Oktoberfest

3 days

Litre beers

Two Justins

Broken...........

Train bound for Munich

Die Bahn train number01 805 194 195

If I've learned anything in life I should have known not to say it.

When your AFL team is 23 points up with 3 minutes to go, do you say you've got a certain win?

When South Africa has to score over 400 runs to win a One Day game do you say "it can't be done" and head to bed?

When you're out for a few beers on a sunday afternoon do you turn to your friend and say for the amount of beer you've drunk you feel pretty sober?

When you're driving the ball well in golf do you say "geez I haven't sliced/hooked a single ball today"?

No,

You don't say a single word. Why? Because your team goes down by a point, South Africa do it with easy, you end up blind drunk and you couldn't throw the ball down the fairway straight.

So why oh why did I say to Jusso this morning that we've got nothing to worry about for this trip to Germany.

We managed to get up on time, catch the cab with no problems, pass through security without any beeps, boarded the plane on time for a change, and the plane arrived in Frankfurt without any problems............. Frankfurt Ham.

We estimated that it would take about 30 minutes to get through customs and get to the train station, and I was even carefull and booked the train a full hour after we arrived in Frankfurt.

Unfortunately Frankfurt is not Frankfurt Ham. Frankfurt Ham is no where near Franfurt.

Which means it's no where near the train station.

Which means we've got nothing to worry about actually translates to being an hour and a half late for the train bound for Munich.

It's not all bad though. We can get on any train for the day, and my couch surfer Larissa has sent her numbers and has borrow a car to come and collect us from the train station.

We've also managed to back up (finally) from the thursday, friday, saturday, sunday night session in Dublin. But as usual, that's for another post.

Guinness, Shags staff and more guinness

I haven't had much time to write about Dublin, mainly due to the fact that I've either been in the pub drinking guinness, or too drunk to see the keys on the laptop.

Jusso, Prue and myself arrived in Dublin on Thursday afternoon and headed to the Regency to check in and get sorted. We met another girl from Australia, Leanne, on the plane and shared a cab from the airport.

We exchanged details and organised a place to catch up for our first Guinness. After a couple of touristy photo's we got the pour, the sit, and the settle over and done with.

For all those that like a guinness but haven't made it to Ireland, it's something to behold. For all those that told me how much better the Guinness tastes in Ireland, you were right.

We had a few beers that night but didn't really let it get too out of hand, we had to try and save ourselves for the reunion on the Saturday night.

After some breaky in the morning Jusso and I headed in to the city to catch the final between Geelong and Collingwood, and I have to say it's the first time I can remember that I actually cheered for Collingwood.

AFter a few beers and one hell of a game we decided it was time to head off and do the Guinness Brewery tour.

The tour was awesome, but because we got there a little bit late I had to rush through the upstairs area (and through the ad's) to make sure we made the roof top bar for a pint of the greatest Guinness of all.

After the beer we had to head off to a pub quickly to make sure that we caught the Ireland game. We headed up to the Barge and quickly found a spot to watch the rugby directly under a telly.

From here everything goes a little bit fuzzy. Prue left us at the pub, and I have vague memories of ordering 2 Guinness and 2 neat Jamesons each round, and how many rounds there were I'm not 100% sure.......... but I don't think you could count them on two hands.

I lost Jusso on the way home, we stopped off at a kebab shop for some food and while I was inside talking to some friends we made back at the pub (it seemed this kebab shop was a bit of a popular hangout), and when I came back outside he was gone, along with my food.

I set off down the road to get back to the Hotel, turned up the road that our hotel was on and walked for about 10 minutes........ except when you turn on to the road our hotel is on you only have to walk about 30 seconds.

Hmmmm, could I be on the wrong road at 4.15am after starting drinking with Jusso at 11am for the footy? Surely not.

After walking back 10 minutes to the main road it turns out, and don't be too amazed here, but I was actually on the wrong road. Not only that but when I left the Kebab shop I started walking in the wrong direction.

TAXI!!!!!!

When I got back to the Regency (10 minute cab ride, no chance of walking) I went past Jusso's room to get my food.

GAAAAWWWWWNNNNN!

Bastard!

