#but getting to camp where the beach is only like a 10 min walk away WILL certainly fix me

[eccentricwearsgoggles]

between seeing one of my faves in concert or going camping, i think the answer is clear lol

[genius11rare]

AH ChitChat Notes 3 22 21

Chitchat 32221 with Jeremy , michael and matt ft disembodied voices of lindsay and maybe kaden , gus in chat and joins

Jeremy: Kaden spoke up because of donuts earlier… Michael: Jacks time is over now… but he will be on stream later. Jeremy: oh yeah schedule. Slight last minute changes doing Fall Guys first cuz S4 came out… me michael  lindsay and matt did a letsplay in it earlier today … gus will be doing fall guys this stream (eyyy)... oh yeah and i wanna impersonate what jack does. Matt: do it. Jeremy: and if you're watching on the site we can see your chat like FatHippoHippo wrote BET in all capitals … yeah i just wanted to get into the spirit and be like “what would jack do, what would he think is funny” and that was it. Lindsay: alsoone of those WWJD bracelets from the 90s What Would Jack Do… (matt: ive repurposed them) Jeremy: so how are you doing? Lindsay: good weekend i guess , just telling Matt we watched Big Hero 6 yesterday (Jeremy: aw hell yell) still an awesome movie , kids loved it. Jeremy: where they scared of - idk if he has a name the kabuki villain… *looking it up* apparently its Yokai… guess they never really say it cuz that's generic. Lindsay: that's VERY generic. Michael: IVE GOT TO TAKE THIS CALL *facecam becomes void* Jeremy: ok spoiler alert for Big Hero 6 but just looking at the wiki… it makes an audacious claim. It says “professor robert calahan OR ALSO BETTER KNOW as his villain name Yokai”... is it? Lindsay: well its based on a comic right so i guess canonically he has a name…. But to answer your question No they werent scared … anyway something we noticed upon rewatching is that 2 characters before a MAJOR event happens to the fistbump… but DON'T do the explosion… like oooohhh foreshadowing. Michael: not really foreshadowing if they keep doing it throughout the movie , if anything its foreshadowing that like… hell… whats the robots name - baymax learning it… not really foreshadowing the building explodes (gen notes MAJOR EVENT) … what blew my mind was that movie has a post credits scene. Jeremy: oh yeah was it like with the dudes father. Michael: Fred yeah! Remember remarking upon them entering the house theres a portrait of the dad and i just went “his dads just Stan Lee… just a portrait of him” Post credits scene and guys talking to painting and - wasn't paying attention but he like hits his head on it and the wall opens up to show a superhero room with paraphernalia everywhere and Stan Lee walks in like “son we got a lot to talk about” Jeremy: Chat asking about if i watched the wrestling PayPerView… remember how i updated you last that the guy died in the ring after being set on fire (Michael: lemme guess hes a zombie now) - yep exactly last night a hand reached up and grabbed someones leg , he came out of the smoke with a melted messed up mask so yeah…. Hes a furry (i think?) zombie clown Michael: hey wait a minute let me read the chat , someone named Gus said “whoa no idea there was a post credit scene”  “what is a fastfood restaurant combo wish would open” Lindsay: Miss my KenTaco Hutt… Michael: idk im usually just in the mood for SOMETHING , not looking to combine , only time is when i want a certain food and they don't have the same sides i want other places have . like Sonic is amazing for sides , apps and drinks… don't care for entrees , but if i could get Sonic sides at McDonalds or Taco bell or something.. Jeremy: guess in the same vein id combine Dairy Queen with a lot of places (Matt: i was about to say) to get a BLIZZARD with whatever. Matt: that's how it usually goes anyway , you get the food , you drive by the Dairy Queen and get a desert - you don't get the food at Dairy Queen cuz why - just why Lindsay: i mean theres icecream but there isnt really fastfood places for other deserts… like theres not really a Cake or Cupcake place (Matt: not yet *tilts head at camera like “you know what i want”* ) there IS the cupcake ATM Matt: alright checking the google… Michael: Matts checking the driving distance. Jeremy: another questions whil matts looking up cakes (Matt: oh i already have it) nevermind then. Conware asks “what is your fave controller for console and whats fave controller you own” Jeremy: Idk really… i know for a while everyones was the Elite 2 Michael: yeah just most comfortable. Matt: well that's like a specialty type… if its a stock one then the switch pro controller is pretty good. Michael: i mean i also have this 8Bit do SNES bluetooth controller thing , love it Lindsay: i love the nintendo switch controller grip… makes it feel like it curves comfy around your palms Jeremy: the XBOX sea of thieves one is great (Matt: i was about to say…) got a glow in the dark skull in the middle , RT is like a gold tooth , is partly see through Matt: and it comes with some exclusive stuff for Sea of Thieves Lindsay: yeah like Motion Sickness. Matt: i got one that's just a donut. Lindsay: gave me an idea… you know how theres Pez Dispensers (matt: heard of them) yeah and how you don't really even use them right you just eat the candy and play with the thing  ( *matt nods approvingly* yeah about right) what if we invent a controller where every once in a while it opens up to give a snack. (Matt: yeah like everytime you get an achievement, Jeremy: yeah i did good! Just go up to the controller and eat it) “You Are Good Boy” Matt: be funnier if it just throws at you “everyone have a fave seasons and followup do you like seasons where you grew up or where you are now?” Jeremy: i mean springs probably my fave its easy to be outside , not boiling hot nor snow everywhere… great time to camp and fish , falls cool with changing colors… texas is like “do you want REALLY hot or hot?”  Michael: i do really like Fall on the East Coast but its like - yeah i miss it and its nice to be there when it happens where its light jacket weather. I used to wear sweatshirts all the time - i don't bother with long sleeves in texas cuz i know im taking it off within 30 min…  never knew about the Water Cup thing until i lived in texas where restaurants just HAVE water cups… blew my mind its free  - because people will drop dead . noticed they just have this seperate stack of clear cups which is i guess like “i BETTER not see any soda in that cup THAT'S  A WATER CUP!”. I don't like it when its 105 degrees but i do like being able to just wear Tshirts most of the year and not dealing with snow Lindsay: i like Fall the most cuz like its blend of i guess i embrace the basic bitch stereo types of fall , want my pumpkin spice latee but ALSO i know halloween is coming and ive said before how THAT'S like my religious holiday so like… i come alive. Matt: probably fall , maybe winter. I don't go out much but fall is like the right amount of cool but not TOO cool. Jeremy: over the weekend me and kat went to a town called rockfort (i think?) which is like right on the ocean , the weather was a little cold for it , like 50 maybe and the sea breeze made it chillier… im not really a beach person just more water. You say beach and you think  like Boogie Boarding Bros (Michael: whoooaah boogie. Lindsay: beach volleyball) yeah .. id reather be on a rocky shore than a sandy beach. Michael: youd rather be like a mermaid sitting on the rocks *jeremy laughs loud* is that what you're saying Jeremy: yeah Matt: attracting sailors to their DOOM Lindsay: i gotta send you a link but theres this one TikTokker i guess that i watch that talks about that an eastern european beach she went to and was like “i cant wait to go on my beach outting yeah!” and she gets there its rocky , really windy , noones there and goes “ooh its really cold” Matt: depends the kind of beach to me… for me East Coast beaches SUCK *jeremy nods yep* its water you cant see anything in its terrible Lindsay: that's also texas beaches , all brown. Matt: its just one of those things where you get in the water and your like “ok… at anymoment i could be attacked by everything around me”  Michael: well that can happen on land too matt (Gen Notes WELCOHME TA JOISEY!!!) (paraphrasing jeremy here) Jeremy: theres this guy who flys a drone out over beaches into the ocean , and he released the footage… apparently due to there being a lot less people now theres just Great White Sharks that go relatively close to beaches now… there are times where hes filming people playing and like 10 ft away is a fucking shark ya know just swimming. And cuz they're really far away hed be like “id see it , film it , then go to a lifeguard and show it like “oh btw…” “ Michael: so you know 2 hours ago someone may have been eaten. MattL he should put a speaker on the drone to like announce the sharks like HEY! DEATH OUT THERE!. Lindsay: “whats that Dronie? Theres a shark in the water?!?” Jeremy: and it was funny seeing that behavior where everyonce and a while a shark would be swimming then someone would do something near it not seeing the shark and the shark just goes “fuck dat” and swims away MattL god dude…. So close to death *gus joins* Lindsay: oh you're the guy who was like Texas beaches have Tar Gus: oh yeah i grew up in texas and i thought all beaches were like that just “oh you don't sit on the tar”

[bakuhoes-slut234]

Aizawa x reader fluff - Birthday part 1

Aizawa's eyes fluttered open as the light leaked in through the blinds.

He looked around the room, feeling like he's forgetting something.

He looked to his side where Y/N was sleeping peacefully and smiled softly.

She looked so peaceful and relaxed. His heart swelled at the thought that she was his and his only.

His phone dinged, letting know that he has a notification.

He grumbled and unlocked his phone. A message popped up on his screen.

Private chat

Loud Mouth

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAN!!!!!

Let's go out for drinks to celebrate if you and Y/N don't already have something planned.

Aizawa thought for a moment.

' does she have anything planned? ' he thought to himself before replying

She might have planned something. I don't know. We'll see.

I don't expect her to though.

He turned off his phone and got up.

When Mic reminded him that it was his birthday, he was kinda shocked to see Y/N still asleep.

Him and Y/N have been together for 4 years now and every year, on his birthday, he always woke up to breakfast in bed.

He would always say "you don't have to do this" even though it made him feel special that she would get up early just to make him breakfast.

But like any other day, he was the first one up. He hadn't heard an alarm either that would suggest that maybe she slept through the alarm.

' did she forget? ' he asked himself.

The thought made him a little upset but didn't dwell on it.

' maybe she's planning something later rather than this morning ' he thought.

Shota got out of bed and made his way to the kitchen to make breakfast.

He put on his apron and got out the bacon, eggs, and other things he wanted for breakfast.

About 10 minutes later, the soft sound of feets patting against the floor was heard.

Shota turned to see Y/N walking to the kitchen, wrapped in a blanket, smiling sleepily.

"Morning babe" she smiled and gave him a quick peck on the lips.

"Hey beautiful. Breakfast is ready" he said and placed two plates of food in the kitchen counter.

He had already cleaned up the mess he made so that he could eat breakfast without caring about dishes.

"Thanks Sho" she plopped the blanket onto the couch and then took a seat at the table.

They both ate in silence for a while, just like normal. Today though, the silence seemed to bother Aizawa.

"What are we doing today?" He asked, finally breaking the silence to find out if she planned anything.

"Could you run some errands for me today, I'm a little behind on work and need to catch up before the boss gives me another written warning?" She asked.

Shota froze for a moment.

' has she actually forgotten? '

While he didn't really mind if all they did was stay at home and watch movies, he at least expected her to say " happy birthday"

A frown settled on his face.

"Sure, what errands?" He grumbled.

Y/N noticed his suddenly sour mood but chose to ignore it.

"I just need you to buy groceries and deliver a few things. Would you be okay with that?" She asked and he nodded.

He finished his breakfast and put his plate in the dishwasher.

"I'm gonna get dressed" he mumbled and headed towards the bathroom.

Soon, Aizawa came back into the kitchen and saw Y/N had moved to sit on the couch, cuddled up in her blanket again.

He frowned. "See you later" he said

All he got in response was a wave, she didn't even turn face him.

Aizawa slammed the door as he left and his phone dinged.

Private chat

Kitty Kat

Here's the list of things I need you to do:

* Attachment sent *

His eyes widened when he saw how long the list was.

"Fuck sakes Y/N. That's a lot" he grumbled to himself.

~

As soon as Y/N clicked the send button, she jumped up from her spot on the couch and ran down the hall.

The list that she sent should keep him busy for a couple hours while she set up.

She picked up on the fact that he was upset this morning and felt bad that she had caused it.

She knew he didn't expect her to do much, he liked simple things. Like movies and juice pouches but she always tried to make his birthday special.

Everything was going according to plan.

Wake up late. Check.

Don't mention his birthday to him. Check.

Send him to do errands. Check.

' forget ' his birthday. Check

Feel guilty for not making breakfast. Check.

Now she needed to set up and get dressed.

She quickly pulled out a small, portable table that they used when they went camping that one time and put it into a large bag.

In the bag, she also put a black table cloth, red table runner ( those coloured, narrow cloths they put in the middle of a table that goes from one end to the other), two wine glasses and two plates wrapped in bubble wrap, two knifes, forks and spoons.

She packed a lot of candles and a lighter.

Once that was done, she put on her shoes and ran out the house.

She made a b-line for the gazebo at the beach. She had to bring her own table because the gazebo at the beach didn't have one. She had asked Hawks to make sure that no one takes it before she was able to set up and to watch it while she gets herself ready so no one steals her stuff.

Once she got to the gazebo, she set up the table and put on the table cloth and table runner, two plates, glasses and cutlery.

She then placed a few candles on the table and around the table. Once that was done, she made a pathway from the gazebo, leading about 10 metres away.

That all took about 2 hours to set up since she had to run and get more candles when she was only halfway done with the path. By now it was lunch time.

She found Hawks approaching her with a goofy smile.

"Hey baby birdie. How's it coming along?" He asked.

"It's going good. Shota seemed a little upset this morning but didn't say anything. " He huffed.

"Oh well, he's in for a treat tonight"

"Yeah. Can you hold onto the lighter? I'll text you when it's time to light the candles." She said and handed him the small object.

He nodded and watched as she ran off.

Y/N ran back the apartment and started cooking. She quickly cooked some Udon and put it in a special container that keeps the food hot.

By then, it was already 4pm.

"Shit. This is taking longer than expected." She grumbled.

Thankfully, Mic had said that he would distract Aizawa and to text him when he could finally let the poor man go home.

Y/N ran down to the beach and put the container of food down on the table.

