The London Pub Crawl

Based upon the celebration of Waitangi Day - For any of you non-Kiwis out there, Waitangi Day is held each year on February 6th to celebrate the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand's founding document, on that date in 1840. The day the English (i think) and the Maori stopped their war - this is a pub crawl of mammoth size.

What to expect...

And so it begins! The crawl officially starts at 10am and Paddington station acts as a gathering place for people to meet up with their mates before heading off. There will be loads of Kiwis milling about so just follow the crowds and you'll be fine. Grab a bite to eat because it'll be a long day.

As only the second stop on the crawl, things should still be well under control and people will be warming up nicely. The pub at Bayswater used to be called 'The Rat and Parrot' but has changed names to 'The Bayswater Arms'. This is a good place to grab a bite if you haven't already.

People will be getting a bit merry by this point and things seem to start to kick off after this stop at Notting Hill Gate. The toilets inside the pub are to the left. The group will be growing in size and the wait for the tube on the platform will be getting really crowded and just a wee bit rowdy.

Prince of Wales is a tiny, long, narrow pub with the toilets crammed right at the back. Best bet is to stay outside the High Street Kensington Stop because it will be difficult to get a drink and almost impossible to get to the toilets. There's not alot of space in front of the pub but you can sprawl out across the road too.

Gloucester Road. There's not much around this stop really so just focus on keeping warm. Best way to do this is to keep drinking! Second best way is to start dancing around. Third best way is to pee your pants but the warmth is short lived and will make the rest of your day quite uncomfortable. Not recommended.

South Kensington. Things should be geting a bit rowdy by now with loads of people spilling out of the pub into the streets. If the cars can get by then you're not trying hard enough!

The stop at Sloane Square is crap. The old pub on the corner has closed down and the only draw is the public toilet across the road from the station. Lots of people tend to wander off in all directions looking for a pub but your best bet is to get your ass back on the tube because the outlook is bleak.

Victoria is one of the busiest stops on the route and you're sure to come across plenty of bewildered intercity travellers and matinee theatre attendees wondering what the hell is going on. There are a handful of pubs in the station but there's a better atmosphere outside across the road

This is one of the best stops, St Jame's Park - if only because you can get a group of mates together and drink right in the middle of the road on the painted roundabout circle. True, the police will chase you away, but until they do, it's pretty funny. A good photo op if nothing else.

You will probably never see so many Kiwis in one place outside of New Zealand. You will definately never see so many pasty bodies gathered in one place either! The Haka at Westminster is what it's all about and the boys get their kit off and get it going at 4pm and again at 5pm.

The Embankment is a stop often skipped as people rush on to the Temple Walkabout. If you're planning to stop in at The Queen Mary, it's probably much quicker to walk than it is to fight through the crowds to get on teh tube. Cheating... yes. But at this stage nobody's really keeping track anymore.

By this point most people will be fed up with the tube and the cold and will be eager to get to a pub and stay put. The Temple Walkabout is huge and loads of people head to it to finish off the day. Some brave souls carry on and attempt to complete the Circle Line Pub Crawl but most pack it in and call it a day at Temple.

Aaaaarrrgggh, me hearty's! Fun times ahoy!

Leaving Paradise?

 A dog rambling up and down the high tide mark keeping a watchful eye on the beautiful Irish/Russian girl seated outside the beach side shack that is surrounded with a random assortment of sea bought trinkets carefully collected over the years. A plate of fresh baked scones on the stone at her feet and there you will find me. Seated beside. With a content half smile on my face, eyes half closed, half dozing, with half a scone in my mouth and half a beer propped up next to me. Recognisable by the hair that resembles seaweed washed ashore after a big storm, eyes the colour of the deepest, clearest oceans with a stars twinkle always present, a beard that birds could roost in and skin the colour and texture of driftwood after a lifetime wandering the oceans. This is my dream life. 

To live by the beach

To have a dog

To have a long shaggy beard

To have long shaggy hair to match

To live a life free of stress

To live a life of sun

Here I am happy. Here Brighton brought me. Here I would stay... only it is way to friggin cold here in England! Nelson perhaps?

