24-27 August 2007 - Dorset, England (walking)

The six of us (Allison, Tina, Jane, Eloise, Tom - and me behind the camera) all arrived at Lulworth on the Friday, with some of us driving down, and the rest getting the train. The day was beautiful and it was about mid afternoon when we all congregated at the ‘local’ (I know, it didn’t take us long to find the nearest pub!). But we had a valid reason…the YHA didn’t open it’s doors until 5pm.

Sitting at the pub we decided on the route we were to walk the next day and also organised a taxi to get us there as we would walk back from Weymouth to Lulworth (just a mere 10 miles, and a few hills). We did go for a small walk that afternoon and of course treated ourselves to a delicious ice cream (the first of many).

We couldn’t ask for better weather on the Saturday. Walking 10 miles in rain and wind would not have been fun, so the fact that we had sun the whole time was miraculous. The first part of the walk was pretty reasonable, one or two hilly parts but generally fine. It was after lunch that the fun began – and of course the big a**e hills came at the end of the day when we were already tired and sweaty!

Got to say though, between the huffing and puffing we had some fantastic views, gorgeous weather and had a good laugh or ten along the way. It is a beautiful part of the country and reminds me a little of New Zealand.

After a shower, change of clothes, and wine or two, we headed back to the local for dinner (Lulworth was full with day trippers and anything near the main hub of Lulworth, ie the cove, was expensive and packed…and we were too tired to walk far). A delicious meal, cold beer, and good company made the night pass very quickly. But most of us were in bed before midnight as the next day we were going on another (even hillier) 7 mile walk from Kemmeridge back to Lulworth (ie headed out north from Lulworth one day, and south the next).

Again the weather gods smiled on us and apart from some wind (which was cool and a welcome relief at times), we had another gorgeous day….to climb one hill, after another, after another….and the scramble down the other side wasn’t anything to scoff at either!

But we had a good time, and we even stopped off at a beach where 3 adventurous people jumped in and went for a swim (the fact I put a toe in and grimaced, was enough to tell me that it was far too cold to take a dip)! Instead, I had the very necessary ice cream back in Lulworth to cool down.

We headed back to the YHA and changed, and some of us drove to the nearest town 20mins away to get out cash as there are no ATMs in Lulworth and most places only accepted cash. But we made it back in time to sink a few wines before heading back to…yes you guessed it…the local!

On the Monday we were all a bit tired so we packed up and had a leisurely day off from walking. Some of us drove back to London (in very good time since it was a Bank holiday and the Nottinghill Carnival), and others took the train back.

I really do recommend these walks, and you don’t need to be super fit to do them, but a bit of perseverance and good lungs will help! (and of course the goodwill of the weather gods).

A big thanks to Jane who organised it all, and volunteered to drive some of us down and back.

2-17 June 2007 - Morocco

I arrived in Casablanca a day earlier than the 2-week Exodus trip and met up with the two people I was travelling with – Anne and Sera. We hit the markets in Casablanca and found that it wasn’t as cheap as we thought. And as for haggling…let’s just say to get a good bargain you started at half the price given, and work up slightly from there. On the Sunday we met the rest of the people we were going to be travelling with – 10 Americans (very nice ones as well), 5 Brits, 3 Aussies and 2 Kiwis.

The ages were from 24 up to 60, with about half male and half female. Our local guide Larcen was lovely and as he spoke Berber, French, English, Arabic, some Portuguese, Italian and little bits of other languages, we knew we would be in good hands. What amazed me was that 95% of the population here are Berbers (indigenous) with 5% Arab and nearly everyone in Morocco speaks French. If only I could remember my school-French!

We were in Morocco just before its hottest time…so we were bathed in temps around 30 degrees+ most days, though in the Sahara it was about 45 degrees! They didn’t seem to have aircon working properly in most of the places we were staying so there were some very restless nights and meant we were ready to get out of bed when the sun rose every morning (well...a slight exaggeration)! Because of the season, there weren’t a lot of other tourists about so in some places, especially the Atlas mountains and Sahara desert, we had the place to ourselves.

As for the sights in Morocco here are my favs:

• Walking through the medina (market place) in Fes – massive area with lots of side alleys and we were told to stay close as getting lost was a surety! It is in fact the largest medina in the world. It is confusing, immense, noisy, smelly, hot and intense – an amazing experience!
• Hassan II mosque in Casablanca – the third largest mosque in North Africa. Absolutely stunning.
• Volubilis – the largest and best preserved Roman ruins in Morocco. The mosaics are amazing and very well preserved.
• Staying at Merzouga (Sahara desert) where we climbed the Erg Chebbi dunes for sunrise. The dunes are a staging post for the Paris-Dakar Rally. We also had a 2hr camel ride into the desert where we spent the night under the stars at a Bedouin camp. (One of the guys got stung by a scorpion here…not a poisonous one, but he was in a lot of pain most of the night).
• Todra Gorge in the Atlas mountains – awe-inspiring with thousand-foot high vertical walls. We went for a 5 hour walk from 1600m to 2000m (very hot, but not as hard as you might imagine). There is a massive contrast to the barrenness of the mountains and then coming down to Todra gorge where it is basically an oasis…green with lots of date palms and wheat fields. Their irrigation system is simple, but very effective and everyone has access to the water.
• Spending 2 nights at a gite – local and basic accommodation in the High Atlas mountains. A great time to unwind and a highlight was going for a walk around the fields and watching people harvesting them. Girls were hauling loads of wheat and grass up hills and were a lot fitter than I am! In fact harvest time is the best time to come here for.

