25th October 1997
my e-mail: ***@rocketmail.com
Dear Mum, Natascha, Rod, Jeff, Kim, Dave and Everyone!
I just spent half an hour typing and I think I lost it! So here I go again. This message will cost me about $12.
What a smelly little place this is!
I am in New Delhi's Parhagang district near New Delhi railway station. This area is a popular tourist area with narrow street (2-3 meters) with 2-4 storey buildings lining it. These roads are dirt with pot holes. In the cafes I can watch masses of people walk past. Also cows, bicicles, beggars, cow drawn carts, people drawn carts, motorised and people rickshaws, motorbikes, small cars, scooters etc. I've never seen so many people crammed into such small vehicles. Nearly all the tourists look like hippies which I suppose should not surprise me.
Bankok was very interesting - lots of car pollution, and a lot of construction mainly massively long overhead motorways. They drive crazy and fast. The taxi driver offered me a woman in the massage parlour but I declined. Thanks but no thanks! In Delhi they drive even more crazy in these smaller vehicles but because they go a bit slower they are equally as interesting!
There is an awful lot of air pollution in Delhi from Motor vehicles.
I have not got sick yet and I am trying to eat lots to avoid losing weight. I think all this food I'm eating has got very little substance though.
When I arrived in Delhi in the middle of the night a taxi driver tried to tell me my hotel was naccessable due to blocked roads and Kashmir fighting problems. He even showed me a dead end street! He even took me to his friend who I presume would have tried to sell me a massively over inflated accomodation but I was not sticking around to find out. The Lonely Planet Guide book warned me of this so after getting his number plate and threatening to report him to the police, I finally got to my destination even after more deviations. Anyway I got to where I wanted to go and he accused me of wasting his time after I did likewise! My hotel was all full after that but walked around the corner and found somewhere at about 1:00am!
Today I withdrew cash to purchase the motorbike on Monday. Also yesterday I went to the Australian embassy to get a document stating I was a resident of Australia with passport details on it. This is used when a foreigner purchases a motorbike. I will buy a new 350CC Enfield as the 500CC model has poor secondhand value as very small market. Also a secondhand bike in India you wont know what you get and I would rather pay a bit more for more reliability.
A pesky little man in the park in Connaught place (centre of New Delhi) flicked cow poo on my foot and wanted to charge me to clean it off! No way so I wiped it off in the grass myself.. thank you very much!
I am staying in the Pahargang area in the Hotel Namaskar where I have a single room with own bathroom (hole in the floor dunny + bucket to collect hot water). This costs about $5 per night.
I've been bitten 10 times so far so I hope those malaria tablets work if the mozzies have malaria that is.
I hope you all are well especially mum who is recovering after an operation.
I doubt I will be able to find many more places for e-mail as I will be leaving the City on Tuesday towards Jaipur and Pushkar which are in the desert but will try where possible.
I must now wrap this up so goodbye till next time, I must now go outside and hold my breath!
Bye
Still in Delhi
07/11/97
Dear Everyone,
Thanks very much Natascha and Jeff for your messages. I will be brief,
It's nearly 2 weeks in Delhi. I've purchased a new Enfield, riden it for a week in Delhi, (Connaught place is chatotic!) and today sold it. It will be too stressful to find directions, secure luggage safely, find safe place for bike, avoid oncoming traffic, risk breaking down. It has cost about $380 for the experiece! in losses due to resale. Oh well. I'll now go by bus and train. Tommorrow morning I catch Express train (2 hours) to Agra to see Taj Mahal.
Danish Girl Sannah was good to meet up with again. She's now rafting in Nepal.
Don't yet know when Nepalese weddings are. I've taken few photographs. Bought $10 backpack. Diwali celebrations were fantastic - 3 days fireworks. Went to movies and was searched. Good Indian comedy.
Went to Fete and tried to hit pot on string with stick but missed. Won some Cokes though in another game
Goto go
Bye
Steve
30/11/97
Dear Everyone!
I'm in Kathmandu, Nepal. I arrived yesterday, 29th November 3:00pm from Varanasi, India. My program since last e-mail has been as follows:
Agra 2 days Saw Taj Mahal on 3 occasions - 2 mornings & 1 evening. Very impressive. I went by train from Delhi (4 hours). My deformed people, very sad to see. Fatehpur Sikri 1 day Well preserved Ghost town built ~ 1570 Bharatpur 2 days Bird sanctuary - very nice. Saw rare Siberian Crane Jaipur 2 days Many forts including Amber Fort and went up to fort on elephant Pushkar 3 days Tent accomodation US$80 per night, but nice tent. The camel fair which I was looking forward to was on and as spectacular as I had hoped. Should have some good photo's Udaipur 2 days Saw Lake Pichola with a palace (Lake Palace) in the middle. Saw in a restaurant 'Octopussy' which was filmed partly in this town Mount Abu 2 days This is a hill station on 1200 m high plateau. Honeymooners holiday destination. Very pretty lake with row boats and friendly Jodhpur 1 day Saw Fort Meherangarh. Excellent view from Hotel roof. Very large impressive fort Jaislemer 4 days Jaislemere Fort good. Went on 2 day camel safari towards Pakistan and saw impressive sand dunes. Fighter planes flew overhead Ranthambore National Park 2 days Saw a tiger in the wild - large male very close from jeep. We were apparently very very lucky as they are rare ie 1 per 30 square km Agra 2 days Hoping to get to Varanasi but no buses and trains booked for a week so went to Delhi to get flight Delhi 1 day Got flight to Varanasi Varanasi 3 days 2 boat trips on Ganges river. 1 at night saw dead bodies washed in river, dried then cremated. Many cremations in wood fires were interesting at night. The morning boat trip saw people bathing in the Ganges and was interesting. My flight to Katmandu was cancelled after waiting 5 hours after going through customs etc Katmandu 1+...... Today and Monday look for suit to hire for Kishor's wedding on Tuesday in Kathmandu and celebrations on Wednesday. Must also buy shoes for wedding as can't hire them. Maybe Thursday to Saturday goto to village in far west of Nepal for furthur celebrations.
Would like to goto to town called Pokera and Chitwan National Park and flight over Mount Everest.
I must say I am not meeting as many people as expected but still lots. Lots of shops in Kathmandu and seems more relaxing than India. Heard Michael Hutchins ended it all about a week ago from BBC radio. Saw horse racing from Caufield on a tv in India! Saw lots of Australian cricket and watched Socceroo's play Iran live.
