UK Life Update

Just looking back on the last few weeks I realize I’ve been up to plenty of mischief, so here’s the summary -

- Farmer Plil’s Festival
- Steve’s Budapest Stag do, and wedding in Manchester
- Trip to Conwy and Llandudno
- 30th Birthday weekend celebrations
- Catch up with Pete, Gin and Marianna in Belper
- Meeting more family in Derby
- Matlock Bath and Heights of Abraham cable car.

Farmer Phil’s festival

To be honest I didn’t know what to expect. A decade ago the festival started with a band, Hollywood Tease, invited to play at cousin Nick’s 21st birthday. This time, at the 10th year anniversary they returned (for the 10th time) to play alongside an impressive collection of local bands. The final act was a fantastic performance by the Blues Brothers tribute band, complete with a Cortina entrance and all those classic songs. My good mate Kalman came up for the weekend and we had a blast. I helped out with odd jobs on the stage setup, then worked the bar for periods between drinks, jumping around in the crowd and exploring the stalls. Phil, Karen, family and the crew did a great job so may it continue for many years.

Working at the Bar

Phil's Chieftain Tank

The Blues Brothers Tribute Band

Kalman, Daniel and a scared girl

Recovery Day

Budapest Stag do

I jumped at the opportunity to visit the capital of Hungary, which is split by the Danube river into Buda and Pest. The occasion was the second stag do for my manager Steve, who was married the following weekend in Manchester. Eight guys were on the trip, and the object was basically to explore as many pubs and clubs as possible, shoot a few guns and have a look at the geography. Our first evening started brilliantly with our lovely guide Szusza. Frankly, we wouldn’t have dared go into some of the places she took us, but beyond the inconspicuous doorways and lazy bouncers lay some real gems. On bar was at the top of an old department store. A long graffiti covered stairway led to a sunny open roof space with lots of people and cheap drinks.

The second day we visited a shooting alley. In typical Budapest style the doorway said nothing and was hidden away behind old slummy buildings. It led to a cold underground bunker where you could let off a cannon and nobody outside would hear. Clearly remnants of Soviet rule, as was the brick-shaped ex-Russian army dude with the guns. Zees ez de Luger, de Glock 9mm semi auto, Magnum 9mm and ze pump action shotgun. Zair ez ze target. BOOM... Despite scary appearances everything was well controlled and we had a great time popping live rounds, learning a new appreciation of the power of such weapons.
On our second evening we were able to navigate ourselves surprisingly, around all the bars we had previously visited and found a few more. This is a brilliant place for nightlife and is highly recommended.

River Danube Nightscape

The final morning we spent looking around the city and waterfront, admiring all the beautiful people as much as the awesome architecture, which seemed to be everywhere. The weather was pleasantly warm the whole time we were there. It's a great place to visit.

Gellert Statues

Road Trip to Conwy and Llandudno

Llandudno was the place my grandparents went for their honeymoon, and also for family holidays. I headed out there one Sunday with flatmate Melinda and her friend Chris. We stopped first at Conwy castle. This is the first real castle I had ever seen, so I was just like a child, running up each of the turrets to explore. Onto Llandudno we drove around Gogarth Peninsula and up to the top for a look. Very chilly weather. They had a cable train which went for a seemly pointlessly short distance up the final part of the incline. Remember, we’re not talking mountains here in the UK!







30th Birthday weekend celebrations

The main event was a blast around the local go-kart track, but I was most looking forward to seeing old NZ mates Kalman, Tobias and Sarah. Thanks a lot guys for making it a great weekend! Saturday afternoon we all tripped up to Blackpool to see what all the fuss is about. The seaside town is built on family amusements and Blackpool rock. Plenty of lights, rides, themed shops and skill-testers, the ultimate prizes being larger-than-life Crazy Frogs and Spongebobs. Lots of BB guns for sale too...
Had a great party in the evening – thanks Claire for coming up from Shrewsbury. We had a great night out on Stockton Heath and Warrington town.



Catch up with Pete, Gin and Marianna in Belper

Had not seen these guys for months. Even though Marianna lives in Belper now, she is pretty busy now with life and new business http://www.embersmerino.com/, and I hadn’t caught up with her. Pete and Gin had just returned from a Contiki tour of Europe and Ireland, so we managed to meet up for dinner at the local pub before they headed off to Norway. Great to see you all!

Meeting more family in Derby

My second cousin Judy is a fantastic host and organizer of family dos, and just as good at making chocolate cake, scones and strawberry jam. On this occasion she arranged to bring together more family at John and Dorothy’s place. I met their other son and the twins Brenda and Sue. I even had a few presents to open.

All these people are cousins, so it was a real family occasion to celebrate my 30th at my home away from home.

Matlock Bath and Heights of Abraham cable car.

