smilecaredubai-blog

[void-tiger]

That moment when…

The short about the family glamping and getting attacked by dinosaurs is WAY Better than the actual feature film.

[sticks-and-stone]

Gilchrist Blue Springs State Park

November 8, 2019 - November 10, 2019

For the first time in our quest to become professional campers, we paid for a more developed site in a state park. We decided on Gilchrist Blue Springs because it was close to home, had a spring head right next to the campground, and electricity on site. 

When we arrived on site - before dark for once - we quickly realized that what we paid for was an RV spot and the electrical hookups were only for RVs. Which was fine, we’ve camped twice now without electricity and we knew we would be fine. The issue we ran into was that it was pretty rainy when we arrived. Luckily, we packed the car well. We transitioned to a bin for our camping gear instead of a series of bags, so we were able to get the tent out of the bin and put up while protecting the rest of the gear from the rain. It also got darker much sooner than we anticipated and that came with the cold. So we got a fire started quickly and ate Publix Subs for dinner. We stayed up drinking beer and playing the guitar for a while before calling it an early night. 

Throughout the night I had to get up and use the restroom several times. Since this was such a tightly packed campground and we could basically touch our neighbors’ RV, I didn’t want to risk peeing outside. We were a mere 100 yards from the bathhouse anyway so I just made the dark, short trek every time I needed to use the facilities. I bought myself a pair of slides so that I could avoid having to put my sneakers on each time. The temperature dropped pretty rapidly throughout the night. This not only made it uncomfortable to get up and pee, but made it uncomfortable to sleep all together. I hadn’t purchased a sleeping bag yet, so I had to improvise as much as possible. 

Once awake for the day, we got to have a good look at our site and start to really unpack the gear since things were starting to dry out from the rain the evening before. The tent we used for this trip was brand new. No more using the hand-me-down tent from my coworker. So even though it was a bit smaller than the old one, it was much more durable and rain proof. This was the game changing gear for this trip. Between the new tent and having everything we needed in the bin instead of various bags, this trip was a huge improvement on our system. 

I also realized upon visiting the bathhouse for about the 40th time since arrival that I had, once again, planned a camping trip at the same time as my menstrual cycle. Luckily, state park bathhouses tend to be top notch and Gilchrest was no exception. They had full showers, hot water, and flushing toilets. This was basically glamping. Even still, I need to get better about tracking my cycle and not planning camping trips at the same time.

We made breakfast and started thinking about how we wanted to spend our day. The neighbors across the road asked us to watch their dog since they found out that they were not allowed to bring him out on their boat. We said no, because that’s super weird and we weren’t sure if we’d be leaving the campsite or not and I do not want to be in charge of someone else’s animal. Are you kidding me? 

After we ate, we decided to explore just a little. Just behind the bathhouse was the spring head. Much to my surprise, there were nearly no people in or around the water. I wasn’t sure if it was just too early in the day, too late in the year, or what. They had a small board walk that traced the river for a small stretch and we walked to the end of that and then headed back to camp. 

We realized that we had not brought enough firewood with us, but remembered seeing places on the side of the road on the way into the park that were selling loads of firewood for cash. So we decided to get in the car and go buy some. We really should have planned this part of the trip better because we ended up going on SEVERAL firewood runs. This trip was colder than we were used to and we spent a ton of time at the site. 

We got back with our firewood and started a new fire. I pulled out the whittling kit that I had purchased for myself and started shaving away at some fat lighter. It was fun, but I have yet to really get good at whittling. Jenna played music and read for a bit until we decided to make lunch. Grilling over a campfire is not something that I am very good at, but it is Jenna’s special skill. She made us cheeseburgers that we ate way too fast, but food always tastes better when it’s cooked over a fire. 

After lunch, we decided to try out their hiking trails. We packed a little daypack with water, snacks, and sunscreen and headed to the trailhead at the back of the campground. We passed several more RV spots and then a village of tents. That’s probably where we should have camped. They didn’t have a bathroom back there though. In fact, this is where I got the idea to buy a “pop up potty” which will be added to my gear kit later. 

The hike was amazing. We were gone for a couple hours at least and did a few miles. We got to see a ton of wildlife. The deer were out and about and we spotted about 6-7 of them and one even ran along our path for a while, probably checking us out too. We got to a certain spot on the hike that was very marshy and we considered crossing the marsh to get to what we thought might be a short cut, but we ended up talking ourselves out of that and just retracing our steps back to camp. 

When we got back to camp, I decided that my body temperature had risen enough to take a small dip in the spring. This time when we went down there, it was full of people in and around it. I got in instantly and regretted it. The water was so cold and the air outside even colder. A group of middle aged ladies that were camping near us were down there too and they were so nervous to get in. I heard one of them bribe the other with booze if she got in. That seemed to work and they screeched their way into the water. I love that energy, honestly. 

We got back to the camp site and put dry clothes back on because staying in wet bathing suits in the cold sounded like a not so fun idea. And wouldn’t you know it, we needed more firewood. So we got back in the car yet again and drove to the same side of the road stand and bought another two bundles of firewood. By the time we returned to the campsite, it had gotten dark. So Jenna got started on the fire and dinner and I played the guitar so we could work on our harmonies a little. Due to the close proximity of our neighbors, we didn't play that loudly or for all that long. 

After we sat around the fire for a bit, I decided to “pre-pack” a little. Which is basically when we start loading up the non-essential gear so that packing up in the morning would be that much easier. So we basically just left out the things that we needed for the tent and the fire (assuming it would be cold in the morning) and cleaned everything else up. We went to bed rather early again and suffered through another super cold night. I think I woke up and went to the restroom about three times. It’s worth noting that the bathhouses were heated.

When we woke up on Sunday, we immediately decided to go get more firewood so that we could at least have breakfast and be warm for the packing up process. We went to a different firewood stand on the side of the road, this one self-serve. We got enough firewood to last us the morning and came back to the site with it. Jenna started breakfast and coffee while I started cleaning up. The tent came down easy, but packed away pretty muddy - made a note to bring a footprint for next time. Before we knew it, we were all packed and on our way back to Jacksonville. 

This trip was a good chance for us to experience doing activities off-site. I don’t just mean driving around looking for firewood. But this led us to try incorporating more day hikes, swimming, and eventually kayak outings when we go camping. We even threw around the idea of longer camping trips too. We needed to make plenty of improvements though. Starting with staying warm while winter camping. We need to add hand warmers, sleeping bags, and maybe even someway to get up off of the ground. We also needed a rain plan for when we arrived at a wet site. Otherwise, we made some good strides this weekend and we will definitely be back to swim that spring properly when it’s not freezing outside.

Get Outside, 

Stone.

[tipsy-focusing]

Items can vary from person to person when it comes to living it rough.

Some enjoy the comforts that come from home, like pyjamas, a toilet, ample lighting, enough space to stand up straight in, being able to keep out the creepy crawlies, having all these kinds of utensils from the kitchen that you just couldnt do without.

And that’s perfectly acceptable. If you have the room/budget for it.

For myself after many years of camping, I can definitely say its taught me to be a little more open to the natural world and not to fear it as some people do. I dont have the space to have my own private it toilet but that’s cool I’m fine with using public toilets or ducking out into the scrub. I’m okay with wearing the same pair of pants for a couple days in a row. Letting loose on some of your riturals can be hard and a little uncomfortable but it can lead to less worries and more focus on what you’re really out here to enjoy.

” there’s nothing better than sitting around a fire, with a beer, with people you love and just enjoying what’s around you.”

From as young as I can remember my family have always been the adventurous type and would be out in the Australian bushland every other weekend; whether thats all of us together or one of us.

I believe its safe to say that from the years of camping next to/on riverbeds, lakes, beaches, on mountains where puddles would freeze over night, places only 4WD vehicles can acess, deserts, dense bushland; you just name a place on the east coast of this country and there’s a high chance that I’ve been through it at least once. I don’t mind getting a bit dirty, or finding a few critters next to my seat.

My family has gone through fazes of different tents, different cooking methods, trying out some form of ‘glamping’ with a camper trailer that fully set up; looked like we we were building the next skyscraper. There was a point where it took a boat to get to specific spots.

I’m not fussed if it’s pouring down with rain and I’m stuck under a tarpaulin with some friends. It’s always felt like a learning experince or just an experince in itself that I will forever remember

To me there’s nothing better than sitting around a fire, with a beer, with people you love and just enjoying what’s around you. Hanging out, having the occasional deep conversations, it feels like it really brings a group of people very close.

Starting with the kitchen.

Starting in my ‘oh so small’ cabinet kitchen you would think that there is just not enough storage. But here is what I can fit and what I find useful for two people:

2 heat resistant cups *perfect for any drink at camp from wine to tea

Heat safe plastic plates and bowls – 2 of each

Cutlery for 2 *knives, forks, spoons, teaspoons

1 small and large knife that come with a slip on cover

Paint scraper *sounds odd but it’s perfect for cleaning hot plate BBQ’s

Tongs both long and short *long is great for getting things out of the fire

Bottle and can opener *try and find a tool that does both

Wooden spoon

Silicone spatula/scraper

Large serving spoon

Collapsable bowls * one for mixing and one that it sized well for dish washing

First Aid Box *doesnt need to be in the kitchen area but thats where it easily accessible

Scrubbing brush

Steel wool

Space saver measuring

cups

Re-usable shopping bags for those who are trying to be eco friendly

Paper towel and tin foil *wouldn’t reccomend tea-towels as they require washing and drying which isnt ideal if you’re constantly on the move

Portable Butane Gas Stove with replacement gas cartridges

Non-stick 26cm frying pan with high walls and a lid

Fire safe Billy Can or Camping Pot for Non-Australians

Dish detergent

Baby wipes/ Wet Ones

From observing what my family has used in the past and what I’ve used for myself, these items seem to do the job well and are very practical.

The smaller AND larger extras.

For items that are used on the regular like hand soap, shower toiletries, flashlights/torches, pencils, books, water bottles, sunscreen, hair ties, dog leads, quick fix tape; from doing a little research it was found that clipping a multipocket organiser on the back of car seats makes really efficient storage for these types of things.

I also have two flat fold-out chairs, these are great chair for saving space inside. A folding table can be really usefull when you’ve set yourself up to stay for a few days and allows

you to expand your space outside of your home on wheels. Now while this isnt necessary,

but since I had the spot for it; a beach umbrella is perfect for those days on the coast or at a lake to enjoy sitting out of the sun next to the water *even in it!*. A roll of Paracord, a

tarpauline, tent pegs, two or three tent poles are also great for making a covered outdoor spot from the doors of your van. Other people would just get an awning but my challenge is to not look like a Camper Van from the outside.

