Jodie

The most common request [by far] that I've received for my blog is that I post a picture of Jodie. I'm only too happy to oblige, with my new favourite photo, which was added to the peppermint bay web album.

I also have to comment on the weather in Hobart! When I left for my holiday in July, I was used to it being 5 degrees celsius, and walking home in the dark. Now, the average temperature over the last three days when I've walked to work has been 14 degrees. After work, walking home, it's been 15 degrees, and still light. Hobart is hooning towards summer!

Jodie and I have been cooking again... but more about that later...

Peppermint Bay

20060826_PeppermintBay

Aug 25, 2006 - 38 Photos

Jodie and I went on a cruise to Peppermint Bay today, and it was very nice to get out of the house after being couped up for most of the week.

I have uploaded some photos to my google picassa web album, since there were many more shots than I could fit in a post. The web album can been seen here.

I have also posted a couple of photos from my trip to the RU Brown Society Piobreachd competition in May, 2006, here.

I think this is probably an opportune time to list the products that I use from Google! Long story short... Google rocks! I recommend their products.

Gmail - the best web based mail around, with free pop mail support.
Blogger - helps produce what you are reading now.
Google Picassa - The best program to organise my photos [integrated with blogger [and picassa web]].
Picassa Web - Allows me to share photo albums on the web, with a single click in picassa
Google Calendar - accepts invitations from Outlook [and vice versa], so is easy to sync, and you can share events with other important people.
Google Reader - for all my web subscriptions [William has the only blog with subscription that works [besides me, of course]]
Google Maps - road map or sattelite ... it has it all!!!!! There are some people who are using the api very creatively too! More about that later...
Google Desktop - lets me search my Outlook email and rest of computer like no other program.
www.google.com.au - the best search engine on the web [almost forgot that one [but googling is in the dictionary now]]
Google Writely - online word processing... is pretty cool, and has collaboration potential.
Google Spreadsheets - had a little tinker - probably prefer Open Office calc or Excel at the moment.

Jodrell Bank

Uncle Jim and I went to Jodrell Bank in both 2006 [pictured with me above] and 1999 [pictured with Jim below].
Now, onto the revelation about the spaced out program, which is designed to be the largest scale model of the solar system [the other planets are scattered around the UK [Pluto is in Aberdeen, for example]]. Below, the sculpture that represents the Sun, confused Jim a little. He wanted to know what represented the size of the Sun in the model. The attendant at the museum / gift shop assured us that the model only represented the distance between the planets. However, this didn't satisfy Jim, and he went about thinking how the size of the Sun related to the distance from Earth, which was located in Macclesfield.

After some reflection, and measuring [Jim knows the diameter of the Sun, and the distance to Earth off the top of his head], Jim concluded that in this model, the size of the Sun could actually be represented by the diameter of the rail track that the Jodrell Bank telescope sits on. Jim also assured me that no checking of his calculation was needed, but I thought I'd do that via google maps, and make sure that they didn't mention this on the website before publishing it here.

As you can see from the photo below, it makes a much more impressive Sun than the sculpture.

I have a google map link to demonstrate the relationship between Jodrell Bank and Macclesfield if you would like to do your own calculation... here. If you go to satellite mode, you can actually see the telescope quite clearly...

Fish Supper and Deep Fried Haggis

I've been a little slack posting some more photos from the trip, but I've just come back to work, only to take most of the week off with the flu. Most of my time has been spent in bed, or reading Dean Koontz, and catching up on the Daily Show and Colbert Report.

This, as most of the posts seem to be, is about food. Pictured above is a fish supper, with some deep fried haggis! Andrew managed to pick out the haggis in Glasgow, and it's also wonderful deep fried.

When I got back to Hobart, I was also in for a treat. Wallaby lasagne! Jodie knows it's one of my favourites, and is wonderful reheated for lunches. She is also helping me to leave enough so that there is some left over for lunch...

