Tuesday, 11 October 2011
Brif update and an attempt at a catch up
OK so I`ve about 20 minutes remaining at this internet cafe and this German keyboard is driving me nuts!!
There is a massive gap in my posts that I didn`t manage to write up before I left the UK, I will get there at some point but I just wanted to let anyone that might still read this that I will get back on it in the next few weeks and am promissing some more crazy adventurous stories. OK so maybe not quite as bonkers as being put in bolivian prison, or spending 9 weeks living in the rain forest walking an adult male puma daily, or even suffering the experience that is a Bolivian hospital, or even taking a Harley Davidson up the West coast of America.....But Adventures are certainly out there to be found, and I certainly will find them :)
So I thank any of you left for reading, I am currently in Switzerland. I`ve 2 weeks left then it`s off to discover Germany, cos no one has yet! I shall have to get a flag and claim it for my own :)
OK I haven`t got a flag....Can you claim a country with a toy snail? I reckon there must be a way :)
Thursday, 18 August 2011
Hatfair, Sonisphere, Latitude, Secret Garden Party and Play Festival
And so I arrived in beautiful Winchester for Hatfair. Europe's longest running street performance art festival. This one was year 38 and myself and Tim would be running two bars. One in the big top every evening from 8pm till 1am....ish and another on the Sunday during the day time.
It was up to Tim & myself to have everything running and organised, and due to the fact that we had no daytime bars we always had the daytimes (apart from Sunday) to mooch around town. So for three days we explored wonderful Winchester, watched the street performances and ate out and nice cafes. I was very lucky to also catch up a few times with my very good friend Tim (another Tim, the place was full of them!) And on one particular morning met for breakfast and were joined by a member of Winchester council. The situation soon became very comical when Tim's (Winchester Tim not my work colleague) ex wife turned up, she was immediately very happy to see the councillor there and wanted to pay him back some monies she owed him. The councillor looked noticeably disturbed by this happening in quite a public location and insisted on going into the cafe to pay.....He never came back! Instead deciding that the back door would be in his best interest.....Perhaps a similar decision that got him into the predicament in the first place? ;) In any case whilst in the cafe he also paid for mine, Tim's and Tim's breakfast! And considering that he only had one coffee, we worked out that that single cup had just cost him around £27! So breakfast on Winchester council then nice!
The rest of the weekend bathed us in glorious sunshine. We had amazing and happy bar staff courtesy of a local agency and even had rooms in the local university as there was no camping, what a touch! It was one great party!
Our bar in the big top
Sonisphere was the next festie I went to and for this one I was trying out a new company, Creative Events. I'd never worked for them before and would only earn a small amount of money as I was bar staff for the event. So I decided to do what (it seams) I do best, show everyone up! Might as well, they don't know me and I'm trying to get in good with a new company, makes sense no? So I worked my arse off for my first shift, ran rings round everyone. And wouldn't you know it, they made me supervisor from then on in! That paid off nicely :D The rest of the weekend was spent with an awesome metal soundtrack, Slayer, Metallica, Weezer, Cavalera Conspiracy and Limp Bizkit. Overall a really fun weekend! Met some great people too!
Wonderful meeting up with good friends at Sonisphere
One of my favourite pictures of the summer
Night photography, 60 second aperture opening
Latitude was next up and I was to run the Campsite Bar again. I really like working there and it's my second year doing so. A great festie, bit middle class but done well with lots to see. Caught up with many friends and had a few parties along the way.
I left Latitude and headed straight for Secret Garden Party! I arrived as a Green Steward but was quickly passed onto a wonderful job in production! Yet another sweet touch. The summer was really looking after me! After meeting Lou and her team it was decided that I would be working at the information point which was also lost & found. Seriously best job ever! I had so much fun working there and have since been promised work there anytime I want! Happy days!!! What a crazy festie! So much fun, dancing, drinking and playing with friends new and old, I love SGP!!
My next stop was the Play Festival. A small and intimate circus skills event in North Wales, 200 miles away from where I was, and onto my bike I jumped and headed there, oh the feeling of freedom. Play was a wonderful festie too (they all were!) I did a few shifts on the gate, met many many wonderful people and had a real good chill out!
Took a walk up to the lonely tree:
And never wanted to come down!
