Trippin' Around

Home Sweet Home

tinka — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:56:00 GMT

Okay, this is just a short note to finish the travel blog off.

The Oak Hall tour came to a sad end, as our group split, shattering into individual shards like a glass thrown away, we drifted apart with many, many promises to Facebook (i.e. - keep in touch!).

Em-J and I headed off to LilLu's place nine days before our flight left - we didn't get up to much. We had a lot of plans, but no where near enough energy to do any of it. We did sort out our passports (necessary), go to Camden (not necessary, but LOTS of fun - Gothic Lolita here I come!), saw "Joseph and the Technicolored Dream Coat", ate Sushi, watched "Prince Caspian" at the cinema, played "Sing Star" with Katy-Kath, ate a LOT of Ben&Jerry's, watched a lot of t.v., slept, played with the cats, celebrated LilLu's b'day, played Badminton (oooo! Lotta fun!) and generally had a great time.

Then it was off to Heathrow, and believe it or not, 22 or so hours later, and we where home. We both pretty much zonked out for the next three days, but it's been great catching up with everyone.

So, summing up the whole trip?

Amazing. We had so many experiences, made so many new friends, and got through a lot of life-lessons. Number one being, always give everything at least a day or two before deciding that you hate it!

I can't even begin to touch on the fun and the great banter we had - so many new people to hang with and or freak out! *hheheehee*

Well as they say, the proof is in the pudding, or maybe in this case, the amount of photographs we took - more than a couple of thousand, but then again that camera was practically a permanent growth on my wrist. Take note, it's the latest fashion accessory - straight from Europe! It's hit all the streets of Italy, France and England! *wink*

I guess I'll have to wrap it up on that note; I just can't begin to describe the full extent of our Grand Adventure, but what ever it was, it was perfectly great. Totally DIDN'T cure our itchy feet either... New lands, new sights, new people: watch out world, here I come!

Sign off for now, but not forever - b.

Our Parieeeee ~ heart

tinka — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 20:30:00 GMT

Well, we visited Paris - the ultimate whirlwind ending to our ultimate whirlwind tour. It was in and out for a day - but what a day.

Off on another boat cruise to start the day - a lovely ride down the Siene River - we saw all the sights that you might see, The Louvre, Royal Bridge, The Tuileries, Alexandre III Bridge, Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame, the Clock Tower - just to name a few! It was a lovely sunny day, I was so excited to see all the famous landmarks, but boy, did I ever struggle just to keep my eyes open....

That state of course, didn't last long- it really couldn't with all the stuff we had to cram in to see! Our last day on tour, the grand finale itself... And all I wanted to do was sleep! ._. Oboy, I needed some Redbull. (Don't drink coffee, never will - foul, beastly brew.)

We all walked to the Latin Quarter to book a place in one of the Parisian Restaurants for dinner later that night. We all agreed on a place (somehow without taking all day - what with all 20+ of us), and that was that - off we scattered, bright butterflies fluttering off in small clusters only to bomb-dive, diverging on the chosen sights.

Katy-Kath, Em-J and I waltzed off to Notre-Dame, took our photos, contemplated the line and decided against waiting to climb up the bell tower. The gothic spirals where incredibly beautiful, and totally inspiring. All the lacy stone carved and curling, Notre-Dame's points reach high into the blue sky, but even more magnificent is the stained glass window that decorates the front of the building. The rose is 40 feet in diameter - it's pretty huge!

So out on the way we saw a more expensive version of Ben&Jerry's - Häagen-Dazs, but we ignored it as it was way too expensive and overpriced. On that note though - romantics and fashionistas, "Hear ye, hear ye, Paris is cheaper than Italy full stop!" Yaayyya! ^_^ More shopping - naturally, but only in a speed-rush-gotta-keep-moving-way, so on the Metro and off to the Arc de Troimphe. Did you know that any driver with any type of vehicle can not get insurance to drive around the Arc? It's this MASSIVE round-about with eight exits!

We on the Metro in a flash so we could hit the Eiffel Tower, (did you know the Paris train run on tires??? How weird is that? P.S - Burning rubber smells! @-@)

When we saw the lines that stretched a way under the skirt of the famous tower and d'oh-ed. After some groaning, a lot of moaning, a wee bit of hemming and hawing we decided to join the line and spent the next hour and a half crisping in the sun as we waited.

We didn't end up going up all the way, we didn't have enough time to get all the way up to the top, but we got to see the second level. And it was well cool. The view was grand - I was surprised to see how pristine and white the city is. In Bruges, when we climbed up the bell tower, all the roof tops where terracotta, or burnt orange... Every view I've ever seen, when you look over the houses everything is colored. Except Paris.

There was an endless expanse of city - a daub of greenery from tall trees here and there, a glint of gold over there; and the Siene cut the heart of the city out. But as you gazed over the horizon, the buildings stretched out and met the sky like a white sand shore kissing aqua waves. It really was unlike anything I've seen.

Not much time to appreciate though, 'coz it was run, run, run for dinner and we where still half an hour late! Dinner was good (really cheap even by Aussie [read as low dollar] standards.) - I tried escargo! Once you get over the mind trip of actually eating snails... (bleeeerggggg.....) They taste pretty good - like basil, butter, garlic and salt. No snail, not at all!

I was happy when we finished early-ish, 'coz then we got to duck off to the Lourve! Only an hour and half, but I died and went to heaven!!!! o.O The pretties... The PRETTIESSSS!!!! Just enough time to catch a wee, elusive, exciting, intreguing, enticing taste of the treasures stored in the massive maze of halls, rooms and alcoves.

We saw the Venus de Milo, Mona Lisa, the Winged Victory of S-something or a rather, The Cannan Feast and of course, many other amazing statues, paintings, etc, as we ran by.

I *heart* the Lourve, it was definately the highlight of my trip to Paris. I think I would've been really disappointed if I hadn't gotten to go. We then randomly decided to metro out to the Moulin Rouge. Totally worth it! The spinning lights, the sparkle, way cool!

We finished the grand tour with one last look at the Eiffel Tower - it was lit in a glorious royal blue with a circle of golden stars to mimick the European Union Flag. Like most Parisians fusspotting - the Frence hate it, where as I thought it was pretty dang cool.

That was pretty much it, there was a muddle getting home but we met up with the others and it was all cool. (Cute French guy, thanks for all the help! ^_^)

Paris, so yeah, it's amazing. I absolutely love it!

'Tis a city of rain - turbulent, refreashing, cool (in more than one sense of the word) and clean.

Wheeeee! Go Paris! I am soooooo going back.

:3, b.

Moving on - the buzz through Switzerland

tinka — Fri, 4 Jul 2008 04:10:00 GMT

Off again on our adventures - we once more battled with the elements when the time came to strike the camp; I don't think that that many tents (13 plus a single & two cook's tents) have ever been erected in such a short period of time - and I do mean ever!! Ten minutes from unloading the coach to final tent up - we beat the rain by milli-seconds. Unfortunately Em-J and I had to deal with a leaking tent though. We did sort it out in the end; but let's just put it this way, camping in thunderstorms is no fun...

