Shagger's Sheepdog Safari

Pizza and Pasta

shagger — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 07:31:00 GMT

Venice greeted me with a warm smile as i stepped off the bus from the airport. The warm weather continues to bless me as i've only had a handful off days it has been cold a rainy, mainly in Paris and London.

I don't think that Venice was designed but rather just built. Wherever there was room for a house it was raised and therefore it's a maze of street's where someone like myself could easily take off from the train station and end up back there thinking "What the? Is there two train stations that look the same in this city?"

The tourists surround almost every bend and back ally but it is possible to get away from the hordes and off to the secluded spots where you could sit and just gaze at the sight of a picturesque canal with houses rising out of the sea on either side. Probably the most beautiful city i've been to yet.

On to Rome a few days later and with a couple of days missed by the delayed flight i spent the two days there doing the best to see as much off it as possible in the time frame. St Peter's Basilica was the first stop and at 7:30am it is an awesome sight with hardly anyone around to bother you and no line at all. The sight from the top is amazing as you stare down towards Piazza di San Pietro and central Rome.

The Vatican required a two hour wait and while it was good to see what the Sistine Chapel looked like along with some Rapheal frescoes, i don't think the wait is quite deserving.

Moving along, to the other sites, the Pantheon is an awesome testament to roman engineering in the way it has stood the test of time even with a hole in the roof. It would have been a sight when they had there Pagan rituals there back before Constantine brought in Christianity. It is interesting to think of what our lives would be like had he not done such a thing.

The Colosseum is a little smaller then i thought it would be, but still a magnificent amphitheatre. It would have been an awesome sight when packed but i'm not sure if the games themselves would have been my cup of tea.

Next stop was the Forum and Paletine Hill. At first glance it just looks like a bunch of fallen down houses with the foundations left, but i'm sure back 2000 years ago it would have been a sight to see.

After finishing up in Rome i took my last journey on Busabout to Florence. On the first night we had an overpriced meal at a steakhouse in town but it was a good way to meet up with some of the others on the bus and after a few shuttles a good time was had by all, including some karaoke thrown in for good measure.

The lines continued in Florence which meant that a few of the museums were skipped, but this just left more time to stroll around the city and relaxing back at the camping ground.

After a train ride early in the morning i took an afternoon plane to Budapest for the start of my Eastern European adventures and to lighten the load on my wallet.

One more month to go before i get to some South East Asia action, can't wait. But there is still lots more in store for me in Europe including a viewing hopefully of my beloved Cats win a Premiership from Munich during Oktoberfest.

Weather holds off on the Islands.

shagger — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 02:22:00 GMT

Rolling into London after a quick train ride from Paris to London the weather was fairly predictably... SHIT! Luckily enough i had a familiar face to great me after a ride on the London tube and attached to that was a place to crash for a few days. Dogga was another great host but unfortunately due to work we were unable to meet up that much.

This meant that most of my time in London was spent doing the usual sights, with the highlight being a visit to Lord's. It was here that i realised how threatened the English feel about a take-over of 'their' game by the Asian teams. They still believe that it is in the best interest for a bunch of 60+ males who buy their way into the MCC to make the rules that govern the game that they are so shit at.

Anyway, getting out of London i headed for the west coast and the lovely town of Bristol. Met by a face that i hadn't seen in a while, Daryl, and a face that i can't seem to get away from at the moment in Balshaw. Had a good few meals at a couple of local pubs. Sunday roast went down a treat with the only downer in the form of a six year old singing literally in our ears repeatedly, "Spider Pig, Spider Pig, does what ever, Spider Pig does." I'm sure the Simpson's movie will be great when i see it but that moment will probably give me the irates due to a young boy in a pub on the other side of the world.

Again saw the sights including day trips to Bath and Cardiff. Cardiff was really cool place with a beautiful harbour and Castle.

After some complications in getting to the airport which included a taxi ride equivalent to about $80 Aussie dollars, i made the flight to Dublin for a nights stay before i made the long and painful bus trip to Galway the following day. Again, Halford was working for the week so most of the days were spent taking day trips to the Aran Islands, Connemara, and the Cliffs of Moher. Time was also spent a a couple of pubs trying out the fresh Guinness.

On the last weekend of August i headed with Halford to a Music Festival on the Eastern side of the Island called Electric Picnic. Drama's were had before we even got there with missing fuel for the stove, looking for stove fuel and the sorts, it ended up that we got there a bit later then expected, which was starting to get on my nerves as we didn't get to see a couple of acts on the first night that i would have liked to, but we still had a good time all the same and the tent stayed up no probs.

