Time to get back to work

I arrived in London and was lucky to have the support and a roof over my head with Brook and Brendan. They were absolutly fabulous and I would have been lost without them. In 2 weeks I had found a house and a job and everything seemed to be slotting ini to place. I am now living in Wimbledon with a mate from Aus (gregelles) and an NZ Chick (well for a few weeks, sadly she has left now) and 2 English guys and one English gal. I love the house. It is roomy and everyone is very easy to get along with. I am wlalking as the Regional sales Specialist for the UK for UVP. I sell, install bioimaging systems. Not so sure about this yet, but it is only early days. I was a little put off by the fact that on my first drive from Cambridge (were the head office is)to Wimbledon the 2hr trip took me 6hrs. ARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!! Partly due to terrible traffic and also just getting plain lost. The people are lovely and the pay is OK. SO strange returning to the working world and getting up early. I dont think that I am a big fan of this whole idea, but I have little choice at this point.

I arrived in Barcelona it was poring rain. SHIT!!!! What about the tournament. I walked in the rain for about an hour. My backpack was sopping wet and at least another 10kg heavy. But eventually I found a home and the weather cleared up. I wondered the gorgeous streets and energy of Barcelona.
Then off to the Oporro tournament. On arrival I saw signs saying "please do not remove your clothes" and realised I must have been in the right place. :)
I settled into the hotel and was immediately made welcome. Went out to the wee hours and a great time was had by all. The next day the competition was to begin and I would again realise I was serverly out of my depth. I was very excited when I heard Cat Empire being played as a warning that games were beginning in 5min. It was a great experience and my team was lovely, despite Anatol dragging me into the sea. Though I have to admit the the water was beautiful. That night we had a rubics cube party, whcih involes you turning up in clothes and accessories of all the colours of the cube and leaving in just one colour. This meant that there was alot of clothes swapping going on and the locals were more than a little shocked. I have to say great for minglying. The following day were more games and amazing final, which my team was not in but was great to watch. I also got my introduction to Stubby guts, which is effectively skulling competitions and frisbee combined.
That night Daniel, Annatol and I found an abode and were to meet the others out. Sadly, not many turned up, but we did have a very short story competition.
The following days we walked (actually stumbled as we were all very sore)around the sites of Barcelona. Then I was on my own again to check out monerset monastery, which was beautiful, expensive and the weather was terrible. But I met some lovely locals and had a good time.

From Budapest I made my way them to Eger. A smallish town in the country side of Hungry. Without thinking I arrived a little late in the day. I caught a taxi to a hostel listed in the lieing planet, oops I mean lonely planet of course. It turned out to be very very very expensive, but they kindly directed me to another pension up the road, which was also insanly expensive but did allow me to meet a lovely young couple how took me under there wing. We walked all over town with me feeling guilty for making them late for their date. After quite sometime I found a room in a private pension, but on arrival I had no idea where I was relative to the town and also did not have a decent map. So I thought I would just take a guess and go for a walk to find some food. Pitty I went in completly in the wrong direction, walk for miles but did stumble across a tesco so I ddint starve. The next day I took a walk out of town to the local wineary area, which was pretty, desterted and luckily for me still opened. I had a taste of 'Bulls blood' the tastiest red wine I have ever had. Also, had a farmers soup, which was fantastic paprika (of course) and fish soup, if you try it watch out for the numerous bones.
From Eger I made my way to the tiny town of Spisska Nova Ves (Slovkia) which is the entry to a national park that is meant to be a gorgeous. I arrived in town early found the tourist information, which was closed. I thought must be for lunch. I came back later. Crap, still closed. Now I was in trouble I didnt think that I could leave town today, had no information on a room and was feeling stuck and maybe a little desperate. As I was standing there a very dodgy old man came up and tol me he could help me. Of course, I was immediately suss of this parachute wearing old guy, but I was in a stuck. So I followed him down the main street. Initally, he takes me for a drink, but at least I could check with the people in the bar that this guy was telling the truth. Eventually, he did take me to a very cheap lovely hostel, but I had to endure him puckering up and trying to come to my room. First time my skin has ever truly crawled. YUCK!!! Anyhoo, I decided to leave town the next day. I headed to Starry Smokovec at the base of the Tatra's, a gorgeous mountain range seperating Slovakia and Poland. I stayed with harmless lovely old guy how loved to shake hands everytime he saw me despite actullay only having fingers to the first knuckles. Few people spoke English in the area. I spent most of my time taking walks in the mountains. It is a truly beautiful area with some very tasty food on offer. I attempted to go horse riding on a lovely gentle giant of a horse. I had dreamed of doing a trail ride through the mountains but the reality was a ride in circels with in a paddock. I had a great time in this beautiful area but it was a little isolating as few people spoke English and I was staying in private accommodation. So I headed to Bratislava to a hostel to search out some company. Once arriving at the hostel immediately met a variety of people to hang out with. It was a great few days of hanging out and shopping for future work clothes. Before heading to Barcelona.