Natascha's email is taschenders@rocketmail.com
Bye
Steve in Pokhara (Nepal)
09/12/97
Dear all,
You may have met Kishor in Sydney. He is Jeff's Nepalese friend who he met in Nepal who came to Sydney to study computing but got ripped off by the private collage by providing poor education. Over the past 12 months Jeff and I did numerous things with him i.e. drinks, restaurants etc. He is 27 and felt now was the time to get married so went to Nepal to find a wife. His family had to search high and low to find a woman of the right caste (class), education and looks. After 2 months and 18 women, he then married 10 days later after first meeting woman 18! I bought a shirt and tie, borrowed a jacket from the hotel manager where I was staying. I tried to find shoes but they do not make shoes 9.5 and above in Nepal as Nepalese are short people! So I had to wear my boots which were good because it had rained the day before and the roads (which are made of dirt) had been turned into mud. Nepalese weddings are all similar. The first day the couple get married at the brides house. The ceremony lasts nearly all day as alt of worshipping goes on. A big brass band played down the street ahead of the wedding vehicle in the morning before the ceremony. Food was provided. That evening the bride officially leaves her parents house and goes to Kishors. It was sad but happy for her. The next day Kishor held a party this time at a police club with food and alcohol. Kishor wanted me to go t the village way out west but I was running out of time so had to turn him down.
My tracking permit has taken two extra days than expected. The hotel guy first day said whoops I forgot it is a holiday today so you'll get it tomorrow, and next day he said whoops it is Nepal's free immunisation day and all government offices are closed, you'll get it tomorrow! It has been like this for many things in India as well which is normal although frustrating at times.
I now leave for my Himalaya Jomsom trek on the 10th for 5-6 days. The flight to Jomsom (1/2 hour) was cancelled today due to rain and fog so I hope mine tomorrow goes. Otherwise my next trip to Chitwan National Park may be cancelled due to limited time. In Chitwan tourists ride elephants and see rhino's and elephant breeding farms. I'll need 3 days for that visit. I fly to Delhi from Kathmandu on the 20th then from Delhi to Frankfurt on the 23rd. I should get a plane/train or bus to Bremen hopefully to spend Christmas with Hans and Oliva (friends f the family). Tanya who you met at my last party has been changing my airline bookings all over the place for me. In the 3 days in Delhi I may fly somewhere to find a Persian rug. I'm still considering this and where is best? Jeff?
Pokhara is a very relaxing small town by a lake with steep forested mountains rising out of the lake. Over some of these mountains rise further some about 4 of the 8 highest mountains in the world and they are snow/glacier covered which is quite spectacular (except for today and yesterday afternoon when could see bugger all through the fog, clouds and rain. It caters well for the tourists with western foods and western music from most restaurants and some pool tables. Also saw a Nepalese cultural show with music and dancing which was very good.
I hope mum and Natascha are well. How is your new job going? How is David enjying being back in Australia? Are you still playing squash occasionally?
Better go as people are queuing,
Hopefully the weather will clear up. Australia are playing South Africa in a one day match today so I might watch it on telly now the day is not suited to being outdoors.
Bye,
Steve
07/01/98
Dear Everyone!
It seems no-one received my Christmas cards I sent from Nepal. I spent half a day looking for the nicest cards. Christmas cards were very difficult to find there as in Nepal Christmas is not celebrated due to their different religion (Hinduism? or something! I also had a few postcards sent also.Oh well... The hotel didn't send them and must have kept the money. It was a $20 a night hotel and I falsely assumed they would be trust worthy.
So Natascha I will meet the woman of my dreams hey, according to your astrologer visit? Well it aint happened yet! I'm sad that David has to go back to Canada already. I hope he has had a good visit this time and I'll get another chance to meet him. Sounds like only 7 minutes of New Years eve's fire works in Brisbane was a bit of a fizzer! If Sydneys fire work budget will be 3 times as that of the last I can't wait to see it. On telly here on New Years Eve we saw the fire works for 10 seconds with the oscillating fireworks on the top of the harbour bridge. I don't think it looked as good as the previous year of them exploding up like candles/fountains. This German keyboard is very bizaar to type on. The keys are all over the place. Thank mum for her big sloppy kiss! I hope your job is going okay.
David, Sannah sent me an email and wishes you a very happy Xmas and New Year.
I am in Germany still (Bremen - Northern Germany). I've been staying with Oliva and Hans (close Friends of mum) for almost 2 weeks! They have cooked me superb meals and are spoiling me rotten. I have not seen much of Germany though. Bremen is quite a wealthy city and I have discovered the quality of many goods is quite superior to those in Australia. Almost every shop and department store is beautifully designed and quality products are everywhere. The city is very clean with a fantastic public transport system. The taxi's are all Mercedes Benz. The weather has been generally overcast with either a sprinkling of sunshine or rain. The temperature is constant at 5-10 degrees. I doubt I would enjoy the place as much without Oliva and Hans as I by myself the language would be a problem. I expected more people to speak German, but not many can adequately.
I have visited my fathers brothers family which was nice. I haven't seen or spoken to them (or my father) since I left Germany when I was 4. This Uncle Carl fellow was quite nice and got on very well by the end of the few hour visit. I visit their house which was like a palace an a huge property in the German country side. The had been made out to be load and rude but was quietish and pleasent. She tried to give me one of the ugliest dolls in the world (as previously for Natascha on her visit 2 years ago) but I was strong enough to decline the offer! We visited His curtain making business then went to dinner in a flash restaurant (The same as the one they took Natascha). They gave me a gift of zwei hundert deutsche mark and some stamps as they remembered I used to collect them. This Aunt said to give a big sloppy (at least thats what my interperitation was) to Natascha and mum. Their son (my cousin? was quite fat. Hard to believe we are related. Thanks mum and Natascha for the excellent quality Christmas cards. How can I match the quality next time! They will need to be gold plated! Very nice messages inside also!
Hans has had a stomach problem for about 2 weeks now but refuses to goto a doctor as he hasn't (or rarely) been to one in his 86 years. He's in extremely good fitness (bar this stomach ache) and state of mind, it is amazing. He has just completed the design himself of to be the worlds largest and most luxurious passenger liner (two will be built for a Norwegian businessman for over a billion dollars!) Oliva is well apart from a sore tooth and a back ache which started the day after I arrived apparently all the leaning over the kitchen bench for all the cooking she has done for me. I bought a $200 plate in India for her for Xmas but I don't think she likes it! I'll have to get a nice present on departure.
With the low Australian dollar I mightn't be able to afford to come home! Word on the grape vine from work is that as my program has been basically completed, they are coping quite well on the engineering side without me! The boss wants to have a word to me about this I think. In this case I plan to go back to Australia to obtain a redundancy package rather that just quit as I had decided recently to do. A redundancy would I expect comprise the component of long service leave approx. 6 weeks plus notice period. As I would have come back for Rod and Kim's wedding, I may as well come back and enjoy nice weather for a while. Anyway I have to phone the boss for further details. I haven't bought a plane ticket home yet so I hope it won't be too difficult soon. I'll get back around February 4.
