Mega super duper fast post

Dear All,

Yet another super fast post....

It's been two weeks since last I wrote here. Again, work has dominated but I've had some epic weekend trips also. I've just got back from Pilanesburg national park where we spend the weekend looking for game - full report and photos will follow later in the week.

Below are a selection of photos from the previous weekend where I went hiking in the Drakensburg mountain range. Awesome time with fantastic people.

Hope you're all well. Please email me and tell me your news. I love hearing from you.

Over and out for now.

Guess who's back? Back again?

I've been awake for more hours than I care to count. Or rather.....it would be easier to count the hours sleep I've had over the last three days.

I arrived back in Jo'burg this morning and am still sitting in the office 12 hours after wheels hit tarmac. It's great to be back.

I've probably had some of the best two weeks of my life back home. The smiles in the above picture says it all. The fortnight was crammed full with exciting things, starting and finishing with two very special weddings which sandwiched a fantastic time in South West France with family and friends.

Today's is a short post as I'm physically exhausted. Hopefully this week will pass quickly! Represent. x

Super duper fast post

Greetings....it's been a while. A very quick post from Jo'burg as I pack to head home for my summer holiday TOMORROW!

1. Went to Durban last week. Great trip, great company. Pictured: my brother and the babes.

2. Heard a gun shot last night whilst in bed. Pretty crazy place this.

3. As already mentioned, I'm going home tomorrow. Can't chuffing wait.

God bless you all and God bless the English cricket team. x

Wine wine wine....

Homes. The week since Chris left has gone slower than those before it. There is of course a natural lull after a weekend of such intense activity, and the excitement that comes with seeing a friend from home sadly seems to vanish with their departure.

Once again work has dominated my week although I have managed to find time in the evenings and on the weekend for playing squash (now a weekly affair - and a massive learning curve for my game) and tennis (also a learning curve for me - 6-1, 6-0, 6-0 to my opponent)! Fortunately, I have managed to avoid being arrested by the rozzers this week.

On Friday evening I was kindly invited by a colleague and a friend to a cheese and wine tasting evening....heaven! I left work and headed off to Sasolburg, an industrial town named after Sasol who make petroleum and sponsor the Springboks. After a marvelous few hours tasting vino and listening to an interesting talk on blended red wines I was given a tour of the industrial sites at night. With a dull stench in the air from the fertiliser plants around us, we drove through each of the plant sites admiring the burning methane from the towers and the lights on each factory that make the skyline look like an industrial Christmas tree. I stayed the night with my colleague and his girlfriend before heading home on a chilly Saturday morning.

The rest of my weekend and the start of this week have involved two cinema trips (Transformers 2 - quite fun, and Bruno - utter tripe), a work dinner and coffee with the head of Alpha in SA, an awesome and inspiring dude.

This weekend will be a quiet one, largely occupied, I'm sure, by the second test at Lords. Next week will be a very busy working week, with Wednesday booked for all day meetings via video link. I will no doubt be looking forward to flying to Durban on Friday night to see my brother Tom and the crew. On my return from Durban it will be less than a week before I come back to the UK for two weeks of summer holiday. I'm so looking forward to being back home and recharging my batteries before the final stint in Johannesburg. Over and out for now. x

Mr Christopher came to visit

Dear All,

What a week! I'm absolutely shattered after a stonking time with Chris Ellaby out here in South Africa.

A quick round up of the week before his arrival:

Monday: 13 hours in the office (Wimbledon late pm)

Tuesday: Tennis in the evening, sadly my partner was forced to cancel but great to practise my serve (Wimbledon pm)

Wednesday: Bible study followed by 24 on the box (Wimbledon pm)

Thursday: Prep for Chris' arrival (Wimbledon pm)

On Friday I left the office early and shot off to the airport to collect Chris. I could barely hold my excitement as he arrived...."You're my boy blue!", I shouted as he came through the gate. Let the games begin!

On Friday night we headed back to the flat for a glass of wine and the Roddick vs Murray match. After seeing Murray fall we picked up my neighbour Desiree and headed to 'The Butchers Shop', one of Jo'burg's finest meat restaurants. There were Lions fans everywhere, and we were happy to sing along to "I'd rather be a Lion than a Bok!". The meal was crowned with a bottle of Warwick Trilogy, one of SA's finest blends!

