Part 179: Endings

And thus my trip draws to a close. After leaving London bright and early on Thursday morning and stopping over in China I made it finally back into Melbourne. Mind you, as most things aren't, it was not that simple.

Getting to Heathrow was rather simple, it was a long trip on the Tube then getting on the plane was fair simple as well. I did have some difficulty with checking though. Qantas didn't allow me to check in online which meant I may not get a seat next to Chloe who I was flying home with (I didn't announce this because I was keeping it as a surprise for Ellen!) When I arrived it did take little persuasion then it was all good. I had my ticket and made my way through customs. Waiting for the hour was boring as all get out and Chloe took longer than me in customs and I thought she ditched me so I left her and then wandered around, then we couldn't find each other and it was awful. Haha eventually we did. Got to our gate and took our seat on the plane an hour later I said 'goodbye' to Europe and we were on our way to China.

The flight flew by (pun), movies, talking, 11 hours, some sickness, China. China involved finding Chinese dollars and waiting around. Cute chinese people and the language amazed us. Plane again. Chloe slept and I watched more movies. No sleep, 10 hours, touch dowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwn. MELBOURNE! MELBOURNE! MELBOURNE! OMGOMGOMG! I had landed. I was so happy to be off the plane so I ran out and Chloe and I skipped happily out to customs when Chloe realised she left her passport on the plane (dun dun dunnnnn) feil. We went back to the plane, searched for it then I found it in her bag... that she had in her hand.... feil. We then walked out through the customs, which took a while then we were out. Chloe found her mother and I hugged her goodbye then off I went to search for a familiar face. Tam! TAM? WHAAAAT? Lachlan! Tor! YAY! I ran up and hugged them all! Hug hug hug hug hug. Then we walked around to leave and find dad who was arriving from Perth then I walked nearly right in to him! HUGGGG. Then we went for coffee and talked for a while before I had to hug Tam and Tor goodbye then Dad, Lach and I drove home.

The drive was pleasant talking about music and I tried hard to stay awake then I finally arrived at home in Maryborough. Mum cried and had made me a 'Welcome back' sign which was very cute. I then surprised Ellen who hit me to no end in shock then we all stayed and chatted for a while. Distribution gifts, showing my stuff and trying not to die from exhaustion. Then I fell asleep at 12.30 feeling very strange in my own house. It felt exactly the same, but slightly different.

Today was Ellens birthday. That meant that Tor, Net and Poppa where coming too. It was an easy day but I am still slightly exhausted. I went to a resevoir with dad and saw water in it. Last time I was in Australia there was a serious drought, now there have been serious floods and the water is very abundant and the land is green again. Its very very strange. I cant explain it. It seems like a different place but exactly the same too. Not that its been that long really but the fact that the drought essentially broke, its amazingly different. Roast for tea. Yum. I played piano today too- terribly - but it was fun to do. I also took this photo, its my family wearing the shirts I got them from different countries- one is missing though... so that nearly sums up my trip!

We spent the evening watching footy. Everything is back to normal. Its an odd feeling but here I am and will remain until my next big adventure. Thank you for reading my blog. I hope you enjoyed reading it because I enjoyed writing it and explaining to you all my adventures. It was an amazing trip and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I have been halfway around the world and experienced life at its best. I had highs and lows as we all must but it was incredible. I feel I have grown as a person and can tackle the world (literally) face on. Its a bit sad for me to say this but also a relief however because this would be the end of A Well Named Blog (and well-named it was).

“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” – Jawaharial Nehru

Thank you. x

Part 178: Ciao Bella

Hello everybody once again!!! I am very pleased to be writing another blog for Doug-a-bug. He is a bit stressed right now so i think if he wrote one it wouldn't reflect the mainly happy/confusingly weird day we had. Today was the day that we were going on our trip to Stonehenge and Bath!!! Much excitement. However our first part of the trip had a slight hiccup...the bus driver didn't have change for a 20GBP note and that was the only money we had!!! :( so we were freaked out that we wouldn't be on time to catch the bus for our tour but luckily the super nice bus driver said just to get on and not pay!! Then when we went to buy tickets for the trains the machine wouldn't take the note we put in cos it wasn't a new note so then we had to get change from some shop-like guy. But he was nice and gave us heaps of change. We easily found our pick up point, once we finally got going, and ended up waiting around for quick a while.

The bus trip to Stonehenge was filled with sleepyness for me :) i think Doug read a book. And also in addition to normal weirdness we had a Canadian as our tour guide...random. So we arrived at Stonehenge and got these audio guides and everything. We wandered around and took lots of photos and ended up listening to all the stories behind why and how Stonehenge was built, and what it was used for. Then we went and got hot chocolates but Doug randomly got coffee instead by accident which was funny because he actually couldn't decide whether he did want a hot chocolate or a coffee but yeah...anyways so we got back on the bus and were on our way to BATH!!!! :) Yay for BATH!!! But you see on this part of the trip the tour guide person decided to ramble on about random stories and information and i just wanted to sleep but it was so hard to block out her voice even with an ipod in. I am sure she had many interesting facts that would've been cool to hear but i was super tired and merely wanted to sleep.

Also i am really sorry if none of this makes sense as i am really tired after this very long day so it may all be stupid and incorrect and yeah.

Anyways so i got heaps excited when we got to Bath as thats where i really wanted to go and see. And it was awesome!! We did a tour of the main places to see on the bus when we arrived in the town. Once that was done we all climbed out and went to the Roman Baths. We wandered around with our audio guides, looking at the awesome-ness of the Roman Baths. I loved it!! It was very impressive. We even got to try some of the spring water but pretty much it was like warm water. I don't like warm water. It doesn't taste very good. So we left and i got a Pain Au Chocolat and Doug got a Double Choc Muffin. They were super yum!! :) Also in the Roman Baths we realised that there would be heaps on big painted lions all over Bath so once we were out i took photos of every single lion that we passed :) Next we walked up to the Circus and the Royal Crescent and had a bit of a look around. After a while we wandered into town again looking for the awesome Bath Store (when we went on the bus tour of the town we noticed a Bath Store that had baths and stuff in it). We found said Bath Store and went inside and laughed at the fact there was a Bath Store in Bath :D Also we noticed this really cool restaurant that we had been to in Cardiff and we were like yay!! Because we had also seen one of them in London when we had been waiting for the tour bus. Anyways we went to the toilet and then carried on our merry way with photos of us and the Bath Store sign :) So we wandered around and randomly found our way to Pulteney Bridge. On the way we also went into this book store and some books were like 2GBP so we bought them and it was fun. Anyways we found Pulteney Bridge and it was awesome and there was a little tourist shop in there and i bought presents for people so that was fun. Anyways after that we meandered around Bath looking for something to do. I decided to buy more pastries (a Pain Au Chocolat and an Apricot Crossiant) which i kept for later and then we decided to have a look in the Bath Abbey souvenir shop as well as Bath Abbey.

Soon we found ourselves with nothing much to do. So Doug began to take silly photos of us and we ended up waiting for the bus on this round about type of thing that had a gardeny thing in the middle of it (like i said...very tired...can't be blamed for not making sense). Doug continued with the silly photos while i ate my awesome Apricot Crossiant!! And when i say awesome i mean absolutely the bestest Apricot Pastry thing ever invented!!!!!! I have never tasted anything better. I could live off them!!! Seriously i am going to look the pastry place up on the internet and beg them to send me some :D

So yeah we got on the bus and i vaguely slept again which was fun. We got dropped off near the awesome pub/restaurant place and we headed there to have some dinner. It was massively packed so we decided to go to this other place called The Shakespeare. Once there Doug actually realised he had lost his wallet!! He was pretty sure it was on the bus so he called the company in hope that they would find it for him. No one answered so we decided to make our way to their address. It wasn't that hard to find so we rocked up there and found that no one was around. Doug had another look in his bag and everywhere for it but still it was nowhere to be found. So we decided to head back to the London Eye area to have dinner and came to the conclusion that we would call them tomorrow as there was nothing that could be done at that time.

