Home bound to Perth

Back at Minneapolis Airport, we boarded our flight headed to Dallas. Only after taxi-ing to the departure point, the pilot was informed that Dallas Fort-Worth airport had been closed due to nearby thunderstorms and air-traffic was being diverted. We spent another hour parked out on the tarmac at a remote stand until we were given clearance to take-off, once DFW was open for business again!

On landing, we collected all our bags and waited a bit longer for a shuttle to our hotel. A much later night than we had intended but the smiling faces at the aptly named "Days Inn" were a welcome sight. Thankfully, the airconditioner in our room was turned up high when we arrived, as the weather was hot and muggy.

It was an early start next morning, greased along with an American cooked breakfast at 6.15am. Heather tried valiantly to persuade the waiter to sell her two of the "Days Inn" coffee mugs, but he didn't quite take her seriously and kept refusing. Why would anyone want a budget hotel's mugs for memorabilia?? Once back at the terminal, and having checked in our bags through to Perth, we boarded our next flight to San Francisco. Once again, only after leaving the gate, the pilots passed information regarding more thunderstorms on our planned route. We needed to go back to the gate (which was no longer available) and get more fuel to allow us to travel a different route to San Fran. More waiting on the tarmac, until eventually we took off over an hour and a half behind time.

When we touched down in San Fran, we had about an hour to transfer from the domestic to the international terminal. There, we had to get a boarding pass for Adrian, whose itinerary seemed non-existent to Cathay, and it took a couple of staff members a few anxious moments to get him back onto the flight. Some kind souls let us push our way through the final queues for security, and we just managed to make the flight to Hong Kong with 15mins breathing space. Let's hope our bags managed to make the flight as well......

The flight on Cathay was by far our favourite, probably made better by the fact we were snuggled into business class seats on the upper deck - highly recommended, especially for a 14hr longhaul flight. The seats are all at 45degrees to the isle with the windows behind you. They are designed for personal privacy, and boast an amazing entertainment system to while away the hours (note the photo of Adrian watching movies on the big screen in his "console". The meals were extravagant and Heather turned a blind eye to all foods she was banned from eating and indulged in every course offered. We won't tease you with details but needless to say, an extremely memorable eating/drinking experience. Our seats were right up the front, closest to the pilots, who were quite happy to come out and chat before take-off. Once meals had been served and sleep was creeping up, Heather took advantage of turning her seat into a completely flat bed and headed off into dreamland. Adrian was too enthralled by his movie-watching so did not get much sleep. He would attempt to catch up on the Hong Kong to Perth Qantas flight.

On landing in Hong Kong, we had a few hours to waste before boarding our final flight home at 11.30pm. We wondered around the shops before taking advantage of the Qantas lounge for refreshments and a welcome hot shower. The flight home was uneventful with a quite spectacular sunrise over the Pilbara. We passed through passport control at Perth Airport and proceeded to baggage collection where we heard over the speakers "Would Mr Adrian Day please come to the Baggage Collection Desk". Yes, you guessed it, all four of our bags had missed the connection in San Francisco, and would be delivered to us the next day! Needless to say, we passed through customs in record time. Overall, 59hrs from the Minnesota Cabin to home-sweet-home Kingsley - 29hrs in the air, a night at Days Inn, many hours transiting and a few more sitting on the tarmac waiting for takeoff clearance!

Muppet (our kitty) was waiting eagerly for us at home, having been spoilt by Petra (Heather's mum) in our absence. We also had another surprise waiting for us, as Heather discovered when snuggling into our bed for her desperately needed afternoon nap. Our bedroom ceiling had suffered storm damage a few days earlier when a recent hail storm hit Perth suburbs. The mattress was saturated, so looked like we would be juggling insurance claims with unpacking and many loads of washing! Still, nothing could "dampen" what was an absolutely fabulous holiday for us and hope you all enjoyed reading along with us too :-)

Minnesota - lakeside laziness

Firstly, Adrian's missing bag did finally arrive on Wednesday, three days after being lost.....luckily, as clothes shopping needed to be done in Fargo, an hour's drive from the cabin and not as much fun as lazing in the hammock or engaging in lakeside pursuits!

That night, we went to "Zorbaz on the Lake" - a pizza and mexican place that was abuzz with teenagers and family groups. We settled into a booth and had a fantastic night polishing off a "huge" plate of Macho Nachoz with marinated chicken. We then ordered individual meals of Tacos, Burritoes, and cheese pizza for the boys. We rolled out of the joint a couple of hours later, having watched the sunset, and Adrian was nominated chief navigator and deer-spotter during the drive home.

