I just wanted to wish a very special beautiful lady a happy valentines day … Theresa, my one and only, I love you with all of my heart and thank every day that I have someone so special in my life.
Here’s a quick little flash back to some of the places and things we have seen and done together over the last few years:
Note: Click on the photos to go through them all
Here’s a nice little handy tip for travellers — DON’T FLY WITH ROYAL BRUNEI AIRLINES (RBA)!.
In a post last November, “Finally made it back to Edinburgh“, we went through the crazy task of us getting back to Edinburgh and the mental delays we went through.
Well, it’s February now and we are still going back-and-forth with RBA in regards to some compensation for our rediculous delay. However, RBA has refused to take any responsibility for their crappy planes that apparently have such delays every couple of weeks (we were told this information from a fellow passenger who’s company flies him to Brunei for business quite regulary). This puts the question forward — for a country that is quite rich, one of the richest I am told, how can they have such a faulty airline?
Delays happen, we all know this. But for the airline to not accept any responsibility, and to constantly ignore emails and letters in the post from passengers trying to sort out some financial compensation due to the massive delays, I just believe is very poor form.
And to make it worse, our travel insurance will not compensate us for the delay unless it was at least 12 hours. Here’s the funny thing — it was 12 hours! However, we had to constantly request updated letters from the RBA staff everytime the flight was delayed and unfortunately we were not issued with the last letter so our delay on our letters states 11 hours and 45 minutes as our delay ….
So, to save yourself some heart ache and financial strain, pay a little bit extra for a better airline and steer clear of Royal Brunei Airlines.
Well, it’s official, I am going to be joining Kate Moloney on her epic adventure through Europe!
From May this year Kate will be embarking on a journey of adventure, excitement and some may say, complete craziness. From her current base in Ireland, she will rely on sheer pedal power to cycle her way home to Australia.
I will be joining Kate for three months of her journey as a support cyclist. It’s pretty exciting stuff and I’m very excited. The only bad thing is that I will be away from Theresa for such a long period of time.
I will also have a good mate, Bradford, from back in Aus who is coming over for the adventure. You only live once, that is the way I’m looking at this situation. Gotto give it a go!
Get behing the movement! Find out the reason behind the trip and charities we will be supporting. Check out www.katescycle.com
Stay tuned for further updates on this epic adventure!
Hogmanay, or otherwise known as New Years Eve, kicked off in fine form this year (or, actually, last year). We had been having a pretty harsh winter with a lot of snow fall and icey cold winds. Which was quite unusual as in 2008 we didn’t see any snow until February and even then it wasn’t much.
Anyway, to kick off the festivities, was the anual Torchlight Procession up to Calton Hill where they set a light a massive bon fire. Literally thousands packed the streets with torches alight. It was really something that must be seen in person. It’s was like watching a river of fire make its way up to Calton Hill.
It was quite hard walking up there safely, not because it had been shocking weather and there was ice everywhere but because anyone could pretty much get a torch — so we were walking next to 6 and 8 year olds who’s arms were getting tired and their torches were dangling right about the average persons head height — was a mission to make it up there with both eyes and all of our clothes intact!
As soon as the majority of the crowd reaches the top and everyone is settled, they then kick off the bon-fire which in itself is quite a beautiful site to see.
Straight after the bon-fire began the amazing fireworks display from the old ruins that sit up the top of Calton Hill. And even though it was only the 27th December and still a few days away from the eve of the new year, these fireworks went for quite a lengthy time and it was a pretty good show!
And that was that for the night. Now, if you are into photography as I am, I would highly reccomend heading up to Calton Hill (if you ever get the chance to be in this part of the world) in the evening, as there are some amazingly spectacular views to see.
We could have stayed up there for hours and we probably would have if didn’t start to lose the feeling in our fingers and toes dues the extreme cold that was engolfing our bodies!
In the days leading up to Hogmanay we were lucky enough to be joined by my cousin kelsey and her boyfriend Rob. Since it was their first time in Edinburgh I did the tourist guide gig and showed them around. It was the eve or New Years Eve and after the day we had, I tell you, they saw more then me and Theresa did in the first month of living in Edinburgh!
One really cool thing that came from the horridly cold weather was that the water froze over in certain areas. One place in particular was down by Arthurs Seat outside of Parliment Place where they have a few man made mini-lakes. Below is a picture of me doing my best Toyota advert jump on the frozen pond. It was frozen over with a tick 20cm layer of ice. Pretty fun stuff — am pretty glag it didn’t decide to give way when I was being a tool on it though =D
December 31st — the day we had all been waiting for! New Years Eve/Hogmanay! It was a pretty cold day but that didn’t stop us from getting into the party mood. We must have been having a pretty fun time because we didn’t leave the flat until after 9pm! Off to the street party, where everyone drinks, laughs, dances, sings and watches one of the best fireworks displays on Earth!
We were in for a big night so it was good to see the guys getting some extra food in their bellies!
It is amazing to see how many people travel from accross the world to experience Edinburgh’s Hogmanay Street Party. The amount of different acesnts flying around is something to be heard! Below is a Californian couple we met who flew over just for this even!
Now this may be a testiment to how much fun I was having or it may be a sign that I really need to learn to drink slowly and at a steady pace but I can not seem to remember the fireworks AT ALL! I remember the lead up and the after party but nothing at all about the fireworks is in my memories from that night! It’s not like they were not memorable — they are amazing! So how is I can’t remember them? I dunno, but I was definitely there and they were brilliant:
Great fireworks aye. No matter how many times I watch that clip and see myself jumping around like an idiot, I still can not believe that I canna remember anything from that five minute spectacular show!
And, by the looks of me below, I think there is no doubt I was well past gone. This is at the Voodoo Rooms, normally an awesome palce but on NYE it was just too packed. But in saying that, their tickets were only 5 quid so you can’t complain about that!
