Well tomorrow is a pretty significant day. It means that my lazy couch potato life that I have been enjoying for the last month is coming to an end. Hmmm, Bad times. However it does mean that from tomorrow I am going to be earning some cash! Well, after 5 weeks I will be earning some cash after I have paid off my credit card and the rent that is now due. Well that means that in five weeks I will be able to spend as much money as I want. Woohoo.
As for the credit card bill, that is from the planned trip to Australia over Christmas. Last year I enjoyed a cold christmas, not a white one, so this year it will be back to the normal, hopefully, hot and sunny christmas.
It looks like that from tomorrow there will be no more sleeping in as I have to get to some place on the M4 to meet my co-trainees and from there we will be heading up to Lecister to do our training course. I am a bit aprenhisive as it will be something new and different but it should not be that hard to master. Drill a hole into a wall, pump in some cotton. But we will see.
Sunday, 5 October 2008
Monday, 22 September 2008
Let the search begin
After a weekend of celebrating Sarah's birthday it is back to thte start of the week again and this means that it has gone past time for me to get my ass into gear and get a job. I have realised now that with the lack of demand for primary school teachers in Wales and also that I lack the QTS which many a school would demand in their applicants it may be time to look in other areas for work. Which kind of sux.
Thursday, 11 September 2008
Pub Quizzed
Last night was the inaugural night of 'The Special Ones'. Well it was just basically a pub quiz night and our team ended up winning first place. We kicked some ass.
It was only thanks to Liz's parents who got us inot the place and gave us a few of the answers which allowed the greatest team in teh universe to win!
It was only thanks to Liz's parents who got us inot the place and gave us a few of the answers which allowed the greatest team in teh universe to win!
Monday, 8 September 2008
Arrrgh! Working, so many edcisions to make!
So after a promising start to the day calling up and making contact with many of the agencies aound Cardiff it all went a bit pear shaped after recieving an email from one particular agency that listed some of the required things to bring in for the interview. This particular thing was Proof of Registration with the GTCW (where applicable).
Now normally I usually just say fuck-it and turn up to these interviews no problem as it is them the agencies that really need me as I am the person that makes them the money... but for some reason this particualr thing stood out as something that needed to be investigated. Hmmm, turns out that it is a registration for teachers that are qualified. Teachers that have QTS.
QTS the bane of teaching in the UK. It seems that they are just interested in preserving the profession for their own British teachers as the UK system seems to be very lengthly in actually getting into the teacing profession. Once you are in OK, no problems, but this QTS thing really pisses me off.
So in England I can teach for 4 years without needing to gain QTS, but here in Wales they have decided to be different and reduce this down to only 2 years. To make it a bit more difficult if I wished to work here in Wales as an unqualified teacher I would most likely be on a reduced pay scale, pretty much equilivent to that of a teachers assistant. Not much encouragement for me to persue a career in teaching for the moment.
But what I think really annoys me the most is just that I have to decide if I will teach as-is for the next year, or will I just go in headfirst and try to gain my QTS, even though outside the UK it dosn't mean diddly squat. Hmmm decisions, decisions.
And also a bit of pressure in that I really need a job.
Now normally I usually just say fuck-it and turn up to these interviews no problem as it is them the agencies that really need me as I am the person that makes them the money... but for some reason this particualr thing stood out as something that needed to be investigated. Hmmm, turns out that it is a registration for teachers that are qualified. Teachers that have QTS.
QTS the bane of teaching in the UK. It seems that they are just interested in preserving the profession for their own British teachers as the UK system seems to be very lengthly in actually getting into the teacing profession. Once you are in OK, no problems, but this QTS thing really pisses me off.
So in England I can teach for 4 years without needing to gain QTS, but here in Wales they have decided to be different and reduce this down to only 2 years. To make it a bit more difficult if I wished to work here in Wales as an unqualified teacher I would most likely be on a reduced pay scale, pretty much equilivent to that of a teachers assistant. Not much encouragement for me to persue a career in teaching for the moment.
But what I think really annoys me the most is just that I have to decide if I will teach as-is for the next year, or will I just go in headfirst and try to gain my QTS, even though outside the UK it dosn't mean diddly squat. Hmmm decisions, decisions.
And also a bit of pressure in that I really need a job.
And so the Saga continued
Well after a fantastic time in Croatia, seeing Split, Dubrovnik and some parts of Bosnia, Alex and I headed back to Switzerland on our Easy Jet flight arriving in Geneva. It was like travelling into another dimension. We got onto the plane with blue skies and temperatures in the shade reaching 30 or so degrees and we arrived in Geneva with pouring rain, wind and a temperature around 20 degrees. Feeling a bit exhausted from the early morning travelling we headed off to our friendly HI hostel in the dodgy part of town, as Patrick put it, for some rest and recuperation along with catching up on our washing. Exciting I know, but these things have to be done every now and then. We also booked a car for the following day for two weeks which should allow us a bit more freedom travelling around the alps.
