The Travel Journal

002

It’s time to get outside.

Have you ever stopped and ponder the depth of a moment? Feeling what’s happening inside you and how it’s answering to what’s happening outside, a sense of proper connection. Those connections happen all the time when we are outside and in the wild. They say time stands still for no one but I’d like to think its ok to stand still every once and a while…..

After covering over 100kms by foot in the last 4 weeks I’ve started to take note of minor things that I would have looked over in the past. When I’m traveling slow my mind wonders, internally or externally I can often end up going down a rabbit holes of thoughts. I catch myself thinking about perspectives and scales, why things are where they are, how hard things were to build and what type of character it took to build or design whatever it is I’m looking at. My right calf gets tighter before my left and more often then not I’m thinking about where and when I’ll be getting my next coffee. I take mental notes of the way Beinn Na Callich looks different every day, snow capped, covered in cloud or standing tall casting shadows on a sunny day. Even the Boarder collie next door who stares intently as I wander past and jump the creek on my way to work most days. It’s pretty easy to notice these things but once you do you can really start to get you know an area and yourself. Remembering back to when I was a little fella, I’m sure I would’ve been noticing all the small intricacies everytime I was out on an adventure. It could’ve been as simple as a walk out in the bush, around every corner my imagination would’ve ran wild. But as I’ve grown up I’ve lost a sense of wonder somewhere along the way.

For the last 100,000 years we’ve been outside and reliant on the natural world to provide but it’s only been in the last 70 years or so we’ve found ourselves locked up serving a sentence of dull existence and in a ever growing wrapper of cotton wool. In Japan their doctors have been prescribing patients doses of forest bathing, called Shinrin-Yoku. They believe time spent under trees, in the mountains, in gardens and any other sort of natural space goes a long way in combating diseases of the mind and body. I think we can all relate to this. Pause for a moment and think back to you when being outside left you feeling joyful… The morning sun warming your body on a cold morning, that energy from a cold water dip in the ocean, that sense of awe when a huge bird flys over ahead or that content feeling as you watch as the clouds dance to the sun dipping bellow the horizon. I love these moments.

I think the art of noticing and human powered adventures can go hand in hand, and I’d say they’ve always been connected. Human powered adventures have always struck curiosity in me, there’s something powerful about being able to get somewhere under your own steam. March 2022, one of my best mates (Turtle) and I, packed our bikes and cycled 164kms in 2 days carrying our camping gear on what would be one of my hardest trips yet. Call it conquers of the useless, we didn’t really get anything tangible from it, we reached the destination, muscles aching, somewhat dehydrated and longing for a beer. It definitely wasn’t a world record by any means, it was the simple monotony of rolling the legs over for kilometre after kilometre. I nearly lost the tent poles, my right achilles wanted to snap after 60kms, Turtle dodged a red belly black snake and we both had to push our bikes on multiple occasions. And for us that was an adventure. Another notable trip was a bottom to top hike of Mt Kosciuszko, the day before we set off I had come down with with some major flu like symptoms, so rather then sit it out I figured a long sweat fest would bring the best out of me. As we reached the high plains we were smashed by winds up to 50-60kms, making the final ascent an absolute slog. But for that brief moment we sat at the summit crouching behind some rocks for shelter, I was happy with my decision. A doctor visit 2 days later revealed tonsillitis.

But maybe that’s just it? The marvellous feeling of accomplishing something hard.

Bike packing trip 2022.

Adventures don’t have to be a hike up Mt Everest or a solo paddle across the Bass Strait, to be honest if it feels like an adventure to you, then it is.

To summarise my thoughts here, it’s important to remember I’m no expert in this and I can only speak on my experience with the outdoors and from what I’ve learnt. I’d like everyone to answer the call of nature and get outside too adventure as much as possible. Grab your mates or head out solo, for that’s where I hope you’ll find a deeper connection, perspective and a calm amongst the chaos. You’ll thank yourself.

Wilsons Prom, Mt Oberon Summit.

The Travel Journal

001

Looking towards the Cullin Ridge from Beinn Na Caillich, Isle Of Skye.

‘Fernweh’

German word meaning - a longing for distant places, a yearning for travel.

