Apparently four days of walking wasn’t enough for us so Cath, Diane and I got up at 4 am to climb the 3000 steps to Machu Picchu, with the other following shortly behind on a bus. It was pitch black as we climbed and already warm, but just as we were starting to feel like we wouldn’t make it, we found our rhythm, dawn broke and we snatched glimpses of the Inca terraces. We reached the top just before the others and had enough time to change t-shirts and cool…read more
We had decided to do the five day Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu. Salkantay is a quechua word meaning ‘Savage Mountain’ and this beautiful trek takes you up to snowy mountains and down through tropical rainforest. The trek peaks at 6271 m above sea level (Ben Nevis is 1344 m) and isn’t for the faint hearted. We were going to be camping outdoors every night and were all slightly worried about how cold it was going to be. We were to be joined by two others and joked about the…read more
I was left to my own devices for one night in Cuzco before the hockey girls turned up to join me for a two week adventure. Before Graham left he had given me a crash course in Spanish numbers to avoid me getting scammed. I threw myself into it and managed to order food, drinks and to buy postage stamps. I even understood how much the bill was. Progress! The next morning I got up early and waited for Cath, Diane and Lou to arrive. I tried tracking their flight…read more
Five weeks working at the Adelaide Fringe, very little sleep and lots of adventures. Sarah M, Sarah C, Scotty and I are long term Well Hung and Tender staff who had joined up with Donald and Nicol in Adelaide to sell burgers and burritos to the Australian festival goers. Sarah M and I were staying in the residential wing of the Royal Adelaide Hospital, directly opposite the helicopter landing pad and on the same corridor as a lot of Fringe ‘atristes’. We were working for about 55 hours per week,…read more
The last highlight for me in New Zealand was going to watch the Downhill Mountain Biking National Championships in Rotorua. I’d always suspected these guys had a few screws loose in the head but after watching the action for a couple of hours I can now confirm they are completely insane! My spectating got off to an intense start when the second girl down the *steep* stretch I was watching hit a soft patch, was launched over the handle-bars, bounced off her head, flipped and landed very hard down the…read more
Thames is not known for its nightlife. At least not until the night we hit the town… I’d spotted earlier in the day that ‘Tim Anderson’ was playing a pub gig later that night – for free! So five of us guys from the hostel (two Germans, one Mexican, one Australian and a Brit) headed down to watch. (Un)fortunately for Tim, we pretty much doubled the crowd there. Our rounds included an ingenious (and slightly deadly) ginger beer made by dropping a shot of ginger wine into a pint of…read more
Yesterday I drove Kylie to the airport for her flight to Adelaide. She’ll be working at the Fringe festival there for a month, apparently as a ‘bovine aviation specialist’*. It’s gonna be tough continuing to travel without her. But continue travelling I do – to Thames, on the Coromandel Peninsula. This is an odd little town which sprouted out of the gold mining times and seems to have consequently modelled itself on old Western gold-rush towns in the States. I kind of expected the Lone Ranger to come galloping down…read more
As a child, having a February birthday was a mixed blessing. It almost always fell during the half term holiday and more often than not there was snow. More than one birthday outing was cancelled due to bad weather. In fact for my seventh birthday a small group of us were supposed to be going to see Babe at the cinema, but overnight there was a huge amount of snow so the trip was cancelled. I was devastated until I built the biggest snowman EVER (OK, well it was ginormous…read more
Another day, another volcano, another adventure. Mount Tongariro is an active volcano, just under 2000 m high. It is situated in the Taupo volcanic zone of North Island. During our pre walk briefing we were told about what sort of equipment to take and then what to do in the event of an eruption. At the start of the track there is a traffic light, indicating whether it is safe to proceed. There are sensors situated in the volcano monitoring the activity. We felt pretty safe after hearing this until…read more
Important things I have learned: Everything looks better in the sunshine. The most dismal place can be transformed by good weather. There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing (A Swedish proverb). Abel Tasman National Park is in no way a dismal place. In fact, it even looks nice under storm clouds. However we are not travelling with suitable clothing to explore a national park in the rain. The forecast for our day here was not looking promising, and sure enough we woke to the soothing sound…read more