Snowball fights in 30° sunshine, however, are great fun!!! We drove (or rather FearlessF our coach driver drove) over the St Gotthard Pass (I think)through the Swiss Alps to get to Luzern; we stopped for photos of the amazing views and much to our delight it was next to an old snow bank that hadn't melted although its summer time! Minging grey snow aside - snowball fight ho! Yayz!!! ^_^

Ok- next we wandered through Luzern; saw more old buildings (*groan* They haunt my dreams...) and a cool lion memorial for the soliders that died in the French Revolution; also an old wooden bridge that spans Lake Luzern. We (being Em-J, LilLu, KatyKat and I) ate good cake at a cute café called 'Hug', had awesome gelato (naturally), and munched down excellent cheese, cherries and crackers. Yumo!

Of course- can't forget the Lindt chocolate... Melted choccy - mmmmm..

A little on the town itself: wandering around the city we see lake water icy & blue; distant mountains purple & craggy- Switzerland is a world of its own. Distant, locked in its own little bubble I feel it is detached in a pristine sort of way. One might imagine it in the far-off future, tucked away: a hidden paradise with a sinister twist. Once you get in, you can never get out...

But that's just how I found it! Other parts are well cool. The cows are certainly friendly enough (I got to pat one & it licked my hand); and the scenery is magnificent beyond all words - it truely reflects the beauty of an amazing Creator.

*sings*

I'm so high/

I can hear heaven/

I'm so high/

I can hear heaven/

.....

We are now in France but I will update more on that later.

Guten Tagge; b.

Wheeeeeee.... Sleep deprived!

tinka — Tue, 1 Jul 2008 03:54:00 GMT

So we've gone from the broiling heat of Rome, to the less so of Florence onto the happy medium in the lake district of Italy. Up near the Alps again, next to Lake Magiore(sp?), we have had a bit of an adventure around the place.

First challange came when we got to the campsite, but in the middle of a thunderstorm.... Boom/crash/rain - tents. Need I say more? Some how we managed to pitch our tents in the rain and NOT get soak through! w00t! Go team!

Today saw us crusing around the lake to visit Isola Bella, a beautiful island that has one of the most unique styles I have seen. And considering that we have seen 99,009,938,001 billion buildings so far(okay, slight exageration, but it has been a LOT!) this is saying something. I will only decribe my favourite rooms (a set) but will just add that one of the rooms looked like the library out of 'Beauty and the Beast' and that was a great favourite too.

But back to the awesomeness of the Grotto rooms.

One could almost imagine King Neptune himself creating these rooms as you walk through the coolness, looking out to the brillient aqua water reflecting the clear skies above: you are swallowed by the shadows. Polished black pebbles coat the floors, the walls, the ceilings, the columns - shadows that are neatly pushed aside by streams of smooth white stones that flowed and curl creating corral-like patterns growing in the dark texture.

In amongst the striking feel of these water-cave rooms you will find graceful statues, a bust of Alexander the Great (who Em-J immediately pronounced to be hot!), and the trappings of the royal carriage horses. I really enjoyed the different thing to see there, but unfortunately somewhere between the palace and it's beautiful gardens I hit 'the wall'.

Basically I slept the afternoon away and intend to do the same tomorrow on the bus in hopes that I can gather energy for Switzerland and France. Two weeks or so left of our grand adventure and it is with very mixed emotions that I view the end of our journey. However, I'll just enjoy now as it is. As long as I can get some sleep!

Ciao, b.

Florence again.

tinka — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 00:10:00 GMT

Still enjoying the Italian summer - we headed up to Florence on the Wednesday, and had our five hour excursion to the city yesterday.

Em-J and I were rather boring on this trip as we had already been to Firenze and there wasn't anything else we wanted to see or do. So we 'aimlessly ambled' over the slate tiles; shopping, eating gelato and basically getting ourselves lost. Good times!

Our campsite does have one awesome attribute - it's one km from a lovely Med. beach. So once a again before you can say 'Boo' Em-J, LilLu and I were in the water enjoying the salty sea. Yay beeeeeeaaachhhhh!

We have been swimming twice already at this beach, once during dusk and once in the morning before it got too hot. I tell you what, the particular beach we are at is really pretty except for the rows upon rows upon rows of 'reserved' deckchairs/beach umbrellas. It really gets my goat that the beach is so partitioned like that. I understand private beaches, but do you really have to sell the sand off like that?

Oh, for Australia where the public toilets are free, it doesn't cost you $20.00 for a bottle of sunscreen and the beach is for everyone!

As I was saying before I got sidetracked - it is a really pretty beach - the Tuscan hills look like distant misty blue mountains from a time long past in the Orient and they roll into the warm green sea in a haze of blue and purple. V. nice - better than Fumicion for sure!

We are currently in Lucca, where we are going to find more icecream (yep, I am soooo fat! =0=) and walk on top of the wall around the wee town. Yay!

Gotta go chat to Steel, TTFN b.

Suntan in Italian Sunshine - w00t!

tinka — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 19:16:00 GMT

We left the searing heat of Venice for the muggy melting-ness of Rome. It was a long drive down, but when we finally got there we found out that this was indeed “A party place peoples!”. There where Contiki Buses everywhere..

Anywho we set up as per usual; up again early the next morning for our excursion into Rome. We left at 8:15 and got into the city around 10:00ish(I think). We visited the Vatican City which apparently isn't a part of Rome, but a real “city” in its own rights as it is under the rule/ laws of the church. From St. Pietro or Saint Peter's Square we moved onto the Castle Michelangelo where the great opera singer Tosca threw herself off a balcony... Lovely wotwot!

We were wilting by this stage in the 34+ heat but what can you do? This is Rome in the summer of course! After a brief interlude under the welcomed shade of the trees, we headed across the Tiber, saw the Spanish steps (from the bottom; when we where with the boys in Feb. we saw them from the top) and dipped our feet in the fountain at the base of the stairs. The brilliant aqua is icy cold, it gushes out from free-flowing fountains and taps all over the city. Apparently your not allowed sit with your feet in the water- but we didn't know until the Polizia started peeping their whistles at us. ... Owell, it was a nice dip anyways!

After that we moved more into the center of the city - saw the Pantheon again; Em-J and I sat outside and ate our lunch as it was 1 o'clock by now while everyone else did the tour. From the Pantheon to the backside of the War Memorial, we climbed up the city-grimed marble steps to roof as saw Roma spread out beneath us like a glistening wanton - beguiling, inviting, sparkling and more than ready to take you in and never let go.

Our last leg of the 'home made' tour (our fearless leader was showing us the sights and trying desperately to keep everyone together through the crowded streets) involved the Roma Form, Palatino and the cherry on top - the Colosseum.

Em-J and I had already seen the Forum Ruins, so after a quick amble through we headed up to the Colosseum. It was pretty trippy to think that the crumbling worn stone soaked up not just blazing sunshine, but the blood of innocents to the cheers of a thirsty seething 'civilized' crowd...

Down in the cool dark of the lower levels you could sense the past of decadence that brought about these horrific games - the confusion and disorientation of the prisoners brought up from the shadows into the blistering sunlight... “Hail Ceaser - those who are about to die salute you...”

