Akaroa and the Banks Peninsula - May & June 2012

As we're still way behind on the blog I figured I'd give you all a quick update on where we actually are now and what we're doing! We arrived in Wellington almosts 4 months ago (cripes!) and quite quickly found work in our usual fields. We are living on Mount Victoria overlooking the city, and both enjoy quite picturesque commutes; Liam getting the train around the harbour to the Hutt Valley and Charlotte walking across Evans Bay each day. We are loving everything about Wellington, the accessibility (we have had no need for a car), soaking up culture at various galleries, theatres and music venues and discovering a really thriving and experimental beer scene. We arrived in winter so we are excited that the weather is now picking up, even a 15 degree day here feels pretty hot (thanks to the hole in the ozone layer down here). The wind took a bit of getting used to but otherwise the winter was more like a cold (well, 10 degrees in the day) version of an English summer with lots of rain but regular sunny days. We're looking forward to exploring to getting out and about and exploring the wider Wellington area before hitting the road again in the new year! Now, back to the advertised programming...

Stony Bay Peak

We'd had a recommendation that Akaroa in the Banks Peninsula was a good place to chill for a couple of days, especially since the earthquakes levelled Christchurch.  At this point we were needing to get some work if possible or at least to work for accommodation, and chatted about various possibilities whilst on the bus over to Akaroa.  Our first view of the Banks Peninsula and over to Akaroa was absolutely stunning and complemented by a gloriously sunny day.  We checked into Chez La Mer hostel and found it very welcoming and homely.  We then noticed that they were advertising for a cleaner and a night manager. Kerching!  So within three days of being in the country, we'd managed to bag ourselves some work for accommodation, not bad going!  Charlotte took the cleaning job (2 hours in the morning 6 days a week, stripping and making beds, and general cleaning), and Liam took the night manager job (evening manager would be more appropriate as there were no staff on duty past 9) This basically consisted of checking in late arrivals, keeping the fire fuelled-up (the most important job!) and handing out wi-fi tokens. He was soon 'promoted' to weekend manager, so everything worked out nicely.

Our fellow workers at the hostel when we arrived were a veritable United Nations; Sara (American), Colette (Scottish), Kirsty (Scottish), and Shah (Dutch). They were all chilled out and friendly, and we were later joined by Krista (Canadian), Amanda (Welsh), Urara (Japanese) and Joyce (Taiwanese).  We also had the company of Sampson the dog, a super-sweet 7 month old Labrador, even Charlotte had a soft spot for him.  The hostel owner's dog was often around too, a Bernese Mountain Dog charmingly named Pongo, who Sampson loved to torment.  We learnt some valuable dog owning lessons, such as "dogs can't eat pine cones", and "biting each others faces is just playing".

Charlotte also bagged a part-time bar job at the Grand Hotel.  It's probably fair to say that the 'Grand' title hasn't been applicable for a good while and it was definitely a very local pub full of true Kiwis drinking beer in tiny glasses from a jug, playing fruit machines (under the guise of charitable donations - apparently most school sports clubs get their funding from gambling proceeds!), watching the rugby and betting on the racing.  The shifts were short and sweet and the bar never got too busy, so it was a pretty easy-going job.  There was a kitchen porter who appeared to be struck dumb every time Charlotte spoke to him, as well as a one-armed kitchen hand (ex one-armed welder). Some of the more interesting locals consisted of a possum hunter, tradies/builders who drank double vodkas with Bacardi Breezers and volunteer fire-fighters.  The latter meant the pub almost emptied a couple of evenings when the fire sirens went off along the wharf, one time because someone's chimney had caught fire.  The landlord carefully crafted his 'grumpy old sod' persona but was actually a really nice bloke once he got to know you.

Our free time in Akaroa was aimed at cheap living so we took advantage of the amazing scenery and did a lot of hiking.  There were some great trails leading up from the town so whenever it was a fine afternoon we would set off after the cleaning shift and make the most of the weather.  Liam perfected his 'house-husband' routine by cooking and baking whilst Charlotte was at work, including some memorably giant cinnamon and raisin bagels.  Krista and Charlotte went up to Tree Crop Farm one afternoon for a nosey.  It is a sprawling farm property with a few random quirky huts to stay in, which weren't being used as the owner wasn't paying tax!  So (code-word style) we had to ring up and ask if we could look at the 'library' to be able to go up and have a look around.  Quite bizarre!  Each of the luxurious places to stay were wooden with cozy stoves and opulent decor.  Krista and Charlotte agreed on their favourite, a sleep-out complete with outdoor shower and an outdoor bath over a fire.  There was also a tree house with an amazing balcony overlooking the woodland.  Check out the photos, it was a rather fabulous place.

One week we had the opportunity to head over to Okain's Bay, about 18km over the hillside.  The owners of Double Dutch hostel very kindly offered to come and pick us up, and Sara from Chez La Mer very kindly offered us a lift back, so we were able to grab a blissful two nights away.  Okain's Bay is basically a tiny village with an old shop, garage, museum and school.  We walked down the estuary from the hostel to the sea and had a quick paddle - very quick, as it was ridiculously cold - and enjoyed a hike up the 'Big Hill' for views over to the Kaikoura Mountains (and mobile phone signal!).  The hostel was gorgeous and for well over 24 hours we actually had it to ourselves so it was basically like staying in a self-catered house for cheap as chips.  It was purpose built, very modern and comfortable.  A few glasses of wine, some yummy food, a few games of Slam and a game of Scrabble later, it definitely started to feel like we were on holiday. The picture was completed by breakfast the next morning consisting of Liam's home made bread rolls with boiled eggs from the on-site hens!

