Naggles On Tour

Why Are You Here?

2007-03-13T00:36:00.000+01:00

Hello,

Not sure why you're here, I'm not travelling and haven't been for a while now. Maybe you just wanted to know the date in german.

Naggles is a Rock

I'm back Baby!

2006-11-10T10:38:00.000+01:00

What's happeing people,

I'm back in the great old land of Aus from the emotionless, fetid cesspool that is the United States of America. Hopefully I'll catch up with everyone over the next couple of weeks and regale you all with my drunken exploits. Thanks for reading, but it doesn't end here, I've got plenty more right-wing, commercial opinion coming right your way.

see you later,

Nathan

I'm coming Home

2006-11-02T06:12:00.000+01:00

Howdy, howdy, howdy,

Well it's only a matter of about five days before I'm back Aus and I have to say that I really could do more travelling, but you know, money doesn't come cheap. As my last hoorah in this country on Saturday I am attending a wedding that all the Waite's will be also be attending, so it should be a grand send off. Yay!

Otherwise it's been a rather quiet last week except I was able to go see Rise Against live downtown in Austin which was pretty cool. The only downer was that I was a bit sick which isn't much fun in a mosh pit. Still, I had a great time, even if the concert wasn't as good as when I saw them play in Sydney.

I was asked the other day by Barry what were my favourite and least favourite things about being in America which related to the country and my experience. To tell the truth America is quite similar to Australia but just not as good in many respects. I can't really put my finger on it but I just don't think that as a whole it is as nice a place as Australia is. There's not as much soul, whatever the hell that means. Just my opinion though.

Yahoo for nephews,

Nathan eat world

Dallas and Ice Hockey

2006-10-23T19:39:00.000+02:00

Last Friday I got my first taste of Nhl hockey as I travelled to Dallas, with Mark and Kris, to watch the Dallas Stars play the Chicago Blackhawks, who are the team I follow.
I was not dissapointed. I had opnly ever seen the Canberra knights play live and it's pretty hard to compare the two. The teams often looked so slick and skillful with the puck and it was really cool to watch.

Unfortunately Chicago went down 5-4, even though they were up 3-1 with 6:30 left on the clock. stupid chokers.

This photo shows a penalty shot which the Dallas skater missed, if you look closely you can see the puck just about to cannon off the crossbar. Sweet!

On Saturday night we met up with Mark's former work colleagues for dinner and among other things discussed baby names, with Star Wars characters fairly prominent. I like TK421, but I don't know how likely it is.
One thing that travelling to Dallas has taught me is how very alike my brother and I can be. Despite not living in the same country for the past 9-10 years we still have a surprisingly similar sense of humour. here's an extract from a conversation which my family will find amusing. The topic is one of Kristen's co-workers I think...

Nathan: so how do you spell her last name(Man) with 2 n's.
Kris: I think just with one n.
Mark: but with 3 m's and 4 a's. MMMAAAANN!
N&M: MMMAAAA...n(followed by laughter and a knee slap at exactly the same time)

This concurrent piece of stupidity brought a groan and a laugh from Kristen and sent Mark and I into hysterics.

I've only got 2 more weeks overseas with 30 hours of travel at the end which should be awesome. Be seeing everyone real soon.

Nathan in Oblivion

Halloween and goin' to Dallas

2006-10-19T19:56:00.000+02:00

Howdy,

Halloween is just around the corner here in good old texas and with it come all the staples of this most ridiculous quasi-holiday. You know, pumpkins, candy(lollies), and of course child size dolls hanging by ropes in peoples front yards...WHAT THE HELL! that's the kind of thing you want your children to associate with the collecting of treats isn't it.

In other news Mark, Kris and myself are travelling to Dallas tomorrow for the weekend where we will see the Dallas Stars play the Chicago Blackhawks, who are my team. Other than that I think Mark will be catching up with some of his former workmates and we will get a bit of a glimpse of the city. This will probably be my last outing in America before I get home. I have decided probably not to spend time in LA as it doesn't really interest me all that much, however I may have to spend about half a day in the airport because of my flight from Austin, which sucks. For those who may not know, I leave LA on the 5th of November and arrive back in Aus on the morning of the 7th, which is a Tuesday I think. It's getting kind of cool over here so I may get a bit of winter this year after all.

byebye,

State of the Nathan

Favourites and other stuff

2006-10-10T19:21:00.000+02:00

It's a rainy day here in Austin, and what else do you do on a rainy day but make lists of all the stuff you've done, and favourite things, while traveling.

Note: The following information is actually not that interesting and shouldn't be interpreted as some new revolutionary way of thought that could somehow benefit human existence.

Best Experience: Australia vs Japan, Australia vs Croatia...well pretty much the whole world cup actually

Favourite Place: Chamonix or San Sebastien, or maybe Prague, perhaps Barcelona.

Least Favourite Place: Madrid really wasn't that great, but it wasn't bad either.

Scariest Moment: nearly losing my camera in San Sebastien, finding it later in the middle of the hall in the hostel. phew!

Funniest moment: Pete's metropolitan joke in Chamonix, I was actually choking on my own laughter. Crab dancing in San Sebastien.

Wierdest moment: last Sunday's dinner at the Waite's house, a good time was had by all but a few of the comments were somewhat disturbing.

Biggest News: Two of my brothers and their wives are about to have kids, and I'm going to be THAT drunken uncle that everyone hates to love. WOOHOO!

Acquired Nicknames: Lunchy McCut cut, J-Lo Junk arse.

