brrrr so maybe I should have been trying out those new gloves but I was to busy dodging snowballs from dad to even worry. And so the snow fight began, T-shirt, shorts and bare feet the true Aussie way!!!

And now I've finally settled into a job renovating our house, not without problems though with huge wasp nests found in the attics. "Ok so they are in the attic so what?" well picture this your in the shower singing along to your favourite tune (the mighty boosh crimps of course) and all of a sudden wasps start dropping down through the light fittings in the roof!!

Oh let the good times roll! And of course as usual all of this crazy mayhem (except maybe the shower) was recorded on video so keep an eye out I'll let you know when its uploaded!

(video is up you can see it at the bottom of the page or on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myIH_bm4LXM)

Hillsong London

2008-10-13T09:31:00.004+10:00

Probably the best week of my trip so far! So good in fact that I have already made a video for it which can be seen at the very bottom of this page, if you can't find it you can also see it here!
I arrived in London on Wednesday 8th Oct and dropped my gear at my sisters place before heading across for the first night of conference at the ExCeL center in west London. After 90minutes of train rides and route planning I managed to get there and worked out the quickest way in and back each day. First a train into Waterloo then onto the Jubliee Line to Canary Wharf to take the DLR across to the ExCeL center. First few days this worked out fine but on the final day of conference there were planned engineering works on 2 lines across the entire London Underground network..... just so happens that those 2 lines were the Jubliee line and the DLR!!!! So my journey soon turned into a 2.5hour trek underneath the streets of London working my way through the available train lines. Add that to the $5650 bill I received on the same day... happy happy joy joy!

Good news is that I got accepted into Hillsong International Leadership College (HILC) in Sydney for the July 2009 intake, where I will be studying TV & Media for at least 12months. I'm so excited about the course, no so excited about the bill lol. But back to the Conference... I was waking up at 7am and getting home at midnight so by the end of the week was EXAUSTED but we had some incredible speakers including Brian and Bobbie + Joseph Prince who spoke some encouraging, life giving and challenging messages. Tie that in with some incredible music from Hillsong, Mary Mary and Israel Houghton in addition to some sweet break dancing performances and some great people and you have a week that tops all others in my trip this year!

On Saturday night the conference finished and I went out for dinner with Danielle and had a steak "mmmm real food, no more of this tuna sandwich stuff that I was living on in Greece!" Got home and fell asleep pretty much immediately and didn't wake up till 11.30 the next morning. Sunday was a lazy day spent catching up on emails and making a few phone calls. Sunday night was like a dream come true..... Johnny is a master chef and just so happened to be cooking us dinner, a FABULOUS Sunday roast which melted in my mouth followed by an amazing desert... I'm still not sure I want to leave London after that!

But it's over now and now I have to head back to Andover to get ready to move house on the 17th. Hopefully we will have most of the stuff unpacked quickly and then the real fun begins as I have the job of knocking down the 'unwanted' walls in order to make way for renevations! But before that happens I'm back of to London with Dad on the 24th Oct for my 19th birthday. We are going to the Metro Ski and Snowboard show at Olympia for the day which will be ace! Then come saturday I have friends coming from all across the UK and international friends as well stretching as far as Italy woop woop! Should be an incredible weekend!

Until then... adios!

Sunsets in Santorini to rain in London!

2008-10-07T02:25:00.012+10:00

ATTN people reading this on facebook if the layout is crappy please visit the original site http://matty2410.blogspot.com/ thanks! I Thought I’d add a bit of flair to my blogs from here on in by including pictures I originally thought that I would have to send them out over email as attachments but this site might just be the answer to my prayers! Hang with me guys as I work out the ins and outs of how this site works!

Ok so I have been reminded that my blogs have started slowing down lately, the main reason is because I have actually stopped travelling for the time being. Last Monday the 30th September I arrived back into London Heathrow and because bad luck seems to follow me it wasn’t without another argument with the airport staff. This time UK immigration let me in without any long periods of questioning and I was stamped for another 6month visa which was ace! Problem was when I tried to board the plane from Athens they wouldn’t let me on.

