2000 - Europe & Asia

On February 2000 I left New Zealand again, this time with more money and a work Visa for the UK. I spent 8 months traveling and I visited Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China, England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic, Luxembourg, France, Monaco, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Switzerland. Some of the highlights of my travel included:

• Attending the Hong Kong rugby 7's and watching the Kiwis take the trophy!
• Visiting extended relatives in China for the first time.
• Visiting the Millennium Dome, London - it is not a bomb!!!
• Getting blasted by a low level flying RAF Tornado at Haiden's Wall, England.
• Mountain biking through Anchor, a part of the Aaron Islands on the West coast of Ireland.
• Smoking pot in a coffee shop in Amsterdam.
• Drinking Absent - 81% proof alcohol in Prague, Czech Republic.
• Visiting the massive (157 meters high) and haunting gothic cathedral of the Cologne Dom, and climbing up it's 509 steps for a view of the city.
• Seeing Ludwig's fairy tale castle of Neuschwanstein in Fussen, Germany.
• The view of castles dotting along the river Rhine on my train ride from Frankfurt to Luxembourg.
• Lying in a park and watching the Eiffel tower's mesmerizing light show at midnight, Paris.
• Visiting the monastery/castle of Mont Saint Michel on the coast of Brittany, France.
• Swimming to an Island of the coast of Saint Sebastian, Spain.
• Running with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain.
• Seeing the beautiful and surreal buildings and park of Antoni Gaudi in Barcelona.
• Seeing the weird and funky Palacio da Pena in Sintra, Portugal.
• Cliff diving in Lagos, Portugal.
• Attending the Palio horse race in Sienna, Italy.
• Attending the F1 grandprix in Monza, Italy.
• Visiting the Uffizi gallery, Florence.
• Taking a train which climbs up to 3,454 meters to visit Yungfraujoch, and hiking back down afterwards, Switzerland.

Funnies

The funniest thing that happened to me was out on the Isle of Skye in April 2000. We return to our dorm after a night of boozing and partying (at a beach bonfire!), and were all asleep when at about 1am we were join by a 2 very drunken Scots. They crash heavily but that was kewl, coz we were pretty shagged so everyone were sleeping soundly. But I was awoken to the sound of sizzling, similar to a BBQ sausage :), it was a faint but continuous. I open my eyes to see our Scottish friend sitting atop his bunk (it was a double bunk) with his legs hanging over the ledge, while unloading his... ah-hem jet of urine onto the ground below! I was so stun by this scene that it left me speechless. Thank goodness Alard, my South African neighbor woke up too, and manage to cry out a very surprised "Excuse me?!?" to the Scot. It was hilarious and I was close to laughing out loud, the Scot manage to mumble an incomprehensible "oh solly, solly, solly" to us that whole time. And incredibly in a room of 8 people only Alard and me woke up to it! The next morning our offending Scot left in a hurry and we decided not to mention anything about it to see what the others thought of the damp carpet!

Spain

My favorite country in Western Europe is Spain. I fell in love with the Spanish people as soon as I cross the border out of France. The Spanish were friendlier and much more down to earth. They are also a very relax bunch, thanks to those siesta. I had many sign-language cum conversation with the locals, drinking Kali-Mocha and Sangria, eating paella. As those Spanish chicas, I could dedicate a whole webpage to them since I think they are the most beautiful women in Europe!

Festival of Saint Fermin @ Pamplona

Throughout my travels in Europe I had one festival marked down in my event diary not to miss, and that was the festival of Saint Fermin, better known as the running of the bulls. The whole town was one party atmosphere when I got there, with everyone adorn in the traditional white clothes and red scarf. I was surrounded by a sea of people on the streets, drinking large quantity of alcohol and feasting on paella and roast chicken. Others were dancing to the music which seemed to be blasted out at every direction, from traditional Spanish string music to the latest house tune. And as for the ones who can't keep up, they were slump at the street corner, on pavements, on the bench, at the park, even at the busy roundabout!

I was so excited on the day of the run, and got up at 4.30am to get to the starting line. I wanted to beat the queue and get ready for it "mentally". By 7am the road was pack with eager runners. There was a sense of excitement and a fear of the unknown for all first-timers, I remember double and triple checking my shoelaces, having nervous conversation with the people around and listening to advice from the "veterans". And then almost on queue people started chanting and waving their arms (with their rolled-up newspaper) at an altar sitting in a hole inside a wall.

The altar

Ruuuuuuuuun!!!

When the chants finished, a skyrocket went off - that was the signal to let the bull pen open. Many people took off almost immediately, nervously looking back. I followed when people behind me started pushing and shoving to get through, and then I saw it - the black mass of bulls charging through, it was the scariest thing, and I remember running as fast as I could, trying to avoid the numerous collisions along the route, it was nastiest at the bends, where people slipped and ended up in a pile. I remember seeing a poor sod slipping off, before skidding towards a fence injuring his groin, and people who duck towards the side as the leading bulls charge past.