The next day we go the car, our fantastic little Ford, I would never have guessed that one day I would have been yelling at the top of my voice inside a car ‘Go Ford!’ We spent the first day with the car finding our way around Geneva, well I did, and then we spent some time in Geneva’s famous swimming place. Today the lake was really cold, almost 14 degrees, and I was still wondering why nobody seemed to be having a swim in the water. We ended up spending the night at Patrick’s place, on his floor and it was the hardest floor in the world. Bad nights sleep.
The next day we were off to Annecy, driving on the wrong side of the road was going to take another day or so to get used to it. I had a flight in Annecy, back at the place where I had my inaugural tandem over 5 years or so ago. This time it was almost as good. We met these Poms that were travelling around the Alps, Jan and Chris. They were flying around having a good time also. I was really pleased in that I had not forgotten that much of the flying business. I was still able to do some relaxed take offs while others really still struggled. After that flight we hung around the landing zone watching the enormous numbers of tandems that would come in before deciding to start our journey to Grand Bonnard.
It was an amazing drive. Alex took a turn driving and he chose to drive on the road that was a bit challenging. He seemed to have a good time, but in the process it made me feel a bit sic. He was, I think a bit nervous and it showed in his driving, making it a bit jerky and uncomfortable. But the incredible scenery made up for the lack of a smooth journey. Grand Bonnard proved to be bit of a washout as when we arrived the cable cars had already stopped, so that meant that there was no more cable car rides to the top and Alex just missed the local school going up for a tandem in the setting sun. After that the rain decided to make itself known. So our tiny little tent got given a nice washing and a real testing overnight.
Morning dawned and with it miserable weather. That and the fact that it was the first night of camping which always causes a bit of soreness from the different, I mean much more uncomfortable, conditions. So with the horrible wet weather that we discovered when we woke up, we decided to head off to somewhere else to hopefully find some fine weather, to do a bit of flying and also some sightseeing. With the only deadline being to meet mum and dad at Geneva in the 19th we decided that Interlaken was the place to be, Interlaken and the promise of flying in Murren, Grindelwald, Shinge Plate and also the sites around Interlaken. We headed off back tracking then via Chamonix till we reached Interlaken. I was surprised that when I turned up at the campsite near the river that they still had me on file. Oh well, not completely anonymous in Switzerland, it just goes to show how well organised the are in that country.
The next day proved a bit better on the weather front. We checked out Murren and were very lucky to catch a guy falling from the sky with a squirrel suit on, before he threw his chute and landed safely. It looked amazing and at the same time completely insane. We decided that we would head off to Grindelwald to hopefully make the most of the shitty weather. We ended up getting a flight in and although it proved a bit dodgy and lumpy it still was good to be back flying in the really amazing scenery. We flew at Grindelwald the next day, I ended up having a couple of flights, the first one was ok at around lunch time, while the last one was later at about five in the evening, near to the end of the day and looking back it was a bit stupid.
Alex and I both took off and by the time we had flown half way down a storm front had popped its head over the top of the Jungfrau and decided that it didn’t want anybody else flying today. It started to come across pretty quick. So first Alex then I pulled in big ears to get down much quicker, rather than risk a long, long walk through the night. We later caught up with Jan and Chris and they said that it looked like we were both parked and just dropping like stones. Well the wind had picked up a bit and I guess that it was a bit foolish to fly but when we got through the really rough and bumpy wind layer the air turned a lot smoother for the landing and we were both able to land safely, pack up and then there was still time for me to trudge off to the train station with both gliders while Alex took off at a fast jog to pick up the car before the storm broke. It was an exhilarating flight, taking off through the light wispy clouds then feeling a bit like you are about to die…
A couple more flights at Grindelwald and I was becoming more and more courageous in my flying. I saw some guy perform some helicopters while I was overhead, they looked really cool. But all good things come to an end, so the next day we headed off back to Geneva to meet up with mum and dad and hopefully get some better weather. We hired the free bikes again and went for a ride all around Geneva; to the botanic gardens the fountain and also a bit of the city. At the conclusion of the bike riding trip we managed to loose dad for a while, but he had just decide to return to the bike shop by himself. We went back to the car and packed up the car a bit better before heading out to the airfield and picking up our gliders, repacking the car a lot better, while it was pouring down harder than cats and dogs, and then heading off to Chamonix with a really loaded up little car. Apart for m the rain there was not that much of a problem in heading from Geneva. We arrived in Chamonix just before dark and eventually found our Gite; Gite le Vagabond. It turned out to be a place above a pub, nice but with really weird bunk beds. The bottom was really low, the top bunk really high, weird.
