Circumnavigate the globe

When I was in my early 20’s it seemed like a good idea to go travelling. The idea came about after one of my friends had done the same but it was suggested by another friend. I actually crashed his idea. He told me he wanted to go to Australia and I invited myself on the trip. He didn’t put up too much of a struggle though so shortly after the idea had been aired we started planning. In every plan there has to be a degree of compromise and Ian agreed that we could go and see a little of Asia before we went to Australia. So we started in Bangkok and after a week in the heat and humidity we headed to somewhere hotter and even more Humid, Hong Kong. I am still not entirely convinced that Ian was happy doing these trips as he struggled with the spicy food and we had to find alternatives for him, while I was happy to eat more or less anything. After 10 days in Hong Kong we landed in Cairns for the beginning of our trip down the Queensland coast. On our trip south we lived it up like we were on a long holiday but we also picked up work along the way. Work in Queensland at that time meant picking fruit. So we turned our hand to picking anything that was growing in any place that would have us. Conditions were normally hot and uncomfortable but if you were lucky you would have a laugh. This was needed at times as it is amazing how quickly the mixture of lifting and the 40 degree heat can wear you out. We stopped many times on the way down the coast, not just at the bigger towns like Townsville and Magnetic Island, Airlie Beach and The Whitsundays or Hervey Bay/ Fraser island but also in smaller places like Ingham. The decision to go to Ingham was made aafter one of said "no-one ever goes to Ingham". We arrived in Brisbane just before Christmas and we were behind schedule, we should have been in Sydney but Brisbane was a nice city and we’d been moving for a while so we stayed and worked and eventually I decided I’d had enough and went to Canberra and then to Sydney. Ian came with me but decided after a few weeks that he wanted to go back to Queensland. Our parents thought we had fallen out but this wasn’t the case. I worked for a while and eventually ended up back in Brisbane but took a more leisurely trip back up north. By the time I had got back to Brisbane another of my friends had come over from the UK. As Ian had got settled in Brisbane, Adam joined me on the return leg of my Journey. This took us to New Zealand, Hawaii, Fiji and across America ( LA, San Francisco, Orlando, Washington and NYC) before I landed at Heathrow airport 11 months after I had set off.

Have a Shave with a cut throat razor

As part of my morning preparation on the day of my wedding I thought it would be good to do something I had never done as that could fit nicely into the day. My wife’s uncle knew of a barbers shop in our local town that did a wet shave with a proper cut throat razor, this sounded ideal. My dad and my cousin (who was my best man as well) decided we could make it a family affair so off we all went on the Morning of Sept 22nd 2012. As there were 3 of us and only 1 person was qualified to perform the actual shave that meant that 2 of us had to wait, I was pushed forward to go first while my dad and Mark watched. Naturally Mark decided that seeing me lay almost flat on a reclined seat with shaving foam on my face and a lady holding a blade to my face was a good photo opportunity so he started snapping away and was intent to get as close to the action as possible. Oddly enough the actual shaving part seemed to take quite a while and the razor didn’t feel particularly sharp, I expected there to be more of a sensation involved but it wasn’t until after the shave was over and the towel was put on my face that I actually felt anything at all. There was no stinging or anything like that, I just felt really clean and fresh. When it was Marks turn I got my own back by trying to make him laugh every time the girl got close to him, he also had to be the captive subject of a photo session. I have to admit that even though I did feel good afterwards the feeling is quite short lived, this could be because there was still so much to do before my presence was needed at the church but I would not be in much a hurry to relive the experience of the “Proper” shave.

Ride on a Segway

This post could have been called “the latest item that Ian has fallen off”. I do tend to be a little clumsy at times and over the years I have managed to cause myself a few minor injuries (see the post on the Manchester to Liverpool bike ride for another fine example of this) so it was inevitable that at some point I would end up in the dirt but we will get to that later. This all came about after My wife’s best friend bought me a voucher for the Segway experience for my birthday, I chose to do this on a Saturday morning at the Go Ape site in Cannock. I had seen people riding the Segway before and it looked like great fun, as the voucher was for a Forest Segway experience I knew we were in for a few laughs. My wife decided that she would join me for the experience as well, this was a huge bonus as I’d imagined myself going around the course while she watched from the side lines. After a brief safety talk we were lead to our segways and guided through the basics before being sent to the practice track where we spent the next few minutes driving in a figure of 8, then we progressed to the Uphill and Downhill section. This is where I became the first group member to fall victim to the Segway. All was going well until I had to negotiate a tight corner, I got around the corner well but over corrected when I on got on the straight part of the path and one wheel touched a tree stump. I am not if you are familiar with the workings of a segway, I wasn’t and I found out quickly that if anything touches the wheel it instantly stops…..Unfortunately this information isn’t shared with the other wheel so it carries on as if nothing has happened. This action generally throws anything that is on the Segway onto the ground, in his case it was me that ended up as a crumpled mess in the middle of the training track. As injuries go this was not even worth mentioning, a little chat and a plaster on my finger and I was back on the machine and off we went into the forest. I kept to the back of the pack initially as I was quite cautious after my little spill. The first section had us weaving between the trees and we had to practice a figure of 8 manoeuvre then they suggested we take it up a notch and increase the speed of the machines, the increase seemed to make the Segway easier to handle and we were soon whizzing down the forest tracks. The guide did notice that my wife and I were sticking to the back so he decided we needed to move up so made sure we were at the front. I think this gave Keely much more confidence as she was off like a shot and was speeding ahead of the group, I was just about keeping up. By the time we reached the final section we’d had to make a couple of unscheduled stops as the 2 wheeled menace managed to claim another couple of victims, I was happy that the day hadn’t ended with me being the only idiot to fall off the Segway. The last leg was the most challenging section as it saw us negotiating some fairly steep parts of the course, both up and downhill meaning we had to lean backwards or forwards much more to control the speed. It was tricky to get the right measure of this at times. Too much meant you’d go too fast, too little and you could make the thing stop completely and lose the much needed momentum. By now my wife had really got the knack and left me standing, the instructor even commented at how well she had taken to the experience. At the end of the course we were all given a certificate to show that we had survived the day and could now claim ourselves to be proficient Segway drivers.

