George Verney

After spending a week in L'Argentière-la-Bessée playing with water, canyons and mountains James and I departed for pastures new.

I thought Via Ferrata and capsizing a kayak was scary, but nothing could have prepared me for the journey over the Alps! We had rain on Saturday and Sunday - lots of it - and it was still hammering down when we set off. We told Ol` Unreliable (the sat nav) where we wanted to go and to avoid the toll roads and what not and boy did it pick us a peach of a route.

I am sure that the road it picked to clear the Alps would have, under normal circumstances, been a slow and pleasant ascent offering undeniable beautiful views of what lay below. However, due to the rain we were treated to driving through thick cloud that reduced visibility to a matter of feet and of course the French had neglected to add any safety barriers on this narrow, windy mountain pass! Oh dear.

I guess it comes as no surprise that we survived the intrepid journey and I bet you have no idea where we have ended up (hint: look at the post title)...

So we have been staying with a friend that I met whilst globetrotting last year in Australia and treated to all the touristy delights the beautiful city of Neuchâtel. So what does a tourist in Switzerland get up to? Well we have wandered around the entirety of the city centre (Neuchâtel is a pretty small place, to be fair), visited a watch museum, toured and sampled all the chocolate we could get our mitts on in the Cailler factory and lots more.

I guess by now it is also needless to say that whilst being here I have done something that has truly terrified me too. This time it was in the form of a tree top walk. Now that sounds nice and easy, "walk", but this was far from that! Think via ferrata in the trees, 10-20m up in the air. Did I mention that I really don`t like heights? No matter, it is great fun!

Also in Neuchâtel this week is their annual Buskers Festival which has been absolutely superb! Fantastic and interesting music of all genres being performed live on the streets in the evenings by a whole host of talented folk. Most enthralling of all though had to be the jam session last night. This seemed to have at least one member from every act joining in on their preferred instrument - be that a banjo, drum, shaker, microphone, bass guitar or who knows what else! Quite extraordinary to say the least.

Sadly lack of laptop battery is cutting this post short so I guess I best tell you where we are heading next in case I do not get the chance over the next few days... First stop is a brief stop in a "real Swiss chalet" courtesy once again of our lovely hosts followed by more river based fun in the form of the Ardeche river.

Ciao,
George 

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Written around 6am on 28th July 2011

I think I probably kept these travel plans a little quieter than the ones from last year, but that's mostly because I am useless and also because... well, I'm useless!

So what am I doing in France? My friend James and I are spending the next month driving around the place with very little in the way of fixed plans. So who knows? But that's part of the fun: watch this space!

Sadly though, this trip is not in the campervan, Lily, as originally planned as her engine died about a month ago and even if I had her fixed in time I don't think I would have been confident running a freshly rebuilt engine in on quite such an epic journey! So our transport comes in the form of a mighty Ford Focus estate. James' mighty Ford Focus estate, to be precise!

This has been semi-planned for a good few months now but as is my attitude to most things in life - "don't worry, we'll just see what happens!" - not much in the way of actual planning went ahead...

So last night at 11:30pm James arrived on our doorstep and I gave my family a big, goodbye-and-see-you-in-around-a-month squeeze and with that our adventure began!

The drive to Dover was a breeze and we made it with plenty of time to spare. Being over-cautious about timings seemed to be going rather well!

So up to the ferry, uh, place (port?) we appeared, without a reservation, which I neglected to do the previous night in another over-cautious move. You know, just in case...

...turns out that's not always such a bright idea! An online price of £39 pre-booking was turned down in favour of turning up and paying the begrudgingly handsome sum of £112.50! Oops, my bad.

We counted and coughed up our pennies to hand over the the far-too-cheerful-before-5am P&O ferries chap and in exchange we were given a whole two pieces of paper: something to hang on the rear-view mirror of the mighty motor and an easy to lose slip with a barcode on, which at this moment in time I have no idea the purpose.

And that brings us to now. I am sat on the top deck of the ferry - Deck 9 to be exact (!!) - with my buddy James, tip-tapping out this post. James is a little tired and I am simply bouncing off the walls in excitement but sure to hit The Wall soon enough.

Well, I best wrap this up for now and get a baked bean and hash brown breakfast down me!

 

* * *

 

Written around 4pm on 30th July 2011

Woah, this has all gone a bit fast! Currently chilling in a caravan awning in L'Argentière-la-Bessée with a couple of very lovely families (companions of James) who have been spectacularly welcoming and brilliant!

For instance: yesterday I got back in to kayaking in a big way... I actually capsized! I have had a terrible fear of going upside down in a boat - especially whilst wearing a spraydeck - since I had a pretty horrific experience in my former paddling days. So not only did i capsize, I capsized a lot! This was in a practice pool just off the moving water where I was accompanied by 4 other kayakers who showed me the ropes and ensured that I was safe. I learned a hell of a lot in just a few hours. Enough, in fact, to go and play on the moving water for real - that was my first time and it won't be my last while I'm here!

What else? Well, today we went canyoning, which is freaking awesome! For those of you like me, who had never heard of canyoning until now, think of it like this: put on a wetsuit, shoes and a helmet and go find a canyon with a river running through and go nuts! We climbed, bumped and floated our way downhill for a good few miles encountering jumping pools and other various fun obstacles along the way. There was another first today too actually... abseiling. Holy crap that's scary. Can't say I want to repeat that in a hurry, but we'll see. I have never been a good one for heights, even less so when there are ropes involved. Pretty irrational, huh?

What about before we got to our campsite: lots of driving. I think we have covered about 1300 miles already! We went through Belgium and even to Luxembourg where we spent a good half day. Luxembourg is apparently the country with the worlds highest GDP so as you can imagine, it is a bit special. Whilst soaking up the sites (and playing on the pirate ship play park) we also meandered over to some hot air balloons. These balloons turned out to be giant adverts tethered to the ground that lead us straight to a road cycling race. 85 laps of a street course in the south of Luxembourg city! We were told that this was part of Le Tour de France by a local and we believed it: there certainly was a lot of signage indicating that it was. But seeing as that particular spectacle finished a week ago, I doubt it. Either way, a great way to spend an afternoon!

I guess I should wrap up for now, I have finished nibbling breadsticks and hummus and I feel like I might just go lounge in the 26 degree sunshine that we are currently having to suffer though ;)

Speak soon and all the best,
George

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If you've known me for any reasonable length of time (around 15 minutes or more) you probably know that I am, and pretty much always have been, obsessed with Volkswagen camper vans.

This obsession started a dozen-or-so years ago when my family borrowed a camper from family friends, The Ashbys - the lovely folks behind Bristol Volksfest, for a camping holiday in Scotland. At this time I was still a resident of The South (close to Bristol City FC since you were asking) and so the trip to Scotland in a 25+ year old vehicle was no mean feat!

If my childhood memories are correct, we made it a little over half way before the unfamiliar territory of the hard shoulder became an unscheduled stopping point. With instructions to the recovery vehicle to simply follow the dotted line of oil we left in our wake, the camper van escapade had started well.

After lengthy tow to my aunty and uncles farm in Scotland my dad was able to chuck on some overalls and sit under the bus to work out what had brought us, and our proposed camping holiday, to such a halt: a blown engine. Great.

Well after a few days of an impromptu adjustment of holiday plans my father had the old girl running again using magic, wizardry and a ver Heath Robinson boot lace, no doubt. So back on the road we were to head, this time homeward bound, as our short leisure break was coming to an end.

