#probably had no business trying to hike up a mountain having just got over covid but here we are

[vampyroteuthid]

it sure is july

[just-anka]

I realised I haven’t really regularly posted here since like... I don’t even know, September? It’s been a while, anyway. A lot happened, and I now feel like actually writing a post for the first time in a while, so here goes haha. The first bullet point is entirely work waffle so feel free to skip. Apologies in advance for the fact that this post will probably reach novel length by the time I’m done. 

• I took a week off in late September before Ben started his new job so we could go to the mountains for a bit, and it was a much-needed little break from work. And pretty much right after I got back, work got completely mental - nothing bad as such, just one thing after the other, loads of deadlines, so many important things. First I was finishing up data for a paper (first authorship was being debated which is partially why I threw myself into the job so much, but it looks like it’ll be the PhD student before me’s now, which is how it should be tbh, it’s much more hers than it is mine), then the date for my first committee meeting was set and I suddenly had only two weeks to prepare (did not think it was going to be that short notice, whoops, had a very stressful two weeks but all went well - for us, this meeting means presenting our research plan and preliminary data to a committee of four professors so they can give you input, it’s not suuuper formal but still pretty stressful), then I had to write the report for that (I love writing so that one was okay), then there was suddenly a lot to do for a really important cooperation with a company (big money responsibility which stressed me the fuck out), and then, just as I thought I was pretty much done for the year, I realised I needed my lab book up to date for my end of year meeting with my PI (which wouldn’t be such a big deal, except I didn’t have a lab book at the time. Never got around to starting one. So nine months of lab book were written within another very stressful week). Whew. Even writing this out makes me feel like that was a lot haha. 

• After the end of year discussion, I really was done for the year - I officially worked until the 23rd but there was not that much actual work happening, and with the pressure off after months, I properly crashed for a few days. Ben left for England on the weekend after to see his family for christmas etc, and I spent most of that weekend sleeping and doing very little. It was needed. Then my mum came to visit me for the holidays and we had four really lovely days together, also involving a lot of chilling (the only actual thing we did was that magical winter hike that I posted some pictures of the other day). 

• And now I’m skiing! I was planning to go to England as well for NYE to see Ben’s family, but with the corona situation escalating again lately I decided it was too risky for just a few days. So I made a last-minute plan to go skiing by myself instead, because all that involves is a 2 hour train journey. I’m actually staying in a hotel too, which I’ve never done by myself before, I’m usually a dorm in a hostel type of person, but well. Covid has changed a lot of things :D trying to stay safe and away from people, which is of course not entirely possible in a ski resort, but it’s going okay. The skiing itself is great, it’s really nice having some time to go at my own pace and a few days in a row. Today was day 4 and I’ve really found my groove again (more on that later). There’s not much snow though so not many off-pisteing opportunities :/ I’m staying until Monday and then it’s back to work on Wednesday. 

• Speaking of skiing, we’ve got season passes this year, my first season and Ben’s second. We’ve just been doing on the weekends so far - since the 21st of November I just realised while looking back in my calendar! That’s one hell of an early season start haha. We did just one day three weekends and then one full weekend right before Ben left. The first few days were bloody hard. For context, I learned to ski before I learned to walk and loved it as a child, then stopped for a few years because I felt like I wasn’t progressing anymore and was getting bored with it, basically. Then last January I went to France with Ben and his skiing friends and got introduced to freeriding and the idea of ski touring, and now I’m back to loving it haha. I’d ideally like to not have to resort ski anymore at one point (meaning touring) because I know it’s terrible from an environmental standpoint but... idk. It’s currently my only option, and I love it a lot, so I guess it feels okay? Anyway, since I learned to ski so early, it’s the one sport that I’ve always been pretty good at and like, never get scared, at least not on piste. Until this year. The first three individual days were just all kind of horrible, the conditions weren’t ideal with very hard surface and tons of ice and pretty busy slopes, and only steep terrain open as well (Engelberg, our “home” resort - we have a season pass that encompasses a bunch of resorts so we’re not limited to one - is literally dead flat beginner’s slopes, which weren’t open in the beginning, or red runs that should be black and black lol). Pairing loads of ice with my old skis which barely have an edge anymore was... not ideal. I was so scared constantly and it made me like I lost all my ability etc etc. But yeah, turns out I just needed a few days and some easier conditions to get back into it, and now ice and steep stuff and everything is fine again. Who would’ve thought. (a sensible person, probably). 

