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world tour '16
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world tour '16

A 171-day adventure by Gone walkabout Read more
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  • Trip start
    August 20, 2016
    Gone walkaboutworld tour '16Gone walkabout

    And so it begins

    August 20, 2016 in England ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    After a very early start I've made it to Gatwick for the first of many security arse aches while I explain the metal plate in my arm

    Felt appropriate to get a beer in despite the fact it's 8 am here or about 4 in st John's

    Tons of emotions flying around, very sad to say goodbye to friends and family for a long old time but very excited to get started and super frustrated that I'm yet to find a free men's cubical after searching all the toilets in Gatwick...😝😀    Read more

  • Gone walkaboutworld tour '16Gone walkabout

    somewhere up in the sky

    August 20, 2016, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Loving our lead stewardess and her security talk including highlights such as

    This plane is equipped with rather stylish walkway lights in case of an emergency....or in-flight fashion show.

    If you're not a fan of my humour, this place is equipped with 8 emergency exits.

    If you're traveling with children.........why???

    If your life jacket doesn't inflate swim really fast...or blow in the red tube

    And the Audience participation section for seat backs and tray tables

    After a bit of humor to lighten the mood and as if right on cue, pissing rain and hammering winds, Gatwick runway looking suspiciously like a wave pool...gonna miss you too you crazy little island, no need to cry....

    Ps I know my big brother was worried about my leg room, please see attached evidence that West jet rocks considering this is standard economy

    Also briefly thought the internet up here was gonna be good enough to watch a low quality stream of the ab's game....it is not lol    Read more

  • Gone walkaboutworld tour '16Gone walkabout
    1

    First night in Canada

    August 20, 2016 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    I'm here, I've had a wander and a couple pints, I'm knackered...it's pretty here, I'm going to bed after some healthy dinner...not enough energy to write more

  • Gone walkaboutworld tour '16Gone walkabout

    decent walk for an awesome beer

    August 21, 2016 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Killing a bit of time before my brewery tour, decent walk down here, the highlights included waking past the basilica (photo attached)....cos I'm all grown up and stuff. And walking past a graveyard that had 2 gravestones that I wished had been the other way around as both contained one word only(presumably the name of the deceased)...the first said dicks and the second long...oh how I wished they had been buried next to each other and the other way around so I could have been super childish about the death of long, dicks...can't have everything I guessRead more

  • Gone walkaboutworld tour '16Gone walkabout

    the first hang over

    August 22, 2016 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    I write this within minutes of waking up so I can't guarantee no bad language...or that I'm actually alive

    Soooo Canada ey...these Newfoundlanders can drink some some drink and they brew their own so I'm not stuck drinking corrs (see I knew their would be swearing)

    Newfies here have the coolest sing song Irish/Canadian accent I've ever heard, they are massively proud of their Irish/British heritage and I'm told...admittedly when 3 sheets to the wind...that this was part of the British empire until 1949 and as such drove on the left until midnight on a specific night ! love em here but their a bit nuts

    After my adventures in breweries yesterday when I had whatever the tour guide fed me 1 beer before and 1 after I went for the walk back here and met up with Jen (awesome Scottish woman I've known for upwards of 36 hours who lives here too) polished off my sixer and asked her where's good and do you fancy a beer?...God bless this 22 year old, a thousand miles from home for taking sympathy on an old fucker but she responded, the yellow belly brewery is good and yes.

    I realise at this moment I've been awake for upwards of 5 minutes and the hang over isn't curing itself so I will briefly say, st johns is my kinda town, oldest street in North America is also the most bars per km. We visited a decent few decent bars, met a fella from Dudley in the first place that's been here 4 years, listened to country music and sang along, being thoroughly British me and Jen were relentlessly mocking the closing ceremony that everyone had on tv....much the horror/confusion/amusement of the bar staff, met Jen's work buddy's, I got screeched in....I would explain what that means but quite frankly I was half cut when Jen told me it was a traditional newfie thing and all I really remember is some bloke dressed up as a fisherman making me and 20 other gullible tourists kiss a fish and down a soft shot for twenty bucks whilst talking in a hilariously bad Irish accent at a million miles an hour....and had some traditional night out junk food on the way back here.