Favourite Food: too tough to decide, all food is wonderful.

Favourite Drink: Sangria

Favourite Saying: a Kaleidoscope of emotions. pretty much anything 12th man.

Favourite Quote: gotta be George Bush, what can I say, the man knows funny.
"Outrages upon human dignity, what does that mean, it's so vague"

Favourite thing about being in America: Being able to spend lots of time with Mark and Kris, sleeping in a non-hostel bed, Reading novels again, chilling out,

Least Favourite thing about being in America: The Imperial system, the drinking age, the 4-way stops instead of roundabouts, being able to get married, own a gun, buy cigarettes, vote, drive, be imprisoned and drafted and not being able to drink a beer(I'm not hung up about it though).

The albums I've listened to most: Tool: 10,000 Days, Lateralus. No Use For A Name:Keep Them Confused. Rise Against: The Sufferer & and the Witness.

Songs I've listened to most: NOFX: Perfect Government. Colin Hay: Beautiful World. Strung Out: The Misanthropic Principle. Bodyjar: Halfway around the World(poignant, no)

Biggest Life Lesson: hahaha...I really haven't learnt anything, I've probably actually become stupider...cause that's a word. I dunno probably plenty of stuff.

Things to look forward to when I get home: Pro Evolution Soccer 6 comes out a couple of days before I arrive home. Yay for Playstation.
And I'm sure seeing Family and friends will be nice too.
Also Workchoices and other spastic things the Howard government has implemented while I've been away.

Until then it's good to know that Man U are top of the Premiership.

10,000 Nath's

Do you know the way...

2006-10-03T04:20:00.000+02:00

Wellity,

I have been in San Jose and San Francisco for the previous 5 days and a good time was had by all. I travelled to San Jose with Kris on Wednesday morning as she had work to attend to. unlucky. I, on the other hand, was able to travel to San Francisco on both Wednesday and Thursday and spent a majority of both days checking out the city, including the piers, where I saw a guy do a rubix cube in a minute, coit tower and Lombard street.

View from above Lombard street(the windy one)

The way to Coit tower

Aaah, the land of the free...I'm not allowed to buy beer, but I can get a gun, cause that makes total sense.

Funny story, on Thursday morning as I waited for the train to San Francisco I was asked by some girls whether it was indeed the train to San Fran. I detected an Australian accent and I replied that I hoped it was. When the train turned up it seemed that the car I had boarded was filled with Australian girls of about my age. My powers of insight thought this to be a little odd (maybe they just caught my manly scent, which they could have as my deodorant was taken off me in airport security). I asked the girl next to me if they were on some kind of sport trip, and she replied "we're a cheerleading team actually, from Bendigo"...bahahahaha. It was all I could do from laughing out loud. Seriously, cheerleaders, from Bendigo, in San Francisco. What the hell! anyway I'm not one to be shallow or petty so I bypassed the fact that they were a cheerleading team and focused on the fact that they were all quite attractive. Wootwoobies.

On Friday Kris was off work for most of the day so we travelled into San Fran together to meet her friend Jeff. We took a walk through Golden Gate Park and had dinner by the Pacific Ocean, beautiful. We then took a look at a Yoda statue, as you do.

Then we went back to San Jose to pick up Mark from the airport, as he had worked the rest of the week in Austin before coming out to California. We all then went out to meet another of Mark and Kris's friends, Alan, for a few beers.(sshh...don't tell anybody)

Saturday morning we met up with both Alan and Jeff again and made our way around Pier 1 markets and stalls, and also stopped by the Playstation store.

Mark, Me, Jeff and Alan

Sunday morning was all about Alcatraz. Kris, Mark and I went out to the Rock and had a tour fo the prison and managed to escape intact. The trick is to hide behind the sign, they don't look there.

Me, confident in the fact that I will soon be free with my ingeniously simple plan.

Haha you fools, your extravagent sign is your biggest weakness!

Hello ladies, sprung from prison and on the market.

Kris and Mark, overlooking San Francisco

So my 5 days in San Francisco were filled with walking, sightseeing and shenanigans. I had a great time and a big thanks should go to Mark and Kris for making it all possible and being fantastic. Even if Mark is a bit of a Spackface.

Nathfist

World Cup Pics

2006-09-21T05:41:00.000+02:00

Here are some photos from the biggest event on earth, and some of my most memorable experiences too.

Australia vs Japan, 3-1

The Aussies paint Kaiserslautern green and gold

Warm up

The National anthems

Kick Off!!!

Victory Celebration!!! What a moment!

Australia vs Brazil, 0-2

Me and the Allianz Arena

The Teams

Me and Pete

The Brazilian crowd

Australia vs Croatia, 2-2

The Croatian fans, the one match we were matched for noise in the streets, before the game obviously. haha

The lineups. Why is Kalac keeping? Why? Why???

Kissing the badge, we're through!!

The boys, celebrating with the crowd!

Australia vs Italy, 0-1(ish)

Pete and Payten

The prized tickets, with our names on them!

Here's a spoon, so you can...

The lineups, it's getting so bloody tense!

Everyone knows how it goes from here. I still wake up in the night and think that it was all a dream, but no it I really did go to the World Cup. Jealous much...

Teenage Mutant Nathan Turtles

ACL

2006-09-20T02:55:00.000+02:00

What a great weekend!

Having never gone to a music festival I was interested as to what it would be like. Who would I get to see? Would the bands sound as good live? Would the other children like me? just like kindergarten really.

