therolfefiles.com

Well I have finally been given admin rights on the Rolfe files so thought I would take advantage to make my first post.

As Nathan has said it’s been a really busy couple of weeks, with lots going on but there is now light at the end of the tunnel with the approaching European Adventure and only six, count ‘em, yes SIX days of work left! (can’t wait!)

We are off to dinner tonight to catch up with some friends, hard to believe it’s the last time we are probably going to see them unless they make it out to Australia. It’s a bit sad really, but trying to remain positive and think of all the exciting things coming up for Nathan and I such as moving back to Oz, meeting Nathan’s family, seeing my family and friends again, getting set up in our own home, finding new jobs and planning our wedding…..hopefully there will be lots of good times ahead.

Better sign off now – till next time………..

Well if anyone didn’t realise that i am excite about the travel we are doing and heading back to Australia, you should realise by the amount of count down timers on the side bar I am!

On Friday afternoon Kel and I headed down to Portsmouth to get the Pride of Bilbao ferry from there to Bilbao in Spain. On arriving at the port we kind of were worried about what we were in for. One of the first people we so was a 60ish year old woman wearing a sachet saying “Bevs 60th Booze Cruise”. Then soon after we saw the “Nauti Gals” hens night. Anyway…. We boarded the ferry and headed off to Spain. The trip over was pretty uneventful other than some rough seas. The cabins were small and very basic but clean which was something!

As well as the Booze Cruise and Nauti Gals there were countless bucks weekends. I think on the first night i saw a guy wearing a mankini, an Indian, leopard, ballerina, pirate etc (all guys). I think another criterion to get on board was to have multiple tattoos and a maximum of 5 teeth! I guess for £36 each you shouldn’t expect much more! They actually sell cases of beer, cask wine, and spirits in the gift shop. On the last night i saw a guy drinking vodka straight from the bottle outside one of the restaurants. All class

We arrived into Bilbao and did a few hour tour of the city which was great. We then headed back to port to rejoin the ferry. On arrival at the port we heard rumours of boarding being late. Well it sure was we sat (on the floor) in something that equated to a shed for about 3 hours with no information provided and staff only appearing now and then, and they had no information. There was no food available other than Pringles and chocolate, and beer (which suited most of the people).

We finally boarded about 3.5 hours late. Once on board we sat for another 2 hour meaning we left about 5 hours or so late. Apparently there was a problem with the backup generator circuit breaker. This mean by our calculations we would *just* make the last slow train back to London. Around midday on the final day the captain told us we would be about 6 hours late getting in which meant there was no chance of making the train. Luckily P&O put on a bus to London then we had to pay for a cab home getting in about 1:30am!

On a side note the bus driver had no shame in trying to shake us all down for money to drive us to our homes. We just pushed our way off and got the cab rather than getting into all the negotiations that were going on.

This week certainly is dragging on! Would i recommend the Portsmouth to Bilbao mini cruise. Hmm only if you want to have many hours of doing nothing!

Well i thought it was about time to bring back the blog as thing are about to get interesting again.  So whats changing?  Well in January i asked Kelly to marry me and she said yes   We have now decided that it is time to move back to Australia, more specifically Melbourne.  So we have packed up our appartment, and shipped 14 boxes of stuff home!

We are now living in a studio in Shepherds Bush/Acton until we leave.  Last Tuesday I resigned and will be finishing up on June 30th and leaving on the 2nd July for a months travel.  Then it is back to London overnight and off to Australia.  We fly into Brisbane and see family etc before heading to Melbourne to start the job hunt.  To say i am excited is an understatement!!!

So keep an eye on the blog because i plan to do regular updates.

Tonight we head off to Oktoberfest in Munich! I honestly can’t wait. I have heard nothing but good things about it so should be great. Camera is charged and good to go Kelly was lucky enough to get us access to a tent through her company for the Friday afternoon/evening which is great. It means we can avoid all the queues (in theory).

As well as Kel and I going, we are also going to meet up with some of the guys i used to work with at TLC over there. One of them is German and has the full leather shorts German kit going on! Personally i won’t be dressed up like that, no matter how many beers are consumed!!

I have previously been to Munich and love the city but never during Oktoberfest so it should definitely show the city in a different way. I would imagine it would turn into a bit of a party city.

Woohooo Munich again

So whats been happening? Well quiet a lot since my last rant about bike theft. So lets get to the details!

Holidays:
- Paris
- Amsterdam
- Dublin
- Prague
- Bath

Day trips:
- Oxford
- Stonehenge
- Brighton

Work:
I have acquired a new job in Egham as a Senior Developer (ASP.net) for a small web company called Fantastic Thinking, which obviously means I have left TLC. It was sad to say bye to some of the people but will keep in touch with them socially anyway. My leaving gift from the guys I worked with (and Kelly) was a Wii and Wii Fit. SCORE!!

Visitors:
We have had Kelly’s mum staying with us a while now and also her best friend came and visited.

Other highlights:
- Bought a BMW 525i
- Converted my old XBOX into a media centre and it is awesome (geeky I know)

I have been in Australia for 5 weeks relaxing with family and friends over Christmas. I must say it was absolutely fantastic to be back home. It would seem that I have got some killer jet lag this time. This is the first time I have ever experienced it and it is very NOT cool! I broke my own rule, stay awake all day and go bed at like 8pm in the country you have just landed in. I got in at 5 and got home by 8 and thought I would have 2 hours sleep. I slept through my alarm and woke at 2 and since then I have been waking at strange times. Usually going to bed at 8 and waking at 10! Then eventually get back to sleep at about 12-1 then wake at 6am. Needless to say I am still very tired.

All I can say is thank god I was over in Australia 5 weeks! On a side note I got a text message this morning at 1:30am that woke me up telling me I was going to be an Uncle today so I am guessing my sister has gone into labor, so I am waiting for any news! Best of luck Marion and Tiago!

After nearly 10 hours on 3 trains we arrived in Budapest. We decided to go to the thermal baths for a couple of hours which was fantastic.

The next day we did a bike tour of the city which was quiet good! It was a really hard ride up to the castle but the view was great. After that it was off to the terrorist museum and then a river cruise for dinner. Piece of advice: never do a river cruise in budapest

And now I am at the airport on my way home unfortunately. We managed to fit in the castle labyrinth this morning.

After Krakow it was off to a small town in the Tatra mountains. The weather had turned bad so we did not get to do the hike we wanted too due to the snowy and icy conditions! A bit of a change from the 30 degrees in Vienna! We still did a good hike though and went up the mountain on the cable car. It was actually still snowing there.

After the stop at Auschwitz we continued onto Krakow. Unfortunately the weather was pretty rainy but we managed to get out and about.

We checked out the castle, Jewish quarter, cloth hall, and countless other things. The food in krakow was great though so we managed to eat and drink lots!