Category Archives: Adventure

Canada By Car: Leg 8 – Go West!

May 24, 2015 Thomas Takes On.... Leave a comment

My trip East lasted a good three months, but my venture west lasted no longer than 9 days of speedy travelling. I got a relocate a car through a website http://www.hittheroad.ca and had to relocate it from Montreal to Vancouver.

I first picked up the car, drove it back to Toronto to collect my piles of junk that I needed to transport across the country. From Toronto I advertised for a ride share and picked up a guy, Andrew to drive up north to Sault Ste. Marie. It was a long drive, but we got there eventually and Andrew was kind enough to offer me a bed at his house given that I was planning on camping outside and it was raining. We went out for dinner and he showed me around ‘the Soo’ before getting a good nights rest and hitting the road again.

Mont to Van Road Trip 073 — The Wawa Goose

The second day on the road was sheer craziness. I stopped through Pancake Bay, hiked through the Lake Superior Provincial Park and viewed the petroglyphs left by the natives. Of course heading through up into the far reaches of Ontario, it wouldn’t be complete without a stop to visit the Wawa Goose and the hometown of Winnie the Pooh in White River.

Mont to Van Road Trip 082 — Winnie the Pooh in his hometown of White River

I managed to push on and get to Thunder Bay for the evening staying in a small hostel. Along the way I stopped off and paid my respects to Terry Fox at his highway marker where he ended his massive run across Canada to help raise money for cancer, the same disease that eventually took his life after it took his leg. I also went to the giant Terry Fox statue that overlooks the highway overpass and was quite moved by how inspirational he was as a person.

Mont to Van Road Trip 109 — The Terry Fox Memorial. Incredibly moving story.

Day three and we are on to Winnipeg. Getting out of Ontario literally takes forever and I never thought I would get there but eventually we see the sign ‘Welcome to Manitoba’. It rained for majority of the way and was still raining when I got to Winnipeg. I walked around the town center for a little while before calling it a night.

2013-07-26 14.16.22 — The stunning views driving across the Canadian Praries

The next leg was from Winnipeg through to Regina where I was fortunate enough to catch up with some friends that I hadn’t seen in five years that I met while travelling New Zealand. I went out with them and a few of their friends for dinner in downtown Regina and it was a heap of fun.

On next to Calgary. But not before stopping along the way at the famous town of Moose Jaw to do a couple of the underground tours through the tunnels where Al Capone used to smuggle his alcohol during the prohibition. The tunnels are also where the Chinese used to live after the construction of the Canadian Railway lines from east to west as the locals did not treat the Chinese very fairly and most of them couldn’t afford their passage home after the head tax that the government imposed and the poor wages. It was a super interesting historical site and one of my favourite across Canada.

Eventually I arrived in Calgary which was to become my home at a later date so I spent some time getting to know her as a city for a day or so before heading on to the amazing town of Banff, nestled in the Banff National Park. After doing the Sulfur Mountain hike, I had dinner at the Spaghetti Factory and then crashed out.

Banff Hiking Day 027 — Incredible views from the top of Sulfur Mountain

The drive through the stunning Rocky Mountains was incredible and hands down the most amazing drive I have ever done. As I continued on, I stopped at Lake Louise and Moraine Lake to check out these most stunning picturesque lakes that form the postcards that you see most of Banff.

I continued to drive through the Yoho and Glacier National Park and then on to the Okanagan region to Kelowna where I stopped off for the evening. The region was beautiful and I got to go for a walk and check out the stunning views over the city before getting my last good sleep in before heading to Vancouver.

On the drive the next day to Vancouver, I decided to make a call and try and book into my accommodation. Unfortunately for me I had come to the realization that with a Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z concert all on in one night that accommodation in Vancouver was fairly booked out. After a meltdown and lots of phonecalls, I finally got lucky with a cancellation and found a place to crash for the evening. I dropped off my bags, delivered the car to the woman who I drove it for and set off on my way back to the hostel. I have gone from the eastern most point of Canada to here so far. It was time to make it as far west as I could. It was time to go to Vancouver Island.

For Vancouver Island adventures, check out my next blog!

Adventure, Road Trip, Travel

Canada by Car: Leg 7 – Nova Scotia to Home

May 17, 2015 Thomas Takes On.... Leave a comment

Spent the morning walking around Lunenburg discovering the town and then headed over to go and see the famous Canadian boat the Bluenose before jumping back into the car and driving to Hunt’s Point for the evening to camp upon its serene beaches.

nova south 018 — Replica of the famous Bluenose

The next day it was on to the Kejimkujik Seaside National Park to walk along the white sand beaches. It had still been raining quite heavily and it was getting quite tiring. We drove on to Yarmouth and for the first time in nearly 3 months checked into a hotel.

It was then onto the town of Digby, famous for its scallops and we bought a stack of them from the local fishermen and fried them up in the fry pan with a variety of different seasonings. We explored through the Digby Neck area and went to Long Island and Brier Island before moving on to Whale Cove to spend the night, narrowly avoiding yet another massive wind storm.

Next stop was the town of Annapolis Royal where we went to the Fort-Royal Historical Site for the day and stopped in to see the only tidal power generator in North America as the Bay of Fundy has some of the largest tides in the world. Spent the night camping in another part of the Kejimkujik National Park and woke up in the middle of the night with the wolves howling at a creepily close distance to our tent.