Argule de Midi the next day then followed with a trip to the Mer De Glace and the ice grotto before we headed of to the place where dad could be having his tandem flight. It was a real nice place and I had a great flight but it was really busy. Loads of students were flying from another site to the same landing- zone and funny enough we ran in to Jan and Chris again (can’t get rid of those two). The next morning we said goodbye to mum and dad early before Alex and I headed off to the la Flagere launch site for an early flight. I got a bit trashed by some rough air coming off some trees but it was a real nice flight. Just a nice sled ride down, but considering the weather forecast it was the most we could have hope for. We had actually headed to the top launch site but it turned out to be a bit dodgy with some cross wind and rocks all around, un-flyable even though it looked really amazing. So we took the chair lift back down and took off no prob form the bottom take-off .
After this it as back into the car again and the destination this time was Fieche. Along the way the weather decided to change at an amazing rate. At one point we were driving along at the same speed as a cloud was. It was an amazing feeling to see the weather rushing in so fast through the valleys, especially when one valley met with another, the clouds streaming around the corner of a mountain to be whisked away in the wind in the other valley. The next day we were really tired. Too much travelling and not enough rest and relaxation so we were both trashed. We ended up spending the day doing our washing, playing foosball, aerobe and giant chess. However this relaxing was not to last.
The very next morning we were up and about flying Fiesche with almost the most amount of paragliders that there was in the air I had ever seen. So many gliders around. I got a little freaked during the second flight so I headed off to find a thermal of my own resulting in my flying lower and lower till I landed. After a holiday of flying I needed a break so we caught the gondola to the top and took a short walk to the peak of the Eggishorn to look out over the Aletsch Glacier. Amazing. The most serene place that I have ever been to. I was reminded of the movie about Buddha or somebody who had meditated beneath a tree till they nearly starved. I think that if I hadn’t been wearing a singlet and the weather wouldn’t have dropped to below freezing I would have been able to sit there looking at the glacier all day.
The next day the weather had turned sour so we headed back towards Geneva, arriving just after lunch. We got a flight in which was what I decided was the best of the holiday so far. It was amazing, climbing up to near cloud base, getting out of the cloud suck, spiralling in the cloud suck to only gain all the height I had lost really easily, Really hard spirals, some bigger wing-overs and a safe landing. A great flight to finish off the holiday.
The next day we were again given great weather. Alex and I climbed up the winding path to the top of la Slaeve and back down before I decided to chill out and catch all the pilots landing in the evening. There were some amazing limestone caves that we passed through on the way to the top, caves that Patrick and Laura had not even realised were there. Alex got in one more flight before he would have to pack away his glider for the rest of the trip. It was a great way to end our time in the Alps. One last day of mountain sunshine and relaxing for a wind down. The next day we were off to Amsterdam and that is where the rainy weather started. Amsterdam proved to be a bit awkward, we caught up with Dagmar and had a few beers and then we were soon bound for Cardiff. Cardiff came around really quick and soon Sarah was there to greet us at the airport and to really finish off the end of my holiday, even though we were headed off to London after the weekend. It felt that Cardiff was where my holiday ended. Yay! Now back to the hard real world of working.
The next day we go the car, our fantastic little Ford, I would never have guessed that one day I would have been yelling at the top of my voice inside a car ‘Go Ford!’ We spent the first day with the car finding our way around Geneva, well I did, and then we spent some time in Geneva’s famous swimming place. Today the lake was really cold, almost 14 degrees, and I was still wondering why nobody seemed to be having a swim in the water. We ended up spending the night at Patrick’s place, on his floor and it was the hardest floor in the world. Bad nights sleep.
The next day we were off to Annecy, driving on the wrong side of the road was going to take another day or so to get used to it. I had a flight in Annecy, back at the place where I had my inaugural tandem over 5 years or so ago. This time it was almost as good. We met these Poms that were travelling around the Alps, Jan and Chris. They were flying around having a good time also. I was really pleased in that I had not forgotten that much of the flying business. I was still able to do some relaxed take offs while others really still struggled. After that flight we hung around the landing zone watching the enormous numbers of tandems that would come in before deciding to start our journey to Grand Bonnard.
It was an amazing drive. Alex took a turn driving and he chose to drive on the road that was a bit challenging. He seemed to have a good time, but in the process it made me feel a bit sic. He was, I think a bit nervous and it showed in his driving, making it a bit jerky and uncomfortable. But the incredible scenery made up for the lack of a smooth journey. Grand Bonnard proved to be bit of a washout as when we arrived the cable cars had already stopped, so that meant that there was no more cable car rides to the top and Alex just missed the local school going up for a tandem in the setting sun. After that the rain decided to make itself known. So our tiny little tent got given a nice washing and a real testing overnight.