• But then, the full weekend we skied in December was awesome! Saturday already felt much better and then it snowed a bunch over night and Sunday we spent all day powder skiing, basically. I learned SO much and just had an absolute ball! Definitely one of the best days skiing I’ve had, and one of the best days recently in general. 

• Plus that whole weekend was just lovely, car camping in a campsite full of huge campervans was pretty fun :D I love the looks we get when people see the car and clearly wonder where we sleep. And we’ve got our setup perfected for winter now so both the nights were toasty. Friday night we had dinner in “bed” watching a movie, and Saturday night we sat in the little kitchen (the campsite has it open for everyone, but everyone else there has a camper, so it doesn’t seem to be used much) drinking tea and playing cards and ahh. Camping in the mountains. My ideal life eh? (though the weekend before this wonderful one, we got snowed in because it dumped over a metre over night completely unexpectedly and that was stressful as hell, but I think that’s a story for another day, if ever, I’m kind of trying to forget that day :’D) 

• Yesterday I also finally took the plunge and ordered new skis. Been debating for ages which ones to get but I’ve finally decided and I’m now very excited! 

• Ok this post so far reads as “work and skiing” which is pretty much what November and December were and probably what January is going to be too haha. Ben and I want to ski another week together end of January as well, and there’s some big exciting work things coming up as well. 

• Even though I have to admit, now that I’m on a break, I’ve spent a lot of time dreading work and questioning my career choices and all of that lark... sigh. I love my job most of the time, but I kind of hate having a job? If that makes sense? Sometimes (okay a lot of the time) I just wish I had more time for other things that I care about. But I also now I’m lucky to have that job, especially this year, and lucky to have a job I don’t hate, and get to do a lot of fun stuff on the side, even if it often means little sleep and downtime. 

• Speaking of things I care about, I was on a proper roll with writing for a few days before and after Christmas. It’s ebbed off again a bit, but it was still pretty cool, and my totally-useless-all-cheese-project is now 33,000+ words long and like, half-way there story wise. Had a lot of fun with that. 

• Lastly, Ben is still in England, and he’s coming back next Sunday, and I can’t wait! I miss him so much when we’re not together it’s actually silly. Although it’s less stressful this time than the last few times because... we live together, his work just offered him an unlimited contract from January, and I’m stuck here for another 2-3 years, so it looks like we’ll actually get to be in the same place for now. Which is all I wished for last year, and I’m so damn grateful - that stability really is the best thing 2020 has brought for me. And, as he said, even though we were apart for the start of the new year, it will hopefully bring more time together than any previous year ♡

• Okay I think this is long enough now, if you actually made it until here you’re a hero and I will try and post a bit more regularly again now to avoid this size of mind dump :’D I hope you all got into the new year alright, it feels very strange to me that it’s 2021 because I actually slept through midnight on new year’s for the first time since I was tiny haha but I’m sure a lot of people feel the same way! 

[withabackpackandcamera]

July 4th, 2021 Day 9: Ending Our Last Full Day With A VERY Full Day Indeed

We arrived at the streetside parking lot for Geldingadalsgos (based on what I found out from Jeroen, the vent that I was taking photos of isn’t the volcano volcano, but more so a vent of a bigger volcano system; therefore, the vent itself doesn’t have a name, the eruption is called Geldingadalsgos, and the volcanic system is Fagradalsfjall Volcanic System. So, 60 Minutes named it wrong… lol) around 12:15am or so, at which time there were probably somewhere between 20-30 other cars parked. Yup, we didn’t even start hiking until after midnight. Indeed, we were a bit crazy and so was everyone else out there at an ungodly hour. Anyhow, because I got a little bit of rest in the car thanks to Minh’s driving, I was ready to go and see this volcano again.

