We headed off to Sainsburys to purchase beer (I went for some British Ales that I have missed too), then headed to Ought's place to watch DVDs & relax. After a brief visit home to say hello to our families, Smalls & I headed back to Newbury that evening to show everyone our photos - & tell some accompanying stories ;-) The living room was full of wide eyed listeners, most of which were being vividly reminded of their own foreign adventures, & the hard core of them managed to stay with it until we called it a night at around 2am (you know who you are). Having not slept properly for over forty hours both Smalls & I gladly accepted the offer of Ought's couches. Whilst we were back at home we still woke up in the same room together the next morning...I guess we can add Newbury to the (somewhat less glamorous) destinations of our travels!

The rest of the week was spent catching up with so many people who we hadn't seen for so long - in my case a full year! Whilst it was so good to see everybody, it was also a little strange at the same time. Being back & seeing everyone indicated that the end of my adventures (or more specifically, this excursion) was very near. However, there was one final location to visit...one that I have frequented often over the past nine years...Reading Festival!!! :-)

READING FESTIVAL 2009

Main stage

Smalls & I had made it!

Group shot on the first day (Friday)

Me & Lee enjoying some refreshments

Dan being introduced to the "fakie"

Deb & davina...that's right, DAVINA! She made it all the way back from Kuala Lumpur - which is where we posted her from. Davina had heard us talk of Reading Festival & we could tell that she was eager to get pegged in at Richmond field. I suspect that no other tent at Reading could firstly boast to being a Kiwi, or being as well travelled as Davina is. Sadly, as a result of her two months of intense use in NZ & Oz - & her postal adventure home, Davina was displaying some war wounds. Reading's campsite was to be her eternal resting place :'-( We shall miss her...

I think it is safe to say that even as we were leaving Debbie was already feeling the effects (so was I). The drinking throughout the day previously may have had an influence!

My final blog entry would not have been complete without the sunset picture! Being shot in the UK I think this picture is probably a rarity!

Debbie & I are still going strong (although my memory of that night is slightly blurry - thanks again to that Red Bull!)

Me, Lee & Deb

Friendly Fires & then Jamie T on the Radio1 stage were very good indeed! Then the group headed towards the main stage to see the Kings of Leon (who weren't as good as they have been when we have seen them previously). Smalls & I were definitely sick & tired of their sex being "on fire" - as we had been overexposed to this particular tune throughout NZ & Oz...it was EVERYWHERE

Reading festival continues to expand year on year. The festival is hardly recognisable from the one I first attended in 2000...so much has changed! This is one of the camp sites, taken on the way home.

SECOND DAY

On the second day we were lying around the tent, drinking beer, when I spotted a Gecko walking past us. I said as much, much to the delight of the Gecko - who was sick of being mistaken for a frog! I quote "...we all know that frogs don't have tails!!!"

The second day provided us with some much sought after sunshine...the beer tastes even better in those conditions!

The girls had bought some face paints & glitter etc, which Dan (the "artist") used to create some masterpieces - with our skin being his canvas. I was fortunate enough to receive a beautiful (?!) butterfly. Thanks Dan :-)

Faye was onto my "fakie" antics - which is why I think she is looking a little suspicious of me here!

Sian is one of Debbie's best friends, & one of our hardcore festival goers. It was excellent to have her along for the Sat & Sun.

The highlight of the day schedule was Maximo Park! We all watched them in the sunshine & sang along (somewhat drunkenly) to their brilliant tunes. Happy days :-)

This is the best picture from Dan's disposable camera...can you spot who's missing? (Sadly I don't appear to have a complete team photo?!)

The above picture was taken after we had just been treated to an amazing performance by the Prodigy. We were all together in the front section of the crowd, which was packed & jumping. It was quite a sight to see a field rammed with 60,000+ people all bouncing up & down together. Sadly, I lost both the lenses to my sunglasses & my festival chair during their performance. The chair loss is especially sad, seeing as it attended my first Reading with me & has visited many more festivals since. I hope that it has found a good home.

The Arctic Monkeys closed the second day. They were good, although we had seen them perform better previously. They played some classics that the whole crowd went mad for though!

FINAL DAY

Last day group shot

Dan doing a vodka jelly shot. They are actually quite difficult to get out of the shot glass - we all have our techniques for this Reading Festival delicacy ;-)

After my aviator sunglasses (a "present" from Debs) got destroyed in Prodigy the previous day, Debs was kind enough to let me look after her purple glasses when she wasn't using them...isn't she great?!

