Packing For A Trek - what weight? A stroll in Singapore is not the same as a trek across America or hike up a mountain in Indonesia

Flag of Indonesia with national monument. photo by DavidElit in Wikipedia.

My family frequently go trekking in Indonesia which has many volcanic islands. Many islands worldwide, and many mountains, were originally volcanoes.

Packing For The Day's Stroll
You probably know how to pack for walking on a level path or going for an hour's stroll, or a day's hike and coming home for the night.


Flag of Singapore

For example, the free walk around the Botanic Gardens in Singapore. You want your hat, sunglasses, some water and a chocolate bar or snack. No need to plan, we thought, our usual restaurant.

Yes, you should check the restaurants. They change hands and rules. In the Botanic Gardens our favourite restaurant where we planned to take visitors had turned halal which nmeant no alcohol was served. That did not suit the host and guest of honour who was staying with us.

What else? You tell the people left behind where you are going and when you will be back.

What else? Wear some suncream, mosquito repellent. Take a phone and charger. Remember your camera.

Casual And Formal Clothes
Pick suitable shoes and evening clothes. Some restaurants in Singapore in hotels and clubs say no sandals, only closed shoes. No collarless shirts. So an open neck shirt would be better than a tee-shirt. Beachside restaurants in Austrlia said no thongs. Meaning no flip-flops. If you are going from your hike in shorts into a restaurant later you might want something smarter. One option is convertible shorts which have zip-off lower legs so you can convert them back to full length trousers.

Even on a trek in Indonesia, depending on flight times, you might spend a night near the airport on arrival or before departure. You might then want to eat in an airport hotel restaurant or take a taxi into town.

Now, back to packing for your day out. Naturally, you check your direction. Look at the map. Calculate how long the route will take and where you stop for a break.

Have a raincoat or umbrella just in case. Make a last minute check on the news to find out the weather is fine. Be sure nothing could go wrong. No fires or floods, and that war has not broken out, no big delay on the motorway to the airport. Nothing major, regular, and feared or unpredictable and unforeseen. Simple. Add a printout of vital words in the local language, including I have lost my phone.

DIY you can rely on a map and a compass and a check on Tripadvisor to see where others went and check the bus home and the last bus.

All those little vital items needed in a hurry can be distributed around your body in a jacket with pockets and trousers with pockets. You check all zips and buttons and Velcro for security. Add snap fasteners to open pcoket flaps to deter thieves and ensure items don't fall out.

A compass. Handy for planning a route, and finding your way back to the car park, or when you are lost.

Packing For The Mountain
However, packing is different, a whole new ball game as the Americans say, going uphill to the top of a mountain, or camping overnight. You are likely to be camping overnight in order to start at dawn in the cool to climb to the summit.

I watch the items being ordered online in advance, the lightweight sleeping bag, the trips around the camping shops, the detailed maps showing hiking trails. Then all the items laid out on the floor, checked against the check list. Each item weighed. The total weighed.

Two Packs
My friendly family trekker seems to be carrying a heavy backpack - and a second one! Why two packs? Why so much weight?

 He tells me, "This big bag, my main bag, containing my sleeping bag, is not heavy at all. We are told, 'Don't give the porters more than 15 kilos'. My checked in allowance (on planes such as Scoot, the Singapore Airlines budget branch, a name which will soon disappear) is 20 kilos.

"So I have another lighter bag which I can carry on the plane. The smaller bag contains just water and food and the daily immediate needs.

What Porters Do
"The porter might carry the food for the next day and the camping gear for overnight.  If there are just two of you, you and the porter, you may stay together for companionship and guiding you on the right path and safety.

"In a bigger group, of ten tourist hikers and ten or fewer local guides, (on a hike of several days, food for the first few days is carried by porters. Some of them turn back half way when the food they carried is easten as they are no longer needed.

"So the hikers might walk together under the guidance of a leader, one senior porter who has done the hike before. The other porters, who are more agile than the hikers and know the way, race on ahead, to set up the overnight camp, the tents. They can set up the stoves and cook up food, and sit resting and socialising whilst waiting for the tourists to catch up."

First Aid Kit
Pack your own medicines. And a first aid kit.