The next morning was slow, but because this is a long post already I'll leave the story of the reunion until tomorrow.

Thursday night, Fitzgeralds, Temple Bar, the Quays (AFL), The Barge (Rugby), Messrs McGuires (lunch and reunion)

Must See in Mexico - Part 2

I've decided that my second must see entry will be all about Surfing thanks to one of my videos making it up on surfline. Thanks to Surfline for putting it up there, and please make sure you check it out (link is at the bottom of this post).

I've made very short notes on each of them, but if you want to know more click on the titles to head to a previous post with a bit more detail.

Oh, and don't forget to check out the previous part, Must See in Mexico - Part 1.

6. San Juanico - Scorpion Bay
   Scorpion Bay was the first place that we managed to get a surf in Mexico. As we travelled down the Pacific Coast we were greeted by flat condition after flat condition.
   
   When we arrived here (after a long drive over graded road) and was happy to see a wave breaking, albeit a very small wave and ideal for the longboard.
   
   This is a must stop place, and if you're after a good coffee and internet don't forget to head up to see Dustin Smith at Point Surf Baja
   
   
7. Puerto Escondido
   This place is awesome, so very very relaxing and a great wave.......... to watch from the beach. The wave here is called the Mexican Pipeline, and for good reason. There are several breaks nearby which are more for the beginners like myself, but I had a lot more fun catching these guy's on film. To check out the film head over to Surfline
   
   
8. Barra De La Cruz
   This hosted the "Somewhere in Mexico" tour last year as part of the WCT. The wave is consistant and the place is beautiful, but be warned that if you sit on the shoulder and wait for someone to let you have a wave you're just not going to get one.
   The guys and gals that surf here are good!
   
   
9. Sayulita
   Sayulita is growing bigger and bigger each year, but the roads are still dirt and it's off the beaten track a little. The wave there is small but very consistent, I'm sure it gets much bigger but at least you're nearly always guaranteed a wave.
   
   
10. Playa Bruja
    This place is about 15 minutes north of Mazatlan. The break, while not really big, is consistent and there isn't that many people out there first thing in the morning.
    
    The restaurant do great meals and reasonable priced drinks, makes it a great place to surf a few sessions and chill out for a day.

For those of you that scrolled straight to the bottom, here is the link to the Surfline video that I filmed in Puerto Escondido

Heading to Ireleand

As usual the start to the trip has been quite entertaining.

I packed up my things from Walpole road and said goodbye to Rol's and my new friends and head off to meet Jusso and Prue at Clapham Junction.

Once I got there a lady walked up and through her bag onto the ground next to me. Doesn't seem very weird, but here's a few pointers to get your mind on what this girl was like.

Firstly, she had a flat bottle of vodka that cost 2 pound which she was swigging, she was smoking even through there was a strict no smoking rule on the platform, as she approached her jeans were hanging halfway down her thighs (her tracky dacks must've been in the wash) and she randomly swore at the train for being late.

I just smiled as she made eye contact, she smiled back, and that was the last time I looked in her direction.

Jusso and Prue turned up as more and more people arrived at the platform. Apparently there was a security scare at one of the terminals, so none of the regular trains were arriving at Clapham.

Eventually, 45 minutes late and looking much like the train trip for Cardiff, the train arrived and we squeezed on board.

The next issue was when we got to the checkout counter at Gatwick. I was of the understanding that the 10 pound extra I paid for having the guitar allowed me to take it on the plane. WRONG! I had to check the guitar on as luggage. No problems, but it's the first time I've ever done it with that guitar, so as I write this 30000 feet above the ground I've got my toes crossed that it gets there alright (I had my fingers crossed but it made it a bitch to type).

Next up was Jusso. Bag on the scale, 19 kg. Thanks for coming, that'll be 40 pound for excess weight, 10 for each kilo. So Jusso went through his bag, put one pair of shoes in my bag (I had to take mine around to oversize checkin because of the guitar) and another pair in his carry on.

Actually, I'm only just realising this now, but he's wearing a pair of shoes, one pair in my bag and another in his day pack. Who needs 3 pairs of shoes? I'm not even wearing shoes.

But I digress.

Jusso put the bag back on the scale and the guy let it go at 16kg.