Thursday 16th July - happy birthday Adrian. John did a splendid job of the morning coffees and Shell cooked up some cinnamon rolls which were a hot and gooey treat, perfect for breakfast. After card and present opening, the highlights of the day included lunch at Riverside Cafe in nearby Pelican Rapids (the local Walleye Fish burgers were great), followed by nine holes at Rockpile Golf Course. Funny enough, we were still rugged up with wind-stopper jackets, but the excitement of zooming around in the buggies soon warmed us all up. The experience brought out the inner hoon in Heather, and she often had Adrian hanging on for dear life as she accelerated to each spot. The rest of us (John, Shell, Adrian, Ben and Noah) played a nice game of golf, with John winning by just one stroke over Adrian. Ben and Noah tee'ed off 50m from the pin, with Ben showing us all up with a birdie on one hole! Dinner for the adults was a fancy affair that night as we had fun sitting round a "Raclette Grill", melting the selection of delicious cheeses and sipping fine wine. Finally, we sang "happy birthday" whilst Adrian blew candles out on his black and white Collingwood chocolate cake.

The next day or so continued to be chilly; in fact locals said they had not experienced such unseasonally cool weather for over 30years - just our luck! But this gave us the opportunity to laze around, eat lots, sleep in, keep tabs on the Tour de France, and do some fishin' out on the boat. Adrian triumphed with a good-sized Large Mouth Bass and Heather gave him a run for his money by pulling in 5 smaller fish over a couple of days, both on the boat and off the jetty.

We also spent a couple of evenings shooting a multitude of fireworks up into the night sky. Somehow, no buildings or trees went up in smoke, and it was always exciting to see what was actually going to explode above you! We also huddled around the fire-pit for more toasting of marshmallows for "S'mores" (see photo in the previous posting) - hot marshmallows and a piece of chocolate sandwiched between two biscuits - gimme some more!!

Our final morning was spent packing then soaking up a little of the nice weather that was finally peaking out over the lake. The wind had dropped and the skies were blue, and the views over the slightly rippling waters were glorious. The hummingbirds were buzzing a-plenty around Shell's sugar-water feeder, and Tilly (3yr old golden Labrador) was bouncing around after Adrian and the boys as they played with the ball and frisbee. We were sad to leave the family, especially as the weather was improving rapidly, but we had a flight to catch and could not afford to dilly-dally. After goodbyes to John, Shell, Ben, Noah and Tilly, we left the lakeside cabin with plans to return during another "summer" in the not too distant future!

"Summer" in Minnesota

Well, summer hasn't quite reached Minnesota yet. The usual average at this time of year is well into the 30s, however the temperature outside at 2pm is 17 degrees! Consequently, we haven't yet been swimming, water skiing or fishing yet.

We arrived at Lake Lida in NW Minnesota on Monday afternoon, arriving at the lakeside cabin to meet Adrian's brother John, his wife Michelle and their two boys Ben and Noah who had travelled down from Calgary. We arrived minus one bag which British Airways (typical Poms!) managed to mislay and put on a later flight out of London. Nearly 3 days later, we are still to see the bag.... it contains all of Adrian's clothes, both of our toiletries, Adrian's running shoes and his precious GPS watch! As a result we used the cooler-than-usual weather to go shopping and use our travel insurance to replace some items (we are still pretty confident of receiving the bag in the next day or two).

On Monday afternoon, we went for a drive on the lake on the boat and John wakeboarded off the back. With cool weather forecast until Friday, we purchased fishing licences today and will no doubt do some fishing as well as play some golf over the next few days.

Stay tuned for further weather, luggage and fishing updates!

The Final European Stop - Lake Annecy

Lake Annecy was our last stop in Europe. We were generously offered the chance to stay at our friend Ben's parents' house just up from the lake. Ben lives in Australia but is French and most of his family still live in France. The house had a fantastic view of the lake (see photo to the right at the dining table looking out to the lake) and is located on the edge of Annecy, and a ten minute bus ride away to the Old Town on the Number 4. The old town of Annecy is very pretty and has a number of canals running through it (no overpriced gondolas here!). There are restaurants lining the sides of the canals offering a multitude of local dishes - see photo below. Friday morning is market day in the old town so we wandered through and bought some local produce for our evening feast - Tome des Bauges, Beaufort and Reblochon cheeses as well as olives stuffed with garlic and herbs and some figs...!