    I would right more but you're bored and I need breakfast    Read more

  • Gone walkaboutworld tour '16Gone walkabout
    2

    being all sophimistimicated

    August 22, 2016 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    After the huge American breakfast and extra couple hours back in bed failed to cure the hang over I thought I should probably stop laying about doing nothing and go explore the imaginatively named "the rooms", st John's local museum.

    Fascinating exhibit on Newfoundland's contribution to WWI (yes mother I know how into WWI Graham is and yes I took extra photos that I'll email separately), stunning views from the third floor cafe with decent wine and lovely seafood chowder Aaaaaand not much else, oh well nice way to spend an afternoon    Read more

  • Gone walkaboutworld tour '16Gone walkabout

    all at sea

    August 23, 2016 in Canada ⋅ 🌧 21 °C

    After a slow start to yesterday had a great time on the boat tour, not much to report except beautiful scenery and some long distance sightings of some puffins, 2 bald eagles and 1 whale

    Few more pictures in a video here:
    https://goo.gl/photos/YT3KaHQPx9LVZrbC9    Read more

  • Gone walkaboutworld tour '16Gone walkabout
    2

    Welcome to Toronto

    August 25, 2016 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Leaving st John's at 4.30am I arrived in Toronto bleary eyed and confused... It was easy enough to navigate the airport and find myself a train into town and after upwards of 30 seconds of Google maps I thought it would be no bother to walk to the place I'm staying... Big regrets there, 30/40 mins walking with a giant pack on my back and bag on my front in mid twenties heat... To say I was a sweaty mess when I arrived is like saying Hitler was a bit of a naughty boy...

    After I eventually found the place, which looks like a crack den from outside and not much better in the buildings shared hallway I was let in by the owner chimmy...wow, what a beautifully decorated clean place, most bizarre thing ever, I was having a freak out and trying to remember the nearest ok looking hotel until I walked through the front door.

    After eventually cooling down I was going to do one of two things, pass out and sleep... I had a vague notion it was about 10am local but that was about an hour and a half behind where I started and God knows compared to London... Or shower up, make a plan and grab a red bull... I strapped on my big boy pants and made a plan and my God an i glad I did.

    I decided to splurge a little and book a table at the 360 restaurant at the top of the cn tower, expensive, yes, 20 min walk back in the direction I just came...obviously, worth it? Totally (see pictures for proof)

    I've made it back to the flat now and am pretty sure I'm just gonna fall asleep watching family guy...but then I've got a few more days here and best part of a week left in Canada...night night    Read more

  • Gone walkaboutworld tour '16Gone walkabout

    reflections on a cool town

    August 28, 2016 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Been a very short stop off here in Toronto but totally worth it, great views, good food, plenty of beer and very cool people.

    Highlight has to be ; Random bar conversations leading to better place to watch the baseball in the stadium leading to random bar queue chat, leading to roof parties and another bar and even more awesome people...

    Can't say I've been much of a "tourist" here but Google tells me I've walked about 20 miles since Thursday, seen a decent chunk of the downtown and China town areas, eaten some decent food, drank a ton of beer, watched the titans win and met some cool people...I'm ok with that

    Tomorrow I get out on the road and drive down to the falls before going to see my mum's friends in Elmira    Read more

  • Gone walkaboutworld tour '16Gone walkabout

    water to wine

    August 30, 2016 in Canada ⋅ 🌙 16 °C

    What an absolutely mind blowing day, first up..I'm shattered so I will probably come back and add more to this at some point but for now....

    An earlish start to the day, picking up a car at 8am (yes that's right, me who has barely driven in the past 3 years was let loose on Canada), dive the hour and a half down to Niagara falls today not really knowing what to expect and preparing to be underwhelmed by a big waterfall....oh my god, so wrong, absolutely spectacular. All told I think I was at said waterfall for about 4 hours, just looking, finding different vantage points, taking a million photos (https://goo.gl/photos/HDz9vA6NRRm9SwQv8 )....just amazing

    After that I was a bit stuck for what to do as I know there are a million tourist things in and around Niagara and I just couldn't decide, I thought rather than do the tourist trap planet Hollywood or hard rock I would head out of town a but and see what else there was to see...well...best decision ever.

    I put "Niagara on the lake" (a smallish town) into the satnav and started driving, the busy city streets and neon signs of Niagara falls quickly gave way to industrial and retail areas, some quite run down...but then just as quickly that gave way to some of the most scenic, rustic, beautiful landscapes. Long winding, tree lined roads past beautiful country villages offering farmers markets, pick your own peaches and about a million happy and tanned cyclists.