So off we went to the station Embankment and went to the restaurant GIRAFFE!!!! Now Giraffe was quite busy and we had to wait on couches to be seated. While we waited we noticed little toy bendy giraffes that we awesome and all over this glass case thingy. They were so cool and i really wanted one!!! Then extremely quickly we got seats!!! Yay!! So i decided on a Chicken Snitzel Burger with Wedges and a Coke while Doug had the Peri-Peri Half Chicken again and a Coke. Now we noticed that our waitress was super awesome and was happy all the time. She even organised to get me a Giraffe that i could buy :D We decided she was so awesome that she deserved a napkin crane. We made three sizes and picked the middle one. Then we wrote a beautiful message on it for her and waited until we got the receipt to find out her name. In the meantime i ordered Apple and Berry Crumble for dessert!!! (i know what a pig, right) and also Doug felt sick which was saddening. So he didn't have dessert :( But anyways we found out that her name was Nora and we gave it to her with an awesome tip (Doug had no money so i paid for everything) and she was reading it that entire time it took us to leave. To sign it off we wrote Ciao Bella because thats really fun to say and stuff :)

After that we decided to see things in London because they were all lit up. We went and looked at the London Eye and Big Ben again. Also we went to Piccadilly Circus but we had to change lines a lot because there was a defaulty train on one of the train lines and such. Finally when we did make it to Piccadilly Circus thingy we saw this busking guy who was doing the limbo really super low!!! It was funny and i videoed him cos it was that cool. But we ran away when he said he wanted money. Good times. Then we traveled home to Sharon and Barry's house and now we are heading to bed :D though i am heading home tomorrow so i still have to pack and also there was this woman on the tour bus who kept falling asleep and snoring and it was super funny :D THE END

Doug: Nooo Chloe is leaving! Will be odd when she is in Australia. God. Sooo tired, been awake for 20 hours. I need sleep my eyes are burning looking at the screen. Goodnight. x

Part 177: Pull And Bear!!!

So, this is Chloes blog and I should add she just read it aloud to me and I was laughing like the whole time. When reading ensure you have the proper tone because its entertaining. Also my neck is sore :(

Hello. So this is weird...its Chloe here writing a guest blog thingy for Doug-a-bug. So today we got up vaguely early and had no breakfast (which i was sad about because breakfast is super yum) as we have ran out of time and had to go catch a bus!! We were traveling to LONDON!!! (dun dun duunnn) I slept on the bus a bit so that was fun...i think i even had dreams but i can't really remember them :( but yeah so we ended up catching a train to some random place once we had reached London and Doug said we needed to catch another bus after that but the problem was Doug didn't know which stop to get off on so we got off too early and had to walk a bit. It was quite entertaining seeing him maneouver his bag thing around people. But anyways we finally found the house and then (now that we actually knew the bus stops and all) made our way into London to go sight-seeing!!!

To begin with we decided food was in order as we were super hungry and had not eaten all day!! So we were looking for an awesome place to eat when we stumbled upon a restaurant called GIRAFFE. I was massively excited to see this restaurant as when i had previously been in London i had breakfast at that place (but in a different part of London) with my awesome Contiki friends :) it had been amazing food. Also when Doug and i had been talking earlier about where we should eat i had mentioned that i would have loved to go back to GIRAFFE even though i knew it was completely out of the way and a stupid idea. Anyways so we ate at GIRAFFE and i had this awesome chicken kiev thingy with mashed potato and veggies that they made skinny. Ooo i also had yummy wedges on the side cos they were awesome. And i had some orange juice!! Doug had a peri-peri half chicken (the peri-peri sauce was like super nice) and rice. The rice was pretty good but he had to add sauce to it to make it better. He also stole two of my wedges!! Oh and to drink he had Coke. Anywho the food was amazing and i was soooo full by the end of it. I almost couldn't finished the wedges but then i realised that i had to eat them because they were yum :)

Once we had finished our food we departed and walked past the London Eye. Its very big. I took a photo or two just for funsies and then we walked over the bridge towards BIG BEN!!! (dun dun duunnn) Doug made my get photos of BIG BEN (dun dun duunnn) from this awesome spot where there would be a telephone box in it as well. Annoyingly we had to wait for this women who was taking a photo of a guy who was pretending he was touching the top of BIG BEN (dun dun duunnn) we didn't think it'd be a very fun photo at all but whatever. From there we went and had a look at Westminster Abbey...just a quick glance, a photo or two and all that jazz. Then we were off again this time heading towards Trafalgar Square. We got our pictures taken with the big lion and i almost didn't make it up as we had to pull ourselves up and i have no upper body strength at all. And then i almost didn't make it down as i was freaked out about falling. But i survived with Doug's help and we continued on to BUCKINGHAM PALACE!!!! (dun dun duunnn) I was super excited but i became sad once we realised that the funny looking guards with their silly hats weren't out and there were only normal ones marching around. Also there were policemen holding big guns near the gates. But anyways the non-cool marching guards marched really funny and i filmed them doing it on my camera because they looked that funny :) but i was still sad.

My sadness soon disapeared as we were getting closer to PULL AND BEAR (dun dun duunnn)!!!!!

So after BUCKINGHAM PALACE (dun dun duunnn) we wandered towards Picadilly Circus as we were hoping to maybe find tickets to The Lion King (the stage performance) for that night. Once we were there we decided to visit this really awesome souvenir shop because i had to find presents for my cousin. Anyways this souvenir shop was absolutely amazing!!! I mean it was just so cool and massive and there was a clown and a man standing outside all dressed up and everything. It took me ages to decide what to buy her because there were just so many options :) but in the end i found some awesome stuff that i hope she will like... :) Once that was done Doug and I searched for cheap tickets to The Lion King!!! We ended up finding some quite good ones which also included a meal but in the end we discovered how poor we were and decided against it. Instead we used retail therapy (well i did) to boost our spirits.

PULL AND BEAR!!!! (dun dun duunnn)

So yeah Doug and I walked to Oxford Street in search of PULL AND BEAR!!! (dun dun duunnn) Pull And Bear is a shop i had previously found in Ireland when i was traveling with my friend Louisa and her brother Jason. It was in the afternoon on our last day in Dublin. Louisa and I were just wandering down the main shopping streets when we saw this random shop. We decided to have a look because it seemed to be for the young people. In we walked and we were amazed at what we had found!!! It was the best clothes shop ever invented!!!! They had these really awesome, random jackets that were like waterproof and all. And there jeans were only 20euros and just all the clothes were amazing!! Loui and I decided to come back later but sadly by the time we had finished our looking around Pull And Bear was closed. We looked it up on the internet and found that the shop was also in Paris and Rome. When we went to Paris and asked people they had no idea the shop even existed. In Rome we discovered that the shopping centre it was in was ages away!!! And then we stumbled upon it in Bologna of all places. The sad thing was Loui was sick and we could not hang around in the shop for long. So when i found out there was a Pull And Bear in London i was estactic!!! I insisted that we must go there. We searched for PULL AND BEAR (dun dun duunnn) only knowing the shop number and that it was somewhere in the middle of Oxford Street. With a little bit of help from a kind shop person we finally made it to PULL AND BEAR (dun dun duunnn) and i was able to get over my sadness of not being able to see The Lion King. I only ended up buying a jacket and a pair of jeans as i was under money restrictions but those items of clothing made my day :D

All the important things done we decided to rest our weary feet and travel back to Sharon and Barry's house. Getting back to their house seemed to take ages but we finally made it back and had an awesome homemade dinner!!! We had garlic bread and spagetti bolognese. Then Doug and I drifted up to Seb's room (we are staying in Seb's room while we are here) and we wrote these blogs.

Here you may mention that the night is not exactly over...many things happen after 9pm. And it is very true. We will in fact be having sticky date pudding quite soon but anything else i believe will be so extremely exciting that i don't think you would be able to deal with merely reading it. For example we may go out and throw a frisbee around. But see now you would love to join us and i am sorry to say that you cannot. I would totally welcome you but it just isn't possible. Anyways that is all i believe...
Ciao :)

Part 176: Oxford P2

Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum,

So Yesterday I wne t to bed and then this morning I realised I totally forgot to write this blog! I was so relaxed/ tired it didn't even occur to me. Hehe, well I am here now and would like to point out there will be 3 blogs posted! Sorry about that: Cardiff, Oxford and Chloe will be guest blogging London when I am finished this! I'll make this one brief.

So, yesterday I could basically copy paste the Louisa blog but take out Louisa and add Chloe and put me in charge. I cannae believe how much I actually retained once we where there. I took Chloe into the centre of Oxford and we spent the entire day going to various Colleges and buildings and I explained what they were, I wont go into too much detail because I would be repeating useless information but I will say that we went to lunch at a different restaurant and it was nice and Christchurch was covered in scaffolding and it wasn't nice. Stupid. Scaffolding. I loathe it. We also spent a portion of the day looking for an Oxford University jumper for Chloe but due to apparent (but non-exsistent in the end) lack of funds, I didn't get one myself. We finished the day at The Natural History Museum of Oxford which I loved just as much as last time, unfortunately there were no bees. The world as we know it is ending people!

