A whole week of nothing but snowboarding and cheese- Perfect!

New Snowboards The snow wasn't the best but what can you do? Its still the best since Canada this time last year. The cheese was definately better though!!!

Fondue night Cheese on Meat Deep fried Steak and Chips Skewer

Last days in Japan

Even though I'm no longer in Japan, I thought I should briefly sum up my last few days in the country- Its been amazing!!!!!! Last group photo at last supper On the 3rd of October we all took a boat to this remote island near Ojika. The boat ride was hell but it was well worth it. It turned out to be one of my favourite days in Japan. James and I went fishing with the only local inhabitant and learnt to gut, cook and sashimi the fish we'd caught. It was wicked! I even caught a blow fish.... we chose not to eat that one! Instead we quickly threw back in the sea!!!! How cute is that!!! And theres the sashimi We finished the day with a compulsory Kareoke night...... Its really not my thing. This is the result....... Barry looking very pretty And Barbara looking even prettier! Sorry Barbara Anyway Ojika was great and really beautiful. here isd a picture of the nearby island and a sunset in the garbour And, amazingly these pictures havent been touched up as there is no laptop handy at the moment! Ill just stick on a few more photos.... James lookin very sweet with his garden friend Me in front of gold temple in Kyoto Proof that they really do put noodles everywhere An altogether nasty nasty picture!!!! Until next time xxxxxx

unday, October 01, 2006

Konnichiwaaaaaa from Japan!!!!! Hellooo everyone! I have finally found the time to sit down at tinternet for more than 15 mins to organise my photo sharing better. I hope you enjoy! Fishies in pond waiting to be fed in Glover Gardens First of all, I'd like to say that I'm doing great. The people I am on the tour with are wicked. There are 3 Australians, 1 Kiwi, 1 canadian, 1 Columbian, 2 Americans and 1 English... Felipe, the guide looking through torn umbrella near the Devil Hells in Matsuyama Japan has truely been amazing. I landed in Tokyo nearly 10 days ago and got myself on the first train to Electric Town. Its mad, the trains seats all turn automatically so that groups can be facing each other and single'ns can sit in the direction the train is moving in. Tokyo was crazy. After a mere four hours in town I got to try some blowfish (fuku in Japanes). It tastes well nice and luckily there was no poisoning involved! We went out for a few drinks at night to Shibuja (where all the lights are), the roads are cut off so people can walk freely and the light emanating from the advertising boards makes it seem like its constantly daytime. Shibuya at night We left Tokyo for Kamakura on the afternoon of day 2. Kamakura is a small town by the sea about an hour away from Tokyo. Kamakura was well nice. These little statues are kept in temples to prevent children who dies young from going to hell for making their parents suffer... how dark! After a long days trek we got to stay on this island where you could watch people surfing. I never thought I would see people driving around on mopeds carrying a longboard in Japan. This suspension bridge was pretty awesome On the 26th we left for Iya Valley. It took a long days travel by bus and train but we finally made it and it was well worth it!!! We stayed 2 nights in a Ryokan with the most beautiful family. As soon as we arrived Haru-San welcomed us with open arms and took us by bus to his remote village in the Iya Kei Gorge. Before going to his Ryokan we stopped over at one of his neighbours house. Potato Lady in her garden This little old lady came giggling towards us and offered the whole group some boiled sweet potatoes.... it was so sweet of her (although some of us could have done with some water to help wash down the potat). Haru-San in his Ryokan The Ryokan was lovely. I got to try the onsen for the very first time. I'm not sure if they are really my thing. They are hot baths where everyone goes to shower, 1 for the men and 1 for the ladies. The heat is lovely and relaxing but the thought of washing myself on a small wooden stool thats been sat on by hundreds of women is not quite my cup of tea!!!! Haru-San's family cooked us a gorgeous feast of a meal... sushi, grilled fish, rice, miso soup, stew, veg..... each with their own set meal placed neatly infront of them we scoffed down our food in our kimonos. Sitting on the floor is not as bad as I thought and you quickly get used to the pins and needles in your legs! I'm lovin the chopsticks! The Gorge was really beautiful. We went right to the top of the mountains by bus on these really narrow and steep roads and ended up in this 400 year old farmhouse which is being looked after by a young english couple who want to preserve the traditional aspect of the Iya Valley villages. The Chiori House from the back The only people that still live here are old couples who have owned the same house for generations. They are all practically self-sufficient apart from having access to the internet and cable in a year. On the other side of the gorge there is a statue of a little boy weeing like the one on brussels... its so random. Piss boy overlooking the gorge haru played a good trick on us. He asked us if we wanted to go see the town Ninja cause one of the girls is all Nunjitsu. We all got excited and agreed to go. It turns out its just a Ninja doll climbing some random wall. He was hilarious he just wouldn't stop giggling and saying "haha Ninja haha". 2 nights ago we were in Matsuyama. The main attraction here was this impressive 400 year old castle above the town. We all had to go round in these green rubber slippers... I wish I'd warn socks it felt well nasty and squigey but it was worth the yuckiness. The walls outside are amazing and it looks like the castle has just been placed on top of the walls like a playmobile toy. Sea Hell in Beppu We are now in Nagasaki. It was a mission getting here but its such a cute town that it merits the detour. The ferry was awesome. Instead of seats they just have compartments where about 50 people can sleep. Luckily we had most of the room to ourselves and got some proper beauty sleep. Yesterday was lovely. I had a well good giggle with three of the guys. We all went walking round town and walked into this colonial park called Glover Gardens. Me and the escalator I rented a period dress to walk around the gardens... hence the photo! It was hilarious I felt well out of place and all these American tourists were trying to take photos of me, they probably thought I worked there. Barry, James, Mike and Me with some random girl in the gardens James too is a laaaayyydeeeee And last night we went to this rrrrrock an rrrrrroolllleeee bar as they call it and met loads of locals. One group was celebrating there marriage there with everyone in snazzy suits and their hair all spiked up. We also met a dude who is in a punk rock band and drew some crappy cartoon of me... although it does resemble me quite a lot. Me with statue on whale near the spectacles bridge in Nagasaki Tomorrow we are off to Ojika. Its a little fisherman's village on a random little island. I cant even find it on the Lonely planet so its bound to be wicked! Well, I guess thats all from me at the moment. I hope you have'nt got absolutely bored by now and I'll be sharing some more in a few days. Toodooloo and Sayonara! Me with mister piggy