Get a Song that I have performed on played on a radio station

“All Over the world, All over the world, it’s where I want to be….”

This was the opening line of the song that was played on “Wolf FM” when we went to be interviewed by local DJ Ollie Hayes on his evening show all those years ago.
We were inspired by an idea that the Beatles used and started the song with the Chorus to make it catchier and I think it worked to a certain extent as I still only have to hear the opening lines and I have the song stuck in my head.
The band I was in at the time was called “Shiver” and we were making a minor ripple on the Wolverhampton music scene.
We’d had a handful of gigs at the varsity and a few others around the midlands but we were just about to embark on our first trip to London and we had been invited to go on the radio to help promote the 5 live festival that the Varsity were hosting and we had been told to bring a copy of our latest demo.
As we entered the studio we handed the CD over to the station manager and he took it into the back room and came back, handed us the CD and said…Yeah, I can play that. We all giggled like idiots.
We were prepared for the interview but had never considered that they’d play our song as part of the show.
To be honest I think all we did was laugh all the way through the 15 – 20 minutes we were on air apart from when the DJ hit the play button and our tune was aired to dozens of local radio listeners, at that moment the laughing stopped and we all sat dumbfounded at what was happening.
I never managed to record the session so I do feel a little sad that I never actually got to hear the song being played on the radio itself and as Shiver split a good many years ago I guess I will never experience this.

Go Paragliding

Two of my biggest fears are heights and deep water so, when I went to visit my mate in Perth it seemed like a good idea to tackle both of these fears numerous times over the 3 week period.
We had already done the one where you sit in a rubber ring and get pulled along the Swan River by a speedboat and we had sat in a cage attached to industrial rubber bands and been thrown into the air, we had also gone for a trip down the coast of Western Australia in a helicopter. Each of these were quite adrenaline fuelled activities for me as they tackled one of my biggest fears but Ian still had another trick up his sleeve. For this I would need to dig deep and tackle both my fear of heights and my phobia of deep water.
I had seen loads of people Paragliding in the past and it was always one of those activities that looked like a fun thing for other people to do, I had never for one minute considered having a go at it myself, Yet Somehow I found myself on the back of a boat wearing a harness and being winched out on a line as a parachute lifted me up in the air.
The initial adrenaline kick kept me going for a little while as I was lifted higher and higher and I remember thinking that I should actually feel more scared than I did. Even looking down at the boat didn’t make me the slightest bit anxious. It was such a strange feeling. There was very little sound reaching me at this height so it felt totally peaceful. I looked down and could not comprehend that the thing beneath me, that looked to be about the size of a mobile phone, was the boat that I was attached to and was the vessel that was responsible for keeping my at my current altitude. The parachute is only kept in the air by the movement of the boat and while the boat was moving I was happy to take in the views of the city and the other boats on the water. After a while though I started to get a little bored and that was when it happened - The boat started to slow down and the parachute started to succumb to gravity.
I wasn’t bothered about this though, I was only falling slowly and I was confident that they were just going to winch me back onto the boat. As I got lower and lower I could see my mate on the boat. He was chatting to the guy who was in charge of the boat and they were laughing. I had a bad feeling about this and I was not just being paranoid. I was getting lower and lower and there was no sign of me getting any closer to the boat. They were still moving but they were slowing right down and the slower they went the faster I fell until I could see the water right beneath me. Surely they would do something soon?
Next thing I knew I had wet feet, then I felt the pull of the boat. I had actually gone waist deep into the water before the boat had lifted me up. In all I was dunked 2 or 3 times before they brought me back in but it was quite an invigorating feeling. Plus it was my mates turn next so I had the chance to laugh at him. If anything I got off quite lightly as when he emerged from the water he was soaked from head to toe.

Perform a best man speech

Being asked to be the best man at a wedding is a huge honour. It is a position normally reserved for a best friend or a close member of your family as you have to put all of your trust in this person on the biggest day of your life. I have been asked to do this 4 times and I have agreed on every occasion but I am not sure if I would do this again. The first time I did it was for a friend I have known since we were at school, the bride and groom were quite young and despite the fact that I knew I was too young to be considering anything as life changing I knew that they were ready. The wedding took place in a local registry office and the reception was in a pub in our hometown.
I can’t recall much of the speech as I was nervous and possibly rushed through a few cards and messages before raising a toast and leaving the stage.
20 something years later they are still married and have 4 children.

By the time I got to do the second of my best man duties I had gained a little confidence and decided to bring props. I had known Adam and Deb for a little while so I felt confident enough to make jokes about his long hair and him loving his car more than his wife. The speech went down well and they are both still talking to me.
They are still talking to each other as well and have been married for about 14 years now.

Ian’s wedding was a pretty special affair and I was genuinely moved when he asked me if I would take part in his wedding. I met Ian years ago when he joined the band I was in, he was our drummer and we later split the band up by going travelling for a year. Sadly for me but happily for Ian he managed to emigrate to Australia so my best man task for this year would see me travelling thousands of miles to Perth in Western Australia. I am not sure if this type of wedding is typical for an Australian wedding but it was not like anything I had been to before. After the Ceremony we all went down to the beach for some pictures and the wedding party were taken down the Swan River on a boat to the reception. Ian had carefully chosen music for all of the speeches so I walked to the podium to “Let me entertain you”. During the grooms speech I had to encourage audience participation and shout out punch lines to his jokes. He called it Kare-jokey. With it being Western Australia the buffet was an incredible array of fresh seafood and other marvels, I have never seen anything like it and the waiters were obviously under instruction to not let the tables go dry as the jugs of beer and bottles of wine were replaced as soon as they were empty.

The last time I performed the Best man task was for my cousin, Mark. We all arrived for the Civil Ceremony in a limousine on a sunny October day. After the ceremony I stood up to deliver my speech and I was reminded of how seriously people take these things as one of Marks friends advised that “I’d better be funny”. Luckily I have known Mark all of his life so there was no shortage of material and I even managed to throw in a few off the cuff remarks to cover my visible nerves. The beer and wine flowed well and the afternoon faded into the night, and we were all taken outside for a firework display. Even after the music had stopped and the bar had closed a few people wanted to carry the party on and hosted their own sing a long before we arranged to carry on at the Hotel bar. I am happy now to retire from the business of standing up and making jokes at other peoples expense, Mark returned the favour in 2012 by delivering his best man speech at my wedding.

