Santiago de Chile... The End of the Adventure!

Well, I made it.

This morning I write from Santiago de Chile, the very last international stop on a journey which has taken me across six continents and 53 countries, has seen me cross the equator six times, travel across 40 time zones, and cover 98.61 latitudinal degrees on this amazing planet we are all lucky enough to call home. It’s a journey which has been rewarding, exciting, challenging and even confronting at times, and after 45 flights, over 6000km on a train through Russia, over 11,000km in a truck through Africa, and countless hours waiting in airports, bus terminals, train stations and ferry ports all over the world, in just hours this journey will come to an end.

With only 24 hours here in Santiago, I spent yesterday afternoon exploring the city centre, before heading out to an actual restaurant for dinner last night. Sitting alone at a table, I had no one to talk to, and no one to keep me company – a situation which would have bored me almost to tears at many points throughout the past year; however, on my last night out of Australia, sitting alone and watching the world pass me by was exactly what I wanted to do.

One of the challenges of travelling for as long as I have been fortunate enough to do, is that sometimes it’s too easy to forget to stop and really appreciate a destination, experience or moment. Just yesterday I looked out the window of my plane, at the snow-capped peaks of the Andes Mountain Range below, and it suddenly occurred to me what an amazing experience I have had, yet how common-place it had all become. My year has been filled with spectacular views, once-in-a-lifetime moments, and some of the most extraordinary opportunities I could ever dream of – yet non-stop travel really doesn’t allow the time to sit back and truly comprehend the magnitude of what is seen, experienced and learned. As I head back home, it’s now time to really reflect back on what a journey I have had; reflect on the diversity of the human race, the natural world in which we exist, the courage and determination of people to stand up for what they believe, the joy which comes from sharing our lives with others, and even the challenges which we all at some point are forced to face.

It seems like only a couple of weeks ago I was heading to Adelaide airport, with only a rough itinerary for a year abroad, and no idea how I was going to pull this ridiculously ill-prepared feat off. I was so sick the day I left Australia, and at the time I couldn’t help but think it might be a better life-choice to turn around, go back to bed, and forget this silly idea to travel had even entered my mind. However, I didn’t turn back, and with every new destination I arrived in, every bus, train or plane I boarded, and every challenge I met along the way, somehow the ridiculous feat became less and less ridiculous, and my very rough itinerary fattened itself up into an adventure I never could have dreamed of.

I remember early on in my travels, thinking how foreign it was to sleep in a different bed every night, attempt a different language every few days or weeks, and to spend hours, if not days, sleeping in airports and bus stations, couches or hammocks. However, somewhere along the way this became the norm – a very exciting norm – and all of the sudden it feels foreign to be heading back home, to my own bed, my own house, and the certainty of knowing what the next day, week and month is likely to bring. While there are definitely aspects of home I am looking forward to, and friends and family I am looking forward to seeing, it’s a bittersweet end, for I know I will miss the freedom of travel, the excitement of a new destination, the buzz which comes from achieving what once seemed impossible, and the joy which comes from sharing these moments with the people in my life.

I started this blog as a way to remember my travels, to share these with my family and friends, and to give me something to look back on in years to come. It hasn’t always been easy to write, and finding motivation at times has been almost near impossible, but with a great rush over the last couple of days, I’ve managed to see it through to the end. It’s funny to think about what might happen to the words, thoughts, memories and pictures I have poured into this page, and while many people would hesitate to leave such personal information and intellectual property in the world of cyberspace, I’d like to believe it’s a way of my journey continuing long after I return home. 200 years down the track, when someone Super-Google’s the definition of Smiley Fritz, Olga the train lady, or Underbelly: Stan & Stacy, they might just stumble on this primitive two-dimensional webpage, and somehow I’ll know my efforts did not go to waste.