Yangshou is a wicked place! We've finally left the smelly cities and gone to the countryside and its beautiful. Today we went bamboo rafting. Although it wasnt as active as I may have hoped I got to go swimming, steer the raft (which is quite hard by the way, its a heavy raft) and simply enjoy the scenery... HOTEL WE STAYING AT CORMORANS FISHING RIDIN THE BAMBOO SORRY GORGEOUS BUT NO TIME TO FLIP IMAGE

Hello from China!

 

 

 

Days 1-3 Beijing

Days 4-5 Great Wall

 

Days 6-8 Xi'an

Days 9-11Shanghai

Days 12-15 Yangshuo

 

Days 16-18 Longji Terraces

Days 19-20 Hong Kong

I needed a holiday after so much travelling. Poor me! So where better to go than the country of maple syrup, elk and of course, snowboarding. I arrived in Banff a week ago, mentally ready to hit the slopes. Physically, well, sitting on buses for 7 months is definately not the best way to prepare for boarding. The snow was amazing but we did encounter several problems with the rentals. Long story short; check your board before you go up the gondola because your bindings may need adjusting. Nick had his bindings set all wrong and found that he had re-adjusted them a little bit too much. As a result he had to board all the way down with an inverted front leg... not fun apparently! INVERTED DUCK POSE After much cuffufle we were able to practice our riding and it was wicked! TOP OF THE WORLD PERFECT SNOWFLAKE ON HAIR Onnor had a few days off and gave us a little guided tour of Banff National Park. Although we didn't get to see an elk, there were some pretty amazing views. WKENDS ARE GOOD BY THE WATERFALL MOON & MOUNTAIN Next up we would encounter some problems with Onnor's car... FUN!!!! CAR TROUBLE CAR GETS LIFT On the last night we went to the Maple Leaf to try some Bison and Elk. As we hadn't yet seen one we thought 'might as well eat one!' As a starter we had a game platter and I followed it up with possibly the best Boullabaisse I have ever had. MMM... CRAB Well, its back to the UK from here... AYE..