Next up was Prue.

When she booked her flight she wasn't going to take a bag. I don't know too many 20 year old girls that can travel to another country with just a carry on bag, but I was impressed with her effort.

Of course, she ended up bringing a bag so she had to line up at another counter to pay for the luggage, then head back to check in before they would issue her with a ticket.

But after 3 small issues we had our boarding passes an headed off to security and get a coffee.

Jusso grabbed us some coffee's and we sat down and talked about the trip, what we were going to do, some new ideas for Shag's back home, whether we were bum or boob guys, usual small chit chat.

All of a sudden Jusso realised the time, it was 1515 and our plane departed at 1525.

Shhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittttttt!!!!!!

We ran down the stairs, through the corridors for about 800 meters to check in just as the doors were closing and for them to tell us the obvious, that we were the last passengers on the plane.

I don't mind running 800 meters, just not with a 15 kg backpack on.

I should have learned that I need to get out the front of the gate as soon as I get my boarding pass, this is becoming a regular occurrence.

For now, we're all on the plane and have a spare seat next to each of us. I even got one in the emergency exit.......... which kind of makes me think that there's a good chance that I'll have to do something. Oh well, at least I'm the first one out of the plane (once I push the older lady sitting by the window to one side...... kidding).

I'm a bit excited now. My first Guinness in Ireland is just hours away. Minutes even if they have a tap at the airport.

New Banner for Surf the Dream

I'm looking to change the banner of the site and giving it a bit of an overhaul and I'd like to hear what you think.

Which of the two do you think would best suit the blog, or if you don't think either feel free to suggest something else that might fit in.

Chrissy Shirts from Zazzle

To celebrate our beloved Chrissy I decided to make up a shirt. Well, it was to celebrate the van and to make sure that I had more then just 3 shirts to wear.


I know that my harem of girls were keen to get one each, but if you like what you see feel free to head to Zazzle and place your own order.

New feature on Surf the Dream

I like it when you check back in and see how my travels are going, but sometimes you need a bit of a prompt.

For those of you that want a notification of when I've added a new post simply click on the link on the right hand side of the page that says "Email me Surf the Dream" and enter you're email address.

You will get an email from Feed Burner asking you to validate the request. Once you've validated you will get an email every day that I update the blog with a new post.

I'd prefer if you just stopped by to see how things were going, but sometimes we all need a little push.

Southwark Church and St Paul's Cathedral

Today was a little different from my first few days in London.

First of all, I got out of bed before 8am. Now that was a common occurance for Mexico, in fact it was rare I was still in bed that time, but since I've arrived in the UK that has certainly changed.

Don't get me wrong, I'm awake at about 7.30am, but decide that the first hour or so of the day should be spent thinking about how good it is not to have to be at work and whether I should get up or just spend all day lying down.

Hate me? Well don't. I spent all day yesterday working on a resume (from bed of course, god bless the laptop) and will start applying for jobs soon. But, instead of being in a warm climate enjoying Christmas, i'll be in freezing England working.

Feel better? Good.

I got off the tube at the London Bridge Station and wandered up into the street having no idea where I was and no idea where I was going.

I noticed a bit of a tower with a clock, so I thought I'd wander over and check that out (no, it wasn't Big Ben, that's for another adventure).

I wandered in and found an amazing Cathedral, Southwark. There were 30 or 40 panels in the floor, large coffin sized panels, which read "Here lay ..................... dyed .............". It made it really difficult to walk around the place without feeling bad. I'm not entirely sure if they are actually under the floor, but I did a quick "Our Father" before leaving just in case.

This place was quite big and had a lot of things to it. It has an area around the side which is dug up a few metres down. It reveals an old Roman road (or so it says) and several walls that had been built at different times throughout the life of the place.

Inside the architecture was simply amazing (holly if you haven't been you really should). It's hard to convey much more into words, so as usual here are some photo's that will give you a glimpse of how beautiful it was........ and if I've got my act together you can check out some video as well (unlikely at the moment though)


From here I walked on in search of my next big sight. I walked along the river up towards the Millennium Bridge.

When the bridge was opened they realised a few days later that it had somewhat of a dramatic sway, and as a conciquence they closed the bridge for further development.

