Events

Hi folks,
after a long period of recovery we are finally ready to start our blog of Le Tour. We have been sleeping at every opportunity and struggling with being back at work. We hope you enjoy reading this. It was an amazing trip and will take a few entries to describe.

Our adventure started here in London with a Friday night presentation of the teams in Trafalgar Square. It gave us a chance to get a look at the team colours and also got me a Stuart O'Grady autograph. A huge crowd turned out and the scene was set for an exciting time trial on the following day.

Crowd at Trafalgar Square

Team AG2R

Crowd at Trafalgar Square

Team Caisse Depargne

On the Saturday we headed down to Hyde Park. We settled in beside Serpentine Rd, where we usually rollerblade, and positioned ourselves in front of the big screen to enjoy the event.

Big Screen at Hyde Park

CSC Time Trial

Hyde Park Crowd

Liquigas Time Trial

The first bit of bad luck for the Australians was Stuart O'Grady taking a corner too wide and enjoying a short flight over the handles and onto the road, he lost a lot of time but was able to get back on the bike and finish the stage. Bradley Wiggins was the local boy and when he went past our position a huge roar went up and the air was filled with excitement. It was all very enjoyable but over such a short distance (about 5 km) each ride was over very quickly. We were eager for the first proper road stage to begin and for our own road trip to commence also.

The van was filled with all the provisions and we were finally on the road. It was nice to see the city slowly give way to more open expanses as we headed south east toward the coast. We decided to have our first look at the race at a little place in the country called Sellinge Common. We parked the van and walked up to the route. We found a good position on a bend just before the end of one of the "King of the mountain" climbs. It was a good photo oportunity and we had the added drama of riders getting tangled up right in front of us. We got a taste of the despair a rider experiences when losing time due to an accident. One of the riders had to have his bike repaired and was almost in tears as he stood watching the peleton disappear up the hill in front of him. We all gave him heaps of applause and encouragement as he recommenced his climb. He looked broken.

Walking up to Sellinge Common

Our spot at Sellinge Common

The Peleton zipping by at Sellinge Common

We ended the day at a caravan park a few miles inland from Dover. It was a nice quiet spot with lush green grass and was crawling with rabbits.

Rabbit

First Tent Set Up

We bought some fish and chips and sat atop the famous white cliffs to consume them.

White Cliffs of Dover

White Cliffs of Dover

Jen on a Fence atop the Cliffs

Stephen at Dover

As we gazed across the water toward Calais I wondered what the next 22 days held for us.

I could only imagine what this amazing race would bring us. And the best was definately yet to come!

Over the weekend Hyde Park hosted a two day concert called “Hyde Park Calling” … we answered the call.

The main stage at Hyde Park Calling

This ride rocks - Adam and Jen braved it and survived

After a short time in the queue, we found ourselves in the midst of a peculiarly reasonable and courteous bunch of concert goers. I think it was, largely, due to the fact that the headline acts on the first day were Crowded House and Peter Gabriel. We expected to struggle to find a spot close to the action as we had made the decision not to get to the park early. When we walked to the staging area we were surprised to find there was plenty of room on the grassy expanse to lay out a tarp and stretch out our legs. It was a relatively warm and sunny day and a picnic atmosphere predominated.

Surprise packet for the day was local outfit The Feeling restored my faith in diversity. Check them out.

We had a few fleeting moment of scattered rain and when Neil Finn sang "Weather with you" we found the wide blue sky and sunshine a further reminder of home.

Sally & Phil enjoying Crowded House in the sunshine....

Jen & Megs

Stephen & Jen

BUT THEN... the wind picked up, the clouds blackened the sky and it bucketted down. It was some of the heaviest rain we have ever been in, and it didn't look like letting up. Roadies leapt into action and pulled covers over the gear nearer the front of the stage. Neil Finn stood at the back and did a solo set to steel the spirit of the crowd... it worked. We all sang along loudly and felt a kind of bond as the legs of our jeans soaked with rain and turned the backs of our legs icy cold. The band finished and shortly thereafter so did the rain.

Neil Finn - Crowded House

This is Londons Summer?

Phil - Still during Crowded House

The headline act was Peter Gabriel and I, for one, was very excited to finally see him live. His set was amazing! His voice was brilliant as was the band. Wayne would be happy to know that Tony Levin and his Stick were both in fine form. We all jumped about to "Steam" and "Sledgehammer" and felt somewhat connected to "Salisbury Hill" when it rang out around Hyde Park London.

Peter Gabriel

Stephen during Peter Gabriel

Peter Gabriel

Peter Gabriel

Day Two we went better prepared for what promised to be an even wetter day. Suffice it to say, over the two days of the concert the country received the equivilent to a months rain! We were covered in Rain coats and packed umbrellas (for the intervals between the bands). The first couple of bands were a bit ordinary but by the time Irish rock outfit, the Answer, hit the stage it felt like a 1970's festival. The set was heavily derivative of all the most important British rock acts of the late 60's and early 70's. Jet followed and the day was building momentum nicely. We felt great when they introduced themselves as a band from Melbourne... So are we!...except for the band bit that is.