Witness a world class firework display

Every year on Dec 31st the TV starts to show pictures and live footage of the new year being celebrated across the globe. A lot of the time this means a huge firework display with the backdrop of Sydney Harbour Bridge. Australians seem to love a firework display and they do it well. The best display I have ever seen was in Western Australia when I just happened to be over there for the Australia day celebrations. I was actually over there for a wedding but the dates coincided so I found myself caught up in the revelry. The whole day was a build up to the firework display, the local radio and TV stations were covering the celebrations and we joined the masses that had gathered by the Bell Tower in Perth. We had taken advantage of the boat rides that had been arranged for these celebrations and there seemed to be hundreds of other boats on the river doing exactly the same thing. From our vantage point we could see three pontoons moored up in the middle of the Swan River, the TV and radio crews were constantly reminding us that each of these vessels contained about $1 million worth of explosives and as soon as it was dark enough to fully appreciate the spectacle then all of this would be released to the world in all of its glory. Obviously we had to wait for night to fall before anything would happen but the whole event was an incredible celebration and it gave us the chance to really get to know the family that my mate was marrying into and also spend time with his parents who had come over from the UK. In all I think there must have been about 30 people in our group and all of them were in good spirits. At about 9.00 it was dark enough for the Skyworks (as they referred to them in Australia) and the countdown began. I have to admit that I was expecting it to be a huge anti-climax but it was immensely impressive, just as you thought it was winding down there would be another onslaught of lights and explosions all as impressive as the first. After this experience I have not been to an organised firework event as there is simply no way that any other pyrotechnic experience could compare to what I witnessed here and none of the photographs or videos I have seen of the Australia day celebrations do the display any justice at all. The sheer vastness and area of the sky that was covered simply cannot be captured on film.

Learn to dance

When I was a kid my Grandparents always danced, I remember going to the club attached to my granddads work and they would always be on the dance floor doing a Waltz or the Foxtrot or any other Ballroom number that would be played so I guess it was only natural that my parents learned to dance. I had brief interludes while I was growing up where my parents tried to encourage me to learn but I was never really interested, mainly because this meant dancing with my sister and I am pretty sure she had the same feeling as I did on the subject. I am not saying that my sister and I hated each other, far from it. We actually got on really well growing up but she was always taller than me despite being 2 year younger so apart from it looking silly it wasn’t the easiest of pastimes to pursue. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I actually started to become interested in learning but even then I initially took a little convincing. My parents told me that a new class was starting for beginners at the place where they had lessons and I knew that this was something Keely was interested in so I agreed to give it a go, if it wasn’t for me then we didn’t have to go again. Oddly enough I actually took to it. The first class saw us learning the very basic moves. I am sure the first thing we did was the Square Tango which was just a 3 step basic movement to ease us into the idea of dancing together. Once we had actually learned how to do the Waltz this dance was dropped as it the basic Waltz is very similar and we soon started to add the twirls as well as other additional movements. The class was initially quite full, there were about 4 of 5 couples learning in total but one by one the numbers dwindled away until we were the only ones, we then moved into the same class as my parents. There were now 6 people in this class and we found that we improved quickly when we joined this class as we had quite a bit of catching up to do. The class is ballroom and Latin but we soon realised that the Latin stuff doesn’t really appeal and we much prefer the Ballroom. My favourite of all the dances is the Foxtrot, I really do feel like I am dancing when I do this as there are 19 basic steps instead of the 3 or 4 that are in the Waltz and Quickstep. I imagine myself looking like my Granddad when he was dancing, I probably look really clumsy in truth but it just feels like a really elegant dance. Nowadays we have the class to ourselves as my parents have moved on to sequence dancing, we have managed to pick up a few of these as well along the way but still keep up with the Ballroom and the occasional Cha cha cha, this is the only Latin number we do now but we still refer to it as “The Divorce Dance” as we normally end up getting into quite a mess and blaming each other for the errors. When we were arranging our wedding we knew we had to have a waltz for our first dance, as we had been dancing for quite a while we knew we could easily have a proper first dance rather than the clumsy shuffle that you see at most weddings so we worked with our teacher as she found us the perfect song and even helped us to restrict our dancing to match the size of the space we would have on the day. This is something that I had never considered but I am glad we did this, we were so used to having the whole room to dance in that suddenly finding ourselves in a space the size of 2 tables could have wrecked the whole thing. We rehearsed the dance many times on the run up to the big day and learned a few spins and twirls to make the dance look more interesting but also had the option to exclude these if nerves got the better of us when we were in the middle of the dance. As it happens we did OK and chatted away while we went through our moves. Our first actual dance floor experience other than the wedding dance was quite daunting, there seemed to be people everywhere and my head was moving faster than my feet as I kept on the look out to see if I was going to collide with someone or if they were going to bash into us. I can only compare it to passing your driving test and then being sent out on to the starting grid at brands hatch. I felt I was fully in at the deep end. I still find a crowded dance floor a little intimidating, particularly when there are really good dancers out there. When I am feeling that way I remember what my Dad told me when we first came off the Dance floor and sat in our seats looking dazed and confused. He told me “nobody is watching, they are all there to dance, it is not a competition. Just get out there and enjoy it, we all make mistakes, it is how we learn and improve”. He also added that if we were not prepared to go and dance on an actual dance floor with other people then we were just wasting money on lessons. Anyone can dance in an empty room, it is much more fun when you are dancing with others and everyone up there had to learn at some point. Since that little pep talk we have been to a few dances and I have even danced the Waltz, Quickstep and Foxtrot with my mom.