Back in Akaroa we enjoyed a boat trip out of the harbour and learnt about the history of the area.  We saw lots of wildlife including Hector dolphins (tiny!) and seals.  It was an absolutely stunning day and hard to believe that June 1st (in a couple of days time) would officially mark the start of winter.  Further history was absorbed in the Akaroa Museum, a pretty comprehensive and interesting little place. We watched a short film about the Maori legends of the area and the original settlers, wandered around some preserved old municipal buildings and looked at lots of photographs of the first European settlers.  It also presented some information on the Treaty Of Waitangi (which the Maori chiefs signed to accept Queen Victoria as a monarch in 1840), and showed the differences between the English version of the text and the Maori version translated back into English. To this day the treaty is disputed and a long legal process is under-way to reinstate some of the land.

As our last week in Akaroa drew to a close it felt quite odd to be moving on after feeling quite at home here.  Charlotte attended a knitting circle for International Knitting Day at the local library with Krista, and got to have a go on her spinning wheel (harder than it looks, but good fun!).  We had a good covering of snow one day and the cleaners got to finish their shift early to go and frolic - fun times!

An honourable mention goes to a few great NZ beers we enjoyed while in the Banks Peninsula.  The pub Charlotte worked at had the usual Kiwi suspects on tap; Steinlager, Tui, Speights, Mangatainoka Dark, Summit, DB Draught and Export Gold.  The Mangatainoka Dark was Charlotte's choice of after work freebie drink, a pretty decent easy-drinking dark lager. They also sold an impressive array of bottles too.  Having been under-whelmed by Monteith's (Lion Breweries 'craft' brand) offerings, we were pleasantly surprised by Monteith's Single Source Lager (even though it was out-of-date and thus being sold off cheap), pretty strong and robust. There is a great article debunking the branding nonsense here - but the beer itself was decent enough.  We also enjoyed Moa Five Hop and Emerson's 1812 Hoppy Pale Ale (the landlord's favourite), both tasty, hoppy and well-balanced ales.  On Bekah's birthday (as a nod to her and the original Wright World of Beer Blog she set up for us - which has now changed as Liam has a dedicated spin-off beer blog!) we tried a Three Boys Oyster Stout.  Oh boy, what a great beer.  Rich, dark, velvety, it certainly packed a punch.  Beautiful!

Christchurch & Akaroa

Touch-down in Christchurch, New Zealand - May 2012

Charlotte at Lyttelton Harbour

After a gruelling weekend of punk rock fun at Groezrock, we flew from Amsterdam on 2nd May.  There was a tense moment when the check-in desk clerk wasn't convinced that we'd be granted entry into NZ with a one-way ticket (we had checked already that we could), but after calling the embassy we were cleared to board. The flight took 12 or so hours to Singapore, where we had a 15 hour lay-over.  We hadn't managed to get much sleep in either in Amsterdam or on the plane so were utterly jiggered by this point, and not up for an exhausted trudge around the city.  Luckily we were able to crash in a hotel room at the airport for a while, and then in a public 'snooze lounge' when our time was up in the room (it was bookable for slots of 8 hours).  But if there is any airport that is tolerable to be stuck in for a while it is Singapore Airport. Decent cafes and some amazing butterfly gardens, a surprisingly pleasant place to wander around!  We eventually boarded our flight to Christchurch which was another 12 or so hours.

We arrived in New Zealand on a bright and cool morning, and proceeded through customs without a hitch. We had already booked ourselves into a hostel and organised a lift from the airport, and a jolly lady picked us up and took us there.  This was around 10am and we were told that we could leave our bags but couldn't check in for a few more hours.  Despite being exhausted and not having showered since the hotel in Singapore we decided that a trip into the city for a mooch and coffee would be better than passing out on the couch at the hostel.

I think at this point it's fair to say we were pretty naive about the impact from last year's earthquakes and what the city itself would be like.  The centre of the city, including the cathedral, is in a fenced off 'red zone' that is completed barricaded off.  At intervals along the fence there are flowers and tributes to people who lost their lives in the quakes.  The city has lost it's central hub and as such it was hard to get a feel for what it was like before, and even outside the red-zone many public buildings are still inaccessible due to the damage.  It was very sad walking around and seeing just how many buildings, homes and businesses had been affected.  And the realisation that, gosh, it is going to take years if not decades to rebuild.  Pretty sobering.  However, there were a couple of little gems that we discovered.  We visited Re:START, which is a mini retail centre created entirely out of shipping crates.  They were painted in bright colours and were really very aesthetically pleasing, as well as being a lovely little hub to spend some time in.  We grabbed a much needed coffee (the best coffee we'd had since leaving Perth! Sorry Europe, but they just do coffee better down-under!) and sat out on the deck in the sun.  There was a live band entertaining people and successfully drowning out the noise of the construction work.  It seemed like a pretty ingenious way for the city to have created a temporary central hub.  We also enjoyed a lovely couple of hours wandering the beautiful botanical gardens, admiring all the autumnal colours falling from the trees. Eventually the time came for us to be able to check-in to our rooms and we slept for a long, long time before waking up annoyingly early (classic jet-lag management mistake!).

Feeling like we'd 'done' as much of Christchurch centre as is reasonably possible at the moment, we spent the rest of the weekend around the coastal suburbs.  We had a good explore of Lyttelton, Christchurch's port town.  Although only a small town, it seemed to have a pretty lively community and a little more alternative than you may expect from a port town.  We had fun doing a spot of shopping and wandering up the steep streets.  There was a lot of quake damage there too, and we stumbled upon a shipping crate turned bar called the Port Hole, set up after last years quakes, and enjoyed some hand-pulled real ale from local brewery Cassels & Sons.

We also visited Sumner, Christchurch's beach-front suburb.  Happily there was a street festival complete with live music, yummy food and funky market stalls going on.  We enjoyed sitting in the sunshine, eating veggie pakoras and drinking Matsons 'Quake Lager' which had been brewed to raise money for the earthquake appeal.  We had a wander down to the seafront and had a bit of hike up the hillside, occasionally halted by blocked off paths due to the earthquake, but made it over to Taylor's Mistake, a little bay over the hillside.  Fabulous!