A mere mile after setting off another call was put in to the lovely recovery services requesting a lift home!

This was my first contact with the majestic VW Type 2, and I'm sure now you've had an insight, you might think I am simply mad for wanting one for myself. True. Nobody sensible goes out and buys a vehicle that is over 30 years old, do they?

Well I have gone and done just that: my long awaited dreams have finally come true in the shape of a pink (no, seriously) 1971, right-hand-drive, tin-top, bay window type 2 crossover model!

I would love to have some pictures to upload with these words, but sadly those must wait a little while longer. Just use your imagination; you all know what these lovely machines look like, right? Now take that image and apply rust, cracks and some seriously pink paint below the white[ish] roof and voilà; lovely, isn't it?

So why aren't you being treated to pictures just yet? Well, as I am sure you have already guessed quite correctly, the van is sat on the back of an RAC recovery vehicle making its slow journey north. I picked up the van from Havant, near Portsmouth, on Tuesday 11th January 2011 and began the 270 mile return journey to the bright lights of The North.

As my Pa and I drove down that morning and the fun and games with paperwork (tax and insurance), by the time we were ready to hit the road the light was starting to fade. A quick check of the lights turned in to a half hour of tweaking and testing till we got them all working again. Ready and raring to go the keys were placed in to my eager little mitts and off we drove in to the sunset.

Only to stop at the end of the sellers road due to a sudden loss of power (ha)! Luckily this was just a case of one of the battery connections hopping off and so was an easy fix. Back on the road we went with our first stop being the local Asda petrol station a couple of miles down the road which we made without a hitch. I filled her up and was just pootling off when the soon-to-be-familiar flashing from my father in the following Ford made me stop and park up at the end of the forecourt. "Your back lights have stopped" was the grumbled diagnosis.

After much fiddling everything was working again and I am happy to announce that I am fairly certain I can perform this minor wiring surgery myself upon next requirement (did I mention that I am a novice when it comes to electrics, bodywork and mechanics?). For those of you keeping score that is breakdown number 2, and so far we have only covered a couple of miles!

Once again we were on the road and pretty soon we were on the motorway where I could really stretch the vans legs. What a fun ride! Underpowered, slightly unpredictable yet somehow completely adorable. I am already in love.

We must have covered a good 75 miles before I pulled off at a motorway service station. Don't worry, this stop was for me and not for my new ride. I didn't feel too comfortable driving without being able to feel my fingers and toes! Whilst this van does have heat exchangers allowing for hot air from the engine (which, remember, is wayyy at the back of the vehicle) to be blown in to the cab - they didn't seem to be working - leaving my poor extremities to feel the pinch of the wintry conditions even through my gloves!

So Pa and I swapped places after we decided that we weren't going to manage the remaining journey that day and took a minor detour to stay at his sisters in Oxford. Back on the road in the more modern motor I cranked the heat up to full and was treated to the beautiful view of my new motors' behind for the next 10 minutes till we took a brief stop at a Tesco to pick up some dinner. Loaded up with some grub, the obligatory beers, and a wee gift for my aunty for putting us up for the night we trotted merrily back to the van... only to find that it would not start: breakdown #3! I snuggled the Ford up to the back of the camper and attached the jump leads. Weirdly she didn't start on first attempt, but after a little patience the exhaust exhaled its obnoxiously loud, yet somewhat appealing, note. This would be the last of our problems and we parked up in Oxford, had tea, a couple of pints and hunkered down for some well earned sleep.

To be continued...

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This is awful. I've not blogged in a terribly long time and have next to no excuse for it.

Just because my travels have ended, doesn't mean that this blog is over! I will continue to write about what happened on my travels (because there's so much I haven't divulged to you yet!) and write some more details about specific events/places and what not. Perhaps you will be treated to more than 9 words describing the best thing ever!

And because I have the travelling bug pretty bad, I'm certain I will be visiting other people and places as soon as my moth-filled wallet will allow.

I will be back on a proper writing schedule soon - so don't stray too far.

Cheers,
George 

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So here I am leaving Cairns, where I have spent the last week-or-so and boy does it know how to rain here! Sadly, because Australia is built up around the prospect of being outside 99% of the time, there isn’t a huge amount to do here during the downpours so luckily I am now sat on an aeroplane ready to hit up the middle of this country to see a big red rock in what I imagine can only be described as a desert.

Outside of the rain, sadly I have been ill. I know, I know, I have been rattling on about it for weeks, but it got seriously worse while in Cairns (cue lavish amounts of sympathy). So bad in fact that I felt the need to see the doctor who was kind enough to prescribe me some antibiotics, some butt-kicking menthol-eucalyptus stuff and more pain killers than any one man can take. This was 3 days ago now and I am pleased to announce that I am [clearly] healthy enough to fly, the swellings have gone down, the headaches are less and less frequent & intense and my fever has yet to return – hooray!

But enough of the mundane and miserable; what else has Cairns had to offer despite the torrents?

Well, Monday started with a scare: two failed bungy attempts followed by a walk of shame back to the base of the tower. Why can’t I manage a second one, even after knowing that the bungy I did in Taupo was spectacular? The jump in Cairns is a mere 3 metres higher than my virgin leap, so I don’t get what the problem was. I was glad to be given a voucher that entitles me to another try, so happily I booked in for Saturday but that was one of my exceptionally low days on the illness scale, so I had to cancel it – aaarh!

Tuesday was a hugely fun-filled day. I went on Uncle Brians Fun, Falls & Forest tour and it is the best single-day trip I have been on in Australia – I really cannot recommend it highly enough. If you are in Cairns and have a spare day and $109 then you’d be a fool to miss out. The first stop on the trip is the rainforest, where we encountered all sorts of creepy things: spiders, flies and even a snake that had recently consumed a chicken whole. The rainforest section was topped off nicely with some beautiful views of the falls and a clear-green creek that you can go swimming in. Our guide decided that the water levels were good enough to skip this paddle though so we could spend some more time at the-waterfalls-whose-name-escapes-me.

This waterfall-pool-waterfall-pool-waterfall-pool-etcetera was another beaut. Sure the water was, ahem, refreshing, but the drenching was worth it for the rock-slide! Because of the way the water cascades in to the last pool, the rocks surface has eroded away to become incredibly smooth. So friction free in fact that you can (read: I did) throw yourself down it stomach first without so much of a scratch – what fun!

Our next stop was a visit to Mr Lunch. Can you guess why he has been given this prestigious title? Fabulous food, even for us vegetarians, and don’t even get me started on the dessert. With a bus full of contented stomachs we headed to Millaa Millaa falls which you may just recognise... Do you remember the Timote and Herbal Essences (cannot find youtube links, sorry!) adverts? What about the mysterious girl video? I know what you’re thinking, and yes, I’ve been to this tranquil and cool 40ft high waterfall and performed a perfect hair flick just like in the advert!

The last and final stop on Uncle Brians bus was a lake in an extinct volcano. Our last stop was also the warmest and possibly most fun: there’s a pier with railings to jump off/on/over. I think the rest of the team thought I was a bit nuts, but as I mentioned before I am born to be in the water and I have a recent history of fairly stupid/extreme things. The guide even showed me a tree I could climb out on and jump out of (see video) that was a good few metres from the waters’ surface – pretty awesome – even if I do say so myself.

The last thing before our laughter (and Elmo) filled sing-a-long ride home was a dose of platypus spotting. “Not every tour gets to see these funny little mammals” warned our guide, Cousin Brad. We were a very lucky bunch that day! We didn’t just see one platypus, oh no, we saw two. Two platypus’ making sweet, platypus love!