But before I go into that.... the rest of my trip in Santorini was radical! Second day the girls and myself went on a day tour on a boat that looked much like it had come straight off the Pirates of the Caribbean set. With the high walls of rock surrounding the bay it made for some great photo opportunities. Knowing that the entire area is made solely from volcanic eruptions it might surprise you to know that the water is actually 400m deep!

First stop was the Volcano which last erupted in 1950, but we were assured that it was sleeping for the time being so we climbed off the boat and onto the rugged black landscape of the island volcano and made our way to the cone. After being told that one of this islands eruptions at around 1600BC was felt by Australia and New Zealand and created a Tsunami 100meters tall I felt so much safer. Our next stop was the “hot springs” which really were just muddy sulphur filled waters which were no warmer than 20 degrees, bit of a disappointment really.

Moving onto a little island that is only accessible by boat we climbed the donkey path to the top of the cliffs, most people took a donkey but basically we needed our little amount of money for more important things.... icecream! So climbing the uneven rocky path covered in donkey poo was a slippery experience, but the view from the top was so totally worth it!! Snapping a few pictures of the famous whitewashed, blue roofed churches we made our way back down the donkey path to once again get back on the boat!

This time we were on the final leg of our journey to the township of Oia (pronounced eee-a) which is said to be the BEST place in the world to watch a sunset. And I’m sure had there not been nearly 1000 other people lining the streets and sitting on the walls of the township it would have been a tranquil experience. The pirate ship with raised sails really made the scene! After the sun dropped over the horizon the crowd began clapping and cheering as though the sun only sets once a year and deserved a round of applause for its efforts. The streets quickly emptied as night fell over the town and the final leg of the journey was back home on the bus to our accommodation where once again our hotel staff were waiting to greet us with yet another round of free shots.

However this time it was slightly different. Rodger called them Pommygranit shots because if you look closely the glasses are filled with the fruit. Basically once you do the shot the small pieces of fruit prevent you from swallowing which means the liquid whatever it may be is left sitting in your mouth burning while you try to chew the fruit. However when its cold and raining it certainly does it’s job and quickly warms you up! We were in bed early that night after a 12hour day of touring.

The next day the sun was up and we were out on the beach. Not quite the quality beaches of Australia, with tiny black stones rather than golden sands and a huge cliff face of rock obscuring your view. But hey it was a chance to lay in the sun. What wasn’t expected is when we went to swim we walked into the water the small rocks dissapeared and were replaced by a slab of slimy volcanic rock which sloped ever so gradually. So it wansn't until we had walked/slipped for about 20meters into the water that we were in deep enough to swim.

That day the girls left and I was once again left to travel alone, so I went down to the youth hostel and I ran into some people I’d met in Ios... the night was only just begining. A large group of us went out for dinner and got to know one another. What followed was a crazy evening of pillow fights, a mixed up conversation as we all tried to pool our knowledge of Japanese together to hold a conversation with a group from Japan and apparently my 2 years of studying Japanese at boarding school paid off as I managed to introduce myself to them and after a polite bow I was allowed to sit down and join them in their Japanese drinking games. Went something like this “one YOKIE” “two YOKIE” “three YOKIE” whatever that means!

I woke up the next morning and it was raining outside which was enough to make me pack my bags and head to the Ferry. Was probably a good idea since I only had 40Euro to last me until I got back to the UK. Turns out that a Ferry from Santorini to Athens costs 33.5Euro which is like $67 Aus. So I thought about my options (I needed 20Euro for when I arrived in Athens to get me to my couchsurfing hosts place and onto the airport the following day) It’s impossible to pass security without a ticket and with a backpack its not that easy to hide! So I was basically stuffed, just as the last people were boarding the ferry it hit me, probably should have thought about it earlier because now the ferry was ready to leave and I was in a que to buy a ticket. The first stop for the ferry was an island called ‘Naxos’ which was much closer than Athens so the ticket was only half the price. Beauty of this idea is that the boat continues from Naxos to Athens and once your on the boat you no longer need your ticket. So I got the cheap ticket and SPRINTED to the boat and just sailed the 8hour ferry back to Athens “accidently” missing my stop at Naxos.

