Waiting, just waiting... Come on, let's be having you. Snowy adventures are coming.
But beforehand...
Tinks and I have decided to go on a road trip over the interseason for a short while. Really looking forward to going away together and seeing a bit more of the country we live in. We're thinking about going through the Dordogne and then down to the Basque Country and then back in a round trip to Chamonix possibly via the Mediterranean coast. Funky stuff!
I intend on using my French to it's full use by being able to talk to people who live by the sea about how regularly they wax their skis, which mountain they climbed yesterday and how come humous is so bloody expensive in the local supermarket. Vital stuff. We're going to be haut de la gorge de la merde sans palette (up shit creek with no paddle) if anything goes wrong with the car because I know virtually no French vocabularly that is pertinent to motor vehicles.
Spain might have differing language problems. I only know very basic Spanish really. I can say "I have fleas" (tengo pulgas), "some ice please" (hielo por favor), and "don't shoot me, shoot the hairy one" (no me tire, tiran el melenudo). This last one is damn useless as I am, in fact, the hairy one. Not good. Might have to take my laptop and hook it up permanently to Altavista's online translation tool Babelfish.
To be honest, I'm actually really pleased how my French is coming along and am learning more every day. It feels good to be able to crack the odd joke with someone in a foreign language and feel pretty comfortable day-to-day. I've never been fluent in another language and it's something I'm really looking forward to at some stage in the future.
Apologies for the absence - been on this trip back to the UK recently and have just managed to sort everything out here in Cham now to a level where things are resembling normality. So, in order the events of the weekend were - wedding, london, home.
The wedding was awesome. Out in the west country it was a beautiful location - sculpted victorian gardens with all the family out. The ceremony was awesome, the bride looked amazing and then everyone got pissed. I've missed out a lot in between but it's personal family stuff and not really for public consumption. My lil newphew Dusty was in attendance and as usual was a cheery, beautiful focal point for the family Narg. It's wicked watching him grow up.
After the wedding, I trained it back to London where I immediately got involved with getting an oyster card again. Just a pay-as-you-go one but it saved me a great deal than buying individual tickets, plus anyone with a single journey ticket is a blatant tourist and after the summer and the tourist hell of Chamonix I didn't fancy looking like a dick in shorts wandering around London.
So onwards to Baker Street on the Jubilee Line to meet up with my mate Kuntesh. We wandered down the very posh Marylebone High Street and had a few drinks and laughed and caught up and then slipped into a little middle-eastern cafe for snack. It was really good to see him and great to be able to sit down and get back to exactly how it always was without skipping a beat.
I found myself winging my way across to Shoreditch shortly after watching the schweaty schweaty tourists on the circle line tube dripping sun cream everywhere and then wondering why they kept sliding off the handrails on the train. I pissed myself laughing at this. Cruel but funny. I met up with Wardo and went back to his place where I was going to stay. Met his housemate Ed and his missus Tavy and got involved with a few glasses of wine and pizza and some welcome relief on the feet. Tubing and skating around London (got my longboard skateboard back from my folk's house!) is always a giggle but after skating for 4 miles around the city it's nice to site down!
So the famous Pizza Hut Super Supreme - the object of dribbling and drooling beauty that Wardo and I talked about endlessly during those long weeks and months of the interseason. Wanting, needing, aching for a slice of the cheezy goodness as the weather prevented us from foraging outside - the prize eluded from our grasp. We tucked in heartily and the pizza goodness rolled around like the wine in our stomachs - all was well in the world.
A deep sleep then out again for the full english. Wardo and I back having breakfast again! Things turning the full circle it seems. Was good tho - found a proper greasy spoon and tucked into bacon, eggs, tomatoes, beans and sausages! A heavenly way to start the day. We wandered back home after a careful jaunt to balance the digestive system and then I left Andy to a day of peace and tranquility with the TV while I went off to the Notting Hill Carnival with Ipek, Derek, Gill and Jem.
Fantastic, just fantastic. Colours, sounds, lights, dancing in the streets, endless rum punch and the smell of spicy jerk chicken and marijuana in the air. We wandered about with happy abandon chatting and laughing watching the kaleidoscope of brightly clothed (and often very minimally clothed) dancers and floats working their way through the streets. We found more punch, then some whistles, then some more rum punch, then more dancing, more punch, more dancing and yet more punch. It was truly awesome and it simply couldn't have been better.
We wound our way out of the festivities with hundreds of thousands of other revelers and made our way on the bus and on foot to Ping Pong - my favourite restaurant. With the hot weather in mind we managed to get a table next to the open front of the restaurant quiet street just north of Oxford Street and with the pleasant nighttime temperature it felt like the Mediterranean. We stomped into the amazing cocktails they had on offer with everyone sampling each other's drinks and gleefully tucking into the endless dim sum in small bamboo baskets that were being provided in an endless stream. It really was a great finish to a fantastic day and it felt like I'd had a long holiday rather than just a couple of days. I left the boys and girls with a touch of sadness of not seeing them for a few months and made my way back to Andy's.