The next morning I went to visit the Great Barrier Reef. I definitely wasn’t feeling 100% that day which is why I wasn’t able to go diving (unable to pressurise due to sinus blockage) but at least I could go snorkelling! The day started bright dull and early at the marina/harbour (I have no idea what the difference is) and much to my joy it wasn’t raining and it didn’t look too choppy.

Sadly [and obviously] out on the open ocean it was a very different story; some of the waves were over 2m high, making for a surprisingly fun ride out on the front deck getting splashed and rocked around. Thank goodness for sea-sick tablets otherwise the journey might not have been so enjoyable! I think it took a little under 2 hours to get to our little patch of reef, just off Green Island.

Because it is “stinger” (that’s jellyfish to you and me) season and I have experienced what it is like to be got by one of these horrible beasties I donned the ever-so-sexy stinger-suit: a thin, rubbery wetsuit. To top off my alluring attire I put on my bright green flippers, yellow life-preserver (I figured snorkelling is best done lazily so this meant I didn’t even have to swim – score!) and orange goggles and snorkel.

My new favourite phrase that I use to justify most of the silly things I do while travelling is this: “confidence is the feeling you have before you realise what’s going on”. With this in mind, I was the first to leap in to the salty blue ocean...

 Once I had floated back to the surface after my initial splash I heard the word that sent shivers up my spine: “shark”!

“What, where?” I hastily replied.

“About 3 feet in front of you!” was the response. Oh dear. I popped my head under the water and scoped out the water in front of me. “It’s right there George!”. I am squirming around, panicking about what might happen next and then, then I see it. Relief replaced fear and I pop my head out of the water and call back to the people on the boat “It’s tiny!”

Becky, our dive guide smirks and says “don’t worry, these guys are harmless to humans”. I’m not going to lie – I was spooked – completely terrified that I had leapt in to an early, watery grave. I swam with [small] sharks and lived to tell the tale.

Snorkelling on the reef was more magical than I could have imagined. You would not believe how vibrant the colours are; some even seemed to glow like UV under a black-light. And the fish! Oh so many different kinds of fish everywhere, seemingly undisturbed by our presence mere inches away. I could have spent the whole afternoon lazily floating above the reef but I started to feel a chill that forced me back to the boat. This is when my day went a little downhill: how could I have a chill in water that is nearly 30 degrees? Ah well, it was pretty much worth it for 45 minutes of bliss on the Great Barrier Reef!

Outside of these planned activities I didn’t do too much: I hung out with friends, visited the skate park (which is awesome!), played in the lagoon, ate, shopped, drank, slept and said goodbye to some of the most amazing people I have met on my travels. You all know who you are – I can’t thank you enough for making my east coast trip so memorable despite all the silly cyclones and rain. I wish you all the safest and best travels and hopefully we can bump in to each other again soon.

Ciao for now,
George

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Enough of the worries, what good things have been going on since Fraser Island?

Well, as the post title hints, I’ve been pretty busy (my manful cold doesn’t stop me!) acting out some new roles.

The first of these has quickly become my favourite and so when I was in 1770, the last real surf spot on the east coast, I spent more than my fair share of time in the water! Emily and I decided the previous night that we would both roll down to the surf shop in the morning and take part in the cheapest surf lesson ever: $17 for 3 hours. That’s not a misprint, that’s really what it cost!

After a brief introduction of the basics (read: repeat of what we learned in Spot-X) I eagerly ran back in to my natural habitat. Happy in the water I rode more waves that morning that I have probably done combined and I even started trying to work out turning! I guess by now you all know how I feel about surfing, but one more time for full effect: I LOVE IT!

A few hours and a shower later I was ready to burn some rubber. I was very apprehensive at the prospect of riding a motorcycle but these “Scooteroos” (mini chopper bikes) were so easy to ride that my fears were left eating dust.

The following day the bus left 1770 headed for a cattle station called Kroombit. Good, old-fashioned, British scepticism crept further over my with every mile but as soon as I stepped off the bus I knew I needed to change from my shorts, t-shirt and thongs (that’s sandals/flip-flops to us pommes) in to my blue jeans and checked shirt. To top off my outfit I donned a bandanna and a rather fetching (ha!) cowboy hat. Looking the part we went and wrestled goats, cracked whips and rode a mechanical bull like all real-fake cowboys do. I didn’t enjoy the goat thing because I thought that using them as toys was cruel, but cracking a whip and falling off a metal cow was a good giggle. The Kroombit stop certainly beat my expectations.

I have spent the last two nights partying my troubles away in Airlie Beach, which is going to become the centre of all the chaos come Sunday. Luckily the Oz Experience people have come good and have put extra busses on to get people out of there should they want to (they will certainly want to by tomorrow!) so that’s where I am now [edit: at the time of writing, not posting]; sat on an express bus through to Cairns, still drunk from last nights’ antics.

Speak soon,
George

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Sadly this entry is not going to be too chipper as I have some bad
news to deliver.
The first piece of news is that ever since
I have been ill. A combination of too little sleep and not wrapping up
warm enough at night on the blob of sand in the sea has left me with a
lovely cold.

Now I won’t go as far and say that this is man-flu, because there are
2 other girls that have the exact same thing and as we all know, girls
can’t have man flu. They have no idea how lucky they are! However,
this is by far the worst cold I’ve ever had; partly because I am so
far from home comforts such as my own bed, alpaca jumper and all the
daytime TV my melted mind can take, and because I am lucky to be able
to breathe through one nostril at the best of times. The aching
muscles, frequent headaches and blocked ears aren’t helping matters
either.
But enough of my whinging, because the next piece of news casts
shadows over my wellbeing so great that you can hardly make them out
in the darkness... have caused the Whitsundays
operators to cancel all boat trips until further notice!
I was supposed to be heading out on a 45-person party boat called on Saturday and my childlike excitement has been quashed. But
wait, that’s not the end of my problems as the cyclones imminent
arrival screws up my trip to Magnetic Island (highly unlikely the
ferries will be running there either), my chances of wakeboarding in
Airlie Beach are slim-to-none and the northbound busses are already
full for the next couple of days so I can’t rush up to Cairns for
safety and bungy jumping!
So as you can see, this stupid swirl of wind has had a devastating
domino effect on my plans. When I hit civilization in 5 or so hours I
will be able to make some phone calls and work out what to do next!
That’s all for now from a rather disgruntled and sniffly George,
Peace out

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Yesterday (edit: now 2 days ago – silly internet connections here!) I
returned from Fraser Island: the worlds’ largest sand island.

The prospect of spending 3 days and 2 nights camping on a large lump of sand
in the ocean was pretty unappealing, especially when you consider the high
chances of more torrential rain and a distinct lack of shower facilities...
either way I loved it.

The colossal volume of rain that hit us on the first night was a bit of a
dampener, the hangovers that followed mass goon consumption were a mild
nuisance and the distinct lack of sleep caused by uneven camping grounds
have now caught up; but these factors were only blips on an otherwise
perfect timeline.

Friday morning rolled in much too soon; a sharp 6:45am shower followed by
pancakes smothered with PB&J were a great way to raise the spirits of those
of us whose eyelids were struggling under their own weight. This was
followed up by another long 2 hours of briefing and packing the cars ready
for the start of our new adventure.