Which brings me to my airport dilema the following afternoon! I changed my dates when I got back to Athens the previous night and went to the airport with my new tickets. Now according to my ticket which I paid for before I left Australia date changes are absolutely free but because the world is in the shit and everyone wants everyone elses money for nothing, Swiss Air decided to make up their own rules and DEMAND a 86Euro ($170 Aus) fee for the date change! I refused to pay and walked away from the counter with my boarding pass. So when I herd my name called over the PA system of the airport “ding ding ding Attnetion passengers, Passenger Matthew Teague flying from Athens to Zurich is required at the check in desk immediatly” it was no suprise.

I told them my story “I’ve paid all my fees look at my ticket” which I thought was as simple as staring into a mirror and seeing yourself in the reflection but they rang their supervisors and their sales center and ALL of them demanded that I pay the fine. When they called for boarding of the plane they would not let me pass without paying so I wouldnt let any of the other passangers pass... If I wasnt getting on this plane no one was! Facts are even if I had wanted to I only had 10Euro left in my wallet now! So at this they got quite frustrated and security was called... ARGHH! I told them that they had to call Air New Zealand (which is who I booked my original world ticket through) so they called the Air NZ office in Athens which also said I needed to pay the fine. Still refusing to pay they made a few more calls and 10 minutes later I got a call from sales again who said “oh there is a note on the bottom of your ticket that says you are exempt from any fees for date changes” WELL DUH! I had only tried to tell thim this for the last 40mins! Then boarding began... Swiss staff gave no appoligies, no nothing just blank stares.

Got the flight to Zurich Switzerland and the connecting flight to Heathrow London and then dad picked me up and here I am back in Andover. My next adventure is to London for the Hillsong Europe conference this week.

Until then Adios!

Island Paradise

2008-09-26T22:47:00.000+10:00

Let your Spirit soar as we sail across the blue Agean towards Santorini, picture white washed walls, blue roofs, palm trees, clear water, white sandy beaches and you will probably be as FAR FROM THE TRUTH AS POSSIBLE! I was rudely mistaken when I first arrived at Mykonos island, expecting palm trees and green grass I was greeted with rugged rocky landscape a severe lack of life bar the ocassional lizzard and seagull.

So my original thoughts of the Greek Islands were shattered with clouds overhead and a distinct feeling that I was the only one here no wonder they call it the LOW season! Good news is that a can of coke is only $10 AUS and Greek food is so far the worst I've had on my entire trip besides Egyptian pita bread filled with stones! haha

But all that aside its not the landscape that makes a place its the people and when you meet the right crew then anything can be amazing. A little downpour and overcast skies was not going to stop us. First day I met a girl called Kat on the ferry and we decided to cut our costs and share double room turns out that it was an appartment in the back streets. Leaving was easy when we left to explore the town but coming home proved to be a 2hour mission of wandering through the maze of streets. Where every building is white and the same shape and streets are bearly wide enough for 3 people to walk side by side..... however after hours of laughing as we walked into peoples living rooms mistaking them for our apartment we made it home by retracing our steps and following the slighest little thing we remembered which included drips of paint and water stains on the footpath!

Come the second night we moved over to the other side of the Island to Paradise beach and that night we had 15 people squeezed into a 2 person room. and I mean SQUEEZED! 3x2x2 walls is not a comfortable fit. But hey it was a LONG game of Kings that followed and after the power went out due to an electrical storm we decided to head into town in the rain to brave the tight slippery streets of Mykonos town. Firstly we gathered together and pretended to be a Contiki tour group which managed to get us into the Scandinavian club for free dodging the $15 cover charge. And then the night really started....... coming home at 4am only to realize that our small room was a nest of mosquitoes. I guess the punishment for having a late night is a long sleep in the next morning.... unfortunately for us it was the first sunny day and no-one was up till lunchtime!

Kat left that day for Ios and I opted to stay another night but unable to pay for a single room I squeezed in with 2 American girls that I'd met the night before. But 2 single beds and zero floorspace didnt make it an easy task to fit in. So pushing the 2 beds together we conquered the problem and were ready for another night out. This time we had South Africans, Aussies, Kiwis, Americans, Germans and Brits all partying on the beach =]

With coke being HIGHLY overpriced and food following suite - for a mere $240 you can get a seafood meal. I had been living on tuna sandwiches and cornflakes for the past few weeks. So when I met these American girls who had only been traveling for 5 days it was a dream come true. Their mums had packed them about 3kgs of AMERICAN snack food, everything from muesli bars to biscuits and nuts.... the best part was that they didnt want any of it so they offered it to me! Ohhh I was in food heaven... real food for the first time in way too long!