I thought OK I will get the over night train so I can get so well earned sleep (as the Sarajevo hostel was party central) and turn up refreshed to check out Belgrade. The trip was to take 10hrs, no worries. However, the train left an hour and a half late which meant that we (Marissa, Fran and Carline) missed our connection to Belgrade. Therefore, we ended up going through Croatia on a 16hr journey where we woken every 30min for passport control or to change trains again or left waiting in a station. Thanks to the girls it turned out to be quite a funny trip, which I enjoyed despite being exhausted on arrival. We were working zombies trying to find a hostel. Luckily the lovely Serbian local Sasha tooks us under his wing and delivered us to a lovely hostel. Belgrade was a nice enough city, but I didnt take advantage of it as I was just exhausted and dying to get out of cities. SO of course I headed to Budapest after just a few days. The buildings of Budapest are stunning, paricularly at night. Also the photo exhibition of children is war at the Castle is shocking and left me with a sad and hopeless feeling that people can be so cruel to the innocent.
I tried out the Hungarrian baths. Which consisted of outdoor and indoor heated pools with jets that were prodominently filled with elderly people. I also got myself a massage, which was devine for a back that has sore from lugging around my backpack. It was lovely morning until yet another dodgy old man made moves on me. This being the 4th old man that had made a move on me since my 29th birthday I have started to get abit of a complex about suddenly being old enough for these men to think that it is OK to give it crack. Not happy Jan!!!!! But I am told that I am not old until I think these old men are acceptable. I like this theory. :)

Croatia

Seeing as the rain continued I decided to head to Dubrovnik, which is in the very south of Croatia. Sadly the rain continued as I dragged myself around the old walled city. The city is beautiful and it is amazing how heavily bombed the town. When you look over the roof tops of the town the bright orange roofs are new (most of them) and the nicer rustic yellow are old and rare. Even during the rain the place was over run by tourists and quite pricey. I was again staying in private accomodation and finding it quite isolating as it had been over a week since I had a decent chat. If you know me that it is almost equivalent to having mz throat cut. :)
I decided to go to the Island of Korcula for my Birthaday as I had heard that there was a cool hostel there and yummy seafood. I arrived and found the one love hostel easily as the crazy south African guy Zee(how had had his 15min of fam on big brother SA and clearly thought his fam was world wide). As it happened 2 others had there Bday on the same day as me. One of them had organised a huge street party with free everything. I had a great night fun night partly as I had spoken to my family during the day.
I spent the rest of the week lazying on the beach, hiking, snorkling and chilling out. The Croatian waters are astoundingly crystal clear, but I was dismally disappointed with the snorkling and lack of marine life. Particularly, the night snorkel which I could have done alot cheaper by myself, GRRRRR!! I also made a day trip to Mljet National Park, which was the prettiest island, but I really didnt get long enough to get a good look. After a much need rest I set off for Bosnia. After three busś and two ferries I finally made it to Mostar. Mostar is a city of strange contrasts. It you walk to tourist cobbled streets it is gorgeous with lots of handcrafts and beautiful bridges and buildings. Two streets away and it is a completly different different story as you can still see many ruins and bullets holes from the war in the 90ś. I went to a photo exhibition that demonstrated that the gorgeous streets where obliterated not 12 years ago. The people were also quite almost withdrawn and to me it seemed they carried a heavy sadness with them.
I was up early the next day to catch the train to Sarajevo. The journey took me through the mountains and over beautiful aqua rivers. Sarajevo was similar to Mostar in its contrast but obviously more money was invested here. I went on a tour of the war and was the tiny tunnel that the population used to carry goods and weapons (kindly supplied by South American drug lords). The guy sunnie told an amazing story of the struggle of the cilians during the four year siege on Sarajevo and did not think kindly of UNs lack of action. I would have loved to hear a Serbian side of the story. So off to Serbia I go.