Right! It's now sleepy time! I've almost caught up with my summer and only have a few festies left to do and write about. That'll all happen in the next few weeks before I head off again into the sunset. This time round Europe then Israel! The excitement draws in again :D
Till then sweet dreams to you all xxx
It was up to Tim & myself to have everything running and organised, and due to the fact that we had no daytime bars we always had the daytimes (apart from Sunday) to mooch around town. So for three days we explored wonderful Winchester, watched the street performances and ate out and nice cafes. I was very lucky to also catch up a few times with my very good friend Tim (another Tim, the place was full of them!) And on one particular morning met for breakfast and were joined by a member of Winchester council. The situation soon became very comical when Tim's (Winchester Tim not my work colleague) ex wife turned up, she was immediately very happy to see the councillor there and wanted to pay him back some monies she owed him. The councillor looked noticeably disturbed by this happening in quite a public location and insisted on going into the cafe to pay.....He never came back! Instead deciding that the back door would be in his best interest.....Perhaps a similar decision that got him into the predicament in the first place? ;) In any case whilst in the cafe he also paid for mine, Tim's and Tim's breakfast! And considering that he only had one coffee, we worked out that that single cup had just cost him around £27! So breakfast on Winchester council then nice!
The rest of the weekend bathed us in glorious sunshine. We had amazing and happy bar staff courtesy of a local agency and even had rooms in the local university as there was no camping, what a touch! It was one great party!
Our bar in the big top
Sonisphere was the next festie I went to and for this one I was trying out a new company, Creative Events. I'd never worked for them before and would only earn a small amount of money as I was bar staff for the event. So I decided to do what (it seams) I do best, show everyone up! Might as well, they don't know me and I'm trying to get in good with a new company, makes sense no? So I worked my arse off for my first shift, ran rings round everyone. And wouldn't you know it, they made me supervisor from then on in! That paid off nicely :D The rest of the weekend was spent with an awesome metal soundtrack, Slayer, Metallica, Weezer, Cavalera Conspiracy and Limp Bizkit. Overall a really fun weekend! Met some great people too!
Wonderful meeting up with good friends at Sonisphere
One of my favourite pictures of the summer
Night photography, 60 second aperture opening
Latitude was next up and I was to run the Campsite Bar again. I really like working there and it's my second year doing so. A great festie, bit middle class but done well with lots to see. Caught up with many friends and had a few parties along the way.
I left Latitude and headed straight for Secret Garden Party! I arrived as a Green Steward but was quickly passed onto a wonderful job in production! Yet another sweet touch. The summer was really looking after me! After meeting Lou and her team it was decided that I would be working at the information point which was also lost & found. Seriously best job ever! I had so much fun working there and have since been promised work there anytime I want! Happy days!!! What a crazy festie! So much fun, dancing, drinking and playing with friends new and old, I love SGP!!
My next stop was the Play Festival. A small and intimate circus skills event in North Wales, 200 miles away from where I was, and onto my bike I jumped and headed there, oh the feeling of freedom. Play was a wonderful festie too (they all were!) I did a few shifts on the gate, met many many wonderful people and had a real good chill out!
Took a walk up to the lonely tree:
And never wanted to come down!
Right! It's now sleepy time! I've almost caught up with my summer and only have a few festies left to do and write about. That'll all happen in the next few weeks before I head off again into the sunset. This time round Europe then Israel! The excitement draws in again :D
Till then sweet dreams to you all xxx
Wednesday, 29 June 2011
So now I'm back after what was five months away from home and all I can think of is, 'what am I doing here'......I never really thought about any downsides of returning back to London. But some good friends have confirmed that what I am going through is quite normal. Living away from home and experiencing something so very epic will have a flip side once you're back. A feeling that I don't belong, a feeling of unhappiness, a feeling of loneliness. I have been extremely lucky and with a few years hard work have managed to secure myself many festivals to occupy myself over the summer (fifteen and counting!) And for this I am very grateful, for without it I would certainly be one lost soul in London. But as it turns out, I am not. No in fact my biggest challenge is that of motivation. All else is really quite wonderful. I have wonderful friends, wonderful encounters and have been led to wonderful situations that in turn have helped me get ahead of the game.
So I came back home and spent around five days just waiting for The Sunrise Celebration to begin, and soon enough it did! So I had the bike fixed (new clutch £450!) and a few days later I was ready for festie number 1. Sunrise was wonderful for me! I reconnected with so many people and had the easiest shifts with Green Stewards ever, just what I needed!
Festival number 2 was Glade. At the time I didn't have any clue just how epic Glade would be. I was going alone to get out of London, that's all I knew. I got there early and put my tent up in a large empty field, about half a day later some others arrived. I met some of my neighbours and eventually had an early night.