But when it comes to clothes and enterainment stuff like fishing/hiking/whatever outdoor activity gear. It’s really up to the user and what they plan on doing while on their trip. For me I still have storage under the bed where I would keep clothes, miscellaneous items like bluetooth speaker, dog water bowl, dog food, dog cooling mat, shoes, straps, vest for paddleboarding, water. You can have endless possiblities when it comes to these things.

However unlike the people who travel in their Sprinter Vans; my storage space is very limited so I’m reduced to carrying items that can lay flat.

Now for my bed, a handy note I learned from a fellow Vanlifer was that a combination of regular medium density foam matress with a 5-7cm thick memory foam layer makes up for a very comfy bed *and I’m a side sleeper*.

What you can see in above is that for the design of the bed I’ve cut the matress into two pieces. This allows for the two pieces to make an L-shape which replicates that couch feel.

But keep in mind like i mentioned eariler if your budget it tight all these items will add up in weight. This will then add up to how much fuel you put in your tank in a week.

I’d just like to mention these true words of Edwin Way Teale –

“Reduce the complexity of life by eliminating the needless wants of life, and the labors of life reduce themselves.”

The main focus when it comes to picking out your tools and utensils, is to really think how practical each item is.

In the famous words of my father –

“Lay out all the things you think you might need. Now… leave half of that behind at home. You likely wont use it anyway”

So for anyone who’s new to the whole outdoor experince and is new to the Van Life, I hope that my shared experience of useful tools in the van help shed some light in the darkness. I’m sure some of these thing may change for me in my future but for now that is what I need.

I’m aware that the interior may not look aesthetically pleasing like all those other vans you find on intstagram, but what mine is – is practical and I’m quite content with that.

Cheers!

Did you like the information from this? Continue to follow this blog to learn more about how I make life a bit easier when I’m out in my Camper.

From experience this is what I'm happy to travel with. Items can vary from person to person when it comes to living it rough. Some enjoy the comforts that come from home, like pyjamas, a toilet, ample lighting, enough space to stand up straight in, being able to keep out the creepy crawlies, having all these kinds of utensils from the kitchen that you just couldnt do without.

[kizakuza-blog1]

DKs Van Life Take 1: The test

Last year, two weeks before Drew, my partner, and I were ready to set off on our first official overseas trip together, I was admitted to hospital for a week and then told I couldn’t fly.

That feeling of being trapped set in about a month later, when my condition was being managed and I realised I had been told I couldn’t do the one thing I live for – exploring the world.

So what does one do when they are grounded from flying? Camper Van it!! Drew was in love with the idea instantly and we started planning. Wondering whether  buy a van straight up or should we hire first? We decided to do a test trip before we buy and here we are.

The Test. 10 Days going South of Sydney heading to the Great Ocean Road and back through the Barossa Valley. 3,548kms will be travelled in total.

Our hot tips for a van life. Season vanlifers, I’m sure already know these, though for any newbies out there we highly recommend making note:

1.       Baby wipe baths. When you have no idea where you’ll be setting up camp or where the next shower is, baby wipe baths is one way to stay fresh.

2.       Head torches. Even when you have light in the van, it’s never quite enough. When you’re parked in a remote area or if you want to go for some night exploring. These babies are your best friends.

3.       Bucket Toilet. Now when this was first suggested to me I was like, umm really!! But ladies I assure you, in the middle of the night when you’ve parked your van in the most beautiful spot you can find, but there are no facilities, the bucket toilet is your saviour. Whether you make your own or do what we did and invest in one from your local camping store. I promise you’ll be most grateful you did.

Day 1: Heading to our first stay. We chose Tumut, a cute little place with a free camp site, nestled between the mountains and a trout filled river. It was a little in-land as day two takes us to the Milawa Cheese Company before heading down to the Mornington Peninsular. 

Here we are, head touches on, setting up the van for the first time. It’s about 8pm, the roof is popped and I start transferring our things up in the top storage section in preparation to make up the bed. Drew starts prepping to cook up a storm on our little Webber......Then it hit me..….we forgot the doona/quilt/duvet!! Basically we had sheets and a blanket to keep us warm on our first night….Snuggle time!!

For anyone vanning down the east coast of OZ looking for a free camp site. No facilities, however plenty of wood to make a little camp fire, simply put ‘The Tumut Wetlands’ into your GPS. It’ll take you approx. 4hrs 25 mins South of Sydney.

Day 2: After a chilli night, we wake up to a crisp morning and the sounds of the running river. We pack up and head into town for a coffee and to buy a doona. Next stop The Milawa Cheese Company, approx. 3hrs away. We highly recommend stopping in and tasting their cheese. They do sampling between 9am and 4pm and I promise, you won’t be disappointed. Our Favourite, the King River Gold.

From there we start our hardcore drive to Barwon Heads to meet up for a few drinks with. Just over 6hrs drive away.

We had planned to get an unpowered site at the caravan park situated right on the water, but we arrived to late, they were already closed. Good news though, there is a long car park that runs behind it, better view and another score for a free place to set up. As an added bonus it’s a 2 minute stroll to the local pub.

If you’re heading down that way the street name is Ewing Blyth Drive, Barwon Heads.

Day 3: Bells Beach Australia!! Even if you’re not a surfer, everyone has seen the movie and knows about the Classic Bells Beach and the 50 year storm – even though the movie wasn’t filmed at the real Bells Beach, it’s still a destination to visit. Just a short 8 minute drive out of Torquay’s town center. 

This beautiful beach hosts the Rip Curl Pro surf comp every Easter bringing professional surfers from all over the world. Unfortunately, it’s not a Van friendly town, so you need to be strategic when selecting where you set up for the night. There are many breath-taking places, you’ll be right.

Day 4: We consider this our real first day on our little trip, as neither of us have been past this point. We decided to have no real plan, to just take each moment as it comes. For me who is a massive planner, this was the first time ever I was just going with it. And I am loving every minute.

Drew is a massive coffee drinker, can’t start his day without one and recommends popping into the Great Ocean Road Chocolaterie & Ice Creamery before heading on to your next destination. 

Heading down the Great Ocean Road we were both craving a hot shower. Baby wipe baths are great and all, however as we all know, nothing beats a nice hot shower. If you’re driving through Lorne Victoria. Lorne Sea Baths. $10.50 entry, if you have some extra time you can have fun in their pool, relax in the spa and steam room. Although if you’re like us and just in need of a hot shower, this is the place to stop.

Although Lorne provided a great spot to stop for a shower, we decided to move on to Apollo Bay.

The road to Apollo Bay is striking. Winding up and down on the side of the high cliffs, before making your way down to the humble little town on the other side. 

Another town that isn’t camper van friendly, however we were lucky to get a hot tip from a local that told us about a little spot, right next to the beach, where we could set up for the night. And we’re going to share the secret... As you’re driving into the town, with Lorne behind you, take the first left into a little tree covered car park, just before the Big4 Caravan park up on the right.

We love Apollo Bay, it reminds us of the North Shore in Hawaii with stunning mountains on one side and the ocean on the other, the perfect balance of earth and water living side by side.

Day 5: There are many sites to see around Apollo Bay. If you’re into Hiking and seeing the ancient trees and waterfalls, make sure you give yourself time to explore. We took a little 30 minute forest walk through Maits Rest, getting a shameless tourist picture in the famous tree belly, before heading off down the Great Ocean Road to see the remaining 12 Apostles.

It’s wondrous how some eroded rocks being shaped by the battering sea, can attract so many people to see them. As we turn into the first look out, at Castle Cove, we are marvelled, just as the others before us. Mesmerised, watching the sea crash into the bottom of the rocks we start to understand why these awe-inspiring natural structures draw such big crowds every day.

Stopping at every look out to take photos we finished the day at the little community town Port Campbell. We are delighted to hear they had a bush style camping ground for both powered and unpowered sites. Full outside kitchen and hot showers. Unpowered sites are only $10pp. Powered sites $20pp with all proceeds going towards the community. You can also hire fire barrels for $20 deposit and $25 for a bag of wood. Just punch in Port Campbell Recreation Reserve into your GPS. It’s close to town so if you want to eat out, it’s just a 5 minute, easy walk in. After you’ve showered and picked your camp spot for the night. 

Don’t forget your head torches. Although the sky is filled with stars, it’s a dark walk back.

Day 6: As we make our way to the Coonawarra down the remaining Great Ocean Road, we are breath-taken by the structures on the other side of the 12 Apostles. It’s strange no one talks as much about this side of the Great Ocean Road, we think this spectacular coastline, with more sea battered structures are equally, if not better than the reaming 12 Apostles. We highly recommend stopping at every look out to take a peak and many photos. All except the Grotto, you won’t miss anything if you skip that one.

Another place you can skip is ‘Cheese World’. Don’t get excited. It is the smallest world of cheese we’ve ever come across, and really not worth the stop, unless you’re busting for the bathroom.

We pull into the Coonawarra, the town is actually called Penola, punch this into your GPS, not the Coonawarra wine region. We arrived a few minutes before the information center closed and was please to be told there is another bush style camping ground just up the road. This one was nestled amongst the vineyards. It has tepee style tents and one of those igloo ones. $10pp for unpowered sites. $25pp for powered/glamping sites.

Day 7: To the Barossa, after doing a little wine tasting along the Coonawarra strip. More Drew tasting, but a tiny sip was had by myself and with great delight I discovered my new favorite winery. Penley Estate. They have the most exquisite glasses, which are available for purchase. We bought four. Best impulse stop ever.

We decided to stay at the Murray Bridge, before the Barossa. We had set off later than expected and we were in no rush.

Day 8: The Barossa is about 3 hours from the Coonawarra and there’s not too much along the way. So crank that stereo and sing your way through it.

The town was full of people. There was some festival on, it was crazy. We find a side street to park in and walk through the streets towards the sounds of an auction. They were auctioning weird stuff, like a sacks of potatoes at the bargain price of $50. Anyway!! We made our way to find were we had booked a delightful degustation dinner at Appellation. I was so excited, this would be our first degustation. Drew’s more into the hardy meaty meals so the moment he suggested finding a great place for dinner, I was onto it.

Little did I know, he had a plan. I can’t believe I had no idea.

We found where we were going to set up for the night, close the restaurant. We discovered one of my favorite mid week wines ‘The running with the Bulls’, was made by Yalumba so we headed out to their vineyard to see if we could snap a good cellar door price. Unfortunately, no, the price was pretty much the same as I can get at home. Lets go to lunch and find a hot shower.   We found a hot shower and got ready for our amazing dinner. 

