Right then... This blog's beginning to look a little dated. It's also a bit of an albatros so for the continuation of the world tour blog please click ON THIS!
posted by Olly at 9:55 AM

Oh happy days. The kindly insurance company have come to their senses and my cheque is in the post. Which means that very shortly my ass will be on a 'plane. AAAAAAAAAAAahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!
posted by Olly at 1:12 PM

Just checking that bloglet's still working. I would say more but nothing interesting has happened to me.... ....ever

posted by Olly at 3:22 PM

Or roight dere? Long time since I've written I know. But then again not had much to say. Just wanted to let you know what I've done over Easter.

Anna came up Friday so me, Con, Clare, my mum and Anna went for dinner at a Mexican. We then sampled the joys of the shit Wakey nightlife - no, my mum didn't join us - we went home. Nice walk the day after around Walton and then I had to go to work.

As you may or may not know I have a job in the local. I wanted bar work, got put in the kitchen, and ended up as dish washer. Not the most glamorous graduate career one could hope for but it passed the time and aiding my quest to become Jack (surname - of all trades). Well, Easter was meant to be a little easier on the old hands as the second chef was away so I could step up into her shoes. Well its a good job the chef walked out on Saturday night as the second chef's shoes were a bit small and would have given me blisters. So, without a chef what would you do as a restaurant owner? Do it yourself? Good idea! Not if you've been on the staggering juice since your liquid lunch, that you took early today seeing as how it's Easter weekend. So John (the chef) had done one and Tommy (the owner) was pissed. That left it to the second chef (me). Oh shit, was all I could really think. Having enquired what meals I could do off the menu - to which I replied, 'Errrrrrrrrr' - the show proceeded to go on. Luckily Saturday night was quiet. With a bit of help from the newly appointed second chef (previously Cath the waitress, now Cath the shouted at... it's what you're meant to do to your second chef!) we struggled through.

On Easter Sunday I cooked a roast for a few people. Ninety, to be exact. John's huff and following walk out the day before appeared more serious than Tommy had thought. Since Tommy had had the good sense to make no effort to contact John at all... surprise surprise, John hadn't returned to work. It wasn't all that bad being the chef actually. I took the approach of more delegating than cooking so aside from being a bit stressful and leaving me a little hoarse there was little damage done. Actually that's a lie, it was bloody hard work. And they only gave me an extra 20 quid for my pains. I got a few compliments and we made some tips signifying my abilities to cook don't belong in the special needs home ec classroom. The one 'compliments to John' wasn't very welll received. I could think of a few of my own compliments I'd have liked to give to John at that stage.

So after the shift Tommy asked what it'd be worth for me not to go to London this week and be chef instead................................... I told him again that I was going to London.

Mum had cooked when I got home. Yes, a bloody roast! Very good though so I could actually bring myself to eat it and gave compliments to the mum. Con and Clare, Phil and Helen were also there so quite a familial feed. All in all a good easter. No eggs though. S'pose you can't have everything.
posted by Olly at 4:22 PM

Got some Photos at last. They're a bit rubbish because I didn't have a good camera but click here and you should be able to see them.
posted by Olly at 10:24 AM

Alright guys, my mobile's functional again so you can get me on that if you'd like to. One problem though, some of my numbers have gone awol so if you're texting then don't forget to say who you are.
posted by Olly at 3:42 PM

Hi all, the blog is going to have to be stopped now I'm afraid. My Dad is critically ill in hospital. I'm back in England now and have seen him. Due to losing my phone if you'd like to speak just mail me your number so I can ring you. Cheers guys.

oll
posted by Olly at 1:01 PM

Phil, just checked my comments and saw your two! Rah! nice one bruv. Let me know flight numbers etc. so I can come meet you at the airport but mail them direct to me so I don't lose them! ahahahaaaaaaa, it'll be class seeing you out there!
posted by Olly at 2:13 PM

Well things certainly are on the up. Clyde and Brenda have been wonderful. I'm now situated in the granny flat which is cool. So nice to have a bit of space to myself following 2 months of dorm rooms. Other than that not much to report really. Just been hanging around in G-Town. This weather's crap... all storms and rain (lets hope the cricket final's rained off before it hits 25 overs!). Been out to some of the haunts in town. The Rat and Parrot is still standing and still pretty rank but amusing none the less. A new place has opened up too which is awful but we still went there anyway. My feet are finally starting to heal as I've not been in the sea for a few days (really missing it actually... gonna have to head for the coast soon). The Nomad tour's looking dicey too. Apparently the one leaving on 2nd of April is full and the one on the 6th is nearly full. Plus time's becoming a factor to get back down to Cape Town ffor then. Also I still haven't sorted out my visa which expires on the 30th. Exactly a month too early. Not sure weather I should claim ignorance at the airport or what. Hmmmmm.

PHIL!>>> are you bloody coming to Singapore or not. Con's told me no then yes whereas I've only heard a no from you. Please let me know as I'll probably sort my visa out here if you are. Wouldn't like to get arrested on the way to Singapore if it'll screw up meeting you and Dad!
posted by Olly at 2:05 PM

This was actually written on Friday not Sunday

So I had to leave Island Vibe (surfers place). Nightmare. Baz-tard Bus turned up 2 hours late due to two flats so I only got to PE at midnight to find we were at war. Great. The weather in PE was grotty so decided to get to Grahamstown ASAP. So the next day I went looking for the Greyhound office. Kindly woman at the backpackers told me where it was but neglected to mention that branch had shut down at the end of Feb due to it being placed in a somewhat dodgey area. So there I am walking about looking for something that no longer exists feeling less than safe. Eventually got information leading me to believe it had moved 5 minutes up the road. Haha... I misheard. It was actually 5kms up the road. So I walked and walked (on bruised feet.... there are rocks at the bottom of the ocean!) until I decided there was nay chance of finding it. In my wisdom I decided to sack it off and head back to hostel. Alas my sense of direction failed me. I ended up on this long road with no turns off it which slowly turned me until I was going completely the wrong way. The question was to keep going or turn back (bruised feet and rain threatening only complicated matters). Well I chose the former. Eventually I came across a group of OAPs who were hiking (yes I'd ended up that far from the city centre) and figured they were rather unlikely to mug me. It turned out the were going my way so I walked with them... only after they'd all had a good chuckle about where I was trying to get to and where I was actually heading. They were really sweet though and gave me a lift back to the hostel. Also the walk was really nice too so that turned out alright in the end.

The Greyhound was only going to be found with the aid of a taxi driver so that's how I got there in the end. It took ages on the bus though as there's loads of road works into Grahamstown at the moment. That meant I only arrived there after dark and Grahamstown is a touch more sinister than the last time I was here. Anyways, I found the hostel at last and booked in. Now this place is called the old gaol. It was a jail until 1975. Although its now a hostel I guess it must be a listed building or something as they certainly haven't rennovated since 1975. Haha, got a dorm to myself though so it wasn't all bad.

Seeing as how I was in Grahamstown I thought I'd check in withClyde and Brenda. I didn't want to pay a surprise visit though so I went to look for internet facilities this morning. It's a public holiday. Nothing's open. So I thought I'd check in my wallet for their number. Oh no, hang on, that got nicked. Last resort, find someone with a Nokia phone or charger and ge the number off that. To my dismay, two emptied bags later shows that has either been nicked or left somewhere along the way. Aaaaaaaargh. When will the run of bad luck end?

I've walked up to Clyde and Brenda's this morning though and been offered the granny flat at the back of the house so things are on the up.


posted by Olly at 1:58 PM