The next day Spin arrived and introduced me to all of her lovely friends and instantly my new family were all around me! Green Stewards asked me if I wanted to do a Supervisor shift which I happily accepted and afterwards was told this was a trial and I'd done really well! (got paid too!) That night we all went out and got quite messy, it was lots of fun! and by the time the sun was coming up we were all ready for bed.....That was until I saw Mr Sunshine poking his head above the horizon, what a sight! And I moved a little closer to interrupt a group a people who hadn't yet noticed, 'looooook' I said! And that's how I met Tabatha. She insisted that I come back to her tent to help her finish off her drink, be rude not to! A little later we went in search of some nos and somehow ended up on a trampoline. Some ten to fifteen minutes must have gone by with much jumping and laughing when all of a sudden we were joined by some random who go up on the tramp and in all of a few seconds managed to put me off balance and I crushed my ankle. The pain was instant and I came down off my high very quickly indeed, got very warm and almost through up. Luckily the medics tent wasn't far so I though I would hobble over, although I could sustain no weight on it at all so Tabatha had to go over and get them to come and get me. The doctor decided I really should go to the hospital as it could be fractured, it had swelled up like you wouldn't believe!. So off I went to Kings Lynn Hospital (dressed as a polar bear by the way!) Hospital in fancy dress is rather fun, really put a smile on the nurses faces :D
Wind forward a few hours and with the great news that nothing is broken I returned to Glade via the free shuttle bus service and was back on the dance floor (crutches and all!) The rest of my stewarding shifts took place in the 'office' passing messages on the radio (felt quite at home doing this after over eight years with the couriers)
Getting home wasn't as difficult as I thought it might be as it was my right foot and not my left, so I motorbiked back and was even helped out getting petrol so I didn't have to get off.
Festival number 3 was London Feis where I was running a small Guinness Bar (at an Irish Festival!!!) Were we busy? Jeeeeez! My bar made £26,000 on Saturday selling just Guinness! That's over 6,000 pints!
Festival number 4 was Glastonbury where I was asked to look after The Pussy Parlour, the very same Spiegel tent I spent six weeks of my life in over xmas and new years! This time though I was being subbed out to work for The Dance Village with no other WBC staff but me I was given 18 bar staff who were working for their ticket and by the way, all dressed up in burlesque outfits, nice! I had lots and lots of fun working there! Didn't really see any bands at Glastonbury, had much trouble with my ankle and didn't get that much time off......Still had a blast though! Deffo got the good straw in bagging the pussy parlour :)
So now I'm home after a coach journey with no air con or windows on the hottest day of the year. I've had worse journey though :)
Yesterday i had a job interview for a bar job at Sonisphere, went in to the head office at The WBC to finalise some arrangements for Hatfiar (Festie number 5) and finally attended the wonderful Flash Mob Meditation in Covent Garden with my friend Anna. (the whole time still wearing much glitter from Glastonbury that will not wash out!!) After we went for amazing vegan food with some of the people we met and laughed about all sorts of silly things. Life is quite sweet!
This morning I woke with little or no motivation and spent the day in bed. It is now 16:34 and I have not left bed yet. I am making up for lost time though and do not feel too guilty. Shortly I will actually get up, do some washing (clothes and also myself!) and then maybe pick a movie for a quiet night in for tomorrow morning it's off to Winchester for Hatfair. Am very excited as it's just me and a guy called Tim. No other WBC staff at all! Should be much fun! And it means I don't have to go to Hop Farm (which I'm not a massive fan of)
Oh and I just had a call from Green Stewards offering me last minute paid work at Hop Farm (I had to turn them down due to Hatfair) They were only after 4 people and requested me, feels gooood :D
Till the next time, thank you for reading, chat soon x
So I came back home and spent around five days just waiting for The Sunrise Celebration to begin, and soon enough it did! So I had the bike fixed (new clutch £450!) and a few days later I was ready for festie number 1. Sunrise was wonderful for me! I reconnected with so many people and had the easiest shifts with Green Stewards ever, just what I needed!
Festival number 2 was Glade. At the time I didn't have any clue just how epic Glade would be. I was going alone to get out of London, that's all I knew. I got there early and put my tent up in a large empty field, about half a day later some others arrived. I met some of my neighbours and eventually had an early night.
The next day Spin arrived and introduced me to all of her lovely friends and instantly my new family were all around me! Green Stewards asked me if I wanted to do a Supervisor shift which I happily accepted and afterwards was told this was a trial and I'd done really well! (got paid too!) That night we all went out and got quite messy, it was lots of fun! and by the time the sun was coming up we were all ready for bed.....That was until I saw Mr Sunshine poking his head above the horizon, what a sight! And I moved a little closer to interrupt a group a people who hadn't yet noticed, 'looooook' I said! And that's how I met Tabatha. She insisted that I come back to her tent to help her finish off her drink, be rude not to! A little later we went in search of some nos and somehow ended up on a trampoline. Some ten to fifteen minutes must have gone by with much jumping and laughing when all of a sudden we were joined by some random who go up on the tramp and in all of a few seconds managed to put me off balance and I crushed my ankle. The pain was instant and I came down off my high very quickly indeed, got very warm and almost through up. Luckily the medics tent wasn't far so I though I would hobble over, although I could sustain no weight on it at all so Tabatha had to go over and get them to come and get me. The doctor decided I really should go to the hospital as it could be fractured, it had swelled up like you wouldn't believe!. So off I went to Kings Lynn Hospital (dressed as a polar bear by the way!) Hospital in fancy dress is rather fun, really put a smile on the nurses faces :D
Wind forward a few hours and with the great news that nothing is broken I returned to Glade via the free shuttle bus service and was back on the dance floor (crutches and all!) The rest of my stewarding shifts took place in the 'office' passing messages on the radio (felt quite at home doing this after over eight years with the couriers)
Getting home wasn't as difficult as I thought it might be as it was my right foot and not my left, so I motorbiked back and was even helped out getting petrol so I didn't have to get off.