The Restaurant had a bar which overlooked the thousands of grape vines scattered amongst the small hills below.   As we sipped out first drink, Drew noticed they had a life size chess set. He loves a competition and we had some time to kill before our reservation. As the sun started to set Drew says he needs his sunnies and went out to the car. I stood there sipping beautiful wine out of a gorgeous Ridel stemless glass, freezing my ass off. Drew comes make, makes a move and then goes in to get more drinks. By this time I was wondering why he wasn’t concentrating on the game and trying to win. 

He urged me to abandon the game and come for a walk in the vines to watch the sun set. And the next thing I know Drew pulls a ring box from his pocket and is down on one knee.   I said yes.   

Wearing my sparkly new ring I couldn’t stop staring at it as we were seated for dinner. The waitress picked up on it and congratulated us with a glass of Champagne. We choose the 4 course degustation menu and were delighted to know that you don’t have to have all four sections. This was perfect for us as we don’t eat dessert. So we worked out how we could try most of the menu in the four courses.   The flavour combinations and presentation was spectacular and the absolute perfect place to celebrate our engagement.   

Day 9: The trek back home begins. There’s not a lot to see today. There’s a whole lot of nothing over the dry plains except for sheep, the odd emu and kangaroo. After 7 hrs of solid driving, we decided to stay at another bush style camp ground at Hay. $10pp, nice hot showers and our last dinner in the van.   

Day 10: It’s time to hand Johnno back. Up bright and early to detail him then back to Sydney we go. We had stopped into Robertson to have dinner with Drew’s mom and celebrate our engagement with his sister and cute little niece and nephew. What an amazing journey. The test score was in…..we will be buying a van.    

Thanks for coming on the ride with us on our first van life adventure. Follow our other travel adventures @kizakuza on Instagram.

[sarakuper]

Kenya, Stop #3- Amboseli

June 9-11, 2019

Hi friends and fam, After flying for an hour in a 12-seater plane we landed safely in Amboseli.  Mom did great, she even ‘choped’ a quick drimmel. 

The airstrip was surrounded with animals that were scared away the moment we came near. Our newest guide, Albert, picked us up and told us about Amboseli. It is a much smaller park and has a smaller variety of wildlife to see in comparison to Maasai Mara; The Mara is the Mecca for Kenya’s wildlife. But a smaller park also means that we were more likely to see animals more often and from closer up. It also became apparent that Albert was an expert tour guide. He already was taking more time to explain things to us and made suggestions to modify our itinerary to really maximize our time here seeing wildlife, learning about it, and relaxing the lodge. 

Upon arrival we went for a short game and then decided to spend time in the lodge, Ol’ Tukai. The Ol’ Tukai lodge is safari heaven, but we didn’t even notice that until later in the evening because of all the vervet monkeys running around! Swinging in the trees, grooming one another on the ground, climbing on the roof, these money’s entertained us for for hours before we even recognized all the other natural beauty around us. They were so close to us! And we were in constant awe of them because we look so much alike. Their face, hands, and interactions with one another is so human like, it’s so interesting! They were not only entertaining, but the male monkeys have bright blue scrotums. They are known to tourists as “blue balled monkeys”. Apologies in advance if this is TMI, but see for yourself! 

The lodge is right along the park, which means we have immediate views of zebras, wildebeests, elephants, antelope, and Mount Kilimanjaro. We had rainy and cloudy weather since we first arrived and were hoping the clouds would pass so we could see Mt. Kilimanjaro it in all its glory, which we eventually did! We relaxed that evening enjoying the beautiful scenery and a bottle of bubbles! 

So after a great night’s sleep protected by the mosquito net we woke up on time for a 6:30am game drive. Albert was all over it. We saw flamingos up close, a lion and his lioness eating the last bits of the last night’s kill, a herd of elephants crossing towards Mt. Kilimanjaro, and finally a pride of lions resting in the grass before strolling into the bushes for their daytime nap, with the male leader marking his territory along the way. 

We’ve heard a lot of talk about the Big 5: lions, elephants, leopards, rhinos, and buffalo. So far we’ve seen all but leopards, which are difficult to find since they live in trees. But all this time we didn’t really understand why those are designated as the ‘big 5’. Poaching is hugely popular in Africa, but not just to sell the parts of the animal. To successfully kill any of the big 5 is extremely difficult as they are rated the top 5 most aggressive animals in the park when they are being threatened. For some people to successfully kill any of the big five makes them very powerful in their community. They bet with one another for large sums of money for the kill, and many of them either sell the animal parts for more money or keep them as a trophy to display power. The trophy for the lion is their paws/claws and their mane. For the elephants and rhinos it’s their tusks/horns. For the leopards it’s their skin. The buffalo is the only one that doesn’t have a trophy, but it is the most aggressive animal in the savannah, and killing one is represents power and strength. The African buffalo could kill lions and elephants with one strike, which means it’s even easier for them to kill their poachers. 

Anyway, I thought all the information was interesting, but back to our day! That evening we went for another ride. We saw a lot of elephants covering themselves with mud and dirt which I found to be so cute. It helps keep them cool and protect them from tics. But the highlight was the epic African sunset. 

Tuesday is our last day at Amboseli and we were so happy to wake up to clear skies. We stared at Mt. Kilimanjaro with an altitude of over 19,000 ft. We also got to see the wildebeests crossing the river which actually was really cool but looks a lot better as a video when you can see the movement. 

Tuesday afternoon we headed to Tsavo West with our guide Albert for our last stop on safari before heading to the beach. We will be sleeping in tents tonight for some serious glamping.... or at least mom hopes! Thanks for reading, love you all. 

[sydneytorome]

‘Tis the season to be jolly

My dearest family, friends and readers

With the holidays coming up, what better way to get in the Christmas spirit than to share what December, the holiday month, is like down under? Spoiler alert: there’s no snow involved. Shocker.

On the first of December; my friends Stella and Peter, my teacher and I went surfing at Maroubra before class. Unfortunately, I faced a tiny little problem: I still didn’t find a new board and the surfshop wasn’t open - surfers usually aren’t that disciplined when it comes to time schedules. So I ended up sitting on the beach, watching the rest of them hit what looked like a few of the best waves I had ever seen here. Luckily, I had Stella’s mom to keep me company! We talked about yoga, school, life in Germany and Belgium, and about surfing. After a while, Stella and Peter gave us their boards so Stella’s mom (yes, she surfs!) and I could have a bit of fun in the water. 

They joined to swim with us, but after a few minutes we found ourselves stuck in a small rip. I let go of Stella’s board so we could both hang onto it and try to swim back, but as we were both feeling a little panicky, we stupidly tried to swim back straight to the shore instead of just paddling out away from the current. It didn’t take long before two lifeguards came to help us, so we made it to the beach safely in no time. At least I can tick that one off my bucket list!         Even though I had just been stuck in the rip for a good 5 minutes, it felt as if I had just ran a marathon. I treated myself to an avocado sandwich and kale-banana smoothie before making my way to class. Happy December, everyone!      

The next morning, on Friday, it was sweltering hot. No one had any energy to do something, so we went out for a healthy and refreshing breakfast at Calipress Surry Hills instead.

We chilled in a nearby park until the infamous gelateria Gelato Messina opened to have a scoop – in our case, a few scoops – of their to-die-for gelato. Is there any better way to fight the heat? In the evening, Froukje and I went to Hoyts Cinema to watch Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them. We’re both the biggest Harry Potter fans, so we were more than excited to see the new spin-off. I’m not going to share any spoilers, but I’ll give you this: it is absolutely amazing.

On Saturday, I had planned to go surfing with Stella and her mom in Manly. Unfortunately, I overslept a little and was in a bit of a hurry while making my breakfast, so I accidentally cut my thumb while I was slicing up my grapefuit. I’m going to spare you the gory details, but it was so bad that I literally felt how the colour drained from my face. I felt so sick afterwards that I decided to call it off and have a rest day in bed with lots of movies and some comfort food.

On Sunday, I took the ferry to Manly with Froukje and Noëlle. I had taken my board with me to see if I could find a place to sell it and find a new one, but no luck. We spent the day walking along the boardwalk, had a once again yummy lunch at Moo Burgers and enjoyed the sun on the beach.

In the mean time, I was browsing on Gumtree to see if there happened to be new ads selling surfboards. I got lucky! I found a girl from Denmark who lived in the Eastern Suburbs and left for Thailand in a week, so she had to sell her surfboard quickly. It came with fins, a leash, a board bag and extra wax. I immediately went over to her to have a look, and I’m not joking when I say the board looked brand new. She had taken so much care of it! Above all, it’s the perfect size for me, so I couldn’t be happier.

The next Monday, I crossed the Harbour Bridge to wander around North Sydney. We were actually looking for a peticular street in that area that’s known for its blossoming lilac jacaranda trees, but most of them had already lost its colour due to the windy weather of last weekend. We walked along the harbour pathway and passed the famous Luna Park and enjoyed the covered views on the harbour from Wendy’s Secret Garden.

We were back home just in time before one of the craziest thunderstorms I’d ever seen clattered over Sydney. Apparantly not only the animals in Australia want to kill you! That evening, I found a letter along with a big bar of dark almond chocolate on my pillowcase. Confused, I looked at Froukje, who was grinning ear to ear. Of course, it was the 5th of December and that’s when they celebrate Sinterklaas in the Netherlands! Yes, I know, you don’t have to remind me that those Dutchies have some weird customs. Anyway, I think it’s fair to say I had one of the sweetest Sinterklaas-presents this year.

On Tuesday, I visited the Queen Victoria Building, an outstandingly beautiful shopping centre that occupies a whole block. The whole building was beautifully decorated with the most exquisite Christmas decoration. We were lucky enough to come across a girls choir that was singing Christmas charols. It was the very first time I had a genuine Christmas feeling here! 

On Wednesday evening, Stella intruced me to the world-renowed Jivamukti Yoga, which happens to have a studio in Newtown. It was literally the best yoga session I’ve ever had! The class was really intense and the whole atmosphere of the studio was already relaxing in itself. Afterwards, we went out for dinner at Lentil As Anything, a vegan non-profit restaurant and comminty centre that only works with volunteers from all over the world. You can only chose between 4 main dishes and they change daily, as they always have different chefs. The best thing? You pay after you’ve finished and it’s up to you how much you want to give. So cool! We walked around for a while and finished the lovely night by getting yummy and guilt-free vegan icecream at Gelato Blue. You’ve guessed it: Newtown is the more alternative suburb of Sydney. 

