All the gear no Idea

Large black pipe

Gutters are high, I now feel I can comment on this having spent all Sunday fixing

FlickrPhotos

I've just installed an MT plugin that promises to be very useful... we shall see!

It's called FlickrPhotos and promises to enable me to display pictures from flickr through movable type, I shall be fiddling with this to see what it does in this post, and going back to the previous I imagine...

so according to the docs this should display 10 images from me:

this should display some photos from the "House" set:

now lets see what happens...

Ok partly I was being a mong, but partly it's a bit odd in this particular installation, so you need to use this (look at the source, I can't be bothered to de-html it!)

">">

And this is what I actually wanted to be able to do (hopefully):

House
">">

So anybody who wants to do the same, I'm having trouble (and can't be bothered to work it out now!) with the MTFlickrPhotoLink tag in that it always produces the html img tag with width="" height="" hence the dotted lines above. So I had to use the slightly more convoluted approach above.

Also I initially was being a mong in that these are MT parsed tags, and so they're only picked up from within Templates, not within entries themselves, however, handily there is a nice little plugin: process tags which when set up right will process the tags of whatever MT Content you ask for, so thankyou Adam!

So current issues appear to be:

1) the MTFlickrPhotoLink tag munges the sizes.
2) using "MTFlickrPhotos set" means that the MTFlickrPhotoURL tag doesn't include the username in the URL, so the page can't be found.

but other than that it seems good! So with fiddling i can use it :o)

Update - House

The sharp-eyed amongst you will have noticed, that despite saying I was going to write updates, I have done nothing of the sort... now there is a reason for this... and it's the same one that meant it took me over a year to post the previous real post...

Anyway the less said about that the better!

So we've got a new house, completed the sale December 2005, and moved in then, with a week's grace to get all the stuff out of the old flat. Fortunately we'd spent a long weekend doing some serious cleaning of that flat prior to me moving in (you know, getting wax out of carpets, shampooing them, and repainting some of the rooms...) so the flat was in an ok state, most of the hassle was getting everything between the two places in two hatchbacks...

After dumping everything in the house, we then basically went away for 3 weeks over christmas! Having Christmas in New Mills with my folks, and then a skiing holiday in France with some work mates.

However after that, we got stuck in! Kinda!

The house is an 1870s red-brick terrace in Berkshire, with an upstairs bathroom, meaning a smaller second bedroom. We looked at several like it (from that description at least...) but this one just felt like home! Brilliant feeling to the whole building...

So currently the lounge is pretty much sorted, hifi wired up and wires hidden, TV on the wall, all painted with fantastic red glass coffee table set (trust me... fantastic!)

Hall stairs and landing are done as good as (need a carpet but we're doing that last...) so all painted new lighting all through etc...

Spare bedroom recently completed, again will get carpet but...

And the Garden is looking much better (It was brilliant to start with, but we just don't seem to be able to leave it alone!)

So just the difficult rooms to go now... Bathroom (big plans, small budget :o( ) Kitchen needs a lot of work, and Main bedroom (not even begun to think about it really!)

Life

So I'm back. Bet you all missed me...

I've not blogged anything for ages, and there's various reasons for that (well, no "reasons" but lots of factors) and over the next couple of days you may find out about some of them, as I'm intending to do a few catch up posts on different things.

So expect to hear about some of the travels, walking, riding, house stuff, etc etc that's been going on with me and K since *quickly looks back* oh cripes, last August seems to be the last real post... oops!

Anyway, this post is just so you know what you can expect!

The posts should be helpfully* titled, so you know which ones to read...

Oh and there are already some new pictures if you're interested, go to my images pages

* cough

Tag whore (or tag heuer or something)

Firstly I'd like to say I hate this stuff, most of it is just so... i dunno pointless, like the emails that get sent round that you "have" to fill in, just thought weird habits would be interesting to think about. But the gauntlet is down (fairly or otherwise... you decide) but as such I reserve the right to ignore questions that are quite frankly "beneath" me ;o)

Plus 4 tags from one post = 4 tags in one post, so ignore this if you're not interested in rubbish :o)

]]> 7 things I want to do before I die....
1. visit egypt (and by visit I *don't* mean see the shore from a cruise ship down the nile... I want SAND damnit!)
2. travel the world (yeah why not)
3. finish the decorating!
4. find the most beautiful part of britain
5. care enough to get fit
6. brew a decent ale (and I realise these two may be a touch difficult in combination!)
7. ski in canada (next year hopefully!)

7 things I can do....
1. order a beer in french
2. order a beer in polish
3. order a beer in norwegian
4. order a beer in Croatian
5. order a beer in Slovenian
6. order a beer in english
7. order a beer in a wine bar

7 things I cant do....
1. budget properly
2. motivate myself to do something I don't want to
3. give up drink
4. be bothered to go exercising on my own
5. lick pete's elbow
6. handle being in crowds (esp. christmas shopping)
7. talk about football

7 things that attract me to the opposite sex...
1. Honesty
2. Enthusiasm
3. Dark hair
4. Breasts
5. Ability to smile
6.
7.