We also enjoyed a drive around the lake, stopping off at a few lookouts and hills for some great views of the lake and the mountains surrounding it. Adrian was intending to ride around the lake, travelling on the same course that will be used for the Tour de France when it stops off at Annecy on July 23 for the Individual Timetrial. Unfortunately there were roadworks on the only climb of the course (Col de Bluffy - say blue-fee in your best French accent) as well as some very busy, windy, narrow roads meaning that it would not be an easy ride. However, we still drove most of the course which means when we watch that day of the race on our return to Perth, it will have some extra meaning.


And thankyou to Mr and Mrs Falletti for use of your house for the four days we were in Annecy!!

Back in France

We were back in France after crossing the border from Italy near Nice on our way to the Canyon du Verdon in the Haute-Provence region. We stayed in a lovely old stone B&B near the Canyon, where Pascal (using his excellent English) told us all about the area. The village of Chastueill (population 7) where we were staying was up a very windy dirt track, only one car wide and with many treacherous dropoffs and hairpins . We went back down to the nearby town of Castellane for dinner, and got our Tour de France fix by watching the Prologue stage over a beer at a pub called L'Etape. The photo is the outlook from the B&B's breakfast room the next morning, along with Pascal and the local cat, Pioup, who adopted us during our stay here.

That day, we drove to the Canyon and admired the amazing views from lookout points, as well as bungy jumpers taking off from Europe's highest bridge - the Pont D'Artuby at 180m above the river bed. We called in at a little bakery where Pascal gets his woodfired sourdough bread and bought some brioche and croissants - delicious! Then it was off to the Alpes; a relatively long drive through the Col de la Bonnette, the highest pass in Europe (2,802m). Although it was quite cloudy, the views were still great, and once again there were plenty of cyclists torturing themselves on the long climb to the top - even Adrian's not that silly!

That evening we arrived at our next B&B called Chalet La Maitreya near the mountain village of Vaujany in the western Alpes. Our room had a balcony overlooking the nearby valley and mountains surrounding us. You immediately got a sense of wellbeing and relaxation and a couple of beers definitely helped at the end of a long drive. We only had two nights here so we used this purely for rest and relaxation and thoroughly enjoyed many conversations with our lovely hosts Anne and Pascal and Anne's sister, Bregje, over breakfast and coffees. The photo is of Anne, Heather, Bregje and Anne's husband Pascal on the main balcony overlooking the valley. Unfortunately our stay was over too quickly but we will definitey return another time for a longer visit with our new friends. It was now time to head to our next destination - Lake Annecy.

Cinque Terre Run

There is a fantastic hiking trail at Cinque Terre which goes from the western most village, Monterosso, to the eastern most village, Riomaggiore, where we were staying. Known as the Sentiero Azzuro (Blue trail), it offers fantastic views of the area and the five vilages. I had decided that I would run the trail, and given the heat during the day an early start would be necessary. I caught a train to the western end at Monterosso as the track gets progressively better towards the eastern end. I was on my way from Monterosso by 6:30am, with first section from Monterosso to Vernazza quite narrow, steep, rocky and with alot of uneven rock stairs carved into the hills. However, the views of both Monterossa and Vernazza were superb and you have to be on the trail to see them. The photo attached is above Vernazza. Although the morning was still coolish, the humidity was very high and I was saturated in sweat after the first climb alone. After a steep descent and a short run through Vernazza it was back uphill on the way to Corniglia, again on a rocky trail but a bit wider this time. The descent back to the ocean after Corniglia is down about 400 stairs and then it's mainly flat concrete through Manorola to Rionaggiore for the final 3.5km. After 10.8km and a very slow 94 minutes (a whopping 8:43/km) due to the nature of the trail, I was back home after a very rewarding run.

The link below shows the trail in Google Maps as recorded on my GPS watch:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=fr&msa=0&msid=107625359958396125227.00046e1a4f56116bc9048&ll=44.12518,9.707108&spn=0.05927,0.15398&t=h&z=13

Beautiful Cinque Terre

We had three nights in Riomaggiore, one of the five villages that make up the Cinque Terre region on the coast of western Italy. The views looking out over the village and over the water from our self-contained apartment were gorgeous (see photo from our garden balcony). On arrival, Lorenza met us and showed us where to park the car on the outskirts of the village then it was a long sticky walk down to the village and then a further 136 stairs up to our apartment. Luckily Lorenza delivered cold beers to welcome us!