    After driving for half an hour or so the tree lined roads started giving way to huge vineyards as far as I could see and lots of signs for tours and tastings.... Who was I to argue.

    A beautiful few hours were had in the grounds of the Andrew Peller winery, tasting some interesting, very young wines, none of the vines are over 10 years old and the wine makers are still being very experimental to find the grapes that grow best on the Niagara peninsula. Their speciality however is ice wine, an amazing desert wine picked from hardy grapes well into winter. After 3/4 samples I thought I should probably get some food on board and drink some water and so I made my way over to their bar/ restaurant and had a great pulled pork and a couple waters before jumping back in the car and doing a 2.5 hour drive out to Elmira too stay with Bev and Barb (friends of mum and grahams) who couldn't have been more welcoming and friendly and have some very cool interesting local stuff planned for me the next couple days....

    Fyi I was so shattered writing that I feel asleep and just woke up 6 hours later to finish it

    Edit: made a video of Niagara https://youtu.be/UBVh2DxSpbg    Read more

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    hospitality done right

    September 1, 2016 in Canada ⋅ 🌙 13 °C

    In the 60 hours I spent in Elmira Bev and barb have been amazing hosts and I've squeezed in....horse racing(sulkies...apparently), farmers market, steam trains, horse auctions, Mennonite history exhibit, brewery tasting, my first ever covered bridge, personal tour of a grain processing factory and still had time to sit down and get know my awesome hosts! Oh and let's not forget all of the awesome food, ham hock as big as a baby's head, amazing fried chicken, venison sausages and my first experience of "Puff balls"....giant wild mushrooms, bigger than a cabbage!

    I got here early evening on Monday pretty exhausted from the drive up from the falls and a little concerned that I was staying with friends of mum's that I had never met in an area I knew nothing about....that lasted about 30 seconds after Bev answered the door(if that long)... Big old hand shake from Bev and a big ole hug from Barb and the next thing I knew I'm sat on their deck, beer in hand, chatting like old friends and then the magic words, you like country music right? If my brother reads this his head may explode 25th jealousy but I spent the next couple days being driven around in Bev's pick up, through the country with the country music on the radio, old dirt roads and all.

    For those of you that want to see the rest of my pictures from this spot...

    For those of you that want to hear my thoughts on Mennonites and religion, read on...warning though, religious views can be pretty devicive.... https://goo.gl/photos/bV44Pz6nrnb8wn5JA

    ...
    ..
    .

    Quick note about this being Mennonite country, not a lot of people will know what that is, some may be familiar with the Amish who have similar views, but if anyone like myself has a vague idea of what they are but has not bothered to find out(like me for years)...take a minute, we might think that the buggies and old school clothing is a bit weird, but there's a reason behind it that makes a lot of sense to me and, as an atheist with a very logical mind some of their core beliefs are to me what Christianity was supposed to be.

    Essentially, in a super quick nutshell,

    They said: "we shouldn'tbaptize at birth because children should be allowed to grow up and choose their religious path"

    Catholic church said: "we decide, we are the one true church, deal with it"

    They said: "no thanks, we will be off then, but it's ok because God loves everyone and the whole point of religion is to live in service to him and your fellow man"

    Church says: "nope, you best start running"

    And run they did, hangings, torture, meeting in caves, being driven from their home lands, being told that when they died they didn't have the right to leave anything to their children and it would all go to the state... Ain't religion great

    The clothes and buggies and super plain churches come from conscious desires to
    a) not integrate into a society which persecuted them for so long
    b) a belief that everything and everyone is sacred so we don't need to tart up our churches or people
    C) cars and modern life are too fast and you don't get a chance to stop and smell the roses
    D) by working hard and dressing humbly they are showing appreciation to God

    Now I'm not saying for a second that I've found religion, all I'm saying is, to me...that's the truest interpretation of Christianity I've heard...thus endeth the lecture    Read more

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    Mad dash to New York

    September 2, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Yesterday was loooooooooong, I woke up at 3am(for some crazy reason) in Elmira knowing that I had to leave at 6 to fight my way through Toronto rush hour and catch my flight...I managed to get back to sleep....at 5 am, approx 15 mins before my first alarm went off 😤 , Bev sorted me a nice strong coffee and after a quick shower I was on the road again.

