Saturday, 7 July 2007

Better Lake Than Never








Apologies for taking so long to update this space earlier, but I guess when it rains, it pours! And what beter place to be poured on than in London - where it has been raining for about 13 days straight - right in the early part of summer (YEah Right! , what summer!??!?!) Despair not, however, for the sun is here today. And it takes me back to Lake District: 6-hour drive up north from London, half way up to Scotland, really.

Sharing the ride with Sarah, we picked up the car from Central London around 6pm on Friday night for the 3-day weekend. The best feelign is that of leaving the big smoke behind. And as most people planned to leave on Saturday morning, we had a pretty cruisy time on the road. The next morning it's straight to the hills. If this is any indication of how green Scotland is, then we definitely going there. Don't let the sunshine fool you though - it was pretty chilly still. We loved the view from the hills, and the sheep. And the fact that everyone else seems to be in designer professional hiking gear (it's no walk in the park but it's definitely NOT Mt Fuji!), and we were in jeans and snickers. Needless to say the most common shop in the touristy little towns are hiking-gear shops.

We stayed in Keswick, where every second little house is a bed and breakfast. We walked around the markets, ate bad (typical) English food, and checked out the lake in a little boat. And tried not to disturb the sheep, who seem to occupy every available green space there. Definitely worth the drive, even though I was sick for one of the days. Oh we also drove around many other lakes and checked out an old church whose yard is full of beautiful graves which was rather peaceful.

Increase the peace and make sure Howard is out by time we get back to Aus!
Peter (&Rachel who is trying to sleep in on this sunny Saturday morning)

Thursday, 5 July 2007

Achtung Baby







A few years ago I had the pleasure of getting to know a German dude who was studying in Brisbane for a year. his name is Jochen, and in June we had the double pleasure of going to his wedding in Germany. Flying to Dortmund on Friday night, we were picked up by Jochen and his friend.. we travelled on the much-anticipated Autobahn at about 160km/hr, which would have got us to the smal town his wife is from quite quickly. Except we were running out of petrol and had to drop into Haagen to find a petrol station. They were very embarassed and kept saying that this situation was very much NOT typical of germany's efficiency. Hey, we didn't care.. It was a nice ceremony and the reception was awesome (complete with games, a massive cheese platter, spaklers tied onto balloons, plenty of Jeigermeister shots and dancing til 3am!) . And also check out some unique art by the bride's god-father whose house we stayed at for 2 nights. Super...

Oh I've got a name for my new band too: Ausgang. And if we turn out to be really bad, people will call us Ausfart. ..Oh don't ask about the McDonald's photo - I had to do it. Sums up corporate globalisation really. There are a few more photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/itspeterb
Bit-sao-ban!
Peter (& Rachel, who just had her birthday yesterday)