Eat something unconventional

Food is a big part of my life, I really enjoy cooking and until I met my wife I always thought I was pretty good at it. It seems that in actual fact my culinary expertise was quite limited and I have now been shown the error of my ways.
When I was a kid I was really picky when it came to the types of food I would actually eat, I would not eat many vegetables and there were many occasions when my dinner plate would leave the table as full as when it arrived.
I have to say that in recent years I have become more adventurous and I have tried many of the foods that I would never even consider and they have actually become some of my favourites. We nearly had a family crisis a few weeks ago when my sister in law threatened to eat all of the Cauliflower cheese before I could get to it. Luckily she was only joking and there was plenty left by the time the serving dish made its way to me. I think in some ways my present attitude towards food must be making up for my previous fussy eating habits as nowadays I really enjoy a challenge and find myself actually looking for different types of foods to try.
My first experience of unusual food was on a trip to Thailand, there was a food court just over the road from the hotel and I pointed at an item on the menu and received something that bore no resemblance to what I wanted. I was a bowl with a weird soup and even weirder contents. I somehow managed to get a description of what I was eating and it turned out to be Steamed fish innards. To make this a more acceptable dish they accompanied it with a Quails egg.
On my last trip to Australia we all ended up in a restaurant that had a platter which had 3 alternative types of meat on offer so I had to give it a go. They had Crocodile, Ostrich and Kangaroo all one plate. It is often said that the Australians are the only nation to eat the animals featured on their crest but after trying Kangaroo and Ostrich I can see no reason for them to stop. I actually tried both of these again just a few weeks ago at the Good Food show in Birmingham where they were serving up these tasty meats in a Burger. I have to say that I was not really a fan of the crocodile, it had a slightly fishy taste but the thing that put me off the most was the texture. It was a little too slimy for my liking.
Also at the Good Food show I had the chance to try a Wild Boar Hot dog, this was really nice and I am eager to try this again if the same stall is at the summer show when we return in June.

While all these are quite exotic things to try, they are still just meat and you know that this isn’t going to be too much different to any of the other types of meat you have tried in the past. One of my real challenges came when I went to a French Bistro in Birmingham and found that they had Snails on the menu as a starter. I looked at it a few times and in the end my wife dared me to have them. I asked the waiter what to expect and he told me that they were like mussels so I went ahead and ordered them. He lied. Snails are nothing like Mussels. For a start, they look nothing like Mussels, they actually look like snails. The portion I had were not served in the shell, they were just placed on the plate among the garnish so you were under no illusion on what you were just about to eat, Secondly they are a little more chewy than Mussels and finally they have a weird earthy taste that stays with you even after the Snail has gone.

I don’t think I would be in any rush to try these again, they say that they are an acquired taste but I am not really inclined to eat enough of these to acquire the taste for them.
So, that is my experience of “Alternative cuisine”, it’s not exactly a bush tucker trial but when you consider that as a kid I would not eat cabbage I really have come a long way.

Click here to read more tales of “Culinary Adventures” from Danny Davies.

Spend Christmas in a different country

Every year as it got closer to Christmas my parents would have the same conversation.
They would talk about how it was a great expense for just one day and how fed up they became because the weather was so miserable and how one year it would be nice to be waited on for a change.

Christmas is a lot of hard work, particularly when you have people coming for dinner and have a beast of a bird to cook. The general rule of thermodynamics means that the bigger the bird, the earlier you have to rise to get the dinner in the oven so, for the cook, Christmas can be a very long day.

Anyway, one year it was decided that instead of doing the traditional Christmas at home we’d go to Spain and have Christmas in a completely different environment. The group consisted of myself, my sister, my parents and my nan and we were going to spend 3 or 4 days in Salou for our festive season. I have to admit that hindsight is a wonderful thing and looking back I would not do this again. At any other time it would have been a lovely long weekend away, the weather was not brilliant but it was still good enough to walk on the beach but Sunbathing was not really on the agenda. Also, the season was finished so the majority of the bars were closed meaning that we only really had the entertainment and facilities of the hotel available to us. The Christmas dinner itself was OK but you never manage to replicate the whole family vibe when you have a large number of people in a dining area, the whole experience was lacking in atmosphere and the food was not what you would normally have when you and your family have lovingly crafted over it for hours on end but the biggest disappointment was the fact that you can’t just sit and relax afterwards and watch a James Bond Movie or the Queens speech or whatever it is that you decide to tune into as the rooms were simply a bed and a bathroom and the only sitting room available was the hotel bar.

A few years later I spent Christmas in Australia

this was more of the result of a year out rather than a decision to actually spend the festive season in a different country and that was pretty much the same experience apart from when the dessert course came out it turned into a food fight. I have tried to enjoy Christmas in different environments but it all comes down to the simple fact that it just isn’t the same as a Christmas spent at home, in comfortable surroundings with your family around you.

Eat at a restaurant that has a Michelin star

Over the years I have been lucky enough to go to some nice places to eat. When I am on Holiday I am always on the lookout for good food, I guess I am at that stage in life where a night out isn’t a quick bite and then on to drinking as much as I can and dancing like a loon. I find it much more fun nowadays to have a nice meal and a few beers, plus this rarely leads to the explosive headaches the following day and a wasted day’s holiday while I recover from the previous night’s indulgence. The first time I ate at a restaurant that had a Michelin rating was in Portugal, my wife and her family have always referred to this restaurant as “Yellow Brollies” as it had yellow canopies outside. Its actual name is Restaurante Don Sebastião and is one of our favourite places to eat when we go to Portugal. The food is quite traditional and it is a great place to go to if you like to try different types of seafood as their fresh fish selection is very good. I was urged to try the Kid in clay pot, which is a slow cooked stew of Lamb, served in a clay pot…Exactly as the description suggests. When it was initially served I was not really expecting anything too special but I was so wrong. The meat was perfectly cooked and the whole meal was incredible. It was only after our second or third visit to this restaurant that I was made aware of the plaque on the wall indicating that the restaurant was mentioned in the Michelin guide.

The latest visit took us to Purnell’s Bistro in Birmingham, my wife casually mentioned that she would like to go there one day and since she is happy to go ahead and make other people’s dreams come true I wasted no time in booking the table for the weekend of her birthday.

I decided on a lunchtime visit and the table was booked for 1.30. 