Thursday morning, we took a stroll around the Chinese Garden of Friendship. I had expected it to be all zen and quiet, but it’s actually quite touristic and sort of looks like an artifical version of Indonesia. We ate our lunch at Darling Quarter afterwards, one of my absolute favourite parts of the city by far!

On Friday afternoon, we had a class excursion to Cockatoo Island, a formal industrial site in the middle of Sydney harbour. Now, it just looks like a giant ghost town where you can go glamping. Oh, they also host the Ninja Warrior show there, some weird race where athletes have to pass all sorts of weird obstacles. I had never heard of it, but apparantly Australians tend to go crazy over it It did feel a little bit weird to call with my sister that afternoon. She had just woken up; I was looking over at the Harbour and I had to wish her a happy 21st birthday over the phone. Although I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the world right now, I do miss having my family around on big days like these. In the evening, we went out to a club in the Rocks. Somehow – don’t ask me why – we got into the VIP section for free, so we got free drinks all night. I’m sort of going to ignore the fact that the manager was a little bit of a creep, but hey, at least we had a laugh.

On Saturday, we took the ferry up to North Head to walk along the North Head Heritage Trail. We immediately reached Collins Beach, which is famous for its cliffdiving and its yachts, so we decided to chill there for a while and do some people watching instead of really hiking any further. Unfortunately, we only found out about the cliffjumping when we got back home, otherwise we sure would have taken a dip!  

In the evening, I had dinner at Bodhi In The Park, a vegetarian dim sum restaurant right next to the beautiful St Mary’s Cathedral. It was absolutely delicious! Afterwards, we watched the Christmas lightshow at the St Mary’s Cathedral.

On Sunday, we took the bus to Palm Beach, the most northern beach in Sydney and home to the famous Aussie TV-show Home And Away. We had to stand on the bus for 2 hours (!) straight as it was so incredibly packed. When we finally made it, we took a short but rather heavy walk through the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park up to the Barrenjoey Lighthouse so we could enjoy the splendid view over the palmtree-shaped beaches. Of course, we couldn’t resist some excissive photoshooting! #whenwhitegirlsgotothebeach   

Afterwards, we layed on the beach and enjoyed the perfect temperatures. It was a perfect day to relax – somehow, the beach was almost empty. Quite the contrast with the ever so bustling Bondi.

I had my new board with me, so even though the waves weren’t that good, I couldn’t wait to try it out. Oh, happy Sunday!

The next Monday; Stella, Peter and I went to Bondi to have our last surfing session together. Stella is graduation by the end of this week. I’ll miss my little German sassy yoga-loving vegan surfqueen! It was my very first time surfing at Bondi and I can’t deny it felt pretty cool. Luckily, no lifeguard was needed this time. Although I wouldn’t mind coming across the infamous Bondi lifeguards, if you ask me. In the evening, as my entire body felt sore, I took a yoga class to stretch it all out. Tired, but satisfied!

On Wednesday, my friend Laura and I had lunch in The Domain, a huge park where they host sporting and music events. During lunchtime, the businesses around the CBD hold short soccer competitions here. Quite a funny sight to see! Afterwards, we visited the Art Gallery Of NSW. The building itself is already beautiful, but the art collection is even more amazing!

In the evening, I went to the Coldplay concert. I couldn’t believe my luck when scored some cheap tickets a couple of weeks ago! Coldplay has always been one of my favourite bands in the whole wide world, and to be able to see them live for the very first time in one of my favourite cities in the whole wide world, filled me with a feeling of undescribable joy. It was raining lightly when we got there, but even the rain couldn’t kill my good mood. We were also lucky enough to have the wonderful Lianne La Havas as a warm-up act. When Coldplay started playing, the rain magically stopped and the whole stadium lit up with flickering neon fairylights. I was shaking; I had goosebumps all over my body! All I could think of was how utterly happy and grateful I am to be, here, in Sydney. So, yes, in between the dancing and jumping and singing along, I did shed a few tears.

On Thursday, the weather wasn’t all that nice, so I decided to stay in bed the whole morning and relax a little. I was leaving for Brisbane the next day, so I wanted to feel energised enough for the weekend.         Later that day, I called with my cousin Ella, who turned 18. It just doesn’t feel the same to celebrate her birthday withouth actually being around her!    

On Friday, we had to be at the airport really, really early to catch our flight to Brisbane. Luckily, that meant we would arrive in Brisbane really early as well! We immefiately took a taxi from the airport to South Bank, where we enjoyed the most delicious açai bowls and cappucino’s with a few on the Brisbane letters and Ferris Wheel.

Afterwards, we made it to our AirBNB to quickly unpack our things, do some groceries and have a lunch on our terrace.

After lunch, we took an upstream ferry to the city for some sightseeing. We walked  along the Brisbane River, enjoyed the Royal Botanic Garden, did some window shopping at Queen Street Mall and strolled along the Christmas stalls at the Brisbane City Council square. 

I was one happy girl when I came along a food stall selling gluten free mini donuts ! We asked for four, one donut for each one of us, but we got 4 more for free as « an early Christmas surprise ». Christmas did come early this year – they were divine!

We walked back to the river to have a drink at the Riverbar, a really cool lounge bar and restaurant overlooking The Story Bridge and Kangaroo Point. Cheers to Brisbane!

In the evening, we went back to Southbank and walked around the parklands and pools. It was still so warm outside, so a lot of people were enjoying the water while watching a Christmas movie on a big in-water flatscreen. Some people were mindlessly strolling around the boardwalk; others were laying in the grass lazily. A whole different vibe than the ever so restless city centre of Sydney. This is by far my favourite part of Brisbane city!

Later on; we met up with Mathieu, a friend from Belgium who studies at EF Brisbane, and his friends Joop and Andreas. They took us to one of their favourite go-to restaurants where we exchanged stories and experiences. A really lovely evening!

On Saturday, we travelled to Surfer’s Paradise, the most well-known city of the Gold Coast, to have a little beach day. The weather was perfect, the waves unfortunately not really. Tanning it is! Luckily, and surprisingly, none of us got sunburnt.

Back home;  we made a big salad, toasted some bagels and opened a bottle of wine, enjoying the starry evening sky. If that makes us sound all grown-up, don’t worry: we’re still a bunch of kids that indulge on chips and chocolate after having a fancy dinner party. Later that evening, we met up with the guys from last night again to end up bowling. I used to absolutely hate bowling when I was younger, because I was terrible at it. Being the perfectionist that I was (and still am sometimes), I just very much disliked having to do something I wasn’t good at. But now, and that may come as much as a surprise to you than it came to me, I didn’t care at all. Not even a single bit. I was just having heaps of fun being around friends, and that’s really all that mattered at that exact moment. How happier I felt being able to laugh at my bowling « skills » instead of being unconscious about it! Who knew a simple bowling session would make me realise so much?

As Brisbane is rather small compared to Sydney, we had already seen pretty much everything about it by Sunday morning. So, we just chilled at the  Brisbane South Bank pools for a while. During lunch, I wanted to be all healthy and ordered an arugala salad instead of pasta. I ended up paying $15 for a plate of arugala with a teenie bit of balsamic glaze and a few tiny chunks of parmesan. I was even hungrier when I finished than when I had ordered! Life lesson learned: always order pasta. Wherever and whenever you can. At all costs. Appreciate the pasta. Luckily, I did have enough of an appetite to grab an açai smoothie at Kiss the Berry before we went to the Kangaroo Point Cliffs, a famous Brisbane scenic look-out. A little dissapointing – I think it’d look better at night – but nice either way! Afterwards, we wanted to end our stay by having a few drinks somewhere in the city centre, but we had to hide from the sudden rain once we made it to Queen Street. Girls being girls, we walked in Love Stories, a lingerie store related to my all time favourite brand Maison Scotch. Nothing wrong with buying an early Christmas present for yourself! Our flight back to Sydney treated us to some wonderful views of the nightly sky!

Monday evening, we went out for dinner and drinks in Newtown to celebrate Jana’s birthday. I can only imagine how weird yet special it must be to celebrate your birthday abroad!

On Tuesday, I went straight to Maroubra after school to go out surfing. The surf wasn’t all that good, so I was jumping over and diving under waves most of the time and only caught a few, short waves of my own. But, hey, at least the ocean always finds a way to make me happy!

On Wednesday, we decided there wasn’t any better way to contribute to the Christmas spirty than donating blood. My teached had told me about the Australian Red Cross Blood Donation centre a few weeks ago and it felt as if it was the perfect time to do it now! No one of us had ever done it back home, so we figured it was about time to finally do so. So, two of my friends and I headed to the bloodbank straight after school. The nurses who worked there found it rather amusing to see a group of international students coming straight from class to donate blood. All-in all, everything went very smoothly. We did feel a littly dizzy and empty afterwards, but we were really happy we went through with it. I’m definitely going to do this more often!

On Friday, we went out for drinks with my teacher and classmates. It was our last class together before the holidays and because he goes travelling, he wasn’t going to be able to see some of us as a few graduate before he comes back - including me, unfortunately! Now that our Christmas break has started, a lot of my friends go travelling or have their family coming over. You could sense how a lot of us were excited for the holidays, although we do have to agree that our life is somehow a permanent holiday right now. Nevertheless, it’s going to be weird not to see them 24/7 anymore for a few weeks! But I wasn’t complaining, because I was heading for the airport myself. This time I’d be waiting at the arrivals instead of the departures – the day had finally arrived for me to welcome my dear parents and sister into my home away from home! Finally reunited!

On Saturday, I helped them fight the jetlag by showing them all the highlights of the Sydney centre: from Hyde Park to St. Mary’s Cathedral, Town Hall, Queen Victoria Building, Darling Harbour, Central Park, Circular Quay, the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge and the historic Rocks. Not too bad, huh? It feels really cool to be able to show them around a city I’ve been living in for quite some time and to be a little bit of a guide. I really hope they’ll be able to fall in love with it as much as I did!

In the evening, we were invited by a long-time friend and previous co-worker of my dad to enjoy their annual Christmas Eve dinner with their friends. A truly joyful evening! It was fun to see how the Christmas traditions are celebrated here and we met a lot of very lovely people. It was totally different than celebrating it back home, but what matters is that we felt more than welcome and appreciated. After all, that’s what Christmas is all about!