Morning dawned and with it miserable weather. That and the fact that it was the first night of camping which always causes a bit of soreness from the different, I mean much more uncomfortable, conditions. So with the horrible wet weather that we discovered when we woke up, we decided to head off to somewhere else to hopefully find some fine weather, to do a bit of flying and also some sightseeing. With the only deadline being to meet mum and dad at Geneva in the 19th we decided that Interlaken was the place to be, Interlaken and the promise of flying in Murren, Grindelwald, Shinge Plate and also the sites around Interlaken. We headed off back tracking then via Chamonix till we reached Interlaken. I was surprised that when I turned up at the campsite near the river that they still had me on file. Oh well, not completely anonymous in Switzerland, it just goes to show how well organised the are in that country.
The next day proved a bit better on the weather front. We checked out Murren and were very lucky to catch a guy falling from the sky with a squirrel suit on, before he threw his chute and landed safely. It looked amazing and at the same time completely insane. We decided that we would head off to Grindelwald to hopefully make the most of the shitty weather. We ended up getting a flight in and although it proved a bit dodgy and lumpy it still was good to be back flying in the really amazing scenery. We flew at Grindelwald the next day, I ended up having a couple of flights, the first one was ok at around lunch time, while the last one was later at about five in the evening, near to the end of the day and looking back it was a bit stupid.
Alex and I both took off and by the time we had flown half way down a storm front had popped its head over the top of the Jungfrau and decided that it didn’t want anybody else flying today. It started to come across pretty quick. So first Alex then I pulled in big ears to get down much quicker, rather than risk a long, long walk through the night. We later caught up with Jan and Chris and they said that it looked like we were both parked and just dropping like stones. Well the wind had picked up a bit and I guess that it was a bit foolish to fly but when we got through the really rough and bumpy wind layer the air turned a lot smoother for the landing and we were both able to land safely, pack up and then there was still time for me to trudge off to the train station with both gliders while Alex took off at a fast jog to pick up the car before the storm broke. It was an exhilarating flight, taking off through the light wispy clouds then feeling a bit like you are about to die…
A couple more flights at Grindelwald and I was becoming more and more courageous in my flying. I saw some guy perform some helicopters while I was overhead, they looked really cool. But all good things come to an end, so the next day we headed off back to Geneva to meet up with mum and dad and hopefully get some better weather. We hired the free bikes again and went for a ride all around Geneva; to the botanic gardens the fountain and also a bit of the city. At the conclusion of the bike riding trip we managed to loose dad for a while, but he had just decide to return to the bike shop by himself. We went back to the car and packed up the car a bit better before heading out to the airfield and picking up our gliders, repacking the car a lot better, while it was pouring down harder than cats and dogs, and then heading off to Chamonix with a really loaded up little car. Apart for m the rain there was not that much of a problem in heading from Geneva. We arrived in Chamonix just before dark and eventually found our Gite; Gite le Vagabond. It turned out to be a place above a pub, nice but with really weird bunk beds. The bottom was really low, the top bunk really high, weird.
Argule de Midi the next day then followed with a trip to the Mer De Glace and the ice grotto before we headed of to the place where dad could be having his tandem flight. It was a real nice place and I had a great flight but it was really busy. Loads of students were flying from another site to the same landing- zone and funny enough we ran in to Jan and Chris again (can’t get rid of those two). The next morning we said goodbye to mum and dad early before Alex and I headed off to the la Flagere launch site for an early flight. I got a bit trashed by some rough air coming off some trees but it was a real nice flight. Just a nice sled ride down, but considering the weather forecast it was the most we could have hope for. We had actually headed to the top launch site but it turned out to be a bit dodgy with some cross wind and rocks all around, un-flyable even though it looked really amazing. So we took the chair lift back down and took off no prob form the bottom take-off .
After this it as back into the car again and the destination this time was Fieche. Along the way the weather decided to change at an amazing rate. At one point we were driving along at the same speed as a cloud was. It was an amazing feeling to see the weather rushing in so fast through the valleys, especially when one valley met with another, the clouds streaming around the corner of a mountain to be whisked away in the wind in the other valley. The next day we were really tired. Too much travelling and not enough rest and relaxation so we were both trashed. We ended up spending the day doing our washing, playing foosball, aerobe and giant chess. However this relaxing was not to last.
The very next morning we were up and about flying Fiesche with almost the most amount of paragliders that there was in the air I had ever seen. So many gliders around. I got a little freaked during the second flight so I headed off to find a thermal of my own resulting in my flying lower and lower till I landed. After a holiday of flying I needed a break so we caught the gondola to the top and took a short walk to the peak of the Eggishorn to look out over the Aletsch Glacier. Amazing. The most serene place that I have ever been to. I was reminded of the movie about Buddha or somebody who had meditated beneath a tree till they nearly starved. I think that if I hadn’t been wearing a singlet and the weather wouldn’t have dropped to below freezing I would have been able to sit there looking at the glacier all day.