That evening, we had a fantastic seafood dinner at a little restaurant overlooking the main street. Giovanni, the head waiter, even showed Adrian how to extract the meat from Scampi (cross between a prawn and marron), and then ceremoniously fed it to Adrian in front of a watching restaurant!

The next day we explored some of the nearby villages. We travelled by both train and boat, with the latter being more scenic and definitely the more punctual form of transport. At Corniglia, we decided to walk from the Station to the village rather queue for the shuttle minivan. 360+ stairs later, two sweaty walkers emerged at the top - the weather was very hot and sticky by now. Heather took opportunities at each landing to take photos and recover! Each of the villages we visited was unique and quaint in its own way, but we still think that our's is the best (see photo from the ferry approaching the village).

Our last day was spent taking it very easy. Adrian had run the length of the five villages in the morning (see separate posting), but unfortunately Heather spent the day in bed due to a stomach bug. The local pharmacy and many trips by Adrian up and down the 136 stairs came to the rescue. Within 24hrs of leaving she was well on her way to recovery. We will definitely return to our apartment Casa Lorenza and the lovely Riomaggiore.

The Dolomites

We had a couple of days in the lovely village of Ortesei / St Ulrich (Italian and German names) in the Val Gardena area of the Dolomites. It is a very German part of Italy and the majority of locals speak German over Italian. In fact, Adrian's German came in quite handy at times and the lady at the post office actually thought he was a local such was his prowess in purchasing stamps in German.

Our accommodation was actually a self contained unit with large bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and balcony overlooking the village. This meant we (well, Heather actually) were able to cook our own meals, a welcome change to eating out every night - there's only so much pizza and pasta you can devour.

Being back in the mountains meant Adrian could do another hike, this time up to a peak called Seceda. There was also a gondola / cablecar which went 95% of the way to the top, so Adrian headed up and sms'd Heather when he is an hour from the top and she caught the two lifts to the top. She was waiting for him as he trudged the last few steps and we both headed into the cafe for a welcome lunch, though there were no hot chips on the menu which Adrian had a hunger for after the 1,400m climb to the top. After a short break we both headed up the last 60 vertical metres to the top of the peak to admire the magnificent view of the Dolomite mountains, meaning Heather also hiked to the top of Seceda!!

Back at the bottom, Heather cooked up some fantastic meals, and like Lake Como, we spent much time on the balcony chatting and admiring the views that make the Domomites so unique. Our landlady (who was also impressed by Adrian's German!) gave us some pieces of her home made cherry cake for dessert. She also did two loads of washing for us after we simply asked for the nearest laundromat! We also had a TV in our room for the first time, however there was no news on CNN as they were only showing Michael Jackson "news" - Iran was off the agenda. We did manage to watch Beverly Hills Cop II in Italian - quite amusing watching Eddie Murphy "speak" Italian.

Meet Richard, the Austrian Sausage Seller

On our drive from Lake Como to the Dolomites, we decided to drive through the Stelvio Pass near the Swiss border. This wasn't necessarily the quickest route, but was definitely the most scenic. The pass is 2,757m and one of the highest that you can drive through in Europe. There are a whopping 48 hairpin turns on the eastern side of the pass, the side that we descended. On the way up there are plenty of one car width tunnels to pass through which cause all sorts of headaches with the large amount of tourist traffic heading up. At the top of the pass there are a plethora of souvenir and food stalls, including some genuine German sausage (Wurstal) stalls selling something similar to hot dogs. We happened to purchase one from Richard, an excitable Austrian fellow who made buying sausages fun! The roll, wurst, sauerkraut and sauce was delicious. That's our VW Polo in the background of the photo. After about half an hour of exploring the shops around the pass, we descended the 48 hairpins and headed to the Dolomites, arriving at about 8pm after hitting an traffic jam we were never quite able to work out the cause of.

The name's Bond........ James Bond

As we settled into our hotel room overlooking lovely Lake Como, a familiar site could be seen a kilometer away. Sitting on a nearby peninsular was a magnificent looking Villa which looked just like the one used in the last scene of the Casino Royale movie. A quick Google search by Adrian confirmed that his James Bond knowledge is still spot on and he ran past it on one of his evening runs to take a look (unfortunately closed but available for rent at 1,000 Euro per night!).