On Sunday, Christmas Day, we went to Bondi Beach for a relaxing  beach day. Who thought we would ever be spending Christmas on one of the most famous beaches in the whole wide world? As cliché as it sounds, it may be the best gift I’ve ever got. Merry Christmas, everybody!

This Monday, on Boxing Day, we fled the busy city to enjoy the nature of the Blue Mountains. I was as impressed by its beauty as I was the first time I went there, and it made me realise even more how time really flies by! We didn’t hike for that long, because we had also planned to visit the Featherdale Wildlife Park. It was my first time there as well, so I was excited to see all those crazy native animals. I seriously can’t believe how cute koala’s are!            

By the end of the day, all four of us were so tired. During dinner, my parents and sister were talking about how they don’t really know how they’d describe Sydney; or if they love it as much as everybody else seems to do. I could totally understand where they came from – it took me a little bit of time as well to fall in love with it. Because it’s only when you’ve got the chance to discover all its parts that you start to appreciate this city its preciousness!

On Tuesday, we enjoyed a rest day! We went to Balmoral Beach, a really lovely harbour beach in Mosman. Because of it’s quiet and shallow waters, it’s a little bit of a children’s paradise. Luckily we found a calm spot near some trees, so we had a very nice time. Even for me, although I’ve been looking at Sydney as a place where I simply live in, this felt like being on a holiday!        

On Wednesday, we travelled further up the north coast to Narrabeen beach, a stunning beach with reddish-orange sands and far too rough waters for me to surf on - too bad I had carried my board with me the whole bus ride.  

As it was getting a little bit too hot over there, we hurried for some shade at the Narrabeen Lagoon, where we picnicked on the grass and enjoyed the stunning lagoon. Feeling sporty, my mom and I decided to go stand-up paddle-boarding around the lake. A sense of calmness washed over me as I was quietly gliding over the lake, with nothing but the sound of birds and water surrounding me. Oh, and the sound of my mom occasionally falling into the lake. Luckily, she found it funny! I feel so happy when I see my family having such a great time! 

By the end of the day, all four of us were feeling so completely relaxed. I was getting dressed to head back to the city and I quite stupidly sat on the back of my board. Little did I know that my fins were facing the grass... The minute I sat on my board, I heard the biggest crack of my life. I hurried over to take my board out of my bag, hoping there wouldn’t be a crack in the board itself. ‘Luckily’, it were just my fins that cracked over. Nothing to major, but it did gut me out completely.  In the evening, my parents went out for a fancy dinner with friends. Laurine and I went out for sushi together for some cosy sister-sister time! On Thursday, we had planned to go hiking in the Royal National Park, but the temperature rose up to almost 40°C that day. We decided to take it easy and wander around the city; sipping morning coffee at the Opera Bar, strolling around the Royal Botanical Garden and cooling off at the State Library of New South Wales.

We enjoyed a nice, quick lunch somewhere in the small streets of The Rocks before literally running away from the heat and relax at our apartment’s pool.

In the evening, we wanted to go have the dinner at the trendy Greek restaurant Appollo, but it was so packed we weren’t able to get in. Instead, we stranded at the Gazebo. We weren’t complaining at all - we enjoyed a truly great French-style dinner on a quiet terrace decorated with lights and exotic plants! 

On Friday, we woke up a little earlier as we were going on a road-trip down south all the way to Jervis Bay, a colourful beach town home to some of New South Wales’ most exquisite beaches. Dad was feeling a little nervous when we started our trip, because he wasn’t used to driving on the right-hand side of a car. And so, when he took a way too sharp left-turn, the side of the car hit the boardwalk and the left front-tire popped. We weren’t even driving for a full 15 minutes yet! All in all, we managed to stay calm and we were lucky enough to have a replacement car in little over an hour. Back on the road! 

In the afternoon, we had booked a boat trip around the several reefs around Jervis Bay to spot some dolphins. And we did!

After the tour, we took our time to buy some colourful Turkish hanmam towels in a local shop. The shop-owner was over the moon when he heard we were from Belgium, as he had recently watched The Broken Circle Breakdown. He gave us a discount on the towels and offered me a beautiful golden ring shaped into a gentle wave. I think this may be my best souvenir so far! In the late afternoon, we enjoyed the golden hour on Huskisson Beach and sought some refreshment in the water before snapping some pictures together. Laurine and I even took the time to recreate one of our favourite photographs of us!

In the evening, we drove back to Sydney with a quick food stop at Wollongong. We ended up having one of the nicest dinners ever, enjoying great food while overlooking the Wollongong harbour. For me, it felt as if we were back in Geneva!

On Saturday morning, New Year’s Eve day, we enjoyed a nice breakfast at the famous Bills restaurant before taking the popular ferry ride to Manly. We chilled on the beach and I enjoyed a rather difficult surfing session before we headed back to the city to get ready for the New Year’s Eve of our dreams!

And boy, what a New Year’s it was! We had reserved seat in the Royal Botanical Garden, directly in front of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. We enjoyed a really nice dinner with my dad’s friend/ex co-worker and his lovely wife, anxiously waiting for what ended up being the most beautiful set of fireworks we had ever seen. Oh, Sydney, you truly are magical. I can’t express how utterly grateful I am to have spent a major part of 2016 here in Sydney. I’m not going to bore you with a “new year, new me” cliché kind of talk, so I’ll leave it to this: Happy New Year everyone! Cheers to a warm, loving and adventurous 2017.

The staying up really late and the drinking a glass or two too much had completely shaken us up a bit. So, we pretty much spent the first day of the New Year catching up on some much needed rest. Hey, you can’t have it all, can you? I, for instance, was more than happy to have the time to reflect on the past week with my family. I hadn’t expected it to be so overwhelming! Having to adapt all over again, realising I had time within arms-reach again and realising what I had been missing all that time. But mostly, being around that familiarity made me realise how much I’ve changed already!  In the evening, we went out for drinks at the cosy bar/restaurant The Winery to have a drink on the new year before going out for dinner at an Italian place near Elizabeth Bay.  Cheers, everyone!

On Monday, we drove to Hunter Valley, the famous wine region of New South Wales. The valleys are absolutely stunning: rows and rows of hilly vineyards, accompanied by lakes and lush bushes!  We did some wine tasting, which was quite a funny sight to see. Let’s say wine tasting isn’t one of my best skills - yet.  Unfortunately, I had woken up feeling really, really sick. My stomach was bloated, I had zero appetite and my head was pounding. Was it because of the excess of garlic in my pasta last night, or did the restaurant accidentally forget to serve me gluten free paste instead? Hopefully it’s going to blow over soon!

On Tuesday, we drove to Bundeena to start a part of the coastal hike around the ever so magnificent Royal National Park. We hiked up to the Wedding Cake Rock, where we had a little bit of an issue with some ignorant tourists that still jumped over the fenced Rock to snap an ‘Instagram-worthy’ picture even though all the signs clearly restrict it. It’s inevitable that the Rock will end up crumbling completely into the ocean and the constant stream of, excuse my French, complete idiotic people disrespecting the nature and risking their own lives over a couple of likes on social media isn’t doing the situation any good at all. I just wish more people had their priorities in order.  We continued our hike down to the stunning Marley Beach, where we enjoyed a picnic before the weather changed completely. As I was still feeling slightly miserable, we decided to hike back in the now drizzling rain. It made the Royal National Park look even more mystic than it already does! 

By the evening, I looked about 2 months pregnant. My stomach had never felt that sensitive and hard. My head kept pounding and my stomach felt completely disoriented. It had become more than obvious that I did have gluten, because all the symptoms were more than clear. So frustrating, because there is literally nothing I can do about it beside drinking tea, water and eating as normal as I possibly could at that moment.  Not gonna lie, I’m glad I’m feeling this sick with my parents and sister still around. There’s something about feeling bad that turns you into an emotional, cuddling little girl! On Wednesday, we drove up to Bilgola Beach to spend the last full day together with the four of us at the beach. We tanned on the beach, swam in the impressive natural pool and walked around the hot sand avoiding the stranded bottlenose jellyfishes. Come late afternoon, we enjoyed a nice lunch overlooking the ocean. The only thing my stomach can cope with right now, is toast with marmalade and chamomile tea, which isn’t all too bad either. At least, only if I selectively ignore my sister’s yummy burger and dad’s ricotta pancakes. Those damn gluten-eating people. 

In the evening, I took them to my all time favourite restaurant in the city, Bodhi In The Park. Nibbling on dim sums, spring rolls and papadums; it all hit us how quickly these past two weeks went by. It felt like yesterday that I was able to hold them in my arms again for the first time in 3 and a half months! 

The next morning, we enjoyed a last breakfast at Bills together before my dad already had to leave for the airport to go to the States. Yes, I was back at it again with the toast and marmalade. I was already feeling better thanks to the medication I had been taking, but this time my lost for appetite could be blamed on the fact that I simply wasn’t able to fathom what it was going to be without the three of them around me. 

In the afternoon; my mom, sister and I did some last-minute shopping in the city before meeting up for lunch with my roommate Froukje. It was comforting to know that I was going to be back by her side in room n°10 soon, even though I was absolutely not looking forward to go back to Park Lodge. It truly felt as if I had to start all over again; as if I was a complete stranger in a city that I couldn’t call my home anymore.

Nevertheless, feeling sad to see my family leave doesn’t overshadow the fact that I’m so overjoyed I got lucky enough to spend the holidays with them and to let them experience Sydney the way I did in the beginning and to discover new places I hadn’t been yet with them! 

Turning my heart into stone, I bid my mom and Laurine goodbye half an hour before their taxi was scheduled to pick them up. Luckily, coming back to Park Lodge wasn’t as bad as I had expected. It did feel really strange at first, but I overall had a really cosy evening with my friends as we caught up over cups of green tea and chocolate.  It’s now finally starting to sink in I’m officially going into my final 3 weeks in Australia. Saying that I’m having mixed feelings, would be an understatement. One part of me screams to fly back immediately, the other wishes I still had 4,5 months to go. I’m also starting to feel a bit anxious about beginning all over again in Rome soon, but I’ve learned to hush that thought so that it doesn’t hinder me here in Sydney. Although I’m looking forward to seeing everyone again soon, I’m so not looking forward to saying goodbye to everyone here.  Today, I granted myself a day of doing absolutely nothing at all. So; I’ve been reading Harry Potter, drinking tea and finally finishing my blogpost! Oh, and I had another piece of toast. Yes, with marmalade. Yes, I know, it really is getting ridiculously out of hand. 

I don’t know what the weekend is going to bring yet - yes, shocker, Marie isn’t much more of a planner anymore - but I’ll probably end up at the beach. Hard-knock life. Anyway, sending you all some warm summer kisses to fight the cold! 

