Packing up & taking off..

Since it has been over 4 years since I last updated this blog, maybe now is a good time to start again!!!

Jamie, myself & Stella are currently in the midst of packing up the Perth dwelling & taking off on an open ended trip around Aus. We have no real itinerary or timeframe for our travels, our only agenda is to enjoy as much of Aus as we can!

I am attempting to improve on my photography skills & will be posting pics that I take along the way, comments are more than welcome!!

Stand by, we leave Perth & start our Journey anticlockwise & heading South on January 15th 2011.

x

Warmer Adventures!!

Yes yes, ive been very slack, a month since my last post!!

Ahh well, have lots to tell, so grab a cuppa & sit down.

Left Ireland and flew into Bristol airport in the UK, the highest and foggiest airport in all of Europe apparently. We had no idea we were about to land because of the heavy fog on the runway, so the sudden jolt of the wheels touching down gave everyone on the flight a bit of a scare! Caught a cab over to a mates place in Bristol and met up with some English buddies i met in Aus last year..Matt & Dan. Spent the whole night drinking having a great laugh & then took off to Cornwall in the morning for the weekend. Lovely place Cornwall.....in summer though. It was really cold & a bit windy the whole time, but i met some great crew & saw all the good pubs & surf breaks.
After returning to Bristol and having another big night out on the lager, i boarded yet another easyjet plane & went down to Malaga in the South of Spain to meet my uncle, aunty and numerous cousins at the villa in Puerto Banus. Beautiful place, Beautiful language and great weather. We had a great week, checking out the richest peoples boats & lifestyles of the even richer in the harbour of Banus. Ate loads of Paella and drank large amounts of sangria. All good!!
My cousin Nik and i decided to hire a car and go for a bit of a mission along the south coast of spain. After getting used to driving on the wrong side of the road, the sights were fantastic..we checked out Gibralter from the mainland and could see Africa over the water, only 14km away!! Our first destination was a windsurfing mecca called Tarifa. Windsurfers heaven!! Kitesurfers and windsurfers shops everywhere and heaps of little beach bars & clubs which hired out kites, windsurfers and gave lessons. Nik had a windsurf & i was thinking about taking a kitesurfing lesson, but the wind wasnt really strong enough, so we just chilled in one of the beer gardens & took it all in. Ended up camping there the night...apparently illegally as we were questioned by the Spanish police when we awoke the next morning. Luckily Nik speaks spanish, so he managed to talk us out of a fine. We continued on to a little town called Cadiz where Nik dropped me off to get a coach to Faro, in the Algarve, Portugal, via Saille in Spain. After arriving at Saville in Spain on the bus, it became apparent that there were no buses to Faro, so i decided to go to Lisbon and up to Peniche instead. After a long 5 hour bus trip, i was there! Walked into the surf camp and within 5 minutes was at the beach bar in the sun drinking beer with Steve, a fellow Aussie who has decided to take up residence next door to the surf camp. Hes a legend & is planning the summer in Morocco. Spent the next week meeting loads of great people and having a laugh. The waves were disappointing, small, onshore and a little crowded, but hey, thats what travelling for surf is sometimes like. After 6 days the forecast for the waves/wind was not looking any better so i decided to move on back to the UK to stay with the family for a bit & do some last catch ups before heading to london.
It took me 14hrs to get from Peniche to Manchester, 3 buses, a plane, a train and a cab ride!! I also had an argument with a portugese cab driver about my surfboard...but thats a story better told over a cold beer when im back in Aus..hee hee. Since being back in manchester i have been to watch the end of season rugby game for Mnachester R C, my cousins boyfriend plays for them, then had a big night out with the team after their win...phew..rugby boys in the UK are just as mad as those in Aus! Another tale better told over a cold aussie beer...
I have been for a mountain bike ride & also a trip out to the pub on Niks motorbike and am going on a bit of a shopping tour in Manchester tomorrow with my mad shopaholic cousin Harriet!!
Anyway, am sayig my goodbyes to the Manchester contingent of the family on Thursday & jumping on a train to London. Will do some sightseeing for a few days & no doubt more touring around on Niks bike and am then heading back to sunny Aus next week.

Will post all of my pics from the last month soon, once im back in wireless range. Looking forward to getting back to Aus & will have plenty of tales from my adventures.....Seeya all soon innit!!

hehe

Carls xx

Time to go....

Heya all,

its been a while since my last post, so heres the latest...

Working away here in Ireland, experienced lots of snow, which has been quite a cool experience. Although i must say, the novelty does wear off fairly quickly after doing site visits on hilltop field full of cow shite & snow. hehe. But its finally warming up, and i even had a t-shirt on today! woohooo!!!

