Greetings from the former collonies. Mum and dad dragged me up the Empire State Building (again!), Statue of Liberty (again), got taken to the White House (again). Eaten a mussel or two in New England and then hit the beach in Cape Cod, but a bit too cold to go surfing without a wetsuit. Looking forward to playing a game of soccer with my uncle Ian (Turner) in Philli tommorrow. Mum and Dad are calling me the cookie monster now for some reason. North America is becoming a bit of a drag now, so if you need an experienced travelling companion, just provide the nappies and milk and I'll have a quiet word my nursery.

Greetings. Today I took trains, automobiles and various shanks's ponies on a working trek across the country to a city called Edinburgh. I met with city officials and locals, and I even bumped into a TBS graduate ex-pat by who goes by the name of James Watt and we took part in one of the local customs, i.e. drinking. The city must be feeling the effects of the strong pound as I was skinned £2.90 for a simple white wine & soda. Despite this, I found the city to be very nice, albeit touristy and I overhead the strange accented twang of some of the indigenous peoples. The weather was good too. The price of wooden beaded bracelets is also reasonable in local marketplaces, known locally as "H&M" and "USC"...Anyway, Jimbo - I already ordered a 512mb sd memory card with my new camera but I could always use another. Also, if you're wondering why 150 bucks has mysteriously appeared in your bank account from mine it's not because I'm feeling flush but instead that's some "food money" sent on behalf of yer maw. Hope you're having fun in Oz - have you managed to tie your kangaroo down yet?

unfortuantely offexploring does not provide bullet points- so im afraid answering questions is out of the window. why would i be out of money already? ive been in asia for the last month- i would have had to try and buy south vietnam in order to get rid of my money that quickly in the area. also the pound just comes in and beats all these currencies up no bother- so im perfectly comfortable with money at the moment. im leaving melbourne 2moro, but instead of going to sydney as i had first thought, im flying to cairns and gonna work my way south along the east coast to see the barrier reef and all that for about 10 days before getting to sydney. mc- ive let veneet know about this so ill see him about the 16th or so, and ill contact him by phone. also, with regards to ur new camera, what type of memory card is it? the same as the coolpix (ie sd memory?) if so dont by any extra memory cos i got 2 cheap 512mb memory cards in hong kong, so i dont have to look for cd burners in africa (would b a problem) so u can have one of them when i get home. (ive got 2 512mb and a 128mb now).

M-C I lost my fancy camera in that Corinthian vicinity as well! Fell outta my coat pocket in a cab. That was about 2 years ago, and I've been pissed ever since. Oops I mean angry... Tell Leanne good luck from me, tell her to come see me when it's all over!

Pah!!! (theres another one for you MC), so Jimbola, ive always wanted to know, how long do you cook a galla to get that proper flamed look.

Less of the sarcasm MC - if the Gorbals was good enough for your Mum and I, even when it was the Old Gorbals, then it is good enough for you. No wonder your Granny called you wee sh**tes when you said "which car, the Volvo or the Carlton?" Dont forget you went to nursery there and came back saying hoose and swaaans. I kent your faither you know. By the way Jimbo could we start getting some answers to the questions put forward by your Mother in bullet point format please. Hows the budget? Are you needing a sub?

I posted the package airmail last week, but I spoke to Veneet on the phone on Monday and he said he had a wee post office card though his door telling him he had a package to pick up so I assume that's it - perhaps you could give him a call now you've got an Oz mobile number just to make sure it's the right parcel? (by the way can you post that mobile number on the Contact page of this site to make sure we've got the right dialling codes etc) By the way I eventually managed to overcome my grief at losing my own digital camera in the b@$t@rding Corinthian enough to buy a new one - it's a Pentax Optio and is mega tiny but same price as my old one. So I may even start up my own Off Exploring site - MC on Daily Tour from Gorbals to Bellshill and perhaps update it from EasyInternet on St Vincent Street (using an Internet cafe might make it feel more authentic) with pictures of the Sunrise Over the People's Palace, Taking Part in Local Customs (nedwatch or drinking in the Pig & Whistle) or of Skyscrapers Over the Freeway (that big tall council building in Hamilton as viewed from the M74)

