Heading Topside
For four months in 2006 myself and two mates rode motorbikes around Australia. When we were finished one of us had broken his foot in a crash, another had left to go back to his office job and I was in Sydney trying to find a bit of work until I flew out for Ireland. I was going to catch up with my brother in Galway, Ireland, and try to find some work for a while.
I had a month to fill in and I ended up living in a backpackers on King's Cross and working as a landscaper in the Northern suburbs. Landscaping turned out to be an excellent way to fill in a month, I worked outside in the sun most days and the shovelling, lifting and barrowing kept me amused.
The Sydney city skyline from the roof of my backpackers in Kings Cross
I also had a bit of time to catch up with a few people I’d met while motorcycling around Oz as a fair few of them were in Sydney. I went to a BBQ one weekend and caught up with a whole passel of fellow longriders. There’s a group of them coming across to the Isle of Man centenary this year where I'll probably see them again.
I caught up with a guy called Steve Crombie in the week I left Sydney. He's doing a massive trip by motorcycle around the world, and he's riding the same bike as I had in Aussie. We had plenty to talk about, that's for sure, as we compared our different modifications, observations from the road and future dream trips. There's a fair chance I might see him again some time in the next few years.
Steve checking out my bike. His bike is an XR650 as well, except his isn't as dirty.
Come the end of November I was on my way out of Australia. I decided to crate my bike back to NZ as an XR650 isn't really the right bike for Europe, too many roads and not enough dirt. This was pretty easy, apart from getting lost for two hours in the suburbs around Botany Bay delivering my bike to the crating company. My bike is half way across the Tasman at the moment.
With my bike away, the only other thing was to get myself on the way. I flew from Sydney to Heathrow, London via Hong Kong, about 24 hours of flying, and on Saturday the 2nd of December I landed in the United Kingdom. I got in at 5 am and by 10 I'd got the tube into Central London, found a backpackers and met my brother, Steve, at the King's Cross station. That's King's Cross London, not Sydney, in case there's any confusion as it was only four paragraphs and 24 hours ago that I was staying in King's Cross, Sydney. It definitely confused me and I spent the rest of Saturday sleeping off the jet lag.
Steve and I were up early on Sunday though, with a mission to see the sights of London. We decided that we could walk around all the major sights, or rather I eventually convinced my brother that we didn't need to take the tube, and we set off. We walked down to the Thames, across Blackfriar's bridge, down past the London Eye, across the river again and past Big Ben and Parliament Square.
Big Ben, and my brother Steve.
We then headed up to Buckingham Palace and arrived just as the changing of the guards ceremony was starting. Not really sure how to explain that, some guards march in, some guards march out and a military band plays. When we were there the band played the James Bond theme, among other tunes. After that we walked down Baker Street and I tried to explain who Sherlock Holmes was to Steve. I think I got as far as explaining he's not a real person and there isn't any movie of the book yet. This was on the way to Madame Tussaud's wax museum, which is well worth a look.
Buckingham Palace, home of our head of state. She wasn't in when we were there though.
221b Baker St, the fictional home of Sherlock Holmes.
After the wax museum we walked through Hyde Park and had a look around Harrods. By the time we'd found our way out of Harrods the sun had gone down and we walked back down towards the river. We still had to go up the London Eye, and we managed to walk past Westminster Abbey as well. Once we'd got 'round the big Ferris wheel and back to the hostel we were done for the day.
Big Ben at night, with the London Eye behind it.
The next day we took the tube around, as we didn't have much time with our flight to Dublin at 5 pm. We looked at St Paul's and then walked across the Millennium Bridge, past Shakespeare’s Globe and back across the London Tower Bridge to have a quick look at London Tower. Having done that we climbed up the London Fire Monument like good tourists and then caught the trains off to the Airport.
The Millennium Bridge, leading over to St Pauls.
Tower Bridge
London Tower from the Tower Bridge. "The Gerkin" is visible in the background.
Steve had us booked on some nice cheap flights through to Dublin with RyanAir. No food, no in-flight movie and the chairs don't recline but for only an hours flight I hardly noticed after the long haul I'd done the other day. It was however a 3 hour bus ride from Dublin to Galway. Pity it was dark as I've never been to Ireland before and I wouldn't have minded seeing where I was going. We got to my brother's flat at 1 in the morning and were soon asleep.
The next day I got my first look around Galway and my first reaction was that it's very Irish. I mean, I know I'm in Ireland now but it still came as a bit of a shock to see all the stone walls, the little grey houses and the grass. The Irish accent can take a bit of getting used to as well. Most folk seem to be alright but some of the guys from the country, I’d swear they’re not speaking English. It’s a fair bit colder too, a lot colder compared to Aussie actually.
The Corrib River in Galway. It's quite high at the mo.
Galway seems to be a nice place though, it’s the 3rd or 4th largest city in Ireland but it’s still only got a population of 80,000. The city centre is interesting, with a mix of modern malls and squares and more traditional small narrow streets. They’re all chockas at the moment with the Christmas shopping thing in full swing. There’s a lot of true blue Irish Pubs as well, although I guess they’re just pubs over here. The Guinness does indeed taste better in Ireland, fresher I think.
Shop Street, Galway. Busy due to Christmas and all.