Blank??

i was leaving this blank to write stuff. Only I can't remember what? Perhaps some scribbles from my book while taking the train from Brighton to Victoria Stn London? ...

i looked out the window for much of the trip. What struck me were the rows of endless houses between the fields. Like ripples on an ocean, hundreds of English houses stretch out before me. Each as unique as it's identical neighbour. Yet in their un-uniqueness, they succeed in making London unique. They seem overpowering and yet next moment are gone. Replaced by endless fields of the farmer.

The oasis in a desert. The green park in London city. I can't help but smile at the thought of what these parks mean. For dogs free of leash. For small kids on their bikes. For teenagers, freeing their minds momentarily from study. For old couples, contemplating life gone by.

Each sight we passed had a thousand sights within. A horse seen tied to a tree. Free yet trapped in it's freedom. Is it right for us to keep animals as pets if we deny them their natural desires? If for however short that time might be?

Sometimes they seem to take the freedom from themselves. A cat seen up a tree. A haven from a foe? Or the foe itself? trapped in a wall less cell. I often wonder how long those cats in movies would stay up the tree if the fireman didn't come along. I imagine until they got hungry to be honest.

A bird seen in a tree. A nest a few branches up. Together a life? Or just a passing moment? A coincidence. So much of life is made up from coincidence. If I was to walk out of this library this moment and strike up conversation with the first person I saw, my life would be changed forever.

If I was to leave now and start walking with no goal in mind. Where would I end up? What would happend to me? What would my current couch surfing host think? And what about my gear? My backpack - my companion, my house, my life, but never my home. Always home is with mum and dad. I have lived in a number of places now. I have lived for months in flats too while at uni. And yet have always called our house in rotorua home. Will this change when I settle for good in a few years time?

Finding that home was always with mum and dad hed me to thinking how we can keep in touch so easily these days. Is this a good thing? I'll never travel as free as my dad did when he backpacked the world. I sometimes wish I could be truly independent. No internet, no phone, no communication. Cut off from everyone. Independent.

Or would I get lonely? A man in a purple coat stands astride a log in a field. His puropse? We pass by in a train sent for another city. Never to know. Only to guess. Thrown to the wind, we don't truly expect an answer.

Contemplating lonliness, i was broken free of my thoughts by a young kid loudly quizzing, or perhaps teaching, his father. "Anyone can use these toilets", cried the small boy at the end of the train carriage, "Babies, growd ups, babies, even bag ladies. Anyone can use these toilets daddy".

Drunk to forget the past.
Drunk to escape the present.
Drunk to deny the future.

Day Four in Brighton...

This day was spent like many others; being lazy (o:

I pretty much spent the day sitting in the sun reading "Innocent Man" by John Grisham i think. A gift from one of Erin's host familys in Norway.

Then I ventured out and bought some toffee for Ben and Pernille, admired the seaside and then, with rain on the horizon, I headed home and read some more.

Burgers for dinner and a T.V running in the foreground and my last day in Brighton ended smoothly.

Day Three in brighton...

Already lloking forward to the Waitangi Day Pub Crawl, this may be a quick blog entry (o:

Today was anther of no particular plans. Maybe a museum?

It began with a walk, finally, to the Brighton Pier. why the bother? Not sure really. It would be cool with some mates maybe or if you're 10 again. It's got it's own rainbow's end like theme park, a casino, food outlets for africa and then right at its end is a pretty good view over the ocean.

Next I wandered, for like 2 hrs, down to the the White cliffs of Dover. yeah, ok. So they were the white cliffs of Brighton but they're waaaay higher than Dover's so I reckon way cooler. Sure no wars were fought over them but...

On the way back I played fetch with dog and have decided I HAVE to have a dog when I grow up. 

Oh and I read a book in the sun at the cliffs and may even have managed to get a slightly reddish tinge to my face this arvo. maybe I'll be a tad off pasty by tomorrow?

Then, with a picture perfect sunset following me home, I headed back to the West Pier to watch the swarms of starlings which are known to congregate there each evening. There were literally thousands of the wee suckers. Like schools of fish in the sky, they performed manoeuvres that would leave our best fighter pilots, obviously not NZ's seeing as we no longer have an airforce, but America's anyway, spitting with envy. Awesome.