Jet

Adam and Megs

Chris Cornell opened his set with "Spoonman" and the place went nuts, His voice was brilliant and the band was tight. I can't fault the performance.

Chris Cornell

Chris Cornell

By the time he had finished we were all feeling a little fatigued and, not being big Aerosmith fans, had felt we had already got what we came for. After a little while the rain suddenly cleared and the giant screens lit up with a video clip featuring a long list of Aerosmith hits. Suddenly the stage was bathed in light and the band kicked out "Love in an elevator" Steve Tyler subtly decked out in a white suit and white cowboy hat! Now, I have to admit... I thought the band would put on a good show but sound pretty terrible. Boy was I wrong. These old guys were polished, sounded great and delivered every rock cliche in the book. Shirts off, prancing down the ego ramp ( a VERY long peice of stage ramp from the middle of the stage well into the crowd). Fantastic! If only we had lighters for "Don't wanna miss a thing" nobody does cheesy rock ballads like Aerosmith. The encore for the night was "Walk this Way" - complete with Darryl Mac from Run DMC.

Aerosmith

All in all we had a very wet, very enjoyable time. Rock lives on and the bands didn't let us down.

HI all,
As you know, we are in our new place now. We wanted to get together with a few close friends to celebrate finding a new dig. What better way to start our summer than with a low key soiree with a few familiar faces. So, come on in...

Okay - so apologies to those few who have been hopefully logging on to this site to see the much anticipated Belgium trip and other adventures detailed!

For the Evans and Winkley families - you know the crazy mis-adventures we have been having over the past 6 or so weeks, but for those that dont... look forward to the updates on our new flat (we "grew out" of the old one), our trip to Belgium, Jens hospital adventure, Stephens job as a receptionist, "London Swelters in a heatwave" and a beautiful day at Richmond Park to name a few....

We are staying at the Hilton at the moment (how posh!) and moving into our new place Monday & Tuesday with our best buddy Dave so will get our internet sorted out and update the site the second we do!

Hope you are all well and look forward to more email from each and everyone of you - its always nice to get news from home - though Aunty Kath - you need not have gotten into a car crash to get one from us - we would have sent you one anyway! Hope you are feeling better and that Arthur is waiting on you hand and foot (sorry Arthur....)

Take care all and we will update properly soon

Love Always & Missing You all Heaps

Jen & Stephen

In recent days Jen, myself and our housemate Dave have been trotting down to one of our local public houses, The Wheatsheaf. It has a very warm and relaxed atmosphere, comfy (well worn in) big armchairs and lounges, many fine ales and lagers, a friendly host and his charming bitch.. Maggie.

When we first met Maggie she was lying in a heap on the floor... naked. She was begging for food at an adjacent table and eventually came to us looking for a hand out. We dropped a bit of the fat left from our meals and she seemed gratified. We tried to extend our hands in friendship, but she was reticent to return our greeting. After some coaxing with a bit of food she mounted the back of our lounge and I was able to rub her tummy for a while. By closing time we felt sure we would eventually become friends.

Last night our entire household - Jen, Mark, Kelly, myself and Dave (plus Dave's pseudo Canadian cousin Sarah) - decided to visit the Wheat for a rollicking night of trivia. It was quite busy and most of the groups participated in the trivia. Our witty Irish host collected our 1 pound coins, we collected a jug of Fosters and a jug of something called "Snakebite" (beer, cider & grenadine) and we were off and running.

We had a very good first round and were positioned about 4th. Our second round started with a football question.. we all looked to Mark (sport nut) he didn't let us down! Kellys thorough knowledge of all things celebrity had us icorrectly identifying Anna Nicole Smiths chin (if only we listened to her about the Lasagna question!)

With questions spanning food, history, picture questions on movies and music, and many others, we felt a little shaky... maybe it was that fourth jug... not quite sure. We exchanged our answer sheets and waited. When the dust settled we had finished in equal first place! We were ecstatic!

It was then... a lone voice, in a low Irish tone, said those immortal words.... SUDDEN DEATH PLAY-OFF. I reluctantly rose and stepped to the centre of the room. A hush fell over the crowd (and I think some women fainted) "Name the year" said our host. My throat dried, body tensed. The clues ensued. 1998 is shrieked. WRONG! 1997 shouted the opposition. Wrong! And so it went, guess for guess. Like two proud heavyweight boxers in a world title fight ( bearing in mind we were both middle-aged, overweight and had no clue what bloody year it was). It seemed that everyone else in the room apart from the two of us actually able to answer knew the answer! 1995 is screamed. Wrong! '1994' said the little balding Indian man. We have a winner!

