Blogs from Brunswick, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Oceania - page 2

Melbourne Diary: As I'm walking along a busy Elizabeth Street in the Central Business District two teenage girls are walking behind me. “Fack that! Fack that! No facking way” etc. It got me thinking about how many times I’ve been shocked by the proclivity for cursing here. Keep with me. For example on I've witnessed a couple of altercations between passengers trading some seriously aggressive swearing such as: "go fuck yourself!" and “Up ya, ya facking cant” - and that was from a woman. I’ve turned into Disgusted of Brunswick all of a sudden. Even my work colleagues regularly surprise me by using ”fack” and “shit” in mid-sentence as if it's any old word. Coarse language features prominently in Australia it seems (I could of course make reference to sixty years of British criminals being sent ... read more

It appears I chose a very good time to leave the country and to travel the world for a bit. The UK couldn’t feel more distant at the moment, what with the endless reports of economic meltdown from the global recession, deep freezing winters and transport melt-down.…whereas the "wonder from down under" goes from strength to strength. Becoming the first G20 country to raise interest rates from the emergency level. Unemployment actually went down, bucking the global trend and surprising local economists who had all predicted a small rise.” Meanwhile back in Blighty: Elected members from the so-called “mother of all parliaments” disgrace themselves by being rather keen on claiming fake expenses; British Airways goes on a week-long strike - ruining everybody’s holidays and making us look like the keen as mustard strikes a-go-go French; the ... read more

Gawd Almighty!- I've been recently having some serious flash-backs of stuff that’s happened during my 13 months away - both good and bad. I realise that I’ve managed to NOT record some of the most memorable moments of my entire time away, either consciously or unconsciously. Some tasty flashbacks include: Adelaide: having spent an exotic, sunny and welcoming Christmas with Hannah and her large family and then being asked to leave on Boxing Day because I'd threatened her big mental German Shepherd Dog Koh Phi Phi, Thailand in a shitty, tiny hostel room/cell having a night time trystwith an English chick who’d gotten locked out of her room next door to mine Bangkok, Thailand being chased and attacked by a group of rabid dogs in the centre of the city behind a temple. They smell your ... read more

“Although happiness is desirable, it is a banal subject for travel.” (Paul Theroux) The modern traveller’s necessary instrument (the gods are against me - a litany) Good old Paul, allowing me to tell tales of woe without that feeling of boring people to muteness. Just two weeks into my grand tour of south east Asia I am at the entrance of a Buddhist temple in Mandalay, Burma and as I bend down to remove my shoes my camera drops to the ground. I had stupidly placed the camera in my shirt pocket and now the lens has a ‘V’ shaped crack across it. I now spend a whole afternoon being ridden around in a rickshaw through the side lanes of Mandalay visiting camera repair men; but more like camera cannibals. Nothing can be done - the ... read more

Flying Home For Christmas, oh I can't wait to see those faces... Sorted! RE my last blog I have now booked and paid for in full for my flights back to England. I'm arriving into London and half 5 in the morning on 17th December and leaving on the 8th Jan. Awesome! Seriously can't wait to see everyone. I have no plan as yet as to where I will be excatly at any time in particular but just have plans to catch up with as many people as possible in London, Leeds and Warrington and everywhere else! Keep me in the loop with any good times for a visit/parties etc over that time and I'll see you soon! Andy x... read more