It was pretty amazing to see this massive monument though. After that it was back to camp, away home. After dinner, shower and a sleep it was back to Rome though for the next days' adventures! This time Em-J, a couple of girls and myself meandered around the city, calling stops at any shop we wanted to see, side trips to the wee markets stalls set up; basically we took things at a very leisurely pace. We found a wandering Mr.BB, fabulous gelato and fantastic pizza- in that order. We shopped, shopped and walked some more determining our direction by which street had the most shade! We also got to see inside one of the Santa Maria churches (the one near the Pantheon) - it was built in 1537 or so; it was impressive, swathed in royal blues, gild, marble of every shade imaginable and lit by lone beams of sunshine that filtered through the stain-glass flower shaped windows high above the columns. The dim flickering of candles lit by devout nuns, or tourists seeking a spiritual experience struggled against the gloom that we wandered through.

Despite its magnificence, a chill of hopelessness filled the chapel - people would seek, but pray to a saint and they will receive nothing in return. Like much of history, like much of the ruins or past, as beautiful, as majestic, as timeless as it may be; there are too many tears amidst the joys to dwell there. I feel the need to look, listen, learn - but also an urgency to move on. If you stay too long in the past eventually you just stop moving, stuck in memories that are forever still.

But enough of the contemplation - we had a lovely day relaxing, but I think the highlight of the day involved - like all good things, the Oreos.... So here's the deal - Em-J and I got hooked (along with Ben&Jerry's =.=) on Oreos while we where at Teen Ranch; which is a rather random thing to be hooked on as there are no Oreos at Tescos- which meant for random road trips to Asda or Sainbury but I suppose that's all part of it eh!

"Do not go to the dark side- Cookies have they- Fat you will be..."

LilLu, KatyKat, Em-J and I had great time being Golum, Yoda and Munchkins all at the same time - as one of the South Africans said "That's a great talent - what you can do with it I don't know, but it's a great talent!".

"Yes precious- fun it is, cookies we need."

LilLu and I went on a mission for the Peanut Butter and Em-J brought the Oreos. Let the fun(ie meeting of the Dark Side) officially begin!

We got to share the story of the BoSB - I'm pretty sure Ginger and Steel will never really know how much amusement they afforded us with... =_= Mr.BB came along wanting our chocolate and claiming that he could hear us all the way up the hill(As if we could ever be that loud!).

We offered PB or Oreos, but I think thankfully for his sake he refused saying that he wanted to keep his sanity. Ok- so PB and Oreos are both fine by themselves, but either there's a chemical reaction when the two are put together, or... Ok - we're just crazy. We invented the Oreo dance and the Pocky dance *whooo-whooo-whooo-boing-da-boing-da-boing* and staggered into camp holding hands hoping that we where in a straight line. *lolz* So much good banter. Everything is hilarious when you are high on cookies! COOOOOOOKIIIIIIIIIIIESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cookie, cookie, cookie, cookie,cookie,cookie,cookie,cookie,cookie,cookie,cookie,cookie,cookie,cookie,cookie, cookie,COOOOOOOKIIIIIIIIIIIESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!! *takes breath* !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So endeth the meeting of the Dark Side......

Today I'm all about doing nothing before we head to Piza tomorrow than onto Florence.

Cioa Bella! b.

Viva La Venice!

tinka — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 04:48:00 GMT

We traveled by coach from the lovely Austrain Alps; said “Goodbye” to the cold weather (with some relief it must be admitted, although the area was so beautiful) and “Ciao Bella!” to the gorgeous 30 degree + sunshine and clear skies of warm, wonderful Italy.

The new campsite we are at has a private beach just a two minute walk away from where we are pitched, so once we figured out the muddle of fitting twelve tents, plus the two cook's tents into the three sites that we had, Em-J and I hit the sea. It was probably around half eight when we finally got onto the beach, so the sun was setting over the horizon behind the sand. The beach was practically empty, we had the water all to ourselves; it was so nice and cool after a sticky day of traveling on the coach, naturally we went a little nuts.

I guess for those reading – let's just put the words 'a little nuts' into perspective. Em-J and I already consider ourselves certifiably insane (It's a Fraser Girl thing but I've flushed my little white pills down the sink and buried my straight jacket in the rose bed), so to actually say we've gone nuts – well what do you call the place beyond the edge of insanity? Good banter? Whatever it is – it was a whole lotta fun.

Bed and than an early rising to get to Venice on time so that we could optimise our time. We took the coach and than a water taxi into the islands of Venice. To say that Venice well exceeded my expectations is a bit of a stretch seeing as I didn't really have any expectations for Venice – I didn't really know what was there at all... That worked out perfectly fine though because I wasn't disappointed at all – Venice is totally amazing!

There are some draw backs – the heat and then that Venice is a huge tourist trap; the streets where cobbled with people – so much so that you couldn't even see the white granite tiles beneath your feet. Once you adjusted to swimming against the flow of the crowd, the next thing that grabbed your attention was the neat snow-white bridges that arching over the canals, the spectacular array of marble mosaic used to craft the buildings in and around San. Marco Square. Tall pillars of smooth stone – red, green, white, black, grey marbles; statues, glided clock faces, frescos, delicate glass lanterns and lights and never forget that eternal companion of the city centers – the humble pidgeon.

Worse than the flocks of tourists(almost) where the flocks of black pidgeons massing around your feet. They looked like swarms of flies gathering around a leftover tit-bit; something akin to Stephen King's “Birds” I thought although I've never watched the movie or read the book. And that might just be a good thing considering!

Blistering white sun seared right through you, bounced off the stones and scorched you again; yet a strong ocean breeze blew in once in a while – just often enough to releave the feeling of melting into the sun and sea.

A Venice Snapshot: Brilliant aqua water, vivid whites, strong terracotta, paint-box buildings in every color of the rainbow – flowers, people, birds. Venice is a city of vitality, it is a heaving, flowing, breathing, glowing, living city.

The dark narrow ally-ways are a tight bewildering maze – the walls are so sheer that the burning sun cannot penitrate so they make a welcoming, cool and shadowy cave-like passages to poke through. Some places are so small only two people can walk side by side – the streets on the map marked as straight are definately wonky, everything seems to be really winding, twisty and generally crooked in a old-time way. The canals criss-cross the back streets, the windows pressing on either side of you are filled with merry masks, sparkling glass, colorful clothes – all sorts of enticing goods to purchase.

We spent the morning walking around – we visited Sna. Marco Square, the Realto Bridge, found the market on the other side than decided to take a tour for the rest of the afternoon. We visited Murano, Burano and Torcello which are three of the hundred plus islands that make up the Venitian Delta.

Murano is known for its glass blowers so we watched a demonstration of that – a glass caldroun being blown and than the master glass blower shaped a horse. We watched the glass quiver as the horse was pulled into shape, flowing out of the glowing yellow globular blob of glass into a shining crystal steed. The master put a strip of paper against the glass to show us how hot it was and it burst into flame amist the gasps of awesome and clapping of appreciation.