With love,

Marie

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A Thousand Days In Hell

Non-league football is a peculiar entity. For half of the teams in the National League, and certainly the rest in the steps below, it is a wonderful opportunity to do the unthinkable and gain entry to the world of full time football, a dream that so many children have and yet so few manage to live. The players are part time brickies, postmen, regional bank clerks – you know, the type of clubs and players that the BBC cameras fawn over in the FA Cup first round. In principle, it’s great. If I was a Gateshead or a Solihull fan, I might even enjoy it. But when a club the size of Tranmere Rovers fell out of the Football League trapdoor, the typical non-league experience is turned on its head.

The day before I moved to university, I stood on the terraces at Southport and watched us go 2-0 down within 20 minutes. It still hadn’t registered to me that this was actually happening, a feeling of bemusement that I’m sure most of us shared. It was meant to be a whistlestop tour of shit grounds and shit teams that we’d only ever seen in pre-season friendlies. As it turned out, we were destined to spend 1,115 days with this feeling. Denial, sadness, anger, guilt and frustration all came and went, depending on the level of opposition and how quickly we managed to concede. A wounded animal, confused and in pain, Tranmere Rovers as a collective entity was in unfamiliar surroundings. What were we meant to do? It felt like a fever dream. The hideous turquoise tracksuits, the god awful Vanarama branding, even the footballs themselves looked tacky and amateurish. Granted, we hadn’t exactly covered ourselves in glory for about fifteen years but what did we do to deserve this? Most of the players, on our side and theirs, looked like they had won a competition to play at being a footballer for the day. It was a continuation of the previous season’s atrocities, but at a level of football that was truly embarrassing to watch. We didn’t even make the playoffs in that first year, thanks to a team from Essex with about three pound fifty to their name and two P.E teachers in charge. Two ends of the spectrum and all that.

If I’m being honest, I remember next to nothing about the 16 months that Gary Brabin was in charge. I barely went to the games after September, I didn’t know who half of our players were, and I stopped caring. When you spend your 18thbirthday watching Boreham Wood beat you 2-0, something inside of you just dies. I didn’t even bother going to Wrexham. I binned off browsing the Cowsheds – probably a wise decision for anyone wanting to keep their sanity – so FlashScore and the occasional Twitter update was about as much as I could be arsed. I was used to my Kopite and Bluenose mates taking the piss out of us, but I draw the line at Sebastian from Surrey braying in the Mission smoking area about how he could never watch non-league football because his daddy gets executive seats at Chelsea. To be honest, I kept a good crowd at uni. Most of my teammates supported Championship teams like Ipswich or Preston, but even their sympathetic nods and “you’re too big to be down there, remember when you were playing us in League One?” became depressing.

On my occasional visits home in second year, things seemed to be picking up pace. The glamping tent was established (two Gamma Rays and a Sheppy’s please Mark) and we had an alright team. Nors and Harris were becoming cult heroes, we signed Steeeeve and looked like we could actually win the league. Still had to put up with the refereeing, the 12 North Ferriby fans and the voice in the back of your head that says you’re going to be here forever, but at least things were looking up. Remember though, this is Tranmere, and the good was inevitably followed by the bad. Lincoln away was possibly the worst place I’ve ever been for several reasons, the main one being that it looks like post-apocalypse Brexit Britain and the locals are the strangest mutants you can imagine. Whoever’s van I keyed: you deserved it for a) beating us, b) living in Lincoln and c) having a copy of the S*n on your dashboard. Imagine giving somewhere as desolate as Lincoln city status. Anyway, they had the last laugh because they won the league by four points and we got beat at Wembley by a team whose owner wanted to spend millions of actual Great British Pounds on a football ground made out of matchsticks.

Having a life outside of Tranmere proved to be surprisingly easy when we were dwelling in the depths of non-league. I still spent my Saturdays on the couch with an illegal stream of Phil Thompson’s nose and no money in my Betfair account, but it was a somewhat refreshing change to not be planning your life around Rotherham away on a Tuesday night. There wasn’t a chance that I was spending my free government money going to Dover or Torquay when I could spend it on weed and takeaways instead. The few aways that I did manage (hello, 20 minute train journeys to Guiseley and Halifax) were just soul crushing. The council pitch that Guiseley play on had a building site behind it, and absolutely zero incline on the terrace, which is a problem for a short arse like me. I went three times in three years and managed to see a grand total of about 40 minutes. Still worth it for the time I got sick of a 15 year old singing ‘sign on’ and told him in no uncertain terms that Sutcliffe killed his nan. There’s a couple of layers in that one.

As usual, the footballing gods conspired against us last year and we managed to get ¾ of our midfield injured before the play off final. I think we were one injury away from having a centre midfield partnership of Purple Aki and Pete Price, although on reflection the lizard would have had a better game than Lois Maynard. If he was under 6 foot, he’d still be knocking about playing for Manchester Met or wherever we signed him from, the absolute fucking fraud. I’m sure Aki would have put the fear of God into Forest Green as well. Imagine marking him from a corner, he’d have a field day squeezing muscles. In all honesty, we deserved another year in hell for that performance. I’d like to make an official apology for getting escorted off the premises for what can only be described as monumentally dickish behaviour after a long day in the sun.

Now that we’ve won there, I can finally say that Wembley is a corporate shithole without it sounding like sour grapes. Mr. Palios, tear down that arch! Christ alive, what an awful place it is to watch football. Notwithstanding the fact that it’s only ever 20% full for the National League, everything about it just drains you as a fan. It’s more like an airport hangar than an actual ground. I hear Tottenham are putting shops in their new gaff, something the Jaguars owner will almost definitely copy when he buys the place. I’m not a fan of London in general, but Wembley just takes the piss. If I can make it through the next 60 odd years of my life without ever going back, I’ll be happy.

The fact that I’ve got this far in without mentioning the referees is testament to how long the list of complaints about the National League is. Incompetent would be putting it kindly, because every single one of these clowns got their qualifications from the back of a Cornflakes packet. I’m well into my conspiracy theories, and the one about BT and Vanarama deliberately keeping us down in order to boost viewing figures sounds plausible enough, but that would require several doses of the dark arts that these morons don’t have the brain capacity for. It’s a hard job to referee a football match, made even harder if you have absolutely no common sense. The timewasting in that league is enough to test the patience of a saint. All the VAR nonsense at the World Cup is proof that the governing institutions have gone mental. You’d never finish a game in the National League if the refs had VAR. The first half against Ebbsfleet would still be going on. I could list hundreds of terrible decisions both for and against us and it still wouldn’t scratch the surface, but Ritchie Sutton getting sent off at Welling, Scott Davies being assaulted into the net at Barrow and Chester getting a penalty that was about three yards outside the box all stick out.

The last thing I fancy a rant about is the almost comedic lack of professionalism surrounding the entire setup. They absolutely ham it up to the BT cameras like the entire world has woken up at 12.30 to watch Woking v Eastleigh on a Saturday morning. Literally every tweet the official account has ever posted makes me cringe, the pundits are so painfully beige that they make Steve Claridge and his receding hairline look like Little Richard in comparison and Boreham Wood somehow managed to get away with charging to watch their highlights. The fucking cheek of it! It was a stress relief to unfollow them all, clicking each button and feeling part of my soul flowing back into me. At one point, we had no idea whether we were playing on Saturday or not, because the FA Trophy replay took priority over the league. Usually this is all sorted out as soon as possible, but because the NL fixtures are done by some fella writing them down in his ma’s kitchen, they’d got confused. They eventually told us on Friday afternoon that yes, your league game is on. I despair. Even the whole Solihull floodlights debacle got sorted quicker. Juventus’ match-fixing scandal had nothing on that, by the way. The 200 odd people who watched that replay were witness to us throwing that game. I don’t think I saw anyone in a white shirt break out of a jog, and I was all for it. I got to spend a lovely weekend in Solihull (not a patch on Birkenhead) and watch a game of football played in front of a crowd smaller than the Beechwood-Upton derby, with a fraction of the intensity. The perfect non-league experience.

I’ll finish this off by saying thank you to Mark and Nicola Palios, to everyone at the Trust and the TROSC, the Wirral Radio team, and every single season ticket holder. Without you, the club wouldn’t have climbed out of the pit. In fact, I think we’d have developed Stockholm Syndrome within the next few seasons and become like our Welsh friends. The turnaround and revitalisation of the entire structure of this football club gives us hope for the future. Not just blind hope, but optimism as well. When we were losing to Altrincham, I didn’t think that the suites would be pulling in money, or we’d have an academy setup in China. When Welling were putting us to the sword, I didn’t think we’d ever see a club that the fans are so fiercely proud of again. Thank you for not losing interest when I did. That day at Wembley has already been written about. Let us not emerge from non-league abyss blinking at the sunlight, desperate for comfort. Let us instead kick the door of League Two down, wielding dual scythes and behead Stevenage like an invading Dothraki horde.

Figuratively, obviously.

[lindoig]

Days 27 to 30 - Cobourg!

Day 27 - Tuesday

Tuesday dawned like all the other days up here – it got light and right after that, it got hot!  Almost no cloud and being closer to the Equator, the Sun burns more directly and hotter.  All days are hat and sunscreen days.  But it is soooo beautiful, the heat is hardly a problem.

On the road by 7.15 after a healthy brekky and off to Cahill’s Crossing on the East Alligator River.  It is a tidal river (tides flow in and out with the river flowing against the incoming tide and augmenting the outgoing one) and your crossing needs to be timed to ensure the water level is sufficiently low (no more than half a metre seems to be general practice up here) and the current abated enough to avoid being washed off the road into the croc-infested torrent. There is an upside-down Landrover in the river just downstream from the crossing left by people who misjudged the current – and I think two guys died as a result. One needs to be aware of a few different hazards up here.  While there, we saw some guys fishing and one of them caught a huge barramundi – I think Alex guessed it at 12-15kg, possibly more.

Once the Crossing was successfully crossed, we travelled through a beautiful area of grassland containing patches of water festooned with water lilies and water birds.  There were numerous species when one searched carefully, but the white herons really stood our – all 4 species!  (We Had lunch at Fogg Dam on our own a week later and counted 30-odd species in an hour – among maybe tens of thousands of birds.)

Next stop was Gunbalanya – an indigenous community with a strong arts focus and we watched several of the artists, mainly painters, creating their masterpieces.  They are not something that I particularly hanker after, but having watched them at work, I am in awe of their ability to draw straight lines, circles and other shapes using the most primitive tools (brushes cut from speargrass stems) absolutely freehand with never a mistake.  Seemingly quite natural for them, utterly impossible for most of us.

