2011 September - Self Indulged Online Travel Magazine

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September29th

Pink Lightning

Posted in: Travel & Landscapes

I’m busy trying to get the magazine out on time which may be a big call just at the moment but I’m giving it a shot! I’m running a feature on Mongolia and just wanted to put this image up on the blog…it’s one of my favourites from the trip and is 100% ridgey digde real. You probably can’t see in this small jpeg but the thing I just love about it is the tiny red light on the the camera resting on the the tyre that tells me the guy in the left got a shot off too. Magic! Shortly after this shot was taken we were pelted in the storm and took cover under a small canvas shelter just 5 meters from the ger. Dave and I had our tent pitched that night for the first time on the trip and we didn’t feel a single drop even though the thunder seemed to roll on all night. Again, it’s a little hard to see here but the lightening was bright pink….something to do with the haze in the air I would’ve loved to have kept shooting but in the deluge it was near impossible.

Also, I have since found out (courtesy of Google) that the odds of being struck by lightning are 1 in 3000….probably more when you’re standing in Eastern Mongolian steppe with not a single tree for miles, holding a brolly with a metal tip!
September26th

The Fast Flight Home

Posted in: Blog update

Last week we were in Stockholm. Today we are home in Perth.

When I logged on to my laptop last Friday there were emails, skype messages and facebook notifications to call home urgently. Dave’s Mum was in hospital after having a stroke and the prognosis did not look good. Luckily we were staying with friends in Sweden and within two hours we’d called home, spoken to the hospital, cleared out the car, packed up our bags and had arranged for a taxi to take us to Arlanda airport. Our boots, our tent, our camping gear and a little bit of our sanity was all left with our friends as we rushed to the airport hoping to catch a flight back to Australia. We arrived at the airport at 3pm and by 8pm we were on a Finnair flight home via Helsinki and Singapore.

In just over 24 hours we were home.

The good news is that since we’ve been back, his mum has made a remarkable recovery. Dave’s sister also flew in from the Eastern States and I think having her kids around has made a huge difference to her making her way back to us. When we first arrived she was unable to speak or even recognise who we were but this past week she has astounded the doctors by being able to walk (slowly), eat, and talk. There’s a lot of rehabilitation to be done to strengthen the muscles in her right side (arm and leg) and lots of ‘homework’ to stimulate the brain and make sure that it’s functioning the way it did before she had the stroke. We’ll be hanging around for a while to make sure that everything here is ok.

Taxi to the airport $80

Flights from Stockholm to Perth $4000

Seeing the look of recognition on Dave’s mums face when she woke up on Tuesday…..PRICELESS!
September1st

Happy Birthday Dave!

Posted in: Blog update

Amsterdam – 1 Dave – 0

I feel like I am currently trapped in an episode of Bill and Ted’s excellent adventure. We’ve pitched up camp at Camp Zeeburg, about 20 minutes out of Amsterdam city centre. As I write this the car next to me has run into the front concrete barrier of the car park, the two guys in the RV opposite me have taken 14 minutes to put out 2 camp chairs and a camping table and on the way to the shower block I had to dodge bodies, laying ‘peacefully’ on the grass soaking up the sunshine. There’s something in the air here….

I felt kind of strange taking this photo….the ‘cafes’ are dark day and night and are full of people who are either stoned, in the process of getting stoned or asleep…this shot is a little bit ‘soft’, handheld…. I didn’t want to use the flash and start ‘freaking people out man!’ but did want to capture the wide range of pot that is available to the cannabis connoisseur. This particular selection includes, Neville’s Haze, Cheese (sounds tempting) and Amnesia Haze. I chose the Carlsberg…pint of!

The kebab shops in Amsterdam do a roaring trade.

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