After that it was back into the boat and we were on Burano which is famous for its lace – it takes a few different women, each with a speacialty in a certain type of stitch approximately three months to make a dinner plate size piece of lace. The other thing to see there where the fishermen's houses. Sunflower yellows, clear sky blues, heart of ember reds, sunset pinks, fresh oranges, duck egg teals – each house contrasted and complemented the gentle sea water lapping at their doorsteps. The white washing hanging on the side of the houses from the second story windows flapped merry in the breeze – hanging like white fluffy clouds in an azure sky.

We moved onto Torcello – and soaked up the picturesque Roman ruins – grave stones, empty buildings, a magnificent church. Torcello had an empty, peaceful feel; like stepping into a chapter of history that is content knowing its time has past, yet can dwell on happy memories. The population on this island used to be well over a 1,000, but now it is enjoyed by numerous cats, dogs and at least a few goats as well as the local residents – fifteen people all up.

When we got back to Venice 15 of us took a rides on three seperate gondalas – it was really cool to be able to expiriance Venice from a different level. There where many back canals to negiotiate, tight corners to squeeze around, lots of boats and houses to see (we slid past Marco Polo's house which is now the Venitian Opera House and the Palace on the Grand Canal). It was great to be able to tick off one of those must-do-in-your-life list items, but I don't know that I'd do it again, or even recommend it as a romantic venture simply because the back canals are not that pretty, plus the lower parts smell because of oysters/mussels that paper the walls up to the high tide line. It might be much better at night time, but than you'd be looking at paying a lot more too!

After dinner and more walking, we saw Venice at night time before we headed back to camp. It was certainly a superb sight to see – the night sky faintly sprinkled with distant stars, the soft yellow light glistening on the rippling inky water. It's quiter, peacefuller, and so much cooler (literally and figuratively) at night.

We saw the moon rise blood red over the distant islands tucked asleep in the Adratic Sea and said goodnight. I thought of home and the bushfire moons and was glad that a dark moon isn't always an ominous sign, as we had a fanstatic day in Venice – definitely one of my favourite expiriances so far, but everything keeps getting better and better so we'll see how long it stays on the top of my list!

Today Em-J and I spent all day on the beach enjoy the sun, surf and sand. The water is lovely, beach was busy and bright with all the different shades of sun umbrellas, but not too crazy which is nice. We kept a blue 'fuzzy muppet jellyfish' umbrella as our towels marker and had a great time popping in and out of the water and sleeping in the sun. Hopefully we're not too burnt! Some of the others in the group joined us and we'll go back for another swim before the night is through. We are also planning to get up at half four to watch the sunrise and swim again before our long coach ride to the next stop on our expidition. That's been the last three days, so I'll sign off now.

Ciao Bella – b. :3

The Hills are Alive-

tinka — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 00:39:00 GMT

*sings * The hills are alive/ with the sound of... waterfalls?

No, actually, the hills where alive with the sound of music (but also waterfalls; will explain in a bit!)– we drove from Petronell-Carnuntum to Zell in the Zimml Valley, but on the way we got to stop at Salzburg, which is of course the setting for the “Sound of Music” film. It was a short stop – four and a half hours, but it was a lovely time. The town is split with a river of rushing water – the kind with a glacial aqua color that makes you think blue.

I went around with a couple of girls from the tour group that are really keen on the SoM (Sound of Music) and we made up our own tour which took us all about Salzburg. We admired the views, found the Abby that Maria belonged to, danced through the gardens and sang – a lot. I wonder how sick the locals are of the SoM – after all, I'm sure we are not the only ones who trot through Salzburg singing “Doe, a deer, a female deer...”

I got to try some of Em-J's pretzels – they where the size of a small bread plate and sooo yummy! I tried a choclate covered one and one strudel-like one that had apple and saltanas twisted through it. They where sooo goood! *drools * I also had a Mozart Ball, but didn't like that at all. Ick! : p

We all piled back into the coach after that brief stop-over and drove onto (quickly popping in and out of Germany) the Zimml Valley and the Austrian Alps.

Words fail me – how can I even begin to explain the majesty and wonder of these mighty mountains? I can try though!

Wreathed in clouds, the mountains are cloaked in a royal robe of rich evergreens. They are a picture with a tapestry of velvet grass, weathered wooden chalets, tumbling crystal streams and docile cows. Twisting roads add detail as they slip in between the pines and the tiny villages perched at the foot of these craiggy peaks. The alps loom above you, swallowing you into their shadows. Last but not least, the hand-set jewels; fresh white daisies, sunny yellow buttercups and dandelions that dot the meadows patching the vallley sides.

In the middle of all this wonderful creation that just reflects the maker's beauty we set up camp. The next morning saw us cruise up the shoulder of the mountain to the Kimmler Wasserfall.

It was a two hour hike up and down – a sheer climb that left us all breathless and not just at the view (oiy, my achin' back... -a- ), but it was worth it.

The glacial water tumbled over the rock seem that split the mountain side like a horse's tail streaming against the storm. Spray misted our faces and the bellow of rushing water filled our ears as we looked down through the sky-scraping pines to the bottom of the valley that spread out like a broad river of grass, houses poking up ans interupting the flow.

So, that's the account of the last two days – today has just been a nice 'free' day; the more keen-beens of our group (myself included) went for another walk (which really was a hike) up the mountainside to a small chapel an hour or so a way. Icecream (apple for me - ^_^) on the way back, then sitting around playing Avatar: The Last Airbending on someone else's DS (Thank you LilLu!).

The sun has finally peeped over the mountain tops and through the constant grey clouds that have been accompaning us – so hopefully we'll get a little bit more of the heat before we pack up and leave tomorrow.

Signing off once again,

b. >_<

Second day of Vienna fun

tinka — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 23:00:00 GMT

Okay – so after an awesome day out on the town; mad-cap soccer induced antics included, how on earth could we possibly top those adventures? Easily enough it would seem! Em-J and I got up at half six – batty I know; such a evil hour should not exist... -_- But there was reason enough for this as we where going to see the Vienna Boy's Choir preform at a Mass in the Chapel of the Imperial Palace.

That is if we could even catch the train – the six of us (Canadian JazzGirl, AussieFe, JoyfulJ, Em-J and myself) where all up and fairly ready when we realized how late it actually was – so we ran for the train station, thankfully only two minutes away, and were getting our tickets when the train came! Em-J, AussieFe and I ended up getting tickets off the conductor as we had to drop everything and jump on.

Luckily everything worked out alright and we made it to the church. The early morning was well worth it... Depending on how much you pay – you get a seat somewhere inside the church, we were in the Hausoratorium to hear Wolfgang Mozart's Missa brevis F-Dur.

You walk up the stairs from a very unimpressive, rather shabby exterior into a large sweeping stairwell – white marble accentuated by striking red carpet flowing over the curving stairs. We walk through empty rooms with small oval portraits of the bishops hanging on the walls, only to be escorted into the back passage ways. We are tucked away in a small dark alcove papered with rich maroon damask cloth. You can't see anything in from the balcony other than the shadowy recesses much like your own opposite you. On one side – rows of wooden chairs, to the front; a burry screen for viewing the service, and to the right a mirror in which you can see the reflection of the choir. You are glued to that sight as the conductor raises his hands – it is about to begin.

