Easter 2009 - Devon and Cornwall roady with the flatties

Easter 2009 - Devon and Cornwall roady with the flatties (Sandra, Katy and Aileen)
So to make the most of the bank holiday weekend, we decided to head to the ‘British Riviera’. We expected the traffic to be bad on Thursday night so we decided to bus to Exeter. It took us an hour just to get out of London but once we on the M5 it wasn’t too bad. We arrived about 11pm, walked along the high street passed all the drunken teenagers then into the welcoming arms of the old White Hart Inn. Had an interesting situation with the bedding (2 double beds) but the nice guy behind reception gave us an extra room. Katy got locked in her room and hassled by some drunkards outside her hotel room. Cooked breakfast, then wandered around Exeter, the gardens and Rougemont Castle. Then we went on the underground tunnels of Exeter which were used to house the old city’s water pipes built to bring water to the townspeople in the Middle Ages. Then we walked to pick up the rental after a having typical English brunch at Dens diner – eggs, beans and chips. With Katy driving and me chief navigator we charged down to Torquay. Checked into Papillion and then walked into town, along the foreshore picking up icecreams on the way. Then we went straight into a pub crawl, great night, ended up at the infamous Applebys. Grabbed drunken Chinese on the way home. Bypassed Plymouth on the way to St Austall, where the Eden project was the main attraction. I think it is claimed to be the world's largest greenhouse. Inside the artificial biomes are plants that are collected from all around the world. The project is located in a reclaimed Clay pit. Amazing gardens and the weather was picture perfect. On the road again and we crossed into Cornwall. Penzance was our destinantion. We were staying at the YMCA, dropped the car off and wandered into town. A lot off places were booked up, so we settled into a classic pirate pub, Captain Ben Bo. Then we hit the town, the longboat inn which was where Penzances ‘finest talent’ came out to let their hair down. Up early Easter Sunday, Easter bunny did manage to find us (thanks Katy!), cloudless morning so I went for a run along the promenade. Caught up with the others then we back-tracked up the coast to St Michaels mount. A tiny, tidal rocky island with an impressive castle perched on it. It is home to the St Aubyn family but has had a rich history. Quick bite to eat at the mainland then off to the Minark Theatre. Overlooking ruggard coastline and a golden sandy beach, it was almost single handedly built by Rowena Cade, a lady with a love for theatre. Next stop was Lands End, more cliffs a couple of lighthouses and a few token shops for the tourists. I did have my first Cornish pasty their, which was the highlight. Up to St Ives, took forever to find a park, but eventually found something and rolled down through the graveyard to the beach. I hired a wetsuit and a surfboard for a fiver and the girls had a few wines on the beach. Walked over the hill for a feed at another old pub, sloop inn (1310). We shared our meal with two massive dogs, pretty classic. On the road again up to St Agnes, stayed at a B+B with a nice family, sussed out a surf for the next morning before heading over the road to the tap house for a night cap. Massive day. Early morning surf with Morgan, 2 ft offshore, good fun, but bloody cold. Back to B+B for a brekkie fit for a king. Weather turned and we headed up to Newquay. Had a hot chocolate and talked to the guy who made the world largest surfboard (36ft). Newquay was a student/surfie town with a laid back vibe. Heading home to Exeter, got caught in heavy traffic which was a result of a burnt out car. Just made the bus but Katy had to drop the car off and catch a later bus. Great long weekend, good to get out of London with the flatties.

Kenya - With Olly and the O'Meara's

This is a summary of my travel in Kenya. Normally at this stage I would give you a chronological account of my movement’s but instead I will give you some of my first impressions of Kenya and Africa. I have spent my time in Kenya with Olly and his family, Mr O’Meara (Robert), Mrs O’Meara (Fleur) and their other two sons Liam and Robert. When you picture a Kenyan holiday you immediately think wild life expeditions bouncing over the grassland plains in search of an Elephant or a big cat. However this holiday has been uniquely different.

It has been spent mostly at the coast at a place called Watamu this is situated about 60 km up the coast from Mombassa. We are staying in a family friends beach house. Most of what I have learnt about Kenya has been from the O’Meara’s. The O’Meara’s are from ‘white Kenya’ that makes up only 0.1 % of Kenya’s population of 38 million. One of the first glaring differences between a NZ bach and a Kenyan ‘bach’ is that we have a cook and a house worker, These guys live and work at the house and prepare all the meals and duties round the house. We have a lot of structured meals Breakfast alternating between cooked and continental meals, followed by a cooked lunch usually a seafood curry or fish and chips. Then we have Kenyan tea and cake for high tea and finally dinner is (yes you guessed it a seafood related dish). It’s lucky I like seafood. We all supped around the table together, and there was a dress code, so we couldn’t eat without shirts. Even though it was so hot! It was around the table through the O’Meara’s family’s discussions that I learned a lot about Kenya.