It took us a couple of days to recover from Hogmanay and needless to say January 1st was spent spread out on the couch and playing Monopoly! When we did manage to drag ourselves outside, we found that there was still plenty of snow about and that, in the Meadows, someone had built a man just to good for Theresa to keep her hands off of!
Biggest snowman I have ever ever ever seen! So that’s it, that’s how we spent Hogmanay 2009/2010! Bring on the new year — lets see what it has in stall for us ….
For more information about any of the Hogmanay events in Edinburgh, visit the official Edinburgh’s Hogmanay site
It was our second Christmas in Scotland however this year was quite different then the last. For a starters we have had a lot more snow. Infact, we are told it has been the most snow is many years that Edinburgh in particular has had.
We put together a little video that, in short, sums up our Christmas. Or at least some of it anyway:
This is a view from our flat window in one of the many snow storms we had:
The German Christmas markets were awesome as per usual.
However, unlike last year, both Theresa and I took quite a liking to mulled wine. Where as last year, we did not like much at all -- we found ourselves getting a cup or two when ever we were near by -- sometimes even going out of our way to get some! Maybe we’ve gone slightly alcoholic … Either way, it was pretty darn good this year. So much so that Theresa even started making some at home!
I must say, Christmas in Edinburgh has proven to be always a good time all round. There is so much to do. There are the German Christmas Markets which have food, wines, beers and sweeties, as well as trinkets and alike. There’s a massive ferris wheel and a fun ice-skating rink and all around town everyone is in the festive spirit!
Below is a picture of us ice-skating in the heart of Edinburgh town and then the bar we went to afterwards, The Dome, where we went to warm up with a few pints:
Because there was soooo much snow about, we decided to head to Hillend where the Edinburgh Ski slopes are. They are not particularly renowned as the best slopes but you could have fooled us! It was super thick out there. So thick that it was an adventure just to get out there!
Theresa took a wee tumble just walking up the entrance. It was easy enough to as there was a tonne of snow. Everywhere you looked was a winter wonderland. We felt like we were in the Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe!
I did slip up though … I was so caught up in all the winter wonderness that I got caught kissing … a snow woman …
All round a great time! And to top it off we had a brilliant Christmas dinner with some good friends. A delicious roasted turkey, crispy potatos, marinated beans in cherry tomatos and white wine, mulled wine, egg nog and I’m pretty sure there was more I just can’t remember off the top of my head.
Hey there,
Just thought I would share some of my design work with the rest of the world. Check them out and let me know what you think.
Framed photograph of man trapped.
Calm, cool and collected while a city is a blaze.
Vampire on the loose and not happy … at all.
Don’t do drugs kids!
Please note that all these designs/images are copyright protected.
Here’s another video. It’s not exactly new but it’s still a goldie! This is my first attempt at video editing and well, I think it’s alright. Not as good as the the White water rafting in Bali or the Surfing in Bali but still not to shabby.
This is my “Best job in the world” application. Check it out:
Check itout, we’ve got a second video published! This one is a surfing video – starts off with a few locals carving it up then you get to see our effort =D
As you may guess, neither myself, my Dad or my sister Kat are going to be pro surfers anytime soon but we gave it our best shot!
It is worth keeping in mind as well, Kat had her leg heavily bandaged from a Scooter road accident the day before. So she did a bloody good go!
Finally found some spare time to put together one of the segments from our Bali experience!
Stay tunes as I will be adding more segments as I get a chance to put them together — this has been one of the most asked about videos so I thought I ought to do it first.
Check it out and let me know what you think:
While in Australia I had to renew my working visa for the UK as I was only on a two year visa. With working visa’s you are only entitled to one and as mine was about to expire I had to find how I could get around this so I could go back to the UK with Dan, my partner. Dan is on a ancestry visa which entitles him to five years to live and work in the United Kingdom. We have been together for four years and living together for over two years, this made me eligible to join his ancestry visa as a de facto.
Now if you are in the process of appling for a de facto ancestry visa you can appreciate that the UK in Australia bureau are not any help at all unless you are willing to pay the ridiculous amount of money they want in order to answer a few questions.
Here is a step by step process I went through when applying for my visa, I hope that this can be of some help to any of the people who are in the same process and are finding it difficult to understand and find the answers to some very common questions.
Firstly you will have to fill out an online application form, from the following link:
http://ukinaustralia.fco.gov.uk/en/visas/how-do-i-apply/family/unmarried-partner
The application form that you will have to fill out is the non-settlement Form VAF2. (Do not fill out the settlement form as it only applies if your partner is a resident of the United Kingdom).
then …
then …
Once you have opened up the application you will need to put in your email address and so fourth and then the questions start.
Now, the one question that really had me confused was the purpose of the application, this is one of the first questions asked. It is a drop down question and for me none of the options for this question suited me. So if you are wanting to join your partner on their UK ancestry visa as unmarried partner/de facto, the Employment (non Points-Based System) is the correct option (see below).
The next question is also a drop-down and depending on how long you are intending to stay in the UK with your partner — you will be a dependant for under 6 months or a dependant for more than 6 months. You will need to select the option which suits your situation. These are the main questions in which you must have correct because if you are applying to get on your partners Ancestry Visa and you select something other than the Employment (non Points-Based System), you will be declined straight away, which means losing that $500 you have just paid!
The questions from here on are personal questions which are pretty straight forward and only you can answer them.
For your application you will need a list of the following:
We also found that supplying joint invitations such as weddings, birthdays and so forth as well as photos of us throughout our relationship also helped to prove we were a legitimate couple.
Having these documents will help your application go through without much delay (hopefully). I hope this information will help as I know I found it hard to know what application to fill out and found no one was willing to help without receiving payment first.