The next morning I was due to fly back early afternoon so stopped into my old work at IG and saw a load of old work colleagues and friends I'd not seen for a while. It was truly humbling to see everyone again and it was really nice to see everyone looking well. We managed to squeeze in a quick drink at our old local before I had to make the slide down to Gatwick to fly home.
All in all it was one of the best weekend's I've ever had - a combination of family and friends - some adventure and some peaceful moments. It really kicked in that there's loads of these amazingly wicked people in my life and I should make more effort to see them in the future and keep in contact. It'll be my early New Year's resolution.
My baby cousin's getting hitched! Then having a couple of days seeing friends in London.
Getting quite excited about the whole thing. I'm pumped about seeing my little nephew Dusty. Really looking forward to seeing the family as well - mum and dad, my sister and brother-in-law, the rest of the cousins, aunts and uncles, my grandmother. Plus as my cousin and I went to school together there will be a whole load of school friends at the wedding as well.
Then there's a couple of days in London. Going to see a whole host of friends and head off to the Notting Hill Carnival and see everyone and grab a drink and catch up. I'm really stoked to be seeing everyone and catching up and sharing a laugh and a drink.
This whole thing's come at the perfect time and I'm really looking forward to a bit of recharge of the batteries out of the valley to see everyone. So tonight Crampons, Fred, George and Ian and I are all having a bite to eat together and I'll shave my beard and head ready for the trip back and start getting my stuff together - washing clothes and the like.
Passy Lake with Mont Blanc in the background
I'm feeling pretty good after swimming the mile-long lake at Passy yesterday with Chris. Was good of him to drag me out of the office for a couple of hours into the hot sun and go for a splash. Not sure why in God's name whilst we were supposed to be sitting on towels next to a mile-long lake carefully not looking at the topless French girls the only thing running through my mind was "I wonder if I can swim the whole lake without stopping". Muppet. Still - did it and feel healthy for it.
Right! Time to get the flat sorted out, the place could do with a clean.
Alarm woke me up a few minutes ago to prompt me to drag my ass out of bed to go to Geneva airport. Trying to drink as much juice as possible to wake up and get in the car. There's cloud swirling around the valley below and it's been raining overnight. Time to go to the UK. Woohoo!
It's a bugger is jetlag. Thought I'd cracked it when I fell deep asleep at 10pm yesterday night. Woke up and thought it was around 6-7am but oh no, now it's 2.17am and I'm bouncing off the frigging walls wiiiiide awake.
It's not all bad however, there's sport on Channel 5 (ice hockey) there's ginger beer in the fridge and frankly I've got loads to do getting ready to move. Pretty sweet.
According to the all knowing Wikipedia jet lag has a maximum effect of 12 hours and the rough equation for recovery is that you get a time zone back each day. Narg started out GMT +14 hours in New Zealand then got back 2 hours in Singapore (GMT +8) to get roughly the maximum 12 hour jetlag possible. Toolbar.
Of course there was virtually no suffering from jetlag flying out to New Zealand (GMT +14) and only a very minor amount going to Singapore (GMT +8). So why is it so totally screwed now? Not sure, only to say that on all the flights that I feel asleep on immediately on boarding the subsequent jetlag was exponentially more than those which I stayed awake playing Super Mario. Saving grace is that I claw an hour back heading out to France (GMT +1) while all this body clock synchro is happening.
Whilst digging around for info on jetlag, came across the widely-held opinion that symptoms of jetlag extend to various levels of insomnia and irrationality, nausea and dehydration and general irritability. Sweet - this sounds just like drinking. Maybe the trick to recover is to go get a beer in. Time to pop a cold one baby!
Clipped into Singapore from Auckland after sleeping almost the entire flight. Arrived at the airport to 25°C heat at 6am set to rise throughout the day. And rise it did. Hot, hot, hot. Humid, humid, humid. Tis rainy season and boy does it show. Beautiful place is SIngapore and staying in this amazing 5-star hotel called the Grand Hyatt. It's pretty special and Narg has his own executive suite - nice.
Singapore is very cool, only staying here for a couple of days before heading back to the UK then onwards to Chamonix. It's pretty cheap - got lunch with mum for $3, about £1. The city teems with business deals being forged and hums with financial intent. Lots of westerners too. There's an endless supply of prositutes here, something I never really expected. Apparently they satiate the sex-trade demand for the westerners. Narg Snr gave out tips and techniques on how to watch out for ladyboys - now THAT'S the kind of father-son advice that should be listened to, understood and then never forgotten. There are more than just loads of chinese working girls too - lots of Russian and Eastern Bloc ladies of negitable virtue floating around. It all makes one feel kind of uncomfortable going out on the beers. Mrs Narg Snr gave a small speech on STD's and lots of jokes - the family Narg is never short of conversation when dealing with personal content. Gotta love having parents who really are open and funny. Rocking baby.
