My Blog

Iceboarding in Thredbo

7Archangel7 — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 04:32:33 GMT

At the very last minute - a couple of people dropped out of Kirsten & Match's organised trip to Thredbo (a resort in the Australian cough/cough Alps). So Dave & I got an invite - we had thought about going but it had been prohibitively expensive for accommodation and we were uncertain of the conditions. Kirst's dad had bought a little place there many years ago that was a perfect location, slap bang in the middle of the village. Well I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by all facets of the trip - the company I knew would be good but the snow was better than I expected (even if it was an ice base with artificial snow) - it was certainly enough to have a few good runs though. I learnt how to work the movie mechanism on my camera - shame it doesn't record sound because I have a doozy of Caz swearing her head off! As a result - I have only about 3 stills from the long weekend and this is one of them. One of the highlights of the trip for me was the close up encounter with a massive Wombat though, only a few seconds after David had said to me that he's never seen a Wombat in the wild.. there it was a couple of metres away and Heeuuuuge! We also saw plenty of grey Kangeroos (Andy & Caz & Kirsten managed to hit no less than 3 on the drive up to Thredbo, two merely glanced off but one left a big dent in the front of their car and could not have survived) and a small herd of Deer amongst other things.

Fee & Charlie come to town

7Archangel7 — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 04:18:56 GMT

Fee and her man Charlie came to visit us in Sydney from NZ not too long ago, the most recent of a line of visitors from the Valegrove/Whitebait tribe... first Dave "Dingbat" Cross and then Shelly, then Fee & Charlie. We had a good time with them - together with Cat and Andy & Caz... here's a pic at one of our breakfast's at Vamps in 5-ways. Due to all this excessive eating out, I think I need to spend the next 2 months at the gym and eating only steamed garnish with a side of diet air and low-fat water.

OK you caught me

7Archangel7 — Sat, 24 Jun 2006 13:11:07 GMT

Damned computer games! Got me again...! I've been enjoying playing World of Warcraft on my days off... which considering I'm not working is most days... Whoops... LOL My fave character is my little Gnome Magician and Engineer, Ilyk Tallshanks of Gnomeregan, pictured above, just outside the Dwarven town of Thelsamar near Loch Modan. He is wearing the Guild Tabard and insignia of the Watchers of the Deep, of which he is a founding member and second in command. Bored yet? Hehehehe Well, at least here in Australia computer games don't occupy ALL of my time as there is so much more to do. Played rugby (union) this morning and our team got soundly thrashed (26-0) and then I had the misfortune of running into 3 of the guys that beat us in a pub watching the Aussie/Eire game... they reminded me of how much of a walkover it had been for their team... yadda yadda yadda. We'll get them next time!

The Bingham Cup - NYC

7Archangel7 — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 17:23:55 GMT

Well, long overdue a blog entry for the few of you that actually follow it... So I have been in New York to play for the Sydney Convicts in the Gay Rugby World Cup, named in honour of Mark Bingham, an heroic member of the San Francisco Fog RFC. I'm still floating on clouds after the atmosphere and camaraderie of the tournament. I actually feel quite emotional, like I don't want it to end but I know it has ended. A sense of loss almost, despite having gained so much. It's a strange sensation and I feel it in the pit of my stomach - sometimes all the way up to my throat and near enough to well out of my eyes. I know it meant a lot to my team mates to be there too. I had some personal pride as well as my team pride, I scored a couple of tries including one in the Quarter-final and despite not playing my best games in the Semi and Final, our team WON! I feel so proud being a part of that team because of the way we pulled together and how far we have come. It's been awesome. I also met some great people in and around the tournament. Smooches all round!

Trail-biking in Cambodia

7Archangel7 — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 13:37:20 GMT

Ads persuaded me to get on a geared motorbike (well more of a moped) for some trail-biking up a mountain in Bokor National Park. This has been the highlight of our trip for me. My arse and wrists are so sore though, I couldn't sit down for a few hours. And it was Ads' fault. We all knew he had the capacity to make guys' arses sore. But it was lots of fun and so worth the experience. It's lucky I don't watch horror movies because when we got to the top of the mountain (after several hours of biking) we came to an old deserted casino. It was built in the French Imperial era (early 1920's) along with a number of other buildings including villas and a church. The place was covered in lichens and plants were reclaiming the exterior. Ads kept quoting lines from the Shining but luckily I didn't know the movie and him charging around the building shouting "Redrum! Redrum!" in a silly kid's voice didn't have much effect. The rest of the time in Cambodia was mostly relaxing and beating Ads at Chess (5-0) at Japanese Backgammon, which he taught me (4-1) and at Arabian Backgammon (1-0). He insists he's going to win all the next 95 games though.

Ads gets here...