"Hey chicken. Text me when you want me to set up the food, okay?" Hawks said as he approached her. She nodded and quickly ran to the flower shop near by and bought some roses.

She handed them to Hawks, knowing that he knew what to do with them when she gives him the ok.

She then ran home and got dressed into her usual every day clothes, just a little nicer.

She didn't want to dress up all fancy with the risk of him catching on that she was planning something.

She blushed at the thought of what she was really planning other than dinner.

She pulled out a beautiful black lacey bra with matching panties and put then on. Then she flipped on a pair of suspenders to hold up the long, black sleek socks that she out on.

She always wore black so none of this was too new.

The next part is what made her really blush.

She pulled out a small device from another bag.

I'm her hand was two things. One, being a small vibrator and the other being a remote.

She quickly but carefully slipped the small object into her, sucking in a deep breath as she did so.

She then put on a flowy lace dress that ended at her mid-thigh and stuffed the remote into her handbag.

As she was walking out the door, she slipped on her shoes and left.

Her phone dinged on her bedside table.

Private chat

Radio Rebel

HEY!!!!

Listen, I can't hold Aizawa for much longer. He's getting grumpy and wants to go home. He looks really mad.

Ok, just stall him for five more minutes please

You got it

Y/N turned off her phone and ran out the door she needed just one more thing.

She ran to the nearest costume shop and bought a pair of black, fluffy cat ears and then ran home.

As she was about to put the key in the hole, she noticed the door was unlocked.

' dammit ' she thought.

She slowly opened the door to see Aizawa standing in the kitchen, leaning against the table with his arms crossed.

"H-hey babe" she smiled nervously.

He just grunted in response.

"Thank you for running errands for me"

"Where were you? I thought you had work to do." He narrowed his eyes.

"I did. I just needed to run to the store and get tampons real quick. I forgot to put it on the list and didn't know when you would be back." She lied easily.

"Whatever. Here's your crap you wanted me to get" he said and motioned to the packets in the table behind him

Y/N smiled and then ducking into their room to place the day ears in her draw.

She walked back to the kitchen and saw a still grumpy Aizawa.

"What's wrong with you today?" She asked.

Aizawa's attention snapped to her, looking at her with wide eyes.

"Why's wrong with me!? What's wrong with you?" He yelled. "I've been running around all day doing errands for you can cooked you breakfast, none of which I mind doing on any given day except for today! It's my birthday for fucks sakes and you didn't even say ' happy birthday'. I don't expect much except just a simple ' happy birthday' " he huffed, clearly pissed the hell off.

"Aizawa, I swear, I didn't forget" Y/N mumbled.

He just clicked his tongue.

"Get dressed into something comfy. We're going somewhere" she said, seeing as it was now dark out.

"Don't say that just because you feel bad" he grumbled

"I'm not. Just shut up, and get dressed. I have a surprise for you. Fucking dumbass" she said, mumbling the last part soft enough that he didn't hear her.

As he grumbled his way into their bedroom, Y/N pulled out her phone.

Private chat

Birdie

Set up now. Aizawa is grumpy and ready to kill me. We'll be there in about 20 mins

Yes, chicken nugget, ma'am

[aoibaratraveler]

UK Road Trip Week 3

Ahhh late post was initially meaning to post every Monday but what can you do when you're on the road with limited signal sometimes and always wanting to look out the window and the pretty sights.

Day 15:

Woke up early and was finally able to put in our big bag of laundry into the wash. We weren't really able to do the things we thought about doing like going for a hike or a bike ride because we wanted to wait for our laundry so instead we took it easy and watched the last episode of izombie and once V was done with her skype interview we went grocery shopping for dinner supplies since we were going to cook ratatouille. We got back to the house and prepped all the vegetables and V made vegan chocolate pudding for dessert. Once everything was prepped and ready we decided to go kayaking for a little while before everyone would be back for dinner. Since there were 3 of us and only 2 kayaks, the bf and I decided to share one but boy was that a mistake because the bf sat in front with me in the back (so he was sitting in between my legs) and I'm not sure how but all his weight was on me and when I tried to position myself to paddle, it put so much strain on my abs and was the most painful thing so it was a struggle but at least we had a laugh and got to see a cool cave and some beautiful waves; got pretty drenched though. On the way back the bf and V switched and she and I sat together which made the paddle back much easier because she's lighter and I sat in front this time for good measure. When we got back, we quickly whipped up the rest of dinner (which was delicious) and chowed down. We then drove V's parents to an evening event and then the bf had a go at driving "Marvin", a classic 70's Volkswagen beetle that was gifted to V and her sister by their parents when they were 17. We got back and played games until midnight and V's parents returned just before we were to call it a night. V's dad decided out of the blue though that he wanted to show us the strangest card trick which involved being able to manipulate two rows of cards to be completely black and completely red even though we were the ones dealing it. Afterward, V showed us a curious card trick as well before we finally hit the hay.

Day 16:

Had a nice long catch up with V this morning before saying goodbye so much so that we didn't leave her house until 12:30...when we were expecting a 7 hour drive ahead of us...on the plus side when I mentioned to her parents that lately it's been cold while camping, her mom went and got us a duvet to take with us that she was planning to donate anyway. The drive was lovely and scenic but I was feeling a bit ill because of my indigestion so couldn't fully take it in. We were short on time since we didn't want to set up the tent when it was too dark and we only made one stop on the drive in a place just outside of Land's End called St. Just. It was a cliffside surrounded by lush green rolling hills and fields that was just gorgeous and gave such an atmosphere with the overcast. The rocky cliffs partially covered in grass and flowers were wonderful as they overlooked the clear blue-green ocean water. We sat there for a while and just took it in but I was sure that I could just sit there all day and still want more. It was most definitely my favourite stop by far. Afterward, we continued our drive from Cornwall to St. Clears which is just outside of Carmarthen in Wales and arrived at about 9:30 and were able to set up the tent even though it was already quite dark and managed to finish before the rain really poured down.

Day 17:

Today we experienced a downpour for most of the morning and day with the sun really only coming out at 5. We decided to leave early so we could drive through Swansea and then Cardiff. The clouds and rain didn't help the run-down atmosphere that Swansea was giving off with numerous shops that we drove by being closed down. When we got to Cardiff we decided to head straight for Tim Hortons which was nice since I was feeling a bit homesick although it obviously wasn't as good as what I've had in Canada. Afterward, we walked to the Millennium center which was the location for many Doctor Who episodes. After that, we watched the Liverpool game at an Australian sports bar and then headed to Caerphilly Castle which is the largest castle in Wales and had a nice little stroll before heading back for the night since we were still pretty tired from the previous day's drive.

Day 18:

As soon as we woke up today we attempted to put away our tent but struggled because of the periodic downpour that seemed to come down very hard every 10 minutes or so. We felt a bit bad though because the tent next to us was huge and the guy who was taking it down was on his own and seemed completely unfazed by the rain. We set off as soon as we could and drove along the Welsh coast/Pembrokeshire coast and again saw some gorgeous coastal views from St. David's to Trefin to Fishguard. It was especially lovely because the rain had cleared up. The cove in Trefin beach that is part of the Pembrokeshire coast national park was my favourite part of the drive and just beautiful. When we arrived in Aberystwyth we walked around the beach for a while and the bf showed me where he used to live. We even got pizza for dinner from a place called Hollywood pizza where he used to go most nights after drinking. Super cheesy with a buttery and crispy crust. We then continued our stroll and hiked up Constitution hill for some gorgeous views of the city. After a few minutes at the top, the bf was too cold so we walked down and caught a bit of the sunset on the before heading back.

Day 19:

The bf disagrees but I found the bed at this Airbnb that we booked for our stay in Aberystwyth super comfy and the pillows super fluffy and to be completely honest, it made me dread the thought of camping again but only a little bit. We got up and went to eat at "Sophie's", a breakfast cafe that the bf was a regular at during his uni days. It was super yummy there and the veggie sausages were on point. It was a rather humid day but again the weather couldn't decide whether it wanted to be Sunny or have a downpour. After breakfast, we headed to a place called "Devil's Bridge". It had loads of beautiful waterfalls and cool bridges. We stupidly parked in a spot that required us to pay even though the car park for the Devil's Bridge was free. The walk around the bridge and waterfall area took about 45 mins. There was a steep staircase there that, not gonna lie, terrified me at first. My fear of heights picks and chooses its moments and it had a pretty big one then. I'm totally fine with hiking up steep areas but hiking down is different so needed the bf's help then. The hike/walk back up the stairs of the place was certainly steep so my legs were shaking by the end of it. From the Devil's Bridge, we headed to Morrisons for some supplies and then back to the Airbnb to chill for a bit and watch Doctor Who. The bf and I both agree that the Matt Smith portion of the show is our favourite and that he's our favourite Doctor because he's wise but also daft and loveable. We concluded the night by having another stroll along the beach and grabbing some McDonald's...oh and since this Airbnb is working like a legitimate BnB, the room next to us was also taken so the night was really ended by us trying to drown out the sound of the couple in the next room having sex...lovely. 🙃

Day 20:

Today was the day that we were meant to hike Snowden so I got up at 8 packed my stuff, finished my chapter of HP that I was on and uploaded week 2 of my blog! By the time we got to the car though we realized it would be foolish to try and get to Snowden this late in the morning and hike it. Instead, we dawdled for a bit and then had lunch at a fusion place in Aberystwyth that I'd been wanting to try; really yummy fried chicken there. We then drove to the university that the bf used to attend and he showed me around the campus and the student housing in which he lived in during first year and recalled stories from that time. We then headed to Snowdonia National park since the bf's friend, T, lives and works there. She works in this quaint little book shop in a small town that had a such a laid back feel to it called Porth Madog. It was my first time meeting her but she was really nice and informative about what we could do in the area, she also reminded me immensely of another friend that the bf and I both know because of their mannerisms and colour of hair that they have both dyed the same colour. After chatting with her for a bit, we headed to the bay area near the town which was so lovely and serene and we sat there and read for a bit. When it became a bit cold we decided to head to Aldi for some snacks. All throughout the day I was feeling really sluggish and sleepy and no amount of coffee or energy drink seemed to help (only had one of each lol). The bf felt the same but he more so was just dreading our impending plans of wild camping but I was as well since we both had never done it before and didn't really want to deal with waiting for dusk to put up the tent and then to wake up at the crack of dawn to take it down. We agreed we didn't want to bother with the hassle, at least not that night since we were both tired and so we drove near the base of Snowden, parked in a lay by, reorganized the car and then slept.

Day 21:

Woke up at roughly 7 am and so did the bf and we both had the resolve to quickly get ready and start the hike up Snowden as soon as we could. Luckily there was a washroom at the base car park so we could freshen up. We then began the walk from where we parked the car (15 mins walk from the base) at about 8:45 am. I have already seen some quite spectacular coastal views in the UK but this was by far the best inland views I'd seen yet and my first time seeing proper mountainous views here. Such beauty, I'd never done this kind of hike before in my life.

I know I'm from Vancouver and I'm sure there are gorgeous hikes there but I never had my own car to get to them. I've hiked up Grouse Mountain and even though the views from the chalet are beautiful, it's just not as scenic a hike. My photos can't even begin to bring it justice. I was also surprised that it really didn't feel that difficult so I suppose I'm in better shape than I thought, I even seemed to be having an easier time at it than the bf. We walked along beautiful streams and what seemed like endless ridges and countless sheep just minding their own business. I might be a bit bias, but the bf is really just the best hiking buddy. He's always calm, reassuring, and well prepared and I felt the hike was that much more fun because I could share the experience with him. I honestly wish I could have filmed the whole hike to really capture what an amazing experience it was but I didn't have the equipment. Near the summit, there is a portion of the hike that is truly a scramble. I felt like a monkey as I crawled up the edge of the mountain; what an adrenaline rush but also thoroughly exhausting. It took us just under 4 hours to reach the summit. Even though I thoroughly enjoyed the hike up, especially so with the lovely weather, the summit was appalling. It was absolutely crowded with tourists, many of whom were inappropriately dressed for such a strenuous hike AND who were also drinking and smoking! At the top of a mountain!? Ugh. The summit was really small and there was nothing to do but maybe go to the unnecessary pub that is there and look at the gorgeous view. So after about 30 minutes, we decided to head back down a different way. The walk down was much harder on my feet and at times very painful but I persevered because if I were to stop and rest for too long then we would have gotten caught up in an obnoxious camp group that was on our tail. It took us 2 and a half hours to get back down to the base of the mountain although it felt shorter (so did the hike up) and the total time was about 7 and a half hours from the car and back. We walked about 31 000 steps and I just felt so proud of myself to have been able to accomplish that hike at all, I was happy for the rest of the day but that also could have been because of the endorphins. We had a snack at a nearby cafe after leaving Snowden and then drove to Betws y Coed and set up in a nearby lay by again feeling fully destroyed and ready for sleep.

