There and Back Again

All Good Things

spongey — Tue, 20 May 2008 12:15:00 GMT

Come to an end, some of them come to a premature end, like my participation in this round the world trip.

For those of you that haven't heard 3rd party, or that i haven't yet seen myself, i am infact home in England.

After (what i believe) was Dengue Fever (straight after my harrowing foot infection) i didn't have the strength, be it mental or physical, to psych myself up for beginning my malaria tablet course (and the host of potential side effects that went with it).

The time its taken me to put this post up, indicates what state i was in when i returned home, i've been for numerous blood tests, and am ordered to live "cleanly" and rest until i recover from the viral beating my body has taken.

So for me, the trip is over, and will have to look at returning at some point (when im more financially secure) in order to complete the leg that i was denied 1st time around

Just like living in Paradise

spongey — Tue, 1 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Amazing here! friendly, extremely hot and just wow its so relaxing here, quiet and time just seems to stand still.

I haven't got to see much here, as im hobbling round with a bacterial infection on my foot (my spongeness won me that one) when i got off the plane i couldnt walk.

Mark the owner of the campsite and bungalows we are staying at is the most enthusiastic person on the island, we were cooking some tahitian food and he demanded to know when we were cooking so he could come in and make sure we got it right and enjoyed it.

Frustrating that my camera couldn't do me justice out here, but thats life, looking forward to being more active and able on easter island, what with the cooler climate and my foot improving daily.

get out and see those stone heads!

Take one

spongey — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 17:49:00 GMT

its the 29th of march, i fly in just over 5 hours and i haven't slept yet.

our goodbye last super turned into a goodbye party that went on and on!

the reason i stated the date, is because the party was the night of the 28th / morning of the 29th, when i get to tahiti it will once more be the 28th.

That means i get to live last night AND today, all over again, interesting spacial issues there... but the most fun thing is, that living the same day and a bit over again means that when i tell people "i feel older than my years" it will finally be true!

Only other comment about tonight, and really the trip in general is, that when i left england, i had no idea that i would meet people, people who come into your life that you only know for a day, a week, a tiny period of time, but because their involved in the same adventure as you, there as far away from home as you. The bonds made are really quite strong quite quickly, and its strange how intense the feeling of loss is that not only are you leaving that person, but that you may never see them again, and you definitely wont see them for a while.

The road goes on

spongey — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 19:39:00 GMT

The Road goes ever on and on

Down from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

And I must follow, if I can,

Pursuing it with eager feet,

Until it joins some larger way

Where many paths and errands meet.

And whither then? I cannot say.

the adventure continues, saturday i leave to my own island paradise, kick up the ass after the comparative lethargy of being in sydney for 3 months.

tarnished a little (ok more than a little) by having my camera and ipod stolen from my hostel this week...

but positive thoughts, onto places im very very lucky to be getting to see!

New Photos

spongey — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 07:17:00 GMT

Got round to adding my sydney photos, all the way back from christmas day...

there are new gomez photos... but there not for the faint hearted...

and theres even the back of raúl's head!

enjoy

Cooking Comments

spongey — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 09:05:00 GMT

As much as i dislike my own head swelling (as certain people tell me it's too big already) we most definitely are the talk of the hostel kitchen

We're either popular because we cook well (we have people commenting that they like watching us cook..) which scared me the first time i heard it!

Other people like us because were from yorkshire, the way we talk and what we say, this is slightly more calming than the cooking comments.

Spanish night is tomorrow night (as long as it doesn't mess with raúl's House watching... as people would die if it did. We are cooking a small spanish dish to serve up for people we don't even know....

and then! thursday is our evening of the cook off, the ladies made us lemon chicken, and on thursday we are going to try the unthinkable... apparently we are going to make dessert!

reason i'm writing this all now, is because its raúl's birthday on friday AND st patrick's weekend... and i know that gomez has been sitting around the hostel room with nothing to do, and is going to go out and paint the town red... (think his female companion is driving him to the drink) so i will be spending most of the weekend helping him (and probably raúl) recover

Survived!

spongey — Sun, 2 Mar 2008 09:04:00 GMT

This weekend was Mardi Gras here in Sydney, which doesn't sound too menacing all on its own, until you discover its actually Gay and Lesbian mardi gras and its the biggest one in the world.

We hid ourselves away from the cavorting going on in the streets, and the couple of times we did venture out it was deadly. I was nearly swept away a few times by groups of people where the number of items of clothing didnt total higher than the total number of people (that includes hats and feather boas) which seemed to be out in force.

raúl seemed to spend the majority of his time outside pressed against walls and leaving me to my own devices when it came to confronting a mob of "party goers" Though i suppose i can accept he had his own problems on that front, his dorm room was invaded for the whole weekend by the "enemy" and he was particularly concerned of returning to sleep in case any of them had pulled and were entertaining friends in the bunk above him.