Nova Scotia South 010 — Fort-Royale at Annapolis Royal

This was the last of Nova Scotia, and so we bid it a due as we set off towards the Prince Edward Island ferry for some time in the red dirt. There are a couple of things that you just can’t miss on PEI. Of course there is the famous Cows Creamery with a million different flavours and funny t-shirts, there is the Green Gables farm where the famous book Anne of Green Gables was set and going to get your very own PEI ‘dirt shirt’, which they dye with the rich red soil. We also stopped in and went to the theatre to see “Anne of Green Gables – The Musical” before calling our trip to PEI to an end.

On the giant list of places to go that I had been crossing off diligently as we travelled around was the Fundy Geological Museum which had dinosaur fossils and other fossils that I was interested in going to visit. This is also coupled with a trip to the Joggins Fossil Cliffs which have millions of fossils scattered along the beach in majority of the stones. Some people make massive finds and they allow them to put their fossils in the museum with their names on it but unfortunately there is no way of taking fossils with you as it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

end of trip 077 — Petrified wood at the Joggins Fossil Cliffs

The last thing on the list of things to see was the Hopewell Rocks. We went that night when the tide over the Bay of Fundy was high, and then again in the morning and walked along the beach beside them. They were beautiful, but again as we were walking the thunderstorms were again rolling in. After all of the storms and being continuously wet, we decided to call it quits on the road trip and go home. After a full day of driving through the United States until 1am and then sleeping in the car in a carpark and then getting up and going again, we finally made it back to Canada. First stop Montreal, and then it was back to Toronto and back to reality. What an amazing trip! I can’t recommend seeing eastern Canada enough, it really is a spectacular place!

end of trip 104 — Hopewell Rocks at low tide

If you enjoyed reading about Canada by Car heading east, check out in upcoming installments what happens when I decided to go west!

Adventure, Camping, Hiking, Road Trip, Travel

Canada By Car: Leg 5 Newfoundland East Coast

May 2, 2015 Thomas Takes On.... Leave a comment

Our first pit stop out of Eastport was through to Cape St. Mary’s where we went to the bird sanctuary and marveled at the myriads of gannets hanging about on the cliff face. Then it was on to the major town of St. John’s. Went to go and visit Mistaken point along the way but didn’t realize that we were too late for the fossil tours though I did find a fossil on the ground that I cheekily took home with me.

P1210791 — Gannets on the cliff face at Cape St. Mary’s

We spent the night down on the main street of St. John’s, George St. We danced through the Newfoundland pubs to traditional Newfie and Irish music before having a feast of street meat on the way home. During this evening we became aware of this thing that locals enforce upon tourists called getting ‘screeched in’. It involves singing some random Newfie song that nobody understands, kissing a cod and doing a shot of screech. We beared witness to quite a few people getting screeched in, however I was not up for the screech that day so I passed.

The next day was spent wandering around Signal Hill and playing pool in the Duke of Duckworth’s pub, recommended to us by a local for some special reason that we didn’t manage to figure out. And post this it was time to hit the road again.

Up to Conception Bay and then around to Trinity Bay, we stopped along at the most famous town of Newfoundland, the aptly named Dildo. I couldn’t stop giggling as I took photos of all things Dildo. I even wen and had my photo with the famous Captain Dildo with my hand inappropriately near his bits for shits and giggles. Went and drove through Cape Spear and then on to Charleton for the evening to camp.

Woke up the following morning surrounded by a moat as it had rained so heavily overnight that we were swimming in the tent. So after quickly packing up, we drove up to Cape Bonavista where John Cabot famously (and apparently) landed in 1497. There were stunning Inukshuk built across the entire landscape, a native Inuit symbol to point the way, and they were just beautiful. But given the weather being so horrid, we drove our way back to the farm for the evening.

travel 031 — Inukshuk all over the hill at Cape Bonavista

I spent the next couple of days in the kitchen cutting zucchinis, cooking breakfasts and all meals for people. There were now 8 people staying on the farm and manning the kitchen had become somewhat of a full time job, but one that I really enjoyed. In the midst of this we took a well deserved day off to go and see the Terra Nova National Park and hiked along the Coastal Trail and the Blue Hill before it again started to rain.

more farm 016 — Views through the Terra Nova National Park

One of the days decreed a no work day we headed up out onto the point and between us collected about 6 pounds of chanterelle mushrooms that were worth quite a bit in the shops if you are to buy them but are in massive abundance in this area and nobody seems to pay too much attention. The mushrooms were spread out on the table as we brushed all of the dirt off them and cleaned them and then after we cooked them all in a pan with butter and ate the lot of them between us! Utterly delicious!

chanterelles 005 — Our 6 pound chanterelle mushroom haul

This was my last night I spent at the farm before heading off. We played ‘fetch the stone in the ocean’ with the confused dogs and collected some blueberries for the road before heading off onto the road and beyond in again, a giant thundercloud of heavy rain.

newfies 006 — Zeus trying to come with us

Check out the last of the Newfoundland adventures in the next installment!

Adventure, Learning, Life, Travel

Happy Holi!!!

