Married

20^th December 2003; this was an awesome day; we all turned up in Falcons, The lads and I were in Clint’s old black beast, the girl’s were in Rob’s newer wagon and Fun bags was in Pa’s newest model. The black beast of Clint’s really was a beast; he’s a very impulsive person and he went to a caryard to buy it and told the bloke: ‘I want the biggest car you have’. I’m sure he rubbed his hands together; he payed too much for it and it didn’t last long, Kerry’s also a falcon man so he left it at his joint, after sitting there for a while he let some young fellas take it bush bashing, they were driving along and it broke in half at the chassis in the engine bay and tried to run itself over. A few months before we were driving that thing on the highway, who knows what could have happened. I was beginning to wonder whether Michelle was actually coming; standing at the altar for about an hour sweating in our penguin suits in the quaint little old church we’d chosen. When she did turn up she looked beautiful in her self-designed corset attached to tight fitting dress with awesome titties and the biggest smile I’ve ever seen walking down the aisle to ‘One final graven kiss’. There weren’t many people there but all the one’s that mattered; our bridal party was huge but there were lots of friend’s to consider. Clint was my best man of course; then Rob and the Josh’s and Kaiden, Michelle’s nephew was the pageboy. Kylie was the maid of honour and Sarah, Kara and Kate were the bridesmaids and Amber her niece was the flower girl. The only person I regretted not being there was Powers but he had some health issues. When we left the church we walked out to the love shack and after some lovely photos in the bush we headed to the Greenhouse for the reception. This was really fun, we just had finger food and did as much catching up as we could with all the guests; we also drank quite a bit too. There were some nice speeches later on; followed by Shell’s Nan singing for us which was nice for a while but we had to drag her off stage eventually. We then cut the cake with our own version of the little statues which are the skeletons embracing with the ‘love never dies’ message and after that we had our own version of the bridal waltz which was ‘aerials’ by System of a down so we moshed. Eventually when the Greenhouse politely told us it was time to go and we went back to our Clog Barn cabin, consummated the vows and then the next day headed for our honeymoon in Yamba.

            Our honeymoon was great; we spent most of the time in bed; hired a canoe and went for a paddle, did some fishing and I had a few good surfs at Angus and around the joint. We also had Christmas there which was our best one. Yamba’s a beaut spot; a quiet little place with great people and we even went back there the next year for our first wedding anniversary. When we came back to Woopi we just lazed around and I got some good surf’s in. Had a pretty quiet new year’s went out of course but we were just happy being in love. We hung around a bit longer and in that time I broke up a fight between my pissed mates, bloody idiots! We then went to visit Kara and Katrina in the Goldie and I did a bit of surfing of course; when we got back I found out I got into Uni in Logan and this was the start of yet another new chapter. We got the news only a few weeks before I had to start so it was a mad rush to find a place, move in ready to start using my brain again. Logan wasn’t the first choice and I got into Human Services rather than education but we were still stoked and it was a start. We stayed at Kara’s; had a few surfs and eventually found a nice place started moving in. While at Kara’s I had a swim in the canal behind where she lived, I thought it was great but when she got home she freaked because apparently there’s Bull sharks in there, you’d think I’d learn my lesson after that. Michelle got a great job as an office clerk at Steel house frames and things were pretty good, I was surfing every couple of weeks down at the Goldie and we were loving life as we do most of the time. Uni was pretty full on at first but I got used to it and at first it was a bit tight moneywise and we had to lay low a bit but eventually after volunteering I got a job in After school care which payed alright and was also good experience. We then got a newer car as Shell’s old charade was getting a bit tired and then came some extras like the amp, sub and loads of speakers (cheapys of course). I was getting some great results at uni and we’d go into Brisbane a fair bit and I was getting into some sick new metal, we also went and saw some good live metal. I did my community services there from the Gemmy crash instead of paying the fines, I had to do a few days work at the dump rather than pay a few hundred bucks. We were swimming in the Logan River when we arrived there also; we couldn’t understand why no one else was swimming, it was hot and it was reasonably clean, eventually someone told us there were bull sharks in there so we stopped. We were heading down the coast a fair bit to surf at Kingy as Kara and Kate were living there and we went on an awesome trip and got sick waves at North Straddie. I got my results from uni for the year and actually failed one, decided that I had better cut down on work a bit and put my head in the books. We went to Sea world for Shell’s birthday while there which was a heap of fun. We also went to Dream world while we there for  the Christmas party which was fun and we could drink as well which sounds like it could be a recipe for hurling but we were fine and I went on rides all night. I got another tatt there, this time the dragon on my arm and Shell got here bat on her foot changed to a dragon also. We had our first wedding anniversary there and went back to Yamba, got some good waves again and stopped in at Maclean on the way back to have a look around.