So, where to from here? I hear you ask. In just a couple of hours I will be boarding my flight back to Sydney, Australia, where my mum Amanda, sister Hannah, and brother Tim are waiting to meet me. With a 24 hour stopover in Sydney, it will be nice to spend some time with family, before making the final journey back home to Adelaide late tomorrow evening. Those of you who know me well will know I have never been so good at the whole ‘knowing which direction to take in life’ thing, and even after a year abroad, I’m afraid not much has changed. Just yesterday I found out I’ve been re-accepted into university (this was a surprise – I assumed there was a black mark next to my name!), and with only one year to go to finish my degree, at the moment that’s looking like the plan for 2013. When I left Australia, I left behind a job I absolutely loved, a team of staff who made every day worthwhile, and a potential career path in a direction I was more than happy to go in, however, as much as things were right at the time, it’s not my time to go back yet.

It’s impossible to know what the future does hold, and I can’t even comprehend how much my year abroad has changed the direction I will take. While the year has failed to provide me with any exact plan of what to do with my life, or where I will be in one, five or even 50 years, I do know the experiences, opportunities and challenges of the past 12 months, and the lessons learned, will still be very much with me in the decisions I make which shape the rest of my days.

To all of you who have read this blog along the way, have left your comments, shared your stories, and given me the encouragement I often needed to keep on typing, I thank you. To the people I have met on the road, in the sky, or anywhere in-between, I thank you for making this year a truly amazing experience, and one I am certain never to forget. To those I will now call ‘friends’ for the rest of my life, I thank you for the impact you have had, the memories we will forever share, and the positive contribution you have made to this world, just by being you. Whether travelling, living abroad, or sharing your house and lives with travellers like myself, it takes great courage and bravery to open your life to adventure, and I congratulate you and thank you for what you do each and every day. But most importantly, to the many millions of people I have encountered this year purely through you living your life, and me living mine, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. To have the opportunity, financial means and political freedom to travel the world is a privilege I am so very lucky to have, and to have had the opportunity to walk alongside you in the street, stand beside you on a bus, share a train cabin across Siberia, or enjoy a meal together from a street vendor in a small village in the South American mountains has been an honour, and gift I will never be able to repay. By simply living your life, you have enriched mine beyond what words can express.

And finally, as I finish this last blog entry, I want to remind you all of a quote I read way back on my very first flight on January 20^th, 2012. It’s from the book Tropic of Capricorn (2008, BBC Books), by Simon Reeve, and 365 days after reading this for the very first time, I still believe it to be one of the most important lessons I have taken with me on my travels around the globe, and will take into my future adventures.

“When we leave our borders we should remember travel is a desire of many, but an honour for a few. As such it carries certain responsibilities. For the time has long gone when we could happily settle for weeks on a sunny beach without considering the environmental impact of our travels, or the fact that our boutique hotel is owned by the son of the local dictator. None of us should now be travelling blind, and learning more about the places we visit makes for a more interesting experience, a more rounded adventure. So following the Tropic of Capricorn is important to me, but the real idea is to use it as the central thread of a journey that teaches me more about issues and places of which we hear little in the West.”

Simon Reeve, 2008

Thank you for reading, “From Smiley Fritz to Santiago… A year in the life of an escaped Service Deli Manager.”

Until my next big adventure,

Santiago de Chile

January 19, 2013

The not-so-Great Ocean Road... Curitiba to Colonia del Sacramento!

Curitiba, capital of Brazil’s Paraná state, was our New Years Eve destination! Chosen solely for its lack of coastal location (and therefore cheap accommodation prices!), the town is barely even a dot on the map, and we arrived expecting nothing more than a couple of shops, a few business buildings, and a maybe a couple of restaurants if we were lucky – you know, just like a small town in Australia. However, arriving late at night into the city it turns out small dots on the Brazilian map are considerably larger than small dots on the Australian map, and with a population of over 3.2 million people, the city was almost the size of Sydney!

With only one full day in the city, we occupied our time exploring the picturesque city centre, the beautiful mosaicked pedestrian malls and parklands, and Curitiba’s apparent drawcard (it wasn’t so good!), the botanic gardens. Having booked the cheapest dorm, in the cheapest hostel, in the cheapest town, we was pleasantly surprised to have the room to ourselves, and while the hostel put on a great dinner and set off firecrackers at midnight, not even their enthusiasm was enough to keep me up past 11:30pm, and I enjoyed NYE from the comfort of my bed! I did at least stay awake til midnight, which is more than my mother can say!

Parental Supervision!!! Behaving myself in South America!

