Viva Las Vegas!

Last weekend me and some of my best friends met up for an annual get-together, in Las Vegas. This year, however, marked a special event: Ben Wheeler's bachleror party.

I went to university with all these guys, we are in the same fraternity (Pikes!), and man did we have an incredible time in Vegas. So many stories, many of which cannot be published here, luckily a lot of the moments were captured on camera. You had to be there, to understand...

Ben: best wishes buddy!

Bye bye Vegas - man, that was a seriously memorable weekend. Not to be forgotten, well, maybe some parts are best forgotten :)

Saturday night - hey Mitch, where were you at night??

Saturday night

Wheeler the dance king

Saturday night

Saturday night

Saturday night dinner. About that dinner...some people had *problems* right after it.

Vegas by night

Poker Room full-time tenants: Bammon and Richie

Saturday at the pool

Saturday at the pool

Saturday at the pool

Pfeffer...uhm....yeah.

Friday nigth party time.

Uhm, sorry Pfeffer for cutting in on your rap....this one would have gotten my blessing.

Rood in the middle....he's also a great dancer.

Friday night

Bachelor Ben had a great time that night.

Friday nite

Everyone was all *smiles* Friday nite

Tongue man, flaunting it.

Trying to get 18 guys into a club - in the end, thanks to Pinckes' heightened diplomacy, we got in.

I remember this as being a sort of "tedious" moment...those in the know will understand....

Foles - looking ready.

In the limo, again.

The arrival of Pinckes marked a milestone in the festivities.

Partying in the limo

Me and Ken

Dinner at Ra

Richie (aka Mr. President & CEO) + Tuller

Foles and Ken - at Ra (sushi restaurant)

Hanging out at the bar - Friday PM.

On the right - Mr. Bachelor himself, Wheeler. Entourage is my buddies Foley, Phil, and our resident Kraut, Pfeffer.

Phil - hadn't seen him in like 15 years...

Let the games begin - Nowinsky grimacing.

Our hotel: The Rio. Awesome place.

Arriving in Las Vegas, a view of the suburbs (literally: the desert)

Mike was here for a week, we had a great time, kiteboarding 6 out of 7 days. As a bonus, he got a real taste of "Americana", being exposed to stuff like SUV's, glacial A/C in all indoor establishments, local TV station*junk* programs (e.g. headline news one night: cheerleaders drinking alcohol on a school trip), and even some intellectual conversations with local rednecks.

Tommorrow off to Las Vegas for the weekend Bachleor Party rage. Will post pics next week - they should be interesting....

Thanks for everyone's posts on my move to OZ!

Kiting Holly Beach

View of the beach.

Last weekend was insane - "Semana Santa". Half of Mexico (+ loads of locals from across the bridge) were here for their annual thing. Man it was madness!

Mike - all geared up. Truth has to be told - he had a bunch of stuff every morning, lugging it around from house to car. Me? Just my wallet and car keys.

Holly Beach

New car! For about 10 days now been driving this V8 tank - car rental agency gave it to me with no additional charge, due to the Nissan Pathfinder (previous rental car) being allocated to rental car sales. Gobs of power, and loads of space inside.

Kiting Holly Beach

Kiting Holly Beach (photographer was a bit late in capturing the apex of this air railey - Mike!!! kidding).

Kiting Holly Beach

Holly Beach - great kitespot, flat and shallowish water, steady wind. Too bad about about the miserable beach.

Australia here I come!

Yes, finally, after quite a bit of back and forth -and delays from an undisclosed department within my company-, I've accepted the offer from my company to work and live in Australia.

Target date is to start in Melbourne on May 16th. Very much dependent on how quickly the work visa can be processed, plus I have a million things to prepare for the move (house, furniture, quad, etc etc). Not looking forward to the pain of moving, but hey, nothing comes easy.

Sorry for the delay in updating the blog, I know. Been here 4 weeks now on South Padre Island, and it's been totally awesome: spring break, kiting, gym, meeting people, going out, sun, sun and more sun...can't complain.

3 more weeks and I return to Holland (April 27), but before that, a long weekend in Las Vegas for my friend's (Ben) bachelor party. All my university friends will be there, plus more, should be around 24 guys. Can't wait for that trip, it�s gonna be a serious 3 day rage.

Sunday my friend Mike will arrive from England, he'll be staying here on SPI for a week; I'll show him the rounds. Mike: prepare to kite, party, cook, and clean (haha kidding on the last two).