From Coogee to Rochdale...but why!?

Well after almost a year it has come to an end even quicker than it began! Having been up the east coast of Australia back in May with a group of lads who are forever my brothers...and travels which included surfing near dolphins in Byron Bay, a stop in Brissie, Hervey Bay, Fraser Island and all the stories from there, of which there are too many to mention...some of which include dingoes (WHAT GOES ON TOUR STAYS ON TOUR) and heading up to Maggy Island, a beautiful place and then a sky dive in Mission Beach, before bumping into Mr Blatt, himself on a world tour...then Cairns, and back to Sydney via 1770 and Agnes Waters for the Scooteroo and back to Sydney, and eventually Coogee...so ends the best year of my life!!! AND WHAT A YEAR IT WAS!!!

With under a month left on the visa for Oz, no farm work done and your best mates at uni deciding to get engaged...im left wondering should I go home or stay? Should I put in a dodgey application like many a mate has and stay for a second year...I was so close to doing that, what's the worst thing that can happen, it gets rejected and you have to go home!? I was leaving anyway... and then comes the great god of football, a bloke who also goes by the name of Eric, I believe...anyway, fate, or the footballing gods dictated that FC United would beat Barrow and land a 1st Round FA Cup tie with Rochdale...now this not seem like a big thing in world events, and maybe even a tad sad that I would even consider flying over 14,000 miles for a football match, a match that even I had difficulty in justifying, but then i asked what would I regret more, coming home from Oz early, or getting to see this and be at my best mate's engagement do? Whats 15-20 extra that I can get back whenever, compared to 2 big events that I can only be at once...

So, here I am, back in Horwich on the eve of the biggest game in FC United's short history, having flown in this week from Sydney-Manchester (via Abu Dhabi) to watch an FA Cup 1st round tie, the first time we have ever reached this...and vs Rochdale of all clubs, the team I wanted more than any other, away at Spotland, and the club my old flatmate supports and the game we had many hours of banter with at uni...WHAT IF...And now it is a reality!!!!

But its more than that, it's 5 and a half years of hard work by a lot of people! Many people said it would all be over by christmas, but you know what, we're still here, and all of us, together, have achieved this...players, fans, members, staff...the club volunteers...so when we step out on Friday night at Spotland, infront of however many (3,200 away allocation sold out, and there will be more of us in the Sandy Lane Terrace as well, and around the ground), this will probably be the proudest I have ever felt watching this little club...and i will know inside me I made the right decision to come home! At the moment it feels shit, and all I can think of is Coogee and my apartment, and the people in it, and all the ace times I have had since returning to Sydney...both with my Aussie family and with my flatmates, the 790 crew...everyone!..But then I remember how I felt ringing my mate in Ashton to hear the FA Cup draw live on a Sunday night in Coogee, with ITV down the fone on full blast....and how mad I went when I heard the words uttered...''...WILL PLAY NUMBER 55, FC UNITED OF MANCHESTER''.

You know, growing up as a United fan, you get told of times when United were second rate and how they won nothing from 1968-1993, but theyd always give the FA Cup a good run, it was our 1 shining light, our competition without wanting to appear arrogant...and you would be brought up knowing full well how important a competition the FA Cup was, and to me, STILL is...back from Busby's first great side which included the likes of Charlie Mitten, through to the Babes and how Jimmy Murphy, against the odds, took a battered remnants of a team after Munich to Wembley, before losing to Bolton under the twin towers in 1958...The FA Cup to United is about stopping Liverpool getting a treble in 1977, it's about Whiteside, McIlroy, it's about Fergie saving his job, Cantona's redemption (if that's the correct word) in 1996 vs Liverpool, it's about Villa Park vs Arsenal in the 1999 Semi Final Replay, the treble...and about how angry I was when the FA made MUFC pull out despite being Champions in 2000. It's about all those things...yet so much more!

The FA Cup is about more than United, it's about what every kid across the country dreams of...playing at Wembley and scoring the winning goal for your club and lifting the trophy...it's about the David and Goliaths of the world, the likes of Horwich RMI going to Blackpool back in the day, and dreaming against the odds of an upset, despite getting beat...of Chorley taking Preston to several replays and dreaming of Wembley, of the likes of Emley beating Morecambe and Lincoln City before going to Upton Park and running West Ham close in 98/99 and being unfortunate to not advance to the 4th round...it's about the likes of Chasetown, of Stevenage Borough hosting Newcastle before taking it to a replay and being robbed by an Alan Shearer goal that never was...but was given! It's about non league clubs up and down the land, from all corners of the kingdom dreaming, that maybe, just maybe, with a little sprinkling of that magic dust and maybe a dodgey refereeing decision, luck, whatever, that they can dare to dream, that maybe, just maybe, they can cause an upset like Blyth Spartans and Curzon Ashton last year! So here we are, Rochdale, Lancashire...derby day, where a club, who before last weekend's action were 98 places apart in football's pecking order beneath Rochdale...but with a bit of luck, some rain, a muddy pitch, a lucky goal, that magic FA Cup dust and hard work, we can but dare to dream, that the impossible, can be possible! So as much as im missing Coogee, I really dont think I could have missed this...

I would like to thank all the people who have made November 2009 - November 2010 the best year bar none in my life, you all know who you are, and I hope wherever you are, and whatever paths we take in life, that they cross again at some point and I wish you all the best! Id also like to thank the great god of football for ending the best year of my life with the best fixture he could find, it's truly EPIC! Here's to 2011, and lets hope that it is half as good as 2010 was, as it will be a good 'un! 2010 will take some beating...

