Xmas tree

For the first time in 4 years, I have the chance to spend Xmas with my family in France. Usually, we buy a really Christmas tree. The problem is that you have to clean the mess early January. My mum (and the rest of the family) didn't want of a fake plastic greenish tree. Instead we bought a fake old and dead tree (it's more like a branch). Definitely not the tree everyone has.
Look at it, isn't it beautiful with the lights and balls? No snow in the garden for Christmas, but we never had any for Xmas in the south of France anyway. The ski season looks very good so far in the Alps, looking forward to January in Switzerland.
Merry Christmas, Joyeux Noel !!

Adventures at the airport

After 7 days in New York, I decided to leave a day earlier and spend only 9 days instead of 10, so I could spend the weekend in London. At La Guardia Airport (one of the many airport in NY), everything goes as planned and I am well in advance for boarding. I am supposed to take the plane to Washington (stopover) then to London. The schedule is tight, I have just over 1 hour to transfer in Washington and no room for delays. But things are not going so well already, boarding is 15 min late ... but this is still ok. Finally, everyone is in and we are good to go. The plane moves off the gate and goes toward the runaway. Oh nooo, the pilot warns us of a technical problem and we have to go back to the gate for a quick repair/check. So back to the beginning at the gate, but still in the plane. At this stage, half the people in the plane have correspondances to other destinations (national and international) and everyone gets nervous (especially considering it is 9pm and there won't be other flights today). After 1 hour, the plane is fixed and moving back to the runaway. We take off more than 1 hour later than the scheduled time. In washington, 90% of people missed their transfer and we all find each others at the Customer Desk in order to get the next flight the next day, a hotel room and hopefully food.
In the end, I am in bed by 12.30am in a nice hotel 10 min away and with a $15 food airport voucher. Luckily there is a free internet connection, so I can send an email to Thomas who was supposed to pick me up in London. Up and awake at 6.30am, quick breakfast from 6.50 to 7am, at the airport at 7.30am and in the plane at 9.30am.
Note: United Airlines is not so good compared to other companies I flew with. Looks like a company that has not evolved since the early 90's. If you can avoid ... do so!
Note2: When I went to bed, the only food I had was an apple (which I had in my bag). No food since midday. I was hoping to get dinner in the plane to London. At least this is a good way to loose weight ;-)

New York, New York

After 10 days in Vancouver to see Jean and his girlfriend Cynthia, I head to New York where I will spend 10 days and stay with some friends from Melbourne, Caitlin and Adam. I landed at JFK airport at 11pm, which means out of the airport by 12am and in Hoboken, NJ (where I stayed) by 2am. Straight in bed ... sofa bed of course! I am doing some couch surfing but not through the website http://www.couchsurfing.com/
I have had time to see a lot of things but not everything. Not in any specific order I saw : Statue Of Liberty, Ellis Island, Ground Zero, Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, Time Square, Central Park, a comedy club "The Comic Strip", Chinatown, Natural History Museum, Museum of Arts, and a few other things ...
One thing that not many tourist do in New York is to play volleyball :-) I went to play indoor volleyball with my friend Ken I knew from London.
I forgot to mention the Ice Hockey match in Jersey City : New Jersey Devil vs. Pitsburg Penguin (4-1). Of course, I would not recommend the food at a hockey game, not really healthy. Look at the picture below ... you can live on it, but it tastes like shit!

Elsa, we need you !

Elsa, I think everyone agrees, we need you !

Humans Are Dead

Special "Flight of The Conchords : Humans are Dead" : YouTube link
American Robot
Aussie Robot

Funny signs in Canada

You have probably already seen some strange or funny signs around the world. Here is some more to add to the collection.
If the salmon work, then I don't want to be one in my next life.


After a good day at work (almost like everyone else), the salmon cross the streets to go back home. Watch Out ! That must hurt to be hit by a grumpy working salmon.

Peche a la Turlutte

Below the water catchment in Capilano, we found a salmon farm and a fishing museum. A few interesting things are on display like the "ladder" for the salmon to jump upstream. But the most fascinating part is the fishing technique: "Peche a la Turluttle" avec Jigging Spoons ("blowjob fishing with jigging spoons")This is all very confusing ...

