TravelStream™ news feed for member brianandleigh on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/brianandleigh en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Tue, 29 Jan 2008 17:53:58 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianandleigh/blworldtour/1197896400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianandleigh/blworldtour/1197896400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianandleigh/blworldtour/1197896400/tpod.html Tue, 29 Jan 2008 17:53:58 -0500 Faffing about at airports waitin to get the partying started

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Sydney, Australia

i think its about time i updated this since i have about 10 others to update so il ive ita go trying to remember stuff(copying stuff off q's and shauns lol).
so me and latch had a monster 14 hour flight which actually was as bad as the 7 hour one from london to toronto i thought. it was a pretty cool plane which had on demand films and mostly new ones like bourne ultimatum so the time whizzed by. almost forgot the dam visa place put my passport no down wrong so they couldnt find it at the airport, but luckily i could buy a holiday one at the airport so a clean pair of boxers where not needed!!
landed in the airport and met the very greasy picto who hadnt showered in 4 days or something, i actually though his hair was wet it was that greasy, he must have turned into a greaaasy lovvvvvvver in south america.

so like the other lads sydney will be abbreviated. booze, beach and dam shitty hostel!!! so of course there was copious amounts of booze had over the 3 weeks we were there. first 2 days we were buyin 24 bottles of beer for 40 dollars which is about 16 -17 quid, so we didnt think that was too bad. but after a few nites out we soon noticed this would nbot suit our cash flow situation. time for the goon!!! we didnt actually know wot goon was so picto and latch dodged off to find the halllowed drink. so they ended up having to ask the dude in the off licence. turns out goon is the big boxes of cheap ass wine u can get at home. but a lot cheaper. a 5 litre box is 15 dollars(6 notes) 5 litres is 7 bottles of wine which means in borat voice...... i like...very niiiice. and the name of the stuff we had was kaiser stuhl, the 1st nite we stuck to the rose and seemed nice enough so we didnt venture and other types. until crimbo day when the place was dry of nice rose and there was only soft dry red.the dam stuff was as dry as gandis sandal and far from soft, it was rough as. in true goon spirt we drank it anyway and suffered the consequences anyway.
so christmas day was very good, we went to a girls house that q and shaun new from home and they cooked dinner for 30 dollars a head, which was a god send cos we would have had dam all else on. the dinner was kick ass as well and then after a brief rest period it was time for some hardy drinking. i was nearly the first casaulty, slighty tipsy we started playing this game. i still dont know the rules. i was getting burned at every chance and was downing shots of some rotten concoction and was feeling it too. so i bombed out and took it easy for the rest of the nite, not after splashing a load of the dam soft dry red over my t shirt.

so the next few days where a bit quieter in the build up to nye, we had some planning to do for the spot we were gona pick for watching the fireworks. problem was the most of the good ones around the harbour didnt have bring your own booze. so we had a load of schemes thought of to try and get booze in. it said on the rules they checked the seals on all bottles so you couldnt get and spirits in. we even heard of some people who had cut a whole in a loaf of bread and hid a bottle in their lol. alas we where beatin for ideas we tried to get the lids off bottles and didnt work. so we humped off to theplace called mrs macquaries point and at about 10 in the morning, only to be met with a massive q, the biggest i'd ever seen must have been about a mile long and 4 people thick. we actually thought we werent gona get in but stuck it out and got in, in about an hour and a half. some dude behind us said he queued for 3 hrs from the same spot last year. so got in and found a good spot right at the tip of the park and a good view of the bridge. so ensued the marathon 9 hours of cards until the fireworks started.the crack was good all day and the place was buzzin, and even more so when we started drinking some fine wine. out of a bottle!! how posh are we, worked out cheaper than beer :) so the fireworks started at 9 for the childers and then the big one at 12. i actually lost the lads in the madness leading up to midnight but got a good spot to watch the show. it was the best fireworks we'd ever seen, the pics and vids prob dont do it justice but it can give u an idea.

