Well I have been really slack!

Between my recent projects at work, staying up all night working, a really bad flu that lasted for weeks and being too tired to care about other things I haven’t blogged.

I’ve really enjoyed my time here and I guess having my Visa declined once and the entire process really drawn out has given me more time with my friends and family that I wouldn’t have got, which ultimately makes me feel better about heading back to the UK again.

Below are some photos of camping trips and drinking nights out with some  friends. I’m going to miss everyone and will hold you all to the promises of visits to London in the next couple of years.

_B

A big mud crab I caught with my Dad

Stubbie Coolers

Sunset on the river

Leyton & Blacky at the Vic

Cheese

Murder? What Murder?

The Big Pineapple!

After our night of absolute debauchery we rose to “wake up you bunch of fuck heads” in a thick German accent and beer cans being tossed at our tents. It would seem one of us had taught a rather large German these phrase the night before.
For those of us that didn’t wake up it was certainly inevitable once the Swiss started repeatedly banging on the race course armco with two hammers. It was like someone smashing saucepans together inside your head!

Once moving we all slowly made our way down to get some curry wurst for breakfast, this was perhaps one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. Once back most of us got some more sleep and then finally we decided to make our way up to the festival, this is of course why we had crossed 5 Countries to get here.

After sussing out the grounds Neil, the Ben’s and I headed back to the camp for some rest while the others rocked on. After semi-recovering and putting on more clothes we ventured back for the night but not without finding ourselves a fantastic jungle shortcut.

The following day we were getting back on track however it absolutely bucketed down during the night and didnt stop until the early afternoon. So after an unsuccessful attempt at a gas burner breakfast we packed up and headed for town to look for more supplies and a hot meal. After ages in a local store laughing at all things German (and buying more sleeping bags and wet weather gear) we ventured over to Neil’s favourite hotel the ‘On-Road Cafe’ for a meal. A few beers, a massive schnitzel and a much needed toilet break we were ready to leave however not before Neil and I organised ourselves the next 2 nights and the rest of the guys the last night in their lovely warm and dry establishment.

That night we were all charged up again and made our way over to the festival (via our shortcut) but not without first getting a photo with some of our German friends.

The Gang

The shortcut

This evening we saw Machine “Fucking” Head and got down and dirty in the mosh pits for The Prodigy and Slipknot. After thank Neil and I snuck away and headed back to our warm hotel.
Once we got there I had a shower and meet Neil downstairs where a shot (of some Dutch drink) and a cold beer were waiting, it was fantastic. I think we sat downstairs talking to the owner and his wife until almost 2am again getting quite drunk.

Machine "Fucking" Head

Save on smoke machines, have your festival in the clouds

Slipknot tried warming things up

The On-Road Cafe

On the last day we spent the day at the hotel/cafe drinking and then went out for a fantastic steak on a stone, a local dish apparently. The first place we went to was closed because they were worried about the drunken festival goer coming in however the Taxi driver knew another place that served the dish so we all piled back in the cab and went there.

Steak on a Stone

Dig in

After walking back to the hotel (to burn off some of that protein) we pretty much settled in and decided to watch the last day of the festival on MTV in the warm bar. All except the determined Pete who layered up and set out on his own.

The last day we said our good byes and high tailed it to the French coast, all in all a fantastic trip, one I’ll never forget.

_B

A quick update to say I’m back in Australia for the next 6 weeks or so sorting out my new VISA. I have been working my ass off lately on Seal.com so I have yet to finish my travel blogs.

Hopefully things will die down in the next week and I’ll be able to catch up. I haven’t even spoken about Barcelona or Hong Kong yet.

_B

Last week I went to the Rock-Am-Ring rock music festival at the Nurburgring in Germany with some friends. Wednesday afternoon we packed up Neil’s 330d BMW to the absolute brink with our camping and festival gear, and with the ghetto blaster on the back seat between Smith and Richie we headed for Dover.

Ben Hughes was taking Polly, Pete and Jonny in the Shaguar but they weren’t leaving til 2, so they had come catching up to do.
After a short drive and a movie we had arrived in Dover, however we just missed the early ferry and had an hour and a half to wait, luckily that’s just enough time to watch Rambo 4 whilst sitting in the queue. The ferry ride across the channel was breif and as soon as we hit French soil we floored it all the way to Aachen in Germany passing through Belguim and The Netherlands without stopping once.

We caught up with the others at our first stop, the Ibus in Aachen and went out ‘to where all the crazy kids go’ for some pizza and Bitburger. We found the pizza and beer but there was no sign of any crazy kids.

Outside the Ibus in Aachen, Germany

After a decent nights sleep at the Ibus we packed up again and made a B-Line for the Nurburgring so we could find a place and pitch our tents.

The Jag coming up the rear.

The road to the Nurburgring

After driving around the ring and not finding a single place to stop we headed back to the entrance to start again in the opposite direction when a guy came running over saying “Do you guys speak English? Come with me, we have a place for you to camp, we hate the Germans too”.
A little odd and quite frankly worrying being that we are in Germany at a festival surrounded by Germans, but we needed a place so off we went. Turns out it was a great space on the 3Km mark, we immediately erected our tents, had some ciders and instantly made friends with the Germans across the track….the Swiss were not impressed!

Finished erecting tents, time for a cider

…stay tuned, more to come!