April 18, 2015 Thomas Takes On.... Leave a comment

Ever since I heard that Holi was on the fifth of March this year I have been excited. I actually pre-organized my treks and my flight to Nepal around my desperate want to experience Holi. So to say that I was excited was an understatement. I was literally like a five year old kid on Christmas.

I got up in the morning, put on my white t-shirt and my blue and white elephant pants from Thailand and headed downstairs in the hostel to get my breakfast and see the gang. I was sitting on the balcony when the first water bomb was thrown by the kids next door from the rooftop. I started laughing and then joined back in. We started to throw water bombs back but they had the height advantage so it was a little more difficult for us. The hostel staff gave me my first colour in the form of a blessing on my forehead and then I started out down the road to meet the local family I was spending Holi with.

holi 002 — Hanging with the hostel boys getting bombarded by the neighbours

When I arrived in the neighbourhood I had no idea where I was going. I started asking around the locals and they pointed me in the right direction. Once I found where I was going I met up with the family and headed out with one of the boys to explore the neighbourhood. Apparently the locals had heard I was coming and I was a wanted target. I met many groups of kids with water bombs and buckets of water and all of them seemed to be coming my way. I was laughing hysterically and having the best time of it.

holi 008 — Hanging out with the family at lunch

We eventually wound up at one of the neighbours houses on the roof. I am drowned in water and covered in some colour at this point and the war from the rooftops was about to begin. There was a lone kid on the adjacent roof and he was appearing hard to hit. A cheeky and wiry kid. He got some pretty decent shots in on us too.

holi 013 — The enemy… neighbourhood kids. Cheeky things!

After eating lunch, we continued to explore the streets and get bombarded with more water bombs and colour before the massive rooftop war between three houses began down the road. I was half stung on a bottle of red wine that they fed me at breakfast so my aim was terrible but I managed to get a few good shots in on unsuspecting neighbours reading newspapers and then when the plastic bags to put the water in ran out, we all danced Nepali dance on the rooftops for an hour before heading downtown to Thamel.

holi 021 — Dancing on the rooftop with the girls

Thamel was craziness. There were tourists and locals everywhere walking around throwing colour everywhere. Given how wet I was from the massive water fight the colour stuck to me like glue. I was a rainbow of pink, purple, blue, orange, green and yellow powders that eventually covered me to a point of unrecognizable. People would take the colour in their hands and wipe it over your face saying ‘Happy Holi’ in a blessing. By the end of the hour I spent in Thamel, I had it caked in my hair, my face was fluorescent pink and I was a total mess. But I had had the best fun I have had in my life. I even had colour in my teeth given that I ate so much of it while I was laughing.

holi 045 — The product of Thamel Holi street warfare

Post washing, I still have colour in my hair, my face is still dyed pink and so is my hand and I have one yellow boob and one green one. Quite funny. Every time I look at my dyed skin I smile and remember. What a wonderful and fun celebration that allows people to be kids and just play for the day. If only more people would embrace and play every day in life.

holi 056 — Post face washing…. still stained pink… 😛

I did think many times during the day back to when I was a kid and we would have birthday parties at the bike centre and my Dad would always play devil’s advocate and bring massive amounts of water bombs and water pistols and start up a massive war. It would always be every kid in the place against him, but he would get his own on most of them first before they would bail him up in the toilet and start pouring water over the toilet door. Parents would get mad because their kids would all be wet going home. But what is a bit of water? Especially when it creates so many smiles. The only thing that could have made my Holi better would have been having my family there. Given the amount of warfare we are used to with these fights as kids, the five of us would have been a formidable Holi force to be reckoned with!

Adventure, Camping, Road Trip, Travel

Canada By Car: Leg 3 – Newfie Newfoundland Part 1

March 28, 2015 Thomas Takes On.... Leave a comment

On little to no sleep after a shocking boat ride, we arrived in Newfoundland. My eyes widened as the beautifully stunning, rocky cliff faces and mountains appeared around us as we drove getting off the boat. We got as far as Corner Brook and spent the afternoon relaxing in the sun on the lawn with the locals and taking a nap.

more newfie scotias 073 — The stunning views driving off the boat at Port-aux-Basque, Newfoundland.

We continued on driving from here to Pasadena where we were looking for our campground. We got a little lost but in turning around in an old guys lane way we were greeted local style with a guy yelling at us to get out of his drive way or he would kill us and he was going inside to get his gun. Just a touch scary….

We drove the next day through to a place called Leading Tickes and camped on the most spectacular beach . There was black rock sand and mountains jolting out of the water. We sat and took it all in as we ate raspberry and apple pie for dessert and watched the sunset. Life doesn’t get much better. Except for with a crossword puzzle by the fire.

Newfoundland1 005 — The stunning black rock beach at Leading Tickles

The following day was off to Twillingate after a short hike up the mountain in the morning at Leading Tickles. We stopped in to see the giant whale skeleton and I was greeted by a man who had a lagerphone, a giant broom pole with bottle caps nailed to the side of it and a gumboot on the bottom. It is a makeshift musical instrument that they play by stomping the boot on the ground and hitting the broom stick with another smaller stick. We have them in Australia as well so the guy in the shop was super excited to pull one out and play it for me.

