Here are a few stories of some of my adventures.

The bowel cancer journey is after the usofa journey.

USofA

So I am here on the other side of the planet! It's a wild thing to contemplate in a place that is so familiar in so many ways. The flight over was completely shitfull as I had a vertabrae in my neck out of place so it was twenty odd hours of pain until a local sadistic chyropractor did brutal things to me and put everything back where it belongs. Ah where were you Andrew Gibbs?!

The area is pretty spectacular up here in the north east with hillsides of deciduous trees that must be spectacular in the autumn. We have been camping on an island in lake Umbagog, not far from Canada, where I unsuccesfully tried to catch a small mouth bass. The amazing thing was that three weeks ago the place had been frozen solid! Totally wild!

I played my first gig last thursday. An open mike night a the Common Man in Ashland, a little bit south of Campton where I am. I don't think they were quite ready for a loud australian and I'll give them another hit next thursday evening.

The driving on the wrong side of the road thing freeks me sometimes. I have had a few drives and it is a challenge! The gear stick is in the wrong hand and the intersections are a nightmare. Which way do I go??!!

So not much excitement yet. Busy helping my friends to pull their house to bits before a big rebuild. I'll keep you informed!

USA continued........

So I am still here although it has been a bit difficult to get onto the web for reasons various, but here I am, presently slumming it with all the rich folks down in Cape Cod at a place called Chatham. This whole place is very important in the history of America as the poms came this way as did the first pilgrims. Could have picked an easier area to land but those poms were never big on thinking. At least they have a great beach although the water is bloody freezing!

Campton in New Hampshire has been fun, pulling houses to bits and slowly rebuilding. I have been playing a few open mic gigs and have been very well received. They have open mic spots everywhere almost every night of the week in some town or another. Back home could take a lesson from it all. I have been doing a bit of driving which is totaly wierd. You have to be on the ball to not  end up on the wrong side of the bloody road!

I managed to get hold of a lovely Taylor guitar for a bargain price, have seen some fantastic scenery and met some fine folks who all seem to love the novelty of having an Ausy about. There are some nice beers and some seriously bad beers, (don't bother with a coors ar a bud!), strange and misterious fittings in bathrooms and toilets, lots of wrapping on everything and plenty of coffee , bagles and pretzles.

I have made great friends with Ruby the four year old and Tractor the german shepard who both take delight in attacking me at random times. More good fun!

The American people I have come across so far have been extremely friendly and polite, and my friends Phil, Robin, Ruby and Tractor treat me as part of the family which makes being so far from mine that much easier. 4th of July looms next weekend then another week or so and the adventure will be over. Trips away are allways a good thing to start and a good thing to end. Talk soon!

Next installment.....

So Cape Cod was the how the other half live kind of thing. A lovely place oozing wealth and a whole lot of very temparary beach mansion on the edge of an ever eroding sea shore. Crazy you might call it! Nice place though the water was still freezing. Saw a horshoe crab, a living fossil, the local Chatham brass band on friday night, Province town which is a mixture of potugese fishermen and a new wave gay community and the tip of Cape Cod which was obscured by mist.

The house renovations are plugging along with the "A" team of workers. Emile. Dave (how's the testicle going?),Anthony and Greg. The first three young fellas get their kicks from rock climbing. This place is a mecca for those crazy buggers who want to cling to the side of a cliff! They are my loyal fans at open mic nights and there is a serious plan at foot to get drunk one night with these guys before I head home. Altogether a great crew.

I have a day off to go fly fishing today then it's 4th of July weekend where aparently we are alowed to blow something up! We will see.

Haven't a clue what's been going down in oz but I suppose I'll find it all out in a few weeks. Off to catch some fish now....hopefully! See ya.

next...... Well the 4th of July was all pancakes, bbq, national anthems and god bless us, red white and blue, street parades, fireworks, too much to eat and an afternoon nap!Still a bit more to go tonight. There were no fish the other day but I have been taught the art of fly fishing which is all about being gentle and graceful. Fun!  For those who are interested you can download a podcast of one of my open mic gigs at lindenmusic.net from last thursday night. It has been such fun to do a couple of gigs every week and Linden  does a great job recording all of the ones he runs at the Lago in Meredeth.

Only two weeks to go and then it's back to the beach where the sand is golden and the water isn't liquid ice! Australia is still the place to be !

Had a most magnificent day swimming in Squam Lake on Sunday. Finaly found some water that didn't freeze my nuts off! Lovely and warm and I spent a good couple of hours just lazing about in the water. Experienced some fine hospitality from the folks who have owned the place on the lake edge for generations, complete with boat shed and guest quarters.

There wil probably be another pod cast from tonight and for those who want to listen, the download of the night goes for 80 minutes but takes only a few to download. Seeing some bluegrass on sat night, 5 year old birthday party on sunday, private performance on monday, open mic on tuesday, thursday and then we will see! Hi to all and home soon!!!

Thoughts of America on my last week.

So much like home it is wierd! But wierder still are the plumbing, light switches and power points, the packets of little tiny carrots, fruit salad with the bbq meat, bacon and sausages with a banana pancake, too much wrapping and packets, frozen lakes in winter and how folks up here in New Hampshire live with it and lots of other little things that will come to me when I get home . I will put some photos in and make a proper usa story then. Meanwhile it's my last tuesday today and I am a featured artist at the Largo in Meredeth tonight. On Thursday there is a gang comming to see me play at Warren which needs a whole page to write about! A fantastic cultural experience.

I only hope now that the airlines haven't imploded as they seem to be doing and that I will make it home next week.