Elk attacking a tourist in the Grand Canyon, USA. Picture from Wikipedia, supplied by national park employee, in the public domain,

Money & Tips
Finally consider money, tips at the end, what you will bring back, souvenirs which way more, and what you will leave behind, because it is old and waorn out and needs replacing, but the porters can use it or sell it, and you will never need it again.

Come home fitter and lighter, with photos to edit, addressed of people who want to see the photos, and well organized with your checklist for next time.

Feedback And Planning The Next Trip
Make a note of how your items performed, and where you have stored your kit. If you lend your sleeping bag or poles or anything else to a friend, note when you loaned them, got them back, or decided to replace them.

Plan your next trip using the advice given by porters and hikers and people met on route. (That should be en route which is French for on route, but the English wording has taken over.) You are ready to go again.

So now you know.

Useful Websites
Singapore Airlines
singaporeair.com

About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author ans speaker.

What to See in Surabaya, the 'City of Heroes' in Indonesia, after trekking up Argopuro

Surabaya is the second city of Indonesia, after the capital Jakarta. Surabaya calls itself the city of heroes. 

Let's start at the beginning. The name Indonesia derives from the Greek name of the Indos (Ἰνδός) and the word nesos (νῆσος), meaning "Indian islands". 

Lots of islands. Mostly Moslem. The wine making is in Bali which is not Moslem.

My family frequently climb the volcanoes in Indonesia.
"What?" I gasp, "Volcanoes!'

My family reply, "Indonesia is all volcanoes. All the mountains are volcanoes. You are on one or under one."

Really? They didn't teach me that in school.

So, my intrepid trekkers, went on yet another long weekend to trek up the Argopuro volcano in Indonesia. The island has several volcanoes. Every now and then a volcano sens up a plume of smoke and a trek is cancelled or postponed. So, off they go to another nearby mountain. the mountains are not only hot inside, but have trees and lakes and trails trodden by feet and worn down by mopeds and
signs at the top giving you the elevation.

Plus local guides. Local taxes to enter national parks containing valcanoes, fees which are higher for tourists than for low-paid locals.

Does that money go on signs and paths or the pockets of people, as legitimate salaries, wasted on admin, or bribes, or to help local infrastructure? We may speculate, but we have no time to investigate that. We are too busy organizing flights and maps and tents.

The first night hotel was:
Utama Raya Beach hotel
on Jalan R aya.

At the back were inflatable boats, brightly coloured. Across the car park is a Starbucks.

Our group had supper together at the back of the hotel, on heavy iron seats, which look red in the pictures. Perfect for dinner outdoors overlooking dark sand beach with pebbles at the back and boats.

Next day the trek starts. It is a one way trek with the minibus meeting you at the other end, so if you want to turn back, do so early. It is steep and tiring.

One of the older hikers turned around on the first day. He went back to Surabaya and waited for the return flight.

The rest of the group soldiered on and slept overnight in tents. Everybody gets up at 5 am.

Indonesia is mainly Moslem so no much alcohol. Surabaya has a large Chinese population who are ethnic Chinese but speak bahasa (language) Indonesian.


Entrance to Chinatown, Surabaya, Indonesia. Photo from Wikivoyage.

The city, a Singaporean friend tells me, after he stayed there at a friend's house last year, seems much safer than the larger capital city of Jakarta.

At the top of Argopuro you can pick up a sign with the name of the mountain, on what looks like a car number plate and hold it up for a photo.

Coming back, half way down, you see a very peaceful lake. Local have built a jetty where you can sit and take a peaceful picture, not a sound for miles except the occasional bird.

Our group of expat climbers met the locals who had just rebuilt the jetty. A local girl said, "Come to Surabaya and visit the chocolate shop where I work!"

If you are stuck in Surabaya, or have time on your last morning before the lunch time flight back to Singapore, what else is there to do?

Surabaya Sights
1 See two bridges: the long bridge across to the island, Suramadu bridge lit at night.


2 The Red bridge.
3 The museums about independence.
4 A high statue of an Admiral, representing the fight for independence, from the Dutch.

5 A giant green Russian submarine, now a museum.
Cafe alongside.


Photo by Midori in article on Surabaya in Wikivoyage.

6 Some strikingly pretty mosques.
7 A chocolate shop whose website shows fabulous chocolates and cakes.
8Traditional Hotel.


Surabaya is the second most populous city on Java. However, my relative was tired from the trek and decided not to go into town. His excuse was that the traffic was so bad that he did not want to risk missing his flight.

