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The G8

June 28th, 2005

The lead up to next week’s G8 summit in Gleneagles, less than an hour Northwest of Edinburgh, has been pretty intense. I’m not sure what level of attention it has been receiving back in Australia, or in the US, but here in the UK it is dominating the news (well, at least after Tim Henman and Andy Murray were knocked out of Wimbledon). The summit is a gathering of the most powerful leaders in the world, who are meeting to discuss whatever it is leaders discuss at such get-togethers. Sport and porn I’m assuming.

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Soaring Kaliedoscopic Electro-Folk

June 27th, 2005

Bec and I have been in Scotland now for almost three months. Coming from Melbourne, we both love going to see live music, as Melbourne is without doubt one of the greatest cities in the world for live music; up there with New York, Austin, and Glasgow. One memorable gig we saw here in Edinburgh back on April 28th featured a band called the Earlies. I sent this review to a few friends back home, and thought it might be worth sharing here…

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Who is this guy?

June 24th, 2005

OK, so here’s a few tidbits that might help give you an understanding of who I am, should you actually want to read this travel journal.

I am a stick-thin, pasty-skinned, freckle-faced, bespectacled, bearded and bloody-well-proud-of-it red head.

I’m travelling with my wonderful, kind, compassionate, funny, absolutely drop dead gorgeous what-the-hell-is-she-doing-with-a-stick-thin-pasty-skinned-freckle-faced-bespectacled-bearded-red-head like me, girlfriend.

We’re both 25 and from the brilliant city of Melbourne, Australia.

The number of cities I’ve been to before this trip, including family holidays and work-related travel, is five. And that includes Hobart, so I may be stretching it a bit.

The number of countries I’ve been to before this trip, other than Australia, including family holidays and work-related travel, is zero – unless you count Tasmania as another country, in which case the total shoots up to one.

This decision to spend a year or two travelling the world was made like all good decisions are made, after a few drinks.

Over a period of a few years I taught myself to play drums without ever sitting at a drum kit. Two years ago I bought a drum kit, and what-do-you-know, I could play ‘em. I’m currently trying out the same learning technique with the violin, in the hopes of starting a Dirty Three tribute band. But of course that’ll have to wait until after the trip.

Oh, and the name is Dave Hogan, by the way. And my lovely ladyfriend is Bec.

To see where the hell we are going, click on Where the hell are we going?

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Where the hell are we going?

June 24th, 2005

I must apologise to you, dear reader, for I am starting this blog a little late. Bec and I have already started our trip, as family and friends will already know. But it’s in a bit of a holding pattern at the moment while we spend a few months amongst the cobblestone streets and old, old buildings of Edinburgh, Scotland, working to save pound sterling that will get us to places that the Aussie dollar could not. So now seems a good enough time to get this web page up and going before we start our more extended travels.

To get you all up to speed; we left Australia at the beginning of March, and journeyed to the freezing lands of Canada for a three-week stay with a buddy in Winnipeg. A brief stopover in the US followed, before arriving in Edinburgh at the beginning of April.

Since settling down here our original travel plans have changed enormously, but I will fill you in on the current idea, just so you know what you’re getting yourself in for.

Now until the end of August will be spent in Edinburgh, with a weekend in Ireland for a family reunion (oh, I can’t wait for that one), and a quick visit down to England to get to a cricket match, thrown in.

September will see us leave the UK and head first to Italy, for a quick stop in Rome, and then spend a few weeks in Croatia. We’ll then journey up into Slovenia, and, into October, across to Hungary and up into Slovakia, then on to the Czech Republic and Poland in November. December should see us in Germany, Holland and maybe Belgium.

After a Christmas that could be spent anywhere, we’ll head to Southeast Asia in early January, to spend two months travelling around Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam (time permitting).

The plan then is to spend about six weeks back in Australia, giving us time enough to catch up with friends and family, go to a friend’s wedding, and eat lots of vegemite.

Then in April of 2006, we’ll head to Greece and Turkey, before returning to Edinburgh around June to work for another 4 months or so. Then hopefully fit in a bit more travel in November and December before getting home for Christmas 2006.

Well, that’s the plan at least.

You can check out some photos of our travels so far right here…

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