All in all, it's hard to recommend Christchurch as a place to head right now, as the quake damage is just too great.  However, the outlying suburbs, despite having some damage, are well worth a visit.  It was a very strange place to have started our New Zealand trip but after a few days we moved on after being recommended to head to the nearby Banks Peninsula. We had only planned to stay a few days and do some walking, but we ended up staying a little while longer... 5 weeks to be exact!

Christchurch & Akaroa

Belgium & Groezrock - April 2012

Free beer in Leuven's Old Market

Scroll to the bottom of this post or click here to listen to my Groezrock highlights Spotify playlist.

So the time had come again for us to say our goodbyes, and even after a 6 week extension of our original plans, in the end it felt like it'd gone in a flash. It was sad to say our goodbyes, and this time it felt a little like we were jumping into the void, as we wouldn't be doing any travelling along the way and would need to hit the ground running in New Zealand with paid work, or at the very least free accommodation.

We were due to fly from Amsterdam, and had decided to head back to our adopted homeland of Belgium (the second visit of the year so far) for a few days of punk rock and beer before we flew. We were headed for Groezrock Festival, our fourth visit to this punk rock mecca.

First, we spent the night in Brussels after taking the Eurostar. We ended up delayed by over an hour while leaving Euston due to an electrical fault, no big deal but we would much rather have spent the time in the Euston Tap! Eurostar hold themselves to very high standards, and a few days later we received an email offering us a free journey each in compensation for the delay. Very impressive and we will in all likelihood be using it to make our way to Groezrock next year! We arrived after dark in Brussels so all we ended up doing was grabbing some tasty Morrocan food at a nearby cafe and a few beers in the hostel to celebrate the beginning of this new chapter.

The following day, we took in some of the sights of Brussels which we hadn't seen previously. The highlight was definitely the Atomium, an amazing building based on the molecular structure of an atom, built for the 1958 World's Fair. Nine steel speres are connecting by lifts and escalators, and it was an interesting insight into a world on the bring of so many technical discoveries we now take for granted. High up on the to-do list was obviously something beer related, a visit to Cantillon Brewery. Read all about it on Liam's spin-off blog here!

After the brewery tour we dived into a particularly dodgy kebab shop to avoid a sudden heavy downpour, and it appeared to be the only place in Brussels that they didn't sell chips. Charlotte braved a kebab and we sat watching Turkish gameshows on the TV until the rain died down, trying to ignore the staring locals giving us funny looks.

All the while the two Marks and Joe had been flying over to join us, and we headed to the train station to meet them before getting on the heading straight for Leuven. We rued the fact that we had all forgotten to bring some 'train beers' but on arrival in Leuven it became apparently that there would be no shortage of the stuff.

Leuven is a student city and also the home to Stella Artois, now owned by AB InBev. They have 25% of the global beer market share and their worldwide headquarters are based here, as is the main Stella plant. The combination of these two factors make it a very beery place indeed. The market square is dubbed 'the longest bar in Europe' as it is a rectangular shape and is home to almost 50 bars and restaurants. We checked out a few places, had some awesome pasta and of course some tasty Belgian beers. We also drank Stella (zing!). Fuller hilariously ended up receiving a tonic instead of a De Koninck... I guess you had to be there. The night ended in a rock club which seemingly served as a pre-Groezrock party, and we skanked the night away to Rancid and what was to become the soundtrack of the weekend, Timebomb.

We stayed the night in the very pleasant, modern yet small Leuven City Hostel. Unfortunately the following day was the start of the Zythos Beer Festival, but alas Groezrock beckoned. But not before a few hangover-curing beers on the square while waiting for the rest of the gang to show up; Nik, Jimmy, Twibs and Kiera. The combination of lovely weather and free beer from a promotional horse and cart meant we set off to Groezrock a few hours later than intended, and got a few funny looks from commuters while passing around our wholly impractical train beer; 75cl champagne bottles of La Chouffe, giving us the air of high-class hobos along with our camping gear. One day we'll get the hang of train beers guys!

The next few hours were hell, and it was probably a good job we'd had a few beers to subdue the rising frustration. The train and bus trip were straight-forward enough, not too crowded, and gave us a false impression that the festival was well organised and that getting in wouldn't be too painful. To get into the campsite we first had to exchange our camping tickets for wristbands. There were two kiosks doling out these wristbands, and when you bear in mind that the festival welcomes 30,000 people at least half of whom are camping, it doesn't take a genius to realise that this was going to be a long evening. After eventually getting the coveted wristbands, and despairing over the continental European method of queuing (i.e. a complete free-for-all) we finally got to the campsite and had to deal with 'The Rope'. For the uninitiated The Rope is a uniquely Beligan way of organising festival campsites, which to be fair is efficient in ensuring every last patch of ground is filled up but makes pitching a tent, especially a whole bunch of tents together, rather stressful. Basically there is a long line of people manning The Rope and every few minutes they take a step back to reveal a new patch of ground for people to scramble over. By this point it was also pitch-black and we'd been drinking for most of the day so to say it was a shambolic affair would be an understatement! But we eventually got settled in, cracked a few celebratory beers, briefly checked out the party marquee before crashing out early to rest up for the first day of the festival.

