So, I should have posted this ages ago, but my blog actually moved before I left for NZ on January 20. The address is now KristinsTravels.com. I know that one hasn’t been updated in a month, but a lot has happened since I landed in Australia. It’ll get updated with a massive post soon.
I know that it has been nearly forever and a day since I updated this blog. That tends to be my habit: get myself a nice, cozy piece of cyberspace, write for a little while, and then disappear. I had a reasonable excuse this time, though: one of my classes, Operating Systems, was eating my soul. For some reason, I decided that taking this plus 14 other hours of classes would be a good idea, and consequentially, I barely had time to sleep, much less update my forlorn little blog.
Puerto Rico was great. I still haven’t written most of the travel journals I intended to write on the many places we visited, but hopefully those will come along before the end of the summer. I have, however, written about pretty much everything I did on my recent trip to England, including the Three Peaks Challenge. In short, the weather was absolutely atrocious, with 40mph winds at the top of Snowdon (when we finally made it up there), 65mph winds on Scafell that made the entire group turn around 1/4 of the way up after the guides couldn’t stand up anymore, and snow, freezing temperatures, and terrible wind at the top of Ben Nevis. I unfortunately only summited Snowdon after suffering from carsickness on the drive there and the aftereffects (mostly nausea and heaving) while climbing the mountain. As I stated before, no one made it up Scafell Pike, and about 2/3 of the group made it to the summit of Ben Nevis. I did not make it after pulling my hip flexor muscle on Scafell; I was too slow and was holding the group back so therefore had to turn around.
That is a very, very condensed version of it all; click the link above to read my whole long-winded account of the weekend. IgoUgo has written quite a nice blog post about my trip as well, and I really enjoyed seeing that my being a little crazy touched others! In spite of the weather and the injuries, I still had a great time and would attempt the Challenge again in a flash, so I can summit all three peaks this time! Not only did I meet a lot of cool people on the trip, I also raised £590 for the sign a shirt for an internet friend’s son, Tom, who came down with meningitis last year and, as a result, lost his ability to hear. He is fortunately doing much better now after having 2 cochlear implants. It was so great to see how much people cared and to hear how many questions they asked about how Tom was doing now, and it was really a great way to end the weekend.
So, in conclusion, you should try the Three Peaks Challenge too, if you are anywhere near England in the summer. Just work out a little bit more than I did beforehand (meaning, of course, don’t take Operating Systems!).
My next travel adventure starts on August 2, the day after I finish my internship. I’m heading off to Oz to see James for three weeks, since it’s been five months since we last saw each other! I’m not going to be gadding about Australia–I’m much more content to just see James for a while–but I’ll probably go to the Ekka and back to Straddy, which is off the coast near Brisbane. Over Labor Day, I’m going to visit my friend Liz in New York, and I’m really excited both to see her and the city, since I’ve never actually visited NY before! I felt that it was a city I should see before leaving the country for good next year.
Next year brings my backpacking trip around New Zealand, which I’ve just started planning and am very excited about. I hope to be there for at least three months, mostly going tramping (NZ’s form of hiking) around the backwoods and doing the other outdoorsy things that NZ is famous for, like kayaking and abseiling. After I’ve worn myself out/run out of money/run out of time on my visa, I’m heading back to Brisbane for the rest of the year and hopefully finding myself a job!
I’ve had another article published on Bootsnall! The Pharmacist’s Honest Opinion can be found here.
I’m in my last class before Spring Break starts! My plane for Puerto Rico takes off tomorrow morning, and then it’s a week of seeing everything we can possibly see. Sunday starts it off with a trip to Old San Juan, the Bacardi Factory (which is free and gives you a voucher for two free drinks!) and the place where piña coladas were originally made. We all can’t wait–I’m even happy about packing, which is how excited I am!
I was very proud of myself last week–I managed to run about 8 miles and do a little bit of elliptical training and soccer in between all that. Unfortunately, I think I’ve hit the trails a little too hard, after being a little out-of-shape and out-of-practice for quite a while. My ankles started throbbing midway through my run on Thursday; I thought it would go away, but unfortunately, it only got worse when I finished the run. By Friday afternoon they were feeling alright, but the soccer game I played on Saturday just made them hurt again. As of Monday evening, I can still feel them, although not nearly as much as I originally did on Thursday.
I don’t think it is tendonitis pain, since it is in both ankles; they are probably just inflamed from running after only doing low-impact elliptical infrequently for so long. At least, this is what I hope. I tried to do the elliptical yesterday, and only made it through 10 minutes, and I’ve decided it might be a good idea to take today off, especially since I am going to Puerto Rico on Sunday and do not want to jeopardize everything we plan on doing there. I also invested in some slip-on ankle braces to give a little extra support during the workouts.