Debbie's favourite band of the moment (you have NO idea)...Bloc Party!!! They were amazingly good (as always). When it comes to Bloc Party, they can play any of their tunes & I would be a happy bunny!

...and so it was time for the closing act of the festival (& essentially my year of adventures)...RADIOHEAD :-)

It was 15years since Radiohead last played Reading Festival, so I had a feeling that this was going to be a special performance...and it was. I had been saying, since I found out that my favourite band were closing the festival, that the perfect way to finish my year out would be to hear them play one of their earliest tunes "Creep." This was unlikely, due to their dislike of the song - which was as a result of its massive success (that's what Radiohead are like), and the fact that I have only heard of them playing it at two gigs in about the last ten years.

They OPENED their set with it!!! :-)

The light show was fantastic! The poles above the stage were perspex - meaning that they perfectly reflected the lasers. Some of the displays were very impressive indeed.

The sound was excellent too. We were quite close to the front, as you can tell from the awesome piccies, so we were immersed in the sound. In previous years Reading organisers have been known to reduce the volume for the Sunday evening acts - due to the residential area across the road from the site. Thankfully this didn't appear to be the case this year.

This final shot is actually of me after the opening song, Creep. I had dared to dream of this perfect finish from my favourite band, & that dream came true. I managed to record a couple of the songs on my camera, including Creep, moments I will no doubt enjoy reliving for many years to come...

After Reading Festival I went to visit my Mum & Roy in Looe, Cornwall. Having not seen my Mum in over a year, & it having recently been her Birthday, it was excellent to see her again. That evening she presented me with a beautifully constructed printed version of my blog to date. Mum had set it out in folders brilliantly (three of them - I didn't realise quite how much I had done until I saw this!) and she had added maps & information on every destination that I visited. It was the perfect present & I cannot thank her enough for the kind though & all of the effort she put into it.

At the end of the trip my Mum has asked me twenty questions, which I am including in my reflections of the year...

20 Questions about my trip from my Mum...

1) Where was your favourite place you visited?
A. There are different places for different reasons...
New York = An incredible city. I especially liked Central Park - I would love to live in Manhattan for a year to experience all four seasons in the city.

2) Where was your least favourite place you visited?
A. Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. It was smelly, muggy, unattractive & very dirty. Enough said.

3) Where would you most like to return to visit in a different season?
A. The rocky mountains in Canada. I would love to paddle from Jasper down to Banff, camping & hiking excursions included in a week long summer adventure.

4) What was your most memorable journey (not necessarily the most comfortable!)?
A. Hitch hiking to the Hilo Airport in Hawaii with a slightly unhinged individual, Gregory Scott Nottingham. He chatted a lot of nonsense to Smalls in the front (including how he was actually offered the honour of the Duke of Nottingham, as a result of his ancestry, which he declined!?!) while I rode along in the back - watching the bemused faces of the drivers behind as he ambled across the lanes on the highway. Smalls will be able to tell all on this intriguing individual.

5) What was the most extraordinary thing you ate?
Probably Reef Shark in Thailand.

6) Did you enjoy it?
It didn't really have a distinctive taste, therefore I think I prefer them when they are swimming around in the sea for my viewing pleasure. A lot of chilli sauce saved the meal on that occasion!

7) What was the best new food that you tried?
I particularly enjoyed the seafood available in Asia. BBQ Barracuda was a particular favourite of mine, along with lots of Pad Thai (a noodle, veg, seafood/chicken stir fry). I also enjoyed a few Elk burgers during my time in Canada.

8) What was the best new drink that you tried?
I think that I have to say it is Chang beer (nothing particularly exotic - but then again, whoever knows me would have guessed it would've been a beer!). Chang beer is not regulated in regards to its alcoholic volume. Therefore, when you have a tall Chang of 5.7% you could be drinking one that is potentially up to 9% - which leads to varying degrees of inebriation on the same number of bottles of the stuff. Also, it only cost about £1.20 for a large one...happy days :-)

9) Where was the most salubrious place you stayed overnight?
Being on a backpackers budget I was still limited on my accommodation budget, even in Asia where everything is a lot cheaper than in the western world, therefore luxurious accommodation was not the norm. I stayed in a number of nice resorts throughout Asia though, the highlight was probably in Vietnam's Cat Ba 5 star resort.

10) Where was the least salubrious place you stayed overnight?
The first hostel I stayed in in Toronto was truly hideous. It was vermin infested, smelly, dirty & generally run down. Needless to say I only stayed there the one night (sharing my bed with the bed bugs!)