Beach, towns, gambling, hiking... what more can you ask for. The last two weeks have been ultra busy driving miles and miles to see some pretty cool sites! I arrived in Los Angeles on the 3rd of March and took a few days to chill and visit the place: Venice Beach, Hollywood, Santa Monica, Beverlyhills, Sunset Blvd etc... It was fun but I have to say, there also quite a seedy vibe about this city. WELCOME TO HOLLYWOOD VENICE BEACH MEETING SPONGE BOB SHOPPING FOR TACK I also made a quick stop at the famous Viper Rooms of course! Well... 'it ain't all that' as they say round here. Some heavy metal band with a crap singer were supposedly performing on stage and in the 'lounge' a couple was to be found, well lounging a little too comfortably! Euh! Call me old fashioned but that's just nasty and wrong!!!!! San Diego is known pretty much only for its Zoo and Sea World. They like they're animals there I guess. With only one day here I had to pick one of them and decided on Sea World for Shamu. To my very joy they had penguins (much more my cup of tea than whales, although the shows, I have to admit, were 'awwwwesooooomme'). BEST ANIMAL EVER WHITE BELUGA WHALE WELL HELLO MR. BEAR AND OF COURSE, SHAMU! Next up was a night next to the Colorado River joined by an extremely, extremely cold swim. Here's a view from my tent.... pretty cool ey! TENT VIEW On our forth day we headed for Arizona ready to horseride at Betty and Rusty's cowboy camp. Why I do this to myself I am not sure but I am actually slowly getting used to the horseriding thing and think I may be slowly, slowly losing my fear. IN THE WAGON RIDING WITH CACTI RUSTY AND BETTY After one day in the middle of literally nowhere it was time to continue through towns to the next middle of nowhere to Monument Valley, Utah. Although we were going to try and sleep in a Hogan, the plan failed, thankfully cause it was freezing here at night. FAMOUS ROCK GROUP PIC IN DA VALLEY STRUGGLING WITH TREE Grand Canyon here I come!!!! I took a ridiculous amount of photos of the canyon. Its amazing. Way bigger than it appears in films. Way, way bigger. As I have decided that a picture will not do the canyon justice, check these photos out instead. HELI RIDE MY FIRST STRIKE EVER I still lost the bowling match pretty badly but was most satisfied with my 2 strikes. You have got to start somewhere! Tacky Vegas comes next. I love this place. Las Vegas Boulevard is basically one long 24hr party avenue. And to add to the fun there is a high level of tackiness. Perfect! Loads of gambling, pimping it up in the world's biggest limo and a great party. wicked! VEGAS BABY! BIG LIMO PUSHING EMMA AROUND We arrived in San Francisco on St Patrick's day but failed to celebrate it in any special way apart from wearing some silly head gear. ST PAT'S CROWN PLAYING PYRAMID AT THE MARINA ALCATRAZ FISH & CHIPS ON FISHERMAN'S WHARF Well, I am here for a few more days and then off to Canada for some boarding... woohoo!!!

WOW!!! This is a beautiful country. From white sand to black, hills to volcanoes, ferns to eucalyptus trees, there is just so much to see for such a small country. And that was only the north island. First stop Auckland. This was time to relax and catch up with some well deserved sleep. So I took it easy, watched numerous films and did some mildly energetic sightseeing along the west coast. VIEW OF AUCKLAND FROM VOLCANO BLACK SAND But of course, I made sure I went out one night just to evaluate Auckland's nightlife! And although the clubs were not 'all that', we had a wicked time. It was a silly night. True. First was the sticker frenzy, closely followed by the flicking game. WE FOUND MANY STICKERS FLICKER SWEDES It was time to leave Auckland. I joined a group and headed north to the Bay of Islands. The Bay of Islands definately lacks a nightlife but the magnificent views make up for it. All the way up to Cape Reinga we were able to go sandboarding (sorry no photos but there was a lot of sand up there), ride a bus on the beach and take a quick pic where the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean meet. WHERE SEES MEET Next up we made our way back down past Auckland to Waitomo famous for its caves. We went blackwater rafting down these caves to see some spectacular shows by glow worms. Apparently they call it shiny shit... nice! (we made sure to keep our mouths shut when looking up). PRE CAVE PIC IN THE CAVE After Waitomo we prepared ourselves for Rotorua. Its smelly, its earthquake prone but its great. We kept ourselves incredibly busy in Rotorua. first a farm show (surprisingly not that funny), next a race in luges, a huge swing travelling at 150km and a failed attempt at overcoming my fear of heights.... and of course what we really came here to see, some geysers and some traditional maori dancing: the haka SHEEPTASTIC HAKA TIME ERUPTION ROPES I DIDNT DARE CLIMB Lake Taupo would be our next destination and its highlight: a nighttime fishing expedition. A little extra which hadnt previously been mentioned was that we would have to go dressed in our pyjamas. As I own no pyjamas I wore a dress that everyone was all too happy to say looked just like a nighty. thanks guys!!!! OK IT DOES LOOK LIKE ONE BOYS NOT AS UP FOR DRESSING FRENCHIE WELL INTO FISHING And that was it for Auckland as we made our way to Wellington for my last night with the group.