And so the travels finally begin...

Fresh from winning my case with the Fair Work Ombudsman with regards to my previous employment with the charity agency, it has been a long time coming having arrived in Australia on 24th November 2009, but I have finally travelled the east coast of Australia. The end of the Sydney times began on 16th May when England beat Australia at cricket to win the Twenty20 World Cup, it's always good to beat Australia...having beaten them in a 1 day series and holding the Ashes, these really are good times for the England and Wales Cricket Board...Anyway, for some reason work was very quiet on the Monday at Macquarie Leasing! Anyway as time went by the 22nd May I got to see my first, and potentially last AFL game when the Sydney Swans (who have SMFC on the back of their shirts, that's South Melbourne Football Club) got battered by Fremantle at the SCG 63-100...it is better live than on tv, there is no doubt about that, but it just aint football...so that night I headed to Cheers on George Street and witnessed history as Lancashire club Blackpool beat Cardiff in the play off final to reach the top flight of English football for the first time in a generation...amazing scenes, I met a dozen or so people, all of whom supported other clubs from Lancashire, and everyone was pleased that Blackpool had made it (except the Preston fan).

Anyway, having watched the opening games of the world cup down at the FIFA Fan Fest in Darling Harbour I finally left Sydney with the lads from 790 on George hostel who Id lived with for the best part of 4 months and we headed up the coast...first stop Byron Bay! What can I say about Byron except, AWESOME place, or it was this first time with the lads. Cheeky Monkeys, surfing in the bay with dolphins around you, cycling up to the Cape Byron lighthouse...amazing, the most chilled out place upto that point I had ever been! As time dictated that I couldnt make Nimbin we headed off, the guys went to Noosa, I spent some time at my sister's mate's in Brisbane before meeting the guys again in Noosa where we went kayaking around the Everglades! It was a great experience, if slightly unnerving being in the bush, with a long drop for a dunnie, and dangerous looking spiders around and always thinking what if a snake appears, the nerves were unfounded and we had a great time, although Scotty boy didnt last the full 3 nights!

After Noosa was Hervey Bay and Fraser Island, a bit of a nightmare tbh, Lake Mackenzie was shut, an incident involving too much goon, food, and regurgitation inside the tent almost resulting in being eaten by dingoes, the tent ending up in the tree, and not feeling the best the next day...the next day which you think couldnt be worse resulted in your water proof camera breaking...great! I had a wicked time with the lads, and the 3 girls who got put with us, I couldnt have asked for a better group of 8people to spend time with on Fraser Island, but yeah, it was 1 distaster after another, im surprised we got our deposit back, what with going through salt water...Im also shocked we only got stuck in sand once and that was the Irish guys turning our 4WD off on the Land Cruisers on the final morning... All in all, I would deffo do Fraser again, just next time I hope for a bit more luck. That said the self drive safaris have ended now, so the speeding on the beaches, sacking off the itinery, and trying to get to Lake Mackenzie when it was shut despite the itinery and getting lost was probably the most fun we could of had, not quite sure what to make of the increased cost and now having a guide with you all the time...Lake Mackenzie is a must see, so on my return to Oz that is what I will see.

After Fraser and another night in Hervey Bay I headed to 1770 and did the SCOOTEROO, possibly the most exciting thing you can do in Oz for $50. Riding in a pack at 50MPH (80km/h) in a big biker pack around 1770 and Agnes Waters and watching the sun set, simply amazing!!! The guys went to Airlie Beach but I headed to Magnetic Island, the most beautiful place Ive ever seen and met them there after they had done the Whitsundays...

Unfortunately we couldnt swim outside Base hostel as there was a rouge crocodile on the loose...Channel 10 news came and everything. We hired a Mini Moke and then the next day a scooter and rode around the island having fun and generally ignoring speed limits and road regulations! I enjoyed the Fort Walk upto the old base, where you can see wild koalas...it was amazing! If everyone says you cant come to Oz and not see Ayres Rock or Sydney Harbour or do Fraser Island, I disagree...MAGNETIC ISLAND is an absolute GEM!!! A must see, the best place I have now been to!

Having left Maggy Island Scott and Matt headed to Cairns, myself, Lewis and Max had a sky dive booked in Mission Beach...I only booked it as they were doing it, it turned out to be the BEST thing you can do! Falling at 200mph from 14,500 feet is a feeling that words cant describe, and even watching the video back, people go wow that looks fun, they dont get the buzz...if ever you have the oppourtunity to do an S-Dive, I highly recommend it! Simply out of this world! Later that day I met up with big red David Blatt (Author of Manchester United ruined my wife), which was great, always good to see a memorable face from back home...

The next day the lads hit Cairns but I hung around for the 4th July and had a WhiteWater Rafting day on the River Tully, just south of Mission Beach. That was epic, so chilled, and so much fun, the complete opposite of the day before. I got a packaged booked and it can save you money if you bundle things together, but be careful, there are always deals around locally, and I cant get my cash back from something I didnt manage to do in Cairns, so my advice would be dont get sucked in by sales people, dont book too much, you can get better deals locally especially out of season, and my other tip, DO NOT BOOK WITH WICKED TRAVEL...