Unlike the first trip to the volcano on our first day here in Iceland a week ago, this trip was much nicer despite the time of day we hiked. Instead of clear skies with heavy midday sunlight, we arrived as the sun was setting in the colorful orange and pink sky. The skies were darker than expected but the night itself teased us but never actually came in full force. The wind today was calm and collected compared to the violent winds the guys in the group endured last week. And the hike up the mountain was much smoother and easier than the first time up, likely because the authorities had done some fixing up, de-graveling, and repaving of different routes to make it safer for hikers. With conditions being great for hiking (and because I had emptied my camera bag of nonessentials), I made it up the mountainside in about 50 minutes or so, which was much faster than the first time. Cynthia and Minh slowly made their way up behind me since I was rushing to get to the top and they weren’t really into rushing.

Once at the top, I scurried across the ridge and to the same area that I had already hiked to last week, hoping for a good vantage point for some volcano photography. Most of the conditions were great for photography on this early, early morning. The skies were beautifully colored. The weather wasn’t too cold or windy. And the volcano was a little more active today compared to last Saturday. But the conditions weren’t perfect because we were still far from the volcano, the volcano wasn’t spewing out enough lava to make lava rivers that we could see from where we were, and the darkness of the lava field and volcano made it hard to take great landscape photos without the contrasting colors of lava rivers. But I guess that when you’re traveling on a tight schedule and you’re looking to photograph natural phenomena like erupting volcanoes and vents, you just have to make do with the photography conditions you’re presented with and live with the result.

So I just took out my camera and started taking photo after photo after photo of the vent spewing lava. I attempted to take portraits and action shots of the volcano and its activity as well as landscape shots of the volcano in relation to its beautiful surroundings and the gorgeously colorful sky above. I moved to a couple of different spots to try and find different perspectives from which to shoot from but ended up spending most of my time at one location where Cynthia had found a spot to sit and chill.

Throughout our time there, I tried my best to look for Jeroen, the photographer I was communicating with on Instagram. When I had contacted him earlier in the evening to help assess the volcano situation for the evening, he told me that he too was headed to the volcano and that if we spot each other, we should definitely say hi. But unfortunately, I never did catch him there. I later found out that he had hiked way past the point where I had stopped and had made his way over the mountain ridge and to the backside of the valley and lava field, where he discovered lava in action. He found a place to see lava (relatively) close up! So jealous! And that’s the problem with attempting landscape photography on a short schedule… You just don’t have enough time or energy to roam around and scope out areas after a packed trip full of sleep-deprived days. How I wish we could’ve had another whole week in Iceland just to hang out in Reykjavik and follow the volcano live stream until we found the opportunity to leisurely make our way over to photograph the volcano when its activity increases.

We stayed at Geldingadalsgos for quite some time and didn’t actually start heading back to the car until close to 4:00am. Minh and Cynthia went on ahead as I took some time for my last few shots. Once I finished, I ended up basically running down the mountainside and arriving at the split in the hiking route at around 4:15am, at which time I could see the heavy clouds and fog rolling in over the mountains, creating a beautiful, early morning scene. I caught up with Cynthia and Minh shortly after that and by the time we actually turned on the car to leave, it was around 5:00am or so. Yeah, really late and really early… I drove home as everyone crashed in the car and got us all home safely around 5:30-6:00am, at which time we all just crashed, knowing that there was little sleep to be had this morning. Because we had an appointment at 9:00am to get our COVID swabs completed for our flight back home, we slept for a measly 2.75 hours until 8:45am, at which time we had to wake up and jump into the car to drive to our testing site. Luckily, the line and swabs were quick and we were in and out in about 15-20 minutes.