Pure sound washes over you, the earthy, melencolic tones of the violin rippling through the waiting silence as the first cords hit your waiting ears. Lark-high notes from the wee sopranoes clustered around the conductors like puppies at their mother's feet mingle with the resonating timber of the basses standing at the back like the sentries that they are. Sound washes together in smooth gentle harmony only to seperate and dance to the parts own rythmic tunes – the contrast of high and low punctuating in perfect timing.

Em-J and I left the chapel rather dizzy, not just from the singing but also the incense (yes, it was a proper service but as it was in German I must confess the only thing I paid attention was the choir), and headed across St. Micheal's place for the next awesome expiriance of the day – to see a performance of the Lipanzzaner horses at the Spanish Riding School.

The Spanish Riding School, or Spanische Hofreitschule, was a beautiful building – wide sand arena sat at your feet – tall columns rising above the high wall of the school to support the arching roof. The detail, the delicate curling impressions that were coated white in contrast to the soothing grey roof – the two magnificent chandeliers that drooped from the ceiling, the juanty red banners that sat over the balconies; everything inside was enough to catch your eye. It was not, however – our main focus when the horses came in. The crowd was held captive for the next 80 minutes as the rider and horses preformed movements that even the Olympic Riders would kill to do. For all the non-horsey people out there (if you haven't already stopped reading by now!) the Spanish Riding School is the most exclusive and best riding school in the world. The dessage/riding done there is the highest form of riding you can find- full stop. So when I say that I would die happy if I could just ride ONCE like they can – I really do mean it!

Long blurb – we saw the horses dance. They preformed extented trots that looked like they where hovering above ground – defying gravity with each precise hoof-step, collected canters that practically stayed on the spot, pirouettes that spun their front around whilest the hind legs kept tempo in the same place (in both a walk and canter), piaffes like it was nothing at all to keep moving and stay still at the same time, half passes that merely moved them in and out of line in perfect unison, full passes that saw them gliding across the arena in both a trot and canter; the horses skipped (flying changes at two strides per lead), flexed, floated, worked, danced, flew and excuted their “airs above ground” with such presicion you almost had to wonder if they were from another place. That is until they chucked a wee tantrum and skittered sideways with a buck for a few seconds – then you knew well and truly how amazing they really are because they do all of this and in the end are still horses...

The airs above ground – the Levade (or rear), the rear and buck – leaping twice their height into the air, jumping forwards on their hind legs, all of these movements where preformed in hand and under saddle. The riders sat with their legs draped around the horses sides; sometimes with stirrups, sometimes without; but always in perfect unision with the horse's movement.

The rest of the day didn't really hold much after that – we wandered around enjoying the relaxed 'Sunday' feel of Vienna in the sunshine – we saw a tribute to Mozart and had really yummy 'Durum Kebaps' and slowly made our way back to camp after another full day on tour.

I decided that Vienna was the City of Royality – it does have a manner of imperial, exquiste way of life. Busy, yet happy to stop and take time out for the finer things this world has to offer.

I shall say goodbye – I've proably bored you enough for now.

:3, b.

The Austrian Expiriance

tinka — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 00:05:00 GMT

Ok - so the last two days since I updated have flown and as usual were jam-packed with all this stuff I can hardly wrap my head around. We drove from the Czech Republic all the way through the province to Petronell-Carnuntum, Austria; which right next the Hungry/Slovac(?)/Austria border.

We are in a nice tidy campsite that is literally a backyard outside a tennis club as the usual campsite that Oak Hall goes to is all booked out. This is because the Euro Cup Final is been played here in Vienna the day that we leave! It's all rather exciting.

So, while we where driving through Austria we stopped at the Mauthausen concentration camp which was rather hard to visit.

I think the thing that hit me the most, even more than the empty buildings that seemed to be hunted by evil memories and heavy sorrow, is the fact that there are still places on this earth today where people expiriance that kind of imprisionment, torture and oppression. China, North Korea, Burma, South Africa - Dunfur; many more nameless souls lost to the heavy handed approach of those that think they know best; or worse still, that no one's going to stop them.

That is such a hard thing to take.

We where naturally subdued after that stop, but we committed everything to God, pleased that we could trust in His sovereignty, in Him we found peace.

So we pitched camp and were up abominably early to head into Veinna. We all walked through Schönbrunn Place which was absolutely stunning. Each room was clothed in rich creams that contrasted against the gilded accecents - even the metal stoves that acted as the heating where covered in gold detail! Crystal chandeliers that hung proudly from the roof - rich red damask cloth that framed stunning views out to the palace grounds. There were timeless oils of Maria Annonette (yes, the one that was sent to the guilotine), and other Emporors and Emporesses that lived, courted and danced around the decadent halls.

The gardens where just as striking - rows of lush green trees that created forrests on either side of the main flower beds arranged in the shape of the royal crest. Beyond the the beds rose a tall hill carpeted in neat lawn. At the base of the hill is a huge water feature - and residing above all of that perched on the top of the rise is what I can only presume to be a massive 'summer house' to view the palace below and behind - the city stretching out like a mantel sweeping behind royalty.

After the palace we caught the train back into the main core of Vienna. Em-Jay and strolled around, saw some cool stuff than had to head back to the station to meet up with the others. We where going to head back to camp when we found out one of the guys - Mr. BB(Bouncy Boy) was staying for one of the Euro Cup (soccer) games being shown on ten big screens in the city that night. Luz, Cat, VivaciousV, Em-J, Mr. BB and I ended up going together and the six of us had a BLAST!

We danced the conga on the way into the fan zone, brought parafanelia and found ourselves a nice comfy spot on the freashly-laid pine chip bark in order to cheer, boo and generally lark about for the next hour and a half. Yay chip bark fights!!!

I barracked for Espainiola and they totallz kicked butt with possesion of the ball for most of the game. The score was 2-1, with extra time played. Then we danced our way out again - using our trophy cups as drums. We shook, shimmied and salsaed our way out of the crowds - grand finale, another conga line!

Late back to bed, but it was ssooooo worth it. The game and banter that night was definately a highlight so far.

Go soccer! -Brummabump, bamna, ba!

Say what?!??

tinka — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 06:25:00 GMT

I can't believe it - but we've finally left Teen Ranch. It feels like a life time since we arrived and believe it or not; it is now totally stuck in my head as home! So homesick for the place - I even miss Steel's *quote* 'stupid face' *end quote*. Daft I know, but Scotland is well and truely my home away from home. It's the Scottish blood again!

Anywayz - won't rave about how much TR gets under your skin (What is going on there? Are the campers having fun? Is the sun still out? What's the lastest practical joke getting pulled on CFairy? How about my beloved horses - is Arrow being a spaz? Pligrim causing trouble? Will I ever get TR out of my head?????? >o<)

So. Europe tour with Oak Hall. We've traveled from Otford, England through the EuroTunnel into France (all by coach as that is our mode of transport), then onto Bruges, Belgium.