Having rejoined the lads in Cairns, and indeed the girls from Fraser, it was good just to chill out and not have to lug 3 stone/20kg around on my back every few days. The east coast was how I imagined it in someways, but in others it wasnt as party filled as I imagined, maybe that is because it was the Australian winter, or we wernt in places like Byron for the weekend, but it was mega! One highlight was definately power hour in Rhino Bar, $10 all you can drink...messy end and involved shopping trolleys...

The next day we did our Great Barrier Reef Cruise and Dive...well the cruise bit anyway, I didnt manage the dive bit due to not finding my sea legs...Still not happy with Wicked Travel! And whilst Im at it, I aint happy my camera broke from Bing Lee when it is suppose to be a WATERPROOF CAMERA...the east coast was the only reason I bought it, but anyway back on topic! If anyone does do the east coast of Oz, dont pre-book any dives, a lot of dive companies give you a free 5 minute dive to see if you like it before buying, so if you do that you dont loose your hard earned cash and it is no more expensive!!!

An expensive extra, but I think worth it, was a trip up to Cape Tribulation (gotta love Captain Cook and his naming of places) where we had a cruise on the Daintree River, saw fat Albert the 20ft crocodile, held a Koala in Port Douglas, attempted a climb of Mount Sorrow (yes another of Cook's names after he ran aground on the reef) and got to touch a snake and a crock in Port Douglas...It was a fab day, but take a coat, the rainforest is called a RAINforest for a reason!!!

Having seen Matty boy leave, then the rest of the lads, and then the Fraser Island girls, I decided to head south, this time I opted for the Premier Bus, which was as soul-less as the Greyhound but cheaper, especially when you have a BBM (British Balls Magazine) that some travel agent wanted and he gives you a pass for $267 to Sydney...not bad when the Greyhound is $330ish.

Having arrived in Airlie Beach I stayed at Magnum's, the free beer and free pizza (Weds-Sunday) definatley helped forget the dodgey rooms, although the surroudings was quite nice with all the trees, had a really good vibe...however after the Whitsundays I headed to Beaches, and that was probably the best hostel I have stayed in on the coast...clean, spacious rooms, good facilities...yeah no complaints.

Wings 3 was a great boat to sail around the Whitsundays, hot tub, high speed catermaran, it was awesome! Met some pretty cool people along the way too, I could have stayed on that boat forever.

Anyway having left the boat around the Whitsundays, and then Airlie Beach, I headed for Rockhampton to meet my mate Gareth who I met doing Oz Intro, he works in a peach of a pub called the Criteron, if you ever end up in Rocky check it out...the first proper pub Ive been in whilst in Australia! Felt like a country British pub...lots of sports memorabilia on the wall, great food and dining area...and apparantly HM The Queen has been there many moons ago...very classy place, and surprisingly the beer was reasonably priced! Apart from that though Rockhampton didnt offer a lot...there is a free zoo, but I have seen more animals at my friend's house (that's probably why it was free)...but yeah, not much there!

After Rocky there was a whistle stop visit back to Brisbane before staying in the Arts Factory (people either love it or hate it) whose vibe I didnt get, before leaving Byron Bay. Bit gutted I arrived on a Sunday, the only day Cheekys was not open, but ah well, Que Sera, Sera and all that!

So yeah, I left Byron and headed to Sydney, and it wouldnt be me without the bus breaking down about 3am en route to Sydney...but when we eventually got back early on 27th July 2010 it had been an amazing 7 weeks of travelling! I have come to realise however that Ive had enough, not of Australia, not of travelling, more so, Ive had enough of lugging 20kg around all the time...next time I go away it will be with a lot less in my pack, and it will be to a place to work and stay in 1 place for a while. Right now I miss a routine and stability, 2 things you dont have backpacking in general, so what now for the future?

Im trying to find work, but if I cant I will head to somewhere where there is work, Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne...and if nothing comes up in hospitality or office work, then there is always a farm to get on! So who knows what the future will bring, Im still no nearer to going home, all I do know is Ive been in Australia for over 8 months now, spent far too long in Sydney originally and a 1 year visa is not enough to do everything and see everything I want...those 88days on a farm for a 2nd year visa are looking ever closer!!!

Why I wont be supporting England at the FIFA World Cup Finals!

Right, although this is a travel blog I need to get something of my chest, I keep asking why I wont be supporting England at the FIFA World Cup and Im fed up of explaining, so here is a post that may go someway to explaining why I couldnt give a toss how England do! This might sound weird hailing from a town in England, but I would love it if England did their perpectual crashing out of major footballing competitions early! There are many reasons for this, and I dont want this to turn into a rant, but it probably will, and unless you are a Manchester United fan, you probably just wouldnt get it! This isnt some crusade to get ''Top Red Points,'' im just fed up of explaining why, every time somebody has the audacity to ask why I dont want England to win they reply with the retort ''BUT YOU'RE ENGLISH!!!'' Well in footballing terms, I do not identify as that, if I HAD to choose, in those circumstances I would want Wales and Northern Ireland to both win (although my world wouldn't crash down if they lost), but all I care about is United, whether that is to me the first team, reserves, youth team, or a team set up by fans!!!

As a kid growing up I did used to support England, I can remember going into school early to watch matches from the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan so what's changed!? Well I have! I have grown up and I come to realise I do not identify with England fans, their team, or their national association!

Anyone who knows me knows my political views, so this isnt some left wing socialist crusade, personally speaking, I will support England and Great Britain from the Olympic Games to the World Tiddlywinks Championships and everything in between, rugby league, rugby union and cricket to name a few, but I WILL NOT and CAN NOT support the 'England Football Team'.