Saturday was a ripper of a night with a set by Architechture in Helsinki playing in the arvo with Gus calling out a cheerio to yours truly and rocking along in the forward pocket. This was followed up by some barn dancing which was great fun and then off to the big acts of the weekend, Beastie Boys and Chemical Brothers. While Beastie Boys were good, Chemicals Brothers went off and it was awesome. Then off to the Silent disco which i visited every night there - it incorporates two DJ's playing tunes on two channels that you listen to wirelessly through headphones. Great concept.

Sunday was similar to Saturday, said goodbye to Halford and then caught a bus to Dublin the next morning.

Tired and sore i spent my days in Dublin just strolling around, which included a visit of course to the Guinness factory. After two days there a flight was to follow early on the morning of the 5th.

Waking up still sort of in a daze i noticed that it seemed a little lighter then i should have been for the 3:30am alarm that i had set the night before. Raising the watch to my face a opening the bleary eyes my heart dropped as i noticed that it read 7:00am with my plane to Venice already left 40 minutes ago. Getting up quicker then i had down any other time on my trip got dressed and checked out. Getting into the Airport and searching for somehow to rectify the situation the best Solution came in the form of two more days spent in Dublin and another flight booked a little more expensive this time.

The last two days in Dublin were spent relaxing while taking in a few more sights that i hadn't got round to during the previous days.

The next time i caught the flight i decided to not take any chances and instead spent the night at the airport, making the plane easily this time.

So lessons have been learnt about flying, but looking back now I've been lucky to go this far in my travels and not have any major incident, and if this is the biggest hiccup then I'm pretty lucky in comparison to a lot of other travelers that I've met on the way.

Gallery: Shitty English weather turns good.

shagger — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 04:31:00 GMT

UK and Ireland

Gallery: Spainish nights

shagger — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 04:03:00 GMT

Hot!

Spain Siesta and Paris nights

shagger — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 08:57:00 GMT

Hola,

Well a few k's have been clocked up since the last post and sorry again for the laziness of myself.

Just quickly the train went ok from Denver to New York. A long two days and glad I don't have to do it again. By the way, the train system sucks over in the states, NEVER use it!

New York was cool the second time around, saw the Phantom of the Opera - wish I could sing - I bet the lead guy gets all the ladies.

As for the flight it sucked balls! I got onto the plane which decided it would stay on at the terminal with the doors closed for 2 hours so arriving at Zurich 2 hours late meant that I literally ran for the plane - 11.5 secs for 100m with backpack - which of course meant my luggage didn't arrive with me. Being pessimistic, I thought that the luggage would arrive a month later but to my surprise they put it on the next plane and it arrived to me later that night.

Miquel and Ana were awesome hosts and I hope to meet up with them again some time. They took me out most nights and we partied till dawn on the weekends in the great nightclubs that Barca has to offer. The streets flow with drinks as every, and I mean every, second shop was a tapas bar. Gaudi is amazing. I'm still trying to get my head around some of the stuff he came up with and Le Sagrada Familia will be truly breathtaking when completed. Of course there's the beach, but it's a bit crowded and to be honest we have a lot better ones back home, water's a bit warmer though. The best part I thought was north in Park Guell, another Gaudi with some great views of the city. Almost matching it was Montjuic, where the Olympics were held. Couldn't find a bow and arrow so the flame was not lit unfortunately.

Moving on, I stopped in for a visit to Valencia for a couple of days. Again more time spent at the beach and a cooking class for Paella, originating in Valencia. So now I’m a master chef in Paella, if only I had the recipe.

Madrid was fairly good. Had a ripper of a museum on modern art including Picasso's Guernica. Went to a bullfight, probably one of the cruellest and bloody ways to kill an animal? More sightseeing and going out at night I left thinking I’d have a few quiet days in San Sebastion down at the beach.

Things didn't end out that way and in the end even though most days were spent at the beach, a fair few nights were spent out at bars and clubs, including one nightclub with guest DJ Bobby Sinclair. Needless to say the place was packed and it went off to the wee hours on the morn.

After dragging myself away from the place - I could have spent another week there - I found myself in Paris. Did all the touristy things but the highlight for me was riding down the Champs Elysees and around the Arc Triumphe. Tour de France 2008 here I come.

So next on the agenda is London, and then from there to Bristol and Ireland for some Craic.

Boulder, that's it!

shagger — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 08:19:00 GMT

It's a little surreal to think that in a couple of days i'll be in Barcelona and my trip to the states will have finished, but i'm glad to be heading off as i believe this country has given me all it can for the meanwhile.

