Fulfilling My Wanderlust

Currently Standing Under the Aurora Without A Clue How to Photograph Them?

2013-02-16T14:23:00.002+10:30

At this very moment, you are standing out in the open on a crisp, clear winter's night. You have come hundreds or thousands of miles north to try your luck at the hunting the ethereal Northern Lights. The beautiful aurora is dancing overhead, curtains of green, yellow, or even blue and red are swathed across the sky. Your dSLR camera is hanging around your neck....

....And you haven't got a clue how to photograph them.

F*ck!

To make matters worse, this could be your only chance to capture the beauty of this unpredictable phenomenon.

**Never fear. This is the Currently Standing Under the Aurora Without A Clue How to Photograph Them Guide.**

Hunting the Northern Lights - Part 2

2013-01-23T11:17:00.001+10:30

Last week I set off to Iceland with the hopes of fulfilling one of my Bucket List desires: Seeing the Northern Lights. Trying not to get my hopes up too much, I flew into Reykjavik with four days (or rather, four nights) to try my luck at seeing the heavens dance with green lights.

The first two of nights in Iceland were met with mixed success. Now, the hunt continues.....
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Hunting the Northern Lights - Part 1

2013-01-22T00:35:00.000+10:30

A few days ago I set off to Iceland with the hopes of fulfilling one of my Bucket List desires: Seeing the Northern Lights. With high hopes but somewhat realistic expectations of my chances, I boarded the plane for Reykjavik on Sunday, crossing every part of my body that I could. Just in case it helped my odds of seeing the lights in the sky. This is how the Hunt went....

Skyfall

2013-01-14T06:12:00.000+10:30

Great movie. Awesome song. I hear Adele singing it every time I read that word, checking back over this post. Skyfall (This is the end. Hold your breath and count to ten.... ) But what does James Bond have to do with me and my travels? Absolutely nothing, but I think that it's a rather catchy way of describing what exactly it is I'm off to do for the next few days: Go and watch the sky fall.

Liquid Gold and Jewelled Skies

2013-01-09T06:33:00.001+10:30

16/05/2012
Beep... beep... beep goes the alarm.

Clare and I both groan at the misery of getting up so bloody early, a few sorry hours since we had finally stopped chatting and switched off the headlamps.

Welcome to a new day, it is 3.45am and we have to be on the truck driving out the camp gate in fifteen minutes!
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Celebrating New Years Eve.... Twice

2012-12-23T03:29:00.000+10:30

Good news people, good news!

Not only will I be bringing in 2013 with the massive Edinburgh street party extravaganza that is Hogmanay, but I will be also celebrating the Australian New Year in style at the institution known as the Three Sisters.

That's right, not one, but TWO new years eve celebrations. Who's excited? Me!

After all, time is relative, so why not?

Bring on the new year!

Battling Sea Sickness... And Losing

2012-12-18T05:33:00.002+10:30

15/05/2012

"Look! Can you see the dolphins?" Julia says as she points off the back of the ferry.

"Oh, yeah, there they are. How nice...." I manage to reply before heaving my guts up into a sick bag.

Where in the World is Sammy?

2012-12-07T21:01:00.002+10:30

The answer to that, for the time being, is somewhere in the United Kingdom.

At this exact moment in time, I am at Euston station in London, awaiting my train to Birmingham. Over the next few weeks I will be making my way north for Christmas and New Years in Edinburgh.

That's right - I'm not content with the barely above freezing London weather - I'm heading north to where it is actually freezing already, and is set to only get colder as the new year approaches.

Christmas Gifts for First-Time Backpackers - Part 2

2012-12-03T08:00:00.000+10:30

Struggling to think of gift ideas for a friend who is about to set off on an overseas adventures?

Not sure what you can get a first-time backpacker for Christmas that will have them praising your genius once they hit the road?

Confused about what to get a person, who far from having it all, will only be taking the bare minimum with them, carried on their back?

Last week, a family friend had this exact problem: what to get her daughters for Christmas that would help them out on their travels in the new year.

After thinking about it for a while, I came up with a list of gifts that fit the criteria of being a practical present with some thoughtfulness behind it, as well as covering stocking stuffers up to the more expensive 'main event' presents. Hopefully Part 1 of the list gave you a few ideas, and here is Part 2 to really get Christmas sorted:
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Swimming With Turtles

2012-11-30T11:50:00.000+10:30

14/05/2012

Today, my fourth day on Zanzibar, I roped myself a couple of sea turtles, lashed 'em together and made a raft Captain Jack Sparrow style.

Well, not quite. I did stand on a turtle though. And give another one a hug.

Hanging out with a turtle, feeding her some seaweed. while she gives Jodie a slap across the face. Thanks Ed, I think you took this great pic!

Christmas Gifts for First-Time Backpackers - Part 1

2012-11-26T12:56:00.002+10:30

Today I'm taking a quick break from recounting my African Adventures, in order to address a question which I thought warranted some attention. A family friend has two daughters who will be jetting off on their first overseas adventure in 2013, and yesterday she was asking me for some advice:

"Christmas is coming up, what can I get them as presents that will help them out in their travels?"

