Tales of a Tenacious Timmy

Mosi-Oa-Tunya

2011-04-28T12:23:00.004Z

The Vic Falls are one of the most incredible things I have ever seen. Everything in Livingstone seems to be named after the Falls or Mosi-Oa-Tunya, which means the smoke that thunders.

Xanthe and I arrived on Easter Sunday at the tiniest airport in the world and were told that our shuttle driver, who was supposed to take us to Fawlty Towers backpackers, was tired of waiting for us - so he left! However, the driver for another backpackers called Jolly Boys smiled and said "Chris is busy, so I'll take you it's on the way."

That is a prime example of the friendliness we have encountered here in Zambia. Fawlty Towers is a brilliant place to stay and not just because the name makes me laugh and think about John Cleese. Walking distance from almost everything in the buzzing metropolis of Livingstone, which is a town that makes even sleepy Grahamstown look like a giant city, but I for one wouldn't have it any other way.

The challenge of changing our rands into US dollars and Zambian kwacha on a public holiday was neatly negotiated. I drew one million kwacha from the ATM and felt like Scrooge McDuck from Ducktails by trying to swim in it on the bed back in our room.

The Vic Falls itself is breathtaking and you get drenched by the mist as soon as you get anywhere near it. The power and the mass of water coming over is far too much to conceive of accurately. Not even Indiana Jones could survive a plunge from the top I'll bet.

Next on the agenda was a canoe trip along the Zambezi was some excited Poms, where as competitive South Africans Xanthe and I overtook all four of the other canoes in the rapids and pretended to be pirates by ramming our boat into the side of the unsuspecting others on every occasion and yelling "Aaaarrr! Avast ye."

We were lucky enough to see elephants playing in the water on the banks of the river close up and passed a lazy hippo before heading home for a brief nap. Then it was off to the river again to hop on the sunset cruise aka booze cruise, where we were joined by fellow canoeing couple Will and Siobahn from London. They were a hoot and after several Mosi Lagers we agreed that the night was young and sought a new drinking hole in town.

The Fez bar had been recommended by to all of us, but clearly by somebody who was either blind, horribly confused, had shares in the business, was a lunatic that pointed us down the wrong street or all of the above. It was a dingy little bar attempting to be some kind on Americana bar so that the misinformed over could live the dream. What's more the electricity was out as we arrived and a man dressed all in white came rushing out to insist that we move inside anyway. As the only patrons at the place we had a unanimous vote to finish off the evening at Jolly Boys' bar, where the Londoners were staying.

On the dawn of adrenalin day we climbed into the morning shuttle and headed bravely towards the bridge over the falls. There we signed up for the 'big air' package and slid along the zip line across the gorge to the bridge, but that was the easy part. It was time for the bungee jump and Xanthe insisted that she should go first or risk chickening out. The adrenalin junky leaped off the platform and loved every second of her 111 metre fall and left me with no choice, but to man-up and follow her example. Diving off the bridge and plummeting towards the water below was both terrifying and exhilarating, but mostly the former if I'm perfectly honest.

Finally we finished with a tandem gorge swing that I still maintain might be even more frightening than the bungee and embarrassingly Xanthe kept her cool as I flailed about in momentary panic during the long freefall. After rewarding ourselves with a coke and high-fives all round, we prepared to raise ourselves up to the height of civilisation that afternoon.

At the Royal Livingstone hotel we sat down for high tea and ordered a Chinese blend called Gunpowder. We scoffed down some of the most decadent an delightful cakes, scones, cucumber sandwiches with the crusts cut off and every tasty treat both savory and sweet you can imagine. None were better than the best tiny quiches in the world. To complete our over-the-top experience a group of Zebra trotted past our table on the perfectly groomed lawn and there was beautiful background music coming from a man playing a grand piano for the entire two hours.

2Oceans vibe

2011-04-25T19:24:00.004Z

Well hello,

The Two Oceans half marathon is behind me and was a brilliant experience given my serious lack of training. Some frantic last minute dash to get to the start line four minutes before the gun went off wasn't the ideal beginning as it took roughly eight or nine minutes just to cross the start!

From there felt good until the final three km along the M3 where me legs shouted many profanities at me and refused to work any more. 2h 13min on the stadium clock wasn't too bad and I beat English cricketer Jonathan Trott by almost 25 min - no wonder they were crap at the World Cup.

A side note - don't run 21.1 km wearing trail running shoes. Both my big toes' toenails are as black as night and I have the fear that I may lose them. Was it all worth it? Yesss sirrr. Also climbing Table Mountain the day before the race... not my smartest move!

Now I'm chilling in Zambia with the lovely Xanthe and enjoying the local brew called Mosi Lager. I was reliably informed by a smiling waiter that it is the beer that thunders...

Watch this space for a full recall of the Zambian adventure and my view of the majestic Vic Falls.

What ho a new year already?