Festival number 3 was London Feis where I was running a small Guinness Bar (at an Irish Festival!!!) Were we busy? Jeeeeez! My bar made £26,000 on Saturday selling just Guinness! That's over 6,000 pints!
Festival number 4 was Glastonbury where I was asked to look after The Pussy Parlour, the very same Spiegel tent I spent six weeks of my life in over xmas and new years! This time though I was being subbed out to work for The Dance Village with no other WBC staff but me I was given 18 bar staff who were working for their ticket and by the way, all dressed up in burlesque outfits, nice! I had lots and lots of fun working there! Didn't really see any bands at Glastonbury, had much trouble with my ankle and didn't get that much time off......Still had a blast though! Deffo got the good straw in bagging the pussy parlour :)
So now I'm home after a coach journey with no air con or windows on the hottest day of the year. I've had worse journey though :)
Yesterday i had a job interview for a bar job at Sonisphere, went in to the head office at The WBC to finalise some arrangements for Hatfiar (Festie number 5) and finally attended the wonderful Flash Mob Meditation in Covent Garden with my friend Anna. (the whole time still wearing much glitter from Glastonbury that will not wash out!!) After we went for amazing vegan food with some of the people we met and laughed about all sorts of silly things. Life is quite sweet!
This morning I woke with little or no motivation and spent the day in bed. It is now 16:34 and I have not left bed yet. I am making up for lost time though and do not feel too guilty. Shortly I will actually get up, do some washing (clothes and also myself!) and then maybe pick a movie for a quiet night in for tomorrow morning it's off to Winchester for Hatfair. Am very excited as it's just me and a guy called Tim. No other WBC staff at all! Should be much fun! And it means I don't have to go to Hop Farm (which I'm not a massive fan of)
Oh and I just had a call from Green Stewards offering me last minute paid work at Hop Farm (I had to turn them down due to Hatfair) They were only after 4 people and requested me, feels gooood :D
Till the next time, thank you for reading, chat soon x
Wednesday, 15 June 2011
Seattle, Vancouver, New York & home
I arrived in Seattle and was greeted by my most gracious hosts Daniel & V and driven back to there lovely house. I spent 6 wonderful days in Seattle. Had massively long walks in town, checking out the amazing markets and popping into coffee shops every now and then (it's the law in Seattle to have some caffeine after every four blocks of walking) The people are just as friendly as in San Francisco and it's just as hilly too!
One particular day Daniel drove us all out to Twin Peaks country and we did a little tour. Earie and beautiful at the same time! On other days we ate amazing sushi, drank in exclusive backstreet speakeasy's and attended high class burlesque nights. All in all a wonderful experience and one that I hope to repeat again as soon as I can get myself back there :)
After Seattle time was sadly over it was time to head for Vancouver. A greyhound bus and around three hours took care of this and Emma was at the bus station to meet me. I spent 6 wonderful days with Emma & Wayne at their lovely flat in Commercial Drive (which is by FAR the best neighbourhood in Vancouver according to Emma) Generous to the core, they took me out everywhere and gave me evil stares if I attempted to take my wallet out of my trousers! (I managed occasionally though haha!) Vancouver is a stunning place surrounded by huge snow capped mountains. I had a lot of fun with Emma and her gorgeous friends. There were beach trips, lunch dates, spin classes and so much more! Vancouver is a jolly place that I really hope to get back to soon :)
And so eventually it was time to lift my bags and carry on, for New York was waiting for me! And another two plane flights later I arrived in The Big Apple! Coming from London I didn't think New York would astound me like it did, but it did! It is truely a massive place! It was great to see Kristine again and one couldn't hope for a better host/tour guide/drinking companion! We ate massive burgers at amazing diners and even sampled what can be best described as alien food! We found goth nights and burlesque nights and made me feel right at home. New York was also a chance to catch up with my friend Chef and also Nellie. I spent at least two days in Central Park as it was just about the only place that made me feel grounded.