Day 1 came around and after rounding up Fuller we headed to see Mikey Erg on the Acoustic stage and bumped into some old friends we met the first year at Groezrock, Suzy and Sim. We then caught a couple of songs by the Copyrights before heading to what was one of the most anticipated sets of the day for a few of us, The Menzingers. They had a massive crowd for a lunchtime slot, they didn't disappoint and totally blew us away. A mix of shouty, fast songs and well-crafted slower songs with haunting vocals, On The Impossible Past has to be one of my favourite albums of the year. Ava House was definitely the highlight of their set for me, a slow-burning drum-heavy song. In the afternoon we watched Belvedere (reunion of the day, never thought I'd get to see Fast Forward Eats The Tape live) and Off With Their Heads (packed out third stage, never seen so many crowdsurfers!). After this it gets a little hazy but looking back at the line-up I shall assume that we saw Bouncing Souls, Yellowcard and possibly Face to Face, before getting down the pit for Lagwagon. I feel it would have been rude not to as they played the opening riff of May 16! Rancid headlined the night, a great end to the day and so many sing-a-longs. But honestly by that point it was past 1am and I was showing my age and was almost alseep on feet, maybe I can no longer hack all day festival shenanigans!

After such an epic first day, the second day's line-up was surprisingly even better. Make Do and Mend blew away the cobwebs at midday, another band I had been excited to see for the first time. MXPX was a blast from the past, and there was a bit of a 'passing of the torch' moment to the next generation as they got the singer from The Swellers up on stage to play bass. Motion City Soundtrack pulled out all the stops and were a lot more high-energy than the show we had seen them at recently, maybe on account of quite a different crowd (Manchester: mostly teenage girls, Groezrock: rowdy punkers) and they fired through a greatest hits set which we sadly had to leave early from to catch Cobra Skulls. A short, sharp set from them (when they left the stage they still had 10 minutes left!) saw them play songs from all 3 albums, despite the fact that only one original band member remains (admittedly they are only a 3-piece band). This gave us all the more time to get a good spot for Hot Water Music, it was happy moment to see them back playing together again, seamlessly moving between new and old material. Alkaline Trio were enjoyable as always and The Bronx brought the house down as only they know how. Next up something a bit more mellow, Dave Haus on the acoustic stage. Part of the recent wave of former punk band singers turned folky acoustic, he brought a bucket-load of passion and good cheer to the evening. The sun was shining and we enjoyed a few beers out in the sun before catching The Swellers on the tiny Macbeth stage. This was a perfect moment; sun shining, Swellers rocking and Jagermeister stall next to the stage. Then back to Acoustic stage for Chuck Ragan, playing his heart out as only he can. Refused were the headliners for the night, and much anticipated ones at that. They broke up after releasing arguably the most influential hardcore album of a generation 14 years ago, and every year there are always rumours/wishful thinking that they would get back together and play Groezrock. It was almost as if time had stood still, and they blazed through the set as if the last decade hadn't happened. New Noise brought the house down and the whole set was a brilliant end to the weekend. A dream come true for the entire crowd.

And with that the weekend was over, the usual depressing trudge out of a festival began and we made our way to Antwerp for one final night, before the rest went home and we headed to New Zealand. Needless to say we were all feeling rather delicate and sleep-deprived, so we didn't get up to much. Moules Frites were a must in the evening so we headed to a restaurant, proceeded to wait too long for a table, but eventually the food came and was good, although I'm not sure many of us felt much like eating! We had another morning together and wandered down by the river and around the old town. Antwerp is still one of my favourite cities, it's a perfect mix of historical and modern, accessible, by the river, multi-cultural and of course the icing on the cake: great beer. After waving the guys off Charlotte and I had a rather nice lunch in De Foyer, above a theatre in a beautiful dome-roofed room. We had some lovely roast vegetable tarts, and I took the opportunity to have one last European beer, I can't resist Pilsner Urquell on draft. Beats Jupiler any day!

After that we were back at the hostel, printing off our boarding tickets and heading to the station to catch the train to Amsterdam. We spent a night in a hotel there, but as we arrived late in the afternoon we didn't get chance to do any exploring (other than getting lost in a distinctly dodgy suburb looking for the hotel). So all we can really confirm is that it is very easy to procure drugs in Amsterdam (not that we were looking!), despite it being broad daylight we were offered some within minutes of getting off the train!

The following morning we had an epic hotel breakfast and then headed to the airport, bound for Singapore!

Belgium & Groezrock

Back in Blighty - March & April 2012

Lovely weekend walking and cycling in the Lakes

After a while of our plans being up in the air, we finally got a few things organised. Air Asia refunded our flight back to Perth so we were free to consider our options.

In the meantime, we still had the Eurostar booked to Paris (where we were originally intended to fly from) and had already organised to go away for a few days with my parents. On our way down we stopped for a couple of days in London to catch up with some friends.

The first night we spent with Kirsty and Gavin in Acton. Kirsty and Charlotte lived together in first and second year at university. We had an awesome meal at a local Japanese restaurant, and it was the first time we had eaten proper sushi and sashimi. Who knew raw fish could taste so good! Also had some rather excellent deep fried pork and tempura prawns and vegetables; from what I can gather the Japanese only entertain two methods of cooking; deep fried or not at all! Back at the flat we played with their super cute rag doll kittens and were introduced to the delights of Take Me Out on the TV. This is starting to sound sarcastic, but we genuinely had a great night! The next day we visited the Lucien Freud exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery. Whatever your opinion on his style, it's incredible to be able to to see an artist's lifework spanning over seventy years. It was a hugely enjoyable exhibition, despite the crowds. Next stop, the Fowles! We hadn't seen Beckah and Mark since Isaac was born, awesome to see them again and of course the little man himself. We were treated to a delicious home cooked meal and it was fab to have a proper catch up with them. And Isaac was a delight! It feels very strange that when we left he wasn't even born, and now he's a proper little boy. After wandering around Highgate Cemetery and paying tribute to Karl Marx's grave (!) we met up with my parents. Pints of ale all round at The Tap before heading to St Pancras for the Eurostar. After a slightly raucous journey (England were playing France the next day), Mum and Dad headed to their hotel and we were very kindly picked up by Marina, where we stayed again with her and parents.