So we got back to Tom and Caths place at like 6 where we spent the rest of the evening watching Chick Flicks including 'He's just not that into you' (AWFUL film) and 'The Ugly Truth' (it was okay) Tom and Cath joined us later and we talked for a bit, Chloe and I packed then had an early night- nice.

And voila. short and sweet. Chloes turn!

Part 175: Wale of a time in Cardiff

Oh hi there!

So, I do apologise for not writing this blog earlier- I got totally distracted by, you'd never guess it, Dr. Moo... Doctor who? (in-joke). Yea long story so I'll get to it.

We woke up to our only full day in Cardiff at about 8am and went downstairs for a free yet terrible breakfast. We were joined by our French roomate for a bit which was assez cool and then we went back up and got ready for a full jam-packed day out in the city. When we finally left I think it was abuot 10.30-11. We're lazy, lazy people. Good times. Off we set to go to Cardiff Castle.

We walked there which wasn't far at all, just a 20 minute hike at the most. It took us right through the centre of the city which was a good way to orientate ourselves and then just as wel excited the central area we ended up at the castle. Student Discounts and a money exchange later, we had our ticket and were happy to enter. The castle was like 30 times better than the Edinburgh Castle even though it was a wee bit smaller. It was like a huge courtyard with buildings and stuff spread out. In front of us was like a watch tower type thing with a moat and stuff. Oh I would like to point out that Chloe kinda had been holding out on taking photos over her Contiki tour because she felt silly taking the same photos as everyone else but when we came to Cardiff Castle, my camera was low on batteries so I scarcely took photos and Chloe went pretty mental, I think we have like 30 photos of the same catapult at different angles- its quite funny. Anyway, yea we explored the watch tower then went to the main building to the right where we met Queen Victoria by accident, we opened the door for her and didn't even know who it was. Haha. Its cool because there are a bunch of actors all around the castle just playing as if they were back in the Castles Hayday dressed up and such and they interact with you keeping their roles on like saying 'Good day sir' and such, it adds a nice touch to the castle.

After a while exploring every nook and cranny we left and decided to make our way to Cardiff Bay where the Dr. Who centre of Cardiff is located. Chloe is a huge fan of the Doctor so she was so excited as we made our way there. We did stop for some lunch though (as healthy as we would like to be, it doesn't stop us buying McDonalds for lunch...) then walked to the bay. It was a good walk away and felt like ages but it was a good one. WE could have taken a bus or train but walking feels more touristy or something and after our Maccas, I prefered it. We arrived at the centre with help from the locals and I cannot explain how excited Chloe was- it was very cute. Jumping around and such haha. The exhibition was even interesting to me solely because I got Chloe to explain everything to me while I covered up the signs explaining what they are and then checked what Chloe said compared to the sign... she was always spot on. Nerd. Then she bought some stuff at the gift shop and we left. I do have a cool wristband though. I guess thats cool.

Yea, so then we made our way right to Mermaid bay where we (I have officially JUST left Wales at 10.44am now – I am on a train whilst I am typing this and just saw the sign. I'm now in England) saw the Millenium Centre and this random International Food Fare thing. Ignoring that, we made our way to sit and look out at the water then saw a Merry-Go-Round which of course, we went on. Goooood times. We are the coolest kids on the block fo sho. It was fun though haha.

Went out for a drink. Realised we'd done everything we wanted to in Cardiff. Looked at clock. It was 3pm. Haha. We then walked back into the city, I bought some wee souvenir type things then we went back to hostel to download episodes of Doctor Who, which I was now interested in watching, arrving at about 4.30ish. Chloe wrote some of her Journal and we just generally bummed around until Dr. Who was done. We watched an episode of that, then the rest of Inglorious Basterds which we didn't finish the night before followed by dinner at the same restaurant as the previous night. Goood times. Came back, more Doctor Who. Bed. Oh! When Chloe went to the shower I was talking to Frenchie in our room and it turned out he like firsbee too, which was funny so he got really excited when I said Chloe was an Ultimate Frisbee champ. Haha. It was funny. Good times.

Et c'est tout, Wales was aight, but Cardiff isn't the mot exciting place- it really reminded me of Ballarat.. even though its a capital city. It was so little and not that much to do. The castle is recommended and Dr. Who fans should go to the exhibition but you know, a day is more than enough.

Toodle pip!

Part 174: Oxford Take 2

So this is really going to annoy me, but I have written yesterdays blog however its on my internetless computer and I am on Toms interneted computer so yesterdays blog will be posted... but out of order... When my computer has the internet again. Sorry about that future me and readers who too will find this irratating.

So today was not all the busy as far as touring goes. We woke up this morning at 7 and got ready to go out to breakfast. We went to the same restaurant we have eaten at every single meal (except lunch the other day) which was great because we love it. Unfortunately, I have had today a huuuge speech impediment for no reason in particular. I just cannot form the sentences I want to say. SO this morning I went to order breakfast and it was a disaster. I was meant to order the large size of what I was getting however I completely forgot how to say this I was like: 'I want the more one that has bigger drink not regular coffee with more expense.' uhhhmmmm. Anyway breakfast, checkout, train station and at 10.15 we were on the train leaving Cardiff.

The train trip was good I typed yesterdays blog and read more of 'Memoirs of a Geisha' I love that book, I really want to see the film again. We had a quick stop over at Didcot then arrived in Oxford at 12.30 where we caught a taxi out to Cath and Toms place. Cath and Tom weren't here yet so they left a key for us and we let ourselves in. Then sat and watched Dr. Who and some Kick-ass as we waited for them to get home. 3.30 they did exhausted after a late night and a huuuge bike ride (they're training for a half-marathon) We chatted for a while about our times since last seeing each other. They have been planning a 6 month road trip around Australia, to note for future reference: Today was the day they really started putting plans together! Haha

After a while of chatting some showers by the Ramptons it was decided that we would walk to a local bar which is quite an attraction in Oxford called 'The Trout' Its reknown for being in a really pretty scenic location and that it was. We sat outside talking about bees and frisbee as you do and each had a pint and some crisps. Goood times.

Return. Talk. Dinner (yum). XFactor. Talk. End of Kick-ass. Blog. Dunno. Bed.

Touring Oxford with Chloe tomorrow. Its cool being back here.

x

Part 173: Next Adventure

Hey there,

So I have now officially left Scotland! Gone gone gone. I woke up this morning to my alarm at 6am and Chloe and I did all our showering, packing and final things to get ready by 7.00. At 7, the kids and Al woke up and Al gave me the number for the Taxi company so I called a taxi to pick Chloe and I up at 7.30 to take us all the way to the bus station- I dont know about Chloes stuff, but all my stuff weighs a bloody tonne! As if I would want to walk to the station then from Central to the bus station. Taxi was easier. When the taxi came to take us away I hugged everyone a final goodbye and handed over my keys along with a card. As the taxi pulled out I gave a final wave and that was that... But I'll be back... Eventually... :/

We arrived at the bus station about 20 minutes before I bus was set to depart so I went and bought some water and Chloe bought us some snacks. We then hopped on the train and left Glasgow setting off on our 6 hour trip to Burmingham. I've borrowed the book 'Memoirs of a Geisha' off of Chloe so along with 'Florence + the Machine' and 'Mumford & Sons' in my ears the trip was pretty harmless. I am really enjoying the book so far. Chloe slept for most of the trip too. When we arrived in Burmingham we had 20 minutes until our bus to Cardiff left so Chloe went to the toilet then we were back on the bus for nearly 3 hours before finally reaching Cardiff at 6.30. We then caught a second taxi to our hostel because I couldn't be bothered walking again and it was raining.

So here we are at the Nomad hostel Cardiff. Its not great but the reception guy is great! We also have a French dude in our room so I told him about my stay in Grenoble and he didn't know where it was so I told him haha. He was from Nantes I think... Chloe and I did go out for dinner at a pub around the corner at some point which was reaaallly cheap and good food. (Chloe fell in love with the bathrooms there, they were as fancy as all get out! I mean really! Best. Toilets. Ever...)Aaand finally, we've organised our trip to Oxford, London, Stonehenge and Bath which is tres exciting. Oh! and I downloaded the film 'Inglorious Basterds' which we are having a break from currently for me to write this and Chloe to write her journal.