The next day the weather had turned sour so we headed back towards Geneva, arriving just after lunch. We got a flight in which was what I decided was the best of the holiday so far. It was amazing, climbing up to near cloud base, getting out of the cloud suck, spiralling in the cloud suck to only gain all the height I had lost really easily, Really hard spirals, some bigger wing-overs and a safe landing. A great flight to finish off the holiday.
The next day we were again given great weather. Alex and I climbed up the winding path to the top of la Slaeve and back down before I decided to chill out and catch all the pilots landing in the evening. There were some amazing limestone caves that we passed through on the way to the top, caves that Patrick and Laura had not even realised were there. Alex got in one more flight before he would have to pack away his glider for the rest of the trip. It was a great way to end our time in the Alps. One last day of mountain sunshine and relaxing for a wind down. The next day we were off to Amsterdam and that is where the rainy weather started. Amsterdam proved to be a bit awkward, we caught up with Dagmar and had a few beers and then we were soon bound for Cardiff. Cardiff came around really quick and soon Sarah was there to greet us at the airport and to really finish off the end of my holiday, even though we were headed off to London after the weekend. It felt that Cardiff was where my holiday ended. Yay! Now back to the hard real world of working.
Tuesday, 12 August 2008
Edwin's Saga Begins!
Hi Guys,
I know we should have contacted you but its seems that I haven't really been sending emails to anyone at the moment.
So I met mum and dad in London after my second last day of work. Well it was a quick catch up and a dinner before the both of them fell asleep, so i escorted them back to their hotel and let them have a nice sleep. The next day was teh last at school and also a party so I was a bit late in meeting up with mum and dad and marcus and cherry and hazel and fionia for dinner. But not to worry, they were all accepting of my badness so that was it. They enjoyed a nice dinner befoere dad fell asleep at eh table! Geeze, i didn't think that the jetlag would affect them that much.
On wednesday dad, mum and I set off on a site seeing trip around London, in which we took in the sites of Oxford street, Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace, St James Park, Green Park, the Houses of parliment, Big ben, Westminster abbey, The london Eye and that is wher I left them. They went to see Tralfagar square while I went and picked up the last few things from the school, only about 9 bottles of wine from the kids, so i coulden't leave them behind.
The next day we picked up a nice new hire car, a 207 which was fantastic, and set off towards Sailsbury and Stonehenge. We spent about 2 hours at stinehenge and it was great. Mum and i had a look around and finished our tour before dada even got past the 3rd stage on teh voice tour. So we just ast in teh grass and drank in the ocassional sunshine. Mum played around with her new camera and we just chatted. I think that she was a bit concerned that I had changed a bit to much but was relieved to find me the normal Edwin, you know confident, good looking, tall masculine figure tha we have all come to know... Anyway, from Stonehenge we ended up heading straight for cardiff and a meeting up with Sarah and her mum for a lovely risotto dinner that she cooked for all of us. It was great. On friday we headed off to Cardiff castle and a site seeing tour of there as well as a tour of the cardiff Bay and a walk around town. this was quite a full day so I took them back for a bit of a rest and a sit down chat telling them that the can't possibly see everything so they need to slow down ro they will miss stuff because they are asleep. Friday night was dinner at sarah's dad's place, a fish pie, and then saturday we said goodbye to Sarah as she was off to Portugal. Bad timing, i know.
From Cardiff we set off to Brnstable to catch up with some relos there, _Anthony I think as well as Nancy. It was great. Anthony needed a break from the young kids so he took me off to the local surf beach, the first that I have see in my time thi the UK. It was amazing, almost as good a s somewhere from Australia. The sun was shining and it looked beautiful. To bad there were so many people about. After a day in Barnstable we set off early to Cardiiff airportfor a flight to Edinburgh, and then to meet up with Hanice and Alisdair. It was at this point when I left my phone inthe ire car, and as yet unable to retrieve it. hmmm, it made things difficult but I have managed to be OK without it.
Back on track and we picked up a car, and then promptly headed off in the wrong direction for about half an hour before turning around and heading off to inverness. The drive through the country side was amazing. Hills nature, landmarked buildings, not so many dry stone walls but really beaoutiful. And apart form the road there was not that many people around. It was amazing, but then again it was in a different country, no longer in England. We shared the driving and teh snoozing on teh way up to inverness where dad picked up a phone card and got in contact with Janice. Then again we headed off, along the shore of Loch Ness, and no moonsters, to the tiny village of Tomich where JHanice and Alisdair were waiting. They live in the last house in the village and west from their house there is only wilderness to the west coast of scotland. Pristine lochs and forest. Alisdair was pretty pleased that there was another young bloke around to do some of the adventure sports that he love so much, and as I hadn't realipsed that the sun stayed up till 1000 at night I was a bit puzzled as to why he kept wanting me to do somethinglike canoeing down a river at nine at night. It was OK as we were all tired.