Then it was home for a quick Thai dinner, spot of telly and a shave. Ah, the hard life (o:

No wait! One more thing. Whilst walking home, taking the stony beach front rather than the paved promenade, I came face to face with a guy walking up the beach starkers! "Floomin heck" I thought, supressing a shudder. It must be like 2 degrees out, even with the sun. Then I notice up the beach a couple going full commando as well. "Do all Pommes go swimmin at the beach nudders then"? Walking on another 100m, eyes fixed firmly forwards, i came across a sign stating 'You are now leaving the naturist beach. Please reclothe to avoid offending other beach goers and personal prosecution'. Seems I had been wandering along a nudist beach! Hahahaaa

Day Two in Brighton

Or I guess it is day 3 of you include Sunday night.

Today I went for a wander around town. Needing new shoes I decided I'd go check out what Brighton had to offer. I also intended on visiting the Brighton Pier on the way. Buuuut, that never happened. 

I did make it to the West Pier next door. A run down, falling to pieces pier that would not be safe for a crash test dummy to stumble across. But it looks awesome. A photographers dream. 

(pic of west pier)

Then I headed left into town. it had begun to drizzle and the Brighton pier wasn't going anywhere. Heading into town I completed a few chores and then made a visit to the Information Office. Or rather i walked past by chance and popped my head in. They directed me to all sorts of closed museums but had also suggested I visit the 'bohemian' region of the town; good choice!

This place is like a permanent flea market. A hundred garage sales rolled into one with op shops littered throughout. It is a bargain hunters dream. So much pointless and useless stuff which I would love to own. Every little nicknack you could think of. And an awesome fudge place in the middle of it. Mmmmmm.

(pic of one shop)

Day One in brighton

Blue sky, gentle swell on the ocean, no plans. Time to relax. 

I began the day with a pleasant stroll down to the Hove lagoon where I joined an old lady in feeding the swans. Beautiful great big white ones. Like mini polar bears with wings. They were seriously huge. Their giant black feet resembled those of a clydesdale. After off loading of a couple of loaves of bread down their cavernous mouths, I made my goodbyes and made a move down to a nearby skate park. Here some guys were filming a couple of bmx stunt bikers and skateboarders who kept me entertained for the next hour or so pulling tricks, sliding rails, jumping mountains and pretty much just having a good time and a good laugh.

I then pushed off again down the promenade, intending on reaching the infamous Brighton Pier. But it began raining and so after grabbing a quick lunch at the super, I read for a bit by the ocean (it had calmed a little) and then went home for tea. Nice day. But an even better day was just around the corner... 

Brighton

Arrived by train. Or bus but that was because the train ticket i paid for didn't work as the train tracks were under going repairs. I had travelled down with some of vicky's friends who lived in Brighton too. So they escorted me to the Brighton train station and here I met Pernhille and Ben (couple we'd met skiing in Avoriaz) and headed off to stay with them in Hove.

When we arrived at the flat, Ben made us the ultimate roast. A superb roast. A perfect roast. A roast to end all roasts. And the flat? Wow! More like an upscale apartment. I could live out my days here. Brighton as a whole has me hook, line and sinker. Hell, it has me whole rod too!

The gayness continues

Friday in Manchester was a day spent with a little biking, some shopping, and then relaxing. Then it was the gay birthday. So it was no surprise it felt like dejavu (how do u spell that?) when I was invited to join Vicky and her flatmate in London where another friend was having another gay party. "Ahhh, why not" I figured. I wanted to see London anyway. So off we set by car with two gay guys, heading to meet another club full.

Only this night turned out far different to the last. The last was good. This night was brilliant. 

When we reached Steve's flat who we were staying with, we ate some cake and then prepared for town. Gay guys and a girl all required preparation time and so i was left with a bottle of wine and an hour to kill. One and one together equalled me finishing the first bottle and starting on the second by the time we left. The other half disappeared by the time we reached the pub for dinner and a half hour later and I had gone the same way. I was finished too. Or was I?

I realised I was drunk (putting it lightly) and so began my assault on the bar's water supply. Wacking them back like a true champ I managed to sober up before anything too stupid took place and luckily all the gay guys were more than willing to watch over me to make sure I was safe. Then it was off to the club where we would spend the night dancing to what was actually quite awesome music.

I hit the stage quite quickly and teamed up with a little blonde thing (female) who i spent the night with, dancing away on the drink shelf above everyone else, swigging back free drinks (guys were being really generous that night; albiet gin and tonics all the time) and thoroughly enjoying myself. Awesome night. 