The first day we spent at the Musee D'Orsee, a beautifully designed museum in an old railway station. A complete assortment of bits and pieces, from sculpture to paintings to puppet theatres, and featuring a fabulous clock (the original station clock) that you can look through and out over the city. We stopped for a cheeky vino and wandered the backstreets a little more, before eating some traditional french grub at a bistro that evening. The next day we decided to head up the Eifel Tower. We walked up so avoided the queue, and enjoyed the spectacular views. Later that afternoon we took a boat trip down the river, nice to get a different perspective on things and always lovely to take to the water on a sunny day. That evening we went with Marina and her mum to Marina's favourite creperie in St Germaine, which we can safely testify is also our favourite creperie. Yum! After spending a lovely few days together, we bid Mum and Dad farewell as they were back off on the Eurostar the next day.

We had another couple of days before we flew back. After a quick stop at Le Visenet market, we headed into the city to check out the Ay Wei Wei photography exhibition at the Jeu de Paume. The photographs were a good mixture of documenting where he'd been and what he'd done, as well as the progress of various art works he had been doing. There was a photograph of a building which he'd been asked by the Chinese authorities to design, basically as a rouse to keep an eye on him for a while. As soon as the building was completed it was bulldozed, completely, in one day. Ridiculous, and such a waste of time, but clearly the Chinese authorities way of asserting their power. We then grabbed a possibly the best sandwich ever (basically a gourmet cheese and ham baguette!) and enjoyed wandering down the canal. Hard to pinpoint, but just seemed to have a really good vibe about it, even if it is a seedy area in places. We were hoping to have a nosey around the cemetery but it was closed by the time we got there, so we settled for (surprise surprise) a beer instead. It had been awesome as always to see Marina and were very grateful for her superb hospitality.

On our last day in Paris before catching a flight back we visited the Catacombs. Created at the end of the 18th century as various cemeteries were closed, it is a network of tunnels and caves that runs for over 300 km under the streets of Paris. It's so huge that in the past illegal raves have been held down there with the authorities being none the wiser until after the event. It houses over 6 million skeletons, only a small section of it is open to members of the public. The walls of the corridors are created from stacks upon stacks of bones, all laid in different patterns. It was absolutely fascinating and very eerie, possibly making it one of our top tips of things to do in Paris. For the second day in a row time got away for us, and we didn't make it to the cemetery to see Jim Morrison's grave as intended!

While we were home we caught some great local bands. First up was Matt (singer in my old band, the 'Commies) doing a solo gig at none other than the Top Lock in Wheelton, a short stroll from my parents house. Great to see Matt again and he played a very impressive and accomplished set, he's got a great set of lungs on him and even my parents enjoyed it. His cover of a Chuck Ragan song was a special bonus. Matt couldn't keep himself away from Wheelton and played in the Red Lion a few weeks later (although technically he was in the Heapey half of the pub, the parish boundary splits the pub in two!), along with Seamus who we had got to know a little over the weeks we were home. Playing to a packed pub on a Saturday night, there was a great atmosphere and great sets from both of them. We drank until the small hours with Seamus and the Top Lock's managers, a great night all in all. We also got to check out Failsafe, Matt's band, at their hometown album release show in Preston, a great set in a great little venue (Mad Ferret, I have great memories of playing upstairs in Strettles) with a great atmosphere, couldn't have asked for better!

Whilst we were home Motion City Soundtrack decided they had one free date left in their European tour schedule, and got their fans to vote for which city outside of London to play a show. Manchester won by a mile and we made the trip from Sheffield with Emily and Alex to meet up with Adam and Suze for some dinner before checking out the show. Adam and Suze hadn't been able to get tickets and we'd been told there wouldn't be many on the door but in the end they managed to get some. Motion City were awesome as usual, although have upped their game a lot since their earlier, more raucous days.

I had the pleasure of staying with Mr Mark Fell in the Lake District a couple of times while we were back home. He's working at YHA Ambleside, and as such he's been a great excuse to get out to the Lakes, without the high accommodation costs this would normally involve!

The first time I visited on my own in March, as Charlotte was hard at it writing up a piece of research for a psychologist she worked with in Perth. I decided to challenge myself and take my bike, as it was about time I started doing some proper cycling, rather than just commuting or occasional day trips. To be fair the trip only ended up being 3 hours from Oxenholme to Ambleside, including a refreshing pint at Hawkshead Brewery! I took a detour out of Kendal up a very long and steep hill, only to realise I was going the wrong way, all the while the weather was really hotting up (this was the start of the March heatwave). Eventually I got on the right track and had an enjoyable ride down country roads through picturesque villages, and a nice easy descent through Windemere into Ambleside. The YHA there is in a fantastic setting, right on Lake Windermere, so we spent the late afternoon enjoying the sun by the lake, pint in hand.

We had planned to go back to the Hawkshead Brewery as there was a beer festival on, so after a 3 mile walk to Windermere and a missed train, we finally arrived around 8pm. We devoured excellent gourmet hot dogs for sustenance and got our taste buds fired up for some excellent beer from Hawkshead and other notable breweries including Fyne Ales, Summer Wine, Marble and Magic Rock. The cask strength offerings from Hawkshead knocked us for six (in both taste and strength, being 6% strength), and a good time was had by all. Some colleagues of Mark's were driving, so thankfully we were driven straight back to the hostel and into bed before our big walk the next day.

We stirred around mid-morning, rather more hungover than we had intended, fuelled up on bacon and egg butties and mint cake for the walk before heading off in the wrong direction. This meant a detour up a fairly steep hill, in the midday sun, hungover and moments after eating a greasy sandwich. Needless to say, I wasn't feeling tip-top by this point and had a momentary crisis of confidence in whether I could actually complete the walk. I decided to go for it and push on, and despite a water shortage we eventually made it to Patterdale, dehydrated and sunburnt. After a litre of water or two we headed out for nourishment at a local pub, before checking out a couple more pubs (there's a theme developing here) and hitting the hay ready to do it all over again.