What to buy? A charger at a service station, good value, takes two phones or devices.

Costs
Flight from Singapore.
Jetstar flight.
Pay extra for checked in luggage.
Two Leki brand sticks. (We previously had cheaper ones which fell apart.)
On the return flight the airport staff tried to take the walking sticks away. An elderly traveller argued that he needed them.

Payment to local guide who carries your overnight bag. Tip to guide on last day for general help.
You need a day bag contained lots of water. On one day, day one, one of the hikers drank four litres of water.
Small fee to trek organizer, who does not go on treks.

Finally, once home we looked up the song about Surabaya Johnny for The Threepenny Opera.

Author
What to buy? A charger at a service station, good value, takes two phones or devices.

Indonesia is mainly Moslem so not much alcohol. For sharing out food at camping breakfast time, one traveller brought dates. Another had the smallest coffee pod coffee maker and coffee pods. Another had cheese.

One traveller found that after several years of service his tent was starting to leak in the rain. At the end of the trek, he gave it to one of the porters. 

I am a great fan of recycling. Nonetheless, when I heard this story, back in Singapore, I protested, "Maybe the porter wouldn't want a leaking tent! Would he patch it up?"

The reply I got was, "I promise you, dear, the porter would be very glad to have it."

Travel Tip

When you get off your group coach always keep your phone with you to contact the others. My relative got off the minibus for a coffee in Starbucks. When he emerged the minibus had vanished and so had his group. He did not have a phone to call them. He did not know the name of the hotel. Eventually he crossed the car park and went into the lobby of a nearby small hotel. He told the man on the desk he had lost his group, and their minibus had vanished. 

The man on the desk reassured him:

"You are in the right place. They have just checked in. The minibus has gone back. All but one. You must be ..."

The phone he left on the bus was with the group organizer. The moral is, even if you are just rushing to the toilet and the coffee shop, always have your phone and your group leader's number and your destination hotel phone number and address with you.

Useful Websites

Jetstar

Singapore Airlines

singaporeair.com

indonesiatourismboard.com

traveloka.com (comparison and booking) pairs up the different legs which saves searching

booking.com gives each leg of your journey separately.

INDONESIAN AND MALAY LANGUAGES
If you are planning a trip, you might like to brush up your Indonesian vocabulary and grammar (pretty much the same as Malay, which you hear in announcements and read on the four language posters on every journey on the MRT in Singapore

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Planning A Budget Walking and Wine Tour of Wanaka, New Zealand, happy as a hobbit

New Zealand map from Wikivoyage showing Christchurch.

Problem
What to see and do on your one day before and after a walking tour of Wanaka? The Puzzle museum is a must. For photography, the lavender farm with the funny-face alpacas like grinning goats with sheep wigs or miniature camel-face comedians. The haka dance at the Wanka Tree which leans diagonally drunk sideways in the lake.

We are planning a return trip to New Zealand. We have previously visited the city of Christchurch, and driven down to Queenstown for skiing holidays which was a novelty with upside down seasons when it was summer in London, England.

We have driven back from skiing in Quenstown up the East coast to Christchurch in the north, via Wanaka, stopping to see Puzzling World with its maze and museum of puzzles. So far our focus has always been on skiing. Now we want to see the summertime walking opportunities around the lake and up the mountains.

This time we are planning a budget walking tour of New Zealand to the Wanaka region of the South island, around the Wanaka lake and resort. Here's what a member of my family has discovered.

Photo from Singapore Airlines window. Photo courtesy of Trevor Sharot.

Answers
FLIGHTS
The first problem to solve is budgeting for the flight. That could be the most expensive item. We looked at the Singapore Airlines flights because our journey would start in Singapore and we have an air miles membership (Star Alliance) and want to collect miles.

The airlines' own website was offering high price fares beyond our budget. We know that many airlines are cheaper if you don't start in Singapore or if you break your journey and take a budget airline for part of it.

I'm reminded of the old joke about the helpful Irish person who advises a lost traveller, 'If I were you, I wouldn't start from here.' So absurd, so annoying, yet so true.

Round trip flights from the UK were cheaper If we had chosen to go to the UK first, the cost of the trip to the UK might have been offset by the saving on the cost of the trip onwards to New Zealand. That didn't work for us because of the dates and we were starting from Singapore, not the UK.

