Official "Backpacker"?

Official "Backpacker"?
Originally uploaded by T. Hancock.

(Photo: Sia Furler live at Colston Hall, Bristol 30/05/06)

Well I've done it folks, stayed in a completly forgin city with no accomodation bookings and little to no clue to what I was doing or where I was and I've lived to tell the tale. Stayed at the Bristol YHA and I'm now signed up for the year. Am I a backpacker now?

Now on to the main part! The reason I went to Bristol! ZERO 7... ZERO "FUCKING" 7 WOOHOO!!! They are No# 4 on my most listened to band list and they hold the No# 1 spot on my most listened to song with the perfect "Somersault".

Completly awesome! The gig was everything I expected and 10x more! Sia, José, Henry, Sam and the whole band were there. Sia was absolutly gorgeous and funny! I was there early and stood right up the front on the barrier. Had the best view but my ears are still ringing. Got to hear all the main songs that I love and Sia even sung "Breath Me" which was a fantastic suprise... When everyone was cheering after the end of the song Sia noticed me bowing at her and seemed a little taken back by my efforts and kinda gasped then pointing and smiling! She is an amazing singer!

I even managed to squeeze in some Bristol sight seeing as I had 3 hours before the gig. I'll add some photos up soon on the flickr website. You can access them by clicking on the "Random Photos" on the right of this page.

So 6 trains, 1.5 days and well over £100 and it has been very very worth it!

Perhaps this is why I left Australia?

Perhaps this is why I left Australia?
Originally uploaded by T. Hancock.

(Pictured: Newquay Beach)

Well it's been a long day but well worth it! Sami's cafe opened today among a flurry of stress and swaring. Everything ended up going well apart from minor hickups which were well expected.

Some more notable changes:

• The roads are so well maintained over here. Hardly a pot hole to be seen. And this is great news when your diving an old bomb of a car like Sami's (it's name is "piglet" as it squeaks occasionally and we do love it so).
  
  
• More great music like Lemon Jelly, Chemical Brothers and Shapshifter... very awesome.
  
  
• Bacon is really weird and not smoked and therefore very raw!
  
  
• The pounds thing is starting to sink into my head and I'm not converting as often... I can even write a pound symbol now... go me! Customers of the cafe find it rather amusing when I occasionally still announce that their meal will be X "dollars".

Sami helped me organise the tickets to the Zero 7 gig that's on in Bristol on Tuesday. So I should be set to go! I've said to many people that if I get to go see them live that it would be worth the trip alone!

Mostly over jetlag... I slept from 5pm till 7am the other morning! I needed it I think.

Anyhow... must sleep. Less then 6 hours sleep for the second day in a row isn't going to help me or the cafe!

I'm going to get myself in soooo much trouble!

Just another Cornish road...

Originally uploaded by T Hancock.

Okay... right... Struggling to find a place to start again. So much to tell! Perhaps my morning in Japan? I jumped up about 7:30 to race downstairs and have brekky so I could be ready early to look around. My attempts were completly futile though, one is rather stuck on Kansai airport unfortunatly. The airport was quite a spectical itself fortunatly.
So I've finally got my feet on the ground in the UK and getting back into some routine. Thankfully I've had Sami by my side teaching me everything that's different. Most of it has been sinking in despite jetlag.
This is the part where I'm getting in trouble... I've already had several lectures from Sami regarding the English sensibility and how best to avoid offending it. For example the use of the word "bugger" around grandparents is not appropriate and don't call "bullshit" at the dinner table.
Sami's Cafe is coming along very well. It's only quite small with seating for 25 inside and around 15 outside (not that you would). She got the first delivery of food and should be ready for the Thursday opening! I've finally gotten my mobile back up and going with a new number so e-mail me if you'd like the number.

Notable changes:

• The radio stations and music here are awesome! For example on Radio 1 I've already heard Mylo, Goldfrapp and Primal Scream! In my opinion the UK has always been the home of the best music in the world and I wasn't wrong!
• Everything is sooo green! The Cornish country side is so pretty.
• The weather really is as bad a what everyone complains. They keep telling me it was great a few days ago... I happen to think it's a big conspiracy to tick the dopey convict from Australia!
• Telephone companies are insanely complex in their pricing structure (or tariffs as it's called here) and unbelievably slow to deal with.
• It's amazing how the whole country is geared to the cold weather. Everywhere is centrally heated and quite cosy despite the freezing cold outside. Also Cornwall is so geared towards the summer season and the tourists. It's amazing the whole culture is set up to deal with tourists over the summer season and the whole of Cornwall shuts down for the winter. The implications this are really amazing as effect so many aspects of daily life.
• The summer solstice is really weird. I look outside and it's about 2:30 hours later then what I'm used to. So I'll think it's around 5pm at night and it's really closer to 8pm at night.
• Apparently 1 in 3 people have hayfever in the UK which is really great news for me as it makes the hayfever drugs really cheap. I was paying around $15 AU for weekly tablets and here it osts as little as £1.00 ($2.45 AU). But better then that is the fact that my hayfever is actually clearing up a little and *fingers crossed* might actually go away!!
• The @ and the " on the UK keyboard are swapped over... majorly annoying! LOL

Okay enough for now... 12am and not doing my jetlag any favours!