The next day we were recruited into helping Alisdair pull off the roof of his new house. It was just some corrugated iron, but it was stubborn and the structure was a bit dodgy. As it was I was the only person to fall off the roof, though landing soflty like a cat. Near teh end of the day we finally got all of the iron off and ever so cleverly we pushed and rocked this over 100 year old roof trusses back and forward till they crashed down. Unfortunately no cameras to record our triumph, only a pile of bronken wood filled with wood worm. This was rthe end of the work day for the workers, so we all headed back for some amazing grub that janice had cooked up wiht mum.
As it was not yet dark Alisdair deceided to oce again rally the troops and take us up the back of the forestry forest to some remote £Loch for a bit of fishing. It was my first time a fly fishing and I think thtat It will take a bit longer to master it. I only ended up catching some heather (the plant not the fish). It was here that I was introduced into the amazing Scottish Midges. Really really really horrible tings that fly all around you and there is nothg that you can do about them. I as glad when at 1000pm alisdair decided that he had had enough so we headed off back to the car and to relative safetly away from the midges. what a day, I would have never thought to hed off and go fishing at 8pm and there still be light at 1000.
The next day was my last so Alisdair got the mountain bikes out for a lilttle ride up the the blueberry patcheswhere we spent lots of time picking blueberrys, till my toungue was blue as well as my fingers. Then an amazing downhill run on the bikes before setting off to Inverness and a bus to Edinburgh. That is where I left mum and Dad and for a couple of days was by myself.
Spent a night in Edinburgh, it was buzzing as the fringe festival was just about to start so there were heaps of people out and about. I once again made themost of the late light and headed up tot the top of what i thought was authors seat, but was infact just a small little hill nex tot hte city. A very early start and off to the airport before flying to Geneva where I would meet alex the next day.
Geneva strated out as a stinker, so i spen most of the day lazing about beside the lake, hirin a bike and going for a ride and just catching up of a couple of zzzzz's. Met alex the next day after a day of searching around for him. we spent the afternoon jsut haveiong alook around, he was tired and worn out, the airplane had temporaryly lost his bags on route form heathrow. all was well and the very next day on Saturday we headed off to the airfiedl, a small paddock next to som cabbage and corn farms, where we caught the club bus up to the top of the mountain for a couple of flights. Alex and I were amazed witht e views an teh flying. It was just really really busy. There were heaps of carazy swiss guys about flying really hectically around the hill, pulling really big wingovers right over launch. But it was a really amazing vibe on the hill as everyone was just haveing a good time. well I thiought this but i could't understand teh frnch wholly. But i didn't here Merde once So that is a good sign. Another day of flying on sunday, which was even better, before the conditions turned really windy on monday. So jusst a day of relaxing beside the lake was in order.
Tuesday and then we were off to Croatia. wow. Amazing. Sun, the sea and plenty of beautiful women to look at. I have never seen so many skinny people wearing hot pants in one place before. we Started off in Split and spent a couple fo days just exploring the city, haggling with the market vendors and swimming in the sea. It was so hot that I think it took a coupleof days for us to get acclimitised to the conditions. After Split we headed off to Dubrovnik where milan and stan caught up with us. Dubrovnik was amazing. once againg it was mainly sight seeing till we got to hot then swimming in the sea, jumping off high rocks and just plain haveiong a lazing about itme.
The Hostel that wew were staiyng at arranged for us a day trip, with other people to go and see Basnia. This was great. We spent the day tasting Oysters fresh out of the sea, Swimming and relaxing in some amazing natural waterfalls, then some really good lamb off the spit for lunch. One of the lambs on the spit still had its tongue. cool. After Lunch we headed off to Mostar for some soubvenir shopping and sight seeing as well as watching a crazy guy jump off 30 metre high bridge. well he wasn't so stupid as he got the tourists to pay first before he jumped. After that it was a bit of lame hore riding, lame because it was just get on these tiny horses and sit there as you get led around. we ended this day trip back in Dubrovnik at about midnight,l a really worthwile trip and an amazing experience.
The next day and we were back in Split just for the night before flying back to Geneva again to pick up our paragliders and strat flying ariound agian. Unfortunately here now as I sit here the weather is not cooperating and it has been raining hard for ages, most ofth time we have been here. So tomorrow Alex and I will hire a car and go and get our gliders and hed off into france in hope that there is better weather there. It is quite hard going from the high 30's back to around 20 degress. It makes you feel real cold. I really prefer the high 30's with swimming than all this rain.
An that is basically a quick ound up of the trip so far. I look forward to hearing form all of you and also telling you all about the rest of our trip.
From
Ed.
I know we should have contacted you but its seems that I haven't really been sending emails to anyone at the moment.
So I met mum and dad in London after my second last day of work. Well it was a quick catch up and a dinner before the both of them fell asleep, so i escorted them back to their hotel and let them have a nice sleep. The next day was teh last at school and also a party so I was a bit late in meeting up with mum and dad and marcus and cherry and hazel and fionia for dinner. But not to worry, they were all accepting of my badness so that was it. They enjoyed a nice dinner befoere dad fell asleep at eh table! Geeze, i didn't think that the jetlag would affect them that much.
