Conversation at a Doner Kebab store in Hamburg (In the little german I understood, amd with english subtitles for your convenience) Shopowner: Guten Tag (Good day.) Me: Hallo. Ein hähnchen kebab bitte (hello. A Chicken Kebab please). Shopowner: blah blah blah mit alles? (do you want it with everything?) Me: Nein. Keine das pointing to onion (No, none that) Shopowner (quizzical look): mit alles? (with everything?) Me: er Ja, mit alles (er yeah, with everything.) Shopowner: blah blah blah blah kommst du? (So where do you come from?) Me: Ich komme aus Australia (I come from Australia). Shopowner: Australia? blah blah blah sprechen deutsch im Australia? (Australia? don't they speak German in Australia?) Me: Nein, aus Australia, nicht Österreich. Mit Kangaroos und Koalas. (No, from Australia, not Austria. With Kangaroos and Koalas). Shopowner: Also,... read more

Hi Everybody, how's things? Hope you're all well and good wherever in the world you happen to be. After Stockholm, I've headed west into Norway and stopped at Oslo and Bergen. I caught the intercity train from Stockholm to Oslo, and the person who sold me my ticket was a lovely person who knew I was after the cheapest ticket possible, and he duly found me a seat for a mere 255 swedish kroners (less than 30euros). Bless his soul. What he forgot to tell me was that I'd be sitting on a train for 6 hours in the 'Pets allowed' section, which meant travelling amongst a few dogs, and also numerous families with rowdy little kids (And no, I'm not casting any aspersions as to what the definition of a pet is). You can only ... read more

Hi Everyone, If you're wondering why I'm in front of the pc so much, it's not because Stockholm is boring, it's just that I've got a cold. Probably from going to too many festivals :) The pills are doing wonders though...(thanks mum!) Roskilde festival, as its name may suggest, is held in the town of Roskilde, around half an hour out of Copenhagen. It's a 4 day festival, which is probably a shade long. I think 3 days was enough for me, but that being said, I've had a stretch of 10 days where I spent 7 of them at a festival. For the benefit of all the festival-going folks back home in Melbourne, Roskilde is: - 'big day out', but multiply that by 4 days - then combine it with the camping of Falls festival, ... read more

Hi Guys, I've made it back to London after the Glastonbury experience. It was wonderful, but I am absolutely knackered. My feet are killing me after 3 days standing 12 hours or so in a pair of wellies (gumboots if you're not in the UK). The festival has a really great vibe and atmosphere simply because there are so many people that are in the spirit of things. People are really there to enjoy the music and other acts, and are always willing to help each other out and look after each other. There's a lot of peace and love in the atmosphere. The weather was gorgeous leading up to the festival, but on friday morning at around 5am in the morning, it came bucketing down. Apparently lightning struck a couple of stages and one of ... read more

Hi Everyone, This one goes to a shortened list today for professional reasons (I feel so hypocritical), so guys at dorcas st, please don't distribute this one all willy nilly :) I am back in london now, and it feels odd. I thought it would feel more familiar but it feels as foreign as anywhere else I've been thus far. But I have consolation in being shacked up at the hilton now. Gosh life is difficult sometimes.... Before I continue about my time in Portugal, I do have a dilemma that I hope a few will be able to assist with. I'm going to Glastonbury next week, and more and more people are telling me I need to rough it, otherwise I won't be getting the full experience. Logistics of it I can cover no worries, ... read more