The next morning I moved onto Ios which was even more deserted than Mykonos but the weather was sunny and the beach was quiet and STUNNING! I met 4 British girls and a Canadian guy who were all pretty keen to go out for dinner so I thought I'd spoil myself and we headed out to Mexican which was DELICIOUS! We had live music at a little place called Harmony on the headland watching the sunset and one of the best parts about traveling with girls is that they don't often finish their meals.... so my meal and 4 others later I had finally caught up on all those missed meals of the past weeks.

Now I'm in Santorini and I think its by far the best island I've been to! After being swarmed at the port by a hungry careless bitchy mob of hotel owners trying to sell me a room for my stay I found a trustworthy guy and negotiated a price of 10Euro a night for a single double bed room with air-con, kitchen, and a PRIVATE BATHROOM! I was pretty damn impressed but it only got better when I found out that it had wi-fi and free breakfast. My life is looking up! Greece is starting to impress
Then I met two Aussie girls Ash and Nicole and together the three of us have had the BEST service and laughs with the owners. They asked of we were going out and we replied "yea we are going to go for dinner on the beach" they said "NO are you going out...when we say that we dont mean for a meal" So with that in mind the owners were alot of fun and we had free shots and snacks at the Hotel bar followed by a night of card games drinking the local Ouzo (like sambooka but so much worse!) in the owners room. Ha this trip just keeps getting better!

Laterz!

Greece- Accomodation Problems

2008-09-18T08:11:00.000+10:00

I arrived 5 days ago now and people say that 2 days is enough in Athens but I’m still here and having a great time! My CS host and her friends are great!
The second night I was here I went out to a surprise birthday party, turns out that I was the one doing the surprising! When we turned up at the door they rang the bell handed me the cake and waited for the girl to answer. After a really awkward singing of “HAPPY BIRTHDAY” to a girl I have never met before the others came in and broke out in Greek.... gooble gah gah boo ha uooooooo.....

Then I spent a day exploring the Acropolis and temple of Zeus with a classic bunch of Aussie guys and girls, was good to have some home blood around me! And for the first time in weeks I was looking at something not completely covered in hieroglyphics but rather the ancient Greek architecture which is equally as stunning!

Today we are heading out to celebrate Sophias ‘name day’ in other words a birthday for your name. Just another excuse to give and receive presents really. So guys I think mine is in Jan lol.

But the time has come to move on from Athens and onto paradise! Tomorrow morning I have a 5am start as my ferry leaves for Mykonos at 7! Am really looking forward to seeing the Islands though but we are back into European prices, the cheap $4 rooms of Egypt are a thing of the past now it’s more like 40Euro a night!

The good news is that I’ve managed to book my ferry ticket, the bad news is that accommodation is completely booked out on Mykonos for tomorrow night. So I have a few options, one is sleep on the beach with all my gear which wouldn’t be too bad really provided I dont get dragged away by the local police... mind you then at least I get a free night in a cell right? Or I have from lunchtime till sunset to make a friend and ask to sleep in their room. I‘ll try my chances!

On Monday morning I’m meeting a CS girl from Canada (Suzy) we will be travelling together for about 10 days first stop is the island of Ios then onto Santorini followed by Crete! Before finally returning to Athens on the 3rd (ish) of October in time for the FREE MTV concert being held at the first ever Olympic Stadium in the world! Featuring Kaiser Chiefs and REM should be a blast.

But now its 1130pm and I have an early start tomorrow....

Adios!

Goodbye Egypt- 5 weeks is ENOUGH!

2008-09-11T01:03:00.002+10:00

So after a hectic few days on a felucca I headed back up to Luxor. Where I found out that I got a load of money stolen by my Felucca captain GRRRR. He was not willing to admit anything by the looks of the picture was actually looking for a fight however after 5 days of phone calls and somewhat childish arguments in broken Arabic and scattered English I managed to claim my money back though thanks to my hotel manager who pretended to be the commissioner of the tourist police!

