Be still my bleeding heart...

As you have all been keen to point out, I am now 30.  After having a wonderful family pizza & haggis & cake shin-dig at home before we left, I spent my actual 30th birthday in London with my best drinking buddy (....it's Isaac).

We were staying in a dodgy backpacker-ish place leading up to the B-day (like D-day, get it?), however we decided it might be nice if we could sleep in a big persons bed rather than bunk beds for the auspicious occasion.  The night before the B-day, we had dinner with Alice & Xtian & their new baby girl at their house.  It was delicious, as we knew it would be, but Alice also surprised us with a cake, with, you guessed it, candles.  And singing.  Yikes.  But, this lead to a container of 'breakfast cake' sent home with us, which I am very happy to report valiantly met its end as intended.  Breakfast cake was devoured whilst gazing through the suicide-proof window beside my bunk bed. 

We checked out of bunks-are-us and moved a little closer to town, staying in a self catering apartment for 2 nights. I also snagged a bottle of pink bubbles from the nearby Tescos as a wee happy birthday to me.  We splurged and went out for dinner at the restaurant across the laneway from our apartment: the aptly named Bleeding Heart Tavern.  Actually, we ate at the Bistro, not the Tavern as it was closed.  Anyway, the laneway that the restaurant is on has a bloody history (here if you are interested), and I just felt that it was completely the right place for me.  It was french food, and the wine was delicious.

I'm not sure how I feel about 30.  I don't actually feel any older, and I know it's just another day.  However there is something about 30 that says 'you are supposed to have your life in order by this point'.  I feel like I had my life in order by about 25, and decided last year that that particular 'order' just wasn't for me.  Perhaps the deep dark waters of commitment just aren't to be rushed into in the first place. 

Whatever, all I know is that I don't regret anything.  I think that I will become a gym junkie when we get home, that seems to be the usual 1/4 life crisis treatment - 'Up yours slowing metabolism, you aren't the boss of me!'.  A tattoo seems a good idea too.

Here's a 30th birthday tune for you all, from the heart:

Brisvegas

We’ve loved being back home – the weather is so mild, we’ve had access to fresh shirts, and we’ve had a store bought coffee almost every day.  We’ve been able to spend lots of time with family and friends, which will make us miss them more when we leave.

And also, Gemma & Chris’ wedding (the reason for us being here) was absolutely smashing.  We had such a great time and are so happy that we were able to make it.  The best part was seeing Gemma & Chris enjoying their party so much.  I’ve never seen newly weds so relaxed; after some pre-ceremony nerves they slid right into party mode.  It was really lovely to be a part of.

We have two weeks left before we fly back into London.  After traveling for 9 months we are almost feeling like we are ready to join the real world again.  We’ve had lots of time to relax, drink, reflect, and even develop new hobbies.  We are looking forward to the next chapter in our adventure, even though it will inevitably be much shorter than our first.  We aren’t ready for commitments and bills again just yet!

We are aiming to be in Scotland for the independence vote on the 18th of September, and then we’ll go frolic around Europe and throw daisy chains at homeless people and whatever else people do in Europe..

I am hoping that we will be able to keep the blog updated a little less tardy-like than recently..but no promises.

Also, here is the logo that I did (Isaac helped) for the Cafe in Shetland:

Glasgow

 

We spent 3 nights in Glasgow on our way home, and loved it.  As soon as we stepped off the train we were greeted by tall buildings, loads of concrete, and that wonderful scent…dirt!  City dirt: pollution, litter, burger grease, vomit... you know what I mean.  We have missed all these wonderful things so much since we’ve been trapped in the country and forced to breathe fresh air and frolic amongst the green hills.  In the city there are no ticks or midges, but instead shops and a bagillion cafes and restaurants.

We loved Glasgow.  They were in the throws of preparing the city for the Commonwealth Games when we left.  The mascot…well…it’s as stupid as the Scottish uniform for the games.  Which is a real shame.  It could have been a Haggis.

Anyway, while we were there we visited the Necropolis (which we called the Necrop-pop-pop-olis), GOMA, The Lighthouse museum, saw the Police Boxes (which were very disappointing – covered in graffiti and full of empty boxes) and had a number of showers.  Our bathroom had a squeezy bottle in it labelled ‘All purpose cleanser – hand wash, body wash, shampoo’.  My hairdresser was horrified.

The scenery on the train ride from Arisaig to Glasgow was sex on legs.

Farewell Arisaig & hello home!