7 celebrity crushes....
I don't know "celebrities"

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One down

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10 Favorites:
Favorite Season: winter
Favorite Sport: skiing/boarding
Favorite Time: about 10 in the evening
Favorite Month: december
Favorite Actor: gary oldman
Favorite Actress:
Favorite Ice Cream: proper dairy vanilla
Favorite Food: gherkins
Favorite Drink: ale
Favorite Place: home

9 Currents:
Current Feeling: irritated by stupid questions!
Current O/S: winxp sp2
Current Windows Open: Outlook, Win explorer, Vis Studio, (IE: Movable Type create post, shadowfish
Current Drink: water
Current Time: 14:38
Current Mobile(s) Used: Nokia 7610
Current Show on TV: no tv on...i'm at work (ditto)
Current Thought: i hate tags
Current Clothes: socks and (for once in a few weeks!) pants, trousers, Mallrats t-shirt

8 Firsts:
First Nickname: rog
First Kiss: god knows
First Crush: mads
First Computer: amstrad cpc6128
First Vehicle I drove: Micra I think
First Job: paper boy
First Movie: an american tale is the first I remember in a cinema...
First Pet: fish
First Shave: see 2

7 Lasts:
Last Chai (Tea) : months ago
Last Movie: Blade II
Last Time I Drove: Yesterday
Last Time Shaved: Yesterday
Last Web Site Visited: durrr
Last Software Installed: I try to avoid it... probably an MSDN update
Last Pill I Had: Aspirin on saturday

6 Have You Evers:
Have You Ever Broken the Law: yeah
Have You Ever Been Drunk: yeah
Have You Ever Climbed a Tree: yeah
Have You Ever Kissed Someone You Didn't Know: well I obviously did afterwards...
Have You Ever Been in the Middle/Close to Gunfire or Bomb Blast: nope
Have You Ever Broken Anyone’s Heart: ask them

5 Things:
Things You Can Hear Right Now: ben's chocolate wrapper, jonny getting water from the "cooler", typing (mine and others) the Jukebox
Things on Your Computer Table: most of leek and potato soup, three computers 3 monitors keyboard, mouse, mobile, wallet, these fellas: 1 2, bog roll, a calendar, notes on what I'm doing, phone, amp, 2 speakers,empty plastic bags, last years calendar, and some scrap paper for scribbling, oh and a remote control tank...
Things on Your Bed: bedding
Things You Ate Today: sugar puffs, a bit of soup
Things in Mind: going home and finishing the wine rack for mine and kirsten's house

4 Places You Have Been Today:
the office
home
kirsten's car
...outside

3 People You Can Tell Anything To:
Kirsten
Vicks
Pete

2. Choices:
Black or White: white
Hot or Cold: cold

1 Thing You Want To Do Before You Die:
see last tag (not that these things are repetitive or owt...)

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Two down

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FOUR JOBS YOU'VE HAD IN YOUR LIFE:
1) paperboy
2) picker/packer
3) communications equipment installation/analysis software programmer
4) content management software programmer

FOUR MOVIES YOU WOULD WATCH OVER AND OVER:
1) robocop
2) running man
3) full metal jacket
4) princess bride

FOUR PLACES YOU HAVE LIVED:
1) didcot
2) leeds
3) cambridge
4) newbury

FOUR TV SHOWS YOU LOVE TO WATCH:
1) red dwarf
2) grand designs
3) top gear
4) restored to glory

FOUR PLACES YOU HAVE BEEN ON VACATION:
1) ireland (south west)
2) france
3) eastern europe (croatia/slovenia/poland etc)
4) snowdon

FOUR OF YOUR FAVORITE FOODS:
1) crackling
2) lamb and pasta
3) big dirty pub burgers
4) pig snacks

FOUR PLACES YOU WOULD RATHER BE RIGHT NOW:
1) at home
2) at B&Q
3) in the bath
4) on the sofa

FOUR BLOGGERS YOU ARE TAGGING:
No one needs to share my pain...

------------------------------------------------

Three down - and the one I think I'm least
looking forward to...

------------------------------------------------

A-Z tag
not my fault
A - Age you got your first Kiss: see tag 2 part 3b
B - Band listening to right now: Flowriders ( Starcraft - Nerd Rock )
C- Crush: Strawberry I reckon
D- Drink of Choice: Landlord at the moment, in the Dolphin
E - Easiest person: To be with? Kirsten. Generally? Rob!
F - Favorite band at the moment: I dunno really, need to unpack all my cds. Am really liking barry adamson though
G - Gummy worms or gummy bears?: neither. tangfastics all the way
H – Holiday: yes please
I - Instruments: violin, guitar, bass
J - Juice: any, except lychee
K-Kids: N-N-N-N-NOOOOO!!!
L - Longest car ride ever: ever? or mine? Mine is probs either Cambridge - edinburgh or Didcot to Blackpool via leeds...
M - Major: Electrical/Electronic engineering
N - Nicknames: woja
O - One wish: to go home
P - Phobia[s]: no phobias really, just wibbles
Q - Quote: "89.4% of statistics are made up on the spot" - Steven fry I think.
R - Reason to smile: She knows
S - Song you sang last: Sang? probably "Andy burnham"
T - Time you woke up [today]: woke up or got up? Got up about 7, not sure I have woken up yet...
U - Unknown fact about me: if I told you that it wouldn't be unknown...
V - Vegetable you hate: mushrooms (though this is disippating)
W - Worst thing to have happened to you: Don't think it's happened yet *touches wood*
X-rays you've had: None outside the dentist
Y - Yummy food: Anything good.
Z - Zodiac sign: Capricorn.

-----------------------------------------------

Done.

right no I've got some work to do...

I'm not tagging anyone, so fret not!
But anyone who particularly wants to, feel free

Oh dear :o(

Seems I've been tagged.
And no Pete, this is *nothing* to do with your hassling, but when you've been tagged, what can you do?

So... Kolibri tagged me for weird habits.

So apparently what I need to do is write down 5 weird habits I have, then tag 5 people to do the same... as an everyone else who I've read whose been tagged, this is gonna be tough, again not cos I don't think I have any weird habits, but cos I live with them everyday so to me they're not weird...

