Bovey Tracey

It's been just over 2 weeks since I blogged last and in that time I've settled into the life that will be taking up the next 4 and a half months of my trip.
The family that I am staying with is brilliant. The first week that I spent in Bovey the whole family was home, a 21 year old daughter and two boys 17 and 15. It's almost as if I have slipped out of my family and into theirs. They are incredibly active taking part in tennis, hiking, mountain biking, cricket and hockey just to name a few. This is fantastic as it gives me a chance to get off the couch and outside. Since then they have dispersed back to school, uni and work leaving me time at home by myself.
Unfortunately the weather has been a little bit temperamental and as a consequence it's been difficult to get any routine established as cricket has been interrupted and I've been stuck up inside for a majority of the days.
I have had 3 games since arriving here. One was rained out after 20 overs without getting a bat or bowl. The second game I was drafted to the opposition to make up the numbers and even out the competition in which I made a second ball duck (not a great start!) and took my first wicket. The 3rd game, played yesterday, went a bit better as I scored 49 not out and took another wicket. We have another week of trial games this weekend before the official season starts on May 5 which I can't wait to get into.
Bovey Tracey the township is rather small with a main street which has most of what I need, a gym and the cricket club. There are 3 larger towns within 10 to 15 minutes as well as Exeter, the capital of Devon which is the size of Adelaide CBD within half an hour. Torquay, the nearest beach city is only 3 quarters of an hour away which will hopefully come in handy when the weather starts to slowly warm up and the rain becomes a little more rare.
The job search is going slowly as the original pub work fell through. At this stage I might have work at a local adventure park about 15 minutes away which I understand to be similar to Greenhills adventure park where I might be working behind a bar or in a cafe. This is still yet to be confirmed.
All in all I've settled in well and as colts training and cricket gets into full swing I will hopefully have the chance to get into a routine making life a little bit easier.
Until next time,

Watch this space :)
Dillon

Contiki days 19, 20 and 21. The last hurrah

I left my last post heading into Amsterdam for the last city on our tour. It didn't disappoint and was a fitting end to what had been such an incredible 3 weeks with 48 other amazing people. Our first night included a trip to infamous red light district where those who weren't keen on exploring shared a few beers/shandy's before a relatively early night to prepare for what was to be our last day together as a group. An early morning allowed us to take in the beautiful city of Amsterdam by day. We started at Anne frank's house which was a highlight of the day as I had prior to this trip read the book and watched the film. It was incredible to think that 12 people could live in such cramped quarters for such a long period of time shrouded in constant fear. We then headed down the main shopping street of Amsterdam, the sight of 5 H&M stores alone (Aaron's new favourite store and the home of his new man scarf) along with countless other stores. This was the detour taken to the local palace and gardens and the Heineken museum. A few Heineken's and laughs later we were prepping for our last night out. We started with dinner in a small fishing village approximately 30 minutes outside of Amsterdam before heading back into the centre of the city for a canal cruise with open bar for an hour and a half. This allowed us to see the city by streetlight and what a beautiful city it is with some amazing architecture and romantic scenery. This was the start of a great night where we moved between some local clubs and pubs dancing and listening to some live music. It was tough to say goodbye to those staying in Amsterdam but with only a quarter of the crew staying behind we knew it was going to get tougher. It wasn't long before we'd cruised through belgium and were back over the English channel and into London. I have absolutely no doubt that the friendships that I've made and the memories that we've shared will last a lifetime and I can't wait to see how people's lives progress in the next 5 or 10 years. I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to share such an amazing tour with and there's no disputing that it was the people not the places that made the trip so enjoyable (although the places we visited were still incredible) I have so much to thank them for as I shared many firsts as an 18 year old with them. We have arrived back in London and its not long before Aaron and I split and head off to our respective cricket clubs for our season of cricket. The posts will become less frequent but please stay tuned. Until next time, Watch this space. Dillon

Contiki days 15, 16,17 and 18

The last time I wrote a blog post we were travelling to Vienna via Mathaussen Concentration Camp, the last Nazi concentration camp liberated by the allies in World War 2. This is possible the most eerie experience of my life as we watched a documentary about the life span of the camp and then had some time to walk around. It is so hard to believe that such a cruel thing could occur in what can definitely be considered very recent history. Certainly an experience that I’ll never forget.