Here's what I had in Perth, after drinking Drambuie the night before. I'm not sure why, but the Croissant was the best option... The black pudding was excellent. I remember after my trip to Scotland in 1999, that I was sooooo relieved to know that black pudding was made with pig's blood, not cow's. Especially not mad cows. In particular, Uncle George and I were going out to see the Dundee United vs. Dundee derby, and Aunty Margaret had made dinner. The dinner was the biggest full breakfast I'd ever encountered. Among the ingredients were [and I'm bound to have forgotten some] bacon, eggs, sausage, black pudding, white pudding [yes, both], baked beans, hash brown, toast...

[Update 27/8] A quick update for my Dad. Dunee United won the game. I have never been to a Dundee United match and seen them loose, in fact they have won every game I've seen. George thought I might like to get season tickets! I also recently [in the last few years] found out that Dad is actually a Dundee fan!!!!
I also ordered both the coffee [that came with the breakfast] but a large Irn Bru as well.

Pictured below, is one of Uncle Jim's [in]famous muffins!

Missing the train

On Sunday after the world pipe band championships, I was due to get a train back to Perth. However, because of some confusion with the times for the train on a Sunday, I just missed it, and had to wait almost an hour for the next one. What does one do when that happens? Head to the bar!

I set up the camera with a timer, and managed to get this shot of Andrew and I in Glasgow before I caught the train to Perth, and he caught one back to London.

Home

I arrived back home this afternoon, absolutely exhausted from the travel, but with enough wits about me to make sure I stopped off for a quick coopers pale ale for breakfast at about 0830 this morning in Adelaide.

I was absolutely exstatic to see Jodie at the airport, and she has looked after me very well, and I'm looking forward to a good nights sleep... before work tomorrow.

I'll post some more photos from the trip over the next few days, and might even try out google's picassa web albums to post a larger number of pictures than is sensible for a blog...

Singapore #2

I am still in Singapore, 15.5 hours into the stopover, and a couple more until I fly out. Getting to the Hotel wasn't a problem, although I did get off at the wrong hotel [city, not riverfront] so I had a little walk through Singapore at 0730 in the morning. It was already 29 degrees, and freakishly humid, so the couple of showers I had did me good. The sleep too.

I headed down to the bar are the hotel, which was very nice, with the intention of using the Euros I had left over from the trip. It was happy hour, so I was pleased that there was two for one drinks, and with a little snack, I thought I'd got the money about right with some breathing room. Well, I'm not sure what the price of beer usually is... but it seemed about double what it should have been, so I guess I still got value for money, but had to break out the credit card. The staff very extrodinarily attentive, with me having to swallow the last mouthfull to indicate that, yes, I did want one more beer. I said yes to that a few times... When I was eating my crispy chips, upon using mose of the tomato sauce in the acompanying bowl in the first few chips, I had the whole bottle brought to me, which proved very handy. Boy to I like my vegetables [tomato]...

During my happy hour break, I was reading a Dean Koontz novel that I was given [amongst the offer of many other titles] by Nell. For some unexplained reason, the combination of those novels and the circumstances I find myself in lead to a sureal experience, that I wouldn't blame you for thinking the beer might also have been a factor. I had a good chance to reflect on the trip [in air conditioned comfort, after a good sleep] and was fairly contented. All that's left is to get back to Adelaide, and then another direct flight to Hobart.

I'll be posting a few more photos from the trip over the next couple of weeks, and adding a couple of additional stories from the trip...

I've since had a bite to eat at the airport, and am thinking about how I can use the rest of my Singapore dollars...

Singapore

I have made it to Singapore from a flight from Manchester. I have about an 18 hour stop over, which I'm sure could have been organised a little better... I do have a hotel I can crash at, though, and that's the next order of business.

Although it's difficult that trips like these end, at this point I'm really looking forward to getting home to Hobart!!! Sleep there will be much more satisfying than a hotel in Singapore, and it will be back to work the next day!