*deep breath*

here goes...

I get really worked up about people who use bad english, repeatedly, and don't seem to care. For example "We should of stayed in the pub". Now... I'm not saying that everyone should always use perfect english, I mean I don't and I'm the one that's complaining, and I also understand that if it's not your first language then it's not the same, but "lazy" english from people who DO know it's wrong, that just bugs me... *gets off soap box*
I *still* will not tread on 3 drains.
I find if I have a lot of work to do I will find more and more ingenious ways of avoiding doing it. A symptom many people have I believe... but still annoying, as when I do get my ar$e in gear and do the work I feel so much better.
I do ticks "backwards". Have done since school, don't know why :o)
I keep (especially when I'm hot) running my thumb up past the crook in my index finger, to pull the skin back away from the thumbnail... and then pushing it back again.

I'm afraid they're the best I can do in the short time before I leave here (work, it's gone 6)... There's loads to update on (buying a house with my lovely lady, skiing, errrrr) so I should hopefully be back on here soon, no pics yet though 'cos me cameras bust (there I go with the hypocracy of bad english - tsk)

Now I have no idea who to tag as most people I know on t'internet (ie. not many) have already been tagged so... shadowfish (I thought I'd read your one of these but can't find it now, so... link it! or do it) and um *drags back people who've not been around for ages and probably won't read this... baroquen, ingainbeijing, cazma and picachu I choose YOU!

Part 6 - Finale

Well, I've managed to find the most deluxe keyboard in Borneo - the chick behind the counter had to come and draw the letters on for me with a marker pen.
I'm in the glorious city of Miri at the moment - but only for another hour and a half, then we're off to Brunei to catch our plane home - they're a dry airline, words escape me - I fail to understand how you can go on a plane without gin. Eugh, gin, I've just remembered last night - things got rather messy at 'Cheerie Berry's', and I ended up back at our accomodation with a blow dart hanging out me butt cheek.
Our final week in Bario went really well, we managed to get the project finished, and it looked rather splendid. My signs went down a treat, although when we left the site the paint was still wet... and then there was a thunderstorm - shoddy cowboy workmanship.....
Sat and made the signs outside Nancy's house with small children clambering all over me trying to get involved. They tried to copy one of my signs onto a plank of wood - didn't have the heart to tell them that they're choice of balck lettering on a black background may not have the desired impact.
Our final day in Bario was a corker - after finishing the project we managed to reach the summit of Prayer Mountain, after our previous atempt was rained off. The top part of the climb really was a climb, straight up a narrow corridor of trees onto a small pinacle, there were the most amazing views even though I was cacking it. Had a bit of a moment looking over the rainforest that we'd tackled & the project that we'd built, hmmmmmm. After about 15 mins the wind picked up so we had to dash down, then it started pouring with rain causing a number of World Challengers to soil their shorts as they performed spectacular ass-slides down the steep slope, very funny!
Had a bit of a last night party in the Y2K - cleared the village out of Chapap Pae, and laughed on our way home as one individual tumbled into two paddy fields. He woke up the next morning still totally soggy with green shoots in his hair, I know just how that feels.
Left for Bario airport at about midday, and it was well nice, as most of the villagers came to see us off. Was kind of glad to get out of there though, being stuck out in the sticks like that gets a bit mind-bending after a while.
I'm going to end now as there's not much ink left on these here keys.
It's been an incredible month - feels like 6 cos we've done so much, I think I need a bit of time for it all to sink in! I'll sort through al my pics when I get home and send you all a batch.
I'm off for a final blow dart showdown over the road, I'll be taking scalps....
Hope to see you all soon!!!!! Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee xxxxx