I am due to visit another friend of mum, Enny in Holland and phoned her this morning to organise a time probably this weekend. But now Sannah who I met in Australia and India in back in Denmark visiting Andrew who I also met it might be worth going there first if they'll see me. I'll try and phone tonight.
Uncle Hans gave me a black suede jacket which fits me perfectly as he'll never wear it again as his girth has widened. I am looking for a suit but not bought as yet. I also need some black business shoes.
After Denmark, Holland then will go to London to buy air ticket! Holland should be quite good as I hear English is widely spoken.
Glad to hear Rod and kim has gone to a scuba diving course held near my old flat in Willoughby. This sounds very good fun although I don't think I'm game to try. The night dive sounds interesting and also off Long Reef in the day. Jarvis bay I think is a good place to go also? I haven't uncompressed your files yet as I haven't been game in case it stuffs up the Internet Cafe's computer here. I'm sipping on Capaccino while typing which is novel. Do you know where your honey moon will be yet?
Have a very happy New Year.
I'll talk again later,
Steve
13th January 1998
Dear all of you's,
After the last email I phoned Andrew in Denmark to see if I could visit him but when he answered the phone I could tell he was Very drunk so I after finalising a time for him to meet me I did not expect him to remember to meet me. But luckily Sannah and Andrew both were there to meet me. I stayed with them at Andrews mum's place after watching many slides of their Australia and New Zealand holiday which were very impressive. The next day we drove around central part of Denmark on the large island called Fueren? (I don't have my map...) The weather was clear and around 10 degrees which is exceptionally warm for this time of year. I took saw and took some nice photo's of castles. We also visited a house where Hans Christian Anderson lived. After 2 days there I got the train (2 hours east) to Copenhagen which is where I am know. I am in an internet Cafe haveing a coffee. I am staying with a friend of Andrew's who with his girlfriend prepared me a lovely meal and wine (Andrew and Sannah did the same for me so I have been spoilt). Last night I saw 'The game' with Michael Douglas which was pretty good, probably because it is the first tv or cinema I have watched in 3.5 months that was in English. This morning I saw the changing of the guards at the queen of Denmarks palace. There was also a band playing so this meant she was in residence. It was very foggy though and on the verge of sprinkling. This afternoon I did a tour of the Carlsborg brewery which was very impressive. I had close to my bodies limit of one stubby of beer...! I will spend a couple more days here then goto Holland to visit mums friend and also goto Amsterdam seeing I will be reasonably close by.
I gave my finances a shock by buying a 1500 Deutshe mark jacket (about 1200 Australian) It was in an exclusive German store where people apparently come from all over Europe to buy. It is black leather but is longer than a jacket as it comes down to mid-thigh. It is perfect for this weather although it may only be suitable in Sydney for only a few days a year! Thus I now have a nice motorcycle/casual jacket from previous to trip, summery suede jacket and now winter coat thing. I still need a suit and good shoes.
One of the main tourist attractions here in a bronze statue of a human size 'Little Mermaid'. Someone hacksawed her head off a few days ago and now the whole statue is entombed in a huge wooden box. So a photo of it will not be too impressive as you cannot see it.
Better go as I think the 1.5 hours are up because I think they charge a small amount here,
I hope you are all well...
Steve
29/01/98
Dear Everyone,
I stayed in Copenhagen (Denmark - north of Germany)with a friend of Andrew and Sannah called Peter. I thought Copenhagen was very nice but a little cold. Quite a lot of people under the effects of all kinds of drugs.
I went to Holland for 8 days stayed with a friend of mums in the east near Arnhem. I did a canal tour of Amsterdam and a bus tour. Saw a major art museum with Rembrandt paintings which was very impressive. Still haven't seen any snow yet but an icy flake landed once on my face so I think it was a snow flake (or someone flicked on icy slurpy at me).
Then I flew to London 2 days ago. I'm staying with John and Sarah who were in Sydney for a year recently. They met Jeff in Nepal and when they came to Sydney we went many places together. Brad suggested I meet Sarah Dam but I've left a message on her phone to phone me at Johns and Sarah's house...
London city is so full of people! Nearly as bad as Delhi. The trains run very frequently but there is little extra capacity in the squashy peak hour where the trains have an interval between them of about 10 seconds between leaving and arriving. I don't know yet my itinery here as to what to see. Good to see the red double deckers and taxis.
I will arrive in Sydney on Thursday/Friday 5/6 Feb so I can pick up the motor bike from Brad (if he doesn't mind!) so I can look around for flats on the Saturday. I'll start work on the Monday. I'll book a flight today and confirm later.
I might try to get a slide film processed today. I saw John and Sarah's photos of their travels and they look great. Thanks Jeff and Dave for your messages. I showed Jeff's last message to John and Sarah and they say hello.
I hope everyone at work is well.
Bye!
Steve
10 May 1998
Howdy Everyone!,
I'm in London again after a hectic week in Japan
I bought a 7 day rail pass and travelled 1st class on the bullet trains around most of Japan which was very luxurious.
Itinary was Tokyo, Kyoto, Kagoshima, Hiroshima, Osaka, Mt Fuji, Tokyo
People were very friendly. In Kyoto a lady gave me 2 packets of food (maybe I looked skinny for even a japanese, I don't know!). In Hiroshima I thought they may not be too nice to me being a westerner after the bomb, however they were exceptionally friendly. One young Japanese wanted to tag along as I saw the sights, while otheres wanted me in photographs and others wanted me to write comments in autograph type books.
I found it very difficult to communicate. Hardly anyone could speak more than 2 words ie 'reservation' and maybe something else
I found Japan more large scale than I expected. Also I expected the cities to be large and high tech and expensive with just outside of the city poor housing. Generalyy I thought it was poor looking most everywhere except alot of neon and some impressive buildings. Just the scale of amount of buildings mind numbing. I travelled most the length of Japan and there was no let up in the sea of concrete buildings typically 10 storeys jam packed EVERYWHERE as far as you could see.
You could get lost for hours trying to find your way into or out of some railway stations amongst a sea of people. This were bizare places.
I only saw about 4 caucasions per day in all of the millions I would have seen.
Interesting things I saw:
My web page for those interested is http://members.tripod.com/~steveenders/
I sent postcards a last Friday so you can expect old news soon... Out of time talk again soon, Bye
Steve
In Frankfurt
Wed, 13 May 1998
Thankyou for your big email message. Do I have a spare room with you too?!!
Tomorrow I'm flying to Greece. I think I'll spend longer in Greece than my initial guess of passing through. Maybe 3-4 weeks exploring mainland and islands.
Gotta go bye!!
Steve
16/05/98
Hi!
