We arrive in the soaking rain about 10pm and start trekking to the accommodation by foot… the place was very hard to find but we finally got there around 11pm… soaked.

So we quickly sorted out our accommodation (found out that we needed to pay an extra $9 per night), showered and got our beds.

We ventured downstairs to find that there were some Yanks and Brits drinking and talking. Within no time we were getting on splendidly, and getting into trouble for the noise.

Saturday

We awake to find that the mountains are still covered in cloud and its still raining. After eating a huge European breakie (and acquiring some for lunch) we headed into town to check it out.

“Swiss Art and Craft” we soon discovered means expensive watches, knives and chocolate. So we still decided to browse all the Swiss Art and Craft, taking free samples. After walking around town, checking it out we finally decided to go white water rafting with the Brits later that afternoon.

The white water rafting people picked us up from our hostel and we headed off to the white water rafting base. Once at the start of the rapids we were teamed up with a Yank and Canadian to form a team full of testosterone! You can imagine the outcome of our team (with our Canadian guide too) up against a similar team… lots of racing and outdoing each other. We rocked though!

After getting our free beer we were dropped back to the accommodation, cooked dinner (2 minute noodles) and soon found ourselves in the middle of a game of Kings Cup.

Sunday

Ben and I headed out with the other Aussie (Chris) to go hiking. We were recommended to go to the Trummelbach Falls so Ben and I went there. The Canadian and American that we met the day before were at the falls too (with a couple more randoms).

Incredible!

The falls were absolutely incredible! It is hard to explain them in a way that does them justice but the long and short of it is a waterfall that had cut through the side of the mountain, resulting in a series of chutes that the water took inside caves to make its way to the bottom.

We then headed back to finally go hike a mountain, although it was still too cloudy to see anything. Only half an hour into it my migraine was getting very bad and I started to lose vision and feel ill. So I turned around and headed back to the train station to get some food into me (I hadn’t eaten properly for some time).

Eventually I got back to the accommodation and slept for a few hours until my head started to clear a bit.

When we started to think about dinner we realised that everything was closed because it was a Sunday! Eventually we found out that the camp ground next to us had a convenience store so we picked up some pasta and pasta sauce.

After eating dinner, talking for a while and swimming in glacier water (4 degrees) I made the break for bed to try and get rid of my headache.

Monday

Time to use the 30 minutes of free internet from McDonalds, use the postal service and of course…buy some Swiss chocolate! After coming back from town I took the obligatory skinny dip in glacier water in a quiet part of the lake, 5 min from our hostel. I only lasted about 10 minutes before seriously fearing for my future reproductive capabilities.

Back in the hostel we started playing table tennis! I eventually started to get into the swing of it and not play too badly for a rumb dower…holding my own at least. This lasted for quite a while before we went and started on dinner. Another round of pasta and sauce…this time with a bit of meat and veg!!

After that we somehow ended up doing physical challenges as you do! The one I am most proud of as usual was my limbo ability. Even with my horribly ruined spine I managed to beat the shortest guy (5ft) and all the girls (one was a dancer). Ahh… trust the rowers to end up with a physical challenge!

In the end, absolutely everyone had lost something or another and ended up having to skinny dip in the freezing lake! Haha, at least I knew what to expect! It seemed like that’s all Corbs and Ben wanted to do all day was to make people get naked in the lake, so they finally had their way - good thing it was pitch black!

Tuesday

Finally after 4 days in Switzerland the clouds lift and we can see the mountains that surround us! What an amazing, beautiful place!!

Just in time for us to pack our bags and get on the train to Munich (or Munchen as the Germans say).

We meet Ben at the train station and jump on the train to Paris!

On the train Ben & I watched most of Summer Heights High (they had power on that train!). After a pretty fast train ride we find our way to our accommodation in Paris only to discover its just outside of the red light district… down the road from the Moulin Rouge! Paris… crawling in sex shops and strip joints :/

We legged it around for ages before deciding to eat at the cheapest place possible… a Buffalo Grill for 9.50 eruo.

