Home

Well I'm home now in Australia. Tooke me awhile to update this. I'll just be using this for when I go overseas and travel. Hopefully my next trip isn't too far away!

TC

Nicky

Wide World of Sports (part 2)

Yeah, Germany won against Argentina! Woohoo! Have to cheer for them now that Australia is out :(



Go Roddick at Wimbledon! I love Wimbledon behind the Aussie Open of course! He's through to the third round. He's playing really well so hopefully he can get to the finals again. It would be his third Wimbledon final in a row. He just can't seem to get past the Fed though. Hopefully Nadal will knock him out! Go Andy!

Kelowna

Went to Kelowna last weekend which was absolutely bootiful! It's on Lake Okanagan. Soo pretty. Perfect weather the whole weekend as well. It's a 7 hr bus ride (4 hr car ride) from Vancouver. Still in the province of British Columbia. Went with my friend Hailey as she is from there. We stayed with her Mum. I'm glad we took the bus as I got to see the beautiful Canadian wilderness. The beautiful pine? trees, waterfalls and the mountains. Even saw a deer as well that was running around Hailey's Mum's neighbourhood. How funny, a deer in the suburbs! Would never find that in Australia. Maybe a snake or spider in the suburbs!!!! No bears though :( Well, I actually called it the Canadian countryside and Hailey cracked up laughing. She said "We don't call it the countryside here, we're not in Hicksville Alabama!" SORRY, we call anything that is outside of a capital city in Australia the COUNTRYSIDE! I kept Hailey laughing all day asking stupid touristy questions! I also asked her "Are there native Indian tribes living in the mountains?" She nearly fell off her chair on the bus laughing. No, obviously there's not. Well, I didn't know that. I am a tourist. In Australia, there are native tribes still living on the land!

On the Friday night, we went to a party for her Dad's 70th B'day. It was a surprise. He didn't know we were coming even though Hailey was sure she mentioned it to her Dad about ten times previously! That was fun. Had a few wines and some nice finger food. Her Dad is great. He's lots of fun and his friends were lovely.

Saturday, we went out for lunch at El Derado's on the Marina. It was a beautiful day. About 28C with a perfect blue sky. We had lunch with one of Hailey's friends. Lunch was nice. I had the best god damn Margarita I've ever had. Kelowna now has a special place in my heart. Here's a catchy tourist campaign slogan for them - KELOWNA - best god damn Margaritas on earth! Even Hailey said it was the best she's had and she doesn't usually like them. They were YUMMYYYY! Then we visited some more of Hailey's friends and went and had BBQ for dinner. That was fun. I was drinking this new mixer drink all night. It was delicious. It's called Pomtini. It's pomegranite (sorry can't spell) juice mixed with vodka. They're soo easy to drink. Too bad we don't have them in Oz. Hmmm, sounds like I was basically drunk the whole weekend but I swear I wasn't! Only two days out of three! He he!

Sunday, we had breakfast with Hailey's Mum and stepdad, went and watched some of her cousin's soccer match and then it was a sprint to make the 2.30pm bus on time! We got there at the last call. Woah, that was close. Nearly missed it! When we got on, there weren't any seats together but this very sweet lady who was sitting by herself offered to move somewhere else for us! Awww, how sweet. Thought she deserved a mention. It was really nice to get out of Vancouver and be in a really chilled, relaxed atmosphere. Kelowna is very cruisy and friendly. It's a retirement town. Would prefer to live there than in Vancouver but of course there's more to do in Van and more jobs as well.

So that was my weekend in a nutshell! Going to Whistler tom (Sat) for the day with Hailey and Clare. Can't wait as I haven't been there yet. Then Saturday night is Canada Day (OH CANADA)! Might have to have a few bevvies to celebrate!!! It's been a good end to my overseas trip. Glad, I finally got to see more of Canada. I can't believe I leave here in two days! It's surreal. I will miss Vancouver greatly. It will be very strange to be back in Oz!

Over and outy! I'll post some pics of Kelowna once Hailey e-mail's them to me. Hint, Hint, nudge, nudge H!

Drinks at The Bayside Lounge

These are pics from Saturday night!

Me & my Clare Bear! (Yes, she's the only one that ACTUALLY comments on my website!)



All four bumholes together! Jimmy, Clare, Leon & Moi.


Me, Anthony (Clare's new English housemate) & Clarey.

