Today, I have been told that the Cairns Trinity Beach Bulldogs have put me on their team for tonight's match against Cairns City Lions. I suspect they are simply one man short of a full team. (If that sounds like a euphemism for being crazy, I stick by it entirely). Still, the Guild knows no fear...
Continue reading ...
Luckily for me, tonight's Aussie Rules training is mainly just drills. The guys have a match tomorrow, so they don't want to get too bashed up in the pre-match training session. Also luckily for me, everybody here is friendly and inviting; they include me immediately and don't even mock my u...
Continue reading ...
This evening, I am off to Cairns to train with the Cairns Trinity Beach Bulldogs Aussie Rules Football team. There are three contributing factors to this surprising turn of events: Firstly, I always agree to trying new sports and games. I don't want to stop doing so, just because the fund-rai...
Continue reading ...
Today will be busy. To start with, we are heading back to the tree house to clean, tidy and put up some walls to keep the worst of the rain out. I'm actually quite excited; not only do I love the tree house, this is my first chance to hang out properly with Matt – the man who built the tree hous...
Continue reading ...
If it keeps on raining, the levy's gonna break...and by 'the levy', I mean my list of forest-based adventures. Some Led Zeppelin would be perfect right now, as we relax around the house of Phoenix Murray, wonderful son of Juss Murray. He has provided us with a roof over our heads and a second eve...
Continue reading ...
Need to stop for cakes, but realise you're on top of a mountain or in the middle of the rain forest? No problem! NEW FROM THE GUILD OF ADVENTURERS: The Just-In-Cake Emergency Cake Pouch! Now you can take your cake with you, wherever you may roam! Each Just-in-Cake is made of durable waterp...
Continue reading ...
I haven't been here long, but I have come to love exercising and working out in Australia. I find it infinitely more energising than going to the gym in the UK, where even in the summer I have started waddling in stiff and aching from the cold, hunched over and dripping wet, wondering why I even bo...
Continue reading ...
Today, I have come to Muscle and Fitenss in Townsville to meet Joel, the mastermind behind Adventurethon. In fact, it was his infectious enthusiasm for the event that got me to upgrade from simply volunteering to help out, to taking part in the Enduro race, being filmed for two TV shows and expan...
Continue reading ...
The week after my return from Port Douglas is absolutely delightful. It flies past in a blur of coffee shops, travel guides and exercise both light and...heavy? I very much like the City of Townsville; it is friendly, full of energy and of a size that means you bump into people you know just often...
Continue reading ...
On our way from Port Douglas back to Townsville, we stop at Kuranda - a town in the rainforest, where they have a most excellent and colourful market. [gallery type="rectangular" ids="2656,2655,2654,2653,2652,2651,2650,2649,2648,2647,2646,2645"] Today is Easter Saturday; on the downside, this make...
Continue reading ...
When on Guild business, there is only one acceptable way of doing things: 1. Turn up in a blaze of glory 2. Discover the fiercest or most impressively-named feature of the local area 3. Conquer it In the already fantastically-named Cape Tribulation, the most intimidating landmass happens to be Mou...
Continue reading ...
Having spent yesterday driving 6 hours to Port Douglas, it makes sense to spend today in the nearby region of Daintree; the largest continuous area of tropical rainforest in Australia. Here we meet Juss of Daintree Naturals, who I met initially through the fantastic Itchy Feet Media, with whom I ...
Continue reading ...After a day of hiking around Mossman Gorge in the Daintree Rainforest, we have returned to Port Douglas. Here, it is imperative that I perform a feat of strength. For tonight it is the Full Moon. Alas, finding feats of strength in a tourist town like this is not easy. Of hats, there are plent...
Continue reading ...
Somehow, friends, I did it. 13km of open sea kayaking, 22km of mountain biking and 12km of trail running in the midday Australian summer heat. It was horrendously hard...but not for the reasons I expected. I expected the kayaking to be the killer. I'd never tried it before and I was certain I'...
Continue reading ...
I have not finished...but I am finished. I am also lost. In the Australian bush. God damn it. I have nothing left. The kayaking stole my strength, the mountain biking crushed my spirit and now here I am, face down in the sand. I am not getting up. I don't even want to. This is the most e...
Continue reading ...
By the time I pick up my mountain bike, my mind and body have separated. My body is a shell; a hollow, useless husk. Yet my mind is aflame. For the first time since I signed up for the Enduro Adventurethon, I believe I can complete it. A seemingly impossible 13km of sea kayaking are behind ...
Continue reading ...
“If you don't know how to kayak, you may as well give up now.” So says this professional, in his pre-Adventurethon interview. Clearly he has never met an adventurer of The Guild before. We never give up. Ever. And we don't know how to do anything! Due to the weather (there has just be...
Continue reading ...
I cannot kayak. This I now know for a fact. A deeply concerning fact... After a morning of exploring Townsville, I hitch a ride with over to Magnetic Island with Derek from Winner Kayaks. He is kindly lending me both a sea kayak and a mountain bike for tomorrow's Adventurethon. He has sugge...
Continue reading ...
Names can be deceptive. This room, for example, should not be called the Virgin Lounge. Thus far, it has been a massive disappointment. In good news, the Guardians of Australia let me in! I knew they would. I'm obviously harmless and couldn’t find illegal work even if I wanted it, for which ...
Continue reading ...
So, this is Australia. I am unimpressed. So far, all I see are shuffling lines of bored-looking folk, clutching shiny prizes claimed from soulless stockpiles of overpriced goods, all pulsating gently with fluorescent iridescence. Australia, pah. More like, House of Fraser! Maybe things wil...
Continue reading ...