    The drive down to Toronto started off fine, pleasant even with a beautiful sunrise with country music soundtrack and I was making awesome time, at one point Google had me getting in to Toronto at 7.15. At this point I should make clear this is offline Google with no traffic info... Then I got to about 20km outside the city and everything just stopped, crawling through rush hour traffic on foreign roads with multiple exits on either side, Sun directly in your eyes and a bladder full of coffee and red bull it's enough to make you forget about beautiful sun rises...never mind though, got to Toronto with an hour spare, filled up the car with petrol and dropped it off, I hustled to the nearest cafe for breakfast and much more importantly to relieve myself.

    Made the decision to do the 25 min walk out to the airport 25th my bags as some sort of exercise, once again forgetting how heavy they are and how Crap I am with any sort of heat....needless to say once again Mr Stewart "sweaty mess" Jardine showed up as I arrived at the airport. Got checked in, got through security (no beeps for the metal in my arm.. Tsk tsk Toronto city airport, someone needs stronger metal detectors) and was shortly thereafter told of 20 minute delay to my flight which wouldn't have caused any issues except that by the time we took off it was closer to an hour and twenty.

    After a very rigorous grilling from American immigration (I think the dude was totes jel of my trip) they let me into America, the fools, mwhahaha...i needed to make a mad dash from Jersey into queens, find my airbnb, shower and get back out to jersey for the football 🏈 🏈 . I owe a big thanks to 2 lovely ladies from home who I was frantically texting as I stressed out and tried I figure out a plan for keeping me calm in a city I didn't know but they do very well...Big love

    I made it out to MetLife, just as the game was kicking off and found my seat up in the gods...I'd love to say it was an exciting action packed game...buuuuuut it wasn't, still great experience (not just paying £18 for a pint and what appeared to be a chicken and chips school dinner and tasted about as good) but I think it was worth it... The trip and stress not the food.    Read more

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    strawberry fields forever

    September 3, 2016 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

    After the craziness of Thursday I had to wonder what yesterday would bring, based on what I had seen through airport transfer bus Windows, on subway cars and at the game, all I had to look forward to were bustling crowds of people with no time for anyone outside their current life and high prices....back in London so soon??? 😝

    I set out with not so high hopes, but having had a pep talk from Rach about why New York is amazing and a shortlist of things to do I was gonna give it a shot. Jumped on the E train into town and got out at port authority bus station where I had been dropped by the airport transfer the day before and went for a semi structured wander around. First impressions where essentially... London with taller buildings and more neon (I realise how cynical and grumpy I'm coming off here but stick with it, I untwist my knickers pretty soon). Made my way over to times square, as I posted on Facebook...don't get it, lots of adverts and....i hate to be the one to tell them...not even square.

    I decided I would head north and find the park, maybe some trees and grass would sort me out.... Boy did it, wow, central park is amazing, if I decide I like nothing else in New York(which I think is massively unlikely), central park in the sunshine makes the whole trip worth while. I walked down past some old guys doing batting practice like they thought they still might get a try out for the Yankees, a young kid being taught to pitch like he might one day play for the Metz, an all welcome kickball game that was in the process of teaching some Japanese tourists the fundamentals, a couple of volleyball games with an atmosphere dead centre between top gun and family fun day out, horse and carriage rides through the park with chatty drivers and a ton of smiling faces and beautiful scenery....and just like that New York began to sell itself to me.

    I spent most of the rest of the day in the park, with a brief exit to find some lunch (fish tacos and a couple of beers) and won't bore you with every minute of it but my highlights have to be sitting on a secluded bench next to the pond, alternating between reading and staring out over the water and the recommendation from Rach to go to strawberry fields... For those of you like me before yesterday, that have no idea what strawberry fields is, it's a small memorial garden for John Lennon on the edge of the park right next to the Dakota where he was assassinated. I ... Like pretty much everyone I've ever met... Love the Beatles and have specific memories from growing up triggered by some of their songs, so to wander round with their music playing in my ears and imagine coming on in between was actually quite emotional. All up, yesterday Google tells me I walked just shy of ten miles.

