Tantalising with time…..
76 days
until Africa………..GET IN!
131 days
until I see Tarryn………YIPPEE!!
133 days
until I arrive back in Melbourne………OH MY GOD!!!
134 days
until ALL my family are together……..WOO HOO!!!!
142 days
until I see my mates on Christmas eve……..LALALA!!!!!
143 days
until Christmas………WHOOP!!!!!!
150 days- NEW YEAR, NEW LIFE, NEW HAPPINESS……… NEW ADVENTURE!!!!!!!
AND I WANT YOU(!!) TO BE A PART OF IT 
Rock Werchter…
Im back! Back from Belgium!! Well I have been for a week now, but its been a busy week!
Belgium was Great!
Caught the Eurostar into Brussels and arrived in Leuven to mee Pilch and Nicki at about 11:30pm. Found out the hotel (which was quite nice) was definately going to be a cab ride home each night as it was too late for buses and too far to walk.
Met the kids at Leuven station around midday on Thursday, went for a walk through the town and had some lunch and a good old catch up.
Finally headed into Werchter, where the festival was held. 15 minute bus ride, 20 minute walk in the blazing hot sun- stopping only to collect a beer along the way- people everywhere, beer and food stalls lined the streets, my back was as red as……..as……….as………SUNBURN, and we arrived at the front gates, got our armbands and headed on in to the green fields of Rock Werchter!
First stop…..the t.shirt stall.
The day was brilliant. We were all full of energy and hyped up to see a selection of great bands (Tool, Damian Marley, RHCP, Black Eyed Peas). We managed at times to get to the front fence of the 2nd section where we were able to enjoy the performances- I was most impressed with BEPs. The night ended around 2:30-3am I was a little tired, a little hungry and a little dehydrated!
You see…… you could purchas drink tickets x1 ticket=2Euros. All you could get were pissy little cups of beer, coke or water… 2 Euros FOR 2GULPS OF WATER!!!!!!! Highway robbery!!!
So we stopped off at a stall on the 20 minute walk towards the bus stop and picked up some rotissary chicken with apple sauce and bread- quite tasty!
Once back in Leuven, we bid goodbye to Pilch & Nicki and retired about 4am before getting up at 9am Friday!
Another hot day began with The Kooks followed by Ben and I trying to find a decent bit of shaded grass to sit down and relax on until we saw Live. Managed to get up to the fence once again and got some great snaps. It was certainly a long and tiring day, so we ended up leaving just after Muse and managed to get back to the hotel at the decent hour of 1am…..not before visiting the kabab shop on the way though-YUM!
Saturday beared a little more energy than the previous day.
We were up and out at a fair hour and managed to make it for the 2nd half of Wolfmother- they were awsome!! The grounds were absolutely packed on Saturday! I am assuming as it was the weekend there were many people there with 1 day passes and the line up for the day was brilliant: Wolfmother, Arctic Monkeys, Kaiser Chiefs, Franz Ferdinand, Goldfrapp, Placebo. The only one we missed was Arctic Monkeys- some how they changed stages and times!!
Another fun day. Ben had me in fits of giggles for most of it, so it was good.
At the end of another long hot day, it was back to feast at the local kebab shop once again!
Sunday: Sleep in!!!! Dont think i surfaced until 12-1pm. Then just lazed around for a while, headed into Leuven to the old friendly kebab shop (Again!!) for late lunch/early dinner then headed in to catch the end of Robert Plant, Ben Harper and Scissor Sisters….who were also brilliant. It was a more relaxed day, we sat out on the grass (well, dust and dried grass) and just enjoyed the day of peace before heading back into London- Booooooooooo!
Had a brilliant weekend 
Rock off………..
ROCK ON!!!!
Off to Belgium to the Rock Werchter Festival today….woo!
4 days of bands, sunshine and fun…..hoo!
Being out of london for 5 days…….YESSSSS!
Being Happy……….YAY!!
xx
Corcaigh
Well…..after a night on the couch with Lamia on Friday night, I was up early Saturday to organise myself for a very CHEAP trip to Cork (Ireland).