Eastern Europe.

After some dramas with Ryan air (all I will say is always pay attention when lining up for a flight) I arrived in northern Italy. I caught the first bus to Slovenia, my actual destination. I walked up to the Slovenian boarder guard and asked him he could direct me to the bus station. He immediately organised a ride to the station. This was to set the tone for the Slovenian hospitality. I caught a bus to Bovec and was taken back by the stunning lush mountain side. All of the house were immaculate with blooming flowers in every window and white washed walls. I found a room with Ulga, who spoke very little english and seemed to think I was a bit of a worry. I spent the mornings hiking through the feilds and mountains and the afternoon doing adventure sports. On the first day I went Canyoning with Luka (the hottest guide alive). Luka was so hot I put my wet suit on inside out and my helmet on backwards twice. I was more than a little distracted. :) We went along the infamous freezing cold Socec river sliding and slithering through streams and jumping into pools from 6 meter high platforms. It was fantastic, such a rush and in a natural wonderland to boot. The following day I went Hydrospeeding. This is where you ride the grade two and three rapids on a plastic boogie board taht weights about 10 to 15kg. My only choice for the day was to go in the extreme class, yeah why not jump in the deep end. Firstly we had to walk about 20min down an extrememly steep track carrying all out gear (my legs ached from this for at least four days). THen we were sent down the river being dunked and flying over waves, which great fun. Bumping over rocks and flipping over was quite hairy. The only over girl was crashed into and lost her board and was half drown as she floated down the river. She was fine, but it scared the crap out of all of us.
I decided to head on to Bled for one night that somehow turned into four nights. I met Amanda (fun English lass who was meant to be in Prague working)upon arriving in Bled. The mananger of the Geroge best hostel we were staing in was a fantasic guide to the town and his numerous injuries (born and bled was jsut alittle crazy). THere is a fresh water lake in Bled that is so clear people go diving and you can watch them from the surface. I went for numerous walks around the lake and surrounding area, swims in the lake, saw the sunset from the local castle and had many nights out on the very quite town of Bled. I met great people on these ventures. I also walked to Vintgar gorge, which is absolutly breathtaking canyoning where you get to walk the length of it in side the canyon. Again the water was crystal clear and cold!! On the walk back to Bled I stopped in Zasip to watch some old men play Boche. They were so sweet explaining how it worked. I love Slovenia!!!
Amanda, Jeremery (Young Belgium guy) and I went paragliding over Bohinj Lake. Bohinj turned out to be even more beautiful then Bled. Our guides were alot of fun and somehow made it easy to run off a cliff. I do not think I can explain the sensation of gliding through the air and seeing the earth flowing paste beneath you. But I will say it must be experienced!!!! Bohinj was so beautiful Amanda, Liam (South African guy) and I decided to go stay and hike around the lake. The walk was so beautiful Liam and I decided to make our way further and see a waterfall. We had to be fast though as the last ferry was in 2hrs and that was how long it would take to get to the waterfall and back. It was well worth the walk and would have caught the ferry if we had followed the directions we had given Amanda to the Ferry but no we decided to get lost instead. After that it was a long slow walk to the hotel. But in my fatigured state Liams suggestion of climbing 2868mt to the summit of Mt Triglav seemed like a great idea. Actually, he was right for a change. :) Liam and I prepared for our three day hike to the peak, while Amanda decided were she would go next.
The first day of hiking was long (8hrs) and the country side was beautiful. I was scared by a toad, swam in the coldest waterfall I have ever been in (my skin actually stung from the cold), got lost, avoid Liams idea of a river crossing and spent the night in the cupboard. The second day we only walked 2hrs to the next hut (about 2200mt) as the weather was optimal for climbing the summit. We whiled away a lovely day me annihilating Liam at 500 and talking to fellow travellers and locals alike. The night was freezing and the view of the moonlight reflecting off the top of the undulating clouds was breathtaking. The following morning I work early, Liam hardly slept due to flem inducing snoring, and began our climb to the summit. We had left any vegeation far behing and you could see sheets of ice clinging to the upper reaches of the mountain. The climb was tough and most of the time we were on all fours and hanging on to guide wires. There was barely room for the Slovenians to run on past us. :) It ws tough but reaching the summit was worth it. The day was clear and youd could see all the way to the Austrain Alps. Liam eventually found a flat rock for the summit stamp we very slowly made our way down. The climb down was scarrier for me than on the way up as you had to go down backwards and blind a large part of the way. On the same day we made our way to the bottom in 8hrs total. Luckily for us a lovely Slovenian gave us a ride back to Bohinj.
The following day we went on to Lubranji (still have not figured that spelling out)and I spent a few hours checking out the town, as there was not much to see. The following day we went to the Skocan caves, which were nice, but uninspiring. We ended up in Piran for a few days of well earned R and R. It is a cute little seaside town with quite a bit of history, seeing the boarders in this area have changed repeatedly. As Liam returned to the UK to work I headed for Croatia. I began in Pula. There are two main attractions in Pula as I see it. One the Truffels, which were pungent and delicious. Two the roman Ampitheatre which rivals the colassium in Rome. I am now in Split, not a very inspiring town but has allowed me to catch up on all my jobs. I was going to be on the Croatian islands for my Birthday but the weather has finally turned bad so I think I will stay on land until it changes. Where that is I have not quite decided, so stay tune for the next exciting update.