Now back to the trip...... we had a couple of lovely days at Lago di Como. Our hotel was near the town of Menaggio and our room had a fantastic panoramic view of the lake. We spent much time on our balcony eating pizza, drinking, playing cards and just taking in the view. We cruised down the lake on one of the regular ferries to the town of Como, calling in at a number of small villages along the way. The views from the boat of the villages and magnificent villas set against the mountains were breathtaking. The town of Como didn't impress us that much, but we did ride the funicular railway up to the village of Brunate high above Como for some great views of the lake (and more gelati!). We also visited one of the oldest and best kept villas on the lake, Villa Carlotta, which is some 350 years old. The botanic gardens were very expansive and had plants from all over the world. The villa itself was also impressive and contained furniture from different eras of the region. We wish we'd had some more time at the Lake, but it was time to head back to the mountains, this time the Dolomites in the NE Italy.

Hiking and relaxing in the Aosta Valley, Italy

We left Dubrovnik and had an overnight stop in Madrid, before flying to Geneva where we picked up our little VW Polo hire-car. Then, Heather was nominated as the driver while Adrian navigated us efficiently through the centre of Geneva and then onto Chamonix. Here, we stopped for a lunch of croissants, ham, cheese and tomato - it was good to be back in France. Then to shorten our journey into Italy, we went through the Mont Blanc tunnel. By late afternoon, we had arrived at a tiny Italian village called Valnontey, 3km from Cogne, in the heart of the Aosta Valley. Mountains surrounded us and the wildflowers were everywhere. We are staying in a very old stone farmhouse that has been converted into a hotel.

On the second day of our stay, we drove to Courmeyeur (1224m), where we caught various cable-cars up the mountain as far as Punta Helbronner (3462m). From the wooden Glaciers Terrace lookout, the views looking southeast over the Italian Alps were superb (see photo). When looking back, we had a clear view of Mont Blanc (4807m) and Aguille Du Midi (3842m), the latter of which we took a cable car to when last in Chamonix seven years ago.

The next day was reserved for Adrian's hike, and Heather's recovery time. After the abundant spread of breakfast that awaited us each morning, Adrian took off up the Lausson Valley hoping to pass through the Col Lausson at 3296m. We had heard that it was still snowed in and this was confirmed when he arrived at Refugio Sella half way up. He decided to walk up as far as possible before completing a loop back down. When the track finally disappeared into the snow, it was time to return, however, things became exciting when he came across 6 Ibex (mountain deer unique to the Gran Paradiso National Park) blocking the alpine path. He snapped a few photos before a couple of them started squaring up to face him - good time to walk a wide berth around them!

The last day was spent relaxing, wondering around the nearby village of Cogne, and then a short walk up the start of Adrian's hiking path where we saw a curious fox and a Chamois (mountain goat). The views were still fantastic (see photo - note the LOST orienteering shirt for those interested!) no matter where you looked. We finished the day with the obligatory 4 course meal of the evening. One of our favourite meals was the polenta with local fontina cheese - a Valdastone specialty.

Next, we drive to Lake Como where we'll be relaxing for a couple of days.

Goodbye Croatia

Since our last posting, we have visited several other locations in Croatia, including Mljet Island, a small fishing village called Trstinik and the island of Šipan (we have a Croatian keyboard here so we can type the fancy letters!).

All three were fantastic, though Mljet was a standout being mostly National Park and forest. We both walked to a couple of salt lakes (technically not lakes because they are connected to the ocean) a couple of kilometers away which was a nice walk through the forest followed by a refreshing swim in the warm lake waters. That afternoon while Heather snoozed, Adrian hired a bike and rode around the lakes for a couple of hours which reminded him of the Rottnest Triathlon, though not as windy. On the larger of the two lakes is an island with a 12 Century Monastery (see photo) which can be accessed by a ferry. That night we had a very nice seafood dinner watching the sunset before having our obligatory icecream. We have had plenty more swimming stops along the way as well - we've never swum so much!

Today (Sunday) and yesterday afternoon were spent looking around the Old Town of Dubrovnik. Yesterday we walked along the top of the walls which encircle the Old Town. Last night we were treated to a spectacular lighnting show followed by a torrential downpour that confined us all to the dining area of the boat. This has resulted in a much cooler day for sightseeing around Dubrovnik.