First up on Friday I saw Guster(above), a band that Kristen really wanted to go see and I was interested too as I had quite liked what I had heard from rides in my brother's car. They didn't dissapoint, in fact they were really good and played all my favourites(of which I had heard none). Honestly they were a real surprise and I'm glad I got to see them.

On Saturday afternoon it was 3 pretty big acts that I got to go see. The Shins(above), The Raconteurs and Massive Attack. The Shins ruled, yes, very much so, and even played a song titled Australia, which I cheered for a little more than everyone else. Highlight of the set was probably Kissing the Lipless, much more rocky live than on the album.
The Raconteurs were pretty good and had me rocking along through most of their set.
Massive Attack on the other hand were fairly chilled out and were well worth sticking around for.
Me and Kris before The Shins

On Sunday I was able to see Ween(OK), The new Pornographers(kinda crap), Ben Harper(fanbloodytastic) and Muse(AWESOME).
I was really only there for Ben Harper and Muse and both acts lived up to my expectations. Ben Harper went absolutely ballistic on his guitar as did the rest of his band on there respective instruments. And Lance Armstrong(above) introduced them. Cool.
Muse were a great way to end the festival. They played a fair bit of new stuff which I didn't know but even so they kicked arse. Stockholm Syndrome was so, so ,so good and Hysteria was what really got the party started.
So the Festival was good times for all, and being totally unrelated I thought I would show you the fantastic sandal tan I managed to acquire while in Europe. It's gone now but I'll always have the evidence. Enjoy.

Now some of you may be wondering "did Nathan take photo's of himself rocking out to Rise Against just to put on his weblog?". To that I say it's my blog and I can do what I want, even if it is moronic and selfindulgent.

A Nathican Paradox

Two Tickets...with Club Sauce

2006-09-15T02:46:00.000+02:00

...To the Gun Show

Howdy,

Since last roll call I have been quite the busy(ish) bee. I spent last weekend down in Houston with Lennie, saw Callie and met Daniel, Lennie's boyfriend, Colby and Alex. I went to a dinner at Callie's house on the friday and met some of Lennie and Callie's running team, in fact I was the only person not on the team, or of the male gender, there. I was in my element, kinda. On Saturday we watched college football, University of Texas versus Ohio State, which is sort of a big deal over here as they are the best two teams in the nation. After the match I went to an 80's party at Rice(lennie's uni) and looked about as 80's as a traffic cone...feel free to use that analogy. Good time was had by all, except the guy who we passed on the way out who had apparently passed out. Ouch.

Sunday was exactly like a Sunday at home, I sat on the couch for extended periods and then had Greek food for dinner, exactly like a Sunday at home...

On Monday I said goodbye to Lennie, the guy's and the couch that had been my home for three nights(so very comfy) and travelled back to Austin by bus. That night I also managed to extend my trip, so I am now staying in the US until November 5th. Woohoo!!

Tuesday, and the Tool concert was on the horizon, or so I thought!
Turns out the singer got sick and they have postponed the concert so hopefully I will be able to go to the rescheduled one, whenever that maybe. fingers crossed. On the positive side at least I didn't drive all the way to San Antonio before I found out the news.

So, this weekend is ACL, Austin City Limits, which should be absolutely fantastic. The Shins are playing on Saturday which I am very much looking forward too.

I hope everyone is well, sorry about the lack of pictures but I forgot to take my camera to Houston so I don't really have any recent photos. byebye,

Nathan "cannons" Gilson

PS. sorry Ev

Babysitting Rosie

2006-09-05T22:59:00.000+02:00

What can I say, most days I have spent here I have spent at least some of my time entertaining my brother's dog. Isn't she cute.
But what else have I done you may ask...

Well, The first friday I was here my brother took me to a movie theatre where food is served to everyone during the screening. Little Miss Sunshine was the movie and it was hilarious.
The next day(saturday for those of you a little slow on the uptake) we went shopping and I purchased the new Rise Against CD. Finally. It's good, really good.
That night I met some friends of Mark's, John and Sarah and went to a burger place for dinner. mmmmm.
On Sunday I went with Mark to his Church and somehow got talked into helping set up at 7 in the morning. I'm so selfless. Then that night I ate one of the biggest steaks I've ever seen(two actually) at Barry and Tina's house.
Which brings me to my next point. The Waite's have jetski's, which rule. You can go about 60 miles an hour on them. It is so much fun, almost criminally so. As is watching Premier League in the middle of the day, I just can't get over it.
Last week on wednesday night Kristen, Mark's wife, arrived home from a 2 week work stint in Asia and it was fantastic to see her again. However, I seem to be having an undesirable effect on Mark as he acts rather childish around me, something in which I will have no part. Kristen doesn't exactly approve of Mark's...well lets just call it boyish charm. an example: We were having lunch on Saturday, and Mark and I were trying to blow each others straw papers at one another. A perfectly civil way of lightening the mood. Kristen's response was to turn to me and enquire "How long are you staying?" because apparently she had worked so hard to mould Mark into the fine upstanding adult that he had supposedly become. Needless to say, I don't believe I have had anything to do with his moronic, yet quite amusing, behaviour.
Anyway, yesterday me and my brother(yes mum, ME and MY brother) went to San Antonio and saw the Alamo and went down the river walk, which is pretty much a man made lake in San Antonio which is lined with resaurants, cafes and touristy places. Then on the way back we stopped at some outlet malls where we bought a football and I got some new headphones.
Other than that my time has been spent lazing around, checking out Austin and listening to Rise Against. I've also spent quite a bit of time with Katie, another of Kristen's sisters as she has been at the house this week.
This weekend I am going to Houston to visit Lennie and Callie and maybe see the city a little bit.
Also I may be able to go and see Tool play next week in San Antonio if all pans out. Fingers crossed.

