Team Taylors World Tour 2009

Gav Taylor · Team Taylors World Tour 2009

watch this space boyo's

club sec

Cancelled due to a flu pandemic.

Gav Taylor

naaaaah no need man

Gav Taylor

T minus 1 day.

First leg 2733 mile trip from east coast to west coast of Canada, via Winnepeg.

First leg by car for 1500 miles, second on "The Canadian" sleeper train for 3 days, winding our way through the Rockies, rumoured to be the best train journey in the World.

After that its another 3 weeks in a hire car driving down the west coast of the USA on Highway 101 from seattle to san fran then cutting across to Las Vegas for a week to relax then Grand Canyon down to Phoenix then looping back to LA for a few days before the 13 hour flight over to Auckland, NZ where its a fortnight over there before a 6 week tour of Australia then onto Thailand...beats aycliffe anyway

club sec

North America and Australasia have been issued with leaflets of what to do in case of a gavflu pandemic.

Road Rally Dave

If we get our acts together,
Club Sec can win Speed Championship
I can win Road Rally Championship
JTW can patent his own rally siren (only for use in Argentina)
Steve Wag & Derek can organise WRC event
all of the above whilst driving Vectras

and Gav will be non the wiser cos he is on holiday and will miss it all.

joe_the_waiter

was nice seeing you there with Ryan, Dave. Enjoy the viewing?

Road Rally Dave

Gav Taylor

Road Rally Dave

Gav Taylor

Morning guys, I hope the wireless connection on our campsite is a bit more stable this morning so I can actually post this, this time. As I write its just past 10am and the sun is shining

Were about a 1000 miles into our trans Canadian road rally. Left Toronto to go to Niagra falls a few days ago, Toronto was a bit administrative, wouldn’t really recommend going there for anything other than a flight in or out.

Niagra falls is ok for a couple of hours and is very impressive but soon gets boring after a while, you can tell the town of Niagra is suffering from the recession with lots of shut down shops & diners etc.

The road trip is awesome, as are the roads I would liken it to the A68 only on a much grander and much much longer scale. One section yesterday we drove 100km through the forest (which is basically what this road cuts through all the way) and didn’t pass one car or building! A much as I would like to blast it all the way the Canadian police actually do there jobs over here and police the TransCan highway so you cant really boot it as they could be round the next corner. As a marker we normally see 3 to 4 police cars who’ve pulled people a day on the “17” (the transcan)

Wildlife…yesterday we saw along the way a black bear (surprisingly shy, it ran off when we pulled up to take a pic), a couple of moose (ugly bloody things) a wolf which was standing by the side of the road looking very noble, rather impressive.

Weather generally sunny but I think we have underestimated the climate up here as we go over the mountains, its still getting down to minus 4 or 5 during the night with a few snow showers here and there, the locals say they “having trouble shaking off winter”. Quite. Still our gear we got from Go Outdoors in Portrack lane is holding up well out here high in the Canadian Mountains I just hope it holds out for a few more countries and continents yet.

Full tank of fuel for our bad boy Nissan versa 2.3 auto…dapper (!) is a eye watering £20 GBP.

Nothing much else to report for now as its mostly blasting through a forest on the same road for 1,500 miles until we reach Winnipeg to board our sleeper train for the journey through the Rocky mountains for 3 days, looking forward to that I must say.

Hopefully a few pics below is the connection will let me.

SDMC til I die!!!

Over & out from some desolate campsite deep in the Candian mountain forests.

Gav Taylor aka 8Ace aka Gaylor

joe_the_waiter

Gav, great update. greatly anticipated.

if you are using your laptop... you should keep up to date with a diary and then just cut and paste into forum (or start a blog) when you have a connection.

What is the itinary for Australia?? dates and route?

Gav Taylor

a few pics..taking ages to upload..

Falls....

if in doubt, flat out...

where this post is coming from...

our rally across Canada....

off to find a bar and drive some whites

(not in that order tho!)

joe_the_waiter

dont they have car no. plates in Canada?

joe_the_waiter

i notice the SDMC sticker in the windscreen... good skills

Gav Taylor

Gav Taylor

club sec

Must get one in the VX.

slippy

I cant believe nobody has mentioned Gaylor sporting a vest

Camp as ****

club sec

.....than a row of tents.

Gav Taylor

need to convey the english tourist look boys

club sec

joe_the_waiter

club sec

he's too busy re-enacting deliverance in the woods with a load of randy lumberjacks.

club sec

He hasn't posted for a while, must be really sore now.

joe_the_waiter

yeah.... in some prison in some middle of nowhere town

Gav Taylor

ha nowt sore yet lads

more of the same hammering it through forests every day, will try and post a more in depth debreif when we get to winnipeg tomorrow.

