Lodgey and Life on the Road. Stories from South America.

31 January 2010

Musical madness

THUNDER... AHHHHHH... THUNDER... AHHHH... 

Am not an Acca Dacca fan by any stretch of the imagination but a 60-something year old Angus Young was amazing and they seriously rocked. 35,000 people at Wellington stadium on Thursday night, most pumping their fists in the air to the music, had a pretty good time.

The night started with an interesting train ride. The Mongrel Mob boarded the train and we were met by four police cars at Petone station. The police seemed a bit wary about dragging them off so we sat there for ages wondering whether we would make the concert. There were mobsters everywhere all wanting a bit of Acca Dacca.. the guy across from us who must have weighed 400 pounds, wearing way too much leather, serious press studds and a Mob bandanna told us he would look after us if anything happened. Geezer and Matt looked calm while Marg and I chuckled nervously.

The stadium was surrounded by police frisking Mongrel Mobsters. Geezer wanted a photo with two Mobsters.. One happily obliged while the other - with MOBSTER tattooed across his forehead - muttered 'yeah hurry up' before striking a mean looking pose.
But the night belonged to the music and the AC/DC gig won't be forgotten in a hurry..

GIG REVIEW

26 January 2010

Land of the Long White Cloud

To say that leaving Australia was stressful would be an understatement. I actually thought that I was quite organised but the number of things to do before I left the country was ridiculous. I arrived in NZ at 2:30pm and was ready for bed. Big Day Out the night before and some last minute packing meant that I had about two hours sleep. I arrived at Nicole's exhausted. Slept a massive 13 hours.

Day 3 and I'm feeling slightly less delirious. The first two days were a bit of a blur. Was completely pampered by Nicole and Hamish and their two beautiful babies. Woke up in the middle of the night with a kitten asleep on my head and one asleep on my back. I love that I'm Azzy's (Coley's two-year-old) new best mate.

Am now staying at the Bliss house in Wellington. Just went on a driving adventure with Naricca who is sitting her driving test in a few days.

Geezer arrives tomorrow. Have forgotten how good kiwi cheese and tomatoes are...

NZ pics

21 January 2010

The final countdown

3 days till departure. Am seriously sleep deprived. Went to see Kasabian at the Enmore last night with Miss Pressa and am off to Lilly Allen tonight with lovely Liz. Big Day out on Saturday. Probably wasn't smart booking a gig the day before departure but who cares. It will be the gig that kicks off my trip!

The car still hasn't sold, camera still hasn't arrived, All Black patch is still not sewn onto my back pack, am still owed money from real estate and there are still a million other odds and ends to tie up. 

I finish up at work tomorrow and although I feel like I am slowly getting things done, it has been a bit stressful. But I have nothing to complain about. 

I'm lucky because I'm going on the trip of a lifetime and I can't wait.

12 January 2010

Noah's disorganised Ark

Somewhere, amidst all the chaos, a little voice is reciting a mantra over and over in my head... 'just keep swimming'.... 'just keep swimming'.

Am still busy sorting and packing my possessions (which I am STILL trying to fit into three boxes).. 1 of those, 2 of those, 3 of them... nope you don't need another pair of shoes... put that back.

I know when people say 'you must be excited', that I should feels excited but right now it is more about organising the chaos and making it to the finish line. I'm quite tired. I feel like I'm expecting a baby, waiting for the impending birth, except that hopefully travelling wont involve changing any nappies. But then it is South America and not only is their drinking water dodgy, the cooks on tours have no qualms about washing vegetables in mucky water.

I leave next week for countries that don't speak english, have weird and wonderful food, bad toilets and no toilet paper (am making the most of sitting on pristine toilet bowls while I still can).  But they also have the friendliest people and some of the most beautiful landscapes on earth. Bring it on!


Vamos!!

8 January 2010

Great expectations


1. That my real estate agent would treat me fairly: Shame on you Sydney Links Real Estate of Potts Point for officially becoming the worst real estate agency in the world. I am glad to be finally rid of you!

2. That saying goodbye would be easier: Have opted for pretending that I will see people again next week rather than say farewell. 

3. That leaving Sydney would be easy: I was having a drink at the Opera Bar watching the the sunset over Sydney Harbour while the Diamond Princess pulled out of the harbour. The boat let out a farewell horn before disappearing through the heads. I do love this city.

4. That selling my car would be easy: the less said about car sales the better.

5. That the next few weeks would drag on: 16 days to go... where did that time go?

5 January 2010

Boxes and bags

Somehow the notion that I was only going to take 3 boxes and a backpack to my brothers following my house move now seems like a bit of a joke. I've managed to fill up his spare room. I'll be spending the next few weeks on an air mattress that I've managed to blow up higher on one side. I keep waking up thinking I'm about to roll down a hill. I'm adding more things on my to do list than removing. But I did get my day pack today (thanks Brew and D), a padlock for hostel lockers and a pack of about 20 adapters for my plugs - every country in South America seems to take a different adapter... annoying. I still haven't bought my camera and my diary is filling up fast with last minute catch ups with friends. 
I can almost taste that Bloody Mary (actually make it a Filthy Mary) when I get on that plane...
19 days to go!