Camp life

So I'm back at camp, my posts are less frequent and probably a lot shorter because of this. It just means that I'm having a great time playing around with kids! This last week I've had to climb around in trees with some 13 year olds, making sure they are having a good time! I think I can manage that!

We had our staff orientation last week which involved all of us going on a beautiful hike together and enjoying the warm sunshine that Switzerland (sometimes) has to offer. Next week I'll be dealing with a group of 20 14 year olds going on a 3 day expedition! Bring it on! Hiking and camping at a lake, what could go wrong? I have to tempt fate, its in my nature. I have taken a slight step up in the world and will actually be leading this group of kids so all their problems become my problems. Putting it out into the universe that I'd really appreciate no problems!

Much to my delight I've also been asked to lead another group that arrives the following week! How I'm meant to organise that while up in the mountains is a bit of a mystery to me but never fear, I will conquer this challenge too!

I leave you with a picture of my job...

Annecy adoration

Today I had the great fortune of visiting three french town of annecy. I mainly ended up there cos I needed to be out the house for a day and with a lack of better things to do, decided a short trip to france, where fuel is cheaper, is obviously the best option.

I'm extremely glad I could come up with nothing else to do because I've now found a dream holiday destination a mere hour and a half away by car (faster, but more expensive on the toll roads).

Although I went in the height of summer the crowds of people were not enough to spoil the charm of this town. In fact they added to it. The lake of annecy was a hub of activity with people paddle boarding, sailing, paddle boating and swimming. It really looked like a scene off a summer time post card. And here I thought all of those were posed! One of the advantages of working during high season its that you get holidays while everyone else is working and all great places seem private holiday resorts. However in this case annecy felt alive with tourists and its one of the few times I've been to france and met friendly french! it might be that I'm understanding the language a bit better so I know what people are saying to me, instead of being the ignorant english. And after cycling through annecy I understand why the french get so annoyed with the english.

If someone were to stop in the middle of the cycle path without warning (and that person was not under the age of 10) it is guaranteed that the next thing out of their mouth will be in english and the next thing out of everyone else's mouth will be putain! Why do the english insist on arriving on holiday and then proceeding to be absolutely obnoxious. They're not generally obnoxious in england so what changes as they cross the channel?

I'm getting distracted, this post is about annecy. Not only does annecy have an incredibly clear blue lake as its main attraction but its also at the foothills of the alps making climbing and hiking definite musts. I have not done either there so cannot give first hand experience but c' mon, its the alps and they never disappoint!

There is so much to rave about and share but I'm just going to whet your appetite and leave you with the photos! Enjoy.

Being productive

Today was very productive and surprisingly cheap. I built a new drawer for jerry and it went very well so I'm off to but more materials tomorrow to continue my productive-ness. This is the first bit of diy I've done on my van and its a great feeling of accomplishment! I also learned how to make cord from nettle stems, rather simple but very useful to learn. More details of both to follow tomorrow!

Sedentary lifestyles 06/08/2013

I've been back in civilisation for the last few days and its been very uneventful. Its always nice visiting family again and eating good food but I find myself yearning for the road again. I'm gonna have to start syphoning gas from cars to afford all my travel desires! I should google that, I do feel like some cars don't have locked petrol tanks and if I borrow a little from everyone then no harm done... Of course I'd have to buy a jerry can! At the moment I'm enjoying being next to the lake in nyon on a perfect summer day! And its lovely watching so many people all here enjoying the sunshine too! Lovers, families, pensioners, house wives, business folk and even the unemployed who drunk beer while everyone else drinks water and teas! Wouldn't my mom be proud! Haha! The beach here is very nice, there is a grassy area that backs onto the lake and there are trees too which makes it easy to spend the day here. There is also this old man here who looks like he's here every day, he lies on a deck chair in a speedo that looks too small for him, then winds it up so it pulls up his butt to give him the least amount of covered area as is possible. There is much that I can handle, each to their own, but those extra few inches of tanned skin would look so much better white if it spared the world the sight of that tightly pulled speedo.

