TravelStream™ news feed for member johnandtamsin on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/johnandtamsin en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sun, 12 Aug 2007 14:41:09 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnandtamsin/worldtrip06/1171994880/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnandtamsin/worldtrip06/1171994880/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnandtamsin/worldtrip06/1171994880/tpod.html Sun, 12 Aug 2007 14:41:09 -0400 John and Tamsin's World-Wide Adventure

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Queenstown, New Zealand

Queenstown

We found ourselves, not by accident, in Queenstown for new year. Cheryl had booked us into a hostel way before we'd got to New Zealand. A good job too, left to our own devices we would have been sleeping with all the other schleppers on the overflow camping ground that they had set up in the middle of town. Queenstown is were everyone goes for New Year as it has got really good pubs at night and loads of adventure type stuff to do in the day.
In addition to being a cool place to hang out, we were excited to be here for another reason: Queenstown and the surrounding areas is stunningly beautiful. The town is nicely nestled into the shadow of the southern Alps, under a range known as The Remarkables which really is rather an apt name!

A lot of our time here was spent driving around looking at the scenery, a pursuit we combined with scouting out locations for Lord of the Rings (you may notice a theme here -Tamsin likes short men). Actually it really was a pleasure, the area is really beautiful and it gave some structre to our sightseeing. We managed to get off the beaten track a bit, some of the locations are very remote and require a bit of hiking and/or off roading (just don't tell the hire car company - ha ha!). Probably the best two places were Deer Park Heights and the road to Glenorchy. DPH is a wildlife sanctuary about fifteen minutes from Queenstown, it's quite rugged but everyone just hefts their hire cars up there anyway. It was used for a lot of scenes in The Two Towers. It is also very popular with families due to the abundance of cute animals roaming about. It's quite bizzare, they have a map and posts marking the shots but you still have to walk all overthis hill to find them. So while most people are in their warm cars looking at deer, we were out getting amongst it oohing at random bits of lake and rock and that. It was really cool running around this hill - even though I didn't really recognise the rocks. The road to Glenorchy was just about the prettiest place that we had been to up until that point - all mountains and lakes.

New Years Eve itself was pretty quiet really, they had quite a bit of stuff going on in the town, but it was quite family orientated, with a ban on alcohol and bands playing. We hung aroun for a while but, having left the hostel way too early, got cold and went to see a film until thing got going. To cut a short story shorter, we ended up going back to the hostel and getting drunk there with some other folks that were about. It was all going well, until at around three in the morning when we were safely tucked up in bed, the dorm room door opened and in stepped Burp Boy. BB and his girlfirend were obviously wasted as they noisily stumbled in the room. Mrs BB then flomped up to her bunk and proceeded to fall asleep, she obviously knew what was coming! BB started swallowing and burping really loudly and annoyingly as if on the verge of vomintting, really disgusting. He kept this up, constantly burping for three f**king hours! Occasionally he would wake up, burp a bit more, start crying for Mrs BB (who ignored him) then fall over whimpering. It was wrong man, just wrong; the worst dorm mate ever.... If you hapen to read this ever, I hope you feel very sad about your behaviour!

Queenstown is known as the NZ capital of all things extreme. From Bungy Jumping to Paragliding, it's all in Queenstown. We went off to have a look at the bungy jumpers at the Kawarau Bridge, the site of the world's first commercial bungy. In terms of height, it's now something of a baby at only 43 metres. However, for us that was around 43 metres too high. Looking back on it, and even at the time, it looked fun once you were off, bouncing around like a sack of elastic puppies. The truth is though, I could get scared stepping off a high curb; I once had to call the fire brigade to get me down from a chair I stood on to change a bulb. So, to willingly step off a bungy platform was unlikely to happen..

Instead we decided to look at the alternatives. We managed to pare it down to two options; a canyon swing or a jetboat ride. The Canyon swing is a bit like a bungy, but you swing over a big ravine while strapped in a sitting position. It can be easier than a Bungy because you don't have to jump off anything, you don't even have to let the cord go, so it looked easy. Jet boating is another kiwi invention that involves driving a very fast boat down a very narrow gorge, deliberately driving very close to the walls in an attempt to scare you. The decision was made easier by the prohibitive cost of the canyon swing and the fact that we happened to pass the Shotover Jet place. It was good fun razzing about and doing spins but we were left feeling slighty dissappointed that it wasn't really very extreme, more exhilirating than terrifying but there you go. One American lady was very nervous and quite vocal about it too, teaching me a few new words. So, I suppose it's what you're afraid of that makes you nervous really althought the 360 spins were really cool!



Milford Sound

Having spent four nights in Queenstown we headed South towards the town of Te Anau, which was to be our base for heading off into Milford Sound. Milford Sound is a huge Fiord carved out by glaciers years ago. it has some of the most spectacular scenery in the world. The drive down there is also beautiful but very narrow and mountainous, I drove leaving Tamsin holding on to the seat as I diced with death (not my fault people kept stopping to let me overtake in the most ridiculous places). But, I did end up getting us there in the end. We stayed for one night in a dorm because we were planning on doing a late afternoon boat trip. It's a measure of how highly regarded Milford is by the length of time we took to do one boat trip. We stayed one night in Te Anau, drove the 3 or 4 hours to Milford for this boat trip, stayed the night and drove back the next day, it was quite out of the way but genuinely worth every Kilometre.

We had booked on an afternoon cruise because they are a bit quieter, a lot of people do daytrips so have gone home already and there are less boats out. We were very lucky, the sun was shining which, rare on the West Coast, is unheard of in Milford; they get something like three sunny days a year (just like Britain ha ha!) The boat goes all the way up the Fiord, out to the Tasman sea and then back again. Superlatives really struggle to meet the grandeur of this place, it just amazed us how beautiful it was. The icing on the cake was, when on the way back, we encountered a large pod of Dusky Dolphins. We had not seen any dolphins on any of our boat trips and were giving up hope when the captain made an announcement and there they were. It was so good, they were around for a good fifteen minutes and the captain got us really close. Unforgettable, and we got some good pictures too!