After a few days in London, I left most of my luggage with John and Sarah and got the bus to Frankfurt and stayed over night. From what I saw, Frankfurt was not the nicest of places with drugged up people everywhere and tons of girlie shows. Maybe I was in not the best of areas?! I got a flight the next morning to Athens. The pilot was having problems landing the lufthansa airbus and I think he was running out of runway to put it down so he dropped it with a huge thud and I would have slid off my seat if it wasn't for the seatbelt. Then he slammed on the brakes with everything he had which is more than on any other flight I've been on. Everyone clapped loudly together once they realised the landing was becoming under control!
I've seen the Acropolis which is a site composed of many ruins including the Parthenon which is the main monument I think of with Greece with its many columns and bombed in roof. Also saw the Athens Olympic Stadium which is a long stadium which looks like a long rectangular running track. Prices here are abit more expensive than I thought.
Tonight I am getting a bus to the Island of Corfu which is in the north west of Greece and then I'll hop islands going south to include Crete and across to Kos where Sannah is working as a nanny. Hopefully from there I'll be able to cross into Turkey. My trip through Greece may only be 2-3 weeks.
The underground bomb testing in India was conducted in the desert of Rajasthan. This is where I was last Nov/Dec. About 30 years ago they tested an underground bomb pretty much under the Pushkar camel fair so they probably did it there again. I'm glad I wasn't there for the latest.
Steve
Steve in Santorini Greece
28/05/98
Howdy again,
After leaving Athens I left by bus for the 11 hour bus trip to Corfu Island north west of Greece, a stones throw from Albania. The bus broke down in the middle of the night with a flat tyre and had to find a garage on a flat wheel to fix it a midnight. This detour cost two hours.
Arrived in the main town of Corfu and then caught a bus to the other side of the island to a place called Agios Gordis which is popular for a young persons (not for me as I'm now on the other side of 30) place due to a large complex called the Pink Palace Hotel. It has a spa by the beach and many organised social occasions there although I did not stay there. I stayed in a quiet beach side apartment away from the noise for 2 days. Then I caught the bus back to Corfu town and changed bus to go to the top of the Island to Sidahri.
I got off the bus and pointed to the luggage compartment and asked for my luggage and before I new it the bus conductor had got back on the bus, closed the door and was driving off with all my luggage. It had all my camera gear, contact lenses, everything. I ran down the road through the main town for about a km but then lost sight of the bus, and my luggage. Luckily the bus turned around as part of its normal travels and I got my luggage back about 2 hours later.
There were lovely beaches and coves with clear water. Stayed there for two days and met a middle aged couple who have holiday apartments in Sheffield I can use for free in the UK if I'm passing through. I then caught the bus back to Athens, met a 6 Australians on a bus to the Port for my 6 hour trip to the Island of Myconos.
Myconos was a picturesque island. I stayed for 3 days.
Spent 2 days on Ios
Now in Santorini which is a very different Island as it is part of a volcano crater rim above sea level with most of the island towns sitting 200m above sea level on the edge of 20 km of cliffs
I met the Australians here and we will stay together here for about 4 days. Maybe tonight we'll go for a sunset tour of ancient ruins.
I then plan to go to Crete (first civilisation is Europe) for a few days the Rhodes and Kos still in the Greek Islands. I only intended to stay in Greece for about a week but it will turn out to be about a month. The buildingd are all white with dark blue or green windows. The weather is completely blue everyday and my skin is going very dark due to tanning not because of a lack of cleaning. Might go and stroll by the many touristy stores for something different to do!!! And when my skin is ready for more tanning out I'll go again and tan some more.
Found some cheap accomodation for a change at $8 each (times two) for a room with shower, quiet location and a pool with sunbeds
Hoping your all well,
Steve
12 Jun 1998
Hi Everyone,
I can't remember what I last wrote as my messages are unaccessìble on the internet to to it not connecting so I'll try to remember where I'm upto.
How is everybody?
I spent one week in Santorini which Had fantastic views. I got the boat from Santorini to Rhodes (Island) via Crete but I did not get off at Crete. The ferry was supposed to leave at 3:00am but it arrived at 4:00am. Usually they are much more late. It arrived in Rhodes at 2:00am the next morning. I stayed in a youth Hostel which was the first time in 5 months of travelling. (If there are strange characters appearing were an I should be it is because this is a turkish keyboard and too difficult to think about this as I'm on holidays). I wandered around the streets of the main city which is mostly within the old walled city. surrounded by a moat. I decided however to leave here that afternoon for Kos island where Sannah is working over the summer. After 4 hours by ferry, I stayed in Kos for 7 days. During this time I spent most of my time on the beach on sunbeds under umbrellas eating and drinking (and scooping ice-creams out of little tubs which was nice), usually with Sannah and her friend Annika both from Denmark. I'm turning very brown in the sun. Kos island was full of young people on package tours from northern Europe and Scandanavian countries. I was agog the whole week as it seemed the whole island was full of models. The island had a Club Med and a fashion Cafe. One day Sannah and I hired a 250CC motorcycle and spent the day riding around the island. Sannah rode me around as I hadn't doubled anyone on a motorbike yet and didn't want to take any risks. She has riden larger bikes and doubled people and is use to driving on the right. We got many puzzling looks from the locals as the man always rides the woman around in Greece. We swam on the beach where hot springs poured in from the hillside. Also we went to beaches, towns and saw great coastal views. I was quite sad to leave Kos as I spent a great week with Sannah and Annika. But I have to move on and keep travelling. Most of the places I've visited I could stay for months. I caught the 4:00am ferry (1 Per day) 4 hour back to Rhodes then a 1 hour hydrofoil at 3:00pm to Turkey. That ended 4 weeks of travelling in the Greek Islands. Bummer.
Well I'm now in Turkey. I was supposed to meet two Australians at the jetty but they weren't there so I'll have to check the emails to see where they are. It seems I'll have to make my own plans now at least initially.
My plans are to go on a 4 day sailing cruise around Turkeys best coast line on the Meditteranian. (sorry about the spelling as the spell check is in Turkish and every word is shown as spelt incorrectly). The waters are beautiful turquoise and is where the Blue Lagoon was filmed with Brook Shields. I hope your horribly jealous. There will be between 2 and 10 people on board and we can swim and fish from the boat and we bbq on the beach. 3 meals a day are included.. After that I will by a bus pass which is organised by a NZ company which covers Turkey. It works on a hop on, hop off system, with another bus following 2 days later. The buses however to go off the main bus route and stop off at places for bush-walking or small town visits with a sort of information person to tell where banks etc are. So it is a very flexible idea as you can stay overnight where-ever you like but the people on the bus tend to stay in the same place together. Most people who use it are Australian or English so I should meet many people. If I want to go where the this bus route doesn't go I can make my own arrangements and rejoin later. The pass costs about 250 dollars is that now 400 dollars?!!