Arrived (delayed) Saturday evening approx 6:30pm and headed to Longie's house for a bbq. There were about 25 or so people there, it was so chilled and we jut proceeded to eat burgers and drink cider until 3am Sunday morning- FUN!
Sunday Jo Nathan and I went to catch the 2nd half of the Japan V Croatia match in a pub where I had the best Sunday lunch ever!!!! Mmmmmm….just the thought of it is making my mouth water…….
From here we went to the Rob Roy (I think these two words were the most said words I had heard for the entire day!!), where we met Johnny, before heading to a Kiwi pub- The Bru Bar- to watch Australia sadly get beaten by Brazil.
The Aussie boys certainly played a good match and gave those Brazilians a run for their money!!!
Monday I was up at the crack of dawn to get a flight back to London and straight into work- BOO!!
(I dont mean that really……god I love my job!)
Ciao!
ROADTRIP
First stop……Bath. Arrived late Friday night and after finally finding it- checked into the YMCA…..into "One of the best rooms in the house!"….A-HEM, desirable comment that!!!
Popped into a dinky pub down the road for a few drinks before setting up camp for the night. (Quite suprising how the town came alive at night with youngsters walking around plastered….with not too many clothes on…whats that all about??? And then during the day was all the other folk….while the youngsters were obviously sleeping the day away…..ahhh to be young again!!)
Managing to drag ourselves out of bed for a trip around town and a visit to the Roman Baths and the Abbey, we then set out for the drive to Stonehenge.
The view of the rocks were great…even better once we realised we were actually stuck on the outside and needed to head back accross the road to the entrance where you pay a fee to go in and walk around the rocks!!
Dodging the audio guides, swift strolling, rabbit sacrifices, magic numbers and silly photgraphic attempts later…we were done and on the road to Newquay!
What a pleasant 7 HOUR DRIVE that was!!!! Stop offs at road services, rain, roadworks, traffic. Only bonus was my hugely entertaining passenger (when he was awake)- if it wasnt for him it would have been a very boring drive!!
Newquay- The Hotel California.
Headed into the town for dinner. Young adults EVERYWHERE…. approx ratio of men to women…… 70/30!! Birds on the pull would have a field day….and the birds down there didnt really leave much to the imagination….if you know what I mean!!
Dinner- Great food, great choice!!
In the morning headed to Fistral and Cranktock Beaches…… could have spent forever there. The sun was shinning, the surf was on (minus the waves however) and just being at the beach was a blessing on its own!!
Travelled right around the South West coast, stopping in a lovely village, called St Ives, for a spot of lunch (I ATE FISH!!!!) and then continued on seeing the sights of Cornwall Cove, Whitesand Bay, Lands End (where we saw a reincarnation of Donkey from Shrek….but it was really a horse with a fat belly, who was scared of me), Penzance, and then all the way to little old Downderry.
We stayed at Inn on the Shore, which was the best accommodation we stayed at. The pub was nice, food was great, bedrooms were lovely and the poeple were very accommodating! Nice way to end the sleeping part of the trip!!!
Next stop= Gloucestershire
CHEESE ROLLING COMPETITION!
Got to Gloucester just in the nick of time. Managed to squeeze the car into a space on someones naturestrip and mingled in with the crowd and walked up to the event. The parting of barbed-wire enabled me to climb through the fence- smacking my forehead on the wood on the way through leaving a nice little bruised egg….then a trudge through mud up grassy hills to get to the bottom of Cooper's Hill. What an Adventure!! And if thats not enough….after the first cheese roll…it started to Hailstorm- God I love it….. just adds to the fun!!!
For those of you who dont understand what cheese rolling is….. look here: www.cheese-rolling.co.uk
Soaked through, mud up to our knees, travelling on a country road to Oxford and me in dire need of a wee…………
"BEEEEEEEP…………….BEEEEEEEEEP!!!!"
The pertol gage was advising me we were in the red and just about to run out of juice!! OH JOY!!!!
Luckily, smack bang in the middle of knowere, appeared a Shell servo- I at first thought it was mirage…I didnt know what to be more thankful for….. the chance for a wee or the petrol!!!!
Had lunch in Oxford…..was a little disappointed with the town. And then it absolutely poured down.