Kenya was first explored by the Portugese sailor Vasco Da Gama, but it was properly colonized by the Omani Arabs in the early 1800’s then the Germans then the English (Imperial British East Africa company) in the 1890’s. In 1963 Kenya was declared independent with Jomo Kenyatta the first president. Currently a coalition government exists between PNU and ODM with members from both parties sharing positions of power. The current president is Mwai Kibaki (PNU). Apparently Kenya is the third most corrupt country in the world. So a lot of the revenue raised by the taxes goes into the politicians back pockets. As a result there is a large division of wealth within the country, there is a slum in Nairobi which is home to 800,000 people. Many of the main highways in Kenya are actually funded by foreign countries and these are the good roads. What else? Kenya has a lot of problems with muggings, so we had to drive around the city with the windows pretty much closed and the doors locked, otherwise people could grab your luggage or threaten you with faeces or acid. Kenya has a large Tea and Coffee trade, however recently these commodities have been struggling.

Back to the beach… Our day usually consisted of an early morning run (well we tried to go for one) followed by a swim then breakfast. We usually needed provisions, so some mornings we went to Watamu or Malindi. We usually needed fish or beers. Tusker or Pilsners were the beers of choice. Time at the house was spent lazing around, playing chess, squeezing orange juice or reading. It was very hot and humid, so we tried to keep out of the sun. We did manage a few activities though; we went to Gedi (a 14th century Arab ruin), the Watamu snake farm, where we saw a lot of deadly serpents as well as crocs and lizards; snorkeling out at the reef – This was great fun lots of coral and tropical fish which would eat the bread right out of your hands; Walks through the jungle, keeping an eye on the monkeys and squirrels. We spent a lot of time in the water throwing the rugby ball about but even then it was difficult to cool off. The beach itself was really nice, seaweed and scurrying crabs were the major occupants. One other thing that amazed me was the bubbling quicksand at some parts in the shallows. Late afternoon we sometimes went for some Italian icecream, which was according to the locals the best in Kenya, I didn’t disagree. In the evening we steered clear of the splash bikini parties or happy nights, instead opting for the oceans resorts Ocean sports or Hemmingway’s. Beers were pretty cheap so we had a few good nights there, pity there weren’t a bus load of sweedish backpackers staying then it would have been primo.
Another thing that I learnt a lot about on my trip was Bamboo, Ollys brother Liam is proposing a venture involving growing bamboo for gasification and the production of electricity. A smart idea considering the country’s electricity problems and the high spot price of electricity.

On the way back to Nairobi we went a slightly different route, via the Tsavo east National Park. A mini safari, it cost 50 USD for me to enter the Park but it was well worth it. We saw warthogs, waterbuck, grants gazelle, Impala, Urdu, Giraffe, Zebra, Hippos, Buffalo, Elephants and the best of all a pride of 17 Lions. Kenya has an amazingly varied countryside and is epitomized by the acacia tree silhouetted behind a rising sun. It was the end of the dry season so any drop of water was precious to the land and the wildlife. Other interesting sightings were the African army ants spread across the road, the baboons in the Baobab tree and the large number of overturned lorries on the side of the road.

It was a long trip back to Nairobi and we did our best to avoid the Nairobi jams, but we finally made it back to the Muthaiga Country Club, for high tea and a dip in the pool to remove the layers of dust that had coated us. Muthaiga was once and maybe still is the premier club in East Africa, there is an etiquette that is observed whilst there and it is very colonial. It is attended by the whos who of Kenya. It boasts facilities such as croquet, golf, squash, billards, tennis, mens room, library, you name it. My last day in Kenya I went to the Museum, which showcased the amount of wildlife Kenya has as well as customs of the local tribes and the recent accolades of the Kenyan Rugby sevens team. We stopped in at Olly and Bobs old work, the Talisman for a beer and a meal. My favourite restaurant in Kenya, it had a great vibe.