Turkish currency is in big denominations. The first nights accommodation I like to live in luxury. There was no hot water this morning although last night there was. But the rest was nice. It cost me 5000000 Lira Typical would be 2000000 Lira for accommodation about 20 dollars.
On the way here I walked past a guy carrying an automatic machine gun which was a little off putting. I think he was a police person.
Since day one in Greece each day it seemed I've been getting people confused as they think I'm Greek. People would just come up to me and ask questions in Greek or talk to me in shops in Greek. One guy pointed to my dark eyebrow. So I think that maybe confusing them or something. Now in Turkey one person said I look Turkish so it is starting over again!
I wrote up most of this in an Internet cafe this morning (where I am again now) here in Marmaris but couldn't get through to Rocketmail. Here I met on the other computer a girl Leah from Canberra and we went to lunch and to the town 45 minutes also on the water in another bay. Had Turkish coffee on Turkish rugs and cushions with Turkish music which was nice. On the way there and back the minibus went high into the mountains through pine tree forests which smelt fantastic. Supposedly there are frankinscense forests around somewhere which should be good.
I'll probably be in Turkey for 4 weeks, then if I have the energy go through Egypt in 45-50 degrees. I am having doubts now about this.
I hope you are all happy and well.
Hi to all at C H Warman. It sounds like a little re-organìsing is taking place. I hope it all works out okay...
Steve
21/08/98
Dear Everyone,
Sorry for not writing for a while! As usual I can't remember my last message. Anyway I accelerated around Turkey visiting Goreme where cone shaped large rock formations about 10 m high scatter across the landscape and some people inhabit. Part of Star Wars was filmed here may years ago. Only stayed a few days in Istanbul and was a very hectic city compared to the lazing to date in Turkey. Went on to Gallipoli and saw where the Anzacs came ashore and stayed for about a year fighting and visited a number of cemetries including Lone Pine (Anzacs) and walked through many trenches dug by both sides. It was surprisingly well preserved and the whole area declared a national park. Down to Ephesis where well preserved ruins of marble columns and things - I'm not a great one for history. Then back to Marmaris where I started for a sunset cruise. Then went to my favourite place Oludeniz with beautiful beach and lagoon. I stayed here for another 3 weeks. I was to make up my mind to go paragliding close to the time of leaving but read an English paper on my sunbed on the beach under an umbrella (like usual) and read a girl died the day before here as she reached back to take camera gear out and accidently pressed the emergency release button and dangled until she couldn't hold on any longer. So needless to say I'll postpone this adventure till next time I come back, hopefully with someone as well. I thought something odd had happened as the day of the accident the Paragliding stunt show was postponed to the next day. Anyway I organised a ?79 flight back to London on a charter flight called Peach Air which was a large Boeing size plane. A picture of a peach was painted on the tail fin and looked worrying to say the least. Arrived in London okay however I heard a few days later a Peach Air plane lost cabin pressure with oxygen masks comming out and may people suffering ear damage.
Now in London trying to find work and a job. I have sent approximately 43 resumes to suitable agencies and a further 15 or so to companies. 2 agencies have forwarded my CV to a company each so I hope to get interviews soon however these are located about an hour out of London. There are next to no eng jobs in London. Accomodation is particularily expensive here. About 2-3 times the price for a lesser standard than Sydney. Also food and everything generally is about 1.5-2 times the price. My first priority has been to find a job and I think I have done close to enough now after the 3 weeks I have been here. I don't really know what to do about accomodation as I could be out of London at short notice. I'm trying to find short term accomodation. Short term contracts are about 3 months as agencies don't find less terms to be financially of interest to them and I would like to be available close to straight away for a eng employer. I've been at John and Sarahs place here for all this time which has been fantastic.
I planning on getting a full time job here or contract for about 2 years and rethink from there. There seems to be alot more opportunity at the moment with my skills here in England than Sydney. So I think I'll try to stick it out here for a while looking for work. Who knows what the plans are really.
Ideally I will get a job offer in the next few weeks for a start a few weeks later. Then I could go to the Octoberfest in Munich then to see friends in Holland before starting work. Got to have some kind of plan?!!
Hoping you are well,
Steve
Postal Address: 62 Bramely Rd, Ealing London W5 4SS, United Kingdom. No work phone number yet. Home (temp?) +44 1268 543 214
14th October 1998
Howdy to all!,
A few notes from London.
Two Fridays ago I went to the Harvest festival celebrations. It is an annual event which happens after the fields have been harvested. It's held in the evening where a 1 hour attendance seeing hymns in church is required. And a feast in the local village hall afterwards with singing. This was the pits of an occasion 95% of the people were over 80 and in the church I was stuck in the front row pew with the little kids giggling through the service. The dinner was minuscule and the only person I seemed to manage to talk most to was a girl with Downs Syndrome who I couldn't understand anyway.
The next day I met Angela (from Turkey but from NZ) and went to Planet Hollywood in the west end which was good. A bit expensive but the food was quite okay but the place was very busy. This was our first times at a Planet Hollywood. That day I played 5 sets of tennis with John which was good fun.
Went to see a comedian called Steve Cogan which every local knows from telly at the Lycium Theatre in the west end with John, Sarah and 2 others. They had tickets but I bought one off a scalper out the front at normal ticket price after bargaining. It is one of 4 theaters in the area and was lovely inside with very steep seating rows.
Last Saturday night I went to the local Bulphan Quiz night. It was located in the local village hall. They play pretty seriously and again most of the 100 people there were over 85. All the people whose teeth I could see had no gums as there were large gaps between the base of each teeth. This was so in even the few people in their 20's. They were all rather simple farmer people. I don't think I'll go back no matter how eager I am to fill in a Saturday night.
Most electrical problems with the cheap car I bought are now fixed ie all lights now work properly. It took 2 days of detective work with a multi-meter and electrical connectors and wire to fix. It now just has a bad rust problem and smoky engine. There is a fist size hole surrounded by major rust in the engine wall area. Actually everywhere has major rust - I even gave it a wash and part of the door broke away in my hand. I have spent ?70 only and this was to fix it for safety reasons but will not spend more until I get a pink slip check done to see if it would pass when it becomes due. My rear vision mirror fell off the window as I was driving and glued it back on. I'm spending ?25 a week on petrol (petrol is 71p per litre (approx. $2.00)). The orange tungsten street lights are close to hopeless for driving purposes at night. Nearly everywhere here, where I live and work, I thought was unlimited speeds due to the black ghostbuster symbols everywhere so I have been going pretty fast but apparently it means end of previous speed limit restrictions and assume the maximum of 70 mph. I think that is as fast as I have gone anyway as the feels as though it will fall apart beyond this anyway as there is a major vibration at this speed. Actually just thinking of this I have driven through this on a few occasions so I had no nasty tickets are on the way. The roads are so narrow and windy in lots of places there is little room to pass let alone walk as the road edges stop against huge grasses and trees so the only way to my house for miles has to be by car. On the cold mornings here as they are starting when I start driving the steering wheel is freezing. Luckily the house has good internal heating. It is thermal wearing weather here now and will have to look for more soon. It is quite a change being in cold weather and quite novel in way at the moment. The air is cold but seems very clean and crisp. Will have to switch from playing outdoor tennis to indoor squash soon. John has suggested around the west end (Leicester Square) area as it is midway between both of us.