[chrysaliseuro2019]

Lapping it All Up

It's Sunday morning and time to part company with Sue and Peter. It was a fun 5 days. We are heading to Helsinki and they will drive the car back to Riga where it all commenced. They are stopping the night at Parnau. Rainy day again as we said our farewells and they dropped us at the ferry terminal. Saw an amusing sign at the terminal which pointed to the very short term car park (15 mins). It said " Kiss and Sail" which was very apt. We had laughed our way through Latvia and Estonia with them and had covered a bit of ground in those 5 days. Despite it bucketing down Liz did a quick sortie after they left to take a photo of the sign. This led to one of those amusing moments. Something you very rarely see Liz do - "run". If I said a sort of Donald Duck style of running I might be close to the mark. Possibly even being flattering. There is a lot of action, arms flapping, feet akimbo, head rolling from side to side and forward momentum is not speedy. The ferry ride from Tallin to Helsinki takes about 2.5 hours. We had basic tickets so it was first in best dressed for seats. A number of bars and cafes on board and as soon as boarding started the regulars made for prime positions. We had to stow our luggage and were given a bit of a bum steer, in terms of where to store them, by one of the staff so a lot of seats had gone by the time we were free to look. Anyway we snagged a couple of uninspiring but fine seats in a a cafe and settled back for an uneventful trip. Despite the rain it was petty calm and we had a snack, read and blogged. Interestingly they had a couple of stages with musos performing. I might expect that on a cruise ship in the Bahamas but not somehow on a couple of hours ferry in the Baltics. One stage was on the upper deck where quite a raucous bar was in full swing. The wind and rain were coming down on the uncovered end though plenty of cover. Singer was flat as a tack and slaughtered Ed Sheerin's " A Girl Like You" (a bit of a holiday anthem as you hear it a lot in beach bars etc over here). The audience didn't care. They were all getting tanked. Another singer was close to us in a neighbouring area and he was playing the guitar and performing solo with some electronic instrumental help. Not too bad, middle of the road - Eric Clapton, Jonny Cash etc but more importantly his voice I was better. I strolled around looking at the duty free shop where the Finns on board were fairly determinedly stocking up on booze which is much cheaper in Estonia than Finland. This included people with several slabs of beer. Liz noticed that many of those slabs were being consumed on board. It was certainly a lively ship. Trip was easy and we worked out we could get a tram into the city and quite close to our hotel from the ferry terminal. A bit of a scramble getting off but we were in no rush so took our time. Slight problem though, it was raining quite steadily. We headed for the tram stop which was close by but in a master stroke of planning the ticket machine was exposed to the elements and quite a queue. This included the guy who had no idea what to do, did not appear to have the right money (possibly any money), whose credit card would not work and who consequently held us all up in the hissing rain for 5/6 minutes - could have been longer. This on top of the 7/8 mins we had already been waiting. In the end the couple behind paid for him. Liz was now huddled under the tram shelter while I stood out there in the pak-a-mac. No point in two of us getting wet(ter). By the time I got to the front of the queue the wind had set in and rain was horizontal so jeans and shoes pretty soaked. Guys behind (equally wet) who seemed local provided some guidance on the payment process but even they stuffed it up a bit so another minute or two of soaking. Anyway at last I had two tickets in my hand but the various delays meant we just missed a tram by about a minute so had a 6/7 minute wait for the next one. Still, under some shelter, though I was drenched. We duly trundled off for the 10 minute ride and I couldn't wait to get out of my jeans and shoes. I made the mistake of sitting down which was even more uncomfortable so quickly sprang up. Anyway the Hotel Helka was only about a 10 minute walk from the tram stop. Liz did a good job of getting us off at the closest stop and guiding us home. At last, out of that gear and into the shower. All was well and Hey! We were in Finland. Time to explore and we headed off into town. Basically heading for the main square and market square. First impressions were that it was more modern than Riga or Tallinn and a little less atmospheric. Plenty of shopping malls, cafes etc. and even the older buildings which were often quite attractive, of the the six storey terrace variety, did not seem that old. Made our way to market square where there were a number of stalls selling local "products". Very soft hats, wood carvings, paintings, the usual fridge magnet memorabilia stuff but also fox, wolf and reindeer pelts and extremely sharp hunting type knives in scabbards - not sure exactly what the purpose of them was. The market was starting to close but quite a few stalls selling food were in full flight. Now around 4.00pm and we had only snacked post breakfast so were hungry. The offerings were often local delicacies and we couldn't resist sharing a plate of fried Vendace (very similar to sardines) with garlic sauce. Just on a paper plate, pretty decent serve (30 or so smallish fish) you eat the lot, heads and all, and we wandered around happily chomping on them. Very delicious and sauce not too garlicky at all but tasty and needed. It was sun over the yard arm time and we looked for a decent pub/ venue to have a drink. Plenty of craft beer here though we had heard horror stories about the price of alcohol. We couldn't quite find what we were looking for in terms of character but settled on a cafe/bar and sat outside. Rain had stopped but not exactly balmy. After that we continued to wander through the back streets though being Sunday a lot of places closed. Did find a good looking Pho joint which was a possibility if all else failed. Liz loves her Pho. We headed back for the hotel. The Helka is a little boutique hotel and quite quirky. They had a little Swiss style bird house (no birds) that you could deposit your keys in when you left. The coffee mugs in the room had an inscription inside the rim which read " Stolen from Hotel Helka" Staff very friendly and a range of nice touches. We determined that dinner would be in their relaxed little bar/cafe area downstairs. Some good craft beer on tap and bottled and rose OK too. I had the salmon on bread with salad. Big chunks of salmon served cold - excellent. Liz had the coconut and sweet potato soup which was also very good. A local porter and IPA for me (both good especially the porter) rose for Liz. All very laid back and sat very happily not feeling we had to traipse about town. Not too late a night headed up around 10.30 for the usual blogging, reading and planning next phase. Greece definitely on. Thessaloniki as a kick off point looking the goods. Also need to ensure we have a flight out of there to London about a week after arriving in Greece as flying home from London. All pretty tortuous evaluating alternatives but in the end have to bite the bullet and its Turkish airlines to Thessaloniki and BA from there to London though the poms charging usuriously. Liz doing sterling work with bookins Next morning at 11.00 we were going on a free tour of Helsinki. After a great breakfast at the Helka (we expected nothing else given its form to date) we headed for the meeting point a 20 minute fast walk away, back at market square. Our guide was a young and vivacious lady who had spent time in Canada hence a slight North American accent. Super smart and despite a crowd of around 35-40 with a microphone headpiece and a resonant voice she was easy to hear. We covered a lot of ground both literally and metaphorically. Some aspects were: Lutheran religion is the main one for Finns. Apparently a not unusual fall away in those following a structured religious approach in Finland though you have to attend a religious camp for a week when in your late teens if you want to be married in church. A lot of the design of the buildings in the older parts of Helsinki was under the auspices of the German architect Engels in the 19th century. He had spent time in St Petersburg and hence there are similarities between the cities (though not the flamboyant stuff). Education is subsidised in fact you are paid to attend for your first 5 years at Uni. Food is also subsidised for uni students and is free at kindergarten. Start school at 7 pre that it's kindergarten where formal lessons are minimal. At junior school the first 5 years are pretty hands on - sewing, woodwork etc. no homework in that period. Health care free for all though dental must be paid for unless impacts health more generally. We were starting to understand why prices were so high with all those taxes. The guide (Maria I think) quipped that they all live a good life but it's hard to get rich. They were ruled for hundreds of years by the Swedes and then from early 19th century by the Russians. They gained independence in 1917 and in that period also had a bloody civil war. Fought against the Soviet Union in 1939 and collaborated with the Germans to fight against the Soviet Union 1941-44. They did not persecute minorities however. Then they also had to fight against the Germans to remove them from Finland as the tide turned at the end of the war. They are proud to have maintained their independence throughout despite some land losses to the Soviet Union. In winter the harbour freezes over so all boats must be lifted out and stored in dry dock including some pretty large fishing boats. Ice breakers were also visible in the harbour. It was a wide ranging, interesting tour with plenty of fun thrown in. Amazing coincidence of a couple from Melbourne, Meredith and David, being on the tour more especially because Meredith taught the preps at Camberwell primary around the time our kids went there. She didn't teach them as it turned out. Liz and Meredith swopped school and other local stories ++. David was an interesting character. He had worked for the CSIRO and was a resin expert. He had for the last umpteen years supported businesses making wood paneling and other resin involved products around the world. This included a 5 year stint for the whole family living in Italy while he worked there. He had most recently been working in China and had come straight to Finland from there. Yet again there's a lot of different stuff makes the world go around. Nice guy to chat to. Pommie origins though born in Australia and we had a good time dissecting Brexit. He has the same problem as us may lose his European passport. We were interested in the big issues! We did that nattering over a coffee and tea that stretched for about an hour and a half post the free tour. After that Liz and I headed for the market square again and needed something to eat. Beside the square was a pretty attractive and ornate indoor market building. Really it was a tasteful food hall with a range of tidbits you could buy to eat immediately or take away including exotics like reindeer jerky. We plumped for a couple of open sandwiches which we consumed at a little eating area outside by the docks. One was cured salmon and the other was prawns in a sweet chilli sauce. We shared the first two but so tasty we went again. Me for the prawns and Liz for the salmon. Just very nice sitting there with this scrumptious food. Back to the market square and as opposed to yesterday evening all stalls were in full swing so we had a good look around at the knick knacks but did not purchase. Time to go our own ways. We both went looking through shops though Liz also found a strange square which looked like a lunar landscape. People were skateboarding and sitting around the square and it all seemed a bit unexpected in what seems like quite a conservative city. I stumbled across the City Museum. This was a very quirky place which essentially probed some alternative aspects of Helsinki and Finland. One of the highlights was an exhibition by 5 Finnish artists. It was titled "Objection". Essentially it was about disagreement and the role that it plays in our society (particularly Finnish society). Each artist illustrated a different story. One was about Hjalmar Linder the wealthiest man in Finland who fled to Sweden during the 1918 civil war. On his return he found that members of the losing side were still being persecuted (killed) so he wrote a letter to the newspaper saying "enough of this bloodbath" which broke ranks with his peer group. He was then hounded out of the county and eventually died penniless, slashing his own wrists. Another was about left wing activism in the 1930s and 40s. It was being suppressed and so a password " Have you seen a running dog" was used to identify sympathisers. Essentially how people find a way to "object" Yet another was about a book "the Price of Our Freedom" still found in many Finnish homes. It contained a photograph and short description of each of 26000+ people who were killed in the Winter War 1939-1940. The artist had taken the photographs of key people in the book and turned them into ghost like portraits using hundreds of layers of pictures - "the Price of Freedom". Separately there were also general narratives about what Helsinki was like in the past. Pretty rough and ready in the 1920s apparently. Also a photograph gallery with some fantastic photos of Helsinki in the past including one which captured the docks area including market square. I couldn't see a date but perhaps 100+ years ago. All these photos were available for purchase. I kept wandering post the museum. Just walking lost really. Took in a few shops and generally soaked up the city. Liz did much the same. No acquisitions. Liz grabbed a bit of shuteye and we met up again around 7.00 in the hotel bar/restaurant. We decided not to move. The restaurant which the guy in "Radio" restaurant in Tallin recommended was closed ,being Monday night, and the informal dinner they served at the Helka had been pretty good the night before. We both had the open sandwich salmon. Thick chunks of salmon. Liz not the greatest salmon fan (she prefers her fish to be white) but enjoyed it, and I certainly did including polishing a few remnants of salmon from her plate. Of course a couple of craft beers also supped. Liz took it easy as a bit tired and slightly heady. It was relaxing and we headed up around 10.00. I took a quick stroll to walk off dinner but boy had it got cold. I think you can probably keep the Finnish summer. Here we were 12th August and it might have been about 16 degrees out but with a healthy wind that felt around 12-14. I was wishing I had a scarf. This reaffirmed our decision to head back to some warmth in Greece.

[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.

[bestspuds]

Iceland Saga : Volcanoes Hlaciers and Bankruptcy

We arrive in the dark which is a common theme in Iceland in January, 5.5 hours of daylight is the norm in winter months. We quickly learn that Iceland is maybe the most expensive country on earth (5th apparently). The bus to the station near our hostel 30 mins away in downtown is $50 US. We try to hitch s lift with a few people renting cars but no luck so there goes the budget. We hike through the blowing snow and sludge with our backpacks and find the hostel, make a quick pasta and turn in.

Up at 6 as we’ve to catch the seldom seen public bus to the stop near our camper rental. The bus ticket app barely works with our shockingly slow coverage but the bus driver takes pity on us. At goCampers we pick up Reno, our Renault van and luck out that the chap doubly applied our $50 off coupon! The roads have a thick layer of ice and snow and it quickly becomes clear that its like an icy version of Mad Max fury road with locals flying along at breakneck speeds, Asians driving huge camper vans very slowly in the middle of the road and tour buses dragging a blizzard behind them as they pass.

We strike out for the huge geyser spewing hot gas through thermal pools and after warming up in the hut push on for Gullfoss waterfall which is like a frozen Vic falls with the spray freezing on our eyelashes. That evening we drive out into Thingvellir National Park yo stargaze and await the northern lights. We grab some shut eye on the back of Reno and hop up when our alarm goes off to realize our car is surrounded by buses apparently we picked a popular spot! Some clown opens our door and tells us to dim our lights, he quickly retreats after a few harsh words from Johney and we emerge to gaze skyward with the masses and the shimmering green lights dancing across the sky. Just as suddenly as they appeared, the crowd disperses and leaves us with the lights to ourselves.

Thingvellir National Park is situated between two tectonic plates, the only place on land that can claim this mantel. There is a huge fissure between the plates filled with the purest glacial water on earth. Water temperatures hover at 2C kept from freezing only by the fact the water is flowing through the fissure. Naturally we decide snorkeling in the fissure is a once in a lifetime experience and we don gear that Neil Armstrong before plunging into the fissure and floating along for and hour. The water is so pure that visibility is only limited by the reach of our eyesight and we can see 350m down into the fissure where there’s an abundance of aquatic life and mermaids. When we emerge and waddle to change in the van our Estonian and German guides save Tori from hypothermia with hot chocolate and chocolate biscuits, once she stops shivering enough to walk, we explore the National Park along the walls of each tectonic plate. A few hours driving across deserted roads in whiteouts and we come across a massive waterfall pouring off a cliff near the road and illuminated by huge spot lights, the mist from the falls freezing as it lands and creating a gleaming forest of stalagmites. We obviously camp nearby and explore the waterfall again in the morning, finding another only accessible through a crack in the cliff with an ice cold river flowing through it.