My final italian mountain pass 04/08/2013

Today was pretty uneventful, mostly driving but I did manage to find a place to swim! I'm sleeping next to a dam tonight with a few other campers in an open lot which seems to have been procured by free sleepers. I am finally clean after being able to swim! There was a crazy storm about 30 minutes ago which has now cleared to a lovely sunset, my last sunset on the road for a while. Now that I'm heading back to society I'm a bit sad. Life on the road can be lonely but its beautiful and full of surprises. You never know where you're gonna end up!

Free time! 03/08/2013

Its now evening and my quiet little spot has now 3 campers in it which makes me feel a little safer but thankful for my peaceful quiet night last night. My hair has been getting to me being so dirty so today I spread dish soap (the only soap I have) through my hair and then poured my water bottle over it to rinse it out. My hair looks so much better now and doesn't stick up any more when I run my fingers through it! I hiked up the other side of this mornings peak, also just over 3000m but didn't meet any lovely italian men with spiked coffee. I did have a lovely nap in the sun though

Grappa coffee anyone? 02/08/2013

I'm sitting at a beautiful view point, at just over 3000m which I hiked up with a crazy italian man who only speaks italian and who I couldn't understand at all! Then when we got to the top he gave me grappa spiked coffee and told me a whole lot of other things in italian that I couldn't understand. What a great country!

The best things in life are free 01/08/2013

Its amazing to me that right now I'm lying in my van looking out over an incredible view, I'm almost the only person on the mountain and this is all free! I had the most hair raising trip up here along extremely narrow roads, in my van but it was completely worth it! I wish everyone could see and appreciate this. There would be a lot more happy people in the world if this was the case. Wow! So beautiful out here!

Go jerry go! 01/08/2013

Today has been a good day so far, had to coast most of the way down a mountain pass for fear of running out of gas, found out my gps is not good at finding petrol stations but that's ok cos I found one myself, and someone filled up my tank for me! I didn't need to do it! How odd and so uneuropean! I then drank far too much coffee at a cafe while listening to old italian men yelling at each other. I know far too little italian to appreciate their arguments beyond the stereotypical jokes. I'm now sitting at 2030m having lunch while looking over the dolomites and listening to cow bells, a slight contrast to loud italians! Jerry did an amazing job getting up here, I had to do most the hills in 3rd gear and jerry almost overheated from exertion but here we are! By the way, loving the new giant mattress I've put in jerry, takes up more space but makes for a great night's sleep!

Via ferrata heaven 1/08/2013

 

Second night in the parking lot of the gondola and a new set of neighbours :) I'm sitting on the top of my van enjoying a cold one after a great day out! Managed to find a via ferrata today, after almost giving up hope and climbed it to the top of a mountain, it was brilliant! Met a few people along the way I could chat to so it hasn't been as lonely as I thought it might. The via ferrata was incredible, it wasn't very demanding and for most of it I climbed up the rock without using the cable :) there was a slow group in front of me but that was ok, the attitude really got to me more than I thought it would and I felt myself having to take a lot of breaks. Right now I'm trying to decide what to do tomorrow, should I spend another night here which I'm loving but my legs are in so much pain, I think I've pulled a muscle so hiking is really a no no and I asked at the tourist office and apparently you're not allowed swimming in any of the lakes here, I guess its cos its a unesco heritage site. That is nice though cos I've been drinking the water on the mountain. If I leave I can't be sure of finding another place as amazing as this is. There is so much to do here and its so beautiful! I'm also running low on gas and its so expensive in italy. Its even more expensive than switzerland. I'm not really sure why italy is such an expensive country! Its so poor, how do the people survive with these crazy prices? So basically I'm low on has and don't know what to do tomorrow.

