Random Comments!

It isn't like me to write a post like this, however I really can't just sit back and not say anything. I have thought about making random comments before but just never got around to it.

Most Australian's that I know who live overseas keep a track of what is going on back home. When I woke last week and found 3 instant messages telling me to check the news I too was stunned that The Croc Hunter had been killed. What a sad moment for Australia. This was also big news in Germany. Newspapers, TV, and radio all relayed the news. The Croc Hunter was very well known in Germany, and most people I know were also shocked. The legacy will live on!


Being a Holden fan I also have to pay tribute to Peter Perfect. The guy was a winner, and a legend of the sport.



I am also happy that Josh and my mate, Pete B (for those of you that remember Josh and I met the Premier in the city one night), was returned as the Premier of QLD. There really was no other option, but I also put this down to Pete's dynamic leadership over the past years. The labour party decimated the other side in previous elections, leaving them with only a handful of sitting members. As a result it means they have problems producing anything of significance. Maybe if they change their strategy from slander and criticism to producing some viable alternative, they may one day gain back some votes.


There is lots of Poker on TV in Deutschland! When I first got to Germany, I also seemed to win heads up poker matches against Britty. Now she is on a run, and has beaten me 3 times in a row!



It was 5 years ago that September 11th shocked most of us. I clearly remember watching the TV that night, and seeing the 2nd plane hit the tower. I remember walking into work the next day, and hearing almost nothing. A university that was usually busy with people was quite, you could almost hear a pin drop. No one was talking, most people looked stunned. It was a very weird feeling.


On the weekend my team, the Broncos, failed to win another finals match in the NRL. This means they have failed to win one for at least 3 seasons. When they do finally win one, watch out!




The Brisbane Bullets basketball team finally look like they have put together a winning team. Maybe this season will be better for the Bullets, provided that Burton plays up to expectation, and injuries don't stuff it for us!


On the topic of basketball, Andy and myself have a new favourite for “Dancing with the Stars”. None other than our most favourite player of all time, Andrew Gaze! I am really really disappointed (of course) that I am not in Australia to see it. Maybe some good people out there could tape for me and send it on. I would be really keen to see Gaze falling on his arse, and complaining to the judges that he was pushed by a Bullets player!


Since I have been in Germany, I have heard many Australian songs on the radio that most Brisbane radio stations no longer play. The first time I heard Vanessa Amorosi's I was shocked, but I was more shocked when I heard 3 of her songs during one work day!

I think most people in Australia have seen those dodgey adds where they try to entice single males to call special numbers to speak to “girls”. In Germany those adds take it to the next level with almost full nudity after 10pm at night.

That's about it for now. When I think of more random comments I will post them. Feel free to make a comment. Bye for now. Scott

I have upgraded

Well I took the plunge and decided to upgrade to the new Blogger beta. If anyone has any problems viewing the site, please feel free to make a comment.

The new layout features really look good, and it seems to be integrated with gmail, and other google services. I also really love the new spellchecker. Much much better especially for someone like me that can't spell for sh+_.

Mallorca - Part #3

Here is the final installment of the photos from Mallorca. These photos are from our final few days on the beautiful Spanish Island.

We decided to head to a beach on the west coast of the Island that was recommended in my Loney Planet Travel Guide. The beach was located at Cala Mondrago, but on the way we stopped at Porto Cristo. This was a nice little beach town, that was full with tourists. This is the beach at the port, with many beautiful houses on the mountain above. We decided we wouldn't swim here, because it was just too busy.

Another picture of the port at Porto Cristo. As with all of the ports on Mallorca, they are filled with expensive boats. Maybe next time we go there we take a boat cruise.

Another photo at the port.

Next we moved onto Cala Mondrago, the beach that we had planned to visit. It was just as the travel guide had described, however a little more touristy then I expected. I guess anywhere you go in Mallorca in August is going to be busy. The water here was beautiful, crystal clear, and perfect temperature.

A closer look at the beach.

At Cala Mondrago you were able to walk around to the beach on the other side of the rocks. This was the view from the walk way looking out to sea.

This photos is of the beach on the otherside of the rocks. Very very nice.

The following day we decided to go to the very popular (especially with German tourists) El Arenal . Going out here is similar to being in Germany, the clubs play only German music, and most of the people are German tourists. It was quite interesting, but not my favorite place on the island. The beach though is however spectacular, with a great view to the capital Palma.

On the final night we went to dinner. Was not a bad feed.

I also took a few photos from around the house. As I have said previously the house was great. This was the dining area.

This was a photo looking toward the pool in the back of the yard.

This was our bedroom for the first few nights.

The court yard at the back of the house.

This is Bello. He was a very funny dog. The funniest thing was he use to love to go for a walk, collect rocks, and place them infront of the neighbours fence. Lets say he wasn't too happy about it.

The view from our room, when we moved up stairs after a few days. Is very very nice. Would love to wake up to this everyday.

Another photo from our balcony.

Well that just about does it for the photos from Mallorca. We all had a great time, and it was really really difficult leaving and coming back to rain and cold! I really hope we can do it again in the future.