The difference between football and other sports is that I actually care about football, I dont have any gripes with the other associations and federations in other UK sports, with football and the FA I do. As a United fan, I am fed up of Man United players getting injured on England 'duty'. You can go back to the 1960s, but a breif look at history shows Steve Coppell's playing days were ended playing for England (Nov'81), Neil Webb(Sep'89), whilst Captain Marvel Bryan Robson suffered multiple injuries whilst wearing the national shirt...now this in itself is no reason to not support England, but it is where United's antipathy to England began.

One thing that I began to realise is how ridiculous it is for England fans to boo the likes of Neville and other United players when they were playing for England, especially when they they were your best players...England fans are the first to bum these players like Beckham and Rooney who save Ingerlund year after year, but yet they boo them cos they are United players. All of Wembley singing frequently singing ''Stand up if you hate Man U'' (sic), why would I want to associate with people who sing that, let alone use the phrase 'Man U' (sic)? Your average United fan has nowt in common with your average England fan...racist, BNP supporting lager louts from Burnley who sing ''Ten German Bombers'' and trash up towns abroad. England fans are ABU Little Ingerlunders made up of supporters of clubs such as West Ham, Chelsea and Millwall and little Ingerlanders whose teams never/hardly ever qualify for European competition and hate United more than they love their own clubs...MASSIVE clubs such as Manchester City, Bolton Wanderers and the Yorkshire clubs. United have been going to Europe for over 50 years and get on well with all nationalities, it is a far cry from when England play away!

The thing that made me realise however how little I cared for the English FA's team (because at the end of the day that is what it is, not an England team, but the representative team of the Football Association) was when they (the FA) and the Football League/Premier League and all the other football authorities failed to protect their members clubs from leveraged hostile takeovers! The FA had a dereliction of duty when it failed to apply a fit and proper person's test on the Glazers, they failed to support my team, why should I support their team!?!? The FA did nothing when Sinawatra took over at Manchester City, he was wanted in Thailand for alledged corruption and other atrocities, what does somebody have to do to fail this test? Not be alive or have cash/want to make a profit out of clubs!? The FA used to have a rule, it still does! FA Rule 34, a rule that prohibits the taking of funds out of clubs to pay directors...Tottenham Hotspur got around this by forming a holding company, to which the FA did nothing and all clubs, most notably at the time Manchester United followed suit...the FA could have said no, they didnt, and English football has never recovered...in the last 20 years or so, the beautiful game has been on a road to ruin, and it is largely down to the FA and it's failings!!! The debt at English clubs is more than all that in Europe combined, more than 40 clubs across the pyramid have become insolvent since 1992 and entered administration or worse... why has our system got it so wrong!? It must be noted that Germany has the highest average attendances in Europe and fans can stand up on a safe standing terrace, drinking ale, and get free transport to and from games, all for the price of a FOOTBALL CONFERENCE (Division 5) ticket in England, and for a club that they have to legally have a 50% + 1 ownership stake in, in effect German fans run their clubs, much like Barcelona do...somewhere, somehow in England, IT ALL WENT WRONG!

Going off on a tangent for the moment whilst the words are flowing, but yet another point about the type of people who follow England that I can not stand, and I dont want this to be one of my main arguments, it just pissed me off, when there was the ''minute's silence'' at Wembley Stadium on the 50th anniversary of the aircrash that killed and injured the legendary Busby Babes, many of whom again were not just Manchester United players, but ENGLAND INTERNATIONALS, it was shouted down and booed by England fans, this only imflames the situation and highlights the increasing divide between a large segment of United and England fans...yes they were Manchester United players, but the likes of Duncan Edwards, Tommy Taylor and Roger Byrne were England heroes, and England 'fans' quickly forget that when having a pop at United. The fact that Frank Swift was on the plane, a City and England hero still doesnt stop the blue quarter of Manchester giving it large, but then again, we've come to expect nowt else from small town Ingerlunder loving ABU (anyone but United) teams such as them. The fact that England would probably have won the World Cup in Sweden in 1958, then maybe in 1962 is also lost on these fans, and the same fans who could finally stop going on about 1966 as they probably would have already won the World Cup more than once already had fate not intervened...but alas that is history. And I in no way am aportioning any blame for a terrible accident but you have to think what might have been had it not been for the stupid rules imposed by the FA and Football League that teams in Europe were required to be back in England 48 hours before a fixture after European Competition or face fines or even point deductions...and for what, all because their ego was they were the best in the world and didnt want their member clubs being shown up by foreign teams or their authority challenged by the European Union of Football Associations... They actively tried to stop English teams competiting in the European Cup and made it as difficult as they could for them, even today they fail to move games to help English clubs in Europe (except to Sundays after Europa League which doesnt help preparations or the fans commute), whereas in Italy, AC Milan played on the Friday night before they played Manchester United this season...the FA would never do that because it has never helped any of its member clubs except probably Liverpool when they got into the European Cup having come 5th despite knowing the rules before they failed to qualify...