Some call it wanderlust, feels like more of an urge to me…

Like many people around my age I’m caught somewhere between feeling like a kid playing dress up and being a fully fledged adult making adult decisions, some mates are married with kids and some are still living at home eating 2 minute noodles for dinner. I think most young adults could fit somewhere between these two points.

Having spent the last 10 years selling my soul working for the so called man. A 8-10 hours a day, 5 days a week sometimes 6 and even 7 and “living for the weekend”. Stupidly we even had competitions to see who could work the most days in a row, my record was 28. Each year has consisted of one big holiday, usually around Christmas, pretty much the only time tradies are allowed to take time off. Spending the winter months battling it out for a local sports team and a couple of public holidays swing by. Not long after silly season starts and then bang, I’m back at Christmas again wondering where 365 days got to. Don’t get me wrong, some people love this way of life and if that’s what fills your cup and gives you purpose, that’s a beautiful thing. With the addition of the opening and closing of relationships, it’s pretty easy to summarise my years, essentially they’ve all been mighty similar.

I think in our late teens we all thought in 10 years time we’d have it all figured out, but in all honesty, what does that even mean? The only thing I’ve worked out is living is bloody expensive (not a revelation by any means) and I’ve developed the urge to be outside as much as possible.

Like a hamster in my wheel of life going round and around and age 30 creeping around the corner, (age should not be a deciding factor but sadly working visas are a whole heap harder to get after the age of 30) I needed to jump off. Surely this can’t be my life for the next 30 years? And with this, a mighty plan to pick a destination and leg it was born.

Having never been to Europe. The U.K was to be the place. English speaking and being lucky enough to be born into the commonwealth a working holiday visa was relatively easy to obtain. Nearly exactly as far from home I could physically get without leaving earth, Scotland would be where I’d land and dive head first into a new life.

Reborn? Maybe not quite, but with endless opportunities lying ahead, the door was open, I just had to walk through.

White tailed Eagle.

Like most of my peers I’d dabbled in buy now pay later schemes and credit cards, soon learning if you don’t have the cash you simply can’t afford it. After paying these out and cancelling the 4 subscriptions of streaming services that I was lucky enough to watch maybe 2-3 times a week, I was well on my way to funding this venture. By the age of 29 I have managed to gather a hefty amount of cool stuff, also known as junk by others. And if your anything like me you’ve spent a fair chunk of time raiding garage sales, mill markets and op shops for the last 5 years. A skill luckily handed down by my Dad. If not you’ve probably spent a fair amount of money on brand name clothes or other expensive things that can be sold on. So I started snapping photos and annoying my mates with all my Facebook market place listings. I figured that if I’ve bought it, surely someone else will be interested in buying it? Combining this with the odd cash job, filling most hours of daylight working, I had managed a sizeable travel fund. (Including a emergency fund if I were to find myself up sh*t creek without a paddle as some would say).

After moving back into the nest with my parents, the wheels were in motion. Most people my age would be reluctant to do so but with washing sorted and home cooked meals, although mum may slightly overcook some things, I was loving it. Secretly I’d say they were too.

Key take aways

• Stop pointless spending.

• Scrounge together as much cash as possible by selling stuff and working extra hours.

• Build an emergency fund locked away in another bank.

Left - Old Man Of Storr, Isle of Skye.

After roughly 30 hours spent in and out of airports I had landed. Fortunately I had organised to live with my mate on the Isle of Skye. First thing was to find a car. I found a 2007 Audi A4 wagon, figuring if things got really desperate the back seats would go down and it would double as home on wheels. But funnily enough as I write this, the “trusty” steed I had picked currently sits in pieces scattered across the floor of a mechanics shop… more on that in a later episode.

The next order of business was to find a permanent place to call home for the foreseeable future, luckily a room had opened up at one of my mates, mates places. Perfect timing I’d say. Also I feel like I had manifested a fair amount of this, predominately winging a fair chunk of these plans.  And thirdly a job was on the horizon, deciding I probably couldn’t live like a bum for too much longer as sadly the funds would slowly dwindle. I’d always liked the idea of working on a boat so through some connections, I’ve managed to find a boat in need of a 29 year old ammeter fisherman. Lets see how this goes….