Newfoundland1 060 — The Newfie Lagerphone

We bought a cod for dinner from a local store and set up at the campground for dinner. Then we went off to go and watch the local entertainment for the evening, The Split Peas. The band consisted of 7 Newfie women and they were incredible as they went through a whole bunch of traditional folk songs from the area and some they had written themselves. They fed us with traditional toutons and partridge berry jam. I was singing songs for the next week afterwards I loved it that much.

I spent the morning talking to our Aussie camping neighbours. They managed to entice me over the fence with the jar of Vegemite they were sporting and we chatted about home things. It was nice to have that familiarity for a while. From here it was on to check out the Long Point Lighthouse before driving down to Eastport where we had arranged a work for stay for a week or so. Of course stopping off to have a crack at eating my first moose burger.

Newfoundland1 081 — Mmmm…. Moose burger!

I was excited as it was the first time I was going to be doing a work for stay and who knew what it would hold. Little did I know as I was driving up the laneway that it was going to be one of the most amazing adventures that I would have.

Check out my stay at Eastport Organics in the next installment!

Adventure, Camping, Hiking, Road Trip, Travel

Canada By Car: Leg 2 – Through New Brunswick and Nova Scotia

March 21, 2015 Thomas Takes On.... Leave a comment

After three weeks in Quebec we moved on into New Brunswick. After passing through the point in Caraquet we went to the Arcadian Historical Village for a visit. They had a set from the 1600’s with actors playing characters from the era. It was really cool to see how the place operated when it was in its original day.

Trip 039 — Traditional bread making at the Arcadian Historical Village, Caraquet

On the way south from here we arrived in Miramichi to torrential downpours and decided that there was no point trying to pitch a tent in this kind of weather so we went to see a movie in the cinema, parked the car in McDonalds and slept in the car close to wifi access.

After another day of driving in huge torrential downpours through Moncton, we decided to continue on to Picton, Nova Scotia. We were kindly graced with a free campsite by a kind man who took pity on us pitching a tent in the ridiculous weather with all of the puddles about, so we crashed out for the night and continued driving until we got to Cape Breton Island.

Dunvegan was where we landed when the storm finally cleared. We set up camp in a stunning spot right on the beach that reminded me of home. I picked some wild raspberries from the bushes and we set up and ate dinner by the beach.

Tripa 004 — Beautiful sunset over the beach at Dunvegan

We continued driving north and made it to the the Cape Breton Highlands National Park where we did the Skyline hike out to the point. I ate wild raspberries and blueberries along the boardwalk all the way out to the point. From here there was more blueberries and raspberries eaten along the Neils Bay coastline hike along the beach. I got pretty bad sunstroke and spent most of the afternoon sleeping in the car on the way to Sydney, Nova Scotia.

Tripa 032 — View along the trail at the Cape Breton Highlands National Park

North Sydney sucked as a town. There wasn’t much to do there. But in the glorious graces it turned out to be lobster season so we drove down to the lobster shop and ordered a lobster for them to cook for us. I sat on the pier and cracked the lobster claws with a multitool…. my first ever lobster. I have eaten Tasmanian rock lobster or as we call it ‘crayfish’ at home but they look nothing like these lobsters and as such I was excited.

Tripa 056 — Playing with my food! My first ever lobster!!

After the lobster dinner by the water, we snuck in to watch Ted and The Watch at the movies with plenty of time to kill before catching the ferry to Newfoundland. After the movies we drove back to the ferry dock and found a stray dog running all over the road. He appeared to be lost and we were worried he was going to get hit by a car so we sat and stayed with him and called the RSPCA to come and get him to find out where he lived. After a couple of hours sitting with the pup, we said goodbye, and we went to catch the ferry to Newfoundland, the province I was most excited about seeing….

For the next installment of Canada by Car stay tuned…..

Adventure, Road Trip, Travel

Canada By Car: Leg 1 – Driving through Quebec

March 14, 2015 Thomas Takes On.... Leave a comment

For the next couple of weeks I will be busy hiking in some of the most spectacular mountains in the world through the Himalayas, wifi-free of course, so the next couple of weeks are going to be like a Throwback Thursday on Saturdays. Here’s my adventure across Canada! Enjoy and there will be mountain blogs when I am off the mountain! Nameste!

I have been fortunate enough in the time that I spent in Canada to be able to have made it from the eastern most point in the country in Newfoundland, to the western most point of Canada on Vancouver Island. After living in Ontario for most of my time in Canada, my first other province to visit was Quebec and I spent three weeks here gallivanting around and having a fabulous time. So because we always start at the beginning, I will start at the very beginning of my Canadian exploration and we shall continue on through the provinces in coming weeks.