But a fleeting moment in the sun. A lifetime in shame.
Although the publican did reward our fine performance with a free jug of snakebite.

We will re-group and return to the Wheat next week... and cover ourselves in glory, for we are brave... we are easily intoxicated... and damn it... we are AUSTRALIANS!!

Flying the Flag....

Stephen.

Jen & Kelly

Kelly, Mark & Stephen

Dave & Sarah

Maggie

Stephen & Maggie

To see all the pics - click here

BTW: regarding "why our favourite" etc. The very coolest thing about London pubs is the fact that you are able to take your best (four legged) friend inside with you for a drink. I wish our little black buddy was here to share a night out! Having Maggie come and attack our shoelaces or play fetch or just fall asleep in the armchair beside us, warms our hearts. Having said farewell to our own dogs,having Maggie (and an array of other local dogs) to pat is very nice indeed.

Bye all and give your pets a pat (they're worth it).

Stephen.

Well, we went and saw the Socceroos vs Denmark at Loftus Road Stadium (Queens Park Rangers) at White City.

We were full of Australian Pride and hopeful that we could go home feeling even prouder. It did not work out that way. We sucked. We finally scored one and lost 3-1.

Great to see so many Aussies out supporting the Socceroos though hopefully next time we do a bit better.

See some more photos here

Hi all,
After jetting into London with the blue sky and sun streaming down, scoffing at those types who poo-poo the English weather, we awoke last wednesday to a blanket of snow. It was the first snow of the year and we were thrilled! I immediately grabbed my faithful camera and snapped a couple of pic out of our hotel room window. I uploaded them onto my computer and onto the jump drive in order to share the images here with our faithful friends.

First snow in London

We headed out to the internet cafe and had a chat with family before heading out to look at some potential share houses (we had only 1 day left in the hotel and still no place to call home). After travelling from Acton to Camden and Wilesden Green we headed home and stopped at the pub at the end of our street for a piping hot lunch. A chicken Tikka for the wife and a steak & ale pie with peas & mash for my good self, washed down with two pints of frosty lager from the barkeep. Boy did that hit the spot!
Refreshed and re-energised jen headed out to look around and I headed to the hotel for a kip. Later that night we looked at a flat share in Parsons Green (which was very nice indeed) before heading back home and turning in.

On Thursday morning we awoke and peered out the window....no snow though. I glanced at my suitcase and noticed the expandable zip was expanded. Strange I thought. Then I noticed that the main zip was closed at one side of the case rather than in the middle ( I am a little OCD about having the 2 zip tags meeting evenly in the middle) I asked Jen if she had been into my case..."no" she replied. My stomach knotted and I feverishly threw the case on the bed and unzipped it. I had secreted my laptop and camera in my case. They were gone! "We've been robbed" I screamed. We immediately looked around the room and determined that everything had been gone through and anything of value had been taken. We called hotel management and the police. Whilst waiting for the bill to attend we made a list of what we had lost
my laptop..Jen's laptop..two MP3 players..my new camera and both lenses.. my mobile phone..my watch..leads..chargers..pretty much everything except for our clothes and what we were holding. Thankfully we were carrying our passports, cash and cards, jen's mobille and camera. We felt gutted. The police arrived and took a statement the hotel manager never arrived.

The hotel is staffed almost entirely by eastern block nationals. They are stern and unfriendly. we had joked that we were in a place run by the Russian mafia. "Could I have some toast please?" one gent asked politely at breakfast, "YOU MUST SIT DOWN" responded the russian waitress. On thi particular morning the staff were unwilling to meet our eyes.. the girl who had cleaned our room looked very dodgy indeed (clearly sufficient evidence that it was a staff conspiracy to ripoff all our stuff..I say "hang 'em high" based only on our gut instincts)

We found a new hotel, in Earls Court, and grabbed our suitcases ( now conveniently lighter and easier to handle on the tube). We went and handed in our room key and spoke to the hotel manager. We told him we were checking out 1 day early because his establishment was crap and we didn't feel safe. I asked him to refund the price of the final night...he refused. We had a short conversation about moral responsibility, ethics and decency. Jen had an even shorter conversation about dodgy staff, $8000 worth of theft and profane,unmentionable nouns. This seemed to do the trick as he agreed to our request. We hit the tube and settled in at the new place. A very, very nice man from Pakistan informed us that he had put us in a triple room with it's own bathroom and toilet at no extra charge. We were very appreciative indeed. Life is a little calmer now and we have begun the process of making an insurance claim for the lost goods.

Earls Court is really nice. Lots of options for eating and a good mix of nationalities wandering about the place. We are very happy here and are hoping to secure a place in this general area - London's south-west. We are looking forward to getting a place so we can be tourists for a couple of weeks. We are still planning to head of to Paris. We have no plans to visit Russia while we are here..we kinda have already!

Ta ta chums!
Stephen.