The round trip ticket was cheaper than a single flight. Could we just take the second half of the journey? No, because if you don't take the first half, the second half is automatically cancelled.

SKYSCANNER
Skyscanner does the work for you, comparing single trips on many airlines. If you don't yet have a return date in mind, that's great. You can do each half of the journey separately.

Traveloka (like okay)
An Asian website called Traveloka gives you round trip prices. It does the job for you, matching up the two cheapest airlines for different halves or quarters of the same round trip. Much more convenient as well as time saving.

In the end, we found that dearer flights to Wanaka went via Christchurch. We had done Christchurch. We wanted cheaper flights.

AUSTRALIA

You made a saving by routing via Sydney! Yes, Sydney Australia. (No, it's not the capital of Australia, that's Canberra.)

NON-REFUNDABLE
The cheaper flights are non-refundable.

The dearer flights are refundable. For business trip where you might extend your trip or cut it short that might be a good idea.

My family member's experience was that he rarely wanted to change flights after booking, so it was not necessary, and the extra cost of a cancelled flight every four or five years compared favourably with the extra cost of a refundable flight. So he booked the cheap flight. Next, on to accommodation.

ACCOMMODATION
The walking group had booked shared accommodation. It still worked out expensive. About $100 a night, times 7 nights (on top of airfare, meals, hire car, and other expenses. Looking online we found campsites run by a b and b organization. Having a hire car offered extra advantages when camping. If it rained, sleep in the car. You could pack up your tent and store it in the car boot, rather than leave it out for all to see. What if there's no wifi? Or electricity? They will be eating out at night. So do all the checking of emails in the restaurant and retire to the tent just to sleep.

If driving, what about drinking wine. Can you do wine drinking? No, that's why you are wine tasting, breathing the aroma, taking a sip, then spitting.

WANAKA WINE & BEER
What are the drinking options, for drivers and others. Wine, or beer, or both, or, for children and teetotallers, tea and lavender ice cream at the lavender farm.

BEER AND LAVENDER FARM VISIT TIMING
The Lavender Farm is open 9-5, the beerworks shop 11-5. So if you are out walking all day, you need a day before the group walking and/or at the end for the sightseeing, unless you have a day or afternoon off midweek.

LAVENDER FARM
Lavender, incidentally, has only one a or ah, and two 'e's or ees or ease, howwever you like to remember aee. It starts Lav, like lavatory, but ends with er. Lav-end-er. Ends with E. (Wanaka is all, a triple a, aaa.) Only one A in Lavender and one A in Farm.

The online shop currently (2018) only posts within New Zealand. It sells lavender honey, lavender soap, lavender shampoo and conditioner and moisturiser. The pictures of the shop showed tote bags, aprons and other gifts.
You can have tea in the tea room and walk around the gardens and visit the farm for a small fee. Great photo opportunities, as you will see from Tripadvisor.

WANAKA WINE TASTING
Felton Road
The big name to look for is Felton. They have lots of parcels of land, mini-vineyards, known as 'blocks'. The French use the term lieu-dit (named places). Each area makes a cuvee. Block 50 is the best, and wines can cost up to fifty pounds sterling.

The central area of the country does not get cooled by the sea breezes and is hot enough for red grapes, such as pinot noir.

Our friendly new Zealand friend involved in organising the trekking and walking says: 'There's no need to book to taste the wine. Just turn up at the cellar door.'

WINE TOUR
However, a reviewer on Tripadvisor said if you want to take a tour (at Felton Road winery) you must phone and book because the tour lasts an hour and a half so you need to book a time. Also there is a limit to the numbers on each tour.

To my surprise, the most experienced of our wine enthusiasts was the least interested in the winery tour. He said, "I know what wineries look like".

The Felton Road website is most amusing. The pages are like pages of a book you can click on to turn.

WINERIES & VINEYARDS
Another vineyard is Rippon Vineyard.

Let's put the wineries in alphabetical order:
Aitken's Folly Vineyard.
Akarau Vineyards.
Carrick.
Domain Road Vineyard
Maude Wines
Mr Difficulty Wine Cellar Door. (Lunch from 11 am to 4 pm. Must book.)
Rippon estate - for views.
Scotts Base.
WanaHaka tours (includes haka and the alapaca farm).
Wooing Tree vineyard.

