Staying for the Weekend

Thanks for the comments guys, I'm going to stay for the weekend and head off to Mexico on Monday with two Australian girls that I met at the Hostel. The car is getting fixed this afternoon and will be finished by tomorrow, Hooray!

We're going to cross over in Tijuana and head straight down past Ensenada until we find a beach we like, and then set up and go surfing (fingers crossed the waves are nice and small with a great big channel to paddle out in)

It's hard to explain just how much fun you can have here in OB, without experiencing the people, the beach, the way of life, the sunshine and the waves, it's tough to understand.

One thing that is pretty clear now though, is if I had to pick somewhere to hang out and it couldn't be Darwin, it's definitely going to be Ocean Beach, San Diego.

Of course it may be over taken when I get around to visiting the other places in the world, but for now this is the place.

As always, it's easier to convey these things into meaning through some shortly explained photo's.

This is where it all started. My Shenannigan's of Ocean Beach.

Friday
Friday 12pm: This was our start to Friday. Who said you can't have a liquid lunch, a liquid car bomb lunch.

Friday 12.01pm - It was all down hill from here

Friday 12.45pm - Okay, now it's getting a little silly.
Saturday
Dave, Shelly, Deb, Rita, Chick Pete and James.

After a looooong Friday afternoon and evening I made it back to Tiny's..... in last nights clothes. When I called James to ask where he lived to get a lift home he replied "just come straight to Tiny's, we're all here.

James and Brooklyn 11.00pm

Brooklyn kept me company while everyone else was at the wedding.

Saturday 11.30pm, James

Sunday 12.05 am - Me and Chrissy

Chrissy is one of my favourites, obviously gorgeous but a very cool person as well....... unfortunately Jeff, her other half, is a champion as well.

Sunday ????? - Sarah did her best to make sure I was going to forget a bunch a this night.

Sunday
Sunday 2.30pm - After a little Breakfast at Tiny's we grabbed some beers and headed to the beach........

Sean and James

Sunday 5pm ......then back to Gallaghers for Guinness and Pizza (and shots of Jamesons). A couple of kids showed up a few hours later asking for $1, then they asked to buy them beers. We politely showed them which way to go......

This is an evening I spent down the beach with the guitar and no beer.....

Mike, Margaret, Tiny.

Monday
Dara, James, Sean, Tiny, Me, Margaret

Monday ???? - It is Tiny's Birthday so we went out for a few drinks starting off at Tiny's and working our way around the town. I actually made it out for a surf today. 40 minutes paddling and one wave back into shore. I'm sore, tired, and dying a slow death.

Me and Dara after I lost us a game of doubles at Lucy's

I played a couple of games of pool against Dara at Tiny's place. After 2 games I had sunk 3 balls and felt less like a man and more like a little school girl. Fortunately she took pity on me and let me win the next 2 games before giving me a hiding in the deciding 5th game. Oh, she also went of to thrash me at the bowling game as well.

Dara and Tiny, Tiny had a thing for sticking his tongue out for pictures this night

After a few drinks at Lucy's (beers and shots of Hawaiian punch thankyou Jay) we headed to O'Bistro to see Brenda and the gang. Here it all went a little bit pear shaped and all the girls were trying to pick up Tiny for his birthday. There were more beers, more shots and everyone kind of started losing their memories from here on in.

Tiny and Chrissy, apparently they both had a tongue theme going

Chrissy, Brooklyn, Tiny, Dara and Brenda Here are the girls "picking up" Tiny

Tiny and I trying to get a picture in O'Bistro's mirror
Ben and Tiny

After O'Bistro we headed back to Tiny's for some final beers and ended what was a Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday bender for a couple of us.

The next day was quiet, really quiet, to the point that I went to the pub for some lunch and Kim poured me a beer with out asking if I wanted one. I graciously handed the beer to the guy next to me and proceeded to down about 17 pints of water for one solitary visit to the bathroom.

We got an early night that night, it was going to be a big day for the 4th of July, but that's for another post all on it's own.

I look back on the misdirection that I was lead on during the journey from Santa Barbara to San Diego and can't help but smile. Melissa was sooooo suprised at how well I was taking the wrong turn, the eventual problem with the car, the fact I had to spend a night behind a service station in the desert etc..... but it's things that happen like that which lead me to experiences like this. Without a simple misread of a map I never would have met the people here and gained the friends that I have to date.

It's all about the journey, never the destination.