Oktoberfest

Return bus Grasmere to London: £44 (A$81)
Tour costs including bus London to Munich: £220 (A$408)
Stein of beer in a beer tent during Oktoberfest: €10 (A$17)
Enjoying that stein and many others among friends: Priceless.

The journey to and from Munich was long and expensive but it was worth every cent. I left Grasmere early Thursday morning and arrived in London almost nine hours later. I dumped my bags at a hostel then went to find my friend Emily who invited me to go and see Aussie band Jet play at the Forum with her and her friends. It was a fun night and the Melbourne boys played all their hits as well as tracks off their new Shaka Rock album.

On Friday morning I went out to South West London and met my mate Ross then we boarded our Topdeck bus. It took us 16 hours to get to Munich driving through five countries. We drove to Dover and caught the ferry to Calais then drove through France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany before reaching Munich early Saturday morning.

We were camping at a site with thousands of other people and unloaded our gear had a quick breakfast and got back on the bus to the city. Ross and I headed straight for the Hofbrauhaus tent were his mates already had a table. The tents were already packed so after spotting a mate from my Pamplona tour I decided to join them on their outside table. On opening day the beers cannot be poured till the mayor taps the keg at midday to signify the start of the festival. We waited till almost one for our first beer but from then on we drank into the night and celebrated being part of the worlds largest public festival. We continued drinking all day and all night and then got some sleep before waking up and doing it all again the next day.

One section of Munich is sectioned off and huge beer tents are set up, each tent holds thousands of people. What surprised me was surrounding all the beer tents were carnival rides and activities for people of all ages. I saw young school groups and elderly people all enjoy the festival.

Throughout the two and a half I spent at Oktoberfest I drank with mates I had not seen in years, new mates, German locals and other people from all over the world. I made an effort to walk through all the tents but spent most of my time at the Hofbrauhaus, Lowenbrau and Augustiner tents, each tent is named by the beer its serves.

I also made an effort to see Munich and went on a walking tour stopping at Marienplatz to view the New Town Hall, the Hofbrauhaus- the site of Hitlers early speeches, as well as finding out my shoe size is the same as the Devil's in the Frauenkirche cathedral.

The long journey back to Grasmere began as we left Munich. We drove through the night back to London where I stayed a night before catching the bus back to Grasmere. It took me longer to get to and from Munich than I actually spent at the festival but it was well worth it.

Exploring the Lakes District

In the past two and a half weeks since arriving in Grasmere I have had a chance to explore the town as well as some of the neighbouring towns.

Last weekend was the Grasmere Guzzler, a three day beer drinking festival so I found myself at the pub Friday, Saturday and Sunday night. It was a great way to get to know the locals while enjoying some local brews.

I have taken a few day trips to neighbouring towns. I went to Kendal to do some shopping, to Ambleside to visit the lake and the waterfalls and to Keswick to visit some museums. Keswick is home of the Cumberland pencil museum, the worlds only museum dedicated to pencils. I took a tour of the museum learning the process of pencil making as well as viewing the worlds longest pencil. It is 7.91 metres long and weighs 446.36 kilograms and it is yellow, not sure why they chose that colour. The famous Derwent pencils are made in the factory next door to the museum. The newly opened James Bond museum was my next destination. The museum is home of a large collection of vehicles used in the films. There are a few Aston Martins, some BMW's, the hovercraft used in Die Another Day and the jet used in Octopussy. I then headed to the famous cars of the stars museum which features many vehicles used on television and movies. Their most prized possession is Chitty Chitty Bang Bang but my favourites were a Batmobile, Mr Beans Mini and the Delorean time machine as seen in Back to the Future. While in Keswick I also visited Derwent Water a very picturesque lake and the Castlerigg Stone Circle, another set of stones nobody really knows much about.