We went home after the swab. The three of us who were out until early this morning were pretty exhausted and groggy. But because it was our last full day in Iceland, Cynthia was determined to make the most of it despite severe sleep deprivation. So instead of taking a nap like Minh did, Cynthia and I joined my parents on a morning walk to explore downtown Reykjavik. We started from our AirBnB located near Klambartun Park and slowly made our way toward Laugavegur, the main street lined with shops and stores that ran through downtown Reykjavik. As we strolled down the quiet street, we spotted a long line in front of a store and decided to take a closer look at what people were waiting for. And it was pastries and baked goods at Sandholt Reykjavik! So we joined the line (though mistakenly, since we waited in the dine-in line before realizing there was a faster, shorter line just for take-out from the bakery) and bought our delicious morning pastries to enjoy outside at a table nearby. And the pastries were delicious! Especially the almond croissant Cynthia bought! SO SO GOOD!

The family sat and enjoyed our pastries and coffee before continuing on our lovely morning stroll through town. We walked around downtown and checked out some stores here and there before turning around to head back toward Hallgrimskirkja to meet up with a rejuvenated Minh. Along the way, I took the family on a detour so that they could see my old flat on Bergstaðastræti. We briefly got lost along the way since I couldn’t remember exactly where it was but we eventually found it after some backtracking.

We met up with Minh at Hallgrimskirkja and took a brief look inside the church before splitting up from mom and dad to meet up with Thorsteinn and his girlfriend Thordis Erla on the other side of downtown at a cute brunch place called The CooCoo’s Nest near the Old Harbour. Along the way there, we stopped by to look in a couple of stores and even ran into an old Stanford buddy, Bryce Kam, and his wife walking around Laugavegur. What a coincidence! We chatted in the streets for a few minutes before we had to bid them farewell so that we could make it to brunch on time.

After a relatively short walk through town to get to the Old Harbour side, we finally arrived at The CooCoo’s Nest and found Thor and Thordis already there waiting for us and for a table to open up. After officially meeting Thordis, we sat outside and started catching up over all sorts of things until it was time to be seated at our table inside. We continued on with our great conversations inside as we ate our delicious brunch (Cynthia and I ordered their Breakfast Burrito and Eggs Florentine, both which were yummy). We had a wonderful two-hour long late brunch with the two of them and shared a ton of great stories and talked about all sorts of topics, from Thor’s and Thordis’ life updates (including buying a house together, Thor getting a new job managing assets and portfolios, Thordis going back to school to study industrial finance after briefly working, Thordis’s previous work life working for Icelandair as a flight attendant) to stories about our trip and our lives in the States during a pandemic. So much fun to catch up after almost five years!

Once we had taken our photos and said farewell to each other, Cynthia and I slowly walked through downtown and made a couple of stops along the way as we headed back to the house while Minh went off on his own to look for Icelandic sweaters to buy. By the time we arrived back at the apartment, there was only 1.5 hours left until our next social gathering with Sveinn Magnússon and Kristin Bragadottir at their house for dinner. OH. MY. GOODNESS. I was so full and so tired by the time we got home that I couldn’t even think about more talking and more eating. We helped do some laundry before Cynthia and I went to lie down and take a quick power nap. Unfortunately, we were woken up soon after we went to bed and rushed out of the house so that we could make it to dinner on time at Sveinn’s. We drove over there, and when we arrived, we were warmly greeted by Sveinn and Kristin before Minh and dad finally showed up after their souvenir-buying stroll. It was such a pleasure to see Sveinn and Kristin again after these busy last 4.5 years!

Sveinn and Kristin welcomed us with open arms into their warm home, one that I have visited every trip I’ve made to Iceland. While waiting for dinner to be prepared, I introduced Sveinn and Kristin to my parents and Cynthia, who they had never met, and we shared stories in the living room while sipping on white wine. It was great to finally introduce everyone to each other after they had all heard stories about each other over the years. We caught up for a while before we were seated at the dining table for a fabulous and delicious dinner spread that included an appetizer of shrimp and cheese salad, mains and sides of baked salmon with a puff pastry top, half-mashed potatoes, and salad, and rhubarb oatmeal pie with vanilla ice cream for dessert. What a yummy treat! Over dinner, we learned so much more about Iceland, past and present, from Sveinn and also learned about Kristin’s journey to her PhD in history and her authorship of several historical books as a result. Always so great to hear about the amazing things they are doing and the amazing knowledge they are always willing to share with us!

