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Chapter Fifty Six - Nick's Tour Diary

January 15 - Sun City, South Africa - Superbowl Arena

Welcome back to the Nick Channel. It's all Nick, all the time. We all took the day off yesterday to celebrate my son's first birthday. Ladies, only seventeen more years!

Webmaster's note: Now he's trying to pimp OUR son out. Trust me, Noah won't need any help getting women by the time he's eighteen...

The concert tonight was awesome. We haven't been in South Africa since the Black & Blue tour and even then we were only here for promotion. This time we each had our own personal car for us and our families. The police had erected a huge metal fence to keep the fans from getting to us. Not that we had to worry.

Besides the beautiful scenery, the other thing I remember about our South African fans is how polite they were. We crawled to a stop and I saw Kev hop out of his car. I unrolled my window.

"I'm going over to them," he said. Bri hopped out of his car.

We ended up standing at the fence for about a half hour taking pictures and signing autographs. It was completely stress-free. I had no fear that someone was going to rip off my clothes or steal a huge chunk of my hair.

By the time we got back in our cars I was really looking forward to the show.

We all agreed as we got ready for the show that we weren't going to take ten more years to come back and visit. There were several times during the course of the show where I stuck my microphone out into the crowd and you guys sang back to me word for word.

Those are the moments we live for.

January 16 - A Day off in Cape Town

Today was a rest day. We took a super short flight from Sun City to Cape Town.

Kevin has had his eye on Table Mountain since the first time we visited. After we got checked into the Radisson, he managed to talk all of us, even Brian, into taking the cableway up to the top.

No one told me that there were shops and restaurants at the top. Our wives were drawn to the stores like moths to flames. Our kids were drawn to the food like rabid dogs.

Brian had a slight panic attack. Kev decided that he was invinicible and walked right out to the very edge. Bri crawled out to him and grabbed onto his shirt. Now that is true family devotion.

After taking the cableway back down, we headed out to the beach. My daughter found her first ever seashell. I was going to rent a surfboard, but I've already had two falls this tour. With the way my luck is going, there would probably have been a hungry shark in the water that wanted to make me his lunch.

By the time we arrived back at the hotel, most of us were burnt. Even with sunblock, I was feeling a little crispy. The only one of us that went from pasty Puerto Rican to Mr. Tan was Howie.

Sometimes life just isn't fair.

January 17 Cape Town, South Africa - Cape Town Stadium

We woke up early this morning and did a photo shoot in the banquet hall at the hotel. The hairdressers and stylists fell in love with Noah and Brooke. While they were spiking my hair they did Noah's too. They also painted Brooke's toes. I have to admit that I have extremely good looking children.

Webmaster's note: For once, I agree with Nick. He has amazing genes.

Speaking of kids...I think Mason's in love. The daughter of AJ's nanny has this crazy curly redhair. One of the hairdressers told her that if she sat still long enough she could make it flat. I don't think Mason knew what hit him when she hopped out of the chair. Kev better get ready to have hyperactive ginger grandchildren, haha.

Kev's note: For the record, Mason is only five years old. Nick has an overactive imagination. Shelby and Mason are just friends. Liv really shouldn't let him be the only one to write our tour blog...

Webmaster's note: For Kevin's sake, I'm really beginning to rethink this...

Anyhow, after the shoot, we headed to Cape Town Stadium for VIP. I got to do the backstage tour. I showed everyone our dressing room and the family room. I'm just glad none of our wives are currently breastfeeding. One time I did a tour while Leigh was feeding baby James in the family room. She was not happy. Of course, while I was explaining some of the benefits of having a seperate room for the kids, Brian had to jump in and explain how he was the master visionary for the creation of the family room.

Show-off.

Mason finally got his chance to introduce us tonight. Unfortunately he got carried away and started tossing little things that he had stored in his pockets at the crowd. Kev's wife Addy had to run on stage and get him off.

Brian pulled a pretty good prank tonight. He talked one of our dancers to wear a fake arm. We were in the middle of You Can Let Go. I went to twirl her and her arm freakin' popped off right in my hands. I screamed and did the first thing I could think of which was to get rid of the evidence. I'm just hoping some poor person in the audience didn't get pelted with it. If you did, I'm really sorry.

Anyhow, I'm getting ready for bed. We have one more show in Cape Town. I hope some of you are going to be repeat offenders. If so, I'll see you tomorrow!

January 18 Cape Town, South Africa - Cape Town Stadium

It's our last day in Africa. I'm going to be sad to leave. Not only could I stay outside and just stare at the water all day, but I'm also not looking forward to the long trip back to Florida.

I totally embarassed my wife tonight. I brought her out onstage and serenaded her with an acoustic rendition of All My Heart. She puts up with a lot of my crazy crap and I wouldn't be half the man that I am today if it wasn't for her. She's the yin to my yang...the mustard to my ketchup...the doughnuts to my coffee...the...

Webmaster's note: Nick went on for about a page and his comparisons kept getting more and more ridiculous. Trust me, you're better off not knowing.

Right before our last encore, we were surprised when an official from Cape Town came out onstage. We were presented with a key to the city and an open invitation to come back whenever we want. A little birdie told me that you guys have been sending in letters for months asking the city to do that.

On behalf of the whole group, I want to say that it's an honor to feel so welcomed. You guys made our time here unforgettable.

But, all good things must come to an end. It's time to enjoy a few days at home before heading to the land down undah. Which reminds me...I need to make sure I have some Men at Work on my IPod.

Hugs and kisses!!

-- Nick