Guy's most excellent adventures

St Patrick's day (my birthday)

2008-03-14T01:54:00.002Z

Due to being so close to Ireland and the fact that my birthday is on St Patrick's Day I thought it would be rude not to pop over for a party with the Irish. I got time off work and jumped on a tour to the green isle. We took the bus up through the midlands and through the top of Wales (lots of sheep there) and caught the ferry at Holyhead. Up until then the bus ride was very tame but several drinks later on the 3.5 hr crossing and everybody was getting on well after that.

Belfast, Northern Ireland - Arriving in the pouring rain in a merry state we headed straight for a real Irish pub. The next morning we headed north and to the Giant's Causeway to look at the strange hexagonal rocks and the northern coast line. After a massive pub roast we slept on the way back before heading out on a black taxi tour of the Protestant and Catholic areas. The cab driver gave us a run down of the Troubles and we checked out the murals that both sides have put up around the area.

Dublin, Ireland - Off to Dublin, our first stop was the Guinness brewery. The tour wasn't anything special but at the top we got great views over Dublin and a free pint of Guinness. Because it was my birthday and some of the girls didn't like the taste I ended up with 4 free Guinnesses and feeling very full afterwards. Then we headed off to the parade which was very difficult to see because of the massive scrums of people. At least the weather was good. Then it was off to the pub and a lot of drinking and partying into the early hours of the night. The next day we were heading home again all feeling a little worse for wear but all the better for it. It was definitely a great birthday.

Last weeks based in London

2008-03-12T23:30:00.005Z

London, UK - With winter winding down and the days getting longer again it was time for my working life in London to wind down and for me to get ready to get back on the road. So in the last few weeks I tried to get out and do as much as I could.

A short day trip outside the M25 motorway took me to Whipsnade Zoo to see the usual animals but there was a 3 week old baby elephant which was funny to watch playing in the mud. There was also a baby rhino but it didn't get up to much while standing next its mother.

Windsor, UK - A couple of days later it was off to see the queen at Windsor Castle. She seemed to have prior engagements somewhere else so I took the tour around inside and had a look at all the historical art, weapons and suits of armour including Henry VIII's suit which has a massive pot gut. As part of the tour I went into the St David's Chapel and stood amongst a lot of dead Kings and Queens who are entombed there. I also checked out the Knights of the Garter which the late, great Kiwi, Sir Edmund Hillary was a part of.

One Sunday we headed to Greenwich and I straddled the prime meridian with half of me in the west and the other in the east. We also checked out and scoffed at the local market and investigated the Royal Naval Museum.

Cann, UK - With two of my cousins, Rowan and Julia, also in London we thought it would be a good idea to make a trip to the small village of Cann in South-west England. On the way we popped by Stonehenge and the chalk Kiwi. We got the obligatory photos with road signs in Cann and then headed to a local Shaftesbury pub for a huge Sunday roast. Waddling from the pub we then headed further west to see the chalk man with the 12m penis and his friend Homer Simpson on the side of a hill. To finish the day we headed to Avebury and saw more ancient, massive rocks placed in a circle and had dinner at the local pub there before heading back to London.

Working and weekends away

2008-02-02T23:16:00.003Z

London, UK - So it was back to London to start my job. I got a job working for an international freight company as a white van man picking up boxes kiwis and aussies want sent home. So pretty much for the last 8 months my travels and have been put on hold as I work 6 days a week driving around the obscene traffic in London trying to save for the next big adventure. Next time I'll get a 5 day a week job cos I get no time to do anything.

One Saturday night work put on a Thames river cruise for the staff with free drinks which was fun and nice to see London by night from the water.

Liverpool & Manchester, England, UK - I managed to get a couple of weekends off and checked out the northern cities to catch up with friends. Compared to London it is bloody freezing up there and that is saying something. It was good to get out of London and actually see English cities and English people as opposed to London which is completely full of immigrants including me. In Manchester we went to the Xmas markets, watched ice skaters fall over on the outdoor ring and went on the big ferris wheel similar to the London eye that overlooks Manschester as well as spending a Saturday night pub crawling.

Malta - Just before Xmas I was getting burnout from work especially with the Xmas traffic and rubbish weather here. Who has Xmas in winter anyway? Ridiculous! So I took a week off and headed to Malta in the Mediterranean and then Morocco. I went to Malta for a couple of days and biked around the northern island of Gozo and explored the rest of the mainland by bus. It was quite nice with its extensive history and sunny weather but once you've seen all that there isn't much to do in Malta cos it's so small.

Marrakech, Morocco - Then another cheap flight and my first trip to Africa. Anna and I flew into Marrakech where we stayed in a traditional riad near the centre of the old town and over the next 3 days we wandered though the attractions of the medina and through the souks (markets) which sell all manner of stuff. We ate a lot of tagines and couscous and drank huge amounts of 25c freshly squeezed orange juice from the main square. Marrakech is a cool city and I finally had a use for my high school French classes. It was the first time I had been to a Muslim country too which was an eye opener. Hearing the call to prayer was cool.

London, UK - It was then back to London for more work and my first winter Xmas and New Years. There was no snow and even if there was I still prefer it to be summer at that time of year.

So to while away winter I've been working solidly for 6 days a week and to break the monotony had the odd night out at restaurants with Anna, meeting up with my cousins Rowan and Julia, going to the Linkin Park concert at the o2 millenium dome and getting blind drunk on the Waitangi Day circle line pub crawl with thousands of other Kiwis.

Bath, England - One day at work I had a job in Bristol so Anna and I made a day trip out of it and went to Bath to see England's prettiest town. We walked around and had a look at the sights then had an expensive (£22 each!!) soak at the thermal baths, then a quick game of mini-golf before I had to go to work and do what I was actually being paid to do.

Bull running in Pamplona

2008-02-02T23:15:00.003Z

Pamplona, Spain - A week after Milan I headed to work in Pamps for 2 weeks for the First Festival travel company. Basically we set up the campsite and ran it when the tourists (punters) arrived. We weren't paid but had our flights, food and accommodation for free. We just spent money on booze and snacks and boy did we buy a lot of that. There were 40 of us: 33 NZ, 6 Oz and 1 Pom (Anna).

Our first couple of days were spent checking and fixing 600 odd dome tents but then for the rest of the time we chilled in the Spanish sun playing touch rugby, cricket and going to the beach at San Sebastian. Every night there was a major drinking session and a lot (read hundreds) of funnels done. One night we invaded the local village for a toga party and partied with the young Basques.

Then 2 days before the punters arrived we put up 600 tents, all neatly lined up. Then 1200 odd people arrived and the madness began. The girls in our crew had to cook the meals and us boys did security every 3rd night. The general day was party all night then sleep all day. And then we had to fit in a couple of bull runs too.

So tired and with sangria running through our veins we went into Pamplona for the bull run. Here's the basic gist of the bull run. There is a run at 8am every morning for 7 days straight. You have to arrive on the 800m course before 7am and it is packed. And then they put the street cleaning trucks through while everyone can't move. At about 7:50 people start to leave the course and about 7:55 there starts a mad rush as all the scaredy-cats and newbies run away. At just before 8 the street clears out with the stupid people (me included) left. A cannon goes and the bulls are released in 2 groups of about 6 to 8 about a minute apart. These are the bulls used for the gruesome bull fights later in the evening. The trick is to run into the arena just ahead of either group of bulls and of course not get killed. On both days I did the run I waited for the 1st lot at 'Dead Man's Corner' then ran to the alleyway leading to the arena where I sprinted in in front of the second lot. So, the bulls are chased through the arena and the crowd goes crazy. About 300 of the runners who made it then stand around high-fiving and such in the arena. Then they let out a small (and very fast) black bull that proceeds to run around the arena taking out everyone in its way. You have to try and get as close as possible to the bull without being taken out. Trying to see the 5" bull amongst 300 6" people is difficult enough and if it comes for you you have to hope it fixes onto someone else. So this goes on for about 5 minutes until the bull is tired of taking people out (note the crowd loves the bull and cheers ecstatically when someone is nailed)and then they swap the bull for a fresh one who then proceeds to attack anyone it can get. This happens about 7 or 8 times.

I will have to say it is the stupidest thing I've done in my life so far but it was so exhilerating. I was literally standing in the arena trying to avoid being the bull's next victim thinking how dumb I was but I was so glad I did it. So I did it twice. I even lay down with about 20 others at the gate to the chute the bull comes out of. The bull comes running down the chute and you have to hope it decides to jump you instead of shunt you with its horns. My bull jumped us. Then at about 930am everyone heads home to bed or the pool before getting back on the sangria and San Miguel later in the afternoon.

After 2 weeks in the Basque sun we left the Spanish to party the rest of the festival away and we got on a bus and made our way back to London via the French motorway system and a ferry across the English Channel.

Off to see the Queen

2008-02-02T21:34:00.002Z

London, England, UK - So I eventually arrived in the UK broke as buggery and seriously needing a job. For the first 6 weeks I mucked around trying to get used to staying in one place and sorting myself out. I managed to see a little bit of London and got myself acquainted with the tube (London Underground). I eventually found a flat and after 2 months of half-hearted searching I got myself a job. Until then I was using my NZ credit card to access my savings at home and that was not going very far in London. But before I started my job I had to get back on the road.

Milan, Italy - Anna and I got a £20 return flight to Milan with good ol' easyjet. So for a 3 day weekend we chilled out in Milan and experienced a little of Italian food and culture and we climbed to the top of the massive cathedral for a great view of the city.

Bergamo, Italy - On our last day we headed to the small old town of Bergamo near the airport and had a look at the beautiful and peaceful classic Italian town.

Cricket World Cup 07 in the Caribbean

2007-04-08T11:29:00.000Z

Georgetown, Guyana - As I was travelling around Brazil I decided to head up to the Cricket World Cup in the Caribbean for a couple of weeks to watch the NZ Blackcaps. I missed my connection in Guyana so I spent the evening with a local guy who showed me around the crazy streets of Georgetown.