Our first night camping involved rain, mist and more rain; but thankfully our tent stayed dry! Day Two: We tour Bruges, which constisted of a 366 step hike up the Bruges Belfry, a lingering wander through the chocolate museum (oh - soooo much drooling...), lots of stunning hand-crafted lace, a supereb hot chocolate and Belgium waffle (For 3.45 Euro? Yes please!) and a stroll back to camp - past the picturesque windmills whilst singing "Joy to the World" or "Jeramiah was a Bullfrog" on the top of our lungs. *lol* - good times... Singing randomly in public is definately on the top of my cool things to do - how many random looks can you get when belting out "In the Jungle" while driving through Dundee in the middle of the day? Answer: A lot! (Yes, that was a Scotland/Ginger&Steel escapade randomly thrown in!)

Our tour group consists of around 21 older-young people strong (Emi's the youngest there, with around three 20 yr olds, two 22 yr and all the rest olderish. Boys out numbered 3 to 18 as per usual!) Everyone is really friendly so even the hours long bus rides go really quickly.

Speaking of which - there is certainly a lot of that! We drove from Belgium to Koblenz, a town in the Rhine Valley, Germany. It was absolutely stunning - the sun was out, high lighing our million dollar view. We were at the edge of the Rhine and Mosel Rivers - across from Fortress Ehingvebkawefnj (ok - can't remeber how to spell it; -.- Will find out later!) and the German Point. Our million dollar view did have a million dollar problem as we found out later: noise pollution of the trains racing past all night, but it was still a gorgeous camping spot.

We strolled to the German Point that night - it took us about three hours, but the sight of the setting sun in a haze of purple and pink over the rippling black slate roofs of the Koblenz city was delightful. The Euro Cup (Soccer/Footy) was on that night - Germany vs. Some one; so that made for a lot of 'joyful noise' alright!

The next day saw our tour group crusing down the Rhine at a leisurely pace on our steam boat. Tiny villages perched percariously on the edge of the Rhine - the lush forrest tumbled down from the hills, cascading around the castles and fortress anchored above the valley. We made our way to Boppard and rode the chair lift up the side of a hill/mountain thing to view a large section of the River/valley. It looked like someone had quilted the hillside and sprinkled houses and jetties on the edge of the water. After Boppard we headed back to Koblenz to visit the Fortress-with-the-unpronouncable-name - another chair lift up and wow. It was very impressive and the view.... Well, it took my breath away.

A few of us sat at the caf`e for a while and enjoyed the company before Em-J and I decided to take a brief stroll through the grounds. The walls where sheer rock faces with small dark tunnels in the base. It was rather a maze and I can see how well it'd do the job of a stronghold for soliders. The position was entirely defensable at the top of a clift face, carved into solid rock. It was lovely. After that we headed back to town and wandered around a wee bit - not much more happened but it was awesome.

11 hours on the coach the next day and we where finally in our next stop - Beroun, Czech Republic so that we could visit Prague. We checked into our 4 star hotel (YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!) and sat down to a three-course dinner. Oh! To be civilized again... So nice. And that's an under-statment. (I really don't like camping; but that's another story for another time.)

We had a whirlwind tour of Prague the next day (which is actually today!0.o) - five hours of walking and our tour guide took us through ALL of the city in zones (or Prague 1 and 2) 1 & 2. It was fabulous; but so dis-orientating - I really felt kinda dizzy after all the running around! We did get to see such a lot though - the Prague Castle, the Old Market Square, the university which stands empty, the old monastry at the top of the hills, Charle's Bridge which is apparently the oldest bridge in Europe and was undergoing serious re-constructive work, the red mentronone which stands for "Nothing lasts forever" as it is still up on the hillside where Stalin's statue used to sit(!!), the Astronomical Clock, the Old Town Hall buildings and many other sights wonderful and various to behold.

After the tour Em-J and I spent an hour and a half in the post office - note; stupidist system we've expiranced and we've been in a LOT of post offices over the last four months! (It'll be like Christmas when we get home - a great big pile of parcels that we've sent home sitting on our bedroom floor! ._.) It was nice to sit down though!

So - now it's late; I've enjoyed my PilsnerUrquell Czech/South African beer(yay! Beer!), so I'll finish off with my thought of the cities.

Bruges - neat, angular - flat planes that compliment the quiet tidiness of the place.

Koblenz/Boppard - surprising scenery hidden in every corner; quiet gracefulness of mature beauty - like a fine old wine or beer! A tucked away expirance that draws you in to find more, to explore around that corner, to climb that hill top - to keep going further up and on.

Prague - a tumble of scenic views and stairs; parts of it lonely and wistful, watching the world flow by. Other parts busy and bustling; being the world that flows by. A watching city - statues, buildings, windows, people - watching and living.

That is the summary of our last five days - sorry it's so long. But to make things worse I have already snapped over 800 photos - >.< I guess this is a very 'seeing/doing' trip! Our great adventure certainly is that. Must go to bed now, gotta get up early and pack. :p, b.

Chillaxed Travel

tinka — Tue, 20 May 2008 06:50:00 GMT

So we headed up to Arbroath today - it wasn't far away at all and was well worth the trip. 15-20mins away from Dundee by train; it's a reasonably sized town on the East coast of Scotland below Aberdeen.

EmJ and I hit the town around about 11:30am ish; we visited Arbroath Abbey first. It's a goregous old ruin built by King William the First; The Lion of Justice. It reminded us of Red Wall Abbey from Brian Jaques' series "Red Wall" - the stones where so old, but had a rusty red quailty to them that whethered against the numerous storms and fires that battered the Abbey.

There was an extensive graveyard (why do we always end up in graveyards when we travel in Scotland?) - so we had fun taking emo-muffin pictures, I did a sketch and EmJ fell asleep in the sun.

After that it was lunch - Subway salads and seagulls hovering around. Onto the clifts just outside of the center of town afterwards - there where huge expanses of green velet grass, azure skies, aqua water and bright golden sun... Mmmm. We walked down to the beach (it was all rocky and pebbley; but still nice.) We sunbaked on the small patch of sand that we could find; the so-called beach (it was two feet wide) was sheltered from the wind by the three meter high concrete wall to stop the land washing away. Result? Low winds for once! Yay! ><

After that it was off to Suger and Spice (and all things nice) for the yummiest hot chocolate I've had since leaving Italy. Cream, marshmellows and lotttsss of chocolatey goodness. SnS is the CUTEST tea shop I've ever seen; really popluar with the locals and I can see why as it has an 'Old English Tea Parlor' feel to it that you can't miss. The waitresses wear lacey white aprons with cute little caps over their hair. Definately a step back in time that I think anyone would enjoy. They do the best scones with jam too... *drools*

We met up with Ginger at Danger Point after SnS (he lives in Arbroath when he's not at Teen Ranch); we chatted for a bit whilst the 'gulls circled over head. Then around 7:00pmish it was into the nearest chippy (Fish and Chip shop - NOT carpenter) for some dinner, then home again, home again, jiggity-jig.

We both really enjoyed our day out - it was lovely and relaxing, but that's the end of the story, so bye now!

Life goes on....

tinka — Sat, 17 May 2008 04:23:00 GMT

Life goes on - and the number of injuries sustained by EmJ and myself have remained minimal thankfully; they could be worse. I've sprained my wrist and EmJ's recovering from a sore back. They really COULD be worse - stories to tell!