It all started in Montreal with a visit to the Red Path Museum of Natural History at the McGill University, which I really enjoyed. But the thing that stood out to me the most at this time in Montreal was the Jazz Festival that was kicking on with much craziness in the streets. I went down with a bunch of people that I didn’t know and started dancing with randoms to this incredible brass band playing their instruments in the street. My road trip had started with a party! The best possible way to start!

quebec city 029 — Loom weaving in the streets of Montreal

The party continued as we drove into Quebec City. For some reason that we did not know at the time, as we drove into the old quarters to our accommodation and was greeted with a shower of streamers falling from the sky. It turns out that the Festival d’ete’ du Quebec and I had arrived at the same time and we were in for a huge party. After checking into the hostel, we walked down to the highway underpass where they had strung up a stage and a huge lighting set up for the free Cirque du Soleil show for the evening. It was absolutely incredible and I was on the biggest high.

quebec city 046 — Cirque du Soleil show under the highway underpass

The second day in Quebec City was spent wandering around and checking out the citadel, the Notre Dame Basilica where we visited the crypt under the basilica, danced through the streets to numerous bands that were playing and went to the giant movie projected on the windmill down by the river. Of the most interesting and yet naughty behaviour that I got up to that day was when I visited the Chateau Frontenac, the most expensive hotel in Quebec. We managed to sneak in and up the elevators and were wondering around the floors of this amazing old building and looking out of the windows at the ends of each of the corridors at the views when we pass a maids cart. In these maids carts are very expensive Le Labo 31 New York designer shampoos, conditioners, body washes and soap. Being a pov traveller, the handbag opened up and more than a few samples went shoveled in and then off we go. I must have been the most fabulous smelling backpacker in the world for the next month. It was also in Quebec City that a seed was planted for quite an amusing make a buck scheme of bottle return. While it did not have any use in Quebec City of much, it came to become quite a fruitful idea which I will discuss more in future posts.

So onwards from Quebec City to the Jacques-Cartier National Park. We set up our camping gear at the Hirondelle camp site and then went on a hike around the Les Loup track to the top of the mountain for the most spectacular view. After an awesome camp cooked dinner, we packed up our stuff and went to bed. This sleep was short-lived however. At 1am there is something outside of the tent throwing things around and twigs are snapping…. Hysterical… “What the hell is that?? Is that a bear?? OH SHIT! I left the toothpaste in my backpack and forgot to take it back to the car! OH SHIT! OH SHIT!” So trying not to breathe, and laying very still, we sit and listen to the bear. Eventually it disappears. Eventually I get to sleep.

Quebec 052 — Jacques-Cartier National Park

The next day was another fifteen kilometer hike up a mountain and chilling out with dinner and crossword puzzles before heading ouf to the next destination of Saguenay. There wasn’t really a great deal to do in the Ville Saguenay/Chicoutimi area so we continued on to Tadoussac, famous for its whale watching and set up camp there for the evening. As the thunderstorms set in, we hid in the laundry of the campground in the hope that the tent would withstand the literal hurricane going on outside. Lucky for us, it had calmed down by midnight and the tent was still standing.

Quebec 067 — The fountain in the river at Ville Saguenay/Chicoutimi

The morning was not the best weather and it was too foggy to see very far, but we went out on the boat whale watching and saw a heap of dolphins, porpoises, seals and minke whales. It was really cool. A little bit sad that we did not get to see one of the famous blue or humpback whales that frequent this region but it was still an incredible day!

After the whales it was back on the road again to St Simeon where we took the ferry over to Riviere-du-Loup. After taking in the Parc du Chutes and seeing a few bands in the street for a festival that they had on we moved on to Rimouski. Just out of Rimouski is the Parc du Bic, one of my most favourite places in Canada. While we were there along the stunning, rocky coastline, we were fortunate enough to see a fox wandering around where the people were eating their lunches. At one point it pounces into the bushes and arises with a mouse caught in its mouth. He went over and buried it in the amphitheater for later. Very cool to see.

Quebec 010 — Mouse-hunting fox in the bushes at Parc du Bic

The next stop was St. Anne du Monts, hands down one of the coolest places I have stayed in the world let alone Canada. We set up our tent on the beach at the hostel and then had a chill out session in the hostel hot tub that sits outside overlooking the ocean while watching the sun set. It was a great place to just laze about and have relaxed days and evenings however the bar can lead one astray and you might be finding yourself getting to bed as the sun comes up as it is too easy to sit around talking to new people in spas and hammocks.

Quebec 063 — The view of the beach from the hot tub at St. Anne-du-Monts

The following day was to be a huge one for me. I had been in Canada for almost two years and was yet to see a moose. It was my day. We were hiking through the Gaspesie National Park and chattering away down the path when all of a sudden I gasp and come literally face to face with a moose. It is about two meters away from where I am standing chewing down on a leaf. Behind it (thankfully) was its baby. For a good half an hour I stood there in awe. I named her ‘Lucy the Moosey’ and I took a million pictures. The word excitement didn’t even cut it! Eventually I had to say goodbye to Lucy and continue on my way before it got too dark, all the while, munching on the wild strawberries I picked from the path along the way.

Quebec2 039 — Lucy the Moosey! Isn’t she pretty!

From here we drove to L’Anse Aux Griffon from the sea shack. It was bad weather again so we set up the tent and spend the evening inside listening to a spanish/latino band play music and hanging with the people. It was only a hop from here over to the Forillon National Park where we hiked the last 7 kilometers of the International Appalachians Trail to the Gaspe lighthouse. The path had some amazing flowers along the way and was just a beautiful trail.

Quebec2 079 — The lighthouse at the end of the International Appalachians Trail.

The last stop of in Quebec was Perce. We hiked over the sandbar in the water to the Perce rock and I found a fossil there that I took home with me. I spent my last evening in Quebec foraging around for the abundant wild raspberries around the campground. This became a huge thing for me in my Canadian travels. I love berries, I love wild ones even more. From here it was on to New Brunswick… and so the journey continues….