Kenya has this kind of raw excitement about it, where everything and nothing is a surprise. It’s a country with amazing natural beauty and diversity, and there is a toughness about the Kenya people, who just get on with living. I have barely scratched the surface of this country. I will definitely return one day…

Cartmel - Trail race and lakes district

It was time for another race trip weekend away. This time up to the North of England in the scenic Lakes district. The crew consisted of Myself, Richie, Mel, Sarah, Dan and Simone. So we got off work a bit earlier on Friday, I trained, then biked then trained and it was a miracle that I made it on time. We jumped into the people mover with a few snacks and supplies. Richie and I were in the cheap seats and we attempted an impossible Kendoku. We stopped at the Welcome break restaurant and filled ourselves with soup and toasties. Picked up a crossword book at the WHSmith. With our crossword book Richie and I were entertained all the way up to Cartmel. With a tom-tom in hand directions were never an issue. Even driving in at night we could tell that Cartmel was a very quaint country town. Our cottage was very tastefully English, characterized by its low ceilings and creaky wooden flans. Poor Dan who was at least six foot four struggled a bit. Had a quiet night in because tomorrow was race day. Awoke early and downed a couple of energy drinks. Then Mel and I went for a nosey around sleepy old cartmel. The air was fresh apart from a faint whiff of horse manure. We walked through the main square past the race course and out into the countryside where encountered some friendly horses. Back at the cottage we munched on oat bars and bananas for brekkie. Then we went back to the race course to pick up our race kit. We were in different race catagories with Richie, Mel and Sarah starting off at 11.30. There was very laid back atmosphere at the start of their race, I took a few photos of them as they sped off. Then Dan, Simone and I went back to change and get in our kit. I had been for maybe 3 runs a week for the last 4 weeks, so I felt reasonably fit. The start was a fairly reasonable pace, and I somehow found myself in the front bunch for the first couple of K. The field spread out quickly as soon as we hit the first hill, I powered strongly up the hill and managed to nudge into 4th. The hill kept going and going and the legs started to burn, I was kind of wishing I had done some hill work training. Then we reached the trig after a nasty final steep bit. I was a bit worried I had exhausted quite a bit of the tank and I was only 5 k into the 16 k race. Thankfully it was pretty much down hill the rest of the course. There were tight tracks, mudholes, and sealed tarmack, so it had a bit of everything. I got passed by a couple of people but managed to guts it out. It came down to a sprint finish between me and the leading lady and I just managed to pip her, that was a psychological victory for me. I collapsed after the finish line and forgot to record my number (so I didn’t officially get a placing) but I did remember to claim my sticky toffee pudding. We all dissected the race course as we hobbled home for a shower. It turned out Richie and Mel got top placings in their category’s so they were expecting a prize, unfortunately it didn’t eventuate. At the prize giving we were told the course was actually 18k, so I was pretty happy with my 1:17 minutes. Then we went back to cottage and watched Ireland win the grand slam over a few beers and crackers and cheese. Then we hit the cartmel night life, a nice meal followed by drinks at the racecourse then a few beers in town. Sunday was our tiki tour day. So we were told by the locals the night before to check out wast water. We drove through barrow then along the coast taking in the views. We stopped for a bite to eat just before wast-water and I had my chicken sandwiches. Wast water was a nice lake surrounded spectacular shingle cliffs, we stopped for a few pictures and a jumping contest over a little stream. We took a b-road over a pretty gnarly saddle, the road was windy and very very narrow. Popped out of the countryside into Ambleside a town with stately grey stoned houses. Got caught in a traffic jam around lake Windemere and Dan told us a long-winded joke which was memorable for the story telling rather than the actual punch line. Back on the motorways we cruised back into London after stopping for KFC at the welcome break. Great weekend with a good crew.

Back to London

The long haul flight was broken up by a night stop off in South Korea, Snow greeted us there so it was a bit of a shock coming from 25 deg heat back at home. We stayed at the Hyatt which was pretty flash. Sat next to an Irish couple from Gallway on the way back who were friendly. Got into London on a Friday night and walked straight into a flat party (Eddie’s leaving doo), so had a great night despite the jet lag. The end of January was a tough time, I was discovering ending a relationship when there is other joint financial commitments is never easy. For instance I was finding it hard to flick our room when the rental market was as flat as it was (partly due to the recession). In the meantime, I threw myself back into work. It was going to be a very busy first half of the year for DUCO with the closure of the Swindon carcass manufacturing plant and the moving of part of it to the Slough factory. And not to mention the drama’s at the end of last year with the explosion. I am now essentially a quality engineer, where my role now is to reduce the amount of waste from poor quality product. It’s not an easy role being a quality detective but I do like the challenge and am always busy. So back at the flat I had a few games of squash with new mate Rob, he did give me a spanking mind you. One of the highlights of those few weeks was the big snow dump we had in London, which was one of the craziest things I have seen. It began snowing on Sunday night and when we woke up on Monday morning there was 1 ft of snow covering everything! Almost every mode of transport in the city ground to a standstill so 80% of people didn’t go to work! So the flat and I made snowmen, and I towed the flatmates skiing down the street on my bike.

