Oct 24th Onwards: Cannes, and returning home to London

On leaving Hawaii I had to head to France for work purposes. I had been to Nice before on Contiki tour and it is a lovely place. This time around though I was staying in Cannes and had no time to spare to enjoy it. I had to catch four flights to get there, and that really bit it hard. Luckily I have discovered Stillnox.. To get my ass from Lihue, Hawaii to Cannes, France, I had to take the following flights:

Lihue -> Honolulu
Honolulu -> Los Angeles (With only 1:30 connecting time AND a terminal change)
Los Angeles -> London
London -> Cannes
Cannes Airport -> hotel via taxi.

I was dreading every moment of it, but Hawaiian and AA did a great job. They checked my bags (and snowboard.. who's passport is now almost as decorated as mine, and whos base is still brand new..) all the way from Lihue to London. This was a real saving but I was fearing that my bags wouldnt get connected at L.A. Hell! I was wondering If *I* could manage to get connected to my flight in L.A. I didnt know how long that connection would take.. but it all worked out!

I spent four days working in Cannes and it sucked! I was so sick of my suitcase I wanted to be back in London badly to find a home and get settled. These have been the worst days I have experienced in a long while. Working was tough as I had to do presentations (which I now know I am shit at..) and I felt terrible also (tired, and had to stay up late to prepare material that I should have done in Hawaii). I tell you - The only thing that made me okay was knowing that no matter what happens.. in 3-4 days I would be out of there and back in London, which by now has become 'Home'.

This is one of the nicest areas in Europe though, so it was enjoyable to get some sunshine however it was all ruined by having to work frantically while I was here :(
Let me give you some photos so I can move on!


View from the top of the Noga Hilton, Cannes.



View of the Cannes bech promenade area.

So anyway - Im back in London (Or at least, back in November hey). Still things werent going so well. I had to start performing in a new job on Monday and I didnt even have a home, computers, anything!! I managed to find a place to live with some South Africans at the last minute on Sunday night (Oct 29th). A little further from where I wanted to live, but on the river Thames and in an area that is actually very spacious and alot more like Sydney than anywhere else I have seen. Like - there is grass beside the roads here .. and water.. and boats.


View from my room, looking straight out at the fresh clean water of the Thames.


View from my room, to the right over Greenland Dock.

London has been absolutely great so far. There are so many things to do here.. I cannot even begin to tell you how fast time is moving for me at the moment. Mostly this is due to getting accustomed to living in a new country, performing in a new job, and also getting my room setup with all the stuff I need. I have to say living in an Internet world has made so much more possible. I have bought stuff for a cheap price on Ebay where I can, transferred money internationally while making my breakfast, and kept in touch with people from all over the world with ease. You can even just use a postcode to find directions to a building here, as they are that accurate (Try putting SE16 7TB in google maps to find my house!) Not to mention an age where we have cheap flights, cheap travel insurance and I even bought a car I have never seen before from the opposite side of the world without leaving my room. So things have been going well .. just pretty busy!

Alright enough of that crap .. I know you all just look at photos anyway .. so Im going to put this blog update quickly by having less babble, and more pics. Most of you have heard where Ive been lately through Dan's blog - so heres a picture diary for you.

On coming back, the first weekend Dan and I went to two parties in the same night. The first was Dom's in NW16, and then Ange's rocking dress up party in Spencer Park. The first party was an interesting trip to get to - basically Dan and I got lost. This meant we lost time and had to get a mini-cab to get there. We got him to stop and get beers on the way, as Dan and I had been mowing through the 1664's. We bought about 12 beers and were already pretty trashed so it was quite an amusing ride. The cabbie was legging it too!. We had to get through Brixton and we found ourselves in back seat view of everything going on! There was some commotion at Brixton and we had to deal with a blockage in traffic, cop cars, and our own taxi driver getting involed! He was leaning out the window screaming at everyone and we were just laughing our asses off in the back seat! We quickly sped off to the next party, with our cans of beer rolling around in the back of the taxi!

Ange's party was fantastic. There were many fireworks going on around us and even at the party we were at. Dan and I were pretty trashed by this stage and the only guys not dressed up for Ange's party. (Sorry were Lazy!!).



Group shot of Ange's party.