After a couple days in the van we need a bath so we head off in search of an abandoned hot spring pool up in the mountains. 15 minutes hike and 2 river crossings later we come across the swimming pool sitting on a ledge and surrounded by snow covered mountains. The hot spring water is just warm enough, diluted by snow melt and we dive in to swim lengths, we’re joined by a Wisconsin and German couple and shoot the breeze with them as our hair freezes. A frantic towel dry and relayering and fast hike back and we head off to search for the wreckage of a US Navy plane that crash landed in 1973 on Solheimasandur beach. The crew survived the crash but the carcass of the Douglas DC-3 adds to the dystopian scenery, abandoned on the snow covered dunes of the black sand beach.

Iceland doesn’t have many towns, with 65% of the population living in Reykjavík. One of the next largest towns is Vik and we stop here to watch the sunset on the beach, the black sand and sea stacks even darker against the fresh snow and whitecaps of the crashing waves. After the sun goes down it’s another harrowing drive across the frozen tundra to arrive late at Vatnajokull National Park (Europe’s largest) where we setup camp beside a glacier. The 10 mile hike the next day takes us past Black Falls aka Svartifoss which is crashes over cliffs of geometric basalt columns, to several view points, Our foot steps are the only thing marking the trail and we regularly sink to our knees in the deep powder but it’s worth it Ashe finally get a birds eye view out over the blue ice glacier.

Jokusarlon is a glacial lagoon where huge blue icebergs calve off the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier and float to the sea. The massive chunks of ice glitter in the sun as the slowly drift out of the lagoon mouth and down to the sea where they rest on the blank sand at low tides like frozen meteors. We stroll around pretending we’re in Batman Begins and then head back to the glacier. T stays in the warm van with the heater on while I don crampons and helmet to join a glacier walk. I speak broken French/English with a French chap on the walk and our Hungarian guide leads us up and into the blue ice caves furthering the other planet vibe. The tonnes of ice glisten menacingly overhead and in places the ice has an almost polished look to it. We tramp back across the glacier as the sun goes down and myself and the Frenchman get tired of the chattering fatties slowing the group down and strike ahead for the campsite, arriving right before the freezing rain hits.

Our last day in the coast we spend strolling along the beach and then stop into the lava factory, we’re too early for the show but the owner allows a free look behind the scenes of the machinery they use to produce molten lava, the kiln hits temps of 800C and the lava chef is just a lad with goggles and a shovel!

That evening we find another ‘free’ campsite up near the blue lagoon and wait out the storm in our toasty van. The blue lagoon is the best known attraction in Iceland, it’s a black lava field where they have built a state of the art spa fed by the bluish green water from the futuristic looking geothermal plant. We check in and thrown on our swimming togs before splashing around in the blue water of varying temperatures. After washing off our silica masks and drink our green smoothies we proceed to people watch, the main draw being heavily made up English and Irish girls wading around panicking with their faces beginning to melt. On to Reykjavík and I return the van with the help of the public bus (only not expensive thing in the country). Our hostel is downtown so we head to a spot called Icelandic Streetfood which was the best decision we’ve made in our lives. The place is run by a few young Icelanders and the recipes are all from one of their grannies. The menu contains just 5 dishes but there are legitimately unlimited free refills and free desserts so we order lamb stew and potatoes, stuffing ourselves to the pumping 80s soundtrack. We stroll back in the snowstorm fit to burst passing Tjornin lake and the peaky roofs of the traditional houses and climb the hill to the hostel. Tomorrow it’s on to Hungary.

[pandemicperipatetics]

Laguna Beach

We loved our visit to Laguna Beach – it is just so beautiful and the weather was amazing!

 EXPLORE

We’re definitely not experts on the area, but these are a few things we enjoyed:

Spend an afternoon at Salt Creek Beach: This is the gorgeous beach right in front of the Ritz Carlton Laguna Niguel, and it is a public beach that anyone can utilize. We loved setting up with beach chairs, towels, and an umbrella and just relaxing for a few hours. The Ritz even has signs along its walkways for Public Beach Access.

Parking: There is metered parking for the beach (we’re not sure how much it costs).

Visit 1000 Steps Beach: There are truly many steps to get down to this very cute alcove of a beach with views of stunning Cliffside homes. Though it’s a bit of a trek to get back up the stairs, we liked that it’s secluded and especially pretty. We took a picnic and ate by the water.

Parking: We parked for free on the side of the Pacific Coast Highway.

Check out the many other beaches: We didn’t do this, but it seemed like there were tons of gorgeous areas to explore.

Camp (or walk) at Crystal Cove State Park: The camping here was awesome! If you just want somewhere to walk, Crystal Cove also has some decent trails, though it’s also not the most mind-blowing hiking we’ve done. If you’re interested, check out our brief blog post on Crystal Cove State Park for more information.

 EAT

Again, we’re not experts; there are probably other good spots around that we don’t know about!

Maison Café: We LOVE this place! It’s very vegetarian-friendly French food and it was absolutely delicious for brunch.  There is outdoor seating available and it is possible to make a reservation in advance (though not same-day). Parking (free): It’s in a strip mall so there is a parking lot right in front of the restaurant. It does get a bit busy so you may have to wait for a spot to open up.

Taco Loco: We got tacos and a bowl here and they were pretty decent. It’s not vegetarian-only. There is outdoor seating. Parking: There is some street parking in front of the restaurant but it was full when we visited. We parked briefly at Ralph’s about 2 blocks away and picked up our food for takeout.

The Stand Natural Foods: Iconic vegan place in Laguna Beach – you go up to a window to order and there is some outdoor seating in the area, or you can take your food to the beach.  We were not impressed with the smoothie we got there (and it seems rather difficult to mess up a smoothie…) but maybe the food is decent. Parking (free): In the strip mall parking lot behind The Stand.

Rapport Coffee: This is a sort of hole-in-the-wall coffee shop that is a 5-10 min drive from Maison Café. It’s located in a strip mall and only marked as “coffee” on the outside. The inside is so cute and the coffee looks fancy, although we only tried an iced chai tea latte (very tasty, though also a bit sweeter than needed). They have a bit of seating both indoors and outdoors. Parking (free): In the strip mall parking lot.

Gracias Madre Newport Beach: So this is a 30-40 min drive north of Laguna Beach, but we had to include it because Gracias Madre is one of our favorite vegan Mexican restaurants in LA! That said, despite having a super cute outside patio and appealing presentation, the taste of the brunch food here was not very good. In the future we’ll stick to Gracias Madre in LA proper!

WHERE TO STAY

There seem to be lots of gorgeous beachside campgrounds in the area, including Crystal Cove State Park’s El Moro Campground, San Onofre State Beach campground, and Doheny State Beach campground (though we didn’t actually see the latter two).

If you’re not into camping, there are also some fancy resorts including the Ritz Carlton Laguna Niguel and the Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach (formerly St. Regis). In our opinion, the Ritz is a very nice facility but not at all worth $700+/night; if you have excess Marriott points it’s not a bad deal with the $60/night resort fee on top of it.

Finally, there seem to be various other hotels in the area that are surely more affordable than the Ritz or Waldorf!

View of the Ritz from Salt Creek Beach

[whereswalteryeg-blog]

#TBT Adventures of Colombia

I was told that I had to go to Las Lajas Sanctuary if I wanted to be cured, so here I am waiting to be cured, I don’t really know what I have to be cured of or saved from (probably a hangover?) but at least I got to see this amazing basilica church built inside of a canyon. This church was built in 1953 and is known for the stunning architecture. I find it so unique as it’s a Neo-Gothical building in the middle of the forest, I never thought I was going to find this in the middle of Colombia. Chatting with some locals, they told me all the legends about this sanctuary that I am 99% convinced that the reason my hangover didn’t appear this morning is not just for all the water that I drank. 

I am glad that I had the chance to go out and see some real salsa dancing, spending the night in Cali was a great idea, this is an incredible city. Lots of colour and culture to observe, and everyone seemed like they were in a really good mood. One thing that stuck out was that all the women I see here look like different versions of Kim Kardashian! The nightlife is great, now I get why people said that this city is “The Heaven’s Branch Office” and the World Capital of Salsa. I definitely have to learn how to dance salsa, my first Thursday night back in Edmonton will be at On the Rocks! I hope my salsa tutorials go better than my mambo tutorials.

Now that I mention rocks, I should tell you a bit about my adventure in Suesca, it turns out that a girl that I met last night is going rock climbing and she was kind enough to invite me to come with her friends. Of course, these rocks are not as big as the Rocky Mountains, but this one was big enough for me and my out of shape hockey body. We spend the afternoon scaling and hiking the formation which exhausted me! All this travel, food and indulging in beverages are starting to affect my athletic performance. As soon as I get to Edmonton I need to put some serious attention towards getting back in shape! I should get a bike and get back into biking.

I found a miniature version of Drumheller! it’s called el Desierto de la Tatacoa. Nobody told me that “La Tatacoa” was a snake, and that I was going to be camping in a desert of snakes. I was scared at first but then I realize that even though that is the name of this place, this isn’t really a desert and it isn’t full of Tatacoa snakes. This tropical sand forest is full of stunning landscapes, during the day the sand looks like it’s on fire and at night you can go to the observatory. During the day, there is not a lot to do, I went for a walk and made some friends, Sofia and Carlos. They are also camping for the night, but this wasn’t their first time in the desert so they showed me around. They took me to this secret pool, it was just like a mirage, I was so hot! No one told me that it was going to be 50° C and that I should have brought more food. Although I was burnt and starving, because there are no lights around so at night I got to see the stars and the moon, and it was absolutely incredible. The astronomer was really friendly and helped me to take some photos but I am dreaming of having a cheese burger and fries.

Here am I doing paragliding, this was a great experience, I didn’t even think of asking if somebody had died in an accident in one of this fabric wings things, well I guess it just wasn’t my time.

Someone told me that there was snow in Colombia, and I wanted to see if it was true. Countries around the equator don’t get to shovel snow every year. I won’t bore you with geography lessons in my blog, though. The locals, it was  a point of discussion to consider whether it was going to snow or not every winter season. Apparently, there was snow this year, it was just really hard to find. My feet and back hurt from that hike, though. But it was totally worth it, you can be the ones to judge.

After hiking and camping I was ready to check out the beaches. Everyone speaks so highly about Cartagena that I decided to start there. It was such an amazing experience to be able to be in a city with two completely different landscapes. The old city is surrounded by a wall that helped them fight for independence from the Spain. The architecture is totally colonial, walking by some of these streets I feel like I should be riding a horse. The food was amazing! There was this rice dish cooked with coconut which was unreal, I wish I could take some of this with me. The fried plantain with salt was also delicious, I didn’t even know that the plantain existed, always thought that it was just a bigger banana. The beaches in Cartagena were not as nice as everyone said they were, the only plus was that the water wasn’t as cold as it is in Tofino. I continued my travels on to a place called Las Islas del Rosario, the sand was pure white, and the water was so clear that I could see the fish swimming. If you ever come here you have to take a boat and get to these islands.

The Cartagena area wasn’t enough so I continue my journey to Santa Marta, which by the way was one of my favorite places so far. I spent most of the time at la Sierra Nevada which is a magical mountain where you can find beaches without a lot of shops around, is like a true paradise.

My last stop was at San Andres, the Colombian island. I rented a Kawasaki Mule for the day to give myself a tour of the island. To my surprise, it only took me one hour. The sea has seven colors here, I wanted to understand why so I booked a scuba diving lesson and found out that the corals are the responsible of coloring the sea. On my last night, I went to a boat restaurant called La Regatta, which was absolutely delicious. I wish I could’ve stayed more time here, just to eat more. I had to wait in line for a while because I didn’t have a reservation. If you ever decide to go to San Andres you can’t leave the island without eating there. 

In the morning, I got a ticket to go to Johnny Cay, which was only a 10-min boat ride away. The waves in this island were totally worth it, if you have a surf board. I don’t know why they didn’t have a place to rent surf boards! They rented tents, chairs, everything else but… ! I would have loved to try it.

In this country everything is so convenient, you can buy beers everywhere, at a gas station or if you’re stuck in traffic a vendor will walk around the cars offering cookies, cigarettes, cheese, drinks, candies, etc. You can even pay a few coins to someone in the street to make a call from their cellphone, or buy just one piece of bubble gum. I guess it’s just like a drive through. Thank you Colombia I am sure I will be back.

[mymatesavegan-blog]

The Art Of Mindfulness

“Breathing in, I calm body and mind. Breathing out, I smile. Dwelling in the present moment I know this is the only moment.” - Thich Nhat Hanh

Mindfulness is the current hot topic amongst health professionals around the world. It’s a practise baked into many cultures and religions with ties to yoga and meditation. It’s techniques are said to have benefits to our bodies and mind and overall wellbeing. In this article, I will unpack what mindfulness is, how it can be practised and, most importantly, how it could make a lasting impact on your life.

So, why would I want to be more mindful? Studies are continually being done on mindfulness, leading to research papers and articles on the topic and its relationship to our wellbeing. It’s known to help reduce stress and anxiety, to help improve memory and attention spans as well as promote self regulation and empathy.

The areas of wellbeing mentioned above could seem like the obvious benefits for being more mindful. A less obvious link is to Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). IBS is a condition that disproportionately affects women and is characterised by chronic abdominal pain, constipation, and diarrhoea. More recent research has been undertaken to see if mindfulness could help with IBS. 

“This is a novel, game-changing treatment approach for a public health problem that has real personal and economic costs, and for which there are few medical treatments for the full range of symptoms,” - Jeffrey Lackner, PsyD

By now, you must be thinking, wow that sounds great. But, what is it again? And how do I get a piece of the action? 

Mindfulness is the practice of purposely focusing your attention to the experiences occurring in the present moment and accepting it without judgment. The basic premise is to forget about the past and future and bring your mind and attention to the present moment. 

“Be happy in the moment, that’s enough. Each moment is all we need, not more.” - Mother Teresa

To be mindful is to understand the present moment. Not being lost in thought. Not being distracted. Learning how to be in the here and now. On the surface this sounds so simple, yet a Harvard study showed that on average we spend 47% lost in thought. 