Fast forward a couple of months, and things are a lot more settled have found a great new flat in Ealing Broadway with nice bunch of people, Stu (English), Aileen (Irish) and Sandra and Katy (Kiwi's).

Now spring is definitely here the daffodils are out and the days are lengthening. I went to my first premiership football game, Fulham v Blackburn and have been have some good times with the London gaming club.

New Zealand Holiday

So here I am on my debut solo blog entry. I am looking forward to an epic 2009. Here is a bit of a catch up from what I have been up to in these last few months. I travelled back to NZ on December 4th 2008, my trip was two-fold, one to sort out my HSMV and two to spend time with family and friends over the Festive period. I touched down with Korean air in Auckland on a warm sunny Saturday afternoon, I had instantly forgotten about 3 degree temperatures that I left behind in London. Even though I have only been away 6 months, a number of differences between here and the UK immediately stuck out: 1 how friendly NZ's really are - the samoan bus driver lady on the airport shuttle bus was very talkative, 2 how quiet NZ is - no cars, no people pushing push you on the pavement and 3 how wide NZ roads are. I bused into the city and crashed at Dad's pad, feeling rather jet lagged from the long haul. I woke up quite early and went for a run around to mission bay, still a bit ginger from my marathon. Megan came around late Sunday morning, it was such a nice day we decided to try and work on my pasty white body so we headed to Muriwai beach, we picked up Tom and his surfboard on the way after stopping in and quickly looking at Megan's flat in Herne Bay. Muriwai was quite popular as people were out throwing frisbees and playing touch. We went for a couple of swims and I flailed rather poorly on Toms surfboard. We took a couple of pictures on the rocks then headed over the hill to the gannet colony, it was pretty amazing. I didn't realise the birds each had their own little piece of real estate on the rock! On the way back in good kiwi fashion we picked up some Icecream’s. The drive home was quite hot (because megans car doesn't have air con) so we decided to head to Orakei beach for another dip. Back at Dad's pad I cooked for M+T can't remember what it was but it must have been good (I remember now it was a Thai green curry). The following day was time to sort out my biometrics, I borrowed Megs car and drove out to the immigration centre in Henderson. Took the turn off too soon and ended up in the wrong suburb, was driving rather erratically and a housewife pulled in behind me got out and tried to offer me directions, how embarrassing. Biometrics took 5 minutes (such a waste of time). Next day Meg and I rolled up to the valet parking at the Koru club in the pouring rain, then flew down to Wellington for GB's capping. I had a few drama's with the new 7kg hand luggage rules. GB picked us up from the airport. Gav's parade unfortunately got canned, but he was looking sharp in his gown. Before lunch I went and hand mailed my biometric stuff to Mary at the high commission while the others watched Gavin blink his way through a photo shoot; Then we all went out to the boatshed for a superb meal (I had steak I think) (Granddad, Chloe, MK, Dad, Mum and myself were present). Following lunch the ceremony was around mid afternoon, so we had time for a few snappys around the civic centre beforehand. It was a very good capping ceremony with memorable performances/talks from the Wellington boys choir (samoan slapping song) and the CEO of NZ post. Then we got onto the clap-a-thon, Gav's capping went smoothly unlike his older brothers! Upon finishing we shuffled out for pastries and mini pies served on RA napkins! Which Grandad later received as his Xmas present. Back to the "city-life" hotel for a few celebratory drinks and general catch ups. Next day, Dad and Meg flew back up to AKL and Mum, Granddad and I drove back up to N.P. We hit the road early, I drove most of the way as Mum twinged her back; We stopped for a coffee and muffin in Whanganui. Good to be home, and good to see Abbey, Caitlin and Mark. It was only a brief pause at home before Mum and I embarked on a famous road trip to Auckland for the Billy Joel concert. It began on Friday and it was the road trip of all road trips, we went NP --> Awakino --> Marakopa --> Kawhia --> Raglan --> Aotea harbour --> Pukekohe --> AKL. So pretty much hugged the west coast of the N.I. Nice country, definitely going back! Highlights were Marakopa, lowlights were there being no hot pies in Kawhia and Mum's dodgy directions.