We picked up a local guide at the Arts Centre and set off for Injalak Hill, maybe 5km out of town.  We parked the car at the foot of the hill and set off for the summit!  We saw some Jabirus fly in to their nesting sites on the top of the hill and said ‘if they can do it, so can we’.  No idea why, it was a silly thing to say, but the challenge was there.  It was a really strenuous climb with frequent pauses to catch our breaths and let the stragglers catch up, but we made it. Michael, our Aboriginal guide, was most solicitous of we oldies and from time to time, he started small bushfires to clear some of the tall grass to make it easier for us to take particular routes up the rocky climb.  I have commented on the use of fire elsewhere, but Michael simply lit fires wherever he thought appropriate and they burned 20-30 square metres and then went out quite spontaneously.  Apparently, the indigenes know where and how to use fire to ensure it achieves its objective and then dies out itself, rather than creating an inferno – having said that, it was a hot day and heat from the fires was quite intense.

Injalak is an amazing conglomeration of large/huge/enormous rocks and the aborigines have been painting on them for millennia.  Michael told us some of the stories, but many of them are secret men’s or women’s business and can’t be disclosed to the uninitiated.  One area he took us to was a former burial site and there are still skulls and other bones hidden, but visible, in the area.  We eventually reached the top of the hill (the jabirus were on a nearby inaccessible outcrop) where we had lunch.  We were very high up and we could see miles and miles of floodplain, including the billabong the town of Gunbalanya is set beside.  It was quite breathtaking – hectare on hectare of brilliant green grass and huge swathes of water lilies encircled by many thousands of birds – egrets, herons, terns, raptors, waders……  Just thousands of them all doing what they do every day, but gobsmacking for me.  Iconic NT wetlands as I have always imagined them.

We had a few other stops as we headed north – out of Kakadu, across Arnhem Land and up the Cobourg Peninsula to the Cobourg Coastal Camp operated by Venture North (our touring guides). The Camp is more of a Glamp, set on a 100-foot cliff overlooking Port Essington (4 times the size of Sydney Harbour). After a brief tour of the Camp and being shown to our tents, it was time for a quick cold shower and a Happy Hour with champers and nibbles at the ‘patio’ on the edge of the cliff.  The sun was setting and it was a most wonderful experience.  The tide was low and a big 4-metre croc was basking in the shallows almost at our feet. We saw several 2.5-metre sharks cruising by. Also, some big rays seemingly flying along with undulating wings and the odd turtle or two.  It was like being on another planet or in another time – but that is what we paid our money for and it was worth it.  The food was excellent for every meal and by the time we rolled into bed, I think we were all completely sated with the adventures of the day and looking to more in the morning.

Day 28 – Wednesday

Our rooms are tents, but a bit more elaborate than the usual cub-scout ones. They are set up permanently on raised hard-floor platforms, each with two single beds and a minimum of furniture.  (As a result of our feedback, the managers were out buying more furniture and a few minor accoutrements the following week.)

The toilets and showers (hot and cold, but we only needed cold!) were a short walk away and had wonderful views of the bush.  Great birdwatching locations. All very private, but with the roof and one side (above a metre or so) open to the sky and bush.  All equipped with frogs, some with toads, and at least one with a snake.  Plenty enough mozzies to go around, and unfortunately, most seemed to prefer to dine on Heather and she has been suffering ever since. The toilets were all self-composting, but to reach the throne, you had to ascend three steps to the elevated dais – but at least the climb improved the view across the woodland and facilitated the birding.

After breakfast, we boarded the boat (wet landings both ends) and set out for Victoria Settlement.  On the way, we stopped a couple of times to look at some shorebirds, including a couple we had not seen before (one of which is quite endangered) and encountered a pod of dolphins that enjoyed surfacing right next to the boat on numerous occasions before becoming bored with their human spectators.

Victoria Settlement is the area where a British ‘colony’ was established for 11 years in the mid-1800s. It failed (like the other two they set up nearby) but we did a 3.5km walk in extreme heat to look at what was left of the ruins.  It was all very interesting, but not so unlike things we have seen elsewhere and the heat and exertion was sapping – I think I drank at least 5 litres that day, not all of it beer.  Back in the boat, we headed back to camp, but spent an hour or so ‘fishing’ for our dinner that night.  We trolled along and Peta was given the rod and caught several barracuda that were released (they don’t eat them) and one rock cod that became dinner, mainly for Heather and me because neither the other Heather, nor Peta eat seafood. Incidentally, there was a third Heather at camp - she was the mother of the owners.  She and Ross, her husband, were up there helping out for a couple of months so there were actually three Heathers at dinner each night.  She was fine – really nice – but Ross was a bit overpowering at times.

After lunch, the afternoon was free and I spent most of it wandering around looking at birds. Heather was really unwell after the morning’s exertion (and the previous day’s mountaineering) so spent most of the afternoon asleep.  At least that meant she was feeling much better the next day.

Day 29 – Thursday

Another interesting day!  We left camp about 8am and headed north to the northernmost point in the NT – Smith Point (via the pig trap, unfortunately empty, but we rebaited it with kitchen scraps).  We stopped numerous times en route, this time staying quite close to the coast and noting the different nature of both the landscape and the vegetation.  We called in at a few places to look for mud crabs and Alex was very proud of himself for catching a really big one. He broke his crab spear at the first place we stopped, but gaffa-taped it together and caught the crab with a seriously incapacitated spear at our next stop.  We also collected quite a lot of cockles in the shallows and our booty was augmented with some huge oysters that had been collected by Heather, the camp mother.  That was mainly (my) Heather’s and my Happy Hour food that evening – Ross scoffed some of it, but there were plenty of other delicacies to choose from anyway.  (I think I said that Peta and her Mum don’t eat seafood.)

We saw a few new shorebirds and did some beach-combing at several spots and eventually stopped for lunch just shy of Smith Point.  The coastal country was quite different from what we had previously been driving through so we had new trees and plants to discover as well as unusual shells on the beach and a quite different environment to explore.

We went on to Smith Point and spent some time there learning a bit of local history and looking at (and photographing) different flowers and unusual rocks. We went on to the Ranger Station where the Ranger’s wife offered a ‘Buying Opportunity’ of some of her jewellery, craft and photographs. Heather indulged, but I went looking for birds at the nearby billabong – with very limited success.

We called in at a couple more quite beautiful billabongs on the way back to camp, always aware that there could well be crocodiles lurking mere metres from our feet.  The water is crystal-clear and often quite shallow, making it a bit harder for a croc to creep up on you – but they are sneaky critters – huge animals that ambush their prey by stealth.  We have watched them with only their eyes above water, sometimes not even that, slinking through the water ever so slowly creeping up on a wallaby or a fish – and Ross tossed a couple of slices of bacon onto the beach 20-30 metres from where a big croc was lurking (we spent a lot of time on the ‘patio’ watching him - the croc rather than Ross) and he simply exploded out of the water and rocketed up the beach to eat it.  It was sooooo scary – nobody would stand a chance against the speed and power of this most ferocious animal if he decided that you were his next meal.  Still, plenty of people go swimming or stand in the water to fish so they must know something we don’t – but I won’t tempt fate anyway.

Back at camp, I went birding for a while before Happy Hour and a scrumptious dinner, but we were all tired and crashed early.

Day 30 – Friday

I awoke pretty miserable with a cold.  I had a sore throat the previous day, but sitting in the enclosed car all day with Sean hacking and sneezing all week, it was probably inevitable.  I was determined not to let it spoil anything, but by early afternoon, I would have been quite happy napping the rest of the day. It was mainly a day of driving the 500-odd kilometres back to Darwin, but we stopped to enjoy a few things along the way.

On the way up, we had seen a bus bogged on the side of the road, laying half on its side, it was bogged so deeply.  It was one operated by an up-market touring company that seemingly employs rather careless drivers. They had bogged one of their buses about a week earlier and it took several days to dig it out.  Of course, they also had to ferry their customers out a few hundred kilometres back the way they came instead of them flying out from the resort they were heading for.  The very next day, the driver bogged a second bus in exactly the same place and it took a while to get the passengers out because the bus was leaning over so far, they couldn’t get the door open.  They ended up leaving the bus there and used two more buses, one to take the clients to where the bus was bogged where they had to walk past the bog and onto another bus to take them onto their destination.  We bumped into one of their drivers more than a week later when we were both fuelling our vehicles and he said they had only recovered the bogged bus the previous day – a very costly couple of mistakes and a serious dent in their reputation.  At least it gave us a talking point and a few photos to memorialise the escapade.

We stopped at the Murganella low-level river crossing for morning tea and Alex went fishing – maybe a bit risky in our view, but he did catch a couple of barra although too small to keep so they were released, possibly only to be eaten by the next passing crocodile. We had to stop again at Cahill’s Crossing and had lunch there while we waited for the tide to recede enough for us to cross.  We watched a big croc lurking near the floodway and saw several fishermen and women – but they caught nothing while we were there (nor did the croc).  A few rather foolhardy punters crossed with the tide at close to 700mm, but one was nearly washed sideways by the current so we wisely waited until it dropped to just under 500mm.

Back in Kakadu, we went to Ubirr where there were a lot of aboriginal rock paintings.  It was quite a steep climb to the top of the hill for the enthusiasts who wanted to see all of them, but with me suffering shortness of breath with the cold and Heather a bit puffed too, we saw what we saw and wimped out on the steepest section – and let the others go to the final level (which by report was little different from what we had seen anyway).

We stopped for fuel at Jabiru and saw some penned crocs and buffalo and it was very sad to see.  These magnificent wild animals were confined for life in quite small areas and after seeing their cousins in the wild only days before, it was quite depressing.  There were plenty of cute little agile wallabies hopping around though so that was more encouraging.

We finally made it back to Darwin and the caravan about 7.30 and we were both a bit worse for wear.  Heather’s was also developing a cold and we both had mozzy bites (Heather had heaps and hives as well) so we were quite glad to be ‘home’ again. We ate dinner from a can, had a cold shower and watched the final episode of Vera - and crashed.

It had been a WONDERFUL trip, the experience of a lifetime, a fabulous adventure in the remotest of Aussie wilderness – but it was hot, sticky and exhausting, on the go for long hours each day, and with our minor health issues emerging, probably long enough for us.  We had had a great time, but it was really good to be back home.