This time well-rested and feeling much more bright and breezy than the previous morning, we got an early start so we didn't suffer the sun too much. We walked back to Ambleside before I cycled back to Oxenholme to catch the train. The sun was blazing and the 4 mile hill out of Ambleside was testing, but it was enjoyable nonetheless and I had well and truly got a taste for long(ish - well not really) distance cycling. Sunburnt but happy I met Charlotte in the Top Lock on the way home and we even ate our dinner outside at my folks, not bad for the end of winter! A few more unseasonably warm days came our way and we enjoyed walks on the canal and the novelty of sitting outside pubs before the more seasonal British weather returned.

The second time in Ambleside Charlotte came along too, and we again cycled from Oxenholme to Ambleside. Our venture from Ambleside this time was to Elterwater, with a detour up a couple of hills near Elterwater. It was a great walk and we were very lucky to have such good weather again. We cracked a bottle of McChouffe at the top of the hill, played the La Chouffe theme tune on our phones and had a little dance. Always nice to have a bit of Mr Fell in our lives! The walk was rather longer than we had intended, so after 8 hours of solid walking we were truly knackered, but enjoyed a pub meal with a satisfied feeling that we had earned it.

We spent a lovely Mothers Day between both families. First up was the Parkers and Gran Woodhams and a belly-busting carvery at The Boatyard. After lashings of roast meats, veg and gravy washed down with a pint of ale it was time to be whisked away to Gran Mitchell's in Brighouse with my family. We spent the afternoon at Shibden Park and I finally got to see my Grandad's memorial bench in its lovely new spot down by the lake. More food was on offer on our return to the house and we enjoyed some cake while saying our goodbyes.

We had an action-packed Easter weekend, first up a trip to Go Ape for Alex (my sister's fiancee)'s birthday. We balanced ourselves high in the trees with surprisingly little supervision, tackling obstacle courses, whizzing down zip wires and taking a leap of faith on the tarzan swing. We had never done this kind of thing before, and despite being a bit of a wuss with heights I made it through. Time for a well earned pint before some good old March evening grilling. After a long wait the char-grilled chicken legs were eventually served up, and delicious they were too if I say so myself. That evening we zig-zagged between drinks for Alex's birthday and a gig at Chorley Little Theatre. Having not been to many seated gigs in our time, it actually really suited the style of music of Then Thickens (check them out!) and it was fantastic to catch up with old Chorley friends. Easter Sunday was spent near Cartmel at Charlotte's aunties, for a beautiful meal and a catch up with the aunties.

We managed to find time to check out the Black Bull near Feniscowles with Sophie and Ste, and had a fun evening sampling the brews and catching up with them for the first time since the wedding. Always nice to find a new pub to go to, and with some pretty impressive views over Blackburn and a good crowd in despite not serving food, the Black Bull seems to be doing very well for itself. It's part of the Three Bees Brewery, who do a good range of tasty real ales, something we'd missed being over in Oz! We also managed to squeeze in a visit to Charlotte's uncle, aunt and cousins, and caught up with them over a cuppa.

Next up we headed over to Sheffield for another few nights stay at Chez Emily. Mum and Dad kindly drove us over and we checked out the new (ish) Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield on the way. It's a fantastic little gallery and hopefully will put Wakefield on the map and revive the place a little. It's an interesting building (prison-like from the outside, but very open from the inside) housing some pretty cool art. Still feeling arty we also again checked out the Sheffield Graves Art Gallery. In the past it's been a little hit or miss, but this time was a hit, and there were some funky Andy Warhol photographs. We also enjoyed a curry in Commonside with some of Emily and Alex's friends and out friend Mark Williams, followed by some top Thornbirdge beers in the newly done up Hallamshire House. Having always been a bit of an old man's pub, it's great to see that Thornbridge have breathed a bit of fresh air in there, and as always a pleasure to hang out with our friends and drink some tasty local beer.

While we were in Sheffield, Charlotte visited her friend Collette in Mansfield. Collette and her husband Ian had recently had a baby and it was lovely to meet baby Buddy and have a good catch up with them over tea and cake. Buddy is pretty damn cute and looked the bees knees in his bear outfit that he wore to drop Charlotte off at the bus station. Charlotte and her mum had embarked on a knitting project beforehand (in an attempt to get Charlotte to move past scarves!) and had created a hat, mittens and booties for him which were very well received!

A beer-fuelled evening was spent in Nottingham with Joe, where we test-drove the new Brewdog bar (with 10% shareholders discount of course, although this wasn't much consolation when I realised I had put 15 quid worth of Scotch eggs on the credit card!). We had intended to at least do one cultural thing while in Nottingham but the gallery we were aiming for was closed. We had no option but to head for the pub; first off Lock & Quays for some refreshing cask ales before heading to the main event, Brewdog Nottingham. Enthusiastic staff poured us some of the good stuff, and we had a great time sampling the different brews and playing pop-up-pirate. If that isn't a recipe for a good night out I don't know what is. The beer was soaked up with some tasty Italian fare across the road before we had to call it a night and catch our trains (not before Joe had got us lost even with directions on his iPhone and we had to get a taxi to make sure we didn't miss our train!).

On our final weekend at home was spent in Stockport watching the mighty County play and seeing my auntie and cousin for a pub lunch. It was a pretty uneventful match but still enjoyable and I resolved to go to more games once we're back in UK for good. It was great to see Jane and Lisa and catch up with them after far too long!