On wednesday dad, mum and I set off on a site seeing trip around London, in which we took in the sites of Oxford street, Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace, St James Park, Green Park, the Houses of parliment, Big ben, Westminster abbey, The london Eye and that is wher I left them. They went to see Tralfagar square while I went and picked up the last few things from the school, only about 9 bottles of wine from the kids, so i coulden't leave them behind.
The next day we picked up a nice new hire car, a 207 which was fantastic, and set off towards Sailsbury and Stonehenge. We spent about 2 hours at stinehenge and it was great. Mum and i had a look around and finished our tour before dada even got past the 3rd stage on teh voice tour. So we just ast in teh grass and drank in the ocassional sunshine. Mum played around with her new camera and we just chatted. I think that she was a bit concerned that I had changed a bit to much but was relieved to find me the normal Edwin, you know confident, good looking, tall masculine figure tha we have all come to know... Anyway, from Stonehenge we ended up heading straight for cardiff and a meeting up with Sarah and her mum for a lovely risotto dinner that she cooked for all of us. It was great. On friday we headed off to Cardiff castle and a site seeing tour of there as well as a tour of the cardiff Bay and a walk around town. this was quite a full day so I took them back for a bit of a rest and a sit down chat telling them that the can't possibly see everything so they need to slow down ro they will miss stuff because they are asleep. Friday night was dinner at sarah's dad's place, a fish pie, and then saturday we said goodbye to Sarah as she was off to Portugal. Bad timing, i know.
From Cardiff we set off to Brnstable to catch up with some relos there, _Anthony I think as well as Nancy. It was great. Anthony needed a break from the young kids so he took me off to the local surf beach, the first that I have see in my time thi the UK. It was amazing, almost as good a s somewhere from Australia. The sun was shining and it looked beautiful. To bad there were so many people about. After a day in Barnstable we set off early to Cardiiff airportfor a flight to Edinburgh, and then to meet up with Hanice and Alisdair. It was at this point when I left my phone inthe ire car, and as yet unable to retrieve it. hmmm, it made things difficult but I have managed to be OK without it.
Back on track and we picked up a car, and then promptly headed off in the wrong direction for about half an hour before turning around and heading off to inverness. The drive through the country side was amazing. Hills nature, landmarked buildings, not so many dry stone walls but really beaoutiful. And apart form the road there was not that many people around. It was amazing, but then again it was in a different country, no longer in England. We shared the driving and teh snoozing on teh way up to inverness where dad picked up a phone card and got in contact with Janice. Then again we headed off, along the shore of Loch Ness, and no moonsters, to the tiny village of Tomich where JHanice and Alisdair were waiting. They live in the last house in the village and west from their house there is only wilderness to the west coast of scotland. Pristine lochs and forest. Alisdair was pretty pleased that there was another young bloke around to do some of the adventure sports that he love so much, and as I hadn't realipsed that the sun stayed up till 1000 at night I was a bit puzzled as to why he kept wanting me to do somethinglike canoeing down a river at nine at night. It was OK as we were all tired.
The next day we were recruited into helping Alisdair pull off the roof of his new house. It was just some corrugated iron, but it was stubborn and the structure was a bit dodgy. As it was I was the only person to fall off the roof, though landing soflty like a cat. Near teh end of the day we finally got all of the iron off and ever so cleverly we pushed and rocked this over 100 year old roof trusses back and forward till they crashed down. Unfortunately no cameras to record our triumph, only a pile of bronken wood filled with wood worm. This was rthe end of the work day for the workers, so we all headed back for some amazing grub that janice had cooked up wiht mum.
As it was not yet dark Alisdair deceided to oce again rally the troops and take us up the back of the forestry forest to some remote £Loch for a bit of fishing. It was my first time a fly fishing and I think thtat It will take a bit longer to master it. I only ended up catching some heather (the plant not the fish). It was here that I was introduced into the amazing Scottish Midges. Really really really horrible tings that fly all around you and there is nothg that you can do about them. I as glad when at 1000pm alisdair decided that he had had enough so we headed off back to the car and to relative safetly away from the midges. what a day, I would have never thought to hed off and go fishing at 8pm and there still be light at 1000.
The next day was my last so Alisdair got the mountain bikes out for a lilttle ride up the the blueberry patcheswhere we spent lots of time picking blueberrys, till my toungue was blue as well as my fingers. Then an amazing downhill run on the bikes before setting off to Inverness and a bus to Edinburgh. That is where I left mum and Dad and for a couple of days was by myself.