[lenaglittleus]

Camping In Yosemite Travel Guide

I was asked to be Lorissa’s Kitchen’s Travel Expert for 2017 (so excited!) and I’m pleased to bring this Camping in Yosemite Guide as the first of our partnership. I was compensated for my time. Stay tuned for more!

It’s been forever since I wrote my last Travel Guide. While my life certainly hasn’t been short on travel, besides my trip back to Toronto most of my trips have been work related and less “Davs takes on the wilderness”. This post feels like a throwback to our cross-country road trip last year and in many ways, our trip to Yosemite was even more reminiscent of it.

Good people, great food, off the grid and exploring the great outdoors. My happy place, if you haven’t figured that out already.

This wasn’t our first trip to Yosemite. C and I went with a couple of friends in September of 2015 and that trip was equally as awe-inspiring as this one. But they were also different in so many ways. When we went in September 2015, California was still in a drought and it was the end of the season so none of the waterfalls were running. Yosemite was certainly still beautiful, but not nearly as lush as this visit. But with lushness comes rain so it’s not surprising that it rained all 3 days we were there. All the rain meant snow in the mountainous meadows so we couldn’t get up there this time, but the weather also forced us to explore some of the less popular nooks and crannies of the park that oftentimes get passed over for the spectacular views of Glacial Point or Tenaya Lake.

We also had a different crew with us this time. As many of you know, I went to summer camp for 10 years in New Hampshire and the friends I made there will forever hold a special place in my heart. You’ll remember Dale and Erica from the post I wrote about our camp reunion a few years back, but Dale and her boyfriend Dave are on a cross-country road trip and me, Erica and C decided to tag along on their trip to Yosemite. We couldn’t have asked for a better group!

On this trip we also decided to camp rather than stay in one of the cabins at Half Dome Village. So this post is written more as a guide to anyone looking to camp in Yosemite. Together I think this guide and the last one give a really well-rounded picture of Yosemite and what to explore on your next trip to this stunning national park.

CAMPING IN YOSEMITE

The biggest thing you need to know about camping in Yosemite is to BOOK IN ADVANCE. And we’re talking at least 6 months in advance. Spots book up super quickly so even you’re thinking about visiting definitely be on top of booking.

There’s a couple different parts of the park where you can stay. Staying in the valley is definitely the most popular but I’m going to vouch for a few other places. There are 13 campgrounds so I can’t cover them all, but instead will highlight a few.

In the valley:

Upper/Lower/North Pines – Right on the valley floor, these are a great option for camping in the park

Camp 4 – this site has an extensive history for rock climbers and is definitely the “party site” in the park

Housekeeping Camp – We stayed here last time and really enjoyed it. It’s more “glamping” because they give you a cot and sheets (we just used our sleeping bags), but you can have a campfire and that’s always the best part of camping anyway. Technically this is not one of the 13 campsites, but it’s a nice middle ground if you’re not prepared to sleep in a tent!

Outside the valley:

Hogdgon Meadow – this is actually where we stayed on this trip and we really liked it. Perfect for car camping and if you’re looking for something a bit quieter and outside the valley. This campsite is right after the entrance to the park and about 40 mins to the valley. Definitely request a site on the outer circle rather than on the inside, which are a little too close to the bathrooms (just sayin’!)

Wawona Camp – I haven’t been here but it’s open year-round (as are all the ones mentioned above) and is South of the valley, which is great if you’re coming from Central or Southern California.

Tuolomne Meadows – we’re dying to stay here, but it’s only open for a limited season in the summer. Check the forecast as opening and closing dates depend on the snow. During our most recent trip, the road up to the meadows was closed so it wasn’t even accessible but when we were there in September, it was spectacular!

WHAT WE DID

We definitely covered the more popular areas on our last trip like Glacier Point and Tuolomne Meadows, but due to snow both of these were actually closed. Yup, it’s definitely snowing there well into May! But as I mentioned, the bright-side to all of this is that we were able to explore some less popular regions of the park. Here’s what we did:

Valley Loop Trail – Just driving into the valley is an adventure in itself. We drove in from our campsite late on Sunday so we only had a few hours to explore. We walked the loop along the valley floor to take in the views of Half Dome, El Capitan and all of the waterfalls rushing down around us.

Tuolomne Grove – the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias is perhaps the most famous in the park, but because it was closed during our trip (theme of the trip?) we ended up going to Tuolomne Grove, which did not disappoint! I had never seen Sequoias before and was blown away but their size.

Yosemite Falls Trail – We LOVED finding this trail on our last day. We ended up doing the 2 mile up to Columbia Rock rather than the 7 mile trail to the top for time purposes but, whichever one you choose to do, you will love it. It’s a strenuous hike but gives you incredible views of the valley and of Half Dome and Glacier Point.

If it seemed like we didn’t do a whole lot, you might be right. Because of the rain, we were held off a bit and honestly, we wanted to enjoy each other’s company as much as we could. So we spent quite a bit of time sitting around the campfire EATING. Which brings me to…

WHAT WE ATE

Camping definitely requires some prep when it comes to food. And for as much as I love peanut butter sandwiches, I was determined to elevate our camping eats. Because we were car camping, we were able to bring in a lot more supplies so I put together a menu and did a full Trader Joe’s grocery shop beforehand. And if the pictures haven’t given it away, we ate A LOT of Lorissa’s Kitchen! The Korean BBQ is my favorite flavor.

If you’re planning a car camping trip soon, definitely use my Car Camping Packing List. I used it for this trip and was so grateful I had it!

No matter where you camp in the park, you will have to store your food in a bear locker. There are black bears in the park so it’s definitely something to be aware of, but as long as you store your food in the bear lockers provided you should be totally fine.

Lastly, if you find yourself camping in the rain, there are a couple of restaurants you can eat at in the park. Half Dome Village (where we stayed last time) has a pretty decent cafeteria and pizza and the Majestic Yosemite Hotel (formerly the Ahwahnee) offers fancy dining. Rush Creek Lodge is a hotel just outside the park and we actually ended up eating one dinner there because it was raining too hard to cook on the fire. The food was great and the environment was awesome if you’re looking for a place to get some civilization outside the park.

If you’re interested in seeing what was on the menu, stay tuned for my next What I Eat In A Day video coming on Sunday! I’ll be sharing all of our Yosemite eats and some more behind-the-scenes footage.

* * * * *

If you haven’t been to Yosemite yet, you should definitely add it to your bucket list! It’s one of our favorite places in the world (if you couldn’t tell) and we can’t wait to explore more. We’re hoping to get back there in the fall and explore more of the meadows before they close. Stay tuned!

Have you been to Yosemite? Do you enjoy camping trips?

The post Camping In Yosemite Travel Guide appeared first on The Healthy Maven.

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[carlsonknives]

Two Bare Feet Adult Snorkel Set Review

What is it

Two Bare Feet Snorkel Set; Fins, mask and snorkel

Small/Medium suitable for UK 4.5 – UK 8.5

Large/X-Large suitable for UK 9 – UK 13

£23.95 Buy it here

I’ve snorkelled a few times and have previously rented gear and on my last trip I borrowed a Cressi set from a friend which was much better than the usual rental gear, so I thought it was time to invest in my own. I did a bit of online research and found that I’d need to spend around £20 to £30 for a basic set.

I prefer shorter fins for snorkelling and I already knew I wanted a snorkel with a splash guard as well as a decent mask with glass lenses, so I  had a good set of criteria to help me choose.

I went for a mask, snorkel and fin set from Two Bare Feet priced £23.95 on Amazon, which looked like a great starter kit at a good price. The snorkel includes a guard on the top which helps to minimise water entering the tube, though this particular snorkel does not feature a one-way valve inside the top guard.

I chose the small/medium set as I have size 6 feet, and I found the fins very easy to fit and adjust. Initially I didn’t put them on tightly enough and my heel slipped out of one, but adjusting whilst in the water was very easy, and a matter of simply pulling on one of the straps at the rear to tighten.

I found the fins comfortable to wear and easy to swim with. I was very pleased with the mask and found it was an excellent fit and performed really well; it even performed well when scuba diving (I dived down to 12m using the mask). I did have to clear it a few times during my dive, but I’ve had to clear any mask I’ve used every time I’ve dived anyway. Given I had only anticipated it being good enough for snorkelling I was really pleased it stood up to more serious use.

When using your mask for the first time rub a mildy abrasive pad over the inside of the glass lens. Then immediately prior to using, spit into the mask and use your fingers to rub your saliva over the inside of the mask. This creates a protective layer that effectively stops your mask from fogging up during use.

The only thing that let the set down was the snorkel itself. At the bottom of the snorkel there is a one way valve that allows you to clear the mouthpiece by blowing out if water gets inside. I found that 50% of the time during use, after taking a few breaths under water, the mouthpiece would start to fill with water; the usual short, sharp exhale would sometimes get rid of the water out of the valve, but often seemed to make it worse.

When it did work, I was able to swim along for extended periods of time without having to give it another thought. My finning technique was not to blame with regards to splashing and introducing water into the tube, and when I checked the chamber where the valve sits, only once did I find a small piece of shell in there that was to blame for forcing the valve open. This was easy to clear as the guard has been designed so that it can be removed and cleaned out.

The position of your mask plays an important role into how effectively it will work. Masks are often placed too high up on the face but should sit just above the top of your lip and the head straps need not be over-tightened.

The piece of shell trapped in the valve however only accounted for one incidence where water flooded into the mouthpiece, on many other occasions I simply could not work out the cause and as a result found it pretty frustrating. I ended up routinely having to roll over onto my back, tread water and take the mouthpiece out fully to blow through it several times to remove all of the accumulated water. Even when the snorkel was working fine and not letting in any water, the expectation of it filling with water any minute did prove distracting.

Final thoughts

In summary then, this is a good value beginners set; the fins and mask are particularly good, but I found the performance of the snorkel to be inconsistent. As a result I’ve decided to purchase a Cressi Alpha Superdry Snorkel that I will continue to use with my existing Two Bare Feet fins and mask.

Having read various snorkelling forums, I still can’t work out why I kept getting water inside my snorkel, as the position of the tube and my mouth placement was correct, so I’m left somewhat baffled. The two-way valve seemed to work properly, my breathing was gentle and regular and water was not being splashed down the tube, I even turned it around and tried it on both sides of my head to see if that made a difference, but the best I can say is that it’s performance was inconsistent.

Find out more about the Two Bare Feet Snorkel Set Here.

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The post Two Bare Feet Adult Snorkel Set Review appeared first on Camping with Style Camping Blog | Activities • Glamping • Travel • Adventure.

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