My Story About Gingers...

 In Honor of the Great Red Haired Man...

13/12/11

1620 (local time)

Dahab, Egypt

So I sit here, in the living room of the apartment! Lizzie and Luke went shopping for a Christmas tree, so we have a small but sufficient Christmas tree with decorations and all, it doesn’t really feel like Chrismas coming up, not too sure if that’s because I’m not with my family or if it just because Egypt doesn’t really celebrate Christmas.

But no matter which way you look at it, the next couple of weeks is going to be a mix of emotions. The reason for this small post/journal entry is to say goodbye to a few good mates that I have met whilst out in Dahab, mostly for the one and only Ginger Chris.

Now Ginger Chris or also known as Chris McCormick, is a man that sicks out from the crowd, not because of his tall and stocky build, but his fiery and fierce red hair that makes him look like a small Lion.

So, I’m not one to brag… but at this current time I have something like 708 friends on facebook… and from all these people, I think 3 of these people have red hair, and of these 3, only 2 I really see as mates. So, it made me think. Why is it that I don’t have many true friends that have red hair…

1.       Is it because they are dying breed of people? Id like to think not, as I as once told that even the smallest trace of “Red Hair DNA or RDNA” means that there will always be in that family blood line.

2.       Is it because most people with Red Hair are just rude and arrogant?

3.       Or… is it that I am a Red Hair Racist! Know I know this debate has been raging for many of years, and it was finally cleared up on “Summer Heights High” that YES people with Red Hair is a race… because, quote “there are heaps of ‘em sir”

So after a long and hard chat with myself I came to the conclusion that I am Racist toward Rangers. Now I don’t see any reasoning behind this, until I had a dream the other night that took me back to when I was a kid…

It was a blustery cold autumn and I had just been shopping with my Mum, this day I must have behaved myself and mother, the lovely dear was nice enough to take me to McDonalds aka the golden arches. I remember stepping out of the car and seeing a clown greeting people at the entrance. I was excited as any young boy would have been, so I ran up to greet him, but when I got closer the clown looked evil… I burst into tears! And ran back to my mother!  This clown was Ronald McDonald! And what colour hair does Ronald have… that’s right RED!

This is the last memory I have of hating anything with Red Hair… and on second thoughts are there a few Villains with red hair, Mystique from X-Men, Poison Ivy from Batman, Carrot-Top and I think the only cool Superhero with red hair is Rogue from X-Men… Archie is definitely is not cool.

The Pure Sight Of That Man Disgusts Me!

So back to the main topic of discussion, the above scenario proves to you the reason of why I don’t have all that many Ginger Haired friends.

But, I have changed my outlook on the world after I met my friend Ginger Chris. Chris introduced me to a world of Ginger-ness. I realised how difficult the world is for him. For example people see his head as a bull sees a red flag in a bull fighting arena. But instead of getting a bull horn to the inner thigh, Chris has seen several fists aimed towards his hair but missing and going south, Chris often sees small green bottles aimed at his head and like every good matador manages to escape the fury of a Sakara beer aimed at his head, but sometimes he isn’t fast enough and like every good matador sometimes takes one to the face! But this rarely seems to deter him…

Chris In His Element...

It is only recently where he has taken one too many blows to the face and he officially announced his departure of Dahab, and his dreams are now to tackle the world of White!

So we will all wish this fine specimen a warm farewell and hope that he tackles his future endeavours in his stride.

Cheers Steve xx

and

Happy Birthday Mate!

THE GINGER CHRIS

THE BIG CAT, just looking over me as i cut my cake!

We Are Tree Bar?

28/10/11 – finished on 29/11/11

1924 (local time)

Dahab, Egypt

Crikey, its been a while! Last time I wrote on this thing it was after my trip in Israel. What has been happening in the day and life of Steve! Well things have been going really well! Its not all that busy in Dahab (still) at the moment we have 0 guests at the centre but I am keeping myself busy! Fortunately its been windy lately so I have spent a majority of time out on the water.

The night times have been great also, most nights I’m out if I’m either singing or playing bass in the local band with the divers! Or DJ’ing or being a ‘Record Player, Player’, it doesn’t earn all that much money but it allows the only child characteristics in me to get out! Everyone must now listen to what music I play! Either way though it’s still really good fun, in fact when I started this blog it was a Halloween Party which I may add, was awesome, pictures soon… anyway so now it’s the 29^th of November… yeah I’ve been lazy.