Fundraising for the Three Peaks is chugging along. My fundraising site is located here (you know, in case you’d like to donate and help out the Meningitis Trust, a great charity that helps out survivors of meningitis and their families). So far, I’ve raised £125. I have to raise £140 more by the middle of April, and £110 more than that by the middle of June.
Speaking of fundraising, I was especially touched when I got a message from Jay, who writes the blog at mysontom.com. Tom was 20 months old when he contracted meningitis, which put him into a coma for 5 days. When he woke up, he was profoundly deaf. He now has cochlear implants in both ears and is doing incredibly well–I definitely recommend reading his father’s blog, because it is incredibly touching and emotional. Plus, Tom is adorable–I especially recommend the “Tom gets a racecar bed” video. The Meningitis Trust has helped out their family immensely, and it was great to hear a personal story about the charity that I am doing my best to help as much as possible.
And finally, I’m going to Puerto Rico on Saturday! Since it’s our senior year (even though I’m not graduating until December), 11 friends and I are spending a week there. One of my friends’ parents (who are awesome) are taking us around the island and showing us as much as possible. We’re planning on visiting Old San Juan, Ponce, Vieques (which is an island off of Puerto Rico and has a wonderful bioluminescent bay that we’ll be snorkeling/kayaking in), El Yunque rainforest and the Camuy caves, to name a few. In between all that, we’ll be lying on the beach, drinking piña coladas, and generally soaking in the tropical goodness. Plus, we’ve never been on a big group trip before, so that’ll be fun, and possibly interesting. Hopefully we won’t kill each other by the end of the week!
I hope that I’ll be able to update this every night as we go along, but I’m certain that we won’t have internet for at least two nights, and I’m not sure about the other nights. So, chances are, there will be a whole lot of updates from my handwritten journals starting about March 11.
I know it’s been a long time since I updated, but my boyfriend left the country after his two week vacation here, and I’ve been insanely busy with schoolwork. It’s been a while since I’ve had a blog, and I need to get back in the swing of updating often, rather than updating once and then leaving it idle for months.
Anyway, something that has been all over the news in Australia-although perhaps not quite as much as crazy astronauts and Anna Nicole Smith are here–is the saga of Ralph Fiennes and the stewardess. Apparently, on a flight from Australia to Mumbai, where Ralph was going to speak about HIV awareness, he had crazy, unprotected sex in a lavatory with a stewardess, who later denied everything, claiming he followed her into the toilet and forced himself on her. She has now said that, in fact, she did have sex with him, and did so four times more in his hotel suite in Mumbai. Unsurprisingly, she has lost her job with Qantas, who don’t particularly enjoy being associated with the image of flight attendants who never wear underwear to work. I thought the funniest part of this whole thing was this article, published in the Sydney Morning Herald. This was my favorite part:
The Mail then followed up with a story about the “debauched business” of flight attendantry, commissioning a piece from Imogen Edwards-Jones, author of Air Babylon, a novel about the seedy side of the flight industry.
She describes a boozy, drug-fuelled environment, with flight attendants ripping us off during the Duty Free trolley runs, stashing alcohol around the plane as well as drugs under toilets in frequently visited hotels and stashing the corpses of passengers who died onboard in toilets.
“So next time you’re onboard and that ‘toilet engaged’ sign appears to be permanently on, there’s probably a good reason. There could be a dead body inside,” Edwards-Jones writes.
Ok, I can understand flight attendants having sex in the bathrooms–there is something called the Mile High Club and they have plenty of time in which to join it on those 14-hour Sydney-LA flights. I’m sure that it happens more often than it ends up in the newspapers–only the flight attendants that have sex with celebrities and then lie about it get that honor. But dead bodies? How many “corpses of passengers who died onboard” could there possibly be on an average airplane? I would certainly think I would notice if someone died on the plane, especially since there would probably be an uproar around said person and a call for a doctor. And really, who wants to think that when the door is permanently locked that there is a dead body waiting inside? I can certainly think of much nicer thoughts to have whilst locked inside a giant metal cylinder at 35,000 feet.