Boulder is awesome, i love this place. There is so much to do you could stay here for ever and just go riding, hiking, skiing, kayaking, and just about any other outdoor sport you can think of. Christine took me for a hiking the other day with her regular hiking group for a 8 hour climb of about 800 metres up to two lakes called bob and betty. It was good to get out in the bush again and check out the rockies. We went down to Colorado Springs too to check out some cliff dwellings that the local native americans used to live in back over one hundred years ago. We also drove up to Pikes Peak to see what it's like to be up over 14,000 feet - windy and a little cold.

Besides that i've just had a really cruisey time here chilling out in the local town and going for walks just up the hill. Dave and Dale made a bit of a surprise visit for a few days which was great. We went out on Sunday arvo for a few beers at a local then headed out for the nightlife which somehow ended at a swimming pool of a local estate of these people we met up with.

Dave and Dale finally got their tags for T-Rex and are now extremely happy that they have a god chance of selling the car legally.

Finally thoughts on America. Things are really cheap here, anything made in mass production, ie. electronics, fast food, in fact food in general, is cheap even with the exchange rate - even though it's creeping up to 90 cents. This means that people love to spend money and a large population are in debt, and the people who love fast food - a lot from down south - are big fat people.

The people are really nice though and most are not too arrogant and ignorant. They all seem to love the Aussies and their accents which means that on some occasions all we had to do was open up mouths to start any conversation.

Till next time,

Luke

Gallery: More USA

shagger — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 05:26:00 GMT

A gew more pics to keep you happy

American history 101

shagger — Sun, 8 Jul 2007 00:51:00 GMT

Three hours in Philly the first time was probably not enough so I decided to check it out for a second time. Fairmont Park is massive and as the Hostel was located at the north end and the city at the south end it took a bit of walking to get into the city. The temperature seemed to be somewhere in the region of 'Bloody Hot' with humidity dripping from every object. Climbed up the rocky stairs, saw a museum of Rodin sculpture and visited the Temple University. Nice city but not a hell of a lot other then the Independence stuff along with a few other things to do.

Washington was another story. Again I had stop off here with the other guys on the way up but I felt I needed to come back here for a few more days to see everything I wanted. In the end I spent 5 days here and I was awesome. Spent over a day in the Air and Space museum, could have spent another. It will be hard to top this museum as the best I’ve seen yet. Other good museums were the Museum of Natural History, Holocaust Museum, - very somber but well worth the visit - and the National gallery of Art East wing.

While I was there the Smithsoniom Institute had a folk festival from Northern Ireland, Northern Virginia roots, and the Mekong region. After seeing the things on the Mekong I’m really excited now to get down to that region in a few months.

By the way, this time of the year is not a good time to travel as everyone else in the country seems to be doing the same. I don't mind kids but when you get a number of them, stick them in a museum that they couldn't care less about and drag them around all day, they turn into annoying little shits. Not all of them, but just enough to give you the shits.

Anyway, had a blast in Chicago for July the 4th. Met some random guys at a concert I was at and spent the day with them and there friends. Fireworks were a bit lame, but the fact that the whole day, people kept on reminding me why the USA is the best country in the world made up for it.

Hope everyone's not getting too depressed by the weather back home. It's currently a pleasant 24 deg but will hit mid thirties sometime today.

GO CATS! Get on board those who go for lesser teams like, Essendon. Tell Steve that his team put up a good fight but just not good enough.

State College

shagger — Sun, 8 Jul 2007 00:17:00 GMT

As we drove into the driveway of the Blue house, a couple of familiar faces greeted us with huge smiles and hugs. I found out the next day that the 'salad rolls' that we had that night when we got in are in fact called hoagies. Howard had just finished the school year and had set about organising a number of activities for my stay, the main of which was the white water canoeing.

The next day I finally said my goodbyes to Balshaw and Dale and was immediately put to work mowing the grass, cutting/jumping on tree's to make them break and weeding at Christina's mothers place in preparation for the following day's festivities. Again, there was plenty of food to go around, theses people know how to cater. Howard was keen to show his winter cross country skiing trails he had made through the woods and in the fields.

We all managed to see Carl’s skills of the drums when we made it to some underground bar to see him play. Unfortunetly the others in the band were fairly ordinary and I don't think he'll be filling in for them anytime soon. The night was quite funny though, not many people were in the place to see the band as in was happy hour for most of the night - $4 pitchers. Howard and I reckon Christina was a little tipsy, Anna sneaked in the back door under age, and I was given the job of going to the bar because Howard and Christina seemed a little daunted by the younger crowd, so a good night was had by all.