Arriving in Vancouver

First, I would like to thank Air Canada. Why? Simply because everyone in the plane didn't have an entertainment system working and the flight was 14 hours long. It feels much longer when you can watch movies. Luckily, I had a good book with me (Hitchhikers' Guide To The Galaxy) and my laptop with 1 movie on it.
Another anecdote, I arrived in Vancouver before I left Sydney. I left on Monday at 12pm and arrived on Monday at 7am. This is the magic of time zones. It was indeed a very long Monday. So long that I had to have a 1 hour nap in the afternoon (see below).On the first couple of days, Jean and myself walked around Vancouver. He showed me the good pubs, bars and restaurants streets. Went to the little park next to their apartment, to the steam clock, chinatown, and downtown. We saw the "Inukshuk", the stones put together in a form of the man. You can almost see it in the photos below, but 2 bloody idiots jumped in front when I took the picture. Damn tourists! Doh!Oh my god, you should see the size of their vegetables, you could feed a family for a week with 1 potato. The onions are like grape fruits, maybe bigger. You can feel the influence of the USA here, it is not quite the same but close. BIG parks, BIG veggies, BIG fruits, BIG people, BIG cars, SMALL p.... ;-)

More photos HERE

Motorbike for sale

Today is my last day in Australia and this last few weeks have been fantastic with this wonderful motorbike trip around the South East of Australia. Unfortunately, I am selling my so loved motorbike Honda CBR600F :-( I have had mostly great times with her and I will miss her dearly. Thanks to Jerome who will take care of her until she is sold. If you know anyone in Melbourne interested, please forward the link to my ad on gumtree


Next stop ... Vancouver !

"Gros Con" en Australien

Une fois de plus les australiens se font remarquer. "Grocon" est une societe dans le batiment, et loin d'etre la plus petite. For the non-french speakers, this is like having a company called "FatBastard".

What do I need a tent for?

So far, so good! But the tent and the rest of the gears (camping stove, pan, thermorest, sleeping bag) take a lot of space and I don't have much. Except if you have a big touring bike and extra storage, don't take the tent!

• So what? I have decided to finish the motorbike trip (1 week to go) without it and leave everything at my dad's place in Sydney (which I will pick everything up on my stopover on the way to Vancouver in 2 weeks.

• The good thing? I am now lighter. Which means I can enjoy the roads even more :-)

• The bad thing? .... no more free camping in National Parks ...

Mungo NP pictures

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=61823&l=43123&id=669456775

"couillon" en australien

This one in french ...

Si vous ne saviez pas comment ecrire "couillon" en Australien. Voila la reponse!
Pour information, c'est une rue de Canberra. A mon avis, ils ont tellement de con qu'ils leur ont dedie une rue ;-)

The mosquitos genocide

If there is one thing that I found the most annoying : The mosquitos.
During the worst times, I could clean the visor 5 times a day. Can you believe it? Once, I got it clean at a pit stop for re-fuelling and 30km later I had to stop again because I could not see a thing. I must have killed at least 10.000 of them so far (with both the helmet and the front of the bike).

The old riders' tips

On the way, I am stopping mostly in campsite (sometimes in National Parks) and almost everytime, I meet retirees touring around Australia in their campervan. But the most interesting part is that some of them are old bikers. Especially this guys, Steve, who was travelling with his wife and who I met in one of Mildura's campsite. This guy looked like a gangster/biker/killer with lots of tatoos and a few scares. But he was in fact very nice, very helpful, always happy to talk about bikes. We took the maps out and showed me where I should see and the good rides. He also had lots of accidents on his previous bikes, but 1 of them was a big one and got very injured (total of 4 years in hospital, on and off). He is ok now, but he can't ride bikes anymore because of his injured leg ... shame!

Monarto Zoo in Adelaide

This zoo is actually 100km away from Adelaide. This is a fantastic one as you can see animals with very large enclosures (maybe not as much as in the wild though). To check the pics, follow the link http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=61818&l=4e50b&id=669456775

Tourist Drive = Tourist Trap

If you have toured around Australia, you would have noticed the brown signs. They indicate different drives, lookout, activities, etc. But in many little towns (or so called 'shit holes'), the only thing they have is a tourist drive around the suburban houses. Nothing interesting to see but houses, or I may have missed the attraction ...

Melbourne to Adelaide

As the trip starts, I load all my gears on the bike and here I go. Not sure I will need everything but I have the essential: a pair of sunnies, couple of undies and t-shirts, mini toolkit in case something happens with the bike, food and water, tent and sleeping bag. First destination, the Great Ocean Road. I personally think that this is over-rated for the scenery but the road is fantastic for a bike ride. What an amazing feeling to move on this curvy road under a sunny sky. But I picked this day carefully (Wednesday 22nd). I didn't want any of the tourists, weekenders and school holidays travelers, the road is dangerous enough without them. I was right, not many people on the road, which means I get more of it for myself.

• First stop at a Lorne campsite, where I get to meet the locals ... a bunch of 4 magnificent green/red king parrots. My best friends as long as you can provide feeding substance (almost anything will do). The night was chilly but my warm sleeping bag did the trick and I survived my first night.

