AAT Kings Pre-NZ Tour Dinner

What a great start to our NZ Tour. We met all the guests on the tour at a private dinner at the Heritage Hotel, Christchurch. Luckily we found ourselves on a spectacular table with the most lively bunch of the lot! Amongst them were Carl and Mareka from Vermont in the States, Graham and Eileen from Melbourne and a great guy called John from Queensland who drank more wine than us (and bought more too!) so a marvellous time was had by all.

The Tour Director, Marty, and the driver, Gavin, are a real laugh and very enthusiastic about their roles - we shall no doubt have a great rapport going with these two!

Can't wait to get on the coach tomorrow morning (with Resolves in supply no doubt!).

M & T

SNOW

Thought you'd like to see the snow that you missed over easter!!

Stuck in Sydney!

Well. I suppose it had to happen sooner or later... We flew out of Perth fine last night at 15 mins past midnight, but now our flight through to Christchurch, NZ, has mechanical problems and has been delayed. Luckily only for an hour!

However, on the plus side, I have found a way around my memory card problem on my camera. Luckily, it takes both microdrive and XD card so I have now bought 2 cheap 1 GB and 2 GB cards and hopefully we are off again.

We are looking forward to our 10 day coach tour of South Island, New Zealand and the 2 day rest before we go!!!

After Interhash!

OK Time has gone so quickly. The Red Dress run, a sheer red blodge of 2000 runners in red left the centre of Perth and were wildly cheered on by the locals.

Then Rego and rest on Friday followed by the main Saturday and Sunday Interhash hashes - again very enjoyably even in the intense heat - up to 32 degs C.

Then another day of rest - we took the ferry to Fremantle and the train back, before setting off on 7 coaches of the so called Fine Wine and Dine 5 day trip. This entails no fine dining but some fine wine at Margaret River and beer at breweries before mainly forest runs and circle to end the day.

The local clubs are not used to 400 hashers - more like 10 so amenities are not always as expected. Our coaches also have suffered with breakdowns but nothing our highly competent leader Kerrie cannot fix to date!

The last problem was to find that my card reader does not work so I may have a problem with photos as 1 microdrive is already full!!! Will try to upload from here as last resort!

Post Hash Wine Tour, Bussleton Australia

It's hot in Perth!

Well we made it! After a very long flight via Heathrow and Singapore we arrived in Perth 2.00 am on Wednesday morning.

DO NOT FLY BMI / BA as they do not have access to each others check-in systems! This meant that we could not reserve seats until we got to Heathrow - only 3 seats left by then on the Singapore - Perth leg!!! - and the honeymoon couple on the same flight a day later had their cases lost due to the same problem. Still not here after 2 days.

Stayed in bed until lunch time on Wednesday then got up and did the free city centre bus to get our bearings. All the centre buses or "Cats" as they are called are free here.

Yesterday, Thursday we, along with 2000 other hashers, did the Red Dress Run. An absolute spectacle. A huge red moving mass. We took the lay-back Perthians by surprise and were recorded by TV and radio stations from all over Australia!

We returned to Gloucester Park - the main venue for the event which is a trotting stadium - to have the pleasure of waiting ages as they were very badly organised for beer and food. Let's hope the organisation improves by Friday or there will be riots! 3 people serving in the main bar for 2,000 customers is a little light on staff.

That night we managed to pursuade the reticent bar owners in several bars to stay open late. They try to close at 11 or even 10 in the evening! However, most bars have bottle shops attached which makes the hard job of imbibing a little easier. Eventually, we finished up at the Criterion where we met more of our own crowd and eventually left after a marvellous start to our vacation at 1.30 am in the morning.

After an earlier start Thursday morning we chilled out at the roof-top pool for a few hours before preparing for the opening ceremony at the stadium at 5.00 pm. It is very quiet today in Perth as most of the shops are closed. They take Good Friday quite seriously unlike most other parts of the world.

The pc's here at the Mercure do not allow uploading photo's unfortunately. That will have to wait until the internet cafe's open again!

So, toodle oo until then my dears!

Interhash Perth - Main Event

And so, after the traditional Red Dress Run, the bears (aka Henry Root and Ginger Root) went on to the main event, to be held on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

We were hampered in our celebrations prior to the opening due to the somewhat archaic laws prevailing at the moment in Western Australia. Our visit coincided with the Easter Bank Holiday and consequently all the bars, restaurants and shops were closed! We could not believe it. 6,000 people in Perth ready to spend and no-where to go. However, we managed to find a few co-operative locals. Strange. They never managed to have a problem serving us before, even if the drinks are way overpriced everywhere.

Friday saw us registering at the Stadium, Saturday and Sunday being bussed out for the runs. These included excellent beach and forest trials. Well done the local hashes and those from all over the world who laid trails!

For details of Interhash 2010 in Borneo, click the top image or here!

Red Dress Run, Perth

Sweet's and Matilda's Wedding - Fantastic event!

Not long to go now.

Our next words will be from Perth, Australia.

Have a great trip!!!!

All of us here at Flintstones wish you a great trip!! We look forward to reading all your updates on the bloggody blog.

All the best,

The Meagers!

Bon Voyage - Tre & Mike

Just to wish you both a fabby 7 week trip of a lifetime.......

Hope you'll post some photos & write on your Blog to keep us all informed of where you are in the world & what you've been up to....... (don;t forget)!

lots of love
Karen..........