After about a 2 hour crash course on white water canoeing we set off to the Lower Youghiogheny River, PA. Apparently I did alright and we only went in once, there were a couple of grade 4 rapids - it goes 1-6 - but you'll be happy to know mum that we stayed away from the one that kills people, seriously!

Saw another baseball game, this time it was terrible - apparently the team we were going for 'The Spikes' have now won 9 games in a row since I’ve left. Howard took me into Amish country with there buggies, hats, overalls, and beards. They're funny people the Amish.

Hiking with Anna was an experience. We sort of got lost and landed on the wrong side of the range which made a 6 mile walk into about a 10-12mile walk. At one stage I think Anna was about to clobber me.

So after about 10 days I left on a Train towards Philly and Washington, before my travels to Boulder.

Oh Canada!

shagger — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 23:34:00 GMT

Bounjour,

As you can tell my french is great now. I can say, "Sorry i don't know how to speak french." It's great because then everyone speaks English to you and you don't look like a stupid American. Montreal was cool. The city was lively, maybe because of the Formula 1 on that weekend, but it also seems to be dripping with culture and class. After speaking to one of the bar staff at a cool little bar, we set off to impress the lady with a little cheat sheat of french sayings like, "I see the universe in your eyes" and "You, me let's go!" Needless to say that none of us got any action with this little piece of paper as our guide.

Next was Torronto and just a quick stop in for the night where we stayed with one of Dave's old friends. Things didn't seem to go right so we got out of there pretty quick and down to Niagra on the lake and Angels Gate, the winery where Phil and Meg live. We spent a cruisey couple of days there just chilling out and getting drunk on all things wine. Sophia is a little livewire, can seem to play ALL day long.

The last stop off in Canada was of course the Niagra Falls. Fairly large, a shit load of water going down it which dean would remark, hydro, but too touristy for my liking. There's pretty much a city built right on the falls. Anyway, Dave and I were honoury guest at a wedding on the Maid of the Mist. Very wey ceremony but cheap at about $10 per person.

So that was my quick stay in Canada, people still can't believe that Dave and Dale brought a car and were travelling around in it. The Tags, still hadn't come though when we passed the border and the count for being pulled over by the cops stands at 3. All about the temp licence plate that no one has seen up here or heard about, but they seem to believe the story we tell and let us go.

Next stop, State College!

Gallery: East Coast USA

shagger — Fri, 8 Jun 2007 23:53:00 GMT

More photo's of the travels.

East Coast USA

shagger — Thu, 7 Jun 2007 02:10:00 GMT

Hi again,

After Atlanta we took our bad boy machine T-Rex up the East Coast of the continent. We started off in Carborro next to Chapel Hill at Mary and Jack's place - friend of Dave's. It's an awesome place to go to, really cruisey and a great place to chill out for a couple of days.

Then we took off for a random stay at Williamsburg and a party at our B&B we had to ourselves. Next stop was Washington, and the whole tourist thing. The Air & Space and Holocaust museums are well recommended.

We stopped off in Philly on our way to New York for a lesson in America history. New York, the city that will suck you in and spit you out. We literally dragged ourselves out of the place after, long days sight seeing and late nights partying - don't worry mum we all looked after ourselves. The train system really does go all night as Dale and I tried it out.

After leaving the Big Apple we stayed at Allensville, PA. For a few days with another mate of Dave's for some great hospitality and fishing.

We then took off for Boston which is another cool place, especially Cambridge and had a great time at coffee house, and bars.

We have taken off north into New Hampshire and Vermont for some great scenery, and to get away from all the congestion. Went for a 2 hour walk the other day near Mt Washington and after getting back 3.5 hours later and soaking wet as it started to rain on the way home - we took a wrong turn - we made our way to Burlington, VT. Went to the Burton Snowboard factory and now we are off to Montreal to try out our French.

Till next time,

Luke

South USA

shagger — Thu, 7 Jun 2007 01:35:00 GMT

Hi all,

Sorry about the slackness of my posts but I’ll try to update as best I can.

So after the east coast I headed off to Nashville, TN. via air. Stayed at a nice hostel/house way outa town. I only stayed for a night as I was meeting up with the gang from Atlanta the next day. However, I still managed to hear some of the worst western karaoke that anyone could hear.