Chill out for the next installment in my travels across Canada….

Adventure, Hiking, Travel

The Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park

February 14, 2015 Thomas Takes On.... Leave a comment

Undoubtedly one of the most spectacular places I have ever visited is the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park in Indonesia. I arrived on the shuttle bus late after driving through the dark hills around the bends up towards the township of Cemero Lawang. I checked into the Cemara Indah Hotel and got an early night as the trekking was to start at 3am the following morning.

As I woke up, dressed and headed out into the ‘chilly by Indonesian standards’ weather, I was greeted by some locals outside selling hats and transport. They were trying to convince me that five kilometers was too far to walk up the hill to see the sunrise and as such I needed to take a jeep. They were also trying to convince me that despite my layering in gear I am taking to Nepal for my basecamp hiking, that I was going to be waaaaayyy too cold and needed to buy another jacket, a scarf and a hat from them. I laughed, told them no and that I would be fine and started my way along the road in the dark alone towards the top of Mount Pananjakan with my head torch.

About half way up the hill I met two guys, Roland, a 60 year old from Italy and Ciaran, from England. While we bonded over cup noodle breakfast and their horrendous coffee, we decided that we would all go walking together for the sunrise.

bromo taman nasional 014 — The beginnings of sunrise over Bromo. Excited, but still can’t see her yet!

And so up the hill we went. We arrived at the View Point 1 eventually after taking a bush trail up from the road and sat to watch the amazing sun rise over what was to be my first glimpse of the mountains since I had arrived. They weren’t to disappoint. The view was crystal clear and as far as the eye could see across the valley. Batok stood out right in the centre as the near perfect conical shape with ripples down its sides. Bromo to the left chugged with its smoke up into the atmosphere. The stunning Semeru sat in the far background casting an eye over all of the rest of the mountains with its tall chuffing summit. We took pictures for a long while before heading up to the summit of Pananjakan after all of the jeeps with the tourist brigade had left to go down into the valley. It meant that we had the entire summit to ourselves and it was blissful as you could see the entire way around the area as Pananjakan is the tallest mountain in that vicinity besides Semeru.

bromo taman nasional 035 — And there she was….. Batok in front, Bromo off to the left side and Semeru in the distance peeking over the back

We made the rookie error of underestimating how far we would have to walk before entering down into the valley. The hill just kept on going and going and going and eventually a jeep stopped and offered us a free lift down to the base of Mt Bromo on the valley floor. We jumped in and drove a couple of kilometers the rest of the way down before walking out of the valley to go and get breakfast. The day was still young, it was only 9am and there was still plenty more adventuring to be had.

bromo taman nasional 081 — From the valley floor, Batok going up to the right, and Mount Bromo straight ahead with its blown out crater

I don’t think I had eaten that much in ages as I chewed down two bowls of rice, a bowl of noodles, a stack of fruit and two cups of tea. Then it was back out again into the crater.

The first mission was to get up to the crater rim of Mount Bromo. Along the way we met some locals who wanted to take pictures with us so after that we walked with them up to the top. Bromo was spewing a whole bunch of smoke out and it was a beautiful reminder of our insignificance on this Earth. It is so much more powerful than you or I and has the ability to destroy rapidly what we have spent generations achieving. I never fail to be in awe.

bromo taman nasional 140 — Giant hole to middle earth… just wow!

After we trotted down the side of Bromo there was debate about whether we should try and climb Batok also. It is the steepest and hardest climb of the three mountains but we decided to go part of the way and see how it was. Of course part of the way turns into massive rock climbing and “well we have come this far so screw it we are going to the top!”

bromo taman nasional 118 — Mount Batok with the Hindu temple in front.

I am incredibly glad that we did as the views from here were just spectacular. The summit was a giant plateau that you could walk around and it gave you 360 degree views of the entire valley floor if you walked around the top. We stayed here until the sun was about set before scampering down to the bottom and then back along the valley floor to the hotel at about 4:30pm.

bromo taman nasional 195 — The other side of the valley as seen from the top of Mount Batok

Our day was nearly 14 hours long, 3 mountain summits and about 20 kilometers of walking later. But as stuffed as I was from all of the hiking, I was also super excited and relaxed. It was one of the most incredible days of hiking that I have ever done. It is hard to not be impressed by the stunning views that this area has to offer.

Adventure, Travel

My 25th Birthday in Hue, Vietnam

February 4, 2015 Thomas Takes On.... Leave a comment

So tomorrow I turn 30. Whatever. People tell me this is a huge deal but for the most part I tend to negate any thought processes of the day whatsoever. I find myself spending my 30th in Asia. The exact same way I did five years ago on my 25th birthday…… Oh the 0’s and the 5’s. Somebody just take them away please!

Today was up and about and downstairs for breakfast where there was a string of happy birthdays. I don’t know why, but I hate it. I hate having a fuss made about me and I don’t know how to deal with it graciously. Instead I deny that it is my birthday and get on with the day’s proceedings. They firstly consisted of a motorbike tour.

My driver spoke very little English and I was a little disappointed because some of the others had some real characters driving them around. Harriet’s driver would bounce her up and down on the bike when they were stationary, and Kat’s tried to hit on her despite being married already.