Woohoo JAPAN!

Oh my... where to start? Well first off I had everyone that was dear to me at the airport to see me off! Of course there were tears... had to happen.
The flight was amazing! I got to see the Great Barrier Reef from the sky, a sunset on one side of the sky and the twilight sky on the other and Osaka, Japan by night. Watched the Aeon Flux for the in flight movie and sat drinking green tea most the way. The staff were amazing and I actually enjoyed my first flight, can't wait for tomorrow!
All my joints hurt... you really know that us humans aren't ment to be up that high!
I can't quite make heads or tails of almost everything around me here in Japan... it'd take some getting used to. It took me about 5 mins to work out how to use the phones to call my mum and sister and it cost me 1000 yen (can't find the yen key on the keyboard) which is about $15 AUD (I think) for a few minutes. LOL!
Tomorrow morning I'm going to attempt an ultra fast tour around and take heaps of photos! Hehe! But for now sleep will be most welcomed!

Even had the shirt bought off my back...

Friday night was occupied with sorting out years of paper work and organising tax and alike. It took hours and I was up till the very early hours... mind you that had little to do with the fact that the new Zero 7 video clip was showing on TV at 2am.
I'd also organised to hold a last minute garage sale on Saturday. Needless to say I was up at the crack of dawn along with the bargain hunters. One of them was looking through some hardly used clothes I'd laid out. Sorting through he actually found the bottom of a top I'd been sleeping in and was wearing at the time. Both SOLD for $2! It ended up being quite a success.
Along with mum and Sami C's help (thanks again!) the flat is ready for a bond inspection.
Now in Newcastle I've been doing the usual rush around to visit all the friends and family I can. Most have been great coming over and visiting and by the end of tonight I should have visited almost everyone I wanted to see. Getting all the last loose ends tied up and I'll be back in Sydney to sell my car then off to the airport the next morning.

Woah crap... thinking too much again!

So remind me again...


(Huskisson Beach)

... why am I leaving this country?


(My view from work in Dee Why)

Desperately trying not to think about leaving... kinda starting to make me sick. I cannot comprehend any of it anyway... so why should I attempt to when it's making me.... erk!
Have gotten lots of little jobs done and plenty of packing... no cleaning though!
So much cleaning is due tomorrow as well as a little packing. The convoy is on it's way... Mum is down to help with her huge Ford van... thank god!

My Celica, Unwired modem and old Motorola V70 mobile are now on eBay... that took half the morning but I must admit the auctions look good!

Blog wise there's now a ShoutBox, drop down menus for the side bar, a counter with statistics and my old smilies are back!

Status? Changes in bold again:

• Cleaning for rental bond - 5%
• Flight Booking - 95% (Waiting on e-ticket)
  
• Packing - 80%
• Goodbye's to Friends / Family - 20%
• Necessary items sold (here) - 40%
• Functioning Blog System - 90%

Flight Details!

Flying with Japan Airlines with an overnight stop over in Osaka. All times listed are local times of that city.

18th May:
9:35am - Fly out of Sydney, Australia
6:05pm - Arrive at Kansai International Airport, Osaka, Japan
Total duration: 7,792 km @ 9hr 30min

Taking a guess I'd say I'll be staying at Hotel Nikko

19th May:
12:00pm - Fly out of Kansai International Airport, Osaka, Japan
4:35pm - Heathrow International Airport, London, United Kingdom
Total duration: 9,844 km @ 12hr 30min

More details as I get them!

Laughing all the way to the bank...

And crying walking away! See it was more of an insane kind of laughing all the way to the bank knowing that I had to draw out 90% of my funds to pay for my flight and get a UK bank account set up. And it was defiantly crying as I walked away seeing the amount available once I'd finished!
I needed to have £1500 (grrr... I don't even have a UK pound key on my keyboard yet!) to open a bank account. Now with fees and all charged by Travelex it equated to $4000 AUD. Ouch! I wasn't quite expecting to not have those funds available to me and they won't be available for 5 weeks from now! Double ouch! But I managed to weave my way around that... Thanks Mum!
So my flight is paid for and I'm waiting to get my ticket, should be Monday!! A little more packing and I sold a couple of items... the house is looking bare already! Annnd I've been fiddling with the coding behind the blog which should make things a little easier to read for some bringing it a little closer to "functional".
Oh and dinner with Sami C. and Tristan... kinda a "good bye" dinner. Was nice. Reminding me of old times.

