Me in the U(c)K

[Posh Tourer :P]

Anyway, I'm now in a flat with 5 other guys (3 SA, an aussie and a polish
guy - Altus, Riaan, Mark, Aaron and Daniel respectively), waiting for the
event season to kick off properly. We live right next to the shops and the
library, which is great, cos the library has free internet in 1 hour periods

to anyone who wants it. There is normally a computer free in short order,
and it is literally 2 minutes walk away, as are the shops. You can walk into

town in 20 minutes, and there are further shops only 10 minutes away. The
University pub/club is 15 minutes walk away, and is very cheap. We get Uni
students streaming past all the time in front of the house and the place is
never dull. We have decent neighbours too, who are happy that we are finally

cleaning up the crappiest house in the street....

Just a couple of notes on the English and England before I disappear. I know

I know it has been a long email, but I didnt feel like abridging it any
further. So firstly, a few notes. Everyone over here seems to drink a lot...

The standard drink is a pint (about two bottles worth), and you feel really
stupid sitting there with a half a pint.....So you tend to drink a few pints

in the course of a normal evening...

They also complain a lot.... Everyone gets very irritated about the smallest

thing... people yell or toot at you for almost nothing on the road, and
thats just the comments you hear....People write into the newspaper about
their next door neighbours fence (yes really!!). They consequently dont tend

to work very hard, due to all the smoko breaks and such like while they
complain about the boss, the weather or the work, or failing that, the
pakistanis....

Everyone over here smokes, and pubs leave you smelling absolutely rank the
next morning.... it is all very weird... I'm waiting for the universal moan
when they bring in the ban on smoking in pubs over here......

Having said all that, there a lot of very nice people out here, and they
tend to be a bit more open and relaxed once they let their guard down than
kiwis do.

[Posh Tourer :P]

That is the email I've sent around to everyone else, so I thought I'd stick it on here too......

Might do a more KB specific one when I can be bothered....

[LB]

.
.
Very good write-up, enjoyed reading it - thanks PT. Keep us posted! (did you get the girl?)

.
.

[Milky]

Just thought to say my avatar is a pic PT took near where he was staying. There are some good photos in what he has taken so far, so take a look if you haven't already.

[Motu]

Hi Maarten,good to hear from you again.Now you know why Poms got such a bad name back in the 70s when we had a ''wave'' of them come over - they were lazy and never stopped moaning,joined the unions,took them over and stirred industrial unrest...didn't go down well with hard working Kiwi's who would work in terrible conditions without a word of complaint...''Punch a Pom a Day'',the sniveling pricks deserved it.

Good news on the XJ,I'll cross my fingers and say you'll never have trouble with one of those - Frosty will be pleased! So,what's happened to the Bro man? That was a shame,could of been a nice bike....if you hadn't a touched it....

Drop in again sometime eh?

[Posh Tourer :P]

Good news on the XJ,I'll cross my fingers and say you'll never have trouble with one of those - Frosty will be pleased! So,what's happened to the Bro man? That was a shame,could of been a nice bike....if you hadn't a touched it....

Heh. I did a big end on the Bros. Got estimated £1000-odd to fix it. Getting a new engine for £250 and going to install it myself though....

Speaking of trouble, I hope I'm going to be ok on the XJ for a week or so, it kinda needs a cam chain (tho I knew that when I got it), and I kinda did 250 miles around Norfuck coast last Sunday cos I felt like it, making the problem worse....

Still, I'm gonna keep the bros and sell the XJ, it is boring, and bigger than I need, and it doesnt have a top box....

[Posh Tourer :P]

.
.
Very good write-up, enjoyed reading it - thanks PT. Keep us posted! (did you get the girl?)

.
.

Thanks.... well, we are still meetng up occasionally.... So, yes and no......

[TwoSeven]

Well I used to do courier work and it was probably one of the best jobs I ever did. Yes, you have to work 12 hour days in rain/snow/heat/cold and be capable of running up 5 flights of stairs in full wet weather kit. Not sure if they still do 15 min pickup/delivery now but that used to be the rule.

Here is a video of a courier chap. Bit of a poof tho, but it will give you an idea.

[Posh Tourer :P]

Hello all

Well, I bet you are all dying to know how I'm getting on in 'forn parts'....

