27 Feb-8 Mar 2010: Altenmarkt, Austria

Oh how I love Austria! The snow, food, good company, quaint little town of Altenmarkt, the Klausners...this is my third time back and I would come back again and again.

This time I came with Sera, Alex, Terreis and Nick. We had some mixed weather...starting off sunny (and warm) and then heading towards a blizzard by the end of the week. But we had a great time, and we can't complain about the amount of snow we had (though going down to -14 degrees on the slopes was a tad cold!).

Zauchensee ski slopes were in great shape...lots of good snow, not too much ice, and not a lot of Brits in hearing distance! The ski field is run really well and they even provide free shuttle buses to and from Altenmarkt, all day and for free. With the Euro still strong, this was a bonus as it wasn't cheap buying a 7 day ski pass.

As for the food...lots of delicious things to choose from and for some...it was the highlight of the trip!!

Here are some pics that tell it better than I can....

6 Dec 2009-16 Jan 2010: New Zealand

Wellington
I flew from the UK and landed into Auckland airport knowing I was home....I got greeted very warmly by the immigration officer! Once I was in Wellington I also knew I was home as on day 1 I felt my first earthquake!

Mum and Dad were in good spirits and the first week was spent catching up with friends in Wellington and getting over jet lag (which wasn't too bad). I did have to wait 3 days before I saw the sunshine...and it wasn't exactly very warm either! But home is home!

Waitomo
I hired a car for most of my stay in NZ - much easier and lots more freedom with a car. My first trip was to Waitomo Caves where I did a 5-hr tubing and abseiling trip into the caves. Absolutely fantastic experience (as long as you aren't claustophobic) and as there were only 2 of us we got to do far more than most trips. The water in the caves was actually slightly warmer than I imagined, but we were still in a full wetsuit.

Raglan
The next port of call was a quaint little town called Raglan (east coast of the North Island). I was there for one thing only...surfing. I was staying at the Karioi Lodge just by Mana Bay (where the left break is the most consistent in the southern hemisphere). The weather was generally sunny and I had 6 days of surfing. Very exhausting but so much fun and lots of people to talk to at the lodge. The waves were not as big or rough as Croyde Bay (Devon), but consistently good. I would definitely go back there for more surfing as it is such a nice spot.

Xmas week
I went back down to Wellington for Xmas week (but it was one hell of a drive...8hrs solid). My brother Jason and his wife Caroline had also arrived from the UK so half the Lind family were together.

Xmas day was typically NZ style...get up, unwrap pressies, have a hot lunch, afternoon snooze, and then a light dinner. Lots of champers, chocolates and rich food! But we would have it no other way!

Whakatane
Jason, Caroline and I stayed in Wellington for a few more days before heading up to Whakatane (near to Tauranga). It was a long day....8hrs driving....but the hire car was top of the range and was so comfortable to drive (and very easy to put the speed on). We also managed to get up there in time for the sunset which was very beautiful.

Thornton Holiday Park was packed full with people, but we weren't camping, we had a cabin. This is very typical way New Zealanders spend their holidays...and we were only a few minutes walk from the beach which was long and largely undeveloped. Lots of people were there to fish...but we were there for for some R&R and fun.

One day we headed to Rotorua where we did a white water rafting trip down Kaituna Falls. It is a 7m waterfall which the raft (and hopefully everyone) rafts down. The trip was very well organised, very professional and a lot of fun. We then went to Polynesian Spa for a well earned rest in very, very hot spring water!

The rest of the time in Whakatane was spent relaxing, checking out Whakatane, going to Ohope Beach (beautiful), and just not doing much. We ended up in Whakatane for New Year's Eve and I can't say it was kicking off like it would in London, but enough that we had a good time.

Picton
On 2 January 2010, I flew down to Nelson and Jason and Caroline flew back to the UK via Phuket. I then had 7 days of R&R which involved walking, canoeing, reading and not doing very much. I was staying at Portage Hotel (backpacker part) so I would usually start the day with a latte on the balcony and then decide what I was going to do for the rest of the day. The weather was fab, so I also working hard on my tan.

Wellington
And so my 6-week trip was coming to an end...the last week was spent in Wellington saying goodbye to friends and family and generally trying to savour the last few days of freedom!

The trip was everything I hoped it would be and it was so good catching up with friends and particularly family. I was also lucky with the weather so the whole trip was something that I will remember for a long while (well...at least until my next trip to Austria skiing in March!).

More photos....

25 Sep-5 Oct 2009: Sharks Bay, Egypt

Having been without a holiday since the US in June, I thought I had better take one before I started experiencing withdrawal symptoms! The choice was hard, but I decided on sun, scuba diving and slumming on a beach...thus the Red Sea.

I went through a UK company called OonasDivers (the one I went through also for my liveaboard 2 years ago...see the post from Nov 07) and booked myself on a 9-day scuba package to Umbi Diving Village, Sharks Bay (about 20mins from Sharm El Sheik airport and further away still from Sharm itself...thank god!). I invited my very good friend Sera and her very good friend Ria. And what a blast we had!!

Umbi Diving Village is fab_u_lous...lots of character and well run. The accommodation we chose was great (air con, bathroom, balcony, view) and the dive school very well run. My only criticism would be the quality of their dive gear (leaking tanks are not a good way to start any dive holiday!). But other than that the dive guides were fun and professional, the boats in very good running order, and never more than 4 divers to a guide. They were catering to everyone from complete beginner to those who had over 500 dives under their belts.