Good question.

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Stung, Nauseated, Banged-up and Bruised

2012-11-23T23:33:00.000+10:30

13/05/2012
Breakfast overlooking the blue water, a dhow ride under the sun, snorkelling the Mneba attoll reef and chasing fish through the water, dinner on the sand and sipping cocktails while watching the sun go down. All of this sounds like a lovely island escape. But what makes this 'lovely' but rather sterile-sounding day into an unforgettable one?

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A Word of Warning

2012-11-15T13:51:00.000+10:30

When the Consequences of Sex on the Beach are More Than Sand in Unmentionable Places

My Ongoing Battle With Boats

2012-11-13T23:46:00.001+10:30

12/05/2012
So far on my African travels I haven't had much luck with boats. From being thrown out of the raft on the Nile to a very bumpy and extremely wet trip to Ngamba Island that caused a lot of yawning (a warning sign that I'm on my way to getting sea sick), there has yet to be a time when I've been in a boat without there being some kind of mishap or difficulty.

Why then, did I choose to pay $15 for a ten minute ride on a banana boat? Good question.

It's barely even a boat, just a bright yellow inflated tube that silly people sit on top of and get pulled along by a speed boat. And with my above-mentioned record, you would think I might be a little hesitant to hop onto a contraption on which I can barely balance. But that, my dear friend, would be overestimating my good sense and underestimating my enthusiasm to try new things.

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Awkward!

2012-11-08T19:15:00.004+10:30

11/05/2012
Tom and I get along really well, so it didn't phase me a bit when a few tent buddy shuffles occurred and Tom and I needed to share a hotel room in Stone Town. How many naps together had we already shared on the truck beach? Men hog the bathrooms less too, so I wouldn't have much competition for the mirror when getting ready. Score. We laughed and joked about 'sleeping together' as we made our way up the two flights of stairs to our room, inserted the key and opened the door...... To find a beautifully made up queen-size bed. Oh.

Awwwkwwaaaarrrrrdd!!

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Feeling the Heat

2012-11-04T22:47:00.002+10:30

10/05/2012
Thank the heavens, after a horror of a day yesterday, today I woke up feeling much better. We were off early, eating breakfast and lunch on the run as we made our way to the Tanzanian coast and Dar es Salaam. Despite the packed lunch, we still had a few pit stops for coffee and snacks. One of my favourite things about east Africa would have to be the samosas - they are everywhere, dirt cheap and amazingly tasty. I don't know exactly what is in them (and I think it is safer if I don't know), but they are little triangle parcels of deep fried goodness. At our last stop at a road station not far from Dar, I bought a couple to keep me going until dinner.

It was a classic truck day, with everyone keeping themselves entertained by reading, catching up on their diary entries, watching the countryside go past, playing card games or having a general chat. A few of us were discussing our worst ever date stories. I told the tale of how one weekend I had managed to crash a 'romantic' night in Adelaide for my friend and her sort-of boyfriend at the time: safe to say, it was well and truly crashed. We also played 'Root, Shoot, Marry', and everyone on Jozi was put under pressure by Mitch and Jules to name names. It made for a very interesting afternoon and some very red faces.

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The Day After the Night Before

2012-11-01T14:21:00.000+10:30

9/05/2012
These are the travel notes that I wrote for myself about the 9th May, 2012:

Today was a complete write-off
I woke up most likely still drunk
Things went downhill pretty quickly
Couldn't keep anything down all day
Felt like death warmed up trying to drink a milkshake at the Arusha shops
Spent the entire rest of the day on the beach, not moving and wanting to die
Tried taking anti-nausea tablet when we stopped at the White Parrot campsite for the night.
Fail. Threw it right back up.
On second attempt managed to keep down another anti-nausea tablet and some hydration salts, with a handful of plain pasta for dinner.
Went to bed very early

Sunrise Proposals and Moonlit Hickies

2012-10-30T12:54:00.001+10:30

8/05/2012
I was missing out, I was starting to get a little peeved that I was missing out, and I was letting our safari guide know it. Poor Robert, I don't think he quite knew how to handle all the questions I was throwing at him as to why I didn't get to go on the "special" early early game drive.

"Why didn't you ask me? I said last night that I would be happy to get up earlier if it meant we could go game driving for longer".

"Julia, Dave and Jodie went, there was still plenty of room in the vehicle!"

"So, they're not actually on a game drive?"

"They've gone hot air ballooning? Awh, I wanted to go hot air ballooning. Why didn't I get the option of going hot air ballooning?"

"It's a surprise? Dave is surprising Jodie? Oh. Ohhhhhh!"

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I'm in the Serengeti, B**ch!

2012-10-15T00:18:00.000+10:30

7/05/2012
Following the brown dirt track towards the horizon, marvelling at the endless lines of wildebeest and zebra on their annual migration across the Serengeti plains...... It's hard to get much more magical than that. Then a voice pipes up:

'So, when is this going to get interesting?'