The run took us inside the torres (bull ring), and a sense of euphoria ripped through me as all fellow runners congratulate each other on making it all the way, while the audience sitting on the stands cheered and clapped. It was the most wonderful feeling! However that feeling didn't last long as the torres gates was shut after all the bulls were herded through. And everyone looked towards the bull pen, waiting for it to open. The wait was short as when the authorities opened the pen two black bull came charging through the crowds.	Ouch!
That was really scary as there were no where to hide! I remember people who tried getting out of the ring but were shove back by the police. I saw some crazy people who sat in front of the pen waiting as the bulls came charging over them, and people who stood still in the middle of the ring telling everyone "the bulls won't see you if you stand still!" while the bull went ran around them (and they move!), and the poor sods who got picked up by the bulls on their horns, or those who got trample. Throughout this madness everybody still wanted to touch the bull, with their hands or their rolled-up newspaper. When I finally got near enough and touched the bull it felt awesome, like I've achieve something special! But that feeling was gone in a second because the bull turned, and charge straight at me - I dodge to the side just as the bull's horn went through the my shorts ripping up a hole, but I was so very lucky as those same pair of horns went on to hit a guy beside me square on the stomach. After a few more round of letting the bulls out, the chaos ended and we were allowed out of the ring. I could almost hear the sight of relief from my peers. The running of the bulls is only part of the experience of the Saint Fermin festival. But it has left me with such a high that I cannot get over nor forget those 3 brilliant days at Pamplona.

My favorite cities

1. Barcelona, Spain
   It is full of beautiful woman, contains many brilliant architectural buildings from the hands of Antoni Gaudi and his peers. The Picasso art museum, which I spent hours browsing through my favorite artist's paintings. The nightlife is also superb with many clubs and bars. Finally, the atmosphere of the hostel I stayed at was great!
2. Edinburgh, Scotland
   Where else could you go to see a castle smack right in the center of the city on a hill? It's a picture perfect city, with many friendly folks.
   
3. Prague, Czech Republic
   This is a beautiful city, thanks to the fact that it was left untouched after World War 2. Everything are cheap and there were lot's of things to do. I saw many historical buildings and museums. The food were great and again I stayed at a happy hostel with an awesome atmosphere.
4. Lucerne / Luzern, Switzerland
   Clean, green and dotted with many frog statues! I love Lucerne, the city is beautiful and whilst not as happening as the others I enjoy just chilling at the river front, watching fisherman doing their stuff - where else would you see fisherman fish in the middle of a city?
5. Porto, Portugal
   To sum it up, this city reminded me of Europe 20 years ago, with it's tailor shops and their sewing machine and tape measures, shoeshine boys on the streets, men in suite walking into church at lunch time to say their prayers, cheap corner coffee shops, tile paintings and kids fishing by the docks

Photos

I took over 60 rolls of photos in the 8 months of travel, and have put some of them up on this site. Click here to check it out.

Greetings

I have met many people along my travels in 2000, so here's a big shout to:

Gary Kwok (HK), Peter Johnson (HK), Scott Whisper (Aus), Charlotte Roe & Verne Taniwha (Kiwis), Catherine Ryan (Aus), Tamara Brown (Aus), Katrina Peterson & Kylie Warren (Aus), Richard Malan (kiwi), Venessa Moxon (kiwi), Sarah Burns (Aus), Alard Hufner (SAF), Kim McDonald (Can), Peter Bosch (SAF), Chris Wynd (Aus), Mark Cranny (Aus), Greta MacRae & Susan Baird (Can), Nigel George (Aus), Damian Clark (kiwi), Darren Gerber (SAF), Frank Fokkema (Net), Anne Dollack (Can), Pat Roy (Can), Carolina Lee (Aus), Kinny Mercado (Phi/US), Jane Fitzpatrick (Can), Azucena Mendoza & Gina Prado (Mex), Claus Hoffman (Den), Anibal Alemanno (Arg), Claudia Kuhue & Hannelore Vogt (Ger), Kenny Barron (US), Jonathan Laoouceur (Can), James Barthel (US), George Watson (Sco), Annemarie "Mie" (Swi), Gregor MacNish (Aus), Tim Plorin (Ger), Michael Berg (Ger), Laura Preston (kiwi), Rui Maehara (Jap), Matt Pettitt (Bri), Scott Buttress (Bri), Chris Millet (Aus), John Dawson (kiwi), Daniel Laugallies (Ger), Lee Nge Khor (Sin), Matthew Harvey (Bri), Sandra & Elly Turner (Aus), Rob Pollock (kiwi), Stuart Cullinan (US), Tom Ainsworth & Leo (Bri), Martin Richard (Aus), Becky Fitzpatrick & Duncan (kiwis), Michael Moos & Soren Nieljen (Den), Rob Hurrich (US), Corry Jaffe (US), Mercedes Tarnassi (Arg), Suzanne Geudeke & Marjolijn Hondebrink (Net), Ella Watson-Russel (Aus), Akihiki Segitani & Makoto Ueno (Jap), Aline Guillermet (Fra), Manuela Riboldi & Luca Bresciani (Ita), Kellie Snapes & Jacques Zuiden (SAF), Brady Warnick (Can), Daniel Feghaly (Aus), Ting Ping (US), Margo "Monkey" (US), Brett "Skip" Horkings (Aus), Fiona "Wog" Silvestri & Britt Campain (Aus), Adam Sadowski (Can), Maraea Tari & Steve (Kiwis), Alex Josevski & Ray Simaras (Aus), Rebecca Keating & Erin Robertson (Kiwis), Daghbouji Lotfi (Alg), Fang Wah Lee (Mal), Marc Mancuso (US), Rohan Morrissy & Rick De Marco (Aus), Vlad Gluzman (US), Shane Jones (kiwi), Stephanie Roschi (Swi), Grego Herzog (Fra).