After New York I flew home via Iceland right only a day after it had been reopened due to volcanic activity. Only got to spend an hour in the airport though which was a shame.
Arriving back to the UK was about as uneventful as I thought it would be. And I basically waited for the start of the festival season and the Sunrise Celebration where I could be back in nature with my festival friends. I wasn't liking the big city much and when I finally got to Sunrise it didn't take me too long to reconnect and ground myself.
So this blog will now be a tale by tale or should I say festival by festival update through the summer. Currently I should be attending around 12 festivals though that number is expected to rise. Expect all the highlights and lowlights here. Then in October I shall be on my merry way again first to Switzerland to see my grandma then to Israel with, if I'm very lucky indeed, a few pit stops on the way.......But that all depends on my cash flow.
Till the next update, thank you for reading and I'll post again soon x
One particular day Daniel drove us all out to Twin Peaks country and we did a little tour. Earie and beautiful at the same time! On other days we ate amazing sushi, drank in exclusive backstreet speakeasy's and attended high class burlesque nights. All in all a wonderful experience and one that I hope to repeat again as soon as I can get myself back there :)
After Seattle time was sadly over it was time to head for Vancouver. A greyhound bus and around three hours took care of this and Emma was at the bus station to meet me. I spent 6 wonderful days with Emma & Wayne at their lovely flat in Commercial Drive (which is by FAR the best neighbourhood in Vancouver according to Emma) Generous to the core, they took me out everywhere and gave me evil stares if I attempted to take my wallet out of my trousers! (I managed occasionally though haha!) Vancouver is a stunning place surrounded by huge snow capped mountains. I had a lot of fun with Emma and her gorgeous friends. There were beach trips, lunch dates, spin classes and so much more! Vancouver is a jolly place that I really hope to get back to soon :)
And so eventually it was time to lift my bags and carry on, for New York was waiting for me! And another two plane flights later I arrived in The Big Apple! Coming from London I didn't think New York would astound me like it did, but it did! It is truely a massive place! It was great to see Kristine again and one couldn't hope for a better host/tour guide/drinking companion! We ate massive burgers at amazing diners and even sampled what can be best described as alien food! We found goth nights and burlesque nights and made me feel right at home. New York was also a chance to catch up with my friend Chef and also Nellie. I spent at least two days in Central Park as it was just about the only place that made me feel grounded.
After New York I flew home via Iceland right only a day after it had been reopened due to volcanic activity. Only got to spend an hour in the airport though which was a shame.
Arriving back to the UK was about as uneventful as I thought it would be. And I basically waited for the start of the festival season and the Sunrise Celebration where I could be back in nature with my festival friends. I wasn't liking the big city much and when I finally got to Sunrise it didn't take me too long to reconnect and ground myself.
So this blog will now be a tale by tale or should I say festival by festival update through the summer. Currently I should be attending around 12 festivals though that number is expected to rise. Expect all the highlights and lowlights here. Then in October I shall be on my merry way again first to Switzerland to see my grandma then to Israel with, if I'm very lucky indeed, a few pit stops on the way.......But that all depends on my cash flow.
Till the next update, thank you for reading and I'll post again soon x
Sunday, 29 May 2011
San Francisco to Seattle on a Harley Davidson
I remember the morning that I picked up the Harley very well. I was up very early with excitement! I arrived at the Harley rental place (coincidentally only 8 blocks from where I was staying) at around 9:30am and joined the back of a queue of 6 British guys from some up north. And one by one (except two of them) they all had problems with their credit cards and had to call their banks. I was beginning to have doubts as they would soon be trying to take out £1,000 as a security deposit......But once it came to my turn it went through with no problem, phew!!
So there I was sat on a £30,000 motorbike that weighed 400kg's without, my luggage or petrol! Luckily I found it quite easy to ride with the massive weight disappearing moments after movement. The only thing I had to get along with was the gearbox, which was truly awful! However, what the gearbox lacked in smoothness the '110 cubic inch Screamin Eagle Twin cam motor' made up for in amazingness! What a sound! Like Thor gargling with nails! Very impressive!
So for my first days riding it was around 185 miles up to Fort Bragg where I'd rented a small cottage. The ride up there was so pretty and I passed through some breath taking redwood forests
As you can see I've just figured out how to put pictures into my blog too! :D
My second days riding was a rather longer one, 385 miles in one hit. The most I've ever done in one go was 240 miles from Woolacombe in North Devon back to Walthamstow in East London. However this was one straight road with no junctions. It took me the best part of 8 hours and it was dark by the time I got to my next destination, a small town called Coos Bay. The room was rather nice and there was a pool but it closed soon after I arrived, and I was very tired, all I wanted to do was sleep!