Nestled in the mountains 31/07/2013

So it seems that parking lots at gondolas are fair game for overnight camping, there are loads of campers here but whether they stay the night is another thing. Ended up on a very interesting hike today through the old battle tunnels the italians used during ww1. Very interesting but no luck finding the via ferrata, that's tomorrows plan. The mountains here are incredible! I'm enjoying looking at them for the mere cost of €4.50 cos that's what a beer costs here! Heart failure! No drinking for me if that's what a beer costs!

Campsites :( 29/07/2013

I cheated tonight, I went into a campsite, but I remember why I like wild camping so much, its partly cos its free but also cos you have the place to yourself, its secluded and the other people there are all like minded. So tomorrow night will be back to wild camping

Austrian peace 29/07/2013

What an interesting time I've had so far! Last night I tried to get up to a lake to sleep but it seems that the flooding recently washed some of the road away so I stopped where the road stopped, right next to a river surrounded by forest! I'm very proud of jerry for driving so well on those dirt roads. I fell asleep to the sound of a river rushing by and was asleep the instant my head hit the pillow! About 2 hours later I woke up in a panic wondering where all the kids were! I really felt like there should be kids with me and I started panicking about having lost them. I thought I'd fallen also inside and they were forced to sleep outside so I turned on the van lights and started calling for them to come back! It took me around 5 minutes to calm down and realise there were no kids and I was on holiday! Omg! After that I slept so well, until 10!! When some hikers walking passed woke me up. No one disturbed me and it was a cloudy cool day so sleeping in went well! Today I bought a gps for my travels and a new mattress and pillow for my bed in my van! Good night sleep for me tonight. I'm on my way to italy to the dolomites but following the gps got to a point where it told me to get on the ferry! I'm now taking a train across somewhere with my van in front of me! Hopefully I find a good place to sleep tonight! I'm still tired!

Do we ever arrive?

I've made it to santiago and thankfully left the masses of people behind! I have found that walking the camino has made me more sensitive to the world around me and the people around me. The emotions I was surrounded by in santiago were just a crazy rollercoaster and I'm relieved to be out of that environment so I can process how I feel, right now I feel so happy and proud of myself! I am a lot closet to being the person I want to be, a lot close to feeling secure and happy. This camino has made me realise that its the genuine people that others grow attached to, that I'm actual fact the more you are yourself the more people can feel connected to you. I also learnt an important lesson about not being selfish. I have never seen myself as a selfish person bit seeing the kindness and generosity of people has made me realise that its so easy to make someone happy by doing something kind and it'll barely cost you a thing. My mission today its to buy beers and hand then to pilgrims as they pass into finisterre to say well done :) mostly this idea came from wanting to give a friend of mine who is arriving today a beer. Why not give everyone a beer then? I need to give back to others what I've been given.

Now that I've reached this place of happiness within myself I how that I can continue it to the ready of my life and not forget the lessons I've learned. The hardest party is yet to come, to make people as content as I am, instead of being brought down again to the mundane of real life. I would like to inspire people to be better. That's the real journey!

What are your highlights?

Its been a while since I've posted because I've been walking the camino de santiago and well typing blog posts on a phone is rather tiresome to me. I'm very spoilt when it comes to having a keyboard!

However tonight warrants a post because I was asked by a friend the highlights of my camino. That's a very tough question to answer. After walking for 3.5 weeks, about 25km a day remembering specific highlights can be difficult. Days blur into each other, events pass as epochs rather than moments and time distorts as you travel so far, but go no where. So when I was asked about my best moments I really had to think about how to answer that and the answer that overcame all other stories of friendship and kindness was that of personal growth.

I spent two very tough days in immense pain after changing boots for sandals and enduring the painful blisters that come from soft feet being told to toughen up. These two days meant that every step I took overwhelmed my brain with flashes of pain and agony and every movement became a test of will power to continue onwards.