Dave, Britain, Matt, and Dale picked me up in flash flooding conditions and we made our way to Kentucky and the Derby. The Derby itself was just a big drinking session for everyone else but us it seemed. I've never seen so many 'blokes' getting tanked up on girl drinks - mint dollops. Check out some photo's from Dave's web site. http://didjidave.blogspot.com/2007_06_01_archive.html

We had a great week in Kentucky at Britain’s parent’s house. Her dad took us out to breakie at the gas station for some biscuits and gravy. Saw a horse stable/farm, went on a distillery tour of Woodford Reserve, and saw a bunch of other stuff there.

Moved on to Atlanta, where we stayed at Britain's house for a few days. While the guys were looking for a van to buy I checked out a bit of the Atlanta scene. The Martin Luther King Jr. area was fairly cool and interesting to see a bit about the segregation laws.

After a couple of days the guys bought a car and a random girl at a bar in Atlanta named it Tomato Rex, aka T-Rex, a 1998 GMC Safari van for those playing along at home.

Gallery: Southern USA

shagger — Wed, 9 May 2007 01:23:00 GMT

The great south where ya all have fun!

Gallery: West Coast USA

shagger — Wed, 9 May 2007 01:09:00 GMT

California

West Coast USA

shagger — Thu, 3 May 2007 14:51:00 GMT

Hi all,

So i've been in the States now for 9 days and everything is going well so far. The hostels are nice and i've even had one of the rooms to myself which was a pleasent difference to the crowded rooms.

As for first impressions i like to think of the States as controlled chaos. The people here are very intense and loud, which may be compensating for the fact that they talk really slow. I have to repeat myself at least once. Also, the econimic diference between the rich and poor is hard to get used to. There are homeless people everwhere you go and so many people with what seems like a whole truck load of mental problems. I suppose thought that this is what happens when you privatise everything in your country.

Anyway, on the second day here i met up with some aussie backpackers. One of them met up with a nickolodeon producer and he was kind enough to drive us around for the day which included a trip up to the Hollywood sign where we took some fosters cans to drink to celebrate ANZAC day here even though it was the 24th, but 25th for you guys at home. That night we saw The Nightwatchman, aka Tom Merollo from Rage Agianst Machine, play along with guest performances from Ben Harper, Alanis Morrisette, Jerry Cantrell, Cypress Hill and more that i can't remember of at this time. Not bad for a cover of $10 and only 200 people.

Went to a baseball game at Dodgers Stadium against San Fransisco Giants with 8 time MVP winner Barry Bonds. I must say that it is a pretty boring game for an outsider with the only highlight coming in the first innings with Bonds hitting the only homer for the game.

By sheer luck i saw the World Cup final, Yeh! After giving up on seeing it on a TV - One of the biggest tornements on the planet, next door to them and they will only show it in a South African pub on the other side of town, bloody Yanks - i saw a couple of guys in a taxi and asked if they were off to see the cricket. They said yes, so i jumped in to the suicide taxi and we went off to see the last of the aussie innings and the Sri Lankans innings. What a game, and a shambles at the end. Bet some of you at home would have taken a few sickies to see the end of the game, i.e. Greg.

Besides that i've just dome the tourist thing here in LA. Universal studios (fairly good), Mann's chinese theatre (just like an ordinary theatre), and Disneyland with Susie on her 21st b'day (not too bad, a little more for the young ones though).

I've spent a few days in San Diego which was good. Saw the world Famous San Diego Zoo. They still have the Pink Flamingoes mum. The park was well worth a visit and i do suggest you take a peak if you're in the neighbourhood. I also saw the USS Midway which is an engineering masterpiece. To land those planes within 30 seconds of eachother is mind-blowing and they take off at the same rate. 0-280kmh in about 2 secs.

While i was in San Diego i also crossed the Border into Tijuana, Mexico. Not as bad as i thought, but the main strip is something to behold. Sin City to the max. Bars, clubs, Strip joints, brothels line the street as far as the eye can see and they are keen as to get you into there place. Luckily, i went there with the assistant manager of the hostel in San Diego who knew the place well and he took me to a bar which he knew the guys who ran it. Tehy looked after us and even shouted us the drinks and meal.

I'm back in LA now and off to Nashville tomorrow to catch up with Balshaw and the gang for a bit of Kentucky Derby action. By the way how'd the cricket boys go with there horse at the May races Greg?

Hope your all safe and well,

Luke

P.S. I'll put some photo's up soon.

I'm about to leave!

shagger — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 10:50:00 GMT

Some people have been wondering about the RSS feed so i thought I'd write a quick message so they could test it out to see if they can get it.

It's only 4 more days now so they frantic packing has started, i've shaven the shag, and hopefully this time next week i'll be enjoying the sunny beaches in California.

Hope to see some of you in melb tomorrow night!