The Long Way Home

We did take the long way home, and managed to see a bit of the south east corner of NZ. Like everywhere else, it was very beautiful. Lake Taupo and Mount Cook in particular were amazing By this time though, sleeping in a different place evry night was beginning to take it's toll and we were really looking forward to heading back up to Auckland to see Cheryl. So after 32 days on the south Island, we checked our car back in, and headed off to the airport...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnandtamsin/worldtrip06/1172167800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnandtamsin/worldtrip06/1172167800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnandtamsin/worldtrip06/1172167800/tpod.html Sun, 12 Aug 2007 14:40:41 -0400 John and Tamsin's World-Wide Adventure

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Auckland, New Zealand

Ever since we landed in New Zealand, Cheryl had been mentioning a trip over to Great Barrier Island, located 50 miles (so say the BBC, I didn't measure personally) north east of Auckland. It is really remote and Cheryl's friends Matt and Simone have a holiday home over there. It was pretty exciting as all the guides say it is amazingly beautiful and untouched. It doesn't have any possums so the vegitation is still intact (though they may be in trouble if possms learn how to swim 50 miles of rugged ocean). The only sticking point was that to get there we would have to travel on a tiny little plane. Still, I wasn't too worried as I'd gotten really used to flying and wasn't that nervous. Besides, nothing was booked and it might never happen. However, Cheryl is not a lady that would make a suggestion and then not follow it through, so on our return to Auckland from the South Island, we found ourselves booked on a flight over there with Cheryl and BB. I was excited but also nervous, I really didn't like the idea of this little 18 seater plane.

Come the day of the flight we went to Auckland Airport and did all the checking in business. Once on the plane it was slightly disconcerting that our pilot was apparently only 12 years old and looked as though he had some way to go before getting his GCSE's (thankfully in terms of age, not intelligence). I have to say though, it was loads better than I thought, you fly quite low so you can see the sea (ha ha); Tamsin and Cheryl even saw a pod or two of dolphins. Inevitably we landed without a hitch and were greeted at the airport by Matt.

When I look back and think of all the great places we went to, Matt and Simone's place on Great Barrier is either at or dangerously close to being my favourite; it is so beautiful. Being so remote you can only build with what you can take out there. Now, if I were to build a place it would probably resemble some sort of woodwork project that had been knocked up by Ray Charles in his garage. Not so here, it's hard to describe, as it is like a holiday home, only a work-in-process that is constantly evolving as more materials become available. The handiwork is unbelieveable, this place even has a bar! In NZ this kind of place is called a bach. A short walk away from the house is a beach as beautiful as you can imagine in that rugged-kiwi-desolation way. It's bizarre though, as there is often literally no bugger else around. Looking out to sea, it's awe inspiring to imagine that there is nothing between you and South America but the sea and a load of old fish.

The days went by pretty quickly in that kind of holiday-time way where the hours seem to take on slippery quality that renders you utterly unable to grasp what the time might be. We usually woke up around the time when Simone would be rustling up some breakfast (uncanny!) which is the best way to wake up. She's a really great cook so there was always something nice on the go. Then there would be a spot of sun bathing or beach walking or swimming or snorkelling or just sort of monging about by the bach. Top. On the second day we were joined by Damo, Matt and Simone's son and Shane, Simone's sister. Come the night time (or actually any time after lunch, or at a stretch after breakfast) the beers would be cracked open and a leisurely evening of chatting, playing cards and looking at the amazingly clear skies. We even got a first class look at a spectacular Comet that was visible over the Southern Hemisphere.

On the Third day we went out on a fishing trip. Matt has a boss little boat (35 foot boat based fact fans) that me, Matt, Chezza and Tamsin went out on. We went out with another boat, captained(?) by M & S's friends Mike and Jo and Roly. Initially we were fishing off this reef with the shore close by. (Incedentally, the beach was the one on Castaway - the Tv show thats on bbc now, it's all filmed there). Matt and Chezza did all the hard bits like chopping up squid and baiting the hooks as me and Tamsin were sea fishing novices. This was a bit harsh on them as they spent all trip doing our bait instead of there own fishing - oh well! Tamsin was a bit of a natural and managed to snag quite a few snappers which we kept and (Matt) gutted and kept in the chilly bin (kiwi speak for cool box) . After a while we met up with the other boat at a reef further out. We had another fish here and did okay. After a while the other boat went closer to shore to go diving for Crayfish. We were soon to follow but instead things took a turn for the worse. I think really, rather than go for dramatic effect to illustrate the following I'll list events in chronological order:

1: Matt goes to pull the winch up, this takes place up front.
2: The engine stops and the winch keeps going, draining the battery (Matt couldn't hear due to being up front)
3: We realise the engine isn't working
4: Tamsin feels slightly scared.
5: Repeated attempts to start the engine prove futile.
6: After much deliberation, a flare is deployed in the hope of attracting a nearby boat.
7. Nearby boat sails off the other way.
8. Tamsin feels very scared.
9. Matt informs us that he isn't that great with the radio.
10. Radio fails to work
11: Tamsin goes white and nearly passes out.
12: After a bit of a faff the radio works
13: after hearing our distress calls on the radio Matt and ajo bring us a new batteyr which roly fits.
14. We sail off and catch a shit load of fish.

Now, from your very dry chair it may not seem like that would be scary, trust me it is, we were off a reef that was very sharp looking, and to our knowledge may not be rescued. Bear in mind that a group of fishermen were in a similar position and dissapeared off the face of the Earth for six months, eventuall reappearing in Chile vowing never to speak of what went on in the small boat over those six months. Also, Tamsin feels about the sea what I do about planes ie. that they are death traps that are nt to be trusted! It must be said though Matt and Cheryl were amazing and aside from Tamsin's nervousness, which stems from a deep seated fear, we felt completely safe.

All in all a great few days, I would go back in a shot the people, the food and above all, the place were absolutely fantastic. Only thing is, son't tell anyone, i want it to be unspoiled for the next trip!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnandtamsin/worldtrip06/1172167860/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnandtamsin/worldtrip06/1172167860/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnandtamsin/worldtrip06/1172167860/tpod.html Sun, 12 Aug 2007 14:39:47 -0400 John and Tamsin's World-Wide Adventure

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New York, United States

I didn't actually think that I would finish this blog off. As you probably know we have been back for quite some time and I had pretty much ignored the website since then. However, I went back the other day to put it all into a big document as a keepsake. It really bugged me that the last entries were missing and there was no real sense of an ending. So here goes:

The flight to New York was an absolute killer. We flew for 18 hours in all and were awake for over 36. After leaving Auckland, we flew to LA where we stopped for about two hours, which largely comprised of taking our shoes on and off for security purposes. After 10 months on the road, I'm pretty surprised my walking boots made it through customs; they were two weeks away from being classed as an entirely new, sweat based, life form. Tamsin "law-breaker" Burton nearly created a national security alert by keeping her trainers on. The young man at customs freaked "ma'am, remove your shoes, now ma'am" while eagerly fingering the trigger on his machine gun. Honestly, you can't take her anywhere without nearly sparking an international incident!