The FA made us pull out of the FA Cup in 2000 as Champions, to represent England and Europe in the World's top competition, a decision I have NEVER forgiven them for! I love the Cup, and for those to say it has been devalued are wrong, it hasnt, the media just says it has, I love it, and the fact that I love it and the FA refused to help us speaks volumes! They wouldnt let us play a Youth Team vs Villa as it would put the integrity of the competition at risk, they wouldnt let us play it 2 weeks later when we got back from Brazil as it puts the integrity of the competition at risk (apparantly) as all 3rd Round fixtures must be played the same weekend, but yet they wanted us to go to Brazil as to not go as English and European Champions at a time when the English FA had a World Cup bid (a bid eventually won by Germany) would not have gone down well with FIFA or the other nations! Well thanks for nothing! It's interesting to note that when we went to Japan to play in the World Club Championships nothing was made of missing Premier League games and having to have them rescheduled, both in 1999 for the Intercontinental Cup and in 2008 for the World Club Cup...why the difference!?

Added to the fact it is always a United player who ''makes England lose'' I have actually begun to love it when United players ''make England go out of the cups'' as it is simply hillarious! It all began for me with Beckham in 1998, the entire nation villified him, hanging effigies from lamposts and sending him death threats, then it was Phil Neville's turn in 2000 for the hideous crime of giving away a penalty in the last minute against Romania. Of course it was Rooney's fault he played a few years later when he had injured his metatarsel and wasnt fully fit, and also when he got sent off vs Portugal in that infamous game, although most of the venom was reserved for Ronaldo who ''got Rooney sent off,'' not because Portugal were the better team and that England's discipline let them down. The entire France 98 thing is hillarious as England scored more goals vs Argentina, but everyone forgets Campbell scored but it was ruled out for a SHEARER push, but he's the golden boy and can do no wrong...interesting that nobody blames Batty for missing a penalty either, oh well, im glad it's ''United's fault''!

Anyway I did warn about a rant, so if you are still with me, well done...The years between 2003 and 2005 certainly did ''radicalise'' me if that is the right word, it was the time between 16 and 18 where you start to make informed choices for yourself, and one thing I noticed growing up was that I just did not have anything in common with England fans... FOOTBALL IS ABOUT IDENTITY, PASSION, SOUL, BELIEF! All of those things I have for my club side, none of which I have for the national side...

The way England fans behaved in Euro2000 was an absolute disgrace, trashing Charleoi all because of the hiddeous crime that some German football fans happened to be in the same town. We go to Germany regularly, as has our team since the 1950s, and we have a great relationship with German fans of most clubs, we are United and not England, as a banner proudly states, and dont the Germans know it. I was once in Frankfurt having watched FC United, the club formed after the takeover of Manchester United by Malcolm Glazer (c*nt!), I was approached by a waiter with a sense of humour in a bar during Euro2008 (which was on tv from Austria and Switzerland) if I was English...I replied ''yes mate from near Manchester'' to which he said, 'AH BUT THESE WHITE PLASTIC CHAIRS, YOU HAVENT THROWN ANY YET!' ...and he was right (and funny), that's what England fans do and are renown for...10 German Bombers, aeroplanes, mentioning the war when it has sweet FA to do with football...and people wonder why I dont support England!? Just because of an accident of birth Im supposed to identity with that mob!? ...No thanks! England to me are now just another Southern Football Club, whose fans all hate my club, a club who are WORLD CHAMPIONS ONCE MORE THAN ENGLAND, and a team that means the world to me, something that I can identify with, something I can not with regards to the national team!!!

So here I am in Australia, thinking I have escaped the World Cup hysteria banded about every 4 years by the likes of the Sun, only for Australia to have qualified...The original plan was to hit New Zealand, but the All Whites (now that's an unforunate nickname to take to South Africa) have also qualified, so the eastern seaboard of Australia will have to do. I had a Greyhound coach booked for England's first game, but now I will be down Darling Harbour watching the match vs USA in the FIFA fan zone (one of 7 I believe around the world) with the lads, who are very much England fans, and I hope we all have a good time watching football and having a few beers, but Im not excited! Im the biggest footy fan I know, probably watched thousands of games since that first one back in 1987 when my Dad took me down to Grundy Hill and then subsequently Old Trafford, but all I can wait for is the start of the new season at both MUFC and FCUM! The renewed fight against Glazer and actually being at games, the atmosphere, the comradeship, the songs...my routine! I wish all the best to United's foreign legion past and present in South Africa, and I wish all the best to United players wearing the white England shirt, I hope they have good, injury free World Cup and hit form, and if they win it, Que Sera, Sera, i'll be exactic for THEM, but I could care diddly squat about the fortunes of the FA, the other players or the fans of the team! Players such as JAMIE CARRAGHER http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTJxocLDfEA who after this dummy throwing incident retired from England cos he wasnt getting picked, but then runs back at the first oppourtunity...unlike Paul Scholes! Englamd, a team who never gave Steve Bruce an international cap, not even as a sub in a friendly, the best centre half in England in the last 20 years without an England Cap; a team who arent taking Wes Brown to the World Cup, which in itself is an absolute disgrace, he's done more than most to earn it than most...it looks like just Carrick and Wazza are going after Rio's injury, lets hope they stay injury free and keep fit for the new season!

As I have grown up I have become aware of who I am, what I think, who and what I believe in. Football is a tribal game, it is about identity, pride and passion...it is why I am so AGAINST the unwanted, hostile, leveraged buy out of MUFC by Malcolm Glazer and his family and why I refuse to accept his legitmacy at Old Trafford. Football is about camaraderie, comradeship, a shared sense of belonging, shared experiences, it is a rollercoaster of emotions that binds you to like minded individuals... I associate as being a red, I have pride in my team, I feel the joy and agony in the highs and the lows...im sorry to say I dont in the national side...it's not hatred, im past that, I would say it is worse than that...I simply just do not care!