The next weekend saw us going to the church. Oh My God! What can I say about that!
The day started at 10am waiting in the freezing cold outside the shittiest oldest theatre I have ever seen. My god no wonder the Church moved here! There was a dude build like a brick shithouse keeping everyone in order outside but was a pretty easy going friendly guy. We bought our drink coupons while freezing in the line and finally got inside around 12 midday. We went in and got our beer in plastic bags which you tie to your belt. Trust me, this is really a good idea because the floor is covered in sawdust and as I found out.. If you drop one it turns into something we coined the term "Fosters Schnitzel" for.. as the next photos demonstrate. You know what I cant even think why we decided to call it that.. it doesnt make any sense?

Group shot of us at The Church.

The place gets packed and warm pretty quickly. There is .. well all I can say is 'entertainment' on the stage (drinking races, topless women, sing alongs) and comedians. I cant tell you much more.. I lost track of what planet I was on somewhere around 4pm. We left there (Im told) at 6pm, we also (Im told) went to burger king, and two other bars afterwards. The next point in time I remember is somewhere around 12pm going home. I tell you we were wasted!! The church was excellent and Im looking forward to going again. :) My night finished up attempting to walk home from London bridge.. and somehow my bus found me and so I got onbaord and went home. What a huge day and night!

Group shot of us at The Church.


Crowd shot at the Church


Crowd shot at the Church


After the church - who knows where we were headed..

We also headed over to Ministry Of Sound which was great. It wasnt the biggest night ever, but it was good to see what Ministry Of Sound is really like! Dan and Ros were great company and we had a fun night.


A few pre drinks before heading off..
Standing outside
Excited to be here !!
Inside - a hallway leading to one of the rooms.

London Summary:

Countries visited since leaving Australia: 3
Next destination: New York City (U.S.A. again ???)
Funniest thing: Seeing some crazy french person try to kill someone with a scooter. Im not kidding!

October 16-21: Luke and Giselle's Hawaiian wedding.

I arrived at around 8am Sunday morning to Lihue airport to be greeted by perfect warm Hawaiian sun. I must have looked like a right royal idiot with my snowboard too! I had a few hours spare and decided to pickup the hire car we had organised. I 'kind of' got a little swayed by the lady attending the counter at the Hertz rent a car. Originally we had planned to hire a four door average family car.. but I took the plunge and hired a convertible instead. It was bloody nice though to drive a convertible around in Hawaii for the whole week so Im really glad I did it! I hope the boys who were sharing the expense with me werent too upset and enjoyed it also but Im sure they did.


Driving our Chevy Sebring convertible on our first day.

After a short drama at the airport trying to find Richard, a friend of the bride's who would be staying with us we all jumped in our cars and headed off to our Condo. It was an absolute palace. Massive, 3/4 bedrooms, with enough room to fit 10. Fully air-conditioned, new fittings and one of the rooms had a bathroom that most places in London would be able to fit inside. Im talking a shower with full tiling roof to floor, and two showerheads.. it was so big the bathroom had its own closet!! I ended up getting the short end of the straw and having to sleep in the same room as Dan, on single beds, with no privacy! There goes any chances we would have of picking up!!



On the first day, I headed up the mountain in the hire car as my friends Danya, Nathan and Dan were going up there for a hike and needed the ride. I kinda lost track of how long I was out in the sunshine and well kind of got just slghtly burnt on the first day. Later that evening we went out to have a swim.. and the water was soooo perfect we stayed until sunset when the water was still so warm and lovely.


Ben capturing the beach where the wedding took place in sketch.

Luke and Giselle got married on Shipwreck beach. There was a more relaxed attire for the wedding and family and friends enjoyed the ceremony standing on the sands of shipwreck beach.








The week was filled with a variety of activities that people decided to do. Not everyone participated in everything though due to different interests and so there were some relaxing days mixed in with days spent participating in the activities. I decided to go Kayaking, play a round of golf, Surf at Hanalei Bay, and just relax in general.

Most of the group went on the Kayak tour. We were to take Kayaks up a river in Hawaii and visit a beautiful waterfall where we could eat lunch and take a breather from the hard work kayaking. Dan and I were trying to figure out who would end up being the first couple to tip their Kayak over. By the end of the day it was Dan and I who ended up being the only ones to swim as it was too nice in the water so we committed suicide and dived in! We also were saying "Oh Crikey - look at the size of the snapper on that thing!" alot, whenever we saw anything that could have been a croc in the water (Such as small logs).