To get to the restaurant part you need to go through “Gingers” cocktail bar, even at 1.30 on a Friday this was a lively place, the bar tenders were in full flight with their cocktail shakers and there were plenty of people sampling their impressively exotic looking drinks as we were shown to our table.

I’d had a chance to look at the Menu.

online a few days before but I still hadn’t decided what I was going to eat, my wife’s eyes widened when she started reading and she looked at me and pulled the face that tells me she is impressed or excited or both.

For my starter I decided on the Black Pudding with the poached egg yolk and Potato Rosti while Keely went for the goat’s cheese. For the main course it had to be the steak for me and Keely decided to have the Lamb shank.

The starter was nothing short of amazing, the rosti was a really thin layer of potato with the black pudding underneath, this was delicately spiced so that it didn’t overpower any of the other flavours that the dish had going on.  The egg, as you would expect, was perfectly cooked and the presentation was superb.  I almost felt guilty for destroying the work of art that was placed in front of me.

Keely’s starter was also amazingly presented, the goats cheese was accompanied by thin shavings of pear and the smallest delicate leaves of Rocket you would ever expect to see.  The detail that had been afforded to these dishes made us realise how special this place really was.

With the benefit of hindsight I would not have chosen a steak for my main meal, there was such a nice variety of food on offer that I now feel that not having something different was a bit of a wasted opportunity, after all a steak is a steak and you know you will rarely be disappointed.  The steak was good but I cannot say it was the best one I have ever had.  The star of the main course was, without a doubt, the potato. It was served in a small container and was a creamy mashed potato with a gratin on the top to liven it up a little.

To accompany Keely’s main meal the Lamb was served with curried lentil. Again, this was delicately spiced so it didn’t take anything away from the flavour of the lamb.

After we had finished our meals we knew we had not left any room for a dessert so declined the menu, instead we asked for an after dinner liqueur.  The waiter arranged for the Cocktail waiter to come and chat to us and we told him what we were looking for and a few minutes later he arrived with 2 glasses of Rhubarb Mumble.  It was made with fresh fruit and spices with a generous measure of spirit but it was so comforting and smelt like a glass of Christmas.

Our first experience at Purnells was brilliant and worthy of any special occasion.

Go deep sea fishing

The stag party fishing crew.

I have never understood why people go fishing, as a pastime it looks about as interesting as waiting for a newly painted wall to dry yet people seem to love sitting on the edge of a river bank in the cold and the rain waiting for a fish to take the tasty morsel that that they have secured to a hook and dangled into the water. I suppose I can understand it a little more if you are out there to feed the family and are looking for a substantial meal but to take the fish from the pool, have a quick picture taken and then put the fish back so that someone else can do exactly the same thing a little later on completely bemuses me. I do wonder how many times the same fish has been caught from the small pools that some people visit and how much bigger it gets every time they tell the story of their epic battle between man and fish. You can imagine, then, my delight when my mate announced that he had arranged for us all to go fishing for his stag do. All of the equipment had been sorted and he had got beer. It turns out that we were not just going to be sitting on a soggy river bank though on this occasion, as we were in Western Australia we were actually getting on a boat and going deep sea fishing. We met quite early in the morning by the side of the Swan River and got on the boat, the skipper had warned that conditions were not great so we may be in for a bit of a bumpy time but at first it didn’t seem too bad. We got batted about a little but that was put down to the movement of the boat but when we reached the fishing spot we saw what he meant. As soon as the boat stopped we were aware of the swell of the ocean. It felt like the boat had been moored on top of a giant see saw as it was rocking back and forth and left to right at the same time. There were a few people on board that couldn’t handle it and said hello to their breakfast, last night’s dinner and even yesterday’s lunch but others were unperturbed and wasted no time getting the lines in the water. The sea conditions were not just bad for the humans, it seems that there were very few fish about as well as only 1 or 2 people actually caught anything so after a while it was decided that we move on. Firstly to Rottnest Island, to drop off the ones who were feeling under the weather, and then onto a better spot. The second spot was not much better but after a little while we heard an excited yelp from the rear of the boat and a few of us rushed to see what was causing the uproar. One of the more experienced fishermen had a bite. He wasn’t sure what he’d got but it was a spirited little blighter and was already giving him a little trouble.

He spent about 10 -15 minutes letting the line out and reeling the fish in a little further then letting a little more line out and reeling in until his opponent came into view. A deathly hush fell over the boat when we saw what was on the end of the line. As he pulled at the line a dorsal fin popped above the surface of the water, he’d somehow managed to hook a small hammerhead shark, it was only a baby but still upwards of 18 inches – 2 foot in length. He worked harder and harder to get the beast and eventually man was the clear winner. As our excitement grew the skipper made his way to the back just as the head of the shark left the water. Our hammerhead was not happy about his encounter and his jaws were opening and closing like he was trying to eat the world’s chewiest toffee. All we needed were 2 more winds of the reel and the shark would be landed but the skipper stepped forward and cut the line, releasing the shark with an indignant, “Not on my boat lads, sorry”. He later explained that even though he was only a small fish, once he was landed he’d be a nightmare. He was thrashing about on the line, imagine that on a boat, with people. Although I was disappointed that they had not got to land a shark I was also happy that the angry mouthful of teeth stood no chance of being introduced to my soft human flesh. After this excitement we called it a day and made our way back to shore. The weather conditions had got worse by now so it was full speed back home. We arrived at our destination a dozen cold, wet stags with no fish to show for the day and an untouched tubs of beer. But we nearly caught a shark. How about that for a tale of the one that got away??