So in the words of all the ABUs around England who for the last 5 years have thought it was funny and highly original, Im going to finally take you up on your Glazer loving chants this summer... ''USA! USA! USA!''

Peace, love and bananas to all.
/RANT.

Still in Sydney...

Well it's the merry month of May and I am still in Sydney, New South Wales...5 and a half months into a 12 month visa! It all started so well doing OzIntro (check out ozintro.com) by far and away the BEST 449 pounds i had ever spent...i had the best week of my life, up there with Lancaster Univeristy's freshers' week, I made so many friends many of whom will be friends forever I hope. We had 7 nights accomodation in Surfside hostel and then 3 months in a flat in Coogee...I absolutely adore Coogee, so much better than Bondi, less commercial and more homely...and I think a far nicer beach, but it wasnt all fun. 7 people in a small flat that really suited 3/4 max left it's toll...Ste the Ten Pound Pom is now travelling solo and Im experiencing much more because of it!

One of the worst times was working for a charity fundraising company who we had a disagreement with over my pay...my advice would be that if you get shafted by anyone complain to the Fair Work Ombudsman...they investigated my complaint and Fair Work Australia this week have got me back every cent I was owed from January...so thinks are picking up. Speaking of picking up, ive also landed on my feet with my temping agency...im working filing and doing office work at a well known investment bank in Sydney...without a doubt the best, easiest and fun job ive ever had, particularly after my fundraising job, the worst and hardest thing ive EVER done! If you can get a 9-5 Monday-Friday job not dealing with the public, with no targets and a boss who is really nice, then I advise you to do because I LOVE IT!!!


Initially I thought Sydney sucked a bit and it felt a bit too much like London in terms of the mentality of the people being so busy (and occassionally rude), but having been to the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, a city I adore, I returned to Sydney re-energised and full of enthusiam for the place...Melbourne was beautiful and reminded me of home, rain, trams, 4 seasons in 1 day, friendly people who stopped to give me directions TWICE whilst looking at a map, but there is just something about Sydney that suddenly clicked...there is always something to do, somewhere to go...

New Years Eve down Circular Quay was one of the best experiences ever, cramed into Campbell's Cove by the ferry terminal in The Rocks, we were a few hundred yards from the bridge and across from the Opera House...the atmosphere was electric! Australia Day was another classic, and the harbour is fantastic, but the best thing about Sydney is getting to know my Aussie family!!!

Last week was ANZAC Day and my cousin's birthday and it turns out my great grand uncle, or great great uncle, something like that, was sent from Wrexham by my great grandad to Australia...he joined the army, the Australian Army that is, and fought as an ANZAC at Gallipoli...the meaning of what it is to be Australian suddenly hit me that day...before I had this vision of it being like home, when I got here though, it appeared to be almost the opposite, trying to be as different as it could from Britain just to be different...now all Australia is, is trying to be itself! It's the son that grew up and the father has to let live it's own life instead of living their life through their kids if you will...

Discovering I had a Welsh relative who was an ANZAC at Gallipoli the time when Australia discovered it's national conciousness was amazing...and he being the link to my Aussie family, it's been great to get to know them and hear all the stories...and it's great to know they are just over the Harbour Bridge if I need anything, or indeed just want a catch up. It doesnt feel like im 14,000 miles from home, if anything Sydney is beginning to feel like home and 5 months ago I HATED the city...how times change hey!?

But what for the future!? I have decided not to do farm work or extend my visa after my friends in Mildura got shafted by a dodgey farmer who didnt pay their tax or sign them off, so im just enjoying life in the city, saving up, and will soon have a manic couple of months doing Ayres Rock, the east coast, Fiji and New Zealand!!! Then we will see what comes...home for the footy season or stay till November! Still dont have flights booked home, havent thought about it until this week if Im honest, but I dont miss it...just my Saturday routine of getting a crate of beer, going to the game, singing songs, having a laugh, and stumbling in at daft o'clock...Australia has everything, except Man United (and FCUM)...and they'll be there when I get home.

The best thing Ive done so far was the other week, I met an Irish Red in Scruffy Murphy's in Sydney who was an actor, having watched a few footy games from the Premiership, I saw the play he was in down in The Rocks, hillarious! If you ever hear of the Walworth Farce, it's a cracking little Irish play...get on it!

Anyway this is a bit of a rubbish update it's just to let the fine people at STA Travel know Im still alive as it's so long since the last update,in fact this is the first this year, but I WILL update more I promise! It's been a bit manic getting down to the last 100quid, finding work, getting shafted, finding more work, working at Royal Randwick Races, landing a temp job at Macquarie, gooning it up and watching Neighbours...you know how it is! Im currently in a wicked hostel called 790 on George, it's more like a flat than a hostel as all the guys in our room are long stay, but we've got 1 month left or so then we're all pretty much hitting the coast together, so let the good times roll!

Free the elephants!!!

So the travels have started and having had so much trouble with Virgin Trains mobile ticket system and being on hold for over an hour and a half, given numbers of other companies to ring AND then being put on hold only to be cut off, I decided to travel from Manchester to London on the tried and tested MEGABUS and vowed NEVER to travel by Virgin Trains EVER again! Anyway having booked the bus to London for ten quid from Horwich to London Victoria I packed, maybe should have done it before the night before I was gonna set off to travel. Anyway Tuesday 17th and I set off down to London and got picked up from the Heathrow Thistle Hotel by my cousin whose house I crashed at for 1 night. Next day I went back to the hotel to meet Emma my travel buddy from uni. Spent all day just chilling until our flight at 21:45 to Bangkok.

