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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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'...
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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...
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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 ...
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“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...
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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...
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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 ...
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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...
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Exactly 12 hours after we leave London, we arrive in Singapore. The intermittent time has been a blur of free sandwiches and watching hundred-million dollar movies on a faded 10 inch LCD display, through one side of my headphones. In an attempt to stave off sleep until it's Australian bedtime (th...
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The time has come. As this post goes live, I will be taking to the skies (in a plane - I've left my cape at home) to fly 10,000 miles in search of adventure. To be honest, it's scary. It's a long way to go and I'm going alone. It is, however, necessary. Sometimes, you realise you have stopp...
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Generally speaking, I don't prepare for things. I prefer to leap at things and see how they, and I, cope with the situation. However, there are certain essential items for any adventure I intend to undertake. So, in an uncharacteristically organised spree, I attempted to buy some things for my fo...
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1100 metres above sea level, jutting out 700 metres above lake Ringedalsvatnet in Western Norway...is Trolltunga. I want to go there...and caper. Here is why. For one thing, its name means Troll's Tongue in Norwegian. If that isn't enough to make you want to ascend it, you're in the wrong place ...
Continue reading ...We have two goals for my final day in Poland: 1. Visit Memento Park to see statues from communist Budapest. 2. Pilgrimage to the statue of a man punching a hydra. We get up early, ten litres of beer from the night before still sloshing around in our bodies. Matt has damaged his toe by stubbing ...
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