Since the last email, all that has really been happening is a lot of working. I am in a flat, but I only really spend 1-2 nights a week in it, the rest of the time I am off around the country being 'white van man', the stereotyped really really bad driver. This Friday I am off on an 8 hr drive from Norwich to somewhere near Swansea in Wales. I'm towing a Chevrolet (Daewoo rebranded - we dont get the American Chevys over here) promotional unit all the way, so I'm restricted to 50mph (80kph). I cant really get much higher than that because I'll also be on tachograph, which means that my speed and time will be recorded, and I have to stick by the Drivers Hours regulations - can only drive 90hrs in 2 weeks, 56hrs in one, 9hrs in a day (up to 10 hours twice a week), and you must take a 45 minute break for every 4.5hrs you drive. The penalties are pretty massive for breaking drivers hours (even if it is just 5 or 10 minutes) or for speeding so I have to be very careful.... On the plus side though, I get to use all the truckers cafes and stuff. HT (or HGV as it is over here) petrol pumps are much faster, and the food is something incredible... I went over to Ireland on the ferry (Stranraer to Belfast) after driving overnight from London (2 guys and it took us 10 hours - 8pm to 6am) and got a meal voucher for the truckers lounge. The breakfast we got was massive slabs of bacon, eggs, hash browns, baked beans, sausages, meat patties, ham, spaghetti, and anything else fatty or fattening that you could imagine, all on buffet.... Pile up your plate and go, because there arent any seconds.......

For a good day's driving (8-9hours) the distance could be 400miles, which is 700-odd km. I'm slowly getting used to the long hours of driving, and having plenty of CDs certainly helps.... The radio stations over here are really crap. You would think that with a relatively flat country, you would be able to get reception nearly everywhere. There are enough high-ish places to put transmitters and not so many valleys that it would be a problem. They just dont seem to put the effort in, just like the mobile phone companies. Seven or so companies, and no-one can provide decent coverage over the entire country. They are worse than Telecom.........

Apart from all the driving, I'm really enjoying the job. I get paid quite a bit of money (£500-odd a week) to see almost every part of the country and go out and visit the pubs everywhere too (pretty much a requirement with the guys I work with.....). I get free entry to the shows I get to, and sometimes even the treasured "Access all areas" pass...... Also get to drive some great cars - the Monaro VXR, the Vauxhall VXR220 (basically a Lotus), the new BMW 7-series, etc etc.

Launching the BMW 7-series was the first job I did, which meant a lot of time in swanky hotels and cruising around in what is a very luxurious car while going to fuel them up. From there I went on to a Motorshow in Belfast and a couple of County shows. It is a bit weird going from a £100-a-night hotel (and working in a £400-a-night hotel) to suddenly sleeping in the back of a van in a dusty county showground. When I'm travelling with an overnight stop I'm normally in a Travel Inn/Travelodge, which is paid for by work and is fairly decent for £60 a night. They are convenient, and at least work dont make you take a 14m long vehicle around to find a little B&B for £20 a night. They are normally right next to the motorway services, so there is an easy place to park a truck, or whatever big bastard of a vehicle I'm driving at the time. I'm not on a HT licence, but for some reason my licence translation means I can use a van to tow a large unit, up to 7.5T all up.

I am enjoying getting paid to go to all different parts of the country, though as yet I havent been to Scotland (much) or to the Republic of Ireland. It would be nicer if I got to see a few more parts of the country than just the motorways, but oh well....

I'm slowly adapting to the British people and the way of life, it isn't really that different from back home, but there are a few things that annoy me or just seem stupid....Like the ability to sign up with a mobile phone provider that doesnt work outside London, or the utter lack of effort that a lot of people put into work.

On the motorbike front I now have a serviced XJ600, and an almost fixed Bros, so the XJ will imminently be sold. I've started to look around for a touring bike, but there arent that many with full hard luggage around, so it might take me a while. I've been considering walking around the midlands, given that there is such a massive network of footpaths anyway, and the right to roam over a great deal of the countryside. I'll let you all know how that turns out....

I'm working on getting some more piccies up of the stuff I'm doing at the moment, should be up within about a week, but I'll let you all know again when it happens

Thats about all from me for now, have fun over there in the cold wintry weather...

Maarten

[Juan]

Why don't you nip over for the Southern 100 Races in July???

[Lucyloo]

Mate, sounds as though you are really making the most of your time over there. Well done.
Enjoy it all, experience as much as you can but remember to come back to us one day!
L.

[Posh Tourer :P]

Why don't you nip over for the Southern 100 Races in July???

What is it and when? I normally only have 1 day off a week, and not a weekend day at that..... Anything happening in October???

[Posh Tourer :P]

Mate, sounds as though you are really making the most of your time over there. Well done.
Enjoy it all, experience as much as you can but remember to come back to us one day!
L.

Of course...... Having not yet seen the roads in Scotland Wales or the rest of Europe, I have not yet been tempted.

English roads are shit......

[Slim]

What is it and when? I normally only have 1 day off a week, and not a weekend day at that..... Anything happening in October???

Take Juan up on his offer if you can. He's on the Isle of Man & he needs to get used to the Kiwi accent before we meet him at Phillip Island!

I've got a mate just south of Manchester with a spare room who would love to see you if you need somewhere to kip up there - PM me (and that's a serious offer!)

[Two Smoker]

Wicked to hear from you marty Glad your having a great time!!!