Landing in New York was an entirely different proposition. The airport was empty and, being late at night, the crew all but chucked us off the plane by force. So wandering through a deserted JFK, the first thing to hit us was the heat, or rather the absolute lack of it. Winter, that long abandoned fiend, had come back to greet us and we were far from prepared. After 10 months of near total summer, we landed in our pathetic summer clothes to be greeted by -12c conditions. Almost instantly my testicles had packed their bags and retreated to warmer climes. It would have been an idea, I thought as icicles formed on my face and a polar bear sauntered by, to wear two pairs of pants and a nice warm vest...

Leaving the airport gives you your first taste of what New York will be like as, lined up to whisk you to your destination is a row of actual big yellow taxis. The drive to the hotel gave us glimpses of the Empire State Building, The Chrysler Building, the instantly recognisable skyline and, as we approached Manhattan, we crossed the Brooklyn Bridge. Everything is so utterly familiar from the countless movies and TV shows, it's impossible to shake off the eerie sense of deja vu that you've been here before. Despite the countless hours travelling, the jetlag, the hunger and the tiredness, I was very, very excited to be in NYC.

For want of a better word, our hotel was 'unique'. It was in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, which is famous for, among other things, being the home of American Punk (NB old people: that is a type of music, and not a person), various types of criminals and dropouts and, of course, the best pizza in the entire world (this is actually an indisputable fact and has been proved many times over by distinguished pizza critics such as myself). Despite the recent gentrification of the area, it still had a certain rough-around-the-edges feel to it that was almost tangible and isn't as present in some of the nicer areas of the city. After checking in we were shown to our room and were surprised to find that the lock had been broken off and someone's possessions were still in the room. Needless to say we asked to change and were moved next door. Now, the hotel we stayed at is, as I mentioned, unique. It is really up-front about what it offers, which is no frills private accommodation for dirt cheap in a fantastic location. True to their word, the location was fantastic and the accommodation was extremely no frills. The room was just big enough to fit two single beds pushed together in. The windows had been painted over, repelling what little daylight there was. The top 50cm of every wall in all the rooms was actually just wooden lattice, meaning that all the noises made carried to every room. I can safely say that, after some of the noises and conversations I heard there, I left New York a more worldly man than when I arrived...

Due to the jetlag, we were waking up at all hours. The windows being painted over magnified the effects of this and we became quite disorientated about when exactly we were supposed to be awake or asleep. It lent our whole time in New York a slightly surreal edge as we were, quite frankly, not safe to be out on the streets without a responsible adult.

Our time in New York was mostly spent wandering the streets and taking in the atmosphere. Manhattan is a big place, with a lot to see, and it is expensive to get around. This explains why, when we tried to walk places, we kept getting waylaid by all the attractions en route. For example we tried to walk from our hotel to Central Park. This walk should take no more than an hour. Then you see a shop selling trainers that are designed by the on site graffiti artist and have to have a look inside for five minutes. Then you make it five steps down the road and there's another shop you just have to see selling discount t-shirts. So it goes until it's six PM, dark and you realise you've only made it as far as Times Square. The shopping is absolutely phenomenal, trainers, clothes, retro videogames, anything you could ever think of is all there and all cheap. The first thing we brought was some suitable clothing to combat the cold as our blood was still stupidly thin from being in perpetual summer for 9 months. Then I brought some cheap DS games, way ahead of their UK release. Eventually we caved and brought some trainers and clothes. To be fair though, I was quite pleased with myself for not buying all sorts of electronic goods and trying to get them back through customs...

Despite the shops, we did manage to see some of the sites, like the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building. We also managed to get to Ground Zero. The work on the proposed memorial had yet to start due to building regulations, so the area just looked like a big empty building site. The walkways surrounding the site are understated, with minimal information on what happened. The only posters are the ones warning you that buying memorabilia off street hawkers is discouraged. Despite this it retains the power to shock you with sheer size. It takes a good few minutes to walk even one side of the site.

Apart from shopping and sightseeing, the other main occupation for the New York tourist is eating. True to expectation, the food was outstanding. We went to Kat's Deli, where that scene from When Harry met Sally was shot and had hot pastrami sandwiches with pickles. If heaven has a taste, I'd bet my last 20p that it is one of hot, cured cow meat. We also ate at Lombardi's, a world famous pizza joint that is the pinnacle of the American-style pizza. It was so good, that we went twice. We also tried a hip curry joint and ordered way too much food and had to waddle home. I love going into a corner shop for the first time in a new country and taking in the bewildering array of hitherto unknown confectionary. In Times Square there is a shop dedicated to Hershey's bars and Reece's Pieces and another selling only M & M's. It was brilliant and I fully believe that given enough time I could easily eat my way into the record books as the world's fattest man.

It's fitting that, more than in any other blog entry, I have had to leave a lot of the details out of this entry. There was just too much going on over the few days we were there. This is a great metaphor for a city so large and all encompassing that there is no way to see it all in one lifetime. However, I have fallen deeply in love with the place and cannot wait to go back as soon as possible with some empty suitcases. It has gotten under my skin. I have little fantasies about living in New York and being an artist living in Soho and a Manhattan apartment is way up high on my wish list of things I would buy if I were rich. For now though, I have some amazing memories (and trainers) to remind myself of our time in the Big Apple, the city that never sleeps: New York, New York.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnandtamsin/worldtrip06/1172167920/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnandtamsin/worldtrip06/1172167920/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnandtamsin/worldtrip06/1172167920/tpod.html Fri, 23 Feb 2007 14:43:47 -0500 John and Tamsin's World-Wide Adventure

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Los Angeles, United States

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]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnandtamsin/worldtrip06/1167687060/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnandtamsin/worldtrip06/1167687060/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnandtamsin/worldtrip06/1167687060/tpod.html Fri, 23 Feb 2007 13:10:09 -0500 John and Tamsin's World-Wide Adventure

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All over the shop, New Zealand

Firstly, happy New Year! 2007, eh? Creeps up on you, when I was a lad it was barely even 2001 and now look at the world; all grown up. So, hopefully you had a great night and maybe are reading this all hungover and rotten? If so settle in with a cup of tea and I'll tell you all about what we've been up to since the last report.