Tuesday
After hardly sleeping because of all the noise outside (it sounded like gang warfare, people were getting beaten up and sirens etc) Ben started knocking on our door at 8:30am until I let him in.

[us eating crossiants]

We surfaced and grabbed some croissants. We went straight to the Eurail office to reserve our seats… we waited for hours and ended up paying 59 euros (after already spending over $200 on our Eurail pass) for the first leg (Paris to Interlarken) only to find out that we can’t book our German legs until we arrive in Germany.

So after being terribly annoyed, we sucked it up and made our way to the Eiffel Tower (and looked at everything on the way). We ended up waiting in line next to two Australian journalism students (from QUT… gosh Paris is crawling with Aussie tourists). We spent the rest of the day with the girls from QUT (the boys were let down after discovereing that one was married and the other engaged… it was good for me because I could have a good conversation with them without stepping in their way :D). The Eiffel Tower was very nice, and very worthwhile, after walking so far to get there (at least 6km) and viewing the city from the top I can now tell you that Paris is a MASSIVE city, very crowded and widespread… all the buildings actually look the same.

After getting dinner (baguette, cold baked beans, cold meat, warm beer) we decided to head across to the Moulin Rouge.

We walked past the hundreds of sex stores, sex shows and strip joints etc to get there and wait in line. We didn’t know that we needed to make a reservation so the guy made us wait at the end of the line until he found out if there were any availabilities. We ended up being let in with two Australian girls (more Aussie tourists) from Melbourne. All of us were pretty stoked because we thought they’d let us in for free,,,until the bill came in for 89euro each… ouch! Nevertheless it was a fantastic night! The performances were very impressive - I wish I spoke French! Obviously there was too much partial nudity but you quickly see past that. There was some Cirques-esk stuff that was very impressive, this very talented man that played the drums by throwing ping pong balls from his mouth (that description hardly does him justice). Anyway, the long and short of it was that it was expensive, but well worthwhile - one of those things that you just have to “have done”.

Wednesday
After a few hours sleep, then laying around in bed for a while we surfaced to our usual breakfast of croissants as we trekked it to the Notre Dame and Louvre. They were very fascinating… that’s about all I can say - you have to see it for yourself, just be prepared to have sore feet and spend hours there.

After getting home we tried, yet again, to find the Paris night life. After having our 750ml Heineken’s and trekking it for a while, we found a Hostel with only a handful of people, but they were having a quiet one and were already pretty clicky and tipsy. So we ended up just heading home after a while.

Thursday
Ben left before Corbs and I woke up so we ended up “shopping in Paris” - as you do! We were feeling pretty poor, so that made it hard, but nonetheless we managed to buy some nice stuff. But the real thing was the browsing… wow! If I had heaps of money I’d exclusively buy suits from Paris! OMG!! Wow! Classy, pimped out suits everywhere! And heaps of cool streetwear and the best fitted shirts you’ll ever come across!

Friday
I’ve had my last French croissants, baguette and expressos… now sitting on a train to Interlarken (Switzerland) writing my blog entry to post when I get internet access and my battery is almost flat. I’m working on getting more photos up on facebook soon too… once I’ve got a good internet connection.

Au revior!

Wednesday
After a disappointing loss to Cambridge I went across the road to enjoy a Guinness with my parents, had a enjoyable chat about my plans for the next while… I’m still terribly confused about what I’m doing with rowing, study, travel, work etc - not sure about what I’m doing and the timing of it. Honours or not? Harvard, Cambridge, Oxford and/or Macquarie? Rhodes? Masters? Thesis topics? Being in Sydney? London? Boston? Vancouver? Do I hang around and aim for 2012? 2016? Anyway, that will continue to be on my mind for the next while, so I’ll keep you posted.