I might have another post before I leave, since I could have a bit of an adventure outside the airport... but I'll be back with plenty of time for the flight...

Unlce Jim's

I arrived on Tuesday to Uncle Jim's, which is in England, south of Manchester. I have once again been spoiled with wonderful food, and have been able to try both Jim's and Nell's ommlettes - both being excellent. Nell has also introduced me to the Chipotle Chili, which has a wonderful smokey flavour. I'm sure Jodie and I will be able to find some in Hobart [hint]... I've also tried not one, but two of Jim's [in]famous muffins, some flap jack, more pork pies and meatloaf! I'll need to get the bike out in a big way when I get back, but for now, I'm enjoying a certain amount of glutony!

Yesterday, Jim and I headed out to Jodrell Bank to look at the Lovell telescope... It had the surface upgraded since I was there in 1999, and this time I've got my picture with the structure, so I'll be posting that at some point! Jim had an interesting discussion with one of the staff about the Spaced Out program, in particular about how the size of the sun in represented... They were very keen to say that only distance apart was represented not size. I think Jim has the representation for the size of the sun figured out, but some double checking is in order before the solution is posted.

We had dinner at my cousin David's house with his partner Jo. I have warned them that I'll post a photo, but you'll have to wait for that too! It was great to catch up with more family that I haven't seen for 5 years, and to enjoy some more wine that wasn't from Australia ;) I can't resist mentioning the 50" Pioneer plasma in their new house, as it may come in handy for justfiying a TV upgrade for me too... Bwa ha ha ha!

Today the weather is absolutely horrific, but I'll be back to winter in just a few days time, after some more serious travelling.

Worlds / Perth [Scone]

On Saturday I got the train to Glasgow to see the World Pipe Band Championships on Glasgow green. I didn't get all that close to the grade 1 arena this year [20 quid to sit in the stands, which in hindsight may have been worth it], so had a much better listen to bands as they were tuning up. My favourite performance of the day was Field Marshal Montgomery who won the competition on the day. I also enjoyed a couple of performances from bagad bands from Brittany, who were competing in grade 2.

I met up with Andrew at about lunchtime, after his long trip on the train from London. Andrew endured the pipe bands, and it will be interesting to get his take on the day in the comments for this post... We also met up with Ben, as per the picture and had a night out on the town before staying at Strathclyde Uni. I'll post something about the meal and drinks later too, 'cause it was a good night out.

On Sunday, Andrew and I got on a tour bus and saw a bit of glasgow. We had fish supper and deep fried haggis for lunch which was great - another photo that I'll post!

I got the train back to Perth in the afternoon, and then headed out to Elie on the east coast, where my Aunty Ann is staying for a couple of weeks. We had dinner, and a very nice walk on the beach. I was convinced by Darryl [who else?] to wade in the water, which was as cold as it looks! I got to meet Catriona's boyfriend, Mike, who has a great sense of humor and can give as good has he gets!

Today I've taken it a little bit easy, probably due a late night with Frances, and a bottle of Drambuie. It's been five years since the last visit, so there is a lot to get caught up on. We went into Perth today, and I posted back some of my stuff... With the hand luggage restrictions at the moment, I have to pack everything to go under the plane, unfortunately including my pipes. Hopefully the news will continue to get better on this front...

I had a full breakfast for lunch, including black pudding, with coffee and Irn Bru [my most favourite soft drink in all the world!]. Check out the wikipedia page on this phenominal drink - and it's claim to fame in outselling coke in Scotland! I also had a Thorton's ice cream, which was excellent!

Dundee and Perth

I am currently in Perth, with my cousin Frances and her family, after visiting my Aunty Margaret and Uncle George in Dundee.

I'm having a great time, far too good a time to spend much of it on the computer!

The picture above was taken after our last performance at the Australian tent after our last performance [hence the beer], and sent on by the photographer. If only I'd thought of that earlier...

