Time Warp

In a time long, long ago, on a continent far, far away,

Well it definitely seems like eons have passed, stars have exploded and collapsed and new worlds have formed since we last spoke. Meghan and I have negotiated another 4 countries, been to a wedding, rode camels, taken leasurely drives and made an arduous 3 day journey back to where it all began...HOME :(

We begin this chapter with an amazing reunion story where Carrie, Adrian (after a bombardment and sneaky flight arrangements), Meggy and I left Ireland for the land of Fjords, long days and festive feasts. Flying Ryan air first time was an experience and I could not help but notice the distinct lack of space and service. However, the weather was beautiful as we arrived at Torp airport and we were treated to some gorgeous coastal views. After a bus ride into Oslo we waited excitedly for Ty to come and get us. I had an intersting experience using the toilet at the bus station where packet needles and blood on the seat made for an uncomfortable wee wee time...apparantly Oslo is a gateway port for a looooooot of heroin...which is in quite strange contrast to the cleanliness and organisation of the rest of the city.

Though I should not digress and take away from the elation we all felt upon seeing our very good friend arrive to gather us into his VW Pooloo (Tys pronunciation was quite comical) and take us to Pernille's apartment where we were to stay in gracious hospitality. That night was uneventful as we planned to give our speeches and fit into wedding pants that gave me a clear indication of how much weight I have put on since saying "I do" :P
The wedding itself was a masterpiece. We felt very privileged to be part of such a wonderful occasion and meet so many wonderfully accommodating and pleasant people. The night was full of beautiful memories and bad dancing, great cakes and food, and plenty of smiles. Held in a stunning room, delicately decorated and surrounded by stunning grounds we made the most of a reunion with friends of old and shared some intimate moments that will be remembered for as long as we all live. Thank you Ty and Janicke, you truly make a special pairing! Meggy, Oli and I wish for you a long and loving life and hope to be a part of it always! xoxo :)

The time we spent in Norway was particularly meaningful to me as I have always had a soft spot for Ty and our connection is a strong one. I personally feel that he is one of the strongest and most morally uncorruptable people I have ever met. And I feel so inspired and happy to see that his struggles over the past years have yielded such a bountiful future. I rest easy knowing that his happiness is true and his life in Norway with that beautiful woman is...perfect!

I have such happy memories of Ty's and Jani's appartment being full to the brim of loud (ooops) and anebriated Australians doing what we do best. Watching Ty recall some of the mannerisms he has forgotten (or chose to forget) that make us a very unique bunch of people. With Scotty, Rob, Paynie, Joel, Franks, Marty, Jody, Me and Meggy squishing together, playing cards, swearing, taking the piss and generally having a good time catching up...just like you never left us hey Ty? One of the more interesting experiences was a fateful night of a dinner that was organised at the very exclusive Frognerseter overlooking Oslo. On the ride there Rob met a pretty Norwegian girl at the bus stop and invited her to dinner. She agreed and spent the next week or so in our company. Apparently some romance blossomed out of this and at last report Line will be making her way down under to study (university or rob?) Im not sure :P

Probably the most memorable part of our Norway holiday was roadtripping across country to Geiranger Fjord to camp. We hired a Fiat 500 and followed Ty through spectacular country side and mountainous passes that unveiled some incredible scenerey and proved very distracting for the driver who just wanted to soak it all in. We drove for seven hours and camped in the most prime location... 2 feet from the Fjords edge in the most pristene and wonderous valley, and in front of some not so happy Germans who previously had the best view until we errected Ty's palatial tent and blocked out the sun... We spent two nights and days kayaking, exploring and having a snow fight in winter, which was Rob's first time seeing snow...it was one of the best trips we have taken as friends and good for the soul of Ty who needed some Aussie shennanigans!