So Steel - well, it's absolute banter hanging out (P.S. - don't ever go in any car with him unless you like going FFFFFFFFFFAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT. As I totally do, it's not a problem; in fact, great times with the dance music on and the windows down and random trips to TESCO's. XD )
but that boy can be a real pain in my @$$... :p

I.e. today he got himself beat up twice for annoying me. Hey - I did warn him - his fault if he persists/insists! *lol* It's actually quite amusing how much he moans after he gets battered - but one of these days someone's going to get hurt and I don't think it'll be me... *evil grin*

That reminds me- random trips - we (Ginger, Steel, Fox, AAang, EmJ and I) went wabbit hunting! So cool - we only went with the air rifles, but it was fun sneaking around the property trying to descide whether that brown rock was fuzzy or not... >_<! I only hit the rock (set up as a target so I could actually practise shooting a gun as I have never shot one before); I think in the end Fox was the only one who hit anything. She got two bunnies and AAang wouldn't speak to her for fully 15 minutes 'coz he was all - "No hunting rabbits!" but when Ginger found a mixie bunny and had to kill it(with six air pellets to the head - darn thing wouldn't die...) AAang was the one ready with the shovel to squish its head to make sure it was dead!

>>' Right.... Boys!

Ooo - random horse story - Dax (a thick, idiotic chestnut Quarter horse) decided to go for a walk-about when he saw the gate swing open - Rickardo and I had a freak out 'coz off he troted down the drive!! Thankfully he stopped to talk to the other horses over the fence and I nabbed him - but that has got to be the smartest (he realized the gate was open and he could go out) stupid (IDIOT - that's the DRIVEWAY) thing he's ever done.

Speaking of idiots - Steel absolutely mangled my sore wrist and now it hurts... >X p

Gotta go now - will have more stories later.

Byye! b.

P.S. - I actually got sunburnt the other day! *gasp* I might get a tan yet...

Pranks and Pure Banter

tinka — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:53:00 GMT

Life here is pure banter like usual - yesterday we (Ginger [see "Inductions"; he was in on that too] Steel, BishieBoy[sort of; he wasn't really part of it, but did help] and myself) played a prank on one of the girls here - Fox(she's really cool). The boys, Ginger and Steel, took her car down to the barn (which is a good 5-10min walk away- 15 to 20 by the time you get around the other side to where the car was parked) and stuffed it full of ballons! There was about 100+ balloons in this tiny two door Puegot... It was rather hilarious when we (Ginger and myself) had to collect her car at 11:30pm and pop the ballons so that we could actually get it back up the drive.... >_< So much fun!
N.B. - I wasn't actually in on the planning of the prank, but somehow got roped in anyways...

'Nother random adventure - went swimming in a Scottish sea today...
I.e. 14 degrees outside the water, 7 in and a WHOLE lotta cold!!!!!
It's heaps of fun though - especially as it was an hour and a half trip for 10-15 mins of beach; two of which was spent in the water. >> Not really surprising - you should've heard the boys moan about the temperature!!! Sure - it WAS cold, but still.... Steel was literally HOWLING.... So that was funny as!

Also visited the Rossie Priory Ruins yesterday - they were well cool. I just loved how Scotland has all these nooks and crannies; mysteries hidden down the pine-guarded path by the loch. It doesn't take much to walk into the past here, and I think that's really intriguing - it catches my fancy like anything.

Cya for now - :3, b.

All the way to Aberdeen

tinka — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 05:53:00 GMT

EmJ and I headed out to Aberdeen this last Monday - and we where lucky enough to have a day of fair weather (fair for Aberdeen meaning it only rained for two minutes the entire time we where there!).

It took us about two and a half to three hours each way, but that was okay - we enjoyed getting to see more of Scotland as we really have been pretty much stuck on the ranch and in Dundee (which isn't much of a tourist destination!) since we arrived. That's been our own choice though - we are planning to see Glasgow, Edinburgh and Arboarth as well when we get the time.

So Aberdeen: we enjoyed the gothic-ness of the city - there where castle-like buildings everywhere - they were really pretty. Plus, we were surprised that although the city felt old like London - there was more a sense of perminance, as if everything was built to stay that way, rather than changing with the times like London seems to do. I also found it interesting that there weren't really any allyways - the 'allyways' were really too big, too clean and too well lit to be allywayish; they where more streetish.

We visited the Aberdeen Art Gallery (it was modern art, so we didn't stay too long), St. Nicholas' Kirkyard (a really cool, really anchient graveyard and church - there were grave stones every which way - they were part of the walls, part of the grounds, part of the paths we walked on; it was a very somber, a very old mis-mash of memories) - there where kind of creepy characters hanging out there (I mean - who randomly visits graveyards?? >.>) so EmJ and I wandered out again and said "Right - now we know where to go to get drugs in Aberdeen!", plus we also saw a monument to William Wallace and a few other bits and pieces. Other then that, we got to see the Scottish sea (on the bus up and down), sleep and shop.

Hmm - not much else to note: horses are fun as usual - I'm developing an understanding with Gringo, who is a very interesting Chestnut that likes to bite and generally boss you about. Of course I'm like - *does the head/finger thing* "Uh-uh - no you didn't!", so we working on the whole "b. boss - Gringo not" thing - lots of fun!

Sunshine has been beautiful - I think Scotland is awesome - did you know that the daffodils practically grow wild here? As in, they do get in the oddest places - all over the verges, the lawns and in the park grasses - I reckon it's so cool.

Saynara for now, b.

Inductions

tinka — Wed, 9 Apr 2008 04:36:00 GMT

More horsey stories for those that care!

Okay - so when you're on horse staff for nine days straight it is pretty much all you can think of...

Story 1. Did a barrel race on Mustang (a liver brown cob mare) in 24.28 (approx. seconds) and was pleased 'coz I came second out of all the horse staff (I think) and managed to beat Lou-Lou who also rode her by 4 seconds!

Story 2. Got offically inducted into the T.R.S. staff...

P.D., our stable manager was all like "b. can you do me a favour and check that the ball cock is working?"

b.: "Sure thing, though I think it's alright because it was working earlier today."

So here I am bending over this water trough when I feel two arms grab me from behind(!!) - it took Ginger., T.Doll, C.Doll, Va and P.D. to dump me in the water, but they really did have a head start me being so close in the first place. Let me tell you - it was soooooo icy cold!!! What with all the SNOW falling and all!

Then they got EmJ - I told Ginger that if I had've been her I would've been out of there like no tomorrow and he said that's why he had told P.D. to get me first!!!!!! >< *rowah*

Don't worry - I gave my tormentors a nice WET hug to say "Thanks"....

Er - none horse stories? I keep staying up too late, (i.e. - sleepovers in the staff flat on the couches) so now I'm sick. *cough* But with another good night's sleep I should be right.

Other news? Can't really say - there's heaps of good banter (Scottish lingo for fun) happening though, it's well cool(more slang).

b. outtie - she needs her bed.