The day after the above family bash, I strolled around Matlock Bath in search of a chocolate shop Judy had mentioned. That was quickly forgotten for the awe of all the motorcycles parked up along the parade. A couple were pulling wheelies and stoppies to the crowd’s appeal. I forgot my day’s chores and took the cable car up the Heights of Abraham to get a bit of a view. After all, it was a beautiful Sunday and winter is fast approaching.

Humble Beginnings

The time has come to create a blog! The "UK Travel" phase of my life began back at the end of May and I have sent a couple of mass emails since then. I'll now send links to this blog to keep you informed.

To start off, I've pasted in my previous mail below....

Hi All, there's a bit of an essay here, so sit back and relax. Get a cuppa tea even...

I have been here in the UK 9 weeks now and I'm having an amazing time. I have just ended a weekend in Shropshire celebrating the wedding of my 2 nd Cousin Kate. She is the first of my generation to be married. Her husband John Hardman is an amazing musician with several musically talented friends. The wedding and reception on Friday was followed by drinking, relaxing and jamming sessions on Saturday. I was thrilled to be part of it, and the weather played its part too by putting on some of the best summer weather we have had all year. Only three or four weeks earlier I met Kate at another 2 nd cousin Hannah's birthday. In the weeks since, I met Kate's brother's Nick and Christopher, also their parents Vin and Linda. Linda is Farmer Phil's sister. Confused? The easiest way to explain is that Kate's grandfather and my grandfather were brothers.
The wedding was set at Ratlinghope church, a small remote setting with a lot of family history. Outside the church are Harold and Hilda (Harding)'s gravestone. Vin and Linda were also married here. The whole family has been amazingly welcoming, as has John's family. I feel right at home!

On a similar family line, next week is "Farmer Phil's Festival" Now 10 years old there is quite an impressive line-up of bands. Phil has created the ideal setting with a rotating stage a-la-milking-carousel and different zones catering for all the party-goers. The whole county seems to know about it, as wherever Phil goes the nod of respect or fist-filling pint is given. Really looking forward to that, and will send photos soon.

Things are going well at work. About a month ago I traveled to Rotterdam (Netherlands), Brussels and Wavre (Belgium). Though it was a fleeting visit I was traveling around by train and car so had a chance to look around. I saw a few traditional windmills and buildings but generally I wasn't particularly impressed by it. I guess I'm used to natural landmarks like mountains and hills. Some areas I was traveling through in the Netherlands are 10 metres below sea level. Pumping stations with huge visible augers keep the ground dry – the whole country would otherwise fill with water. Frightening really! On the more interesting side (for an engineer:) I had a glimpse of the impressive dyke, lock and sea protection system they have.

The work I am doing changes on a daily basis, which I am enjoying. New prospects and continuing work means plenty of communication with "Mother ship" in NZ, our distributors in Europe, and UK contacts. A couple of weeks ago three people came over from NZ along with representatives from our three distributors in Europe for the launch of our new Voice200 instrument. Prospects in Germany may mean a trip for me later in the year.
The 3-person team in the office here gets on really well. Nicola (sales and office support) and I took manager Steve to the local pub for lunch last week for his birthday, and even had a cake for him. He is getting married shortly – his stag do was in the weekend just gone, but I missed it due to Kate's wedding. Gladly, his brother the best man has planned two, the second being in Budapest in a couple of weeks. Will be going on that one!

I have otherwise not been too far on my own. With the NZ guys were here jumped into the rental car and visited Rhyl on the North coast of Wales. A nice seaside town but unfortunately tainted by several run-down buildings and old-style amusements.. The kind with huge scary looking clown's faces made of flaking fiberglass. Weather wasn't great but we all had a bit of fun on the 2-pence coin slider cascade machines. Will travel a bit further next time and see the real Welsh country.
Last weekend I visited Chester, about a half hour from here. This is (I think) the only surviving completely fortified town in GB. Huge ancient walls surround the centre of the town. I walked the circuit and found lots of points of interest. Just outside the walls is a staircase lock which I must have spent half an hour watching. Several long-boats were making their way up the locks, their crews each operating the valves and gates with varying success. Water flooding over the gates and onto downstream boats wasn't a good look, but certainly entertaining.

Last weekend I moved into a new flat with a couple of others, Melinda and Sarah. They are both working, have been in the place for over a year and we are all getting on great. The house has 5 rooms so we are using the others to store extra things. I intend to be here for some time, so put these details in your contacts:

24 Farrell Road
Stockton Heath
Warrington WA46LR
UK
0044 1925 499 607

Mobile 0044 786 779 0564

Having a party on the 1st of September for my 30th birthday and housewarming.. so plenty going on here in the next while! This is a short week for me as on Friday Phil's festival begins. I'm picking up my mate Kalman from the train in Shrewsbury and we are going to have a blast.
By the way, several more photos have and will be posted on facebook. Look me up! http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=882525575