Unfortunately Meggy got a bit sick after the camping trip and was out of action for the next few days. We spent our remaining time in Oslo eating out and taking it easy. A visit to the Viking museum and Fram museum were among cultural highlights. Meg and I also wandered through the city to the Opera house and enjoyed the amazing blend of architecture. Alas, before too long it was time to say good bye to our home for the last 10 days and make way for our trip to Amsterdam...again...we just want to say again publicly that our time in Norway was made as good as it was from the generous nature of Ty and Janicke...giving up their privacy and home to accommodate us and spend all of their time showing us around. Thank you soooo much guys...we really appreciate your friendship and love you more than you can know! xoxox






Amsterdam turned out to be a bit of a belated stags do for Ty as we went out for a huge bender and left nothing to the imagination in the land where anything goes...to the point where I was denied entry into a pub...can you believe that...what state do you have to be in when you get asked 1000 times how you are feeling in a city where the most unsavoury characters can do anything with basic immunity...just another proud moment for the Skelton file. It was a blast for us to relive our youth, somewhat and have plenty of laughs together. The rest was a bit hazy...plenty of snacks and slow delerious walks...and one very hilarious paddle boat ride...where we crashed into eachother....got lost and wound up back where we started!! Good times!!!






After saying our farewells to Ty and the boys Meg and I took it very easy on the way back to England as Meggy was very sick still and required some hotel TLC. We spent two nights in Belguim and one in France before making our way back to Lydia's house for some more pampering and comfy bed action. We had our first ultrasound and vision of our little family addition at 9 weeks...awww how cute!! During our stay in England this time we visited Windsor castle and Eton School for boys...it was a very beautiful area and amazing to tour through one of the most amazing castles ever! We had a very lovely time meeting Georgina and spending some time having good meals and down time...thanks for all of the great food and hospitality Lydia...though you are very naughty for not letting us pay!! xoxo

Next stop Egypt...words are simply superfluous when is comes to one of the most visually and culturally overwhelming places of all time. From the ancient myths and power of the Nile to the Giant Pyramids of Giza this was truly a spiritual and physical dynamo...it almost appears as if the sights are superimposed onto the background as even years of study and saturation of these wonders can simply not prepare you for the face to face feeling that is imprinted onto every rock, structure and face. Meg and I reconnected with Rob, Scotty and Luke to experience it together through the slightly messy, though very well organised contiki package. The hotel that we stayed at in Cairo was surprisingly beautiful and a welcomed break from the 2 nights on a train that we were meant to sleep on but somehow ended up bending allnighters! However the really special part of this tour were the 3 nights we spent on board the cruise ship and drifted down the Mightiest river on earth...THE NILE...

When you are surrounded by harsh and remorseless desert on both sides, the NILE explodes with life in an unbelievable contrast, facilitating the growth of hundreds of thousands of trees, giving shelter to thousands of birds and animals and literally providing for the whole country with a pulse akin to the flowing of blood through the veins. Time seemed inappropriate to calculate as you can not help but feel, despite the modern technology and clothing that you are a visitor back in time...in a land that will forever retain this majestic feeling! Everyone had a blast on this trip...our tour group was full of good people and we actually were the loudest and most messy contingent on the trip I think....Highlights include:

*Hashed up trek through the night bazzar

*Train escapades and a special drink with Rob at the bar

*Obviously the Pyramids....WOW....

*Abu Simbel and the whole story of Ramses the second

*Valley of the Kings

*Luxor

*Getting dressed up as whorish belly dancers and making everyone laugh

*Cards on the deck of the cruise ship with Sakkara's

*The food...OMG...the food...falafel, beans, spices, omletes, turkish coffee...etc

*Being asked to go home with a boy with a banana sized penis...??? WTF???

*Being offered many camels, chickens, horses etc for Megs hand in marriage

The weather was a very hot 40-50 degrees the whole trip and it proved to be a gamble we were extremely happy to take as Egypt was not originally in our plans....like a few other things...whoopla! Egypt was everything you could imagine and so much more...I have never felt such a shift in perspective as to be one of 5 white people in a part of Cairo and Luxor where everyone else is Egyptian or african and soooooo far from white....it did not make us uncomfortable as the people are among the most beautiful and friendly on earth, though it did make me think about the immigrants that move to Australia and how they must feel when they first arrive into our culture. Soooo after many days of sand and sun and waaaaay tooo much drinking from me...we were happy to move onto our next adventure and say goodbye to the boys until Australia...