Nathdog

PS. you'd have thought Mark would grow out of hitting fruit out of people's hands but apparently not. Jerk.

Nath dog

San Sebastien, Paris and New York

2006-08-24T17:50:00.000+02:00

Hey y'all(I am in Texas)

So you're probably wondering what I've been doing the last few weeks, well here it is in all it's vague and uninteresting glory.

So...San Sebastien coolest place on earth. My nine nights there were pretty much set to a pattern. Go out till the early hours, get up late, go to the beach, bum around all afternoon, cook up a massive dinner(the hostel had a kitchen) and repeat. Along with the Aussies that I hung out with there was also Steph, the Canadian and Jake the Englishman(hilarious). Both top people and lots of fun. I also spent a fair bit of time around Sangria, which for those who don't know is red wine mixed with fruits and fruit juice, and it tastes fantastic. Also, made up one of the greatest dance moves of all time, crab in a bucket. I'll give everyone a demonstration when I get back but for now it involves clicking your hands like pincers among other things. I'll be honest it really doesn't make sense to me, let's just put it down to another fine act of stupidity. On the 10th I had to say goodbye to my new found friends as I left for Paris.

Off to Paris, the city of the Parisians...obviously. Paris is a fantastic city with heaps to see and do. The first day I was there(11th) I walked down the Champs Elysee(OOOHH! Champs Elysee) from the Arc de Triomphe to the Louvre. Walked on past the Louvre to Notre Dame Cathedral and walked around inside. After that I walked along the other side of the river all the way to the Eiffel Tower, which really is a sight to behold. I climbed all the way to the top and got some great pictures of Paris. After this I got the metro back to the hostel, I was pooped.
The 12th was the day to tackle the Louvre. Make no mistake the building is freakin' huge! too big to do the whole thing so I saw all the stuff I was interested in(Roman,Greek and Egyptian art) aswell as the big ones. I now no that the hype surrounding the Mona Lisa is somewhat justified. Her eyes do follow you around the room...packed with about 1000 other people probably all thinking the same thing(probably some were cynically, and not entirely incorrect in thinking "It's so bloody small, what's the big deal" ). One really cool experience was leaving the Louvre through the glass pyramid. It was raining and you could see heaps of tiny rivulets(that's right, rivulets) running down the sides. In writing this sounds a lot less interesting than it was at the time.
That night I met up with Jed,Alex,Ebony and Welco as they had come in on the bus that night. It was in fact Welco's birthday so we all went out for dinner and drinks, then up to the Sacre Cur which is a castle overlooking Paris. Good times.
The 13th I went to the Catacombs, which is pretty much a cemetry in an old quarry with more than a million peoples bones lining the walls...good wholesome family fun. It was quite a surreal experience. That night was the final night for the group of us to hang out as Jed and Ebony had to go back to work(ha) in the UK and Welco and Alex were continuing there European adventures. Sad times(so ronery).
The 14th I went to the Sacre Cur during the day, and also visited the site of the Bastille, then for the rest of the day pretty much just worried about my flight from Paris to New York(through London Heathrow AAARGH!!) the next day.
Fortunately my flight wasn't late or cancelled and I got into New York at 11:30pm on the 15th. Unfortunately that meant I was only able to get to my hostel at about 1:30 and into bed at 2am which was actually about 8am Paris time. I was pooped.
16/08/06-I slept
On the 17th I walked through central park and went to the central park zoo(waste of time). I then caught the subway for the first time down to the bottom of Manhattan and tried to catch the ferry to the statue of liberty. However, for some reason the ferry wasn't going to liberty island for the rest of the day. Bugger.
The 18th, the day was finally here. No more hostels, no more dorm rooms with people waking you up and turning on the light in the middle of the night,no more sleeping with mattress springs trying to puncture my lungs. Today I got to stay in a hotel. WOOO!! The hotel we stayed in(my brother, Mark and I) was right next to Ground Zero, whixh was viewable from our window on the 30th floor. I got to the hotel at about 12noon and decided to have a lie down on my bed...4 hours later I woke up and had wasted most of the day. I walked around downtown Manhattan for the rest of the day, not really knowing where I was but I did walk through Chinatown at some stage. After that I waited for my bro in the room until he arrived at 1am from Austin.
On both the 19th and 20th we walked around New York and went to both the Museum of Modern Art and the Met. Also on Saturday night we met Mark's friend Kathy and had dinner at an Argentinian restaurant, la di da! So I can now say I have tried NY pizza, which is pretty good, a NY hot dog in central park, tasted like crap, been to Times Square and ridden the subway.

Now I'm in Austin, at my bro's house,watching Premier League in the middle of the day for once. Awesome.

So that's that,

Hope everyone is enjoying work and study...sorry couldn't resist

The Nath train

Austin,Texas

2006-08-22T18:08:00.000+02:00

Hello everyone,

I'm now in Austin staying with my bro, who met me in New York where we hung out for the weekend.

This is my brother, Mark and his wife, Kristen's house

AAARRGH!! it's hideous...oh wait it's just Mark.

Who's that Adonis, with the chiselled features...oh,how embarrassing.

