Matts Meanderings

Now, heres a question thats got absolutely nothing to do with travelling... But, then again, maybe it does, in a zen like fashion. (Or is it a more Ghandi fashion???)

Anywaaaaay, just curious what people (if anyone actually reads this blog...) think about how long these entries are?  Do you think i'm writing too much, and i should cut down on the rambles, or should i just keep spouting, and write whatever i want to?

I'm not entirely sure if I'm going to listen to you, cos i think i'm sort of using this as a diary for my own personal use anyway. Then again, i s'pose, i'm going to write it anyway, cos i know at least some of the family is reading it, and they'll read it no matter what i spout .

Anyway, leave a comment, and let me know, now that i've at least got some stuff up here.

(Written late September)

Now, all about the Isle of Skye. well, what can I say, its a very cool place. The hostel is in a small town called Kyleakin, a small fishing village just over the bridge to Skye. A great place to sit back, and do not a lot for a long time. A great place to recharge.

Other than sitting around, doing not a lot, we hired a few bikes, then rode up to Plockton, a short 7 miles away. Only problem was, there's lots of hills in between. the stubborn streak in me was the only thing that got me through. Biscuit was too unfit, he gave in, and couldn't make it up the hills (though maybe the fact that his bike wouldn't let him go into the lowest gears had something to do with it... ). After that, sitting in front of the fireplace, talking with all sorts of strangers was pretty cool.

After a day or two there, we caught the ferry out to Harris - an island in the Outer Hebrides, and stayed in a tiny tiny village called Drinishader - which consists of about 6 houses, a post office, and a hostel. Very cool. Even managed to get talking to some of the locals for a while - very friendly. Only "problem" was that the bus went through 3 times a day. Managed to get up early to catch the first one, and headed off to explore the island. Bad thing was that not many buses run around there, so, we ended up hitchhiking. Was an interesting experience - I'll definitely be on the look out for hitchhikers when I get a car again - proper backpackers only though.

One of the places we got to was the beaches on the west coast of Harris - beaches that wouldn't look out of place in the Caribbean. Very beautiful. Pity about the temperature though . Then headed further up, over to Lewis, and to Stornoway - a place that I'd read about a bit, so it was good to know what it looks like. Managed to get a few interesting people who picked us up, ranging from a trainee reverend, to a teacher, to a couple of tourists. We had one woman who'd never been off the Outer Hebrides in her life. She hadn't even been around the islands properly. Very bizarre.

Heading back to the Skye, after catching the ferry, the bus we were on didn't go all the way back to Kyleakin, so more hitchhiking - only this time, in the pouring rain. Fun though. Met a teacher who'd just started teaching on the island, and who was heading to a rave - a rave on an island with about 28,000 people. Bizarre, but very cool place.

We arrived back in Skye, just in time for our Skye Trekker weekend - 2 days of hiking through the middle of nowhere on Skye. A lot of fun. Ended up hiking about 25 km over the two days, a big chunk of it with packs on our backs. One of the first things we did after getting the tents sorted, was wade through a thigh deep river. Kinda interesting start to the whole thing. Only problem was that it meant we had wet socks and shoes for the rest of the weekend Rather enjoyable weekend though, if only in hindsight. Great scenery, a great opportunity to get back outside camping again. Very glad I went on it.

After recuperating for a day or two, headed out on a day trip round Skye, to see a bit more of the place. Saw some really cool places, and heard some really cool stories.

Other than that, met lots of really cool people - one of which was Holly - an English chick, who'd spent a lot of time in the US, and now called New Zealand home. Very interesting accent . Spent a few days hanging out with her, which was a lot of fun.

After that, it was back on the bus (after being threatened by the hostel manager when we told her we were leaving - she really didn't want us to leave (at least I'm glad it was our sausages that were stabbed, rather than us (she'd have fitted right in with the communist secret police ))), heading down to Glasgow. Wasn't too excited when the bus hit the suburbs - was tempted to find out when the next bus back to Skye was... . However, spent a very enjoyable day with my buddy, Lindsay, who was visiting family, while over from Melbourne.

And, I think that pretty much covers (in possibly waaaaay to much detail) what I got up to in Scotland. Cos, after Glasgow, I jumped on a plane, headed for beautiful Roma.

All in all, Scotland is an absolutely amazing place. I'll definitely be heading back there at some point - most likely i'll do some cleaning in a hostel for a while, just to pay for my bed, and do not a lot else. Gonna be good.

Been a while since I sat down to write anything here - not that I've been able to get access to the blog to update it. Stupid computers - always go wrong at the worst point. This time, the worst point is when I'm wandering around Italy, and don't have the access to get it working again. So, on the theory that I'll be able to get access to it at some point, I'll keep writing stuff on my pda, and hopefully get a chance to upload it at some point.