By this time we had decided that New Zealand had our names written on it, flights had been booked, and our time at home was quickly coming to an end. We spent a very lovely evening out with Charlotte's parents at the Clog and Billycock eating excellent high-class pub grub and toasting the future. Our last evening was spent hiking up Great Hill with my mum, dad and sister on a nice afternoon, before a fish and chip supper and some last minute packing.

After almost three months cocooned in an easy life looked after by our parents and friends, with no responsibilities or worries, the prospect of flying to the other side of the world was a daunting one. We would need to hit the ground running and find work pretty quick given that we had effectively spent 3 months travelling in the UK, and that doesn't come cheap. To take the edge off this notion we had a trip planned to Groezrock festival in Belgium, this time a music festival but of course beer would still play a starring role. Stay tuned!

Back in Blighty!

Paris with Janet, Dave & Marina

Good Morning Europe - February 2012

Liam wearing all his clothes after touching down to -9 in Paris.

After a hectic 48 hours in which we finished work, sold the van, packed up our belongings and donated the contents of our flat to the local charity shop, we spent a sweaty and unusually humid night on the couch at Bruno's.  At 4am we awoke to the headlights of our taxi shining through the window and bleary-eyed we waved goodbye to our home town of the last 7 months and headed to Perth airport.

The first flight was relatively short, about 6 hours, but with an arduous 12 hour layover in Kuala Lumpur before our next flight. After fuelling up on coffee at KLIA we decided to head into the city for the day. After a bumpy bus journey of almost two hours we were regretting this decision, and apart from some dazed wandering around we spent most of the time in cafes. Better than hanging around the airport, but only just. So, very tired and already a day and a half since we graced the presence of a bed or shower, we boarded our flight, homeward bound. Air Asia do a reasonable line in airline food despite being a budget airline, so we were well fed with tasty curry, but there was no TV in the back of the seat or free booze to take the edge off what is undoubtedly the worse mode of travel in terms of actually enjoying the journey. All that was left to do was sleep, and thankfully we did most of the way.

Bright-eyed and excited to be back on European soil, we stepped off the plane into the depths of a Paris winter (Pilot: "On arrival in Paris the temperature will be nine, sorry negative nine degrees") and promptly put on all the jumpers we owned. Charlotte even resorted to socks in place of gloves, but she had handily knitted me a scarf for my birthday. It didn't feel particularly useful at the time during a 40-odd degree Australian summer, but after the 50 degree temperature plunge it was most welcome. Our journey home wasn't quite over, as we were meeting up with friends to go to a beer festival in Bruges (but of course!). One airport shuttle, the Paris suburban metro, a train to Lille (which handily stopped in a different station to our connection only ten minutes later, cue running around in a panic with my 23kg backpack) and one final train to Bruges, we staggered out of the station almost 48 hours after leaving our flat in Mosman Park. But things were looking up; cheese, bread and beer were procured at bargain prices (well, standard European prices, but a bargain compared to WA) from a shop at the station, and a reasonably priced taxi spirited us to the door of our home for the next three nights; a lovely old Belgian terrace near the centre of Bruges. As if on cue for our arrival, snow was falling and by the time we had showered and brought ourselves back to life with aforementioned foodstuffs, there was a substantial covering. A wander around Bruges at dusk was like being in a fairytale but the best part of the story was yet to come; meeting up with Marina whilst wandering the streets plus the imminent arrival of my sister Emily and her fiancé Alex, and of course Mark. It was most excellent to see them all again, and they were the first in a long line of people we had missed while away. That evening we met up with the rest of our friends who had come out for the occasion; Thomas, Sian, Craig and Stiffy. We had a great evening eating out and sampling some local brews. The night was rounded off in a cute little bar seemingly in some guys back room, although the strange choice of Norah Jones on a Friday night sent Charlotte to sleep so we decided to call it a night. We conquered the jetlag pretty easily, although west to east is always easier so they say.

The rest of the weekend was spent exploring picturesque Bruges with a dusting of snow, and of course sampling a delights of Bruges Beer Festival. The event was held in the town hall, in a drafty room with hundreds of beers to try. The Saturday seemed to be largely dominated by English CAMRA members and American beer geeks, the Sunday quietened off and had a more subdued, local feel. We also managed to fit in lots of frites eating, and an excellent BYO buffet at the festival. We spent the evenings in our cosy apartment, drinking and playing games until the small hours. We had a brilliant time catching up with everyone, and it was very quickly as if we had never left!

Our final leg home was fraught with probably the most drama and bad luck we had had in all of our travels! We had to vacate the apartment by 12, and we got to work cleaning the place up, although of course it being Belgium we had to do our bottle recycling and returning (that's not a dig at recycling by the way, I dig recycling!). The bottle bank was up the road and Mark heroically disposed of the remnants of 9 people drinking into the early hours. A returnable case of beer was also in our possession so rather than leave it for the cleaner I decided to take it upon myself to do the right thing and return it to the nearest off license. The flaw in this plan was that not many bottle shops are open on a Monday morning, so my quest for somewhere to get rid of the damn thing led me into the old town centre. By this point the taxi had arrived back at the apartment but I figured they would drive past and pick me up on the way, not taking into account the one-way streets of Bruges. Things were complicated by having only an Australian phone with me that had no credit, and so I couldn't send any texts or make or receive calls. It turned out phone boxes in Bruges didn't take coins so I was completely off the grid! After a while of hanging around the only option I had was to head to the train station myself and pray they would be there, rather than taking the taxi on a very expensive search and rescue mission around Bruges. Thankfully they were and an hour or so later we were reunited. We missed the train we had intended to catch but another one was due, and we were on our way to the airport on the last train that would get us there in time. Craig and Stiffy were nowhere to be seen, and eventually it transpired that they had been even further delayed than we had and ended up taking a taxi from Brussels to the airport to make up for lost time. They needn't have bothered, as no sooner had we gone through the point of no return at security our plane was announced to be delayed by 5 hours. So, stuck in what is arguably the world's crappiest airport, we tried to keep our spirits up and keep ourselves entertained, all the while watching countless other Ryanair flights arrive and depart. Charleroi is basically a Ryanair hub, and we speculated that one way they manage to achieve the highest rate of on-time departures of any European airline is that when there is a delay, rather than shuffling around flights so that maybe a few flights have a tolerable delay, they just leave the customers of one flight to rot. A measly 5 Euro token was eventually dispensed, which didn't even buy a portion of chips at the overpriced restaurant (probably the only time we have ever wished for the presence of a reasonably priced American fast food chain). No reason given for the delay, no actual staff anywhere to explain, just a robotic voice over the tannoy. I suppose it is the price you pay for spending pocket change on a flight, but that doesn't mean I can't moan about it! Months later we got another 5 Euro refund, so in the end the flight cost virtually nothing. 5 hours turned into 6, and eventually we boarded the flight and (finally) received an explanation of why we were delayed - the plane had been grounded in Manchester, so a standby crew and plane had to be flown out of Dublin. Thankfully it was only a short flight and in no time we were in Manchester, greeted by my parents. Bleary-eyed we reacquainted ourselves after the year away, and tried not to fall asleep in the car on the way home!