Gros Islet, St. Lucia - Next stop was where the Blackcaps were playing their pool matches. I made the second innings of the NZ/Kenya game for the Kiwis second win. At the NZ/Canada game I met up with Brendon Kropp from summer camp and we partied in the stand with the other Kiwi supporters including the Beige Brigade. After a day of beers, rum and sunburn we headed out for the night to carry on the party from the Kiwis 3rd win. While at one of the bars, some of the Kiwi players turned up and had a few beers with us. It was cool having a few beers with Vettori, Fleming, McCullum, Patel and Oram after their successful pool games.

Kroppy and his mates Mike and Emur and I went to the England/Kenya game to support the Kenyans but they had no luck from us. We hired a car and then did a couple of trips around the island. On the first day we went for about 5 swims and saw some waterfalls and went to the drive-in volcano. There we had a mud bath in the creek and covered ourselves in mud. After cleaning up we travelled further around the coast passed the Pitons.

Les Pitons, St Lucia - The next day we decided to climb the largest Piton. The Pitons are two large volcanic towers that rise up from the sea and stand high above the surrounding area of the island. After a couple of hours of had vertical slog in hot tropical weather, we made it to the top and celebrated by drinking a bottle of the national beer, Piton.

St. Johns, Antigua - Next stop was the Super 8 round in Antigua. The Blackcaps took on the West Indies at the new Viv Richards stadium. I met up with the hard-drinking kiwi supporters and cheered the Blackcaps on to a convincing win over the local team. I spent the rest of the time there checking out the town and surrounding area.

With my money running out quick I headed to London via Puerto Rico and New York where I am now in search of a job.

Brazil's north coast to the mouth of the Amazon

2007-04-08T11:25:00.000Z

Olinda, Brazil - Just out of Recife we got to another colonial town. Olinda was also the first capital of Brazil. I again walked around the town looking at the buildings and churches but I was getting a little colonial-towned out so spent the rest of the day in the hotel pool.

Praia de Pipa, Brazil - It was then off to the real small beach towns of Brazil. At Pipa I went dolphin watching just off the surf beaches and saw several dolphins playing and chasing fish. The rest of the time was spent swimming and sun bathing and watching the marmoset monkeys playing in a tree in town. I also had my first go at surfing, ever. First go I got up on the board and surfed the wave. Admittedly it was white-water but I made it up. I surfed the white-water for another 40 minutes with mixed success and then went and recuperated afterwards with a beer or two.

Canoa Quebrada, Brazil - Saturday and onto another great beach town. At the campsite the girls made some homemade caipirinhas, then some of us went into town and partied up large. Next day we went on a dune buggy adventure along the coast out to the pink sand dunes. On the way we stopped at a spot where there was quicksand and Brendan (Exodus tour leader) and I jumped in to experience it. It was weird and the guides with us told us that 5 people had died in that hole we were in. Me and a couple of the boys spent a day chilling on the beach and then went sand boarding. It wasn’t as fun as Peru but we still had fun going down the dunes on a board. At the bottom of the dune was a waterhole that we would slide into. After a few days of relaxation on the beaches and checking out the sights it was time for a couple of long truck days.

Parque Nacional de Ubajara & Parque Nacional dos Sete Cidades, Brazil - Away from the beaches we went to a couple of National parks where we went into a large cave system at Ubajara and amazing rock formations at Sete Cidades.

Belem, Brazil - Then it was the end of another overland trip and the end of South America for me. I finished in the city at the mouth of the Amazon river. We went out for my birthday on the first night and I spent the next day walking around the Amazonian botanical gardens and zoo nursing a bit of a hangover.

Overall my trip to South America was absolutely amazing. Over the 4 months I saw and did so many wicked things and had very few troubles at all. I definitely recommend everybody else to go even for just one month. The language is not really a problem. Just the basics can do and sign language and pointing works wonders, most of the time. It is a continent of wonders and contrasts and is particularly cheap which is always a bonus.

Eastern coast of Brazil after Rio

2007-04-08T11:21:00.000Z

Even though the tour was over I decided to stay in Brazil and jumped on an Exodus overland tour that went up the coast of Brazil.

Ouro Preto, Brazil - So back on another truck with a new group of people we headed out of Rio absolutely shattered and went to the colonial gold mining town of Ouro Preto. The new truck had 18 people on it including the 2 tour leaders, from Spain, Canada, Wales, England, South Africa and NZ.

While in town we went on a mine tour and went 350 metres a hill to have a look. While there me and a couple of others went swimming in an underground pool. The guide advised us not to put our heads under the water due to the massive levels of arsenic. After a 10 minute swim we went on a tour of the town and its churches.

Bahia beaches, Brazil - We then headed back out to the coast where we spent several days camping near the lovely, tropical beaches of the Bahian state. Still trying to recover from Rio, we spent most of the time relaxing on the beach and swimming.

Salvador, Brazil - After a long drive day and a ferry ride with the truck we made it to supposedly the city of most muggings. Salvador has a strong African influence in its culture and capoeira (Brazilian dance/martial art) is very popular. Salvador also has a lot of old colonial buildings so we spent a couple of days walking around town and checking out the markets and we went out on the town at night. On our last night there we went to a local dance show. It was amazing and the guys who did the capoeira were so fast and skilled. They were extremely muscly and capoeira is done topless so the girls were very pleased. We all left Salvador without getting mugged and came away with a lot better impression of it than we started with.

Maceio, Brazil - Back to the beach for a day. Most of us went on a morning boat trip 2 km out to a reef with ‘natural swimming pools’ where we went snorkelling for about 10 minutes. After seeing the few small fish that were out there we swam over to the floating bar that followed us out and started drinking cheap caipirinhas (Brazil‘s national cocktail: limes in a glass and crushed, sugar, ice and cachaça which is a spirit made from sugar cane). For the next couple of hours we sat in the water as a storm came through and drank caipirinhas until we were quite drunk by 11 a.m. When it was time to go back I stupidly decided to swim the 2 kms back (possibly brought on by the alcohol). So I swam back with my mask and snorkel on. With a short way to go to shore, I stood up and stood on a sea urchin getting 8 spines in my toes. I made it to shore, got the spines dug out and we jumped on the truck to head north again.

Carnaval in Rio

2007-04-04T15:27:00.000Z

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - Time for the tour with Bukima to end and to party up large to finish the tour. We arrived on Friday afternoon for our 5 days of fun. On the first two nights, in between seeing the sights like the beaches and Christ statue, we went to a couple of street parties. The first night was just groups going through the streets with massive drums and people doing samba in the streets around them.

On Saturday we went to Maracana Stadium (one of the largest football stadiums in the world) to watch a local derby between Fluminense and Vasco da Gama. The stadium only had 13,000 in attendance but there was still a lot of atmosphere, especially from the Vasco supporters who were the home team. It was a good game that ended in a 4-4 tie when Vasco tied it up with 10 minutes left.

That night we went to a parade with the smaller samba schools going passed with their floats. We could go right up to the parade as it went down the street with people of all ages dressed up and dancing and street vendors yelling out “Agua, Coca, Schkol”.

Sunday night was the big night that we went to the Sambadrome to watch the professional samba schools do their big party with their massive floats and extravagant costumes over a 1.6km stretch surrounded by grandstands. We were in the last grandstand so didn’t get the best view but we were with all the locals partying it up. The show started at 9:00pm and went to 5:30am but still only half the schools went through. The rest went on Monday night. Because we were at the end we managed to score some items of costume from the people off the floats and we had fun dancing in the stands withy locals in sweat drenched hats and jackets covered in feathers and plastic jewels. The party was absolutely awesome.

BA to Rio - Road to carnaval

2007-04-04T12:07:00.000Z

Buenos Aires, Argentina - Into a big smoke after 7 weeks in tourist towns and camping in random places. On the first day we went to Boca stadium, home of the Boca Juniors soccer team, for a look and then around the area of Boca where tango dancers were dancing in the streets trying to suck money from the gringos as we walked through cafes and markets.

That night was a boys night out in the city. We went to a couple of seedy joints where we were overcharged for drinks and people tried to scam money out of us, so we went for a quick feed on empanadas (pastries filled with meat) and after about 3 hours of people trying to rip us off we went and met up with the girls in an Irish pub. The booze was taking affect on us all and we got kicked out for having a popcorn fight so we went around the corner and drank some more at an all-hours, outdoor café until 7:00am. Then stupidly several of us decided to catch the ferry over to Uruguay to get another stamp in our passports.

Colonia, Uruguay - So with no sleep for about 24hrs, a belly full of booze and bar snacks and a US$70 return ticket we jumped on the fast ferry (1hr) to Colonia, Uruguay. The town was very nice and chilled out and nothing like the hustle and bustle of BA. Some of the group went shopping while I went to the beach with Anna and slept under a palm tree in the beautiful white sand. We went for a couple of swims in the river which looked more like a sea cos you couldn’t see the other side and then walked around town before catching the ferry back to get a good night’s sleep.

The last day was a shopping day and then we lost some more passengers and gained a group that were coming partying with us to Rio.

Camping heading north, Argentina - The next 4 days we headed north towards Iguaçu, camping in mosquito country again. On the way we checked out some Jesuit ruins and spent each afternoon swimming in the pools or rivers closest to the camping grounds and having some quiet drinks.

Iguaçu Falls, Argentina and Brazil - On the Argentinean side we caught a speed boat which took us up the river towards the falls where we took photos. They then advised us to put our cameras into dry sacks because we would be going closer. We all expected to get a little damp from the spray of the falls but we had no idea that they would take us right up the falls where we got saturated. A couple more dunks under the world’s largest falls and then they dropped us off so we could walk around the falls and dry off. We spent the rest of the day in the 42°C heat walking through the forest, checking out the falls from different viewpoints while dozens of different butterflies floated around us and a caiman (South American crocodile) or two swam under us.

