The continuing adventures of a girl trying
to achieve forty things before she hits the grand old age of forty, although
not necessarily in the right order...
26-
See orang-utans in Borneo- booked!
It was the end of an especially dark,
miserable winter week. Seeing my friend Tracey’s photos of her expedition last
year served as the remaining impetus I needed to push the button on my planned
Borneo trek.
After having had such an incredible time
with Discover Adventure a couple of years ago, including a tornado, volcano and
wild animals, I decided to use them again for my Borneo trek. Visions of
tramping, Indiana Jones style, through the muddy rainforest, sleeping in home
stays and wading through waterfalls should help to keep me going throughout the
next few months.
Very excited now! Ok, it’s still a way away
(November) but it’s definitely something to look forward to. Plus there’s
plenty of time for the all important packing list...
27-
Ski in at least three new countries/regions- two down!
It’s very much a holiday themed blog entry
this time. St. Anton in Austria is the second new ski area I’ve visited since I
started this blog. Both areas definitely had something great to offer. St.
Anton was, granted, much easier to get to than the Pyrenees, with the added
bonus of no lost luggage or bomb scare to cope with.
Austria is one of my favourite countries
for skiing. They seem to be so proud of their Tyrolean villages and always keep
them in wonderfully picturesque condition. I just love the pretty lights and
the way the outside walls of the hotels and restaurants are painted in the same
decorative style. The après ski too is always fun, with potential for brass
bands, yodelling, fireworks and bob sleds. Actually there wasn’t much yodelling
done this time, except for during our sound of music karaoke, but it was still
great fun. There is something a bit surreal about starting a dance floor, with
a drink in your hand, then looking at your watch to discover it’s actually only
just past 6pm. Rock and indeed roll.
The weather certainly helped. There were a
couple of glorious days when I couldn’t stop staring at the vivid blue sky,
thrown into relief by the stark white mountains. It seems an age since I last saw such blue skies. When we first arrived it was
almost like late season it was so hot. A couple of days of snowfall helped
smooth over some of the ice and bumps, depositing lots of fluffy snow to play
in at the edges of the piste. And yes, a lot of opportunity for jumping and falling
over in too. I did more than a couple of face plants to amuse the crowds.
St. Anton is really well placed for ski
areas. We had plenty of opportunity to explore nearby Lech and other areas of
the valley. The range of pistes also meant very few queues and plenty of room
for everyone on the slopes. I realise this is sounding like an advert from the
St. Anton tourist board. That said, if anyone from the SATB is reading this, a
free holiday would be pretty darn well appreciated. Danke schoen.
I did have some challenges finding
vegetarian chow.I carefully practiced the German for: ‘have
you anything to eat without meat or fish in it?’ Followed, frequently, by the
response: ‘nein’. The first lunch I had was a pretzel. Still our chalet was so
well catered that there was no danger of me fading away. There was slightly
more danger of me not fitting my salopettes by the end of the week. We even had
canapés. La-di-da.
The only slight down side was that, whilst
I returned from the mountains, my iphone didn’t. Following a minor incident
with a T-bar lift and some choppy snow (really they should make those things a
lot more stable) Mr iPhone and I parted company. The handy waterproof jacket I’d
provided him with ensured he picked up more speed down the red run than I
achieved all week.
I did attempt sliding after the phone on my
bum, but as I also starting picking up some speed I made the decision between
losing my phone and breaking an arm. I like to think, come the thaw, the phone
will be discovered under a rock somewhere by a goatherd (presumably lonely) who
can amuse himself tweeting photos of his flock to the rest of the goatherding
community.
My final note is to say thanks to the group
of friends I went with for making the trip such fun. It wouldn’t have been as
good on my own. Having good natured, friendly folk to share it with made it
extra special. And of course some fellow yodellers to enjoy the spontaneous
karaoke with.
All together now: ‘the hills are alive...’