Arriving in Vienna, a city which I knew comparatively little to other cities we have visited, I was blown away by the architecture and history which included the period of the world wars. This was also the site of the highlight hotel of the trip with the biggest and most luxurious hotel housing a day spa and a gym comparable to Fitness First, Payneham (for all you South Australians). Consequently the first night allowed us fitness freaks to work off the Italian carbs and relax in the pool. Our free time in Vienna was spent exploring the historical loop which included the cities’ palace, the Austrian museum of Natural History, St Stephens Cathedral, a dirt bike festival and a trip to the local schnapps museum.

The next day was spent on the coach travelling to Prague, Czech Republic. The first night in Prague was spent on a pub-crawl through 3 pubs and a local 7 story club. This started with 1 and a half hours of an open bar and fair to say there was a significant thinning of the contiki-ers. Others went onwards and upwards to a great night, exploring the nightlife and making friends with the locals. The city itself was #1 on the list of most beautiful cities explored on this trip, tied with Venice. The river flowing through the city was the scene of our lunchtime cruise allowing for the hard core partiers to back up after a big night before hand. We also had the opportunity to explore Prague Castle and the Czech Republic communism museum. That night we were treated to the famous black light theatre which was interesting interpretive dance with comedic intervals. This was followed by a once in a lifetime dinner. We spent the night at a Neanderthal restaurant in which we had to order through carvings, in a cave with waiters who just grunted to communicate. Those who were keen to take advantage of our last nights on the trip headed out to a local club called Roxy and fair to say a dance floor was destroyed after a few cheeky cordials.

Yesterday we ventured to the Rhine Valley in Germany as a stopover on our way to Amsterdam. We were treated to a wine tasting in a cellar from the 1700’s.

We have just arrived in Amsterdam is sure to be a place for many, many funny stories so stay tuned for the next edition of this blog. 2 days left in our Contiki trip which is very sad but we’re sure to head off with a bang.
Until then,

Watch this space.

Dillon

Contiki Days 11, 12, 13 and 14

My last post ended on my last night in Rome and since then we’ve been going non-stop through Venice and into Munich, Germany. Leaving a place such as Rome is tough because of all the history that it holds from different eras anywhere from 2500 years ago to 100 years ago and the nerd inside me wasn’t happy. However, the transition to Venice didn’t disappoint. What a beautiful place! Our day in Venice included a walking tour through the little alleyways, avenues and canals as we learnt about the formation and history of Venice. It was incredible to think that over 2000 years ago Venice was founded as a city built on thousands of tree trunks stuck into marshy surrounds resulting in a stable but very, very slowly sinking city. We also enjoyed a romantic gondola ride along the canals of Venice, seeing the city from a different angle and experiencing what life would have been like when this was the main mode of transport around the city. Free time involved trying but ultimately failing to get purposely lost in the never-ending labyrinth of back streets as well as a trip into St Mark’s Cathedral and a picnic on the banks of the Grand Canal. The weather didn’t let us down with a beautiful blue sky and bright sun.
The next day we ventured to Munich via Austria and again ticked off what was a fairly unique experience for the second time in the trip. 3 different meals in 3 different countries in one day!! Breakfast in Italy, lunch in Austria and Dinner in Germany. Fair to say everyone was pretty excited to see a salad bar at lunch and dinner after 5 days of Lasagna and a severe lack of any vegetables. This sounds crazy for me to be saying but I quite enjoyed a SALAD for lunch. Unbelievable!
Munich transported back into more modern eras of history as we were opened to the events of the world wars, in particular world war 2 and the rise of the Nazi’s. This was before a trip to a local and quite famous beer house where we enjoyed a significant amount of pork and a few coca-colas to the sounds of a german brass band. Today we’re travelling to Vienna via Mathaussen Concentration camp which is sure to be a confronting and eye-opening experience. Until next time,

Watch this space.

