Surprise Surprise

Well it’s been a whirlwind couple of months to say the least and quite a while since the last blog, and to say I wanted to keep doing these on a regular basis. Maybe I should take this one back a couple of months, all the way back to December and at the time there was about to be a huge surprise for a few people… Once again I found myself boarding a Manchester bound flight. The only difference this time was that nobody knew I was on my way home for Christmas. Having spent the previous few weeks putting the feelers out to see what my family and friends would be doing, I knew exactly where everybody would be when I landed and I had the perfect plan in mind. One thing that I hadn’t prepared myself for was how bloody cold it would be. Walking out into a sharp British winters evening, wow!! This couldn’t be further from the Australian summer I’d left behind and for the first time in almost 4 years I could see my own breath in front of me. On to the surprise…

Knowing that my mum would be at her works Christmas party I decided I would be an uninvited guest. Arriving in the bar that she was going to for pre-Christmas dinner drinks. I was like a ninja hiding in the shadows as I entered, carefully making sure I wasn’t spotted. I did what anybody in this situation would do and first things first, ordered a pint of beer – to settle the nerves of course and it’s what you do when you come home… back to the master plan, I spotted the target (mum). I approached and gently tapped her on the shoulder and asked if I could buy her a drink. Much to my surprise the response was, ‘oh, yes please’…. After travelling the 17,000km across the globe, this wasn’t the reaction I expected. Wait a few seconds I thought to myself, she glanced back at me again, then again and finally it hit home. You’d expect a smile at this point… well you’d be wrong. Screams, shock, cries and tears were what followed and instantly the whole pub stopped to watch this woman screaming and looking at the guy in front of her (who still wasn’t dressed for winter). Luckily for me she smiled and gave me a hug, followed by screams and tears from her friends. I’m not sure why they got emotional, maybe they didn’t want to miss out on the fun. Surprising my sister wasn’t quite as dramatic as she busted me approaching before I got chance to surprise her, although she was still extremely shocked. She wouldn’t admit it but it definitely made her Christmas, probably as she knew she’d be rinsing me off all my money on a shopping trip. Needless to say, these two moments were well worth waiting for.

Arriving Home

The best part about coming home is being able to catch up with friends, family, eat the foods I miss, drink proper beers and eat midget gems… However this is the first time I’ve been home during the football season and I was lucky enough to see my beloved Manchester United for the first time in almost four years. I must mention that this is with huge thanks to my good mate Oliver Lodge who gave up his Boxing Day tickets for me. As I took far too many pictures to talk about everything, I thought I’d put together a little collage of the great moments. It even contains the first ever selfie with my grandma.

Some Amazing Memories

The trip to Old Trafford in itself was amazing as we won 3-1 but it was a complete day of ups and downs. Firstly we got to the train station and realised no trains were running, so we hijacked a lift to Manchester and thought our problems would be over. Beers were flowing before the game, during the game, songs were being sung and we anticipated a great, relaxing day. However, the game finished and we set off walking away from Old Trafford and the heavens opened, torrential rain and it is freezing. Walking like homeless men for 15 minutes we came across a petrol station and decided to get a coffee. Next problem, the coffee machine is broken. After a short debate about the plan of action we notice this petrol station sells beer, what a good idea. Four cans of the finest beer we could find, which of course happened to be Fosters… Seriously, oh well (Adam found it funny, he wont when he gets to Australia to realises you can’t buy Fosters here).  Another 30 minutes passes by in the rain, hands firmly frozen to the cold cans and threatening to sober up, we find a Mexican restaurant to take shelter in and have dinner. We finally thought that it couldn’t get any worse but as soon as we left the restaurant it started to snow, so a few more drinks are required followed by a pathetic phone call for help. It’s a good job people were in the Christmas spirit as we had a lift on their way to Manchester to rescue us. Twenty minutes into the journey home and we are stuck on the motorway and remained here for the next 80 minutes. So, when you’re stuck on the motorway in the snow, playing I spy and pissed as a fart, there’s clearly only one option… You ‘MUST’, have a snowball fight… So that’s exactly what we did!! Even though there were some negative thoughts in the car that we might not survive the night, we proved the doubters wrong and arrived safely home, huge thanks to Sue and Duncan.

Deciding A Snow Ball Fight Is A Good Idea In The Blizzard

This trip was quite possibly the most memorable I have ever experienced and one that I will never forget. Not only did I have an unbelievable time with my family and friends but I was lucky enough to be there to share some priceless moments with my greatest friend. A man who has been an inspiration to me throughout my life and has continued to push me to better myself. I owe the success of my achievements to this man. A true gentleman, a friend, an inspiration and my greatest hero… Raymond Collinge, my grandfather. Thank you for the memories.

Nothing Better Than Family