The bridge itself is nothing special, except for the fact that at one end you have the Tate Modern, and at the other you have St Paul's Cathedral (funeral for Lord Nelson, Winston Churchhill, someone else really important that I'm forgetting aahhhhhh it's the Duke of Wellington, and Dianna's Wedding ..... sorry Roland).

I have a couple of photo's of the outside, and took a few of the skyline from the Golden and Stone Gardens. Unfortunately there is no filming or photo's allowed inside St Paul's (yes before you say it, they were allowed at the place I went to before here) so all you have is my descriptions.

Unfortunately, I can not put in to words the beauty of the place. Imagine a place that is so amazing that at a time where religion struggled, the St Paul's thrived, when London burnt down, St Paul's was rebuilt even more beautiful, when England was being bombed in WWII, the order was to protect St Paul's at all costs necessary.

So strong is this building to the English people that it still remains the primary figure in London's Sky LIne, and however grand you believe it is from any position outside it ten folds that from within.

The one hundred sixty three steps to the Whispering Gallery (where a whisper spoken into the wall can be heard 30 meter's on the other side), the further one hundred and nineteen steps to the Stone Gallery, and the final one hundred and fifty two steps to the Golden Gallery are more then worth the effort (although be warned that your legs will shake a little on the way down, good for Elvis impressions though).

Here are a few photo's that I got from the Stone and Golden Galleries.

There's heaps to do here, so give yourself a couple of hours. I spent about 2.5 hours and used the audio tour provided (3 pound 50) and didn't see as much as I could have, and pretty much rushed the Crypt (the area underneath the floor of the Cathedral).

If I go back I'll wait for the guided tour, which allows you in to some area's that are otherwise roped off. The guided tour is the same as the audio, except you can ask questions but you don't get the atmosphere that the audio tour provides. Actually, just do both.

At one stage during my tour I was on the Stone Gallery and Jusso called, he asked if I was speaking on the mobile phone inside of the church but I told him not to worry, to make sure I didn't do anything wrong I pretended that Lambo was standing next to me the whole time. Cheers cudry, you got me through without incident.

Next up will be the National Museum, a few Di Vinci's to be seen.

Must See in Mexico - Part 1

After travelling through the country there are a few things which I think are must do's, and here's a list with some pictures to help you along. I'll do them in lots of 5 so you don't fall asleep after the 58th slide, but if you are ever going to head to Mexico these are the Jewels that we found, I'm sure you'll either find or have experienced others, but here goes......

1. Must get a TOURIST VISA when you cross the border if you plan on going further then Ensenada. We forgot, and ended up paying a fine further down the road.
   
   
2. Eat Tamales on the side of the road
   On the way from the blow holes there were a few of these stands. We pulled over and sampled everything the woman had on off. Everything was GREAT, and we ended up with a few jars of olives as well!
   
   
3. Eat Taco's and spend the night in Santa Rosalita
   Not only are they great taco's, they're also cheap! And you have the added bonus that a bunch of guys will drive past 37 times a beep and hollar at the girls......
   
   
4. Take a Car
   But be warned, it needs to have lots of road clearance because there are HUNDREDS of speed bumps (otherwise know as Topes, watch for signs......... although they are rarely signed)
   
   
5. Visit Bahia De Los Angeles
   It's going to be a long hot drive there, and you will need to fill your car up with a guy on the side of the road with a makeshift sign for Petrol. But don't worry about the quality of his fuel......... all the fuel in Mexico is dirty.
   Don't forget to get a picture under the giant Cactus either. There won't be as many anywhere else on the mainland, so make the use of it why you can. Seriously, look at the size of it. Has to be at least 8 or 9 meters.
   
   Don't forget lots and lots of water, it's of the hottest drives we did for the whole trip, but as you can see it's well worth it in the end.
   

It doesn't take very long to get through five, but if you like what you've seen so far make sure you come back again soon and find out what places make it in Part 2.

