Since it is now September when I am writing this I am glad I kept a journal. Thought I'd fill it in in case anyone's interested since I do go to Egypt at the end of the week.
So I went to Oslo to visit Ellen and Dag. It wasn't a touristy thing for me to do at all. Rather a catch up. It was so lovely to see them and weird that after only a short few hours I was in a country speaking a different language and eating different foods and feeling immersed straight away into the Norwegian culture and just for a weekend. It was a weekend of chit-chat and catching up and drinking wine through the night while until the sun came up (not hard in Norway in June since it was probably around 1 or 2 am that this event occurs). We went for a walk in the forest nearby and Ellen showed me the school where she has been working for years and it was lovely to see how she and Dag had renovated there house which used to belong to Farmor (my host-father's mother). Before leaving, Ellen and I booked Ellen a flight to visit me in England for the weekend I was celebrating my birthday so it was not a sad farewell knowing we's see each other a month later.
I had to work a lot of Saturdays in June so I didn't travel much but I did do a bit of partying with the girls. I also went for a horseride at my friend Jodie's place (which is in a really beautiful spot) and enjoyed walks and jogs along the rail trail near my house with all the Summer growth making the place even more beautiful.
The one bit of travel I did do in June was to have an impulse trip to Ireland. So I flew to Cork on the Friday and got in at a crazy hour and was tired and checked out the Irish pub seen where I met locals who spoke in an unrecognisable language that I soon discovered was actually English but the Cork version.
The next morning I went to breakfast and met a lovely Spanish guy called Daniel and a hip and fun Aussie girl called Katrina and they were heading off on a guided tour of the region and down to the coast and so naturally I joined them. We hit it off straight away and the countyside was beautiful down there. We had the most unenthusiastic tour guide who knew an amazing amount of trivia about the area (by this I mean we were even told abut how the traffic usually flows during the day around Cork and the best times not to be in it!) but our exuberance on the trip made up for our guide and bus driver.
First stop was a place called Gougane Barra which was set amoung the hills and was a place where the monk who during a pilgrimage found the swamp that is now the town of Cork had retired for contemplative meditation. It was understandable why he chose that spot because it was so beautiful.
Next we went to an island on a ferry called Garinish Island (cool name I thought because when you try to say it it naturally sounds like you've got an Irish accent, something I would love to have but unfortunately can't pull off). This island was amazing because there were beautiful views and it had such fertile soil that seed that had blown from boats using the waters around the island had simply grown so easily and as a result there were so many different types of flora from around the globe including bottlebrush, kangaroo paw and gum trees. There was also bird of paradise. There were seals sitting on rocks off the island and we god good views of them from the ferry.
We then stopped for lunch. Decided we'd have a bit of the local brew together, Katrina ordered us drinks and ordered me a Murphy's figuring since it said it was draught that it was a beer. Good assumption but very wrong. While it was taking a long time to come I kept asking her "are you sure it's not stout because I really don't like stout" to which she replied, "it says draught so it would be beer wouldn't it?" It was a stout and luckily I really enjoyed it and I am glad I tried it while in Ireland.
That night we did an Irish pub crawl and met all sorts of characters. We decided to go to Blarney together the next day and kiss the Blarney Stone. It is meant to give anyone that kisses it the gift of the gab. So we explored Blarney castle while in the queue though the whole castle to the stone.
Then we explored the grounds and druid ring of stones and enjoyed the absolutely gorgeous weather and each other's company exploring this new and fun place.
We said out goodbyes late that evening and I left for the Airport where I had fun waiting for my delayed flight.
The following weekend I caught up with my mate Simon for his birthday and got to put faces to names I had heard him talk loads about. It was a nice relaxed weekend actually because we all went out to the pub the night before his birthday and it was easy and relaxed and it was nice meeting new people. Then the next day there was a BBQ and it was beautiful weather and again just lovely meeting new people and relaxing and not having to be anywhere.
The next weekend I caught up with another of my dive friends when he invitied me to Cannock Chase to see a James Morrison (singer not trumpet player) concert for which he had built the stage. I was actually a bit blown away but the fact that such a thing can be built in such a short time. Ben and I did a lot of catching up backstage (he managed to get me a pass so that I could go wherever he want which was really cool) and then we went in to watch James Morrison when we suddenly noticed the sound of "Undiscovered". It was good fun and a beautiful night. We were going to leave straight after the concert but there was a bus in the waay so Ben couldn't drive me back to my car. Then Ben was going to help move a big semi that was bogged by getting the forklift to tow it and we were walking past the stage when Jame Morrison came down the stairs. He needed something off Ben and bless Ben, he gave me the keys to his car so I could go with James to get it. So James and I had a nice little chat together for a while and that is my experience with someone famous. He's really nice except that he thought I was a kiwi until I set him straight.
So that was my June. Nice and chilled. Onto July when I didn't have to work any Saturdays and generally ahd a great time...