Just as I was nailing the basics of Spanish, we crossed into Brazil and where we had to start speaking Portuguese. It is a lot harder than Spanish because the pronunciation is a lot different than how the words are spelt.

The first day in Brazil we went to a bird park next to the falls, full of Amazonian birds including toucans and macaws. I’m not much of an ornithologist but I liked the park a lot. We then checked out the Brazilian side of the Iguaçu Falls to get a different perspective. While there we saw some coatimundi which are like raccoons but with long noses. We were warned not to let them come up to us cos some carry rabies. Then another day chilling out in Foz do Iguaçu before we left towards Rio with less than a week until Carnaval.

Paraty, Brazil - In the small colonial town on the coast we had our last nights of camping of the 3½ month trip. The town was the last stop before Rio and all the overland trucks were there gearing up for the big party. There were 200-300 overlanders in town and much alcohol was consumed. The first day we got on a sloop with the passengers from three other trucks and sailed around the bays in the area. Sas made up a caipiroska punch in a chilly bin and we spent all day drinking that, laying in the sun and swimming in the sea when the boat stopped in several bays. It was a very relaxing day with a lot of sunburn and drunken antics.

Patagonia in Argentina

2007-04-03T17:27:00.000Z

Tierra del Fuego and Ushuaia, Argentina - To the bottom of the continent, back into Argentina and to the world’s most southerly city of Ushuaia where the temperature was in single digits. I chillaxed for most of the time, mainly recovering from drinking games and sleeping off late nights. The Argentineans don’t go clubbing until 1am and finish at around 5 or 6 am. The one activity I did do was go on a tour looking for beavers. After watching a few beavers we went and had another Argentinean steak dinner. By the end of the trip I will have probably eaten several cows worth of steak and chorizos (beef sausages).

El Calafate, Argentina - We left the bottom of the world and headed north again crossing a couple of borders to get through Chile on our way to El Calafate. From here we went to the nearby Moreno Glacier which is regarded as one of the most beautiful in the world. The glacier is surrounded by forested hills and calves (breaks off) into a lake. We caught a boat and went close up the glacier to watch huge chunks of ice break and fall into the lake. Only a couple fell while we were out there and we returned to the hostel where we spent the night playing drinking games.

El Chaltén, Argentina - From one glacier area to another we went to the small touristy town and spent a couple of days in the cold. One of the days we trekked a 30km roundtrip up to a glacier to walk on it and do a little ice climbing. I was allowed to wear my jandals up to the glacier but they wouldn’t let me put crampons on them so I had to put boots on again. We each had a turn ice climbing with ice picks up a small 10m part of the glacier before heading back, jumping over crevasses and water pools.

Bush camping, Southern Patagonia, Argentina - It was then a couple of long drive days as we headed north through the very flat and unexciting part of Patagonia. In between camping in a quarry and a campsite in the middle of nowhere for 2 nights we visited a petrified forest which is actually a number of logs that have turned to stone but look like wood and even have rings and knots still.

Puerto Madryn, Argentina - Back to civilisation again to stay in a hostel for a few nights and air out the sleeping bags. Puerto Madryn is near the Valdez Peninsula which is well known for its sea mammals so we took the truck out for a look at the animals. The peninsula is one of only two places in the world where a family group of 10 orcas deliberately beach themselves, grab a sea lion pup and then swim back into the sea to devour it at their leisure. Unfortunately for us the tide was well out and we were about a month early but we did see the thousands of sea lions and their pups who will become an orca feast in the future. In the car park we met a bunch of friendly armadillos that scampered around not caring about the people. Further along the peninsula we checked out a group elephant seals but they were in the process of shedding their skin so didn’t move much on the beach. We also came across a large penguin colony before heading back to town where we had more drinking games and a night on the town trying to salsa in the nightclubs with the locals to no avail.

Down Chile and through Bariloche, Argentina

2007-03-30T04:26:00.000Z

Santiago, Chile - After another bush camp on the Argentina-Chile border and a 2 hr border crossing we got into Santiago, the capital of Chile where we stayed in a hotel in the middle of town. We spent a couple of days catching up on sleep and walking around town. Santiago is a very Americanised city. This was where we also lost 5 passengers and gained another 10: 6 English, 1 South African, 1 Scot, 1 Aussie trainee driver, 1 Argentinean.

Pucon, Chile - With half a new truck we headed south to Pucon along the 4-lane highway over a couple of days to get to our New Years spot early enough to set up camp, then get on with the partying. We camped at Pucon in the Chilean lake district with 8 other overland trucks and got on the booze early in the afternoon. After mingling around we all headed to the main beach on one of the lakes and watched the fireworks display at midnight. 10 minutes before the display, the heavens opened up and we got saturated but lucky for us our Argentinean passenger, Irina, sweet-talked some locals into letting us squish under their umbrella. After a 20 minute display a group of 5 of us headed into town to a nightclub and partied hard with the locals for 3 hours.

The next day was a recovery day with lazing on the beach and not doing much at all. The day after we decided to climb the local active volcano, Villaricca. Along with about 200 other tourists we completed a 4 hour climb through snow to the crater at the top. We couldn’t see all the way into the crater but we could hear it and every now and then we saw magma get thrown up high enough for us to see it. After a lot of photo taking and lunch it was time for the fun bit of sliding down the mountain on our butts. The pants we were given had reinforced backsides especially for sliding down the mountain. We slid in stages pretty much from the top to the bottom car park and even though we had sore and cold bums it was really fun. The next few days we chilled out and went to hot pools.

Bariloche, Argentina - We crossed the border again into Argentina and went through some really beautiful mountain scenery. We camped a couple of kilometres out of town and spent the time strolling the tourist town. I booked a paragliding flight for one day but due to a miscommunication I missed out on doing it so spent more time wandering town and eating free chocolate samples from all the chocolate shops.

Navimag ferry, Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales, Chile - Back to Chile again so we could catch the four day ferry through the Chilean fjords. Travelling to Puerto Montt from the border was very similar to New Zealand with dairy farms everywhere on gently rolling, green countryside and mountains in the background. We saw off the truck at Puerto Montt because there was no room on the ferry so Skank had to drive it down through Argentina. After a delayed start, due to South America time (like Island time), we got under way and started heading south through the fjords. Luckily the sun decided to come out as we set sail after our first morning of bad weather for over 4 weeks. As we watched the sunset from the bow on a pretty calm sea we saw 4 dolphins swim underneath the boat which was pretty special.

The second day’s weather wasn’t too flash, being overcast and very windy but the scenery was beautiful and we saw some seals. At about 5pm we had to leave the fjords for the open ocean for 8 hours. The seas were very choppy and half the passengers including me got sea sick so I spent the rest of the day asleep until we got back into the fjords the next morning. Day 3 didn‘t bring good weather but at least the seas were calm. We had a stop at Puerto Eden where most passengers got off to touch land again and in the afternoon we went sailed up to a glacier that came to the sea. We then had a few drinking games which got a bit raucous and we basically became the most hated on the boat because of the noise we made. The night’s entertainment was a couple of rounds of Bingo before we hit the sack. On the final day we didn’t get to Puerto Natales until late in the afternoon and it took several hours to dock while they waited for the weather to calm down. We rejoined Mo and headed north to Torres Del Paine National Park.

Torres Del Paine, Chile - Into Chile’s most famous National Park and we had to wear thermals all the time which was a weird thing for me to do in December. We spent 3 days camping in the park and on the first day we trekked up to the famous towers only to find they were surrounded by mist and it started to snow. The next 2 days were clear but windy and we relaxed and went for a horse trek around the park. We saw numerous Patagonian animals including foxes, guanacos (another relative of the llama), rheas (like small ostriches) and a couple of skunks.

Northern Argentina

2007-01-21T05:54:00.000Z

Salta, Argentina - Basically as soon as we got over the border we could see the difference between Argentina and Bolivia. Argentina is so much more western with decent infrastructure compared to Bolivia which was good in a way but I really liked the easy and cheap lifestyle in Bolivia. We started our drop from the altitude of the last few weeks and got into the sticky humidity of Salta. We got to the hotel and jumped straight into the pool. A few of us went out to a steak restaurant to try our first taste of world famous Argentinean steak. The steak definitely lived up to its reputation because when it came out it was massive and cooked to perfection. The only thing on the plate was a massive hunk of cow about 4 inches by 8 inches and 4 inches thick. Sides came on separate plates and the best part is they only cost about US$5 each including tip. We knocked the steak off with a couple of bottles of Argentinean wine and the spent the next day going around shops which was a change from the hundreds of markets we‘d been to.

Salta Rafting, Argentina - We left for the boondocks of north Argentina to go camping and rafting a couple of hours out of Salta. Our first night there we made a chilly bin (esky or cool box) full of punch and had a traditional Argentinean asado (BBQ). The food was gorgeous and we polished off the punch by 3am. Luckily for us we didn’t go rafting until 11am the next day. The river only had grade 2 and 3 rapids but the crazy guides made it interesting by making us do 360s down them, crashing into other rafts and trying to deliberately flip the boats. We finished the last section floating down the river without the rafts before having a late lunch.

We returned to camp for a quick siesta and then went zip-lining. There were 9 zip-lines that went from a spot 3km from the camp and finished in camp. The lines basically zigzagged over the river at stupid heights. The second one was about 150 metres above the river and was 400 metres long. Most of the lines were done the conventional way of sitting up like a flying fox but I did the longest one, at 500 metres long and about 100 metres high, in the superman position which was awesome and like flying.

Cafayate, Argentina - Into the wine district in northern Argentina where we spent our time doing wine tasting, eating ice cream and just chilling out. I have no idea about wine so I just tagged along and drank the booze while everybody else went on about smelling roses and peaches etc, and rating each one. My rating system: drinkable and not drinkable. We hired bikes and rode between each of the vineyards so it was pretty relaxed and casual.

