World Tour

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Guests – Jen & Charlotte (Part 1)

November 24, 2010 in Personal, Travel Stories, Update

I arrived at the very first stop of the GK World Tour, Beijing, and after a good sleep to recover from the twenty odd hours of travel headed to the common room of my hostel. Sitting with her sister was a crazy, very talkative chick called Jen. Fast forward nine months and along with her friend Charlotte, also a crazy, all be it younger, Northern chick, they were walking out of the arrivals gate at munich airport ready to spend ten days travelining in the Camper-of-Cool through Italy.

The first major issues was the came of luggage tetris we had to play to fit the 1,000,000m3 of bags the girls had brought with them – I’m not joking the Kitchen was now designated the Luggage/Food Preparation area.

The first part of our trip was, as I hoped, uneventful. The camper of cool banged, spluttered and slowly creeped it way over the Alps. We passed through the stunning Austria in about five hours and eventually made our was into northern Italy. We could tell we were in Italy because the roads went to shit, the drivers decided road rules don’t apply, and there was a toll booth every six meters.

Now we had been planning to FreeCamp the first night, mainly because I didn’t believe the CoC would make it over the alps in one hit, but also because it made young Charlotte tense up. The look on her face when Jen, Jamie and myself had described exactly what ‘Free Camping’ entailed – like the lack of showers & toilets – was something akin to a guy finding out they may have got a woman pregnant on a one night stand. What made it even more fun was Jen telling horror stories of her travels, mainly ones involving bus trips and 3rd world countries. Luckily we made the 700km journey form Munich to Venice and Charlotte was saved from a night without running water or flushing toilets.

The second revelation about having women on board was the extended time it took between waking up to walking to the bus – that said the wait to see the Floating City was well worth it – Check out what we got up to here.

After a stunning blue skied, light breeze day, the night turned in to a rain & wind filled torrentfest. Luckily for us we had a carton of beer, some wine and a gas bottle filled with enough combustible contents to cook food with. The booze was drunk, the food was eaten and we all had a blood good time.

The next day was not pretty. To say some of us were worse for wear would be and understatement, I personally felt like a rather large truck had run over my head. That said we soldiered on and by eleven were well on our way to Florence – home of a naked white dude.

More to come – as soon as I write it….

So halfway through a story.

GK Out.

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Green Van Down

November 9, 2010 in Update

The AA man lifted the seat to reveal the engine.

“How far you say this things gone?” AA man asked as he prodded and poked at the silent engine

“Just got back from Europe.” A large chunk of bread fell from my mouth, I was halfway through a chicken sandwich I’d made while waiting for the road side assistance. The AA guy looked up with a look of questioning.

The camper-of-cool pretrip - before some twat Italian ran into us.

I explained the journey – pointing to the list of cities written on the roof – and he laughed. Why did he laugh, well because over the last two month the smelly, rusty, green van had made its way 4800miles, covering eight countries, stopping in six of them. It’s 1.8l engine had propelled the 2.5ton, 26 year old banger over mountains, through cities and across roads of varying quality. He laughed because I was now just 80miles from where the van would get a well deserved break, and a service and the little Camper-of-Cool had given up the ghost.

Ten miles outside of Cambridge England, the Camper-of-Cool started to backfire, to stall and then not start. I managed to nurse the poor thing into a side road on the A10 and there, after trying once more to start it, gave up and called the AA.

The AA man was amazed, no let me rephrase that, he was ASTOUNDED that it hadn’t died sooner. The distributor was done, busted, worn beyond repair, and the AA guy, try as he might, couldn’t bodge it to get me the remaining 80miles. He tried, for nearly an hour and a half to coax the poor thing back from the dead but finally it was hopeless.

Calling it quits the Camper-of-Cool was now doomed to finish this journey on the back of a flatbed truck. As the camper was hoisted upon the trucks back I suddenly realised that this was not a sad moment, no in fact this would be like a parade, a celebration, for the little camper that had carried me on it’s back around the backroads of the EuroZone. It would rise above the other cars, vans, and trucks and be paraded as it rested its weary axles for the last leg of the journey.

So here we are, 4880 miles from the start of the Camper-of-Cool’s journey back where it began, and I’m happy. I’m happy the camper made it, I’m happy I get this chance to explore Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Italy, and France riding in my little green chariot of awesome. I’m happy I got to share the adventure with friends and family, and that I did it all in a van built before i was born.

So from the back of the Camper-of-Cool now parked at it’s final destination for 2010 and awaiting repair.

GK Out.

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Florence – Italy

November 1, 2010 in Location, Update

Everywhere I turn I’m confronted with images of white stone junk, David’s junk to be exact. Seriously Florence, yes you have the statue but do you really need to print his man bits on every item imaginable. For example -

GKWT-Florence8

Why would anyone want to eat off a plate that ends up showing you a meat and two veg that is both inedible and frankly not very appealing.