Time to head back to London………………….BUGGER 
And everything was all……….GREEN!
So…after finally making it out of Dublin…..(Let it be said that this was NOT due to the driving skills, but down to the map reading and navigation!)…we headed on the road to Cork.
Arrival: 7pm. Staying at a lovely hotel in Silversprings- The Moran hotel, we checked in and freshened up before heading to the Clarion Hotel where we met Jo and Johnny for dinner. From here Jo, mum and I headed into town to a pub that Nathan worked at called Preachers. In the small, dark and trendy set up we were joined by a lad from Birmingham who sadly had to leave soon after due to not being alowed any more alcohol!!! Harmless enough.
Drinking continued until the staff began mopping around us and we were finally asked to leave. We popped around to some dirty fried chicken place where we got some snax and headed back to the hotel……. good note: t'was great to be back drinking with my old drinking buddy. Oh! And I scored a Bulmers glass…hehehe!
Tuesday: Had a lovely fry-up to calm the tremours of the stomach of the cider from the night before! Headed to Blarney Castle to kiss the Blarney stone and walked the castle grounds in the light but wet rain. Such a beautiful place (see photos!). (Note: this was the only day it rained the whole trip!!!!)
From here we headed to Cobh (pronounced Cove- Previously Queenstown) which is the port where the Irish fled the Emerald Isle for a better life, during and after the Famine, to the likes of America, Australia, New Zealand and Briton. We visited the Massive Catherderal followed by the Hertitage Centre where there were displays and information about the Famine, Geneaology, Titanic and other ships and liners of great inportance. Was facinating learning more about our heritage and family background.
Next stop….and probably one of mums favourites….was the Old Midleton Distillery- the home of Jamesons Irish Whiskey. Went on guided tour of the Old distillery followed by a nice warming shot of 12 year old Jamesons. As I was driving, after a sip or 2, I kindly offered mine to mum thinking she would pass…but no…waste not want not! Im sure she certainly warmed the cockles….and so did start her on the train to more and more Jamesons through out the trip!!!!
T'was quite a jam packed day. We were met later in our hotel by Micheal who drove us into town where we met Jo and Nathan for dinner and a few drinks. Before we knew it, it was again fast approaching midnight, Micheal dropped us back at the hotel where we said our last goodnight to Cork.
Wednesday: Swiftly dropped our bags off at the B&B in Killorglin and began our journey on the Ring of Kerry. This was an amazing experience where we were met by cliffs, beaches, greenery and some of the most breathtaking scenery Ive ever seen. It has certainly made me open my eyes and realise that I have truely been missing out on alot by staying in London for so long!!
It took us a good 3 hours to trek aroung the Ring of Kerry with a fair few pit stops to take in, film and photograph the beauty.
Thursday: Another cooked breakfast….and a nice round belly and we headed off for Limerick. We stopped in a town called Bunratty where we visited Bunratty Castle and Folk Town. It was just gorgeous. Actually I recall mum saying that this was definately her favourite place that we visited. Another slice of history, a few souvenirs, a sneaky bevie and lots of filming and photos later and we were back on the road to Galway.
The hotel in Galway was probably the worst we stayed in…although very nice, it was just not as nice as everywhere else we had stayed.
We went for dinner and a few drinks at The Huntsman Inn…So delicious! Then headed back and sat in O'Malleys bar with a few drinks and listened to the one man band fiddle-dee-deeing.
Friday took us on the road to Sligo and Drumcliff. It was here we where met by huge green mountains…Benbulben if I recall was one of them…WOW! I could hardly keep my eyes on the road! Although I did take photos, the camera could just not do this amazing sight any justice! We stopped in Drunmcliff which is the resting place of W.B Yates (the poet), with views of the round tower and a stone cross which was carved from the 11h Century. We also stopped in the tearooms for a scone with jam and cream (yum!), before setting back on the road to Donegal.
Finally we hit our destination of Letterkenny and drove through town- 1 main street! Letterkenny is quite small you see
We freshened up and headed out into town (hehehe- 1 main road!) and went for a slap-up chinese…..oh my!
We then headed into Josies Bar where we proceed to relax with a few drinks…..me on the small ciders (cos I was driving) and mum on the Jamesons and dry (a-hem!). We waited until 10ish for Ailish and Mike to arrive. It all went down hill from here!!