    The evening was pretty chilled, met my airbnb host and she drove us out to a new park area in queens for a beer and one Hell of a view and after a quick stop off at the local market I decided to chill with a couple beers and some chips and cheese salsa and watch some tv... It was on the sofa drinking said beer and eating, and I kid you not, "maple bacon" flavour crisps (designed rather successfully to taste like bacon with maple syrup) and giggling to Jeff Foxworthy stand up, that I fell asleep.

    https://goo.gl/photos/Xn7n97UmSZRDQcX78    Read more

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    bottomless brunch... offer/challenge

    September 4, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    I've heard a lot about the concept of a bottomless brunch, I think for most it's a cool gimic that allows you to pay a set price for breakfast and a couple hours worth of mimosas....unfortunately my traditional British "get every pennies worth" mentality combined with my 50% Geordie "booze hound" mentality and the fact I was hot and thirsty and caused the perfect storm... I'm not gonna go into too much detail about what I did on Saturday, not least of all because it's fairly hazy or dwell on the fact that Sunday was a complete write off, only venturing out of the apartment to buy greasy chicken, let's just say I've learned from the experience.Read more

  • Gone walkaboutworld tour '16Gone walkabout

    sports sports sports....aaand cheap beer

    September 6, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Labour day was a full day of sport for me here in NYC.

    I went out to yankee stadium to go watch my newly adopted Toronto blue jays play. Yankee stadium is cool, it's pretty huge and once again my cheap seats were up in the gods, but I had a great view, had a traditional foot long hot dog, drank some beer and enjoyed the game...despite the heart break of seeing a team I've been supporting for upwards of a week lose.

    Yesterday evening was all about watching the ole miss game, I needed a bar, with cold beer, big tv's, warm/hot food and non New York level prices (I don't mean to keep going on about it bit if you voted out in the EU referendum...you're killing me).

    Putting all of my googling skills to work I found a bar across town in Greenwich village called "off the wagon"...we won't dwell on the game, or the fact that the rebels threw away a 22 point lead...we don't even need to talk about the bland chicken sandwich that had a bone in it... What we do need to talk about is that after paying for 1 beer on the way in (happy hour until 8, everything half price) I decided to stretch my dollars and switch to bud light...now...I can hear you judging me...stick with me... I was feeling pretty buzzed by the end of the game having drunk my way through 9 (whatever size they were...less than a pint, more than a half)... I went to settle my tab and grab one for the road and the pretty little bar maid said that this one was on her...soooo I take my bill from her...I'm moving around to get more light, I'm rubbing my eyes...I'm wondering if she has given me the wrong tab...but no... What I wasn't aware of, was that after happy hour, domestic beer...$2 all night!!!    Read more

  • Gone walkaboutworld tour '16Gone walkabout

    postcards

    September 6, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    Postcards on Staten island is one of the most poignant places I've ever been, from a distance it looks like a nice looking statute, it is not surrounded by information points or security or anything really to tell you what it is. No signs to tell you to treat the place with respect or remove your hat (although something inside made me feel I should).

    When you step between the two large wings you find 274 marble plaques, with 274 names, 274 dates of birth and 274 job titles. Each plaque has a silhouette looking straight out across the water towards the city, the centre line of postcards points straight to ground zero where in one single act of hatred 274 people's lives were extinguished.

    I took the time to read every name on the two large "postcards to loved ones", and I shed some tears but that's nothing compared to what people must feel every day who lost someone that horrendous day. I cannot and hopefully will not ever be able to comprehend that pain.

    On my last full day in New York, I have to say, I'm not the city's biggest fan...but in a similar way to London on 7/7 these amazing people have pulled back together, memorialized, never forgotten and stood together you say, you will not change us. And that is something that demands respect.    Read more

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    a lovely warm welcome

    September 8, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

    Yesterday I left the hustle and bustle of New York behind with a big smile on my face knowing that I was heading to see some of my dearest friends, heading for some good old fashion southern hospitality and one of my favorite parts of the world.

    I flew in to Charlotte with a big smile on my face and got an awesome welcome from Lauren but first from little Grayson, who, having never met me before, came straight up to me and said hello uncle Stewart and gave me a big hug. (I am under no illusions that he was well trained for this, but without promoting when we were walking to the car he asked if he could hold uncle Stewart's hand... Awwww).

    Lauren and Clay's new house is nothing short of spectacular and the pooch (Connor) , seemed very excited to see me...I like to think he remembers me from my last visit.

