Aaron’s Blog

Don’t piss off police men in Changi Airport.  They all have machine guns……What the?

So, my first real post since Easter last year. Not sure what to write really. I’m sitting on my bed, tired, excited and nervous as hell. The tiredness and excitement have been with me for a while. The nervousness, however, has just set in. In 8 hours I’m going to be sitting on a plane on my way back to India.

It’s been just over two years since I was in India last and to tell you the truth, I have no idea what to expect for the next 3 weeks. This journey is somewhat different than my last. This time I am a tourist, I am a traveller. I am going to experience the amazing place that is India with some of my closest friends. To enjoy and allow myself to be amazed at what India has to offer without feeling guilty about enjoying myself.

While this journey is one of fun and excitement, and not primarily searching, if it wasn’t for Ryan being missing, I probably wouldn’t be going there. So, as much as I tell myself that I’m going for fun, I guess I’m also going for another reason. I can’t quite put my finger on what that reason is but it is a combination of a lot of things. Maybe I want to go back to experience the place that intrigued Ryan so much. Maybe I want feel closer to him and his way of thinking before he left. Maybe I want to better understand why he left. Maybe I want to share, with my best friends, the place that has become such an integral part of my life over the last 2 and a bit years.   In fact, I’m sure it’s a bit of each of those things.  Whatever the reason, I am excited to see what this trip will bring, how it will affect me and how I will deal with it. Sometimes I think that I don’t quite realise how big a thing this is. And sometimes I think maybe I make too big a deal out of it. Whatever happens, and however it happens, I’m going to be going on this journey with some of my best mates and that I am excited about.

It’s late. I have a weird feeling of nervousness in my chest. Must be time for sleep. I’m planning on keeping some sort of diary for this trip, much like I did with my other. And if I get a chance, I will use this blog to record it.

I will be in touch, and I will be back. Don’t stress

A

Wow, over 10 months since my last post.

For an update on most things I’ve been up to, check out Fonzeeee’s blog @ http://www.starsofcctv.blogspot.com/

Cheers,
A

Woohoo…another long weekend.  Looking forward to it.  Off on a little road trip with Luke and his mate Craig.  Heading to Canberra to check it out Friday.  A bit of War Memorial action I think.  Then on to Mt Kosciusko on Sat.  Going to climb the mountain and check out the surrounds and hopefully find somewhere to stay.  Then heading back to Sydney on Sunday via Jervis Bay which I hear is awesome.
Looking forward to a road trip and crossing off another item from my TODO list.

Have a tops Easter.  Will be back with some pics from the trip next week.

Later skaters,

A

Yep, yet another one of my mates gets married.  Congratulations to Evo and Briony.  You guys looked awesome and put on a fantastic party.  The location was awesome and the reception was tops.

Good luck and best wishes in your future together.

Have fun on your honeymoon and will catch up when you get back.

Later skaters,

A

Just a quick post that I wanted to make as today is Ryan’s birthday. It’s the second one that has passed since he went missing and it is really strange not to be able to call him to wish him a happy birthday. As much a part of my life as this has become, it’s things like this that seem to get to me the most.

So….if you ever get to read this little brother……There is not a day that goes by where you don’t cross my mind. Not a second that goes by that I don’t wonder why. Stay safe little brother, and I look forward to the day we meet again. Have a happy birthday where ever you are, what ever you are doing.

A

A quick post to say congratulations to Crackers and Nic on their wedding.

I shot to Melbourne for a few days to hang out with Chris and Nicole in the days leading up to the wedding and for the actual wedding itself.  I had the honour of being a grooms man for Crackers on the evening which was great.  The ceremony took place on Saturday evening on a boat at Docklands.  Words were said, tears were shed and rings were exchanged and, as if on cue, the sky turned on the sunset just in time for photos.

A cruise around the bay, a buffet, dancing and a few drinks later and it was time to depart the boat and head home.

Congratulations again guys.  Have a tops honeymoon and I’ll see you in a couple of weeks at Evo’s big day.

Later skaters,

A

After two years abroad, Jimbo has come back to Australia for a few weeks and last weekend he came up to good old Sydney town to visit MEEEEEEE. It was awesome to see the big fella and hear what he’s been up to over the past two years and talk about all the things from years gone by such as our uni antics, drunken nights and gigs we’ve played etc etc. Friday night started out as a quiet night…lunch in the city, then back to Randwick for the arvo. A swim in the pool and then back in to the city to catch up with some friends at Custom’s House bar. Met up with Todd, Emily, Anna….Clare came along too . Was great to be able to introduce my great friend from years gone by to my new friends of now, that have made me a part of their lives over the past 6 months.

