No the title of this post does not refer to our personal hygiene whilst in NZ, its the cute colloquial name they give to going for a walk.
Next stop on our mammoth road trip across NZ was Wanaka in search of Jarlath's top tip - Eggs benedict at Relishes' Cafe. It was well worth the drive - best I've ever tried and its my favourite breakie - Kate had a fabulous fish chowder with perfect sourdough toast. Definitely the kind of meal to write home about (or in your blog for that matter).
Wanaka is nestled between amber hills overlooking a huge mirror-still lake. We could only stay one night as we had realised we were quickly running out of time until we had to be in Auckland. We watched "Mao's Last Dancer" (great movie, get it out) at the coolest art-house cinema where you sit on old sofa's or in the front half of a VW beatle if your very luckyand there is an interval for pizza and beer!
Bright and early the next morning we headed for a half-day walk in Mount Aspiring National Park - the drive in was epic, on unsurfaced roads with morning mist lifting to reveal Birds of prey perched on fence posts and deer scattering in the distance. As the snow capped ranges came into view the road worsened till we were bumping through feet deep fords and herding sheep out the way! Luckily we hired "el cheapo" - a beat up old car so no need to worry about the paintwork - for only £10 a day!
The views of the glaciers (and Mount Aspiring itself) were great and our luck with the weather continued as it was clear blue skies and warm sunshine - although the DOC had managed to induce a landslip whilst "upgrading" the Rob Roy track we had intended to do, so we stuck to an easy lowland valley walk instead. Glorious none the less.
Spirited by our first proper glimpse of mountains and snow, we decided to head for Mount Cook national park (with the highest peak in Antipodea) which committed us to the East coast route north. This meant missing the West coast delights of Fox and Franz Josef glaciers, which Kate had already seen. We decided to save the glaciers for the deep south of south America
This was a long haul of about 6 hours so we arrived in darkness to nondescript YHA hostel with little idea of what surrounded us. Next morning we awoke to clear blue again (sooo lucky) and frosted car windows. The source of all this cold....the tremendous Mueller and Hooker glaciers bearing down from the snow capped Mt Cook ranges. The walking here was serious mountain territory, so we elected for a conservative 3 hour route up to some tarns with views across across to the glaciers.
The start of the walk offered no illusions as we hit strait into steep rubble filled steps never ending upwards. Even though the air was still dry and freezing in the shade, we soon stripped off to thermals as we plodded head down and dripping with sweat - thankful we hadn't attempted to overnight with loaded back packs. The climb became increasingly technical, meeting 2 metre slabs of rock to scramble up. Eventually we came to a leveling out, and were surprised to see the sign pointing still upwards for our target tarns. Not wanting to allow fatigue to set in, we pushed on to find a boulder field marked only with poles, followed by a steep loose scree slope, where it we left to find our own route. By now I was really surprised - since all the other DOC walks had been really well manicured with overestimated times listed - but with fabulously clear stable skies, perfect alpine vistas and both in good form from all the walking, we were happy to crack on. So up we went finally reaching a rock strewn plateau with a decent snow covering. Kate was in top form, and had left me behind so I rushed to catch her up, to find a hut coming into view.
Now we had elected to take the easier route only as far as the tarns, leaving the full "Mueller Hut" route to more experienced walkers....but somehow, we had ended up completing the full route! And, it turned out, in pretty good time! So we were treated to panoramic views of the glaciers and Mount Cook range from the comfort of the Muller Hut's ample balcony! Just like the best skiing days, the sun shone down as we devoured squashed brie and avocado sarnies. Totally pukka day!
Actually, many people had made it up there, although some clearly ill equipped (in trainers and jeans!!), and we made it back down pretty smoothly. In more seasonal conditions, this route would have required ice axe and crampons, but given the late onset of snow, we lucked out and got a summer walk in late autumn.
So, back on the road once more, we agreed to drive as far as we could bear, before bedding down for the night in an unremarkable motel in unremarkableville. Next target....Nelson - where apparently the sun always shines.
Saturday, 7 August 2010
Saturday, 24 July 2010
Adventures in the land of sheep and mountains
Country number four on our round the world trip; New Zealand!
We arrrived in a sunny Christchurch a very cute little 'city' that feels a bit like Cambridge without all the bikes. I was overwhlemed by how "English" it is! We wanted to get on the road so only spent one whole day there, we walked in a beautiful oak tree filled park full autumnal golden colours, where the adjacent "Kings college" public school pupils were all playing rugby or tennis and took in a bit of art at the city gallery.
From Christchurch we picked up a giant motorhome. We had two days to relocate it back to Queenstown but only paid the equivalent of a fiver for the hire. Our route took in some coast and then headed into the foothills that run along the centre of the south island, at this time we couldn't see the fabulous backdrop of the southern alps proper as it was overcast, but we did have a wonderful stopover in a place called Lake Taupo - which has a bright cloudy blue colour from glacial minerals deposits. That evening we went on a star gazing tour (there is a university run observatory positioned on a hill above the lake as there is very little light pollution) sods law.... the wind and the cloud cover came in so we only saw a few with the help of some huge telescopes. It was still cool, especially to learn about the southern cross (which you see on the NZ flag) and how to use it to find true south. It was not as our man in the hut on the razorback walk had told us!
We then drove the motorhome to a remote camping spot alongside another lake (in the dark this took decidedly longer than it should, such that we ended up cooking pasta in the well equiped kitchen at midnight - the red wine helped to smooth the stresses though!). Waking up to the epic view of geese landing, ducks quacking and a mountain backdrop really woke me up to how beautiful this trip was going to be. The scenery has ever increased in "wow" factor with each step our journey. Basically, when you next come back to antipodia, make it NZ it wont dissapoint. Australia's scenery becomes a Holland next to New Zealand's Switzerland!
So our challenge was to get the vehicle back by 3pm, seemingly simple with only 300km and all day to do it. So we checked out a few views, had a hot chocolate and cruzily got on our way, even stopping to heat up the leftover pasta dish in our"luxury" kitchen. Of course, we hadn't added a "NZ" factor - the roads are incredibly windy and hilly with plenty of farm vehicles to slow you down! We were on route 1 (equivilent of the M1) yet met with steep inclines and spaghetti single lane roads. Not that this was unpleasant, the scenery was continually intriguing and ever changing from mountains,to flat plains and vinyards, to lush farming valleys, to ravines with white water rivers. And the roads are in perfect condition and well signed...just about 50mph slower than we had assumed!!