Fun in the sun - gasp-shock-horror

tinka — Tue, 1 Apr 2008 06:00:00 GMT

Yes, as the title suggests - we actually had sunshine today! Okay, so it's not such a big deal, we've had sunshine for many days out of the whole here in Scotland, but today was absolutely lovely. Although, that could've been that even at mid-day I was wearing four layers... -_-'

It's hard work doing camp for nine days, and we haven't even been going for that long - it's only been two and a half days so far! I don't know how I'll get on, but at least I'm burning up all the camp food I'm eating.

I've been lucky enough to be able to ride Arrow even though it camp -the stable manager P.D. has been letting me ride him out on the last ride of the day which is cool. Yesterday I also went on a hack after work with EmJ on Tex (yes, that's when she found her 'true' love! ><) and I.S. on Gringo - and even though the rain had been pouring down as the wind swept through the fields, when the time came for our ride: above the skies where blue and as the rain clouds drifted away, golden sun rays rimmed the retreating storm and lit up the grass beaded with water droplets, the spider webs where strung up sparkling amongst the haloed woods - in other words (prose for those that get over descriptions), it was gorgeous.

Things have been really great - so life is all sweet.

~~*~~~*~~

Another awesome adventure that EmJ and I have been lucky enough to have - we went skiing this Thursday past - and we had a BLAST!

T.R. took us all (for free would you believe?? But it doesn't cost much to go to the slopes for the day, unlike back home!) - most of the staff hadn't been skiing or snow boarding before, but those that did know how to snowboard got to do that [4? in all (jealous - I really want to learn how to s'board...)] and those that didn't know how to do either (about 8 of us) had to learn how to skii. Bummer for me, but I was still soooo excited to go at all.

We went 'sledging' first off, I alternatively screamed and laughed the whole way down the hill - than hit the slopes! The beginners group learnt how to start, stop, turn, go backwards(! really hard!!!) and jump(!!! double !!! 'coz I actually got air and didn't fall over once!) - it was so great. Really hard work - I reckon they should get a mini skii lift for the beginner's slopes!?!

I love being out for the day, and can't wait to try s'boarding next time - now I'll be able to compare the two at least - and it's another thing to strike off the list of things done. Plus - I'd totally do it again - skiing is fun! *Swoooosh* It helps to satisfy my insatitable need for speed - *grins* Mwahhahaaa!

Bye - I gotta put some pictures up, b.

It must be love, love, love

tinka — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 06:50:00 GMT

Sigh! I'm in love!!!

Curious?

Here at Teen Ranch, Scotland I have met the sweetest, gentlest, hottest man in the world!

He's SOO gorgeous. Tall, buff, with beautiful brown eyes and flowing black hair. He's SOO sweet and he takes care of me. Plus he's kisses are soo nice!

His name is Tex and in case you haven't guessed, he's a horse!

I love him! He's trot is to die for and he's just generally gorgeous! Sigh!

luv, EmJ

Let's go for a Reel Fling and dance the night away....

tinka — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 22:05:00 GMT

This past week has been same old-same old, excepting that everything is still new to us! EmJ and I have been working away at the horses - and having a blast!

When we are not haunting the stables, we are doing various odd jobs around the place and having fun chatting to people. I have also been riding out almost every day (even when it was snowing the other evening - now that was awesome!) - so far I have had a spin on Chiquita, Hombre, Mojave (pronounced Moha-vey), Rocky, Dax, Gringo (that was fun - we had a bucking/tanking/rushing canter/jumping horse staff ride - it was so mad [apparently all horse staff rides are], but utterly cool), Cobbitty, Cisco (a sweet flea bitten grey who is the smallest pony in the stables at around 13hh... Don't laugh; it was a training ride. Although it was kind of weird to have my feet hit the ground as soon as I dismounted. I could practically get him to run between my legs!) and last but not least, Arrow.

Arrow my 'project' atm, as he is a 4 year old Skewbald who is till very much a baby, while also being an awesomely potenital show-jumper who is slightly tense. Ok - more than a little tense, I call him Sparrow, 'coz he tends to take off a bit! I love riding him though, because it's a really fun challenge to get him trained up a bit more. He is so curious, sadly to say in a bit of a destructive way, but that'll change with a few well learnt lessons - and he is really responsive and I think he learns quickly which is awesome. So I'm riding him every day that I can during the week with one of the full time horse staff coming with me on her own horse Dynamic, and riding the other horses on the weekend when the camps are in. But enough about horses, as there is so much other stuff to do as well as all the riding!

Saturday night EmJ and I enjoyed the priviledge of attending our first Ceilidh - a traditional Scottish folk dancing celebration. It's the equivelant of an Australian Bush dance, but soooo much better and they have them more often which is fantastic. For starters, the music is way more awesome - Gaelic violin and flute with electric guitar(! So sweeeeet!) and for seconds, the guys here actually LIKE dancing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! O.o

They (the men) all dress up in nice shirts and ties, if not that, in their kilts - the whole kit and caboodle! *purrs* It's so nice to see guys actually interested in dancing with you (although you still have to ask them to dance like back at home, because as always, there is a man shortage, but not quite the drought like in Australia!) and to top it off, most of them actually KNOW the dances and KNOW what they are doing!!! >_<

I can't tell you how much fun EmJ and I had, but I can tell you my favourite dances - Strip the Willow, which we do have in Aussie Bush dances (it was probably imported from Scotland anyways...) and the Basket Weave. It's too complicated to go into detail on, but I will describe one part of the Basket Weave. Basically you have four couples to make a square - you do all your little bits and circles and stuff, but then the fun starts! Two couples facing each other met in the middle of the square - the girls put their arms over the guy's shoulders and lock them. The men start dancing around in a circle, the girl's arms holding them together. Then the girl's feet come off the floor and you go around and around just like that with your feet flying!! It's soooo awesome! I loved it! And I never wanted the dancing to stop; I adore Gaelic dancing, and the music just sings in my blood. It's the Scottish ancestry I swear! I blame the fact that I am horse mad on the Gaelic Gypsy ancetery and that also includes the well and truely tumble I've taken in regards to Scotland - I am in love with this country - scenery, people, music, dancing - everything....

Anyways, gotta get off, I've been on the computer for hours.

TTFN, b.

Knackered

tinka — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 06:36:00 GMT

So tired... ._. So really very tired. EmJ and I managed our first day of camp - a full house, none the less, with rather well adjusted scurrying.

We really did have a great time: it was a blast.

Up at 7:00am, we did various bits and pieces, but the story doesn't really start until we hit the stables. We swept the yards (or poop-scooped as it is known down there), groomed (quartered as we only did the essential bits) our horses - EmJ had three; Clancy, Sisco and ?? - I, on the other hand, had five. Rocky(the cheeky terror), Chiquita(a beautiful black Fresian who is an absolute sweetie), Hombrey(hairy Hombrey as he is known to me, a nice pony), Tobias(Toby - a steady 18 year old grey who is very patient) and Coyote(a sway back Palimino who is very quiet except when you're pulling up her girth!).

So then it was assisting, walking out with the riders on the trails, generally helping and running around. We where both very tired by the end of it all, but it's has been so much fun.

We are both hoping to be 'on' the horses (assisting during camps) for most of the time - if not all of it.

Got to go - need bed for the next week. Will update again soon though.

See ya - b.