I have been passing on love from family members in all directions, so right back at you from the family in Scotland. You all know who you are. Yes, Dad, Margaret does have a laptop that was dropped off by Jim ages ago, but the've got to get hooked up on a freaking fast, awesome and cheap [i.e. for no extra up to 4-5 times as fast as mine at home with double the downloads] broadband connection before they get going.

Burger with Andrew

Andrew and I went out last night for a burger at an English Pub. The burger was one of the best burgers I have ever had, and the chips were just freakin' awesome.

We followed that up with a some pints [mostly Guinness, but had a snake bite as well]. We played some pool, and performed a critical mission at not one but two KFCs in London. If you don't know what that's about yet, it will be presented on the web when it's all finished.

I'm off to Dundee today, flying to Edinburgh and then a train from there...

London!!!!

I made it to London after a 9 1/2 hour bus trip from Lorient to Paris that had me wondering if I'd make my flight from Paris to London, but the earlier flight paid off, and I'm having a beer with Andrew!!!!!

Not the most flattering photo, but I was concentrating really hard!

Andrew has been immediately hospitable, and I am drinking COOPERS as I type this!

Last Post from Lorient

It's almost midnight here, and I'm headed back to the university to get a good night's sleep before the bus leaves at 0900 tomorrow. The picture above is of some lights in the town which are formed in some celtic symbols.

I had some seafood pizza for dinner tonight, at the same restaurant as lunch. This time I ate with Brett, Angie, Postie, Bryan, and on the other table were Andy, Lochy, Lochy and Claire. I had the seafood pizza [La Johanna - Fruits de Mer, Saint Jacques, Crevettes, Calamars, Moules, Thon - Nos fruit de Mer son Frais !!!] as pictured below. Since people weren't able to finish their meals, I was also able to eat a few Mussels as well!!!!!

I had some wine [and beer] with dinner, I think it was vin rouge de garde. It was very nice, in any case, and complimented the pizza very nicely.

After dinner we saw a Scottish folk band at the cabaret. I'll figure out the name of the band later. They were very entertaining!

The weather has been great here, and today I saw a sign that had us at 34°C!!! We played our last gig with the Lanester bagad band, where we played Amazing Grace [the common denominator between the bands!]. The daylight hours are also great, where it gets dark only at about 2200... Scotland should be even better!

Tomorrow, it's on the bus for another 8 hours to Paris, and then a flight to London, to see Andrew Williams! I'm very excited about the next phase of my trip!

End of the Festival

Today marks the end of the festival, and there is a concert tonight, which I think might be worth checking out... We have another little gig tonight, at 1800, with Bagad de Lanester. They took great interest in our band, and have been at many of our performances. I'm not too sure what we'll play together, but it should be fun.

The photo above is the web cafe that I've been using. It is a really good set up, and I've seen everything from Doom 3, GTA, Counterstrike and many other games being played... RPG games would be interesting here, since it's all in French...

Yesterday, we watched the pipe band contest. The bagad bands are really getting into it, with a couple of bands heading across to Scotland to compete in grade 2.

After the bands, we headed back to use up the last of the beer tickets. Fortunately the beer was pretty cheap, because we kept going after they ran out. The bar for performers is very close to the cafeteria were we eat, so it was quite convenient to get some food [not sure how I fit it all in]. The boys in the photo [Andy, Lochy, Postie] are enjoying some of the fantastic scenery that is everywhere here.

Throughout the afternoon and evening, we met some interesting people. We had a drink with some highland dancers from Glasgow and some drummers [pictured above] from a bagad band.

For lunch today, I had Les Moules à la Bretonne!!!! It was both huge and delicious. The sauce is described in the menu as Sauce Cremé au Cidre. Again, I was a little stretched with my few French words... here is a translation of how I eventually understood the conversation to go when paying the bill.