Anyway we made it more or less (thanks to the laid back staff at the hire company) and dropped off the motorhome without too much stress. And so we found ourselves at Queenstown "international" airport (where you can practically touch the planes taking off) starring up at the imposing craggy face of the 2500m Remarkables range. Its a pretty impressive greeting.
Queenstown itself is basically a British occupied Ski resort, awaiting its first snow. Over the three days we were there, we took advantage of the great micro-brewed beer, indulged in a Ferg Burger (a Bun Laden and a Sweet Bambi), went to see Boy (definately look out for in UK - great NZ film), and played a game of Frisbee golf; they have an offical course with holes, tee points and pars!! They even have different weight frisbees, for putting or driving etc.
We also took advantage of the clear blue skies and did 3 days of local walks including the impressive Ben Lomond (1800m) which revealed great vistas of the snowcapped southern alps - pretty tough ascent though starting at 400m and climbing pretty steadily the whole way!
Aside from that, our mission was to organise and prepare for a Great Walk (there are about 7 Great multi-day treks in NZ). We found that south island had recently suffered severe flooding (severe by NZ standards, really means it - this is landscape that is regularly landsliding, earthquaking, erupting and ...well...raining!!) and much of the tracks were washed out. The Department for Conservation (DOC) whose function is a cross between the National Trust, the Foresty Commission and the Third Reich, warned that difficult river crossings were likely, huts where emptied of firewood and track damage may have occurred.
Despite this, we actually managed to do the 60km Kepler Route in 3 days without incident! It was a lovely mixture of fern ridden temperate rainforest, mossy cloud forest, exposed moorland hilltops and huge lakes. We also impressed ourselves by consistently beating the times it said the sections would take, though there were some crazy Czechs who overtook us and basically jogged the route. We had to stay in the backwater huts for two nights, luckily both the huts great with plenty of people and fire wood to keep us warm. We teamed up with a couple from California for much of the time and really enjoyed it.
From the vicory of the Kepler we took in a few more of the amazing sights of the Fiordland National Park (a huge expanse of primary wilderness covering the south west of South Island) including glow worm caves and sea kayaking up Milford Sound. We managed to pick a seriously wet day to take to the water so we didn't see quite as much if the sound as we would have liked but all the waterfalls were out instead which was cool and the mist added a certain mystery to the place. As well as the kayaking the drive to and from the sound was completely stunning, huge expanses of rock and ice towered above us and we were surrounded by amazing waterfalls, we drove home as the sun set with orbital on the stereo, the perfect music for that setting.
So, with our goals in the deep south completed, we began our 3000km road trip north, which would eventually end in Auckland.
We arrrived in a sunny Christchurch a very cute little 'city' that feels a bit like Cambridge without all the bikes. I was overwhlemed by how "English" it is! We wanted to get on the road so only spent one whole day there, we walked in a beautiful oak tree filled park full autumnal golden colours, where the adjacent "Kings college" public school pupils were all playing rugby or tennis and took in a bit of art at the city gallery.
From Christchurch we picked up a giant motorhome. We had two days to relocate it back to Queenstown but only paid the equivalent of a fiver for the hire. Our route took in some coast and then headed into the foothills that run along the centre of the south island, at this time we couldn't see the fabulous backdrop of the southern alps proper as it was overcast, but we did have a wonderful stopover in a place called Lake Taupo - which has a bright cloudy blue colour from glacial minerals deposits. That evening we went on a star gazing tour (there is a university run observatory positioned on a hill above the lake as there is very little light pollution) sods law.... the wind and the cloud cover came in so we only saw a few with the help of some huge telescopes. It was still cool, especially to learn about the southern cross (which you see on the NZ flag) and how to use it to find true south. It was not as our man in the hut on the razorback walk had told us!
We then drove the motorhome to a remote camping spot alongside another lake (in the dark this took decidedly longer than it should, such that we ended up cooking pasta in the well equiped kitchen at midnight - the red wine helped to smooth the stresses though!). Waking up to the epic view of geese landing, ducks quacking and a mountain backdrop really woke me up to how beautiful this trip was going to be. The scenery has ever increased in "wow" factor with each step our journey. Basically, when you next come back to antipodia, make it NZ it wont dissapoint. Australia's scenery becomes a Holland next to New Zealand's Switzerland!
So our challenge was to get the vehicle back by 3pm, seemingly simple with only 300km and all day to do it. So we checked out a few views, had a hot chocolate and cruzily got on our way, even stopping to heat up the leftover pasta dish in our"luxury" kitchen. Of course, we hadn't added a "NZ" factor - the roads are incredibly windy and hilly with plenty of farm vehicles to slow you down! We were on route 1 (equivilent of the M1) yet met with steep inclines and spaghetti single lane roads. Not that this was unpleasant, the scenery was continually intriguing and ever changing from mountains,to flat plains and vinyards, to lush farming valleys, to ravines with white water rivers. And the roads are in perfect condition and well signed...just about 50mph slower than we had assumed!!
Anyway we made it more or less (thanks to the laid back staff at the hire company) and dropped off the motorhome without too much stress. And so we found ourselves at Queenstown "international" airport (where you can practically touch the planes taking off) starring up at the imposing craggy face of the 2500m Remarkables range. Its a pretty impressive greeting.
Queenstown itself is basically a British occupied Ski resort, awaiting its first snow. Over the three days we were there, we took advantage of the great micro-brewed beer, indulged in a Ferg Burger (a Bun Laden and a Sweet Bambi), went to see Boy (definately look out for in UK - great NZ film), and played a game of Frisbee golf; they have an offical course with holes, tee points and pars!! They even have different weight frisbees, for putting or driving etc.
We also took advantage of the clear blue skies and did 3 days of local walks including the impressive Ben Lomond (1800m) which revealed great vistas of the snowcapped southern alps - pretty tough ascent though starting at 400m and climbing pretty steadily the whole way!
Aside from that, our mission was to organise and prepare for a Great Walk (there are about 7 Great multi-day treks in NZ). We found that south island had recently suffered severe flooding (severe by NZ standards, really means it - this is landscape that is regularly landsliding, earthquaking, erupting and ...well...raining!!) and much of the tracks were washed out. The Department for Conservation (DOC) whose function is a cross between the National Trust, the Foresty Commission and the Third Reich, warned that difficult river crossings were likely, huts where emptied of firewood and track damage may have occurred.
