Archive for December, 2008
South America without a clue – Part 8
7th June 1986 (continued…)
Episode 8
It may be a stretch calling this Chinese cuisine, but the mix of vegies and noodles at $1US a serve is certainly great value. While paying at the counter, my peripheral vision picks up movement. Looking down a hand quickly retreats from my back pocket. I glare at a sheepish looking local bloke seated at a nearby table. I warn Andy to stay alert.
Confessions of puppy sitters-Quite a menagerie
House sitting has also given us experience as farmers… or orchardists … or something like that. In July 2008, we looked after an orchard in a very picturesque valley the Darling Ranges east of Perth. Luckily the orchard was in that dormant phase so there was nothing we had to do for the trees. Luckily because that left us to concentrate on the two dogs, five cats, five geese and three ducks. Quite a menagerie.
South America without a clue – Part 7
7th June 1986
Episode 7
My aim while in Costa Rica is to climb the nation’s highest mountain and Central America’s second highest peak, Mount Chirripo. Now I must concede here, I’m no Tim McCartney Snape when it comes to mountain climbing. And by bagging this peak, I’m not about to enter the heady heights of the mountain climbing elite either. Despite not being a so called technical climb, this is not a climb I will take lightly.
Mount Chirripo at its summit is an air thinning 3820 metres above sea level. Moist tropical air slams into its steep cloud forest flanks resulting in more than 3900 mm or 150 inches of rain a year. With all my trekking experience within largely dry, warm and flattish Western Australia, Chirripo is making me a little nervous.
Bibbulmun Track
This time two years ago (November) we finished the Bibbulmun Track in Western Australia. The 967 kilometres of walking track goes from Kalamunda in Perth to Albany on the South Coast. The nine weeks we were walking proved both a physical and mental challenge. It still stands up as one of the best things we have done.