Part 5 - Birthdays

Hello! it's midday here, but you'll all be asleep right now, as according to my advanced mathematical calculations it should be 5am in the UK.
Had a cracking weekend....
Following on from my remarkable performance at the Walkathon (still getting it ripped out of me for doing a head dip at the finishing post) I spent the afternoon making a 'Happy birthday Jonny' banner for Sunday's celebrations (Radley boy turning 18) Nancy's 5 little kids helped me, Nancy is a year older than me, and is clearly a swift worker. The kids insisted on drawing bees all over the banner, but I'm down with that.
That evening we went to the 'Y2K', which is a general store just over the way that stocks a host of useless and very dusty items, including a box of very dusty dusters. It has a seedy side room attached where you can sit and do kareoke with an assortment of toothless local types. They sell beer and 'Chupap pae' (sp?) that you can buy from the shop and take through with you.
Chupap pae, or 'chuck-up ay' guarentees exactly that, and has been the ruin of previous WC groups. It's rice wine, weighing in at a colosal 50% and is the rice wine boke- the most rank brew available to mankind. Locals deem you to be a low-life if you indulge in this beverage, so naturally it was for us.
On Sunday morning we were invited to go to church - which turned out to be more of a large hall really. All the tribal elders were there with their garish nylon outfits - one of our kids had to wear one that she borrowed from Nancy who had deemed her chosen outfit of a full length sarong to be too racey - the static build-up could have powered the whole village. The dangly earlobe brigade were out in force, and we saw one woman arrive on the back of a motorbike who had to hold onto her ears to stop them swinging. The service was very animated, lots of singing, dancing and stage routines, certainly the most memorable service I've ever been to. Our group did a song, we were miked up and everything, well pro. We've got several musicians in the group, so it actually sounded really good, and went down a treat with the congregation. As we neared the end of our third hour in there, things started to turn a little strange. We were invited to go up to the front to be blessed, and others crowded in behind us, and in front of us. The preacher cranked up a prayer on the mike and everyone started to do different chants which got louder and louder.... and lounder. Next thing we knew it had reached a fevered frenzy, with people putting their hands all over us, some of the kids got a bit freaked out! After about 10 mins of this we were allowed to return to our seats, and the nxt batch approached the stage, and a similar thing started to happen - only this time people started to throw themselves on the floor, and were wailing uncontrolably. We were all quite shell-shocked when we were finally out of there.
Anyhow, after some lunch we were met by our guide, and now best buddy, Johnson. We'd asked him to take us to the top of the tallest peak in the region, and all agreed to come along, except the usual girl - sometimes I wonder why she came on a trekking expedition. So we set off, calling in at Johnson's house in the next village for donuts, bananas and tea, which was served by his 18 year old bride, who he already has 3 kids with - he's 37, dirty dawg. Their dwelling was certainly humble, and a real eye-opener, one thing I've certainly realised during this trip is how incredibly easy we have it. After that we headed up to the peak, past some beautiful scenery - mainly terraced paddy fields, hut and hills.... then the thunder storm began. The mountian was extremely steep, much more so than Kinabalu, and it was really hard work - but I had my trusty pole, which was now becoming a bit of a worry, being that I was clutching to a metal rod in a lightening storm. We had to shelter in a chapel 10 mins from the summit, as it was absolutely lashing down, and we were drenched. It wasn't really much of a chapel, more of a shelter. We ended up staying there for an hour and a half,
but made the most of it by running around in the rain - some of the boys chose to do this with no clothes on, my girls were disgusted. In the end we couldn't get to the top - not having much luck with summits! as the latter bit was supposed to be even steeper, and would be impossible with the rain.
We finally made our way down, although most of it was on out backsides, and we went back to Johnson's for crackers and more tea covered in thick orange mud.
When we got back to Nancy's they had put the banner up, and had made an amazing job of the decorations. Her husband had hung tropical plants and balloons all over the place, and nancy cooked a huge feast, including bangers and mash, which soon disappeared. Much beer was drunk, and a cake and four fight followed, which was started by a bunch of local kids. The house was trashed. Started up a limbo contest which was a bit of a frenzy, with 10 kids trying to bend beneath the bar at once. All in all, a bit of a crazy day, which ended at 3 this morning, and started again with a hair of the dog at 8.
Grrr... better go, there are glaring people waiting to get on this computer.
Bye then! xx