Everyone in the group got on amazingly well, and it has to be one of the best groups of people I’ve travelled with. I would definitely recommend this trip if you don’t have much time and want to see it all. Otherwise Morocco would be easy to travel around independently. Got to say though, two thirds of the group came down with a dodgy stomach during the trip….no one is quite sure what it was as it was like a domino effect - ie went from one person to the next over a course of about 5 days. Luckily I escaped the worst of it!

Morocco is so diverse in regards to landscape, people and history! The food is very tasty, though, it usually consisted of only 3 choices…cous cous, tagine, and omelette….for lunch and dinner!Once we got to the main cities like Casablanca and Marrakesh, there was more on the menu, but not much! And as for alcohol...barely saw any of it. Remember that nearly the whole population is Muslim.....

I really enjoyed my time here and would definitely come back to Casablanca for a long-weekend of shopping, and a week of hiking in the Atlas mountains.

2-17 June 2007 - Photos from Morocco

Door knockers to the King's palace!










A good ole gossip!










Amazing tile work










How to keep the neighbours out!













Couple strolling through Casablanca













Hustle and bustle of a medina (market place) at Meknes










Hassan II mosque in Casablanca













Standing guard outside the tomb of a Moroccan king










The sprawling medina of Fes

6-11 April 2007 - Brisbane, Australia

It could be a good couple of years before I see my little sister Penny again, so I decided to kill 2 birds with one stone…see my sister in Brisbane, and actually visit Australia for the first time (yup...flown over Australia many times but have never visited)!

The flight got me into Brisbane airport at 11pm on Easter Friday and Penny (or should I say Penelope) was there waiting for me (iPOD plugged into her ears of course). We had a quick catch up but by 12.30am both of us were ready for bed.

Saturday had a leisurely start to it, and after Penny showed me her lab and all the serious looking equipment and chemicals in it (no playing allowed), we headed into Brisbane city. There I met Mike (her boyfriend) and we had lunch, went to the art gallery, a museum and generally mooched around for the afternoon. Of course a good way to see a place is by boat, so we got the ferry – we spent the next 1.5hrs cruising the river and freezing our butts off as it was windy and the sun was setting. All I can say is there were lots and lots of apartments and office buildings along the waterfront.

After the cruise we headed to a Japanese restaurant to eat, and to warm up. Dinner was delicious and would have been a lovely evening if on the next table there wasn’t a small boy watching a DVD on his DVD player (I kid you not). Obviously his parents either have nothing to talk to him about, he doesn't talk, or he has Attention Deficit Syndrome!

We went back to Mike’s place where we stayed the night and caught a taxi back to my sister’s place so we could get a bus out to Lone Pine Sanctuary. It is the world's first and largest koala sanctuary, with over 130 koalas. So yes, I got to hold a koala, feed kangaroos and have a very pleasant time viewing dingoes, kookaburras, wombats…all things Australian!

We spent the afternoon there and that night my sister kindly made dinner and we chatted and watched telly. A nice way to unwind and relax as we had to get up early for the Bushwacker's eco tour we were booked on for the next day.

We had to meet the van at 7.20am, and the first stop on the tour was a place called the ‘Natural Arch’. We were driving up to Springbrook Mountain, and this waterfall/arch was on the way. We were basically in the rainforest and you could notice the drop in temperature. Our guide was in a fleece and beanie even before we left on the tour!! After some more driving we got to a track through the rainforest that should have taken us 45mins, but because there was a couple with a 5 month old baby on the trip, and the woman was wearing a skirt and inappropriate footwear, it took us 1hr15mins, which happened to coincide with the rain. So yes, we got very wet and didn’t get lunch until 2pm!

It was great walking through the rainforest, hearing the birds, taking in the atmosphere, and getting a botany lesson or two! We didn’t see any wildlife (other than hearing birds) but near to the Natural Arch we did see a red-bellied black snake on the side of a bank…my first venomous snake!

After lunch we basically headed back to Brisbane, but did stop at a glowworm cave and fed Rosalie birds which was great fun. We also hit the local fudge shop (yum). Four people left the trip in the afternoon as they were spending the night in the forest…3 of them were Korean and didn’t speak a word of English to us, so I felt sorry for the Italian girl who was the only other person doing it.