HOME AGIAN!!!

...yes I made it back in one piece and it is a bloody looooong way I can tell you but To have Rhonda and Jo there to meet me was one of life's pleasures! My last week was a blast in New Hampshire, where you "live free or die". It all fades so quickly into the "was it all a dream?" catagory once you are laying on your own couch though. Musically my time has been fantastic. To be able to play several gigs a week and to be so warmly received and continually invited back was such a nice thing.  To Jim and Dave from the Crunchy Western Boys at the Common Man at Ashland, to Uncle Steve and the folks at Bristol, to Linden at Lago in Meredeth (what a great thing he does)and to Margaret and the folks at the Greenhouse in Warren and to my bunch of loyal groupies ( Emile, Dave, Anthony, Dorn and the rest of you), I send a heartfelt thanks for the way you embraced my music and performances. It was an experience I will never forget and may not live again until I return to New Hampshire!

So many more images spring to me as I sit here at some god forsaken hour at Bournda, still on Campton time. The flight across America from Boston to La was a visual feast. The endless geometry of rural America which changes from squares to stripes to circles as you head west, the great lakes which are just that,  the Rockies that were so close you could almost touch them and impressive beyond descrition, the desert areas of California and the imense sprawl of LA.

The magnificent scenery around northen New Hampshire and the relaxed and open atitiude of everyone that I met, changing my impression of how self absorbed I imagined Americans to be because of the exposure the country has over here. The vision of frozen lakes with portable fishing huts towed out there for the winter by cars and trucks. The endless forests turning to fire with the fall as the leaves all turn yellow and red which is a view I must get back to see some day. The alarming familiarity with driving on the wrong side of the road and not getting totally freaked out. The strange to me mixtures of foods like sausages and fried potato with your banana pancake and maple syrup, or the fruit salad that goes on your plate with the meat and what not at a bar b que or coockout . Flags flags flags everywhere. Harleys everywhere. Pick up trucks everywhere. Little chevs and big toyotas. Everyone being so polite to you. Oceans of liquid ice that would numb your feet in an instant and beaches of rock and sand with plenty of people but so very few in that cold water. Horsehoe crabs directly from pre history. Not enough birds but lots of squirels, chipmunks, ground hogs,deer, anoying biting insects like black flies, mosies, horse flies and tics. The bursting and rapid growth of the wildflowers, wild starwberies , blueberies, rasberies and blackberies during the short summer when everything has to go for it before being blanketed by snow or frozen by months of perma frost that goes over a meter into the earth. The magnificent cliffs and rock formations that make the area, especially Rumney, a meca for rock climbers from all over the world. Those covered bridges that are wonders of wood construction and historical treasures. The great and good humored way in which the folks tolerated my attempts to educate them in the Australian and obviously correct way to pronounce words and name things, ie Scott and Tabatha's chooks. Those crazy houses at Cape Cod built on a thin sand spit that were continually being swept into the sea but with the power of money rebuilt in places that we would look at and wonder at what kind of drugs those folks were on when they decided to do it. The pleasure of having a german shepard dog called Tractor  to play with who became my firm and loyal friend and who was so wildly excited to see me every morning and each time I returned after an outing. Music music music.  Some of the best and worst beers I have ever tasted. Some mighty good coffee and bagles from Dave's Mad River coffeehouse that I was getting dangerously addicted too. The history of the area that was pivotal in the formation of the country, complete with the landing of the pilgrims, the revolution against the poms, the witch hunts of Salem, the loss of the indigenous tribes (as usual) and the wonder at how they lived so prosperously in such a climate, the Boston tea party, Paul Revere and so on. The quirkyness of P town and the madness of seeing a missile rocket in the park at Warren.

 The way I was willingly and so openly accepted into people's lives and homes. To Scott and Tabatha, Steve and Shelley, Ken and Julie, Brian and Bernie, Greg and Anne, Cath and Evelin, Emile, Dave, Anthony, Dorn and all their friends and families I once again say thanks and what a pleasure it was.

To my old travelling mate of twenty or more years ago Phil, it was like just like continuing that half finnished conversation from back then. When we said gooday to each other in Ubud all those years ago it was as if we had known each other all our lives . Makes you wonder at the cosmic forces of coincidence that resulted in my being there to help you with that big project and sitting here writing this. No more needs to be said! To Robin who didn't know me from a bar of soap but willingly brought me over to help with the house renovation and invited me to live for 8 weeks in her space which was such a huge thing, well you know the score Rob! Thanks matey. To Ruby who turned five and will probably be a big girl the next time we see each other, leave my nose alone and find some one else to harrass! What a great kid. To Mary and Stacey an Ed and cousin Ian  and Pete who I never met, to Joe and Paula wlecome to my mob!To Briana for letting me use her room, (Hiya) Mia, Jackson, Willie , Goergia and all of those kids at the day care centre who were so thrilled to hear and meet an Australian, as an audience you kids rock! 

So that's about it for now. It's 6 am here and the boys will be about to knock off for the day at the house reno job in Campton after which some of them will go for their evening climb, Robin and Ruby will be getting home, the folks who tried to kidnap me to go to that blue grass festival will be settling in after a big week away, Tractor will be losing interest in his current piece of wood as he knows it is nearly going home time and maybe , just for a minute, some of them may spare me a thought, which is a mighty fine thing to know!

I might just go fishing or sit on the beach for a while or try and catch those hours of sleep that I missed out on or have a play on that fabulous new guitar. Remember now " LIVE FREE OR DIE!"