So many things to see and do. I suggest you read through tripadvisor and look through the photos and pick your favourite.

If you are not into wine, how about beer, or spending time on the movie sights?

BEER
Wanaker Beerworks.
Serves beer and cider.
The shop, online too, sells beer, glassware and tee-shirts. Access is alongside toy museum where you can leave your under 18 'children' to browse.

MOVIE LOCATIONS
Rumour says that Disney is re-making Mulan (story of a Chinese girl who goes to war dressed as a man). The film shooting was at the end of 2018 but for commercial reasons everybody was asked to keep it a secret. When the conservationist objected to certain locations being used, they might not have been equally interested in keeping it all a secret.

However, the timing and numbers of people who arrived could be ascertained, according to hotel bookings - whole hotels and areas booked out by a film team.

This film probably won't be on your screen until 2020.

Meanwhile you can take tours of the studios and the scenery of other films. The area has been chosen for numerous films (see list in Wikipedia).
The Lord of the Rings; The Fellowship of the Ring.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

CAR HIRE Or Mountain Bike?
Car hire booked online in advance was cheaper - especially as we had time to look for a better deal and weren't rushed into a decision as you might be at an airport or hotel.

Oddly, the charge for a car was about S$20 a day, whilst the cost of a mountain bike was more, S$75. Why? Maybe supply and demand.

MUSEUMS

WANAKA WHEELS Museum
Warbirds and Wheels, Wanaka, is a museum of cars and motorbikes and other forms of transport (not only planes, as I mistakenly thought from the word birds).

NATIONAL TOY MUSEUM
Next to the airport, handy on the day you arrive or leave.

GOLDFIELDS MINING CENTRE
Cromwell, Central Ortago. Most interesting. You can try your hand at gold panning. I tried. Did not become a milloniaire. At this point I gave up and lost interest.

SCENIC POINTS
When every museum and attraction is shut, admire the scenery or go for a meal.
Scenic points
That Wanaka Tree - willow tree leaning


Lakeside lunch view from a vineyard
Mountaintop overlooking the lake, by bike or car.

Restaurants and Food
Restaurant
Fig - slow cooking fast food. Choose your plate size according to appetite or budget, and fill up with meat and vegetables or the vegetarian option.

Pick Your Own Cherries
Cheeki Cherries.
Pick your own cherry farm, Cromwell.

WINE STYLES
Red wines? Pinot Noir is the Wanaka speciality.
White wines? Getwurttraminer at Mount Difficulty Wines Cellar Door, 73 Felton Road, Bannockburn, Cromwell 9384 NZ. tel +64 - 3- 445 3445.
Sparkling Wine - Scotts Base.

USEFUL ADDRESSES & WEBSITES
Rippon Vineyard
Wanaka
New Zealand

Puzzling World
New Zealand

Felton Road
New Zealand
wanakalavenderfarm.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puzzling_World
puzzlingworld.co.nz
skyscanner.com.sg
singaporeair.com
newzealandtourism.co.nz
lakewananka.co.nz
feltonroad.com
https://www.newzealandtourism.co.nz/region/wanaka/tours/hobbit-movie-set-and-location-tours

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker

Glossary (dictionary)
SD - secure data - extra storage space for photos, videos .
SIM card - the one which has your phone owner details, linking your phone to the company from whom you rent the monthly allowance.

In theory you can change the SIM card to a new phone, for example, hiding your expensive Apple iphone and taking a cheap phone on a trek or to a market, transferring the Sim card from your expensive phone/camera to a cheaper one.
Alternatively, you might wish to swap the new SIM card into your better phone in order to take good photos on holiday.

However, some phones are fixed to prevent this happening so that thieves cannot switch their SIM cards into a stolen phone. So you might have to get the shop where you buy the phone or rent it to change the Sim card as they have the unblocking device or permission.
The best time to get this done is when you are renting the new phone, when they will gladly agree to anything to secure the sale.

 If you then later have to go back to the shop to reverse the SIM card swap, that means another journey, another wait for attention, explaining what you want and why, getting them to agree to spend time on something which is not benefitting their sales person, changing the paperwork.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Losing weight and gaining weight

Problem
How can I lose weight before or during or after a holiday?

Answers
Assuming I have no major medical condition, how can we lose weight? Weight not shape. Never mind shape. Lost weight and shape will improve anyway.