    Super exciting day today...got my laundry done, played with Connor, dried my laundry, played with Connor, unpacked, played with Connor, thought about taking a walk...realised it was 36 degrees...played with Connor, read my book in the sun for an hour....yup, played with Connor....God I miss having a dog lol    Read more

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    Being a tourist again

    September 13, 2016 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 22 °C

    After spending the last few days catching up with my favorite American couple and getting to know little greyson, last night I decided today would be a good day to make it up in time to bum a lift with clay uptown and go do alllll the touristy things Charlotte had to offer....I love Charlotte, I could and would love tiki live here.....it is not a tourist town.

    I woke up just in time to make the school run and after a quick lap of downtown....it's really not that big, I stopped for a decent southern breakfast, eggs, sausage, grits and biscuit....God I miss grits...for the English, picture a buttery, salty, sweet mess of porridge consistency goodness.

    Thought I would go check out discovery place, charlottes science museum, I enjoyed the natural world stuff, cool fish and frogs and stuff but I was about 25 years too old for the target demographic and skipped most of it except the rain forest talk.

    Met up with clay for lunch...just cos you know I didn't want him to feel left out.

    I thought in the afternoon it would be a good idea to go check out the NASCAR hall of fame...why...I'm not sure, never seen a NASCAR race in my life but, when in Rome...

    I actually thoroughly enjoyed the hall of fame, they had a ton of good exhibits, the cars were pretty cool and I had a really fun afternoon....

    So touristy stuff done, I'm back to hanging out with my peeps and chilling with the world's cutest puppy    Read more

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    cowboys, country music and more fish

    September 20, 2016 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 24 °C

    So it's been a while since my last post, mainly because I've just been hanging with my awesome peeps here, drinking beer with clay, chatting, chilling and shopping with Lauren and playing in the sprinkler and swimming with the boy Grayson.

    Last weekend was awesome, Friday was boys night, I took the train uptown to meet clay after he got done with work, couple beers and a bite to eat at whiskey river and it was time to head off to the bull riding at time Warner cable arena...unfortunately clay is a right gangster and we had to get out of line to go drop his bad ass knife back in the car so it wouldn't get confiscated...sounds better that way than to explain it was his dad's pen knife he carries to cut stray threads off his shirts.... After a quick walk three blocks we were back in the queue and with a plan for once we got in... Men's room, beer, seats...simple, effective.

    After a statement about why America was the best country in the world and a moment of respect for those serving abroad and the national anthem...sure...if that's how you do it in your country...it was time for the cowboys to step up, it was awesome, including some surprises like a kiwi rider ending up #4 and some crazy fools hanging on for the 8 second ride a local boy won and the place went nuts...thoroughly enjoyable spectacle.

    Saturday night was ladies night for me and Lauren out at PNC music pavilion for some awesome country music, the night was kicked off by the always impressive Maddie and Tae, who must be 2 of the most well travelled and hard working young ladies in country (I've seen then play in the UK twice in the last year). Next up was an act best forgotten, but did mean me and Lauren could have a laugh coming up with some bitchy comments. Then it was time for the main event Brad freaking Paisley!! I love this guy, every one of his songs seems to be a hit and he is just the nicest guy, he stopped after an acoustic song to sign his guitar and hand it to a young fan and tell him he would see him up on that stage in 10 years. He interrupted one of his slower more romantic songs by saying he had been planning something on Twitter the last few days and brought out a young couple with the guy proposing on stage and later pulling a young fan up on stage for a selfie...tie that in with an awesome set for an hour or so to which I knew every word and I had a absolute blast!

    Sunday was a cool day with a trip to the local pool in the morning and a couple bars in the afternoon.

    Interspersed with that was watching an awesome all blacks game (at 3 am Saturday), Singapore grand prix, and qualifying, the titans game in a local bar, far too many beers and a general lack of sleep and Monday was a complete write off, the highlight of which was opening the door to the pizza delivery guy.

    Today I took Laurens car out to concord mall to see the fishes...not overly exciting and only worth about assign hour of my time but still had fun and got a few good photos.

    This weekend...family road trip to Charleston!! Whoop whoop    Read more

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    Charleston South Carolina's

    September 25, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    What a beautiful town, I'd like to thank Lauren for suggesting a little road trip down to the coast and south Carolina for my last weekend, it is a beautiful southern town with so much history and a great vibe.