A framework is required to be more mindful and in the present. This is where meditation comes in. Meditation is the process of quieting the mind in order to spend time in thought for relaxation or spiritual purposes. The goal is to attain an inner state of awareness and intensify personal and spiritual growth.

You could start down this road of being more mindful with a small amount of time per day. Just take 10 mins a day to learn how to experience life. The following guide is from the Harvard Gazette:

Settle in

Find a quiet space. Using a cushion or chair, sit up straight but not stiff; allow your head and shoulders to rest comfortably; place your hands on the tops of your legs with upper arms at your side.

Now breathe

Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and relax. Feel the fall and rise of your chest and the expansion and contraction of your belly. With each breath notice the coolness as it enters and the warmth as it exits. Don't control the breath but follow its natural flow.

Stay focused

Thoughts will try to pull your attention away from the breath. Notice them, but don't pass judgment. Gently return your focus to your breath. Some people count their breaths as a way to stay focused.

Take 10

A daily practice will provide the most benefits. It can be 10 minutes per day, however, 20 minutes twice a day is often recommended for maximum benefit.

For those who want to explore this a lot further you should look into Vipassana. Many recognise this as the oldest Buddhist meditation practice. There is plenty of material for this online and if you are interested you could attend a meditation retreat here in Perth, in Bali and probably plenty more around the world. Admittedly, I’ve not tried Vipassana, but I am intrigued and will give it a go. 

How I got into mindfulness was via a good friend at work. He got our whole team involved and we started a habit of dedicating 10 mins a morning to ourselves. We used a very well known app called Headspace which provides guided meditations for all levels from novices to pros. I’ve used Headspace with friends and family as well and the kids have enjoyed our 10 min mindfulness sessions on the beach when we are off on camping trips. 

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit” - Aristotle

Other things you can do. Well, just consider the original premise that this is all about being in the present. This doesn’t necessarily mean sitting down and doing meditation. 

The next time you are standing on the train platform just watch the world go by for a couple of mins. Notice the cars, the trees, the clouds. Notice your breathing. Notice your mood and emotions. 

The next time your on the train. Just kick back and watch everyone and everything. You’ll feel like you’re in the matrix. That time has stood still and you can observe things from different angles. 

After all things said and done, what it boils down to is this. We all spend a lot of time looking after our bodies, with dieting and exercising and general well being. Yet we spend so little time looking after our minds. Try and rebalance that and enjoy the benefits it will bring. 

“It’s your road, and yours alone, others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you”- Rumi

Links

When science meets mindfulness 

New At-Home Treatment for IBS Focuses on Mind Over Body

How Mindfulness Meditation Eases IBS Symptoms

Self-Guided Behavior Therapy Relieves IBS Symptoms

Wandering mind not a happy mind

With mindfulness, life’s in the moment

Learn to meditate and live mindfully

[syrolecep-blog]

Dating a guy my parents dont like

When You Love Someone Your Parents Don't Approve Of Are you willing to settle for someone who might be harmful to you in the long run, just because they appear to show interest in you in the short term? Bridging the divide is important.  I love him with all my heart and he is my best friend.  Thus I made it my mission to get out of there as quickly as possible, which thankful, I achieved by age 24.  Age is nothing but a number at the end of the day.  I was out on grocery shopping and when they called, we took a break from shopping and I decided to video chat with them.

What To Do If Your Parents Don't Like Your Boyfriend (And If It Even Matters) His parents know, and I met them last weekend different story, but it didn't go well.  In the last game, the guy I like happens to be the last person on his team.  My father 70 is not talking to me right now because he befriended a 28 year old when my mother passed in 2012.  I told my boyfriend I can learn language, I love Indian culture, I love the food, I can take care of his parents as Indian bahu, my mom as the only member of my family agreed to move with me to India, I said also about the job that I will find.  I in fact told my mum first as she always said that she wanted our relationship to be one of friends as well as mother and daughter.  She can and should decide who she wants to be with.  Before you cut off your relationship, consider the following common mistakes that some guys make which only cause these types of situations to worsen.

3 Ways to Get Your Parents to Let You Date Someone I did get married around 6 years after she disowned me.  But it is even trickier if one or both of the parents put the kids before their partner.  If you're not in a committed relationship, it is very easy to make your kids the prominent one in your life.  I'm not sure exactly how my dad would react if I brought someone home, but he wants grandchildren someday lol no cause I don't want to do that to my body and I hate kids , but I get the sense he wants me to find someone already.  She says I tried to force people on her.

11 Things Not to Say to Someone in an Interracial Relationship I was listening to that song is made for defiant teenage girls and B was the bird who was ready to fly on to the next step, I was the bird holding on to the wire on loop for years just to prep myself for the conversation that I knew had to happen.  Mind you, this is only 5 min walk.  No counseling or psychotherapy advice: The Site does not provide psychotherapy advice.  Individuals under the age of 13 may not create an account with us.  Whatever anybody else says is irrelevant.  My parents are really skittish about dating, and they're pretty racist about it, frankly.

How do I tell my parents that I'm dating someone? How did you guys introduce your romantic partner without weirdness or awkwardness? : asktransgender Like my ex she was blonde intelligent hot and about 10 years younger than me.  I keep wondering about what this means for us.  Tuxedo or red neck style ,at the hunting camp like my niece did Yea we know who is serious real quick if I tell her not to date them ,,they dig right in and hang on Today my Granddaughter moved in with her man He just spent several thousand for an impressive week on the beach together But she now has spent the money she had put up for her car So now she is counting on him getting her to work she was able to transfer her job to his state she put her college on hold Why did we allow this? When she was nine I was going to get married when I told her she flipped out hitting me sreaming.  She has access to all of his stuff, and I think she is taking advantage and I don't think he is even getting much out of it, other than a roomate.  If she does fall more deeply in love with this new man than she was with my father how is that…possible? Noone can tell you how to feel and who to love.  Remember how you felt when you first met his family: awkward, scared out of your wits, and more conscious of your skin color than you ever were before? He or she is not replacing your other parent.

How You Shouldn't Tell Your Indian Parents You Have a White Boyfriend (More than 150) With time, I hope they come around and you can celebrate your wedding day with them smiling too! If you're out on a date every night they're going to get antsy about why you're not settling down.  I feel bad for the new spouses who are financially strained in some way, who are seeking finanical security in the new relationship as it puts them at odds with the children from the previous marriage.  Your parents can help you answer that question without all the emotional fog you are experiencing.  Waldman's work includes many of the points I've made here on this blog: Many of you lapped up my essay about the fact that Putting kids before all else makes them neurotic and robs me of my potential to live the biggest, fullest life that I can — and model for my children that such a life is possible.  What I can tell you is, think it out all the way.  Brian Dan I want to do the same as you have done and reach my potential with relationships.  After my mother died quite young, my father, who lived into his 90s, married two other women.

The 7 sad truths of dating someone who lives with his parents I got the best of both worlds, enabling me to earn my J.  We are now just days away from our 9 month anniversary and he has been the best guy ever.  He takes my mother on trips and cruses.  I used to be really quiet when I was on the phone.  My name is Eunice ,am 23 years of age and my boyfriend is 24 years of age.  Margy said on December 1, 2014 at 7:32 pm.

11 Things Not to Say to Someone in an Interracial Relationship It is your job to be loving and supportive of their independence.  His parents were more accepting, but they still bear a distnict animosity towards me.  It's not cool to pay lip service to intentions of growing a serious, long-term relationship and from the onset demote your lover to second-rank — even before you message her on.  She really helps tie us together.  As the oldest in my generation, I was always told that my actions would affect the fates of those who came after me.  Of course a loving respectful relationship can be the most solid of foundations for a family but, if there is divorce, there is no loving solid foundation, perhaps there never was.  Parents remember their own good and bad choices while dating.

My Parents Don’t Approve of the Person I’m Dating! What Do I Do? To add to your perception of Indians and marriage, let me add this shocker: not all Indian marriages are arranged.  What do you think is off-limits? My parents have been separated for about 6 years now.  I worried about that stuff too, but that's nobody's business.  I fall In love with a person's heart, not their wallet! About a year and a half into our relationship, after being overcome with guilt about hiding the relationship, I told my parents about it and they freaked out.  A strong relationship provides security for your children and demonstrates how a loving, respectful partnership should be.  I still say you need to live life for you, not your parents who cares if they really are racist.

Parents Don't Like Boyfriend Then, after close to two years of long distance which was so hard, but we made it work and, in my opinion, are stronger than ever , my boyfriend moved back to the city where I still lived because he wanted us to make a decision about our future and whether we were going to take the next step.  It's not easy hiding you're love but it's easier then telling everyone and having to give it up.  For the next 5 months if I passed her she avoided eye contact and I was like whatever.  Cheers Dan Comments are closed.  Waiting for the right time and the right guy is much better in the long run.  Growing up, I knew when it was Passover, as well as Easter.

[aoibaratraveler]

UK Road Trip Week 2

Day 8:

We woke up and quickly packed up our stuff not wanting to spend another second in this airbnb especially since the bf got such a bad kink in his neck. We headed to Bournemouth as soon as we bought lunch and there we relaxed on the beach and ate it. The city centre of Bournemouth was unexpectedly busy but it makes sense since the beach there is so nice. We walked around for a couple of hours and played with the new feature on Pokemon go. After leaving Bournemouth, we took a detour to our next campsite and stopped at Lulworth Cove. This area was gorgeous and relaxing to sit and watch the waves at the top of a cliff but it was also packed and after an hour we decided to pitch up at the Osmington Mills campsite. This was the most beautiful campsite we had been to by far It had amazing views of a valley and rolling hills so it was understandably full of people. We pitched up and then drove into the nearby town of Weymouth for burgers. We enjoyed the beach views after dinner while writing a scathing review of our previous airbnb and then headed back to the campsite to tuck in for the night since we were exhausted.

Day 9:

Today I woke up feeling super excited because it meant that I got to see Kevin, the bf’s grandparent’s dog! I have been really looking forward to it! I got up at about 6:30 after having the most uncomfortable sleep by far (was tossing and turning all night) in the tent, got refreshed, looked in amazement at the gorgeous beach with a mini waterfall and there was hardly anyone there, win-win!! We explored for awhile and let the sounds of the ocean waves relax us. At about 11 we decided to head off to the Isle of Portland after getting the bf’s starbucks, we only had about 4-5 hours to explore and sightsee before getting to the airbnb cottage outside of Yeovil where I would be staying with the bf and his family as they prepare for his cousin’s wedding. We drove to the very top of a hill/cliff at the Isle of Portland and it was just fantastic, the sky was mostly clear with nothing but a few pure white fluffy clouds. There were also olympic rings up there since apparently this was the sight of the 2012 London Summer olympics. There was even an old torch which was cool. We explored the cliff area and found a rocky area that seemed to be the remnants of a Roman fort, it had a mysterious and intriguing atmosphere and felt like a rocky canyon of sorts as we walked through it before deciding to scramble up the rocks. The bf and I agreed that we both love a good scramble and talked about possibly doing a climb in Italy together called a via Ferrata which I’m very excited about. We decided it was time to head to the cottage which would be an hour and a half drive away. The cottage itself was beautiful with many rooms and washrooms and a lovely garden, i don’t know about you though but when family photos are up everywhere in a place you’re staying just staring at you, it can make you feel a but unnerved. When the rest of the bf’s family arrived we ended up having to settle for a room with two single beds because the only other option had a sofa bed which was too uncomfortable. The bf’s grandmother thoroughly disliked the cottage because of all the rules, I was just bummed because I couldn’t wash my clothes since apparently the washing machine was off limits. Oh, I forgot to mention Kevin, yes the moment I saw him I was so happy and couldn’t wait to play with him but he was much too energetic to focus on me and just wanted to run circles around the garden but who could blame him after spending four hours in a car. For lunch, the bf’s grandmother made a very carby, delicious assortment of foods. There was a potato salad, a rice salad, boiled potatoes, breaded chicken, and a trifle for dessert. After lunch, the four of us, the bf, his sister (R), and her husband (S), and I went grocery shopping, The bf and I were complete goofballs and had too much fun just messing about and being silly while getting cereal and milk. When we got back we all just talked for awhile in the kitchen and I thought we’d play games but by 21:30/22:00 i was super tired and the bf, R, S, and the bf’s grandad had all gone to the living room from the kitchen and were looking at Netflix while their grandmother and I stayed in there. i’m not sure why but I didn’t want to join them and I was so tired that I just wanted to be alone so I went upstairs, listened to some ASMR and fell asleep. I woke up about an hour later and noticed that the bf had moved some stuff around the room so I decided to get up and brush my teeth, properly say goodnight to everyone and then return to the land of sleep.

Day 10:

Today started off with a rush of excitement as I woke up early and I thought to myself that I needed to be productive and get all of the little things I wanted to get done like planning my blog and reading before going on our hike to Cheddar Gorge which I thought would earlier on in the morning than it ended up being but well everyone else seemed to be taking their time which I mean is understandable but I was just very keen to go and we didn’t end up leaving until 11. When we got there it was packed full of people which made me remember that it was a Sunday so of course it was busy. I had gone in S’s car, R’s husband, so I could sit with Kevin the dog but we got there too fast so we had lost sight of the bf and R and spent a good half hour trying to find them via phone and text but with poor signal all while defending a parking spot for the bf in a layby parking area that we found. I say defending because people were being very aggressive and trying to take it and I know it’s a faux paus to hold a spot but where else was he supposed to park in this madness. We eventually started the walk at 13:00 after finding them and boy was the beginning steep! But what a great butt workout! It was Kevin’s first time in this kind of situation so he refused to have anyone walking in front of him from our group otherwise he’d give out a very nervous sounding, high pitched sort of bark. He needed to lead the pack. Once at the top, the views were spectacular and the winds refreshing. The walk was supposed to take 1hour and 30 mins but we took our time and the 4 mile walk took about 2 hours and 30 mins. We hurried to the cheese shops before they were to close and bought a nice big chunk of extra mature cheddar cheese as a souvenir before heading back. Once we got back, i was delighted to see that the sleeping mats I ordered had arrived. I opened one up to test it out and then the 4 of us, the bf, R, S, and I sat around the table to play card games until dinner and afterwards until the evening.