Favours are a funny thing, generally a verbal transaction between 2 people. Giving one out you can never guarantee you’ll ever see anything reciprocated but asking for a favour, I’ll always feel indebted. All this proving the age old saying “its not what you know but sometimes who you know” truer then ever. And that it pays to develop friendships and connections with people no matter where they hail from, besides you never know what opportunities lie beyond a simple “Hello” or “G’day mate” . This whole venture circulates around the fact that I’ve been lucky enough to call in a favour….

Key take aways

• Make friends with everyone.

• Manifest the life you want, it seriously works.

• Don’t buy an Audi. (only kidding or am I?).

Only 1 month into this, I certainly have not uncovered the meaning of life but I’ll finish with this quote,

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes." - Marcel Proust. Retina.

Which may seem a bit contradicting with all being said but without new eyes, the way we perceive the world, no matter where we go, will always be the same.

The Quiraing, Isle Of Skye.

Early bird gets the worm?

Well in this case the early bird gets the solid views and unoccupied tracks. (Highly recommend the pain staking early start for this one) Departing the car park you are met with sharp volcanic edges and a winding valley single track that leads deep into the heart of The Quiraing. The name Quiraing comes from Old Norse “Kvi Rand”, meaning “Round Fold” and it is said the locals would keep livestock in the fold of the mountains away from ravaging Norse invaders.

Now days The Quiraing is a popular tourist attraction and has a 7km loop hike and is rated medium difficulty. Heading anti clockwise the first 20-30mins is reasonably flat with a small dose of rock hoping. At the end of the valley you can turn left and make your way back up and along the ridge. Or you can make a right hand turn up to a lookout that looks back over the valley and out to the North Sea. Probably adding another 40mins to your hike but is well worth the view. Making your way back to the carpark you can ascend up to the summit and what is known as The Table. Following the ridge up and over you will soon be able to see the car park making a swooping right hand turn you will be able to follow the track back through the field and through a gate. From here onwards it can be quite steep and sketchy (depending on how much recent rain there has been).

After about 4 hours of wandering, taking photos and soaking in the views I was back at the car park.

Scottish beginnings

Week 1 in Scotland.

A 3 month process of packing up and moving back in with the parents had finally come to a head. I was moving to Scotland.

Straight off the plane and into 4 degree weather, a stark contrast from the 38 I had left behind in Melbourne. On the road from Inverness to Skye we managed to cop all 4 seasons in the space of 2 hours, snow, rain, hail, and sunshine.

After settling in my first taster was a short trip out to the Western most point of Skye, Neist point lighthouse. We scored a cracking day with sunshine and low winds (a rarity around these parts). Neist Point lighthouse was built in 1900 and can be seen up to 16 nautical miles away. Sitting 43m above sea level it is now operated with a up to date automated system.

Neist Point Lighthouse.

I’ve been lucky enough to have the opportunity to move to the Isle of Skye and I’m super excited to see what the next few months will bring as I settle into a slower way of living.

Watching the ever changing weather and reading books may become my new favourite pastime…..

A Week out West

Bathurst Lighthouse.

40 degrees and steaming.

A quick catch up with family and I was off exploring Rottnest Island. Stepping off the ferry you are greeted by friendly tour guides and an abundance of international tourists. Looking back towards mainland Australia you could see the heat waves radiating from the city and a small bush fire had started to the south of Perth. It was hot, 40 degrees at 11am to be precise.

The aim of the day was to find and photograph the famous fluffy marsupial, the Quokka. I had wondered, were they really as friendly as the social media influencers had made them out to be?

Not even 2 minutes after being on the island I found one sitting under a park bench swarmed by tourists, it definitely wasn’t the picture I had in mind. But I continued on, walking clockwise around the island, and managed to find a small number of them escaping the mid day sun under some bushes. Walking slowly and calmly I was able to get an image I was happy with. Being such a hot day they were few and far between.

Quokka.

Lancelin Pub.

Black Cockatoo.

Hidden gem of Central Victoria

“In every walk in nature, one receives far more then he seeks”

- John Muir

Situated on the Campaspe river, the Kyneton botanical gardens provides an easy walk about on a weekend. Highly recommend checking the area out during autumn or even during the warmer months when everything changes again.

Grab some mates, grab a coffee and get exploring.