The 10 of us that made up Group-E were ready to hit the road in no time.
There were no volunteers for the first section of driving, so bravely I
stepped up and took the wheel. Luckily Australians are clever enough to
drive on the correct side of the road which meant that even after 2 months
away from the driver’s seat I was comfortable enough manoeuvring the
lumbering 4x4 that we were now calling home out of the yard and road-bound
for our ferry.

I never thought driving an 11-seat, gas-guzzling Land Cruiser would be such
fun! I drove at least once each day, entrusted with the safety of my new
family of friends, avoiding as many bumps and holes and streams as possible,
ensuring as smooth of a ride as I could possibly deliver. Off road driving
has certainly gained a new appeal.

We departed the boat on Fraser and headed immediately up the eastern coast
to our furthest allowed destination: Indian Head. Not more than 2 minutes on
the summit of the headland and the heavens opened with force. This would
just be the start of the weather we would enjoy for the next 12 hours.

With the sea now on our left we headed down the island to find our
“suggested” camp spot for the night. With the tides rising fast we decided
to abandon our search and set up camp wherever we could. 4 out of 6 groups
convoyed off the beach and proceeded to set up camp. Our gang managed to set
up our tents just in time.

We all woke early and in surprisingly good spirits. The blue skied morning
was welcomed happily as we packed up ready to go find Lake McKenzie. A
seemingly endless drive inland eventually graced Team-E with one of the most
breathtaking sights I have been lucky enough to witness. Water this blue
only exists in postcards.

Before too long we had to be out of the water and back on the “road” so we
could find camp before high-tide hemmed us in. This time we found the
perfect spot – a good 50m from the beach on higher, tree-surrounded ground –
a safe haven from the gales. Learning from the mistakes from the previous
night a proper plan was sought and executed. 4 on tent-duty, 3 on cooking, 2
on wash-up and 2 on wind-breaker: Team-E had camp set up, food prepared,
enjoyed and cleaned up all before sun down.

Naturally this meant we could crack open the goon early and get the party
started! Forty people camped in the same spot that night and it was probably
the best “night out” I have had in Australia so far.

The heat is starting to get to me now so I’m going to wrap this up and go
jump in an icy shower (it’s not icy by choice; it is the only option there
seems to be in this crazy hostel)!

Speak again in a few,
George

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So here we are – a second bright and sunny day in a row in Australia. The weather has been so poor over the last week or so that the sunshine has come as quite a surprise!

So where was I when we last spoke? I believe I was about to leave Sydney on the start of the Oz Experience, so I guess that’s where we will start off today...

The Oz Ex so far has been fun. The bus rides are no Kiwi Experience because we drive on motorways through relatively uninteresting landscape. However socially, they are equally fun.

One of the best things about travelling alone (my cousin Sam was only with me for the New Zealand leg of the trip (miss you cus!)) is that you are almost forced to be social; otherwise you will end up lonely. These travels have been so good for me: my confidence has never been better and my outlook and attitude have changed drastically. A mere 2 months or so ago I would have rarely, if ever, approached a complete stranger and introduced myself, or done half of the fun/stupid things that I’ve racked up so far.

Anyway, back on track with the current affairs. My first stop after Sydney was “Spot-X” surf camp, which I wrote a wee bit on here (photos to follow as soon as I can get them sorted!) which was, despite the horrible levels of rain, superb. The accommodation left a little to be desired, but that wasn’t why I was there.

The next stop: Byron Bay for lots more surfing! 4 surf sessions in 3 days – it was pretty non-stop hardcore. Honest. The conditions were far tougher than at the surf camp, so I was on the board a disappointing number of times in comparison to my first try. But persistence and passion prevailed and I am really getting the hang of this lark.

A number of people from the bus didn’t enjoy Byron, but I find it really hard to see why. Where we stayed was 5 minutes from the beach, on the main street near all the good bars and shops and did I mention that it was only 5 minutes from the beach? Our rather expensive ($35 a night), apartment-style accommodation at Holiday Village entitled us to free bike, boogy and surf board rental, which more than recuperated the cost.

Word of advice for people going to Byron Bay: don’t even bother with Cheeky Monkeys – it’s a rubbish bar with foul staff working the doors. A few friends of ours were kicked out after having 2 drinks a piece for “being too drunk” and something that happened the night I went I’m pretty sure was illegal (yet another story not publishable online).

My other piece of advice for Byron is to head up to the lighthouse where you can visit the easternmost point of Australia which, if nothing else, entitles you to the boast of visiting there.

After 3 days of fun in Byron it was back on the bus up to Surfers “Paradise”. This place is definitely not paradise. Not even close. Apparently this is the tourist capital of the Gold Coast, which explains its bizarre 2-storey-next-to-80-storey landscape, mini golf and “theme park” concentration, but doesn’t shed any let on why it has one of the worst beaches on the Gold Coast stretch.

Luckily for me I had met some lovely people during my stay in Sydney who lived pretty close to surfers so met up with them on the first night while the rest of my group went on a club-crawl (I know, right?). That night I ended up at a house party followed by a bar near the beach where a friend of a friend of theirs was DJ-ing.

The next morning I checked out of the crappy hostel as Kora and her mum Krista had offered to put me up for the night. I can’t thank them enough for their hospitality and saving me from another stuffy night in the hostel where everybody knows your name.

I was picked up late morning my Lauren and Bel and driven up north to meet up with Kora and head further still to a remote piece of rainforest. After being terrified by the prospect and stories of leeches (as a needle-phobe, such blood-sucking creatures strike me with fear) we walked up stream.

Now you won’t find this on any National Trust or local map because the land that the river runs through is all privately owned, so I was extremely privileged to be able to wander up to a stunning, clear, blue waterfall. The 4 of us spent hours in and out of the water toying with Kora’s waterproof camera, jumping off rocks and swimming about. It was as serene and beautiful as it was surreal and peaceful – what an incredible way to spend the afternoon.

To top the day off we headed to Burleigh beach after sundown to chill to the beats of a drum circle whilst being mesmerised by people playing with fire-sticks and fire-poys. Apparently this hippy-type gathering occurs nearly every week in this spot and it was spectacular.

The following morning I was lifted back to the Transit Centre (thanks again Krista!) where my beaming smile was met with faces that smacked of tiredness and displeasure. Not everyone had had as good of a time as I!

We piled back on the bus and headed further up the coast where the group I had been travelling with previously got off at Brisbane (another city) while I travelled a good few hours more to Noosa. Boy am I glad I stayed here! Other than the dire accommodation everything else I have done here has kept me grinning from ear to ear. Not even my sunburnt back will stop me smiling.

The first night was spent exploring the local area, cooking dinner with my new friend Joe and drinking copious amounts of goon with some random German people. Goon, for those of you not yet aware, is a cheap, “wine-like” beverage that comes in a box with the following guidelines scrawled on the back: “may contain traces of milk, fish egg and nut products”! Sounds disgusting, eh? Well believe it or not; it isn’t! The one we drank that night tasted decidedly like apple juice – yum.

One mild hangover later I was awoken by a text message from a friend I made on the Kiwi Experience: Sara. She has been staying in Mooloolaba with her brother and we had hinted about a catch up over Facebook when in Oz. A few hours later I met her at the transit centre an headed straight to the beach where we met up with Joe and Bastien.