we had another few quiet days after nye, we had to sort out stuff for goin up the coast. we had to get a car and so went to the travellers autobarn place, which was a rip off when i think back. so we headed to a place called kings cross car market where backpackers sell to each other without the middle man. this is where we found the wheels of steel, 1985 pajero. i think theres some pics of it ob bebo and the other lads so il try adding them all later. so we decided to head to blue mountains about 2 hours out of sydney to give the camping a dry run and test out the pajero wagon. we got there in one piece thanks to my expert driving of course. got the camp site up as soon as possible(ray mears swears by it), and headed off to the blue mountain park thingy. seen the 3 sisters rock thingy, again pictures will follow and done this crazy walk with the most steps id ever walked. steps down to the bottom of about half the mountain and along the ridge and back up the other side. i was dam sick of steps after that must have done about a 1000 lol, well seemed like it at the time.

back to sydney for the final prep before we went, camping stuff and all the boring car stuff.

ps we didnt just drink for 3 weeks we also seen the opera house and the harbour bridge.
you might get lucky and il do some of the coast stuff later while we wait for this boat!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianandleigh/blworldtour/1197413340/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianandleigh/blworldtour/1197413340/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianandleigh/blworldtour/1197413340/tpod.html Wed, 02 Jan 2008 05:24:20 -0500 Faffing about at airports waitin to get the partying started

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San Francisco, California, United States

well to start with id like to thank nicola and tony for the great hospitality. it was like a hotel(king size bed!!) and chaffeur service all rolled into one and a personal guide to as many irish pubs you could shake a stick at.
so to start nicola drove us over to the golden gate bridge and you dont realise how big it is till you go across it, it over a mile long so we only walked to the first main tower bit. its a bit scary lookin over cos its really high and theres phones on it for the crazy dudes that try to commit suicide, they dont even put it on the news any more theres that many!! and theyt all jump facing the city as well instead of the ocean.
well thats enough about suicide! i'll tell you what we got up to for the rest of the time. i cant remember the order of events now but il just blurb it all out.
one of the evenings we hit alcatraz for the night tour around it, its all in the pics, the cells are so small i think about 7ft by 6 or something. so we heard all the stories of the escape attempts and the one from the film "escape from alcatraz" with clint eastwood. so that escape attempt was the only one of the few the they thought made it across the swim to san francisco, but theres no actual proof as they were never found. not many make it as the water is so cold and theres crazy currents around it from the sea coming in. the audio tour was pretty cool as well as the commentary was from past wardens and past prisoners. we had about 2 and a half hours on it so it was plenty of times to walk about and see it all.

so i think the next thing we got up to was a bike ride from san fran to tiburon, so its donw the coast a bit and a climb up to the bridge and over to a wee town call sausilito, and then throught there to another place called tiburon which is exactly opposite san fran across the water. the scenery is really nice and we could have done a bike ride through the forests nearby and see some giant red woods but our asses tookin a bit of a hammering(from the bikes!!!!) it was about 16km and neither of us had ride a bike in years. we could have rode back but its uphill all the way back so we said feck that and got the ferry over which was really nice in the sunset. how rosemantic

next main thing was a fishing trip, we had searched a bit for salmon but it was out of season so the only thing going was shark fishing sweet!! so we booked that and booked the trip with don the sole man, classic name. it was an early start we had to get to the dock for 6.15 ehhhh so we got up at 5 bells so wasnt impressed with that but got over it. took about 45 mins to get out to the spot for shark fishing. so the dude showed us wot to do and then beat the rods out. there where only 2 other guys a father an son who were mormons so he was slabbering some religious crap to the sole man who seemed interested enough. apparently they dont drink tea or coffee as caffeine is a drug an there he was beatin the coke into him haha. it didnt take long for the sharkies to start biting. think me and the latch got about 4 or 5 each and the other 2 got the same but the father got a massive leopard shark which was pretty cool. we had about 6 hours altogether which was long enough for us. so we got back to shore and then done a cable car trip down to the bus, they seem dodgy as when your going up but there was a load of people on so they must be safe enough.

near the end of the trip we decided to give the zoo a lash, seemed like a good idea at the time but a week later when we got to sydney one of the tigers escaped and killed someone and critically injured 2 others!! apparently is jumped out the enclosure which is about 15 ft with a big drop in front of the wall an the enclosure is about 6 ft drop before the drop. we seen one super crazy tiger that was just walking back and forward in its cell which was about 5ft wide and had sports worn in the floor where it turned and walked to the other side so i bet it was him.