Anyway, I think I'd left all of my avid readers (all 3 of them) when I was in Pitlochry. After a few days there, we jumped back on the bus, and headed on to Inverness, stopping at Loch Ness on the way. Wasn't the most exciting spot to stop on the loch, but there was a dude there who had sold his house, quit his job, and gone full time into Nessie hunting. He lives in a caravan right next to the loch, ands makes little Nessie figures to sell to tourists so he can eat. Pretty cool guy.

We ended up staying at the student hostel in Inverness, which was a very cool place. People there are pretty darn cool. Ended up going out one night with a few people, including one of the hostel staff, and quite a few drinks later, ended up proposing (jokingly) to her. She got all carried away, and the band got told, and then the bar staff, which led to us having to buy a bottle of champagne... All headed downhill from there... Only problem was when a certain friend started messaging people and telling them about my new fiancée... Still, a lot of fun though...

While we were still in Inverness, which means 'mouth of the river ness', we went on a cool walk down the river, visiting all these islands on the river, which was pretty good - nice and relaxing. One last note - a decent pub there that we visited (pretty much with everyone off the bus), was Blackfriars. Very good food, and not a bad atmosphere either.

Then, once again, we were on the move, this time, heading over to the Isle of Skye, off the north western coast. lots to say about that one, so I think I might do that separate.

(Written about mid September...)

Okay, we're where we? I think I'd babbled my way up to the flight to Edinbrugh. And a wonderful flight it was too - especially when the captain tells us theres something wrong with the hydraulics, and we have to hang around a while. Luckily it was only 15 minutes - unlike Andrew, who had to wait on the tarmac for over an hour...

Stayed overnight in Edinburgh, managed to see a show at the comedy festival there (yay!), met up with Sammy - a friends (Bronwyn's)  sister for a few drinks, then clambered on the jump-on jump-off bus (called the jojo bus by those in the know ) the next morning. So, managed to kick about Edinburgh for about 16 hours, all up. Definitely have to make the effort to get back for the comedy festival and do it properly - it pretty much stops the city, with shows on all the time.

Had a lot of fun on the jojo bus - met a few mad people, especially the driver. saw a few of the sights that there are to see, then stopped off at Edradour Distillery. Vaguely interesting tour, but the best bit was the cream liquer that we bought - very, very, very nice... Going to try and get some shipped down when I get organised. If you can get your hands on it, I highly recommend it.

Managed to meet another Aussie (like that’s hard in the U.K. ) - a cop from Sydney called Krsti. We hung out with her for a few days, playing lots of games of 500, climbing a mountain, and generally having a ball. The mountain we climbed - Ben Vrackie, was the highest in the area, and by the time we got to the top (800 metres) or so, it was pretty cold, and very windy. Had to be careful when walking so as not to trip and get blown over. At one point, we were sitting in the lee of a rock, when a very friendly sheep materialise about 2 foor from Andrew's head - kinda scary. Then a few climbed on top of the rock we were leaning against, and was trying to imtimidate us from above. Even worse, one of the other sheep headbutted the other, and nearly pushed it over on top of us... Kinda fun :D

Have had a lot of fun in the MacBackpackers hostels - the staff have all been completely bonkers, so I fitted in perfectly I think within 5 minutes at each hostel, we'd been verbally abused by the staff (in a good way). Was fun .

(Will come back and update these posts with photos when i actually get some photos online...)

(Originally written about the start of september...)

Well... Where can i start with this one... I s'pose it probably starts with arriving...

Arrived in at Heathrow, terribly exciting, and made my way down to Paul & Lydia's place, to give them the pleasure of my company, along with the fragrance of my smelly socks... Had to spend a few days there trying to get over jet lag, which is not fun, not fun at all...

After those few days of heady excitement, we headed up to London to go see some Olympics thing - London is angling to get the Olympics in 2012. Only problem was, there was nothing there. But, we made the most of it, and went and saw Stomp down at the West End. Really good show, quite enjoyed it. Wasn't sure what to expect as I went in, other than guys bashing garbage can lids together, but it turned out good. So, now i can say that I've been to the theatre in London's West End... Just another one of those things that sounds cool .

Other than that, met up with Andrew in London, on another day, and wandered around for a while - showing off my detailed knowledge as a tour guide . We followed that up with meeting yet another Melbournite, Andrea, who we met for dinner. So, it was quite the little reunion. I think Andrea is still having trouble getting over me being out of Australia - a long time ago we had a conversation where I was quite sure that I didn't want to travel - I couldn't see the point. Well, I think i've changed just a bit since then...

Couple of days later, met up with them all again, when we went out for my birthday - was good to have friends around. Almost as good as having family around, but not quite. Got to speak to the fam, which was good. Getting parcels in the mail for pressies was definitely good . Guys (you know who you are) - feel free to do that more often...

Other than that, there was the excitment of organising my baggage - I'm not going to whinge about it, 'cos I dont want to think about it - but, suffice it to saz that it would have been easier, and only marginally more expensive to take it with me on the plane... Gahh!

And that, they say, was that. I wandered up to Edinburgh, and the rest of the story can wait for later...