The Outsider

Newquay, UK

So for third foray out to the far South-West of Englands

party capital; Newquay. Englands premiere surf spot, where there are actual waves, sometimes, tha

t belittle the pathetic wash we usually see anywhere near the English channel.

The occasion; Marks Stag weekend. The coincidence; World Cup 2010 opening weekend.

I took a train out from London and managed to find the guys on the south west edge of the M25 at Chertsey, from there it was a solid 4hour drive to Newquay in a hired Ford Galaxy. After much chatting and catch-ups, we arrived in a windy, overcast Newquay. Concerned not to go to hard on the first night, we failed, and drank a skinful of beers, ciders and random shots. The sun did come out for a while late afternoon, and we sat out on the decking at Sailors bar soaking up the rays, enough to turn one or two of the party pink in the face; Matt.

Somewhere in the early hours of Saturday, we crashed after the warm-up night expired. We lost Paul who had to make it back for a wedding. So we mulched on down to the beach, with very dusty heads and managed to conjure up the motivation for a match of beach cricket... after destroying the ball, we moved on to a game of football, and then 3 rounds of beach volleyball.

Realising our hangovers were gone, but that most of our shoulders were a raw shad

e of pink, we headed back for dinner and the beginning of the night aheads drinking. We dressed Mark in a full USA outfit, since England were playing the US in the opener and proceeded to march him around town to the onslaught of boo's from other England fans.

We managed to score some reserved leather sofas, right in front of some large projector screens - it was just a shame that Gerrards goal wasn't quite enough to see England t

hru with a victory, after that howler from Rob Green... anyways... the atmosphere a little muted but we powered on till the late-early hours of Sunday before falling down.

Sunday came, and with it a huge breakfast to discuss the carnage from the nights before. I then managed to spend nearly 7hours getting home, JUST in time to witness the Aussies fall apart in front of ze Germans 4-0. The world cup may not have begun perfectly, but the weekend couldn't have hit the mark any sweeter.

On The Train

4 British Cities in 4 days,

May 2010 will be remembered not for much in the way of socialising or fun, more for travel... not quite the kind I like most, but a much cheaper kind... Business travel.

In a 3week period, a project I was assigned to with work, meant I had to be onsite, working late into the nights while there was a lack of people around. Fun, but obviously, overtime is always a nice thing to have.

So first stop, Cardiff, the capital of Wales. A first for me, and the third new capital city visited since my re-location from Australia. I'd never visited this place before, though I was pleasently surpised by what I saw. Lots of modern architecture mixed in with some traditonal stuff. The accent was great to hear en masse I must say. During my dinner break, I was able to go check out the Cardiff Millenium Centre; a kind of Sydney Opera House kinda complex that is home to several theatres bars and restaurants, all housed in a funky modern building... well worth a look down at Cardiff Bay - situated right by a selection of the usual British chain restaurants interspersed with a couple of token independents. On my way there, I was using my iPhone to map my journey, and managed to make the slightest of wrong turns that meant I walked about 2kms in the wrong part of town... a lovely old council estate. Just 20metres East, on the other side of the railways lines, a lovely modern road with a higher class of housing and tree lined streets laid in wait. After gobbling down a nice GBK Blue Cheese Burger, I was set to head back to work...

The next morning, I took a walk through the main town centre, saw a funky John Lewis and town Library before boarding my train to Bristol...

After getting booked to arrive in the wrong train station, my journey didn't get much better... my cab driver was dopey - I asked as I got in if he took credit cards... and then at journeys end he says he doesn't... so then drove me to an ATM, only to try and charge me for the extra journey! Regardless, the work was done, with a nice Italian meal sandwiched in the middle.

I travelled home and spent the next few nights regaining my sleep, a weekend passed, and it was time to set off again, this time on board a train for Leeds; a place I didn't really get much tim e to explore... other than Pizza Express for lunch and a seafood place for dinner; hey hum, the following day I jumped on board another train with a colleague across the Pennines. A lovely train ride in fairness... a brief glimpse of English history, with lots of Mills and classicaly styled towns set with a great hilly/mountainous backdrop.

I arrived in Manchester, the city was buzzing, so many people around, though probably because it was lunchtime. The work here went easier, and we were able to get a bit longer for dinner, this time opting for ribs and BBQ chicken. I popped back in the next day and then made my exit just after midday, back to London on a Virgin train, where sleep was not an option due to noisy neighbours... so I busted out my macbook and watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs... loving "work" like this!

Jumping Jack Flash

Strobist Work Shop, London, UK

This year has been quite the lifestyle changeover. London is expensive. Anyone that says it isn't, is lying, or on very good money. Last year I was able to blow lots of disposable on Camera equipment, this year, I've settled for a couple of accessories and my biggest photography splurge was today; a Dave Hobby Strobist workshop.