so that was about all of the major events apart from the trips to the abbey pub and fiddlers where tony used to work for some max corona sessions, almost forgot to mention the view from nicolas house which looks down right onto the pacific ocean, i even went mad one day and went for a run along it for about 30mins, i had to stop twice tho haha. well it was a month of corona beforehand!!

we already in sydney now so il have to update this in a few days. next stop blue mountains then up the coast for massive surf action.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianandleigh/blworldtour/1196549940/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianandleigh/blworldtour/1196549940/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianandleigh/blworldtour/1196549940/tpod.html Tue, 11 Dec 2007 12:59:13 -0500 Faffing about at airports waitin to get the partying started

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Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

time for another update. flew into vegas on yet another delayed flight, 5 flights and none have been on time yet!! got in around 3 o clock and checked into the hotel which was about a mile from the strip. hotel was class, better than anything we ever had at home. there were 3 pools and a hot tub, the room was in 2 parts there was a living room and a small kitchen area then another room with 2 double beds and a jacuzzi bath. we thought we had hit the big time!!! it was cheap as well about a 100 euro each for 5 nights about the same as a hostel so it wasnt a hard decision. dropped the bags and headed up to the strip about 8 o clock. the walk to the strip was about 20 minutes so not too bad

walked onto the strip and hit the first casino which was the mgm grand which is one of the biggest on the strip. its pretty cool its call the city of entertainment cos there so much inside, theres even a glass cage for 2 lions to run about in. the pics we got where of small ones but we seen the fully grown ones the other day. we played a bit and lost and then copped on how to play the slots, by playing the 1 cent machines!! think i was down about 15 dollars the first night and leigh broke even. the next day was pretty much the same bit of gambling and walking about. went through a shopping centre that has a pond thing in it and every half an hour it rains into the pond so a big crowd gathers to watch it!! as if we hadnt seen enough rain this summer we went to take shelter in the bar across from the pond for 2 for 1 corona's lol.

on monday we went to the grand canyon, so it was an early start at 6 am and then the bus left at about 7. travelled past the hoover dam which you will see in the pics, i thought it was the one from the james bond film but wasnt, still massive though. you cant even stop on the dam any more in case some crazy bandit tries to blow it up, and theres a a security search of each bus on either side of the dam checking for bombs hahaha crazy americans. took about 5 hours to get to grand canyon, we stopped to see an imax film nearby which is the most seen imax film in the world apparently and its pretty good some dude on a micro lite plane flying down into the canyon above the colorado river. eventually got to the canyon itself and its really is as good as everyone says, you just cant get it into you head how the hell it got there. so we had 2 stops on the south rim which is the deepest widest part. theres loaddsss of pics attached.

so last few days we pretty much did the same thing tried to get around to as many casinos as possible. we made a rule to cash in if we got over 5 bucks and then move onto the next one. got most of the major ones done. mgm, mandalay, monte carlo, bellagio, planet hollywood, new york new york(which has a roller coaster on the top of it), excaliber, the mirage, the venetian, paris and caesers palace, think thats them all.

next stop san fran
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianandleigh/blworldtour/1196473380/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianandleigh/blworldtour/1196473380/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianandleigh/blworldtour/1196473380/tpod.html Fri, 30 Nov 2007 21:05:04 -0500 Faffing about at airports waitin to get the partying started

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Los Angeles, California, United States

yo time for an update. been in la since monday and gettin a lot more done than toronto thank god. weather is a lot better, its about 15-20 most days and everyone says thats cold but its better than -8 degrees we had in toronto.
so we arrive on monday late enough so just hit the bed that nite cos there 3 hours difference between here and toronto. tuesday we just took it easy and walked around hollywood blvd where all the stars in the street are. turns out hollywood is f***ckin full of crazy dudes. so the whole street is t-shirt shops tattoo parlours and scientology places!! and gets even crazier at nite with all these street artists.
on wednesday we signed up for a walking tour up around the hills in a place called runyon canyon where all the celebs walk there dogs apparently. so walked up there pretty tough after a week and a half of booze and burgers. got to the top and spotted the actress Famke Janssen, she the one who plays jean grey or phoenix in xmen, so that was pretty cool and even the tour guide from the hostel couldnt believe it. so came back to the hostel for the all you can eat bbq for $5 and then hit the bar in the hostel for $2 coronas!! so necked a load of this and all the irish hounds emptied the bar of corona then heinekin and then budweiser, so he had no beer left and had to go to bed at 3.30 or so.
thursday we got a bus to the venice beach/santa monica beach, weather was ok bit cloudy and not warm enough for a swim but nice to walk along the beach which is a few miles long. was pretty hungover from the nite before so we played some cards and hit the bead early again.
friday(today) is feckin pissed all day which never happens in la,had planned a trip round the stars house so that was cancelled and went to universal city which is brilliant. has ride like the mummy and jurassic park water ride and a waterworld thing with these dudes flying about on jet skis over ramps and stuff. so gona get some food and hit the bar in the hostel 2nite and see where that leads then hit vegas tom for the 1/2 cent gambling machines and hope to scrounge a few drinks lol
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianandleigh/blworldtour/1196095620/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianandleigh/blworldtour/1196095620/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/brianandleigh/blworldtour/1196095620/tpod.html Mon, 26 Nov 2007 12:32:05 -0500 Faffing about at airports waitin to get the partying started