Just after leaving our Kayaks starting our small hike to the waterfall.


Our group and tour guide, heading up the trail to the waterfall.


Pete in front of the Queen's bath. Years ago if you bathed here you would have been decapitated!

The waterfall was beautiful and you werent allowed to swim there, so we all swam there. :) Directly underneath the waterfall the water wasnt so deep, and it was really rocky so none of us stayed under the water for very long as it obviously is a place where you could get hurt. It also really stang your eyes !! but what a lovely place to relax and enjoy the surroundings.


Waterfall view



We had a guide on the Kayak that day, a really relaxed dude who spoke about the surroundings and the plant-life and how the Hawaiians make use of the flora that grows there. He was a pretty cool dude, but at times the things he showed us were really not that exciting. The following photo is a ancient fireplace or something.. but it just looked like a pile of rocks to Dan and me, and Dan decided to have the following photo taken:


Big Dan: "Im excited!"

How little did I know how much my life would change when this photo was taken ! Wait for the New York photos .. thats all I can say!

After the Kayak, we attended a Luau (Dinner with entertainment) at Gaylords' restaurant. This was awesome, as we all got loaded up and enjoyed great food, and really good entertainment. There were Hula girls, Fire twirling, Singing and dancing being performed. A really good show. Even the MC was a funny guy!


These girls can really dance!

On the last day we had there, we all went to Hanalei Bay. Dan and I even caught up with the American girls Alexis and Laura we met on the Kayak. Most of us surfed for the first time, including myself. It was pretty damn good although not big waves at all! It was also kind of raining, but still warm that day too. Later in the day I was swimming with Nathan Lam. We were out in the water at sunset and saw two perfect rainbows, one encompassing the other. We were out in the water and both wanted our cameras, but knew it wasnt to be. That was one memory that I couldnt catch on film.. but I will have to remember forever. We lied on our backs in the beautiful water and enjoyed a fantastic moment!

Hawaii Summary:

Countries visited since leaving Australia: 2.
Best thing: Having a fantastic holiday with close friends - awesome.
Worst thing: American sports cars. the thing didnt idle properly and almost drove itself and was really plastic.
Best beer: Heiniken (The local stuff was only alright - but Heiniken is hard to beat.)
Next destination: Cannes, France.

Oct 15: Vegas !!

I left Utah Friday afternoon in my hire car bound for Vegas. Utah has some awesome countryside.
I fit in a quick 30 minute detour to see at least a small glimpse of Zion's National Park.


Kolob Canyon - so why didnt I buy that wide angle lens when I was in Bangkok?! - There is a panoramic view here which you cannot see all of. :(


Kolob Canyon

It does flatten right out though leaving Utah.. and I felt like I was in the movie 'Swingers'
If you know the movie, you might enjoy these links:
Movie1
Movie2

I could only fit in one day in Vegas, but my flight was at 2am so I really did have a full 24 hours to work with.
I planned EVERYTHING that day, wow I was organised. I knew what attractions I wanted to see and to see it all required precise planning of everything including how long the transport takes to get from A to B and so on. It all paid off, I even ended up with a small amount of time spare. I think maybe I made some time up when I drove out to Hoover Dam, Maybe.. :)

The first night I was there I decided to have a taste of gambling. I sat at a $25 table with $75 (All the cash I had in my hand at the time). This isnt exactly enough to really get going at a blackjack table, only enough for three hands! Amazingly I ended up taking $700 out! I upped my bets when I got blackjacks or strong hands, I dropped them when I was getting garbage. I started to hover around $700 up, and could hear that song: "You got to know when to hold em, know when to fold em, know when to walk away and know when to run.." I decided it would be smart to stand up at this point, but boy was I happy with a return of 1000% !


The MGM Grand! - So Money Baby !