The last few days there has been sunshine, something I did not expect to see in the Lakes District after a week and a half of constant rain so I went with my housemates Ben and David in search of waterfalls we could use to jump into water. Ben showed us a couple of places and although the water was quite cold it was a lot of fun.

I also took a tour through Dove Cottage, the home of the famous poet William Woodsworth between 1799 to 1808. It was quite interesting and I learnt a lot about Woodsworth as well as Grasmere in general. Work at the Glenthorne is going well and I am enjoying the relaxed lifestyle of Grasmere.

Scaffel Pike and the Great North Swim

With the weekend off work and some sunshine I decided it was a great chance to walk to Scaffel Pike, England's highest mountain. I did a little research and got some maps and set out alone just after breakfast at around 8.30am. I was guessing it was going to take me around nine hours to get there and back but I wasn't exactly sure.
I started off walking over the Langdales up to the beautiful Skittle Ghyll. Then I walked down to Dungeon Ghyll and from there reached a path passing over about six peaks before I reached Scaffel Pike. At one point I almost gave up and turned back because of the time but the conditions were perfect and I was not sure I would get conditions that good again. Each summit had stunning views and there were hundreds of people out enjoying the great weather. I did not reach the summit until just before five and wanted to just sit and enjoy the view but my hours of daylight were decreasing so I headed down. The summit is 978 metres and you can see all the way to the ocean. As you reach the summit you have to clamber up rocks and there are many tracks leading to the top. in my excitement of reaching the top I had forgotten which path I had come up. So I walked around for about thirty minutes before finding it. I found my track and walked back to Dungeon Ghyll following a slightly shorter track and reached the road just before dark.
Luckily I had a torch because I still needed to get over the Langdales and back to Grasmere. I walked up and from the top I could see the lights of Grasmere. I had never been so excited to see the village lights.
I made it back to Glenthorne about 10pm, thirteen and a half hours after setting off. I had quickly stopped along the way for photos and food but I had basically walked non stop the whole time.
I have now summited two of what is known as the three peaks. I walked up Ben Nevis last month, now Scaffel Pike. I still have to do Snowdon in Wales.

Today was another day of sunshine so I went to support a new friend Molly and her friend Holly who were swimming in the Great North Swim on Lake Windermere. The one mile swim on Englands largest lake is held over two days. This year there were 6000 competitors making it the largest open water swim in the country. The conditions were perfect and it looked very inviting until I was told the temperature of the water was 16.3 degrees Celsius. Wetsuits are not compulsory but highly recommended.
Tonight I plan to head to the pub for a Sunday night pint before a few more days work then I am catching a bus back to London, then a bus to Munich for a weekend of beer drinking for the opening weekend of Oktoberfest.

Grasmere- ''The loveliest place that man hath ever known''

I had again reached a point in my trip when it was time to get a job. When searching for a job I decided live-in-work was probably the best option considering my funds where very minimal. A few days of emails and phone calls and I had a job. I got a job as a general assistant at Glenthorne Guest House in Grasmere.

I left London on a bus and 12 hours later I was in Grasmere in the Lakes District in the North of England. I knew very little about the job or the town but they were the first to give me a job so that was good enough for me.

I arrived into Grasmere and walked in the rain to Glenthorne to meet my new workmates and see the guest house. It hasn't stopped raining since. I have seen more rain in the last five days than the last year together. I was shown to my room and what a luxury it is to have my own room after months of sleeping in hostels or on mates floors. Then I headed to the pub with a my kiwi next door neighbour and workmate Ben. Grasmere has two main pubs and on Thursday night we went to Tweedies for Trivia Night. I met some of the locals and we almost won the trivia.

My first day of work went well. I help serve breakfast in the mornings, then clean rooms for a few hours, then get a few hours break before serving dinner. It is the first time I have worked this kind of job but it is pretty good. One of the benefits is we get to eat what the guests eat. This includes an all you can eat breakfast, packed lunch and three course dinner.