So Dahab has been going through some unsettled times… over the past month, there has been numerous fights, I personally have learnt that being set on fire by a bunch of rogue Bedouin Kids isn’t the great start of a night. Chris has learnt that it sucks to be hit by a beer bottle, and the both of us have come to the conclusion that sometimes “it’s just not worth it”.

Now I’m not saying that Dahab is a dangerous place, but working behind a bar you soon realise who the shady characters are, and you learn that you need to deal with them appropriately. What I find quite amusing is the fact of how corrupt a place can be. We have the police in our back pocket to ensure that none of the staff get put in jail because we are ‘tourists’. Another example is, Lizzie (who I live with) had her motorbike stolen (which she won because of a fancy dress competition at Tree Bar). Anyway, she couldn’t make a police statement because apparently there is a black market for Motobikes where they steal them, and then sell them to a motorbike shop where you need to pay 500le ($100AUD) to get it back. But if you make a police statement, then the ‘black market’ will strip the bike of all its parts and sell them off… so ultimately it’s a lose, lose situation. And for Lizzie, she has had a really tough time here, she got here windsurf board stolen a few months ago, and now her bike!

In other news, 20,000 (euro’s) was stolen from one of the windsurf centres, and 3 cameras were stolen from a dive centre… Dahab is potentially falling apart, and it feels as if there is a battle royal brewing between the Bedouins, Egyptians & Tourists.

Okay, so I’m not painting a pretty picture for everyone, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not having fun, in fact quite the opposite, at the moment I’m having the time of my life. Windsurfing has taken a hold because of the lack of wind (and I thought it was a good idea to parallel park my board on the reef), but I have been going to the gym (a lot) and feel the fittest I’ve been in a while. I’m cooking a lot and having some great parties and meeting some fantastic people!

The only problem is, is that it is getting bloody cold. I honestly think it doesn’t even get this cold in Melbourne! So I’ve only got 1 pair of Jeans (that I’m wearing everyday), but it’s ok because they are levis. But rocking 1 pair of jeans and 2 hoodies is still not enough to keep you warm… But I battle through.

Anyway, I think that brings this blog post to an end. Ill be adding some photos up asap! But until then!

Stay classy! And chat soon!

Xx Steve

Lizzie and me dancing on the fridge... Lizzie is a BAT!

Sending a flaka!

Doing the star trek!

look mum, no hands...

Halloween!

Me and Marco throwing shapes!

Oh yeah.... i got my hair cut? Views!

A Small Anecdote!

A Small Anecdote written about Steve Flack, by Chris McCormick...

He's a record player player; an errant child; a deep thinking mild philanthropist; the disco balls shine bright through his eyes;

The jukebox is his friend; the dancefloor his mistress; he holds an RYA advanced plus instructor training certificate in shoe lace maintenance;

His heart rate never dips below 156; his ancestors spoke only in portuguese brail; some will never see him; even the deaf can hear him;

The bus can' swim the bus can' cross him; he chases sunrise with a butterfly net; he eats blue cheese using a spoon with no handle; snakes envy his rattle; he can count to 36 using only his thumbs;

A prodigy of criminal noise; you hear him coming through the spee-ee-kahs; he is playing tree bar tonight ... but he has not yet gone to uni. 

Tree Bar Presents.... STEVE FLACK

The Race To The Finish! - Tel Aviv

2/9/11

Dahab, Egypt

1628 (local time)

Gday again guys, bit of a late update but I have been pretty busy with lots of windsurfing and also helping out a mate at the local bar here in Dahab.

Alright, so ill start where I left off. So I caught a bus from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, the bus ride went really well, it was only a 1 hour journey. I met an American girl on the bus, who then hung out with me for the rest of the afternoon. We visited the beautiful sights of Old Jaffa and the old port! It was quite nice with a lot of character!

So, Tel Aviv is a very liberal city and in all honesty, the only reason you would go there, is for Sun and Parties! So that’s what I intended to do! So after the epic walk to the old city, I went for a swim in the lovely Mediterranean Sea!

It was dinner time so I sorted myself out with a lovely shawarma, I was fortunate enough to met some guys in my hostel who were up for some drinks so we bought some beers and had an epic night in Tel Aviv!

Not going to lie though… Its not a cheap place to party!

The next day was a chill out day where me an Joe (a welsh bloke) played beach Tennis all day and just went for swims! Quite a chilled out day!

