Happy New Year 2004

Well, it's that time of year again. Yes, FREEZING cold in Canada. As I write this (09 Jan 2004), it's -38 C outside. Sure, it's a beautiful sunny day but like I'm going to go out right now... I last wrote to everyone while sitting on a plane heading to India to do an IT certification and then a little fun in the sun afterwards. It was an unbelievable time.

My courses went for 4 1/2 weeks and it was intense. I was studying 10 hours a day, 7 days a week. All the work paid off though as I wrote the 3 exams and got the certification that I set out to get. I'll spare you the details as it's all boring geek stuff. Needless to say, I was up for some relaxation once it was all done.

After spending 4 1/2 weeks in Delhi, somewhere I don't ever really want to visit again, I hopped on a plane to Goa (on the West coast of India) to meet up with my aussie 'mate Lee. He had been there for a week already and basically was all prepared for my arrival. Yes, the word "pre-rolled" comes to mind ;)- The first thing he made me do when I got to Arambol (northern most beach in Goa) was to take off my watch. The second thing he did was tell me to unwind. What could I do but oblige. So 5 mins after getting there, I was well on my way to getting rid of my Delhi stress.

By sheer co-incidence, no really, it was the night of the full-moon. So, in the words of Lee himself, that means a LAAAARGE party. Say, 2000 people all going nuts on the beach to some wicked Goa trance. I'd love to be able to show you pictures but unfortunately, I forgot my spare battery and my camera died shortly after arriving. It might be better that I didn't have it though... So, after one day in Goa, things were really going well.

The next 3 weeks was some of the best time I've ever spent travelling. There were about 20 of us, from all over the world, just hanging out and chilling on the beach and going to parties. Words can't describe it so I'll leave it up to my photos. To everyone I met in Goa, you're are greatly missed.

So it was back to Canada for me on 30 Dec. I'm now holed up at my parent's place and loathing the outdoors and the frigid temperatures. That won't last long though. I'm off to London again at the beginning of Feb and hopefully will be spending this year contracting there. Should be sweet as there are loads of the Goa crowd that will be back from travelling by then so everyone should be expecting visits soon :) From Wales to Sweden, it should be a fantastic year. Once I'm settled again I'll update my contact details and if you're in Europe at all, don't hesitate to come and stay with me as I love having people visit and show them around...

Here's to everyone having a great year for 2004.

Cheers,

PS - I've done a major update to my website. Hopefully it's much easier to get around now. As always my photos are here. I'm currently re-doing most of the albums so there aren't many right now but that will change in the very near future...