2011-01-11T15:53:00.004Z

Well hello,

It's the dawn of yet another year and isn't Cape Town a great place to spend it. I'm totally a local now - that's what they'll tell you - who are 'they'? We'll I'm not sure but they do some to know an awful lot about...just about anything I suppose...

My loyal readers (both of them) will be pleased to hear that I have decided that 2011 is the year of the blog and that like a caterpillar I am ready to reinvent myself as a majestic pixie or whatever it is they become, I was never any good at biology. If Sookie from True Blood can be a fairy in a world with werepanthers then who are you to deny me the opportunity to be a pixie/superhero/something awesome and ridiculously good looking?

I have disappeared down an unusual tangent as my mind begins to unravel after a long day at work, however, I do have a special announcement...

wait for it...

Stew a few days longer, but it's going to be legen...

Cape Town lifestyle

2010-06-18T15:12:00.007Z

Well hello,

Been living in Cape Town since my return from Italy and it is most definatly my home. We have the mountaing the seas and any number of things in between and yes Jo-burg we are better than you and we know it.

You see I'm fast becomming a Cape Town snob and quite frankly I don't care!

Last year was an interesting one, as I was unemployed for a reasonable portion of it, althoug I did make an appearance on 'So you think you're funny' on SABC1. Reality TV is good fun and I couldn't resist throwing my hat in the ring. I ended up in the top 10 emerging comedians in South Africa before being voted off the island, immediatly prompting me to looking aroung to see where Jeff Probst was hiding.

I'm currently working at Rugby365.com, which is pretty Ayoba most of the time.

That's my quick catch up and I'll give a full 2010 football world cup update in the next fews days.

Okay...bye

p.s. I turned 25 today! Isn't that a scary thought?

Livigno: feel the alps...

2009-01-11T10:20:00.002Z

Bonjourno from Italian dreamland. Living in one of the most beautiful places in the world is amazing and daunting with high expectations and the most crazy/bizaar lifestyle you could possibly imagine. So much has happened in the last month with some exceptionally colorful events unfolding. My personal favourite was losting my ski in a tree from a ski-lift to the amusment of all those on the lift above as I wondered down the mountain with one ski in search of its partner.

Many brilliant guests have come and gone as well as some very average ones, and learning names instantly is a new skill that was forced on me and should be useful in the future. One particularly interesting group of hooligans dubbed me Timmy Hendricks after my array of headbands was seen throughout the week along with my unbelievable air-guitar skills at miky's Pub.

The Absolute team are a great bunch of characters and Dave, Mike, Kelly, Emma and Scotty have been my Italian family while living here as we share a tiny flat and have kept an eye out for eachother. 10 more days and I will be reunited with the real world and more importantly a certain Xanthe :)

ciao

Taking on the Warrior

2008-10-07T10:45:00.005Z

Cricket has taken over my life in recent weeks as I strive for selection for SASSU. My ambitions are looking good thanks to some game time with the first XI and the stiff back to prove it. On sunday we took on highly rated Hetherbank or some stupid PE name like that. Good lord there top 5 could hold a cricket bat, including current Warriors player Craig Thyssen. Felt rather chuffed with myself with some decent bowling including to Mr. Thyssen. I really do love cricket and it is so nice to be reminded of that sometimes. Much more fun than academics.

Someone once wrote if it weren't for cricket and a sunny day the world would be a poorer place. If they didn't write it they should have. - Ritchie Benaud

Life in a bubble

2008-09-15T10:42:00.006Z

Where to start the latest tale? Well fest came and went in G-town with a visit from Jared and Latisha, which was as Jared would say "Very excellent". The highlight of this was seeing The Dog's bollocks, which was a fantastic show. All about the idiosyncrasies of the English language and quite simply hilarious.

Far more exciting was my shark cage diving in False Bay, which was supremely invigorating. The great white shark certainly is a beautiful and mysterious creature. Cant wait to get diving again after that reintroduction to the sea. It also helps that Xanth is busy with her course, so I will have someone to dive with. Especially as Cole, Jared, Gos and Sean are lame and don't dive and Mel already has Jeremy to dive with.

More recently I road tripped to Cape Town with Sarah and Xanth, on a brief four day holiday. A night of being completely inebriated with Cole in Observatory and an amazing day down at Smits were the highlights. Almost the end of my Rhodes career and more time in Cape Town would be awesome.

I have also been offered a job as a ski guide for Absolute skiing in Livigno. Yay for me! Very sad to be leaving Xanth behind, but it will be a great adventure.

I'm awesome - Barney Stinson

Camelot...wait no its Bridgecourt

2008-06-12T07:44:00.003Z

A new digs and a very different kind of a year. Living on the corner of Kings Close and St Aidans Avenue is just about as pompus as one can get in Grahamstown, so Bridgecourt is serving my colonialist roots very nicely. new faces and friends too as the Caitlin has become a regular visitor along with the usual bunch of hooligans. No Activate has meant much more free time, although I have become yet another statistic as I joined the Camp Ginos crowd recently.