Once again we flew into Heathrow and transited our way to Lydia's to launch for our assault road trip on Scotland, Wales and England...So after some more time being spoiled we hired a wicked camper van and took off with a road map and no idea for a destination to travel around the UK.

Meg and I had such a wonderful time together. After spending over a month with friends at a breakneck pace it was lovely to slow down and have some alone time to consider our future and explore the world just for us...sometimes it is unbearable how much I love that woman and now that she has a baby on board....she is irresitably cute! :P

We started out from London and drove up through York which is a lovely little town before parking in someones street and testing out the sleeping compartment of our camper...thumbs up from both as we slept all the way through... The we drove up through the border for Edinburgh and cooked some soup on the little gas burner on a main road with people giving us surreptitious glances as they roller bladed and ran by. Next we made a huge drive through Inverness and up to the very north eastern tip of Scotland to a little town called John O'Groats. This is where the ferries leave for the Orkney Islands...a group of islands with great historical significance. Meggy and I slept with our camper faced toward the ocean at the tip of Scotland with the sun setting and the islands as a backdrop...we truly felt like we were the only ones in existence on this wind blown and beautiful hunk of rock.

We spent the next few days cruising across the northern coast, past the castle of Mey and then through some very sparse grazing lands...with lots of baa baa's who claim a lot of road privileges around those parts. I unfortunately missed the cliffs at Cape Wrath and was very unhappy with that...Damn Scotland for being sooo small and easy to pass things that you assume will be hours drive away...anyway...the west coast mountains and valleys were a sight to behold...very rugged and beautiful. We especially enjoyed all of the Locks and in particular, Lock Lamond...I think it is the biggest in Scotland...anyway the people and accents were very warm and funny. Such a great feeling to have the freedom of the car and flexibility to go anywhere.

On the way home we drove through the Lakes District in England. It was probably the most picturesque part of the drive and drew us in with its simple charms and gorgeous little towns. This all culminated in a stop a Bassa Villa Bar and grill where my good friend Dave put Meg and I up for a night. He was such a gracious host and really took care of us while we were there. His town is Bridgnorth in Shropshire and is the epitomy of a smaller English town...the river and high/low town contrast was very charming and people very friendly. We had a good laugh and some beers organising the next ashes tour where Dave will join us once more. It was lovely to meet Zoe and Di. Thanks once again for all of your wonderful hospitality mate...wish I coulda been there for lots more time!

Unfortunately our road trip was cut short as we had some bad news from home and had to leave early for family support. Though we were already going to be well short of our goal of a 1 year working holiday...thats what happens when Josh gets put in charge of contraception...thats right...to all of you who still dont know...we are going to be parents...YAY!!! So coming home was not such a disaster to us...

The last leg of our trip was a horrible 3 day ordeal that started in London to Paris by bus overnight, then 12 hour layover for plane to Madrid, 2 hour layover for plane to Santiago, 15 hour layover for plane to Sydney and then many redbulls to stay awake until night time...eeeeeewwwwwwwww!! Meg and I were wrecked by the end of it all...but are happy to be home safe and starting an even scarier journey together...parenthood! I would like to say a big thankyou to all of our supportive friends whose messages meant a lot to us on the road and kept our mind on the experience...and finally a great big hug to my beautiful sister Alicia who's hard work has allowed you all to hear me crap on from all around the world about how great life is for the last 4 months! Thanks soooo much woo from Meg and Me...we are very lucky to have you throughout all of life's little curves and bumps....wink wink!! xoxoxoxo

So this is me officially signing off on the blog...until the next big trip I guess...or maybe I could just turn this into a baby blog...Ill chat with Leash and get back to you guys>>>:P

Lots of love and hugs to you all,

Meghan and Joshua and Fetus Skelton xoxox