Despite this, we actually managed to do the 60km Kepler Route in 3 days without incident! It was a lovely mixture of fern ridden temperate rainforest, mossy cloud forest, exposed moorland hilltops and huge lakes. We also impressed ourselves by consistently beating the times it said the sections would take, though there were some crazy Czechs who overtook us and basically jogged the route. We had to stay in the backwater huts for two nights, luckily both the huts great with plenty of people and fire wood to keep us warm. We teamed up with a couple from California for much of the time and really enjoyed it.
From the vicory of the Kepler we took in a few more of the amazing sights of the Fiordland National Park (a huge expanse of primary wilderness covering the south west of South Island) including glow worm caves and sea kayaking up Milford Sound. We managed to pick a seriously wet day to take to the water so we didn't see quite as much if the sound as we would have liked but all the waterfalls were out instead which was cool and the mist added a certain mystery to the place. As well as the kayaking the drive to and from the sound was completely stunning, huge expanses of rock and ice towered above us and we were surrounded by amazing waterfalls, we drove home as the sun set with orbital on the stereo, the perfect music for that setting.
So, with our goals in the deep south completed, we began our 3000km road trip north, which would eventually end in Auckland.
Saturday, 26 June 2010
Final days in Oz
So back to Melbourne through the torrential rain to begin the goodbyes as everyone headed back to England, we also saw Jarlath and Pip off to their proper honeymoon in Fiji.
As usual it was really sad to say goodbye to them, if only we could teleport ourselves across the world to have dinner with them all the time.....boo to the fact that teleporters don't exist yet. Still we will see them next year for the wedding and hopefully before while we are in South America if they can find the money, though with the Aussie dollar as it is at the moment I recommended they do all the travelling they could!
So just me, Ronan and Steve left to our own devises in Melbourne. We had managed to get some free accommodation down at Nelsons Prom which Ronan's brother, Niall, had booked when it looked like the ash was gonna delay them by about ten days and now couldn't use as their flight had been brought forward.
The little town were staying in felt seriously like an off season beach resort, nowhere to eat, the shop closed at 4pm and no one about, not auspicious beginnings!
Next day we headed out to check out 'the Prom' as the as the Aussies call it and it didn't disappoint even though we weren't there while it was hot. We squeaked along squeaky beach, climbed one of the peaks and did a 20km walk as well which took us through another weird burnt out forest and lush rainforest as well, saw some pretty serious fungi to add to our fungi photo collection which I know you will all be dying to see the slide show of when we get back.
The 20km walk felt like good practice for all the walking we would be doing in NZ and I didn't die at the end of it, in fact I drove us the 3 hours back to Melbourne.
It was almost time for us to leave Melbourne, just enough time to say hi to Dave once more and partake in one last quintessential Melbourne activity, a gig in a darkened upstairs bar. Went to see Georgia Fields (http://www.myspace.com/georgiafields) who was fantastic, her and her band used all manner of bizarre instruments including a power drill, a great way to say bye to Melbs.
Getting back into practice for being backpackers we took the cheapo overnight bus to Sydney and arrived looking a bit worse for wear into seedy Kings Cross, we found our hostel and flopped straight into bed to sleep off the night's journey. Having fully recovered, we stepped out at lunchtime to see the city and found a fabulous sunny day, a little bit more summer to enjoy before we headed into the southern hemisphere winter.
Sydney is proper glam! If Melbourne is the slightly grungy cool kid in skinny jeans who likes bands you have never heard of then Sydney is the fabulous, toned, tanned, gay man who loves glitter and house music. Its a city that is fabulous and knows it! The harbour is really stunning and full of international landmarks like the bridge and the opera house.
We spent the afternoon with Ronan's parents eating fish and chips and drinking rose over in one of the little bays, looking back at the CBD as the sun set, very chilled. In fact sydney was pretty much all catching up with people.
We spent another sunny afternoon with my cousin Andrew who took us to brunch on the hip streets of Surrey Hills then gave us a guided walking tour around the city he has called home for a year now. We did another sun set down by the water and then drinks watching the moon on the water.
Our final day in Sydney I took Ronan to his first aquarium ever! I have no idea how he managed to get to 30 without ever having had this experience and luckily Sydney is a pretty cool one complete with sharks, giants rays, turtle and even Dugong (look a bit like a manatees).
The evening was spent catching up with some more friends, Aine and John, who took us to see the classy side of Sydney with cocktails in a revolving 18th floor bar and then dinner in the Rocks. In the end we had to call it a night at 11 as we had to be up at 4am to take our flight to New Zealand.
Waking in what seemed like the middle of the night we were off on the next adventure in the land of sheep and mountains, Aotearoa!
As usual it was really sad to say goodbye to them, if only we could teleport ourselves across the world to have dinner with them all the time.....boo to the fact that teleporters don't exist yet. Still we will see them next year for the wedding and hopefully before while we are in South America if they can find the money, though with the Aussie dollar as it is at the moment I recommended they do all the travelling they could!
So just me, Ronan and Steve left to our own devises in Melbourne. We had managed to get some free accommodation down at Nelsons Prom which Ronan's brother, Niall, had booked when it looked like the ash was gonna delay them by about ten days and now couldn't use as their flight had been brought forward.
The little town were staying in felt seriously like an off season beach resort, nowhere to eat, the shop closed at 4pm and no one about, not auspicious beginnings!
Next day we headed out to check out 'the Prom' as the as the Aussies call it and it didn't disappoint even though we weren't there while it was hot. We squeaked along squeaky beach, climbed one of the peaks and did a 20km walk as well which took us through another weird burnt out forest and lush rainforest as well, saw some pretty serious fungi to add to our fungi photo collection which I know you will all be dying to see the slide show of when we get back.
The 20km walk felt like good practice for all the walking we would be doing in NZ and I didn't die at the end of it, in fact I drove us the 3 hours back to Melbourne.
It was almost time for us to leave Melbourne, just enough time to say hi to Dave once more and partake in one last quintessential Melbourne activity, a gig in a darkened upstairs bar. Went to see Georgia Fields (http://www.myspace.com/georgiafields) who was fantastic, her and her band used all manner of bizarre instruments including a power drill, a great way to say bye to Melbs.
Getting back into practice for being backpackers we took the cheapo overnight bus to Sydney and arrived looking a bit worse for wear into seedy Kings Cross, we found our hostel and flopped straight into bed to sleep off the night's journey. Having fully recovered, we stepped out at lunchtime to see the city and found a fabulous sunny day, a little bit more summer to enjoy before we headed into the southern hemisphere winter.
Sydney is proper glam! If Melbourne is the slightly grungy cool kid in skinny jeans who likes bands you have never heard of then Sydney is the fabulous, toned, tanned, gay man who loves glitter and house music. Its a city that is fabulous and knows it! The harbour is really stunning and full of international landmarks like the bridge and the opera house.