My polite, lovely and sensible motorbike driver

So they drove us through all of the back streets of Hue and through all of the rice fields watching the locals pick the rice and work on the harvest. There were also locals washing clothes in the river and fishing. The first stop was to see how the rice is processed to what we see it as in the supermarket.

When we arrived there were a whole bunch of kids on bikes and they were hanging around being really cheeky. They were being pains in the arses really and the old lady and the tour guide yelled at them and told them to leave. They didn’t though. So we watched her sift off all of the husks from around the rice grain, and then we watched her ground it up to make rice flour. It was really cool.

Local Vietnamese woman demonstrating the processing of the rice to rice flour

On the way back to the motorcycles, I met Lieu, a 75 year old local woman famous around the regions for her palm readings. I wanted to just sit and chat to her but she convinced me in the end to read my palm. What she told me was quite interesting, although I would hazard a guess to say that they were more based on her personal experiences and with what she saw of me than what my palm said.

She told me that I was 25 (good guess) and that I have a very beautiful mother (looking at me, quite an educated guess… but then maybe not in my disheveled ways….) and that I have trouble for a father (what can I say? Another very good guess). She told me that I would live until I was 85 (most likely a guess, have no idea, won’t find out for 60 more years). She said that I would marry when I was 28 (I now know to be a false estimate… I will be lucky to be married by 38 at this rate) and have 3 children (hahahahaha), two boys and one girl. The first child would be born at 29 (hahahahahahaha yep, pretty sure that didn’t happen without me noticing) and the next one’s would come ten years later. I will marry an American (she later tells me that she married an American) and that he will love me very much but he will be working so often that I will turn to the drink (cause I am totally addicted to the drink) and other men (who knew I was capable of having an affair?). Apparently I will have boyfriends when I am married (cause I have a whole bunch now when I am single…). A nice young one to go with my workaholic husband(???). Sweet. I laughed my arse off when I left, asked to have my picture taken with her when I left and she agreed. I wonder if it was written in my palm that I was only interested in having a picture with her?

So anyway, after that heartwarming little conversation, I hopped back on the bike and headed towards Thuy’s house. Thuy was deformed from birth and only has one hand. With her stumpy arm and her other hand, she makes the most amazing conical hats. She showed us how to make one when we got there. Her hats are special too because they have shadows of a pair of lovers, the towers and the bridge in Hue as well as her name. She does this by inserting a layer of newspaper in between the straw that she ironed out and placed around the ribs of the hat. It was pretty cool really. Kat bought a hat and has been wearing it all day.

Pressing the straw to make the conical hats

From here it was off to the place where they make the incense sticks. They mix together a large proportion of sawdust, glue, sandalwood powder and fragrances and then make a big ball of goop. They roll he goop over the bamboo sticks and then in some more sawdust so that they don’t stick and then they lay them out in the sun to dry. There were incense sticks everywhere lined up along the road. It was unbelievable. One woman can crack out about five thousand of those things a day.

Afterwards we headed to the pagoda to check out what was going on there. We saw the large tower built at the front of the grounds and the car that the monk drove all the way to Saigon to set himself on fire in protest of the poor treatment of the Buddhists. After seeing this we got on the motorbikes and got dropped back at the supermarket down the road from the hotel to do some shopping for food and to have some lunch. It disgraced me that for the first time since leaving home, I ate KFC westerner food shit fried chips. I am in Vietnam, I should be enjoying traditional food, however the others all wanted fast food so I tagged along. I just don’t get it. I never did, I don’t know if I ever will.

After about an hour wait at the hotel, we took the bus to the train station where we waited for another two hours because our train was delayed. Not bad, sleep in tomorrow morning. So when we finally got on I found my cabin and threw my stuff on the top bunk. I got up and sorted my stuff out and then started to read. Then all the questions came about birthdays. Why do I hate celebrating mine and is it OK for the others to make a fuss. I said whatever and next thing that you know there is a group of people filing into my room and sitting on the bottom bunks and they started to sing happy birthday. I covered my face with my book mostly so that they couldn’t see that I was on the verge of tears. They just kept getting louder and louder and I wanted them to stop. So when they were finally done, I was graced with presents. I got a 4-pack of Tassie Devil yoghurt, a calendar with all of the pictures from the man’s restaurant that we were at last night and a purse made out of black silk. Kat also organised a card for me that everybody signed. It was kind of cool, and I behaved graciously, I was thankful that they went to the effort. I honestly would have been happier forgetting all about the day really because I don’t know how to be gracious in the face of people making a fuss of me.

And so we forgot quickly with the coming around of the cabin trivia. There were some really challenging questions and Flo, Alex and I cheated by using our guide books and the book that Flo is reading about Turkey. We came a tied first place and I think that they want to have a showdown tomorrow sometime. Again, I am not really fussed. But it would be interesting to see what happens when people are not allowed to cheat. We will most likely lose terribly.

It is pretty quiet on the sleeper train at the moment, Natalie the guide, is reading and I am typing here in my fleece jacket because the air conditioning is freezing in these cabins. I am pretty tired so I will most likely just go to sleep soon. Not much else to do on the sleeper trains, and plenty of time to kill.