After Custom’s House we ventured to Lowenbrau with Riddell and Andy who were up from their fruit picking adventures in Vic. It was awesome to catch up with those crazy cats as well, and hear about the hell that they’ve been putting themselves through in the hope of extending Andy’s work visa. The things you do for love I guess. Lowenbrau of course meant we had to give a stein of German beer a crack. Needless to say, after that, my night was about at an end. Jimbo and I spent about an hour wandering Oxford St terrorising a little Asian guy selling flashing neon badges while trying to find a kebab shop. I have a sneaky suspicion that we probably walked past about 10 of then….But I swear they were hiding from us that night. :S

Saturday saw us both wake with a bit of a headache but we had an awesome day ahead of us. Coogee was holding the SLAM beach volleyball tournament. I headed down there to join my team at about 9am. It was a great atmosphere with a DJ on the beach belting out tunes while people in all manner of costumes were playing volleball on any of the 15 courts. It was more of a party atmosphere than anything as teams of pirates, super heroes, nurses, indians, borats and any number of other costumes fought it out for the SLAM trophy Our team uniform consisted of collars and cuffs. I’ve never considered myself a stripper…..and I still don’t. Having said that it was a great outfit for the day considering it was mega hot and we had to play volleyball in it. We won about 5 games but got knocked out just before the semi’s by a team called ‘beachvolleyball.com’. Says it all really. We had no hope. Had a blast trying though.

A few beers at the Palace on Saturday night and a trip to Bondi Junction on Sunday saw our weekend come to a close and Jimbo to head back to Melbourne. It was awesome to catch up with the big fella and I look forward to the next time we get to ‘press the button’.

Jimbo, will see ya at Easter time next year for the big day. Thanks for asking me to be a groomsman mate. I’d be honoured.

Later skaters,
A

Went to a great gig on Monday night. As part of a birthday present, my 4 housemates bought me a ticket to Snow Patrol who played at the Horden Pavillion. I really dig the Horden as a venue as it’s quite small and intimate and you can get a great view of band from anywhere and the sound is ace. Snow Patrol played a great set with a good mixture of tunes from their last two albums, and none from their first album, thank god. Cos it’s shite. I was really impressed with the light show these guys put on. They looked absolutely fantastic up on stage and were constantly soaked with an amazing array of colours. Check it.

So……this weekend just gone was my first Good Vibrations experience. This is the first time I’d been to a festival that was based primarily around the DJ scene and I had a blast. Didn’t really go to see anyone in particular, mainly because I’d never heard of 90% of the acts. But was keen to have a great day in the sun, with a good bunch of mates, having a dance to some good (or so I’m told) DJ’s.

The main act that I was keen to get to was Jurassic 5 as Todd and Em have not stopped raving about them for the past few weeks. Unfortunately, I wasn’t the only person that was thinking of going and seeing them. The Roots Tent where they were playing was absolutely jam packed so I didn’t even try and make my way in there. Instead I stood outside the tent down the left hand side. I’m glad I settled for that spot as every time people lifted the side of the tent to get out, a blast of super hot air shot out like a blast furnace. God knows how people managed to dance their assess off in there. The wonder of modern day chems huh?

The highlight of my day was Rahzel, a big, fat black beat boxer guy. He was amazing, doing renditions of a number of songs including the White Stripes and, controversially, Justin Timberlake.

After the gig, headed to an after party at a friend of Clare’s place. Twas a great wind down to an awesome day with a DJ spinning a few tunes in the background, a few quiet beers, and random chat to a bunch of people who had clearly had a ‘great’ day.

   
Sunday saw Luke and I hit Coogee Beach for a while for some chilling out in the sun and some body surfing in preparation for a chilled out arvo/evening at Tropfest, one of the biggest short film festivals in the world. Armed with nibbles, drinks and a picnic rug we ventured to the Domain to secure a spot for the night. With a position in pretty good sight of the screen, Jazz, Em, Luke and I set up camp and prepared for a chilled out arvo of music and art. Clare and a couple of her friends joined us shortly after. We had a few drinks, ate turkish bread, dips and cheese, watched some awesome short films and even managed to fit in a game of Uno.

The short film that one was an semi-animation about an imaginary friend that had been forgotten over the years. It was really well done and I recommend checking it out if you get the chance. There were a number of other fantastic films and I believe that they will all be released on a CD in the newspaper next Sunday. Check it.