Would you like coffee?
No
Would you like anything else?
No
Would you like the bill?
No
[Very puzzled look] Would you like anything else?
No
Would you like the bill?
No
[Bemused look] The bill, note [signs 'the check please' with her hands]
apologises profusely... [leaves a tip]

Next time I come, I'll try and get some common phrases down before hand...

There are plenty of very nice instruments on sale at the festival. I'm quite taken with the very high pitched biniou, but with the luggage restrictions and a uniform to get home, it'll have to wait.

Friday. Last Nuit Magique and an extra gig.

Yesterday morning I managed to drag myself out of bed for a Uillean Pipes master class, and was well worth it! The class was aimed at people that didn't know much about the instrument, so it was perfect for me. I learnt enough that I know I won't try taking it up, as it looks like a complicated beast to play.

At 1800, we had a gig at the Australian pavillion. It was a very hot day, and playing inside the pavillion it was even hotter. The performance went well, and it was a very satisfying end to the band's individual peformances. For dinner, I had a kangaroo brouchette, which was awesome! I can't believe it's easier for me to get kangaroo to eat here, than in Tasmania. Australia being the country of honour here makes it possible. I also had some satisfying cool beers before the performance later that night, which helped cool us down, and helped pass the time.

I managed to take my camera in my sporran for the last performance, so I got a couple of nice pictures of the fireworks!

The Highland dancers were very popular, and marched out with us, as part of the Scottish contingent for the finale. Postie caught up with them after one of the shows for drinks, but he's been very light on with the details.

For breakfast today I had a pain et chocolate [not sure on the spelling] which is similar to a croissant, but with chocolate, and also delicious.

For dinner, we had crepes. Freakin' awesome. The savoury is salmon, with cream and lemon. The desert is raspberry.

Below are some photos of the Galatian band, who were performing this morning. Unfortunately, they were right under speakers playing festival music. The CD on sale has a track from the City of Adelaide album. It's very surreal for the guys that performed on the album.

Thursday. Port Louis.

First up, if you would like a slightly more colourful take on the Lorient trip, you can head over to Postie's blog.

I had another good sleep in on Thursday morning, so lunch became breakfast, with the only disadvantage being the lack of caffeine.

In the afternoon, a bunch of people from the band headed on a Batobus over the water to Port Louis. If you look at the google map in sattelite mode, you can see the main attraction which was the citadel on the point. There is a lot of wall surrounding the port. It's certainly something I'll consider when I'm planning my Fortress. In the days of satellite imagery, I'll need to think about some camoflague from the air though.

There was an awesome dog on the wall of the citadel, and was running around like a mad thing. I thought he was going to fall off several times, but he seemed to be at home up there.


I got lots of photos of the picturesque town, and had a good look around.


We stopped for a coffee by the beach, and I got a photo of me in the sand. The atlantic ocean is directly behind me.

We also passed the submarine base on the way out.

The Nuit Magique went well again last night. It ran at a similar time to the previous night, which meant we were tuning up at 2220 and finished by 0120. Since my foot keeps improving, it was time for drinks again. Having pretty much used all my beer tickets, I headed into town with some of the band for a couple of pints. I think we got back somewhere just after 0330. A satisfying end to another good day.

The other night at the Nuit Magique, a guy started to run away from security, and started into the crowd. He tripped over someone, and launched into the bodies of the row below. Funny for the peformers, not so much for the other spectators....

Food #2

Pictured above is the very strong, short, delicious black from yesterday morning.

The following is the from the smoked salmon, which was just mouth watering!!!!!





Here is the typical breakfast, lunch and dinner. There is a lot of bread involved. Lots of cheese. It's so nice to see a country where the atkins diet hasn't had any sway! There are a large number of very well proportioned, attractive women here, so I think it's just a completely different attitude to food - well probably the lifestyle and life in general.

Here is one of me with my lunch from yesterday.


I had a croissant this morning, since I was a little late getting out of bed. They look the same here, hence no picture... but they are very nice! I'm also hoping to try the huge bowl of Mussels that they have everywhere here before I head back up to Paris.