Went back to Manchester again last week for my dear Nannas funeral. A sad day for all, but a true celebration of her wonderful life and how much she meant to us all. caught up with all of the family and was very proud to be representing the Aussie branch of the family at the funeral. Will definately go back to Manchester sometime soon to spend some time with my cousins uncles and grandparents.

Last weekend i took the plunge....thats right, i surfed ireland!! check the picks of me all rubbered up on the website. The waves were actually really nice and clean, and even though the water was black & we were surfing at the base of a cliff in the middle of nowhere, there was no worry at all about sharks! great stuff. travelled over to the West coast with a Kiwi mate from work and a swedish guy we met through the surf club. great weekend, lots of guinness, mackeral & curry & chips. hee hee.

Anyway, the big news is that my time in Ireland is drawing to a close. Finishing up my contract at easter, and heading off to find some sun & surf. Im flying to Bristol to meet up with Dan & Matt & the rest of the pommy crew i met in Aus last year for a weekend of madness im sure! After the easter bunny has left Cornwall i will make my way to London to stay with my cousin Nik for a few days, then im flying to Portugal on the 24th. I cant wait! I have a one way ticket, so im not sure how long i will be there, or where i will end up, but my search is for waves and nice weather, so as long as i succeed in at least one of those i will be happy!! The place im going looks really nice, and is the host to some of Europes finest waves. I will be flying into Lisbon and heading to a little surf town called Peniche. A little nervous as im going on my Pat malone, but have been told there are heaps of travellers there & that Peniche is quite the surf mecca of Portugal. Bring it on!! check it out anyway at www.penichesurfcamp.com or www.balealsurfcamp.com

Anyway, ive had a great experience of shite weather, great people & plenty of Guinness in Ireland, and now the adventure is really starting! Will post pics when i can.

Hope alls well in Aus, ive noticed that Sydney is certainly getting colder, but gold old Perth, still 30 degrees!

take care & keep dodging those cyclones!

xx

Carly

ps its my birthday next Tuesday 4th, so i know u will all be thinking of me! ;-)

Wales, Wicklow & surf in the harbour!

Hiya All....

Well, lots has been happening since the last post..

I decided to go & check out the surf scene a bit more on the East coast of Ireland, and let me tell ya, you thought Perth had no waves!!! I went to the club meeting of the East Coast Surf Club last week & met a bunch of mad surefers from all over, even one from Sweden, yep thats right, they surf in sweden! Madness. Anyway, they all seem to head over to the West coast to surf most weekends, so i will keep you posted on the surf over there next time i go. Will be all rubbered up as im buying new booties, hood & gloves tomorrow.

In the meantime there has been swell on the East Coast and only 5mins from my place!! joy. (check out the pics) Didnt surf it though cos i had no equipment...so took some photos in the rain instead. And yes, if you are wondering, it was as cold as it looks on the pics, and i didnt even go in the water!

Anyway, i went over to Wales to see Chris Jonesey on the weekend and we were lucky enough to score tickets to watch Wales v Italy for the six nations game at Millenium Stadium in Cardiff. It was great! the game was a bit crappy, but the atmosphere made up for it. Welsh rugby supporters are mad. Would love to see Wales V Australia!! We consumed many warm pints & shouted till i nearly lost my voice, so a very successful weekend! Chick was nice enough to give me one of his spare boards, so look out Ireland...im ready for action!

So had a hard half days work on Monday after returning from Wales in the morning on a delayed & very bumpy Ryan Air flight. Just a small winge too...they charged me 17 pounds to carry my board, after insulting me by asking if it was a canoe (what the??) then made me sign a form relinquishing them of any responsibility for damage or loss.... then to top it off, as i was in the plane after landing at Dublin, waiting to disembark, i watched the baggage handlers proceed to take my board off the plane first, then start piling all the luggage on top!! Bloody Knacker baggage handlers! (note irish word use..). So anyway, after a mad dash over the red tape & some harsh words to the lads, my board was safely removed from the botom of the pile & put on top. No dings. nice.

Had the day off today to show my Dad around the green Isle.. he has been in Manchester visiting the family, so decided to jump on a flight over for the day. Took him to see Wicklow's finest mountains (check out pics) where aparently (according to Cara's boyfriend, Wes) some of King Arthur & Braveheart were filmed. Also checked out some of the coast & some fine Oirish pubs. Great to see him, we had a great day.

Anyway, im off to have a sauna! yep thats right, Wes has just finished building the sauna in the apartment (dont ask me, he's irish) so we are off to drink a pint size beer & sweat it out in the new sauna. (check the pics).

Talk soon, its Paddys day this Friday, public holiday over here, so im off to do some Aussie research to see if they really drink as much as we do on Paddys day!!