David Hobby started a bit of an internet phenomenon with his blog www.strobist.com, it gives amateurs and beginners an amazingly informative place to start off-camera lighting (cos we all know that the flash on camera is rarely flattering on your subject).

So in I went at 9am, and was taken on a walk-thru of the masters workflow. Building shots up with 1,2, 3... 6, 7 lights with seemingly the greatest of ease. Eventually he dis some live demoes and I was picked out to be part of one of the shots... I think, my first even "professional" photograph (Unless I count my dads stuff of course).

A great day and well worth it in terms of what it gives to technical skills and handy tips whilst photographing subjects.

Hey

Belgium

With our ordeal well in the past; when we were trapped in a snowy Paris, Eurostar came true to their word and shouted us a free trip to Belgium. Better still, we timed it over the Easter long weekend.

So on Thursday morning, we headed out to Kings Cross (minus passport!), then I returned home to pick it up again!... with that minor hitch behind us, we finally boarded the Eurostar for the first time of our lives bound for Brussels. We'd managed to book this whole thing just 48hours in advance, and had the prospect of a nice hotel room packaged in to the price.

Finally, we sped out of London, through Kent, under the Channel, into France, and then on to Belgium/Brussels. I can't recommend Eurostar enough. You can check in and be on the train within 30minutes, and off at the other end in less than 5minutes... take that air-travel!

We grabbed a cab from the station and dumped our bags at our plush hotel room; not sure if I've stayed in a larger room than this before. We then headed off on a quick-wet walking tour of the grand place, mannekin pis and anything else in between and around, which is fairness to Brussels consists mainly of stuff that expands your waist-line and/or gets you drunk. So with a chocolatey waffle consumed we carried on our musings and eventually wound up grabbing some Thai food for dinner, as you do in Belgium.

Following morning, it was time for a massive trip down memory lane. We took a trip out to my late grand-fathers sisters place, she's one of the last members of the 'grand' generation in my family and it had been a great many years since I last saw her; maybe 18!? The house seemed not to have changed, though of course it had. They welcomed us with a delicious lunch, with wine accompaniment along with my mothers cousin in the mix for company. We chatted and reminisced of a couple of almost long-forgotten family holidays and surprised each other as to how much we remembered.

After, we returned back to Brussels and met up with Em & Jazz, who'd just arrived in town. A pub crawl began, and before we knew it, we were sitting next to a stuffed horse drinking fruit flavoured beer. Wicked fun, unless you managed to fracture your foot falling off a stuffed horse.

Following day, against my hangovers will, we managed to get outta bed, and jump on a train out to Bruges - the land of Chocolate and medi-evil architecture. A healthy lunch paved the way before we gave in to Belgian fries and chocolate... all in all a healthy day; well it was Easter Saturday!

Easter Sunday rolled in and we really hit a new level of relaxation on a city break. We shunned the desire to go see new things and instead, spent a morning in and out of coffee shops, watching the world and it's congregations trot by on what was afterall, a highly special day for many in the religious world. We headed back to London, and made it in less than 2.5hrs door to door... impressive. Brussels is good fun, just don't expect too much from the sights though. 

Keep the Car Runnin

La Reunion

So it would be after a second final meal, that we finally set off for the airport in Sydney. The last few weeks have been a massive, exciting adventure and now we’re at the departure lounge with the foreseeable future set to be totally different.

Sydney has renovated its departure lounge somewhat, and it was pretty amazing to walk around, compared to how dodgy the old layout used to be! The airline we travelled with Air-Austral, hurried us to the gate a fair while before the plane was due to depart... only for us to sit on the run way for well over an hour delaying us even further - a total of 8hours on our original booking document. The cramped 777-200er finally groaned off and was soon cruising nearly 6000miles from Sydney, to La Reunion.

A rare occurrence for me, I actually managed to get a decent sleep in on a flight, probably about 6hrs before touching down at a local time of around 4am. We cabbed it in to town and then after hassling the sleepy concierge, he gave in and let us check in to our room very early (compared to the 11am on our booking info!). This was perfect, we grabbed some coffee and croissants and then dozed, internetted and chilled before the rest of the world came back to life.

We spent day 1 mainly arranging details for the next 3-4days and trying our hardest to stay awake to beat the incoming jet-lag. The morning sun had given way to rain clouds a

nd our first day made us think that we were in for some pretty lousy weather...

On day 2, I awoke and pretty much headed out to the lure of Pauls cafe just over the road (I’d recommend avoiding the St Denis Best Western other than the fact it is located next to Pauls - awesome cafe). Once our gear was packed, I ran down the road to pick up our wagon for the next few days. Once we were out on the road, the spirit andexcitement of the trip started multiplying by the second. We soon got away from the normal capital city and out to some more interesting places... well at least there was whitesand! St Gilles Les Bains was very euro holiday resort, but the roads on the way there made up for it. The freeway which affords some totally amazing views of the coast and of the inland geographical wonders.Once we’d jumped out and eaten some lunch at a random beach spot we found, we pointed the car inland; toward the town Cilaos. Here we would be based to do some walking around the Cirques; some amazingly crafted (by nature) rocks/mountains. The drive there was pretty cool, with about 4000 hairpin turns and even a few tunnels that looked much like they were dug by hand, just a few weeks ago!