I woke late the next day and went to eat breakfast, wasn't that great...I was on the road by 11am and in Portland, Oregon around three hours later. The hotel I was staying (The Northrup Inn) was stunning (I decided to treat myself) Portland itself almost doesn't feel real, like it's just been created in a computer simulation. Everything looks perfect, there are seemingly no homeless people, crackheads or crazies. A bit too sterile for me. However the hotel had a free cheese and wine night and ate wonderful hummus at a Lebanese place, oh and had the most amazing Guinness float (that's Guiness with vanilla ice cream!) Much yummier then it sounds!)
The next leg of my journey ends me up in Seattle where I will be staying with my good friends Daniel & V. But that story is for another time. Till then go safe Y'all!
Good things about the Harley Davidson Electra Glide:
The sound of that engine! Blat blat blat!!! :D
There was plenty of space in the panniers
The stereo was good. It adjusted the volume automatically according to my speed!
Bad things about the Harley Davidson Electra Glide:
The breaks were shockingly bad! Like really really shit! I think they were made of tin, or possibly something a bit heavier?
The gearbox was out of a tractor. Getting it into neutral was sometimes just to difficult so I would remain at the lights with the clutch in and the engine vibrating like some awful American motorbike!
At anything over 70 mph it drank fuel pretty quickly!
It does do 100mph (I checked) but you wouldn't want to do it for any length of time as it was a little scary!
So there I was sat on a £30,000 motorbike that weighed 400kg's without, my luggage or petrol! Luckily I found it quite easy to ride with the massive weight disappearing moments after movement. The only thing I had to get along with was the gearbox, which was truly awful! However, what the gearbox lacked in smoothness the '110 cubic inch Screamin Eagle Twin cam motor' made up for in amazingness! What a sound! Like Thor gargling with nails! Very impressive!
So for my first days riding it was around 185 miles up to Fort Bragg where I'd rented a small cottage. The ride up there was so pretty and I passed through some breath taking redwood forests
As you can see I've just figured out how to put pictures into my blog too! :D
My second days riding was a rather longer one, 385 miles in one hit. The most I've ever done in one go was 240 miles from Woolacombe in North Devon back to Walthamstow in East London. However this was one straight road with no junctions. It took me the best part of 8 hours and it was dark by the time I got to my next destination, a small town called Coos Bay. The room was rather nice and there was a pool but it closed soon after I arrived, and I was very tired, all I wanted to do was sleep!
I woke late the next day and went to eat breakfast, wasn't that great...I was on the road by 11am and in Portland, Oregon around three hours later. The hotel I was staying (The Northrup Inn) was stunning (I decided to treat myself) Portland itself almost doesn't feel real, like it's just been created in a computer simulation. Everything looks perfect, there are seemingly no homeless people, crackheads or crazies. A bit too sterile for me. However the hotel had a free cheese and wine night and ate wonderful hummus at a Lebanese place, oh and had the most amazing Guinness float (that's Guiness with vanilla ice cream!) Much yummier then it sounds!)
The next leg of my journey ends me up in Seattle where I will be staying with my good friends Daniel & V. But that story is for another time. Till then go safe Y'all!
Good things about the Harley Davidson Electra Glide:
The sound of that engine! Blat blat blat!!! :D
There was plenty of space in the panniers
The stereo was good. It adjusted the volume automatically according to my speed!
Bad things about the Harley Davidson Electra Glide:
The breaks were shockingly bad! Like really really shit! I think they were made of tin, or possibly something a bit heavier?
The gearbox was out of a tractor. Getting it into neutral was sometimes just to difficult so I would remain at the lights with the clutch in and the engine vibrating like some awful American motorbike!
At anything over 70 mph it drank fuel pretty quickly!
It does do 100mph (I checked) but you wouldn't want to do it for any length of time as it was a little scary!
Wednesday, 11 May 2011
Be sure to wear a flower in your hair :D
San Francisco is a wonderous place! I arrived at practically midnight, got my bags and went outside to hail my first ever yellow cab! (Very exciting stuff you know!) I didn't sleep much that night and in the morning was up early to go and explore! I found a great big health food shop nearby and they made me a humus, avocado and alfalfa sandwich with tofu! Utter yum! Then I went back to the hostel to wake some friends so we could go and explore! Most of the day was spent around the Haight Ashbury district, and we had a small picnic in a big park full of people who wanted to sell us mushrooms and bubble hash (what evr that is?)
The next night I found a goth bar four blocks from where I was staying so I decided to go it alone....Although when I got there I asked the dude on the door if I was in the right place....He said:
'No, this is a transvestite stripper night'
'Hummmm, well the poster said there was a goth night here?'