After dinner, we continued to sip on more wine while chatting more and looking through family photo books that Sveinn had collected over the years. I learned more specifics about Sveinn Magnusson as a physician. For example, before working at the ministry, he was a general practitioner in Sweden and Iceland and was boarded in Internal Medicine and Family Medicine. He then transitioned to working for the Icelandic government where he served primarily as director general, the second highest ranking civil, nonpolitical official in Iceland who reports directly to the prime minister. And while working at the ministry for 21 years, he served a total number of 16 prime ministers. These days, while not doing government work, Sveinn is primarily on call to do death exams on folks in the community. Every now and then, he is tasked with doing a little more than that. In one instance a few years ago, he was the physician who did the baseline intake physical exams for the group of Greenland boat guys who were involved in the murder of a young Icelandic woman. Crazy! After hearing all sorts of cool and crazy stuff and before we even knew it, it was 9:30pm and time for our exhausted family to bid Sveinn and Kristin farewell and a big thank you for hosting us at their lovely house on our short trip through Iceland.

Before driving home, we briefly stopped by the water so that everyone could check out Sun Voyager Sculpture and the Harpa Concert Hall. After some photos, we were pooped and drained, so we finally drove back home and started the task of packing and tidying up for our trip home. Minh’s energy tank was still holding some gas by this point (probably because of his effective power nap), so he decided to walk around downtown and check things out before hitting the sack. Cynthia decided to go with him to maximize her only full day in Reykjavik but because I was so tired, I stayed in to rest. I helped with laundry and hung out around the house until a bit past midnight, at which time I went to bed shortly before Cynthia and Minh returned home. What a ridiculously packed and exhausting last full day in Iceland! If only I had more time to just chill and do everything over a few days instead of over 36 hours… But at least there is one more half day left to enjoy tomorrow…

5 Things I Learned/Observed Today:

1. Today, tourism is the number one industry supporting the infrastructure and economy of Iceland, surpassing Iceland’s fishing industry. Therefore, when the pandemic hit and set the world on fire, tourism took a huge hit in Iceland and resulted in the crippling of Iceland’s economy. There were huge drops in revenue due to travel restrictions and mandates. But for some Icelanders, it was actually quite nice to have their country all to themselves once again after a decade-long boom in tourism. Local Icelanders got the chance to, once again, experience and enjoy Iceland’s beautiful nature the same way they used to enjoy it before tourists flocked to Iceland. It was now quieter and less crowded and locals could now go to tourist hotspots that they previously avoided due to tourist crowds (like the attractions along the South Ring Road). Icelanders got to travel locally with their families again and spent much of the pandemic just reconnecting with their families and friends. With tourism essentially on pause, it also gave nature time to rest and recover, something that was much needed in Iceland. Funny enough, though, despite everything I wrote above, when the country was open to tourists again, a lot of Icelanders, who are a social breed of people, actually appreciated and welcomed the tourists again. Not only did tourists bring money that was desperately needed into the country’s economy, but they also brought with them interesting conversation topics and new perspectives that helped break up the monotony of Icelanders keeping conversations afloat with people they’ve known their whole lives. During the pandemic, Icelanders actually missed seeing and talking to us tourists! Funny!

2. Thordis informed me that Icelandic weddings typically don’t have wedding parties to accompany the bride and groom to the altar but just have the bride and groom’s fathers present at the altar for their ceremony.