Dillon

Contiki Days 7,8,9 & 10

So there has been so much to tell you about the last 4 days that I don't think I could do it justice. I could probably title this blog "Italy" as the last 4 days have seen us head from Nice in Southern France to Rome via Florence. Day 7 basically consisted of a day on the Coach travelling to Florence with one major detour, Pisa, the home of the leaning tower. This was a rather large shock, mainly as a result of the surrounding ghetto. It was quite odd to see such a beautiful square of history including the Leaning tower and attached baptistry and cathedral located right in the middle of the darkest part of a ghetto comparable to Elizabeth. After a week of the high life it was a shock to the system to see what was basically slums where it can only be expected that unemployment and crime levels would have been high. This soured the experience for some but for me it was just more of a shock until you got through the beggars and the squares surrounding wall to the trip Pisa square.

FLORENCE
Heading into Florence we were treated to a walk through the historic town to an all you can eat lasagne and an early-ish night before our next day exploring Florence. We woke to a beautiful day, a traditional leather production demonstration before a walking tour through the historical sights of Florence, most importantly the Duomo and the Ponte Vecchio. It brought back many memories from Year 10 History and it was amazing to see such a building which if I was to say dominated the Florence skyline it would be an understatement. Luckily enough we were able to climb the second biggest dome in christendom (behind the St Peter's Basilica) and look out over the seemingly never ending spread of terracotta roofs. We also quickly visited the palace of the Medici family who are basically the founding family of the banking and monetary systems. This was also the sight of a 1.5kg Florentine steak for lunch (shared between 3) and a Tuscan feast (5 course meal) in a castle above Florence. This only served as the precursor to my first clubbing experience at space and it was certainly an incredibly enjoyable night to remember.

ROME

Arriving in Rome was something I will never forget. It was a serious of WOW's as we took a coach trip through Rome past the Colosseum, the Vatican, the Altar to the People (also commonly known as the wedding cake) and the Roman Forum. This was before a walking tour through the Colosseum to the Trevi Fountain, consuming Europe's best voted Gelati (amazing!!) and to the Pantheon. Today was spent revisiting the places the we skimmed over on our walking tour as well as the Catacombs (morbid) and a 3 hour tour through the smallest country in the world, Vatican City. After going to a Catholic School for 6 years of my life it was hard not to be excited about this tour and it didn't disappoint. We scoured the Vatican museums, took shneaky shnaps of the Sistine Chapel roof before heading into St Peter's Basilica. It was amazing to see such incredible art and architecture for what is assumed to be a sacred space. Around every corner was a different famous sculpture or painting by Michelangelo or Boticelli. A paragraph on it just doesn't do justice.

Tomorrow we're off to Venice via the home of the Ferrari where some of us will be driving Ferrari's around a custom made highway track. Should be an interesting experience. Until then, watch this space!

Dillon

Contiki Days 4, 5 and 6

So by now you're probably getting sick of having to read through my stories of having an amazing time overseas so I thought i'd just keep you updated on what's happening. Short and shiny.
It's been three days since I posted last and since then the biggest highlights have been generally related to the amazing scenery that we've been blessed with. We've explored what seemed to initially be a nice, cosy little town called Lucerne which had a couple of main streets and a few main attractions such as a historic old bridge. The trip up to the top of the closest mountain proved those observations wrong as we were treated with incredible panoramic views of the swiss alpine region, some amazingly white and clean snow and a view of what turned out to be a big sprawling city. The scene provided time for some quality snowballing and some even better group photos.
Since then we have travelled through 4 countries; Switzerland, Italy, France and Monaco (the second smallest country in the world, 5 square kilometres). We've travelled from endless snow capped mountains into the quaint italian countryside through to the beautiful french riviera with possibly the bluest water I've ever seen. It's pretty incredible to think that we travelled through 4 countries, from snow to surf and had 3 main meals in 3 separate countries, all in one day!
Last night was spent in Monaco, a country which has no taxes but requires residents to have a passport worth $4 million each. Fair to say there was a serious amount of money being thrown around. Mansions, yachts, at the casino. It was just incredible. Fun fact: A piece of land 1 square metre by 1 square metre costs $56,000 in Monaco!