Dave, you will love the campsites over here every pitch has its own fire pit its sweet.

all for now, campsite connections are sh1te at the best of times.

TT

joe_the_waiter

No update for over a week now. According to schedule... they should be now travelling down the west coast of USA having left Canada.
Come on Gav... 3 day train journey? what was it like? what else has been happening? or has there been 'Murder on the Rockies Express'?
Looking at the itinary for the Canadian leg... it seems the Winnipeg campsite was expensive... 120 Groats?

joe_the_waiter

Is this Newton Aycliffe's monument of its version of Phillias Fogg ??

No.... its in recognition of the talented workers who stayed behind..

club sec

Missing presumed dead. He wasn't doing Argentina was he?

Gav Taylor

Canada….

Made it to Winnipeg and checked into our hotel, we had 3 nights at Winnipeg to recharge from the first of our 3 self styled road rallies. I wouldn’t really recommend a trip, even as a stop off, in/to Winnipeg. We found it boring and didn’t really find much to do. Our hotel was at the edge of the TransCan #1 highway so we had the constant rumble of V8’s 24 hours a day, for me that was no bad thing, everyone seems to drive one over here in Canada.

We joined “The Canadian” on Thursday at Lunchtime, quite a train at about half a mile long, all stainless steel its quite a funky sight to behold and even though we travelled in economy (still £200 a ticket, each. though if you factor in we spend two nights on the train and travel 2500km it represents good value for the budget conscience traveller such as us. A cabin in the sleeper berths come in at £1000 each) comfort was much the same and if not more roomy than a first class carriage back over there in the UK. A good deal to me to travel through the Rocky Mountain ranges and be able to dine and have a few beers in the comfort of the Dining car, without the worry of watching my speed or the curtailment of any bar sessions.

The journey itself began out of Winnipeg as a quite mundane affair as was much of the first day aboard the train. We travelled over the prairies for a considerable distance of several hundred miles with nothing more to view from the window than field after field, as flat as the eye could see. To put it in perspective if you had fallen asleep 30 minutes after we had departed Winnipeg, then awoken again 6 hours later you would be hard pressed to spot a difference in the view from the window, it was if you hadn’t moved, such is the vastness of this great country. The train stopped off in Jasper in the Rockies which was full of ponces and people with too much money.

Vancouver was a lot more trendy and lively, we stayed at Jericho Beach which seemed to be where all the youngish crowds go for their barbys on the beach, a good few days here. Out of all the cities we visited in Canada Vancouver is my favourite just seems to have more character and be more friendly. Def worth a visit here, the city itself nestled in front of a mountain range, apparently you can swim in the bay then be up on ski slopes within an hour by car.

Greyhound from Vancouver to Seattle US border was typical yank over kill with a 100,000,000 questions about why you are coming to the US. After taking digital finger prints from both hands and a mugshot I was allowed in. Nothing of note for this leg.

Picked up our second hire car from Seattle airport a brand new Hyundai Accent with 500 miles on the clock. Why on earth it has a “sports mode” I don’t know. I’m sure its just a placebo; pressing it just seems to trigger a speaker under the bonnet that makes it sound like a bmx with a coke can stuck in the back wheel. No change in vehicle speed whether on or off.

The coast road we came down was mint but the views marred by fog coming through Washington State and Oregon great driving roads though but only hampered by the dam traffic cops who again actually police the road over here in there Ford Mustangs and RayBans.

Cooked the brakes coming down a steep and very long mountain pass which was a bit weird along with the smell, the only saving grace with our car is that her grandmother was made into a WRC car, obviously all of that development went to the grave with her as there’s not a trace of anything sporting on her granddaughter!!

Rolled into San Fran this afternoon over the Golden Gate bridge, currently holed up in a “boutique 1930’s decor” hotel which is blatantly a titivation of “never been decorated or modernised since 1930” still it has decent wifi so I’m happy.

Off to visit Alcatraz in the morning then making our way inland to Las Vegas to win some money and fly you guys out for an autotest in the MGM grand’s carpark.

Pics on Facebook rather than clogging up the forum.

Road rally USA leg 1 completed today...

Leg 2 begins in a few days...

And Dave, yeah teh council will spend money on abstract art but the town centre is a desolate sh1thole.

ONWARDS!!!

Gav Taylor

GOOGLE MAP OF OUR ROUTE IN CANADA & THE USA

Vegas in the morning, any tips on where to go Club Sec? We're staying at the Sahara Resort & Casino, where did you stay?

Gamble on!!

Hopefully I'll win enough to fly you boys over here and I'll draft Bob Clouston in from Hartlepool Mc to put on a autotest in the MGM Grand's carpark for us with a few Impreza N12's borrowed from Ken Block.

If you fancy coming over please tell me the following...