We booked into the Viengtai Hotel for 19.50 a night with STA Travel which proved to be a bargain cos we met a girl there who had paid around 30 pounds on the day! Anyway our 747-400 was the worst plane trip I have EVER been on, Tokyo last Christmas was sorted, but this one DRAGGED like hell! Heathrow is also the worst airport I have ever been in, except PARIS and London is so over priced...but everyone probably knew that anyway. Best bit was the security guard at passport control asking people to ''put their bum bags, fanny pouches, or whatever you call them on your side of the Atlantic in the tray,'' ...lol at fanny pouch! haha. Anyway Qantas flight QF2 was immense for the entertainment, wall to wall 90s TUNES on mine, LOVED it, and certainly made my money back on beer and food on the flight. I remember thinking in school we were always told the ''sun never sets on the British Empire'' but it was about 3.30 am local time on the plane, EVERYONE except me was asleep on the plane, and it was PITCH BLACK outside, so not strictly true. haha.

Anyway we landed in Bangkok and got the airport bus for 150bhat which dropped us at Khao San Road, that's like 3quid...just ignore the taxi drivers, the bus takes 40mins-1hour to get to town and it is really cheap and air conditioned executive coach. Superb value for money! When we got to passport control the queue was even bigger than in London, HATED IT! Why cant all airports be like Manchester, Blackpool or East Midlands? Straight in and straight out! Hate big cities!

Anyway we wondered around in 30degree heat looking for this hotel and we couldnt find it, but it turned out to be the parallel street to Kao San Road, the main tourist area in Bangkok. Some Thai policeman directed us down the grottiest back street ever, and if he hadnt been a copper I wouldnt have gone down it, but once we went past markets, tattoo parlours and laundrettes and stuff like that, we emmerged to this massive hotel that was immense...porters for the bags, security on the door, very clean...superb! Things started badly when we were given a double bed, but after a quiet word with the porter he took us to another room and all was sorted. The swimming pool was immense on the roof terrace, although for some reason I never used it. 4 days is just not enough time in Thailand or Bangkok. We were so excited by having ten pound tickets that we just wanted to get to Australia as soon as we could, but with hindsight I wished we could of spent a month down there, the full moon parties are epic, and we didnt get to go to one, or Ko Samui like our new friend Maria did who was travelling alone.

BEWARE of the tuk tuk driver scam, where they drive you about for ages, it only cost us 50 bhat, or 1 pound, for about 3 hours with ''Clit'' or so he said his name was, lol, but they take you to shops to look around and he wants you to get a 'gasoline voucher' but in Thailand if a tuck-tuck stops at a shop then the driver receives 300 bhat commission whether or not you buy anything, so it's how they make their money...I dont mind doing that but it began to take the mick in the end and was getting annoying, would rather they just said can you do this for me and it will keep the cost down for you. Anyway there is so much of Thailand I didnt get to see, so much more I could have done, but for ten quid I cant really complain.

Food on the Kao San Road is not only immense but VERY cheap and the street vendor try selling you all things that you can imagine, and more! Managed to get this wooden frog down from 350 bhat to 50 before deciding I didnt want it, felt guilty in the end that I had took the piss but they were annoying me so much it became the only way to enjoy it. The next day I did it more and more and it was hillarious, taking the piss really gets them down, so if you really want something haggling is the way to get it and get it cheap!!! Ended up the next day getting it for 50 bhat as another seller really wouldnt go below 80bhat, but I got it, and a tiger tooth type necklace for another 50. Love my purchases. Another memory of Kao San Road is Tottenham 9-1 Wigan...WTF!?!? At least United's record win in the league is still intact...just...but where the hell did that come from, Wigan aint a bad side!

If you like football you will LOVE Kao San Road, wall to wall tvs with EVERY Premiership game on, you couldnt move for tvs and big screens showing games from Sunderland, Chelsea, well you get the idea, every 3pm kick off, which is ludicrous cos you cant show them in the UK between 3pm-5pm!? Crazy. Wasnt happy at United coming on at 2am local time, just crashed at half time, 5pm kick offs are weird in Thailand, I couldnt cope with that forever!!!

Next day after going to bed about 4 or 5am, we went elephant trecking. Tony the Tiger the guy in the TAT Government Travel Agency booked us on a trip to the Bridge over the River Kwai, the museum, then a trip to somewhere that fed us some AWFUL food that smelt like dog, couldnt stand it, but then we went bamboo rafting, presumably this was still River Kwai in the Kanchanaburi region. Soooooo peaceful and tranquil...for 1300 bhat/26quid we got all that and transport both ways and when we got off the raft our guide was waiting for us and took us to this elephant 'sanctuary'...it was really good, best thing Ive ever done, but the elephants looked so hungry and dehydrated, they kept stopping for food and as soon as I opened a water bottle they all went for it with their trunks (presumably that's how my glasses broke) and I just felt like these animals should be free! What purpose does it serve to keep them as a tourist thing like this, Im not an animal fan, cant stand domestic pets in general, but these were IMMENSE and as good as it was, there was just something there that made me think these should be free! Kings of the animal world enslaved...it just seemed wrong.