7Archangel7 — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 01:40:00 GMT

Ads is here now and we are still in Bangkok and having a great time. Been on an educational day trip to Chantanaburi province... to the WWII cemetaries, the bridge over the river Kwai, the Thai war museum, the Miss Thailand exhibition and gem museum (both on the grounds of the war museum strangely) and then onto a vegetarian tiger drug therapy programme run by a buddhist monk. Highlights of the day for me were going on the death railway and stopping off at a beautiful waterfall where a bunch of white people were lounging on a rock like a bleached seal colony. Ads keeps getting hit on by boys and by "boy/girl" combos and I keep getting hit on by gorgeous girls and being told how much bigger I am than Ads... Oh how I laughed... mwaa haa haaa!

Bangkok

7Archangel7 — Thu, 16 Feb 2006 08:08:39 GMT

Currently in Thailand still waiting for Adam/Peach to get his act together and his arse over here. Done lots of shopping including 11 new pairs of shorts! Woohoo! Had some interesting things to eat too... see pic... scorpion, bamboo worm, silk worm, cricket, locust (not pictured) & cicada. Am considering getting a suit or two made for work... you know, jacket and shorts or jacket and waistcoat and shorts for formal wear! Adam arrives today, supposedly.

Cycling in the Adelaide Hills

7Archangel7 — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 13:34:25 GMT

Well the next part of the adventure has taken me to Adelaide, full of sunshine and wine. David has been working there for a couple of weeks as a locum optometrist. Great cycling, the city is flat. Unfortunately the picturesque part is hilly and all around the city. I hate cycling uphill but as you can see, I made it (OK we drove most of the way up the hill and cycled down - I know, lazy arse!). The city itself seems sleepy next to Sydney but I've not seen enough of it to judge too much but it seems like endless leafy suburbs. Was there for David's birthday and back again today.

NY 2006 CE

7Archangel7 — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 04:37:42 GMT

Dave, Cat, Dave, Nikki & Ben playing Cranium... Unfortunately due to the Aussie bias of the questions and their low-brow nature, I didn't win... either time we played. That's OK, I'm not competitive or bitter...

Back to Sydney! Yeay!

7Archangel7 — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 04:34:19 GMT

Back to Sydney for an awesome NY's eve with Cat & Dave, Ben & Nikki & my Dave, playing Cranium, trampolining, watching the fireworks over Sydney Harbour, eating Sushi, drinking wine & champagne... Raised a glass to all of you around the world... Big hugs for 2006

The Gold Coast Hinterland

7Archangel7 — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 00:23:03 GMT

Went for an awesome gorge walk in the tropical rainforests behind the Gold Coast, Australia. Dave & I went with his cousins and a couple of others. Saw a bit of deadly Oz fauna, a small-eyed-red-bellied-black snake, a baby blue crayfish, a beautiful skink lizard, a strange fish and leeches, lots of leeches! Got to a beautiful waterfall that crowned the day. Fantastic! Made up for all the glitzy-tacky highrises and shopping malls that make up the rest of the Gold Coast.

Finally feeling like I'm settling in

7Archangel7 — Sun, 04 Dec 2005 04:10:26 GMT

Getting over the jetlag and beginning to settle in. Missing my London house plenty and not yet in touch with my Sydney friends but hoping that will change over the next few days. I have just got a new sim card and will post my new Sydney number on the Valegrove & Whitebait site for all to view. But can't reiterate the benefit of Skype enough - have called home for 1p per minute... sweet! I have logged on to Seek for jobs but not looked seriously yet. Here's a pic of Lou Thompson and her family with whom I'm staying for the time being.

Staying at Lou's House

7Archangel7 — Wed, 30 Nov 2005 01:49:46 GMT

Well, they were supposed to be on holiday for two days before we arrived but as it happened we all got our dates wrong and the upside was that Louise Thompson and I got to spend more time together than we have done since London and it's been great. Dave & I and Lou & Paul have had a good time hanging out and the kids, Connor & Mia have kept us busy too. Here's a great pic Dave took of Lou & Paul's eldest son Connor. Glad that there are now 32 of us signed up on Tribe Net and 26 of us in the Valegrove & Whitebait tribe, though only 7 of us with pics last time I looked.

Well I made the flight

7Archangel7 — Thu, 24 Nov 2005 16:25:20 GMT

Pretty good flight and in a plush hotel room in Thailand. Left some hand luggage on the plane because I was tired - nothing important just a mouse that I bought for my laptop in Heathrow. So if anyone can get me the number for lost luggage in Sydney (Bangkok is not answering)... Got some cool messages off you guys and will miss you heaps, especially you pear-shaped man. There was bugger-all packing left to do for the record and I caught the flight with plenty of time to spare!

We're off to see the Wizard...

7Archangel7 — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 12:42:59 GMT

Off to Oz, 'Straya, Australia in a couple of days and it hasn't quite sunk in yet. I think I need to start panicking so I can start packing more quickly. I have needed an adventure as I was feeling like I was stagnating a bit in London and it's not like I haven't been promising/threatening to go to Oz for ages. Anyway, Todo and I are coming to the Emerald City, I wish I could take Scarecrow, Lion and Tinman but Aussie Immigration won't allow plant products, animals or sharp metal objects, the ****s.