    Friday morning we did the drive down here, pretty straightforward interstate driving, nothing much to report, it's been a tough few days for Charlotte after the police shooting on Thursday and despite Lauren and clay living 15 miles outside and us not really being directly impacted, Clay's office was closed Friday and there was a decent enough amount of concern around that you could sense it. Charlotte is a beautiful, inclusive, peaceful town and I think the main feeling was shock.

    Friday night after checking into our airbnb condo we headed out to dinner and got into some awesome southern food, my dinner involved fried green tomatoes, hush puppies shared starter and a deep South spin on paella for main....God I love good southern cooking.

    After dinner it was time for girls night again, me and Lauren headed off to the Charleston music hall to see the soggy bottom boys while clay took greyson back to the condo. despite the fact we were up in the cheap seats, we both thoroughly enjoyed the music and it was a great venue, there was an issue though, we were both completely and utterly distracted by the guy one row in front and three seats over, why?? Oh, just cos it was Bill freaking Murray!!! Apparently he is a big fan of the soggy bottom boys (someone saw him sneaking in and convinced him to go on stage to introduce the band and then he came and sat down near us) and loves Charleston because despite being obviously recognisable he gets to wander round here fairly anonymously. How do I know all of this you may ask? Well we were sat right in the middle of a big group that Bill....yea we're on a first name basis.... came in and I ended up chatting to my new best friend, who's dad is best friends with Bill Murray's best friend...I know right? I'm basically friends with a celebrity!!

    Saturday we got out early and met Al our carriage driver and Don...Our horse, for a carriage tour around this beautiful city, they really have done things right here with architecture laws in place since the early 1900's that state that any building that's been standing for over 70 years can't be torn down by anyone but God, this combined with the fact that the city was built out into the harbour by dumping the garbage and ballast from the ships that came over into the water and letting it settle for 100 years and the fact that Charleston was settled by a combination of the English, French and Germans over the years has lead to some beautiful
    And very varied architecture. Interesting little tid bit, they have doors to their outside porches before their front door because it gets so hot here the whole family used to sleep outside.    Read more

  • Gone walkaboutworld tour '16Gone walkabout

    just getting the map right

    October 6, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Nothing exciting, just making sure the map route is right. Nashville post coming soon though

    Although, little bonus, here's a link to my holiday video's:

    https://www.dropbox.com/sh/jxp9mclwwgiyaan/AAAB…    Read more

  • Gone walkaboutworld tour '16Gone walkabout

    What an awesome town

    October 11, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    So my time here in Nashville is nearly over, it's been a great couple of weeks and everything I was hoping it would be.

    The people here are really friendly here in the music city and it is truly and apt name, fantastic musicians playing music all the time throughout the city.

    Since being here I have partied with the Tennessee titans cheerleaders, I've toured the Ryman (the mother church of country music), I've spent hours listening to amazing musicians up and down Broadway, I've walked through amazing parks and seen amazing things like a full-scale replica of the Parthenon and the spectacular floating globe war memorial.

    Saturday was a highlight and a fantastic day, starting with a backstage tour of the new home of the grand ole opry, some lovely pulled pork out the front whilst watching some brilliant musicians, a full show from Crystal Gayle in the opry and then a live birthday recording of the show featuring brad paisley.

    It's with mixed emotions that I head back to Charlotte, I'm really excited to see Lauren, Clay, Grayson and my boy Connor again as I've started missing them already, but unfortunately it signifies a pause in my travels for now due to unforeseen circumstances, but hopefully I'll get going again soon enough and you'll get another blog entry before you know it.    Read more

  • Gone walkaboutworld tour '16Gone walkabout

    adventures in babysitting

    November 14, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    So as most of you know, due to unforeseen circumstances I'm headed home tomorrow (hopefully for a very short temporary hiatus on the travel) but I thought I would share one last thing before that.

    On Friday I babysat young master Grayson for the whole day (just turned three in case you're wondering) and I thought I should provide a daily report to Lauren and clay in the way their preschool does...I maybe added a few more details than they usually do...

    Non school report-ish

    8-9.15 movie (kung foo panda), he's chill and relaxed laying on my belly drinking Apple juice...maybe this will be the easiest day ever

    9.15-9.45 aaaaaand nope... Bored now time for playing with toys, attempts to push towards educational number and drawing toys only last so long and is back to tiger vs alligator fights and another Apple juice

    9.45 - uh oh!! Is the shout as G looks down to where a fountain of pee springs fourth! maybe too much Apple juice!! fastest I've moved in weeks, lifting him up in one arm and rushing to the bathroom, alas I'm too late...bath time, clean clothes and back to drawing pictures in the chalk board...