The clothes seem to dry on the clothesline in the overcast weather mainly due to the persistent winds. It is about 3 degrees colder here than London and much more windy. Apparently they get snow here about every 1-2 years. I thought I wouldn't need to wear sunglasses here but they are necessary when driving on wet roads when the sun comes out as you get blinded.
Because there are so many people in London there are lots of radio stations and I have found one which plays mainly 80's songs. The morning DJ is Jonnathon Coleman (from Simon Townsends Wonderworld in Australia).
I am living on a farm with a family of mother & boyfriend + her 3 kids. There is a 2nd outback dunny which if I go out in the morning to, as it is close to the shower, the sheep see me walking and baaa furiously and running about probably waking everyone up. They have a little barn near the back door where they keep a freezer in there (my cheesecakes inside) and there is lots of wooden planks with lots of mice scuttling about when I open the shed door. It stinks of mouse shit! What in the world am I doing here! The woman's boyfriend is about 35 and loves fishing. He reads CarpWorld Magazines and watches the carp fishing videos. He goes fishing about 2-3 times per week. I see him eating pig hearts for dinner. He spends evenings making huge batches of fish bait balls from essences of strawberry, vanilla, curry, you name it. Apparently he uses maggots as bait too and in the winter when they are too cold to wiggle properly on the hook he puts them under his tongue first to warm them up and bring life back to them. The lady confirmed this practice. A little peculiar I think.
My rent is ?35 which covers all expenses except food and long distant calls. The place is a 2 storey brick building surrounded by huge (nearly to the horizon) wheat fields and pea fields (for pig feed). It is lovely to walk out there in the sunshine with luscious greenery everywhere. There are a few extremely tense sheep around but many more in surrounding farms. It is so peaceful, it is very relaxing and only 7 minutes from the 4000 employee high tech facility of Ford where I work. I think the rest will do me good from the hectic city life for a little while. It is recharging the batteries here at the moment for me. I am still very much a city person and go to London about 2-3 times a week. It takes about 10 minutes to drive to the Upminster station, 20 mins train to Fenchurch Station (London) (apparently on the monopoly board).
My work here is really quite good. I don't really start the real work until about December/January when a number of vehicle development programs are moved here from America. The boss has asked others to have me go to America to prepare for the transition but I won't hold my breathe. I have done 2 weeks of 4 weeks of training so far. The training is conducted on site. I have organised for the 2nd November a tour of the car manufacturing plant 20 mins away which I am really looking forward to. We are here working with apparently the most advanced computer manufacturing system in the world. It is a complete change from working in a small company. There are so many new concepts to get a hold of especially how so many areas and teams of people interact. The lunch time hot meals here are still superb but I think I am overdosing on the baked potatoes. Only put on about a half kilo in 4 weeks though. There are over 8000 Ford acronyms and that is my main difficulty at the moment. Every second word is an acronym and trying to understand a single sentence is bamboozalling. I have a business and personal bank account set up. Apparently there are a few opportunities for contract staff to be transferred to salaried staff here and my boss wants to put me forward for this as he says I have the right set of skills for the company. Most people want to be salaried for the benefits and security however there is a trade off is salary. I have put in my application for consideration but I'll discuss it later in more detail if I get considered. I still haven't got a place to work at only a temporary desk amongst others. Tomorrow I attend a weekly video conference on a large tv with 2 of us here, 1 in Germany and about 8 in the US. Can't contribute much yet but its all part of the learning at the moment. Also have a regular weekly hands free type phone meeting with another group over the 3 countries.
Digital tv started here on the first of October. People just need to buy or rent a set top box and there old tellies can pick up and use the better pictures and sounds broadcast. Except the box is about ?200 to buy and pay tv subscriptions are additional to this. Picture quality is amazing which I saw prior to this at Earls Court at an Expo on Sound and Vision technologies.
On Friday I will catch up again with Leah in London after her 8 week nannying job in Birmingham. On Saturday will meet up with Angela again to visit the Tower of London and also visit St. Paul's Cathedral again.
Hoping you are well
Steve
4th January 1999
Dear Everyone,
Had a great holiday in Egypt. The following is order of things done
Thursday 24th 2:30pm flew KLM to Cairo via Amsterdam
Friday 25th Arrived Cairo airport 1:30am. Went around looking for hotels for 2 hours including bargaining time. Morning went to Egyptian Museum where lots of sychofigii and Tutankahmons gold mask thing. Afternoon went to Giza to see Pyramids and Sphinx. Walked amongst the sand dunes between pyramids with camels around. Was in a taxi to the pyramids when we got hit by another cab. There doesn't seem to be many countries that dont have crazy drivers. The pyramids were really good and probably the highlight of the trip. At 7pm got a first class sleeper (14 hours) to Aswan in the south. Had a sleeper room to myself incl elect blanket - 3 temp settings, soap, sink, waiter service button, meals delivered. Ate crossaints with French butter while poor Egyptians lived in boxes surrounded by garbage by the railway line as I sped past. Rather sad really...
Saturday 26th Arrived Aswan and tried to get bus further south to Abu Simbel but the road was closed. Wanted to see probably the next most impressive Egyptian made monument being statue structures of Pharoes. Decided to goto Egptian airline office to get return flight there. Got cab to airport and got flight there, spent 1.5 hours there and flew back. Then got train to Luxor 3 hours north
Sunday 27th Did tour of Valley of Kings (incl Tutankhamons) and saw tombs of the Nobles (impressive colours in the wall paintings). In the evening saw a spectacular Sound and Light show at the Karnak Temple. Probably the most famous temple in Egypt as it is huge.
Monday 28th Went for a 2 hour Felluca sailing trip on the Nile. Got lots of horse drawn cart journeys around Luxor over the 2 days. Got a bus to Hurgharda on the Red Sea (6 hours)
Tuesday 29th Spent the day on a boat on the Red Sea seeing lovely turquoise water. Some people tried snorkling but it was too cold for me. There were many better sites for snorkling elsewhere on the Red Sea for next time maybe. Got a bus north to Suez
Wednesday 30th Went to the entrance of the Suez Canal just to see it. Was not that inpressive as over the past 2 years has been widened. Got bus to Alexandria
Thursday 31st Had a stomach upset and decided to slow down the pace and recouperate in Alexandria for a few days. Would have gone to the Siwa Oasis otherwise.