Despite thinking we'd got over the jetlag, the first week at home was spent recovering. Maybe a weekend of heavy drinking isn't the cure to two days in-transit and trying to shift one's body clock by eight hours. The week was a blur, but we had a lovely time catching up with our families. My parents even laid on a belated birthday dinner for me. We were very spoilt, the Parker's even treated us to a Christmas dinner!

Sophie and Ste's wedding was almost upon us, so we caught up with them in the Top Lock and Charlotte spent a day or two helping out with some last minute preparations. The day itself was fantastic, held in a lovely pub in Laneshaw Bridge near Colne. Charlotte, Sophie and Sophie's sister Lucy arrived the night before and enjoyed a spa treatment and dinner, before an early morning hike on the morning of the big day. The service was beautiful and it was so lovely to see two of the St Michael's gang getting hitched.  Sophie's ludicrously talented family provided the music including an epic version of Elbow's 'One Day Like This' to conclude the service.  The food was great, tasty homemade pie and chips, and the evening do was a raucous barn dance. There's nothing like a good old knees up to get people into things and provide lots of laughs!  Lots of fun was had by all, and the beauty of it was that at the end of the night we could just crash out upstairs in our hotel room.


The rest of the month was spent catching up with friends, first heading up to Dundee to see Katie and Matt. We were treated to 'Matt Chicken' and had a lovely walk followed by Haggis pizza. Scottish food at it's best! Marina came to stay in t'Fold and we showed her the sights and sounds of Wheelton and Chorley, lucky girl! We had a great night away with Mark and Thomas to go to a gig (Dead To Me) in York, and it was cool to play tourist in our own country for once. I especially enjoyed the National Railway Museum, with it's countless old British trains and a Japanese Bullet train. Quality beer was supped in the York Tap, completing a hat-trick of Taps around the country (Sheffield and London being the other two - railway stations and good beer, a winning combination. Who knew?), and we of course enjoyed walking around the walls and old city. Our Dead To Me lust not quite satiated, Mark and I headed to Manchester the next night for round two, the highlight being asked on stage to sing a refrain before the rest of the band kicked the song back in (under quite a bit of pressure after seeing a girl the night before failing badly and singing the wrong words!). A late start for the band meant a missed train and a night spent in Piccadilly station, not the best way to recuperate before Mike's big 60th birthday bash. But I managed to power on through (or should that be hobble on through due to a sprained ankle sustained the previous night!) and had a lovely day, riding an old bus up to a the Parkers Arms, Charlotte taking on the role of conductor, before heading back for a buffet tea back in the Fold. Great to catch up with Charlotte's brother Joe again too.

The end of the month and into March was spent yo-yo-ing between Sheffield and Manchester, staying with Emily and practising for my reunion gig with Sofa Crisis. The first practise was amazing, we played better than we ever had, despite not seeing each other for over a year and me not even having had the chance to pick up my drumsticks! The gig went really well, and we had a good crowd in considering it was a weeknight. Nobody booed us off so we considered it a success! As always a pleasure to playing with Nik and Jimmy, especially at the cornerstone of my Sheffield music 'career', West St Live! We enjoyed reconnecting with Sheffield, even after so long away it still feels like home! And even more good pubs have popped up so that was an added bonus alongside meeting up with our friends. Awesome to see our Sheffield-based friends Fuller, Twibs, Jimmy, Rich and Jess again.  An honourable mention goes to Thomas and Sian again for treating us to a lovely dinner at their house.

In Manchester we caught up with Adam and Suze, they took us to an awesome Thai restaurant and we hung out at the new Port Street Beer House. We also stayed with Laura and John and had a fun evening of Tricksters Scramble, and a scrumptious lunch and catchup with Jess and Emma. Back home we had a night out in Brinscall (there's a first time for everything!) at Mum and Dad's sea shanty singing session in the Oak Tree pub. Enjoyed getting into the maritime spirit and even learnt the real words to Rule Britannia. Good times.

At this point (early March) the original plan was to head back to Australia on flights we had booked months previously, however a change of heart not long before we left Fremantle meant our plans were in disarray. Thankfully we had managed to get a refund on the flights which gave us some time to contemplate our next step. Where will we go? Will the Paris trip originally planned with my parents still go ahead despite no longer catching a flight out of Paris? Will we visit France and Spain, visiting relatives and snowboarding at our leisure, on the assumption that we are due a lottery win? Will our planned trip to Groezrock and Belgium still be feasible? Find out in the next instalment. Stay tuned!