Bali, first time

            We saw my family and friends such as Rob through the year so we went to Roy and Joys for Christmas that year which was fun, stopped in at Noosa on the way back and got some shite waves. Went to the valley for new years; got silly and had a great time, then not long after went up to Australia Zoo which was good fun. I was starting to do pracs at uni which were a pain because I had to work less but I was liking the work and as always, we managed. I got another board there, a sick little fish that used to be Kara’s and I was loving it and surfing heaps, a lot with Krepo again which was great. Unfortunately I failed another subject in uni and while I was pretty bummed for a while I was also very determined to get it done so kept plugging away. In the second half of that year we booked our first overseas holiday in Bali and Lombok and were really excited, little were we to know that going there would start our travel bug. Michelle also bought me my big FX board for my birthday and that fuelled the obsession with music that was growing in me and I loved it. We had our second anniversary and went out for dinner, knowing that we’d wait til Bali to celebrate it properly. We had that Christmas at home and it was great to get some good waves there again, we’d been home and up to Gin Gin on and off in those couple of years but it was good to have a bit longer there. We came back and went to the Valley for new year’s and had a ball once again, it wasn’t long after that we went to Bali. When we got there we went straight to Lombok first and learnt that next time we’ll fly, the ferry took about six-8 hours and it was only another $20 or so to fly and took about 20 minutes. Lombok was awesome, got sick uncrowded waves at Senggigi and Kuta Lombok. We also had our first Scuba dive and it was amazing; we were hooked, we also saw monkey’s and were just stoked at how nice everyone was and how cheap it was. I bought a drum and some other instruments while there as well, it was the start of a collection of strange instruments that is always growing. When we got back to Bali I surfed Canggu and Serangan; that was heaps of fun and we went up to Ubud to check out the Volcano and I rode an elephant. I got my tattoo my foot and got the dragon morphed into a demon shortly before leaving and we both decided we were definitely going back ASAP and didn’t really want to go home at all.

It was pretty hard getting back to reality in Logan of all places after just being in the paradise of Bali but it had to be done and it was one year down two to go so we just thought af that and the next time we could get back to Bali. We were cruising around the place a bit, going to Tambourine Mountain for picnics and wine tasting and just to get back out in the bush away from the city. Cleveland was another place we went a few times for the same kind of reason but it is in a bay and is also a nice spot. I was still surfing heaps of course, mostly around the spit where I could often find waves to myself and sometimes I’d head over to Straddie with Krepo. In that year I went to my first Overcranked; it was awesome I saw my favourite Aussie band Five Star Prison Cell, Psycroptic, Astriaal, Blood Duster, Alarum, Karnivool, Alchemist, The Crisis Therapy, Daysend, Frankenbok,  Minus Life, Pod People, Clutch and loads more. Not long after that we went to the Sunny Coast for the weekend and loved the place; I had a few good surfs and we went to Underwater World, little did we know that a few years later we’d be living there. I was still working in after school care which was good but didn’t pay a lot so I started doing firewood on the weekends as well which was good money. Not long after that I found another job archiving; it was much better money and I had the opportunity to get extra work on weekends, I’d enjoyed the after school care but I’d been there two years and needed to start making some real money. The archiving was good, I’d work in the warehouse and do pickups and deliveries in the city; particularly the big ones as the others were pussies and couldn’t drive a truck. Later in that year I went to see Dark Tranquillity at a little club in Brisbane with Krepo for only $40; I was stoked, they were awesome, we got wasted and afterwards sat up most of the night dribbling shit. After that we spent a lot more time with those boys at the goldie and it was great, we’d go out clubbing sometimes and the after parties, usually at Krepo’s were a write off (in a good way). We went out to this shitty pub one night and Michelle got in a fight with this junkie looking scrag and blokes came in and hit her; I couldn’t believe it, I just covered her head up with my arm and swung at ‘em until I could get her out of there. Needless to say we didn’t go back to that club, that was just an indication of the kind of low lives that inhabit the majority of Logan. I was getting mostly good results from uni but unfortunately I failed another subject so instead of finishing at the end of the year I had to do another six months! We went to the Yatala drive in a few times which was fun and I had to go to Alex head for work one time so I took my board up and had a surf at Currimundi and fell in love with the place even more. Clint stayed with us for a while there to, it was good to have my best mate to hang with again.We went home for a weekend and got some waves, then came back and played skirmish for my work Christmas party, that was a blast too but any movies were you see people dodging bullets are just ridiculous it’s so full on. We had our third anniversary at the Casino and saw a cool cabaret show. Not long after that we went to…