At the start of my third day, when the blisters continued to plague me I mentally decided that enough was enough. I know I'm a tough person and I needed to prove that to myself. I needed to overcome that pain and walk as I had intended, as a strong, fit, young person. So, for the last time I let pain dictate my progress and as I walked I demanded the impossible of myself. I demanded myself to no longer feel pain, I commanded myself to ignore all signals and continue on. I willed myself to become master of my own pain and as I walked alone I screamed internally 'you are the master of your own pain, you are THE MASTER of your PAIN!' And the more I told myself this the more I believed it. After a few minutes my pain diminished as I convinced my brain to ignore it and I felt my spirits lift and walking became a joy again. About 100m later my pace had doubled and I felt alive again. This was a moment of complete and utter self development. I demanded more of myself, reached for it and took it. It was a changing point for me in the camino as I discovered that I really can be as strong as I want to be and nothing need hold me back, even within my strongest enemy I can find my strongest ally. I'm not at all saying that the ready of the walk was a pain free experience, quite the opposite there were definitely more testing moments to come but a weight had been lifted, I knew I could do it and the strength I thought was there came through when I needed it the most. We all have personal trials that we need to deal with, and we all deal with them differently but we should feel pride when we come out on top and find that inner strength we didn't know we had.

And so it begins!

I'm into day 4 of the camino now and my body is starting to realise that walking that distance is not an easy task! Day one went very well, we passed over the pyrenees to end the day in a monastery which slept around 100 people in one large room! This place had a great atmosphere with loads of people feeling excited and anxious about the ready if the trip! That night we are the pilgrims menu which was a delicious 3 course meal then all curled up into bed by around 21:30! You'd think when you go top bed so early it would be ready to wake up early, this is not the case! We were woken up around 6:30 to the sound of a recorder followed by a walking guitar player who had an affinity for the beatles! What a lovely way to wake up, even if out was so early! The guitar playing continued on until we left the building with some simon and garfunkel and bob dylan following the beatles! That got the second day off to a roaring start!

The second day was a lot easier then having to across a mountain pass! We also joined up with another girl so there were 3 of us walking together along the path together. We had a great time chatting and getting to know each other. We stopped in Larrasoaña where we had a beet outside the cafe and welcomed other pilgrims to the town. The hostel was not the best, the bathrooms leave much to be desired but there was a lovely atmosphere with everyone together!

day 3 was an interesting day, we decided to go a bit farther than most people and stop 6 km from where everyone else was due to stop. That was a great idea until we arrived at our stop, only to discover that the hostel we were planning on stopping at is closed this year! That meant we had another 6 km to go before the next hostel! It also started raining at this point! However at the end of the gill we had to climb the sun came out and we had beautiful warm sunshine for the remaining hours we had to walk! However we were definitely beat by the time we arrived! A great high of that say was we got to ring a church bell at the to of the steeple! Don't think many people have done that!

After our dramatic and exhausting day yesterday we took it easy today and enjoyed the countryside and the lovely views offered from out strenuous climbing and enjoyed looking at all the wild flowers growing along the way. We have arrived early at the hostel so we have time to relax, unwind, have a beer and then get cooking! We're also lucky that we managed to get a room to ourselves there so no snoring!

Starting a new adventure!

I'm on a train to st jean pied de port, which means st john at the foot of the pass. This is a very small town on the french/spanish border but it has a huge importance. It is the popular starting point for the french route of the camino de santiago, a pilgrimage that starts from many points across europe and ends on the west of spain in santiago de compostela. This is what I will be doing for the next month. My plans are to walk the 780 km from st jean pied de port to santiago and see what happens. Many people say its a life altering experience, I'm not really hoping for that much but I guess a bit of inner calm would be nice, to be able to step away from the materialism and narrowmindedness that I'm surrounded by all the time. It would be nice to remember what is important in life rather than being drawn into what advertisers think is important for life. The camino is supposed yup be different for each person that walks it. I'm looking forward to seeing what the camino holds for me