Feeling content to have gotten any gambling out of the way, I did a bit of wandering around and taking in some of Vegas by night. Vegas is very tourist based, and you can tell that most people on the strip are there for a short stay and to have fun. One of the first things you notice wandering around Vegas is the dudes / dudettes who are trying to sell hookers.. They have these flyers they try to hand you, but they have a way about doing that that is hilarious.. In an attempt to either draw attention to themselves (and its hard to miss them walking down the footpath - they're everywhere) or perhaps a way to entertain themselves doing their mundane job, they smack one flyer down on the pile twice before extending it out to you.. This may not sound unbeleivably interesting but I guess, its one of those things "you had to be there". I'll definitely do my impersonation for you next time if you want.. or just ask Dan :)

First stop the next morning was the Star Trek Experience ride at the Vegas Hilton. I was told to do this and it definitely is something to see. The casino area is a great mimic of the set of Deep Space Nine or more accurately Quark's bar. There are two different rides (Kilngon & Borg) that are a mix of running through sets and sit in rides. The best bit was the 'transporter effect' at the start of the Kilngon ride. This ride started with us all forming into five rows of people, and luckily I was at the start of one of these rows. In front of me was a star trek style door and when the action began the lights went out and communications and alarms began to create the scene. My eyes were open when in an instant I felt a rush of air and I was in another place! This was very cool..


Quarks' Bar

After having a look at some of the major casinos I headed back to my hotel to head out to Hoover Dam. This was a last minute addition to the plans, but worth the couple of hours it tooks to get out there have a look and come back. The drive was about 30-45 minutes, and you have to pass through a police checkpoint as cars can drive across the dam itself. It wasnt surprising to have to pass through a police checkpoint as this dam provides power for most of western USA! No doubt a good target for terrorism. The dam is very impressive.. just have a look at the photos :)


Hoover Dam - wasnt there a Halflife level that looked like this ?!


Hoover Dam - Arizona and Nevada intake towers.


Hoover Dam - A massive power production facility, electrical cables run everywhere.


Hoover Dam - Dam Wall.

When I got back it was time for the Stratosphere tower. The tower has four thrill rides at the very top. I was really keen to get up there and see these! I ended up only going on three of them. The rollercoaster goes around the top of the tower, so there is no real looping or anything like that.. just a rollercoaster that makes you hope every last bolt was tightened properly !! Another ride is made of a car on a stationary rail that can pivot like a see-saw that is around 20 metres long, only it extends out over the edge of the tower. It angles downwards and you roll to the end of it a couple of times.. This was bloody terrifying especially as there didnt seem to be too much apart from the thin blade on the top of the rail to bring the car to a stop, obviously being gripped by pads contained on the car. Sitting at the front of this ride made it soo much scarier.. and there was hardly anything around me except the seat I was in and the floor of the car! Nuts!


View of the stratosphere tower. Look at the rides hanging off there!


View from observation deck.

By far the best ride though was the "Big Shot" which is at the very top of the tower. This ride is a square construction that has 4 seats a side, and shoots you straight upward causing you to undergo +4Gs on the way to the top and negative Gs on the way down. Being at this ride at 8pm at night gave a great view of Vegas at nighttime. I picked a seat which would overlook the strip :) The whole ride is outdoors on top of a small concrete platform, not much bigger than the ride itself. You barely have anything else in front of you when sitting in the ride other than the view of vegas. The feeling this view creates combined with the feeling of being shot up in the air is mind blowing, I cannot even describe it, suffice to say that everyone on the strip would have heard me yell: "Ohhh F************************************" It was so good, I went again.. and was even more pumped up beforehand because its so thrilling !!

The last thing I did with my day was see the stage show "Jubilee" which is one of the oldest running Vegas shows. It was pretty good, but not fantastic. It doesnt compare at all to the ones at Moulin Rouge.. but then, neither did the price tag!

As it came time to get the hell out of there, I realised I hadnt really thought about how long it would take to get to the airport. Lucky me though, Vegas happens to have an airport right next to the strip! This was awesome because I only left 2 hours to get to my flight, including driving to the airport, paying for the hire car, and checking in. It took about 2 seconds to get to the airport so that worked out really well.

Vegas summary:

Countries visited since leaving Australia: Still 2??
Days there: 1
Coolest Thing: Winning (Dans') money, the stratosphere tower rides, free beers when your gambling at a table, driving to Vegas
Worst thing: My hotel room.
Weirdest thing: Definitely the hooker dudes, and the paper flyers they have everywhere (even stuck in chicken wire fences all around the place.)
Best beer: Didnt drink much when I was here - but I put away a few Heiny's at the tables.
Next Destination: Lihue, Kauaii, Hawaii.
Most Eye-catching thing: A Walmart distirbution center on the side of the highway with 500 thousand semis in the carpark.

