So here I am in sunny Vancouver, sitting in my little room in my little residence unit at UBC, feeling guilty that I have been such a bad correspondant over the last few months since I left Australia. So now, by way of recompense I'll try to make it up to you all...
When I left Australia, I flew to Japan with Tess, which was just fantastic. We had a brilliant time eating, drinking, and lapping up the culture of Japan.
It is a fantastic place, and one which I would recommend anyone to go to. Through Jo (Tess's sister who lives in Japan) and her boyfriend Yuske we had the best tour guides ever, complete with world famous Kobe Beef and plenty of local beer!
We travelled a bit by ourselves also, with our rudimentary Japanese skills coming in handy often, with Tess being able to read the character, and me (if it was food) often being able to translate what it was!! We did, however, have to guess a couple of times, but that is all part of the fun!
To sum Japan up in one sentence is almost impossible, but it was a mixture of crazy city lights, funky Sake bars, sobering history, beautiful temples and castles, wonderful food, friendly people, sun, rain, laughter, tears and above all else great fun with fantastic company.
So that little chapter ended tearfully in Tokyo airport, as I farewelled Tess, and flew on to Rome to meet up with Ollie. Landing in Rome to hear that it was still 38C at 10pm was not quite the relief that I was expecting, but when Ollie and I met up a cold beer slid down very easily indeed. Now for those of you who know Ollie, you can imagine what Rome was about for us. For those who don't, the next paragraph will give you a good idea... The consummate tourguide, Ollie led me basically on a walking tour of Rome, complete with the worlds best coffee, nice charry pizza, fresh gooey Buffalo Mozzarella, delicate Spigola with fresh white truffles, perfect Bresaola, bustling markets, sumptous Gelato, crunchy and juicy Porchetta, fantastic Vino Nobile be Montepulciano,
icy cold beer, soaring ceilings in the Basilica San Pietro, the Colosseum glowing in the setting sun, Meditteranean beaches, philosophical conversation and plenty of cold beer to quench our dry throats in the hot hot sun. It was brilliant. Four days just wasn't enough, but we had talked, ate, drank and absorbed the culture of the city solidly and without much rest so I think we were both glad to be getting on a plane bound for London.So were met off the airport bus by Dad at Finchley Rd station, and I was whisked off to spend the next few days with our very good friends the Bards in London. Dad's wife Rosie and her three daughters also all came over for a BBQ one night,
and all four of the Bard 'kids' were also there. A really great way to start the UK leg of my trip. A few days later I was on a train to Edinburgh, where I had a lovely few days with Granny, me playing chauffer as we drove our way around Scotland. Re-connecting with cousins who I'd not seen for years, cantering through fields that brought many happy memories flooding back, and sneaking a quick coffee with crazy Clare from RHCL were some of the highlights of that time - as well, of course, as hanging out with Granny, which was great.From there to Worcestershire, for a couple of nights of fine wine, fine food and great fun with Mum's brother Angus and his family. Their place is one of my regular 'watering holes' whenever I'm in the UK, and it is always full of hilarity and good times. So after a weekend of cider in the garden, pulling fences away from strangling brambles, walking doggies in the sun and as usual eating too much, I found myself on the road again, in the front of Dad's combi, en route to Norfolk.
Arriving in Norfolk is always in many ways akin to getting home. After 3 1/2 weeks on the road, I was well and truly ready to just chill for a while. And I did. It was great, just hanging out with Dad, playing tennis, going sailing and swimming, watching the huge tides rolling in each morning, inventing new ball games with my crazy step-sister Kate, drinking at the pub, and again eating too much. I'm sorry if the endless lists of things are getting boring, it just seems like there is so much to tell!!
After a quick sojourn to Brussels with Dad, where we gorged on Mussels, stocked up on chocolate and sampled every Belgian beer we could find (only to regret it the next day), we met up with Dad's mum in London Waterloo. Arriving back in Norfolk a few hours later it was back to much the same, although this time there were a couple more step-sisters with whom to run amok. The highly anticipated morning of August 8th dawned bright and sunny, although a few in Blakeney and surrounding villages no doubt had butterflies in thier stomachs... 
This was the day of the annual Blakeney Regatta, including the infamous 'Greasy Pole' competition. Yes, it is almost exactly as it sounds... A telegraph pole is pushed into the mud on the bank of Blakeney Creek, directly opposite the Quay (which stands in as a grandstand for the day). This pole is then covered with grease, and the young (and a few old) of the North Norfolk coast try to slide along the pole as far as they can, yet of course there are any number of ways that you can fall off, and any number of bits of you that can get injured! The ultimate aim is to go off the end, and every year a few champions manage to do just that... 
So of course, with my Norfolk roots, I was roped in to giving it a go! It was a good laugh, and lets just say that I survived with both my integrity and my manhood intact! The day ended with many many beers at the local pub, and still more on Rosie's lookout.^^ Credit for this pic of Sid and Kate to Paul... Thanks mate!
Leaving Norfolk a few days later was sad, as Rosie had sold the house, and thus a special place for all of that clan was no longer in the family.
But onward to Plymouth we drove, via a stop at Grandma's place, where Dad's brother also lives, and I was able to catch up with another cousin and her two little sons, which was great. Dad and I then just hung out in Plymouth, really not doing very much... Playing tennis, walking, chatting and eating probably best describes those few days. It was a great end to my time in the UK. So, after a delicious farewell dinner cooked up by Bec and Mark in London, I boarded a plane to Dallas, Texas, USA... And so began my North American adventure!
Dallas was great. By some random chance my flight into Dallas had coincided with a Dave Matthews Band show there (as some of you will know I rather like this band!), and so I had rashly gone ahead and bought myself a ticket. At that stage I had nowhere to stay, and no idea where the show was being held! What transpired can only be described as amazing... I had recently heard from Mum that she had re-connected with an old University friend of hers from the USA, Ken, who was working a lot in Vancouver. She had mentioned to him that I was going to UBC, and he had offered to meet up with me and show me around sometime. Ken and his family are based, however, in Dallas. When I told Mum that I was stuck for a place to stay there, she remembered this, and told me to email him and see if there was any chance of a bed! So when I landed in sweltering Texas after leaving rainy bomb-paranoid London, I was met at the airport by Blair, Ken's daughter. 
The hospitality given to me by Peggy (Ken's wife), Blair and Ken was fantastic. I was shown all over Dallas, taken out to dinner, basically treated just like a member of the family. I also managed to make it to the DMB show, through a lady I met on the plane who lived two blocks away, and whose nephew was flying in to Dallas from California on showday to go to the same gig! It was amazing. Everything just fell into place, and I had a really good time. Sunday afternoon found me on another plane, thankfully the last one for a while, bound for Vancouver. So after almost 35,000 km of travel I had made it to my home for the next year... And what a beautiful home it is!
So there you have it... I'm here, safe, studying hard (haha), and generally loving it! Please go and check out my photos at
Hope all is well wherever you may be in the world, take care and stay in touch!! Ciao for now, Al...