Return to South Africa

The security when crossing into South Africa from Namibia is amazing. Firstly, the usual check of your passport. Secondly, they take your finger prints using an electric scanner and make you wait as it checks for your criminal record, I felt like I was in mission impossible or something. Lastly, the cutest little puppy smells all your bags and the interior of the truck. Toughest crossing I have had yet. We drove south to Citdel. Along the way we stopped for lunch when the truck was parked in a sinkwhole. Weirdest thing just one spot about the size of a tire was like wet cement at a picinic stop. Anyhow, the fields of wildflowers throughout this area were absolutely stunning. Every colour and shape you could imagine and covered any uncultivated land. Emina were very excited to find that there was a immaculet hot spring fed pool at our camp site in Citdel. It was so relaxing to lie back in the 38C pool and look up at the rising steam and the bright night stars.
The following day we arrived in the world renowned wine region of Stellenbosh. The majority of our group went on a full day winnery tour here. The wines were very tasty, even to my inept pellet. There was also some devine cheese and chocolate along the way. We went out that night, but it was jossel dancing (when the crowd is so close all you can do is move with it) not my thing.
The truck tour finished up in Capetown, where I was to spend a further week. Capetown is a beautiful city on first view as is trapped between the imposing Table mountain and the wild cold ocean. I went on a tour to Robben Island, where four jails were located and Nelson Mandalia (a numerous other political prisoners) was kept for 20years. This was a humbling experience. We were taken around the jail by a unimposing and articulate man, who we were to soon find out from a young age was trained in guerrilla warfare. He was held within the stark confines of Robben Island jail for6 years starting in his late teens. He allowed us an insight to the life in the prison; from the blatant dehuminisation of the prisoners (given numbers to replace there names), sensoring the mail and to the distinct difference in rations for blacks and colours. Despite the hardship that had been inflicted on this man it appeared that held need for revenge or hate but was eleated that there dream of all people being treated the same was coming into fruition.
The following day Emina and I decided to climb table mountain, but the clouds were about so the view was somewhat obstructed. On the Platue there is a variety of walking tracks surrounded by stunnning wild flowers and lots of cute little lizards. By the time Emina and came down in the cable cart that spun 360 degrees we were quite exhausted, but still able to go for a sefood feast. Will never forget the squid stuffed with fetta, YUM!!!.
Next day we went on a township tour. Initally I was concerned that it would be like walking through someones loungeroom (invading their homes and being unwelcome). But it was not like that at all. Everyone was very friendly and we were allowed the chance to learn alot of history. The best part of the day was going to a school and seeing all the children singing and dancing. We also went to an orphanage, which was heart renching as the children that had only bearly begun to walk immediate flocked to you for attention and cuddles. They were very sweet and letting go of them was difficult. I must be getting cluckie in my old age. :)
On a farily dreary day Emina and I took a tour to Cape of Good hope. We saw seals swimming (which left Emina sopping wet for the day), cute waddling penguins, alot of cloud from the view points, Ostrich on the beach, Douns (little mammal with the closest relative being the elephant, weird), beautiful vegetation and I went for a bike ride through the park. All in all a lovely day.
Before leaving Capetown I did a couple more hikes up, down and around Table mountain, which had nothing to with realisation that I had put a sizable amount of weight on after being on the truck tour.