Photos...YES!!

2006-08-14T14:01:00.000+02:00

Me, Isn't this a lovely picture.

Me, in Chamonix, Wie wie(I could deadset be a poet)

How good is Paris, especially from the Eiffel Tower.

So far from home.

Me on top of the Eiffel Tower. Going for the windswept look. I think I pull it off nicely.

So there we are, photos for everyone to see, and its my last day in Europe, unless of course my flight from London to New York is not delayed, which probably isn't that unlikely. Right now though it is fine, so my next post should be from the USA.

Take care everyone, its a hard life, haha...

Nath, or my new nickname Lunchy

San Sebastien... and more San Sebastien

2006-08-12T20:02:00.000+02:00

Hello, hello

How is everyone, just in case you were wondering I'm in Paris and it has been fantastic so far...but first the stupidity that was San Sebastien.

So the infamous incident of San Sebastien started on August the 1st. I arrived in San Seb and was matched in a room with 3 Aussies, Alex, Matt and Jed. Legends, absolutely hilarious too. The first night I did not spend with them however as I went on a Pintxos, or Tapas, tour. We gained free entry into a nightclub on the beach from this and I decided as we were on the beach, may as well go for a swim...at 3 in the morning...in boxer shorts...stupidity at its finest. When I arrived back to the hostel I happened to run into Alex, who at this stage I didn't actually know very well. The conversation went something like this:

A: hey man hows it goin'
N: not bad man
A: Dude, your not wearing any pants
N: ...
A: where are they?
N: ...don't worry she's got them.

Luckily for me I walked home in a group of people and one of the girls was carrying my shorts. Again stupidity at its finest. So to recap, I had been in the city less than 12 hours and had already walked through it in nothing but wet boxers...I could tell this place was going to be awesome. Mum, Dad it was honestly pretty funny so don't hang your heads in shame. Maybe just a little. I can't believe I actually just typed all that. Idiot(napoleon Dynamite...oh yeah)

The next day I actually hung out with my roomies and we had the best time ever, quotes from everywhere, 12th man, Anchorman, Team America, Napoleon...hilarious. lay on the beach most of the day and got washing done. Not to much to report, apart from meeting two more of the crew my roomies were with, Ebony and Amy. I hung out with these guys most of the time in San Seb but also hung out with Dom, from brisbane, Steph, Canadian, Jake and Andy, English, and Jody and Dion, NZ. So all in all it was a pretty good time in San seb. More stories and shenanigans soon but I have to get off the internet.

Sorry about the brevity, will post again hopefully tomorrow.

El Nathorino (if your not into the whole brevity thing)

Photos...AAAARGH! and Madrid

2006-08-03T14:11:00.000+02:00

Hey,

Just so everyone knows, I am trying to post photos, but it seems the CD of photos I have is not working, Bugger.

I am trying so just a little patience from everyone would be great.

So Madrid, nice city, insano hot but still a really nice place. spent 5 nights there and it was probably a bit too long. It was almost impossible to go out for longer than a few hours without dying from the heat. The best part of staying in Madrid was actually the first day which I didn´t spend in the city. Mikey, a guy I met on busabout, Legend, and I headed up to a national park about two hours by train outside the city. Did a bit of a hike up to a lake on a mountain, about 2200 metres above sea level. There were horses up there just walking around and one actually seemed to take an interest in us for a while, a little scary. Really great views from where we were though, you might be able to see them if I ever can get photos on this blog.

The rest of my time in Madrid was a little disappointing after that, It´s just another city I felt. Went to Retiro Park on one of the nights and that was a highlight. Really cool park, nice fountains and statues, sat around from about 10 till midnight, which is when we got sick of being harrassed by drug dealers. I don´t want any bloody Hashish!

Now I´m in San Sebastien for 5 nights, and having a whale of a time. Staying with three Aussie dudes in my room, all nice blokes, which is always good.

Hope everyone is having as much fun as I am, and photos will come soon. Promise.

Natho

Valencia

2006-07-30T11:13:00.000+02:00

G´day, hows it going,

I spent a total of 2 nights in Valencia and I´m currently in Madrid. Valencia was a pretty cool place, pretty much just chilled out, checked out a Cathedral, there is about 1000 in Valencia(actual figure may be different), walked through the markets, saw the only "real" holy grail, recognised by the Catholic church anyway.

Really not much to tell from Valencia, took it easy, ate half a watermelon on the roof of the hostel, just cause I could. Danced the night away at some nightclub, pulled out a few of the top drawer dance moves, the sprinkler, funky chicken, it was all on display. Good times.

Hope everyone in Canberra, and around the world is behaving themselves, cause someone has to...

Nath

Nice and Barcelona

2006-07-25T18:45:00.000+02:00

What up all you hip cats,

Just chillin´ out in Valencia about to regale you with my outrageous exploits from the last week.

I spent a total of two days and three nights in Nice, one day of which was actually spent in Monaco, and it was a pretty cool city however there wasn´t a great amount to do, but somehow, somehow I got by. Both days revolved pretty much around walking around checking out what both Nice and Monaco had to offer. Nice was laid back and very nice(gets em every time) while Monaco had the biggest boats I´ve ever seen. Deadset some of them had helicopters on them. Awesome.