Witness a secret gig of a band I am a fan of

To attend a secret gig is a rare delight and is usually just a matter of being in the right place at the right time. I have heard stories of huge acts taking on a small venue just to practice the set before they embark on a tour of the arenas. I have heard of REM playing a show to 250 people in London under an assumed name in the past. My experience wasn’t of a band on this scale but I had avidly followed them for a couple of years and had all of their albums. The band in question were Wolfsbane, they had just released the album “All hell’s breaking loose at little Kathy Wilsons’s place”. The Title track is homage to the Sci-Fi movie “Invaders from Mars”. So, when I arrived at my usual drinking hole one Saturday evening and saw posters advertising a band called “The Wilsons” using the tag line “All hell’s breaking loose at the cock Inn” I had my suspicions that the Tamworth Terrors were coming to “Paint the town red” so on the day of the gig I went to check it out. For those that have never been, “The Cock” was just a pub, of a weekend the back room was used for Rock Nights and could probably cram in about 200 people. This particular night there was no cramming, the room had about 50 -60 people milling about but that didn’t stop the band from delivering an epic performance.
The stage was only about 6 inches high so we were watching a band that is used to being on an actual stage rather than just slightly elevated but this gave them the chance to fully utilise the floor area and to actually join the people on the dance floor. Above the stage area was a reinforced iron girder, this has been fitted with a few clamps and the vocalist, Blaze, would use these to perform Chin ups during the instrumental parts of some of the songs. He was always a very active front man and even the restrictive stage would not prevent the normal energetic performance. Although the turn out for this evening show was poor I still class this “Secret” gig as one of my favourite performances by this powerhouse of a band as it gave me the chance to see them up close and personal. Shortly after the show Wolfsbane split up as Blaze went on the replace Bruce Dickinson as the vocalist for Iron maiden. They have recently reformed and have performed at a few festivals around the Midlands; I hope to catch them live again one day soon.

See a Turtle in its natural environment

This is one of my life’s achievements that has sort of happened by accident and was not something I particularly had a great desire to do until fairly recently. The realisation that I secretly harboured this desire became apparent when we were sat in a travel agent, looking at holidays. We had narrowed our options down to about 3 locations and were struggling, until we were told that one of the Greek islands was among the sites where Turtles went to lay their eggs and the dates we were looking at fell right into the hatching season. I was sold and off we went to Zante. The holiday was great, we had a nice relaxing time despite our hotel being right by the airport runway and being disturbed by the early morning flights but the Turtles remained elusive. There were a few people who had seen an eruption of hatchlings during a walk down the beach and the evidence of the nests were all over the place but I must have been really unlucky as my quest to see a Turtle remained unfulfilled. We had even been on a boat trip to see the famous shipwreck where they specifically mentioned a possibility of seeing them in one of the coves but on the day we were not lucky enough. After a few days of not seeing any turtles we decided to book one of the trips that took you to the sites where you were most likely to get a glimpse of the creatures in their natural habitat and I was quite excited at the prospect, we waited eagerly at the pick up point and were greeted by a man on a scooter who came over and told us that our trip could not go ahead as the weather conditions were not good enough for them to take the boats out. We accepted our refund and the next day we went home, tanned and relaxed but sadly without any contact with the famous turtles of Zante. A few years later we were on Honeymoon in The Maldives, we had already been to see a Turtle hatchery in Sri Lanka and had held Turtles so my quest had sort of been fulfilled but I was still amazed and thrilled when during our trip on a Glass Bottom Boat I spotted a Turtle shaped figure among the Coral. The driver of the boat hadn’t seen it and reversed the boat when I said I thought I’d spotted it and he confirmed my suspicions. There, right beneath us was an adult Green turtle, male of about 5/6 foot. We sat watching for a few minutes before we lost sight of him but just those few moments made this 30 minute trip into a magical event that I will never forget.

Try an expensive Whisky

One evening I found myself in the bar at the Hilton Hotel in Manchester, we were on our way out for a meal and had a little time before our table booking so decided to have a drink or 2 in the meantime. The hotel bar’s selection of whisky caught my eye so I decided to try a few that I had never sampled before. I had a chat to the barman and he went through some of them and then I noticed and intriguing bottle at the back of the rows of drinks. I am quite familiar with the Johnnie Walker bottles, my granddad was a fan of this brand. He would occasionally have a bottle of red or black label scotch but this bottle had a Blue label. I asked the barman what it was and he told me that it was rare blend but didn’t really know much more than that. I chose my drink and thought no more of it until later when we returned to the bar for an end of the evening drink. As it happened the same barman was working and we resumed our earlier conversation. He could tell I was contemplating a glass of this whisky so before I placed my order he told me the price. I was a little taken aback and there was no way I could justify spending £35 on one measure of spirit, no matter how rare or tasty it may be but that night I swore that one day I would try this Johnnie Walker Blue label but could not really see myself ever spending £200 on a bottle of booze. A few years later I found myself in the Duty Free section of Male airport in the Maldives and came across a small bottle of whisky. It was shaped like a Johnnie Walker bottle with an enticing blue label. It was also displaying an attractive price. It actually works out that for the same price as a shot of the tempting liquid in Manchester I could purchase a quarter bottle. I had to do it so I picked up the pack and took it to the counter before I had the chance to change my mind. On returning home I arranged an evening with my parents so that we could have a sample of my coveted beverage. I opened the pack and found that the whole thing is a nicely presented package, the box folds open to reveal the padded interior with the bottle nestled inside. The lid was covered in gold foil, underneath which is a cork stopper. So, the verdict? The taste is a little harsh to begin with and has the smokey blend associated with a Johnnie Walker drink. It does lighten up after a few sips but it could not be classed as a smooth drink by any means. It must be an acquired taste but with it coming in at £200 for a full bottle I cannot see me drinking enough of it to get to that stage.