The next day I was doing a day trip to Nazareth… so I caught the bus out there… and pretty much as soon as I got there I wanted to leave! The city was pretty average! But it was fine, I was able to catch a bus to the Sea of Galilee, but unfortunately didn’t pack my boardies, and I desperately wanted to go for a swim, so… I did it Euro style in my Undies! What was cool, is that the Sea of Galilee is fresh water, so when I started swimming I almost drowned, because I just sunk to the bottom! So after I spent about an hour there, I started to EPIC journey back to Tel Aviv… Bit of a waste of a day, but I’m glad I went.

The aim was to get an early night as the next day I was heading back to Dahab. I was catching a bus from Tel Aviv bus station at 6.30am, so I set all my alarms to go off at 5.30am so I could have breakfast in the morning. All my alarms went off at 5.30am, but I turned them all off! Which means, that I woke up at 6.00am! I stuffed everything in my backpack and just ran out the door!!

Fortunately I made it to the bus station and endured the 7 hour and 2 bus’s journey from Tel Aviv to Eilat!

All in all, the my adventures in Israel was absolutely fantastic! I really enjoyed it, and it is defiantly one of my favorite countries ive been to.

Before I finish, a HUGE thanks goes out to Sandra and Chaym for putting up with me for 5 days! You were absolutely fantastic and looking forward to chat soon!

Take care guys!

PS: I have put up photos from my Time in Spain, as I now have a card reader! ENJOY! xx

The city of Tel Aviv

In Jaffa the Old City's Port

Just chilling out watching the locals pack up a market!

Epic Beach Tennis with Joe

The average beach i found in the Galilee Sea

Sea of Galilee

THE FOLLOWING PHOTOS ARE FROM MADRID, SPAIN

A cheap 'meat' market in Spain! Amazing food

Building in Madrid

this isnt in Madrid... This is for Sam Village's Bday!

Getting Very Wet In Tunnels!

26/8/11

Jerusalem, Israel

1016 (local time)

I’m currently writing this on the  26^th of August, my final day in Jerusalem. I have had such an amazing time here!

If you have been following my stories, I have been getting up at (kinda early) and then leaving the house by 9.30am only to return by about 5.00pm absolutely exhausted! The thing is that is different to any other city I have been to, is that I have been wanting to explore the city. Normally when you get to a new city exploring the city for 2 days is normally the limit (obviously there are exceptions) but after that it just starts getting the same. But Jerusalem, totally amazed me every single day! If I was going to Bethlehem and Hebron, or if it was just walking around the old city in Jerusalem it was an experience I will never forget.

Anyway, yesterday the 26^th, I left Sandra’s humble apartment at 10am and headed off to The City of David to explore Hezekiah's Tunnels, Hezekiah’s tunnel was use to bring water in the city, so when I explored the Tunnels started off with being knee deep in water and then subsiding to just over ankle deep. Not great considering I had my Salomon hiking shoes on. When I finished they were literally full of water!

It took a few hours for them to finally dry out.

After some homemade lunch (Thanks Sandra) I wandered back to the Western Wall so I could explore the Western Wall Tunnels which is located under the Old City. Amazing stuff, especially looking at the biggest stone weighing in at something like 570 tonnes. Simply massive, and you have to wonder how they got it down there!

After exploring the Tunnels I headed back to the apartment and just relaxed as tomorrow (today the 26^th) I was heading to Tel Aviv!

Woop Woop!

Anyway, take care!

Shalom!

Steve x

Dome of the Rock... and Realizing the Holocaust!

25/8/11

Still in Jerusalem

2135 (local time)

So I’m writing this about my adventures yesterday the 24^th. Today was the day that I ‘tried’ to get up early so I could go to visit the Dome of the Rock which closes at 11am due to Ramadan! So after an extensive breakfast I headed out to the old city to where I then went to the Dome of the Rock.

The Dome of the Rock is a Muslim shrine located on Temple Mount, the reason why this is so significant and seen as such a holy place for the Muslims is because according to Islamic tradition, the rock is the spot from which Muhammad ascended to Heaven accompanied by the angel Gabriel. Further, Muhammad was taken here by Gabriel to pray with Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. After Muhammad's return, he called all who would believe him to join with him and be Muslim (source: Wikipedia)

Unless your Muslim, you are not allowed in the Dome of the Rock or the Mosque, but it is very beautiful just from the outside, so I stood around took some photos and just admired how beautiful it is. At 11am I was asked to leave as it is Ramadan, so I happy left and made my way to the light rain tram and took it all the way to the end as I was heading to Yad Veshem this is the Holocaust Museum. I knew a little about the Holocaust, about what happened etc, but not to this extent.