On the 20th I set off for Barcalona and met up with Busabout people for the first time. 98% are Australian. So I pretty much did the whole of Barcalona with a few guys who I met at the hostel. Went on a Gaudi tour with a group. Saw the Picasso musuem with Pete from Torquay. Went to the Nou Camp with Mikey from Melbourne, and yes Ev I got your shirt. And spent most nights with these guys and others having dinner and drinks. All up pretty cool, but probably the most impressive stuff was the Gaudi experience. The guy was a freak and Dad, you´ll be pleased to know I got a few photos.

So all in all having a pretty good time of it, still haven´t sent any photos but you know, I´m a lazy so and so. Also know one has sent me any so all this mental disintergration is pretty rich. I´ll send some soon, I promise. (You all know that´s a shaky promise at best.

Also, having short hair rules,

Naggles Mcgee

Chamonix, What a place

2006-07-18T18:57:00.000+02:00

Hello, Hello

Well, Chamonix was absolutely fantastic, many thanks to Barry and Tina for allowing me and Pete to stay and for making us so welcome.

So what did I do while I was in Chamonix you ask. Well for the most part I hung out with Pete and three of the greatest runners in history, Lennie, Callie and Emily. Deadset, I think they tried to destroy Pete and I with their crazy fitness. If your wondering who these three are, Lennie is my cuz(of sorts), Callie is one of the happiest and nicest people you could meet, and Emily could just about be cooler than anyone just by standing next to them. They all run track in America and while we were there probably ran about 6000 miles. Many thanks to these 3 for showing me a great time in Chamonix.

The first test was on our 1st morning in Chamonix, when we undertook a climb up...I've forgotten which mountain. The view from the top was absolutely amazing, and we saw a mountain goat along the way.

The next day was slightly less strenuous in the morning however in the arvo the girls asked Pete and I to run with them, which turned out to be more of a death march. 100 miles later(possibly 4) and my spirit was well and truly broken.

The next day was another hike, up to Albert Premier(that one I remember). My tired legs got through the ascent with ease...harder was the descent which saw me knock my knee on a rock which was slightly less painful than a pencil in the eye.

On Saturday the 15th we said goodbye to Callie as she went to trek around the continent a bit more, and a decidedly sombre mood took the household. Still life must go on and another hike was in store for Sunday, AAARRGH!

The hike on Sunday, to La Florier, was quite easy as I shed about 20 kilos by having my hair cut by Emily, despite continuing whispers of "I've never cut curly hair before" I personally like it and it will make France and Spain much more bearable.

Monday, an end of an era, Pete and I parted ways, aswell as saying goodbye to Barry, Tina, Nan, Lennie and Emily. The next month I'm all by myself through France and Spain, then on to New York and Austin to meet my bro Mark, and see all the Waites again.

Bye Bye

Nath

PS. for those who don't know Barry and Tina are my bro Mark's in laws and Lennie, my cuz, is their daughter.

Krakow, Berlin and onto Chamonix

2006-07-12T10:45:00.000+02:00

G'day, G'day

The last week of the world cup was one of mixed emotions.
Krakow was a fantastic city however the day we spent in Auschwitz during that time was both depressing and eyeopening. The main square in Krakow is where we spent most of our time and it was a great spot to watch the semi finals. We also managed to see a friendly match between Wisla Krakow vs Celtic which was pretty cool, especially as Wisla won.

Berlin was also a pretty amazing city. However, the time we were there was pretty much overtaken by excitement for the World Cup Final. Bloody Italy. I don't condone what Zidane did, but it was Materazzi.

So the world cup is over for another 4 years, which is sad, but sitting in Chamonix, surrounded by the Alps, I can't really say I'm hard done by. I've been to more than half of Australia's World Cup matches, seen some amazing sights and I'm about to go climb a mountain. Yahoo!

Nath

Prague

2006-07-03T14:47:00.000+02:00

Hello all,

The last 5 nights have been spent in Prague with quite the crew from Canberra,six in total. Pete and Payten, who I've spent some time with already and then Adsie, Micheal and Mish, who were all on the FFA tour.

Prague is probably the most beautiful city I've been in so far, at least Old Town is. We haved pretty much walked around the city every day seeing stuff like Prague Castle and the Communism museum which was pretty interesting. The nightlife is also pretty special and we spent a few nights at night spots into the early hours.

Next up is Krakow with both Pete and Adsie. We'll be there for 3 nights and then onto Berlin for the biggest sporting event in the calendar, should be fantastic. Sorry about the brevity but its hard to find time to right big posts.

Hope everyone is going well and keep posting comments and sending emails.

Nathovic

Australia vs Italy

2006-06-27T15:48:00.000+02:00

What do you say...

Heaps of stuff comes to mind but none of it really describes the feeling, and probably most of it is not really suitable for print. I'm not ashamed to admit that I shed a tear for the boys at the end and probably didn't say a word for about 20 minutes. I guess we just didn't make enough chances but we didn't deserve to lose to some diving bullcrap penalty. I'm trying to be diplomatic but...

The whole day was absolutely fantastic until that moment. You boring, boring Italians.

We are about to move onto Prague where hopefully we can leave the World Cup behind for a while. I don't really like our chances. I'm just hating the world right now, more than usual. Food doesn't taste as good, I'm tired, and the socceroos are out.

...

Nath

Stuttgart and Frankfurt

2006-06-24T22:40:00.000+02:00

Hohoho Yeah,

How is everyone and how bout those Aussies,

The 22nd of June 2006. Remember that day, I know I will. The whole experience was absolutely incredible. Lunch with some relatives, afternoon in the main street, train ride with about 1 million croatians to the stadium, and the most exciting match of football I've ever seen. AND I WAS IN THE STADIUM!!