Complete a cycle event

Since I have taken up Cycling I have taken part in 2 “Challenges”. In 2010 and 2011 I took part in the Annual “Manchester to Liverpool” bike ride supported by the NSPCC. The event itself is a 45 mile cycle that consists of different types of terrain so is aimed more at the Hybrid bike than the road bikes. It leaves from Salford Quays and you go through Stretford and Trafford before you reach the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal and on to Warrington where you pick up the roads again, losing them just before you enter Liverpool so the journey itself is a nice ride with plenty to keep you interested. Even the roads vary from busy main streets to smaller, winding country roads. In both events I have been supported by Danny Davies who is no stranger to the Cycle events, prior to my involvement he had already completed the Manchester to Liverpool and the Manchester to Blackpool rides so I knew I was in good company. Although the 2010 event was an NSPCC event we were riding for The Christies Hospital which is a charity that is close to Danny’s heart. All was going well until we were just outside Warrington when I dropped down a gear to tackle a Hump backed Bridge (Now named Beewell Bridge by Danny) and heard a horrible clunking sound as the gear mechanism sheared away from the frame of the bike. In one swift movement I had been taken out of the ride. I pushed my bike down to the nearest Marshall point and they put a call out for a van to collect me and take me to the finish point. I was devastated but Danny carried on. The van arrived soon after and loaded my cycle into the back and the driver said he needed to go to Speke island first to drop off some water so off we went. As we arrived at the drop there was a cycle mechanic stood by making adjustments to bikes etc, he had a look and realised that he could fix my bike but that meant I would only have one 

gear for the remainder of the ride. I was back in the game. I quickly called Danny to find out where he was and he was just about to reach my location so I waited patiently while Rob finished off the repair and for Danny to arrive and off we went. Seemingly fuelled by the excitement of being back in the event, we flew through the next few miles and started the approach to Liverpool. The final 5 miles of the journey saw us both feeling tired but excited and then we saw the signs for the finish line and that spurred us on even more until we saw the hill. The even ended in a park but before that we had to cycle up the biggest hill on the whole course. It must be about a mile long and we all faced a gruelling battle to the top. I saw it before Danny and just told him I had to go for it so started powering through the pedals and actually managed to reach the top without stopping. There were a few red faces and sweaty brows at the top of that hill and I am sure I heard more than the odd expletive as I waited at the top for Danny. As he reached me he said “Jeez, what gear do you have to be in to get up that”. I smiled and answered “The only one I have”. We continued on and as agreed went past the finish line together, arms raised in the air in triumph. The 2011 event was not without incident either. We made it past Beewell Bridge but I managed to crash twice after we had made it over the bridge. The first clash was just with Danny’s back wheel. I’d looked down the main road at a junction and thought Danny was going to pull out, looked forward and slammed on my brakes when he was still in the junction. He was completely right of course as the taxi on the main road had started to pick up pace and it was better to wait until he had gone past. The second clash was on the canal tow path, I managed to hit the only cyclist that was going in the opposite direction to the other 2000 riders in the event. It never crossed my mind when I decided to overtake the guy in front that there may be someone coming the other way. This clash was a little more serious, the first one gave me a few cuts and Bruises but this one took my breath away and I had to do the last 10 miles with bruised ribs. After the gruelling final hill I was happy that the finish line was not far away but this year they had changed the route and the finish was another mile away. The cold and the rain was now coming in and the final part of the journey had us riding down the side of the Mersey with an impressive side wind to hamper us on the last few hundred yards. Completing this ride goes down in my list of great achievements as it would have been so easy to quit at any point in the last 10 miles. I certainly could not have done it without the encouragement of my co rider. We have missed a few years for one reason or another but Hopefully 2014 will see us taking up the challenge once more, unless some other event takes our fancy.

See the Ceiling of the Sistine chapel

My first encounter with the Sistine Chapel was from the opening credits from the television programme “The South Bank Show”, the end of the opening sequence shows a close up of one of the focal points of the world famous painting. For some reason this fascinated me but I didn’t really understand the image and I am still quite uncertain of it’s meaning. Is it Man reaching out for God or the other way around? Only Michelangelo can say for certain. I was lucky enough to get to see this magnificent work of art in real life a few years ago when I was presented with an envelope on Christmas day and found that my girlfriend (Now my wife) had bought me a trip to Rome and had already arranged my holiday at work. The months soon flew by and at 4 am our alarm clock went off and I leapt out of bed and we headed off to the airport. Our hotel was a little way outside the city centre on a tree lined avenue, the approach and the hotel itself looked incredible but we were eager to explore so we checked in and made our way into Rome to take a look around. Even though it was early March the weather was

pretty good and much warmer than either of us had expected. When we arrived at the entrance to the Vatican we were pleasantly surprised to find that there were barely any queues so we took advantage of this and bought our tickets and made our way inside. It isn’t hard to become instantly impressed by the wealth of artwork on display. There are thousands and thousands of paintings, statues and tapestries all along the many corridors of the amazingly ornate building. Just as you feel you have seen the most impressive display you turn a corner and are faced with something even more amazing. Keely said she felt like she needed at least 3 heads to be able to take it all in. Eventually we were faced with the entrance to the Chapel and told that photography is strictly forbidden, they have security guards walking around the room to make sure that everyone complies so there isn’t any chance to try to take a sneaky picture. We spent at least half an hour looking at various different parts of the ceiling. We had a guide book that told us about different points of interest within the picture and what they were supposed to represent and it does make sense to actually break it down into sections rather than to try at take all of it in at the same time. As well as the Sistine Chapel we

managed to visit most of the places we wanted to see within Rome itself, St Peters Square, the Spanish Step, The Trevi Fountain and the Coliseum to name but a few but for me there was one place that I needed to visit. Where ever I stood in Rome I could see an angel with a sword on top of a building. It turns out that this place was the Castel di Sant'Angelo and on the last day of our trip we went to see it. I was a little wary about getting to see it up close but it was just as impressive as it was from a distance. Our Roman holiday was a mere 4 day break but it has had such a lasting impression on me and I need to visit again. I found the best Pizza I have ever tried, one of the best steaks I have ever eaten and a magical city that has history on every corner. We have thrown our coins into the Fountain so if legend is correct we will be returning to experience the delights that Rome has to offer again. Lets hope it is sooner rather than later

Ride in a Helicopter.