All is well but I keep thinking how odd it is that I am not going back to Scotland. Odd. Oh well, here starteth the final parts of my adventures in Europe. Wish me luck!

Thats all for today folks,

G'night.

Part 172: Sad Face

Arghhh!

Just Arghhh! And thus endeth my visit to Scotland (sad face)! Tomorrow bright and early (like 8.15am) I am leaving Scotland and catching a bus down to Cardiff, Wales. What can I say? I dont even know! I am part excited about going on the next part of my adventure and part shattered that I am putting this part behind me. Blah. My room is totally packed away now and looking at it knowing that it is going back into being a dining room makes me sad (faced). Its not mine anymore... Hmmm. Ah, nostalgia before leaving- who needs it?

So my day today was a-okay. I woke up at 8.30 and stared at the ceiling. Last full day in Scotland commenced. Chloe is still asleep so I went on the computer and watched TV whilst I waited for her to wake up. At like 10.30 she did. In this time, I also sent the dog off for a walk with the neighbour. Anyway, when Chloe woke up we sat for a while watching telly and doing a load of washing for Chloe. The load took two hours so in this time we both got dressed and ready to go to the doctors for Chloes infection.

We walked to the train and caught it to Mount Florida then walked to Victoria hospital where I waited for Chloe as she got her antibiotics. It was good, because I borrowed Chloes iPod cord before and finally synced Florence + the Machine onto my iPod! Gunnin' ith something to do. Da daaah! Anywho, We then came back home and then I sat and talked to Jilly who arrived just recently to say goodbye to me! Fortunately, she had to come back to drop the kids later, which meant I could see her later. Chloe, Jilly and I sat out with tea and talked about time thats past and whats to come. I then said 'Cya in a minute' as Jilly left back for her flat and Chle and I went out to the city so I could show Chloe some of Glasgow.

Train. Maccas. Quick tour of Glasgow. We went into a few shops and walked around the centremost part of Glasgow. Book tickets to Cardiff tomorrow. Good effort. It was my last time in the city so I was again sad walking around looking at all my places I like. Blah. Train (last one... which made me sad as well... wtf?) Train back in to Muirend. Walk to Netherlee. Pack EVERYTHING. Jilly and Al arrive.

I talked to Jilly and Al for a while and then watched some youtube with the kids until Jilly had to go back home. Arghhhh now I have no idea when I'll see her again! Weirrrd. I hate leaving places. Anyway... huge goodbye hugs. sad face. wave. inside. Hm, the kids went to bed (but I'll see them in the morning) so then Chloe, Al and I decided that we would have fish and chips for tea. Dinner (Chloe tried haggis! haha) . TV. Beer. Chats. Sad face. Blog.

BLAH. blahblahblah.

Thankyou Scotland, you were amazing. (Oh and Al, Jilly, kids: You were pretty tops too. Thank you SOOO much for your hospitality and I hope that I see you soon in either Australia or Scotland or China or wherever! Sad face....)

Goodnight. Sad face.

x

Part 171: Chloe Cometh

Hello there,

So today was good but I cannae be bothered going into too much detail. I woke up with intentions of doing not alot. Well, that turned out to be a dud. I got up and was on the computer for a little bit whilst I waited for my load of washing to finish. Today was really sunny which was surprising, I was under the impression that today was meant to be raining so I was happy to hang out my washing, have a shower then take the dog for one final walk around Linn Park. The walk was really relaxing, I took my time and pondered around taking everything in with the greenery and such. Niiice.

When I got back and I had some lunch did another load of washing and did more packing and tidying around. Just to get more out of the way. Then I got a haircut! Yay! spurr of the moment decision to get rid of the boof my head was becoming. Its really quite short now. I think shorter than its been in years. I dont really know if I like it. I added a picture just because I know how much you love them (Mum)... Yea, that was good and the dude who cut my hair remembered me from last time I was there. Amazing. He was like 'Oh you're still here? Are you leaving soon then, I thought you were September sometime' amazing. Yea, good times. Got hair cut, came home and did some more organising stuff and talking to Ruberella on MSN before at 6.00 heading into the city. You know yesterday how we got a new TV? Well there was no cord for it so I offered to go and pick it up because I was to meet Chloe in the city at 8. I arrived in the city went to the place (which closes at 7 thus why I went in so early) where I had to get the cord, did that (scoring free batteries!!)

Afterwards, I went and sat in Central Station for an hour playing Sudoku on my phone before meeting Chloeeeee! yay! Chloe is sick... not yay! But it was great to see her and after a big hug we went to the train and I introduced Chloe to Netherlee, Al and Sparky. It was nice. Since Chloes arrival we've planned our England/Wales trip and such. Now we are watching Family Guy and relaxing. Poor Chloe is EXHAUSTED after her 20 day Contiki tour. Good on her.

Well, thats about it!

xx

Part 170: No Power

Aloha!

I had a fair average day today. I woke up at 10 or 11 or something then didn't do much apart from yabber away to people on MSN and pack. Argh, packing is so boring and depressing. I mean the whole time I got all nostalgic over stupid things. I found a little totem pole that Fanny gave me on my last night in France and I was like 'naww, I miss France' then was going through my drawer and found something I 'bought' of AJ and was like 'naww, I'ma miss Scotland' ahaha. Awful. I then also went through Tams book that she made me and was like 'WOOOO I'M GOING HOME SOON' but of course, I have all my England travels before that and Chloe coming tomorrow night.

Yes, so what a day I had. Oh! I did washing too. Goood times. I also played and finished Zelda. Finally. The stupid game felt like it would never end... until it did and I pwned it. Only took me like 2 months. Aaanyway... My day was pretty much like that until at like 6 Al came in and was all 'we have to go pick up the new TV now' (they got a new TV so they could take their current one to Jillys flat) so I grabbed my shoes and we drove out to the city to pick up the TV. On the way I learned that Al reads my blog, how frequently I am unsure, but still I was all *shock*. So 'Hellooooo Al if you are reading this, dinner is good.' Yes. We made it to the city picked up the TV (with minor hiccups... oh and I saw the funniest thing, well, I laughed... Muse was playing in the shop and at the same time Beyonce was on the TVs and it was great because sometimes it was in sync and I giggled when it looked as though Beyonce was singing Muse! I mean really, how ridiculous! Absolutely ridiculous...) Erm... we then drove back through the rush hour city traffic to Netherlee arriving around about, I'd like to say, 7ish?

There, we dropped that TV off, picked up Jilly, the kids and the TV and drove to Jillys flat. After much energy hauling this bloody box of bricks up 4 flights of stairs with Al we dumped it there then sat for beers and TV. After a while Al and I left to catch the bus home which was like miles away then we missed the first one... but we got there eventually.

Arrived home. Bought in washing. Al cooked dinner (amazing, he whipped up some fancy chicken pasta dish just for me with the simplest recipe ever, I'll try it myself sometime...). Went to set up new TV. No powercord (ahhh, thats where the title comes from, I hear you say). Typed blog. End.

Tata

Part 169: Family denited?

Hello!

So, I don't actually thing denited is a word however what can I do, it is me saying that I said goodbye to my Scottish family who I was only united with a few short months ago...

I guess I should fill you in on my last 2 days in Prestwick. Its an easy fill in though because of poor Julie and Moira not being well. It thus left us with poor opportunities to do much. I basically really enjoyed Moiras company in her flat and pondering about Prestwick town. We also went and visited Brian and Julie on Sunday evening after going to dinner at the local Golf Inn. It was nice to be with them at their place just chatting for a while getting to know my 2nd cousin a bit better. Its really odd to think that he is my mums cousin... Odd in a good way though. I just felt bad for Julie who really wasn't feeling well. Baaad timing on all our behalves but still, it was nice being in Prestwick with family and although we weren't running around like crazy chickens doing lots of stuff, I had a great time getting to know everyone and being in good company. Weekend. Summed up. Ha ha.

I left this morning after a coffee with Moira and then caught the bus back into the city. When I arrived back at home I talked to Al for a while about our weekends. He had a good one with the kids... Apparently they had a Club Penguin Party on the trampoline which is quite random indeed. After, I went and cleared out bits and pieces in my drawers and stuff chucking random bits of rubbish into the bin and putting others in my folders ready to be packed. *Crack* that was my heart breaking. Packing all my belongings again... Blah. I don't want tooooooooo. I then spent some time on my computer until Sally came home from school and the Al and AJ went to get a haircut. I decided that I would try and utilise my remaining time in Scotland and hang out with everyone as much as I can. We played Nintendo for a while then played hangman and drawing games until she had to go to dancing so I played Mario Kart with AJ while Al dropped her off at dancing. Good times.