Part 4 - leeches of unusual size

Well, it appears I'm still alive!
Rather a lot has happened over the last week or so, but I'll put all my diminishing brain power into trying to remember what I've been up to....
Left the city of Miri armed with all our food supplies for the trek in Bario
- they don't sell nuffin there but rice (but it is the best rice in the world - so people keep telling us) The flight to Bario was interesting, it took took 50 mins, and was all going smoothly until we climbed to 7000 feet over the Kelabit highlands, where it became really rather lumpy. Mmmm, turbulance - one of my favourites. The view from the plane was amazing though, as we flew above the vast expanses of rainforest. There were 10 of us on this flight as it was a tiny plane, and the other 5 from our group were due to catch the next flight a few hours later. On arrival in Bario we were loaded into a truck 'cattle style', and driven to a local long house by a woman with those weird stretched earlobes. She had scary lead weights hanging from them that swung when we drove through pot holes, not really 'feeling' that particular look. The long house was great, and had a good deal of length to it. Anyway, the hours passed by, and the rest of our group had still not materialised... we were beginning to worry. To cut a long story short, our plane had left Bario, carrying a World challenge group from Wimbledon back to Miri. At the edge of the highlands the cockpit had filled with black smoke, and they had to make an emergency landing. Glad I wasn't on that bad boy return flight. Meanwhile, back in Miri, the rest of our group were becoming frantic, as no more Bario flights were allowed to leave, and flights for the next few days were booked solid. Luckily, the in-country rep for WC (Sampson) was with them, and managed to flag down a pal of his in the airport who he knew had a plane. A deal was struck, and he agreed to give them a lift to Bario - he made them wait for an hour though, while he went to the bar.
That night, with our group fully re-assembled, we had a big gathering in the town hall with several other WC groups and all the locals - it was by way of a thank you for all the work WC have been doing there (various building projects - more on our project later) and for bringing over loads of boxes of books from the UK for the local school.
It was a great evening, we had a massive feast, and there was lots of singing form 'The Kelabit Bad Boys', and some of the musicians from Radley did a few numbers. The highlight of the evening however, was when old droopy lobes and her droopy lobed buddies dressed up and did a dance on the stage - it was an ear-swinging spectacular. One of them was really drunk and couldn't stop laughing, ending the routine with a spectacular tumble down the stairs.
The next day was the day we'd all been waiting for - our main jungle trek through the Kelabit highlands. It absolutely poured down when we set out, just enough to stir all the leeches on the forest floor. We spent 5 days and
4 nights in dense rainforest, quite an amazing experience. The walking was really tough due to the weight of our packs, and the difficulty of the terrain. It was all up and down hill, scrambling over boulders, balancing on logs across the river, and just general sweating and getting covered in mud.
At about 4pm each day we'd stop and clear a bit of jungle with the help of our 2 armed guides, Samuel and Johnson, so that we could set up camp. We'd be next to a river each night so we could have a bit of a swim in the dark brown water - the same dark brown water that we were drinking every day....
how I'll miss the taste of iodine. I particularly enjoyed the evenings - cooking food on an open fire then talking about stupid stuff before retiring to our hammocks. On a couple of nights wild boar came into the camp and stole our hot chocolate powder. You could hear them grunting above our snores, and one lad felt one brush against the underside of his hammock. On
2 of the nights our guides went out hunting and brought back deer that they chooped up and cooked. I went for the lung and spleen, but equally enjoyed sucking on a bit of deer spine. The worst bit of it all was the leeches - they were everywhere, and they're vile. You don't feel them bite, and it's not until someone points out that your clothes are soaked in blood that you have the joy of lifting the fabric to reveal a plump blood filled parasite attatched to your stomach - or in the case of one unfortunate individual, the bum crack. The boys were obsessed with constantly checking down the fronts of their trousers for slippery blood-sucking invaders. I managed to seal myself from leech attack with leech socks and attractive tight fitting garments, and only had one close call when a particularly sly specimin launched itself from a tree and landed on my finger tip.
When we finally emerged from the jungle 2 days ago we were quite a sight to behold - totally shredded, blood-stained, and stinking. Everyone was filled with a great sense of achievement (all except the girl who didn't make it up the mountian - she dropped out on day one, and went back to join another of our groups in Bario) and we sprinted the last part back to the accomodation.
Having a shower and feeling clean again has never felt so amazing.
For the next week we're staying with a couple called Nancy and Harris and their 7 kids. Nancy is a pretty big cheese here and owns pineapple fields and a petrol station - 2 businesses that naturally go together. Her cooking is amazing, and can usually be seen walking around and within the property before it gets as far as our plates. We've been warned not to go around the back of the house as there is a ditch filled with poisonous snakes, but other than that, it's all good. Bario is as rural as an ox, nowt here but paddy fields, huts and hills - it's like the pages of the national Geographic - quite something. We're doing a project on the hill above the local school - the school used to be on that hill, but it blew off. It's our job to construct the high-tech complex that is 'The Bario Motivational centre'. Two other teams from Downe house/ Radley have started it off by making a shelter, a pond, and a trust fall, and we're constructing some other activites, some benches, and I'm painting all the signs. It will be a hard week working in the sun up on the hill, but there are incredible views, and I'm looking forward to seeing what we manage to achieve. We have however been warned that we have to lie on the ground at roughly 11:30 am each morning as a huge swarm of bees comes through at that time.
This morning (Sat) we were invited to join the school's 'Walkathon', a charity event to raise funds for a new hall. It had to be put back half an hour as we were late, but eventually we set off with 200 kids who were told 'not to run' before they sprinted off from the start line. Myself and the 2 other group leaders - Ben and Ruth, took it easy, and strolled the 6k, talking to locals on the way, making videos, and taking photos. Everyone else was so far away that we lost sight of the backmarker (surprise surprise
- our drop out girl) and we got lost for about 20 mins. We finally made it to the finish - where the rest of the school was waiting, and had already eaten and drunk all of the post-walk food and drink. They announced our long awaited arrival on the megaphone and everyone cheered as we sauntered in.
Ruth and Ben upped the pace for the last 20 metres, sly beggers, and did one of those bum wiggling fast walk finishes - leaving me to come in dead last - the pride I felt at my special achievement!
Anyhow, I've nearly run out of internet credit so I'll finish up. Tomorrow we're off to church, where we're expected to perform - our number is being practised as I type, I'm sure it will be a real crowd pleaser. After that we're climbing the highest peak in the region - a straight-up scramble hauling yourself up using plant roots appararently - bring it on! After that we're having a big feast and a party for one of the boys who turns 18 tomorrow, so all in all, should be a good one.
Anyway, bye for now... Kirsten xx

Favourite Moment of the weekend...

Sitting with this view:

Talking to the artist, who phoned from Borneo, just after we'd had lunch, and while I happened to be in a reception area. How lucky is that.
Was fantastic to hear from her made it seem more like she was here and I was there... or something! Oh, and anybody waiting for updates from her, there won't be one for a week ish, as she's currently trekking across "deep jungle" where they don't have internet cafes ;o)

House Anniversary

This weekend was the designated Joint anniversary of my Bro & His wife (8th), and My Mum & Dad buying the house in the Peaks (12th ish) so... we decided to drink champagne and eat lardy cake.
What follows is an account of that!
After an early start Friday afternoon and a successful journey (no major hold ups, the map reader helped on that one!) and many Sherlock Holmes tape we arrived in New Mills, and joined in the relaxation and bean breaking... the Meal was good the company good as you would expect!
Saturday (after a late start!) saw us walking over Kinder Scout (nearly, we went up the valley to the North side, and around it, just for a change!) then across to the Snake Pass in, where there was a wedding reception and the choice of three fairly unremarkable beers (John Smiths cask, Marstons pedigree and Theakstons
Mild) but it was nice views, so whose complaining.
The night was food drink and good times, one particular good time was the champagne and aforementioned lardy cake :o) with a fine musical interlude courtesy of Daz :oD \m/
Sunday we rode from the house (in New Mills) out and over Lantern Pike through some brilliant (little) singletrack sections, mostly on rocks, some marish, but ultimately instructive loose rocky and steppy climbs, and some long almost gravel track descents (with some minor road riding, a pub with a huge water wheel, and a fair few horses) to end up in "The Sycamore" in Birch Vale, for some proper pub grub and proper beer (Timmy Taylor Landlord, though not in the best condition) before a decidedly bloaty ride back along the sett valley trail to the house, then returning...