We spent the afternoon with Ronan's parents eating fish and chips and drinking rose over in one of the little bays, looking back at the CBD as the sun set, very chilled. In fact sydney was pretty much all catching up with people.
We spent another sunny afternoon with my cousin Andrew who took us to brunch on the hip streets of Surrey Hills then gave us a guided walking tour around the city he has called home for a year now. We did another sun set down by the water and then drinks watching the moon on the water.
Our final day in Sydney I took Ronan to his first aquarium ever! I have no idea how he managed to get to 30 without ever having had this experience and luckily Sydney is a pretty cool one complete with sharks, giants rays, turtle and even Dugong (look a bit like a manatees).
The evening was spent catching up with some more friends, Aine and John, who took us to see the classy side of Sydney with cocktails in a revolving 18th floor bar and then dinner in the Rocks. In the end we had to call it a night at 11 as we had to be up at 4am to take our flight to New Zealand.
Waking in what seemed like the middle of the night we were off on the next adventure in the land of sheep and mountains, Aotearoa!
Sunday, 13 June 2010
Along on the honeymoon
The post wedding week started with a bit of stress as Ronan's other brother and his wife were due to leave for England but were being royally foiled by the ash cloud, they headed back to Melbourne anyway hoping it would all sort it self out (hmmm....).
Bless Jarlath and Pip, they sacrificed going on their honeymoon for a week to spend it in the mountains with us. They even invited us all around the day after their wedding for a bbq at their amazing honeymoon pad, the romance was quickly destroyed by a session of balcony cricket that I am amazed didn't end in a broken window.
We left the newlyweds for a little peace next day to get our first taste of the mountains the next day with a trip up the seemingly endless windy road to mount buffalo. it was a little 8k walk but it seemed pretty long to me at the time, I was gonna have to seriously step up my game for NZ! Still get got some fab views and watched the sunset from the wonderfully named 'horn' and encountered wallabies and owls on the way back down the dusky mountain.
We had some fantastic evenings at the homestead, it was a proper outback affair with a huuuge porch and one of those bbq that can cook food for about 20 people at one, at it did do that a number of times, I consumed by bodyweight in sausages I think! We also sampled a lot of the great local wines as well.
It was Jarlath's birthday that week and his celebration of choice, a walk in the mountains and staying the night in an unheated back-country hut. The Leydens are weird but who am I to argue so we set off for apparently one of the best walks in Victoria and it certainly didn't disappoint.
The weather was seriously moody with deep dark cloud hanging over the hills but it really only served to enhance the drama of the landscape, all the hills were covered with plants that had been burnt in forest fires. We made it up the peak we were aiming for though we couldn't see a thing at the top due the cloud and the clouds finally broke on our way back down to soak us just in time to get to the hut, luckily this did mean that we saw the most perfect sunset.
So started an interesting evening. We thought we would have the hut to ourselves but arrived to find a slightly drunken and rambling man called Howard in a boiler suit from the 70s, he was seriously old skool hiker who used firelighters to heat his food and seemed pretty pleased to have found a captive audience to talk at. At the time he got seriously on my nerves but looking back he was pretty amusing, he repeated everything he told us at least three times in slightly different ways and seemed to believe he know all there is to know about the mountains carefully ignoring the fact that Jarlath also knew everything he was telling us. We escaped to our sleeping bags at about 9pm.......
The week seemed to fly by and on a seriously rainy Saturday we headed back to Melbourne to head our separate ways.
Saturday, 12 June 2010
Big day in the mountains
So the English invasion decamps to a lovely farmstead in the 'alpine' region of Victoria.
No Mnt Blanc in this version but it was still pretty stunning and we arrived to fabulous weather predicted for the wedding weekend (seriously luckily considering it pissed it down on the one before and the one after).
The day before the wedding it was all systems go with everyone assigned jobs to help get everything ready, we all ended up at the reception venue putting the covers on the chairs, I was chief bow tier and the place looked pretty damn good by the time we finished if I do say so myself!
Wedding morning came and the boys were off early to set up the ceremony venue, apparently Jarlath has to be persuaded to get into his suit about a hour before the wedding as he was busy setting up the speakers and doing handstands on the lawn.
Meanwhile I had been assigned the task of bus conductor on one of the minibuses hired to take guests to the ceremony and reception. A task I managed to fail in when we left Pip's cousin and family behind and the ceremony was delayed for their arrival. In my defence we waited 15 minutes for them and tried all their phones to no avail, apparently they even saw the bus from their room....
It was an absolutely stunning day and everyone looked fantastic hanging out, they were come cute , having taken the 20s theme seriously, there were some fabulous flappers and very dapper hats on the men. The bride and groom certainly disappoint either, Pip's dress was perfect and Jarlath wore a great sharp little suit with a hat with a gun on the side, maybe a little risqué for his wedding day!
The ceremony was a short ans sweet, personal affair with the bride and groom standing on the vine covered veranda of this fabulous house they had hired with us all stood on the lawn watching. As soon as the vows were finished we were popping the champagne corks and got gently sloshed in the sun as the photos were done.
Once the champagne was finished it was time to head to the reception which was being held a stag farm, though it wasn't just deer hanging out, there were emu, ostriches and goats galore as well, something to amuse as as we ate our canapés. I did have a close encounter with one of the deer who I think may have been trying to mount me, I mean I know it was a great dress but really!
We had a really fun evening, very informal with lots of booze flowing, the speeches we great and Ronan and his brother did a great job of letting all the aussies know what Jarlath was like as a small boy (very similar to be honest). They had a chosen a really cool wedding band, some classic ska and I did quite a lot of pogoing. It all gets a bit hazy form there on in, Ronan reliably tells me I was pretty drunk and some rather unflattering late evening photos attest to this, the hangover wasn't too bad though and a big breakfast sorted me right out to begin our week long jaunt in the mountains.
No Mnt Blanc in this version but it was still pretty stunning and we arrived to fabulous weather predicted for the wedding weekend (seriously luckily considering it pissed it down on the one before and the one after).
The day before the wedding it was all systems go with everyone assigned jobs to help get everything ready, we all ended up at the reception venue putting the covers on the chairs, I was chief bow tier and the place looked pretty damn good by the time we finished if I do say so myself!
Wedding morning came and the boys were off early to set up the ceremony venue, apparently Jarlath has to be persuaded to get into his suit about a hour before the wedding as he was busy setting up the speakers and doing handstands on the lawn.
