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I have to thank Sara for introducing me to the kind of English culture that you never, ever get to see if your just staying in a large centre like London. I left London from Paddington station (YES the same Paddington in which the bear came from...god knows I liked it when I was little!!) I took the train to Reading and actually now that I've ventured back...i'm quite sure that I accidentally made my way to the business class section of the train. No wonder all the suits were looking at my ragged clothes like I was out of my element. Either way, was a smooth ride nonetheless. Sara came and picked me up and we awaited another Aussie travel friend, Rachel. We hadn't seen each other for 4 years, since I departed from Glenelg in South Australia, so it was great being able to spend a day with them.
The Henley Royal Regatta is the premier rowing competition in the world. The ladies are all dressed up quite posh and proper, large hats or feather thingy's in their hair. The gentlemen all dress in these odd striped blazers and often wear those school boy looking beanie caps
(see Angus Young AC/DC) when you get an old man wearing those caps...back home we'd just ship him to the nearest old folks home b/c they've gone loopy! AND usually the weather during Henley is warm and pleasant. My day there....was NOT! haha It was hilarious seeing all those posh people...walking around in massive, green rubber boots (WELLIES, right girls)
As soon as we got there, we met up with a few friends of Sara's who all worked on the River Thames Cruise, which takes people up and down the river and a flat topped boat. They introduced me to PIMM'S, which is a dangerous liquer as I would discover later! We ventured the entire length of the course (mile and a quarter long) and when the rain started to pour. We stopped in a smal pub called 'the angel' for a drink then got picked up in a boat by Sara's father, who just happened to be chauffuering(sp) people down the Thames. I got a chance to go on the deck and snap some great shots from our cruise down the thames. When it was decided that we needed our bags, since we were going to be staying
on her fathers boat, we took a wonderful little boat down the river back to Rachels car. 'The Flying Pickle' as it was named, is a small, small DINGHY boat that hung from the back of Sara's dads boat. I'm quite sure that we would have made it back to the car faster if we walked, but it's all about experiences. Obviously back at the boy's boat we had another PIMM's and on our way back up to Henley I got a chance to navigate the Thames. Except for almost running straight into a post in the middle of the river (i will blame the current!!!!) we made it back safely and prepared for our night out. THIS is where the debaucher begins!
We went to a bar called the 'boat house' and for some reason a red umbrella found its way hanging on my left ass cheek, apparantly Rachel didn' want to hold ONTO it so found a safe place to hang it in the pocket of my jeans. I had a great time chatting with the boys, Toby, Matt, Olly, Greg(sp), Southy and so many others who I can't remember their names. On occasion someone would grab
hold of the red umbrella, hold it up and we would have to follow them around the bar, often crawling through groups and one time under a table. At 12, the bar closed down and we ended up turning right instead of left and headed for the boys' boat to continue the night. It took us about 30 minutes just to make it down the river, mud bogged and laughing. Rachel conveniently got 'lost' on her way back with Matt, but she was quite quiet about what happened during those 'lost' hours!?!?!? Back on the boat, more drinks came and just sitting around chatting. In the midst of the chat, Toby shows up at the boat caked with MUD talking about how he walked a woman back to her car, then made the choice to walk a straight line back to the boat. Amidst the laughter and chatting, Greg (who is in the military and leaves for Afghanistan on monday) just got up, took his clothes off and stood in front of us. As he said, Who knows what will happen to him in Afghanistan so why not. After that, Toby got naked as well. They stood by the bar,
two proud naturalists while we cried laughing. I literally had no voice and a headache from laughing after they began doing deep knee bends, push ups and jogging in place. After putting some clothes on, Toby and I went for a search for Rachel who had gone 'missing' again with Matt. Apparantly they were having a picnic, however...it was 3 am and i'm not sure if her story checked out. Today my pants are caked in mud b/c Toby and I discovered a nice little mud pit and inadvertantly walked through it.
I know this all sounds quite crazy, however I WAS a well behaved young man. I spent the night alone on the boat back in Henley (after a 40 minute solo walk back along the river). I am quite glad that the ladies decided to take me to Henley with them. Outside of the mayhem that happened last night, it was a great experience just to go there and take in the proper english culture. I won't be forgetting my time there at all...and sadly YES, didn't expect to see a naked englishmen, let alone TWO...but their all experiences...and their 'calisthenics' pics might make their way on
facebook too! hahaha This has been a LONG entry and I apologize for putting you all through this. Thanks again go to Sara and Rachel for taking me and hope we meet again in future travels!! Regardless of the rain, it did nothing but add to the experience.
well, I must be on my way...more of London to see in such little time!
Yours in travels,
Don
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elaan
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naked, on a boat, with 2 drunken englishmen...
Well, it seems you have fit right in donny. Seeing as you are telling the story we will never really know if you joined in, naked, with some Macklin Bunnock tossing technique! ahahahaha Three more weeks til we are gone. Figured out how to put pics in yet? There is info on the site...