Other than that, the previous week or so has been almost uneventful, raúl has a job, which is killing him slowly day by day. He returns home with a new injury after every single shift, the only thing getting him through the days seem to be a manically depressed work collegue called Denzil.

On his first day of work his injuy came from a purchase of new shoes, they fell apart (insert dramatic hand movement) and ripped his feet to shreds. Because his work shifts made it impossible to get to the shop to deal with this, he asked me to go in.

The manager (who doesn't turn up to the shoe until 2pm on any given day) informed me that the shoes had been repaired because that was policy, after i told him we didnt want repairs as any shoes that required repairing after one days wear were frankly worthless. He let me know he didnt care, that they were his shoes not mine and that it was all about what he wanted and i could go to hell.

I think i finally understand the helpless feeling that descends on people in a 1 sided relationship.

Raúl has a day off tomorrow, and is intending to go and do battle with "mr turd the shoeman" im wondering what new injury he will return with...

Typical

spongey — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 10:23:00 GMT

we had decided to move up the coast from Sydney this weekend, head towards Newcastle, the Hunter Valley and basically get sloshed on a wine tour or six...

however, this afternoon (while im catching up on sleep that "animal farm" my 50+ roommate has stolen from me) i got a phonecall from the agency that works for the paintball company, and of course they want me...

so monday afternoon at 2pm i'm either starting work, or going for an interview or, i have no idea what im doing other than knowing im not going to newcastle this weekend.

Morning after the nights before

spongey — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 21:28:00 GMT

In the overall contest of who has had the scarier, creepier roomates raúl is so far infront of me its not even really a contest.

Yet over the last few days (it seems like much much longer) the "tattoed man" has taken up residence in one of the bunks by the door in my room.

He's old, long grey hair in a pony tail and he's covered all over in tattoos, but thats not really anything to be scared of, what the problem is... is the noises he makes when he is asleep.

He snores like a chainsaw, talks in his sleep in a language none of us have heard before, and he moans and groans enough for a roman orgy...

Thats why at 8am in the morning, having only returned to my room at 4 this morning... i've been chased out trying to remove the sounds from my mind and struggling to think of something else to write here.

only other thing... Gomez found himself (or rather received for christmas) a female bear companion. I dont like her, she's never ready on time... she gets annoyed when i keep Gomez out on the beer all night, and she just whines and whines.

BUT she needs a name, and i dont intend to give her one :P

so... comment away with a name for Gomez's companion come domestic slave, only thing im really glad of is that my bag isn't full of tiny baby bears...

Who needs a job

spongey — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 13:12:00 GMT

Like to start this entry with two congratulations, though they are rather different.

Firstly its my brothers birthday today, so that deserves celebrating, think ill be popping for a beer or few after i've written this to do just that.

Secondly Kristen, a good friend of mine from Italy has had me worried about a rather serious operation she had to undergo. Thankfully it was 100% successful and thus congratulations to her, another reason to go drinking (if ever i needed one) in order to celebrate.

Now, as those of you who have been talking to me the joy search, which has been going on close to a month now, still shows no signs of actually producing anything worthwhile. Actually when i say worthwhile, i really mean produce anything AT ALL!

That is one reason why i haven't been posting on here anywhere near as regularly as in Denmark, or even when i was in Canberra. My life has descended into sleeping in, drinking and passing the time either reading, watching films or playing poker with my room mates.

I've been saving up more interesting stuff to add to my blog when i think theres enough to make a decent post, rather than adding it in tiny little bits.

I've had a tussle with a rather large black man, who had stolen an exceptionally small chinese man's bumbag full of money and was running down the street (and through people). I'd like to say i was very brave and extremely helpful, but in truth i was directly in his way and didn't get out of it in time. Being swept along clinging to one of the man's huge arms and waiting for enough men to be wrapped around him in order to bring him down. There was a tangle with a security guard who came to our aid and almost handcuffed me, but in the end the chinese man got his money back and i left the black man on the floor once id managed to untangle myself.

Sticking with the chinese, it was new year recently, slightly annoyed i had sttopped taking my camera with me on an evening. I encountered one of those large dragons i'd only ever seen on televison, also most corners were covered with drifting smoke from scores of firecrackers being set off, was almost like standing before a firing squad.

Then this weekend, last night raúl went off with some of his roomates to watch the six nations matches, and i found myself wandering around half at a loss what to do, and the other half of me certain i didnt want to watch another film or do anymore reading. I found myself dancing the night away of all things, which was quite a refreshing experience surrounded by people i didnt know, and would likely never see again.

Then tonight, and what pushed me to make this post, i went to the casino, after once more been filled with the notion of not wanting to sit in and do the same things again. I went in with 100 dollars (normally its 50 but the stakes here are higher than in melbourne) and i came away with 200..

all i need to do is continue like that! and i no longer need a job