Bush camp, North Argentina - We spent the next couple of days doing many hours driving towards Mendoza for Christmas and bush camped for a couple of nights on the side of the road. On the way we stopped at the Quilmes stone ruins, a couple of large canyons and the moon valley where they found the world’s oldest dinosaur skeleton a few years ago.

Mendoza, Argentina - We made it into Mendoza just after lunch on Christmas eve and Skank and I went downtown for a couple of beers. We then stocked up on food and booze before going back to our hostel and started the festivities early. We woke up on Christmas morning in our dorm rooms to find Santa Claus had found us and left us stockings at the end of our beds. After mucking around with our pressies we had a fry-up for breakfast with a dozen bottles of champagne and then after brekkie we had our secret Santa presents. They had to be under US$5 and we had a random system so you didn‘t know who you were buying for. Most of the presents were booze or toys like guns and other small items and there was also an Argentinean Playboy magazine. We mucked around for the rest of the day drinking, eating and chilling at the hostel before having another asado for dinner. We topped off a relaxing Christmas in the sun by going to a pub for a couple of drinks before heading to bed in the early hours of Boxing Day.

Bolivia - Land of cheap everything (dynamite included)

2006-12-18T05:49:00.000Z

La Paz, Bolivia - We made our way around Lake Titicaca and left Peru for Bolivia. I highly recommend Peru, especially outside of Lima, to go travelling in. It is cheap as chips, the people are super friendly and you can survive with minimal Spanish and the scenery and history is fantastic. I was going to miss the screaming hordes of schoolgirls though. They really have a thing for gringos.

After a quick border crossing and another stamp in my passport we headed to the world’s highest capital city, La Paz. La Paz is in a large valley, surrounded by the Andes mountains and is basically a huge market. I knew Bolivia was the poorest country in South America and expected La Paz to be a big shanty town but it had skyscrapers and a few wealthy sections and even the poor areas I saw weren’t that bad. I thought Peru was cheap but Bolivia was super, super cheap. Our first night we went to one of the best restaurants in town, which could also be an awesome restaurant back home, and had filet mignon cooked to perfection for NZ$5 and a couple of powerful cocktails for a couple of bucks each.

The next day we mountain biked 64km down the world’s most dangerous road where they have 200-300 people die every year and have had 9 mountain bikers die in the last 3 years. The reason for the deaths is due to the winding, cliff-hugging, single-lane goat track with a 400metre (1320 foot) drop on one side that has fully-laden trucks and buses going both directions in all weather. The road goes through rainforest so it is often misty and/or raining and the drivers aren’t the most patient in the world. The mountain bikers who died either fell over the edge or came around corners, smack bang into oncoming trucks. We basically had four seasons in one day while we did it. We started at 4700 metres in altitude and descended down to about 1100 metres. It was a great day and the company we went with, Gravity Assist, was brilliant and very safety conscious. We finished with a buffet and beer and then went back up the road in a bus with the wheels only inches from the edge.

We then spent a few days walking around the huge market that is La Paz and had Janine’s birthday the same night we said goodbye to 6 of the passengers so therefore it was a big night out.

Potosi, Bolivia - With a couple of new passengers, Marjorie and Paul, we headed to the highest city in the world which is well known for its mining. A group of us decided to check out the mines but first we had to buy presents for some of the miners. We bought a combo pack which included coca leaves (the ingredient for cocaine. They chew the leaves), 96% potable alcohol (which they swig to clear their sinuses), cigarettes (made with cinnamon, coca leaves, black tobacco) and most importantly a stick of dynamite with fuse and detonator and bag of nitro-glycerine. Yes, we bought the dynamite and equipment without permits or anything and Skank bought 3 extra sticks for blowing up later for only 50 cents each. You can basically go to the market and anyone can buy dynamite without any problem for less than a dollar a stick. Good old Bolivia. We trudged around the mines for several hours hearing explosions all around and knowing that the miners are pretty wasted on their combination of drugs and alcohol. We made it out alive and then got to blow up some dynamite ourselves which was awesome.

Uyuni, Bolivia - After some pretty rough roads where we nearly had a couple of head-ons with local buses we made it to this small town in the massive salt flats. We celebrated Sas’s birthday and then went on a day jeep tour of a steam train cemetery, the salt flats and an island covered in cactus. Out on the flats we took lots of silly proportion photos and one of us spelling out Bukima in very dodgy positions. We then watched the sunset over the salt flats before heading back for gourmet pizza and beer.

Tupiza, Bolivia - We had another rough day’s drive through riverbeds and made it to another small town set in a valley of very contrasting landscapes with eroded hills of all colours and bright green valleys. Jayne, Anna, Mark, Rebecca and I had a go at the triathlon which was a day tour on mountain bike, jeep and horseback all around the area and it was great even though all the equipment was Bolivian standards and very much in need of replacing.

We then headed towards the Argentinean border but bush-camped 30 minutes short of it for one night where Skank and I detonated the 3 sticks of dynamite, blowing up a watermelon, a rabbit hole and a carton of rotten milk. More choice fun in Bolivia with dynamite. Viva Bolivia. It was a pity we could only spend 10 days in Bolivia because I really liked the place and the cheap lifestyle.

Peru - Inca Trail and On

2006-12-07T05:45:00.000Z

Inca Trail and Machupicchu, Peru - Our trip then lead us to the 4 day, 48 kilometre Inca Trail culminating in the ancient hidden city of Machupicchu. The driver, Skank, and I set ourselves the challenge of doing the trek in bare feet and jandals (flip-flops). The first day was an easy walk passed some ruins and up a couple of little climbs. We only carried daypacks and all our camping equipment and food was carried amongst 25 porters. The company we went with was SAS and they were absolutely awesome. When we stopped for our first lunch stop we were amazed at the service and food we got. We got the feeling of how royalty are treated cos basically we turned up, ate like kings, lay around for an hour while they cleaned up and then we headed off again. By the time we reached the camp for the night our tents were already up and dinner was getting cooked so we could sit back and have some beers.

Day two was over Dead Woman’s Pass, the highest point of the trail at 4215m (about 13,900 feet), which was a big climb after lunch. Over the course of the day we climbed up 1200 metres to the pass and then 900 metres down to camp for another great meal. I found it easier to go uphill in bare feet so I didn’t trip up and downhill in jandals for cushioning.

Day three was the longest walk at close to 16km. It was more up and down but not as bad as the pass the day before. For the first part of the day we checked out more ruins and then at lunch our guide, Jose, told us about the bar at the final camp so Skank and I ran the last 2½ hrs section in 45 mins, downhill in our jandals. We had our first shower for 3 days, which was freezing cold, and then downed 3 beers before everyone else rolled into camp.

The first three days were easy 7am wakeups and we usually headed off at about 8:15 but the fourth day we had to get up in the dark at 4am and headed off at 5:30 am for sunrise through the sun gate. Unluckily for us it was misty like it is 90% of the time and we couldn’t see the Machupicchu ruins until the mist lifted at 8am. Other than the mist we managed to do the whole trail without it raining which was brilliant due to it being the start of the rainy season. Skank and I achieved our goal, with Skank doing the whole thing in jandals and I did about 70% in bare feet and the rest in jandals with no injuries at all. Jose, our guide and a top bloke, said he had never had anybody do the trail in jandals or bare feet before in his 12 years of guiding and he thought we were nuts for doing it the whole way.

We then spent the rest of the day exploring the ruins and Mark, Rebecca and I climbed Waynapicchu, the near vertical walled mountain at one end, to look over the ruins and the valley. It was a very spectacular view after a tough climb. After a 2 hr train ride and 2 hr bus ride we made it back to Cusco and then hit the town to do the 24hr challenge, the arduous task of staying awake until 4 the next morning after completing the trail. Only Anna and I from our truck managed the feat with a few others making it close before crashing. Unluckily for Anna and I the next day was an early start and a long drive to Puno which was a bit rough.

Puno, Lake Titicaca, Amantani Islands and Uros reed islands, Peru - We got into Puno, had some really good and cheap ¼ chicken, chips and rice for $1.50 and then the next day caught the 3 hr boat out to two islands in the middle of Lake Titicaca. That night we were billeted out in pairs to stay with families on Amantani Island. Life on the island is very simple with the only power being supplied by a generator for the hall when the gringos (us foreigners) come for a party. A few tour trucks were there at the same time and I teamed up with one group to play a game of soccer against the locals on a concrete field. We got beaten 5-2 but I managed to score both goals for our team. We then went and had a traditional meal of rice and pasta and then got dressed up in local attire and then went to party to Peruvian pan pipes until 10pm. We got a traditional breakfast with the family but it was very quiet as their English was as good as my Spanish. Really bad. On the way back we checked out the floating reed islands where people have been living for 700 years.

Start of South America trip - Peru

2006-11-28T01:56:00.000Z

Calgary, Canada - LAX, USA - San Salvador, El Salvador - San Jose, Costa Rica - Lima, Peru - It took 24 hours and 4 flights to make it the Lima for the start of my South America tour. I grabbed a taxi to the hotel and immediately got a taste for Peruvian driving. I spent a couple of days in Lima and met up with my tour group before we headed south. An English lady and I were the only 2 that got on at Lima and the rest had been on since Quito.

Bukima Overland Tour - The tour with Bukima is on a big red MAN truck called Mo and we have a tour leader, Sas and her partner is the driver, Skank. The official tour goes from Quito, Ecuador to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil and takes 15 weeks however travellers get on and off at different stops like I did at Lima. Mo has 20 seats in the back and the seating arrangement is varied with some seats facing in and others facing forwards and back. The days are mixed with 60% camping, 40% hotels and some days are specific travel days and we usually spend a couple of nights in each city. When we are in hotels we eat out because it is so cheap and we only prepare food when we are camping.

