“Sorry guys I’m going to be 5 minutes late”. These 5 minutes needed to mentally prepare myself to meet a bunch of strangers I only had the privilege of meeting on the classic ‘Aussies In London’ Facebook page. A page dedicated to the essential Aussie banter, reminiscence of Shapes, a good Chicken Parmy, Tim tams, Vegemite and also welcomes those eager for a night out (without being the loner drinking at a bar desperate for some friends).
I would soon be spending 8 hours crammed in a ‘soccer mum’ hire car with possible serial killers or mood swingers (thankfully the risk of broken jaws was eliminated). So, there we were, five hopefuls dreaming of a white Christmas. With the weather soon diminishing our dreams, there was only one thing that could bring back Christmas cheer (at least for a solid few minutes) …. festive window stickers! And with snowflakes applied we headed for the Scottish Lands!
A broken seatbelt and a few wrong turns later we soon had our eyes fixated on the killer sunset as we hugged the coastline all the way to McKnight’s best kept secret. The mighty Sea Bank. Orphan Christmas was all go! These few days had it all, and what better way to start it than a pub feed followed by seeking out the hairy highland cows and abundance of expected seals (or rocks with eyes in which some spotted).
It was not long before typical Australian culture kicked in considering our fridge was chock a block with all your bottle-o selections and a fat turkey jammed between the shelves-to some our priorities were intact. With bevy’s shortly cracked open and bottle tops flung, competitive natures were soon brought out with a table cleared in seconds as the 2017 Christmas Beer Pong Championship was soon on our hands…or in cups I should say.
The seeked out Buckfast was flowing (a Scottish wine banned in most places for its high alcohol percentage and caffeine amounting for 6500 reports of disorderly behaviour and violence) and Club McKnight was open for business. Onsite DJ, dimmed lights and slight shuffling of furniture, this dining room was transformed, and with this came some serious groove and excessive twirls on the 60’s carpet screaming for a disco.
Several nights staring Spotify's Greatest Hits and our anthem was chosen, none other than The Proclaimer’s 500 miles (I’m gonna be). The kind of song that when heard in years to come will give you tingles head to toe and a smile plastered to your face. It was at this point these idiots became legends and consequently a legendary family was born.
Our legacy would live on. From riding down the stairs on a Budweiser box to slipping down cliffs my injuries were minimal but we all now have our own fair share of stories to tell.
"When I wake up, well I know I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be the man who wakes up next you ..But I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more.Just to be the man who walks a thousand miles to fall down at your door"