1. Colour scheme of your N12

2. What nationality of masseuse you require for a post event rub down / massage

3. Age range of said masseuse, by default I have preordered a 55-65 range for JTW.

4. An emergancy contact number in case you stack it and end up in the fountains, if none, your body will be buried in the Nevada desert, in a paupers grave; maybe with a be a little teddy if one of us is lucky enough to drop one from those 25 cent grabber machines like the ones in seaton carew.

5. Any special dietary requirements.

looking forward to seeing you lads.

Team Taylor.

joe_the_waiter

sounds like he's on the pop again.... hope Cat is driving.

club sec

Where have I stayed
Circus circus
Treasure Island
MGM Grand
Excalibur
Paris
Monte Carlo
Luxor
Imperial Palace
Caesars Palace
Gold Coast
Bellagio
Loews

Best were Loews and Paris.

If you want to gamble a bit with a decent success rate play double double bonus video poker, good returns, we won quite a lot on that.

Be prepared to put up at least $200 though! no point in gambling a couple of "bucks".

Gav Taylor

Morning Lads,

well no such luck in Vegas like so looks like there'll be no autotest.

Used the 20 dollar trick (google it if you dont know it) and got a 24th Floor suite

not bad for $35 a night!!

Mostly did the rounds every night having a dabble on the blackjack tables but nowt major, signed up for the players club for the free plays but no big wins to report.

Currently down in Needles in southern California which is on the old Route 66, headed down here from the Grand Canyon and Phoenix. Was a bit pissed you had to pay £25 to get into the Grand Canyon national park to be fair. Our tent is no place to be in June in the Mojave desert! forecast for the next few days below...

Looking forward to flying into winter to cool off when we leave the USA and head down under to New Zealand next week.a

Will bang some more pics on facey in the next week or so.

until we meet again....

joe_the_waiter

TWENTY FIVE POUNDS ???

Who is running the Grand Canyon...... Alan Gow & co?

Lake District National Park is far superior.... and its FREE.

its also "Made in England"

club sec

Funny that I always thought it was dollars in the USA, maybe those "injuns" fleeced you for your UK money too.

Gav Taylor

pounds or dollars, bit of a rip like. I admire your scrunity of the post though

Arrived in LA today just as Jacko popped his clogs so all but one of the TV channels in my hotel room this evening is covering his death, fair do's a couple maybe but 18 channels??

Test drove a 2009 4.6 V8 Mustang GT yesterday, awesome grunt and a truly epic thunderous soundtrack

mine for $25,000 I was told

joe_the_waiter

It was only a matter of time................

joe_the_waiter

next morning they decided to kick him out after a night of Gavs awful pisshead blabbering ......

joe_the_waiter

Gav Taylor

lol they use those old skool paper bags in supermarkets in the states Dave nee ruby in sight.

We've arrived in New Zealand in some pretty heavy winter rain, staying in Auckland for a few days then off round the North Island. The city was hit by 950 bolts of lightening last night according to the fit weather girl.

They like their rallying over here like, there was an hour long programme last night on "normal" tele covering a round of the NZ rally championship which was a welcome change. Mostly same as back home with Grp N impreza's / Evos and a few Fiestas in there own champo, as it back home.

Even on the Quantas flight from LA to Auckland the inflight entertainment had a 1.5 hour programme that followed SWRT on Finland last year, sweet! Probably C Atkinson that generates the following over here??

I must say its strange walking down the street and seeing the trees bare and having dark nights again.

enjoying the cold tho, after 110 degree heat. I hear the UK is having a little heat wave, how quaint

75 degrees in it?

Last random and pointless fact...I missed the 27 June 2009.

I took off from LA on the 26 June and landed in NZ on the 28 June, 13 hours later crossing the International Date Line.

I went from 8 hours behind you to 12 hours in front of you now.

slippy

Glad your enjoying yourself mate keep us up to date with your antics as it doesn't depress me at all having to go to work on this grey Monday morning whilst you jack it off abroad

Knob

club sec

RETURN OF THE SLIP.

Gav Taylor

club sec

"Jobs a job mate...somet I'll need to find when I come back! Easier said than done without a doubt".

Start practicing saying "Would you like fries with that"?

slippy

SLIP is back

Pug is going tonight unfortunatley but a possible new project is a foot, details TBC

Gav Taylor

Gav Taylor

joe_the_waiter

joe_the_waiter

If you go to the South Island... visit the Milford Sound and show respect to Andrew McAuley who kayak'd from Australia single handed, unsupported. Through some of the worlds worst sea only to perish within sight of the NZ mainland.

club sec

That isn't GME's policy so that is down to the local NSC.

Gav Taylor

club sec

Around the world in 80 gays.

club sec

I presume Gav is now lying dead in the Australian outback like most British backpackers.

joe_the_waiter

well, its been 8 days since ive heard from him... and my spy in Oz has nothing to report.......