Bali, 2nd time   

            We had Christmas here and we were stoked; spent three weeks just in Bali this time and I got to do a lot more awesome surfing at Lembongan, Ulu’s, Nusa Dua, Jaksi, Serangan and Canggu again and a few beachys around Kuta. At first we hung in Sanur for couple of days where we just partied and I got my Dreads done. After Sanur we went to Nusa Dua and I had some good waves there and then got a jet ski for a while. We then went down to Uluwatu and I got some decent size waves which was awesome; we stayed in a cheap little place and had a great time. It really is a beautiful place, we went and checked out the temple on sunset with the cheeky monkeys and kecak dancers. We then went to Lembongan and I got a few fun waves at Shipwrecks and we got our diving licenses; it was miserable weather for a few days so we had to wait around not doing much but it was fun just lazing around in bed and on the veranda. When we eventually got to dive we loved it, the coral was a bit dead in places but there were heaps of fish. We had new year’s there too and it was one of the best; the locals who ran the place we stayed at invited us to have Babi Guling (suckling pig) with them. We then drank for ages and drank indo style where you have a dash of coke in a glass of whisky and pass it around the table and skull. After Lembongan we went across on a bit of a hairy boat ride to Padang Bai; Shell was freaking out a bit but there was really not too much to worry about, the waves were only a couple of foot. From Padang Bai we went to Candi Dasa and it was awesome; it’s a quiet place right on the beach and with beautiful big mountains rolling into the ocean. I surfed at a sick place called Jasri; probably the best waves I’ve had in Indo, I was by myself and it was only about 4-5 foot but I got barrels on just about every wave. There were even locals on the beach cheering and telling me when the sets were coming. The next day I did one of the many dumb things I’ve done and instead of paying as couple of bucks for an Anggkot I decided it wouldn’t take long to walk to Jasri. After walking for 2 hours, being chased by dogs while on someone’s land and being all scratched up from bush bashing I finally got to the beach, not Jasri though it looked like it could be another 2 hrs away. It only took about twenty minutes in the Anggkot but I thought that might be because of the winding road but obviously I was wrong, so I went for a swim and then headed back buggered and a bit shirty with myself but I had to laugh at how stupid I was. We then went to Legian for a bit of shopping then back to Kerobokan and stayed at the same place we did the first time we came to Bali. From there I surfed Canggu and Serangan few times and Shell had a horse ride which she loved. I got the Darkum tatt and my dragon added toall my tatts are my designs and pondered over for ages before I am happy with them, we also bought some more instruments and not long after that we headed back home a little sad but again we knew we’d return.

            Back to reality once again and we were starting to really look forward to ending our time in Logan. I was playing around with all my instruments and starting to record songs and make drum beats with the computer and even putting some on the net; they were budget but it was fun. We went to Overcranked with Davo and Red-dog and saw The Butterfly Effect, Psycroptic, Terrorust, Dawn of Azazel, Pathogen, Minus Life, Rollerball, Mammal, Fort and loads of others that went off. We got ridiculously hammered and had a great time; I was spewing when they decided not to put it on the next year. Not long after that I went and saw Slayer! It was awesome, they played perfectly and sounded sick, Kayden came also but he got out of the mosh pit when I was head butting big skinheads. I did a prac for a Catholic school and during that I got to go on an adventure camp at Coolum, even got to have a surf and got on the piss with Stella the nun who was telling dirty jokes while the kids were sneaking around not far away. In this time I also did my own tattoos on my fingers and branded myself which hurt, surprisingly? We went to Maroochydore for a weekend and had a decent surf and Michelle was also starting to love the sunny coast and I got my new board which I painted a big picture on as I always like to and I was stoked with it. It was not long after this that I found out I passed uni and actually did really well, we also found out I got into Sunny coast uni to do education so it was a time of plenty of good news. We moved up to Caloundra pretty quickly when we found out and I was straight into the surf when we got up there. We were so stoked it was beautiful; we lived next door to the King’s beach tav about a minute walk to the beach. Logan wasn’t all bad and we always made the most of it but after moving to Caloundra we knew we wouldn’t go anywhere near it again unless we really had to do and as it turns out we have been but we’re always very happy to know that we are leaving the place as soon as we can and not living there anymore. Just after I started we went back down; got on it with Krepo and the boys at the goldie, had my graduation which Nan, Pa, Mum and Dad came to and I was stoked then we went to Abducted and saw bands such as Five Star, Blood duster and Alchemist, Daysend, Pod people and Fort again and Double Dragon, The day everything became nothing and Sakkuth. It was awesome and again we got wasted. It was then we headed back up for another beautiful part of our lives in the...