We followed that with a trip to the Flower Pot (a nice little place to eat near the start line) where I had a MASSIVE fish and chips. The chips were the size of wedges and the fish was incredibly huge! (photo doesn’t do it justice)

[insert photo of meal]

Thursday
We get suited up in our macquarie kit and make our way around the Stewards Enclosure and the rest of the course. We checked out all the merchandise, got given about half a dozen free drinks and bought myself a new pair of cheap sunnies.

Dinner was at the Weatherspoons again (cheapest food & drink in the area). Following that we were chaperoned around Henley by this guy we met earlier called Jeremy. In the end Corbs, Cadeyrn and I were led around henley for about 2.5 hours before we reached the only club where anything was happenning. At that point (1:30am) Corbs and me were expired and legged it all the way home to save ourselves (and the 5pounds) for Friday… Cadeyrn stumbled in at around 3am.

Friday
Zoe and Ben went into London and the rest of us stayed in Henley. Corbs and I met up with my parents to hire a boat, paddle down to the finish line and watch races…moored right on the course markers. It was really fun! We had PIMM’S, beer, baguette, cold meat, lots of cheese and antipasto whilst watching races… FINALLY A SUMMER DAY!

We spent the rest of the day around the Stewards watching races and meeting people. Ended up meeting Rob & Susanne for pizza & wine.

Saturday
The big day… after being too exhausted to go out on Friday we made our way to the course a bit later (around 11am). After taking some crew photos Cadeyrn quickly disappeared again and the rest of us went to have Coffee & Cream and English Tea with a Baileys chaser in the Stewards enclosure.

Following our brunch drinks we made our way to the Fawley Bar where spent hours drinking with Mark Beer (my old MRC coach) and his significant other, Kelly. Mark was very kind by insisting on buying us all drinks (and writing it off as expenses for JCBC recruitment). He got me excited about Cambridge which only makes my decision harder… still it was exciting!

Zoe wandered off to get food and didn’t see us at the Fawley bar, so I wandered down the course to find her. I ended up meeting my parents (squeezing my way through the crowds) and we then headed to the Weatherspoons to use the free wireless. Corbs and Ben ended up rocking up coincidentally (I sent Corbs a message but he didn’t have reception) so we sat there for a while having a few drinks.

I then ducked back to the bank of the river to watch Philthy’s race… it was a disappointing loss to the University of Western Ontario (the eventual winners). His race was essentially the final considering how easily UWO won the next day. I quickly legged it across to the boat tent, bought him a sports drink and promised that I’d buy him something harder later that night.

We went back to meet Rob for dinner, then we found out that Zoe was back at the accommodation so we decided that we’d go home and have dinner there. She was pretty upset that she’d be lost again, unfortunately she left her phone at home so once we were separated she was very isolated. Understandably she didn’t really feel like going out so after stocking up on food and cheap drinks the three amigos headed back in to town to hit up the town.

This was the night we’d been waiting for! We got up to a whole heap of shenanigans, met up with the pontoon boys and introduced the boys to a bunch of girls for them to work their moves — the photos tell all!

I ended up heading off with Philthy and the Harvard boys toward the end of the night. Some van reversed into me at quite a speed… bloody useless driver - my nose still hurt the next day. I bounced back quickly and then had some burning hot nasty noodles outside the sports bar where we ended up. Then I legged it back to Phil’s and headed across to my place after being pointed in the right direction by pommy lass.

I was laying on the lawn studying the stars for about 5 minutes before being interrupted by Ben & Corbs arriving home. So we went inside, swapped stories grabbed a croissant and went to bed around dawn.

Sunday
I wake up feeling marginally sick in the stomach after Philthy’s beer & tequila concoction complimented by 3am noodles. I soon came to when brunch was served at 11am.

[insert photo of brunch]

Pretty incredible, aye! Our host, Odette, was fantastic! A lovely lady who made us brunch on our last day. My folks came across and we said our goodbyes. We then played cards for a few hours before I ducked down to the course to watch a few of the finals and buy some merchandise (ouch… pounds!).