At 7 I trained over to Burnside where I was met by Holly Miles as tonight I was out for dinner with the Miles'. It was really a great night out just talking and watching TV. Haha. We caught up on our holidays and I heard some hilarious stories about their unfortunate beginnings to their Portugal vacation. They seemed to have fun anyway. I really enjoy the company of Margie(right), Holly(left) and Daisy (middle) (the younger kids were in bed) we can just sit and chat about nothing which I really enjoy. I was there until 10.30 before getting dropped home by Margie. I said goodbye and became saddened knowing that I wont see her, or any other of my Scottish relatives for a good long while... not a good long while in the sense that its good, quite the opposite actually so really it should be a bad long while. Hopefully some make it out to Australia at some point!

Anyway, that's about all...

Goodnighttttttt

Part 168: Prestwick Life

Hello there!

So I am actually typing this blog on the 4^th of September (Saturday) however it wont be posted until Monday. This way I know I got most things and I don't have to type the entire thing in one hit. Make my life easier and also its beneficial for you because I wont be grumpy by the end of the blog because I've typed too much. Ha ha.

Anyway, so I didn't actually do much yesterday. I have caught AJ's blasted cold which makes me a bit exahusted for no reason, quite frustrating really. Anyway, I got up in the morning and chatted to my mother as I packed all my things for my weekend away. At 11.30 I left the house and by 1.30 I was in Prestwick giving Moira a hug hello. It was nice to see her again but unfortunately, she has a bad back at the moment and I am sick so both of us just sat and talked for a while which was great all the same. Moira did want to get down the street to buy a magazine so we did that but that was the extent of our excersise for the day. It was a nice walk though we ended up going the long way around and bumped into Ellen who I met the last time I was in here in Moiras Charity Shop. She was the woman who gave me my shoes for my work at T in the park. It was nice to see her again, friendly lady.

Julie has been sick recently too, she is currently recovering from an operation so although the original plan was to be at Brians for the night, this became a bit problematic because of Julies ilness and Brian being so busy at work so I ended up staying here at Moiras on her couch bed thing in the living room which is comfy enough for me! We watched TV and chatted a while before I went to sleep.

This morning Moira let me sleep in as she crept around her whole house so as to let me get better from this stupid cold.I woke up at 10.30 and stayed in bed as we talked some more. The plan was to meet up with Brian, Julie and the kids (I shouldn't say kids really I mean I am like 7 months older than Andrew and Stuart is 14 in 2 weeks...) anyway, the plan was to meet up in the afternoon so the morning was free. I had a shower and went on a walk along the promenade which was nice because there was a yaught race going on. I watched that for a while before going up to Moiras room and then soon after getting called to wait out the front for Brian to come pick us up.

Brian came and in the car with him was young Stuart. Stuart is one day younger than Ellen but my God is he tall! He is already taller than me damnit! Ohhh well. We drove out to their newly purchased caravan out at Maybol where we stayed and talked about my Euro-trip for a while until I met Julie, her Sister, Andrew and his girlfriend. Andrew is sooooo tall as well. I think he is like 6'5 or something ridiculous like that. After a bried conversation we went out for coffee at a cafe not far away. The 4 youngens (myself included) were put on a table to converse but it was a bit odd because we really had nothing to talk about. Andrews girlfriend Mel was a bit of a saving grace as she was happy to talk about Australia for a while and we could talk about our coffee...

After coffee we drove back to Brians place where Moira and I stayed for a while talking some more. It was cool seeing Brians house and meeting his pets and such and all their rooms and everything. Haha. We didnt stay long though- just long enough to snap up this happy snap then Brian dropped Moira and I back and since, we've been eating scrambled eggs on toast and watching 'The X-Factor' I love Cheryl Coles Irish accent. Sooo sexy.

And thus my weekend to date. It is a shame that Julie, Moira and I are all sick and Brian is flat out with work- timing is shocking but its the best we can do. Unfortunately, I wont be able to make it to Isle of Aran which makes me sad because I was going to go with Lois but decided to wait because I was meant to come this time... Oh well, next time I am in Scotland Aran is his on the agenda. Very high.

Oh! And did you hear about the Earthquake in New Zealand. Wow.

Nighty night.

Part 167: City Photos

Alors!

Bienvenue. I have been speaking French to the dog for the last 20 minutes so I have french in my head haha, its a good system because the dog doesn't notice my mistakes.

Anyway, as you can see I have added some pictures of my current home city, Glasgow. I realised this morning that the weather was absolutely amazing and I didn't have any photos of Glasgow so the only reasonable thing to do in this situation was to go to the city and take some photos! I really enjoyed it because it was lovely to walk around leisurely on my own for a while in the sunshine in one of my favorite places!

I woke up this morning at 10.30 and played a bit of Zelda, I am getting so close to the end which is good because I am totally over it. It never ends! But I am sure you dont care about that. I got up and had a shower then realised that no one was even here! I had no idea where Al was until I noticed his note saying he went into the city as well. I love notes! I then grabbed some breakfast (at 12.00...) then caught the next train into the city.

I like the train ride to the city, I know it like inside out now I can name all the stops in order from Muirend to Glasgow Central! I love watching what people do on the train to and counting how many people skip buying tickets from the ticket inspector by looking like they've been checked already. Haha, its a good system. Anyway when I arrived in the city I thought of where my favorite places that I could be bothered walking to were. For reference, my favorite place in Glasgow is Glasgow University (the one out near Kelvin Grove Art Museum) because its amazingly pretty and I love the cloisters there but unfortunately its a long walk away so I didn't make it up that far. Laziness.

So I walked all around the central part of Glasgow which contains most of the places I like anyway. The first photo is a view from Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. Its looking down over Buchanan St which is always that busy. Its amazing. Oh and I saw the most amazing busker today. He was playing the guitar and singing and was just amazing! His voice was so easy to listen too. I decided to sit and watch for a while because I was getting tired anyway. Yea, I love the vibe on Buchanan St. Theres usually always buskers and people trying to sell little nic nacs like bubble guns and stuff. Walking up and down the street is fun just in itself. The big glass thing in the middle is the Buchanan St Subway Station fyi and you can see all the way down to Caffe Nero (which I have mentioned before) and St. Enoch which is a large shopping centre. If you look to my right, you will look down Sauchihall St. too which is another main street in the city. Walk all the way down there and you'll arrive at Kelvin Grove. Good times. Um the second photo is also taken on Buchanan St. Its a peacock statue which I always like to look at if I am near it and show it to people when I am touring them around... I dont know why but I love it.

The next photo comprises of George Square. George Square is another place I love. I especially love that 9/10 times that I am there, there are pigeons or sea gulls sitting on top of the heads of all the statues, I like it. In the background there is a beautiful building which I think is the Glasgow City Chambers. They are stunning. You can also see the white memorial infront of that building which I like too... I enjoy sitting on the benches there and contemplating things or when I am with someone (rarely) sitting there and chatting. It reminds me a lot of the State Grass out front of State Library in Melbourne. Anyway, I love it there.

So there are some photos I have more but I dont want to fill the entire blog up because I could just go on forever. I love Glasgow haha. So today was nice. I did have to be back by 3.15. Well, I decided that. I wanted to be home to hang out with the kids for a bit because I'm away for the weekend so I am running out of time with everyone here so quickly! Its saddening somewhat. So I came back to be met by Al who went to pick up the kids.

I played more Zelda talked to the kids then Jilly came and took them (and my DS) rendering me bored on the TV. Then Al went out to work rendering me bored on the TV alone. I watched like 5 episodes of the Simpsons straight. There were 3 of the new new ones 1 oldish one and then the 2nd EVER Simpsons episode. Amazing. Did you know Smithers was black when he first appeared on TV? Betchya you didn't! Anyway its verging on midnight and I am off to Prestwick tomorrow meaning I should get some sleep!

Be it known, I do post photos. No one can say I don't! Haha.

Good night!

x

p.s I am in Prestwick which means possibly no internet until Monday- I'm sure you'll work it out if I have no net but I will make notes! You wont miss a thing :)

Part 166: Spilt Milk

Yay! Its September!! New month!

I love it when its a new month because it looks so cool on the side bar... anyway...