Weekend of Wide World of Sports

Yes Clare, this is becoming a sports blog but when in doubt and you have nothing exciting to write about, there's always sports! The World Cup only comes around every four years! Well, Roddick lost in the semis against Blake but our Adelaide boy Lleyton Hewitt ended up winning the title for the fourth time! He joins John McEnroe and Boris Becker as the only other tennis players to have won this title four times! Roddick would've won it for the fourth time IN A ROW if Blake hadn't have beated him!!!! Oh well, congrats Lleyton! It's been awhile since he's won a title. And Australia lost to Brazil 0-2. Let's not talk about that after I got up at 8.30am Sunday morning to watch the match! Should've just stayed in bed!

On to happier things. Went to Capilano Suspension Bridge in North Vancouver on Saturday with my friends from Australia. It was awesome. The bridge is right in the middle of the rainforest! I met up with my friend Janet and her friend Dot. Janet and I were roomies on my India tour so it was great to see her again. The bridge is sooo wobbly that we couldn't stop laughing because we were falling all over the place. It should be called the Giggling Bridge! It was fun getting there. We had to take the seabus (ferry) across the water and then catch a bus to it from there. God, I can't believe people commute to Downtown like that everyday for work. Catch a bus, then catch a ferry, then possibly catch another bus. A lot different from Australia! So that was lots of fun. Bought some souvenirs as well. Sorry, would've had pictures on here but blogger won't let me add them. You can see some great pictures at http://www.capbridge.com.

Saturday night, just went to Bayside Lounge down English Bay for a couple of drinks with some friends. Very pretty view of the Bay and they had yummy margaritas! That was fun. Then on Sunday, I just went and saw Cars at the movies. It's soo funny! You have to see it.

That's all for now. Back to work. Only one more day of my assignment left. Woohoo! Then I'm off to Kelowna on Friday for the weekend. 7 hour bus ride! Yeah, I'm really looking forward to that. NOT! Should be fun. Two more weeks and then I'm home. YEAH!!!!!!!!!

Roddick in the Semis at Queens

Go Andy! He's back to defend his title. If he wins this year, he would've won the tournament four years in a row! Unbelievable! Wish I was in London right now watching the tennis instead of Canada! They don't even show coverage of Queens here on TV but you can view it live on the BBC website - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport. I love technology! Andy is playing his fellow countrymen, James Blake tomorrow in the semi-finals. I can't believe Hewitt actually got through. Only coz Nadal had to retire due to a shoulder injury. If Hewitt wins against Henman and Andy wins, it will be a Roddick v Hewitt final! Agghh! I'm torn. Roddick is my number one. Sorry Lley Lley! I'll be eagerly watching the match tomorrow on the glorious BBC website. I love the BBC.

Gehe Deutschland!

Germany just scored againt Poland. 1-0! In the 91st minute. Thank god for added time. Gehe Neuville (player who scored)!!!!!


This picture is funny! The German team in training. C'mon boyz, pump those abs!

Well, I must dedicate a post to my other favourite World Cup team, Deutschland. As most of you know, my Dad is German therefore I have always barracked for Germany in the World Cup. My Dad was actually at the 1974 World Cup final when Germany won (bastard!) Soo jealous. The last time they won was in 1990. Obviously, we all know that they lost the last World Cup to Brazil :( I lived in Berlin for two months in 1999. I stayed with my Aunty in East Berlin. I went to language school for a month and the other month at the end of my trip, I was just bumming around before I went back to Australia. Berlin is a wonderful city full of soo much history. The Brandenburg Gate (see above, Checkpoint Charlie, The Rathaus (German Parliament) etc etc. There's even bullet holes still in buildings today from World War II. The transport there is fantastic and there's aways lots to do in the city. I miss Deutschland but I'm sure I'll get back there again someday. Come to think of it, I was only there in September 2005 but only in transit. I've been to Frankfurt about four times now but have never actually seen any of the city only the airport. I think the team has a good chance of winning the Cup together with their home ground advantage. Someone knock those Brazilians out please!!!!Deutschland, Deutschland ueber alles..... (Germany, Germany, over everyone...line from the national anthem).






Here is my favourite German player, Michael Ballack. He didn't play the first match due to a calf injury. He was at Bayern Munich for 4 years but now plays for Chelsea.

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi!

Go Australia! We just won our first World Cup match ever! Yes, I know, it's no great feat but you have to celebrate the small victories. I stayed up until 1.30am this morning watching the replay. Needless to say, I am very tired today! But it was totally worth it. I thought I would just stay up until the first goal was scored but I didn't know it was going to take 84 minutes for them to do that! Then they scored two more in under 10 minutes! Tim Cahill, what a champion! But Harry Kewell is still my favourite player. Brazil is next. OH NOOOOOOO! But if we pulled this victory out today, who knows what could happen! That would be sweet if we beat them. What an upset that would be. Wishful thinking! I will be watching the next match on the 12th June very eagerly. C'mon Aussie!!!!!!