During those 5 days I got alot done, including the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens, Deir El Bahri, Luxor Temple, Karnak Temple and Edfu Temple, to name a few. But after a long 5 weeks in Egypt the endless array of temples and monuments becomes nearly as dull as churches in Europe! And so to spice things up a bit I decided to add a bit of life to my latest video (which can be found on the bottom of this page) by running, jumping and just downright scrambling across the ANCIENT buildings, pillars and ruins. Not such an easy task when you have to film it yourself and attempt to get shots without other tourists ‘polluting’ the

film! But it was fun all the same and I’ve got some great feedback for my video thanks guys!

After that I caught the night train from Luxor to Cairo, it should be noted that everything in Egypt runs on “Egypt Time” which basically means that a train scheduled to depart at 11pm will not arrive till after 1130pm . All manner of tourist agencies and even the train ticket offices themselves will tell you that the train is booked out and that no seats are available. But I managed to convince my couchsurfing host to get me a ticket off the black market, trouble with this is you pay twice the price the ticket is worth and get half the value. So after I got on the train I had a long discussion in English with the conductor who couldn’t understand a word I was saying, moral of the story is I managed to get a free upgrade to first class because I blatantly refused to move knowing plain well that all the Egyptian people in this carriage had paid less than half the price I paid!!

Then comes Cairo, after an 11hour ride I stumbled out of the station and made my way to the metro. I gota admit if your a female it’s NOT a wise move to travel on the metro! A squished (and I mean like 2 jars of sardines squeezed into one) hot, humid, and sweaty 40minute ride was to follow standing up the entire way with my backpack begging to be put down, but the floor could not be seen for the mass of shoes!

I finally arrived at my hosts place here in Cairo and they are amazing! A family of 5 working as missionaries in Egypt I couldn’t have asked for a more caring and loving family! So for the first time in WEEKS I had a hot shower, and an actual home cooked meal with cutlery and everything!

The next day was pretty laid back with a trip to the Cairo Museum..... once again it was a churches/monuments thing, and after a quick but detailed look at Tut’s mask I was back on the metro heading home.
The next morning was the day I had been waiting for, for 5 weeks. Today was the day I got to see the pyramids 10th Sept 2008. And WOW this certainly is not a church/monument thing this is a FLIPPING HUGE PILE OF RICKS IN THE DESERT! Haha Such simplicity yet such magnitude, had it not been 50degrees outside I could have sat there and simply stared all day.

Which brings us to today, long since I left Europe have I been CRAVING some western culture and it just so happens that Cairo can offer it! I went to CityStars Mall which far outdoes any shopping complex I have ever been to in any other country! 7 levels of air-conditioned paradise; from 1st class movie cinemas (all in English with leather reclinable chairs and your own personal waiter) to games arcades and all manner of retail shops to the all important food court featuring all the essentials: McDonalds, KFC, Starbucks! Sometimes it’s good just to immerse yourself in what feels like home!

After a lazy afternoon reading my new favorite book “The Shack” I organized my next journey starting tomorrow night I will be visiting 3 countries in a day!

SMILES =]

Death on the Nile!

2008-09-06T05:45:00.000+10:00

It was a windy night with rough waters, not the perfect conditions for sailing, but turns out that like driving in Egypt; conditions or actual skills mean nothing, don’t even worry about a license, ‘just wing it, it’s Egypt’. Picture a boat less then 8meters long and 3 meters wide with two Arabic crew members who don’t speak a word of English, and then 4 travelers, 2 French who also don’t speak English an Irish twat and myself. When I signed up for a 2 night Felucca ride on the Nile this was not what I was expecting! But there I was and so it began.

The Irish guy did nothing to help the stereotypical view of Ireland -with questions like “does the river start at the sea?” and statements such as “I was going to start smoking because my friend told me it would strengthen my teeth”- I knew I was going to be in for a long ride! First night we sailed about 12miles downstream to a quiet bay and anchored on the riverbank, and sure enough the Leprecon didn’t fail to meet standards “if they point the nose to shore we are safer from thieves”. Now for one we are miles away from any sort of township we are on the flipping NILE! And in addition what difference would it make if the nose points to the shore or if the boat is parallel!?