I didn’t think I would enjoy such a lazy day – I started off itching to go surfing and/or kayaking – but truth be told I was glad to give my mind and body a rest. Because of all the rain and the fact a river runs directly in to the bay, the water took on a dark-brown shade. Not a mucky nor muddy colour, but a clear, deep, dark colour. The effects of this discolouration could be greater appreciated when we visited the lake: this body of water was much stiller than that of the open ocean so the reflections came out strong. We ended up returning to the lake as the sun was falling towards the horizon and were treated to quite a spectacle.

Once dark, we walked back to the transit centre and saw Sara on her way before making the short walk back to the hostel ready to crash out and sleep as soon as the key was in the door.

This brings us up to now: sat in a coffee shop with Joe, sorting through travel plans and photos, relaxing until our 3pm bus departure. Lovely!

Speak soon,
George

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Written March 3^rd 2010, posted only now because I’ve been waiting for the accompanying photos and still am...

Today I started the Oz Experience and while I was initially sceptical – 9 hours till our overnight stop, “Spot-X” (Arrawarra) – it has been sweet as so far!

The journey was really rather enjoyable, despite the wind, rain and grey clouds. The greatest thing about the time spent on the bus is the people you meet and the first bus ride with a brand new group of strangers is always going to be fun.

A great night was had with plenty of drinking, including my first taste of “goon”, lots of games and a tonne of laughter! And then the very next morning, I did something amazing, something truly fantastic and fun. I was initiated to a little known sport called surfing!

After a pretty intensive introduction and a 10 minute folly on the beach I was running in to the sea as fast as my little legs could take me.

You may not believe this but I stood up on my SECOND wave and rode it all the way in throwing sharkies and beaming!

Words cannot express how happy surfing has made me feel, so I am not going to try. Instead I will leave you with this: do it. Just do it.

George out.

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Australia! Boy has this been a fun filled few days already...

I arrived in Melbourne at a relatively social hour, not feeling terribly social (i.e. tired), so I didn't go explore much further than the edge of the bed. Luckily this left me feeling bright, refreshed and ready for my 5:20am pick-up to start my Grampians & Great Ocean Road tour!

The first of the 3 days surprised me; it was a gentle and easy stroll compared to the things New Zealand threw at me. NZ has mountains everywhere; Australia claims it has some too, but in reality they are just glorified hills. Very pretty hills, but hills nonetheless. Therefore the walks were all really rather tame –the majority were merely photo stops – but the scenery was impressive nonetheless.2

So on this first day we saw kangaroos [pic 3], cockatoos, MacKenzie Falls [pic 4], the “jaws of death” [pic 5] and of course the Grampians themselves.

Late evening we were dropped at our overnight accommodation where 4 of us sat and waited for the other bus load from Adelaide to arrive so that we could get our grub on. Sadly they were delayed a fair bit, but fortunately that allowed our appetites to mature happily so that when our meal was finally ready it was heartily appreciated. We’ve all heard the saying “too many cooks...” and I now believe that’s a load of rubbish! Nearly everyone chipped in to make spaghetti bolognaise with a fresh garden salad and it was stupendous.

Day 2 of the tour saw us starting at dawn with a hike to the “Pinnacle” [pic 1] and in our cold and drowsy state we conquered the stroll in around 40 minutes, which included photo stops. The views from atop this mount are spectacular, heightened by the perfect blue, cloudless sky.

I guess this would be a good time to mention something very strange about Australia which, according to the accompanying group, occurs all over the country: they have paths, railings and steps on their walks!

Anyway, on with the story... Once we were done at the Pinnacle we set off en route to the Great Ocean Road. This road is unbelievable: it hugs the coastline so tightly and has really remarkable views that seem to go on forever. What a truly wonderful drive that road was and we were lucky enough to be graced with some of the finest weather imaginable for the whole duration – it was very special.

My favourite stop on this road is the 12 Apostles, of which only 8 remain. We saw them during daylight hours and a second time at sunset [pictures 11-13]. To give you an idea of how awe-inspiring this day of the trip was: I took over 300 photos before my head hit the pillow that night.

The next day started with a sunrise walk down the Gibson Steps to a beach where you can see two of the remaining Apostles from. This is one of the only accessible beaches on this part of the coast as most of the bays have sheer cliffs down to the sand and sea below, which just makes this an even more fantastic spot. Next up was the <Otway Fly> tree-top walk followed by lunch... I ate shark and I liked it! This was followed by more beautiful coastline and then Koalas [pic 16]! After spotting nearly a dozen Koalas in the wild we hit the beach for some fun with the waves.

I’ve never experienced waves like this before; 5-6 foot waves are kind of intimidating when you’re swimming within them. Intimidating but great fun!

We arrived back in Melbourne late afternoon/early evening and, I for one, did not have any accommodation booked (oops!). Not to worry, I put my travellers’ hat on and sorted out a perfect escape plan and even helped my new travel mate Jeanette on her way to her stopover. I like it when things like this happen sometimes; it spices up the day for certain. After finding some free wi-fi and getting in contact with my Sydney-based friend, Alec, I was booked on the 9:30pm flight outta there!

Alec is a superstar: not only did he put me up for 2 nights at exceptionally short notice; he even offered to include me in the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras parade! Before you ask, yes he is and no I’m not, but I still had an excellent time marching dancing through the centre of the city passing the millions of spectators. Whilst one of my Mantras of the trip is “try everything once”, I did draw the line a good few times that night at various inappropriate propositions! I’m very glad I did it though, because how many people get the opportunity to do that, eh?

That brings us to today: after meeting some cool chicks who I shared a dorm room with in the hostel last night, we all rocked our way to North Sydney by catching the ferry, so we could go to the zoo [pic 19] and meet up with a couple of friends that I made in Kiwiland. I can’t remember the last time I went to a zoo and it made me feel like a little kid again – I loved it!

And that’s about it really. As I type now I am waiting for another couple of people who I met through Kiwi Experience to prank my mobile to signal that they are outside so we can go to the karaoke bar next door and enjoy my last remaining hours in Syd as tomorrow I start my exciting east coast tour!

That’s it for now I guess,
George

* * *

So I had a fantastic night with my Kiwi buddies and got in far too late to post this, so by the time I get a net connection this will already be out of date and the next post definitely deserves its own spot... Look out for it in the next 24 hours or so!

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As promised in my last post this is my first step in updating the blog more frequently – hooray!

So last time we spoke I breezed over the details of Westport onwards. Well, I can continue to ignore Westport as it is hardly worth a mention, so instead we will pick back up with Mahanipua...

Mahanipua is home to “the world famous in New Zealand” Poo Pub. What is the Poo Pub I hear you shout: basically it is a place for a cheap bed, a big BBQ and a fantastic (albeit embarrassing) party! The place is run by a chappy called Les who is a beardy 86 years old gent. I don’t know how he copes with a new bus load of twenty-somethings rocking up every day but he does and he does so well!

Because Bods bus was now convoying with another one this meant that we had an 100 person convoy ready to rock and roll. The theme for the do was “bad taste”, which most people took to mean “bad dress sense”, but a good selection went all out twisted. I just erased the description of the bad taste outfits after re-reading as you don’t need or want to know the details!

The next morning, bright and early and mildly hungover, we hit the tarmac once more for a ride to Franz Josef. FJ is famous for its impressive glacial landscape. The day we arrived I was picked up from the big green bus before I could even check in to the hostel and spent a nerve wracking 25 minutes in a shuttle bus with 6 other buddies headed up to an airstrip... sorry once again mum and dad, but I am so glad I fell from a plane at 12,000 feet!