]]> Snake Pass photos: here
Lantern Pike photos: here

Part 3 - KinbaOui BaNon

So yeah......
I can remember where I've been over the last few days, but I don't remember what day anything was, and I have no idea what day it is today, er, OK, just been told it's now Thursday, but anyway....
Left Kota Kinabalu on 'a day', heading for Sarawak - best bus I ever went on. We re-named it 'The Venga bus' (a bit sad but there you go) due to the fact that it had a large karaoke screen at the front, and everyone sat there singing (except me of course, got my street cred to think about) You even got your lunch at a roadside shack thrown in with the bus ticket, we like a bit of that. Got to our destination 6 hours later, only to find that the recommended accomodation was full, but that was OK because we only had to walk for over 2 hours in the blistering heat with huge back packs before we found somewhere to stay. Felt fresh as a daisy on arrival. I guess it was worth it though as the place we stayed was set in fantastic grounds - tres tropicale, with big lakes and boarded walkways. The rooms were slightly on the boke side, but we had everything we needed.
So yeah, had a nice evening there, ate food, and watched a massive thunder storm from under the canopy (a word I now hate - more on that later) of the restaurant, the lightening was lighting up the tops of the trees in the rainforest, which was nice. One of the teachers in our group took his shampoo out into the rain and had a shower, as it was far more powerful than the showers in our room. After that we had some fun chucking everything we could lay our hands on into the ceiling fan in our dorm, then tired and gay we drifted off to sleep..... which was all very well until I woke up, to feel 'a presence' on the back of my head. Quick as a flash I swept my hand across my head and heard a distinct splat. I looked around the floor to see what it had been, then noticed 'a form' on the pillow by the head of one of my room mates, it was a large black frog, totally gross. I managed to wake the others up, who all screamed like girls (they were all boys) as the frog lept around the room, and was then picked up and thrown at people. One indidual was tempted to throw it into the ceiling fan. Anyway, there's a video, it's very funny.
I hate frogs.
Anyway, once I had washed frog juice out of my hair we went to the orange yootang sanctuary to watch the little blighters being fed, then we went back later in the day.... to watch the little blighters being fed - woo! They were pretty cool actually, but I didn't exactly wet myself with excitement.
The day after that we headed to Mount Kinabalu HQ to get ready to climb the mountain the following day.
We set off at 7am in the heat, and within 20 mins it began to tip down and we got soaked. It was all really good though. It was a difficult climb due to the increase in altitude, so you had to go slow, but I came alive for it.
You start off by climbing 2500 joyous steps through rainforest, then you go through about 5 different changes of terrain on the way up - there are exposed rocky parts, bits with funny twisted trees, and orange sludgey bits
- all very steep and slippy, but fun.
It took us quite a long time to get up to the lodge where we were staying before the final ascent as we have a couple of fat knackers in the group, but we made it.
That evening myself and the frog throwing/storm showering teacher had some ultra-hot Tom Yam soup; a soup that we were both to see again within the hour, twice. It was a cleansing experience.
Anyway, went to bed, and woke up at 1:30 am to begin our ascent to the summit.
It was great - all of us in single file climbing up through the mountain with our head torches, we looked like a bunch of gnomes. Then.... disaster.
One of the girls from my school started to get signs of altitude sickness, and I had to take her back down.
Gutted.
Can't believe I came all that way, and had no symptoms of altitude related illness, only to have to go back down 1km from the summit. I guess that I'm here for the kids, this ain't supposed to be my holiday, but still.....
ahhhhhh! I think that will be a regret that will stay with me for a long time.
Well, later on we stomped back down the mountain, which was actually much harder on the legs than going up, and once we had stuffed our hungry faces at the bottom we headed of to the arse end of nowhere - a place called Poring.
The main road goes into Poring, then it just stops at a dead end. Anyway, let me tell you about the accomodation that one of the girls booked for all of us...
When we arrived she went off to get the keys and to check the place out.
When she came back she handed us our key (myself and the other 2 teachers) instructing us to 'go up the stairs, and turn right at the large beetle'. So we did, and it was indeed large. The rooms were absolutely hanging, and ours came complete with a cat and a lizard ( free roaming). I wouldn't bath a dog in the washing facilities, and I didn't dare look in the toilets for fear of my skin disolving. We had it good though, as some of the boys went into their room and found a chicken, oh, and later, our group leader had a bat in her shower, splendid.
I went to sleep that night wondering what evils I was going to find nesting in my hair the following morning.
So, the next morning arrived, and a quick scalp check came out all clear, then we headed to the hot springs for the day, where I would finally find out what it is to feel clean. After wallowing around for a few hours & grabbing something to eat, we decided to do the nearby canopy walk.
This bad boy was right up among the tree tops, and them's some mean tall trees. The walkway was constructed from ladders, lashed together with rope and a plank laid on top. There were ropes to hang onto and a thin net thing, but none of it inspired any confidence whatsoever. I utterly cacked it and was shaking like an ox. I've never been so scared in all my puff, just typing this is giving me the squits. Oh well, I'm alive to tell the tale I suppose, but never, ever again. I thought the bridges on the jungle trek were bad, but this, urghhhh...
Now I'm back in Kota Kinabalu for our flight to Miri tomorrow. We're staying there until the next day, when we're getting a flight to Bario (speed
waggon) to do our 5 day/4 night jungle trek.
It's certainly been an adventure so far, loads of the kids have been sick, so that's kept me on my toes. I'm sure there's still plently to come.....
wahey!
I'd best be off, hope you're all well. Special shout goin' out to 'Granny Cheese'.
Love Kirsten xxxx

Part 2 - A load of Crock(er Range)