Robbed

Just an update on this post, everything is alright and no one is too worried. In fact, only Rol's is affected but has cancelled all his cards and has ordered another drivers license from Aus. It's been good actually, because of it Cress cooked an awesome Lasagne to make rol's feel better, and we get to have some (unless Roland ate all the pies, you fat bastard you fat.....)
Another plus was that I stayed at home all day and got my resume sorted out for IT, oh and the Police that came over....... the chicks were HOT, well at least one of them was super hot, the other one was just okay...... we'll call her Roland's girl. Sorry Rol's, bad day and you're still copping it (copping...copper...cop...ahhh forget it)

---

Don't worry, nothing toooooo nasty (except for Roland's stuff).

Last night someone broke into the place I'm staying at and swipped Rol's phone, wallet and keys.

At the moment the police are checking the door for finger prints (and one of them is a babe!), but the only prints they've found are our own. Hmmm, do you think they'll arrest us and deport us back to Australia again?

It seems pretty funny that after travelling through America, Central America and London the only place that I haven't been robbed was in Mexico and Nicaragua.

In America I had some stuff swiped from the hostels I was staying at, and now this in London. I know it's just random occurances, but it goes to show you that Mexico is not the incredibly dangerous place that people build it up to be. Sure, you have to be careful, but no less then staying in any big city around the world.

Welcome back to reality

After a whirlwind tour of the America's I'm finding that I need to adjust slightly back to reality. Yes, slightly, lets take this one step at a time.

To help me get back on track I needed to make a list. A LIST. They should be reserved solely for work purposes rather then when you're travelling around the world.

None the less, my mind is not what it once was after 7 weeks, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day with my only company being 4 girls (four great girls at that...... if I could only remember their names).

Here are the list of things I need to do, and while they aren't in any necessary order I'm welcoming comments for the order I should be sticking to.

• Fix my resume
• Get a National Insurance Number
• Apply to jobs
• See the sights of London
• Visit Cornwell and go surfing
• Visit Scotland and see the sights
• Go to Oktoberfest
• Go to Australia Vs Wales in Cardiff
• Visit Ireland for a Shag's Reunion
• Register with a "find work" agency

I'm sure there were more things to do............ they don't seem all that important though.

Oh, and Vinni, Bags, Holly and Lize, I won't be forgetting you girls for quite some time!

Arriving in London

I've finally made it out of the America's and am sitting in the livingroom with Rol's and Rich while we watch episode after episode of 24.

We've decided that Sunday will be a lazy day, especially seeing as I did the full tour of London yesterday thanks to Rol's.

I managed to fit in the Tower Bridge, London Tower, Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly Circus, the Royal Justice Courts, Thames, Covent Gardens, Westminster Abby, St James Palace, St James Park, Lincolns Inn and the British Museum........ and we found a pub to watch Australia beat the crap out of Japan.

Tomorrow I'm heading in to town with Rol's to get a mobile phone, bank account and start sorting out some work. I'm beginning to realise that the pound is going to make VERY short work of the cash reserves I have, so I best start earning it pretty soon.

Roland and I catch up for our first beer in over 10 months

New York Yankee's

LET'S GO YANKEE'S LET'S GO!

That was the chant that was cheered out as the mariners took a 2 - 0 run lead in the top of the 4th inning.

With that, the Yankee's came back and made it 2 - 1 by the end of the inning, and besides a few hotdogs and $8 beers not much happened until the 7th inning stretch.

"Take me out to the Ball Game, take me out to the park.........."

I was a little bit disappointed in the game up until this point, although everything else about the experience was spot on.

The night before we got back from the pub crawl and started looking for tickets. The ticketing system was down and after numerous failed attempts we decided to order them in the morning.

I woke early and started to search for the tickets, and got a rather high priced best seating. At $400.00 a ticket I thought there was probably something a little bit cheaper....... I mean we wouldn't spend that much all together let alone each ticket.

Come in Craigslist.

After a quick search and email I got a phone call from Dave who had 4 season tickets that he wasn't using for $35 a piece.

SCORE!!!!

Anyway, the Yankee stadium is an amazing stadium and looks quite brilliant against the back drop of New York City with the setting sun, however looks can only go so far before sporting performance is actually required (hence why Sharapova still plays and what's her name isn't around any more).

Come in A - Rod.

Rodriguez stepped up to the plate and nailed a home run which kicked off a run of 8 homers in the inning, of which he hit the 8th and his 2nd of the inning.