    10.15 - pee in potty...seriously how he had any left after what he did earlier I have no idea but manages a rather large pee

    10.15-10.45 puzzles, 4 done, all by him...totes proud of himself...I totally guided him and should get some credit

    10.45 cartoons, another kung foo panda movie

    11 lunch, i know it's early but he was insistent he was hungry and wanted to eat noodles to become Dragon warrior...maybe too many cartoons, ate noodles with chicken and veg, tomatoes and Apple sauce...he ate it all, I had his left over grilled cheese from last night, not that anyone cares

    11.40 after a bit of stroppyness agrees to sit on toilet to try and poop....pees again...G is possibly half fire hydrant

    11.45 story, apples on top by Dr zues...he enjoyed it, I'm not sure what the message was and how I feel about it...

    12 in bed with pull up on, pacifier in and blanket over him with minimal winning....expecting him to kick off any minute it cannot have been that easy

    12.25 still in bed but partying with and talking to his toys and seems wide awake...hmm

    12.30 another story and hope for a nap...dosent seem interested bit staying in bed

    1.08 I beat the undertaker at wrestlemania and the steak is broken!!! Woohoo...oops this should be on this report

    1.20 in what I can only consider a protest at being left in bed G has filed up his pull up with a load worthy of any full grown African elephant, the smell is something I may never recover from after cleaning him off in the tub he was very insistent he wanted the shower on...seemed a bit odd and didn't think he would normally but who knows so after several clarification questions he was convinced and so was I...it was on for all of 1.5 seconds before the freak out came

    1.30 dried and in his third outfit change of the day it's back to the cartoons so I can have the pleasure of cleaning up...I may have flashbacks afterwards...G wasn't convinced when I put the jetsons on but seemed to agree with my logic that when he stopped pooping his pants he would get to choose , another Apple juice

    2.35 another massive pee...am I over watering...is that a thing...I only give drinks when he asks

    2.40-3.35 turtle helmet fitted, safety straps on time to ride the radio flyer to the park (I totally pushed the whole way, kid is laaaaaazy on the peddling). We had a little trouble when we first got to the park when Grayson climbed up to the top slide and didn't stop and come back when he was told to...freaked me the f out until I figured out he was basically an expert at this climbing frame! Next up was G's Spider-Man audition, one boost onto the climbing wall and hold on while he climbed, next time climbed up himself with me standing close guard, the next 25 tonnes of climbing the wall and down the slide were a blur as he seemed to be trying to get quicker every time!

    3.30 cartoons

    4.12 he's peeing again!!!!!! Seriously!!!

    16.40 asked very nicely for a banana, when I said yes he started running for the kitchen...socks...hard wood floor...he slapped the floor pretty hard but only scared himself and only bashed his hand....salt into the wound...no bananas let....he had some orange pieces and the fruit cup from his dinner yesterday

    4.53...Getting pretty ancy for a smoke at this point and pretty sure I can still smell the poop from earlier...it may be burned into my nostrils...it may just be me, i haven't showered today...wait this isn't my diary....

    5.01...we learn that we should sit properly on our chairs when we slide off and onto the floor scaring ourselves again... Apparently G Has been saving up accidents for just before mummy and daddy get home...

    17.03 daddy is on his way back to the train station, we better go get him...    Read more

  • Gone walkaboutworld tour '16Gone walkabout

    heathrow airport - on the road again

    December 21, 2016 in England ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    and so it begins again after months of furiously trying to get everything resolved my trip is back on and i fly out to sydney via Seoul in a couple of hours.

    I have treated myself for the first and probably last time to a business class ticket so im current living large in the business class lounge with fantastic glass of wine, a comfy seat and some free wifi... that being said im getting daggers from everyone in here as being me i have showed up in shorts, bright blue trainers and a loud t-shirt... buuuuuuut also being me, i couldnt care less!

    Checking in was nice and easy apart from when the lady seemed to be tapping away for quite a while and then said "I'm having a bit of trouble printing your bording passes... oh wait... im sorry I mistook you for an economy passenger"... jeeze everyones a critic, might have been the beaten up baseball cap, tatty hoodie or the shorts but come on im classy... deep down.... deep deep down    Read more

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