Wahey!!!!
I'll cut the intro, here's what we've been doing.........
Set off from Kota Kinabalu on Wed I think it was, don't quite know where I am any more, and headed 45 mins out of town on the bus to the starting point of our trek. We set off through a couple of small villages, where people laughed and waved as we walked past in our stupid hats and massive rucksacks in the searing heat. When we got to the beginning of the actual trail I was overjoyed to see a rickety Indiana Jones style bridge crossing high above the river that we were expected to cross, there were missing planks and everything - it was like my worst nightmare come true. We were only allowed to cross it 2 at a time in case we plummeted into the fast flowing river far below. I cannot lie, I cacked it! but at least I wasn't the only one. It turns out that we crossed 5 such bridges over the duration of the trek, but the first was definately in the worst shape. Now I'm an expert and can hand-spring along them, with my eyes closed, and a machete in one hand.
Before entering the jungle we stopped to eat ramboutans with some local people staying in a hut, then we went in. It was soooooo hot, we were sweating as much as an ox, never known anything like it - although nobody really cared as we were very excited about being there. Next thing we knew the sky turned pitch black and it bucketed with rain, and we got totally drenched; was good though as it really cooled us down.
The rainforest certainly didn't disappoint, such an amazing experience. We went through some really dense bits and had to cut our way through, we also went down some very muddy slopes and wiped out in spectacular style - I had a large streak of orange mud running down the length of my side - it's a good look. Anyway, we set up camp, put up our hammocks, and headed down to a pool where we all took a dip. A fish sucked my toe, it was weird, but I think I liked it!
After a group meeting our 2 guides - Naz and Hanry taught us tribal dances and songs around the camp fire, and we all made tits of ourselves.
Just before I retired to my hammock Naz took my arm and told me to switch my torch off. He lead me to a clearing and showed me a tree covered with fluorescent fungi - it was nuts, ain't seen owt like he before.
I could see it glowing throughout the night, as no, I didn't get much sleep due to all the howling and croaking - it was cool though. In the middle of the night there was a huge thud and a screech, everyone was quite startled, then we realised it was just this fat kid whose hammock had collapsed!
I finally got a bit of kip - resorted to my ear plugs in the end. Waking up in the rainforest was a pretty wicked experience!
The next day we trekked to our 2nd camp where I cooked everyone dinner, what a joke. They all ate it though, fools - and there were no bokers this morning, which was surprising.
At 10am today we did white water rafting, come alive!!!
I loved it. We split up into 3 boats and did lots of silly stuff like head-on bumping dodgem style - yeah! We also sat in opposite directions on each side of the boat so that when we rowed down the rapids the boat spun in circles. We did lots of jumping in, and body rafted for about 20 mins down the rapids passing herds of water buffalo. As I floated downstream feet first, a huge dragonfly landed on my shoe, which was cool. I've decided to become a professional white water rafter, can't see that being a problem in Newbury.
Anyway, we got back to Kota about an hour ago, it's horrible being back in a town again, but it's only for tonight. Tomorrow we've got bus journey to go and see those little orange blighters, then after that we're climbing Mount Kinabalu - saw it this afternoon from the bus, looks rather large!
Anyaway, it's been a brilliant couple of days, our guides were excellent and showed/taught us loads of interesting stuff. I'd better go, have to go to a meeting so that we can discuss our plans for the next couple of days. I think it's Karaoke tonight, good grief....
Byeeeeee!!!!! xxxx

Kew and Barbie

Weekend after the Dragon Chase (3 weeks ago now) was Kirstens brothers boat party on the thames, big boat 200+ people all getting drunk. Proper job. so we decided to make a weekend of it...
Went up friday night and headed pubwards after checking into the bohemia that is The Regent Palace Hotel. We met Maz and David on some floating bar thing, then went for some food in Wagamama at covent garden. Good grub, never been to one before, quite impressed! however, then we went to the excellent porter house to try a taster wheel, unfortunately it appears Kirsten is living in the past as the guy didn't know what she was talking about. We got a taster thing of their own 3 beers though, they were all 3 ok. I was especially impressed by the Brainblasta which, even at 7% was eminently drinkable... We didn't stay there long though, it was way too hot!
A bottle of wine and relaxation was called for...
Saturday saw us (eventually) heading to Kew gardens to see the Chihuly exhibition. It was stunning, as you may be able to tell from the plethora of pictures I took :o\ but really recommend it to anyone in the area, though I was shocked to find that Kew was not free to get in... lived near Oxford too long I suppose.
After heading into Richmond to get a few beers, realising we had no time and snaffling some magnificent pizzas at H20 floating restaurant [ Recommmended are the "Parma Ham, Brie & Figs" and I think it was the Four Cheese, but they were good anyway! ] we then realised we didn't have time to go to the hotel and drop stuff off, so we went straight to the Walkabout where we met up with everyone...
Boarding the boat half hour or so later, and the drinking commenced. Talking drinking looking at the Thames barrier took up most of the rest of the evening, particularly impressed by the barrier, more so than I expected to be... travelling through it it's an impressive piece of construction. And the lazer on the greenwich meridien is inspired simplicity!
Oh and I rode one of those rickshaw things on the way home... with the guy running beside going "No you're doing it all wrong! You're not checking where the side is..." tsk, I knew what I was doing, and I didn't hit anything did I?! aaaanyway!
Sunday we head to Greenwich to visit the Trafalgar Tavern on the river front, and sup a few. Fully steaming we meet up with some mates of K's and continue the process... good fun was had by all, including first taste of Halloumi, which was repeated at home on monday. Wicked weekend all round.