Brilliant, simply brilliant.

Les Miserables

I went to Broadway yesterday with my 2 new friends Fillip and Daisy, and my good old friend Bridget McQuaid.

As the title has no doubt given away, we went to see Les Miserables.

There are a few words that could sum up a broadway show in New York, or Broadway.......

WOW!
WOW!!!
WOW!!!!!

I'm the first to admit that I'm a bit musical, I love to sing (although quite bad) and enjoy strumming the guitar, I've even watched the movie Grease a couple of times, but I don't consider myself to be a 3 hours of singing broadway musical type person.

How wrong I was.

About 45 seconds into the the show I was already blown away at the stage, props, volume of the sining, talent of acting and awesome orchestra.

Although everyone told me that I had to do a Broadway show, and that it would be awesome, I didn't understand just how good they were.

So my advice to you, if you ever find yourself in New York make sure that a Broadway Show, regardless of which one, is on your list of things to do and gets a giant tick.

New York Surfing

Well apparently there is surfing here on the long island, but it's not here at the moment. Take me back to the warm water of Nicaragua surfing.

But when there's no surf there's more then enough to do, especially in a place like New York.

Yesterday I wandered around the Museum of Natural History and walked briefly into Central Park. I wanted to head around and do things like get rid of the car paper work, post my stuff back to aus, but it was Labour Day and EVERYTHING was closed.

Today I went to the US Open and watched Carlos Moyer win in 4 sets, and a couple of young up and coming talents on the outer courts.

How the hell do you say these names?!?!?!

Goodbye Central America

Well I'm well and truely back into civilasation, and rather then just easing my way back into it I've decided to take on one of the biggest cities in the world head on and with no where to sleep on the first night there.

New York is impressive, if only just in it's size. The Big Apple. The freakishly HUGE apple it should be more aptly named.

The trip back from Nicaragua wasn't without a few incidents. The surfboard bag appeared to be lost at the New York airport, but they just decided to put it WAY over the other side of the airport for me. Lucky I didn't have a trolly and my bags were packed with books and presents for everyone..... my back isn't struggling at all.

There was a big of an argument when the plane arrived as well. One girl was having a go at another girl sitting behind her for kicking the seat throughout the whole flight. It was a bit strange, and she ended up making a scene for herself and looked a bit silly.

The cabbie was cool........ but I had to laugh because he was Indian. We chatted about things to do in NY, US open, baseball, talked about his love for soccer, but it wasn't until I was getting out of the cab that i saw a ODI cricket ball. Spewing!!! I could have talked about how Australia whipped India's ass in the World Cup.

I'm kind of disappointed about leaving central america, but I suppose the same was true for both Ocean Beach and Hawaii. I've loved the central america's, or at least what I was able to see of them.

7 weeks in Mexico just wasn't enough, and I didn't even get to the tip of the iceberg in Nicaragua. In fact, I think I could've spent 7 weeks just doing the ruins, another month in Paracho making guitars, two weeks in Scorpion Bay to improve my surfing, another two weeks in Sayulita, a week in Puerto Escondido to film some epic swells, a week in Barra De la Cruz improving my surfing again. I didn't even get to Guatamala, but they've got some fantastic Maya Ruins there as well. Nica, well I only surfed two of the places but got about 5 hours surfing in. There were about another 10 spots that I could have visited, not to mention some of the lesser known spots........ and that's just around Rancho Santana, there's plenty more coastline around.

I'd better get in to line here at the hostel, it's 9.30pm and I still don't have a bed. Surely there'll be a 24 hour bar somewhere if things get really desperate. Actually, even if I get a bed there's probably still a 24 hour bar around somewhere.

Surfing Nicaragua

The last few days in Nicaragua have been awesome, and apparently it's been some pretty shit surf....... could've fooled me.

I've been staying with an old friend of mine from shenannigans, Sherri, at one of the places in Rancho Santana.

The houses are pretty cool, near the beach, AC, cable tv, and you can get one for $190 per night for 6 people. We met a couple of Brazillians that have been there for 14 days and surfed every day.

The waves here are sooooo consistent. There's somewhere to surf everyday, it might not be epic, but there is always surf.