So my day today wasn't even that interesting really but I feel because my trip is drawing to a close I should blog as often as possible especially because I may not have many chances to do so this month. Anyway, (Argh a bug just attacked my face!) most of my day was planning stuff and organising my upcoming England/Wales trip with Chloe and MSNing. I enjoyed an epically long chat with Victoria which was good to do, fyi: She goes well.

Oh this morning! I have a really lame story. So I reallllyyy wanted to have cereal for breakfast this morning thus got up and went to get cereal. All went well until I realised there was no milk! Slightly irritated I contemplated going to the shop and getting some but I just couldn't be bothered. I went back into bed and stayed on MSN for an hour or so until my tummy gave up on life and started eating itself. Annoyed by this I thought I should get up and go to the shops. I struggled out of bed dawdled upstairs for my shower and then complained to no one as I stomped down stairs and got my shoes on. The effort I had to go to just for some breakfast!

I walked to the supermarket and then spent a while walking around the whole shop because I didn't even know where milk was I mean really, it was just annoying. How awful. I then eventually got the milk, pondered off home before pouring my cereal. Ahh what a reward it would be! I was so excited to have all my hard work finally pay off. I sat down with a grin on my face but then realised The spoon was just out of my reach! Tragic. I leant over... just a bit out... of... reach! Nearly got it! Just lean a little more... Oh crap! And then the cereal was all over my jeans. Worst. Ever. And that was as eventful as today got. I did have plans but I chose to cancel them due to weather problems. Tomorrow perhaps. Or perhaps next Thursday when Chloe is here! Cant wait.

Goodnight!

x

Part 165: Au Revoir August

So as you know I missed the month summary of July so todays blog is dedicated to my last two months in Europe. And what a two months they were.... Enjoy.

July:
Week 1 (1st-7th):

• Got a job with SecuriGroup after a job interview
• Managed 150 days overseas
• Went to Prestwick and visited Moira also meeting Brian
• Went to the beach and touched the Atlantic Ocean.
• got offended by Big Brother- shock
• Visted some family history places
• Got free shoes for my upcoming work at T in the Park
  
• Went to Troon

Week 2 (8th-14th):

• Worked at T in the Park! BEST. JOB. EVER.
  
• Saw many-a-bands for free including 3 favorites: Black Eyed Peas, Florence + the Machine and Muse!
• Got into Glasgow at 3 and struggled to get home to Netherlee. Death.
• Taxi'd for the first time...ever... on my own.
• Met Dad's work friend Bruce and his son Nick in Glasgow for a day.
• Went to an awesome Australian bar.
  

Week 3 (15th-21st):

• Got/made Sallys birthday present
• Celebrated Sallys 10th birthday
• Commenced playing Zelda on the DS
• Finished booking all my flights/trains for Italy.
• Departed Scotland from Prestwick Airport
• Flew to Brussels then to Rome.
  
• Met Gatens and found our hostel which was great.

Week 4 (22nd-31st):

• Commenced Touring Rome.
• Did a tour of the Colosseum and the Roman forum. Amazing.
• Went into the worlds smallest country: Vatican City.
  
• Saw the world famous painting by Michelangelo on the roof of the Sistine Chapel.
• Saw many many beautiful buildings in the amazing Italian capital.
• Visited the ruins of Ostia Antica
• Flew to Venice.
• Toured Venice and bought a mask. Its the most beautiful little place ever.
  
• Trained to Milan and was disappointed.
• Bummed around Milan for a bit before flying out to Brussels for a second time.
• Re-met Lois after two years.
• Toured Brussels trained to Antwerpen.
• Enjoyed Antwerpen at its best before training up to Sneek, the Netherlands.

August:
Week 1 (1st-7th):

• Toured Sneek
• Went to a Hot Rod/Balloon festival... what the?
• Visted sweet little towns in the North of Holland like Hinderloppen. loved it.
• Went to Sneeks 'Street Performer Festival' were Lois was a feature and I got hit by a hammer.
• Went to a weird Circus kind of display at night and met another Australian girl
• Got repulsed by the Australian accent.
• Watched the sailing games which were the opening of Sneek Week.
• Went out partying with Lois and Anne.

Week 2 (8th-14th):

• Partied till 7a.m with Lois then travelled back to the UK absolutely exhausted but in love with the Netherlands.
• Lived on my own as Al took the kids to Legoland in south England
• Went on many dog walks
• watched much tv
• Organised Lois to come to Scotland to visit ME!
• Went on a picnic

Week 3 (15th-21st):

• Jilly moved out after buying a flat
• It was filthy so we spent many HOURS trying to clean it.
• So. Much. Scrubbing.
• Enjoyed shopping for homewares and gaining a free toaster.
• Taking the dog for more walks.
  

Week 4 (22nd-31st):

• Watched the final of Big Brother
• Visited Stirling... Not the Castle though. I liked it anyway.
• Organised to visit Gatens in Edinburgh.
• Picked up Lois in Queens St. Station after som difficulty.
• Toured Glasgow with Lois
• Went tandem biking around the Isle of Cumbrae on the way visiting Largs. Was loverly.
• Went to the Edinburgh Festival with Lois watching some amazing shows and one awful AWFUL show.
• Got disappointed by Edinburgh Castle but loved Mary Kings Close.
  
• Said Goodbye to Lois as she hopped on to her bus to the airport turned around and met up with Gatens and her friends Alex and Maxxie.
• Did the Festival again.
• Got home at Midnight
• Went to Bothwell Castle with Alex
• Organised a weekend with Moira and Brian and a dinner with Margie.

And thats it. I had a great two months, I really did. Highlights? I would have to say T in the Park and my Europe trip were just amazing. Give me them again any day.

Goodbye August 2010 bring on September.

x

Part 164: Easy Day

Possibly the last comic.

Night x

Part 163: Castles and a Festival

Dear Diary,

Sorry for my absence over the last few days I have been a busy little bee with Lois and others, its been good. So as I think I may have previously mentioned, I went all the way to Edinburgh for the weekend. Quite a distance, I know. Haha.

Lois and I arrived on Friday afternoon after a lazy morning which was well deserved after our epic bike ride on Thursday. When we arrived we made our way to our hostel which was really close to the main street that the Edinburgh Fringe Festival was which was a great place to be during the festival. So we dumped our stuff then walked up to the festival where street performers are abundant and quite amazing. The Fringe had a great atmosphere which made it a fun place to hang around but also made it impossible to want to leave and tour the rest of Edinburgh, a bit of a shame but we enjoyed the festival too much. Having said that we started our time in Edinburgh at the famous Castle. The Castle was an expensive waste of time, in my opinion. I mean, I am glad I did it solely so I can say that I did it. We walked around the castle visiting the museums and such for a few hours but really, I was quite disappointed by everything except the magnificent panorama of Edinburgh the Castle bought us. We left.

After the castle we made our way back down the main street getting given a billion flyers for shows that were on that night free and otherwise and watching all the street acts. The vibe was great, Edinburgh festival is well worth it if you're there for it. Eventually we decided on seeing an improvised musical which was sooo funny. It ended up being about a womans journey into becoming a metaphorical man by learning how to be a prison warden helping save people from deathrow... It was called 'To become a Man' or something. Very very good. Lois and I loved it.

When we exited someone gave us another flier to go and see some upcoming comedian so we saw him and he was pretty funny too. His name wassssss *checking* ooh I cant find his flyer.. fail. Anyway, he was good. The rest of the night was pondering around the festival, getting dinner at a sports pub which was nice, I guess. Then we pondered the streets stumbling upon some other comedian. He was the worst thing I have ever seen in my life. I mean, it was as funny as watching a cat get strangled. It was awkward and a little embarrassing to watch just because he was so bad. He started with a crowd of 13 and ended with 6 including Lois and I. Awful. We left and by 1am we were asleep in our hostel. To quote my notes I made for this blog on Friday: 'I. Am. Sleep' (Yes, I made notes)

On Saturday morning we woke up, got breakfast then made our way to Mary Kings Close for a tour that we booked on Thursday night. Mary Kings close is the remains of a street from Edinburghs olden days. Its actually underground because at some point the Scotts knocked down the top half of the houses and then built on top of them completely new streets and stuff. Much more to it than that, but its something you can discover yourselves in Edinburgh. Our tour guide was amazing, absolutely incredible. Very funny and full of knowledge. Best. Ever. The tour itself was well worth it too. It doubles as a ghost tour in parts to as apparently Mary Kings Close is haunted by a little girl and various other victims of the plague. It was cool. Glad we did that.