All in all, we have had a fabulous time in Croatia and wouldn't hesitate returning. We had a great group of people on the cruise and the five staff were brilliant, especially Vlasta the cook who churned out fantastic meals and ensured we all gained weight by the end of the cruise.

Cruising the Dalmatian coast, Croatia

From the minute we stepped onto our vintage sailing boat in Dubrovnik, we felt like we were truly on holiday! Our cabin on the upper deck is quite roomy and modern (our boat "Pape Prvi" is only a year old). A normal day starts with a continental breakfast at 8am as the boat starts its engines heading out towards a new island. The scenery is captivating, and the blue water inviting as we anchor for a mid-morning swim. There are 24 passengers and a wonderfully friendly crew on board. Lunch is served at 12.30, and consists of 3 amazing courses. We have devoured lots of fish and seafood, an abundance of salads, and some delectable desserts. Lunch inevitably is followed by a snooze and then it is back out to soak up the sun and before long we are stopping for another refreshing swim. Hard life!!

We have stopped at Korčula (supposed birthplace of Marco Polo) which is a tiny village several hundred years old (1500s). Tonight we are enjoying Hvar which is a little bigger and touristy but equally idyllic. We have strolled through many quaint little laneways and walked up to the limestone fortress on top of the hill. The views were worth the trudging (see photo). We have also just indulged in some local dishes for dinner, relaxing al fresco and will no doubt finish the evening with an ice-cream looking over the small harbour.

Visiting family in Whitchurch-on-Thames

Tim and Bev (Heather's cousin), Sarah and Ed have been kind enough to welcome us into their home for three nights. They live near Reading in a lovely home ("Wisteria House") right near the River Thames. The weather has been surprisingly glorious, and we have enjoyed strolling around the immaculate gardens on their property.

I have been lucky enough to experience first hand the hundreds (?) of bats who have recently inhabited the roof space above Sarah's bedroom, much to the family's dismay. I decided to try and get a photo last night (and succeeded), but then at 2am was woken by a louder flutter of ...bat-wings...you guessed it. We think the little visitor snuck in through the open crack of the window, through which I was taking photos. The only thing is, I'm not sure how, or if, he found his way out as everything went quiet before I could help him out! We may have a date again tonight if he is "hanging out" hidden somewhere in Sarah's room...!

Today, Bev and Tim took Dad, Margie and myself to "The Crooked Billet" for a sumptuous 3-course lunch. Needless to say, we all indulged way beyond our limits and succumbed to a much needed siesta following the drive home via the tree-lined English lanes. To those interested - I requested a dollop of clotted cream with my dessert, so you can imagine how that challenged my delicate system. Worth the adventure, though.

It is now only a couple of hours until Mr and Mrs Day are re-united. An enjoyable 10 days has been had by both, to be sure!

Back to Moscow

For the last day and a half myself, Paul, Mick and Mike have been looking around Moscow. Friday was "Russia Day" which marks the end of Communist rule, so most sights were closed, not that there was anything to indicate that though. We queued with plenty of of others at the Kremlin ticket office for 30 minutes waiting for it to open before someone asked one of the guards who said it wasn't open today. However, no one would tell us and there was no sign saying so. Welcome to Russia! We did manage to see the Armoury section of the Kremlin which houses magnificent displays of jewelery, arms, armour, clothing, gifts and other royal treasures from the last 800 years of Russian culture. We wandered around various other parts of the centre of Moscow before retiring back to our hostel at the end of the day for Pizza (not very Russian!) and a couple of Siberian non-filtered lagers.

Today (Saturday), we did manage to get into the Kremlin. There are some magnificent buildings and cathedrals dating back several hundreds of years, coupled with one Soviet concrete monolith from the 60s (looked a bit like the Perth Concert Hall!). We rode the Moscow Metro for the last time back to our hostel before taking our transfer out to the Domodedovo airport, our fourth trip between Moscow and its many airports. Mike headed off to Berlin for another six weeks holiday while Paul and Mick flew off to Melbourne via Abu Dhabi, ready for work at the start of the week! For me, its back to London for an overnight catchup with Heather's family before we both start holidaying together and fly out to Dubrovnik tomorrow (Sunday) morning. You might not from us regularly in the coming weeks, especially as we will be on a boat in the Adriatic Sea for the next week! Bye for now.