Friday 1st Again took it easy with just wanderings around this seaside town.
Saturday 2nd Felt better today and got a minivan full of others 100km west (along the coast toward Libya) to El Alamein. Fantastic turquoise waters on the Mediteranian. This would explain the phenominal building project of tourist resorts along here. I was absolutely amazed. What was being built were about 30 4 storey hotels in a line between the road and the sea. This then stretched for at least 80 kilometers where I got off the bus and it just kept continuing into the far distance... They all looked empty as they were all being built together. It seemed as though many millions of people could be accomodated. It seemed rather bizaar actually as it was so far from anywhere and every where I had stayed the hotels were virtually empty. They were hotels as many were putting up advertising and they nearly all looked the same. I visited the war museum and Commonwealth Cemetery where 2500 Australians died in WW2 where the Allies fought Germany and Italy for control of Northern Africa. 80,000 were killed or injured. Got bus to Cairo Airport arriving 9pm and flew out at 4:30am Sunday.
There were police with machine guns everywhere though. Everywhere you looked throughout the country they were there. This was reassuring, in a way...
4th February 2000
Dear All,
Thought I'd spend a few moments and tell you about skiing over xmas holidays... finally.
Turned out to be 5 of us in a station wagon drove overnight to LaPlagne in the French Alps. Lewft abit is Italy and up abit is Switzerland. The trip was ok but only slept an hour there. The last hour going up around the mountains on narrow roads without barriers to prevent slipping off was very scary. A couple of days ago a coach went off killing some people near there. We were using snow chains on the front driving wheels but still slid on the rear ones.
Hired the stuff the 1st day and began skiing the next. The whole week was blue skies exept one where we couldn't differentiate the ski trails with the edge of the mountains so took that very cautiously.
Each my skiing improved substantially and did a couple of red runs. They go green,blue,red,black-being worst.
Kept up with the others at their pace after a few days. Really enjoyed it. Didn't hit anything. Fell about 20 times. I was pushing myself very hard in order to learn.
Took lessons each afternoon for 3 hours. Don't want to gloat but by the 2nd day of the 7 there I was the best in the group and by day 4 I was leading the group skiing for the most part while the instructor assisted those needing help. The best satisfaction came when we got to a really steep bit for the group and the instructor said take off your skis, well have to walk down much to the relief off all. I pulled a really sad depressed face and the instructor realized I wanted to give it a go. They all walked down over 20 minutes while I zigzaged across, on the verge of imminent failure at any point but held it together. It would of looked quite funny but it was immensly satisfying. After that I was leading the group.
It was a huge resort - must have been over 100 lifts if not 200. Lifts from dragging ones where you sit on a disk to 4&6 seat chairlifts to enclosed gondolas. We stopped often at chateus in the clear blue skies and snowy slopes, drinking hot chocolate, eating pancakes (superb) etc. Had a really good time.
New years eve all the tourist let off fireworks from little ones to the serious germans sending off missiles. The resort and others in the area put on there own show and looked great especially the paragliders with flares and skier coming down the slopes to our valley with flares too.
Drove back overnight and recovered that day for work the following day.
That was it. I look forward to going again. Cant say I was hooked on it but I did really well and thought it was a really good holiday. Certainly different to sweating it out in Egypt as per last xmas/new year.
Hope your all well,
Steve
22nd February 2001
Hi,
Seeing the sights of Hong Kong. Very hazy so the photos wont be very good. City skyline is amazing. When I first saw it coming from the airport I looked at it and thought what I'm looking at has got to be a picture from someones wildest imagination. I'm staying in Kowloon which is on the mainland, opposite Hong Kong Island and its supurb skyline. Its the place to stay. Stayed at the Holiday Inn for 3 nights and checked out. Then realised I'm not leaving for another day. They didn't have any more room. So I walked down to the Kowloon Hotel (luxury - incl unlimited internet access in my own room - typing this now). It was cheaper too, just. Went over to Hong Kong Island by the Star Ferry service which was very nice and then up to its highest mountain (Victoria Peak) for a spectacular view. Went up 300m almost vertical on a cable car like in the Blue mountains. Arrived 3 hours early for sunset, walked to ideal location. Up there it was very cold, suppose cause its the middle of winter. Went to see a suspension bridge a little longer than the Golden Gate Bridge last night. Lots of couples there at sunset, and me... My camera gear is about 20kg and getting taxis to these odd locations is trying.
Not too many white people although lots of tourists mainly asians. I've found the people friendly, which all I've read and heard from others has been the opposite.
Went to an Australian bar but didn't meet anyone interesting.
In Australia I stayed mostly in Sydney. Jeff had a spare room. Sorted all my belongings into long term storage (finally after being overseas already for 3.5 years). Took nice photos with the new Mamiya camera and caught up with friends. Went to Brisbane/ Gold Coast twice to see family incl new nephew. Hired a car for 5.5 weeks including a drive to Melbourne from Sydney and around the Great Ocean Road. Saw Bells Beach, great rainforests and stayed in a great hotel in Lorne.
Trying to line up job interviews for my return, but none promising yet. This year's resolution is to have more social time available rather than working 6.5 days a week as I've done for the past 2.5 years in the UK.
Going home tonight on BA. Hope they dont loose my luggage as the did when I flew over. Missed seeing Singapore as I spent a whole day trying to sort it out. I live in Brentwood where foot and mouth disease in pigs has just broken out in UK. Of all places...
Hope your all well,
Steve
P.S. After writing this... No airport shuttle bus came to pick me up so the hotel Mercedes Limosine drove me the 40 minutes to the airport. Plush leather seats, news papers and magazines to read, and being called Sir. Even airconditioner adjustment offered. When arrived to Brentwood, could smell the mass burning of pigs/sheep/cattle in the air.
07 October 2002
Hi All,
Just arrived back from Spain after having a great time there. I paid a fortune (about $1200) to drive to/from UK which includes the ferry crossing, petrol and motorway tolls.