I wasnt allowed to drive home!!! The pints were flowing…. a few shots of tequila, slippery nipples and aftershock were going down here, there and everywhere, we were given roses, took lots of photos and did some damn overdue catching up. It was a great night which ened with us nearly getting in a brawl with some young local slappers who were standing on the street corner being all……..slapperish! Needless to say, after finally squeezing Ailish into the cab, whilst still cursing out the window, we agreed it was a fun night had by all….!! That was until…………………
The next morning…..Saturday!
My mother had a hangover and I swear I was still drunk….until the dirty big fry up…and well then I just felt plain sick! Mum even had to go back to bed (awwwww).
After collecting our cars from town, Ailish, mum and I bid farewell to Mike and went through the mountains to Glen Veagh to see the amazing castle. This I must say was imaculate and laced with so much history and triumph. We follwed that with some homemade soup and sausage rolls, bid goodbye to Ailish, who I will be back to visit very soon, and started our way to where our ancestors once lived…..Derry.
On this day…..things didnt run too smoothly. We had been blessed nearly the whole trip with sunshine and warmth, easy driving (except in Dublin!), happy thoughts, many laughs and loads of eating and drinking. Unfotunately the Mother and I finally came to a head…..although we laugh about it now…hehehehe…. dont we mother???
SO….. we arrived in Derry about 4ish, this is the time that the city tours finish, so we got some maps and decided to do our own tour…..only this ended pretty much after we saw the first attraction!!!
I think with tiredness, hangovers and frustration in the mix, we really needed a rest, so we decided to call it a night, head back to the hotel, order room service (which was spot on) and chill for the evening…..and head off early the next day to catch the sights before moving onto Belfast where we would end our trip and fly back to London.
Derry, being in Northern Ireland, held alot of interesting things to view…. the Gilded Sqaure and walls which devide the city into Bogside (Catholic homes) and Waterside (Protestant homes), Bloody Sunday political wal murals promoting a Free Derry on the Bogside as well as the monuments for the IRA and commemoration of the Seige of Derry, the Guildhall, statues in Waterloo square and the general city itself. We did exceptionally well, esp after the moment we had had the previous evening.
All in all the trip ended on a good note. It must be said that we both thoroughly enjoyed our time in Ireland….and unlike mum who wont have a chance to get back there for some time….I have plans already in action to head back there real soon!!
Top of the mornin’ to ya…..
Well…here we are in Cork! We are staying at a very nice hotel called Silversprings…although the drainage in the bathroom is another story all together!!!
Arrived safly in Blackpool on Saturday morning and caught up and stayed with Chris and Charlie. Chris is a friend of mums she hadnt seen for 20 odd years. Had a lovely time, Sarah (her daughter) has 2 kids….Jessica and Matthew- who are just adorable (stay tuned for pics!)- so felt like a climbing frame at times…but i loved it….and i have alot more of that to look forward to soon (!!!!!)
Set off for Dublin on Sunday and visited the Guinness Storehouse…where my mother tasted her 1st Guinness! Had dinner at the hotel and proceeded to get a little drunk!
Monday: Went to Trinity College and visited the Book of Kells, and took off on a bus tour of Dublin. We then managed to wing our way out of town and collect the hire car- WOO!
Then it was time for navigation…da-dada-da…DAAAAA!!! Nearly ended up in a cat fight with my mother as we nearly didnt make it out of Dublin due to the reading of maps!!!!
Finally made it out of Dublin….well off schedule! Stopped in Kilkenny for a stow about and a yummy smoothie and jumped back in the motor and plodded along to Waterford. Well impressed with Waterford! We didnt stay as long as we hoped, but we did make it to look around Waterford Crystal.
Arrived in Cork approx 7pm. Thats a good 5 hours travel which should have taken 3!!! Never mind we are here in One piece.
Will give you a run down of events from Cork an onwards when I next get a chance.
Hope your all well and happy….Im off to kiss the Blarney stone for luck….cos god knows I flippen need some! Not alot of luckiness been going my way of late.