On the horizen sees good times as fest approaches and promises many happy times with a host of friends to visit. I can't think of anything else to say right now, but at least I am blogging again, so Candi and Mel can have something to read. I don't want to go into Grahamstown politics, but there is far too much of that.

On a personal footnote the Xanthe is quite wonderful and I certainly am a very very lucky lad to have her.

Self-hi-five...Nice - The Todd

Great things all at once

2008-01-16T19:07:00.001Z

My days as a single man were short lived to say the least, but that was for good reason. It turns out that there is always light at the end of every tunnel. The cliche police will have to forgive me for this post.

I have discovered that te Xanthe is infact a great deal more than just a friend :) I have moved forward and found someone that has te same way of life and interests as I do, while still having enugh differences to keep things interesting. Plus she is completly mad, wich suits me down to the ground. The stars shine on me again and there are great things in the future.

This personal note was brought to you by Ford- Lifes a journey, enjoy the ride

They call themselves Team Booze

2008-01-13T19:02:00.000Z

New year and its build up was legendary! First I had to drive to the airport alot picking up interesting folk. Seanie, Jared, Joni, Xanth and Caitlin all arrived over a crazy four day period. Diamonds liquors became our friend and they can't be far off knowing us by name by this point.

New Year's eve and a stressful time as everybody seeks the perfect end to the year. Xanth, Jared, Seanie, Caitlin and myself decended the mountain to Smits as mere mortals, but by the time it was all over we had become so much more... We were now Team Booze the fabelled drinking five who bring good times and Prestige Premium Vodka! We had a crazy night which also included sushimi and a midnight swim. Some people with more clothing attached than others, but I digress.

Then we, the famous five, spent a few more nights at the beach celebrating youth, the fermenting process and the fact that we were neither American nor Canadian!

All in all it was Legen... wait for it, Dary! - Barney

End of an era

2007-12-17T07:48:00.000Z

So I finished that whole degree thing that I've been working on for a while now, so the VC can bash me on the head with a piece of paper while I prance around in a funny looking gown next year, so looking forward to that. I hear the ceremony is painfully boring, but at least its long...

The Lindsay and I have split up so that era is over and we look to the future to see what it will bring as the time for dwelling in the past and wallowing in self pity is now over.

New year on the other and should be most interesting as a growing group seem poised to be joining me in Cape Town as Jared, Xanthe, Caitlin, Seanie and Ash B are keen for some fun involving beverages and bad decisions, which is always a good time.

Until next time take care of yourself and eachother - Jerry Springer

Long night friends

2007-10-22T21:08:00.000Z

I find myself in the radio shack yet again this year. My fellow radio comrades and I have lived here throguhout the year. Good times and bad. The last week of term before undergrad is all over! Jen and I have been staring at a stupid programme for hours trying to get it open to finish our audio slide show. Alas the software lets us down. There have been many new developments in the world according to Timmy, but this will have to be discussed another day as my frustration at this work would paint a negative picture. I'm sure my blogging can be revived as I waste some time during swot week. The work is getting me down but just one month to go before a happy holiday. I'm grumpy at the moment but others have to deal with that so its not my problem that I'm grumpy. Gives me something to do as we wait yet again for the stupid programme to work. More from me again on a happier day in the future.

Couch potato

2007-07-14T10:07:00.000Z

Aaah July vac. Time to do absolutly nothing at all. I have become reaquainted with my old friends couchie and the wise and all knowing Mr T.V. They treat me well and we have a firm relationship. My only notable outings have been to my beach house at Smits and one visit to Tiger Tiger. Ash and I embarked on te night out and at Tiger she demonstrated her amazing disappearing act to perfection, tus leaving me again knowing nobody in the club. Tried to make some friends but was just 'that guy' who tells a good joke and them you bugger off with your 'real' mates. Oh well Cole will be back in CT soon so I will have a drinking buddy that is rather more reliable. Then in just over a week its back to G-town for third term. Wonder how the Candi's diving and skiing adventure is going? Too bad she never blogs any more tisk tisk. As te Xanthe sign off line goes. . . see ya Xanth . . . wait I mean Timmy!

The year so far...

2007-06-11T11:42:00.000Z

The year has been an interesting one, which started with a great deal of promise, and has failed to deliver in several areas. There have been some excellent memories that in particular to my first Splashy Fen, which was brilliant fun, although rather wet with a lot of rain. The hippies were entertaining, and a general atmosphere of fun made for an excellent weekend. Rory Eliot and The Reason most definatly the top band on display.