Next off to London for the night then on to Eastern Europe.

Namibia

The first stop was Etocha national park. Etocha is actually the name of the large salt pan that dominates the middle of the park. The park is predominately dessert with sparse tree and yellow fine grass most of the area. The authorities have placed a number of water whole throughout the park. This makes Etocha particular special for safari drives, because the animals accumulate at the variety of water holes, therefore it is easy to spot a variety of animals in close proximity. It is intriguing the watch the hierarchy at the watering holes. During the day we came up to a water whole that was surrounded by hundreds of animals including impalas, kudu, ostriches, wild dogs, zebras, giraffes, wilder beast and others. Initially, we couldn’t figure out why they where not drinking then we noticed a pack of lions lie in the shade. It all made sense. One of the best things I experienced in Etocha was that the camp sights had flood lit waterholes that you could visit in during the night. We sat vigil for hours and saw elephant, giraffe, zebras, wild dogs, spotted hyenas and rhinos come and drink. On the first night a wild elephant came around to the fence side of the waterhole and was literally five meters away as it tore in to the reeds and drank and slashed the water around. Amazing!!!! The following night we actually saw two rhino fight. It was fast, furious and lots of grunting. On our last day in Etocha (and our last safari for the trip) we saw the illusive leopard. It was lying in the crook of a tree at quite a distance but it was definitely a leopard. I saw very happy to seen all of the big five.
We stopped at a cheetah farm where we got to pat tam cheetahs. Also, we saw ‘wild’ cheetahs be fed. They are beautiful animals but they are not as captivating as the lions.
We then went on to the once German settlement of Swakamund. Here I tried a few more adventure sports including sandboarding (which has made me determined to try sandboarding), lie down boarding (where I clocked some of the fastest speeds at 68 and 79 km/hr and coped a mouth full of sand) and quad biking on the dunes (which was my favourite). We also had a great night out where I got plenty of room (ie there was hardly anbody else on it) on the dance floor where I could strut my stuff all night. Obviously, I loved it.
The following day we made our way south to the Naughnaukt National Park (if anybody can help on the spelling please do). One morning we rose in the freezing cold beofre to climb a large dune and watch the sunrise. After more effort than should be legal at that time in the morning we reached the peaak of the dune just before sunrise. The landscape was stunning with the deep rich red of the sand, yellow of the grass, the mauve of the soil and the white clouds rolling into to cover the sunrise. There we are sitting on this freezing cold dune watching any chance of seeing the sunrise disappear. Luckily, there was a hot cup of breakfast waiting for us at the bottom that so we could smell our way back to the truck. :)
We also visited the fish canyon, which I think is second in size to the grand canyon. Again fantastic views and strange varieties of cacti and other flowers.

Now on to South Africa