On Saturday we met up with our fellow rugby fans and shot off to Ellis Park. After nearly murdering my car on a curb and paying a man to guard it we went into the stadium. The rest is history. My voice box is still feeling the strain of an epic clash. We sang our way back to the apartment and spent the evening with a group of colleagues at a restaurant in one of Jo'burg's nicer suburbs.

Sunday morning was started by my alarm at 5am and we set off immediately in the direction of the Kruger for a night at a game reserve. We arrived safely and within 6 hours. After settling in and grabbing some lunch we sat down for the Wimbledon final.....Fed looked to take the first set easily so we shot off to go on our first game drive, my brother Tom supplying us with the dreadful news that Fed had somehow been broken by the powerful A-Rod. After a great night drive we shot back into the lodge where we were able to catch nearly the full final set of the tennis and cheered our way over to supper after the Fed-Express took his tally to 15. After our grub we lit our victory cigar and cracked open a couple of Castles. The genius idea of breaking into the swimming pool for a midnight dip was met with applause from us both and we tottered down the moonlit path for a pretty chilly dip.

My alarm, now getting pretty irritating, decided that 5am was its favourite time of day and said 'hello' as loudly as possible on Monday morning. Shattered and dishevelled we made our way over to the the main lodge ready to leave on our second game drive. This one was awesome.....first stop was the rhinos and then came the king of the jungle. Our guides tracked the lion and we managed to follow it for quite some time. Awesome!

After a quick breakfast we hopped in the car and started the long journey back to Jo'burg. Chris took to the wheel for the first half, through the mountain pass, and at the payage I took over. We were making good time and I was surprised at times to look at my speedometer and see how fast I was going. This surprise turned to shock when I heard sirens behind me. Less than an hour outside of Jo'burg I was pulled over by the police. I'd been caught by a speed gun some miles back and the policeman had clearly been chasing to catch up with me for some time. My speed?.....I'll leave that for rumour, but had I been caught in the UK I would have lost my license for 12 months, no questions asked. Knowing that I was guilty as sin I handed my car key to Chris and got into the police car, ready to face my punishment. We explained to the copper that we were low on petrol, perhaps infuriating him further. Chris followed me and my new friend in blue as we made our way to prison. The policeman explained what would happen; I would be arrested upon arrival, Chris would have to bail me out (circa £150) then I would have to wait to see a magistrate before being charged (unlimited fine). There was a chance that I would spend a night in prison and this was my greatest fear as there is no separation based on crime in Jo'burg. I could well be landed with a rapest of murderer as a room mate for the night. I had a good chat with the policeman and was honest at my embarrassment of being caught speeding as well as my frustration at having to pay such a large fine. He enquired as to how much money I had on me. Worried that our conversation was going down the bribery route I told him, honestly, that I had less that R100 on me (£8). We kept going and our conversation turned from the rugby, to the weather, to England and to the fastest guy he'd ever caught speeding (150 mph - faster than I was going I might add)! I was fairly relaxed and ready to accept whatever was thrown at me; I had broken the law and knew I had to pay the price. Suddenly the cop pulled the car over and to a halt. We got out and he wrote my charge notice. I didn't understand what was going on. He looked at me in the eyes and said "Don't speed again. I'm letting you off. Go home". I could not believe it. I deserved to be in prison, I had resigned to this fact and told him as much. I walked back to where Chris had pulled over my car, got in the passenger seat and off we went....scott free - no fine, no bribe! Ironically we passed the prison that I was on my way to as we went to the petrol station.

Back home (in good time despite our short delay with the rozzers), we had a pasta supper and Chris packed ready to head home. That blasted alarm of mine was just as rude on Tuesday morning and we were out of the flat by 6am and on our way to the airport. A short, sweet and sad goodbye and I was back on my own and on the way to the office. It certainly has been an epic time and one I will remember for the rest of my life.

If you're interested in seeing the photos then I hope they can be viewed here.....

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?page=1&aid=2074920&id=36700171

I've just had a call from my brother who has arrived in SA. More adventures to come when I head to Durban in a couple of weeks....

Enjoy your weeks, enjoy the Ashes starting today!

With love,

Mikey

Welcome to the OC b*&$!