3. Supposedly, until 1974, the many rivers running through Iceland played a major role in travel and exploration in the country. Rivers were one of the major reasons that limited domestic traveling because, at the time, the country lacked a way to cross those rivers. However, around 1974, Iceland was gifted single-laned bridges to bridge them to broader horizons and to expand their previously-limited area for exploration.

4. When the latter half of the year arrives with its darkness, snow, and cold, windy weather, non-city-dwelling people in Iceland sometimes have to take up a secondary job or change the nature of their primary jobs because their work may be limited due to the challenging and harsh weather conditions. For example, if the farmers are growing crops, they can’t really do any of that in the winter. So they, along with other people from the countryside in need of something to do, sometimes volunteer to help in town. Sometimes they volunteer in civil roles and things like firefighting and teaching. Others will just take the down time to fix up their homes and do repairs they didn’t time to get to over the year. If you’re a farmer who raises animals or has animals to deal with, those farmers can continue working but maybe in a different way. Dairy farmers will continue their work with their cows. Sheep farmers will work to feed and breed their sheep after the sheep have been collected from the previously-green-but-now-yellow-and-brown fields where they roamed all summer. They can also start collecting the wool they shave off the sheep to get that side of the business going.

5. It isn’t that farmers don’t grow crops in Iceland because of the poor soil. Rather, they can’t grow successful crop fields because of the variation in the amount of sunlight and relative lack of sunlight during certain parts of the year. However, some manage to grow potatoes or other crops in very environmentally-controlled set-ups like greenhouses.

[nerdzzone]

Light After Dark: Chapter Six

Summary: Brooke Harris was trying her best to be grateful. As the world tackled the COVID-19 pandemic, she was healthy and safe and so was the rest of her family, but her dreams had very quickly been crushed by the economic fallout. Trapped on the quaint island of Jersey with nothing, but free time to wallow in her mistakes, Brooke’s mental health was taking a hit, but when she collides with a handsome stranger she starts to realize that the future might not be so bleak and there might still be a light at the end of the tunnel.

Pairing: Henry Cavill x OFC

Content warning: Mention of overdose and past death of a close friend. It’s not too detailed, but I wanted to give people a heads up just in case.

________

May. 12. 2020 

Henry: I have a proposition for you

Me: That makes me slightly nervous

Me: What is it?

Henry: Would you like to go on a hike?

Henry: We can keep our distance and I've heard it's harder to spread/catch if you're outside

Henry: I completely understand if you're not comfortable though

I thought about it for a moment. As long as there wasn't too many people out on the trails then it should be pretty low risk as long as we kept our distance and I hadn't been out of the house at all since taking the cake over to Henry's house for his birthday. So, after my brief deliberation, I accepted his invitation.

Henry: Great, meet me at my house in twenty?

Me: Sounds good!

I quickly dragged myself off the couch, threw all the necessities into a bum bag, grabbed a sweater from my closet and shouted goodbye to my family with a brief explanation of where I was headed. They shouted a few questions back, but I rushed out the door without giving them a chance to get too nosy.

Me: On my way!

I sent to Henry when I was about halfway there before adding another message

Me: All masked up and ready to go

Me:

 As I turned onto Henry's street, he was standing outside his house, looking down at his phone as Kal sniffed the sidewalk around him.

"I like your sweater," Henry smirked as I got within a reasonable distance.

"Thanks," I smiled. "I thought it might scare any bears we might run into. You know, they might get confused and think I'm one of them."

Henry laughed and shook his head.

"There's no bears in Jersey that aren't locked up in a zoo," He informed me. "There's absolutely no dangerous wildlife around here."

"That's reassuring," I smirked. "But it's better to be safe than sorry."

"Fair enough," Henry chuckled before pausing. "Would you feel more comfortable if I wore a mask as well?"

I appreciated his offer, but shrugged.

"You don't have to if you don't want to," I assured him. "I know you've been staying pretty isolated and I'll probably take it off once we're off the main roads, but it just gives me peace of mind if we run into anyone along the way."

"Alright," He smiled. "Shall we head off then?"