I learnt during the day that Stuttgart has 20,000 Croatians living in the city and they made themselves heard all day. Then again in the stadium we didn't do a bad job of making ourselves heard. Tell you what the boys took us through the ringer though. What a result!!! Harry Kewell, get him up here...

After about 2-3 hours sleep we made our way to Frankfurt on the 23rd to continue our World Cup journey. Pete and I were hoping to meet up with Payten in Frankfurt but hadn't heard from him in about 4-5 days. Then guess who walks into our hostel room. What are the freakin' odds. We had a good sleep that night and Payten went off in the morning and managed to get himself a ticket to see Australia v Italy. All 3 of us will now be at the biggest football match in Australia's history. Bring it on!!

I managed to tape the Australian national anthem at both the Brazil and Croatia matches on my mp3 player, and you can hear my piercing tenor bellowing the words with gusto, absolutely priceless.

Hope everyone's alright, and exams for uni are going or have been alright and work isn't to taxing, I'm looking at you Mum.

Nath, Naggles, superstar.

Munich

2006-06-21T10:52:00.000+02:00

Hello All, how´s it going.

Pete and I have been staying in Munich ever since our days in Bad durkheim and during that time we have also had a few day trips outside the city.

We arrived in Munich on the afternoon of the 14th and didn´t really have much time to do anything but we still managed to find an internet cafe and watch the German´s beat Poland.

The 15th was a bit of a nothing day as well as we spent most of the morning waiting to wash our clothes, then headed into town and watching the evenings matches at a beer garden in Munich.

On the morning of the 16th we left for our day trip to Austria including the world´s largest ice caves and Salzburg, supposedly. The whole thing was pretty disorganised as we spent almost the whole day at the ice caves, which were fantastic, however this meant we only got one hour in Salzburg, which was a bugger. The Austrian Alps are freakin´ fantastic and it was a good day out.

The next day we visited Dachau concentration camp, which was pretty powerful as you can imagine. It has a wierd feeling to it even though just outside is the actual town of Dachau which was a really nice place. In the afternoon we watched the Portugal game and then headed back to camp for an early night.

Huge. that´s what the 18th was. The Brazilian´s sure no how to party and the whole day was full of drums and noise, which was fantastic. It´s a real pity the Aussies coldn´t take their chances as I thought we should have gotten something from the game.

On the 19th we went to an Aussie training session in Orhinghen, pardon the spelling, which was fantastic as the town put on a real show for everyone. Also we had our first Schnitzel on tour which was great. Nothin´like a good schnity.

The 20th we pretty much just walked around Munich and watched the German game at a beer garden, which was massive as we were the only Aussies there. That was a massive shock, seriously most of the time its like being in Australia, a very drunken and yobbo Australia.

So that should keep everyone up to date and hopefully a bit later I´ll be able to post some of the better stories, but for now the internet police are on my back.

Go you Aussies

Nath

Bad Durkhiem(1st 3 days of tour)

2006-06-17T13:06:00.000+02:00

Hello all from Bad durkhiem, about an hour or so from Kaiserslautern.
What a debacle it was geting from Frankfurt airport to the camping grounds. Despite assurances before we left we were unable to get public transport as we arrived at night so we had to get a taxi which cost 50€ each. Not happy.
The next day was the Aussie Japan clash which was great as we got to Kaiserslautern at about 11 and soaked up the atmosphere with 1000´s of other Aussies.
We got to the stadium at about 1:30 for the 3pm kickoff and got some nice photos of the pitch, and watched as the stadium filled. The atmosphere after the final whistle was absolutely nuts and we stayed around Kaiserslautern to watch the Czechs smash the US.

The day after we took it easy in the town of Bad durkhiem and watched the football most of the afternoon. Croatia I thought looked pretty impressive. Should be a great match.

The following morning we moved on to Munich and we are staying here till the 23rd and then back to Frankfurt for the 2nd round.

Hot tip: Australia 1 Brazil 1

Missing everyone, hope your all watching the Aussies,

Nath

Wouter...the whole truth

2006-06-14T19:46:00.000+02:00

This is the full story of possibly one of the craziest men in history, and just remember, he works at an airport refuelling aeroplanes so be afraid.

He first started talking to Payten at the bar at which we watched the Australia v Holland match. Payten walked up to the bar to buy a round when a man engaged him in conversation. We all thought nothing of it, except that Payten took quite a long time getting the beers, no excuses. After the match this man then proceeded, unannounced mind you, to buy all 4 of us a round and ask us where we were from ect. We were first freaked out when he started describing the PPP, which really shouldn't be talked about on this website. He then made comments such as "What would it be like to fly a plane into concrete" and "If you want to sink half of Holland I can tell you how". By this stage we were all somewhat afraid but also amused at times by this man's crazy stories. What really scared us was after saying goodbye and leaving him in the bar, he somehow managed to catch us up at the bus stop at the airport. Just before our bus came we managed to shake him with our phone numbers still intact, despite his constant questioning on the subject. We did leave with his though and the looks between the four of us at that time were classic. Every eye simply said "this man may well never leave us unless we take his phone number".
From then on his legend grew from simple airport crazy to a man who may well be a major player in international crime. For this we will remember Wouter and also for the immortal phrase "Now you like my country" and the now common call "You've been Vootered".

I hope this does the man justice.

Nath

Nath

Australia v Japan

2006-06-14T19:35:00.000+02:00

Firstly, let me start by saying...WOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!!