Let's assume that eat less move more is bound to make us lose weight.

Story
A friend lost a lot of weight. She told me she had started dancing classes. She went out dancing 1-3 hours three times a week. Without any change in diet over a year from the first time I saw her when she was overweight to the second when she was much slimmer she had lost a to of weight.

If you do more exercise but eat and drink more, it will have no effect. So the trick is to eat the same, but move more.

What kind of holiday or holiday activity will make you lose weight?

Trekking
Riding a horse
Skiing
Cycling
Swimming
Walking carrying a weight such as a rucksack or child in a sling.

Standing talking or lecturing, including pacing up and down, walking up and down the aisles checking work, a few extra calories per hour.

Dancing for three hours will have three times the effect of dancing for one hour.

Yes, I am stating the obvious. Perhaps the answer is to keep a food diary and an exercise diary.

Here's a guide to calories burned by the quarter hour and hour.

http://calorielab.com/burned/

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share posts.

Advice and Memories Of A Serial Trekker and Walker

Problem
"Will I be able to cope with a trek to Annapurna base camp, (in Pakistan), after managing my trek in Indonesia?"

Answer
Trekkers write to each other for advice. They ask, "What's it like climbing such and such a peak? Who should I book through?"

Story
Our local international expert has done 15 treks, including Everest and Kilimanjaro, and plans two more this year. He has an ambition to climb all the 3000+ metre peaks in Indonesia, having done the top three.

How High Is Too High
I have to type fast to catch his reply. "You start with the lower shorter walks and climbs and find out how you cope with the heights and altitude. My friend from the last trek in Indonesia has been within 404 meters of the next climb. That's only an hour and a half's extra walk.

I am going on a walking holiday, to Romania. My first ever walking holiday. I might practise walking, from my desk twice a day, to the bathroom, just to get fit.

Other members of my family do marathons. They run up and down 14 flights of stairs twice a day, at first just running, then after he first week, for more challenge and achievement, adding wights of rucksacks continuing cans of drink.

I ask, "What was it like last year, walking in Greece?"

Our expert says: "We usually drive to a different starting point each day. We could be walking around the mountain. Or along by a beach, like we did in Greece. Or up a volcano, like we did in Indonesia. It depends on the country."

Walking In Greece
"In Greece we walked near Olympia, which is a 40 minute driver from the west coast on the mainland. During, before or after the walking holiday we could visit the ancient Greek site of Olympus which has a museum open to the public for a fee.

"Although we were walking, some of us hired cars. Often the group organiser hires a car. We then share as much as we can between drivers and non-drivers. This cuts the cost, and saves time. You enjoy the company, for socialising. A practical point is to keep the group together en route to the starting point so nobody gets lost or delays the others. Coming back you all arrive at the hotel not in a close convoy but more or less the same time in time for dinner together.

"Athens is on the isthmus - a piece of linking land. The land passage is not a causeway, much bigger, although it looks narrow on the map. There is also an inland sea, but the sea doesn't violate its linked land characteristic.

Walking in Greece
"In Greece, if you wanted to go from Olympia to Troy on the northern side you either drove all the way back via Athens or had to catch the ferry. This was a non-walking alternative for people like me. Anybody who twists an ankle or who won't want to be too strenuous usually have an alternative for one day or more of a walking holiday."

Tips
"If you are mountain climbing, like to Annapurna base camp, you need evacuation insurance, to pay for a helicopter to rescue you. Nobody carries thousands of pounds with them trekking up a mountain. And the helicopter company knows from experience nobody will pay after they've been reduced.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please follow me and share my posts.

How To Sharing Spectacular Views Without The Effort - Kjerag in Norway

Oh, the joys of armchair travel without the effort. How lucky we are to be able to enjoy the spectacular views which we used to have to pay to see at 3D cinemas, just by looking at Youtube or friendly Facebook. And check the location on wonderful Wiki. And read recent reviews on Tripadvisor.

I was stunned by the sight of somebody standing on a round rock suspended between two cliff faces. Where is it, over what looks like a sheer drop? A helicopter or drone shows the climber or trekker on the rock, then the sheer cliff and the whole valley - it looks like the Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon in the USA, but even more spectacular and colourful.

Norway - No way!

It's Kjerag, a mountain in Norway.