In my hours off in the middle of the day I have been wandering around Grasmere and learning what goes on. I have discovered that Grasmere is famous for being the home of poet William Woodsworth from 1799 to 1808. Woodsworth's former house is now a museum and the main tourist attraction in the town, I plan to take a tour through their soon. He described the area as ''the loveliest place that man hath ever known.'' My Lonely Planet Europe on a Shoestring guide describes Grasmere as ''occupying a graceful spot amid meadows, woods and water, Grasmere is a delight.'' I tend to agree more with Lonely Planet than Woodsworth. I agree it is beautiful but not the most beautiful I have ever seen.

Yesterday was the Grasmere games and show. It is one of the biggest events on the Grasmere calender. Constant rain did not stop thousands of people from turning out to see the dog show, view the hot rods and taste the local food. The main attraction though at the games is the Cumberland and West Morland Wrestling, an odd form of wrestling where competitors lock their hands behind their opponents back then try wrestle them to the ground. The fell running also attracts a lot of competitors, it is pretty much running straight up and then straight back down a really steep hill.

I have the next couple of days off so I plan to visit some of the neighbouring towns and see some more of the Lakes District. I plan to work at Glenthorne until the end of the season in November. Hopefully in that time I will be able to save some money to continue travelling.

The day the Aussies lost the Ashes

It took me until I entered The Oval for it to sink in that I was watching the Ashes in England. I had paid a lot of money and waited a long time for the day to arrive. I had a ticket to day four of the final test, which turned out to be the decider and with the Aussies at 0-80 chasing 546 it wasn't exactly the situation I had expected.
The stadium was at capacity as everybody was asking 'could Australia somehow pull off a win or hold on for a draw. As expected the crowd was very nearly completely English, luckily I had an Aussie sitting next to me. We were the only two sitting in our bay. We were sitting in great seats in the second row in the Surrey members section. Getting the tickets was a long process but basically I was very lucky to know someone who knew someone, who knew someone, who knew someone who could get tickets. We watched as the Aussies casually went through their warm ups then listened as the English fans loudly welcomed their boys to the field.
The opening pair of Watson and Katich didn't last long and so Ponting and Hussey were both fresh at the crease. Ponting received a standing ovation from the whole crowd, a rarity in England. The two put together a strong partnership as the English fans started getting a little worried. Then in his final test Flintoff threw down the stumps to run out Ponting and change the momentum of the game. The crowd jumped to their feet and went crazy as Ponting went back to the pavilion. Michael Clarke didn't last long and neither did Marcus North as the English dream of winning back to the Ashes was becoming a reality.
After the North wicket I left my seat to get a calm nerving beer and absolutely copped it from the crowd. I was of course wearing my Aussie shirt and there was just no way to reply.
The session following the tea break was when it all fell apart and it was only a question of whether it would be all over on day four or if they Aussies could hold on till the end of the day.
Haddin and Hussey held together for a solid partnership before Haddin was dismissed leaving only the tailenders to hold on for the Aussies. Harmison took the late wickets of Siddle and Clark in succession and the fans began their celebration. I had been listened to the action on a small headphone only after tea I couldn't hear a thing. The English fans were cheering every ball. Hussey was the last man out with a respectable 121 his best for the series but it didn't matter the English had won.
Following the last wicket a received a few handshakes from the surrounding English fans offering their condolences. They were absolutely loving their teams victory. I stayed through to watch the presentations as fireworks were let off and the ground covered in confetti. The Aussies left the field as soon as the presentations ended and the English boys did a lap of honour. I then left the ground as the fans English fans stayed for every moment of celebrations.
After leaving I caught a bus to Hyde Park where everybody is a tourist and I figured I wouldn't receive any comments about my shirt. Luckily I didn't and I could enjoy a couple more hours in the sun in what had been a warm London day.
Supporting your country when they compete overseas is a memorable experience. Watching the Aussies lose the Ashes in England is something I am not sure I will ever forget.