• The next day was pretty much the same fun with the end of the Great Ocean road. Then I head west as far as I caqn. My goal this time is to reach Adelaide for the weekend either Fri night or Sat morning. But I am not crazy, I rest often, and get a well deserved lunch on the beach of Port Campbell for a couple of hours. Now it is time to roll on. The road is beautiful but boring (too straight). I finally arrive at Portland by 7pm on Thursday. Quick dinner at 8pm, and in bed by 9pm (this is what is happening when you camp).
• 7am, (almost) fresh and awake, a good breakkie in the stomach, then a quick shower to smell good. The bike loaded I leave Portland at 8.30am, next stop Adelaide 600km away.

I stop on the way in Mt Gambier to see the volcano crater and the sinking hole (snap, snap). Then fish and chips at beachport. Of course they only do deep fried, nice and healthy. NOT!
The rest? booooring. Just a long straight road. Oh yeah, the ferry in wellington over the murray river is fun and free. Very handy barge to cross the river. It fits 6 cars only to there isn't much activity anyway. Enough for the traffic. Then the good bit comes ... the ride around the Adelaide Hills. The road is not as good as the Great Ocean Road and a little over-crowded but still, after 600km of straight road, I am happy with anything.

Note: After a long but enjoyable ride, I finally arrive in Adelaide around 7pm-ish. The thing is, I don't know the city and definitely not my way around. But I have my map. The unexpected happened, "technical problem". At the traffic light, I get a few horn warnings ... a rider tells to look down. What do I see? Green liquid coming out of the bike. Nooooooo !! The coolant !! The fan did not kick on and the engine got too hot. Stopped on the side of the road, after basic checks, there is no more coolant in the bike, I have to add water and wait for the engine to cool down a bit. The irony is that I was only 2-3 kms away, but luckily it didn't happen in the middle of nowhere. The bike is currently at a garage in Adelaide for fixing and checkup. Nothing bad, but I don't want this to happen again.

For more pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=60153&l=ddafa&id=669456775

A fridge that doesn't want to go

A few days before I go from my house, I managed to sell a few items on eBay such as a mattress, a microwave, old PS2, ... But the only thing left: ze fridge!
My neighbours didn't need a fridge as they already had one and even though they were interested, they were short of money. D day is there and the fridge is still in da house. Damn it!
Not losing control, I head to the white goods shop ... they don't want it because it is not under warranty anymore (it is damn newer than any shit they have).
Then I go to cash converter on high st (50m away from my house) ... they don't take fridges, only mini bar fridge. Grrrrrrr !!! ok ok , Nico calm down.
Another alternative is the estate agent. Hopefully the next tenant needs a fridge ... nope they don't.
Ok, the guy from cash converter told me earlier that the shop in Preston (2km away) accepts white goods. Good! Finally there, they confirm that. Excellent! But they don't have a truck, and I should bring it to the shop. The problem is that I don't have a car. Fortunately, Gabrielle's colleague has a station wagon. We load the fridge, head to the shop, agree on a price, DEAL ! $200 ! Not much for that fridge, but I just wanted to get rid of it. Now the house is empty I can start the motorbike trip.

Melbourne Moto GP at Phillip Island

The weekend didn't start that well with a ride from Melbourne to Phillip Island (140km away) on a cold night with rain and wind. We head off with Chan at 6.30pm with all the outbound traffic of a Friday night. But luckily for us a nice and warm house was waiting for us only 20 minutes walk to the moto GP track, where we met Ben and Jewlz's friends who rode down from Sydney (1000km in 2 days). By 10am on Saturday, the sun is already high and everyone agrees that we should head to the track to see the qualif'. On the way, we are picked up by a van which happens to be a rider from the 250cc group (7th on the ladder). Unfortunately, we didn't get free tickets from these guys :-P next time ...

At the Honda stand, Yannick is really enjoying is time here. Sunday was even nicer and warmer than the previous day, no cloud no wind on the radar .... stuning!






For all the pics of the GP weekend, check my facebook link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=57140&l=2826d&id=669456775

Prepare the motorbike

That's it! The motorbike is ready. I bought this fantastic (but not cheap) bike rack over a week ago. But because it is still winter here in Oz, when I was back home in the evening, I couldn't see anything. Finally the weekend arrived ... but I had the wrong screws (damn sellers). Fortunately, Dan (my great neighbour) managed to get me the right ones. Now everything is fixed, installed and working!!!!
What a cute bike,isn't it!?

Welcome to ze trip

In 1 month, my contract with Sensis will finish after 1.5 years of faithful services and good behaviours. And because I deserve a good break, I take a little vacation of .... 4 months!
Some people are already telling me that this is too long. I answer: "This is a well earned break!"

My plan ... (so far):
I empty my house of my furniture on the 21st of October and handover the keys the next day. And straight away I leave for my 1 month motorbike trip around south east Australia.
Melbourne --> Adelaide --> Canberra --> (maybe Brisbane) --> Sydney --> Melbourne

On Monday 24th of November, this is IT ; I start my trip around the world.
Where do I go? Well easy ... around the world. Visiting my friends and family!
But which country? Well, you will see when I get there :-D