There was also the second ever Vetinary Cricket World Cup, which was once again help at my old stomping ground of Hilton College. Unfortunatly the folks couldn't make it, but I represented the Cape side where we lost two of our three games. We did however win the partying and had more fun than most of the other tems thanks in large part to our captain Bennie Van der Merwe. I had a good tournament with the bat and a chance in the top order was all I needed to keep my spirits up. Scores of 33, 13 and a 28 not out to win the last game made me a very happy camper. Those knocks included one large six that brought a smile to my face. Was was mediocre with the ball, probably just didn't adjust my line from varsity level cricket, but a great weekend and good to see the Kretzmans again.

While I'm on the cricket debriefing, let us look at my now established place in the Rhodes Rats. The laughs and stories that come out of those matches make my day every week. The best story of the year was infact off of the field when we finally got round to having our fines evening. This included us dressing up in full match kit together with original head-gear. The formal meeting ended and we all stumbled our way to the Rat in top spirits. From here my memory is rather shakey, but walked home at some ungodly hour and lost my wallet in the process, as well as locking the sim on my phone. These inbetween falling over many times on my way up to 8 Robinson street. I had the bruised hed to prove it as I appear to have used my face to break my fall on more than one occation. What a great night.

The digs life is great with a few mishaps along the way, but a vast improvement from res. I have learnt a few things that will make next year's digs even better, and plans are in the wroks, so watch this space. Linds, Sean, Mel and Ash are good digs-mates and we hav mostly had a marvelous time of it all. I am really glad that mel FINALLY made it to Rhodes and we are the best of friends once again, although it took a while to get to know eachother properly again.

Jared and Cole came to visit for Goscelin's birthday. Jared seemed to have a great time that night, that included chundering at tap Huijs, in my car, on the floor next to the toilet, in Lindsay's bed and everywhere except the bucket we gave him and in the toilet itself!! He woke up with no memory of these events, but it made for a great story.

This has been my run-down of the year's events so far in brief. It was a little shopping-list like, but I just wanted them to be noted. I will add more current affairs next time now that we are up to speed again.

Third year is the charm

2007-06-01T22:11:00.000Z

I realise that I have been a very bad little blogger and stopped with the tales after returning to SA. This is something that I would like to rectify, and as it is exams and I have some time on my hands every now and then (finally in this hectic year) I vow to return to the world of the bloggers. My number one fan the Candi will be happy, as I know I will always have one reader, so yay! The stories of what has happened so far will be coming soon...

Super Bowl Weekend

2007-02-05T21:24:00.000Z

My final weekend in the States, and a very memorable one it was too. on sunday I watched the Super Bowl live, and saw the Peyton Manning and the Colts crush the Bears (Eat your heart out Jared!). That was followed by heading out with Cole, Devin and Megan in style as we were given a ride in a Hummer, and went to watch The Wailers perform live! For those who don't know, The Wailers are Bob Marley's old band. The Jamaican crew appeared on the stage, with several of them finishing their 'joints'! They then proceeded to pplay the most fantastic music, along with all the old favourites such as "No Woman, No Cry", "Is This Love", "I Shot the Sheriff" and many more.... Was the best live performance I have ever heard, and the lead singer kept telling us between songs about love, freedom and the Rasta way of life. There was a relativly small crowd for such a great band, and we were only about 3 or 4 meters away from them, on a dance floor with springs in it that makes it bounce up and down when people are dancing!

There was also good skiing news a few days ago now, as it finally snowed last week. Cole and I ventured to the Back Bowls in Vail for the fresh powder, which was the best skiing so far on the trip. Earlier in the week we had another Vail outing, and found Matt Kretzman there. Our possie of about 6 headed down one of the runs, and while the rest followed the course, I followed Matt into the trees. Halfway in Matt stopped in front of me and informed me that he had no idea where he was going. That lead to an interesting route that we were forced to follow before submerging from the trees.

Australian for a day!!

2007-01-29T06:47:00.000Z

Your eyes have not deceived you, it is true! I was Australian for a day, as we celebrated Australia Day with a house party at the Aussies place. This included an indoor game of drunken cricket, with few recognisable rules, an American umpire and much laughing and shouting. This left our poor friends from America and Norway far more confused about the sport than they had been before, and even more convinced that Australians, South Africans and Brits are crazy!! There was also singing, beer pouring and other party traditions. I fear Fitzy got a photo of me drapped in an Australian flag drinking a Fosters, which I fear may haunt me in the future, especially in a cricket world cup year.

Earlier in the week the company sponsored a bowling party for all the employees, which was some good fun. We had ten-pin-bowing, beer and pizza all payed for. I feel no need to be humble, and bask in glory of my victory on this occation.

On current news, today was a fantastic day for skiing. Together with Simmo and James I hiked the park a few times and did my first ever sideways slide across a box and also managed to land one of them switch. A great moment in the skiing career of the Timmy. With my new found confidence I also hit a jump faster and flew higher than I ever have before. Feeling relieved that I landed it I looked over at a smiling James, who had been entertained by my facial expression as I got some serious air.

