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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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...
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 ...
Continue reading ...The heat is ridiculous. Sweat pours down our bodies as we traipse across Budapest to our new hostel. By the time we arrive, we are sodden and exhausted. The hostel man greets us. What's that? The room we're staying is on the other side of the city? By the train station? Where we just walked...
Continue reading ...We leave Hostel Relax three hours earlier than the day before and head straight for the baths. The underground changing rooms are a teeming, squirming mass of humanity. We deposit our things in one of the rows upon row of lockers, linked by slippery walkways, and push our way up the stairs. Summo...
Continue reading ...We wake up late, groggy from dreams. Damn this shaman tobacco! Hostel Relax is deserted, apart from the owner. She gives us a tour - all the way to the local shop and back. We need to get to the city, urgently. First, however, we must cross the White Bridge. Rusting and unloved, the white ...
Continue reading ...Our bus pulls into Budapest at 23:00. The bus station is a sea of blue and red lights. Riot police are everywhere. We have no money, no map and no idea where our hostel is. Football fans flood the streets. Gods, what have we done? We abandoned Simon in Krakow, as he flies home tomorr...
Continue reading ...We awake in linen shirts, our heads pounding from wine and song. We break out fast on preaches, plums and pastries. Yoghurt with honey compliments strong coffee. We mope and despair. We are bohemians. Heading to the park, we read and continue to criticise one another's artwork. Before long, ...
Continue reading ...Breakfast involves a waffle covered in jam and punching the machine. I still fail to break 900. My wrist feels shattered. Arriving back in Krakow, we make a big decision. To be bohemians. Lunch involves 2 litres of red wine and lots of cigarettes. We criticise one another's operas. Especi...
Continue reading ...My eyes creak open and the world spins. My wrist throbs with a dull pain, born of over-punching. After showering, we stalk the streets with one thing on our minds: feats of strength. There is only one problem...the night before. A bottle of vodka and fifteen litres of beer may not have been the ...
Continue reading ...Four hours after I head to bed, I wake up. My throat burns. The thirst is outrageous. The drinking will likely kill me. Feverish sleep reclaims me. I dream of punching. Punching 900. Suddenly, Matt is awake. Chaos descends. Next thing I know, my blade is in hand and I am swinging it ab...
Continue reading ...The bus station is refusing to sell us a bus ticket to Zakopane. Moments ago we had a bus ticket and a bus...now we have neither! How has this happened?! Polaaaaaaaand!! It has come to pass that we have missed our bus, through feasting. What's more, our attempts to exchange our ticket were ...
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