The Bukima crew - Skank and Sas (South Africa and NZ)
To Rio - UK: Anna, Stephanie; AUS: Janine; BELGIUM: Rodger and Yvette
To Santiago - NZ: Emily, Fiona; UK: Jayne, Mark and Rebecca
To La Paz - AUS: Mark and Katie, JP and Leanne; UK: Graham; RSA: Janice

Ballestas Islands & Huacachina, Peru - Our first day out of Lima was an early start and we headed down to the Ballestas Islands. They stunk bad of guano but they were full of animals. There were hundreds of South American sea lions, penguins, cormorants, pelicans and thousands of boobies and other native Peruvian birds. After fresh fish and chips and ceviche (Peru’s national dish of raw fish with lime and chilli) for lunch we headed to Huacachina where there are massive sand dunes in the desert. We went hooning around the dunes in sand buggies with V8 engines going up slopes more than 45º and then went sand boarding. It was absolutely awesome flying down the sand dunes at 60km/h on a board similar to a snowboard but thicker. I stacked it big a couple of times on the large dunes and came away with a few injuries however they were soon forgotten when we set up camp in the desert and started downing the Pisco Sour and coke around the campfire.

Nazca, Peru - After cleaning up and trying to wash all the sand off our bodies we made our way to Nazca to check out the ancient Nazca Lines. They are massive animals and geometric shapes that the Nazca Indians created in the desert. The flight over them in a Cessna took 30 minutes and was very bumpy, giving me motion sickness. I then went and chilled in the pool with a game of water polo. That night was my first experience of bad belly everybody gets when over here. It hit me suddenly and it wasn‘t much of a fun night.

Puerto Inka, Peru - I woke up and felt fine and we headed for the beach, stopping at an ancient Inca cemetery to see some mummies. We got to the beach and then chilled for the afternoon before having an open fire barbecue and sleeping on the beach. As per usual I quickly got the reputation of eating a lot and especially everyone’s leftovers. I have now been nicknamed “the garbage disposal“ or Hoover.

Arequipa, Peru - We left the coast and started gaining altitude by heading up the Andes and spent a couple of nights here. I ate a variety of different animals including fried guinea pig (like greasy chicken but not a lot of meat), llama and alpaca (a little like lamb) and ostrich steaks, both of which are very nice. I also sampled several of the local Pisco cocktails. Because Arequipa is at altitude, alcohol affects you a lot quicker which is good for a cheap night. The rest of the time we spent walking the streets meeting the really nice Peruvian people and dodging the 25,000 yellow taxis and the protesting pensioners burning effigies in the street.

Colca Canyon, Peru - After passing over a pass of 4,910 metres (about 16,200 feet) where breathing and whistling was pretty difficult we made it to the small Andean town of Chivay. On the way we managed to see many wild llamas, alpacas and vicuñas (like the other two but endangered) giving us a real Andean feel. The day after we made it to the Colca Canyon, second deepest canyon in the world and twice as large as the Grand Canyon, where we saw a few of the endangered Andean condors flying on thermals. Afterwards we travelled further inland, where the heaven’s opened up so we camped in an abandoned train station on the altiplano and drank mulled wine.

Cusco, Peru - First night in town we went to a flash restaurant where the tables are baths with goldfish in them and covered with a plate of glass, and then we hit the town ’til 4am. The next couple of days were spent sightseeing and shopping before we headed to the Sacred Valley to see ancient Inca ruins.

End of North America

2006-11-16T02:03:00.000Z

Yellowstone National Park, WY, USA - With a week of nothing planned I decided to cross the border in my wreck and make my way down to Yellowstone. I drove through Washington, Idaho and Montana and experienced my first -10°C weather. Yellowstone closes for the winter and I was there 4 days before it closed. It felt pretty much like just me and the animals because the park was practically empty. I made two days of it and slept in the car next to Yellowstone Lake in the -12°C weather as it snowed overnight.

I saw a lot of elk and a few buffalo and also a bald eagle but the bears, moose and wolves still managed to elude me. I also checked out the hot pools and Old Faithful before heading back into Montana.

Bozeman, MT - I spent a night here and went to the movies and then went to the Rocky Mountain Museum the next day. Montana is home to most of the dinosaurs discovered in North America and I got to see the largest T-Rex skull ever found.

Missoula, MT - I arrived on a Saturday afternoon and with accommodation being pretty expensive here I decided to go on a ride-along with the Missoula police’s night shift. I again was paired up with a young cop, Ben Woods, and had another fairly quiet night with a couple of arrests for warrants and breach of probation and we broke up a party of college kids. When it quietened down one of the guys who was on the SWAT team took me to see their gear and I tried some of it out which was cool. Then after dealing with a young drunk who was trying to get on a freight train it was over again and I carried on north.

I then had a few uneventful days and crossed back into Canada to drop off the car. Then back on the Greyhound and with a week to go I went to Calgary where I met up with my Melbourne friend from camp, Sarah. She had a friend over from Oz also named Sarah and we rented another rent-a-wreck (which was way better) and headed to Banff.

Banff, AB - One month on from when I was first in Banff, it was a lot colder with snow everywhere. Like I did last time in Banff, we spent both nights out on the town and during the day it was so cold so we went to the hot springs for an couple of hours.

Calgary, AB - Back to Calgary for the weekend and we went out to a club called Garage where we were treated as VIPs because Sarah’s cousin goes out with the DJ/owner. We got free drinks and got access to the VIP area. The next night we had a night off and went to an Italian restaurant for dinner and then went and saw Borat at the movies. Very funny.

Edmonton, AB - With only a few days to go we headed north, into the cold. It was so cold that I could put my beers outside for about 30 minutes and they were near frozen. We woke up the next day and it was even colder with blizzard conditions. We headed off to the West Edmonton Mall (the largest mall in the world) but only made it 50 metres because of a puncture. What made the fact I had to change a tyre in snow at -12°C worse was that the rental didn’t have a tyre iron to undo the nuts. After a couple of hours wasted organising tyre repair we made it to the mall where we played mini golf, went on the indoor rollercoaster and did some shopping. We checked out the indoor water park but it cost too much so we gave it a miss. The next day we went ice-skating in the mall before heading back to Calgary.

Calgary, AB - That night we went to the ice hockey to watch the Calgary Flames play my favourite team the St. Louis Blues. We got nose-bleed seats cos the others cost too much but we saw the game fine and there was a great atmosphere and I got to see a fight. Unfortunately the Blues lost 3-0. The last week was a great way to finish up in Canada, thanks girls, and my next leg was South America.

Final weeks in Canada

2006-10-27T19:11:00.000Z

Kelowna, BC - After an awesome road trip, I decided to head east again. I ended up in Kelowna for a couple of days with not much to do so I went to the local RCMP (Police) Station and asked if I could do a ride-along. They said it was no problems and I went for a ride from 7pm 'til 5am on the Friday night. I was in a car with a young cop, Richie LI, who had been in the RCMP for a couple of years and we drove around all night. It was a fairly quiet night with only fairly minor jobs coming in so we spent time moving crackheads on. We even went to the pubs at closing and everyone behaved. Richie said there were fights every weekend but we had none at all. We had a couple of breaks during the night at Tim Horton’s (fast food restaurant) and had donuts and coffee. How cliché. Kelowna is about the size of Whangarei (my hometown in NZ) and has about the same crime rate and crimes.

It was cool to see the differences between our police and theirs. We are so backward in some ways, like they have computers in the cars, fast prisoner processing so they can get on the street faster and sealed off back seats in their patrol cars but they are also caught up with a lot of red tape due to the culture of being sued. They cannot be involved in vehicle pursuits and their drink-drive procedure takes 4 to 6 hrs.

It was a good night out and it was cool to be back on the road again, going to jobs. As I finished the night up we drove passed the scene of a sudden death of a taxi driver in the middle of the street 50 metres from my hostel, which was about the most exciting job of the night.

Big White ski resort, BC - The next day I was picked up by some guys from camp and I went to stay with them for a week in Big White. There was Tim and Jess, Ryan Mander, Paul Beakmeyer, and Richard and Brendan Kropp. They are all doing the ski season there but I was there about 3 weeks before it started. However, it did snow all day on the 3rd day I was there which was cool.

I just chilled all week and went for a couple of walks up the mountain in the snow. It was good to catch up with the guys and Jess. Hope you dudes are having an awesome season. I also watched the St. Louis Cardinals (the team I support) win the World Series which was awesome.

Nelson, BC - After spending a week relaxing I hired a rent-a-wreck from Kelowna and headed to Nelson in the south-east of BC for 3 days. Nelson is well known for its mountain bike tracks so I decided to give it a go. I hired a bike and took on one of the moderate to hard tracks in the hills around town. After 2 hours of uphill riding/pushing I made it to the trailhead which was covered in snow then rode down the tracks for a couple of hours, caning myself a couple of times. The other days I went for some walks around town and into the surrounding hills.

Roadtripping western Canada

2006-10-19T02:06:00.000Z

Vancouver Island, BC - I went on a tour to Vancouver Island for the long Thanksgiving Day weekend. We left on the Friday and went up to Horseshoe Bay where we caught the ferry to Nanaimo. Once there we travelled across the island to Tofino. The next day I went whale watching with some of the guys on the tour. The day started off nice but then packed up and got very cold and rainy. We saw 2 grey whales and a bunch of sea lions and went to some natural hot springs for a dip.

Upon our return to Tofino we had a few drinks and then hit the only pub in town. It was an interesting experience to say the least. The next day we headed to Victoria via numerous small coastal towns. In Victoria we went to a Jamaican restaurant for dinner then went out on the town. After a wander around Victoria for the day, we then caught the ferry back to the mainland.