Arrival
We flew into Christchurch on the 11th December. Christchurch is the main city on the South Island and has a population of around 350, 000. It is, by reputation, the most English-feeling of all NZ cities, even to the extent that you can go punting on the river, which the guide books tell me is very English! At the airport we were met by the guy from the rental company who showed us how our new car worked. It's an automatic, which we'd never driven before. Essentialy, it is like driving an oversived Go-Kart, with only two pedals, stop and go, and two main gears, forwards and backwards. I love it, it takes all the hassle out driving when you have no gears and leaves you with a hand free, perhaps to complete a crossword, or write a postcard. It also has an overdrive switch that when engaged, the car makes a really loud grunting noise. It's really cool but I'm not sure we actually go any faster, the point is that it makes me feel like a big man.
Under the advice of Cheryl we headed out to a place called Akaroa, which sits about 45 mins south of Christchurch on the Banks Peninsula. Like much of NZ it is a volcanic landscape; it is perhaps more evident here as the peninsula seems to almost be formed around a central caldera and seems to have oozed into place. It is an absolutely stunning landscape and we camped up in the hills looking down into the valley. The Town itself is quite cool, it was colonized by the French and it works hard to maintain that link to the past. The streets are all Rues and they fly the tricolore. One night we were hanging at the campsite when huge sirens started going off in the town, like air raid sirens, really loud. It was only later that we found out it was teh Shark Alarm, warning people that a big beastie was in the bay, we had a look but couldn't see it. We've since heard similar alarms in a few places...

Kaikoura
Kaikoura was our next major stop. It sits at the foot of a huge range of Mountains called the Seaward Kaikoura ranges. They dominate the landscape and just amazing, you see them wherever you are looming over you and they are so high (around 2,500 m) that they were still covered in snow even at this time of year! They dominate the town and you can see them poking out no matter where you are, it is an awesome sight as attested by the amount of pictures that we took of them!
It was not mountains that we were here to see though. No, we were after sea mammals Kaikoura is pretty famous for them as it has unique ocean conditions. There is a massive trench a couple of miles off shore that is about 4500 ft deep. this allows deep water conditions to occur very clos to shore. Hence, they have an abundance of seals, whales and dolphins. First on the list was the seals. We visited the locla colony a number of times and were able to get very close to some of the tubby swimmers. You can see them just metres away on the rocks and frolicking in the water. The best one was the chubster we found lurking in the bushes of the carpark, the seedy seal. He was just loafing and we were able to get some good pics of hime.
The next spot was the big one, we were booked onto a whale watching tour onto said deep water. We necked a load of sea sickness pills and set off. It's a good job we did too, it was extremely choppy and soon enough there was a wave of vomitting sweeping through the passengers like an awfule mexican wave. We were okay though, which is the main thing, and we were soon off spotting Sperm Whales. They are a unique species as they surface for up to ten minutes and take hour long dives. Other whales only stay at the surface for a short while but dive for less time. So the boat we were on had all sorts of technical gubbins enabling them to find the wet beasts. Within a few minutes the hunt was on and we had caught our first sight of a Whale, or at least Tamsin had, i was too slow and went to the upper level by whih time he'd scarpered, bah!
The next few spots were infinately more successful though, we managed to catch up with them on two more occasions where they were on the surface for ages. It was humbling to be so near to them, they are gigantic and we were able to get really close to them. I was in a bit of whale geek heaven. The best bit was when they dived and did the whole swishy tail business, with the mountains in the background, it was just perfect.

The 12 days of Christmas
Between arriving in Christchurch and Christmas we camped all over the North East of the South Island. It was pretty cold and we were a bit sore after 13 nights on the floor, but it is so cheap as to be irresistable. In addition, it is great to be outdoors in such a beautiful country. We were able to get a lot of walking done in some amazing countryside. Tamsin had her first taste of geek heaven when she managed to get her hands on one of the rings form The Lord of the Rings.
For Christmas we had booked into a campsite to stay in a TeePee. It was quite basic, with no electricity and just a matress and some carpet to sleep on. It was cool though, Tamsin made a little Christmas tree and we made it our own. on Xmas eve we did a huge tramp in the Abel Tasman National Park. We caught a water taxi 12 miles up the coast and walked back all along the beautiful coastline, it was stunning but we were gald to be back at our teepee for a few beers with the other campers before settling down and waiting for Santa.
Well, he never found us but it didn't matter, befor we left Auckland Cheryl had given us a bags to open at Christmas. We were so pleased when we opened them to find stockings stuffed with really cool, thoughtful presents. It made our day. The rest of teh day we spent loafing in the sun before settling down for a nice picnic!
Franz Josef Glacier Walk
Franz Josef is a small town proving tourist services for the Glacier of teh same name. The pics will give you a better idea of what the Glacier looks like, but I will add a bit anyway. FJG is one of only 3 glaciers in the world to come down so low, you don't have to climb any mountains to see it. This is possible because of the huge Neve where the snow gathers, some 3000m up the mountain. It has an area of 32 km Sq, and has an average annual snowfall of 40m, a great deal more than the average that a ski field gets of about 5m. The huge pressures created by this unmelting snow compacts it and sends it off down the mountain. The result as you can see on the pictures is a cascade of solid ice flowing for 13km before reaching the ground as part of an imposing wall of vertical ice known as the terminal face. The whole thing is lubricated by underground water tha exits from the huge river that runs from the cave in the face of the glacier. Our aim was to go on a guided tour and climb the thing.
We had booked in ages ago as it is really popular and I had been looking forward to it for ages. I was so dissapointed when we turned up to pay the day before our walk and was told it had been cancelled, we only had a day to do it but it had rained so much that all the steps they carve into the ice had been washed away. I was gutted, but there was a ray of hop a sister company, who used different paths had spaces available and we were able to get on it. I fretted all night as the rain poured, thinking that it might wash away the tracks. the next morning though, we woke to blue skies and were told that the walk would be operating, I was made up. We had booked onto a full days walk as it gives you access to loads more ice caves and big crevasses. When we booked in we were given a sheet saying that the walk was for people of good fitness and that if we couldn't keep up we would have to be evacuated at our own expense. That didn't sound good, and teh nerves started a bit.
We needn't have worried though as once we hit the ice, we were up to the pace and managed pretty well. It was just awe inspiring, so beautiful, the ice is all blue from the pressure and juts up at the most amazing angles. You have to shimmy through all these tight caves and climb all these vertical walls with some steps roughly carved in. It was ace! Probably my highlight so far and we got a real sense of achievment.