Speaking of giant metal tubes–I’ve bought my ticket to England for this summer, so I am definitely going! I can’t wait to see my grandparents–although I’ll be getting to see them a lot sooner when they land in Houston in three weeks. I also can’t wait for the Three Peaks Challenge, although I’m glad there’s quite a bit of time between now and then to train! I’ve decided somewhat on a training regimen, although I haven’t gotten the official packet yet with training recommendations. I think that I will be running 3 miles outside every other day, and then doing the elliptical and stair stepper on the days I don’t run, with one day off per week. We’ll see how long that lasts. I ran most of three miles yesterday, although it got rather dark so I cut off the end of the trail, since I’ve heard of entirely too many robbings/flashings/other bad behavior after dark there.
My running was very much helped by my new Camelbak, which I slung over my back before I took off. It’s an amazing thing, and a very good investment. No more having to stop to drink water for fear of sloshing it everywhere! It wasn’t a bad deal either, since I used gift certificates, earned on IgoUgo to buy it. I also bought a decent pair of hiking boots to break in–Vasque Breeze GTX XCRs. I tried them on at REI and they feel great on my feet. Plus, they are partially made from Gore-Tex, so they are waterproof but breathable–very important for hiking in Britain during the summer! I got lucky on those, too, since I found them for $100 online when they cost $145 at REI. Now I feel like I can honestly be a member of Bootsnall, because I own a real pair of hiking boots!
Last week I had my first article published on Bootsnall. It’s about my mountain climbing adventure with my Aussie friend Michelle. See it here!
I know it’s been awhile since I’ve updated, but James arrived on Australia Day and I’ve been trying to spend as much time with him as possible, since he’s only here for two weeks and I won’t get to see him again for 5 1/2 months. We had a good Australia Day, complete with an Aussie BBQ. No, James didn’t put shrimp on the barbie, but we did have great steak burgers, caramelized sweet potatoes, and potato wedges with sweet chili & sour cream.
The big news I got yesterday was that I was accepted to the Three Peaks Challenge in May! I thought I’d be pretty low on the waiting list, having only applied for a spot in January, but apparently someone dropped out and I’m in. Even better was that I talked to my grandparents about it, and they approved and somewhat promised not to try to drive me to Bristol. That means I’m actually going! I had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I probably wouldn’t go because my mother was so dead-set against asking my grandparents to let me go, so I’m just amazed right now, and so excited. I’m filling out the official forms tomorrow and am going to set up a justgiving website to start raising money for the Meningitis Trust. I think I can raise the £375 in time, and hopefully can raise even more for the cause. Now, to start training and get hiking boots to break in…
So the Australian Open is in its second week, and the field is slowly wittling down to the one winner. It’s been a good tournament to watch, even though it has had its off-the-court dramas–including nationalistic fighting between Serbs & Croats, a child being assaulted in the toilets, and multiple men charged with taking pictures up women’s skirts as they walk around the grounds. It really is sad that all of those incidents have happened, since the Aussie Open is known for its happy-go-lucky nature and the joy the fans bring to the game.
I was sad to see James Blake lose in three to Fernando Gonzalez, especially since he had so many chances. Even though I’m not the huge fan of him that I used to be, I still like to see him win, but Fernando was playing absolutely astounding tennis, and Rafa will have a hard time with him if he keeps playing that way. I’m surprised that I’ve been happy to see Roddick do so well; it might just be because I like Jimmy Connors…I’m not surprised at all, though, that I still don’t like Serena Williams.
James told me I was un-Australian for being excited when Lleyton Hewitt lost, but I told him that I can’t cheer for someone just because of their country unless it is a country-based competition. Tennis is only that way in Davis Cup and Fed Cup; I will cheer for Lleyton solely because he is Australian there and there only. Otherwise, I can’t stand him.
On the Three Peaks front, I have been put on the waiting list, with the official coordinator of the Challenge yet to get back to me, since he was on vacation for the last week. Since I have a friend that has offered to let me join the group she is walking with and since I will only be in England for the challenge in May, I hold out some hope that I will get in off the waiting list. It’s really just a game of wait-and-see though. I’ll be very excited if I get to do the walk, but if not, I will give to the cause, cheer on those that are doing it this year, and hope that I can do it another year.
Thanks to those that commented on my last entry; reading the blogs and other information sent to me made me even more excited about the Challenge. It’s good to have people cheering you on, too!
I got an interesting email from a friend a couple days ago, asking for help for her friend. She needed donations from people willing to sponsor her climb of the three tallest peaks in Great Britain–Snowdon (in Wales and 1085m tall), Scafell Pike (in England and 978m tall), and Ben Nevis (in Scotland and 1344m tall). This is a challenge done by the Meningitis Trust three times a year to help support those that are currently fighting meningitis and those that have been affected by it. Many other groups do this climb as well–apparently thousands make the trek every year–but this one involves raising money directly for the charity and importantly, doesn’t require you to organize teams or transportation, since the mountains are a good 500 miles apart by road. The Three Peaks Challenge is done in the span of 36 hours, starting on Snowdon and ending on Ben Nevis the next day.