Sky diving is another activity that provides you with a heart-pumping kick of adrenaline – the initial 45 seconds of freefall feel like only 6 while you accelerate towards the grounds up to 200kph. Before you know it the dude strapped to your back opens the canopy and you get to really appreciate the scenery FJ has to offer.

I am so glad that I waited until Franz to do my dive. Even though it’s not a 15 thou, you get to take your own camera on the trip and better still, you can see Mt Cook, Lake Matherson and even the sea, all on one flight/fall!

 A couple of hours later I find myself wedged in a kayak on Lake Mapourika for a sunset paddle. B-E-A-utiful. So beautiful in fact that it is my new desktop background, trumping even Mercury Bay for that prestigious award. Kayaking is one of the best activities you can do in my honourable opinion – for $70-80 you get a minimum of 3 hours of picturesque sightseeing; just don’t forget a plastic bag for your camera!

A few hours kip later (I have no idea how I have coped with all the early starts – we all know I’m not a morning person!) and I am hiking up a glacier. I would love to rave about the full day hike, but I’m afraid that the bad weather really rather ruined the last 3.5 hours for me. I can live with cold. I can live with wet. I loathe when they get together just to make me miserable. Luckily we found a few caves and crevasses that we could pass through and the camaraderie in the group kept me ticking.

Next up: Wanaka. Wanaka is a lovely township – not too big, not too small – one great skatepark, two great skateshops! So yes, by this point, after seeing so many fantastic concrete lovelies my feet were itching too much. Instead of going on my planned wakeboarding taster, $195 for 1 hour(!?), I spent the money in a much more sensible way. Shout out to the peeps at <Quest> for generously discounting my complete and supplying stickers by the dozen! I’ve missed skateboarding. My board back home and I have had a quiet year together what with my ankle injury and then the impending British winter keeping us indoors and unfulfilled. I’m glad to have that relationship back up and running with a new friend underfoot.

Queenstown! QT is my new favourite place. I don’t know what it is about this city that appeals to me so much but I know I will be coming back one day. Most of my time in Queens was spent with new and old friends from the Kiwi busses and beyond exploring the city and its nightlife.

Except for Friday. On Friday morning, another excruciatingly early start, we set our course for Milford Sounds. For those of you unfamiliar with this name, Milford Sounds has been voted the most impressive place on the face of the planet by more than one source and is still in the running to become one of the 8 wonders of the modern world. It did not disappoint.

In total we probably spent over 8 hours on the Milford Explorer bus en route from QT to Milford and back – a god 500K+, but the ride itself, as you  can probably guess, rocked. A band of us sat at the back of the coach (not a good idea because of all the windy roads) and sang our hearts out to all the great music our driver, Mangee, blasted out. This driver was great too – he kept us giggling like school kids at every opportunity and has a pretty awesome taste in music (Chilis and Pearl Jam anyone?).

The journey to Milford was riddled with stops for food, washrooms or pictures, and even included a couple of drive by [photo] shootings. Among these stops were the mirror lakes (panoramic attached to <previous post> which is ranked as one of my favourite sights of the entire trip. Every time I think I have seen perfection New Zealand pulls another rabbit from the hat.

So all that brings us to right now: I am writing this on the longest stretch of Kiwi bus, Queenstown to Christchurch, on my last full day in my favourite country [so far] on our greeny-blue rock. Tomorrow I fly off to Melbourne where I start a whole new adventure!

Speak soon,
George

* * *

So I’m back for a wee while, on the plane from Christchurch to Melbourne. Yesterday, and confusingly enough again this morning and even a few more at the airport, I said goodbye to a selection of the incredible people I met on Kiwi Experience. Guys and gals, if you’re reading this, thanks for helping make my few weeks in New Zealand some of the happiest in my life.

P.S. join the Facebook group and invite the others!

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This is the best thing I have done - FACT.

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First up an apology is due: I have been too slack in updating my blog and this post alone is no where near up to date (it was written a good time back but never uploaded) with what I've been up to, but hey, it will have to do for now!

The reason for this is because I am having the best time of my life out here - I have met an endless stream of fantastic people and their company along with all the activities have eaten up every waking moment in this beautiful country.

I am going to aim to update more frequently, with shorter posts and more photos, so get this added to your favourites (or RSS feed, or whatever!) and check back real soon!!

When I last wrote Sam and I were kicking ass in the north island of Kiwiland, but now we are on the mainland riding the big green bus towards the southern alps and over to the west coast.

So what have you been missed since <our last encounter>? Well; the morning after the long walk tracks were made towards River Valley – a little place waaaay off the beaten track situated, funnily enough, in a valley with a river running through it!

If I ever get the chance to travel to the Island of the Long White Cloud again, then this will be on my list for at least a week long stay! You can work there as a slave (that really is what they call you!) which entitles you to 3 good meals a day, a bed for the night, and 1 free activity (white water rafting or horse trekking) per week – all in this rad spot. Now because of the long and tiring walk from the day before, we skipped the activities the following day and opted for a day under the baking sun, playing volleyball and jumping in the river.

That reminds me: back in Taupo there is a lake, [obviously] called Lake Taupo that we went for a dip in. Waves on fresh-water are a wonderfully strange sensation – just make sure you head to the second beach up as the first is full of fat, old, naked people!

Onwards from River Valley to Wellington – the countries capital and the first rain of the trip. Sadly this rain brought the skate comp (Rune Glifberg, hellz yeah) around the corner from the Base hostel to an early finish but they ripped it up in the dry moments that they did have for sure (one foot five-oh!).

We were only staying in Welly for one night and a good bunch from our original bus crew were hanging around for another so off to the pub we went, naturally.

Only a few hours after reaching the land of nod, with hangover in place, off to the ferry we go. The 4 hour journey (delays due to bad weather) between the two islands turned out to be one of the funniest moments of the trip, despite the seasickness that ensued. On board Sam and I headed up to deck 9, which is not so much a deck as it is the top of a stairwell with a few locked doors leading to hidden parts of the vessel. This was prime floor space real estate so we pounced upon the opportunity to lay down in quiet comfort. Not long after we had made our claim we were joined by 2 Kiwi girls, ___ and ___, who were a real giggle! Deck 9 was ours. We turned up the laptop speakers, listened to nostalgic & cheesy music, and chucked around a tennis ball whilst we got to know each other. These funny chicks are responsible for “The Goose” game that a select few of us are in on and I for one couldn’t be more grateful!

Back on dry land on a new, sea-sick-green bus, we burned rubber down to Nelson where we were joined by a second Kiwi bus that is still convoying with us now. So with 98 people trying to stay in one town obviously the hostels in the centre filled up pretty quick leaving a small handful of us way out in the sticks. We were initially put off at the idea of being so far away from the nightlife until we saw where we were: right opposite The Opera in The Park and 30 seconds from the beach! The other 90 bods had no idea what they were missing.

A few of the people at our hostel were sceptical but as the night wore on their initials impressions were washed away by the sights and sounds in the park. So there we were, Sam, Ruairi, Debbie, Elizabeth and I, rocking the festival way past sunset until the firework fuelled finale!

The next morning was a little more adrenaline pumping – jet boating on the road to Westport!

What’s better than a V8 engine? 2 V8 engines! That’s right, two V8 engines powering a small boat that crams in around 15 passengers and skims across the water hitting speeds upwards of 100kph. If you want to try jet boating then this is definitely the place to do it – you get a much longer ride than at anywhere else at an exceedingly low price!