]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnandtamsin/worldtrip06/1165820520/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnandtamsin/worldtrip06/1165820520/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnandtamsin/worldtrip06/1165820520/tpod.html Sun, 31 Dec 2006 22:44:43 -0500 John and Tamsin's World-Wide Adventure

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Auckland, New Zealand

So...

We left Australia on November 27th. Our last night was spent in a horror story of a sixteen bed dorm in Melbourne - where delights such as a man who sang all night and a very bad snorer were included in the price. (for those who aren't too familiar with the hostel set up - basically you ask for a dorm bed and depending on what you want, or more likely the price, you end up sharing a room with up to 17 or so strangers; usually in bunk beds). We were very glad when morning finally came and we made the trek out to the airport; it is hard to feel too sentimental about leaving a country when you have spent the night having murderous thoughs about a vocally impaired Korean exhibitionist. We made sure to show our appreciation by slamming lots of doors on our way out, although it was rather unfortunate his fingers weren't in them - (deep breath). Blimey, I can't believe it is two weeks on and I am still pissed off about it; some scars run deep!

Anyway, enough of the bitterness! So we landed in Auckland quite late at night and were met by my Auntie Cheryl. She took us back to her place where we settled in for our first night in NZ. It was a great relief to be in such comfortable surroundings and Cheryl and her housemates were the perfect hosts. The next day we started to book up all the stuff that we wanted to do during our stay. It is a crazy time over here at the moment because you have to book everything in advance (unless you have a tent - more on that next time). It is peak tourist season as all the Kiwis take a month off for the Xmas holidays. This coincides with a huge influx of tourists from the Northern Hemisphere. It was great to have a local to help us though, as we were able to work out a great route in the South Island and book up a trip to the very top of the country. which we embarked upon a few days after arriving in Auckland.
The trip up North started very, very early in the morning (early even for you working folk, not just lazy backpackers!) as we were whisked off in the lurid green of the Kiwi Experience tour bus. Our destination was Paihia, which is the main tourist point for a place called the Bay of Islands. The BoI is a very sunny spot, consisting of a huge bay with lots of, you guessed it, Islands! It is famed for it's blue water, stunning scenery and all round holiday-mode niceness. After the chill of Melbourne, it was like being on a summer holiday, it was warm, the days lasted forever and the beaches were amazing. On our first day we went exploring al the rock pools where Tamsin found a huge crab and we saw loads of fish and all that gubbins! Later that evening, while looking off the pier we even saw a giant sting-ray that we named Mysterio, like the wrestler! The sun is fierce over here and it is essential to get loads of sun cream on, which we didn't, so we got a bit burnt, d'oh...
As the main activities in the bay of Islands are all water based, we decided to book ourselves onto a yacht cruise around the bay, stopping off at an island to do some tramping (Kiwi for walking). It was great, so beautiful, I won't go on about it tto much suffice to say that we took a heap of pictures that we will whack up when we come across a PC with a CD drive. It was a wee bit scary because the yacht turns (as apparently they all do) by leaning at about 90 degrees, as we were sitting on the front, we had to hold on pretty tight lest we be swept of and eaten by one of the many sharks in the water (or indeed stung by Mysterio - though in my heart I am sure he would never betray us).
As part of our bus package up there we had also booked a tour right up to Cape Reinga at the very North of the country. Again it was an early start (6:45 am, fact fans) so it was all a bit of a blur until we reached our first destination which was the cape itself. I alsmost wished I hadn't woken up hough, the bus ride was fraught! The road up there is unsealed and very windy and we were on this sort of 4WD bus that sat very high. Kiwi drivers aren't known for taking corners staedily so we went flying round all these narrow cliffs - all I can say is it's lucky the seats on the bus were already brown! The cape itself is quite breathtaking. it lies high over the point where the Tasman and Pacific Oceans meet and you can see them crashing together. Like most of New Zealand the scenery is simply stunning and it has an almost unreal qaulity to it as you look out over these massive hills and giant sand dunes.
Speaking of the sand dunes they were our next stop. As part of the trip you stop at the Te Paka (?) sand dunes that are over 90 metres high and boogie board down them. It was such a good laugh, you go really, really fast (the guide reckons some coppers clocked him going 90kmph - quite possible he was a big lad). As you are lying flat on them the sensation of speed is even greater. The only down side is that being so high you have to bloody climb them again if you want another go, which I did. My second go wasn't quite as succesful; I managed to get up a load of speed and was going well until I was about three quarters of the way down. There was a great big hump in the dune so I shifted further back on the board to jump it (the further back you are the more you can pull the front up). Unfortunately, I was wearing quite baggy shorts and the waist-band went below the board, as I went over the bump they caught and started to simultainiously fill up with sand and fall down. Not wanting to scar any young children I had to do a quick stop and make myself decent. Suffice to say I am still finding sand in the oddest of places!
Our next stop was 90 mile beach, which for some reason is actually only 60 miles long. Our bus and the other tour buses had a race along this beach, which is actually a national highway, it was pretty bizarre being on a bus that was razzing it through the waves like some bloody pony! We stopped on the beach to take pics and dig up Tua Tuas which are shell fish that live just under the sand - there were bloody hundreds of the things in the bucket after we had all dug them up and the tour guide was looking at them hungrily (I think I mentioned he was a tad chunky).
We arrived in Paihia via a very good fish and chip shop (still no mushy peas though) and were quite tired indeed. Lucky then that we had a few days lazing on the beach befre we headed back to Cheryl's - such a hard life!
Before we flew down to the South Island we had a few days to see Auckland, which is a very cool city. It was a bit sickening though looking at all the nice things that we can't afford (Boo Hoo, I hear you say!). We went to Kelly Tarlton's aquarium where they have a colony of sinister penguins living underground in a disused sewer (possibly plotting to take over the world, though I'm damned if I can understand what they're saying). Also we went to the Sky tower, which is a very high tower with a glass floor, it was really high and sent my legs a bit funny. Tamsin was okay though and was walking all over it without a worry (fine by me, as long as there was a clear understanding that I wouldn't rescue her if the glass shattered!). We also saw the new Bond film which was excellent Daniel Craig would blatantly have Roger Moore or Piece Brosnan is an arm wrestle.
Well, that's it for today, we are off to spend Xmas in a tee pee in a national park run by a collective - if you haven't heard from us by new year, send out the search parties.
Have a good one and merry christmas to you all!