Canadian Rockies Roadtrip - On the Tuesday, I then jumped in on a roadtrip with a bunch of randoms to the Canadian Rockies. A Kiwi girl, Kelly, got a cheap rental minivan and 7 of us headed for the hills.

Roadtrip crew: NZ - Me, Kelly, Rebecca; AUS - Michelle, Mick; ENG - Lisa, Max

GOAL: To see wild bears, moose, beavers, wolves.

Kelowna, BC - Our first stop was Kelowna where we went for a wander along the beach front and then went into town for drinks. I introduced everyone to the drinking game, 'circle of death', and after 2 games of that and a game of 'I have never' we were well acquainted with each other and boogied down until closing.

Lake Louise, AB - We made it into the Rockies and got into town fairly late so we had a meal and then chilled out in the hostel for the night. It is here that I tried and fell in love with a Canadian meal called poutine. It is hot chips (fries) topped with curds and gravy. It is very nice. We went and had a look at the very picturesque Lake Louise before we made our way to Calgary.

Calgary, AB - Upon our arrival we located the only hostel in town and noticed that it was surrounded by crackheads and bums so thought better of it and decided to stay in a motel. After dumping our stuff we went out to dinner. Mick and I went and had Alberta steak while the others went to an Irish pub then we met up at Cowboys bar. On the Thursday night we were there, they had 25c beers for sale. The cups were only about 200ml but the beer was home brew and so cheap that a round of 4 beers for each person was only $7. Needless to say we were quite under the influence very quickly.

Then the DJ started playing line dancing music so we all jumped on the dance floor. The crowd was all in their early to mid twenties but they all knew each line dance. The group of us foreigners made great fools of ourselves as we hopelessly attempted to follow the steps as everybody else did everything in time. It was great fun though, for the half hour of country music then we rocked the rest of the night away with the girls getting some 10 to 2 action from randoms.

The next day we all split up and did different things in Calgary. Max, Bex and I wanted to see a movie but the cinema in town didn't open until 6:00pm, so we spent several hours walking around aimlessly and buying scratchy tickets. Max and I lost on all our tickets but Bex won twice, winning $26. On our way out of Calgary we stopped and watched some Friday Night Football for a short period of time. It really is a slow game to watch.

Banff, AB - Into Banff for a couple of nights. We went and had a few quiets at an english pub and some games of pool and the next day we hiked up Tunnel Mountain and had a look over the town and out to the surrounding mountains. After a drive around town we got the cards out again and started up another game of circle of death before hitting the town again and dancing 'til close.

Check out the name of the loop on the sign

Icefields Parkway to Jasper, AB - We were supposedly going to have an early start however we left for Jasper at about 12:30pm along the Icefields Parkway, a very picturesque drive up the Rockies. It was very pretty with big mountains, glaciers and turquoise lakes. It was supposed to be our best chance of seeing the wildlife we were to eager to catch a glimpse of. We saw no animals the whole way up until we got just out of Jasper and saw some elk (wapiti). Very much a consolation prize to the animals we were really after. That night we DIDN'T go out cos it was a Sunday and we had an 11 hour drive the next day to Whistler via Kamloops.

Whistler, BC - After a long day's drive in 2 hour driver shifts we made it to Whistler before dark. Luckily there aren't many traffic cops on the highways outside of the towns and we made the trip in good time. Being our last night of the road trip and not achieving our goal of seeing the animals we wanted, we went and celebrated/comiserated in the way we knew best and went to the pub.

The next day we trekked back to Vancouver where Lisa flew back home and Kelly went to her place. The rest of us stayed at the same hostel for a couple of days before I left to head east again.

Canada, eh

2006-10-06T02:03:00.000Z

Well we made it to Canada on time. For the first 5 days we stayed at a Kiwi couple's apartment in the West End of Vancouver. Initially we were only staying 2 to 3 days but Tim and Fern went away for the weekend and said we could stay at their place. Good old Kiwi hospitality again. Fern is a chef at the Vancouver Aquarium and she got us on the guest list, so we got in for free. It was very cool with Beluga whales, dolphins, sea otters and heaps of other weird fish.

After seeing the sea otters, I really want one for a pet. Just watching them made you laugh as they played around in the water, beating each other up or lying lazily on their backs. At one stage a couple looked like they were having a real scrap but then I realised it was a little more amorous than that.

We met up with Claire from camp for lunch one day. She was staying with a friend in Vancouver. We went out with her and her friends on the Saturday night too. I had a little too much to drink and can't remember half the night. After getting up worse for wear the next day, Tim and Jess departed for Big White in the van and left me in Vancouver, officially ending the road trip. I moved to the HI Central Hostel in Vancouver and am using that as my base at the moment. On the second night, a Monday, there we had a Pub Crawl which was a good way to meet a whole bunch of new people.

On the Tuesday night I went to an NHL (professional ice hockey)presason game between the Vancouver Canucks and the San Jose Sharks which was cool but unfortunately the Canucks lost 2-0, however it was cool being there for the atmosphere. Canadians are so die hard into their hockey. I then went for a few drinks with a Kiwi girl (Abi) and a couple of German girls (Kathrin and Katey). After several nights out I noticed how bad my wallet was looking. Booze in Canada is so much more expensive than the States and even back home. A six pack of the most common beer costs C$11.

Due to my diminishing funds I decided to do some free stuff. One day I went walking around Stanley Park along the sea wall which is 15kms long. I walked in my jandals and ended up getting blisters. The next day I thought it would be good to walk to Grouse Mountain on the other side of the harbour. I thought it was probably an hours walk but after 3½ hours I finally got there. The gondola up is C$30 so I decided to do the notorious Grouse Grind. All the tourist books I read said don't do it unless you're really fit. I thought I was but found out how wrong I was. It is a 3km natural stairmaster basically, straight up the side of the hill with several thousands steps. Really fit people use it for training. I was passed by about 20 people. Eventually after 1hr13min I made it to the top in a sweating, sore-bum-muscles, about-to-have-a-heart-attack heap. The fastest time for the day was 37 minutes. This year's record for a woman 60-70yrs is 1hr6min. But when I got to the top the view was worth it. I got there just before sunset so got to watch the lights come on in Vancouver. It was very pretty as the sky turned all shades of red.

For the weekend I took a tour up to Whistler. It is a very pretty and modern resort but it is really expensive to do anything and it'll get more that way too because the winter Olympics are being held there in 2010. Whistler is essentially another state of Australia too. The Aussies are everywhere. For the 4 days there I just hung out with a Kiwi (Louise), a Aussie (Meridee) and an English couple (Martin and Jennie) and we just mucked around. The Saturday and Sunday weren't too nice so we spent some time playing boardgames inside.

One night we had a spa and the next we had a sauna which was really nice in the cold weather. After coming back to Vancouver I again went out on the Monday night pub crawl but the rest of this week I have taken pretty casually.

This weekend I am heading on another 4 day tour but this time to Vancouver Island. When I get back next week I am planning on heading inland towards the Rockies since I've nearly been here 3 weeks. How and where I'm going I have no idea but hopefully I'll sort something out.

Well I'm up to date at last. Only 6 weeks left in Canada and then off to Peru for my 13 week South America trip. I'll try to be more frequent with the info. Catchyas.

USA roadtrip recap - Part 5

2006-10-05T00:57:00.000Z

Death Valley National Park, CA - Leaving Las Vegas, we headed back into the desert. We headed to Death Valley NP which has the highest temperatures in the States. On the day we were there it was a cool 43 degrees. The maximum recorded temperature was 57 degrees back in 1913.

We made our way through Death Valley, its sand storms and exhaustive heat and headed north through the Sierra Nevada passing Mount Whitney, the tallest mountain in the lower 48.

Yosemite National Park, CA - After experiencing the heat in Death Valley the next day was the opposite in Yosemite NP. It was windy and about 5 degrees at its highest point of 9000+ feet. There was also vegetation, something that is in short supply in Death Valley. Yosemite was very pretty with its huge granite cliffs and conifer forests.

San Francisco, CA - We then got to San Fran late at night. The hotel we booked on the internet was overbooked so we had to head out of town before finding somewhere to stay. To stay in San Fran is very expensive compared with everywhere else we had been staying. The next day we booked in the cheapest place we could which was the YMCA in an area called Tenderloin. Tenderloin is like the ghetto of SF and we were smack bang in the middle. As soon as we got outside our hostel there were drunks, druggies, prostitutes and every other kind of useless bum you could think of. It was a little daunting to say the least. We even saw some bums about to have a dust up over a half can of beer.

On the Saturday night we had some drinks in our room and at 12am headed out on the town. We were out until everything was shut down at 1:30am and the cops kicked everyone off the street so it wasn't such a good night out. We walked the Golden Gate Bridge and had a short walk around part of the bay before we headed north as we only had 3 days left 'til our visas expired.

Redwood National Park, CA - Through the wine growing region of California we headed up the coast to the Redwood NP to see the tallest trees in the world. On the way up we went to a redwood that you could drive through but the van was a little too big so we had to watch other people drive through. In the Redwood NP we went for a couple of walks through the huge forest and saw some wild elk before we continued the rest of our drive towards Canada.

Oregon and Washington - With only 2 days left on our US visas we were in a dash to get to the border so didn't see or do much in these states other than drive. We successfully made it to the border on the afternoon of 19th September (the last day of our visas) and Tim and Jess got work visas for Canada for the ski season. We then made it to Vancouver to stay with a Kiwi couple living here.

USA roadtrip recap - Part 4

2006-10-04T22:15:00.001Z

Mesa Verde National Park, CO - Having travelled to cities for most of the trip we decided it was time to get close to nature and started going to national parks. Mesa Verde was our first stop. We went up 8,500 feet in elevation and were awestruck with the expansive views. We then went to the cliff dwellings where pueblo Indians lived until around 1300.