And so in the grand tradition of birthdays I shall hide somewhere and not tell anyone. Last year I sat at my friends house in London and ate a wheel of brie while watching the Ken Ham vs Bill Nye debate on Creationism vs Evolution. An amazing day for me! The original plan for the 30th was to be on a 16-day trek somewhere in Nepal so I would really not have to deal with it. But, if anything exciting does happen, I will be sure to let you know all about it.

Adventure, Hiking, Learning, Travel

The Marvellous Men Of Kawah Ijen

January 24, 2015 Thomas Takes On.... 4 Comments

As an avid lover of all things volcano, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to go and visit Kawah Ijen in the far eastern part of Java, Indonesia. The volcano is most famous for its massive sulfur deposits that the locals harvest for use in cosmetics and other things.

So the wake-up call came at 1am and we were scurried into the back of a car and driven for about an hour to the base of Kawah Ijen. The fact that we even made it to the base is a miracle given our drivers’ penchant for overtaking people on windy roads at high speed into oncoming traffic. I am pretty sure he almost rolled the vehicle about five times. Anyway, survived…. and arrived!

We started the 3km hike to the crater rim of Kawah Ijen and had a local guy following us. Despite telling him we didn’t want a guide, he took it upon himself to walk with us for the entire way up the winding switchbacks of the hill. He would tell us things in broken English or Bahasa Indonesian on his way and point things out to us. When we started getting into high sulfur concentration areas he helped me wet down my t-shirt and tie it around my mouth so I could breathe easier. At this point I had taken a liking to him and I didn’t care if he had just dubbed himself our guide. He was cool and very helpful. I was happy to pay him anyway.

kawah ijen 018 — An attractive look. Wet t-shirt around the mouth to stop the inhalation of sulfur dioxide.

So when we got to the crater rim, then began the perilous descent into the crater rim down to where they harvest the sulfur and to the lake. It was steep and hairy trip down in the dark stopped at times by massive coughing fits from the excess inhalation of sulfur dioxide in the air literally choking your lungs. When we arrived just below the clouds I saw a glimpse of the magical blue flame that they talk about seeing in the crater. And as we continued downwards we arrived on the flat to where there were a whole bunch of men working to collect the sulfur to cart back up the hill.

The crater in the dark was like a crazy world. In among the smoke there were bright patches of yellow dripping down from the hills out of these rusted out metal barrels. The men were taking giant metal crowbars to the solidified sulfur deposits to break them down into smaller pieces that would fit into their baskets so they could carry them.

kawah ijen 030 — Breaking down the solid sulfur into transportable chunks.

When asking them how much was in each of the baskets they told us that they were carrying anywhere between 60 and 80 kilograms back up the hill and then another 3 kilometers down the other side to the weighing station. They get paid 900 Indonesian Rupiah per kilo for this. So on average he said he made about $15 Australian dollars or 10 Euro in a day by the time they do 2 trips up and down the mountain.

kawah ijen 086 — What a 8 AUD or 5 Euro payload looks like.

My brain nearly exploded at this information. This was grueling work. Work that I would probably be incapable of. In fact, I deadlifted one of the baskets like I used to at crossfit training and while I can still pick it up, I could not do much more with it. The men were showing us their scars on their shoulders from where the bamboo baskets were cutting into their skin over the years and laughing about it. I think if I had this job I would want to cry. And yet here they are, the marvelous men of Kawah Ijen laughing about what they do for work and posing to take pictures with us flexing their muscles, sometimes with others photo-bombing in the background just to be even more funny.

kawah ijen 154 — My favourite miner… he took his shirt off to do some funny poses for us

As the sun started to come up properly I started to take stock of the barren wasteland that surrounded me. There was a lake quite close to the sulfur deposits and according to the internet the pH of this lake is 0.5. Mind blown…. for any chemist out there you will know that this means that it is pretty much a lake of a bit less than 1M sulfuric acid (I am a self confessed chemistry nerd). It is the most acidic lake in the world and has this incredibly light blue haze to it that gives it a nice aura around the yellow and grey colours from the sulfur and the rest of the mountain.

kawah ijen 137 — The acid lake with the sulfur deposits on the shoreline

The sulfur became more yellow as the sun came up and the extent of how far you could see it expanded across the landscape. It was like being on the moon and yet not. I sat for quite a while taking it in and watching the men carry their bamboo baskets up the hill before it was time to start climbing back up ourselves.

kawah ijen 101 — Time to start climbing.

We climbed at rapid pace compared to the workers with their baskets. Even as we passed them, they continued to laugh and ask for photos with us and smile. They are incredible people that I have such amazing respect for. Before I knew it I was back to the top and on my way back down the hill among all of the greenery and foggy haze that I couldn’t see at 2am when I was on my way up the hill. It was like visiting the sulfurous and barren wasteland of Kawah Ijen was a dream. And yet here I was with the marvelous men and their baskets full of sulfur as a reminder sitting at the base of the mountain and with a bucket load of photos to always remember them by.

	Elisa on The Evolution of Backpacking
	Charlie Harrington on Shit I Learned In Cornwall
	Thomas Takes On.... on Shit i learned about people du…
	lastflyingcow on Shit i learned about people du…
	rolandtap on Things I Wish I Could Do Right…

Thomas Takes On….