]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnandtamsin/worldtrip06/1164168360/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnandtamsin/worldtrip06/1164168360/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnandtamsin/worldtrip06/1164168360/tpod.html Wed, 22 Nov 2006 01:08:47 -0500 John and Tamsin's World-Wide Adventure

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Melbourne, Australia

Since our return from Tasmaina, we have been living and working (sort of) in a cool little seaside town called Sorrento, which is a few hours south of Melbourne. It has been really cool, living the good life by the beach. It has been getting rather warm recently as summer rolls around.

Also, there are some pictures of Ben and Laila's wedding, it was a great night and we really enjoyed it. If you're reading this: Congratulations!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnandtamsin/worldtrip06/1162023000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnandtamsin/worldtrip06/1162023000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnandtamsin/worldtrip06/1162023000/tpod.html Wed, 22 Nov 2006 00:38:49 -0500 John and Tamsin's World-Wide Adventure

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Hobart, Australia

"Scrrrrreeecccchhhhhhhhhh". That was the very loud noise that our plane made as it reversed out onto the runway. Now, I'm generally a very good flyer these days, but when the plane starts making noises akin to a hungover elephant being roughly beaten, you really do have to start getting slightly scared. Even scarier, was the fact that, should the plane land in one piece, we would be disembarking in Tasmania. Tassie, you see, is something of a wild state. Even in Australia, which is a very remote country, Tasmania is seen as something of a frontier; the last stop on the train, as it were. Tasmanians seem to be the butt of many an Australian joke, most of them revolving around the theme of Tasmanian residents being in possession of two heads, due, apparently, to a certain fondness to interbreeding. It is, in short, the Wales of Australia.

As the plane descended, all the time making more ominous noises, it became clear that should we end up not making it would not only leave the world short of three slightly weary backpackers (Me, Tamsin and our friend Lynsay), it would also make an unsightly scar on an impossibly beautiful landscape. From our lofty position thousands of feet in the air, the landscape unfolded in cascades of vivid green and blue. Eventually and with much shaking we managed to touch down in one piece, at least we were in one piece; I can't vouch for the plane!

The first job was picking up the hire car, a nifty little Daewoo Lanos, and heading into Hobart, the state capital of Tasmania. Now, there isn't a great deal to tell about our time there except that the coffee was poor and that Hobart has a one way system designed, seemingly, by a five year old dog with a bad case of the shakes. It's actually a very nice place but we were hungering for a bit of wilderness as that is the big attraction to Tassie. So we headed off in search of our motel, some food and some adventure, in that exact order. It may not surprise you that we failed on all three counts and instead managed to find ourselves involved in a serious wine/beer tasting session at the Moorilla Estate Vineyard. In all honesty we were looking for food, but all they served was alcohol and the salesman was very generous with the samples. An hour later, and considerably merrier we headed back to Hobart for lunch. Whilst driving there we noticed a rather large mountain and were delighted to discover that some enterprising person had laid a road all the way to the summit! How could we resist? Tamsin (who had stayed sober at the brewery, as the designated driver) managed to navigate the somewhat precarious roads with little difficulty (which is some feat, some of the were very narrow and very, very high up). The view from the summit was magnificent, looking down onto Hobart and the mouth of the river Derwent, all the way over to Port Arthur. The photos look great and we were very pleased with ourselves.

After a night of luxury in a motel (It had Austar - like Sky TV - not something you get in your average hostel dorm room) we headed into Hobart to drop our bags off at a hostel in town. The plan being to return there after a day trip over to the former penal colony, Port Arthur. The moment we stepped into the hostel we knew we'd made the wrong choice; depressed looking faces gloomily stared at us from the dingy reception room. It didn't get better either as we were shown to our room. To put it bluntly, the place smelled worse than a hippy's armpit! It was disgusting, and the ashen faced man who greeted us warned us that the other inhabitants of the dorm all snored terribly. We dumped our bags and fled, thinking that we would be back late anyway and wouldn't be too bothered. The truth is though we were kidding ourselves; as the first town we came across, we sought alternative accommodation in a beautiful convict built house run by an affable Western Australian called Dave. Lynsay even managed to somehow convince the owner of the grotty hostel to give us a full refund and her and Tamsin mounted a rescue mission to retrieve our bags.

So it was that we arrived in Port Arthur slightly later than anticipated and the sun, while not quite disappearing had sunk low enough to add a slightly eerie atmosphere to an already very creepy place. In the convict history of Australia, there is nowhere with a darker past than the penal colony of Port Arthur. It is a tiny peninsula on the south east coast, connected to the land by a hundred metre spit of land known as The Dog Line. Surrounding this land the waters are very rough and full of sharks. To keep prisoners in a line of guard dogs was established at the thinnest point, hence "The Dog Line" and hence the lack of abundant escapees from Port Arthur. Port Arthur was where all the secondary offenders were sent from the rest of Australia, so the inmates were people who had committed, in some cases, some seriously evil crimes. As such they were treated pretty badly, aside from the main prison, which housed the general offenders and is now just a shell of a building, there is the Seperate Prison. In here inmates were confined on their own for 23 hrs a day, referred to as a number and required to wear a mask whenever they were out of their cell. The idea was to dehumanise them to the point that they would become enlightened and thus repentant. The reality was that the majority of people put through the system became severely disturbed and had to be housed in the Asylum next door, which by coincidence grew considerably the more prisoners were put through the solitary system. In addition there are countless tales of murders, abuse and general wrongdoing.