This email not only inspired me to give money, but also to consider doing the climb myself. I will be in England during the first climb (May 18-20), and I think it would be an amazing experience. I loved climbing the mini-mountains of the Glass House Mountains in Queensland, Australia, and doing the Tongariro Crossing (an 11-mile hike around the three volcanoes south of Lake Taupo in NZ), and this would be just a step further. I’m already working on my fitness as it is, and it’s always easier to stay in shape when you have a goal to work towards. Plus, I’d be raising money for a good cause, so I would not only be accomplishing all this for myself, but for those I’ve helped with the money I’ve raised.
Of course, one of the issues is time. It’s January and I’m just now considering doing the walk, but I figure that I can raise the money in that amount of time, as long as I make a decision soon. The only main problem is the idea of asking my grandparents. They are the reason for my visit to England; I haven’t visited them there since 2004 because I’ve been hopping over to Australia every chance I get, so it’ll be great to spend time with them. The challenge will only be a couple days, and I will be able to catch the train to the starting point and back; the only thing my parents and I worry about is worrying them. I don’t want to stress them out and make them feel they have to drive me all over the country and make sure that I don’t fall off any mountains. After all, I am rather clumsy and ended up in the hospital on my last visit to England…after falling into a parked car…but, all of my accidents have been stupid, while doing mundane activities. I’ve been fine on all of the adventure activities I’ve done in NZ and Australia (knock on wood). I’ll have to see–as much as I would thoroughly enjoy this opportunity (as much as I may not claim that while making my way to the final peak), I do not want to inconvenience my grandparents or give them any undue stress. All I can do is ask and listen to their reaction.
We’ll see what happens, but I can hope.
Also, James (my boyfriend) has just bought his ticket to visit me! He’ll be arriving on Australia Day–January 26th–just in time to celebrate the holiday with lots of my favorite Bundaberg Rum and Tim Tams. Maybe we’ll even have a BBQ with plenty of lamb–as long as the weather isn’t as bloody freezing as it is right now (we’re hovering around freezing and might be covered in ice by tomorrow morning!). Can’t wait til he gets here, since it’s been nearly 5 months since I left Oz.
In browsing the SMH website last night, I found that Terri Irwin has been appointed as Australia’s “tourism ambassador”. I was a bit skeptical of this decision at first, but I think it’s actually a pretty good idea. Even though she isn’t a hot 18-year-old model (Lara Bingle, as seen in the “Where the bloody hell are you?” Australia commercials) or a cute 8-year-old kid (her daughter, Bindi, was rumored to be replacing Bingle), I think she’ll work. Plus, Bindi really didn’t need to be appointed to a position like that at the age of 8 years old. People claim she is overworked and shouldn’t be doing such a heavy press tour of America so soon after her father’s death (even though she had planned to take this trip with her father), but she has been in front of the cameras from the minute she was born, and that’s where she is most comfortable. Yes, it’s a bit disconcerting that she has always seemed so composed even though her beloved father just died, but I think Terri is the one that can judge what is best for her own daughter. When I went to Australia Zoo in early 2005, they were selling Bindi t-shirts and action figures, so it’s not like it’s something new that she’s been thrust into since her father’s death. However, I didn’t think it was a good idea to put it on her to sell Australia. That is not something she was doing before her dad died and put a lot more spotlight on her than is good for her–unless people want her to turn into another Mary-Kate Olsen or something like that.
Even though I find it funny that Terri is American and has been chosen to represent Australia, it’s a good choice. As the article says, she came to Australia first as a tourist, then “met a hunky bloke” and moved there. Even though she doesn’t have the fun accent that Americans love (as noted when my boyfriend, James, came over last year and was promptly asked to say words like “dingo”), she first saw the country through the eyes of an American abroad and can market it in that way. It doesn’t hurt that Americans loved her husband like Crocodile Dundee either.
Unfortunately, I can’t see her saying a “bad” word like “bloody,” which got the last campaign a lot of coverage when Britain banned and then unbanned the commercial. But, she’ll be able to pull out a koala or wombat and make the collective masses go “awwwwww….” instead. God knows that’s the first thing everyone asked me when I came home–”Did you hold a koala? Did you see kangaroos? Did you get bitten by anything poisonous?” Throw in any of the beautiful scenery that Australia is awash in and she’ll be all set.