Now I have to learn how to spectate

So here’s the run down…

We flew out on Wed afternoon. Nanna, Pa, Auntie Jo and Angus took me to the airport to see me off (which was really nice). After stopping over in Bangkok and getting a Thai massage (Corbs had a guy massaging him and it was rather amusing) we arrived safely in London on Thursday morning GMT.

After waiting another 2 hours because Zoe’s plane was delayed, we located our car and drove to Henley (via Staines BC to pick up some gear). The car is the SMALLEST seven seater you will EVER see, by the time we arrived in Henley to drop off our gear at the accommodation many of us had numb body parts because the bags were packed in on top of us (I don’t think I can emphasise just how tightly we were packed).

Upon arriving at Sequia House, we were greeted by the lovely Odette Moss (and her large dog) who showed us to our rooms and made us feel comfortable. She has been the most helpful, wonderful, generous host and I am so thankful that we were lined up with her.

Quick change in to zooties and we made our way down to the course to rig up the boat and go for a training row.

The training row was tough, we were all so jet lagged and the crew lacked concentration, but this was to be expected after the flight - thank God we didn’t have to qualify on the Friday!

We picked up a bit of shopping and then I cooked us some nice burritos. After demolishing the burritos we all tried to stay awake to get over the jet lag and eventually hit the sack at about 9pm — in the 51 hours prior I had only 2 hours sleep.. zzz…

Friday morning came and we awoke to a fantastic breakfast prepared by Odette, scoffed it down and then ducked away to the course for a training row. It seemed to go all right, however you could still tell we were recovering from jet lag.

Again the process of “eat, sleep, row” carried on for the rest of Friday and Saturday until we had a day off on Sunday (first day off in at least a fortnight).

On Sunday we dropped Ben, Corbs and Zoe down to the train station so they could spend the day in London; Rob, Susanne and Cadeyrn went to Oxford and I hung in Henley for the day. My folks came down from London for the day to meet me which was great I hadn’t seen them for a few weeks. I took them for a tour of the course and then we ran in to big Philthy Matthews!! So we all went to the Catherine Wheel for lunch which became afternoon tea as well.

We talked with Philthy for hours about his time at Harvard, rowing, politics, Uni, family and all the usual sort. It was great to catch up with him! Ah, I love that kid!

When we all arrived back on the Sunday evening for a wonderful meal that Odette decided to make for us, Cadeyrn was starting to get sick. His sickness lasted through until Tuesday.

This meant that we had not trained as a crew between our last row on Saturday and Tuesday morning when we went for a very short training row.

So that brings me to today. We’re racing Cambridge University at 5:20pm GMT and we are far under-prepared. As Rob said in our crew meeting yesterday, “the only way we can win this first race is with passion, and we’re going to need a heck load”.

Here’s hoping!

They’re all imported into this blog now (without comments)

So, where have I been? I’ve been finishing off Uni for the semester!!! IT’S ALL DONE!

Trained out at the riff (Penrith) yesterday - ’twas windy and cold ;( - but the pieces were getting faster throughout the day, quite proportionately to the rate, which is encouraging.

Anyway, I’m about to take Jesse to the movies as any good brother should - it’s his Birthday present from me

I’m sure going to miss my family, also some close friends and the rowing season - but apart from that… WHOOOO!!! I CAN’T WAIT TO GET TO CANADA!!

Peace out

“by the time you realise that you are an adult, you’ll be at least a dozen life-changing decisions into your adult life”

Aint that the truth!

Find something of incredible value to you, develop and understanding of its worth, then have it removed from you by means out of your control. Discover when you’ll be reunited, then wait… and keep waiting…”

It’s one of the hardest things you’ll ever have to do.

Surely after that you’d have a better understanding of patience!

…I’ve got it so damn good!

The things I have coming up in my life are so worth waiting for!