Sadly Port Arthur was the scene of one of the most horrific crimes in Australian history. In 1996 35 people were killed by a gunman who killed indiscriminately after opening fire in the cafe on site. The community, no bigger than a small village was devastated and they still ask you not to refer to the incident to the guides as many had relatives who were either killed or injured. Today, the cafe has been turned into a memorial, which as you can imagine, is very touching and sad. It is quite removed from the rest of the place, and kept very separate.

As the evening fell the atmosphere grew more eerie, if anywhere in the world is haunted it is definitely Port Arthur, which is why we decided to go on one of the famous Ghost Tours, which takes you inside the old convict buildings and around the grounds. As we were led outside the meeting point into the dark night, the guide produced three lanterns and asked for volunteers to hold them. Thinking I could see the way more easily, I volunteered. I became a little uneasy when the guide said, "you're going to really regret that". Wondering what she had meant we pressed on to our first stop, the church, where the guide gave us a talk on all the murders that had taken place in there and how it had a dark history and wasn't even consecrated! Then she said, still, it's much nicer than the next spot, where there are six very active evil spirits and people have been hurt by the ghosts. We were all pretty jumpy by this stage; whether you believe in ghosts or not is irrelevant, it was seriously scary. At this point she turns to me and informs me that as the first lantern holder, I would have to go up to the house alone, knock on the door, open it and go inside to a specific room, where I had to wait for everyone to come along when the other lanterns were on the path. In fact I had to do this in every bloody building we went in! Pretty scary, like being on Most Haunted, but for real and on my own. Don't feel sorry for me though, as we all got cool certificates to show how brave we had been!

Having survived the ghost tour we decided on something altogether more earthy for the next day trip. We were heading to Freycinet National park and going for a hike to see the famous Wineglass Bay. The hike itself was quite uphill and pretty knackering but the views when we made it to the lookout were amazing, the pictures have come out a bit dark, but you can Google Image Wineglass Bay and see how beautiful it is. The rest of the day was marked by nothing more spectacular than a trip to the pub and a dorm room that smelt strangely of Mr Kipling apple pies.

You'll have to excuse me now, as I've been writing for a while and am running out of steam for Tasmania. Which is quite lucky as that was our second to last day there and I will skim through the rest. So we drove to Launceston the next day (four hour drive - boring) and booked into a plush motel which had Sky and a nice bath tub, which was the most amazing luxury to weary travellers. It's weird, the Aussies don't go much in for baths and obviously all the hostels just have showers. I think I soaked for an hour at least. then we watched films and ordered room service - the sheer decedent of it all!

Tassie was really great and is not really visited by that many people. Which is a shame as it has some amazing scenery and places, the photos of which will really speak for themselves.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnandtamsin/worldtrip06/1161280740/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnandtamsin/worldtrip06/1161280740/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnandtamsin/worldtrip06/1161280740/tpod.html Sat, 28 Oct 2006 04:42:44 -0400 John and Tamsin's World-Wide Adventure

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Melbourne, Australia

You'd think that we would be sad to be leaving Sydney. After all, my last entry read like a love letter to the place. And, while we had enjoyed our time there, Tamsin at least was excited to be leaving. The main reason for this was that we had managed to get a van relocation deal to Melbourne. The deal enabled us to take five nights to travel the thousand or so kilometres for only $6 a night, just over two pounds in Sterling. The joy of it being that you get to see a lot of out-of-the-way places at your own pace. As I mentioned, Tamsin was very excited. Since passing her driving test she has transformed into a bit of a petrol head; in fact it's all I can do to stop her wearing jeans and a suit jacket a la Jeremy Clarkson...

We went down to the Wicked depot and picked up the beast, it was big, even for a van and, once again decorated in an outlandish manner. In fact, it's decorations would eventually lead Tamsin into a brush with the law. It was on our third day when it happened, we were cruising along through a backwater town called Rosedale, when we rocked up to a traffic island, needing to turn right. Tamsin, at the wheel, and confused by the, frankly shonky, diagram of the island neglected to indicate. (Actually, I did indicate when I came off the island, just not as I was approaching it!!!) This would have been fine but there was a copper waiting at one of the exits. Sure enough as we pulled off the island we were followed by the flashing lights of the police car. Tamsin cursed under her breath as the sweaty lawman approached. "I was just wondering if your indicators work?" He enquired, with a thinly hidden veneer of sarcasm. Tamsin was all politeness, and apologised for her mistake. What happened next was shocking. Despite it only being three in the afternoon on a Wednesday, he actually pulled out a breathalyser and asked Tamsin to blow into it. Obviously it came back clean (we were off the vodka that day!). After checking her licence, he remarked "well, i'm going to let you off with a warning this time" in a voice that inferred "but if I catch you breaking the law in Rosedale again, it'll be the gallows for you, my lass". Frankly we were shocked at the way he had been so keen to bust us, mind you, it may have had something to do with the fact that our van was painted up like a Police car and on the back in lurid red letters was the slogan "Don't drink and drive.... you might spill some".

The rest of the trip was less dramatic, but no less enjoyable. We spent a night on an Aboriginal reserve. That was entertaining, we saw a load of wildlife; huge hunstman and white-tailed spiders. Possums that ran around the van all night and were in no way afraid of us. The best was the Kookaburras who had been resting on a pole watching us cook dinner. They are the size of fat pidgeons and as mean as convicts. When dinner was cooked the f***ers swooped down and nicked Tamsin's sausage! She was not impressed and I had to restrain her as she chased the little sod with a frying pan.

We stayed the night at a place called Pambula Beach, which is amazing, wild Kangaroos just hop all over the camp site. It was really cool to finally see some in the wild that weren't dead on the side of the road!

We were quite sad when we had to drop the van off in Melbourne, the freedom that it affords is very liberating. We were impressed with ourselves as well, as the van didn't actually have a reverse gear, so we drove 1000k all the while avoiding situations where we might have to reverse, very trying!

Since being back we have been having a quiet old time of it on the Mornington peninsula, where Ben and Laila live. It has been very relaxing and been good to spend time in such a beautiful place.