The next day went pretty slowly as we gently flowed with the wind downstream from Aswan towards Luxor, but as night fell and we pulled into shore to get supplies, things got interesting. There was a MASSIVE shifting of Nile Cruise ships upstream and I’m still unaware of why in excess of 50 EMPTY cruisers decided to migrate up the river like a flock of birds migrating for winter, but it turned the peaceful atmosphere of water lapping on the side of the boat into a noisy stampede of massive ships. At stages the boats were 3 wide powering through the water at breakneck speeds as though it was the ‘Tour de Nile’ and so our captain no lights and no engine decides that he will challenge the MASSIVE ships and try and cross the river to anchor on the other side.

BAD IDEA!

The scariest 3 minutes of my life were to follow with waves coming over the sides of the already small Felucca and Cruisers towering above us as the crew of 2 went mad pulling up the sail, trying to balance the boat by dropping the fin all at the same time turning the rudder to steer us out of harm’s way. With the cruise ships stopping any wind that may have helped us sail out of the way we were headed straight for them with no way of getting out. As the ships drew closer our shouts were heard by the crew and all of a sudden we were blinded with flashing spotlights and blasting horns. Man we already know we are in the way that’s just not helping at all! Closer and closer they came until they were towering above us and as if by some miracle we floated in between 2 of the cruisers but with less than 20meters between us and the hull it was a close call.

But that was the least of our problems, being between 2 cruisers acted as a propellant in sending us backwards with the pressure of the water into the path of yet another daunting ship threatening to shatter our small boat into a million splintering pieces! This game of ‘dodgeship’ continued for 3minutes before we were finally able to catch the current out of the shipping lane and onto safe ground!

Oh Egypt... good times!

If you can't find the video at the bottom of the page click here to see the Death on the Nile video

MAMMOTH JOURNEY!

2008-08-10T01:40:00.001+10:00

It all began on Wednesday morning, that dreadful; raining, miserable day was the start of a LONG journey of cars, busses, trains and planes.
A journey from Devon (England) to Sharm El Sheikh (Egypt) that should have only taken 7 hours on a direct flight soon turned into a 3 day trek across three different countries. I left Ilfracombe Wednesday morning and drove 2 hours to Bristol where I had to wait 40minutes for my train to London. Upon arriving in London I stayed one night then caught the last train to the airport at 8pm, despite the fact that the check-in time for my flight was not until 5am the following morning. I arrived at the airport at 10pm and found a cozy* place to sleep.

(*a COLD hard and unforgiving tile floor with the constant airport PA system reminding me “do not leave you baggage unattended or it will be confiscated by the authorities” )

5 am came and went and by 7am I was on the Ryanair flight from London Stansted to Frankfurt Hann. 90minutes later I arrived in Frankfurt only to find out there was a 2 hour bus ride to get to Frankfurt International Airport. Not to mention the bus had been delayed an hour and to add to the pleasant mood of 200 angry passengers it started bucketing down rain.

I arrived at Frankfurt International at lunch time but my connecting flight to Cairo was not scheduled to depart till 1030pm that night. So after another 10hours of sitting at an airport I boarded my 4 hour flight to Cairo.

Arriving and clearing customs at 330am I now had had to navigate my way from the airport to the bus station in a country where no one speaks English especially the taxi drivers! I arrived at the bus station an hour later and $20 poorer only to be swarmed with a load of Arab taxi drivers telling me that all the busses to Sharm were booked out and instead offering to take me to another bus station -where they assured me there were available tickets- for yet another $20. However after literally 40minutes of haggling they gave up and allowed me to buy a ticket at that station. And even so, once I had brought it they had the audacity to ask me for a tip saying ‘we help you!’ chea bullshit they did. GRRRRRR

Turns out I paid more for the taxi from the airport to the bus station that I paid for my bus ticket from Cairo to Sharm (a 7 hour journey!)

Now I’ve been in a few awkward situations this year but none were as awkward as being the only white person sitting confined on a bus while everyone stares at you and speaks in Arabic.