Meanwhile I had been assigned the task of bus conductor on one of the minibuses hired to take guests to the ceremony and reception. A task I managed to fail in when we left Pip's cousin and family behind and the ceremony was delayed for their arrival. In my defence we waited 15 minutes for them and tried all their phones to no avail, apparently they even saw the bus from their room....
It was an absolutely stunning day and everyone looked fantastic hanging out, they were come cute , having taken the 20s theme seriously, there were some fabulous flappers and very dapper hats on the men. The bride and groom certainly disappoint either, Pip's dress was perfect and Jarlath wore a great sharp little suit with a hat with a gun on the side, maybe a little risqué for his wedding day!
The ceremony was a short ans sweet, personal affair with the bride and groom standing on the vine covered veranda of this fabulous house they had hired with us all stood on the lawn watching. As soon as the vows were finished we were popping the champagne corks and got gently sloshed in the sun as the photos were done.
Once the champagne was finished it was time to head to the reception which was being held a stag farm, though it wasn't just deer hanging out, there were emu, ostriches and goats galore as well, something to amuse as as we ate our canapés. I did have a close encounter with one of the deer who I think may have been trying to mount me, I mean I know it was a great dress but really!
We had a really fun evening, very informal with lots of booze flowing, the speeches we great and Ronan and his brother did a great job of letting all the aussies know what Jarlath was like as a small boy (very similar to be honest). They had a chosen a really cool wedding band, some classic ska and I did quite a lot of pogoing. It all gets a bit hazy form there on in, Ronan reliably tells me I was pretty drunk and some rather unflattering late evening photos attest to this, the hangover wasn't too bad though and a big breakfast sorted me right out to begin our week long jaunt in the mountains.
Friday, 28 May 2010
Hot skinny on the side
So we arrive in Australia, where the temperature is 15degree lower (a welcome relief) and we don't need to haggle for everything, though Ronan did try a few times and got very strange looks from the Auzzies.
A lovely welcome at the airport with Ronan's brother Jarlath waiting to pick us up and whisk us to a comfy bed as we had not slept at all on the way over, I did a marathon 5 films on my personal entertainment system and was feeling a little jaded...
Jartlath had already planned to whisk his little bro off the next day to do some knarly mountain biking so I was kindly invited to go for a girly bunch with Pip and some of her lovely lady friends. This brunch was my initiation into Melburnians and their coffee. We had been told that the coffee was really good here and taken prety seriously but I was still a bit bemused when the orders from the other three ladies at the table were 'short black with some hot skinny on the side', 'skinny flat white', 'soy latte'.I wasn't really sure what half of that was so I sheepishly ordered an expresso, though I have developed quite a liking for the flat white since then.
We spent the next few days enjoying catching up with Jarlath and Pip who were great hosts showing us round Melbourne and hanging out with us as luckily we had arrived on easter weekend. Over the next few days 'the english invasion' as Pip called it began with Ronan's brother and his wife, his parents and three of Jarlath's friends all arriving from England.
We decided to give the almost weds a bit of wedding prep peace and headed off to the great ocean road for a few days, a fabulous rugged coastline full of amazing beaches and the famous 12 apostles, though apparently there are only 7 of them, I think the Oz tourist board should be done under the trading standards act. I did manage the spent the equivalent of £10 to see a lighthouse as well which was possibly the most underwhelming tourist experience of the trip so far.
Speaking of money of my god we were shocked by that when we arrived. Both Ronan and I have been to Oz before and remembered the srong pound meaning we could live pretty well down under, this is no more with the exchnage rate have dropped from about 2.5 to 1.5 and now Melbourne is more expensive than London. we had to become the stingy ones in the corner ordering the cheapest stuff on the menu and rifling through the reduced to clear section at the supermarket!
While in Melbourne I also managed to catch up with a few people. The lovely Laura Kerr, a very good friend from my days as a geeky teenager. Listening to her is brilliant with the accent veering between classic Leicester and proper auzzie.
Also great to see the fabulous Dave Carswell again (someone I met on my last travels) who acted as our guide to all things cool in Melbourne and taught us that every bar worth going to is down the end of an alley, off another alley which is full of wheelie bins.
In our two weeks or so there we really grew to love Melbourne; sometimes a bit grimy, always uber cool and very much a city that needs to be slowly discovered and doesn't put it all out there.
All too suddenly it was time to head off to the hills for the big Leyden wedding!
A lovely welcome at the airport with Ronan's brother Jarlath waiting to pick us up and whisk us to a comfy bed as we had not slept at all on the way over, I did a marathon 5 films on my personal entertainment system and was feeling a little jaded...
Jartlath had already planned to whisk his little bro off the next day to do some knarly mountain biking so I was kindly invited to go for a girly bunch with Pip and some of her lovely lady friends. This brunch was my initiation into Melburnians and their coffee. We had been told that the coffee was really good here and taken prety seriously but I was still a bit bemused when the orders from the other three ladies at the table were 'short black with some hot skinny on the side', 'skinny flat white', 'soy latte'.I wasn't really sure what half of that was so I sheepishly ordered an expresso, though I have developed quite a liking for the flat white since then.
We spent the next few days enjoying catching up with Jarlath and Pip who were great hosts showing us round Melbourne and hanging out with us as luckily we had arrived on easter weekend. Over the next few days 'the english invasion' as Pip called it began with Ronan's brother and his wife, his parents and three of Jarlath's friends all arriving from England.
We decided to give the almost weds a bit of wedding prep peace and headed off to the great ocean road for a few days, a fabulous rugged coastline full of amazing beaches and the famous 12 apostles, though apparently there are only 7 of them, I think the Oz tourist board should be done under the trading standards act. I did manage the spent the equivalent of £10 to see a lighthouse as well which was possibly the most underwhelming tourist experience of the trip so far.
Speaking of money of my god we were shocked by that when we arrived. Both Ronan and I have been to Oz before and remembered the srong pound meaning we could live pretty well down under, this is no more with the exchnage rate have dropped from about 2.5 to 1.5 and now Melbourne is more expensive than London. we had to become the stingy ones in the corner ordering the cheapest stuff on the menu and rifling through the reduced to clear section at the supermarket!
While in Melbourne I also managed to catch up with a few people. The lovely Laura Kerr, a very good friend from my days as a geeky teenager. Listening to her is brilliant with the accent veering between classic Leicester and proper auzzie.
Also great to see the fabulous Dave Carswell again (someone I met on my last travels) who acted as our guide to all things cool in Melbourne and taught us that every bar worth going to is down the end of an alley, off another alley which is full of wheelie bins.