Next week we are off to Tasmania for a week, as on a whim we decided that it would be a laugh, so I'll do a full report of that and stick a shed-load more pics up in a week or so.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnandtamsin/worldtrip06/1158608100/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnandtamsin/worldtrip06/1158608100/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/johnandtamsin/worldtrip06/1158608100/tpod.html Tue, 26 Sep 2006 23:28:52 -0400 John and Tamsin's World-Wide Adventure

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Sydney, Australia

So. I had been giving it the big one about doing the Bridge Climb since before we even got to Australia, but now that the day was finally here - it was all paid for (all 169 non-refundable dollars) and I was approaching the check-in desk at the Bridge Climb centre I wasn't feeling quite as eager as before. It's not that I'm really afraid of heights, I don't have vertigo or anything like that. It's just that the bridge is so very big when you're just a small girl who usually never has to go any higher than level 2 of the Shirehall in Shrewsbury - and even then you have the safety of walls and stuff. I can assure you that my palms were at their sweatiest they have been for a while that day.

In case you are wondering why I was doing it and John wasn't - he is a big fairy and was too terrified so he did the honourable thing and sent his girlfriend up there in his stead to tell him what it was like! Ha ha, not really. Well, it is true that he isn't all that keen on heights, but it was more a matter of the cost unfortunately. At $169 per person, it was just a bit too expensive for us both to do it so he stepped aside and let me do it (very reluctantly I am sure you can imagine!!!).

At 2.15 on the day I checked in at the Bridge Climb reception and attempted to come across as being cool as a cucumber to the girl who checked my details and made sure that I had read the health and safety stuff etc. Briefly it crossed my mind that I could pretend that I hadn't read the health and safety notice and pick one of the various ailments on the list that mean you can't do the climb, however, my brains were too slow to twig on to this plan and I foolishly said that everything was tickety boo. She wished me good luck and I think I squeaked thank you, sounding as far away from brave as you can, before heading towards the area where they call you from. Sitting there waiting I felt rather like someone waiting for their turn in the electric chair. There were only 2 other people waiting to be called, which I thought was a bit odd because they usually go up in groups of around 10. I wasn't sure how I felt about a small group, especially as the other 2 people were men. I was having visions of clinging to the floor of the bridge, bawling my eyes out saying that I wanted to get down while they stood over me laughing and commenting on how puny and pathetic I was in very deep, manly voices.

I was shaken out of these day dreams by the girl who called us for our climb. We went in to a room where we were breathalised to make sure that we hadn't had a little too much Dutch Courage before the climb. The over-enthusiatic girl also took us through to get our rather fetching grey jump suits which would be our clothes for the climb. As expected, the legs on the suit weren't quite long enough and the neckline wasn't really a style which suits me, but it was all they had so I had to make do. We weren't allowed any loose items on us, not even in pockets, and they advised that we take our trousers off as it can get rather warm doing the climb. Once we were changed we were then taken to meet our guide, who was a very nice young chap called Pete. He sorted us out with a harness each, which would keep us attached to the bridge and made a very good attempt at relaxing us all. At this point we were joined by 3 Americans (parents and their daughter) so I felt a little more comfortable - partly because I was no longer the only girl and it also turned out that the father was more afraid than I was.

Next we got to do a little practice climb on this set of practically vertical steps and walkways they have set up in the centre so that you get a feel of how it is going to be and how to handle the harnesses. We were then assured that there is only really one part where you have to climb up steps like these and that there is only a very small 30 metre or so section of the walkway when you can see through the walkway to the water below. This was a slight comfort.

Finally, before getting out on to the bridge we were hooked up with our radios and head gear so that we could hear what Pete was saying to us. Then that was it and we were ready to go. As I was on my own Pete said I could go up the front with him, which was very nice but I was a little apprehensive in case I freaked out and everyone was stuck behind me, but I didn't want to be on my own so I accepted the offer and was the first in the group to step out on to the bridge.

The climb is done at a very leisurely pace. We were always stopping and chatting and people could ask questions. At no point were we rushed or did it become strenuous. Although it is called the bridge 'climb', you don't actually climb the bridge like Spiderman would crawl up a wall, you just walk along walkways and climb some steps before you get out on to the top arch and walk on a walkway that is on a bit of a slope. The whole thing is actually very easy and you have railings to hold on to the whole way and are constantly attached to the bridge by your harness. Of course, this doesn't make me any less brave you understand!!!

The views from the bridge were spectacular. Sydney is a beautiful city, the harbour especially. The weather was perfect (clear and a pleasant 71 degrees) and we could see for miles. We stopped at various points on the main arch (the bit we walked on was about as wide as a bus and there was a walkway in the middle of the steel which had hand rails the whole way) and had some photos taken with the Opera House in the background (these were taken by Pete - you are not allowed to take your own camera up there) and took in the sights. We must have been on the arch for about 1.5 hours, mostly because we were always stopping and just enjoying where we were.

It was amazing to think that when the bridge was built in the 1920's and 1930's, it was done so by ordinary men who had no harnesses and who would have to get out on to all the scary looking struts and steel beams that went between the 2 sections of the main arch. Pete asked any of us if of us would have gone out on those beams for $1 million and not one person said that they would. Amazingly, only one man fell to the water and died building the arch - that is pretty good considering how long it took to build and how risky the job was. One man fell into the water from the road level of the bridge and survived, but the soles of his shoes were embedded in his feet and the tops of his boots had disconnected from the soles and gone up his legs and wedged themselves in his groin. Nasty. Being distracted with tales like this and the views combined seemed to keep any fear of the height I was at bay and I was actually able to enjoy the whole thing. My hand was welded to the rail the whole time, but all in all, I thought I did pretty well.

Eventually we had to come down from the bridge and say goodbye to the grey jump suits and our group. Pete had managed to take some nice photos on the bridge - one of the whole group at the top comes included in the price of the climb, but any extras you want come at the princely sum of $15.95!!! There was a nice one of me on my own with the Opera House in the background which I bought and we will try to get a picture of that one put up to prove that I did it for all you doubters!

All in all, I would recommend the bridge climb to anyone. If you ever come to Sydney, do it. It is not as scary as you think it may be and you get the chance to see Sydney Harbour in a unique way and get a huge sense of achievement at the same time.
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