Sorry to everyone that think I am in Vegas, I am actually back in London now. My blog is still behind .. Ive got Hawaii, France, London Part 2, New York and Norway to go !!

Sept 24 - Oct 15: Lindon / Provo Utah.

I had only been in London two weeks before it was time to set off to U.S.A. The purpose of this trip was to head to Lindon Utah, where my company is based to provide some training over one week, and to receive training over another two weeks. Given that I had Luke's wedding in Hawaii following week and knowing that flights to Honolulu dont exactly leave from Lindon Utah, I planned a day in Vegas on the way out, just like Dan did when he went to the states earlier this year.

As it turns out, Dan and I have had quite alot of similarities lately. Let me put that into picture. Dan and myself both have:

1) We left Australia to live and work in London.
2) We're both working in IT on relatively similar wages, both working for U.S. based companies and both working near Bank tube station.
3) We both 'Dossed' (used the couch at) Julie's place on arrival.
4) We both had a trip to U.S.A for work purposes..
5) We both visited Vegas and got there in hire cars (although coming from different directions)
6) We both gambeled (although Dan lost money, I won money. :) )
6) We both bought snowboards over in North America (Dan bought his in Canada, mine was bought in U.S.A)

and the list continues but you get the picture.

Knowing this is how things are, I totally ripped off Dan's blog summary at the bottom of these posts. Thanks mate ! (Dan's blog is at danvito.blogspot.com, if you care to check that out - it makes a good read.)

I touched down in Salt Lake around 8 at night, so I had the joy of getting used to driving on the wrong side of the road at nighttime not having a clue where I was going. I had a pretty 'fat ass' car though so that was sweet. (Toyota Avalon, plenty of luxury.)

I was staying at the Provo Marriot. Provo, Orem and Lindon are all cities that run together so this is why I was working in Lindon but staying in Provo. Most people have some sort of situation like this, where they live in a different city but its all one and the same really. These three cities and Salt Lake City all form the 'Wasatch Front'. The beauty about this was needing to get on I15 (Interstate 15) to get to work, which was my daily drive for the time I was here.


Looking out over the "Wasatch front" - Provo, Orem, Lindon.

Streets are numbered in Utah. Not like 42nd, 43rd etc.. they are named '300 South' or similar. This example means, south of the center of the town/city, and further away from the center than 200. This means you can find your way without a map. This does however still become a learning experience as I found out. Note, If you get told to drive to '4 South' in Salt Lake City when you trying to find a shopping mall, go to 400 South. 4 South does not exist and is a shortcut name for 400 South. Please also note: Because the cities run together, be wary. You may find out that the street you are in has two names, ie: 400 South (Lindon) / 300 North (Provo). This can cause last minute changes of direction when driving by tourists.. IE: ME.

Provo center street.

The first night I was there I had dinner with Brent Ring, a colleague from work. Brent cooks up a mean Chicken BBQ so that was lovely and very nice to meet his family. People in Lindon are typically of the Church of Latter Day Saints also known as Mormons and contrary to what rumour you hear live a very pleasant everyday lifestyle. I found them all to be extremely warm and generous.


A typical Mormon church in Utah. These are everywhere in this area.

Training went well in the first week, but I had to spend the night working on the material for the next day. As a result I was stuck in my hotel room or at work so didnt have much of an outlet and was starting to go stir crazy by the end of that week. Luckily I had a 'game room' in the hotel that was on my floor, and snuck out every so often to play a pinball game.

For those people who aren't aware, modern day pinball machines give you a chance at getting a free credit at the end of the game. It displays a number such as 00,10,20,30,40 etc up to 90 and does some little animation like blowing a box up and the number that is revealed, if it equals the one shown, you get a free credit. Strangely enough, the pinball I played "Theatre of Magic" was constantly coughing up free credits !! Not only did it do this, but hardly anyone was playing it and the free credit score limit was set low aswell.. Sometimes I would play with one quarter and get 10 free games out of it !! Needless to say, this gave me some entertainment in that first week and I ended up smashing the record on that pinball and breaking a billion points! :)


What can I say - the gamer in me will never die!