In the museum they obviously had war hero’s telling horrific stories of their ordeal with the Nazi’s. Truly 

terrible things!

I stayed in the Museum for over 2 hours, when I left the exit lead to a beautiful view overlooking the mountains, so it turned something that got most people quite depressed, to something quite beautiful.

I caught the tram back to Sandra’s and enjoyed a nice quiet evening.

The End! Until tomorrow!

Much love!

Shalom

Steve

Dome of the Rock

Dome!

From Jerusalem to Bethlehem to Hebron!

23/8/11

Jerusalem, Israel

2239 (local time)

I haven’t been this tired since I did 2 weeks of full power windsurfing, instead I have just done 2 days of non stop, full power WALKING. So if you have been following, yesterday I walked all around d the Old City and also visited the Mt. Of Olives, which was an amazing experience, that really got your mind thinking in the old Ancient Jerusalem times.

Ok, so this time, I got up a little bit later, had a lovely breakfast cooked by Sandra and this time leaving home not only with my 3 litres of water, but also with 2 homemade sandwiches an array of different fruits (all made by Sandra)… she’s not too bad!

So I left and headed to the bus station as today I was going to make my way to Bethlehem and Hebron. The problem with these cities is that they are both located in the West Bank which is Palestine Territory, which is generally where the danger is.

So I left and headed off to the bus station, caught a bus to Bethlehem. The bus journey was fine apart from the mentalist bus driver that drives like he is in a Porsche. Got to Bethlehem and made my way to the tourist info centre so I can grab a map. First thing I visited was the Church of Nativity which is (supposedly) where Jesus was born!

I got in, had a look at the church, snuck in, infront of a whole Russian tour group, watched them get their photo taken in the spot that Jesus was born and then left, from here I walked down the street to the Grotto of the Nativity where (supposedly) Jesus was cared for by Mary. Once I was all Catholic’d out, I then inquired about catching a service taxi to Hebron.

Hebron is the largest city in West Bank, and it is home to one of the most important mosque’s the Ibrahimi Mosque. I was taken there by a very old man that was telling me about his city, he was explaining to me that as a young boy, the new city wasn’t there, and he used to play in the streets of the old city.

On arrival to the Mosque I tried to get inside, but they stop letting ‘tourists’ after 11am due to Ramadan. Not to worry, as it gave me some more time to walk the old streets and do some shopping.

It was my Mum’s birthday so I did some shopping for her, and after I was exhausted of walking through the old city so I then caught another service taxi back to Bethlehem and then started making my way back to the border crossing to get from Palestine to Israel. On the walk back I came to the Security Wall.

The Security Wall separates the Israel from Palestine. It prevents the Palestinian’s from entering Israel and attacking the Israelis. Now obviously not every Palestinian wants to set off bombs in Israel but unfortunately in 2011 this is the only way that Israel (and certain parts of the world) can see a solution.

There is no point in us trying to come up with a magical solution, as a lot of highly intelligent people have sat down together and tried to find a solution and since they haven’t found a solution it puts it really back on us. 

The kids of this generation to stop talking about the issue and act!

Please have a look at some of the photos and realise how bad the situation really is.

I spoke to a Palestinian guy as I was leaving, he asked me where I was from etc. He explained to me that he had just come from the American Embassy in Palestine to see if he is able to get a visa to visit America so he could see his family living in the States. He was declined. This is just one of the many stories of people that live in both West Bank and Gaza.

Anyway, check out the photos! Much Love!

Steve xx

Round about with Palestinian Flags

the spot where the baby Jesus was born... Russians Loving It!

The Church of Nativity 

Outside of the Church of Nativity 

Local Sweets

The Local Bakery

Local Pastry's

Some shopping, (where i got the old birds present)

Beautiful colors of the vegetables 

The old city in Hebron!

More Old City!

Old Mate Hard At Work!

More beautifully colored vegies!

Entrance to the old city in Hebron!

Vegie Stalls!

Read Closely!

UK Famous Artist Banksey!

More Banksey

The Security wall!

More security wall, note the house so close to the wall... nice view!

The Wall

More Banksey... (ruined)

More Banksey (ruined)

The Border!

the path to the border

Back in Jerusalem, looking at the walls of the old city