Then the next day I headed off to Brighton with one of Vicky's friends after a quick pub meal and deciding I would return to London at a later date to see the sights.

One gay night in Man city

Vicky's friend was having a birthday. I was invited. Awesome. So we grabbed some wine and headed off for a party. A gay party.

We arrived to a room full of young gay men. Nothing against them; in fact the more gay guys in the world, the more girls left for me, but I still felt a little out of place when numbers were this askew. So i remained happily in the kitchen where 3 girls were hanging out and Vicky was there to 'protect' me. Some interesting things happened though.

I wandered upstairs at one stage to put my jacket away. Walked into the room and found to my surprise, a guy and a girl with a pile of white powder on plate seated between them. "whaaaa!?" I thought I was looking at cocaine to be honest. Turned out it was MDMA, the raw ingredient of ecstasy. They were wrapping small portions in zig zag cigarette paper to create 'pills' of the stuff. They offered me a try but for now I was ok just watching. 

I'd always thought the stuff would make you go crazy with dance. In reality they just looked wasted and I can't say it looked all that great. Night ended fairly soon after that as I was a little over all the gayness and wasn't drunk or really feeling the dance. But it was my first gay party and club (called Homo electric) and so I am glad I was invited. Leaving the club to groups of girls making out you'd think life was great only if you looked left the groups of guys were at it too...

Making it back to Manchester

C aught the ferry Thursday morning. Booked to leave at 8:30, it ended up departing at closer to 11am as the strong winds which were blowing small children into lakes (true story), flipping over 18 wheelers (true again) and causing London Bridge to once more fall down, had also caused all the ferry's cargo to tear loose and need tidying up. But the ferry ride was much more pleasent, lacking in distractions, but calm. Though when we arrived back at the mainland a sleet storm set in for all of 2 minutes leaving a 10cm layer of snow piled up against the gutters and me wondering what the walk to ton would be like. 

Bus from Morecombe to Preston and then one on to Manchester. Easy as pork pie. Then another local bus and i was back in Vicky's flat to surprise her with my presence as my final email hadn't been recieved and she'd assumed I'd cancelled and was coming the following day. Ah well. It all worked out. As always.

blank

stuff from isle

It's been a week since I was in the Isle and already I have forgotten what went on (o:

Friday we went out. I worked as am unofficial coat checker at Havana Bar in between dancing and actually made money! People were giving me their coats, tips, drinks and taking photos and I really don't think i looked the coat check guy part; I was wearing aviators, drunk, and laughing the whole time. Eventually the real bouncers came and took over and so it was back to dancing for me. And Pierre and his sister are the ultimate dancers. Everyone loves them and they truly bring the party with them. DJ's actually ring them and ask if they'll come help the dance floor to go off!

And then Saturday was Aussie Day. Or rather, Auckland Anniversary Day. This was celebrated in style at the Nurses Res(idence) with Kiwis and Aussies pitted against each other in life threatening feats of bravery, endurance and intelligence. All English present were divided into one of the two teams as well but there contributions were, um, tops. Nah, they were good as. Of course, New Zealand dominated the day overall. Winning the cricket, the ping pong, the drinking, Spoons, the cooking, the appearance, having the better country and so on. We did lose one game though admittedly. The intelligence test. Or did we lose?

Our questions were on Australia and their questions were like wise based upon New Zealand. So really, all we did was reinforce the fact that they like our country more, hence they know more about it. I mean, why bother learning which poo belongs to which australian animal (real questions, serious) or deciding which is a real Australian city when the options are Woobygoolybong, Wombat, Grassfield or Iggaboo. The fact that three of them are real in the first place sums up Australia pretty well I think.

Then town was hit and again it was another great night. Pierre had to leave early though to look after his Scottish girlfriend who was a little tipsy and I somehow got separated from everyone else. I  remember visiting nearly every club in the Island (Colours, Havana, Outback and P-something), taking at least 3 taxi rides by just climbing in with randoms and meeting a tonne of awesome people in cues who let me sift in to their place and save me half an hour of waiting in cue. Then the night ended when two of the res residents found me and took me home to sleep the night at the res. Pierre then came and picked me up in the morning, as usual, being an AWESOME host! 

Can't wait to return for the TT bike race in end of May.