We then left and walked around the festival for a while. It was nice watching different shows and stuff again. Lois then wanted to go find a poster for Maud (I am saying this as proof in case Maud doesn't believe Lois) for a band that she likes and then got our stuff and I then said goodbye to Lois as she got onto the bus at 4.30pm. I hugged her goodbye then realised I may not see her for many years. Odd. Very odd. And sad.

At 4 I recieved a text from Gatens who said she and two friends were in Edinburgh for the festival and wanted to catch up- well why not? I met them at the train station. It was Gatens, her German room mate from work, Maxxie and their friend Alex. We went up to the festival and did what you do. They were in awe much like I was when I arrived but I acted cool, ptch I'd done it all already.

When we decided at 7 we wanted to see a show we found one we agreed on but then on the way Maxxie went exploring in a bar and we came out somewhere completely random and found a different show to watch instead. It was great because this one was free! As we sat in the pub waiting for the show to start a magician came and talked to me then showed me some tricks. I was in awe and so many high fives were had. He was the best magician ever. Well, not really, but he was very good. When the show started it turned out they were brothers doing a tripod style act. They were very funny singing various pop-songs but changing them into pirate related songs. Lol... yea. They were good. Then the magician did an set which was great. Best. Bit. Of. The. Festival. Haha, I helped with on of his tricks as well. It was great. He did this trick were he got someone to select a word at random from the novel 'New Moon' and then he 'psychically' knew what it was and wrote it down on his white board and omg I cant explain it but it was great haha. After he was finished, the brothers came back on and it was a bit awkward because they did a song about Hitler and were marching around with swartzikas and such and Maxxie was really not impressed. (She told them off after the show and said 'it was not funny at all'- they apologised) then they did a song about Jesus not being real which offended Alex, who is a christian... but I laughed at that song because it was good.

We pondered a bit more after until arriving at the station. I then bid them adieu at around 9.45 then arrived at home in Netherlee at a bit before midnight.

This morning (blah, this is neverending!) I woke up at 11 and read that Al and the kids were out for the day. I did a load of washing and then talked to mum for a bit over an hour on Skype which was great because it felt like forever ago since our last Skype conversation. Just as that was ending I got a phone call from Alex who wanted to catch up in Glasgow so I told him I'd meet him in an hour. 'Bye mum *sad face*' Shower. Train. Meet Alex.

Alex told me he wanted to go to Bothwell castle which was great becaus I hadn't been before! I knew the general way to get there so we walked up to Buchanan Bus Station and caught the bus out to Uddingston then walked to the castle. All up it took like 30 minutes on the bus and 20 minutes to walk there. It was okay because we got know each other a bit better. When we arrived at the Castle I was impressed because it was really ruiney in a pretty way. I liked this castle much more than Edinburgh Castle AND it was 6 pounds to get there and entry compared to 24 pounds to get to Edinburgh and go into the stupid thing. Blah. We spent about an hour there looking around at all the ruins and stuff. It was cool because you could go into like 90% of what was there except for some bits that were deemed dangerous. Fair enough, I say.

When we got back to Glasgow, I showed Alex around for a while and then we decided to go the Australian bar for dinner... well, Alex decided I wanted to get going but I felt bad because he was like 'so where are we going for dinner?' awkward turtle. Oh well, it didn't bother me, just my wallet. We went there had some burgers, chatted for a while then I said I had to get going. He wanted to go to Glasgow University because I pointed out to him earlier that it was a really pretty spot in Glasgow. So I pointed him in the right direction told him it was a fair hike then caught the train back to Netherlee.

Ah, home. I said hello to Sally, Aj and Al who, it feels like, I havent seen for ages! How weird. Haha. It was nice. I then hung around for a bit and then typed this. I think I should stop now, I have probably bored you enough ey?

Oh! I saw this shirt and it was cool. It was a guy in a kilt with an iPod in his ears done like the adds (colourful background, black figure with white ipod/headphones) and it said 'ayepod' haha. Funny stuff.

Cyas!

p.s. Mum, the photos are for you.

Part 162: Isle Of Cumbrae

Hey, didn't see you there!

Ha, I joke, of course I saw you! I see all. Epic.

Anyway, today was exhausting. Mainly because I am ridiculously unfit... Tragic really. So Lois and I woke up at 9.30 unsure as to what we would do for the day. I google'd a bit getting ideas before stumbling upon the Isle of Cumbrae: an Island not too far away for a fay trip but far enough away to feel like somewhere new! Perfect!

Our goal was to be there by 1.30. It meant we had to leave for Glasgow by 11.15 but unfortunately there was no bread so we had to buy breakfast for the supermarket causing us to miss our train...again! What the?! Missing this train meant that the next train to Largs (where we had to catch the ferry to the island from) wasnt until 12.45 which means we wouldnt get in until 1.45ish. The train trip was beautiful with gorgeous sea-side views. Good choice, Doug.

When we arrived in Largs we were shocked by the stunning weather and the beauty of this little sea-side town. We made our way to the port, bought our ticket and then we caught the ferry to the island. It was such a cool little place! So scenic. Its hard to explain this place because its just a lot of water and islands all around it with lush greenery and beautiful beaches and rocks and everything. Wow. It was pretty. We caught a bus to the village on the island which is called Millport. Millport itself was a cute little place with quirky shops all around and people playing on the beaches and many bikes. I should have mentioned that Cumbrae is known for its biking. Its a popular place to ride around on and really see the entire island. Lois and I decided to follow in suit and hired a -get this- tandem bike! How romantic... Lol.

With no experience on a tandem bike personally I was a bit concerned but with practice we really got the hang of it which was awesome! We ended up riding around the entire island in a few hours with a few stops along the way. It was literally and scenically breath-taking. I loved being at the back of the bike because I didnt have to steer or do anything so I just had the camera in my hands and was being stupid at the back of the bike haha. It was great. Theres not really much I can explain though, I mean, we tandemed around the island, what more can I add? It was good fun and we saw an eagle! Woo!

When we finished the tour de Cumbrae we were tired so we returned the bike, bought an ice cream each then caught the ferry back to Largs. We had a bit of a ponder around the town whilst waiting for the next train. Then made our way back to Netherlee where we have since organised our trip to Edinburgh tomorrow and relaxed, both very tired. It was a nice day and good to go somewhere new!

sorry the photo isn't very good, all the good ones are on Lois camera and I cant get her memory card to fit into my computer!

Part 161: A Red Bus

Hello!

So today was pretty full-on as far as my standard of days go. I woke up at 9 after hearing the kids leave for school and got up had a shower then waited around for Lois or Al to wake up or get home from taking the kids to school. Al arrived first so I talked to him for a while and he explained he had to go visit Jilly for a bit so I said farewell to him and thus was given full responsibility of the house. Epic. Fail.

At 10 o'clock I went up to wake Lois as I wanted to be in Glasgow city by 11.30ish. We decided to make breakfast which was to be bacon and eggs. After a bit, the smoke from the bacon just went crazy for some reason and set the fire-alarm upstairs off. My God is that loud! We spent the next ten minutes trying to shut it up to no avail and after ringing Al to ask how to turn it off only to realise that the only way was to get rid of the smoke (which we had done) we gave up counting it as faulty and went outside hoping that it would just shut up while we ate breaky. Fail, it didn't. The stupid alarm went on for about 40 minutes and nearly deafened me. Lois thought it would make things better if she showered with the door open (sounds dodgy, but I was downstairs) to let the steam from the shower fuzzle the alarm. Woohoo! It worked. Bad start to the day.

We went to the train station and quickly learned that all the trains to the city had been canceled. What?! I was so annoyed because, really, Lois is here for 4 days 2 of which we are in Edinburgh for, we didn't have time for this! I glared at the station and then we walked around and caught the slow bus into the city. At least we got there. Terrible start to the day. Luckily, we were in high-spirits as we wondered into Glasgow and on the way we decided to do the 'City Site-Seeing' bus tour which had been recommended to us by Al and the kids yesterday. We arrived spot on on time after a quick visit to the tourist information centre. Oh! and when we were in line for the bus, there was a woman who worked for the company who gave only Lois and I an extra coupon for one pound off. Good start to the tour.