Today I write from the rooftop terrace of my hostel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Saying a sleepy farewell to my mum in the early hours of the morning, I sent her out into this busy city alone, where hopefully she managed to brave the city's terrifying 'Joni Mitchell' playing taxi drivers, and make her way to the airport - and her return flight to Australia. We've spent the past month travelling together through Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay - meeting up with old friends, making new friends, and most importantly, proving to my now 50 year old mother that flying is not in fact as scary as she has always thought, and contrary to her popular belief, Google Images is not always the best way to see the world!!!

Amanda and James - Gang

Unfortunately our month of travel contained many a public holiday (and some days when certain government offices just decided it was a public holiday to get an extra few days off...), and with a Brazilian visa for myself proving almost as elusive as the African Leopard, it was certainly an interesting month! It also turns out the Christmas/NY season is not necessarily the best time to visit South America, with many locals leaving their towns to escape the tourists, and many tourists leaving towns due to the lack of locals... a vicious cycle which I've concluded is intentionally put in place to allow the locals who do stay more time to remind tourists of the dire state of the local economy... again.

As with many countries I have visited around the world, the economy of all three of these countries has been a popular topic of conversation - usually brought up by a local who insists their country is the worst place to live in the WHOLE world, while they drag away on their second packet of durries for the day, before explaining how badly they need a break from their stressful retail job... where they no doubt manage to somehow fit three-hours of real work into a nine-hour shift. Customer service has been a particularly entertaining/frustrating aspect of our trip, and while many of our conversations ended with us subjected to yet another story of financial hardship, and the poor employment rates, coming across service that would even rate as 'poor' in Australia has been a rarity (I will mention Sao Paulo was a pleasant surprise!). Yesterday, after waiting in a checkout line that would have the Woolworths Facebook page in meltdown with complaints, I even thought I was going to get a smile from a checkout girl! Of course, she saved her country's reputation just in time - sneakily turning that positive lip movement into a casual yawn, before proceeding to chew her gum while scanning our purchases - a task which she treated as a real inconvenience!

It's certainly been an eye opening month of travel, with a great deal of waiting around and wasting time (all those people who told me Brazilian buses are the best in the world - you're fools!), and while not everything went to plan, we did at least get the opportunity to see many unexpected, unsavoury and downright weird people and places along the way!

The Road to Death Road!

Today I write from the balcony of my cute twin-bed, mother-and-son hotel room, overlooking the impressive Teatro Solis in Uruguay's capital, Montevideo. Travelling with my mum for almost a month now, and having covered a distance of over 4,500km in some of the world's least reliable and least comfortable buses, we've enjoyed a couple of days wandering the city's beautiful streets and markets, before moving on tomorrow to Colonia del Sacramento, a small coastal town about three hours from the capital. With a ferry across the Rio del la Plata, we'll be back in Argentina, and after three nights in Buenos Aires, I'll be on my way to Santiago, Chile - for the very last international stop of my trip round the world!

While I'm excited to be heading home to see friends and family, and to sleep in my own bed, I must admit I am not looking forward to my year abroad coming to an end, and I'd love to keep travelling! In some ways it feels like only yesterday I was packing my bags and leaving Australia, yet in many ways I look back on the past year, and how I have changed, and my view on the world has changed, and it seems I have been away for an entire lifetime!!!

With the countdown til my return now into single figures, I have some serious catching up to do on this blog, and I'll pick up where I left off - with my first three weeks in South America.

From 'The Green Wapple' to 'The Big Apple'... A North American Adventure!

Finding myself on yet another long-haul flight, I left Africa behind, as my travels took me across the Atlantic Ocean to New York, USA.

I will admit from the word go that the US has never really appealed to me as a travel destination (the only reason I was even visiting the country this year was its convenient location as the cheapest stop-over point between Africa and South America), however with ten days in the country, and three cities to visit, I put any negative thoughts I had aside (and any summer clothes!), and got myself all star-spangled and bannered - and was very pleasantly surprised!

Arriving late into New York, my first night was spent absolutely gobsmacked by my new surroundings – I was in NEW YAWK! Yellow taxis, neon signs, bagels, ice-skating rinks, roasted chestnuts, beggars, buskers, NYPD officers, steaming potholes, subway stations, fat Americans with New York accents – it was everything I’ve seen in the movies… and so much more! Undoubtedly one of the worlds most photographed, filmed and best known cities, New York is divided into five boroughs – The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and the focus of my trip, Manhatten. 