So after 3 hours in a car, 10 hours on busses, 7 hours on trains, 5.5 hours on planes and 28 hours sitting in an airport I have finally arrived in Sharm El Shiek.

It’s now Saturday night (9th Aug) and I’ve arrived at my hotel, desperate for a good feed and some serious sleep..... DREAM ON!!!! My open water PADI diving course starts tomorrow morning at 8am which means a 7am rise. But the hotel is ACE for only $23 a night I get bed and breakfast with an air-con room and a decent swimming pool. However they are booked out for the rest of the week which leaves me bedless...

Having said all that I look forward to catching up with my big sis Amy O’Connor and meeting the lovely Cara Cioni, this is going to be a week to remember!

Let the diving begin!

DAY ONE!

2008-06-02T07:46:00.002+10:00

I arrived safely after a 9 hour flight from Brisbane to Bangkok. I was on the last plane to leave Australia in May With only 90mins to disembark my flight and board the connecting segment it left me no time to shop DUTY FREE, actually it nearly made me miss my connecting flight to Koh Samui. However I made it and after a short 1 hour flight I arrived at 9am local time and the moment I walked off the plane got hit with an unbearable heat wave. The humidity here is well expected for the tropics but ARGH! I spent most the morning trecking the streets of Koh Samui -carrying my huge backpack- looking for a place to stay. After about 4km of walking into places that were far above my price range I reluctantly took a taxi ride with a dude that could only say ‘yar’ and ‘mmmm’. However it did have air-con which was a welcome relief! After about $30 AUS of driving I finally found a place for only 400Batt a night which is about 12bucks so not too bad.
But you get what you pay for. I’m in a bungalow with only a fan to cool me, on the plus side I have a double bed with pillows and sheets and a couple of bath towels. There is only a cold shower (no hot water here!) I was at first a bit worried about this then I realised that even the cold water isn’t cold enough to stop the humidity! So after a cold shower I went walking again without my backpack and hired a little motor scooter thing..... this is where the story gets interesting!

For 270Batt a day you can hire one of these little things and petrol is dirt cheap! So I jumped on and took it for a spin, top speed of 85km/ph, I was actually impressed. I spent 6 hours exploring shops, roads and sights, had a great afternoon. Then I went to get my hair cut HAHAHA I’ll put a video together because words just don’t cut it! (no pun intended)

Then on my way home I spotted a great ‘night spot’ and I found a sweet Irish pub. I went to have a look and got overrun by female Asian bartenders wanting to come for a ride. So I was like sure, gota get to know the locals right? This one girl told me to call her Banana so from here on in thats her name. Turns out banana can speak a moderate amount of English so we went cruising for about 15mins, I went back and another girl got on, this one couldn’t speak a word of English so I took her about 200meters down the road then came to an intersection where I wanted to turn right and make a u-turn. Now I had right of way, I was clear to the front, the right, the left and so I went BUT........

Road rules mean NOTHING here in Thailand, a red light is barely a reason to slow down, no one wears bike helmets, there are no speed limits, the roads are covered in pot holes and indicators are blatantly IGNORED... a great concoction for something to go wrong. And it did. As I went to turn some European dude came from behind at about 60km/ph, T-boned me and I went flying. The girl on the back saw it coming and bailed a split second before the accident.

So here I am lying in the middle of the intersection with horns beeping, people staring and my head spinning. I managed to get to my feet, and the second Thai girl took me back to where I picked her up from. Now when I got back I was covered in blood, I managed to land on my right side saving my head but my right leg and arm were pretty messed up, my left side thankfully 100% intact. This is where Banana becomes cool. She looked at me then disappeared only to return 5mins later with a brand new first aid kit and wow Thai people are so caring! Unfortunately pure alcohol doesn’t feel great on open wounds, and when you’re lying on a bar table you are pretty open to passersby on the street staring. Now about 2 hours later followed by antiseptic wipes bandages and some sort of antiseptic cream I’m all bandaged up lying on my bed with my hand swelled to the size of a big marble my shin purple and black and my foot throbbing.

It’s my first day away from Australia, my first time in Thailand and my first day on a 365 day trip around the world and I’m already bruised and battered. Give it 3 days and I’ll be up and running at full steam again.

As for now I’m signing out for some sleep.