Four Corners, CO, AZ, NM, UT - We then made our way to Four Corners, which is only place in the US where four states meet. This is where we went to Utah even though we spent probably 5 minutes there, on the very corner of it but it counts as one of the 21 states we went to. The land is on an Indian reservation and the Four Corners site is surrounded by Indian stalls. They also charge you $3 each to see the Four Corners but we thought we might as well seeing we might not do it again.

Whilst driving through the Navajo Indian reservation towards the Grand Canyon the exhaust pipe and muffler of the van came off and started dragging along the road. We then spent the next half an hour trying to get it off as it was very rusty and kept getting caught on the rear axle. We had a steady flow of traffic pass us including a couple of cops but nobody stopped. Nice, friendly Navajo.

Grand Canyon National Park, AZ - Next stop was the Grand Canyon. It truly is vast and you can't get a good perspective until you see a helicopter fly across it. By the time the helicopter is on the other side it is a mere dot. Tim and I also remarked at how calm a small stretch of water we could see in the bottom was. We then read a notice that said the stretch of water was a mile long and had grade 4 rapids but because it was so far away it didn't appear that way at all. I also had a wee mishap when walking too close to the edge.

A wee mishap at Grand Canyon

On from the Grand Canyon we kept heading west to get to Las Vegas. On the way there we went across the Hoover Dam.

Las Vegas, NV - Due to a crash on the freeway, we didn't get into Vegas until it was dark and all the lights were on. We stayed in Circus Circus and got an awesome deal from the check-in lady we had. She charged us for only 2 adults and gave us a room on the top floor. Over the next three days we hit the town during the day to see the shops and attractions and during the night we walked along seeing free shows and checking out the casinos.

We didn't gamble big, I think I spent a massive $15 on pokies and eventually lost it all. Jess made $24 on a $1 in the 1c machines. We again stuffed ourselves on buffets. The Monday and Tuesday weren't too busy. On Tuesday night we stayed out until 5am but there weren't many other people out except the Cops film crew who were videoing a segment for the show. We watched as they did several takes of the police car screaming along and got a hooker to sign an indemnity form after the cop told her off for something. By Wednesday it was very busy with people everywhere as I expected I would see.

USA roadtrip recap - Part 3

2006-10-04T21:02:00.001Z

Biloxi, MS - After leaving great Kiwi hospitality in Alabama we headed along the Gulf Coast towards New Orleans. We got off the interstate and went through Biloxi where the epicentre of Hurricane Katrina hit. The amount of destruction was amazing. For about 3 blocks in from the beaches everything was wiped out. Even a year later you could see massive piles of rubble and the foundations of numerous buildings. Everything was gone or damaged beyond repair including homes, service stations, department stores, fast food restaurants etc.

New Orleans, LA - We made our way into New Orleans via the 26 mile long bridge across Lake Pontchatrain. When you are in the middle you can only just see land on the horizons. They really liked their bridges in Louisiana, with us travelling on numerous ones over 5 miles long.

It was a Monday night after a long weekend when we got into New Orleans so there weren't many people out and about on Bourbon Street. I think revellers were outnumbered by cops. The damage in New Orleans CBD from Katrina is cleaned up now but the streets stink. We went to a few clubs but they were empty. Drinking on the streets is allowed but only if you have a plastic cup, "a go cup". With limited time and a long way to Canada we carried on heading west.

Dallas, TX - After a long day's drive we made it to Dallas. We went downtown and saw where JFK was shot and had a quick look around town before hitting the road again. Dallas downtown was very quite and very clean. We didn't see any bums, which are in almost every city scabbing for money.

Out of Dallas we started heading into the desert and small towns reminiscent of the one in Texas Chainsaw Massacre. We also got into black gold, Texas tea country with oil rigs dotting the landscape in their thousands as we headed to New Mexico.

Roswell, NM - As we got into New Mexico, we were well in the desert. Each afternoon huge thunderstorms would cruise through. It was amazing because it is so flat and you could see them approaching from miles away. In Roswell we had a look at the UFO museum and from what we read of both sides of the story we decided that it was a weather balloon that crashed and some dumb hicks couldn't work it out so said it was a UFO. Roswell city was a lot bigger than I thought it would be and it is quite funny with its alien theme throughout town.

Santa Fe, NM - We headed up to Santa Fe, through yet more thunderstorms and had our first day of bad weather in four weeks. On the way we stopped at Billy the Kid's gravesite. The gravestone is bolted to the ground with a metal cover and surrounded by a cage because it has been stolen 3 times since his death. Buildings in Santa Fe all brown with flat roofs and plaster outsides. Even the McDonald's and service stations are built in this style. With the large Mexican population it was weird to think we were still in the States.

During the weekend we were there it was their annual fiesta. There was a heavy police presence due to (from what our taxi driver told us) a shooting a couple of years ago between wannabe Mexican gangsters. We went out on Friday night and whilst waiting in line to get in a bar we watched a massive brawl between two groups of Mexicans happen right in front of us. The cops turned up 3 minutes later and we decided we would find somewhere else to go. At 1:30 the cops including the SWAT team (not fully kitted) came through the town and closed all the bars. Anybody who didn't move on was locked up. It was cool to see somewhere that has the numbers to police effectively.

USA roadtrip recap - Part 2

2006-10-04T20:19:00.000Z

Kittyhawk, Kill Devil Hills and Nagshead, NC - That's right, those are actual place names. Tim, Jess, Leah and I made it to Kittyhawk on the Atlantic Coast of North Carolina at 3:00am on Sunday morning and parked up across the road from the beach. It was a stinking hot night and felt like a sauna in the van but we work up early, walked passed the church service on the beach and went for an 8:00am swim in the Atlantic Ocean. We then went to where the Wright brothers made their first flights before going for an afternoon swim. We then drove inland to a hick town called Williamston but styed in the best hotel/motel of the trip.

We stayed predominantly in chain hotels or motels due to the fact they were everywhere and with coupons or internet deals, it was cheaper for the 4 of us (later, the 3 of us) than hostels and most of the time we got free breakfast and heated pools.

Wilmington, NC - Not realising that our visas expired in a few weeks we thought we could take it easy so we headed back out to the coast and had a couple of relaxing days in Wilmington. We spent a couple of days at the beach. The water was so warm that it felt like a bath when we got in but the waves were good and we got a couple of hours body surfing in. We also started our love affair with buffets after stuffing ourselves in the Chinese buffet next to our motel. Buffets are everywhere in the southern states.

Mobile, AL - Over the course of a couple of days of just driving (and a breakdown) we made our way to Mobile, Alabama where Tim had a mate from the NZ Air Force who is living over here for a coupe of years. We stayed with Jim, Bernie and their daughter Kaitlyn for 4 nights. We lost Leah on the first day when she went to Florida for a week before she headed back home. On the second night we had a BBQ with southern style ribs and gorged ourselves.

Jim arranged a river trip with one of his workmates (Don Johnson) for us on the Saturday. Don was a real southern bloke. We went out on his boat and spent all day drinking and swimming in several places along the river system in Mobile. We also went out to the Gulf of Mexico and went for a swim as the sun set and our intoxication levels grew. We got back to Don's place at around 11pm and when he found out I was a cop he was insistant that I saw his gun collection. Due to the number of beers he had, Don had a little trouble remembering the code to his safe and after 45 minutes managed to get it open. He then proceeded to pull out many hi powered automatic rifles, an oozy and numerous large pistols. As he handed them to me he told me to be careful because they were all loaded. Good to know.

The next day Jim and Bernie took us for a drive along the coast. We saw a lot of the damage from Hurricane Katrina and this was over 100 miles from the epicentre. We went for an afternoon swim in the very salty Gulf of Mexico. Tim tried to catch what he thought was a flounder with his hands and found out the hard way that it was an electric ray. For the rest of the day, Tim was a little bit green, so it must have had some whack. Realising that we only had a few weeks left our visas we then decided to fastrack it across the states.

USA roadtrip recap - Part 1

2006-09-28T21:35:00.000Z

I have now finished my whirlwind road trip of the States. We did 21 states, 2 Canadian Provinces and Washington DC in 5 weeks travelling in the big V8 Ford van. We started in New York City with 7 of us - Kiwis: Me, Tim and Jess, the owners of the van. Aussies: Rees and Leah. Poms: Ady and Jay.

Over the weeks people left to go their own ways and Tim, Jess and I carried on for the last three weeks before I departed in Vancouver and they carried on to Big White.

In a condensed version of the trip here goes:

New York, NY - After camp we went to New York city where a large group of counsellors stayed in the Portland Square hotel, which is 50 metres from Times Square. We spent a couple of days walking around and having parties on the roof of the hotel. Then the road trip in the van started, kind of, 'cos it took us a couple of hours trying to get out of Manhattan via Harlem.

Niagara Falls, NY and Ontario - We arrived late at night on a Friday in Buffalo and looked for the street with the pubs which was dead. Supposedly the night to go out was Saturday. Then whilst looking for accommodation we ended up in the ghetto area. At one stage we had a a van pull up next to us at some lights with the door open and some dodgy looking dudes looking like they were about to carjack us. We quickly made our way out of there. The next day was rainy so we mucked around in the town and had a few bevies in the motel before heading for a night out in Niagara Falls town on the US side. By the way the US side sux compared to the Canadian side. If anyone else goes there, do it from the Canadian side.

We then spent the next day viewing the Niagara Falls from both sides and down below in the Maid in the Mist before heading down to Philadelphia that night.

Philadelphia, PA - We arrived in Philly at 4:30 am so we parked up in the town centre and slept on the Streets of Philadelphia. It wasn't too comfy with 7 of us trying to sleep in a van with all our gear. We did the tourist sights and walked around the CBD before having a Monday night out in Philly. Jay left us for New York and we were down to 6.