Bars in utah are rare as Hens Teeth. Good bars are even rarer. I found one great one though, called AtchaFalaya and it just so happened to be stumbling distance from my Hotel. Utah has some odd laws about drinking though, and you have to get membership of a bar ($3.50 or so) just to be able to drink there. Apart from that, in the U.S.A, get this, they can choose to pour you a non-alcoholic drink at their own discretion if your wasted. This means you ask for a beer, and they give you something beer-like that isnt alcoholic. I thought this was a really interesting way of handling people who are too drunk.

At the bar I met some interesting people from all over the U.S. and have some funny conversations. Being an Aussie is just the best thing in U.S.A. All you need to do is drop a 'G'Day mate' and your an instant celebrity!! So there I was - "the aussie" .. I met a few friends that I hung out with over the remaining time and this helped make the stay in Utah very enjoyable.

One of my missions while in U.S.A was to get snowboard gear. I did some research on the net before I went to buy a board. I started with the Burton website and pretty much didnt go much further than there. After getting a good idea on what was what and what I wanted I checked a few board shops out. The first one I checked had an okay range and I wanted to have a look at some of the older (half price) stock. The stand of clearance stuff was full of crap but as I was sifting through I noticed this larger decent looking board up the back there.. I pull it out and its this Burton Baron '05 model, in blue. Absolutely gorgeous! I couldnt beleive my luck, I had found a top of the line Burton board that looked amazing and was reduced to less than half the retail price !! It also fit my height / weight category. I bought it, a bag (half price), Boots and bindings (Burton Cartels) for I couldnt beleive it! All up I got all my shit for 600 or so USD. The board alone back home is $930 and is still current. Ka-Ching !!!


Xmas arrived early.. :)

Utah has some of the best outdoor activites you will find anywhere. Snow fields (Which get fantastic powder snow) are 15 minutes drive from people's homes. Rock-climbing, hiking, and so on are all highly rated on a global scale. I enjoyed some rock-climbing (thanks again Brent) and also got to see some ice hockey games. During autumn all the Aspen trees change colour to a very rich blood red and their leaves fall. At this time its tradition for schoolkids to go and pick leaves to give to their class teacher. I took a drive up with Brent and his family for some photos. It wasnt so easy because the roads were very busy, although everyone is going at a snail's pace for two reasons: to grab leaves, and also because the roads are not exactly wide and everyone here drives massive pickups (Dodge RAMs and DMC Suburbans).

Enjoying some Utah outdoors.


Brent taking care of safety business.


Various scenes from the "Alpine loop" road.


Various scenes from the "Alpine loop" road.


Various scenes from the "Alpine loop" road.

Overall I had a really great time in Utah. This was due to alot of factors, but not limited to buying my board and buying some jeans that are actually made in my size at rock bottom prices, Brent's hospitality spending time showing me alot of what Utah has to offer, and just generally getting to see another part of the world I never knew anything about. A big thankyou to Brent and his family and all the nice people I met. Utah has alot going for it, this visit was a great experience.


Road leading up to Sundance ski resort.

Oh - I almost forgot to mention this: I got a great cocktail recipe while there as follows:

B.O.B.Y (Better off by yourself)
Vodka
Shambourg
Blue Curacao
with Lemonade over crushed ice.


PS: For those who wanted higher resolution pictures, you can click the photos to see larger versions !!

Utah Summary:
Days Spent: 21 (Go my marriot rewards points!)
Countries visited since leaving Australia: 2.
Best Thing: Buying stuff cheap. Utah outdoor activites.
Worst Thing: Leaving my armani sunnies somewhere.. Gone!!
Best Beer: Provo Girl (Local)
Most disgusting food: American cheese is terrible.
Next Destination: Vegas baby Vegas !

Sept 11: Additional pictures.

Here are some additional pictures from the first two weeks in London:
(Dan how on Earth do you put up with Blogspot - this UI is messed up !)

Tower Bridge. Pretty much the only sightseeing Ive done in London so far!

Above Bank tube station. Dan and my workplaces are very close to here.

Julie's friend Claire showing off the Akubra that I bought in Australia for a colleague in Utah.

Looking back on Bank station from the front of the platform. MIND THE GAP!!