Status? Changes in bold again:

• Passport - *Complete*
• UK Working Holidaymaker Visa - *Complete*
• Flight Booking - 90% (Waiting on ticket)
  
• Travel Insurance - *Complete*
• Packing - 10%
• Goodbye's to Friends / Family - 10%
• Necessary items sold (here) - 30%
• Functioning Blog System - 85%
• UK Bank Account - *Complete* (Access on 15th June)
  

Test of my prioritisation and self motivation!

Now don't get me wrong I'm loving all this organisation but bloody hell I'm having difficulty setting priorities on the jobs I have to do. I have a list as long as my arm of things to do before I go and the hours on my watch aren't going any slower!! Arrhhh!
Alas I did manage a few major tasks today. I now have my "UK Working Holidaymaker Visa" in my hands! YAY! I also grabbed a "International Youth Travel Card" and got the major paperwork done to get a UK bank account while I was in the city today. Oh and I managed to get my travel insurance done today, so I'm set for 12 months now!

So today’s status look like (changed items in bold):

• Passport - *Complete*
• UK Working Holidaymaker Visa - *Complete*
• Flight Booking - 50% (Deposit taken)
• Travel Insurance - *Complete*
• Necessary Funds - 100%
• Packing - 7%
• Goodbye's to Friends / Family - 5%
• Necessary items sold (here) - 10%
• Functioning Blog System - 80%
• UK Bank Account (Difficult to obtain) - 50% (Paperwork complete)
• Accommodation - 100% (Thanks Sami!)
• Job in UK - 100% (Thanks again Sami!)

The story so far...

So this is how the story goes people (just to catch up the people who have no idea how / why I'm going to the UK)!

It starts with "Live Sparks Cafe" in Newcaste where I was working around 12 months ago. Jeremy, an old school friend, called asking if I would help him with a cafe on the Northern Beaches in Sydney. Why not? I big move for a small Newcastle boy and I get to help out a friend.
This where I meet Sami C. as a waitperson at the cafe Jeremy is taking over. So we rehire Sami C. and we become quite good friends. Now through Sami C. I meet a good friend of hers Sami S. Months pass and I end up friends with the two of them.
6 moths pass and Sami S. ends up deciding to move back to the UK to pursue her career. Myself and Sami C. are both looking to move out our respective homes at the time to Dee Why... and Sami S. happens to be moving out of Dee Why. Nuff said, me and Sami C. move into Sami S's Dee Why flat.
On one of Sami S's infrequent calls back to Australia weeks after she left she asks to speak with me randomly mentioning a business idea that she had and that I should come over and help her out! Little did she know how seriously I took her! Hahaha!
Ideas turn into plans and plans turn into me working my arse off for the next 4 months to save the required money to get there!
Brief and not missing too much detail but your fully caught up now so I expect you to keep up from now on! ;)

So here goes... the first post!

What better way to start off the blog with the following news delivered to my inbox this morning:

---

RE: Your Visa Application @ Canberra (Ref: #####) 9:34 am

Your application has been approved and the visa has been issued.

It will be delivered by Australian Air Express ph: 13 12 13 web: www.aae.com.au
Their reference number is ########

---

My visa application was made on 27th of April so for it to have come through this fast is great news! I wasn't able to submit it much earlier due to the list of accompanying documents to go with it... mind you I was slow at getting a hold of them. It's been holding me up on doing the major things like paying for my flight, travel insurance and setting up a UK bank account, although it didn't stop me quitting my job 2 weeks ago... hehe!

Okay so this is the first post where I'm suppose to be way over excited and barely able to contain myself, right? Errr.... kinda...? Let's do a quick status check:

• Passport - *Complete*
• UK Working Holidaymaker Visa - *Complete* (As of today)
• Flight Booking - 50% (Deposit taken)
• Travel Insurance - 50% (Picked one - Unpaid)
• Necessary Funds - 100%
• Packing - 5%
• Goodbye's to Friends / Family - 5%
• Necessary items sold (here) - 10%
• Functioning Blog System - 80%
• UK Bank Account (Difficult to obtain) - 0%
• Accommodation - 100% (Thanks Sami!)
• Job in UK - 100% (Thanks again Sami!)

I've worked quite hard on getting this blog functioning in time and I think it'll pay off! I'm able to post to it anywhere in the world with pictures from my mobile phone using Flickr! Pretty geeky but it'll make for a great way to blog as I travel.
There's also a Google map showing the places I've been. It's pretty freaky the detail of the maps... try zooming into the pointer for my home. I set it to "Dee Why Beach" and lets just say you can see the waves!
And then there's my music. It's so much a part of me and I think it says a fair bit about me, so I've included a few details powered by Last.fm.
Hopefully I can find a few more gadgets to add before I go!

That's enough for tonight. I even managed to squeeze in one last shift for SeaChange Cafe today.

Testing my w800i mobile blogging!

Testing my w800i mobile blogging!
Originally uploaded by T Hancock.

This is a small test from my w800i mobile phone using the in-built email program. I'll also be attaching a picture, if it doesn't work i'll be most annoyed!