Boys night out

2007-01-16T19:34:00.000Z

The true definition of a great night was sunday evening, and afternoon for that matter. I was very tired after three days of skiing in difficult conditions, and decided that the Coyote Cafe opposite the shop would be a good warm place to relax. At 1:30pm having just finished work for the day, Jack, Dave, Steve and I retired to the bar to watch the end of the NFL game to watch the Seahawks play for a playoff place and chance at the superbowl. Sadly they lost, but then Cousin Dave (Jess' cousin) arrived and we started to play some card games with some light betting, which occompanied by some beer was excellent.

Around 6pm we left and went into Avon to Bob's Place (another bar), where we played pool and darts, sometimes for money, and other times for the next round of drinks. Our number increased to six, and we stayed at Bob's until around 1am. Jack and myself had made a formidable darts combination beating Simmo and Fitz a few times, before we were overthrown by Dave and Cousin Dave.

Our party of Dave, Jack, Simmo, Fitz, Cousin Dave and myself then headed to Denny's (24hr cheap restaurant) for a light snack. On they way there, as we had been drinking for the past 12 hours, I do recall some tackels being made into the snow, much laughing all round and general sillyness. This was just the begining and thankfully we had a very sporting waitress at Denny's. Jack and Dave had a heated debate about which of their Aussie Rules teams was the best, which involved much shouting, which alwauys helps to get ones point across. There was then some snowboarding on the tables and counters, as Fitz and Dave strapped in and did nose plants on the table before Dave dropped in twice onto the floor successfully!! After leaving and thanking the waitress the bunch of harmless drunks left and I proceeded to walk home at 2am, and may have fallen over once of twice on the way there, although I blame the icey road for my loss in balance.

There was brilliantly 1 and a half feet of fresh powder on saturday morning, which Cole and I got up early to make some fresh tracks, and as Stoney (Michael Stone) says "Shred the Naaaa!" It was magical, and a lot of hard work as we tackeled the steepest slopes in the thinck powder, that was up to my knees in places. Heavenly skiing that left us exhausted, having skiied all day on thursday and friday.

There was also the Honda Sessions in Vail, and I went on friday to watch the snowboarders perform their crazy tricks. Very imnpressive, although Im glad I was only out in the cold watching for the last 15 min, as Nik and I arrived late. The two of us and Jack very less excited as we are all skiers and cant appreciate the snowboarding tricks quite as much. Jack had been there from the start, and having been standing in the freezing cold watching for twop hours mumbeled, "I thought we would be here for like ten minutes and then go to the pub!" At the prize giving some free stuff was thrown into the crowd. I rose up like Victor Matfield and claimed a free pair of goggels. We also managed to dodge the champaign that the winners sprayed out, as it was bitterly cold.

Tody it is freezing cold, and I have been a pansy and opted not to go skiing. I will however go and get some chinease buffet with Jack shortly. It is also Cole's 21st today. We will party in the next few days sometime, as he has finally become a man, although he is still opposed to drinking beer, and sticks to his girly ciders and wine coolers.

Rocking into 2007 in style...

2007-01-09T21:16:00.000Z

What a busy year 2007 has been so far. Many memorable accomplishments under my belt already. It started about a week ago when about 30 of us snowshoed up the mountain late at night, as it was a full moon. I have a new found respect for the chair-lifts, as it took us 3 hours to reach the top of the first lift, although we were carrying our own equipment i.e. boots, skies, snowboard etc. Snowshoeing is a lot of fun, but also a great deal of hard work. Eighteen of us made it to the top and celebrated with a cold beer or two. It was about midnight, and we skied/boarded down in the moonlight, making fresh tracks, as the snowcats had just bashed the piest about 5 minutes before hand. Most enjoyable going down under the moon in a big group, all of good ability, which made me realise how much I enjoy skiing with people who are really good.

In the following days, there was one day of fresh snow (finally), and Cole and I took advantage of it and made fresh tracks in the powder first thing in the morning. I need more practice in deep powder, but later went up the mountain with Nik, who I learnt alot from, as he is an excellent skier. There were also a couple of trips to Paddy's Bar, where there are drinks specials on fridays, aswell as karaoke night. Cole and I did a terrible job of singing weird Al's Amish Paradice, but we still received a standing ovation from our table of friends.

There was also a toga party at Reece and Ricks house recently, which also happens to be where Cole and I have just moved in. It was there that I learnt my new favourite American thing, the keg stand. Basically this involves grabbing onto the handels of a keg of beer, while two other people lift your legs, so that you are upside-down. A fourth person puts the hose in your mouth, and you see hoe long you can continue to down the beer, whilst standing on your head. Definatly a life changing experience that should not be repeated often on one evening, so I humbly retired home with Jack and Carly, who offered me their couch, as the three of us had to be up early for work the following morning.

Nobody panic!! 2007 arrived on time...