Sketchy electrics

Now that I have my van its time to start thinking about improvements! As I am currently completely broke (I bought a van.. tends to deplete funds rather drastically!) I am focusing on fixing the stuff already in the van. This starts with the extremely interesting electrical system that the previous owner has left me with. Wow! What am impressive maze of cables, switches and joins! I'm surprised the car hasn't caught fire yet! I must admit I'm a little fearful of delving deeper into this wire nest he has created. For the most part my knowledge of electricity is knowing to turn off the light switch before changing a light bulb... And I feel that even that rule can be occasionally broken. The encouraging thing is that I can only be shocked by a 12V car battery. That doesn't pack much of a punch does it? Oh, I should probably Google that to make sure... I haven't yet attempted touching the electrics as yet, I'm blaming the cold miserable weather for not wanting to hang out in the back of my van playing with wires. I know this is merely an excuse to hide my terror in facing those wires. I think I'd rather thoroughly scrub the car clean than trace a dodgy wire along the van's body to see where and how its connected!

Second hand cars huh?

What happens when you buy a used car? Drama of course! I was finally able to pick up my van from my friend’s house where I had to leave it until I got it registered and bought the number plates and insurance. Having sorted all of this out I gleefully took a 3 hour train ride to his house to collect the van. After a 1.5km walk from the train station once again set eyes on my new van, its shiny green exterior calling to me! I unlocked the car excited beyond belief to finally be bringing it home with me. I inserted the key into the ignition and turned, nothing happened. There was a slight rumbling in the engine but nothing I had ever heard before (and I’m from South Africa, I’ve heard loads of cars try and fail to start!). That worried me. Usually when it’s the battery the car engine tries to turn over but doesn’t have the power to do so, similar story with there’s no gas. My car sounded like a washing machine during the wash cycle. No lie, no exaggeration! What to do then? Curl up into a ball of dismay that all my dreams of cross country travel have been shattered by the simple turning of the key in an ignition? Well obviously that wouldn’t solve anything so I sent a few messages to friends in Switzerland who know nothing about cars so naturally they couldn’t help. This followed a long distance call to a friend in South Africa who knows loads about cars but this didn’t help either as he had no idea what the sound was and being 10 000 km away couldn’t very well take a look in the engine!

There was nothing left to do but call road side assistance. If you ever need roadside assistance in Switzerland on a Sunday you will suddenly realise… K-ching! There goes all the money I saved bargaining down the price of the car! And that money was just for him to come to the car. First thing he does is check the battery, signs indicate “weak”…that’s never good. So he attaches this gizmo to the battery and wham, car starts! Well if I’d known it would be that simple I’d just carry my own gizmo around!

So once the car was started it could not be stopped. I had a bit of a hairy moment when I had to fill up with gas but it seems that the battery had enough juice to keep going, thankfully! Then without a single problem my van drove me the 200km home. But now not only do I have no money for the rest of the month, but I can’t afford a new battery until next month. I guess that means focussing on making the inside of the van absolutely awesome!

The next big adventure

After a few months of working a terrible yet pretty well paid job in the Swiss Alps I have now been able to afford a VW T4 van! Sure its no dream car, it has its flaws and is going on 20, but its still younger than me (and I'm going strong!) and most importantly its all mine! There's an incredible sense of achievement when you buy your first car. Its not the first car I've owned, but it is the first car I've bought and I'm very proud! The van started its life as a construction vehicle (poor thing) and was then bought by a windsurfer who needed the space to transport all his things. While he owned it he inserted a rather hideous yellow but none the less functional bed frame and drawers! The colour can be fixed!!! I now have a new project, to turn this van into my dream van! It has the potential and the spirit (I mean what car having gone from a builders van to a hippys home would not be excited about the change!?) and I have the time now to convert it. I need to admit I know nothing about converting a van to a campervan but I have brains and some patience and very little money.. this can be achieved! And it shall all be documented stage by stage on my blog... now where to start? Tie dying some curtains I think!