The other major letdown was that we arrived on a monday meaning the real thing, the staue of david as a whole not just his junk, was shut to the public.

Other than david and his stone slong Florence is another beautiful city. Surrounded by vineyard covered hills, at the cities heart is a stunning cathedral – sadly they wanted to charge fifteen euros to go inside, luckily around the other side is a bell tower that is, as you can see by the image, only about 10m lower than the cathedral dome, and more than half the price to climb.

After a long, I will repeat long, walk around the city we ended up back at our hilltop campsite to prepare to head off to Pisa – the birthplace of bad engineers.

GK Out.

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Italy – Venice

October 30, 2010 in Location, Photos, Update

GKWT-Venice_Flik22

The deep thud thud thud of a diesel motor as a large, crowed ferry passes us on the Grand Canal, around us smaller vessels are tied up on the many side canals. The foreshore is filled with tourists, all brandishing cameras and matching hats. The phenomenon of the Flag-on-Stick waving tour guide had infiltrated even Italy, home of designer labels, and over the heads of ever large group a bandana, sun flower or clipboard sporting a number waves the hordes towards the next tourist spot. But even these large groups can’t ruin a the beautiful floating city.

Welcome to Venice.

It’s smaller than I had imagined, this is obvious as you approach over the land bridge that caries buses, trains and the occasional scooter the 10km out into the lagoon. The first noticeable absence is a smell. From everything I’d read on the slowly sinking city I had the impression that there was a stench that floated above the waters, but taking a deep breath I found none to be smelt.

This was closely followed by the lack of gondoliers. I’m not saying I didn’t see quite a few, but they really were few and far between.

They were also expensive, at thirty Euros per person this is well out of the budget backpackers price range. Read the rest of this entry →

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When In Italy – DON’T DRIVE!

October 26, 2010 in Personal, Update

Italian drivers can go F*k themselves. The cities are beautiful, the people – on the street – friendly and accommodating, but heaven forbid you meet an italian in control of a car.

For starters the road network, especially around cities, is a giant mess. The signs are crowed and in some cases plain wrong. The road works are badly signed, the Toll roads overly expensive – they to need some work – and to end it all – ITALIANS CAN’T DRIVE. Read the rest of this entry →

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Italy on Paper

October 22, 2010 in Update

Taken on the Spanish Steps in Rome, Italy – -

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Updates Coming Soon

October 14, 2010 in Update

Hey guys, just a quick one. The past few weeks have been a blast having both my little bro (who is still with me) and Neil, one of my best mates, riding shotgun in the camper. I’ve been slack – I know – but it’s because of views like this:

So I hope you will all forgive me for the lack of updates – I promise many funny stories, intresting think peices, and of course the video that covers the first travels of the Camper-of-Cool with special Guests Neil & Jamie (and their night time gas attacks on yours truly!). We’ve had a lot of fun and soon you’ll be able to join in to through the power of video.

Neil has left us but tomorrow two more guests join the Camper, Jen & Charlotte, as we head south into Italy, home of Pizza, Pasta and Gladiatorial fights!

so for now – from a McDonalds just outside Munich Germany.

GK Out.

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Auschwitz

October 1, 2010 in Location, Out of my Brain, Personal, Update

The places of evil men and their deeds stand not only as a reminder of the atrocities committed but as a memorial to those that died, to show the strength of those that survived, and as a monument to those that fought to liberate the oppressed. These places remind us of the lowest of human acts but also the strength of the human spirit, of humanities ability to fight, to survive, and to resist those that would seek to harm us.

The history of man is that of many cruel and inhuman acts, but within the threads of history are the stories of strength, of hope, and of those that stood up and said no more.

Auschwitz is a place that show the worst of humanity, and the best.

Spending a day within the electrified wire fence it is hard not to find what occurred there to be anything more than vial. The treatment of every human held or killed in the camps is something I would never wish upon any person, animal or living thing. The camps, there are three major facilities surrounded by forty sub camps, showed a systematic and planned attempt to wipe not only the Jews, but the Gypsies and Slavs from the face of the earth. Their design was purposeful, built to deceive the new arrivals, to keep them calm, make them easier to manage.

The Gas chambers themselves included false shower heads, the changing room hooks numbered to reassure the entering Jews that they would be able to find their clothes again – they would never see daylight let alone their belongings after entering this place.

These small acts of deception, culminating in the fleeing SS troops destroying the gas chambers, show that even before they began they knew that they were committing an atrocity in these places.