Sunny Coast

            Moving up there was nuts, I had to start uni on the next Monday so we had to rush it, I packed most of it myself into a van we borrowed from work and drove up late on Friday night after Shells work farewell party and got there about 2 in the morning so we unpacked what we needed to sleep then the rest the next day and then back to Logan on Sunday to clean. I was surfing everyday again and it was paying off I was fitter and I was starting to bust airs quite often, getting good barrels and just loving the more easy going attitude in the water and in general. I got to have a few big waves at Moffat’s but it’s pretty soft anyway. We did things other than surfing also’ like going to the waterfall Buderim and going to the Eumundi markets; we also had a romantic weekend in Montville, it was nice too just get away and spend a weekend in bed. We had a grass amphitheatre across the road so we’d go and play soccer and every now and then there’d be bands there and we could sit on the veranda and hear them, it was great. I also bought an old skateboard to cruise down to check the surf on, I thought about going to the skate park but I knew too well that I can’t help myself and would try to do something big and I’m not good enough so I’d hurt myself again. Clint stayed with us again here which was good; having someone to surf with and drink with. He had his big red F100 and one day a tyre blew out and he span into the ditch dividing the freeway; I went and tried to get him out but it wasn’t happening, he was really lucky he didn’t get hurt. We had more visitors here; no one wanted to come to Logan, not that I blame them, Krepo, Rob, Davo, Shell’s cousin Phil, Powers, my family and hers. It was good that her parents came more often; we had some good times, one night we went to the pub next door and Joy was wasted, it was great. Powers came for a couple of weeks and we played a heap of music together so that was cool, Rob and Davo only had a couple of days but I was stoked they came and we had a few fun little surfs. Krepo came with his girl and didn’t get to stay long at all so that was a shame but once again it was good that he came, and we went for a smashed skate late at night that reminded us of the old days. Michelle started buying me instruments from Ebay so the collection was getting huge; as it stands now I have: 6 guitars; the electric, electric bass, semi acoustic, two acoustics and a self-modified acoustic bass, a violin, a moon lute, an ektara, a dan tranh, a mandolin, a ukulele, a viola, two drums, a keyboard, 5 flutes, a recorder, a Balinese key-coconut instrument, 2 didjes and probably more that I can’t even remember. We got to the end of that year and decided to do something different than Bali this time so we went to Vanuatu.

            We celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary there and had Christmas and new year’s there also; for new years we just went to a pub and danced and got on the turps. I got some good waves, a bit small but I got a few pits before I hit the reef and gashed myself up a bit. We did some awesome snorkelling there too, one place was at an island and then when we went out to this hotel in a beautiful spot right on the beach we just snorkelled off the reef. We also had a dive there; it was great, not as many fish as Bali but lovely bright coral. We went on a tour around the island which was nice, it’s a small island but has so much untouched bushland and unexplored beaches. The people there were really nice too; things weren’t as cheap as Indo better but we were glad we went and checked it out, who could complain about a holiday like that anyway? Once again back to reality but going back to the Sunny coast was never as harsh as going back to Logan; besides that, not long after we went up to Tin Can Bay with Roy and Joy; it was good, I had a fun surf at Rainbow beach and we did some fishing and just lazing about, it was good to get away and see them. I was breezing through uni here; now that I was really enjoying what I was doing it came so much easier, surfing everyday and having a better lifestyle probably helped also. I was getting a heap of work too, at first it was childcare again and then a bit of work at a plastic factory but then I started getting work at schools which was fun and great experience for my career and resume. I had a trial filleting fish also; I was never a good filleter at the fish shop but I thought I’d try, when I turned up late and hung-over, put the chain mail glove on my knife hand I shouldn’t have been surprised that they didn’t call me back. Not long after getting back from Vanuatu we were off again, this time to...