Day 11:

Today I woke up knowing that it would be an uneventful day because the bf and his family were going to his cousin’s wedding. It was an easy going morning with them leaving at about 12:30. I spent the rest of the day with Kevin and got some things done from my to do list including uploading the first week of my blog! I read my book, had dinner and then took Kevin out for a nice long walk, so just a chill solo day.

Day 12:

Barely slept and woke up feeling exhausted at 6 in the morning because the bf came back drunk from the wedding at midnight yesterday and this was the most drunk I had ever seen him. He inevitably spent the night vomiting so I did what I could to help him and then spent the rest of the morning packing up both of our things while he rested but then I also got my period and felt just as crummy as he did because I was always have the most painful cramps. We had breakfast with R and S after leaving the cottage and then the rest of the day was a struggle for us both until we got to our campsite.

Day 13:

We both woke up freezing today, the weather seems to have turned it’s back on us. Our trip started off very warm, day or night, but the rain has been following us since we left the cottage which makes the nights cold and the days hot and humid. Today the weather wasn’t too good for sightseeing so since we had to anyway, we stopped in a Starbucks to plan the next portion of our trip. We unfortunately had to take the whole of Ireland out of our plan because the costs of this trip are starting to add up and truth be told, a month and 3 weeks isn’t enough time for us to do all that we want to do in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and The Republic of Ireland and we were foolish to think it would be enough time. I’d say more like 2 and a half months to 3 months would be enough time to really see everything and take our time but we just don’t have that or the savings to be able to do so. So we’ll explore England, Wales, and Scotland this time and dedicate an entire trip for Northern/Republic of Ireland later on...once we had wrapped up our planning, we headed to the lush and filled with rolling hills Dartmoor National Park to camp for the night.

Day 14:

Woke up freezing again today at 4 am because I went to sleep without extra layers, very foolish mistake. Tried to do what I could to warm up, thought about staying awake for a bit, but then went to the car to try and and warm up to no avail. In the end, I put on some extra socks and forced myself back to sleep. Woke up two hours later to the morning chorus of “baaa” and “neigh”. To accompany this lovely tune was the sweltering heat from the sun that the tent has captured which was a signal to the bf and me that it was time to pack up and leave. From there we headed to Plymouth to exchange two camping gas canisters bought the day before. While we were there we perused the nearby Waterstones and then bought a delicious steak pasty to share before heading to St. Austell. Once we arrived, we bought flowers for Vanessa’s family and parked out on the road of her house and was greeted by Vanessa’s mother. We put our stuff in the room that we would be staying in and then walked down to Porthpean beach. The bf had been wanting to go to the beach for the longest time and was glad to finally dip his head in the water. On the walk to the beach, we bumped into Vanessa’s twin sister. I had never met her before, and even though I had seen photos before and was able to tell the difference then, I was surprised by how truly identical they are in person. At the beach, the bf played around in the water for a bit and we then skipped stones for a while before heading back. Vanessa’s mother had cooked a vegan lasagne for us all to have for dinner and we chatted with her and  Vanessa’s twin until Vanessa got back from work. We then gathered some snacks, took the hood off their jeep wrangler and went to Caerhays beach for a late night drive in showing of Grease. It was the bf’s first time seeing the film and he found it ridiculous. 

[traveltechgadgets]

Family Trip To Arizona and Road Trip There With 12 Towns Visited

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Throughout the year we take many short trips and a couple of longer family trips. One of the longer trips is usually a beach vacation the other is a national travel for about a week. This way we get diversity in our travels and have some fun experiences beyond just the beach. This year we traveled across the coast (first for us with the kid) to Arizona. There, we planned a car road trip through several towns making a circle from Phoenix and seeing the variety of experiences and landscape that Arizona has to offer. Many have asked us upon hearing that we are going to Arizona if we are going to Grand Canyon. After all, it is the Grand Canyon State, it states so on their state license plates. However, for this trip, we decided not to see the big hole. We have been there before, pre-baby, and we figured the kiddo was too young to enjoy it at this time. Getting Ready For The Flight For this trip, we decided to have two checked bags and two carry-ons as the major luggage. We also had our personal bags which were our favorite Lowepro bag, backpack with a cooler bottom, and a kid backpack. In the larger suitcases, we (and that means my wife) packed everything using the eBags packing cubes. She was looking to make packing and unpacking during the road trip easier without having to remove everything and repack as we had 7 pit stops along the way. She divided up the larger packing cubes into the first half of trip and second half of the trip. This way during either portion we only need to open one to take out the cloth for the day. It made a big difference in getting dressed quickly every morning and out the door for our daily adventures. The kid has her own bag, the Brica By-My-Side Safety Harness Backpack. It is still the one we have used from a couple of years ago as a tether, and now it’s a travel treasure chest of toys and games. She has her favorite travel dolls and animals there. Plus a collection of light balls, trinkets, and coloring books. Overheard on a plane flying across the US:

“I didn’t realize we will be flying over land the entire time.”

In Arizona, we had quite an itinerary for our road trip. It included 12 towns: Phoneix, Tucson, Tombstone, Globe, Roosevelt, Willcox, Holbrook, Winslow, Flagstaff, Sedona, Camp Verde, and Scottsdale. To get us around all of these places we rented a car from Silvercar. This was our first time ever renting from them. Silvercar operates a fleet of vehicles 100% Audi. They were actually recently acquired by Audi due to this fact and renamed to Silvercar by Audi. Our rental was the Q5. It provided plenty of space for all 3 of us and all of our luggage. The car was brand new with just over 400 miles on it. Most importantly when you rent from Silvercar and you let them know you are traveling with a small child they will include a car seat with your rental. This was huge for us as we didn't have to figure out how to get a car seat at a destination nor have to drag one on the plane. The car seat was also new and was already in the car when we got it. The only caveat was that we had to install it ourselves. Though after doing this a couple of time in my car and setting up one in the in-law's car, it was a relatively easy task that took about 10-15 minutes. The service we received from Silvercar was impeccable. While they could not deliver the car directly to the airport, they were waiting for us at the car rental lot. They also helped with full information on directions on how to get there. Moreover, they were communicating with us prior to the rental day, several times before we boarded the plane, and continued once we landed up until we drove off.

Our first hotel stop was at Crown Plaza - only 10 min drive away from the airport. However, the conveniences of this hotel ended there. We were very disappointed with it as it did not at all live up to its name. There was no valet or any info where to park the car when we arrived. There was a very lazy bellboy. When I dropped off my wife and kid at the main entrance with bags, he didn't even move to help them load them and bring inside. My wife had to strongly ask him to assist. The initial room we were given was very dirty and smelly. There were bottle caps on the floor and the sheets were covered in stains. We did get a better room after a complaint about the first one. It smelled better and was cleaner. Breakfast at the hotel was also bland and subpar. The positive thing that came out from this is that this hotel was the worst by comparison of all the others for the rest of our trip.

View from our window at Crown Plaza: Pueblo Grande Museum - though it didn't cool very grand

Off To The Adventure After a quick breakfast,, we were off on our road trip towards Tucson. No humidity they said. No rain in the desert they said, it will be hot they said. It rained all day on our drive and while we were in Tucson. It was supposed to be a scenic drive though we didn’t see that much due to rain. But we made the best of it. First stop was at the Whistle Stop Depot. While it did not look like much, after a couple of minutes there we found out how the name came to be. A locomotive train was going by and it was blowing its whistle as it was nearing and going through the spot. Though the trains no longer stop here, they still blow their whistle and it is a historic landmark. We walked around the town for a bit to check out the sites. Though with rain getting stronger, we changed our route a bit to make a straight line to our lunch place, The Drunken Chicken. We have heard about the west coast waffle and chicken and wanted to get some for ourselves and this place had pretty good reviews. We got a plate with waffles and mini chicken pieces plus one with chicken strips. The food was very good. Travel Tip: In most larger towns in Arizona, parking meters accept credit cards and have the zone and meter ID on it. Write these down. We parked in the old town and walked some distance away in our strolling. With walking and stopping for the food we almost missed the timer expiring on the meter. I had to walk back and get the car with a few minutes to spare. If you download the app of the meter and have its ID, you can add on time wherever you are without worrying about going over or rushing back. After lunch and a bit more strolling as the rain was finally over, we started out to our main destination in Tucson, the Tanque Verde Ranch. For dinner at the ranch a couple of times a week they have a Cowboy Cookout where they set up the food and table outside under the stars. To our disappointment due to all of the rain the feast was moved inside that evening. We did still enjoy a great bbq meal with tasty sides. And while she didn't get to ring the dinner bell, our kiddo got to announce dinner was ready over a microphone to the entire place. We were both surprised and impressed. The next day we had a full day of activities planned around the horses. While planning the trip we found out that the ranch had a kids club where they take your kid in the early morning and show them how to ride horses, have them ride horses, have meals, play time, and other activities. All of that without us having to be there. That meant that left us time to do our own stuff and be able to enjoy a horseback ride together. We went to drop off the kid early in the morning as they were scheduled for a breakfast ride. When we got there, we were the first ones to sign up. As it turns out, she was the only one to sign up for the club that day. Best of all, they still went through all of the activities and took care of her the entire time. She had a blast as all of the attention was on her. She got to learn how to hold the reins, ride the horse, have breakfast with us at the pit stop we took in the middle of our ride (she was driven to the spot on a golf cart), ride some more, play in the kid's area, and swim in the pool to cool off.

We had a great time on our ride as well. It took us through some awesome scenery, up and down hills, and a lot of cacti around us. The breakfast pit stop consisted of freshly made on the spot pancakes. After fueling up, we got back on the horses and took a different route back to the ranch. On the way back, I ended up behind a horse that was not very friendly. According to the rider, it tended to want to kick other horses. While I tried to keep my horse a bit back from this one, mine didn't have much patience for very slower horses and kept trying to get ahead. As we were coming around the bend, the rider on the horse in front pulled on the reins too hard and the horse started to paddle backward all the way right into mine. With the big butt quickly coming upon us and not really slowing down, my horse Flash had nowhere to go as down off the path. There was a bit of a drop-off and so I halted the horse before it decided to venture further down. And then it got its footing, turned around, and got back onto the path.

For me, the most dreaded part about riding a horse these days is dismounting. I have a history of getting my foot stuck in the saddle stirrups when getting off. I have fallen a couple of times because of that. Thankfully, the ranch had real stirrups that were full width and the same on each side. This has not been the case when took rides in the Dominican Republic and similar destinations. The room we had at the ranch cannot be called just a room. We had almost a full house. There was a large bedroom, a sitting room, large bathroom, many closets, an outdoor space, and a fireplace. We had the fireplace going the evening we got there as it was rainy and a bit chilly, plus the kiddo really wanted to curl up in front of it and read her bedtime books. Also the first evening we use the indoor pool. We were the only people there and had the run of the place. The next day, we swam in the outdoor pool and there were some more folks there as well. Overall, we had a great time on the ranch with great accommodations and even better service and people.

After the ranch, we traveled further south to Tombstone. A town made famous by the movie by same name, Tombstone. We arrived there late in the evening, just in time to get some dinner before most of the places closed down for the night after 8pm. The food spot we chose was the Big Nose Kates Saloon. We were surprised at how many people were dressed up like cowboys and clothing of the times. Waiters were dressed up, but so were some of the patrons that came in for a drink or some food. For the night, we stayed at Larian Motel that was only a block away from the main street. The manager there was friendly and gave us the keys to our room as soon as we pulled so we can get settled quickly since we were with a kid. The place was clean and comfortable, and quite accommodating. While in Tombstone, we had breakfast an Old West Chuckwagon. As we found out, it is run by a husband and wife team. Wife is at the front working as hostess and waitress, while husband is in the kitchen making the food. And delicious food it was. We had some of the fluffiest tastiest pancakes around. The eggs and bacon were also delicious, and the meal revved us up for a day of exploring. First stop in town was the BirdCage. It is a museum of the history of the wild west. It was a theater and a saloon all in one. There were shows put on stage, while a different type of shows was going on in the top balconies. It is $12 a person for adults, but worth the walkthrough as it pretty much covers all of the details and artifacts of the time. While there are other places around time, we found that this one included all in one space.

O.K. Corral is the famous spot for the gunfight from 1881. And they do have the show set up in the space set up for it, near the actual spot of O.K. Corral. While it is famous and most people go there, I went to see the gunfight at the Gunfight Palace. Wife and kid did not join me since the gunshots are very loud and kiddo would not be able to sit through the show. I enjoyed it. There was quite a bit of shooting and gun smoke. The acting was OK, the overall experience was great. After meeting up with the ladies we stopped into some stores to get a souvenir t-shirt that I get from all of our travels. Next, we took a ride on a stagecoach that took us around town and a bit beyond the main street.

As it was getting quite hot, next stop was the ice cream parlor. I and kiddo got scoops of ice cream, while mommy got herself a milkshake to cool down. After Tombstone, we started up back up North though more towards the East. Next on our itinerary was some boozing while kiddo is snoozing. We drove over to Willcox Wine Country and a couple of the wineries and after all of the day events, our kid passed out sleeping in the car. The first wine stop was at Golden Rule Vineyards. Not only did it have a great name, but it also has a great collection of wine and very tasty pistachios. They grow both grape and pistachios right on their property. We did a flight of wines to sample and we liked just about everyone. The type of wines they had here was right for our palette. And the pistachios most definitely so. We ended up getting a bottle of red wine and a 2lb bag of pistachios. Also, we got to taste some of their grapes right off the vine as they were just about finished with the harvesting. These were some of the best sweetest tasting grapes on the vine I have tasted, and I have tasted several as I love grapes.