On arrival we spent some time getting used to the town, and working out what we’d do over the next few days...The jetlag still hadn’t worn from us and we managed to get up at about 5am without even trying. Breakfast and drinks done, we headed off out of town and into the valleys. What followed was nearly 5hours of awesome walking. The usual physical stuff, with lots of waterfalls and seriously amazing views thrown in for good measure... end of the day, we were smashed and fell asleep as soon as the sun did.

Up again at silly o clock, we embarked on a long drive out of the centre of the island, back around some coast past a place called Le Tampon and up towards Reunions major tourist draw card... Le Piton de Fournaise; one of the worlds most active volcanos (last went off in April 2007).

As we drove up, the landscape changed from tropical island, through a man made forrest, to lush New Zealand style lush grassy valleys, finally giving way to red igneous rock as far as the eye could see. The Volcano was smouldering away, and we were lucky to be there this early as, not long after, the clouds would roll in a spoil the views.

We took a walk around the outter rim of the volcano, since the inner rim had been closed due to the eruption 2years earlier. It was still impressive, and even things like the rock we were walking on, were obviously quite different to any other country trail. Once we were unable to see much more, we turned back on ourselves and headed for our cruddy little white hire car. Back down around the windy roads, the brakes were squealing like a piggy on market day. The heat soon returned once the altitude was gone too... back up past 30degrees, we found our way to some light refreshments before thinking about where we would stay for our final night.

Tired, we found a room in St Gilles Les Ba

ins for the night without too much hassle... it turned out that this could be one of the nicest highlights of the trip so far. Two pools, AC, bars, beach within 20metres and lots of lovely sunshine. Our tired feet got some much needed relaxation with many a chilled out beach walks.
To Do:
Pauls Cafe - St Denis
Cilaos and its walks
The Volcano (leave early before the clouds creep in)

Avoid:
Best Western St Denis (Overpriced and not particularly clean or modern inside).

Love is in the air

The Wedding of Todd & Anna, Coffs Harbour

With a few crazy days left to complete a list of stuff as long as my arm, Monday through Wednesday were quite hectic, but in a good way. I gave myself a full day to finish off

the Kashmir holiday video and plenty of time to pack etc. By the time Thursday had finished, I’d been able to catch up with Sydney friends and even spend some quality time in the pool.
On Friday morning, Lauren and I travelled up to Coffs Harbour. We’d left much earlier than we should’ve though and wound up crashing out in the rented house near Sap

phire Beach... by the time the other guys arrived, we were pretty much back on track and I’d had a chance to get some beers in. We then headed out via a minibus expertly driven by the Groom (keen to not drink the night before his big day) to one of the local tap houses... yet more reunions with old friends, and meeting of the couples parents too. With a few beers inside us all, we were removed at just the right mo

ment I think... next day was the big one.

It all started round at Ems place (her family home always in Coffs - and what a great place it is!) where her father cooked 20-30 hungry wedding guests a BBQ brekk

ie. With that done, everyone split and begun their routines that had been planned to lead them up to the afternoon ceremony. Before 3 o clock rolled around, me and some of the guys managed to get in a few ocean swims and even a game of beach volleyball. The girls were all busy getting themselves ready when we joined them to throw on our threads and slap on some Brut!
A shuttle bus got us to the Price family home that had been amazin

gly decked out for the occasion, of course my cameras shutter went nuts from the get-go throughout the day. I watched on as the groomsmen got their act together (Todd with Aaron, Wedge & Lowen) and th

en as all the guests started to arrive. There was a great buzz once everyone was waiting for Anna to arrive around the rose petalled garden corner.

Once she did, there were gasps gallore as she walked elegantly around the corner

with her parents. I took a quick glance over at Todd and could see he was exploding inside with emotion, it was seriously awesome to see!
The registrar took the lead and brought up Anna and Todds sisters to read poems to the congregation. Tears were flowing amongst many of the friends and family present.

The moment came, and the pair were kissing having just exchanged rings. The sun was tucked half between the clouds and the hazy blue Coffs sky as the ceremony br

oke for Champagne. The signature ink and bubbles flowed straight after one

another.

Once the photo’s and formalities were done, the guests were shuttled down to the reception venue of the Beach Stone cafe. Leaving a window for me to so a small photo-shoot with the guys... muchos fun.