That match was one of the greatest experiences of my life...at least for the last 10 minutes. The feeling at the stadium is something that really can't be described in words. I took a few photos that hopefully will show a bit of the emotion that the fans were feeling during the match but it's really hard to put down. All I can say is that the second round is looking good and Pete and I will be there with bell's on.

Super, super Tim
Super, super Tim
Super, super Tim
Super Timmy Cahill

YEAAAAAAAAHHH!!!

Nath

London

2006-06-14T19:06:00.001+02:00

How sweet it was to spend some time in the English capital just before the world cup. English flags in every window and crazy poms with there shirts off in 20 degree heat. Gotta love it.

The day after we got back from Amsterdam Pete, Payten, Skinner and I all went on a big bus trip around London [which was free thanks to Tim Skinners work, sweet] , with intermittent talk of what a crazy that Wouter guy was. Seriously the guy has left a massive mark on all our travels thus far. It was good to finally get off our feet and get some sightseeing done without having to walk everywhere. We went passed all the big sights, such as Big Ben, The Tower of London and Westminster Abbey. It was a great day out with an early night...ish.

The next day the foursome was cut to 3 as Skinner had to work but Payten, Pete and I took a chance to see The Tower of London and the Crown Jewels[hehehe]. We then tried to get into stamford bridge, Chelsea's home stadium, but the blues scrooged us and we weren't allowed in, bloody Chelsea! We then went to Westminster Abbey which had also closed due to the time we had spent getting to Stamford bridge, Bloody Chelsea! we got some good photo's though. Then we wnt back to skinner's for another night of trying not to fall asleep during every partial lull in conversation, man we were tired.

The world cup is here!!! Skinner worked again today which gave Pete, Payten and I a chance to sleep in, which we took with both hands. After that we headed to Skinner's work and had some lunch and a beer while waiting for Tim to knock off. After that we watched the Germany v Costa Rica game at a pub and duly got Wanchope fever! The rest of the day was taken up by travel, football and more talk of Wouter...What a nutter!

The 10th was all about England v Paraguay which Pete, Payten and I watched at Canary Wharf on a big screen with thousands of poms, pity there team sucks. The other matchs we watched at Skinner's place, where I had 4 beers...give or take.

The 11th was both me and Pete's last day in London and we took the chance to head to Camden markets and Abbey Road...that's right Beatles fans I have photo's of me being an ass clown on Abbey road. I got rid of some of my unwanted pounds by getting a Danger Mouse T-shirt, SCORE!, and then said goodbye to Payten, Skinner, Lucy and there other housemates. before heading off to Frankfurt where the business begins. WOOOOO!!

Amsterdamn

2006-06-09T11:05:00.000+02:00

So I figured that a few people might actually want some experiences from the crazy Dutch capital and here they are...

After leaving Wouter in the airport(that guy was crazy) we headed outside to the bus stop to get to our hostel. Unfortunately the bus came quite late so Wouter, who knows how, was able to catch up to us and regale us with more stories about his country.
When we did finally get to our hostel we checked in and decided to have a walk around the place. It's a pretty amazing city if not quite different. "coffee" houses seem to be pretty much everywhere.
During our trek we stopped to have some fries with mayonaise which is a Dutch thing and now I know why it hasn't caught on.
The next day was fairly similar as we walked around and just soaked up the atmosphere, or lack thereof. We were out on the streets at about 10 and there was noone else in sight. In the afternoon we went to The Van Gogh museum and had a kick around in the park outside.
Then it was time to sample some dutch brews(which is a great way to get over jetlag, WOOO!)
Our last day in Amsterdam( June 6th) saw us try to get to Amsterdam Arena which turned into a complete debacle. Somehow Pete and I lost Payten and Tim and due to my phone not working in Holland, we weren't able to get back together until that afternoon at the airport.
Thankfully our plane left ontime with all engines intact and we are now London. Phew!

Nath

Now do you like my country

2006-06-08T11:08:00.000+02:00

G'day all from halfway around the world.
The last few days have been spent in Amsterdam and also London and what an eventful few days it's been.
Pete and I arrived into London at 6:25am on Sunday the 4th(Happy birthday Dave). Almost directly after we met up with Tim Skinner and Payten Giles, and we were on our way to Amsterdam on a flight which should have left Heathrow at 9:50. It was then that we found out that the plane we were on was missing a piece of its left engine. Lucky us! We were forced to catch a later flight which ruined our chances of getting to Rotterdam and seeing the Australia v Holland friendly. When we got to Amsterdam it really got interesting though.

Sitting in the airport watching the Football we met a very strange individual, by the name of Wouter. All I'll say is that he made our stay in Amsterdam surprisingly scary and hilarious at the same time. And if your wondering, his favourite catch phrae is the title to this post.

We spent about two days in Amsterdam which was fun for all the family.

Now we're back in London and staying at Tim's place until the 11th when we head to Frankfurt to begin our World Cup adventure.

Hope everyone is well, make sure you post some comments.

Nath

It Begins...

2006-06-03T00:21:00.000+02:00

Well, it's finally here.

There's nothing left to be said but "ha, ha, guess who's going to the world cup".

I'll hopefully be able to post pictures up in the not to distant future, so you can see all my globetrotting shenanigans (that's right, I'm funky enough to be a globetrotter).

Auf Wiedersehn

Nath

Testing

2006-05-27T05:15:00.000+02:00

Better than a poke in the eye with a pencil, but not much.