2007-01-02T20:08:00.000Z

The new yaer, and it feels so much like the last one ?! But whilst everyone back in SA was waking up and saying "I'm never drinking again!" I was partying as the new year arrived in the USA. We had a big house party at the Aussies place and I learned how to play my new favourite drinking game 'beer-pong'. It invloved beer, 2 ping-pong balls, a table or surface of some kind, 2 teams of 2 and a great deal of laughter. I have only played once, but am undefeated as SA stood tall with Cole and myself defeating Dave and Roddy.

As per usual on a new year's party I have a few hours of memories unaccounted for, but those were probably spent crawling and/or being confused and unable to use my legs properly. We saw in the new year and cheered, drank champaign and generally were in a great mood. Somebody paid the Aussie Tim (Roddy) to walk up and kiss me, which he did to my horror, but he gave my 5 of the 7 dollars he one and everyone laughed a lot at the look on my face!! Cole tried to go home with the Norwegian Niklas, but they ran to try and catch a bus at about 3 o'clock, and missed it because Cole was too drunk to run and once again fell over into a snow drift. Luckily Reece found him lost and confused at a bus stop somewhere, and took him home. I passed out somewhere and have not as yet found some of belongings (wallet, jersey and dignity). After finishing a bottle of champaigne, many beers and then a few shots of Jegermister I fell over in a room somewhere and refused to move until morning, when I discovered that I started a trend at around 4 o'clock and there were several bodies around me of fellow victims who had suffered similar fates. Symmo had passed out in a walk-in cupboard, having mistaken it for his room, and was found in there holding what remained of a bottle of tequila!!

I also recall a game where a group of Australians and I had to pour some of our beer onto the carpet before drinking it for some reason. I don't know what the reason was, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. I was also told by Jack that I am now officially a Collingwood fan, so that I have an Aussie rules team to support. All in all it was a great deal of fun, but work the next day was no fun at all.

A lovely white christmas

2006-12-27T23:39:00.000Z

Christmas has come and gone already as the days seem to melt into eachother in the VAil valley. I havnt been able to go skiing in the last few days, as I cant rent from my shop at the moment thatnks to the millions of tourists at this time of year. We are being run off our feet this week, but its okay, cause it means the hours go quickly. I am one of the people the managers always ask to stay longer as the place gets over-run with customers. I give them any number of bad jokes as they pass through, which keeps me amused at least. My fellow bad joke tellers Rick and the other Tim (both Aussies) do the same, and the rest either look at us funny, or in the case of the South Americans, say "I don't get it..."

Christmas eve was pleasant, as Cole and I went into Vail to where a bunch of South Africans (or Saffers as the Aussies call us) and Argentinians were having a dinner party, which was nice. Then at the end of the night the Argie girls started dancing, and the bad news is that they aree good at it and have the rythm with their spanish music, while Cole, Stu and I just looked like idiots, but at least I made a girl who was crying and missing home laugh by acting the fool for a while. Then the long bus home, as I took the very drunk Cole to the bus stop before we missed the last one, and he fell into a snow drift, which amused me to no end!!

Christmas was excellent, as at first I just worked, but then everyone from my work had a big party at Kiley's house, which I brought Cole to. The food was exceptional, and it was great to be in that happt atmosphear, with about 25 people from all over the world there. Most memorable was Jack spilling red wine on Rick's pants, and then about three guys trying to wipe it off, and then pouring white wine on it finally. I was in complete histerics as Rick pulled any number of faces during this process. The evening was a great success I felt, and turned out as well as I could have hope for a christmas away from home to be. As Dave (funny Aussie bloke) said before we left for Kiley's house "Tonight I plan to get drunk and talk loudly!"

So all in all some good times, as it was nice to be more sociablke again, and for Cole to get to meet some more people and have fun, as he has nobody our age at his work. Now Im off home to get some sleep finally as there is lots of work to be done, and a new year beckoning. I might just phone home and find out what 2007 feels like befor I decide whether I will try it out, as Im not quite done with 2006 yet.

Let it snow

2006-12-21T23:26:00.000Z

Snowing agian and conditions are superb at the moment. Its been great fun here the last few days, as I had two days off and skiied both Vail and Beaver Creek, and am happy to say I remember how to ski as if I never stopped :) Today cole and I did all the Birds of Prey runs in Beaver Creek which are famous for being very difficult and we handeld them like pros. We are the shit!

Cole and I tried out the hot tub at our house, which was heavenly and we had two friends Ange and Helen over for drinks which was nice to be more sociable. Cole has found a cider called Hardcore cider that he has fallen in love with, but I am still in search of a good beer as Budweiser was very average. Phat Tyre and Blue Ribbon are quite good but still not a decent replacement for a cold Hansa draght.

Last night I went out to Sandbar with a bunch of people from work as it was Jack's birthday and that was good fun to finally hit a bar. Cole got bounced and went home as they are strict about the age here. He was seriously pissed off and kept mumbeling that he is going into 4th year university and they wont let him drink!!

