Time for an update

Firstly apologies to those who log on for an update - as there has been precious nothings lately in the way of this blog. Time to remedy all of that! I'll try and let the pics do the talking and leave the rest to a few words.



This is from the Utstein Kloster monastry on a beautiful island called Rennesøy only a short drive (through a tunnel) from Stavanger. We went there with Ann and Nigel (Emma's parents) when they were here. As you can see it was a lovely day. This was the graveyard beside the monastry. Not a bad spot to spend time rotting in the ground.


This is Em obviously on a ferry to a lovely island called Hidle. This is where this amazing place called Flor & Fjære is located. An amazing place where they have all sorts of tropical and lush plants and flowers. We went there with Emma's parents and it was a lovely dinner. You can see Stavanger in the background in the pic here.


This is me on the back of the ferry. Ann is coming up the steps in the background.


Here is Emma with her parents with Gamle (Old) Stavanger in the background.


This is Flor & Fjære. Amazing lush gardens. Certainly not expected of Norway. Emma and I went there in 2004 with Tatti and her mum. A lovely spot definitely worth a visit for any vistors for a good feed.


This is a little furry chipmunk (or whatever sort of funny creature he is - squirrel?) in Hyde Park in London. Emma and I went for a nice walk towards B-Pal (our rapping nickname for Buckingham Palace) and I saw this dude walking around with a nut in his mouth. So I did the old Steve Irwin trick and chased him about hoping to get a good pic of him.


We made it to B-Pal at 11:30am and coincidentally that is the time of the changing of the guard. So we saw these black furry hats marching about with some pretty hefty guns. Queeny was home apparently as the flag was up and flying but she didnæ't come out to say gday. Probably slacking it and watching Days of Our Lives or Oprah on TV.


This is B-Pal. Not a bad little house.


We also did the touristy thing and went for a visit to the London Eye (Millenium Wheel I think it might also be called). It was pretty good viewing and this is the houses of Parliament and Big Ben alongside the River Thames. London is a pretty flat area (good for cycling) so this is pretty much the only vantage point in the whole of london. Its amazing to see how sprawling London is. They are lucky they have such an efficient tube system otherwise I think it would be even more chaos than it actually is.


This is Emma in the London Eye. You can see how flat it is in the background.


Me and Emma in the bubble.


Another pic of the River Thames from the top of the london eye. You can just see another bubble/capsule to the bottom left.


Emma with the London Eye in the background. You can also see the Millenium Footbridges over her right shoulder.


Ok a bit out of order but when Ann and Nigel were in Stavanger we made a visit to the Stavanger Museum. This is the skeleton of a whale (I can't remember what sort - blue?) but it is pretty big. Here I am doing my bogan stance!


We also went to the football (Soccer for Australians) to see the Stavanger Vikings vs Lillestrøm (from an area nearby Jan's cabin we went to durin Easter) . This is coming off the train on the way to the game and the smoke is from flares being set off by the Lillestrøm bogans! Great atmosphere.


This is of the crowd in our section. It is a pretty neat stadium with heaters above you and all undercover. Perfectly suited to Norwegian weather.


Here we are with Ann and Nigel at the game. As you can see we have Stavanger Viking scarves. Subsea7 (my work) sponsors the team and we had a big function on beforehand. This involved two massive marquees, enormous amount of food and drink (soft drinks only - they don't serve grog at the game and not really fitting in with the family day theme if everyone was getting on the gas) and then free tickets to the game. Subsea7 gave us these scarves also and it was a thoroughly enjoyable Sunday evening. It was telecast live nationally as it was 2nd (lillestrøm) vs 3rd (Vikings).


Here is the game. Vikings are with the blue (Subsea7) tops and Lillestrøm with the yellow. It was a 1-1 draw. The crowd went wild when we scored (unfortunately it was at the other end).


Emma and I at Piccadilly Circus - not an actual circus which has me fooled but was a major intersection/square in the middle of London.


Me doing my best impersonation of being Miserable. This is in the Soho area (I think) where there is an amazing amount of shows going on. Any show you could think of was being shown there at the moment. Its amazing they have enough actors to star in them all. I guess thats what a city of 7 million can provide.


The River Thames at night. You can see the London Eye, along with the millenium bridges, and Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament in the background. I think this area looks so much nicer at night. The colours of the houses of parliament and Big Benny are quite amazing when lit up at night.


Big Joel next to Big Ben. Quite an amazing site at night - very beautifully lit up.


Little Emma and Big Ben.


Me getting out of one of the many iconic taxis in London. By jolly they are cheap compared to the Stavanger Taxis.


Me in the iconic red telephone boxes. Smashing!


Emma and I down Brick Lane. They had this curry festival on during the weekend we were in London. We went along with Emma's Third Cousin Laura. It was sooo busy and I have never seen so many cops in my life. At one stage, within about a 50m section of the street there was 10 cops all walking in pairs. Good curry and good atmosphere. This isn't far from the East End which is where a huge population of immigrants live. It was an interesting mix of people where there was obvoiously a large Anglo-Saxon young community mixing with the immigrant community. It felt like quite an interesting dynamic especially considering the aftermath and the way London has changed since the terrorism attacks in London.


While in London I also was wrapped to be able to catch up with some mates from St Kevins. I caught up with Goldsa (Johnny Goldsworthy), Dozza (Ross Doherty) and Crowey (Michael Crowe). We went down to this cool bar near Marylebone (yes one of the train stations from Monopoly) which was beside this cool little canal. We had a few good wines and beers and enjoyed a lovely meal with some great company. It was great to see the boys again and it never ceases to amaze me of how even though you might not see the boys for years and years that whenever we catch up it is always so relaxed and nice. I think our group of mates from school are really fortunate to have this bond.

Speaking of Monoply, I actually felt like I was in monopoly most of the time - going to Leicester Square, walking down Oxford, Regent, The Strand and Fleet Street - it could only have been better if I was driving a car like this:



This is a pic of me, Goldsa, and Crowey. I am hopefully going to be able to catch up with Crowey in France next June/July for a spot of cycling the pyrennees or the Alps. Would be great to do that for a week or so and catch up with some of the tour as it rolls by.




This is a pic from this cool traditional English pub. Apparently in the olden days they had these sections in pubs which would segregate the different classes. This is a pic of me and Dozza in the upper class section - where we belonged!