Wish me luck……………… XX
PRAHA (Prague)
Friday:
Up at 12pm….
Airport at 3pm…
Flight at 5pm…..
Renae was a little frantic that we would miss our flight…but relaxed little old me was not phased. We even managed to get a couple of drinks in during the course of movement from London to Prague.
Arrived at 11.15pm……
Bed at 1am
Saturday:
Woke early and managed to wake Richard (Brians friend- the guy who we were staying with). He offered to take us around for the day- Woo hoo!
Headed on the undergroud (which is only a whole lot of 3 tube lines..Ha!) and into Muzeum Station. Here we disembarked at the "Museum" (no?) and Wensalace Square. It was such a beautiful sunny day…Richard suggested that we had brought the weather with us…I had to take him to one side and briefly remind him that we had actually just flown in from LONDON…so i dont think his prediction served right! Perhaps we were just lucky enough to come across a good day!
Even better than that, it was a great day.
As it was the Easter weekend, there were little market stalls all through the city centre with decorative eggs and incorrectly priced souviners (I got charged a dearer price than was on the tag- Whats that all about!!!) and a whole lotta people. We then moved on to the Old town square where we saw churches and clocks and more markets and people. Richard then took us to a non-tourist restaurant for an early lunch for our first meal in Prague. As the menus we not in English, he decided that he would order our meals for us….so to be safe he orderd "3 of the same thanks mate" – or something like that in Czech!
Meat, bacon dumplings and gravy- Good choice mate!!! It was delicious, although very filling, esp with a pint of local beer to go with it. The waiter then tried to offer us a shot- we declined this offer……it had only just reached midday!!!!!
Next stop….Prague Castle (after a long and tiring walk up a big hill). Took some snap shots and headed through the gardens to Charles Bridge…which was absolutely coated in tourists and preachers and portrait artists and the likes. It was such a pretty view from here and managed to get a few good pics.
We stopped into a nice little cafe for an espresso and slice of strudle (oh my!) before heading back into to town for a spot of cheap local shopping. You see some silly person forgot to bring PJs…doh! so had to pick up a few bits n bobs around town.
Headed back to the flat to freshen up and then it was off to the local pub for a beer to wait for Richard who was taking us out for a night on the Czech town!!
We went to a bar calle Poppo, hidden in a small lane/courtyard in the Old Town. We joined Martina (Richard's bird) and two other guys….cant remember names!
Renae and I drank pretty steadily and quite often….we ended up drunk and had heaps of fun. Other than trying to be sweet and dirty talked by the two guys at our table…who I might add were very drunk and VERY weird, we managed to carve up the dance floor. The music was fantastic, although the DJ (who was completely off his head on something!) kept playing the same songs over and over! By 2am, Renae and I decided to try and make our way back to the flat!
We headed back into the new town and stopped off at one of the stalls for a sausage and onion roll. Apparently this is your remedy for drunkeness after a big night out…so it had to be done…and I was starving!
While waiting for our food, Reane was talking to some randoms on the side of the street. I was standing next to a fairly older guy who got all excited about a song that came on the radio: "What's up" by 4 non Blonds. So we sang "at the top of our lungs" in the middle of the town….. it was so much fun! I was then complemented by some stranger telling me how good my voice was….NOW….with Renae as my witness, we can confirm I sounded exactly like a cat on a hot tin roof!!!! He must have lost his hearing aid!!!
Sunday:
we were to get up at 7 and head into town to catch the coach to Chesky Krumlov…….slept through the alarm…didnt get up….missed out on the best and most wanted to see part of Czech
So instead we headed back into town, ate lots of food, chocolate and sweets and walked around the town, looking, laughing, splashing in puddles all day in the rain. We both so badly wish we had money, cos it would have been hard to spend! Luckily we didnt cos we struggled with packing our bags as it was!!!
Sunday night, headed into town to meet Richard and Martina for dinner- you should have seen what Renae and I ate- enough to feed 4 people!!! And the whole meal and drinks only came to the equivalent of £9!!!! Bargain and delicious!!
I would love to go back to Prague and perhaps this time see Chesky Krumlov…. you never know……there might just be a return journey….perhaps this time with Lamia and Brian in tow!!!