11) What was the strangest creature (not human!) that you encountered?
That bug/spider thing in the jungles of Laos. There is a picture of it in the blog on our Gibbon experience.

12) What was the scariest moment of your trip?
Being held up at a bridge gate, after tubing on the second day, by a bunch of Laos teenagers with machetes. Not a pleasant experience. No one was hurt & we got back to the town okay in the end, thanks to a nice American girl that paid our passage to the hoodlums.

13) What gave you the greatest adrenaline rush?
The sky dive, for sure. If the activity itself wasn't enough of a thrill, seeing the amazing NZ scenery surrounding Wanaka lake made it a truly awe inspiring experience.

14) What was the longest you went without a good wash/shower?.
Probably just under two days. When you are travelling around Asia you find that the buses &boats take a long time, covering great distances. With the cramped conditions & the mostly muggy conditions it made for some dirty travelling conditions.

15) Which person that you met on your travels would you most like to meet again?
This is a very tough one! I met so many truly amazing people, all around the world, and I would love to see any one of them again. I suspect that those I am most likely to see in the near future are Steve (UK - met him in Montreal), Chris (Ire - met him in Ottawa & he was with us for Christmas), Nerissa (NZ - met her in Ottawa as well. Smalls & I also stayed with her for a few days in her hometown of New Plymouth) and Nathan (Oz - met him in Banff, then Smalls, Dixy & I stayed with him & his family in Ulladulla for the weekend).
Those are the friends, as for the girls I got to know a little better...that would be telling! :-P

16) Which person that you met on your travels would you least like to meet again?
When in the travelling community you don't meet many unappealing people. Most people are friendly & open minded. If there ever is someone you don't see eye to eye with you merely don't speak to them & you will both be off on your separate ways shortly. What was far more frequent was getting on so well with so many people that you then travelled together with them.

17) Did you prefer travelling alone or with friends?
There are pluses & minuses to both being alone or with friends. I enjoyed both for different reasons. When you are travelling on your own you are never truly alone, unless you want to be, as it is so easy to meet other travellers & make many new friends.

18) What do you most regret doing on your trip? (Printable answers only!)?
No regrets. I mean that honestly.

19) What do you most regret not doing on your trip? (Likewise!)
No regrets. Had I been able to afford it I would have taken a helicopter trip into the Grand Canyon, although as a result of not doing it I was able to afford many other excellent activities = so no regrets, I shall do it another time! :-)

20) Where will you go to next?
South Africa 2010. I have got tickets to the next World Cup, which England have now qualified for. I now just have to wait to see what fixtures I get when the teams are drawn in December. I have tickets to four different matches - so I am hoping that one of those is an England fixture!

The plan is to spend a week in/around Johannesburg to watch football (& party), before heading off to the Kruger National Park for a three day safari, then finally on to Cape Town to go Great White Shark Diving (& hopefully see Marcus - if he is back from his tour of Africa by then!). There will be at least six of us going, so I am thoroughly looking forward to that one! ;-)

FINAL CONCLUSIONS

This blog has been a chore at times, but in the most part it has been a pleasure to write. I shall forever be humbled & surprised by the reception my blog has had from its readers, along with the number of readers it has had! I thank you all for sharing in my adventures, & for the kind comments you have made as avid spectators along the way. I was especially pleased that Allan & Ricky made surprise appearances, it was a shame that a final year of University prevented Stuart from joining me at some point. Next time, maybe!

I now return to the UK in search of employment, hopefully continuing in the career that I had begun to establish before I left, in Video Technologies Account Management. The plan is to reduce the debt whilst working & living in London, then there's the World Cup excursion to South Africa, after that...who knows???

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR EYES :-)

jOhN

written by  johnnoble on September 10, 2009 from Reading, United Kingdom
from the travel blog: John's year off...
Send a Compliment

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you are so lucky to visit these nice places...
thank you for posting this, I'm going to go there myself in the nearest future

written by  wow-traveler on October 7, 2009

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Okay dude, that line up is mental! I want.

Looks like I have some catching up to do in this blog, which i will coz I love you like that prego chick you left behind. Fuck, that was me!. I was a little disappointed that I didn't get the honours in your quiz, but like you said.. Never tell :)

Take it easy mate and have fun.

If you want to read some boring shit come play at www.livingjuice.blogspot.com

written by  Matt Dewse on October 16, 2009

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