Anyway over some 6%+ Beer Chang we met some Manc lads (well Stockport actually) called Rikki and Ryan, Ry got us some M150, the best non alcoholic drink EVER. It's like special brew red bull in a medicine bottle. 7elevens are awesome! Somewhere in the melée that was that night inbetween the buckets (dunno what was in it) of alcohol and the night club called the club we made it back to our hotel. I also have yet to meet any Swedish people I dont like, they ALL seem soooooo nice.

Just remembered we also bumped into some hot girl on the way back from the elephant trecking who had been to the tiger place instead...she had been travelling for 4.5 years from Southampton, she hates the British way of life, 9-5 working, the weather, everything about home. I could relate to a lot of what she was saying and the freedom that being away gives you, she stays in apartments and works (often illegally) to fund her trips to places like Thailand or Egypt. Really admired her spirit. Also bumped into some Ozzy chap from Melbourne who hopefully can sort us out for the Grand Prix, gonna pursue that asap and see how it goes.

The flight over to Oz was a breeze, had a window seat, was looking forward to seeing the Bridge and Opera House from the air, then over the outback the captain comes on the tannoy to say local weather is ''19 degrees, overcast and frequent showers all day,'' it felt like being in Manchester! Just about got to see the Bridge but it was really cloudy. There was this British Airways jet due to take off 5mins before us, but it must of missed it slot cos it took off after we were taxing down the runway, we arrived in Australia at 6:02 on Tuesday 26th November, the ''first in the sequence'' as the Captain proudly told us, 30mins or so ahead of schedule, 1st plane of the day to land at SYD, NSW...right behind QF2 was the BA jet, probably getting all of our turbulance...LOVE IT, we had none. Anyway, Im in Oz now so will update you all soon. Peace, love and bananas to all! x

The queue to Oz...

OK, so this is the first time I've ever written a blog so you'll have to bear with me. Why am I doing a blog? Well basically it's because I was asked to in the Autumn of 2009 by the lovely people at statravelbuzz.com as a travel guide to give tips to other travellers who might be going to Australia or elsewhere, but also to act as an online diary too.

So here it goes...It all began back in the Summer of 2009 in early July when I was told by a friend from Lancaster University that STA Travel were offering tickets for just £10 to Australia. I thought as you would, that surely there must be a catch to this, so to cut a long story short I went onto the STA Travel site and saw this offer : http://www.statravel.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg/uk_division_web_live/hs.xsl/promo5.htm

STA Travel in association with the Australian Tourist Board were offering 1 way, non refundable tickets to Australia on Qantas for just £10...the only catch was that you had to pre register, have a valid passport, a working holiday visa for Australia and that you got to one of the stores across the United Kingdom doing the offer, (Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh, London, Cardiff, Southampton, Belfast, Leeds and Birmingham...I they're all right) before they ran out of tickets. Apparantly Tourism Australia had subsidised the tickets as they want more under 30s from the UK going out to Australia on 12 month working holiday visas. Added to that STA is 30 years old and it is 50 years since the original post second world war £10 POMS went over and as you can imagine, the media interest both in the United Kingdom and Australia was what can only be described as MASSIVE.

Being from Horwich, a small town in Lancashire (not that mythical place called Greater Manchester) inbetween Bolton, Chorley and Wigan and just over the West Pennine Moors from Blackburn (yes, no man's land), the logical option was to get on the train for 25 minutes and queue up in Manchester City Centre, so that's what I did, I went to Manchester...and then I got on the Megabus to Brum! Logic would have dictated that I should queue at Albert Square in Manchester, which would have been a lot easier, but this was for one of 150 tickets to Oz for just ten pounds (or with a stopover an optional £15 surcharge) and there's no logic in that either!!! Anyways off I went to Corporation Street in Birmingham armed with a small bag of clothes and a sleeping bag to find myself number 8 in the queue (that unbeknown to us was guarenteed 10 of the 150 tickets, well 145 with 5 kept back as lucky golden tickets) in the overcast and damp world of Brum, whereas Manchester was basking in sunshine.

Having met my friend Emma from uni, who I am now going travelling with, we went in search of a camping shop and bought a tent that would be our home and shelter from the elements from Monday 3rd August 2009 for the next 2 nights on Corporation Street until tickets went on sale on the Wednesday 5th August...My advice to anyone buying a tent, particularly a pop up one is to make sure you can actually put it down again and pack it away, unlike us who had to carry it inflated through the streets of Birmingham to the shop we bought it from on the Wednesday to ask them to put it down! Wooops.

Anyway without getting into too many boring details 2 and a half months later and at the unsociable hour that is 03:22 BST, the experience that was those 3 days in Birmingham will live with me forever....Not only did I get a one way ticket to Australia for ten quid, get interviewed by ITV Central News (btw, if anyone randomly has a copy or a link to that, please get in touch) and have an ace time drinking and socialising with comrades who were after the same thing as me, the entire experience being like a music festival but without the mud, the main thing I took from all that is that I met a lot of great people and made a lot of new friends, many of whom I hope to see in Oz very soon!!!

Anyways Im gonna head off as it's nearly 3:30am and in the morning I need to crack on with some jobs I have to do before I go in like 28 days, jobs such as buy a decent backpack, sell my car, get travel insurance, sort somewhere to stay in Thailand for the stopover, sort somewhere for Christmas and New Year in Sydney and sort my general stuff out in the 'rents house before I go...busy times. I'll leave you with some pictures of the Birmingham POMS: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=22386&id=1613550009&l=edf3c36066

Cheers,

Ste