Have really started to enjoy my time here, and the skiing is great. I am missing the people from home though, and monday is my first christmas away from home, which will be weird.

Americana

2006-12-13T22:12:00.000Z

This is an ongoing list of American things I have had/done/been over here. So watch this space as I will continue to update it!!

Burger King, Domino's Pizza, McDonalds, Butterfinger (a chocolate), Dr. Pepper, Wal Mart, K Mart, Starbucks, Safeway, City Market, Movie in a traditional american theatre, Budweiser, Fat Tire (beer), Pebst Blue Ribbon (beer), Birds of Prey (Famous double diamond runs in Beaver Creek), Caramello (a chocolate), Gatorade, Hershy's Bar (chocolate), Pizza Hut, Minute Maid (similar to Fanta), 3 Musketeers (a chocolate), Keg Stand!, Frapaccino, Bagel, Paddy's Bar, Bob's Place (bar), Cayote Cafe (Bar), Subway, Loaded Joe's, Sandbar, 8150, Long Island Ice Tea, Root Beer, Beef jerky, Denny's, The Tap room

Short notes from the Vail valley

2006-12-11T21:54:00.000Z

Today it is snowing :) yay! Altghough it delayed my bus this morning and my boss was not impressed that I was 20 min late. But, yay the first snow since I arrived and heaps of it. Its still coming down in bucket loads. Im off to orientation tonight, I have no idea what I am being orientated on, but I know that I get my ski pass at the end! So tomorrow afternoon after work I will finally hit the slops with avengence.

Cole is much happier now, so its nice being here even though it can be lonely in parts when there is nothing to do. jack and Jerry the old guys we live with are nice old farts and I chatted to them for hours while waiting for Cole to come home. They are surprisingly less ignorant than most other Americans. Jerry taught me a bit more about NFL, and was amazed at how much i already knew. He wanted to know about cricket, but teaching cricket to an American is the equivilant of banging your head against a wall repeatedly.

Counting Crows played here on saturday night, but unfortunatly I couldn't go, because 50 dollars for a ticket if just far too much at this stage, but fun that they were so close. Also as I arrived last week there was a skiing world cup event being held at Beaver Creek, with Bode Miller, Herman Maier and all the best guys taking part. Sadly I don't see any of them or any of the event, as I was looking for a house and a job at that time. Cool that they were here though. Irritatingly Stomp are in Cape Town this december, adn i am her, and then they are coming here in March!!! So they will be here a couple of weeks after I leave. Thats just cruel to taunt me like that.

The Aussies I work with are really cool and most are from Melbourne and are cricket mad. Sadly none of them are rugby fans and all play Aussie rules or rugby league. We were told the number we must call if we are being sexually harrased at work, and I asked if that included abusive remarks about your country's cricket team, but apparently not so the Aussies will continue their evil sledging of the mighty Proteas.

Dollar bills

2006-12-09T19:46:00.000Z

For things to get better they must fist get worse. On wednesday I lost my job, which is actually a stupid phrase because I know exactly where it is so its not lost, but I was unemployed and homeless again. The reason being that it takes about a month for the social security card and number to arrive and "company policy" is that I cant work without a number.

However accomodation was soon sorted out and Cold still has his job at the store. We were going to move in with these rwo Argentinian girls calles Rosadia and Sofia, but they couldn't get the house. Cole and I now live with these two old men. They has a spare room that has an on-suite bathroom that we are renting from them. The nice thing is that we can use their washing machine and tumble dryer, but the house is quite far away and we have to get up before the sun to catch buses to work. The one guy owns the house is busy moving out and selling it and his wife is in their new house in New Mexico. I havnt met the other guy yet coz we spend so little time there.

Then I got a new job and started on friday working at Beaver Creek Sports, which is a rentals shop right by the base of the slopes. Is much better than the old job, so Cole is jealous. I work with a whole lot of people doing the same thing as me, almost all of them are Australians. There is also one guy called Nik from Norway who is quite funny. There are about 15 Aussies altogether in their circle of friends, and most work with me. I am certified and have my name tag that says who I am and that Im from Cape Town, SA. The Americans love asking me and the Aussies about our countries. I fitted boots for an oldish lady yesterday who asked where I was from and told me that I "Have the cutest accent!" and "You must get girlfriends just by talking and with that curly hair."

After my first day they rest of the staff invited me to go with them to watch "Borat" which I did and it was great. Cole had to work late with the boring old people at his shop and went home and slept. He really isnt good at this spontanious unorganised travelling and complains alot. He will be a bit bettera nd happier now we are more settled. I am the social co-ordinator because Cole has been grumpy and hasnt really talked to anyone. I organiused the Argentinians and made friends with thema nd now I have lots more thanks to my new job, then Aussies are great. Cole says he could never travell with Mel, because he has decided that he needs things planned and carefully organised.