MORE DETAILS FROM THE TRIP TO COME... Things to Always Pack in Your Carry-On » Power up with chargers » Clean the scene with sanitizer » Control the noise » Don’t forget a snack » Hydration station » Sleep soundly with earplugs and eye mask » Wrap up with a large scarf » A (few) aspirins a day to keep headaches at bay » Go analog with unplugged diversions » Refresh with toothbrush and face wipes Related articles: 8 Common Car Rental Mistakes Air Travel Tips for Parents of Babies and Toddlers ___________________________________

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[jessflewitt]

27th December - 8th January

*Waitomocaves*Raglan*Tauranga*NYE*Coromandel*Rotorua*Lake Taupo*Tongariro Alpine Crossing* 27th December- After our Northland Trip we decided to head down to waitomo to see the famous glow worm cave. We booked on the tour in the morning and managed to squeeze into a tour the same day at 5.30. We had plenty of time to get down there, or so we thought. As we drove down, we hit crazy post Christmas traffic heading into the city. The time of arrival on the satnav kept on rising. It got a bit panicky but by the time we crossed the Auckland bridge we were through the worst of it. Crossing the bridge showed us how the city just sits on this bright turquoise water,amazing. We arrived to Waitomo in time for our afternoon tour. We met the guides at 5 and got suited and booted in our heavy wetsuits and wellies then jumped on the bus. After a safety demonstration of how to sit in a rubber ring and jump backwards of a platform, to train us for the waterfall, we got back on the bus and made our way to the caves. Our guides lead us through a small gap in the rocks and we plunged into darkness. Head torches on! We ducked and weaved our way through the 'labyrinth', which involved some squeezing through gaps and crawling through very fresh water. We started seeing the lights of the glow worms ever so often until we reached the water. We then sat in our rings and floated, with torches off, the walls illuminated with thousands of little lights, like a nights sky. In fact that's what the glow worms try to imitate to attract bugs to feast on! We bobbed our way through, having to get off to jump down a waterfall, maybe 2m drop, then bobbed our way to the exit. All in all, about 3 hours underground, good fun trip with good guides. All topped off with bagels and tomato soup :) Emily and Leo let us know they were going to Raglan to catch up with an Aunt and Uncle, that live in the UK but Tim was a Kiwi coming home for Christmas. We arrived before them so we stopped at a couple of waterfalls on the way. Bridal Veil Falls was definitely the most impressive, a tiny stream made a high misty waterfall that waved in the wind. After that we went for a look around the town. It was a fairly small seaside town that was bustling with holiday makers. We we walked the coast and along some black sand beaches. Watched the locals bridge jump and play on jet skis. That night we camped on a huge hill, car struggled a bit with the track but made it. You checked in at a huge boat turned home on the hill. We had dinner then went back into town and caught up with em, Leo and her family. Surprising news, they got engaged! We had some celebratory drinks and almost got them kicked out they're very harshly policed campsite! Jess found a mountain hike to fill our day with the next day, we invited the others but they didn't seem to keen. We realised why later, 6 hours later. Mount Karioi was a very solid 3 hours walk to the summit with a stop at a view point for a sandwich. It started with a step ascent through fields with great ocean views. Then it moved into a step jungle track with plenty of roots, which started off as an annoyance but by the end were needed for footholds and for pulling yourself up on. There were a few chain rope sections and climbing walls. Finally we reached the top for 360 panoramic views of the region, it was stunning. However we had to repeat the track down, which was just as difficult. Legs started to shake but we made it to the bottom. When we got to town, Jess got texts which let us know em and Leo had moved onto a place called sapphire springs with thermal hot pools. That sounded pretty good for the legs so we powered through a 2 hour drive. When we got there, the pool wasn't very hot which was a disappointment but we had a really nice evening sat splitting wine with Leo and em, talking into the night with no over harsh security guard trying to kick us out. The day after we made our way to Tauranga. Bit of a mistake, everyone was heading into the Mount Maunganui peninsula. We sat in traffic and drove around for maybe an hour before we gave up and parked 25 minutes walk away. Jess wasn't too impressed and to cheer her up we went to get a coffee and passed through some charity shops. The one thing I wanted to do was climb the mound as the view is supposed to be impressive but after the 6 hour hike the day had taken the wind out of us. However soldiered on and it was only a 45 minute climb. The views were great from the top, especially the different colours in the water. We ended up camping in Fernland spa, we went for the pools but got stuck for at least two and a half hours. As the night got colder the pool got hotter! We left in the morning for the coromandel but took our time, stocked up at the shops and didn't rush. Bit of a mistake, it turns out the riverside campsite em booked for us was actually more like a festival. It was the closest place to the gig night and had capitalised on the fact. We arrived and it was PACKED. Like trying to drive through a Leeds campsite whilst the festival was in full flow. Ended up ditching the car and running around on foot to find where the other guys had saved us a spot. Found it and managed to park up, got cooking dinner before the big night when the other lot returned from the sound check. Ended up having a really fun predrinks meeting the group that consisted of us, em Leo, two of Leo's cousins and their partners, and a couple of guys who were housemates. The gig was great, the two bands were really fun live playing an assortment of jazzy instruments and had lots of fun. We got in to the back stage area as one of Leo's cousins partner was playing sax. However once the music had stopped we crashed and got home. Was a good night but we paid for it the day after! The day after was a calamity. We started well, awoke early and went for a dip in the nearby river. It blew off the cobwebs and was so refreshing. We packed up the car, with foggy heads and decided we were going to make the most of the day. Hot water beach was just around the corner and was on the todo list. We arrived with our saucepan to dig a hole, but half of Auckland decided to do the same thing for New Year's Day. It looked nothing like the pictures, half the beach had been dug up with most the pools being luke warm at best. We wandered right into the middle of the action where obviously the hottest water was but there was no space to dig or get involved, on the way out I stepped into an empty pool, empty because it was hotter than a microwaved pasty. I scolded my foot and at this point, the hangover got to much and we needed a nap. Hobbled to a quieter area and lay down for a snooze. It began raining. Disheartened, we left hot water beach and decided to go and rest up for the day in a campsite. We tried 3 or 4 campsites, all booked up and eventually found one right out in the sticks. About an hour away, it was rustic to say the least, bucket flush toilet system and a dodgey shed turned kitchen but we were happy to be away from the crowds. After a solid nap, Jess had a bad craving for a steak dinner. Being the gentlemen I am I took her down to the next town, as it looked bigger on the map. The road stopped half way as part of it was derelict. We ditched the car and walked to the town, which turns out didn't have a single restaurant, apart from a golf club which I presumed wouldn't let shorts and flops. We then took the decision to drive 40 minutes back down the road to the big town where we were turned away for accommodation. We entered two steak restaurants at around 8.30pm one told us that they had had too busy a night to serve us, despite the restaurants being half full. The second told us they had sold out of half their menu so would also be unable to seat us. So disheartened again, we went to the nearest pub which ended up producing two pretty decent scotch steaks. Happy to end on that moderate high, we drove home to waive of what can only be described as a hangover induced, effort filled nightmare. The next day, I was filled with optimism whereas Jess was still supporting the disheartened attitude from such a rubbish day. We decided to go see one of the main attractions, the Cathedral Cove. I was convinced the 40 min walk each way would dissolve the crowds, sort the wheat from the chaff, and provide us with a pretty nice start to the day. We had to drive back down that 40 minute road, for the 4th time in 12 hours to reach the area around hot water beach. From there, a road took us to a town and from that town there was a road to the cathedral cove car park. On this 3km road there was people converting their driveways to parking lots for $10 a park, curious I thought but headed on up. When we reached the end we saw there was space for only 25 cars maybe. We had to drive around the car park all the way back down the road and at this point Jess was less than impressed. I thought one more time around, feeling lucky we managed to bag a spot and got walking. We definitely couldn't avoid the crowds and the bay at the bottom may have looked more scenic on a nicer day and with a thousand less people on it but when we saw the Cathedral Cove, it was a bit of a let down. You could walk through the arch which was relatively big but a little hyped up. We trudged back up the walk and at this point decided to leave the coromandel, a place for aucklanders with money holiday, as at the time of the year it was just too busy to be that enjoyable. Next on our hit list was Rotorua, it was a 3 and a half hour drive and it was during this drive that the storm began. We had to pull over at one point due to heavy rain, the whole sky looked dark and stormy and didn't help kindle our spirits after a couple of let down days. We arrived to find Rotorua smelt of sulphur, it truly was built on volcanic land. We camped in a place and took it easy that afternoon, the campsite had a couple of great thermal baths for the evening. The next day we got up early, as I thought we could get to Wai-O-tapu before everyone else was up, the plan was to see the park then catch the geyser show. When we arrived, once again the place was busy, we decided we would avoid the geyser show to see the park in the sunshine, as the weather forecast was not looking good. We went an saw some amazing thermal pools which ranged from a neon green to the champagne pool which had an orange rim and blue steamy water. That pool was 70m deep and reached 150 degrees at the bottom. There was plenty to see there but the weather began to turn. The rest of the day was a wash out and was the start of 3 days solid rain, the whole north island was trapped in a storm that was pretty heavy. That night we woke up maybe 4 times due to heavy rain, I decided in the morning that we would power through, the rain let up and I wanted to go see the redwood park. It was only a 30 minute walk and the weather seemed to be opening up for the time being. The walk itself was nice, the trees were obviously pretty huge and things were going well. At the end I went to the toilet, so did Jess, there ended up being a queue in the guys. When Jess came out first, she thought I must have gone to wait by the car (don't ask me why as I never do that). By the time I came out the heavens had opened, an absolute deluge, so I assumed Jess had escaped to the visitor centre (obvious choice for shelter). I walked round looking for Jess, she wasn't there, I walked round the surrounding area, checking each bit of shelter whilst I got pretty wet, she wasn't there. Finally the only place she could be was at the car, I rain through the wall of rain to find Jess stood there by the car, hood up head down, waiting. We had a little travellers tiff about the miscommunication at which point I thought, man I got to pull something out to save the day. The rain wasn't going to stop anytime soon, I had heard about a place called kerosene creek, a hot water creek with a powerful waterfall. We got there and it was pretty impressive, there was an upstream little pool which was comfy to sit in, then further down a hotter pool with the big waterfall leading into it. We stayed for a while, it was one of the coolest places we had seen. Pretty happy with our find, thinking we had turned the day around, we got changed and put the heaters on in the car. We drove back down the road to see a few cars pulled up and steam rising over some bushes. I jumped out to see what the fuss was about, through the bushes was a huge green lake (called green lake surprisingly) with steam coming out of it. Without a few locals in there you wouldn't have gone in, the place was beautiful, surrounded by hills, but also looked a bit ominous. We quickly got changed and jumped in, it was so warm and relaxing. The lake was huge, we'd never seen anything like it. Plus there was mud pockets, so you could use volcanic mud for free, saved on the $80 tourist trap in the centre of town! After a long soak, we ran back into the car, it was still raining, and headed to the next stop, Taupo. On the way, we pulled in at Huka Falls. Famous for being 'the most photographed falls in New Zealand'. It was pretty nice, it had enough water flowing over it to fill 6 Olympic pools in a minute, but didn't blow us away as it was heard to get a sense of that fact. We arrived to Taupo. You couldn't see the lake from the road which was 10m away. The rain was so heavy, we had been so wet all day, we couldn't bare the thought of camping another night through the storm. We jumped online to find out that other campers had beaten us to it, we couldn't find a hostel with a car park online. We pulled up at the YHA hoping there was room, there we saw a plenty of vans and even a posh motor home! The nearest indoor accommodation was in a town in the middle of nowhere, 40 minutes away. The place was called Muckys B&B. Despite the name and location, we were pretty desperate to have a roof not made of metal above our heads so we made the journey. The place was a godsend, with a little kitchen, comfy bed and free fresh ground coffee! We had a lovely evening splitting wine in a cosy room. It was well needed. The next day the rain continued to bucket down. We had some serious washing todo and there was no chance of doing anything outside. We drove back into taupo and checked into a hostel. Seemed a pretty good find, wanted to get some jobs done in the communal room and get ourselves more sorted for when the storm broke. We arrived into the kitchen to have lunch, some friendly gentlemen sat next to us and started a conversation. For the first 10 minutes it went the normal way conversations go, for the next 5 hours it was pretty one sided. Old mate wouldn't shut up and continued to talk about every last town in South Island, each town having at least 3 to 7 stories included. It was pretty mind numbing stuff and when he clicked onto a newbie on our table, we took our opportunity and bolted to bed. That morning we checked out of rainbow and went down to the Taupo Saturday market. It was pretty small but still managed to find a great coffee, a naughty steak pasty and a spot in the sun listening to a Maori guy, on a guitar, dressed a little like a cowboy. It was so good to see the sun after a huge spell of stormy rain. We made our way to Mount Tauhara, the closest high peak to Taupo. The hike took us until 4.15, just under 3 hours. The views of the lake from the top were epic, it was such a clear day and was well worth the effort. A few annoying backpackers were playing trashy EDM (electronic dance music) out of a tinny phone at the summit, I got irritated and Jess told me off for being such a grumpy sod. We did a whistle stop tour of our free campsite for the night to cook some food, pretty busy and grim but that didn't matter, that night we had a sailing trip to the carvings. The day before we decided to book onto a boat trip to see the carvings. We planned to kayak it but that tour set you back $100 a piece, the sailing trip, which involved a 3 hour boat tour with free beers or wine, and pizza cost us less than $50 each, no brainer (on the Friday I accidentally booked us onto the tour for Friday evening, only realised about half an hour after sailing time, luckily the tour was cancelled for bad weather... Got away with that one 😬) We went for the sunset tour which turned out to be an absolute winner. The sun shined all the way, it was such a relaxing cruise (full after-dinner pizza tummies and pizza helped) and when we reached the 40ft Maori carvings, there was only one other small boat there. We took our time sailing in and out of the bay and Dave the skipper asked if anyone was keen for a swim. After a bit of egging each other on (bare in mind the sun was going down and the wind picking up) we dove in and got to swim right up to the artwork! The water had some really freezing patches and other not so cold areas but it was ace, got some good piccies from it too. We jumped back on the boat and sailed home, with the wind picking up Dave let the sails go and the boat really skimmed over the water, on its edge. On the way back we witnessed a spectacular sunset. Dave said it was one of the most impressive he had seen in a year or two. It was like a 360 degree sunset which lit up all the clouds and reflected off the water. To say the tour cost us less than £25 a person, we were astounded by how good it was. Great way to cap off an awesome day! We drove to the shoddy free campsite and squeezed into a little space for the night. The next day was Sunday. After checking a few weather forecasts, Monday looked like the best for the alpine crossing. One forecast was positive, the other said cloudy with a few showers, both agreed it would only get worse as the week progressed. We booked into a the same hostel for two nights, thinking we would want a nice bed before and after. We hit the shops to get some serious snacks and checked in. We had all our jobs done by 2pm. Not wanting to waste a nice afternoon we drove to a part of lake Taupo where there was a nice swimming point with some cliff jumping! Bulli point had a couple of different levels, the top being 7m high and the lower level being between about 5-6m. It was pretty nervy stuff and after testing the water depth, some guy went for it. I went after him. It was pretty awesome, Jess talked herself out of it and was a bit gutted. On the way home, we stopped off at the front of the lake so Jess could have a swim and we went back to the hostel to test out the sauna! Met a lovely French couple that had just done the crossing, that got us excited. Met a friendly Malaysian guy at dinner doing it the next day also. Then we went to bed pretty early to get a good night sleep. Neither of us slept well, I think I was too excited! 5am came around and we both were up with relative ease. Quick bite of breakfast, packed our bags to the brim with snacks, sandwiches, lots of water and for Jess, about 7 layers. The bus took about an hour and a half to get to the crossing. We started the walk at about 8.15am We had been blessed with a blue bird day, the sun burned through the little cloud before we had even started the hike. Thank god we didn't listen to the pessimistic receptionist that told us not to do it on that day! We passed the sign showing us there was 19.4km to go. It was pretty busy to begin with, we got stuck behind some obnoxious fool blasting music from a portable speaker. We decided to power past him and put some distance between us. We struggled to begin with, somehow the beats of black eyed peas 'pump it, louder' followed us until we reached a pretty soggy part of the track due to the soda springs waterfall. We skipped through it with our hiking shoes as the beats master and his gang had to pick there way through slowly with their collection of nikes, vans and adidas trainers. Using this small advantage we powered up what they call the Devils staircase, a winding track that went up higher and higher until you pass by the Red Summit. It was so scenic, with volcanoes either side and lava flows running between, it was like being on another planet. The stairs went on and the burn set it but upon reaching the top it opened up into a flat plateau. It was cool to look down and see a stream of people following the track. Somewhere down there speaker man would be pissing others off no doubt. We passed by the red cone and through a sandy area which felt like walking on the moon as your shoes left footprints. A lake had appeared from all the heavy rainfall and you could see some snow still on top of the red summit. After the plateau, it climbed again until your reached the summit of the Tongariro crossing. About 1800m above sea level. The views were breathe taking and we had to stop for a sandwich. From the summit you could see the famous emerald and blue lake which shone brightly in their respective colours with the sunshine. It was about 12pm at this time. You had to follow a scree path down to the lakes, which were awesome to see and then follow the track back out the other side, past another large blue lake. The decent on the other side had an amazing view of lake Taupo and the surrounding area, although by this point, that view had been well overshadowed by what we had seen. The decent, which started at about the 11km took its toll, it seemed to last a long time winding down the other side of the volcano. We passed by the Malaysian guy from dinner, then as you reached the valley floor you entered a jungly area with a stream running through it. There was still probably about 3-4km to go, which were tough going as the water supply was running out, we had drank a lot throughout the hot day (I'd brought 3l, Jess brought 1.5 and we still ran out!) We made it to the other side just before 3, total time was about 6hrs40 but that included a lunch stop and plenty of photo ops. We were quite lucky to make it onto the first bus back, which set off a few minutes after we got on. However the old rickety bus was awfully hot with no aircon. People were basically passing out due to the heat, including us! We couldn't wait to get off the bus, as we did some American guy pointed out a convenience store. We dashed in and grabbed a life saving coke and ice lolly! That evening we struggled to do anything, we chilled in the room downing water and coffee and decided to go get a dominos pizza. Ate the pizza on the lakefront and watched the sun go down before heading back to bed for another early night. This time we didn't struggle to sleep!