Russia - After the Climb

With any achievement there needs to be a suitable celebration. So it was back to Cheget Village for a dinner celebration at a local cafe. Along with local dishes were copious bottles of vodka, so we were able to celebrate in true Russian style long into the night. For some, this resulted in sore heads as a the vodka was just too cheap to pass up, plus we had 60 Euro spare from our Slovenian friends!

The following morning (Thursday) we decided we would leave Azau a day early and head back to Moscow so that we could spend more time looking at the local sights. How naive were we to think that that it would be easy to change our flights, accommodation and transfer once we got to the airport! Along with Mike's problems with the local police because he didn't have all his paperwork in order, Aeroflot wouldn't change our ticket unless we went to their ticketing office in town, something we didn't have enough time to do before the flight left. So we opted to purchase a new ticket with the local KMV (Kavmineralvodyavia) airline which proved to be the most nerve racking two hours of flying any of us have ever experienced. You couldn't talk over the engines because they were so loud and the air conditioning didn't work properly - "it will come on after takoff" was the response from the hostess. Note the emergency exit in the back row next to Mike, complete with safety slide in the black box! We were on an old Tupolov TU154B2 which according to Planephotos.net "KMV is one of the few airlines still running this model". We also discovered that KMV are banned from flying to the EU due to the safety record - yes, we are still alive and the photo is of the plane on the tarmac at Moscow just to prove it! After another two hours in Moscow traffic we arrived at our hostel nearly 12 hours after leaving Azau - what a day!

Mt Elbrus in Google Earth

Click on the links below to view the route taken to the top of Mount Elbrus. The first is from Barrels to Pustyukov Rocks, the second on to the summit (though this may be incomplete - I can't check)

http://www.enigma.id.au/gps/Pustyokov.kml

http://www.enigma.id.au/gps/Elbrus.kml

Russia - Day 6 (Summit Attempt)

At 1:40am the alarms went off in preparation for the big day. Breakfast (unappetising porridge with cheese, ham and bread) was served at 2am and at 3am we all took a snowcat back to Pustukov Rocks to continue the climb to the top. Before the sun rose it was bitterly cold (well below zero) and wild chill makes it even colder so we were all layered to keep warm. I was wearing thermal pants, goretex pants, thermal top, t-shirt, fleece jacket, down jacket, gortex jacket, two pairs of socks, climbing boots and inner boots and two pairs of gloves just to remain warm while moving. If you weren't moving then you were cold!

The morning was superb with a full moon and cloudless sky. Mt Elrbus was lit by the moon and looked sensational, we didn't even need our torches to walk with it was so bright. Once the sun rose we were greeted with a magnificent view of the Caucusus Mountains to the south of Elbrus which separate Russia from Georgia (see first photo). We all moved relatively well for the first few hours with Paul showing the first signs of trouble with the altitude at about 5,100m. However we all soldiered on and by 1:30pm and nearly 9 hours of slogging a mere 3.5km through ice and snow, all four of our Australian group arrived at top of Mt Elbrus at 5,642m at the same time. Apart from Mike, the three others from our group were all suffering and feeling the effects of the altitude, cold and the effort required to reach the top. It is by far the most physically demanding thing I have ever done, though the reward of getting to the top made it all worth while. The photo is of the four Aussies (that's me on the left) and our Barrel 1 friend Mary from the US, with a light snow falling.

The tough work wasn't over and the descent to Pustyukov Rocks was still demanding and took another five hours to return. It was then a snow cat ride back to Barrels, which resulting in a heated and protracted argument with our Slovenian "friends" over payment - all snow cat rides were outside of the original climb cost. By 8pm we were 60 Euros up on the deal, which will come in very handy for our celebratory drinks on Wednesday! We all slept like logs on our wooded beds, something we hadn't been able to for the previous two nights at Barrels. The last photo is of our Barrel with its six occupants - the 4 Aussies, Dave from the UK (complete with thick Yorkshire accent) and Mary from the US.

Russia - Days 4 & 5

Day 4 in Russia (Sunday) involved us all moving up to the very primitive Barrels Hut (3715m) which acts as the base camp to Mt Elbrus climbs. After catching two gondolas and one ski lift to this point, we then walked up to Pastyukov Rocks at 4,560m for an acclimatisation walk. This is about half of the climb and gives you a good chance to walk through the snow and ice as well as get used to the thinner air. We covered 3.5km in 3.5hrs which gives you an idea how slow it is walking through the snow and ice at a higher altitude. The following day was a rest day in preparation for the summit attempt on Tuesday, however we did practice self-arresting techniques using an ice axe in the morning. This is in case you slip on the ice, which given the steepness of the walk you will need to use to stop yourself sliding to the bottom of the mountain! The rest of the day was just relaxing in preparation for a 2am start the next day. The photo is a view of Mt Elbrus (the higher peak is on the left) and the barrels that we stayed in (very basic!).