Bye for now.

Scott

Mallorca - Part #2

Well I have to once again apologise for taking forever to place the next installment of the Mallorca photos. I have decided to break the photos into three installments, mainly because I don't want to load up too many at once. These photos are from the middle section of the holiday.

A photo of the wonderful breakfast that was prepared almost every morning. It seemed that everyone was keen to get into the kitchen and do something. I tried but in most cases was usually kicked out, or found there was no room. I pretty much just decided it was my job to help clean up. Thanks everyone for the great food!

On Thursday we took a trip to Soller, on the Palma to Soller train. This train was a rickety old train that was built in the early 1900s and somehow it managed to stay on the tracks! It was a very picturesque trip, one that I thoroughly enjoyed. The train passed through some 12 tunnels, and climbed over and through the mountain to the beautiful Soller.

One of the scenes looking from a stop on the train.

When we got to Soller we decided to take a look around. The streets were similar to Palma, very narrow, and only room for cars on some. Many of the shops were closed for siesta. Once again our body clocks were not running in tandem with the locals!

The Soller port was beautiful. Lots of expensive looking boats and big houses on the hills!

The next day we took a trip to the beach. The beach was at Es Trenc, and was very beautiful. The water was warm, and the beach was packed. This beach was very liberal! I even saw a woman walking along completely naked. In some countries you would get arrested for that.

The next day we decided to take an afternoon drive to the beautiful little town of Valldemossa. This was a wonderful place. Small, and represents the true Mallorca and Spanish lifestyle. I really enjoyed this because it got away from the touristy, areas that we had visited in the past few days.

Another photo from Valldemossa.

This is an example of a Valldemossa back yard. Pretty different to the ones we have in Australia.

One of the areas in Valldemossa where you can get a drink and just relax.

Britty with Corinna.

As we continued our trip around the Island, I stopped to take this photo. If you look at the top right of the photo there is a house that is like literally out on a ledge! What a view!

Photos of the coast. This was an amazing drive.

Andratx, the home of many rich and famous. A very beautiful place. The Real Estate prices here were quite expensive!

Another photo of the Port of Andratx. So many huge boats. The pictures really can't capture this places beauty.

More to come tomorrow. Bye for now. Scott

Mallorca - Part One

Well hello to everyone. Apologies for not writing over the past two weeks, but as most of you are aware, Britty and myself have been in Mallorca Spain for the last 8 days.

Mallorca is a beautiful place, with fantastic weather, great beaches, beautiful houses, huge boats, crystal clear water, and just a laid back holiday atmosphere. While we were away, Kiel has seen nothing but grey skies, so it was brilliant to escape for a while and enjoy some Australian like weather.

While in Mallorca we stayed at one of Britty's friends cousins places (a huge thanks to Corinna for letting us stay with her and trusting us with her cousins house!!). It was located about 20 minutes outside Palma, the capital of Mallorca. The house was on a hill overlooking Palma. The house has 4 bedrooms, three of which have their own bathroom and court yard or balcony. The house also had a spacious outdoor area for entertaining, and an in ground pool located at the rear of the house.

We arrived on Tuesday 22nd of August in the afternoon to blue skies and warm temperatures (a far cry from what we left behind!). For the first 4 days of our stay there were 7 people staying, so Britty and myself got to sleep in the lounge room, which I might add was extremely comfortable. Even though there were 7 bodies staying in the house, things were far from cramped. Each morning, and night we would eat in the outdoor entertainment area, and on most nights we would drink and play some type of card game. We split the cost of the food and drinks between the 7 so all up it wasn't too expensive. We also had to do the house hold jobs, my favorites were walking the dog, and keeping the beer cold!!

Everyone seemed to get on pretty well in the house, there were a few testing times, but all in all no major problems during the week. I had a great time, Britty had a great time, and we really can't wait to go there again! If I knew Spanish it would be such an excellent place to work!

There isn't much left to do now except post the photos. Here is part one of Mallorca 2006.

On the first night we arrived we had a bit of a party. Oesi one of the others guys staying at the house had bought some Havana Club, which I had never tried before. Was very nice, and really helps the party along! We were all pretty late up the next day!

After we did surface from the previous nights activities, Britty and myself took a trip into the capital of Mallorca, Palma. This is us standing in front of the Palma Cathedral.

We took a walk around the gardens of the cathedral.

The cathedral was nothing less than stunning, it was freaking huge, and was built sometime in the 1100s. The roof was so high. The designs and the art were just incredible. The picture is not the best because I didn't have the tripod with me.

Picture of the cathedral Altar.

At the back of the Cathedral were some beautiful little streets. Extremely narrow, no way through for cars (not even Smart Cars). Sometimes you are lucky to get 5 people in a line across. There were so many streets, all connecting from different directions. You could certainly get lost here! No wonder Christopher Skase lived here!

Me infront of the beautiful, and huge boat habour overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.

One of the houses just down the street from where we were staying. This one was very similar to the one we were staying in.

Along the entire street the walls are built with stones. Unbelievable amount of work required here!

In the coming days I will post the next few pictures. Until then, keep well.

Scott