In our two weeks or so there we really grew to love Melbourne; sometimes a bit grimy, always uber cool and very much a city that needs to be slowly discovered and doesn't put it all out there.
All too suddenly it was time to head off to the hills for the big Leyden wedding!
Monday, 10 May 2010
Temples and shit
Still doing very badly at catching up with my blogging but I will endeavor.....
So time to leave Thailand for the temples of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, we booked ourselves what we though was a nice easy all the way through bus and were up bright and early for our 7am pick up.... 1 and a half hours later we were still waiting, what they call 'thai time' over here.
Our border crossing was a relatively distressing experience where, despite about 3 years backpacking between us we managed to fall for the classic exchange rate con on the border, I knew that guy was talking crap but somehow let myself get carried along by it,, too old to backpack clearly. Anyway we lost the equivalent of about 4 pints in London so not life threatening and arrived in Siem Reap as hardened hagglers and bull shit detectors.
We'd picked up a random dutch guy and a the most mature and interesting 18 year old brit backpacker on the way and proceeded to drag them around town to find hostels that didn't exist. Anyway we soon found somewhere not in 'the bible' aka lonely planet but good enough and headed out to revisit a town I had had an amazing time in lat time I was there. Suffice to say the Angkor What? bar seemed a lot louder than last time I was there.. ah well as I said too old to backpack really. Should probably change the name of this blog to that....
Next day we decided to be intrepid and visit the famous temples by bike, a lovely idea and great exercise but managed to give the poor Irish boy heatstroke which took him out for about 24 hours bless him.
Revisiting the temples was just as stunning as the last time I was here, the intricate stone carvings everywhere you turn, giant alien trees slowly trying to take them back by growing giants roots through them and just the sheer scale of these ancient Khmer kings to show how good they were. I read an awful lot of descriptions of the wheres and why fores which I have immediately forgotten except the fact that all their names ended in varman, still for me its not really about the facts but just soaking up the atmosphere of the place.
Best experience of the two days we spent in the complex was sneaking back into the main Angkor Wat temple after it closed and watching dusk set in with absolutely no one else around, not a common experience in the major attraction of Cambodia which is usually full of Japanese and american coach tours. It was pretty special.
Our whistle stop visit was over too quick, having learned our lesson we did the trip back without an all through bus, a much more peaceful trip. So back to Bangkok with us and one final night before heading off to Australia and to be honest we were quite relieved at the prospect of not having to worry about being ripped off all the time of sweat buckets before even finishing breakfast. It was lovely and totally weird to bump into Liz on a soi off the Khao San road, who I had met in Morocco about 1year and a half before. The world is too small sometimes.
Australian adventures with the extended Leyden family to come soon, also will upload an album full of photos of Cambodia to flikr for you to look at if you fancy, I know it looks like a lot of old rock but it reall was very impressive in person.
So time to leave Thailand for the temples of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, we booked ourselves what we though was a nice easy all the way through bus and were up bright and early for our 7am pick up.... 1 and a half hours later we were still waiting, what they call 'thai time' over here.
Our border crossing was a relatively distressing experience where, despite about 3 years backpacking between us we managed to fall for the classic exchange rate con on the border, I knew that guy was talking crap but somehow let myself get carried along by it,, too old to backpack clearly. Anyway we lost the equivalent of about 4 pints in London so not life threatening and arrived in Siem Reap as hardened hagglers and bull shit detectors.
We'd picked up a random dutch guy and a the most mature and interesting 18 year old brit backpacker on the way and proceeded to drag them around town to find hostels that didn't exist. Anyway we soon found somewhere not in 'the bible' aka lonely planet but good enough and headed out to revisit a town I had had an amazing time in lat time I was there. Suffice to say the Angkor What? bar seemed a lot louder than last time I was there.. ah well as I said too old to backpack really. Should probably change the name of this blog to that....
Next day we decided to be intrepid and visit the famous temples by bike, a lovely idea and great exercise but managed to give the poor Irish boy heatstroke which took him out for about 24 hours bless him.
Revisiting the temples was just as stunning as the last time I was here, the intricate stone carvings everywhere you turn, giant alien trees slowly trying to take them back by growing giants roots through them and just the sheer scale of these ancient Khmer kings to show how good they were. I read an awful lot of descriptions of the wheres and why fores which I have immediately forgotten except the fact that all their names ended in varman, still for me its not really about the facts but just soaking up the atmosphere of the place.
Best experience of the two days we spent in the complex was sneaking back into the main Angkor Wat temple after it closed and watching dusk set in with absolutely no one else around, not a common experience in the major attraction of Cambodia which is usually full of Japanese and american coach tours. It was pretty special.
Our whistle stop visit was over too quick, having learned our lesson we did the trip back without an all through bus, a much more peaceful trip. So back to Bangkok with us and one final night before heading off to Australia and to be honest we were quite relieved at the prospect of not having to worry about being ripped off all the time of sweat buckets before even finishing breakfast. It was lovely and totally weird to bump into Liz on a soi off the Khao San road, who I had met in Morocco about 1year and a half before. The world is too small sometimes.
Australian adventures with the extended Leyden family to come soon, also will upload an album full of photos of Cambodia to flikr for you to look at if you fancy, I know it looks like a lot of old rock but it reall was very impressive in person.
Friday, 30 April 2010
Worst blogger ever
O.K so its official, I am the worst blogger ever, I want to write amusing anecdotes and be the quintessential witty blogger that I keep putting off actually doing it!
Well as of today its 'carpe diem' or just write anything basically...
So we left off last on Koh Chang in our basic little ratan hut in bailan bay. We were lucky... ish to stumble on the only cool little bar in our 'for those not wanting to be kept up all night by techno' resort run by two very friendly germans who will keep you drinking alcoholic fruit shakes and talking about what to do on the island for literally hours. They persuaded us to take a snorkelling trip where they drop you off at one of the other islands in the region for a couple of days as well.
We had a couple of days to kill until the trip as apparently the boat was currently being fixed (why is there always a catch once you decide to do something...?) so we visited some of the other beaches on the island, even walking the to one of them much to the amusement of all the thais and farang shooting past us on litle motorbikes as we sweated it up and down hills. We had decided not to get our own one as neither of us had ever riden a bike and we heard many stories about farang careering off the steep windy roads when there brakes failed or one to many whiskies dampened their reactions. Apparently someone died on the road while we were there so I was very glad to have taken the sweaty but safe option.