At the recepti

on, Salmon and Lamb were served after some of the most awesome little aperitifs were gobbled up by everyone before the limelight went to the fathers and best man. After the laughter was done, the dance-floor opened up for Todd and Anna to take a dance... kisses, more tears, and then drunken dance-offs finished off the evening.

Best Wishes to Todd and Anna, the future

holds so much for you guys. Thanks again for letting us be a part of your day.

* * *

The morning after the day before had everyone up at Todds place again for a breakfast, and then the goodbyes began. Many people had flown in from various parts of the cou

ntry and the world, and some had to start leaving as early as midday. This was a

lso an emotional part of the weekend for me too, having to say goodbye to some amazing mates that I've come to know over the last several years living in Sydney.

A few of us took another ocean swim, which would turn out to be my last of these for the foreseeable future. An easy Sunday followed where I also got to show off my Kashmir snow video (2years in the waiting!). A delicious BBQ grill finished things off nicely before an early start of high emotion saying goodbye to my friends.

A few hours after arriving home, I discovered from our agents that the flights we were expecting to be on the following day had been bumped much later in the day - it opened up a large portion of our remaining days for some slightly more relaxing things like topping up sun-tans and playing with the dogs.

This bonus day was a blessing in disguise, we were totally ready to go, so all we could do, was swim and bask in the sun, for the final time this year or next. Later that day, we moved heavy baggage into the back of Laurens dads car and it was time for another of those emotionally charged points in life... till check-in, and then the walk around the security clearance point of no return.

You've been awfully good to me Australia, I can't wait to be back.

Far From Grace

Bucks Weekend, Melbourne, Vic

After a 5 day countdown that now seems synonymous with finishing at any job, I had massively increased excitement levels due some awesome upcoming travel plans starting virtually the minute I finished work on Friday 27th November.

After stopping by my office to hand in my mobile phone, I met with Lauren who treate

d me to a beautiful Thai meal in

Haymarket. The two of us toasted to our finished jobs and what laid ahead of us in the coming months. I have to pay special mention to Chat Thai... busy as anything but worth the perseverance with reservations or a long wait.

6am Saturday morning I was heading

off for the first of 6 flights over the next month. I arrived in Melbourne at about 8.45 and was soon cabbing to the city centre to be re-united with, well, basically all the boys I’ve really come to know and call my friends in my time so far in Australia. It was Todds bucks

weekend and thus everyone had their party hats on ready for the carnage and fun about to unravel. Todd was of course, in the dark about it all. After pacting (whateve

r happens on bucks, stays on bucks) I will of course be recounting a very wholesome experience and will not mention what people did in toilets, who got physically removed from night clubs, nor who couldn’t handle any more booze on the follow up day.

We travelled out of Melbourne together and got cabs out to a Clay Pigeon shooting centre... here we were instructed on how to shoot shot guns at moving fluro orange targets before we were picked into teams school-boy style. 4 teams split and then moved around a course of 8 clay launchers. Our team, the Teenage mutant ninja turtles (dedicat

ed to the team captains love of a VB tinny), quite frankly, kicked arse and won the group stage no problemo :P Everyone had a go under pressure from a full crowd to shoot 2 clays launched at the same time - TMNT managed them all bar one ;)

After this... memory becomes hazy... but something of a random women who loved to remove clothing each time the buck made a s

hot... I’m not sure, actually, I think I’m just hallucinating in my thoughts there... there was no random women. No Cherries.

The gun club then became our first pub of the day, and with cheap beer, no one would complain. Todd was dressed as a homeless and challenged to sell some Big Issues at the follow on pub.

Jonesy, Kingsley, Jarrad and myself got to Transport before the rest, and duly carried on drinking activities... at this point, ‘just beer’ became Snakebites, Jagers, Scotch and needless to say I was pretty well on my way by the time everyone else showed up... they must’ve missed the memo, but most went home to get changed and look pretty. Soft :P

Transport became Lounge bar for some at something like 9 or 10pm, Wedge, Cam and myself moved on about

10 and wound up meeting everyone at the Croft Institute - I science lab themed bar down one of the Melbourne’s back streets... some crazy moves busted before retiring to Whopper meals with all the other drunkards at 3, 4 or 5am...

and sleep...

Next morning we headed to the South Bank on the river for Breakky. Some very dusty heads on most shoulders but big breakfasts seemed to do the trick in getting back on track. Into the casino, Lowen managed to win a bunch of cash while the rest of us struggled to remain standing upright... next up - 10 pin bowling!

I don’t recall a day where I was in a bowling alley, kids parties around me and I’m with 15 guys (by this point- spare a thought for fallen comrades) and smashing back jagers and beers... and I’m sure Todd won’t recall a day where he got bowled down the alley by his buddies.

I wish I could tell more, it seems so, err, responsible... hey hum.

I hopped on the return flight back to Sydney with some of the guys and contemplated what my head would feel like in the morning... on my first glorious day of unemployment!