Africa!

You have no doubt realised by now that I am quite severely behind with these entries, and having now met up with my mum in South America, catching up is not all that easy to do! Leaving Egypt and Jordan behind, my adventure took me south to South Africa, where after over six months of independent travel, I finally caved in and joined an organised tour. While the tour was excellent, and many parts of it will remain highlights of my year abroad, I am only going to post one entry about the entire six weeks – more of an overview than a week-by-week recap of my travels. So here goes!

*CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE!*

From Egypt to Eggplant - A Middle Eastern Adventure!

After five months it was finally time to say farewell to Europe, and leaving Budapest behind (after lunch at Frici Papas of course!), I was set to add yet another continent to my year-long adventure as I boarded a plane bound for Cairo, Egypt. Of course, my departure from Europe also marked my departure from the (somewhat) English-speaking world, the world of western toilets, safe food and drink, incorrupt government and police, set product pricing, safe streets and public transport, and street crossings where pedestrians have even just a slight chance of crossing the road without being run down – however, I didn’t set out this year in search of a holiday, I set out in search of adventure!

Cairo Bakery! Yum!

Cairo, the capital of Egypt, is one of the most ridiculous, busy, chaotic and over-populated cities I have ever been to. With a metropolitan population of just under 20 million (imagine the population of Australia in one city), and what seemed an equal number of car and taxi horns to match, the crammed and congested streets of the city are a hive of activity – accompanied by an equally chaotic soundtrack of spruiking street vendors and traffic (did I mention car horns?), all shrouded by a thick cloud of exhaust smoke, industrial pollution and humidity. Yum.

Still Hungary? Second course is served...

With our week in Greece now behind us, Eliza made her way back to the UK to face the reality of work (a foreign notion to me now), while Ros, Paul and I continued the fun and games in Hungary.

My second visit to Hungary for the year, the week was spent in the country’s capital, Budapest, a city formed in 1873 with the unification of three smaller cities; west-bank Buda and Óbuda, and east-bank Pest. With a population of over 1.7 million people, today Budapest is the largest city in Eastern Europe, and is ranked as ‘one of the most beautiful cities in the world’ by a number of sources (okay, so I Wikipedia’d it). With the beautiful Danube River dividing the city, the spectacular Buda Castle, wide tree-lined Andrassy Avenue, Heroes' Square and the second-oldest underground rail network in the world – it certainly lived up to our expectations!

The Big Fat Greek Birthday!

After a quick stop in at the allotment to check on the progress of the veggies, Eliza and I were on our way to Manchester for one last night of miserable weather and cold, before escaping early the next morning to the heat and sunshine of Greece!

Checking into our hostel in Athens, we were soon to discover we were in for a real treat – my budget-conscious booking had landed us in quite the ‘interesting’ neighbourhood! With streets littered with rubbish and buildings covered in graffiti, broken footpaths, prostitutes on every corner, and a steady flow of ‘unusual’ people, there was certainly a lot to look at!

We spent our first couple of days in Athens exploring the local area, catching up on some much-needed SongPop, and enjoying our balcony view of the street (and the insalubrious business dealings going on) below. With memories of the UK’s weather still fresh in our mind, neither of us seemed to find it too much of a struggle to do very little, and much of our time was spent sitting around in various cafés, restaurants, gelatarias and at the beach, watching the world pass us by, and soaking up the beautiful Mediterranean sun.

Tongue and Puckle... a fair ye Scottish Adventure!!!

Leaving Durham behind, Eliza and I were somehow miraculously still speaking to each other, and were on our way to Edinburgh, Scotland. The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is the world’s largest arts festival, held annually in venues across the city, and this year our friend Matt (aka Barker) was in a show.