Spent a night in Edinburgh, it was buzzing as the fringe festival was just about to start so there were heaps of people out and about. I once again made themost of the late light and headed up tot the top of what i thought was authors seat, but was infact just a small little hill nex tot hte city. A very early start and off to the airport before flying to Geneva where I would meet alex the next day.
Geneva strated out as a stinker, so i spen most of the day lazing about beside the lake, hirin a bike and going for a ride and just catching up of a couple of zzzzz's. Met alex the next day after a day of searching around for him. we spent the afternoon jsut haveiong alook around, he was tired and worn out, the airplane had temporaryly lost his bags on route form heathrow. all was well and the very next day on Saturday we headed off to the airfiedl, a small paddock next to som cabbage and corn farms, where we caught the club bus up to the top of the mountain for a couple of flights. Alex and I were amazed witht e views an teh flying. It was just really really busy. There were heaps of carazy swiss guys about flying really hectically around the hill, pulling really big wingovers right over launch. But it was a really amazing vibe on the hill as everyone was just haveing a good time. well I thiought this but i could't understand teh frnch wholly. But i didn't here Merde once So that is a good sign. Another day of flying on sunday, which was even better, before the conditions turned really windy on monday. So jusst a day of relaxing beside the lake was in order.
Tuesday and then we were off to Croatia. wow. Amazing. Sun, the sea and plenty of beautiful women to look at. I have never seen so many skinny people wearing hot pants in one place before. we Started off in Split and spent a couple fo days just exploring the city, haggling with the market vendors and swimming in the sea. It was so hot that I think it took a coupleof days for us to get acclimitised to the conditions. After Split we headed off to Dubrovnik where milan and stan caught up with us. Dubrovnik was amazing. once againg it was mainly sight seeing till we got to hot then swimming in the sea, jumping off high rocks and just plain haveiong a lazing about itme.
The Hostel that wew were staiyng at arranged for us a day trip, with other people to go and see Basnia. This was great. We spent the day tasting Oysters fresh out of the sea, Swimming and relaxing in some amazing natural waterfalls, then some really good lamb off the spit for lunch. One of the lambs on the spit still had its tongue. cool. After Lunch we headed off to Mostar for some soubvenir shopping and sight seeing as well as watching a crazy guy jump off 30 metre high bridge. well he wasn't so stupid as he got the tourists to pay first before he jumped. After that it was a bit of lame hore riding, lame because it was just get on these tiny horses and sit there as you get led around. we ended this day trip back in Dubrovnik at about midnight,l a really worthwile trip and an amazing experience.
The next day and we were back in Split just for the night before flying back to Geneva again to pick up our paragliders and strat flying ariound agian. Unfortunately here now as I sit here the weather is not cooperating and it has been raining hard for ages, most ofth time we have been here. So tomorrow Alex and I will hire a car and go and get our gliders and hed off into france in hope that there is better weather there. It is quite hard going from the high 30's back to around 20 degress. It makes you feel real cold. I really prefer the high 30's with swimming than all this rain.
An that is basically a quick ound up of the trip so far. I look forward to hearing form all of you and also telling you all about the rest of our trip.
From
Ed.
Friday, 1 August 2008
Been a while...
It has been a while but thats only because i have been busy and getting up to many things. At the moment I am sitting waiting for Alex to turn up, still.
My day started out well with finding out about a free bicycle rental program the the city of geneva runs. Off i went on my new bicycle, part the way round lake geneva till the rian came. Afther that I decided to hed off the the airport to try and meet alex somewhere. Things didn't go to planned bioth for alex and myself. Alex lost his bags, whileI ended up spending the time wondering around waiting for Alex to come out of the arrivals gate. Anyway we amnaged to contact each other and that brings me to where I am now, waiting for Alex, and at the same time spending it constructively, writing on my blog.
As fo rthe rest of my time since my last post well, that has partially gone into getting used to travelling around with a really heavy bag on my back. Since the 24th of July I spent a week traveling around with mum and dad. we saw quite a bit, with London, Stonehenge, Cardiff, Loc Ness and Janice and Alisdair crossed of the list. Mostly site seeing but more importantly catchup time.
My day started out well with finding out about a free bicycle rental program the the city of geneva runs. Off i went on my new bicycle, part the way round lake geneva till the rian came. Afther that I decided to hed off the the airport to try and meet alex somewhere. Things didn't go to planned bioth for alex and myself. Alex lost his bags, whileI ended up spending the time wondering around waiting for Alex to come out of the arrivals gate. Anyway we amnaged to contact each other and that brings me to where I am now, waiting for Alex, and at the same time spending it constructively, writing on my blog.
As fo rthe rest of my time since my last post well, that has partially gone into getting used to travelling around with a really heavy bag on my back. Since the 24th of July I spent a week traveling around with mum and dad. we saw quite a bit, with London, Stonehenge, Cardiff, Loc Ness and Janice and Alisdair crossed of the list. Mostly site seeing but more importantly catchup time.
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