I'd love to see it. But not to do it. A friend from Writer's Summer School commented on Facebook: Don't stand near the edge. 

I added my thoughts:

Absolutely right. Several reasons why you and I and most people would not do this: Near the edge; unusually steep drop; no barrier; standing on unsupported rock; remote location far from home, help, lunch food and toilets.

Add the time and expense of trip planning. You need: 

maps; 

a kit including hiking boots. 

Nosigard protective pocketed clothes with anti mosquito and anti sun guard; 

food and drink; 

and first aid kit; 

plus expensive camera equipment, 

For the photos: helicopters, pilot, and drones. 

That trip, like any holiday, can take six months of careful planning and packing. The same applies to a trip to a Writers' School or a Speakers' Contest or a 'simple' weekend away for two or more people in Bologna or Bognor.

Useful Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kjeragbolten

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, writer and speaker.

Waltzing Matilda Translated

Several variations on Waltzing Matilda exist.

I've always had trouble remembering the verses of both Waltzing Matilda and Auld Lang Syne, so here's my memory aid for Waltzing Matilda.

Trek with a Backpack
by Angela Lansbury

Trek with a back pack, trek with a backpack
Who'll come and trek through the outback with me?

Once a jolly sheep-shearer sat by the riverside
Under the shade of a eucalyptus tree
And he sang as he sat and waited while his kettle boiled,
'Who'll come and trek through the outback with me?

Only my backpack, only my backpack
But what a trusty friend is she!

He'd stopped to do some sheep-shearing on his way
The lads had a dispute over their pay
Somebody starts a fire, so many sheep are killed
Ring-leader or innocent - better run away!

Our jolly sheep-shearer shrugs, 'no, it wasn't me1'
Sits by the horse-shoe bend, a-waiting for his tea
He claims a stray 'lost' sheep suddenly appears
He grabs it, pops it in his bag, with great glee!

Up rides the farmer, looking for the last lost sheep
Rides with three policemen, yes, with three
Our trekker, or tramp, doesn't like the look of them
'Imprisoned for theft does not suit me!'

So he jumps in the water knowing well he cannot swim
He doesn't care if it'll be the death of him
His only thought is, he must get away
Be free, and live his way, until his last day

'I'm outnumbered, as you and I can see
There's four of you but only one of me
You've caught up - but you will never catch me
You'll never catch me alive!' says he

That's a true tale from many years ago
That's a story from local history
Banjo Paterson wrote a little ditty
That way he preserved the memory

Trek from the car park down to the riverside
For an hour or two, each way, if you choose
You'll need a blanket, water and a picnic
They warn you to wear good walking shoes

You need severn litres of water
Remember you'll be far from home
Make sure you always trek in twos
It's safer if you're never alone

You can't use a satnav
Get reception on a mobile phone
No shops, vendors and no lav
Tell friends what time you'll be home

Yes to trekking, no to swimming,
You're not allowed to camp overnight
Rescue parties prefer to be dining
Although losing tourists never looks right

Down by the riverside far from the host
There your imagination is winning
Under the trees imagine his ghost
Join with the past in jolly singing

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda,
Who'll come a waltzing matilda with me?
Who'll come and trek on a trip to the past
And sit in the shade of a eucalyptus tree?

We'll sit and rest under the old 'coolibah'
We've brought a Thermos, we'll sing and sip tea
Singing, 'thanks for trekking through the bush with me'
Who'll come a waltzing matilda with me?
***
-ends-
Copyright Angela Lansbury 2014
For educational and non-profit use I'd be glad if you would pass this on with this copyright notice entire. For commercial use please contact Angela Lansbury. I'd love somebody to use my song commercially and share the profit with me. Angela Lansbury.

PS
You can trek to the spot in Australian winter - not in summer when it's too hot - and remember Australian summer in when it's winter in the UK, so the time to go is when it's summer in the UK.
See previous posts for more details about Australia.
The strike of the sheep-shearers in the 1890s is detailed in
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waltzing_Matilda
The pursuers were on horseback and the fugitive apparently shot himself - though there is speculation that he might have been shot by his pursuers, either in an attempt to capture him or in revenge.

Angela Lansbury writes and performs comic poetry for schools and adults. She also publishes articles and books on comic poetry and travel and quotations.
See more about Angela Lansbury and like her pages on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Lulu.com

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