Weekend after was Mum's 60th so we spent it in my 'hood.
Friday night went to the Fleur for a few beers... not the same. Less fish, less people, no more landlord dude (steve?) *shrugs*
Saturday we got an early start to Oxford (we were parked at 8:50...) to see the sights and get back to help with preparing mum's bbq... well that was the plan.
What actually happened was we wandered into Oxford from St. Clements car park, angling towards the Pitt Rivers (main reason for taking K to Oxford) grabbed some very nice baguette sarnies from a "bistro" ;o) on the way past then sat on the University Museum lawn to eat them, intending to head into Pitt Rivers when it opened. That turned out to be 12 O'clock (it was about half 9 at this point) so needless to say we didn't wait...
We went to the station to get on a Tour bus. Now at this point I should explain 2 key facts:
1) I don't care what anybody says. I LIKE tour busses. with the live guide they give a wicked perspective into a bit of the history, culture, and more importantly for me, layout of the town you're visiting. This means that after getting off the bus I can perform my favourite activity of walking around and getting thoroughly lost in a new city...
2) I've been on the Oxford bus tour probably 20 odd times now. It's THE BEST way to see Oxford (esp. the centre) if you don't know the place because the ugly bits of oxford are at about street level, so on a double decker bus your eyes are generally higher, so you see the nice bits on top and over the ugly shop fronts etc...
Anyway, we had a great tour (thanks Rob - and remember I now know where you live...) and eventually got back to the car park (it was halfway round the route) put some more money on the car, then walked again to Pitt Rivers (deja vu heavily kicking in) only this time it was open...
The several hours I expected it to take (3 floors, tiny displays...) was significantly shortened by the fact that the upper 2 floors were closed cos they're building an extension wing. balls.
Still meant that we weren't so delayed by the whole trip, and we head to The Royal Oak for some nice grub, sort of thai sort of mediterranean interesting mix, and a couple of pints of Timmy Taylor. Before heading back chez Ma et Pa.
Most of the prep was done (this was about 4 O'Clock) so we made apologies, K did her "arty" job on the cake... lovely ;o) and I plied people with drink (any excuse to get myself some!)
People arrived and the evening was good. Big butterfly lamb barbequed was food highlight for me, and K nicely wrapped up the evening with a sing-song... no comment!

Sunday saw us heading to Bath to grab a camera for K's impending trip, and to see her mum, bro and bob for the last before heading off for a month. We had many Bath ales (barnstormer 4.5 mostly) even going to a different Bath Ales pub (sorry Salamander, we love you really) so we tried the Hop Pole... bit out of town, but it has a brilliant garden, and spuds and crackling to steal from the bar.
We wrapped the evening up with some ESB (no surprise there)

Last weekend was difficult. Kirsten went away to Borneo (see previous post) for a month.
We spent the night in Watford (as it's marginally closer to Hounslow and her bros house is there.) chinese and a few in the local. The next morning going to pack we got the kip sack kindly left out by her bro to take with her. It was Hyooooj... and just wouldn't have gone into her pack, not even after my squashing technique. So I drove us all the way back to Newbury to pick up mine which is about a 3rd of the size and is hopefully warm enough. It does have the advantage that she can actually take it... cos it'll fit in.
Then we head back to Hounslow about 2 hours late. Part way there K recieves a call "Where are you?" etc.. though it turns out 2 of the 3 guides from World challenge weren't there either, so it's not too much of a prob!
Then she goes. I'm gonna miss her.

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Part 1 - Settling in

First an introduction:
This post is the first of an undisclosed number of updates from Kirsten on her trip around and about Borneo with her school.
It's a trip organised by www.worldchallenge.co.uk and will be over the space of a month.
Enjoy!

Hey everyone!! I finally made it to Borneo after all the talk.
Started on Saturday at the army barracks in Hounslow for our build up day - met my team, went through kit, got shown how to put up shelters etc. That night we slept in Heathrow as check in was at 06:30, it was a joyous experience.
Eventually got on our plane to Dubai for 6ish hours, then another to Brunei for another 8, which was followed by a 7 hour wait at the airport for our flight to Kota Kinabalu (I can't guarentee any of these spellings) Finally got here feeling absolutely hanging, but the kids made us laugh all the way, so it wasn't so bad.
All in all they're a great bunch to be away with, they've worked really well as a team, and there are no really annoying individuals.
Today we had to buy food and stuff for our first trek which starts tomorrow morning. I was put in charge of this task with 3 other incompetents, what a crock. When we were in the supermarket agonising over noodles all the lights went out and we were left in the pitch black for several minutes holding our shopping baskets like a bunch of tw@ts. Would have shop lifted, only we were in the dog food aisle, or was it the tinned dog aisle....?
Had lunch in some scabby food shack, but it tasted great, as has everything from every scabby emporium we've sampled so far. Meals with drinks are working out at roughly 2 quid per head, so nae bad.
Anyway, it's our first trek tomorrow, starting early. We're off to the Crocker range, although not doing the trek we planned - have to do a higher one due to flooding. Also been told it's monsoon season so we're prob gonna get soaked - woo! come alive! It's gonna be a leech fest, bring it on!
After that, supposing we don't all disintegrate, we're off white water rafting, so if the rainforest don't get me, then that might.
Following that it's a visit to the orange-yootang rehab centre, hoping to get to feed one of those bad boys with a bit of B-nana, then we're going to climb Kinabalu, which takes about 3 days all in I reckon.
Sooooo, that's it for now, I'll be in touch again when i've got all that under me belt (not much room left under there) and am on to the next batch.
Hope you're all good, catch you later, Love Kirsten xxxxxxx