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Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Well thought we better update everyone since its been over a week since we left. We arrived in toronto on sat at 5 and where knackered after gettin up at 4 on sat morning so we didnt do much sat or sun as there not much on then. There isnt much goin on at all trips wise as its too cold so no fishing or kayaking trips so it was inevitable we ended up in the pub during the day on monday!! so we got a big shock to the price of beer, its as expensive at home! but apparently the rest of canada isnt as expensive as toronto.

Tuesday we went up the cn tower which is pretty cool, great views of the whole city was a bit cloudy but could see most of it and we got plenty of pics. wednesday was a bit messy ended up in the local pub watching the england game with lads from the hostel. they werent showing it on the tv but we got it streaming on the hostel dudes laptop, i thoroughly enjoyed the match but leigh didnt think it was so good lol. so we ended up staying in the pub the whole evening and staggering home at some hour we were complete blanks and true to form i woke up with another massive bruise on my leg and neither of us could remember where i got it so must have fell somewhere the whole 50 yds from the pub.

So thursday we hit niagara falls. we got a bus from the hostel at 11 which was good as the heads werent great. this mexican dude was driving the bus and he knew a lot of stuff about the area around niagara. we stopped at a winery for some tasting and lucky enough we only had sips cos the stomach werent great either. we got a taste of this ice wine which is famous in the area. its picked at night when its -10 degrees and each grape only give one drop of wine so its about 55 dollars for a tiny bottle!!so me moved onto the fall s and they were pretty cool and we got to see them lit up as we got the later bus. unfortunaley we forgot the camera doh. nut got a few pics on leighs phone lucky enough.

Friday was quiet as well just walked around the city and taking it easy before saturday night when we seen paul van dyk. went to the pub early saturday to see the chelsea game and who is sitting in the pub only my old colleague from BWG, kevin the programmer who left a few weeks before me. turned out he was in our hostel in the same building and he arrived the day before. so we went to a hockey game with kev and his mate. the toronto marlies where playin the syracuse crunch, its like the 2nd division or reserves league. apparently the tickets for the main team are $200 and impossible to get anyway. but it was a good match went to 3-3 and then the mighty marlies got a goal in et to win the match. we got great seats not appreciated as much as kevins travel mate whos a girl. we had the marlies dancers right in front of us, so every time theres a break in the game which is about every 2 minutes the lovely dancers where strutting there stuff !!! so im gona save all the lads the bother of googling them and put the link in myself http://www.torontosun.com/marlies07/
After the game we cruised back to the hostel, we had to make the trip to the offy which is about an hour!! its not like home where theres off licences in the spars!! but they do have massive bottles of corona over 2 normal bottles. skulled them and taxied over to the club. club was massive must have held about 2 r 3000. was good enough nite and leigh calved at 5.30 in morning so went home and the south african dude ni our room was still loaded,he said he was looking for us in the club he was in "wherrre da fack wheeeere u guys i waaas looking faaa you all niiiiite"(in his south african accent) leigh was in making noodles and got chatting some chinese guy that used to live in ireland in the troubles. he used to have to drive around the coast to get to the south so the ira wouldnt catch him!! madness

So sunday was a non starter as we were fecked from all the dancin. so we flying to la today for some badly needed sun to work on the base tan for sydney yehhhaaaa

chat ya later
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