Cairns

            We had a great time there; stayed with Matt and Kylie had a dive on the barrier reef which was awesome, particularly the giant clams and a turtle we saw briefly before an asian fella chased it away. We then went to the Daintree, the Boulders at Babinda and Kuranda. The boulders were beautiful and it was good to see where Shell grew up, Kuranda was a nice hippy type place with some cool markets and a huge waterfall. We went out to dinner at a nice Japanese place and I tried crocodile for the first time and I loved it. We went back and I was stoked to get back in the water, I had some sick waves there mostly at Kings and one session at Noosa with Dad was awesome. We were drinking a lot with a bottle shop next door but I started to be a prick when I’d drank a lot of rum I never hit Michelle but I was just being nasty and then forgetting about it next day, others would say it’s not that bad but I was ashamed so I stopped drinking lots of rum and it stopped thankfully. I couldn’t understand it, I was more happy than I’d been in a long time and I don’t want to be one of those people that others say; ‘he’s a dick when he’s drunk’. Not long after getting back we tried to go to see Parkway drive but this silly bitch with us got busted for drugs and Clint was also with us; he insisted we go and get her out of the cop shop and Michelle agreed, I didn’t care, I wanted to see Parkway but there was no convincing them, spewing! The next day we went to Future techno fest and we got trashed, it was awesome, we also saw the Foo Fighters while we were there, while Slayer was better they were awesome, such a fun upbeat show. One day we locked ourselves out and it looked like we could get onto the veranda from the stairway but when Shell got out there and I was holding onto her arm and we looked down at the cement we decided to just pay the money and get another key. I was recording a lot more music here and trying to learn how to play all my instruments which I’m sure the neighbours loved. I was doing great at uni; getting work from there in schools and even with Special needs even though I’m not qualified but I think it’s hard work, I really admire people that do it full time. I also got asked to come and do a presentation for my old uni about my prac experience, I made them laugh a bit and did pretty well but as usual I was nervous in front of a crowd, give me a room full of kids any day! We loved the Sunny coast and would love to go back one day but I was finishing uni and I had been applying for heaps of jobs OS, we would have preferred Bali of course but I eventually landed a job in Balikpapan.

            So came the job of packing everything up and driving up and down to store it at Gin Gin and home. We’d always had 2^nd hand furniture so I couldn’t be stuffed taking it all down the 6 flights of stairs so most of it went over the veranda; consequently a lot of it broke too and we sold what survived at a garage sale. I got in as much surfing as I could before heading up to Gin Gin for a while and then we headed home and I got some sick waves at Mullaway before we drove down south to see more of the family before heading OS for a year. We stayed with Jezza Gentle at Newcastle and went out on the piss and actually met some fellas who’d been working in Balikpapan, usually people had never even heard of it. We then headed down to the Gong and stayed with Noel and Jeanette, he was the same big kid he’s always been and it was great to see them again and like everyone they loved Michelle. We then went on to Shoalhaven heads and stayed with Nan; that was great too, we had some really good talks about her travels and I heard things I never knew about her and Pop before. We also went to see the Harbrows and that was great too; they were all there and they’re a lovely, close family, we were always close growing up and it was good to see them as an adult and catch up. We then went further on and saw some of Shell’s family; we stayed with Ray and Jackie who are a really loving couple and we also caught up with Col and Rhonda. I finally had a surf at Ulladulla and it was a decent size and sick whackable waves. We went out for a drive out in the bush with Ray and Jackie and camping with Col and his son Shane down at Moruya which was fun too, they’re all really nice and it was good to spend more time with them. We saw them at our wedding but didn’t get as much chance to talk to them. We’d had a great time and it was good to show Shell some of these beautiful places I’d raved about and she could vaguely remember from when she was young. It was time to head home though and on the way we went through the Hunter valley and stayed in a beautiful little place called Branxton. All the way back on the inland highway the surrounds are beautiful and we stopped in at a nice little pub on the way through for lunch. We hung around for a while at home and again I did as much surfing as possible and got some good waves at cabs and spot K with Dad then we got all packed up and got on the plane for...