We had dinner in a cosy little restaurant off one of the alleyways before heading to the Grand Casino for the rest of the evening. It was an odd sight seeing people just walk up to a roulette table and place a $500 bet every once in a while and not even care what the result of the bet was. It was similarly enthralling to witness what a $200,000 chip looks like. Luckily some contiki-ers won a bit of cash to provide some entertainment as we all cheered to the amusement of the dealers in the tuxedos.
Today was a relax day, allowing us to do some washing and a picnic up above the cote d'azur of some local delicacies before heading out to dinner later on tonight. This morning was one of the most picturesque runs i've ever done in my life, along the beaches of Nice as the sun rose. Breathtaking!
We head into Italy for the first time to stay tomorrow as we explore Florence. And I can't wait.
Until then,

Watch this space,

Dillon

Contiki 3 (and other snippets)

Hello again,

Today was a relatively uneventful day as we spent close to 8 hours on the coach travelling from Paris, France, to Lucerne in the Swiss Alps. Therefore I will take the opportunity to branch out on the description of Paris and also add some photos for you to enjoy from our trip so far.
Evidently the coach ride provided some to recover from the night prior at Moulin Rouge and the Irish Pub. Others just caught up on some sleep and some just enjoyed the beautiful sights of the French countryside. And then there was the ninja who unfortunately after an incredibly unlucky start to the trip on day one found himself in struggle town and took many a trip up the centre aisle to relive what was a decent breakfast. It also provided us with an opportunity to branch out from our friendship groups formed early in the trip and meet some others in the group.

The ninja, also referred to as the lurker or of course Ben is a group favourite as the ‘back seat bandits’ look to allocate nicknames to all that we meet. So far we have Kim, ninja, manchild, kiwi, bus-slut/tiger, the fresh prince and Annnnnnge (said with a hearty twang in the throat) I refer to the contiki-ers as they have been recently introduced to the reading of this blog including a group public reading in which Charlotte decided to express my sentiments with plenty of laughs and a critiquing eye on my grammar and spelling (although many have already picked up on this)

As I said this opportunity is perfect to revisit what were a jam-packed couple of days in Paris. The city is beautiful but the actual structure of the city and its planning I believe is what leads to this being the case. It is structured around a central cross which incorporates the arc de triumphe down the champs elysees to the Louvre palace and its public gardens. In the centre is an Egyptian obelisk and then going perpendicular to this and crossing the river seine is the French parliament assembly and another identical palace. This makes for some incredible views and pictures to be taken, a tourist friendly atmosphere and a beautiful city scape. We also visited a famous bridge (the scene of Big and Carrie’s infamous scene from Sex and the City) which crosses the Seine and on which couples put a padlock with a message written on it, lock it, and throw the key into the river. Consequently there are thousands of padlocks on this bridge ranging from the heavy duty to the decorative.

The Moulin Rouge was a definite highlight, not only me but for most in the contiki group. It was the in-between acts which some found the most enjoyable. Acrobatic groups, python swimmers and comedians but an impressive juggler was a favourite. He just kept going, more and more implements to which some just couldn’t believe, repeatedly going, ‘Noooo, nooo, surelyyyyy, nooo!!’ Ive never heard people clap as loud as they did.

So we’ve arrived in Switzerland, a beautiful country and are in a hotel which is on a mountainside covered in snow with an amazing view down over the city of Lucerne. This provided high levels of excitement particularly from those who hadn’t seen snow before and it’ll only get better as we head up to the peak today followed by a fondue lunch and some time to explore Lucerne.
Photos are hopefully attached to this blog and if not there are some more on facebook for those who are lucky enough to be my friends J

Until next time,

Watch this space.

Dillon