Anyway so the morning of the trip arrives and we get on a little pickup taxi with a few other young and friendly looking types. The guy running the tour casually says 'so you are coming back from koh mak on friday then...' at least two days after we planned to head back. Apparently the boat was still being fixed and even though they had a boat today they couldn't possibly use it again until friday, hmm a bit of a spanner in the works since this would squeeze our time in cambodia considerably. Luckily a travel savvy dutch girl managed to negotiate on behalf of the 6 of us effected and get the tour guy to pay for a night of accommodation for us on the island since we were staying longer than we wanted, best bartering i've seen by far.
So off we headed to Koh Mak and despite it being a smaller island actually found some cool people to hang out with instead of the virtually deserted beaches of Koh Chang. We had 3 fun nights hanging out at 'monkey island' a cute little place run by a bunch of thai rastas who played live reggae music every night, cheesy but fun, especially the song dedicated to that thai delicacy 'pad thai'. Other highlights of our time on koh mak
1) hiring bikes and cycling the whole island in a day (it was tiny) it about killed me though in the 40degree heat!
2) a very brightly coloured snake appearing in our little hut sending Ronan running for google to check out poisonous snakes in Thailand (apparently it probably wasn't).
3) eating fabulous fish bbq on the beach surrounded by twinkling lights
4) finding a little pier to watch the sunset from.
So it wasn't too bad staying longer than planned in the end and the snorkelling trip on the way back was well worth it, with hundreds of fish swimming around us, we did have to share our boat with a hilarious group of Russians who shared a bottle of whisky before breakfast and then looked miserable as hell all day and barely got in the water. We even managed to wheedle some free beer out of them for our terrible inconvenience which we triumphantly drank on our way back to Bailan Bay.
So now it was time to get moving and do some proper travelling...Cambodia. We booked ourselves onto a 7am bus and had a final night drinking alcoholic fruit shakes.
Ronan getting to know the pooches at our friendly german's bar
The boat to Koh Mak
Out on our bike ride around the island
Hanging out on our little pier
Guillem jumping for joy off the back of the unattended yacht him and ronan cheekily boarded
A great spot to watch the sunset from
Dusk at the pier
Well as of today its 'carpe diem' or just write anything basically...
So we left off last on Koh Chang in our basic little ratan hut in bailan bay. We were lucky... ish to stumble on the only cool little bar in our 'for those not wanting to be kept up all night by techno' resort run by two very friendly germans who will keep you drinking alcoholic fruit shakes and talking about what to do on the island for literally hours. They persuaded us to take a snorkelling trip where they drop you off at one of the other islands in the region for a couple of days as well.
We had a couple of days to kill until the trip as apparently the boat was currently being fixed (why is there always a catch once you decide to do something...?) so we visited some of the other beaches on the island, even walking the to one of them much to the amusement of all the thais and farang shooting past us on litle motorbikes as we sweated it up and down hills. We had decided not to get our own one as neither of us had ever riden a bike and we heard many stories about farang careering off the steep windy roads when there brakes failed or one to many whiskies dampened their reactions. Apparently someone died on the road while we were there so I was very glad to have taken the sweaty but safe option.
Anyway so the morning of the trip arrives and we get on a little pickup taxi with a few other young and friendly looking types. The guy running the tour casually says 'so you are coming back from koh mak on friday then...' at least two days after we planned to head back. Apparently the boat was still being fixed and even though they had a boat today they couldn't possibly use it again until friday, hmm a bit of a spanner in the works since this would squeeze our time in cambodia considerably. Luckily a travel savvy dutch girl managed to negotiate on behalf of the 6 of us effected and get the tour guy to pay for a night of accommodation for us on the island since we were staying longer than we wanted, best bartering i've seen by far.
So off we headed to Koh Mak and despite it being a smaller island actually found some cool people to hang out with instead of the virtually deserted beaches of Koh Chang. We had 3 fun nights hanging out at 'monkey island' a cute little place run by a bunch of thai rastas who played live reggae music every night, cheesy but fun, especially the song dedicated to that thai delicacy 'pad thai'. Other highlights of our time on koh mak
1) hiring bikes and cycling the whole island in a day (it was tiny) it about killed me though in the 40degree heat!
2) a very brightly coloured snake appearing in our little hut sending Ronan running for google to check out poisonous snakes in Thailand (apparently it probably wasn't).
3) eating fabulous fish bbq on the beach surrounded by twinkling lights
4) finding a little pier to watch the sunset from.
So it wasn't too bad staying longer than planned in the end and the snorkelling trip on the way back was well worth it, with hundreds of fish swimming around us, we did have to share our boat with a hilarious group of Russians who shared a bottle of whisky before breakfast and then looked miserable as hell all day and barely got in the water. We even managed to wheedle some free beer out of them for our terrible inconvenience which we triumphantly drank on our way back to Bailan Bay.
So now it was time to get moving and do some proper travelling...Cambodia. We booked ourselves onto a 7am bus and had a final night drinking alcoholic fruit shakes.
Ronan getting to know the pooches at our friendly german's bar
The boat to Koh Mak
Out on our bike ride around the island
Hanging out on our little pier
Guillem jumping for joy off the back of the unattended yacht him and ronan cheekily boarded
A great spot to watch the sunset from
Dusk at the pier
Sunday, 21 March 2010
Thailand - change for good and bad
I cannot quite believe I am sat on a little terrace in front of my rattan stilted bungalow looking out on a twinkiling sea on Koh Chang, whilst blogging on wifi !! How much has changed!
I have been pondering this since arriving; mostly the change in me - from the skinny, brown, intrepid backpacker I was then, haggling over 10baht (20p), staying in the most basic huts we could find and hanging out with interesting types from all over the world. I miss that girl, especially her considerably smaller bum, but I suppose I must embrace the fact that I am older, wiser, and perhaps less bothered about 20p!
Anyway to what we've been up to...
Arrived with Ronan having a small panic about the protests in Bangkok being between us and our hostal - our bus from airport stopped about 2km from destination due to roadblocks. We ended up lugging our very heavy rucksacks through the centre of the protests and found nothing but smiley faces helping us with directions and a wealth of impromtu stalls selling yummy things, t-shirts etc. 'Like notting hill carnival without the agro' was Ronan's comment and it did feel festival like, glad to see it still remains peaceful and that they are not giving up. (although we would like to be able to leave too!)
One 6 hr bus later then a boat and we arrive on Koh Chang, moutain and rainforest covered island, 2nd biggest in Thainland. Since then, mostly lounging, sunsets, fab food, kayaking and starting to take the edge of our reflective english winter skin. Done a bit of flashpacking in somewhere totally lovely but full of people about 20 years older and so now have downgraded to a more basic place. That's all for now....
