London's West End

In the last two weeks i have spent time looking at what to do with work so i have not been up to much. So was a good thing a frend of mine Simon Dew arrived from Canada. We did a few things around London, the Highlight was heading to a true West end production. Simon is big on the musicals coming from a musically talented family, me coming from the opposite I was not sure how I would enjoy La Miserable. This was truly worth it, the performers were great and the whole thing was class, a little different to our Kuranui College performance back in the day.

UK/EUROPE

My trip starts in France With the boys, Martin (Dad), Dave,Ben and Mark on the Boat. Classic times were had as it was a laugh a minute as Dad and Dave would yell at each other and disagree with each other like a marred couple. One wanted to go one way one wanted to go the other,one wanted to put the main sail up one didn't. the only thing they could agree on was when Sizzler (Mark Buttler) wanted to put the spinnaker up they would just say no Mark no! in the end the places we went to were amazing, were all Hot,clear blue water,nice sandy beaches and cold beers . We cruised around the south of France to small islands and small towns between Tolon and St Tropez.




Just before camp i had the opportunity to watch
Wimbledon tennis, Center court tickets no less.
I got to watch a great 5 setter and see plenty of great action on the outside courts. The English weather was not great but for most of the day the sun was out and PIMMS was the order of the day.







Since arriving in England I spent seven weeks working in West Sussex, this was a great experience as it gave me a chance to coach golf,meet new people, see England and most important make some pounds.
The camp was set in the country at Seaford College. The grounds were huge and the buildings were old mansions as in the pic. All the facility's were great especially for golf. We had a 9 hole course and driving range this was perfect for the kids to learn and play. The Kids ranged from 10-16 and were from all around Europe which was sometimes difficult with language, but i now know swear words in French,German, Spanish etc etc.
One of the great things about camp was the weekend trips to Brighton, Portsmith, the cricket,football and them parks. This gave me a chance to do things that if i was traveling i would probably not go and see. Camp was great as we had all meals and accommodation provided, this gave me a great start in the UK been able to save and work so i could travel when camp finished.

Back in London there is always so much to do,
The Notting Hill carnival was a highlight, 2 million people in one place is unreal.
The Caribbean carnival, attracting millions of visitors from around the world. With scores of massive sound systems, many spectacular floats and, of course, the traditional steel drum bands, plus hundreds of stalls lining the streets this is Europe's biggest carnival. This was crazy to many people for me but it was totally worth going.






Since camp finished i have managed to do a lot in a short time. I spent Two weeks in France ,this time searching the land as well as sea. I traveled with two friends from camp, David and Liam. We started out catching a budget flight from the smallest international airport I have seen, Bormouth, somewhere in the south of england. Once we arrived in Marcille, we traveld to our hostel and spent the next three days lying on the beach planning our trip, We then traveled along the coast checking out towns along the way. Since i have spent so much time in France i am now fluent in the language haha yer right!! But was fun having to try.
We also spent 7days back at the yacht, again great weather, good times and to much beer!
Thanks to capatain Marty who has the best life of any one i know. There were plenty of highlights to this trip, Getting lost in the geto of Marcille due to taking the wrong bus, all the relaxing time we had, falling of the side of the boat into the med to escape the heat, the French ice cream and Going to the Allblacks vs Italia.






World Cup Rugby.
Having got tickets the day before the game, Dad,Doug, Liam and I set out from Tolon to Marcille to what we thought would the start of the All Blacks domination of the 2007 Rugby World Cup. The day was about 30deg just like a winters day in Greytown. The ground was packed with 60 000 people 30000 kiwis i reckon. The haka was wicked with the whole ground completely silent which was amazing because we could hear the players every word. As it finished the crowed erupted was a great feeling to be in France watching All Blacks. The team looked sharp and they ran in try after try. This was a great way to end a fun holiday.

Back to London for a few nights then it was on the plane again to France again, not that im sad about that but cant wait to see some European countries. This time its the west coast of France, Moliets. I spent the week Caddying for a friend who was trying to qualify for the European Tour at tour school. It was a great experience been on the bag,i learn a lot not just about caddying but great lessons I can teach my students (When i have a job). During the week we ate great food, learned a bit more French, played some great golf and some bad. A highlight for me was driving a left hand drive car, was so much fun and much easier than i had thought. On our last day we hired some surf boards and spent the day getting smashed in the surf (i mean riding the barrels haha) All and all a good week but no full time caddying job for next years tour.

When we go back to England Todd and i went down to Dover to play Royal St Georges also known as Sandwich. This course has hosted 13 British opens stretching back to 1894, players such as Harry Vardon, Walter Hagen, Bobby Locke, Sandy Lyle, Greg Norman and Ben Curtis in 2003. The next will be Jimmy Napier in 20011 haha. Anyway it was a great course, well designed holes, lots of pot bunkers (shitty fairway ones) nice tight fairways and fast sloppy greens. We had the links style weather blowing in from the sea which made it tough. The score well it was not an open winning score.

Rugby World Cup
This time Debbie, Carl and I set off to Cardiff to see the All Blacks play the French, it all started out bad when we entered into the Sat Nav buy (mistake of course) to avoid all tolls so our 2 hour drive down the one motorway to Cardiff turned ito 3 hours through country then forests. But we thought if that was the worst thing that could happen then life is not that bad, How wrong could we be. We meet some friends in the pub in Cardiff to watch the English beet the Aussies, I was getting shit as i was the only one with an orange ticket and every one else had blue ones, I had got mine of some dodgy Aussie in the middle of London. So it was of to the game to see the All Blacks Kick ass and to see if my ticket worked.
What a wicked stadium, 71000 people with way more French supporters than i had ever thought would be there. At no point did i ever think we would loose until 5 minutes to go. it was an unreal feel looking around me at all the Kiwis and they didn't know what to do, most looked like crying was about to happen. The big night of celebrations turned into a night of wondering what went wrong.


Since the All Blacks loss i thought it was time to look for a new game to follow, i have all ways wanted to go to a premiership football game, so I went to Fulham vs Portsmouth at Craven Cottage In Fulham close to where i am staying in Putney at my sisters house. The Fulham fans were pretty tame, but seen i had got scalper tickets outside the game I was with the LOUD Portsmouth fans. The seats were great and the game had plenty of action. The score was 2-0 to Portsmouth and i cant wait till the next game it surprised me how good the game is.