Gav Taylor

lol outback is nowt compared to Langdale. in Bangkok now awesome lads!!

more updates to follow

joe_the_waiter

Gav........ Australia is a huge country..... and your account of six weeks there amounts to one sentence of six words. .... did you just jump on the back of a Kangaroo and bounce straight through it?????

Gav Taylor

ha aye Dave to be fair to was a bit breif in Oz like just headed up the coast with a 3000km Greyhound pass you can buy for about 200 quid

Aaah the sights and sounds of bangkok it certainly is a full on city here went to the ahem "shows" last night with a few mexicans (one of whom has just got out of hospital but swore it wasnt H1N1. Saw the usual ping pong stuff and she even let me hit a few back at her.

After that she fired a few darts out and popped some balloons about 6 feet away (maybe a new format for bullseye? would certainly beat watching phil taylor throw a few.) then wrote "I love thailand" holding a pen in a way that left her hands free. In a domestic setting it would be akin to writing a shopping list while doing the ironing, maybe a technique western girls should hone? She finished off by opening a few bottles of beer (would be a good ice breaker at a barby, etc) and pulling a string of razor blades out cutting some paper to confirm the sharpness. I mean wheres the fun in pulling blunt ones out?

off up to northern Thailand to tonight on an overnight sleeper train to Chiang Mai which has cost me about 6 quid for a sleeping berth..awesome! A few days is enough for now in Bangkok looking forward to a more chilled out city with less rats and beggars with their faces burnt off and limbs mashed up. (to be fair I've had worse

)

Had a bit of a nightmare last night as Barclays fraud dept put a bar on my card so I couldnt get any money out had to call them today and sort it out, apparently the system flagged it up. F**k knows but the panic sets in when you cant get any money out in Bangkok.

right off to get a few Changs and prepare for my train..luckily my 6 pound gets a private room inside the train.....

joe_the_waiter

...... How much did you pay someone for that story???
i guess paying for ladyboy shows in Bangkock would flag up in the Barclaycard office .... it'll be someone in the Stockton Barclaycard centre who is watching what your up to.

Anyway..... where were you on Wednesday when we had the SDMC AGM ??? being in Thailand is no excuse.. i'm sure you could of arranged a charter to Teesside for the day. I think your commitment is somewhat lacking of late....

club sec

he's probably in Aycliffe anyway locked in his room with 3 months supply of pot noodles and a sun bed, photoshopping pictures from lastminute.com.

joe_the_waiter

haha.... yes... theres a possibility. altho i'm sure a few bottles of something will accompany the noodles.....

Gav Taylor

Gav Taylor

well the final part of my trip beckons

decided to spend my last days on a so called paradise island called Koh Samui in the gulf of Thailand. Its about 1.5 hour boat ride from the mainland, a bit like phucket only a lot more chilled out.

booked into a badboy hotel though, should be a nice end before its back to aycliffe.

hello teak flooring by the pool....sweeeeeet

club sec

club sec

I don't think they have teak flooring in the job centre plus, so you'd best make the most of it.

Gav Taylor

ha thats the plan mate.

Playtime nearly over.

joe_the_waiter

Morning Mr Taylor... when you due back?

club sec

As soon as he has to sign on.

Gav Taylor

back on the 11th August Dave

and aye I will prob be signing on.

club sec

Well i'll still give you £95 for the Vectra as quoted before.

joe_the_waiter

i think one of the questions on the form is "have you been in the UK for the last 3 months?" ..... Gav, you will be classed an immigrant...

Gav Taylor

I thought if you were away for less than 6 months and you'd signed on before you left you can just do this rapid sign on thing JTW?

skodaman

That picture is out of a brochure Gav, you've been at a B&B in Blackpool i bet!

Gav Taylor

ha aye straight from the brochure Col, probably the islands main sewerage outlet just beyond the pool.

club sec

Forum hasn't been spammed in teh last week, Gav must have stopped using the dodgy sites in Thailand.

Did he survive the plane crash in Koh Samui?

Gav Taylor

well back in the UK at last, back to the real world.

Yeah by a strange fate we avoided the plane crash!

I got an "injection of solvency" for the last week of the trip and we were going to fly from Bangkok to Koh Samui as teh flight was only £70, but decided to get the sleeper train and ferry instead as we would have been way over with our baggage weights.

what a decision that turned out to be be, we would have been on that flight

now, where's that number for the dole office.

club sec

Yeah, get a job sponger.

Gav Taylor

ahhh nice to be back!

will need to find a job to pay off the 300 baht fine I recieved from the Thai police for riding a motorbike without a helmet.

club sec

What's that, 20p?

Gav Taylor