Well, after aproximately 5000 kms of bussing and a lot of silly games made from boredom, I have finally arrived into Cairns and more importantly, finally have enough time to put up some photos. This trip was excellent! First was Surf Camp. In a few goes most of us managed to stand up (on the foam but.... shhhhh). "NOT GREAT" SURFING Next up we hit the road to Brisbane. On the way we tried a Kiwi sport called zorbing. It basically involves rolling down a hill in a big plastic ball filled with water. Because there is water at the bottom you don't actually roll around in it but it still makes a fun ride down. WOOHOOOOOOO!!!!!! IN ZE BALL Brisbane was a very quick stopover and I'm kinda glad. Nothing seemed to be open past dinner time. Granted, it was a weekday but, please! It's a relatively big town!!!! Next stop Rainbow Beach. Here we got to do some kayaking with estuary dolphins. Although the purpose was dolphins, what I preferred was the soldier crabs. They are the only crabs that walk forward and they are wicked! BLUE SOLDIERS Fraser Island was lovely. Walking in the"desert", swimming in lakes, rolling down some sand dunes, silica sand lake mackenzie..... but the only problem was the amount of tourists hitting the island. So sadly no good shots of thebeautiful views really! Just people playing beach cricket on the fine sand. MMMM.... JELLY FISH DINGO DESTROYING HOSEPIPE. (I DID NOT STOP HIM... RULE: DO NOT INTERFERE WITH NATURE!) After returning to Rainbow Beach for one nigh, we carried on up the coast towards Kroombit Cattle Farm for some outback-ing. On the way up we decided to wish Gaelle a happy happy birthday from a lookout. Not a bad location for a bday! BIRTHDAY TIME Kroombit Farm was the highlight of the trip for me. We did so much in only two days and, although I wasn't terribly good at the outback sports, I had an excellent time. My forte... lasso, a little boomerang and.... watching others catch the mad goats. WHIP WHIP RIDING THE BULL MUSTERING GOATS LOOKING WAY HAPPIER OFF FRECKLES TAG THE GOAT A LOT OF SHOOTING BOOMERANG All I can say is, I was knackered big time and a little stiff. And now we hd to get ready for a 15km walk in Carnavon Gorge. On the way we stopped to check out the machines used for coal mining in the area. They are huge but I could still flick it off of my shoulder. JEJEJEJE IN THE BUCKET SWIMMING AT THE GORGE SCARY SPIDER ART EXHIBITION Well, that was all of the outback and time to hit the beaches again ready for some sailing around the Whitsunday Islands. Wow!!!!! First we had to stop at Arlie beach for the night which was fun but definately to much of a resort location for my liking. There wasn't much wind so it wasn't the best sailing lesson but that meant there was plenty of time for snorkelling,swimming, loooking for little reef sharks and island hopping. OUR ROUTE AMAZING COAST SUNSET CHILLING WITH ROSEMARY Last stop was Mission Beach. And with little to do on our last night together we hit the one club in town. And well there wasn't much to do so some of the boys killed time with classy poll dancing and dangerous bavarian dancing with the locals (not advisable). DAM-O THE LEPRECHAUN MR. MO TEACHES THE LOCALS BAVARIAN DANCING And now, after all that, I am back in Cairns!

From Hobart I flew straight to Sydney, apparently quite a shame because a number of people have told me the route Melbourne to Sydney is most definately worth doing! Oh well, can't do it all! Sydney is a truely beautiful city and there's so much to do. Although I would love to share my experiences here with some pics, I couldn't Kodak moment most of my time here because my camera decided to go mad on me. It choses to zoom itself in autmatically making it impossible to take a photo as I cannot focus on any object close or far. Strange but these things happen. Luckily I now have a new camera and therefore have a few pictures of some of the people I have met and places I have seen. The best I have to say, was a trip to the open air cinema. It's the most amazing setting. A huge screen with impressive sound and a view of the harbour bridge, the opera house and a beautiful sunset behind Sydney's skyscrapers. What more can you ask for? Well an excellent movie, with fox bats adding to the atmosphere and a little giggle when the man in the seat in front gets shat on by one of these many bats.... ALL IN ONE, I LOVE MY NEW CAMERA NOT NICE!!!! I also managed to fit in a trip to Bondi beach with... lovely but packed!!!! ET VOILA, BONDI Well, I'm heading up the caost tomorrow so let's hope I get a little more inspired.