[dearexloversnever-blog]

Beginning

--Oh hey it's that time again.-- Now we enter a time where I thought I had everything. Little to my knowledge this was going to be the best times in my life and my absolute worst. Days that made me believe in true love and days that left me hopeless. This next person I'll be introducing to the list is a person who destroyed how I saw myself as a person. Now you can judge this guy all you want. No really please do judge him. He's an ass. This letter will be a lot longer than the last one. It was sometime in may when I was going to the drive in with a friend. He was going to meet a guy and pretty much bump and grind throughout both movies. Well this guy he was bringing along was his best friend Nick. Tyler and Logan decided to try and hook us up. While we sat in the car looking at each other awkwardly neither one of us knowing what to say. We finally broke the silence. We talked about a lot that night. We started with age, interest, and discovered the coolest thing ever! I have these really weird crooked pinkies. They bend outwards and than inward. The only other person I know who has them is my mom. My favorite thing to do with new people is show them my cute little special pinkies. Next thing I know as I held my pinkies together waiting for a response nick puts together his pinkies and I shit you not they were just as bent as mine! I was baffled because I never met another person who is not my mother to have these weird pinkies. That instantly connected us. We continued talking about anything and everything. For a second I could have sworn I was in love. In love with someone I've only known for 3 hours. Someone I already felt so comftable with I felt I could tell him all my secrets. It felt like I knew him all my life and everything just felt right. We left that night with a hug. Just as I walked away he asked for my number what did I do? You pick. A) gave him my number B) told him to have his friend give it to him or C) No. If you guessed C you're wrong. Darn! It was B ha got ya didn't I! Anyways a couple minutes late I received a text from this guy who just destroyed my fantasy of what my first love would look like. He was 6'1, light brown hair, sun kissed skin, green eyes and was a doppelgänger of Jared pedalecki. No joke. He also was an amazing cook. I always told myself to marry a man that can cook. (Ha cause my husband now doesn't cook) he worked a very nice restaurant in his home town. Which was 15 mins from my home town. This food was so fancy I wanted to vomit it all back up after discovering how much it cost. He also was very active hiker. So guess what I suddenly loved doing...hiking! We talked a lot, and by a lot I mean until almost 1am every night. Even on school days. At the time I was doing online school so I really didn't have a sleep schedule. It gave me a lot of freedom so I developed this horrible habit of checking my phone every two millisecond. It took me a second but I remember our first kiss. I got to house sit for my moms co worker sue. Yes a teenager with a whole house to herself was a good idea. Nick and I had this inside joke about me throwing a pie in his face. Well I invented him over the house and we were going to camp in the back yard. I told him to let himself in and come to the back where I was. There I waited with a pie in my hand waiting for the right moment to plow him in the face. Right as he stepped outside I smacked his face so hard with the pie the whipped cream went everywhere on the back deck. I don't think he was expecting that to happen but I ran my happy ass so far away from him so he couldn't get me back. We laughed for a good 15 mins before cleaning his face off. The next couple hours we spent watching movies. We sat on separate couches at first then he decided to sit next to me. Doing one of the cheesiest things ever. He kept stealing the blanket from me. Forcing me to get closer to him. Eventually we were so close I could feel his breathe on my neck. As we sat there starring at each other for a second before he kissed me. He always liked to say I kissed him first. No, no, no. It was like nothing I had ever experienced with Frito, john and one other person but not naming him. Select few know who this is. I knew at that moment I would do anything for this boy. I knew him for all of a month and he already made me fall in love with him. Completely utterly madly in love with him. He knew all the right things to say, knew how to make me feel special, and my favorite thing was goodnight/good morning text. Everyday. We tried to have sex but it wasn't the right time. Fast forward to end of the school year. The night before nicks graduation he snuck over to my house after my parents went to sleep and came through my window. It started with some hard core making out. Then we both decided to try that whole sex thing over. Good thing this time we actually did it. At the time I thought we had such a strong connection. It was unreal. Something like out of the movies. There was no way someone so perfect existed out there for me. He ended up sleeping over and had to wake up at 4 in the morning to beat my parents and his. Not to mention get to his school. Nick was graduating so I of course went to watch him and his friends graduate. It was also the first time meeting his parents. Who were both doctors. So I had to be on the bestest of behavior, look like a lady and smile a lot. Again I went with my friend Tyler who was dating Logan (nicks best friend). Once the whole thing was over, pictures were taken, hugs were given and nick left for the senior graduation party on some boat. I didn't hear from him till the following morning. His friends planned a camping trip down south by Seattle and go to birchbay. I was invited last minute but everyone was okay with it. Nick only had one those small tents you know the ones meant for one person. Can you image having sex in that thing!? Well we did it, and not just once, or three times more like 10 times in a 3 day period. We were having so much fun i didn't want it to stop. We spent the whole camping trip having sex, walking to the beach, and creating memories. I just realized I was a very sexual teenager. It seems like in these letters all I did was have sex. Which is mostly true but I did part take in other things. You'll see, just wait and I'll get to some more stuff that doesn't include sex. That weekend I knew I was in love. Not the kind of love I had for Frito but something new and different. Nick was no doubt in my mind my first true love. --Ending there for the night, gotta get sleep eventually.--

[itsallgoodcoffee-blog]

Our Eurocamp Holiday At Marina De Venizia

When we arrived at our Eurocamp Vista mobile home at Marina De Venizia in Italy I was slightly concerned. Not because the site didn't look good. It was the opposite - it looked amazing. Not because the mobile home looked rubbish. No that seemed fine, with everything we would need for the week. My concern arose due to my husbands first question to me."So what days does the maid come?"I panicked. Whilst I had spent my childhood holidays with Eurocamp, my husband had not. Clearly my husband, who is used to 4 and 5 star hotels paid for by his work, hadn't grasped the concept that this was a self catering holiday. Would a man preferring 5 star luxury enjoy a Eurocamp self catering holiday?Well I am pleased to say that once we had established that maids weren't part of the Eurocamp package, things got better. We had a look around our mobile home and it had everything we needed. We had ordered bedding, towels and beach towels as an extra with the mobile home booking. I would certainly do so again as it freed up space in our luggage.Tired from travelling, we grabbed a take away pizza from one of the parc's restaurants and headed back to our mobile home to relax.The next morning we went to pick up our campsite passes and collect our passports which we had left on arrival. The camping passes contained our all important wifi codes! There was one hour of free wifi a day using a special security code. Unfortunately, whilst most of the mobile homes would have been covered by wifi, ours was just a little bit too far out to use from the mobile home. Having said that, I actually enjoyed taking a break from it all.The Eurocamp (and all other tour opertators) mobile homes were at the far end of the parc. Under the shade of pine trees. With the 30C heat in May, we were thankful for the shade. I didn't realise at first but we were the only mobile home in our row which had a tree in our decking. I kind of liked this. I felt it made our mobile home a bit special. That was until one day a pigeon decided to give me some luck! (or not as it felt at the time.)We spent our first couple of days exploring the parc. It is located next to the beach, which has lifeguards patrolling. The thing that made our holiday was the fantastic swimming pool complex. Far better than any hotel we have stayed in. It was huge.Most of the pools were heated, meaning it was a pleasure to get in them. If you wanted to use a sunbed then there was a charge. This meant that they weren't all being kept by someones towel who had disappeared for the day. If you didn't want to pay, there were plenty of places you could leave your belongings. The complex had an olympic sized swimming pool and this is where aqua aerobics took place. There were three "big" waterslides for children over 1.2m (an adult could go down the slowest with a child under this height.) My boys loved the wave pool which was activated 4 times a day, and there were an array of other heated pools for varying ages. There really was something for everyone.The reason we had decided upon this Eurocamp site was that you could easily do a day trip into Venice. Port Sabbioni is a short drive (5 mins) from Marina De Venizia. Here you can pay between 5 and 7 euros to park your car for the day. A return boat ride to Venice costs 10 euros per person (under 6's are free - well done little man for being 5!) There are also various travelcard combinations you can buy depending on when and where you want to go. A day trip around the islands costs 20 euros per person.Venice was absolutely stunning. Whilst we didn't get to do the museums due to the boys lack of interest, we did get to go on a gondala ride. This is now little man's favourite mode of transport. At 80 euros a pop (100 euros in the evening) we had to tell him it was a one off experience.As I said we also visited the islands. I will do a more in depth post on this, but Murano was by far the biggest hit with the children. Watching a man make a horse out of a ball of molten glass is pretty mesmerizing. Walking through a shop full of glass with my husband and 3 boys was slightly terrifying with lots of "be careful" shrieks.The parc and mobile home had everything we needed. It is perfect for a weeks stay. I loved that staying in a mobile home gave us flexibility. We didn't need to get dressed to go for a lengthy dinner if we didn't fancy it. We could have a light lunch on the decking. We were able to treat the boys to ice creams without having to sell a kidney as we could buy them at the supermarket and pop them in the freezer. If you want to see Venice with kids, I honestly believe this is the way to do it. They had the time of their lives and so did we. Our mobile home even had much needed air conditioning. Venice was a 45 minute boat ride away and we made some fantastic memories.A big thank you to Eurocamp who provided us with the Vista mobile home in return for an honest review.

http://www.astrongcoffee.co.uk/2017/06/our-eurocamp-holiday-at-marina-de.html