NICK
Monday, November 20, 2000,

Cape Town- How ya doin? This is Nick with my version of what's happening on this crazy four day trip of ours. I'm writing this diary entry on our long journey from South Africa to South America and I've got heaps to tell you.

I've never been to South Africa before so I was first at the plane window as we began our descent over Cape Town. It was a beautiful site with Table Mountain stretching out along one side of the city and the ocean on the other side, reaching way out to the horizon. I was hoping to see some white sharks but the plan was to stay on the ground for just 41/2 hours so we had to pile straight into the cars that were waiting for us on the tarmac. My car was a 1997 Jaguar and it was a real smooth journey.

The countryside I saw from the car window looked wonderful. The mountains were really lush and green and covered in these incredibly tall trees. When we pulled up at the hotel there were crowds of fans lining up to see us so we spent some time chatting with them and signing autographs. One woman and her daughter had been waiting since 4am to meet us!

Every stop off on the trip has included a press conference with the country's media and this place was no different. Well, there was one major difference actually... they decided to bring this huge cheetah into the room and sit it on a table in front of us. Seriously! A real live cheetah! It scared the hell out of me! Kevin and I were talking about it afterwards and we were agreeing that it's amazing when you think about how powerful the animal is and yet how helpless at the same time when itís facing extinction the way it is. Don'ít you think that's really horrible? People have got to realise that these things aren't going to be around forever. We've got to start doing something about this situation.

Like I said, I was really scared for a moment. I mean it was a beautiful creature and we all gave it a pat on the head but I was wary of those sharp claws and I was worried it was going to leap at us and take a swipe. It seemed pretty tame though. You know, I don't mind being asked to do stuff that some people might think are dangerous but the two things I'd never do are jump out of an plane and fly in a helicopter. Once when we were in Berlin, Germany, we cancelled this helicopter ride at the last minute. A few hours later we heard it had crashed. That's why I donít ever want to fly on one of those things.

But back to happier stuff... The location of the hotel was what really got to me today. It was set on the edge of Granger Bay and the water really reminded me of Cape Cod. You probably know that I'ím a big ocean person and this place kinda made me think of home. I'íve seen so many different types of ocean all around the world but the view I saw today is really going to stick in my mind. The water was so clear you could see right down to the bottom.

The press conference was pretty good fun and we got asked some very interesting questions. We're usually totally prepared for whatever gets thrown at us however one question really knocked us off balance. It was asked by a fan and this is exactly what she said... "What would you do for a fan who took a bullet for you?" Well first of all, we hope never to be in that kind of situation and we have a team of really great security guards who look after us well. But secondly, we wouldn't want to do anything that would put our fans in that kind of danger whatsoever and to be honest it wasn't too good a subject to think about. Tough question, mind. We love our fans so much and are so grateful for their support. It's you guys that have made everything we do possible.

Another question we were asked was on the subject of girls or, more specifically, what kind of girls we like to date. I took the opportunity to remind the audience that Howie, AJ and I are all young, free and single again and looking for love! So, if you know of anyone interested...!

Well it was such a short stay in Cape Town, it was over before we knew it but the people were really friendly and the scenery was gorgeous so I definitely want to come back for a long visit. Gotta go. Brian wants to challenge me to a game on Dreamcast and I'm gonna wallop him this time,

See you soon,

Love Nick