...........Uhhh, Jules, I don't know what you were expecting, but how can anything get better than this? (I was wrong, by the way. It gets MUCH more exciting. But more on that later).
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Monkeys Are Evil

2012-10-09T08:27:00.000+10:30

6/05/2012
When you pass what is supposedly just another settlement along the road, but are told by your safari guide that the entire village is made up of one man, his ten wives and his hundred-or-so children, you know that this is not going to be an ordinary day. TIA.

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Snake Park

2012-09-19T06:24:00.000+09:30

5/05/2012
Today is the first day of the new leg of the trip, and four new people have joined us: Calum (Brit), Clare (Kiwi), Charity (Saffa) and Daniel (American). Calum seems to be off to a good start already - they had their pre-departure talk at 8am this morning, and I got Calum out of bed at 7.57am, and he was supposed to be fully packed and ready to go. I wonder how he'll cope with all our real early starts? We discovered that an important key had been lost, so a padlock needed to be cut off! Tom seems to be getting the blame for losing it, but he's adamant he gave it to someone else. Sure thing, Tom! Anyway, it was an interesting first morning for the new four joining us.

Then it was finally time to wave goodbye to Vicki, Amy and James as we pulled out of Karen Camp to continue our adventures. We shall meet again (Amy and James, we'll see you in a few days in Arusha!)

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Making Out With A Giraffe

2012-06-30T04:08:00.001+09:30

4/05/2012
Today is a very sad day. It marks the final day of the Gorillas and Game Parks leg of trip, and it will be our last day with my tent buddy Vicki, Amy and James (James will rejoin us in 10 days). So it was with a heavy heart that we piled into the truck for the final drive back into Nairobi. Our spirits were lifted somewhat by an impromptu singalong on the back of the truck, kicked off by the Glee song 'Don't Stop Believin'. In honour of final goodbyes to Vicki and Amy, Grace and I started singing 'Don't Wanna Miss a Thing' by Aerosmith, unaccompanied, and surprisingly we knew all the words! Unfortunately for us, I'm pretty sure Julia caught the entire out of tune rendition on camera.

We made our way to the Giraffe Sanctuary in Nairobi to get up close and personal with, you guessed it, a giraffe. Here we were given pellets and were able to hand feed a Rothschild giraffe, as well as pat it. Yeah, I touched a giraffe! Not only that, there's this handy trick whereby you put one of the pellets in your lips, and the giraffe gives you a kiss / licks your face to get the pellet! And yes, I did it twice. Giraffes saliva is a natural antiseptic, so it was perfectly clean and hygienic!
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Walking With Game

2012-05-30T21:31:00.001+09:30

3/05/2012
Unfortunately, Hell's Gate National Park was closed due to flash flooding, and we were unable to cycle through the park as originally planned (sad face). Luckily, Crater Lake Game Reserve was just up the road, where we were able to go for a guided game walk through the reserve. Yep, we got to walk amongst zebra, giraffes, eland, gazelle, olive baboons, and water buck. I even spotted the tail of my first ever mongoose! Before you start to worry, the reserve didn't have most of the more dangerous animals that will either try to eat you or charge you (lions, elephants, rhinos), but it did have hippos (we saw footprints only) and leopards. The largest predators we saw today were a pack of bat-eared foxes. Still, very cool! How often does one get to say they took a stroll with zebras and giraffes?

After a couple of hours traipsing around in the reserve, our guides drive us down to a small volcanic lake, home to a large flock of pink flamingos and lots of hippos.
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Born Free

2012-05-23T02:18:00.001+09:30

2/05/2012
Dave and Jodie were the lucky couple who got to sleep with my pile of clothes stinking up their tent, but don't worry, Jodie gave me shit about it all day! Unfortunately it meant that most of my clothes spent another whole day wet in my locker underneath my seat. One of my favourite parts of overlanding - the constant battle to wash and dry your clothes. HOT TIP: If you're doing overlanding anytime soon, take twice as many undies as you think you'll need, and make sure your clothes are quick drying.

This morning we had a pretty drive through the mountains, and we pulled over for a photo and bush pee stop looking down into the Rift Valley. As we drove along that morning, we discussed that it didn't look like the typical Africa you'd see in a postcard - you could be forgiven for mistaking the landscape for that of somewhere like Canada.
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Back into Kenya

2012-05-23T01:52:00.001+09:30

1/05/2012
Welcome to a new month and welcome back to Kenya. We had an early start so that we could hopefully get through the border crossing in reasonable time and make it to our next campsite early enough for a swim in the sunshine. But TIA (This Is Africa), and we were stuck behind a long line of trucks blocking the road to the border, due to a few of them that had decided to go for a bit of a roll.

On entering back into Kenya, as if on cue, the clouds rolled in and it started pouring with rain. Despite our best intentions of arriving nice and early mid-afternoon at the campsite not far out of Eldoret, the rain turned the roads into rivers (they haven't yet heard of roadside drainage in Kenya) and it was after 5.30pm and decidedly miserable weather when we arrived. Tom and Amy braved the pool for a few seconds, but it was freezing cold. Fun fact for the day: Bill Gates stayed at this riverside, overland campground and hotel a few years back.

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