Charles Janczur

First day back in Melbourne we headed straight back to the MCG for the first one day match. Unfortunately Shane Watson did not read the script and produced a stunning 161 not out to beat England. Considerably less English fans and the Aussies managed to find a voice when they were on top. The following day we spent watching the first day of the Australian Open. We watched Mardy Fish come back down from two sets down to beat Victor Hanescui in an epic encounter. We were following Mardy from the start and had to beat off the constant chants for Victor with even more enthusiasm for Mardy. We like to think we played a part in helping him through the first round. We then went to watch a bit of Gasquet before watching the British ... read more

After a fairly brutal eleven hours traveling we arrived in the middle of know where to be told we needed to catch a taxi which would take twenty five minutes to our accommodation. Obviously a bit presumptuous to expect to end up anywhere near we wanted to be. After a another short journey we arrived at Bens house to be met by a clean and smart looking hostel/hotel. The staff were very friendly and we checked into our room to be greeted with a nice surprise as we found three comfy beds in a very spacious room with a nice bathroom. Unfortunately there was one draw back and it came in the form of stinking damp.  Chris popped upstairs and had a word with front of house and we had quickly moved into even more luxurious ... read more

So it was time to set off and leave the mayhem of Bangkok behind us and head to the north for some trekking and the annual festival held in Chang Mai. To do this we had chosen to travel by train and purchase 2nd class sleeper tickets which had been advised to us by all. We arrived at the station in plenty of time and started the long long wait for our train. The train was meant to leave at 7.30pm but did not end up leaving the station until 9pm. We were meant to get into Chang Mai at 9am the following morning but there was an accident further up the line which ground all to a halt for a few hours. This eventually meant we got to Chang Mai at just gone 3pm the ... read more

The Golden Grapes Luckily for me my time in Saudi happened to coincide with the 4th annual Golden Grape awards held on the compound. This consisted of a number of different people from inside and outside of the compound. I arrived at 7pm with my with the scene nicely set around the pool with catering provided and the designated drinking tables set out with the competition entries. The categories for entry were Beer, White Wine, Red Wine, Ports and Others. Participants that were entering their own brew were allowed to enter one entry per category. Myself and my dad entered into the beer, white & red wine. Once everyone was ready we set off sampling as many of the different categories as you dared to sample. I decided to opt for the beers first. The only ... read more