Funniest moment so far (by Ronan)
Katie tries to step into the back of a pick up with massive backpacks on front and back...falls flat on her back (pack) and is reduced to waiving her limbs to call for assistance. After estabishing she wasn't hurt this became hugely entertaining for all, especially the driver who kept remarking (oh, you 100 kilo bag girl !). The contrast couldnt have been stronger compared to the huge tanned Italian guy getting on behind her, his muscle bound brozed body was totally dwarfed his tiny little wheely case. All that remains of this wonderful moment is a purple bruise on her left butt cheek....photos censored i'm afraid.
Ronan having some serious hammock time
Just the one cheesy sunset shot
Slacklining on our own little deserted beach 
Classic farang action on Koh Chang, Chang beer in the sea
I have been pondering this since arriving; mostly the change in me - from the skinny, brown, intrepid backpacker I was then, haggling over 10baht (20p), staying in the most basic huts we could find and hanging out with interesting types from all over the world. I miss that girl, especially her considerably smaller bum, but I suppose I must embrace the fact that I am older, wiser, and perhaps less bothered about 20p!
Anyway to what we've been up to...
Arrived with Ronan having a small panic about the protests in Bangkok being between us and our hostal - our bus from airport stopped about 2km from destination due to roadblocks. We ended up lugging our very heavy rucksacks through the centre of the protests and found nothing but smiley faces helping us with directions and a wealth of impromtu stalls selling yummy things, t-shirts etc. 'Like notting hill carnival without the agro' was Ronan's comment and it did feel festival like, glad to see it still remains peaceful and that they are not giving up. (although we would like to be able to leave too!)
One 6 hr bus later then a boat and we arrive on Koh Chang, moutain and rainforest covered island, 2nd biggest in Thainland. Since then, mostly lounging, sunsets, fab food, kayaking and starting to take the edge of our reflective english winter skin. Done a bit of flashpacking in somewhere totally lovely but full of people about 20 years older and so now have downgraded to a more basic place. That's all for now....
Funniest moment so far (by Ronan)
Katie tries to step into the back of a pick up with massive backpacks on front and back...falls flat on her back (pack) and is reduced to waiving her limbs to call for assistance. After estabishing she wasn't hurt this became hugely entertaining for all, especially the driver who kept remarking (oh, you 100 kilo bag girl !). The contrast couldnt have been stronger compared to the huge tanned Italian guy getting on behind her, his muscle bound brozed body was totally dwarfed his tiny little wheely case. All that remains of this wonderful moment is a purple bruise on her left butt cheek....photos censored i'm afraid.
Just arrived in Bangkok, dazed but straight on the street food
Ronan having some serious hammock time
Just the one cheesy sunset shot
Slacklining on our own little deserted beach
Classic farang action on Koh Chang, Chang beer in the sea
Monday, 15 March 2010
The day of reckoning
Eek! I am leaving the house for the airport in a mere hour and starting to feel a bit dicky in the tummy before I have even sampled the dodgy 10baht pad thai!
Slightly inauspicious beginnings for us as we head to Bangkok during the midst of a giant anti government protest, fingers crossed all will be well but we are getting out to to Koh Chang as quickly as we can manage.
Thanks to everyone who came to one or more of my myriad of leaving dos and for the lovely cards presents and other treats, really I should be getting you them as I am the one swanning off to have fun for a year.
We are starting the flash packing in earnest and have booked into a 'boutique' hostel in Thailand with free wifi in the rooms so my first foreign post will probably be tomorrow morning gmt from our room as I look out over the cheesy Khao san road.
See you on the other side x
Slightly inauspicious beginnings for us as we head to Bangkok during the midst of a giant anti government protest, fingers crossed all will be well but we are getting out to to Koh Chang as quickly as we can manage.
Thanks to everyone who came to one or more of my myriad of leaving dos and for the lovely cards presents and other treats, really I should be getting you them as I am the one swanning off to have fun for a year.
We are starting the flash packing in earnest and have booked into a 'boutique' hostel in Thailand with free wifi in the rooms so my first foreign post will probably be tomorrow morning gmt from our room as I look out over the cheesy Khao san road.
See you on the other side x
Monday, 8 March 2010
The leaving do cometh
Job one now I'm unemployed, have a huge party to celebrate! Also a good reason to put off the packing for a bit longer.
We went for a vaguely latin theme due to our final destination though it did end up being a bit more central than south america. We managed to feed the 5000 mole, chilli and mojitos as well as creating our own pinatas (well i say we but i didn't have a lot to do with it).
Thanks to all those who came and made such a good turn out and to the final few for clearing out when i told them to leave at 5am!
A tactical piece of cake and cup of tea at 3am seemed to save me from a hangover and event the clearing up wasn't too painful. It seems like this party was too perfect. I'm still waiting to discover the sick lurking under a pillow :)
The frenzied preparation
A rather dramatic goodbye
Pinata craziness
So packed they were in the hall!
Some excellent costumes were worn
The morning after
We went for a vaguely latin theme due to our final destination though it did end up being a bit more central than south america. We managed to feed the 5000 mole, chilli and mojitos as well as creating our own pinatas (well i say we but i didn't have a lot to do with it).
Thanks to all those who came and made such a good turn out and to the final few for clearing out when i told them to leave at 5am!
A tactical piece of cake and cup of tea at 3am seemed to save me from a hangover and event the clearing up wasn't too painful. It seems like this party was too perfect. I'm still waiting to discover the sick lurking under a pillow :)
The frenzied preparation
A rather dramatic goodbye
Pinata craziness
So packed they were in the hall!
Some excellent costumes were worn
The morning after
Friday, 5 March 2010
Last day
Well today is my last day at SSAT and and I have a mild feeling of panic about what is next and also about how many things need to do between now and 5pm (well maybe more like 5.45).
Thanks for having a look at my little blog charting the travels of myself and the boy (aka Ronan). I hope to keep people back at home in touch with what I'm up to, maybe entertain and create something I can look back on when I am old and falling apart.
But before I do that there is a mad week of meals, parties oh and packing up my house to do. Hmm I think the mild feeling of panic just turned into all out hysteria.......
Thanks for having a look at my little blog charting the travels of myself and the boy (aka Ronan). I hope to keep people back at home in touch with what I'm up to, maybe entertain and create something I can look back on when I am old and falling apart.
But before I do that there is a mad week of meals, parties oh and packing up my house to do. Hmm I think the mild feeling of panic just turned into all out hysteria.......
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