So pretty much had a mooch around topping up the tan by the pool, adventuring around the city and going out for fantastic dinners in wine cellars, drinking and doing some brief clubbing. Hoping to get rid of some jetlag too.
Bumped into one of the boys I used to work with in Changi Airport on the way home (how random!!) and so stopped for a quick chat. I'm sure we both looked absolutely knackered after flying half-way round the world! Nice to have it happen though. So got on the plane and slept most of the way back to Manchester.
Nothing much of note happening now. Am sitting back at home feeling perpetually jetlagged and sleeping during the day and bouncing around awake at night. Hopefully all the jetlag will be gone in a few days. Spoke to Chris from Listingslab who's going to pick us up from Geneva Airport on Saturday (cheers mate!) ready to start the next chapter in The Life of Narg. Can't believe how excited and relaxed it feels to move and start a new life. As well as snowboarding of course!
Have been in Whitianga for a wee while, with people flitting in and out of the place travelling their way around New Zealand and often the world. The German girl (after making Narg a few meals - result!) has continued her travelling. She was cool too - got on well.
There's a great beach about 100 yards away from where I'm staying. Clams sink into the sand just accessible at low tide, huge green-lipped mussels can be gotten to with a snorkel and crayfish (if you're lucky enough) can be grabbed from rock pools and with a bit of free diving. The other day, 4 of us went out and collected seafood for dinner. Just amazingly delicious clams in simple white wine and cream sauce with a bit of parsley. Entire meal for 10 people cost around 8 quid - you could easily multiply that number by 20 or 30 to get to London prices. Just incredible.
It's nice staying in one place for a bit, especially after running around New Zealand from funzone to funzone for the past few weeks. It's been great to basically wake up, check the tide times, check the surf conditions up and down the coast by talking to a few people staying here and random people in the street. I've managed to squeeze in riding slightly better than every other day and the Narg skill level is definitely improving. It's a pretty solid swell here every day, nothing massively spectacular but nothing too tiny either. Every 7th wave jacks up pretty nice and caught of one of these waves perfectly yesterday, popped onto the board and had the best ride of the holiday so far =)
There's a beautiful japanese girl who works here who I've spoken to a few times. Yesterday we caught the ferry across to the other side of the bay and did a hike for about an hour or so past Shakespeare's Cliff:
Shakespeare's Cliff
To Lonely Bay, a beautiful beach only accessible by foot:
Lonely Bay
There was only 4 people there, myself and Kizumi and on the other end of the beach another couple. The waves were crashing in with about 3' swells and it was just amazing. We stayed there for about 3 hours surfing and chatting and chilling out, then walked back a different way through the bush to the ferry. Had to cross a couple of shallow streams along the way so carried Kizumi over as she wasn't wearing flip-flops. Very romantic. Even plucked up the courage to ask her out for dinner. So we got changed out of board shorts and flip flops and Narg slipped on a shirt and had a fantastic night. Umi rocks - funny, pretty, slightly weird - perfect! Even did a little kissin' after the meal. We walked back home by the small marina with the sailboats - very romantic! I'm gonna be sad to leave to walk away from Umi and Whitianga. She's very cool and it's an amazing place.
Made the return dash over the Crown Range road from Wanaka to Queenstown after going out for dinner and doing some general relaxing. Took the day off in Queenstown to soak up some sun, eat ice cream, get on the smokey treats and generally just chill out with the imminent cruise around Milford Sound coming up.
If Wanaka was the quiet energy - beautiful and serene, then Queenstown is it's rock n roll big brother. Nearly twice the size but stretched out over the eastern edge by the bend in Lake Wakatipu. It's again amazingly hot here and there's relatively a lot of people. It's weird, I mean Queenstown has a population of 10k or so but stretched out over an area the size of Central London - everyone has their own space. It's just total poles apart from cramped London with everyone literally jostling each other for space. The lake and the mountain range called The Remarkables dominate the view. And it's so beautiful. During the journey you could see these great gouges from the rocky peaks, like a giant dragon had slashed a talon into the living rock and ripped it out with vicious force. Cleared spaces in the forest and higher on the rocky plain showed where landslides and rockfalls had tumbled down during an earthquake, they looked like teeth marks from some astral monster biting into the giant ridges streaching skywards. By the same token, there's this beauty in the ruggedness that draws you and dares you to reach the summit of those peaks and look down, like you've conquered this land.