The weekend was made up of three events, the Billy Joel concert, the trip out to Whangaparoa penninsula and Christmas in the park. M,D+I awoke early on Saturday so we went for a walk under the harbour bridge to Herne bay. After breakfast Megan and I went and had a whack of tennis. In the afternoon Mum Dad Megan and I went for a tiki tour out to the whangaparoa peninsula and gulf harbour. We ran around on red beach then went for a couple of swims at Stanmore bay and Te Haruhi bay (photo in the photo frame). We also checked out the marina and had photos with the flash yacht's pretending they were ours. Saturday night was Christmas in the park at the Domain, Mum put on a nice picnic spread and we washed it down with a few pures. The theme event was sponsered by SLSNZ and instead of a sleigh they had a surf boat complete with fireworks. The Billy Joel concert was on the Sunday night at the vector arena, so we all assembled at Dad's pad for another wonderful spread from Mum, (present - Mum, Dad, Rob P, Sandra P, Kerry, Mark, Carey) + Megan + Tom, but they were too cool for the concert. It was great show, what a performer, memorable moments being his antics with the fly swat, his amazing talent as a pianist and the song italian restaurant. Back at Dads apartment we all listened to BJ CD's before everyone had to head home.

Mum and I headed back to N.P on Monday via the conventional route. Back in the Naki, if I wasn't surfing, swimming or lounging round the house I was doing a few jobs for Mum. I fixed the halogen light in the kitchen, cleaned the fly-spots of the family room ceiling, scrubbed down the two decks, took 6 feet of the front hedge and other odds and sods. Time wasn't totally spent doing chores, I also caught up with Jon Profitt (poker night and pub quiz), went fishing with Gav with the Kayaks (caught 2 Mau Mau), went Diving with Mark and his work mates round the coast for Paua, and a spot of house hunting with Mark and Caitlin around the North Taranaki coastline. Christmas eve Megan and I went out on the town in the Naki and caught up with some old school mates, afterwards we went to midnight mass (a wee bit tipsy) and stretched our vocal chords. Christmas was a family affair, I think we had 17 in total. Most of us went for the compulsory Xmas swim quite early. Then after brekkie we congregated at Marks place and rapidly went through the present session. Xmas lunch was at huge feast around the table-tennis table which was wonderfully orchestrated by Mum. The afternoons entertainment was a 9 hole pitch and putt course designed by me around the lawns at 39 and 41 Hamblyn st. 4 teams of 4, the winning team at the end was Julie, Sange, Mark and Rob N. Great fun was had by all. Prebbles had to leave to their batch late afternoon, so that was Xmas 2008. Boxing day was all about sports. GB, Dad Megan and I with G'dad as caddy/coach had a round at Manakorihi, some good and not so good golf at the same time. I had a 98 with a few pars and a birdy but a few 9's to boot. Tennis in the afternoon was rotating doubles at Boys' High, good fun. A swim rounded off an active boxing day.

On the 27th Gav and I took off in his/my car towards the east coast, we collected Chloe in Rotovegas on the way before staying with the Prebs at their batch at lake Rotoiti. Weather wasn't that flash so we spent the majority of the short visit playing cards or soaking in the hot pools. GB dropped me off in a wet Ohope. Ohope was all about chilling out. I crashed at the old flat above the Dairy. Jamie and Dan Lynch, Tim, Dan Hall and Carl were all there, as well as about 7 girls (friends of Jamie's sister) Most days were a mix of beers on the deck and swims. We also played indoor sports at Trident Gym, beach soccer, beach volleyball, frisbee and many many games of euchre. A spot of fishing was also on the cards, both off the spit and on the boat with Graham. We weren't that successful onshore but managed to catch snapper, trevali and Kawai on the boat. I caught up with a few mates in Ohope, Jules, Ivan and jase. Other memorable moments were nights playing darts at the charty, seeing the New Year in on the deck with the firewoks on the beach and watching the cricket (aus v SA) on the TV. Around the third I hitched up to the Mount and caught up with the Houston's and M+D. Drove to Hamilton where M+I caught an extremely slow bus back to N.P. at least the bus driver was enthusiastic. While I was on holiday my visa came through, so I brought my flights forward a few days. Had a few relationship issues with Sarah so decided it was time to move on. So my long kiwi summer was nearing an end, great weather, good family + mates time and visa sorted. I kind of got that end of school holiday feeling, but at the same time I was looking forward to continuing my OE. So caught a flight up to Auckland and flew out on the 15th January after goodbyes. Ka kite NZ.