Got the Sea France Car Ferry across the Channel from Dover (white cliffs) to Calais in France. I was really nervous about getting off the ferry as I would have to start driving on the other side of the road. But got quickly to the motorway which was easy driving. I slept in my car overnight in the south of France in a parking area next to a petrol station. It was set up for people to do this as there were toilets and showers in the bush setting. Sleeping across the back seat was very uncomfortable as the 2 seats are bucket seats and not flat so it was really bad. In the morning I continued on into Spain to Figueres (very north east of Spain - home of Salvador Dali -strange artist) where Cristina lives. Parked my car in a very squashy parking station (I worried about my car being damaged) and then I phoned Cristina from a phone box to meet me but couldnt explain where I was so asked a friendly passer by to help. I met Cristina at the phone box after I had secretly ordered some flowers which we collected on the way back to her apartment
Cristina had made her apartment spotless for me and I got to meet the dog Otto which I had heard lots about on my travels around Australia. Very exciting to meet Cristina again. I was already having big problems not speaking Spanish before meeting her so it was very welcome to speak English again (she takes english lessons). The apartment was quite spacious on the 2nd floor right in the heart of town. The main town square 'Rambla' was a block away. The apartment like most others was in a building sandwiched up against others with a very narrow staircase leading inside off the street. It had narrow balconies through large opening doors overlooking the street. Otto liked to sit there and bark occasionally at the dogs and watch the world go by. It has tiled floors so was easy to sweep the house clean, which was quite often as Otto shed lots of hair.
The weather was hot and spent the 10 weeks walking around the house all day in only shorts and added a shirt and open shoes for going outside. It was really too hot most of the time to go outside between 11am and 3pm so we relaxed and had lunch then. After that we would usually go somewhere for a bushwalk, visit small towns and eating icecreams at large seaside touristy towns or go to a beach, usually taking Otto too. Cristina enjoyed the outdoors, and wanted to show me the sights so we were always busy doing things. I enjoyed them all very much although she had more energy than me! I was so lucky to have all this attention as she stopped working to allow us to spend time together for those 10 weeks. Often we went to nude beaches. On one day when absolutely everyone was nude, and I was wearing bright yellow shorts, I felt I would look stupid with them on so I decided to take them off for the 1st time in public. Just as I did someones umbrella came cartwheeling across the sand and rested in our laps. Someone (german accent) came chasing it and apologised profusely as it was picked up off us.
We also saw lots of free outdoor concerts. We were almost front row at a concert in Figueres to a famous male spanish singer from whose hits were mainly in the early 1990's . All the crowd were singing and dancing as they knew the hit songs, so I looked an odd one out, partly because I didn't look Spanish and nearly everyone was shorter than me, and I wasn't dancing! I did have a weak spot for Cristina's singing in spanish though (I enjoyed).
We ate out quite alot but also had lots of meals at home. Cristina made lots of delicious meals (mostly vegetarian) like spanish omlette, guacamole, tasty lentil/vegetable/sausage stew, vegetable spaghetti, etc. I took the recipees for some of them. Learned to cook with oil (olive). She helped to stop me eating the bad things I usually eat like chocolates and icecream, which was hard to do but I'll see if it lasts. I think before I stopped, I ate 2 containers of chocolate icecream in 5 days. I made some of my favourite meals too which was steak and vegetables (including mashed potato) and also lemon pancakes. We had the pancakes quite often, although I wasn't pretty to watch eating them (I loved them!).
I got to meet lots of her friends (went to lots of dinners/lunches at homes and restraunts) and met her mother, and young brother Carlos. It was a little frustrating not able to talk spanish though, but usually there was one or two people who could talk reasonable english if necessary, which was good.
We got on very well together, although at times got into arguments, although I think most were based on misunderstandings because of not understanding each others english and associated frustrations . I dont know if other people have similar difficulties, but I guess so. But I must say she cares alot for me, and shares alot of her deepest thoughts unlike me, to her frustration.
Driving on the other side of the road was easier than I thought as Cristina was in the car to guide me and help me. I only drove down the wrong side about 3 times and that was usually in a small local street just after getting into my car. The main problem was the meanings of the different road signs/line markings and strange road intersections and right of way rules. Also trying to look to overtake is hard because my UK car the drivers seat is on the side of the road not near the road centre so to have a look if its safe to overtake the car has to move across almost into the oncoming traffic for me to see. I think as a pedestrian crossing the streets was the worst for me as for some reason I didn't pay enough attention (figure that out???). Cars were going down different sides of the roads so somehow it was hard to judge.
Cristina brought back from Australia boomerangs as gifts to her friends but none of them would return although she and her brother had fun trying. I eventually filed back their boomerangs so they would work better (from much trial and error in Australia - I think I bought about 20) and we tested them in the middle of some farmers crop field as there is almost no public open space without people. Her one works fantastic. It is small and light but does the largest circle I've every seen and comes back. I am very pleased with myself!
Every day we would walk Otto about 3 times. He loved it and seemed in a world of his own (little attention to us) when he was outside, but I enjoyed it. Having a dog forces you to get regular exercise. I am supposed to be very allergic to dog hair (had to be given adrenalin cream to stabilise my arm when getting an allergy test done years ago) although not yet had a noticible problem. Maybe I should follow this up again. Otto hated travelling in my car though. Usually after getting out of my car he would look really unwell and then throw up. When he got near my car (or the parking station where I kept my car) he would lie down and would need to be dragged to the car. Quite funny to the on lookers. I park in the parking station for safety because street parking is very damaging from other reckless cars.
We went for a 5 day drive into the small country of Andorra (in the Pyrenees mountains between Spain and France). We stayed in a luxury 5 star hotel the first night and camped the remaining nights. It rained off and on but wasn't much of a problem. The scenery was very dramatic with steep mountains and gorges with nice green grass coverings. I bought a fantastic powerful electric airpump which pumped up the borrowed double air mattress in 2 minutes. Great. Cristina showed me an amazing place called the 'Caldea' in the main city of Andorra. It was a swimming pool of sorts and health resort (saunas, fragrant steam rooms, rooms with heated seats, fancy shower rooms to cool down) but the main feature was the funny shaped swimming pools like clam shells that each had jets of water (under water) to sooth different muscles in your body. The main feature pool had a channel which went out of the building many floors above street level (heated water) into the open air with an amazing city view. Supposed to be an amazing experience when it snows! There were Roman Baths there also. A bit pricy at $50 each but unique. We were going through quite abit of money (and abit was abit rainy for camping) so decided to return to Spain.
In the last week of my stay I went nearly every morning to the local airfield where planes were taking off and landing for people doing sky diving in preperation for an international competition happening there about now. I took my small 35mm camera to try to photograph the planes as they came into land because they would nearly touch the cars as they crossed the highway. I think one pilot must have tried to get very close to a car once to allow me to take a good photo but I didn't take it, darnit! I think I try to be here next June with my good camera to take a photo of the sunflower fields. They have a great setting in front of the mountain range.
On the drive back to UK I visited a lady from USA I met in Broome Australia who like me was still holidaying. We were in Autun in the Burgundy region (near the centre of France). Had a good chat over dinner and stayed at the same cheap (relatively) hotel.
Met up with Tim about 10pm in the UK where I'll stay for a while till I figure out what I will do with myself (not many jobs here now in London for me)...
Anyway, better go,
Hope you are well,
Steve
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