The tour itself was pretty good. We went all over the joint and I saw one area of Glasgow I hadn't seen before but it was cool. It was the Peoples Palace and the Glasgow Green park. We got off at that stop and had a tour around so I could see something new. We sat in the conservatory there and had a coffee at the cafe which was nice. We then continued the tour and saw the rest of Glasgow stopping again at the Tall Ship (which is away to be cleaned...), Kelvin Grove Museum (still good the second time) and the University (which will never cease to amaze me). Eventually we arrived at Buchanan Bus Station and then concluded the touring by exploring, in detail, Sauchiehall St. and Buchanan St. We also went in search of some wool for Lois which was an adventure around Glasgow in itself and then we went out for dinner at some pub. The food was not great but it was cheap.

Fortunately, the trains back home were running so we caught that came home and watched Moulin Rouge for my second time. I have to admit, I really like that film. Haha. It was a good day (in the end... ha) but now we have to think of something fun to do tomorrow. Hmm... We shall see!

And thus I bid you, good night:

Good night

x

Part 160: Failte Lois

Thats right readers, Lois is back.

My energy in typing is practically 0, sorry. I will just explain that my day was pretty dull up until 4ish when I realised that Lois should have landed in Scotland about 20 minutes ago. I waited at my phone for any sign of life. My goal was to meet Lois in Glasgow but be in the city 20 minutes before her so I had time to do some errands and meet her without making her wait. Eventually I received a text saying that Lois was 15 minutes away from the city so I was like.. Crap. I rushed around to get ready then ran to the train station. Unfortunately the next train was 20 minutes away and I had no credit to text Lois. Luckily, she sent me a message asking where I was and said she would wait at the Starbucks at Queen St. Station. Bless her, she did. She waited the 45 minutes it took me to get there.

On the way I was running to meet her, literrally running across the road when some supid car run over some sauce packet and I got bloody Tomato Puree all over my jeans freshly cleaned. Fail. Stupid driver. Oh well there was a poor lad over the road who got the worst part and his whole self. I laughed at his misfortune before seeing my own leg. Rage.

Lois came here. We toured around a bit of Netherlee after a nice catch up train which we enjoyed thoroughly. OH MY GOD! BIGBROTHER FINAL WAS TODAY. NOOOOO. Josie won which was good and yea. Anticlimatic final but theres ultimate big brother for the next 18 days which is good but I am sad because I'll miss my characters... Big Brother is golden. Win. Fail. Etc.

Sorry this blog sucks. I am feeling lazy and am watching Family Guy :D

Annet, if you're reading this Lois is safe and sound x

Part 159: Arrested In Stirling

And good evening to you all,

My fingers are freezing so it makes typing quite painful. I should sit on them for a while... That didn't work. My fingers are still painfully cold. Failure. In better news today was pleasant. Well, for the most part. Ooh, my face is warm, I'll put my hands there for a wee bit. Wow, thats much better. The magic of my face never ceases to amaze me.

So anyway this morning I was awoken by Jilly which is quite amazing because I had no idea Jilly was here. She told me that it was 20 to 9 and if I wanted to catch the train on time to be in Stirling by 11. I sent Gatens a message saying if it was okay to be there at 7 past but she replied saying I should hold off an hour because she had a meeting with her boss at 11. This delighted me to no end knowing I could lie in bed for a wee bit longer and dawdle around the morning.

So I got to the station only to realize I missed my train. Epic fail. I sat around waiting the half an hour for the next one hoping that I would still be able to get the train into Stirling even though I knew it was impossible. I texted Gatens and told her I probably would get in at 1 instead. We considered cancelling but neither of us had anything else to do so we decided to play it by ear. Somehow, I managed to arrive in Stirling by 12.36 but then Gatens' train was cancelled so she didn't get in until 1 anyway.... haha. Good start to the day. Oh well, I went and grabbed Maccas for lunch whilst waiting for her as shed already eaten. I also got a free Coke glass. Win!

So the day in Stirling started by us discussing our post-Italy holidays. Lizzy went of to Greece for two weeks and for the record: had a blast. We wondered up to Stirling Castle which is the most famous thing in Stirling. On the way we also saw Stirlings old Jail which was noted to be a 5 star tourist attraction so we added that to our list of possible things to do. (Big. Brother. Second. Last. Episode. NOW. *Crack* that was my heart breaking... And to make matters worse, is that Als got his friends over and they're annoying me because they're talking in the loungeroom how rude... *glare* Anyway, now that I cant pay attention to BB I will keep typing. I should point out I hadn't typed for 20 minutes due to Big Brother, than being the host for Als friends while Al wasn't here. Can I spell awkward? Yes.) We eventually got up to the castle, pondered around enjoying the sites and views than left again. I would have gone in if not for the fact that Gatens was going again for free in a week and didn't want to and it was $15AUD so ptch, thats a next time thing.

We pondered around Stirling for a while going to the shopping centres and just bumming around (Bah, can they go to a different room?! Theres a whole house! I cant even go into my room to watch it because Jilly took my TV so I have to stay here...Raaaage) It was a nice town, very pretty and pleasant to explore. Eventually we went back up to the prison and did that tour which was pretty cheap and not too bad. Learnt alot abuot the prison which was a pretty interesting place. I mean the prisoners where people who stole things like dishcloths and then had to wait there in absolute silence and solitude for AGES until they were taken to either Austrlia or death or if they were lucky, released. Amaizng. Haha, it was pretty cool actually. Worth 5 pounds? Perhaps. I mean there was an awesome tour guide who dressed up and such and acted like 3 diffferent characters which was pretty mad.

Wow, I touch typed that entire paragraph. Gunnin.

Um, we decided we should go over to where Gatens works in a city named Dunblane. We went for coffee first and talked about how amazing the world is before getting on a train and arriving in Dunblane. Dunblane is a very cute city. Tiny and very old styled. I'm quite impressed. We went to the catherdral there which was very pretty and ridiculously oversized and then we caught a bus over to the boarding school where Lizzy works. It was pretty big and very pretty and again, I was impressed. (Raaaaage, I just missed something really funny. Not. Happy. Jan. Jan, please call Al and fix this) We then went and met some of the off-duty people that she works with and then we talked and played Mario Kart on the 64. That was interesting. I failed miserably but it was fun all the same.

After Mario, Lizzy and I left, cooked our own tea which was pasta and then I caught the bus to the station and then walked caught the train to Sterling, then waited for ages for the train to Glasgow then had to wait because all the trains to Muirend where delayed and delayed then eventually canceled. Raaaaage. I was there for an hour then remembered that buses exist so I caught the bus home which was the slowest thing I have ever been on. I FINALLY got home relieved I was able to watch Big Brother and not miss any of it... or so I thought. Blah!

Today was a good day. But I can tell my writing has a negative spin on it. Sorrrryyyy. I am not that annoyed really. Just tired. Lois is here tomorroww! WOOOO!! BIG BROTHER FINAL TOMORROW. Lois can sit quietly and watch it too ;)

xx

Part 158: 200 Days!

Please note that the title is meant to be read aloud with the tune of '12 Days of Christmas'' line: 5 Golden Rings. All glorified like. 5GOLDEN RIIIIINGS/TWO -HUNDRED DAAAAAYS! See, works a treat.

Yes my friends today marks my 200th day of being overseas. Away from you all and did you want to know how I felt all day? Sick. I actually had a headache which was a bit of a bummer. Other than that today was a fair average day. I did as little as possible just to avoid making me throw up- not that it was that bad really I just didn't feel 100%. It was okay though because I just played the Wii with AJ and got absolutely pwned. That kid is a gun on Mario Kart. I also played Zelda which I am up to the very last part but I cannae be bothered doing so. Hopefully I do it before I leave so I can claim yet another achievement during my time here. Haha-

Friend: So, Doug, what do you feel you achieved while you were overseas?

Me: Oh you know, learnt how to ski, became braver, learnt how to act in various worldy situations, I achieved self-perfection and became genuinely the best person in the world... oh and I beat Zelda. Thats probably the best one.

Friend: Oh, ha... Thats nice... *thinks: Unfriended.*

Pwned.

Oh, Theres this add on TV for Fosters and I love it because some Brit is useless in social situations so he calls his two Australian friends who use all the stereotypical Australian slang BUT solve his problem. This shows that Australians are clearly the most useful people in the world. Clearly. Mmmm... arrogance *drools*

So anyway! 200 days! I miss you but will see you SOON!

Stirling tomorrow- best check in with Gatens to make final arangements... Hmmm

Cya!

x

p.s Note I did not mention Big Brother even though I am watching it... Impressed?