Morning team! Just a very quick post today....

It starts with a couple of 'shout outs', firstly to PhilNick&Coops. Thanks for reading the blog! I read yours too...shame you don't write it! The same shout out goes to the Manners ladies! You rock my face off, you're the ink within my fountain pun (pen).

I've mentioned Nick there early on....when we were naughty schoolboys we would smuggle a laptop into school in order to watch Nick's dodgy copies of the OC during lunch. On Friday night I lived the OC! It was the Firm's 'Values Day' where we look at what we're doing right with clients and where we need to make progress. After a great day of networking and learning we had the evenings entertainment in the form of a band called 'The Parlatones' (pictured). The Parlatones are the equivalent of Coldplay in the UK; one colleague of mine noted that the last time he saw them play was alongside 40,000 other screaming fans. For them to play in front of our group of 150-200 was epic. For a moment I was in heaven. I stood there and sipped a fine South African Merlot (free bar of course....the McK way), listening to genuinely great music (I bought their CD the following day), and had around me the closest friends I've made here.

The true reality of Johannesburg knocked me out on Monday morning when a colleague with whom I had laughed with two nights before sent an email around the office. On Saturday, he and his pregnant wife had come out of the cinema around the corner from my flat and were held up at gun point whilst they were robbed of everything. This came as a stark warning to me as on Sunday I had been for a run in a park, my first jog in the open air, and had thought about the possibility of jogging to work this week. From thinking that really Jo'burg isn't all that bad I have had my eyes quickly readjusted to the terrible things that happen in this city everyday.

A quick round up of other news.....MJ died, Murray through to quarter finals, Lions lost the series, another plane fell from the sky and France is banning burqas. Great shame about the Lions but the challenge is still on for this Saturday and after some dirty play from the Boks I think our boys will be roaring to go. I'm completely pumped about picking Chris up from the airport on Saturday. It's going to be a very good weekend!

Represent. x

Wife hunt meets David Blunkett

Dear Friends,

Reflecting back on the last week I am surprised to find that it has been rather busy. Last weekend I set out to watch the rugby at 'Bok Town', which is located in a large casino and is THE place to watch the Lions matches (if you're a bok anyway). I embarked on my suicide mission, England shirt glistening white after my maid washed it the day before (shout out to the maids - holla holla). After tapping my location into the satnav I was off.....and an hour later I was back at the apartment. Basically, as much as I love and trust Grace the satnav, she is dyslexic. After I found myself on a road with a sign 'warning - pot holes' and nothing but desert around me, I decided that perhaps old Grace had led me down the wrong road. So downhearted I went home. But downhearted I did not remain (until the final whistle blew of course where downhearted came back to punch me in the face). My friend and colleague Rob phoned to see what I was doing for the match, so he and his girlfriend popped over with a delicious red blend and pawpaw soup. My love for Grace the satnav returned as had she not led me into a desert I would not have enjoyed such a wonderful afternoon. Shame about the score. In the evening I went to see The Hangover at the cinema. Go see it. Go to Vegas.

The week has as ever been dominated by work. Monday evening I had a work dinner. Tuesday night the Lions drew against the Emerging Boks, on Wednesday I went to a Bible study and forgot to watch 24 when I got home and last night I went to see Brazil vs South Africa in the Confederation Cup semi final. NEVER have I seen such a full stadium and such a joyful crowd. They sang before the players were even on the pitch, they danced, they cheered, occasionally jeered and at the final whistle there were tears. The match was an epic and Bafana Bafana really gave the Brazilian visitors a run for their money. It was in the 86th minute that a super strike from Alves put Brazil in the final. President Zuma was at the match and in front of me sat an overweight David Blunkett look alike. Nice.

In other news.....my wife hunt continues although at present without return, my man RF started his campaign well at SW19 and is yet to drop a set, James Blake after reaching the final of Queens went out in the first round of Wimbledon - what a let down, Michael Jackson sadly died and my baby brother got two podium spots at his last ever Elstree sports day.

As a quick 'house keeping' note, please feel free to make comments on posts. I feel that readers (if there are any) have perhaps been holding back a little and I want you to know that you're welcome (even if it's anonymously) to post your heart out. Makes my day.....so do it.

Big up respect to you all. Safe. x