To round up the next few days: Westport is boring, Mahanipua (The Poo Pub) was a brilliant laugh and Franz Josef has a stunning glacier hike and, better still, a sunset kayak that I cannot recommend highly enough!

That will have to do for now so; peace out!
George 

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I’ve been in Kiwiland for a week now, so about time I let you all know what I’ve been up to!

The Big Green Bus

Sam and I are on the Kiwi Experience bus is going to take us all around the north island, down the west coast of the south island and then back up to Christchurch where our frustratingly short taster of the country will come to an end.

The busses are great – nothing like the Greyhounds I used in Canada – because:

1) you’re with a group of like-minded individuals instead of just randomers
2) the driver is legen... wait for it... dary!
3) the views are stunning
4) the journeys are short
5) and perhaps best of all: they sort out all your accommodation and activities for you!

5^th Feb - Auckland

I arrived at 6-or-so AM (local time) at the airport and trundled my way from there to downtown Auckland where the airport bus driver dropped me right outside my destination: a Base hostel where I could get some much needed shut eye!

A quick ride up the elevator and I was stepping in to the reception area where a little old cousin of mine was waiting to greet me! Due to jet lag, Sam was already up, and for the same reasons, I needed to just sleep for a while. Unfortunately the Base hostel had other ideas... Yes, I appreciate it was still early, but the upshot was that I had to kill 5 or so hours before being allowed to lie down in a comfy bed.

So I abandoned my bags there and Sam and I went for some breakfast even though it didn’t feel like the right time for either of us. After a drink at a lovely [and expensive] coffee shop on the waterfront we headed up to the local park to enjoy the beautiful blue sky. Essentially, the whole time in Auckland was spent wandering, lounging, eating and consuming copious amounts of alcohol – a good time had by all!

6^th Feb – Mercury Bay

After a couple of hours (and a number of little sight-seeing spots/breaks) on the <big green bus> we arrived in Mercury Bay. I had persuaded Sam to go out on the Kayaks instead of just slumming it on the beach like the majority of the other travellers and I’m sure he will agree – it was the absolute correct decision!

Mercury Bay is a beautiful place and what an afternoon we were gifted to enjoy it: clear skies and high temperatures brought out the most beautiful colour of ocean I have only seen on TV, in film and on postcards.

So instead of an hour’s round trip to the beach like the crowd, we were driven right down where our tandem vessels awaited us. The kayaking cost NZ$75 and was worth every penny. We hit the waters, Sam up front while I was placed at the rear of the craft with the extra responsibility of rudder control (which took an embarrassingly long time to perfect). Once we were in, we were sent out to sea where we paddled out in the bay and along the shoreline to a little cove (see attached pics!) where we were given 15 minutes to play in the sea without our boats before our cappuccinos, teas and hot chocolates were ready and waiting along with a pile of cookies. As most of you will already know; I do not like hot drinks, but there I was, on a silver sand beach under a clear blue sky staring out in to the beautiful bay sipping away at a frothy choccy... maybe there’s hope for me yet!

Back on board our kayaks we went further out to sea where we drifted through the archway of an island before rounding its biggest neighbour where the sea was choppy and therefore great fun.  Throughout our water bound fun our guide dropped nuggets of information about what was surrounding us along with tales of the first Maori settlers. Fascinating and fun – a great way to spend our first day on the Kiwi-Ex.

7^th Feb – Rotorua

This place is home of some pretty cool stuff – geysers, boiling mud pools and even a couple of Kiwi birds that they are breeding in captivity and for a little over $20 you can see it all in one convenient park! If you can, try spend as much time there as you can as there is so much we didn’t get to see in our couple of hours there.

We had the option of attending a traditional Maori dinner and what not but politely declined (at $85 a head it seemed like an expensive meal) and instead spent the afternoon in the naturally heated swimming pool at the hostel and then afterwards the evening in the bar. It was pyjama party night at the pub so we rocked up in our gear, where we were the only people other than bar staff to do so... oops! Free drinks made up for the embarrassment people thought we were feeling but weren’t.

When on these big green busses, please don’t just hole yourself up in your room. Hit the bars with the people you’re sharing a room with or something. Even if you don’t drink, or want to that night, you will meet a ton of new people and that is one experience too many folks on our bus seem to be making.

8^th Feb – Waitomo

On the way out of Roturua the next day you are taken to “The Agrodome” which is basically a farm show. For 13 bucks you may think: “hey, the show might be worth it”, which is the same thought we shared... don’t. Seriously. Just don’t bother with it – it was a bore and a half!

Luckily after the tedium at the farm was over, we hopped half a mile up the road to an activity centre where, as a Kiwi Experiencer, you can try any of the things they have on show for $25! So for 25 bucks each, Sam, our new friend Courtney and I signed up for “The Swoop”, which is basically a 43m high swing that you ride lying down parallel to the ground. For $25 (about £14) you’d be a fool not to try it.

We had wanted to go on the glow worm caving experience that afternoon in Waitomo, but after a mathematic hiccup by our driver, we were bumped to the following morning, so instead we enjoyed the sunshine, a BBQ and some beers down at Curlys bar.

9^th & 10^th Feb – Taupo

Before heading out to Taupo we went and had fun in the glow worm caves at Waitomo. You may look like a complete pleb in your wetsuit, helmet, gum-boots and Kevlar shorts, but who really gets to see you that way in the darks underground. Sam and I went on the Labyrinth, which is a lazy 3 hour expo underneath the earth’s surface. Glow worms (which are actually maggots!) stick to the ceilings of these caves and bathe it in their eerie greenie-blue glow. The ride sees you in your togs with a rubber ring either under your arm as you walk, or under your bum as you meander downstream staring at the mesmerising dots of light on the caves roof. Whilst by no means a thrill ride, it is still great fun.

...Taupo Bungy!!! A special mention has to be made to Amy who made the jump possible through her fabulous Christmas gift – thank you Amz!

The bungy was the most exhilarating thing I have ever experienced! A 47m drop from a suspended platform into the turquoise river below. When you jump in Taupo (which you absolutely should do!) you have the option of staying dry or getting wet - anywhere from your fingertips to your ankles. I chose ankles. Sorry mum.

What a rush! The jump lasts only seconds, but the buzz lasts days, and the memories will never leave me.

After a mind-blowing afternoon activity we decided to chill out with a bunch of the people from the bus in the nearby pub. Even the threat of a sub-6AM start the following morning didn’t put any of us off! We didn’t win the pub quiz, but our team did win the most free drink tickets in the games. Don’t worry Kiwi-Experience readers, I won’t be posting any pictures from that night... yet!

After a very few hours sleep we were back up and outside waiting for a bus to take us to something called the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, home of Mt Ngauruhoe , an active volcano a.k.a. Mount Doom from Lord of the Rings. This trek was over 20km long which includes the hike to the top of Ngauruhoe and took us until 3pm to complete.

It’s a difficult and exhausting walk, but it more than worth giving up your lie in for. If you’re going to do it then make sure you wear the appropriate footwear, lots of sun-tan lotion (yep, I forgot to coat my legs in the stuff so they’re a nice shade of lobster right now) and plenty of water (1.5l was uncomfortably enough. Take more, remembering that it gets lighter as the walk progresses) and food (I wish I had packed some mars bars). If you have the time in Taupo, this should be on your to-do list for sure.

Now

Well, I am [obviously] incredibly tired after the walk and the early start, so unless I can find a couple more people to share a taxi fare with to the hot springs, I will be heading to the land of nod!