Exploring East Sussex, UK

I have been staying with Dad and Margie in Bexhill-on-Sea for the last few days. The weather has been kind to us, so on Saturday 6th, we decided to go exploring. First, we drove to Battle, where in 1066, William the Conqueror (and the Normans) defeated King Harold at the Battle of Hastings. A gorgeous little town where we stopped for a quick tea and coffee. Next we headed off to the village of Rye, half an hour down the road.

The main attraction for us in Rye was the walk up the narrow cobbled streets to "The Mermaid".

This inn was founded in the 11th century and was the head-quarters of a notorious gang of smugglers. The inside of the inn was quaint and inviting, and you had to duck to enter though the low doorway. We snuggled into a cosy back bar area where the walls were adorned with ancient weaponry and armour, and the fireplace stretched the entire width of the room. For lunch, I enjoyed battered coddling with salad and yummy chips, and we literally rolled back down the steep cobbled street to head home.

Mt Cheget in Google Maps or Google Earth

Attached is a link to the Mt Cheget walk we did today on Google Maps. Just click the link to view the walk as recorded by my GPS.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&ll=43.253291,42.500063&spn=0.042384,0.11055&z=13&msid=107625359958396125227.00046bb0f1b13bd92962d

Or you can download the .kml file to view in Google Earth.

http://www.enigma.id.au/gps/Cheget.kml

Climbing Mt Cheget

This morning we set off from our hotel at Azau for the chairlifts at the Mt Cheget ski area, about 5km from where we were staying. Azau was a four hour bus ride yesterday from Min Vody and took us past a lot of Soviet era concrete monoliths! The lifts at Cheget take you as high as 3,050m from where we climbed up to Mt Cheget (abt 3,470m). The climb was a mixture of snow and rock so the snow walking was a new experience for me as well as a couple of others. Fortunately there was snow but no ice, and it was quite warm (prob 10 degrees on top) so it was t-shirts only by the end. The photo is from the summit of Mt Cheget looking across to the twin peaks of Mt Elbrus. Today's climb was purely an acclimitisation climb to get used to the higher altitude.

The majority of our group is from a Slovenian Alpine Club who are an interesting bunch. There are eight others in the group - the four Aussies, two Americans, a Canadian and a Pom. I had great delight in informing the Pommy about England's loss to the Dutch in the in the Twenty20 World Cup!!

An evening in Moscow

After arriving in Moscow on Thursday afternoon and meeting up with Paul, Mike and Mick, we finally found our "room" for the night after battling Moscow traffic for two hours. We then caught a train into the city centre and took a look around Red Square and St Basil's Cathedral, the latter looking amazing in the late afternoon sun. After tackling a Moscow foodhall (where your food gets weighed and you pay by the gram) we got back to our rooms at about 10:30pm. It was difficult to get to sleep because it became dark after 11pm and the curtains were paper thin (perhaps they faded due to daylight savings???) and we were woken up at 5am with the sun streaming in! We then caught our plane, a magnificent Tupulov TU145, to Mineralnye Vody in southern Russia to start our climbing adventure.

Time to split up

We have arrived at London Heathrow and have just had a very relaxing shower and massage. Heather is about to be picked up by her Dad and drive down to Bexhill-on-Sea for a relaxing week by the seaside. Adrian is catching a 9am flight to Moscow where he is meeting up with his brother, Paul, and two of his friends who are flying in from Melbourne via Abu Dhabi. We still hope to post the odd blog separately over the coming week.

Transfer in Singapore

True to our word of keeping everyone up-to-date on our travels, we are now in Singapore waiting for our evening flight to London and are currently enjoying the Qantas Club Lounge. We had 87 people on our flight from Perth, out of 300 seats. Needless to say the service was exceptional! Off to have a shower and a scotch (Adrian only!).

Nearly time to go

We hope to keep everyone up-to-date on our travels over the coming two months. Assuming we can find an internet cafe and aren't too busy enjoying European cuisine or warm summer weather, expect to also see the odd photo and GPS track as well.