My brother and I fly out to Prague next Wednesday. We’re planning to spend the rest of the month having a look around Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia and will be back in Ireland on the 3rd.
I had a month to fill in and I ended up living in a backpackers on King's Cross and working as a landscaper in the Northern suburbs. Landscaping turned out to be an excellent way to fill in a month, I worked outside in the sun most days and the shovelling, lifting and barrowing kept me amused.
The Sydney city skyline from the roof of my backpackers in Kings Cross
I also had a bit of time to catch up with a few people I’d met while motorcycling around Oz as a fair few of them were in Sydney. I went to a BBQ one weekend and caught up with a whole passel of fellow longriders. There’s a group of them coming across to the Isle of Man centenary this year where I'll probably see them again.
I caught up with a guy called Steve Crombie in the week I left Sydney. He's doing a massive trip by motorcycle around the world, and he's riding the same bike as I had in Aussie. We had plenty to talk about, that's for sure, as we compared our different modifications, observations from the road and future dream trips. There's a fair chance I might see him again some time in the next few years.
Steve checking out my bike. His bike is an XR650 as well, except his isn't as dirty.
Come the end of November I was on my way out of Australia. I decided to crate my bike back to NZ as an XR650 isn't really the right bike for Europe, too many roads and not enough dirt. This was pretty easy, apart from getting lost for two hours in the suburbs around Botany Bay delivering my bike to the crating company. My bike is half way across the Tasman at the moment.
With my bike away, the only other thing was to get myself on the way. I flew from Sydney to Heathrow, London via Hong Kong, about 24 hours of flying, and on Saturday the 2nd of December I landed in the United Kingdom. I got in at 5 am and by 10 I'd got the tube into Central London, found a backpackers and met my brother, Steve, at the King's Cross station. That's King's Cross London, not Sydney, in case there's any confusion as it was only four paragraphs and 24 hours ago that I was staying in King's Cross, Sydney. It definitely confused me and I spent the rest of Saturday sleeping off the jet lag.
Steve and I were up early on Sunday though, with a mission to see the sights of London. We decided that we could walk around all the major sights, or rather I eventually convinced my brother that we didn't need to take the tube, and we set off. We walked down to the Thames, across Blackfriar's bridge, down past the London Eye, across the river again and past Big Ben and Parliament Square.
Big Ben, and my brother Steve.
We then headed up to Buckingham Palace and arrived just as the changing of the guards ceremony was starting. Not really sure how to explain that, some guards march in, some guards march out and a military band plays. When we were there the band played the James Bond theme, among other tunes. After that we walked down Baker Street and I tried to explain who Sherlock Holmes was to Steve. I think I got as far as explaining he's not a real person and there isn't any movie of the book yet. This was on the way to Madame Tussaud's wax museum, which is well worth a look.
Buckingham Palace, home of our head of state. She wasn't in when we were there though.
221b Baker St, the fictional home of Sherlock Holmes.
After the wax museum we walked through Hyde Park and had a look around Harrods. By the time we'd found our way out of Harrods the sun had gone down and we walked back down towards the river. We still had to go up the London Eye, and we managed to walk past Westminster Abbey as well. Once we'd got 'round the big Ferris wheel and back to the hostel we were done for the day.
Big Ben at night, with the London Eye behind it.
The next day we took the tube around, as we didn't have much time with our flight to Dublin at 5 pm. We looked at St Paul's and then walked across the Millennium Bridge, past Shakespeare’s Globe and back across the London Tower Bridge to have a quick look at London Tower. Having done that we climbed up the London Fire Monument like good tourists and then caught the trains off to the Airport.
The Millennium Bridge, leading over to St Pauls.
Tower Bridge
London Tower from the Tower Bridge. "The Gerkin" is visible in the background.
Steve had us booked on some nice cheap flights through to Dublin with RyanAir. No food, no in-flight movie and the chairs don't recline but for only an hours flight I hardly noticed after the long haul I'd done the other day. It was however a 3 hour bus ride from Dublin to Galway. Pity it was dark as I've never been to Ireland before and I wouldn't have minded seeing where I was going. We got to my brother's flat at 1 in the morning and were soon asleep.
The next day I got my first look around Galway and my first reaction was that it's very Irish. I mean, I know I'm in Ireland now but it still came as a bit of a shock to see all the stone walls, the little grey houses and the grass. The Irish accent can take a bit of getting used to as well. Most folk seem to be alright but some of the guys from the country, I’d swear they’re not speaking English. It’s a fair bit colder too, a lot colder compared to Aussie actually.
The Corrib River in Galway. It's quite high at the mo.
Galway seems to be a nice place though, it’s the 3rd or 4th largest city in Ireland but it’s still only got a population of 80,000. The city centre is interesting, with a mix of modern malls and squares and more traditional small narrow streets. They’re all chockas at the moment with the Christmas shopping thing in full swing. There’s a lot of true blue Irish Pubs as well, although I guess they’re just pubs over here. The Guinness does indeed taste better in Ireland, fresher I think.
Shop Street, Galway. Busy due to Christmas and all.
My brother and I fly out to Prague next Wednesday. We’re planning to spend the rest of the month having a look around Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia and will be back in Ireland on the 3rd.
posted by matt at 6:12 AM
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