While these vial acts make the blood boil, I take comfort that like many points in history the things that stand out for me are the stories of those that fought back. The stories of those prisoners that whispered to the new arrivals of what was to occur, of how they could avoid death, how they could avoid the fate of over a million of their fellow humans. Of the grandparents that took infants from the mothers so she would be spared from the gas chambers.

Above all others the story of a man that kicked the stool from beneath his own feet, moments before the SS soldiers could, hanging himself to deny the Nazis the satisfaction of making him an example. He grasped the little freedom he had left and with nothing more than a step showed that to his death he was willing to fight for his freedom and to defy those that would seek to take it from him.

Today was a sad one, one that showed me that there are humans that will seek to suppress, to wipeout and to destroy those they disagree with, but it also showed that there will always be those that stand forth, that declare in which ever way they can that freedom is not something that can ever be taken away, that freedom is not given but is exercised through our own actions and that no matter the evil in the world humanity will strive to rise above it, to stop it, and inevitable punish those that commit the most inhuman of acts.

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Au revoir London

September 30, 2010 in Update

So I realised I’ve been a slack little photographer over the past month. So I tried to make up for it by spending the last weekend in London doing London things and enjoying the city for all its cold, rainy, coldness.

I hit up the Thames Festival and caught the fireworks, went to a football game with Sebo in Reading, did my last shift behind the bar at The Greenman, and just snapped away in and around central London.

So What do I think of London. In a way it is like any other major city, but there is something about this place that makes it have a soul. The mix of old world, new world, art, mueseums, theatres makes London a place you can spend a week never once having to repeat an activity.

I hear Londoners complaining about the Public transport but I can’t back them up on that. Even when maintenance shuts down a tube line it is still 1,000,000 times better than any public transport available in Australia.

So sadly I’m gone but here’s what I spent most of my time doing – in one minute.

GK out

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Germany

September 30, 2010 in Location, Travel Stories, Update

From outside you can hear the band and the crowd chanting the worlds to ‘Sweet Carolyn’, as you enter the smell of thousands of slowly cooking chickens smacks you across the face. The Shear quantity of people stretching out, all with large beers swinging from their hands, is amazing.

Oktoberfest is something else altogether.

The festival is massive, the tents beautiful, the food delicious, and the amount of beer absurd. After making it to Munich, and picking up the new member of the Camper-of-Cool Neil, we were eager to hit the tents. Luckily for us our neighbours at the campsite were a couple of friendly New Zealanders, Isaac and Carina, who were also keen to hit the beerfest so as a group we headed to the festival of beer worship.

Upon entering the show grounds it is clear this is more than just the world largest beer drinking festival. over the back the roller coasters, and carnival rides flash and spin. Along the large central walkway booth after booth are filled with foods ranging from traditional to not-so-traditional.

Now what happens at Oktoberfest, STAYS at Oktoberfest but I will say it was a mind blowing and expensive experience – not only for us. Our fellow campsites guests (not including our NZ neighbours) left their marks in/on/around the toilets and showers. The campsite itself was a mix of badly erected tents, drunken English guys, loud Germans and the normal mix of angry local residents.

After three days our livers, and wallets, were felling a little worse for wear and the Camper-of-Cool set out on the road. Our next destination Berlin!

Not including the brilliant nights sleep, and I mean that, in a roadside service station car-park, we arrived at what can only be described as the complete opposite to the campsite we had in Munich – quiet, clean and brilliantly located.

Berlin is a strange place. Our first exploration around some of the museums and main sites was enjoyable but a little cold. The weather during the trip up had slowly deteriorated and we now faced non-stop rain, wind and that growing feeling of irritation that comes with being stuck in a small space where everything smells of damp.

We made plans to do the walking tour – as advices by Issac in Munch, and the following day awoke early, to more rain I will add, to make the trip into Berlin’s heart.

I wont go through everything we saw but I will say the Original English Walking tour, that costs 9 Euro, takes you to all the places you could want, the guides are ridiculously over educated (ours held a doctorate in archaeology!), and the walking not that strenuous. The highlight for me was the wall & checkpoint charlie. Although hearing about the origins of Berlin, the rises and falls or its leaders and the continuing struggle to shed itself of the past without destroying its history, where also enthralling.

The 20th century has not been kind to the city. It has been the front in two world wars and a cold war, seen segregation, suppression, and also been the place that many world changing events have occurred. It has had its share of the crazy and the smart leading its government and has, more recently, become a world leader in green technology and economic reforms.

While the weather was horrible, it truly was depressing, the city itself, with its mix of bullet riddled-semirestored buildings and modern monstrosities is a wonder to explore. The Rich history of the place makes it a Must-DO if you’re in Europe.

So from behind the now crumbling and chipped wall

GK Out.

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