We have been offline for some time now due to the internet being over tired and lying under the rug pretending not to exist, refusing to communicate with anyone.  So to fill you in (I’m sure you are all long past caring about our antics by now but hey, this blog is our diary, it’s got nothing to do with you chumps), we’ve done this:

  1. I've been learning the Adobe Suite & drawing lots of creepy pictures in Illustrator.
  2. I've done most of an online creative writing course (which I was unable to finish due to its online nature).
  3. Isaac went to Birmingham for 3 days to attend a table-top gaming convention (lotsa d&d n dice porn).  He got to experience the overnight bus (twice) to save money on accommodation.
  4. We visited the most westerly lighthouse in Scotland with our neighbours (fellow volunteers from NZ with whom we share the pleasure of scrubbing dunnies & cutting brambles with).
  5. We’ve discovered that Scotland is full of ticks.
  6. Isaac got a haircut.
  7. We’ve taken a number of baths.
  8. We went sailing!  A first for me.  I have to say..it’s pleasant for sure, but too much effort.  Also the boat had a leak and was ¼ full of water by the time we managed to get to the jetty.
  9. We had a barbeque on a white sandy beach that is only accessible by boat or 2 hour hike. We found a bag of onions washed up on the beach and did the only thing conceivable – cooked & ate them.  Brilliant.  This has been the highlight of our time here I think (the beach, not the onions).  We also had venison burgers, corn on the cob and booze.
  10. We ran out of water.  Being a large private estate in the sticks, it has its own drainage system.  Our tanks are empty…so no toilet flushing or water in the taps.  Guess who’s smelly and needs to poop!  The less glamorous side of highland mansion living.
  11. We are going to Glasgow for 3 nights next Saturday
  12. We head home on Tuesday 8th July…bring on 21 hours of flight and 10 hours of sitting in airports.

Every day or two I still stop and think ‘Wow…I’m in the Scottish highlands!’  It is just beautiful, and after being here for a short time it becomes plain why Scots are so passionate about their country.  It stirs something in you..the hills, the lochs..just all of it.  We are very much looking forward to seeing how the independence vote goes in September.

This is our last Help-x until we go home for 6 weeks.  We’ve been here in Arisaig for about 2.5 months and it has just flown by.  We’ve done housekeeping for the luxury rooms in the house, cleaned the self-catering cottages, washed dishes, learned how to set a table formally, waitressed/waited, bar tended, worked at a wedding, pulled weeds, mowed with a ride on mower, cut brambles and got molested by stinging nettles, and designed an in-room photobook and new menus.

We’ve met people that we will never forget.  Like every other help-x abode we’ve been at, it’s been the souls who work their butts off beside you for peanuts who make the whole experience really worthwhile.  All of the staff on the property here are fun to be around and just great people.  Our fellow help-xers (they are actually from WorkAway which is similar) are a retired couple from Auckland who are just amazing.  They’ve got way more energy than us (and can also drink a hell of a lot more than us) and have a brilliant sense of humour.  We will miss our new friends from NZ a lot, but they can expect a visit from us when we finally make it to their neck of the woods to see all the rellies.  Our livers are not going to be friends with us after our New Zealand trip I think.

Also I have to mention Alice, a fellow Woof-er (like Helpx).  Just hilarious and such a sweet girl. Anyone who’s met her knows what I mean!

We’ve decided to travel through France, Spain and Portugal when we return in late August.  We will look to Helpx while we are there as the old purse is rather light at this stage in the game.  Also, we’re quite well known for being crap tourists.  We spend a lot of days off just hanging around and not sightseeing.  We know this is terrible.  I guess though, we just aren’t tourists.  We came here for a mental break, not to rush around and see everything (besides, in the UK you could see everything there is to see during your lunch break).  We have 2 years here, so we’ve been very happy to dial down the energy.  So Helpx works for us; we get to experience living in places rather than just rushing around and seeing the stuff that is on postcards.  We have done so much that we wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do had we been travelling around on our own – such as a bbq on a secluded beach, a Viking longboat bonfire, haggis nachos, hiking through misty mountains, and getting completely steamboats with amazing people from all over the world.

We are looking forward to getting home..first thing I’m doing (after sleeping for 2 days..and also getting my eyebrows waxed, ye gods) is going to the fruit & veg shop!  Anyone who’s been to Europe knows what I’m talking about.  We’ve missed the internet sorely, however it’s given us a good chunk of time to do things like reading, and heaven forbid – socialising.  We’ve both put on a few kilos (or more), which isn’t too bad considering we’ve been living on fattening hobo cuisine for 9 months now.  We are both looking forward to getting back in shape, back online and also replenishing our packs with fresh hole-less undies.   

We are also looking forward to hugging the people we love.  And getting drunk with them.

*sent from Heathrow airport.  Photos coming once the Aussie internet god shakes his magical junk in our direction* 

Scottish Mist

Remember that episode of The Simpsons where there is a flu epidemic, and the flu germs travel around in visible clouds and attack people?  That is just what Scottish Mist is like, except the germs are midges, and they don’t just bite you and move on.  They surround you and stuff themselves into every pore of skin you have whether it’s covered by clothing or not, and suck your blood.  Over, and over, and over, and over again.  The only way to describe them is ‘little F*CKING bastards!!’

There are repellents you can buy which can be effective when you are going for a short stroll and there aren’t many midges around.  However on a day when it’s wind-less and damp, the air is visibly thick with them and no amount of poison will keep from thirsting for your blood.

We’ve both spent a few days in the garden this week getting the place tidied up for an ‘open garden’ day for charity.  The day went really well and the gardens looked smashing, but let it be known that it was at the cost of blood.  Our blood. And lots of it. 

Pictures will be forthcoming as soon as god consumes an overly greasy god-sized recovery breakfast.