'Oh yeah, I'm not sure where that is, somewhere round the corner maybe....We have strippers on at 11 & 12...'
'OK, well thanks..........'
And I walked off....Not quite what I had in mind if I'm honest...So I went looking for another bar......I found one, it had many motorbikes outside.....No girls inside though...Hmmmmm. And outside a poster with a half naked guy on it and a phone number.....I think I can safely say that I found the gay district o_O So off I went a few more blocks up and eventually did find a bar that seemed to be more to my liking. The barmaid was so drunk, but chatty and very funny! After my first drink she asked me what I did back home (sometimes its easier to said barman then blood bike controller) so I said barman. She replied with, oh in that case would you serve that guy over there as I can't see anymore! So I served this guy and charged him some money and used the till, it was all very funny indeed!
The rest of San Francisco was just as much fun! I went to the horse races on dollar day with Rachel (a girl I had met at the animal park in Bolivia) and Rana (a girl I had met in the hostel in SF) and I also went to have a glorious picnic with Rana, Megan & her friends.
The next stage is a 987 mile Harley Ride up the west coast to Seattle :)
The next night I found a goth bar four blocks from where I was staying so I decided to go it alone....Although when I got there I asked the dude on the door if I was in the right place....He said:
'No, this is a transvestite stripper night'
'Hummmm, well the poster said there was a goth night here?'
'Oh yeah, I'm not sure where that is, somewhere round the corner maybe....We have strippers on at 11 & 12...'
'OK, well thanks..........'
And I walked off....Not quite what I had in mind if I'm honest...So I went looking for another bar......I found one, it had many motorbikes outside.....No girls inside though...Hmmmmm. And outside a poster with a half naked guy on it and a phone number.....I think I can safely say that I found the gay district o_O So off I went a few more blocks up and eventually did find a bar that seemed to be more to my liking. The barmaid was so drunk, but chatty and very funny! After my first drink she asked me what I did back home (sometimes its easier to said barman then blood bike controller) so I said barman. She replied with, oh in that case would you serve that guy over there as I can't see anymore! So I served this guy and charged him some money and used the till, it was all very funny indeed!
The rest of San Francisco was just as much fun! I went to the horse races on dollar day with Rachel (a girl I had met at the animal park in Bolivia) and Rana (a girl I had met in the hostel in SF) and I also went to have a glorious picnic with Rana, Megan & her friends.
The next stage is a 987 mile Harley Ride up the west coast to Seattle :)
Sunday, 8 May 2011
Leaving Parque Machia
My last few days at the park were spent training two new Israeli guys, Tomer & Idor to walk safely with Sonko. It now seems an age away that Helen & I were here in the rainy season before Sonko moved cage, and when he was having issues in going home at the end of his day (sometimes leaving us out in the jungle till 9pm in the darkness and the rain) For a quick second I wish I was walking Sonko when he was only a happy cat, but then I realise that you've got to take the rough with the smooth in order to fully appreciate life. Those days were amongst the hardest I have ever had to conquer, but I stuck with it and that made my relationship with Sonko even more special.
Leaving the park was much more painful then I envisaged, quite literally! On my last work day I woke with a pain in my sternum which by the time I had eaten breakfast was getting to a stage where it was difficult to breath deeply. All the same I climbed up the mountain path to Sonko's cage tensing my muscles on the way up as it seemed to help with the pain. As I arrived Tomer & Idor were standing by Sonko's cage and he wouldn't come out (he has never done this to me before, he always wants to come out of his cage) But when he saw me he came out. Looks like he was waiting for me to arrive! Aw so sweet! Once I was there I realised that I wouldn't be able to walk Sonko for the first walk because of the pain so sent Tomer & Idor by themselves (it had been four days of training and about time they did this alone) They lasted about 20 seconds when Idor fell and wacked his knee and Sonko jumped Tomer, they called for me and I jumped out of the hammock and was there in moments. I ran to help Tomer who was behind a tree. Sonko took one look at me and meowed! He was a little excited seeing Tomer all by himself and jumped him, but now with someone else (me) there too he quickly calmed down. Idor turned up behind us a few moments later in a bit of pain (welcome to the jungle boy!) So I walked with them both up to Candy Cane junction and down to the first creak where Sonko is usually much more relaxed. They carried on and I took a shortcut back to the cage (the rest of loop 1) where sat in the hammock waiting for the guys to return.