I can't say I saw anything larger (or should I say more dangerous) than a very large napoleon fish which was about half the size of a human. But the coral was amazing, the fish life opulent, and not that many boats around as it wasn't peak season. We chose the best time as the weather was about 35 during the day/25 during the night, low humidity, not busy and the water temp around 28 degrees. Couldn't ask for more.

I can't say we actually did much outside of diving (me), snorkelling, and lying on the beach (Sera, Ria and me), but that was fine as we had our duty free alcohol, our balcony and each other. We also socialised with other divers who were a great bunch to be around, and enjoyed the array of fab (if not limited) Egyptian food on offer.

Saying that, Ria and myself did an all-day boat trip out to Tiran Island...and unbeknown to us, the boat will filled with 28 Egyptians and 2 of us! We were the only westerners onboard and I think we were more a shock to them then they were to us!! It was funny though...particularly when we stopped for snorkelling as half of them couldn't swim at all, and so they wore life jackets (although only 3 were available on the whole boat) and the snorkelling guide had to have a life saving ring with him to drag them along!

All in all, we had a brilliant time and though I stayed on an extra 2 days after Sera/Ria went home, I could have stayed there for another week. Oh, well, I'll just have to go back next year!

More photos:

May/June 2009: Boston, New York and Canada (Ontario, Quebec)

During the summer this year I had six weeks off to go and enjoy myself in the US and Canada. The first thing on my agenda was seeing my brother, sister-in-law and two nephews and niece in Boston, then I took a train down to New York for some serious fun (i.e. sightseeing and shopping), and then I joined up with a TrekAmerica trip that went to Niagara, Ontario, Quebec and back down to Maine. And here is a little of what I got up to...not everything of course, as that would be telling..... :)

Boston
The reason for going to Boston was two-fold...to see my brother, sister-in-law, nephews and niece, and to also have a look around Boston. My brother Geoff and his family live about 40mins outside of Boston but very near to Plum Island which has some very nice beaches. They also live close to Newberryport which is very idyllic...similar feel to English seaside villages. I loved catching up with my nephews and niece and to experience living in a house with 3 kids under the age of 9!

Boston is a lovely city...quite condense and lots of things to do. I would really recommend the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Faneuil Hall Marketplace, going out to Harvard University campus (I was there the day after graduation so it was pretty dead), and the Bunker Hill monument. I have to admit, I even have a photo of me standing outside the bar Cheers!

New York
After spending a week in Boston I caught the train down to New York. I was staying in a hostel called Village Inn and it was situated in Greenwich/East Village part of NY. I was basically in the middle of Manhatten so I could either head up to Times Square area or down to Statue of Liberty.

Walking NY is extremely tiring...the first day I must have been walking for at least 8 hours straight and then gradually less and less as I saw more and more. Luckily the weather was on my side and didn't get rained on at all. I really recommend the following things in NY:

• Seeing Statue of Liberty up close and personal (if you want to actually go into the statue you need to get a free pass BEFORE heading out on the boat)
• Going up the top of the Rockerfeller Building rather than the Empire State Building (this way you get to take photos of NY with the ES Building in the background)
• World Trade Centre museum and guided walk (well worth taking as the guide is usually someone who was there on the day)
• Natural History Museum (we have all seen 'A Night at the Museum')
• Crossing Brooklyn Bridge (take the metro to Brooklyn and walk back as the view is much better)
• Walking in Central Park
• Guggenheimer Museum
• Shopping on 5th Avenue (it has to be done)

Trip into Canada
The TrekAmerica camping trip 'Canadian Pioneer' was brilliant - a fantastic trip with great people (we only got rained on for two evenings - both times we decided to get other accommodation other than our tents!). There was a mixture of nationalities and everyone was a similar age...no one too old or too young! The first stop was Niagara Falls (US side) - it was exhilerating going out on the Maid in the Mist boat but well worth doing that to get a close up.

Then we headed into Canada. First on our agenda was Toronto (just another city) and then Algonquin NP. If was full of mossies and it was only spring. We all went on a canoe trip and after two people capsized we sent out a rescue party to go and get help as we were on an island in the middle of the lake and the wind was up which meant there were waves and strong currents. They capsized but managed to get a rescue boat out to us!

After that adventure we then headed to Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec. Ottawa felt like Wellington, NZ with its parliament, and Montreal and Quebec very French! I loved Montreal with its harbour, and cafes / restaurants (went to a restaurant called 'ONoir' where we had dinner in the pitch dark - very freaky but great fun). It is also home to Cirque du Soliel (I saw the latest show called 'Ovo'), and has gorgeous parks and amazing night life. I recommend Montral to everyone.

After spending a week in Canada (where we did see a moose or two, but no bears) we headed back out to the good ole US of A. We spent a day in Maine and the Acadia National Park where it rained for most of the time. We did get to cycle around for the day which really was good fun and very beautiful. Then we coasted down through Rhodes Island and then back to New York.

I spent another 5 days in NY seeing everything I didn't get around to (ie. Brooklyn Bridge, nearly seeing Obama in Times Square), then back to Boston for 4 days before heading back to London.

I loved every minute of the trip and would go back to New York again for sure. And of course I will have to visit my brother and his family again before my nephews and niece forget about me!

More photos...