Queenstown by Lake Wakatipu
Needed to loosen up the other night so I went in a sauna with ass, pubic topiary and piercing on display, bowed my head and shuffled towards an elevated seating position. When I glanced at the thermometer it read 40°C (we were just heating the beggar up). I remembered the last time it was 40°C indoors - the frigging central line on the tube this summer! Admittedly, I ALWAYS wanted to do a tube run nude. Oh! The freedom! Imagine the space you'd get around you in rush hour =) Awesome. Anyways, I digress. Yeah so I kind of closed my eyes and made myself think about all the guys back in the city, wished each one a happy new year in my mind and hoped they all were well and cheerful. Weird then to find a couple had posted comments on the blog! Cheers Duffman and Welsh Chris! The ESP connection obviously still works - and I hope that you guys, and the others, are still chirpy =)
And if it makes you feel any comfier, then realise that I was wishing you all well when i was NAKED. Yeah, how does THAT make you feel? Hehehe.
In the continuing New Zealand adventure, yesterday has got to be one of the most incredible days that's ever happened to Narg. The long and short of it was I need to get from Waihi beach on the north island:
To Wanaka in the south island:
The plan was to drive to a place called Rotarua in the middle of the north island from Waihi Beach to grab a quick flight to Christchurch (south island) then change to a smaller plane to fly to Queenstown and drive to Wanaka. Simple eh?
I've been waking up around 7am here but yesterday I awoke at around 6.30am at Waihi to the sound of the swell thundering into the break a mere 30 feet from the beach house. Jumped out of bed faster then a flea having it's ass dipped in vinegar and promptly grabbed board, dove into the water and surfed a good while. A quick outside shower then sliding down a fresh fruit breakfast and jumping into the car to the airport rapdily followed. Rotarua is beautiful - this big volcanic crater containing the lake with the smell of sulphur and hotsprings everywhere. Real "Planet Earth" stuff. Taking off from the tiny airport there and looking down on the lake was incredible. The lush vegetation and thousands of these huge ferns called ponga trees making it feel like you were lifting out of a tropical rainforest.
Ponga tree fern.
My board shorts were still wet jumping onto the plane and I still hadn't sorted out any footwear - tis very liberating travelling in bare feet =) A brief touchdown in Christchurch then onto Queenstown in the smallest passenger plane I've flown on. Narg struck gold in the seating arrangments too. Ended up sitting next to this gorgeous half maori girl with the most beautiful dark skin and brown eyes. She was hugely chatty and we spent the entire flight laughing away and working out on the map the names of the majestic snowy peaks slicing their heads through the clouds. We even saw Aoraki (it's the Maori name for Mount Cook - the highest mountain in NZ - its name literally translates as "Cloud Piercer") very cool.
We were struck dumb when the plane dropped between the mountains into the valley to land at Queenstown though. It really takes your breath away. These huge, craggy peaks misted at the top towering aggressively over the tiny plane banking it's way through the giant folds of land. The plane dropped down to land at the small airfield and there was a palpable sense of excitement in the air from all on board.
Queenstown airport with the lake in the background.
I said goodbye to my travelling companion then waited for a while in the middle of mountains until some of the rest of the group pitched up on a later flight. Blue skies, snowy peaks, hotter than satan's crotch - no problem guys, take your time! Arrive they did though and we jumped into the hire car and crossed the Crown Range Road to drop down into the spectacular Wanaka sitting by the side of the lake shown further above.
Crown Range road.
So we stayed over in our wooden chalet by the beach, drinking the local white wine that was grown in the vineyard owned by a friend of my brother-in-law before crashing out. Ended up sleeping with a blanket to fight off the unwanted advances of an inquisitive mosquito.
Today's a new day and a beautiful one. The mountains rise up on all sides encompassing and hugging and feeding this warm glacial lake, the sun is shining and the small town has a strong, quiet energy to it unlike anything I've ever felt. Glaciers fork their iced tongues down the side of sun baked rocky outcrops in the distance. Trees of every shape, colour and variety imaginable cling to the shores leaning their branches to the blue water as if using their delicate leaves as fishing lures. The people are warm and friendly and generous. There's a sense of peaceful vitality and I'm looking forward to spending the day relaxing and getting ready to continue travelling.
Packing today ready to fly tomorrow. It really sucks to choose what not to take. I'm contemplating just travelling across there with a wallet and a smile and just buying stuff appropriate whatever day it is then giving the previous day's clothes to charity. Funky idea.
Flying Singapore Airlines and heard you get the old tv screen in the back of headrest of the chair in front. Sweet. If I could get a few smokey treats on the go and watch Blazing Saddles, Get Shorty, Star Wars, etc going across Asia and the Pacific Ocean - well it would be a bit like flying in the comfort of my own living room.
Only a short post today. Bit busy. Will try and post again later =)