They returned at around 2pm but the pain by this point had gotten worse so I had to lay the last walk out as well. I am truely sad for this :( By the time they returned I was having trouble breathing and was in a lot of pain. The Ocelot walker Alize always passes nearby on her way out of the jungle at the same time as we finish up for the day so I called for her to wait for me as I genuinely needed help (I actually didn't know how I would get out) Every step hurt like hell! Alize took my rucksack and followed close by on what is usually a 10 minute run across a hill and down what we call 'The Mountain' then down 'Frenchmans Hill' till we reach the bird enclosure. This took around 30 minutes and took every ounce of strength in my body & soul. By the time I got to the vets I was ready to pass out. Nelly was the first person I encountered (she works with the vets) she took one look at me and went to get help. The vets took one look at me and went to get a car to take me to the hospital. Frank (the volunteer coordinator) and Luis (one of the vets) came with me.
At the hospital we had to pay them before they would look at me, and then they took some blood to check for any infections. After they gave me a lovely sedative and asked me for a stool sample to check for parasites. After around 4 hours in the hospital they returned with an answer that I had parasites and gave me a prescription for some tablets. Luis through it away and gave me some proper tablets form his surgery. I was still in a lot of pain but had calmed down a lot. the following day the pain had not really let up so I decided to leave early to Santa Cruz where they have proper hospitals. I left that morning and arrived at a hospital in Santa Cruz around six hours later where after I paid them some money they gave me a similar prescription but intravenously and I started to feel better.
I spent two days in a wonderful Santa Cruz hostel surrounded by great people, hammocks, toucans and better food. Then I was to embark on two six hour flights to get to San Francisco. It wasn't terrible but I wasn't able to eat anything on either flight, however the flight attendants were very nice and caring. I arrived in San Francisco just before midnight, quite excited, a little thinner with no appetite.
Please stay tuned, the next part of this story will be typed up tomorrow :D
Leaving the park was much more painful then I envisaged, quite literally! On my last work day I woke with a pain in my sternum which by the time I had eaten breakfast was getting to a stage where it was difficult to breath deeply. All the same I climbed up the mountain path to Sonko's cage tensing my muscles on the way up as it seemed to help with the pain. As I arrived Tomer & Idor were standing by Sonko's cage and he wouldn't come out (he has never done this to me before, he always wants to come out of his cage) But when he saw me he came out. Looks like he was waiting for me to arrive! Aw so sweet! Once I was there I realised that I wouldn't be able to walk Sonko for the first walk because of the pain so sent Tomer & Idor by themselves (it had been four days of training and about time they did this alone) They lasted about 20 seconds when Idor fell and wacked his knee and Sonko jumped Tomer, they called for me and I jumped out of the hammock and was there in moments. I ran to help Tomer who was behind a tree. Sonko took one look at me and meowed! He was a little excited seeing Tomer all by himself and jumped him, but now with someone else (me) there too he quickly calmed down. Idor turned up behind us a few moments later in a bit of pain (welcome to the jungle boy!) So I walked with them both up to Candy Cane junction and down to the first creak where Sonko is usually much more relaxed. They carried on and I took a shortcut back to the cage (the rest of loop 1) where sat in the hammock waiting for the guys to return.
They returned at around 2pm but the pain by this point had gotten worse so I had to lay the last walk out as well. I am truely sad for this :( By the time they returned I was having trouble breathing and was in a lot of pain. The Ocelot walker Alize always passes nearby on her way out of the jungle at the same time as we finish up for the day so I called for her to wait for me as I genuinely needed help (I actually didn't know how I would get out) Every step hurt like hell! Alize took my rucksack and followed close by on what is usually a 10 minute run across a hill and down what we call 'The Mountain' then down 'Frenchmans Hill' till we reach the bird enclosure. This took around 30 minutes and took every ounce of strength in my body & soul. By the time I got to the vets I was ready to pass out. Nelly was the first person I encountered (she works with the vets) she took one look at me and went to get help. The vets took one look at me and went to get a car to take me to the hospital. Frank (the volunteer coordinator) and Luis (one of the vets) came with me.
At the hospital we had to pay them before they would look at me, and then they took some blood to check for any infections. After they gave me a lovely sedative and asked me for a stool sample to check for parasites. After around 4 hours in the hospital they returned with an answer that I had parasites and gave me a prescription for some tablets. Luis through it away and gave me some proper tablets form his surgery. I was still in a lot of pain but had calmed down a lot. the following day the pain had not really let up so I decided to leave early to Santa Cruz where they have proper hospitals. I left that morning and arrived at a hospital in Santa Cruz around six hours later where after I paid them some money they gave me a similar prescription but intravenously and I started to feel better.
I spent two days in a wonderful Santa Cruz hostel surrounded by great people, hammocks, toucans and better food. Then I was to embark on two six hour flights to get to San Francisco. It wasn't terrible but I wasn't able to eat anything on either flight, however the flight attendants were very nice and caring. I arrived in San Francisco just before midnight, quite excited, a little thinner with no appetite.
Please stay tuned, the next part of this story will be typed up tomorrow :D
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