Arriving in Edinburgh, we once again met up with Aaron, and made our way out into the city in the hope of somehow managing to run into Barker – who has a reputation for being rather disorganised, and an apparent allergy to any form of telecommunication device. Of course, my hopes of some sort of miraculous northern hemisphere cure for this allergy were soon dashed, and Eliza, Aaron and myself had a great afternoon guessing where Barker might be, after calling ‘his’ phone number, only to discover the phone did not in fact belong to Barker – but to someone he had met in Scotland, and who had absolutely no idea where our dear Australian friend might be! 

Down in Duuuurty Durham!

Today I write from somewhere between New York City and Washington DC, having spent two days in the Big Apple with Lindsay and Sam (who you are sure to hear about when I finally catch up to writing about Africa!), and having spent more money in 48 hours than in the past two months! My time in New York city is not over yet, however the three of us have decided to head south for a couple of days to give the credit cards a break, and I have another four days back in New York later in the week.

New York City

Not only does this week mark another continent on my trip, it also marked 10,000 pageviews of this blog – an achievement I never dreamed possible! When I left home almost ten months ago, I was expecting my mum to check my blog eight times a week (twice on Sunday), my dad once a fortnight, and then three ‘randoms’ to accidentally stumble on it each month while trying to find the nutritional information of ‘smiley fritz’. This would have provided me with 390 pageviews to date, and I would have been an incredibly happy blogger. However, somehow we have managed to reach 10,000 pageviews (I think it’s more likely my mum is forcing her entire year 2 class to keep my blog as their homepage, and making them reopen their browser before every class!), and for that I want to say a very big THANK YOU! Thank you to those people who have encouraged me along the way, thank you to those who comment and let me know you are reading along… and thank you to my dear friends Stan and Stacey for ensuring I have always had a fair bit of information to keep the blog going (and thanks mum for having a big class!)

After having way too much fun, way too little electricity and even less internet, and way too many bumpy roads through Africa, I am now only about eight weeks behind with my entries… which today I pick up from Durham, Eliza’s home for the year.

Crime, murder and an underground adventure! Shenanigans in Sheffield!!!!

Today I write from the luxury and comfort of a hotel room, having finished my 41 night camping trip through southern and eastern Africa, and somehow having managed to survive the traffic, roads and open sewers of Nairobi. As the noise through my window continually reminds me, this is a hectic city, with undoubtedly the most ridiculous traffic I have seen anywhere in the world. Not only do traffic lights appear to be optional, but so does the side of the road on which one might choose to drive, the lane (or footpath) in which you might decide to career, and don’t even get me started on the speed at which taxi’s drive – usually on the wrong side of the road!!!

However, Nairobi has also impressed me greatly, and while I have been continually reminded of it’s reputation as Nairobbery, and as one of Africa’s least tourist-friendly cities, what I have seen to date has been very pleasantly surprising. However, I’ll leave that for another entry (which gives the local crooks time to change my views), as I still have a few hours left before my flight to New York.

My last entry covered my week in Iceland, from where I returned to the UK, in search of some much needed sunshine. (There are only very few places on earth that could be said to provide less sunshine than the UK, so I thought I’d better use this opportunity to document such a rare event!!!) 

Ice, Ice Baby! A week in Iceland!

Arriving in Iceland, Eliza and I were met at the airport by Stefan, whose wife Gudmunda had offered to have us to stay with her and her family. Gudmunda, Stefan, and their three energetic children live in a suburban home in Reykjanesbær, where we were welcomed with a pillow fight on the couch and dinner with the family, before Stefan took us out for a tour of the Reykjavik Peninsular.

The Reykjavik Peninsular stretches around 50km’s in the south-west corner of the country, and is the least ‘earthly’ place I have ever been – with volcanic geysers, lava cones and craters, and The Bridge Between Two Continents – a man-made bridge which spans the visible gap between the tectonic plates of Europe, and those of North America.

England!!!

Internet in Africa continues to prove almost impossible to find, and while I am posting this entry today, it was actually written over a month ago! I hope to catch up soon!!!

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This evening I write from Etosha National Park, Namibia, a game-viewers paradise, and an absolutely spectacular home to my tent for two nights. Yesterday I ventured out on my first African game-drive, and was not disappointed! Ten lions, five rhino’s, dozens of zebra, giraffe, orix, kudu, springbok, hyenas and an elephant all joined forces to make my first day on safari one which I am sure not to forget. The Etosha campsite surrounds a stunning waterhole, and I apologise in advance for the standard of this entry – the 16 giraffe just metres in front of me, and the spectacular African sunset are sure to drag my concentration away from my computer screen!