I have riden in a Helicopter twice in my life and it is one of those terrifyingly enjoyable experiences where you are happy that you have taken part but have been gripping on to anything remotely stable during the whole trip. The first time I went in a helicopter was in New York, we were waiting in the queue and got chatting to the American guy whose job it was to make sure you were seated and safe before the pilot took over. He recognised the accent as British and asked where we were from and we told him “Birmingham”. This normally gets a small nod of recognition but on this occasion he broke into a huge smile and said “Wow, Like UB40”, and that was it. For the next few minutes we were told that UB40 were his favourite band and how he had seen them in concert a few weeks before. After this we were told to take a seat and he’d find us when we were boarding. After a while a few other people had started to Queue for the scenic flight and our friend came back from his chat with the pilot and walked over to us, guiding us to the front of the queue, still talking about his favourite English musicians. When he removed the rope from its guide the 3 people who had been at the front of the queue rudely pushed past us and started walking towards the waiting chopper. As we approached, deep in conversation our fellow passengers looked to our friend for approval and he headed over and opened the door. Once again our fellow passengers rudely pushed themselves ahead and our friend obliged by holding the door as the 3 of them piled into the back of the vehicle. He winked at us as he closed their door and opened the front door for the two of us. I am not sure if it was the rudeness of our fellow passengers or the musical connection but we ended up in the front of the Helicopter with plenty of space and brilliant views while the other 3 sat all crushed up in the back with barely enough room to get their camera from their pockets. I was quite surprised at how the Helicopter lifts off the ground, it seemed to be eager to fly once the rotor is at full speed, it almost seems to be trying to leave the ground and no sooner than the pilot flicks a switch off it goes at a higher speed than expected. We chatted away to the pilot and our first stop was the Statue of Liberty. The Pilot hovered about 20 feet from lady liberty’s face and as I leaned forward to try for a clearer picture he told me to hang fire and performed a manoeuvre I will never forget. He banked the vessel sideways, one minute I was looking at New York from my window, the next I was looking into the river and then I was looking at one of the Big apples most famous landmarks, all in a matter of seconds. After this we had a trip over Manhattan and then over Central park before returning to the port. Although it was a short flight it was 12 minutes of my life that I will never forget.

The second flight was in Western Australia and unlike the New York trip it was not pre arranged. I had gone over to Perth to meet up with Ian a few years after he had emigrated and we just found ourselves standing in the park as the Helicopter landed. Ian knew before hand that they did trips from this location but nothing had been booked or even discussed but as the Helicopter came in to land he looked and me and said “Fancy it”? After a slight deliberation I said “Ahhh, Why not”? and that was all I needed to say. Ian was chatting to the pilot within seconds and before I knew it we were being strapped in. The main difference with this ride was the fact that the doors had been removed, so the sides were completely open so we had to make sure we were completely safe before take off. The fact that I fully intended to keep a vice like grip on the seat in front of me made no difference. We also had to wear ear defenders because of the noise so we had to communicate by pointing. We took a ride up the Perth coast and over Fremantle and this was pretty spectacular but the highlight for me was a trip over the WACA where there was a cricket match taking place and the stadium was already in full swing. Ian was obviously a lot braver than me and took control of my camera and even decided to rest his foot on the edge of the door way. After this second trip I was on a high but also slightly deaf from the noise of the rotor but I can honestly say that even though you are aware that there is only one motor preventing the several tons of metal from crashing to the ground this scary experience is one of the best I have had and I would not hesitate to do it again.

Feed a baby Elephant

Sri Lanka was one of the places I had always wanted to visit. I don’t know why it called to me the way it did but it is a country that has always been there at the back of my mind. When we were looking at Honeymoon destinations I suggested Sri Lanka, my wife suggested The Maldives so we reached a compromise and decided to do both. We were married on Saturday September 22nd 2012 and on the following Monday we set off from Heathrow airport. 12 short hours later we arrived in Colombo. We had been watching the weather forecasts and it had been constantly telling us that there were thunder storms so we were relieved to find that the sun was shining when we landed. We were picked up by a taxi driver, he was our airport transfer and we were pleased that we were the only passengers for the 4 hour journey to the resort. The hotel was fantastic, we had the Bentota River to one side of the resort but on the other side we could walk right out onto the beach with the Indian Ocean right in front of us. After we had settled in we started to discuss what we were going to do. I had always wanted to visit the Elephant Orphanage at Pinnawala so we looked into this and found that there was a trip available so we booked ourselves a place on this full day trip to see the Elephants. Our Alarm call went off at 4.30 as we were being collected at 5 and the Hotel had arranged a packed Breakfast for us. When we booked ourselves on the trip we had expected that we would be part of a group and would be collected in a coach or a minibus. When the driver arrived he lead us outside to a car. We were to be the only passengers on a personal tour. The day was filled with promise. The journey to Pinnawala took 4 hours and a lot of this was over bumpy, ill maintained roads. We got to experience more of the unique driving style that we had experienced on the journey from the airport. It seems that it is every man for himself, if you see a space take it and if in doubt, pip the horn. We had a few stops on the way as our guide pointed out things we would not normally see. We stopped at a small pool by the side of the road where Kingfishers were

perched in the small branches of the trees and Monitor lizards were walking by. We stopped to see the pineapples growing, saw the rubber plantation and bought some small red bananas from a road side stall, all before we arrived at our destination. We were guided through the gate and to the left where there was a crowd of people gathered, this was where the baby elephants were.

Going

 About a week before they’d had a few new arrivals but these were tucked away from the main area. There was one baby elephant in a small enclosure and we gave our guide a few rupees and he came back with a litre of milk and pushed me to the railings. I lifted the milk and placed the end of the bottle into the mouth of the elephant and lifted the bottom of the bottle. I have never seen a litre of milk disappear so quickly but my wife did manage to get a set of pictures it.

Going

Gone.

It was a fantastic experience. In direct contrast to this we found ourselves stood right next to a huge creature, one minute we were watching some people having their pictures taken with an elephant the next we were stood where they had been a few seconds before. It was quite a scary but invigorating moment, we both said afterwards that we were fully aware that if this Elephant had wanted to she could have quite easily ended our lives before we even knew about it. Just a short walk from the Elephant Park is an open
area of water where the elephants are taken to bathe. We sat ourselves down in a decent vantage point and slowly they arrived. It is a little concerning to see that they are lead down the street with all of the shops and stalls, on the way down to the area we’d had to move out of the way so that the last group could get past. I am sure we must have sat in wonder for nearly an hour watching these amazing creatures interacting with each other, splashing water about or just lying there in the pools. We did go on to explore other parts of Sri Lanka after this but for me, the day was all about the Elephants.