where have u got this idea that ive got a beard? i will try n put up my latest photos tonight so u can see me with the neighbours people. yep things are pretty cool here- its not as hot and humid as asia- they're moving into winter down south here- but its still pretty nice. i gotta plan what were gonna do while im here, probably leaving for sydney in the next day or so and then going 2 some places on the east coast before coming back to melbourne to meet tbsers again and go to ayres rock and tazmania with them before going to new zealand. dont have that much time, so im just gonna see some places on the east coast like the barrier reef, but its all a bit too backpacky anyway so im not that bothered- more keen to see ayres rock anyway, and just the barrier reef really on the east coast. mc- when did u send the package, and was it airmail? cos if it wont be in sydney in the next few days i might fly north and come down the coast rather than go up it. anyway more later.

Glad to hear from u now that you have reached the land of 'kinda normality'. Have you met up with your TBS friends ? Are you planning to travel with them from here-in? Are u in the same accomodation? Sounds as though you're going to have fun in Oz. Pity Uncle Eddie is not around any more. If you get to Sydney, look up his previous abode ( it's now Heaven, I suppose , along with Granda) -247 Storey St. Maroubra.'Eddie the Teddy's address ' How's the food now? Managed to eat any big ,fat steaks yet? I'm rather shattered today. Another round of Bl***y Advisors today. Just came back from caravan last nite as it was the May bank holiday here and heard that granny was not feeling good. I stayed overnite there as she had had a 'fainting ' spell & I decided to stay, so didn't get as much sleep as I needed. She's fine today, so I'm back home.Leanne has gone to stay with M.C for a change of surroundings while studying. Alan is away to Mull for the week with mum & sister. She appreciates that you are keeping in touch & asking about her studying.Exams starts next week! Walking on egg-shells at times. We've been disappearing off to the caravan as much as poss. Well ,enough of our troubles!Glad to hear from u more often. Granny B. is hilarious at moment with all the politics thats going on just now! She's calling them all B******s & wants to cast her vote. Yesterday she wanted to phone Sarwar & find out his views on abortion! 89 years of age & still in there arguing the toss!She wants dad to take her vote & she's not voting in Blair because of the war!Let us know how things are going. Where are you planning on going next? What's the weather like?It's definately not summer weather here! Keep in touch. Keep safe!Mum

"Pfffffftt" as Paulo Duncanio would say: nice to see your lifelong ambitions range in aspirational value from the spirtitual (Angkor Wat), technological (Hong Kong) and down-to-earth (Neighbours)...I'm finding it hard to believe Joe Mangle is still trading off his late 80's Neighbours fame; I'd actually be more impressed if you said you'd met Bouncer...by the way I sent your camera charger stuff to Veneet's so you can pick it up at his place in Sydney. What's are you going to do while in Oz then? Catch up with the mass-TBS-migration? I got an email from a pal of Veneet's called Will Bird (Birdy) who used to work for PwC (he's from Melbourne but came over to PwC Glasgow for a few months a couple of years ago) - I told him to look out for a pasty white Scottish boy with wooden beads on his arm, a plaster, a pseudo-goatee and an appetite for bbq'd things...I gave him a book of Weegie Patter when he left to go back to Oz so if you come across a Melbourne-ite who's well versed in words like "blether", "bladdered", "mingin" and "stoater" then tell him "howzitgaun" from me.

Getting a bit worried about you son - all this about becomming a soaps groupie - you will be hanging around Manchester soon to see if you can get a smile from Ken Barlow or taking a Jumbo back to London so that you can have a wee chat with Den down at the Old Vic - ( is Den still there or has he been knocked off again?) Get some copious amounts of xxxx grog down you and get yourself a shiela (some fatherly advice - dont tell your Mother)

well- i fufilled a life long dream last night- and met jo mangle in person. went to some neighbours party thing at some bar, and they had current and past cast members there- including izzy(?) jo mangle and the doctor guy. got photos of me with them- so will be putting them up soon.