By the time we got home, had something to eat, drank a wine or two, we were both ready to crash.

Tuesday was my last day so we had a late start to the day and headed into town to do some shopping and see a movie ("300" - very violent). Afterwards we met Mike and went out for dinner.

All in all I had a fab time and was really glad I made the effort to see my sister. I wouldn’t want to live in Brisbane but its climate while I was there was great…26/27 during the day and 17/18 at night. I also love not having to wear a coat or hoodie all the time and being able to sit in restaurants/bars that are opened up onto the footpath.

6-11 April 2007: Photos from Brisbane, Australia

Me and my little sister!

Walking under a waterfall in the rainforests on Springbrook Mountain

Penny feeding the Rosalie birds

Brisbane city by ferry

Red-bellied black snake...can kill you in an hour

Kookaburra

Feeding the local wildlife

Isn't he just adorable?

Looks pretty uncomfortable to me!

Wombats are just plain weird looking animals....

Dec/Jan 2007 - New Years at Marlborough Sounds

28 December 2006 - 2 January 2007

What a wonderful way to spend 5 days...chilling out in the Marlborough Sounds. I had organised a 5-day trip to Lochmara Bay in Marlborough Sounds and invited two friends and my mother along with me. Basically a girls-only break in the sunshine with lots of alcohol and good food! We were staying at a place called Lochmara Lodge which is about 20mins boat ride from Picton (top of the South Island). Luckily the ferry journey from Wellington was in good conditions and sunshine (as was the water taxi ride from Picton to the lodge).

The very first things we did was take a walk around the lodge...they have about 40 hammocks strewn around the massive property and you just need to figure out which has the best sunshine and breeze (or not). It was sometimes the hardest decision of the day as to which hammock to snooze in!

By the time we had a look around and familiarised ourselves with area, it was time to open the first bottle of wine (of 14) that we had bought with us. They don't sell food and alcohol here so we had to bring all our food and drink with us (other than for the evening meal which we ordered every night). After a few bottles of wine and a very tasty dinner, it was time for (what would become our ritual), evening spa. I think our 'arrrhs' and 'oohs' were heard all over the lodge as the spa has a balcony looking over the water and the water was very warm! I think we lasted 20mins before we became overheated and had to beat a hasty retreat back to the lodge. By the time we had showered and dressed, I think we were very much ready for bed.

The next day we sat in the sun, read, went kayaking, snoozed in hammocks, went for walks, ate, drank and just lazed about. Not a very active day, but we were only just starting to unwind. The weather was fantastic but there were times when the sun was hidden by the clouds and it got a bit chilly. This also happened at night when the sun set and the wind came up. But with the open fire and nightly spa we didn't feel the cold too much.

The third day was definitely more active with Deirdre, Cheryl and myself going out for a 6hr walk from Anikawa back to the lodge along the Queen Charlotte Track. We got dropped off by the boat and then spent the day walking back. We had lots of sun and the track was pretty flat and easy...except for a steep climb up to a 450m lookout point. From here we had 360 views of the Marlborough Sounds...worth every bead of sweat (though Deirdre thinks otherwise)!

That night was New Year's Eve so out came more bottles of wine mixed with games of patanque, laughter, good conversation and a skinny dip by the very adventurous lodge staff! A great way to see in the new year.

No hangover the next day so Cheryl and myself spent the morning kayaking and then we all spent the day doing absolutely nothing other than reading. playing games, chatting, and snoozing in the very comfortable hammocks. Bliss. That night we had lamb shank for dinner and then polished off the last bottles of wine. With the spa thrown in as well, we were pretty knackered from the night before and I think we all had a good nights sleep before our departure the next morning.

After all the relaxation, food and rest, we were ready to face the world again. That was before we realised we would be sailing back into Wellington with 5 knot weather! By the time we had docked, I think half the people on the ferry were throwing up or at least feeling there were about to! We also had 11 degree cold southerlies blowing so the holiday felt like a dim memory by the time we all got home.

But I think we can all say we had a great time unwinding, relaxing and gathering the necessary energy to tackle the new year.

Dec/Jan 2007 - Photos from New Year

A view of Marlborough Sounds


Boat house at Lochmara Lodge


We had decided that I would have the boat, Cheryl would have the owner and Dierdre would have the owner's money...there's nothing like sharing!


The owner's daughter acting as the 'motor'!


Mum having a good laugh as I take ANOTHER photo


Me with the Punga people (see the Lochmara website for more details)


A view of the lodge to the right hand side


A bit of activity going on with Cheryl and Dierdre...


The entrance to Lochmara Lodge from the Queen Charlotte Track


Cheryl and Deirdre not looking amused as a I take ANOTHER photo when we were doing the 6hr walk