"Aarhus, in the middle of our street..."

Today I write from Amman, Jordan, where I have spent the last couple of days in intense relaxation mode after what has been a week of extreme walking, climbing, and subsequent aching muscles, as I explored the ancient city of Petra, and the impressive sand dunes, rock faces and wadis of Wadi Rum. It’s been a sensational week, however I did learn the hard way never to trust a Pharmacist from Northern Ireland – as my planned leisurely stroll through the city of Petra turned into a waterfall-scrambling, rock-climbing, flab-converting race against the setting sun, as a seemingly straightforward adventure off the marked tourist trail dramatically turned into scenes reminiscent of Man vs. Wild. More of that in a future entry of course!

Later this afternoon, the next chapter of my adventure begins, and after a 26hr journey (including what is sure to be a thrilling 12hr overnight stopover in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia), I will be well and truly back in the southern hemisphere, as I begin the ‘Overland Africa’ leg of my adventure in Cape Town, South Africa. It is set to be one of the more unusual journeys of my trip – a distance of over 8000km, crossing the Equator, and both the Tropic of Capricorn and Tropic of Cancer – however while I will end up at a latitude just 1° north of Adelaide, the entire journey will take me across only one time zone! Having only ever travelled long haul to or from Australia, it seems preposterous I can travel that far without feeling the effects of jet lag… however I may feel the effects of sleeping on the floor in Jeddah Airport!!!

My last entry covered my travels up to Mamma’s Potatoes in Odense, Denmark, where I will pick up from today.

Mermaids, Mates and Mamma's Potatoes!

View from my room!

I write today from Cairo, Egypt – a country with evidence of human inhabitation dating back to the 10^th millennium BC, home to the famous Great Pyramids, Sphinx, River Nile, and The Valley of the Kings, and a country so recognisable it even has its own dance-move!!! However, even while surrounded by such rich history, and so many of the most iconic tourist attractions the world has to offer, it is in fact another aspect of Egypt which is more prevalent in my mind today – street food! It turns out my sensational dinner last night of Eggplant Baba Ghanoush, Arabic Bread, Ful Medames, Mahshi, Tahini, Molokhia, Pickled Chillies and a Fresh Salad (no doubt washed in the pristine waters of the Nile!) wasn’t in fact the best decision I have made on my travels. I’m not sure if it was the food, the water it was washed in, or the street vendors stall which very much resembled a portable public toilet block, with exposed plumbing, and a small gas stove on which my meal was cooked – but somewhere along the way the meal decided it didn’t really want to get along with my insides. However, while I lie on my bed in what I would like to rate as moderate-to-severe discomfort, and my guts feel more twisted and knotted than Tutankhamun’s bandages, it does give me an opportunity to catch up on my next blog!!! I’m sure the Egyptians have a God we can thank for that.

The Starr Spangled Banner - A Germerican Celebration!!!

Hamburg, Germany

It’s been almost six weeks since my last blog update – six weeks of great adventure, great fun… and judging by the Incredible-Hulk-like appearance of my shirt today, six weeks of way too much food! With the events of Awful-August now well and truly behind me, and Sensational-September living up to its name, I am now ready to catch up on my blog entries, and update you all on the events of the past six weeks.

My last entry (if you can remember back that far!) finished up in Bremen, on my way to Hamburg. Since then I have had a jam-packed adventure seeing the very best of Denmark, the UK, Iceland, Greece and Hungary – and meeting or catching up with a great assortment of amazing people along the way. To all those who let me into their homes (only once through an open window, thanks to the conveniently-skinny Eliza) families and lives over the last six weeks, I am incredibly grateful, and thank you for helping make this adventure the great success it has been. Also a big thanks to CSI Aaron, Adrienne, Dillon, Nick and Ali, Rachel, Eliza, Ros and Paul, and of course super-mum Amanda for helping me through the dramas of Awful-August – a month I am certain not to forget!

