Mumbai = Honky Tonky Bonkerlicious!!!

After all that TV Coverage I feel like I know the place even though I have just arrived.. after my late arrival (it all went so smoothly from plane to cab to hotel - Ilove it!) Ididn't actually get my head down until 3.30am ish.. and then when Iwoke at 10 - all sounding very normal except that I felt like I had been run over. The fact that I probably hadn't slept more than an hour at a go would account for that!!! So after loudly groaning (what will the neighbours think!) and mentally arguing with myself (1st sign of madness) I rolled back over until 2.. thats when i managed to get myself to the phone boxes and call one and all.. After that i just sort of walked about - and weirdly ended up at all those sights we got to know via the telly this past week.. the Taj hotel, the station and Leopolds... the latter two looking like butter wouldn't melt and business going on as usual ( I had a beer at Leopolds just as a two fingers to the terrorists - quickly reminding myself why I never drank in India - the beer is shite!! so I will ammend that to I had half a beer!) the Taj from afar looks pretty amazing and doesn't appear to have just housed a mini terrorist attack however on closer inspection you can see the boarded windows and smoke damage - the police have cornered the area off around it so you can just gaze from a flimsy barrier - with half of Mumbai!! The architecture is pretty amazing here

and i popped on in to the modern art museum which amongst the madness of modern art had some little gems, well worth the visit...

I attempted to join the peace march last night - being the only westerner didn't bother me too much but the "attack pakistan now before they fire nuclear weapons at us" banner and shouts sort of put me off and sent me scuttling to my room!

Today I took myself off to Elephanta island - proudly I can say I made it to breakfast at the hostel - well ....just......!! I called at 10.15 they end at 1030 - good news is its tea and toast to your room - can you believe it!!!!!!

Elephanta island is in the bay of Mumbai and has some cool caves carved into the rocks - they reminded me of egyptian temples carved into the rocks but they were indian - if you see what i mean (ie: shiva not ramses)!!! Well worth the trip if only to to get away from the city madness (still trying to work out why the honking of the horn is mandatory at all times!!!)

The plan was to then go to all the bazzars but it is sweltering today so I figured that, that would be a good fresh morning trip (tomorrows little birthday present to myself, a day of shopping :0) ) so i headed directly to the motorbike shop... have researched my trusty stead, staked my claim and made it clear I drive a hard bargain (pah!) - no need for drivers license haha and judging by the traffic here I will be driving out at 3 am when everyone is sleeping!!!!!! I hope to come and collect a bike in about a week and a halfs time... I popped on down to Chowpatty beach and just checked out all the represed courting couples along with a nice sunset.. toxic waters and pretty much forbidden sands!! all fun and games....the little snackettes Ihave been devouring are amazing - india really does rock with food.. tikka rolls, dossa's, dahl puri and some weird concoction on the beach that had all the waiter boys staring at me as I chomped on... god only knows what it was!!!! one of those moments its best not to ask... vegetarian is the only way forward!!! so I have my bday tomorrow I plan to hit the markets hopefully also get my lense and compact camera and then head up to some chilled out "hanging gardens" up on the posh hill.. lets see how it goes I have my eye on a nice restaurant to treat myself tomorrow night but I am pretty flexible I reckon a glass of bubbles wouldn't hurt!!.. Lindsey is hoping to meet me saturday and maybe celebrate the ole 31 with me then too!!! and even her wedding!!! which she still hasn't had!!!I think I'll stay until monday and then I feel I am done here for the mo - its ever so hot and dusty - I plan to head over to the hills sort of east of mumbai and check out Matheran and Pune (pronounced poona) for a week... then come back to mumbai pick up the ole bike - or not if i have chickened out - and then head off to beach zone Konkan and then Goa... thats my story and i'm sticking to it - at least until tomorrow!!!.....

As I yell "Bang! to the beat of the drum! Bang!Bang!" at all the honky tonk horns i bid you a wiggly headed adios and leave you with some wise words from Mumbai's infamous hanging gardens

Livin' the dream baby!

It's been all quite on the western front for 2 reasons:

1) I have left the world of super yachts - yee hah have joined the forces of the unemployed...!!!

AND

2) I have embarked on "The Big Journey" and am currently cruising the south of India...

photos, stories and tales of motorbike madness are hot on the heels of this brief entry...

until then.. BIG BIG LOVE xxxxxxxxxx Indian Stylie xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Winter season of 2008 - bloody great!!

The Maldives, Thailand, Burma and The Seychelles. One cannot complain!

And although I find work incredibly intense at times the upsides - ie: experiencing these amazing places - far way out the downsides!

Its been a long ole season and I write this at the end of my summer season so I think this entry will be more about the photos and less about the stories - Suffice to say we worked bloody hard with a long ole owners trip and 2 charters top and tailing it. I had a few days off in The Maldives,

Where a few of us girls rented a little place on an island about 1 hour from the boat...

Bliss!!

I also managed to bump into little Bekalina, her boat anchored just near ours for a few days so we got to hang out Maldives stylie!I also got 2 days off in Thailand on the island of Phuket and in The Seychelles. As always I managed to fill them up to the max and feel really lucky to have enjoyed moments there. The Seychelles was particularly magical and a place i hope to come back to one day! .
The Maldives allowed us to create beautiful beach picnic moments for our guests. Thailand created beautiful letting off steam moments for the crew, as only Thailand can.

Burma was incredible conjuring up Jurrassic Park moments with wild boar running along the beach and sea gypsies checking us out. And The Seychelles was a perfect note to end on, marrying all of the aboveand adding some African flavour into the mix. There was - as always in my world - a few dramas and a few spectacular fuck ups however as the dust settled and the sun shined, all was ok - as always seems to be the case!

Arriving back to Europe was a weird relief - I felt this last time I sailed back from the Caribbean. I suppose it’s returning to what you know, to what is familiar! Also for me it means returning to my family and friends.

Tres importante!

The crossing back was slightly tense as we had piracy threats throughout the first part of the trip - Somalian pirates were attacking and kidnapping ships frequently but luckily we avoided them! We had the luxury of 3 ex SAS security guys on board with their LRAD for extra safety - LRAD is basically a bloody loud speaker used to deter approaching baddies! I really wanted to blast some drum and bass at them but was informed that was not the correct protocol!!!!

I had my leave almost immediately on arrival and after a few magical days in Italy

and France getting over what was a bumpy and pirate filled journey, I flew home. It was a pure family moment for me no mad gallivanting off with mates just family dinners picking my sister up from school and catching up on all the family events.

Then my little surprise for my mum and aunty kicked in - we went of to Egypt for 10 days = trip of a life time I highly recommend it. To actually touch something that is over 4000 years old blew me away. To actually see, walk around and go inside the pyramids - those iconic images I have seen and pondered on since I was tiny - was a super cool experience and to do it with my mum and aunty, witness their reaction to what was around us and spend such quality time alone with them made this holiday one of the best experiences of my life! I highly highly highly recommend it!
Writing all this now in the madness of my summer season where ground hog day and big brother madness doesn’t even touch the sides in terms of explaination, makes me realise just how excellent the 1st 6 months of this year have been and just how lucky I am… Sometimes when bogged down with endless 14 hour days no time off and living on top of 16 people its hard to really appreciate how special these moments are! Before I get all sentimental I’ll sign off… with plans of India, Brasil and of course Colombia forming in my mind I bid you farewell for now… BIG LOVE xxxxxxxxxx