Catchya

xx

Carls

Surf 'n' Snow

Hellooo all,

Hope you are all well!!

All good here, still having the odd bout of homesickness...ok actually lots of bouts of homesickness!! But im still having a good time. It is the last day of Winter today and it was snowing!! Lots of snow, but it melts pretty much straight away as its not cold enough. I was in the mountains today on a site visit and it was minus 2.5 degrees. Madness.

Anyway I have bought some nice warm jackets & the craic here is to stay indoors & drink guiness anyway, so we are mainly in hibernation until the cold passes & the summer starts. mmmm i think the summer is only 2 shades lighter grey than the winter though. hehe

I posted some pics of my trip over to the West Coast to check the surf. Ended up being a mad weekend, met some great people, but didnt surf because im a big blouse and it was sooooo cold. Might wait until summer for the surf. Visited the cliffs of Moher while on the west coast, they are just like the cliffs at the Bight in Aus, but colder. hee hee.

Check out the pics of the snow etc on the website.

I will post again soon after Paddys day & Amsterdam...thats sure to be a big weekend!

xx Carls

ps, dont worry I kept away from the crazy riots and the knackers in Dublin over the weekend. Bloody Morons...time to get over the whole loyalist vs Republican crap if you ask me. Much like Aussies vs Lebanese in Cronulla!!

Manchester after 22 years

Hello!

Well, i returned back to Dublin this morning after a very busy but fantastic weekend in Manchester.

It was great to finally visit the place where i was brought into this world! I caught up with all the cousins & even met two cousins for the first time! We all got along like a house on fire, and let me tell you, England has never seen so many Mellors in one spot at the same time!

Had a great night out on Saturday & a big day for Zac's christening on the Sunday. It was great to catch up with Nanna & Grampop & I even got to see my Gran & Aunty Jo for the first time since the 80's! Great to see everyone, and I have decided that i will be back to Manchester a few times during my stay in Europe.

For now though, back to work, which is going really well.. I have been assigned with search areas all over the island and even some sites on the far west coast, which means at least one free surf trip!! woohoo! It was even above 10 degrees in Ireland today! Its all good!

Am joining the East Coast Surf Club, & have been assured by them that it is the place to meet fellow surfers who are also on the search for some joy as far as waves are concerned in the Atlantic Ocean! Should be heading west this weekend & will buy a nice thick wetsuit, booties, gloves, a hood & a new board. Bring it on!!!

Pics of the shennanigans soon! Im sure you will all get a giggle out of my new rubbery look.

xx

Carls

Perth - Bangkok - Heathrow - Dublin!!! whew!

Here at last.....

What a journey! Arrived in Bangkok early on a Wednesday morning after a relatively non eventful flight. In the cab on the way to the hotel I came to the realisation that most large major cities are very alike! The tollways, high rises and smog where not dissimilar to Sydney. The differences at street level however are more prominant, with carts of strange food (check the pics!!) and lots of stalls selling momentos and a lot of fake surf & golfing t-shirts. Anyway, theres isnt too much to say about Bangers, those of you who have visited the city will know that the major street trade is sex, therefore there are a lot of lonely foreign men with tiny little Thai girls hanging of their arms....pretty seedy. I did a tour with the poms on a boat through the city & saw some pretty dodgey river-side shacks & some temples & buddhas. Once you have seen one temple you have seen them all I reckon, so that was about it with the sightseeing!!

So after a few days in Bangers, I was at the airport waitiong for 6 hours for my midnight London flight. The boarding call finally came & off i went. The flight was pretty easy really, it didnt seem too long at all & with the help of some medication....I had a great sleep for about 8 hrs of it. landing at Heathrow was an experience, it ws minus 1 degree & getting my luggage from one terminal to the other took about 2 hrs! long walk through the winding maze that is Heathrow Airport. plus I was wearing thongs ( cos i was too hot on the plane on my uggies!) so i got some pretty weird looks...

But now im in Dublin! all good, my friend Cara picked me up from the airport & took me back to her swisho new apartment in a little seaside town called Greystones. Beautiful place, ireland (from what ive seen so far) very lush & green, and it has been clear & sunny since ive been here. (still zero degrees however). I have caught a cold already & am still a little jetlagged, but am coming out of that today and am even thinking about doing some exploring today as it has warmed up to about 5 degrees. yippee!! hehe. Going to meet the work crew tomorrow & buy a car in the next few days...fuel is mega expensive here, so my idea of buying a 4X4 so that I can do a bit of touring around the UK & Ireland on my time off may need a rethink..

Will post more news soon & upload some Ireland pics onto the website soon...Check out the Bangers pics!

xx Carls