However, more importantly, this entry also signifies the inauguration of my brand new MacBook Air into the world of blogging! Replacing my MacBook Pro, the Air is a welcome addition to my carry-on luggage, and hopefully the slimming down of the computer may be contagious, and my five-months-in-Europe body may just follow suit!

I think that’s it for introductions – it’s time to get down to business!

I'm back!

I'm back!

After a month with no computer, I am finally back online!!! Of course, this also coincides with heading to Santorini, Greece, tomorrow morning, where I am sure to find better things to do than to update my blog entries... but I will do my best over the coming weeks to catch up!

Watch this space. And in the meantime, be jealous!

Edem Beach, Athens, Greece

Our not-so-bright trip to Brighton.

This morning I write from a crap Internet Cafe in Brighton, England, with computer keyboards which require Olympic strength to push individual keys, and an unusual smell which continues to waft from the ‘out of order’ bathroom directly next to me. Adding to the experience is the slight memory of last night, when Eliza, Aaron and I got ‘cakeholed’ at the hostel bar, and somehow ended up at a local cocktail lounge drinking only cocktails topped with whipped cream. MMM!

Unfortunately, after almost seven months of experiencing the very best of the human race, and meeting some of the most amazing, most hospitable and most generous people the world has to offer, two days ago, our luck ran out. The three of us went for a walk along the beach here in Brighton, leaving our luggage locked in a locker at the hostel, and unfortunately returned to find our bags somewhat emptier than we had left them. The padlock on the locker had been broken open, and the zip on my locked bag had been broken – and unfortunately it wasn’t my dirty washing that had been taken!

Sadly, I am now traveling minus my MacBook, camera charger and some foreign currency, and Eliza’s load has also been lightened thanks to the removal of her computer, bank cards and some other stuff in her bag. Luckily I had backed up all my photos a couple of weeks ago, so have only lost my photos of Germany and Denmark, and thanks to facebook, I still have some of these online. All my travel documents and vaccination certificates are now gone, as well as all my printed flight tickets, travel itinerary and insurance information – however we were lucky enough to be left a stolen mobile phone and camera in the bin next to Eliza’s bed... maybe the theif thought we would like to swap technology with some other unsuspecting victim?

Whodunnit???

While I am fairly angry to have lost my MacBook, it is the photos I am most disappointed about – and the fact my camera wasn’t stolen, but the theif decided to take my Australian camera charger (this is just plain annoying, and little use to anyone not in Australia!). The hostel security is fairly good, with the building, and then each room requiring a separate keycard to enter, and the manager went above and beyond to help us out and report the theft. One of the guests in our eight person dorm mysteriously left with all his luggage in the two hours we were down at the beach (even though he had a reservation to stay the night), and the hostel have passed his passport copy and credit card details on to the police – CSI Aaron has decided the guy is guilty, but even if he is, who knows if the passport and credit card were not stolen anyway? The police in Brighton have been extremely helpful, and thanks to the wonderful world of Apple and ‘Find My Mac’, I have been able to send through a map of an attempted sign on to the computer back in London the evening it was stolen.

Unfortunately this means I am computer-less for a while, and am going to have to find something else to do on the trains, buses and planes I usually write my blog entries on. It also means I will no doubt get behind with my entries, but I will do my best to write when I get the chance – and while it is extremely unlikely, I will continue to hold on to some hope I may one day get my photos back!

Pirates, pancakes and parties... My German adventure continues!

Today I write from Copenhagen, where I have spent the past week nursing the fragile Eliza back to full health, and enjoying the very best of what Denmark has to offer. It’s been a great week filled with great people, great weather, great food and great drink – but I’ll leave all that for another entry. For the moment, I will use my summer-tanned fingers to catch up on the rest of my time in Germany!

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Wernigerode is a small town in Harz, Central Germany, and was the next stop on my German adventure. The narrow streets of the old town are lined with countless gothic buildings, and the impressive Wernigerode Castle looks down over the city from within the Lustgarten on a surrounding hill. I spent my two days in Wernigerode wandering the small streets and alleyways of the town centre, exploring the gardens, and walking up to the castle to admire the impressive view. The town is home to an abundance of gift stores and boutiques (well out of my budget!) and had more kitchen gadgets and gizmos than I could have ever imagined – the Germans really have thought of everything!!!