Night all x

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Revelstoke

Today I am writing from a ski rental store, Revelstoke Powder Rentals, who have taken me in for the afternoon after I hurt my knee skiing (cue sympathy). I can’t thank them enough for their hospitality and just being 100% awesome – more on all this later!

So I am left the stunning Lake Louise yesterday and hopped on the Greyhound to Revelstoke to 1) cut down the long journey back to Vancouver and 2) hit the hills on a new resort. I stayed in the Same Sun here, which I’m afraid to say is the worst hostel I’ve stayed in yet! The mattress was so uncomfortable that I considered sleeping straight on the floor – the only thing stopping me was the filth that the bottom of my socks saw when I padded the short distance from door to bed. To add to the already restless night, I had the pleasure of sharing with a sleepwalking, sleeptalking (read: shouting) eejit. Seriously, this guy was not only racist, but homophobic, aggressive, sexist and obnoxious all in his sleep!

I gave up trying to get back to sleep at 6am and got up and made ready to hit the slopes. By 7:35 I had my rental gear and was waiting at the shuttle stop. I chose to ride skis again today as the slopes at Revelstoke are 48% advanced with no terrain park, and I am far better at steep, bumpy stuff with two planks and some sticks. Sadly, this would end up being my downfall.

The slopes at this resort are great fun and the conditions were pretty good (more fresh pow here than at the lake resort). On my 4^th ride from the top I went off-piste through one of the tree-filled glade areas which was a fantastic challenge until...

...my left ski bedded fast in to a mogul while my right ski just kept on going until it could go no more. Neither of my bindings gave way, so I was stuck fast, my left knee twisted too far to be comfortable. The swelling is up and down but is easing a tad now so as long as I take things slow now, I won’t have a problem in a couple of days (fingers crossed).

So that brings us back to now – I am sat in the rental store in Revelstoke village, chilling out with Aaron and Michelle (and their dog Tika) watching the hockey, Toronto Maple Leafs Vs Vancouver Canucks, supping an ice cold Kokanee, while my leg is raised with a snow-pack on. A&M have been far too cool – I hobbled up with my bags and skis for return and they immediately leapt to my aid. I can’t say this with a strong enough conviction: when in Revelstoke – rent from Powder Rentals! If you’re staying in the hostel then you get an extra 10% off too, so you have no excuse.

Lake Louise

As I mentioned, before heading to Revelstoke I was in Lake Louise, the most beautiful place I have ever had the pleasure of visiting. I stayed in the village in the HI-Lake Louise Alpine Centre, which is my favourite hostel so far. The bed was comfy, the people were great, the facilities were fantastic (après ski sauna anyone?) and the staff were totally cool. I met a great handful of brilliant people during my stay there including befriending the staff which made the whole experience unforgettable.

I only spent 2 days on the hills, one on board (that led to a bruised tailbone) and one on ski (where I met even more cool people to ride with). The resort is much smaller than Whistler (read about that here), but had a fantastic balance of runs along with a fabulous program called Ski Friends where a group of volunteer skiers and boarders take groups of people out to explore the mountain. This is a great way to see more of the mountain and find the slopes geared towards your skill level as well as meet a group of likeminded people who you can enjoy the remainder of the day riding with.

Off the hill – I went cross-country skiing around the lake (photos here). This is a lot more fun than I remember! I cheated a tad and took a taxi to the Chateau and then skied around the side of the lake, then right back across it (!), finally taking the trail back down to the village. Honestly, give it a go – it’s a cheap way to spend an afternoon (or even a day), costing as little as CAN$18.50!

 

I’m going to cut this post short as I have to refresh my snow-pack for the knee and will soon be on my way to the Greyhound station to head back to Vancouver to spend my last few Canadian days!

Ciao for now,
George

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I think the pictures say it all!

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So what has been keeping me busy this last week? The snow of course! I spent 5 days on the slopes in Whistler Blackcomb with a snowboard strapped to my feet. When someone described Whistler to me as “Aspens bigger, better brother” I was doubtful – after all, Aspen has held the most-beautiful-place-award in my mind since I visited it a few years ago.

They couldn’t have been more right – these mountains are huge! Don’t believe me then check the stats here. I’ve never heard of another resort where you need to take a minimum of 3 lifts to reach the summit, and don’t worry; it is worth the ride up. It has over 8,000 acres of terrain, making it the largest in North America and has a “Peak-2-Peak” gondola that has an unsupported span of over 3km with a high point over 400m off the valley floor – the place is breathtaking.

I got a great last minute deal on a hotel for 6 nights, so was able to live the life of comfort for a week or so whilst tiring my body out riding for over 6 hours a day! The hotel was ski-in, ski-out  on the Blackcomb side and was a mere 8 minute, free bus ride from the village – spot on.

I was pretty nervous about getting back on a board – after all it has been at least 3 years since I last gave it a proper try – but it all came flooding back and I made it from hotel to lift without a single stumble.  This would be one of my only rides without some form of fall.

The first day on the slopes was busy: lines at the mid station on Blackcomb were at least 200 people deep. I later found out that it was particularly bad that day because it was an American public holiday – though nobody could tell me which one. This worked out for the better in the end; it meant that the bottom section of hill (that was riddled with easy blue runs) was relatively clear and allowed me to work on my technique and build up the confidence levels.

Overnight there was a ridiculous amount of new snow (over 30cm!) so the “pow pow” (yes, that’s what the “cool” kids call it. Seriously) was awesome.  Powder is much harder to ride through so I got stuck at least a half-dozen times and had to resort to unclipping my bindings, digging myself out and trekking through the deep stuff back to some more solid footing. Despite this downfall, you have to love powder! It is the best riding surface and doesn’t hurt nearly as much as combed slopes to when you inevitably bump your way downhill on your backside.

I met a lot of new people on the slopes, or to be more specific, on the lift rides up hill. There was Desiree and Blinky; two amazing snowboarders who took me to the terrain parks and through trees. Then there was Louis; a skier who I rode with for the full day who took me to the peak for the first time (a 7km run to the bottom), got horribly lost with (having to walk back to the base of the mountain!) and introduced me to the miracle that is honey lager! Next up was Mark, Ant and David – 2 skiers and a boarder – around the same ability as me and we pushed each other to improve our riding (my switch stance improved no end that day). Last up was a group of about 6 skiers, complete with guide, who I shared the Peak-2-Peak with: these guys offered to show me some great black runs from the summit and I was more than happy to tag along.

Unfortunately, on my last day riding at Whistler, my legs had decided to punish me by cramping up pretty hard. It was a day of short runs and many stops. A day to be spent on the terrain park trying to land some good air! I am proud to announce that I managed to land my first ever 360s (albeit sketchy ones), 180 grabs and all kinds of straight grabs (tails are my favourite so far)!

Yesterday I left Whistler and hopped on the 10:30am Greyhound and arrived in Banff this morning at 4:25am (yes, it took that long)! On the second leg of my bus trip I met a chap called Cam: my own personal tour guide of the passing scenery. Cam seemed to know everything about everywhere and pointed out all sorts of sights to behold as we passed over picturesque mountain ranges, alongside beautiful lakes and weaved along rocky ridges. Unfortunately it gets dark around 5pm here so I missed out some of the best stuff (according to my fellow passenger) – so on the return route I need to sit on the right hand side of the bus and I will get the best of views of the bits I missed.

I need to go grab some lunch, so I will leave it there for now!

Chat soon,
George

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Forgot to attach images to the last post, so here they are!

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