Wildwood and Atlantic City, NJ - Wanting to go to the beach after not seeing the ocean since we arrived in the US, we headed to Wildwood with the intention of staying a night or two because it is known as a party town. There were motels everywhere but they were all booked out or overly expensive so we went for a swim, walked along the boardwalk and then headed to Atlantic City to find somewhere cheaper to stay. The next day was a beautiful day in Atlantic City so we headed off to the beach again.

As we got into town we noticed that there was a massive airshow going on and it took us 2 hours to find a carpark. It turned out the airshow was over the beach, so we went and set up our possie and lay in the sun watching many different planes doing stunts 50m above our heads. Even better was that it was free. I got a little sunburned and after several hours we went back, got ready and went out on the town again. Ady and I went to Hooters while the rest went to a buffet. It was well worth it, especially after we had been to the one in New York which was not very good.

Washington DC - Next stop was DC where we did all the major sights. Luckily most of them are free. We went out on Friday night up near U street and had a bit of bother getting in a couple of clubs because some only accepted passports, however we made it into a couple of decent ones and had a good night out. I definitely recommend DC as a place to go out.

After spending a couple of days in DC, Rees and Ady stayed behind so they could head to Las Vegas and the other 4 of us headed towards North Carolina.

Halfway thru camp

2006-07-21T20:17:00.000Z

We're now over halfway through camp with the kids and have about 3 and a half weeks to go before moving on. The weather has turned beautiful and summer is well and truely here. The temperatures have hit about 35 to 37 degrees a couple of times in the last week and my tan is looking pretty good. Luckily we have two sessions a day in the water. Today is swap-over day where some kids who were here for only the first half of camp left. I had two in my bunk leave so I only have 4 campers in my bunk with 2 counselors and we are the smallest bunk on camp. There is lots of room at the dining room table now. It was a little sad to see the 2 kids leave cos they were really good kids and they had a lot of fun.

A typical day at Chipinaw
At 7:30 we are woken up by music (usually Billy Joel) blaring from the PA system around camp. We then have 15 minutes to get up to the flagpole where they make announcements for the day and they raise the flag. If it rains we just go straight to the dining hall. Breakfast is at 8:00 but the food doesn't usually come out for 10 to 15 mins. It's then back to the bunks for cleanup, which is usually badly needed, before first activity starts at 9:15. Everyday we have 2 water activities, one at the pool involving swim instruction and one at the lake which is usually mucking around on the inflatable trampoline called a blob or kayaking or just swimming. The periods are mixed every day but one is before lunch and the other after.

There are 6 activities a day that are 55 minutes long with a 10 minute changeover period in between. 2 activities are sports such as soccer, basketball or tennis and the other 2 activities the kids choose for themselves from a list of activities for that day. These activites are called electives and there are about 40 or 50 of them ranging from building model rockets to horse riding. I won't list all the activities but they can be seen at www.chipinaw.com. As a general counselor I take all the kids of the same age group around the activities and get to participate with them. There are 40 boys in the Junior division (12 years old) which I go around with each day. There are 5 other counselors that are in the division too. During the day I get one period off and I get one day off a week which is usually a Thursday.

After the day's activites we have shower hour which is actually only 50 mins before dinner lineup at the flagpole. There we have further announcements and a lowering of the flag (the US flag). After dinner is a freeplay period until about 7:30 when we get ready for night activity. The night activities are wide and varied from basketball shootout comps to pudding wrestling and singing competitions to Simon Sez nights. After night activity the kids have "Canteen" which is where they go and have an ice cream, chocolates, chips or lollies and a fizzy drink before they head off to bed. Why they have it then I have no idea. I have four nights a week off which starts at 9:30 and curfew is 12:30 so including taxi waiting and travelling times we usually only have 2 hours at the pub. If we are working at camp we have to put the kids to bed, which is usually a struggle, and then sit on the porch until 12:30 before we are allowed to go to bed so sleep is a commodity at camp and free periods come in handy for that.

That is pretty much the daily routine at camp and with only 3 and a bit weeks to go it will be weird going out into the real world again.

The local pub

2006-06-24T21:38:00.000Z

A cool thing about the States is that the servos sell beer and it is cheap. Our usual trip to the pub now involves a "40 walk". We get dropped off at the servo by taxi and buy a 40 oz (1.125L) bottle of beer for $2.75. You can also buy 2 x 24 oz cans of beer for $2.50 but it is harder to drink fast so most people only buy one can or a 40 oz bottle hence the name of the "40 walk". Once we have bought our beer, we then walk along a couple side roads for about 15 minutes, drinking our beer. In New York state it is illegal to walk along drinking alcohol in public so we have put our bottles or cans into brown paper bags. It makes you feel like a real wino. Supposedly the police need a warrant to search the paper bag so if the bottle is covered up they can't do much. Most of the time we don't manage to complete the drink by the end of the walk so we stand up from the pub to finish them off. I have earned a bit of a reputation because I can usually finish one before we get there when most have half a bottle to go.

The local is called "Friends" and it is a small bar/restaurant on a back road, surrounded by woods. It is quite small and when you get in there with 150 people it gets a little packed and ordering drinks can take a while. It is very a quaint and typical American pub with a TV at each end of the bar with baseball or basketball on. On my first night I was talking to one of the kiwis and said how typical it was and also stated that all it needed was a dead animal. We then looked up and there was some bull's horns rid above the bar.

A jug of Bud(weiser) costs $9 and you have to tip as well so it costs $10. For a good night where I don't want to get too drunk I do the 40 walk and then get a jug so it costs me about $13 for the night. The dumb thing is that because we have to grab a taxi, an evening out costs about US$25-$30.

Friends also has its own resident bear that lives in the woods out the back. That's right, a bear. It's a black bear with one cub that I've seen. It raids the rubbish skip out the back every night, dragging the bags to the edge of the woods and eating all the leftovers. I initially thought everyone was talking it up for about the first ten days until I actually saw the bear and her cub just before dusk one night as we were taking our bottles from the 40 walk to the skip. She was standing at the edge of the woods and was thinking about going to the skip but I think she was being cautious because we were around. I grabbed a few photos in the bad light. The black dot in the middle is the bear. We weren't going to get any closer for a better picture.

The owner of the pub, Jim, says he has tried everything to stop the bear getting in the skip including welding a steel bar on to the lid to keep them down but the bear managed to bend the bar without any effort and got in again so Jim is pretty much resigned to the fact that the bear gets in.

First 3 weeks of camp

2006-06-24T00:06:00.000Z

Hey all. I haven't been able to update this page until now due to the computers at camp being crap and being at the pub most of the time.

Well, the plane rides were all on schedule and were very long. The Air New Zealand long haul service has changed dramatically in the last few years with better seats, entertainment and food, but I still couldn't sleep. I arrived in LA to nice clear skies and warm temps but only spent 8 hrs there before I flew out to NY. I flew into Newark airport in New Jersey and had to wait a couple of hours for my baggage to catch up on a later flight. After a trip on the bus into Manhattan and the Port Authority bus station I had to get to 116th St. I was on 42nd so I thought I might be able to walk it in about an hour. However after walking ten blocks in ten minutes and dripping in sweat in the 35 degree heat I decided to pay for a cab. Anyway, got to my location and caught the bus with about 30 other counselors going to Chipinaw.

About Chipinaw
Camp Chipinaw is actually two summer camps next to each other. The main camp has 8 week campers and the other, Chipinaw @ Silver Lake, has two 4 week sessions for campers. Both camps are split into girls and boys camps and border onto a small lake. The cabins are fairly old and wooden with no insulation and are split into two bunk rooms on either side of a couple of toilets and showers. Each half of a cabin fits between 6 and 12 beds for campers and couselors. For more info on the camp look at the link on my links list.

My first two weeks here were as part of the pre-camp crew. There were 40 of us from NZ, Australia, England, USA and the odd one from Holland and Israel. For the first two weeks we were split into four groups and each group worked on one of the camps. We weed-whacked, painted, mowed lawns, picked up sticks, raked leaves, waterblastered and other general maintenance of the grounds and the cabins. Some of the cabins were in pretty bad shape. One weird thing I found was the each nationality has a different word for a weedeater. The Aussies call it a whipper-snipper, the kiwis a weed eater, the poms a strimmer and the americans a weed whacker. There's also a couple of other items that are all called different things such as jandals and waterblasters.

After our first day which was about 35 degrees, the weather turned bad, with a lot of rain and the temperature dropping to between 5 and 10 degrees. The grounds got saturated with mud everywhere and my feet were a mess from wearing wet socks all day, every day. After the first two weeks of pre-camp, the weather started to pick up again with nice days in the mid 20s just as some of the new staff arrived. Since then we've had warm temperatures and a few nice days but it still rains quite a bit. It has been sunny enough that I have a tan. The sun up here is a lot weaker than back home. You can spend a good two to three hours in the sun before you start getting burnt bad. The heat is there but it doesn't have the intensity. My feet have started to get better now my shoes are dry again and I can also wear jandals again. I was getting blisters on blisters and had to nearly hobble for a couple of days.

Over the last ten days all the rest of the staff have been coming into camp so now we have over 200 counsellors plus about 100 other staff here so learning names has been hard.

We've had three days off while we've been here. On the first ne it rained all day so we went to Wal-Mart and then the pub, the next we drove for an hour and a half to a mall and on our last day off we went to a local lake and had drinks and a BBQ.

Not much more I can think of at the mo but will now try to keep this updated.

Last day of work

2006-05-25T21:41:00.000Z

Out the back
Well my last day at work has come and gone. It's weird to think I won't be locking up people anymore but I won't be missing the paperwork.

At the moment I'm just going through the stresses of packing. I only got my passport back from the British High Commission on Thursday and I leave on Monday. Just bought myself a camera too. Hopefully I'll only have a couple more things to do, then I'm off. Can't wait. Choice.

Home of my overseas thoughts and photos

2006-04-16T06:35:00.000Z

G'day all,

This will be my site for thoughts and photos while I am out there travelling the world and trying no to get mugged.