I should hopefully get my ski pass on Monday or Tuesday and then the fun really begins. Cole just got his and went snowboarding this morning the lucky bugger. I am on a break and will return to work shortly for the afternoon session, as I am learning quickly and they wnt me there at alot for now because I am nearly able to do everything.

Money is very low after paying for the first month's rent, but at least I have a job now. Life is much better here now and should start to be really good soon. :) yay.

America the adventure begins...

2006-12-05T22:59:00.000Z

A brief rundown of what has happened so far

Day 1: Landed at Jo-burg airport to discover Goolam Raja collecting hundreds of cricket bags at the baggage claim. Obviously the Proteas had returend after their win in P.E. (the last proper sport I saw before leaving). I took this as a good sign but soon found myself waiting by the BA check in for an hour and a half before Cole arrived. Oblivious to me his flight had been delayed and I had a moment fear that I was off without my partner in crime. Amazingly we found Fran Thring on our flight also headed to the Sates. For those who don't know Fran was a close friend of Mel's at Howick and has just finished her BA at Rhodes. We survived the two long flights and landed in Denver after a good 40 hours or so of travel.

Day 2: In Denver the three of us caught two buses and walked a few blocks before finding the youth hostel. You pay for what you get and we payed very little. An ugly establishment, but it was warm and we were buggered.

Day 3: We said good-bye to Fran, but found a cheerful Kiwi called Dyaln at the hostel who went with us to the Grayhound station and was on his way to Aspen. Public transport is so beyond the comprehension of South Africans, but here it is wonderful and is safe, efficient and always on time! Finally Vail and the travels and worries are over or so we thought... We hadn't tsken into account that it was a saturday! So the human resorces department in Vail was closed for the weekend and the wheels came off our well designed plan. We took several buses all over the place and found the human resources department in Beaver Creek was open yay. Beaver Creek is a resort next door to Vail and almost next door. They could pretty much be classified as one giant place as opposed to two. There they offered us jobs as lift opperators which was great money and good hours with accomodation for staff at a good price. However our delight was foiled as they saw out visas are only until Feb and they need people throught to April. Shit! So finally we settled that we would ahve to saty at the Roost Lodge for the night. It is the cheapest hotel where everybody starts, but is still very expensive. So we found two Argentinians checking in and shared a room with them to minimize our costs.

Day 4: Sunday and the made job hunt begins again at the crack of dawn. We went to every ski rental shop in Vail and Beaver Creek and then a few in Avon. I lost count but there were about 33 shops we tried at and filled out about six application all saying come back on either tues or wed to find out if we got the job or not. Then at the last store in Avon we were hired on the spot YAY! A job at Sports Authority, which is a giant store almost identical to Sportsmans warehouse in SA. Plus there is a rental section where we will be working for 1o dollars an hour plus a kind of comission for every set of skis we send out. We stayed in the same room at the Rosst still with Fabrisio and Melissia the Arentinians.

Day 5: Monday and we start work at 7am to get accainted with the store an begin our training. We are working for free at we need training to become rental technichians and need to learn how to adjust and fit the different kinds of skis and snowboards. This is much harder than it looks. We mostly wax returned equipment and slowly learn. A Burger King for lunch (first food in a day as eating wasnt a priority. We discover that we must take three tests to become certified. The accomodation hunt continues in vain. Another night at the Roost, this time just the two of us in a room (ouch thats expensive 48 dollars each).

Day 6: Thats today Cole went off to work and I had to take a bus to Gleenwood Springs to apply for my social security number, as that will allow me to work and I cant be paid without one. An our and a bit by bus and then a long cue. Then the dicovery that although the office is better it is rather like home affairs and it will take about 3o days to get my card, and they wont give me the number until then. But the receipt should be enough for me to start work. A whole day wasted as I only got back to Vail at 4.

Summary: Lots of South Africans, Australians, New Zealanders, Argentinians and Brazilians in Vail. All looking for jons and most without housing. The Argentinians struggle to understand Cole, but understand me perfectly, so obviously I speak better than him and have a better accent hehe. Most people like our accent here, weird! The search continues. I must apologise for the newsy style of this post, but didnt have a lot of funny stuff to say and lots of news. Its stressful here right now, and havnt had any fun yet, but hopfully next week will be great. Once the accomadation is sorted out then this place will be fantastic.

Back home at last

2006-11-28T19:11:00.000Z

The trip home from Rhodes was a little more eventful than I would have liked, as I pole jumped out from nowhere in the parking lot in Mosselbay and threw itself into the side of my car. Rather annoying, but still made great time getting home in time to see the Boks crush the crappy Poms in te second test at Twickenham. The it was off to Smits from a nite at te beach cottage.

A lovely surprise arrived in the bay the next afternoon as two Southern Wright wales came in just a couple of hundred meters from the shore. This was greated with glee by te congrigation that watced from the balcony with champaign in hand.

Now its off to the America in just two days!! Exciting stuff...

The blog is born

2006-11-19T17:18:00.000Z

In the begining...