I nodded and we started off down the street, Henry whistling for Kal to follow. He did so obediently, nudging his nose against my hand before walking a few paces ahead of us.

"I'm glad Kal gets to come," I commented. "But aren't you worried he might dart off after any little critter he sees?"

"Not really," Henry shrugged, respectfully staying on the edge of the road, just off the sidewalk as I walked along the opposite side. "I've got him quite well-trained. He might get distracted, but as soon as I call him he'll come back."

"What a good boy!"

Kal's tail wagged at that, but he was too busy sniffing around some bushes to pay much attention to us.

"He is," Henry nodded. "He's been an amazing asset. He comes with me every where I go and I can't imagine getting through this whole acting experience without him."

"That's really sweet," I smiled. "I always wanted a dog, but it's such a big commitment. I wouldn't want to get one and then be too busy to give it the kind of life it deserves."

"It is a massive commitment," He agreed. "I'm very lucky that I'm able to bring Kal on almost all of my travels and that when I'm on set there's always someone happy to keep him company."

"Well who wouldn't want to keep him company? He's gorgeous."

I held back a remark about dogs looking like their owners as Henry grinned proudly and we fell into a comfortable silence.

****

It was only about a ten minute walk before we turned off the main road and onto a more secluded path. The sun was starting to get stronger as it was almost mid-afternoon so I slipped my mask down to my neck so that I wouldn't get too hot, but could cover up quickly if we passed anyone on the trails. Somewhere along the way we'd fallen into asking each other random questions and, while most of it was silly, some of it was proving to be rather informative.

"That's so boring," I wrinkled my nose when he told me that his favourite fruit was an apple. "Considering how much of a world traveller you are I would have expected something much more exotic."

Henry chuckled at that as he did every time I criticized one of his answers.

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Maybe a papaya or a dragon fruit," I theorized. "Anything more exciting than a boring old apple."

"I don't think I've even tried either of those," He admitted. "Now, speaking of travelling, what's one place that you've not been to, but would love visit one day?"

I thought about it for a moment before answering.

"There's quite a few really, I haven't travelled nearly as much as I would have liked," I confessed. "But if I had to choose somewhere to go first, I think I'd choose Canada. Australia is a close second, but I'm terrified of spiders and I hear there's a lot there. So Canada, the part where the mountains and lakes are."

"My brother lives there," Henry's face lit up. "My younger brother, Charlie. He lives in Calgary which, from my understanding, is quite close to the mountains and lakes."

"That's so cool," I smiled, my words dripping with envy. "Have you been to visit him?"

"No," He sighed. "Usually he's the one to come here. He was back briefly before the lockdown actually, but he left to be with his family just before I came back to Jersey so we didn't see each other."

He looked sad as he spoke and I felt a pang of sympathy in my chest.

"That must be hard," I said softly. "Especially not knowing when international travel will be back up and running."

"It's tough," He nodded. "I'm used to only seeing him once or twice a year, but it's definitely worse not knowing how long it will be until we can all be together again. He's safe though and so is his family and that's what matters the most these days, isn't it?"

I nodded in agreement before a smile slid onto my face.

"And now, you can tell your brother that you'll be visiting as soon as you're allowed to because I fully intend to take advantage of this connection and make you take me there."

"Make me?" Henry laughed. "And how do you intend to do that?"

"I can be very persuasive," I smirked with a suggestive lift of an eyebrow before turning my attention back to the path before he could react. "So, if you weren't an actor, what would be doing?"

"I'd probably be in the military," He answered without having to think about it too much. "A couple of my brothers are and I'm quite disciplined so it seems like a good fit."

"More dangerous though..."

"Well, I do my own stunts so sometimes acting gets dangerous," Henry pointed out. "I did spend a lot of time hanging out of a helicopter for Mission Impossible."

"Yeah, but there's a whole team of people responsible for making sure that you don't die, right?"

"Of course and the stunt teams are amazing," He smirked. "But that doesn't mean there isn't any risk, accidents do happen."

I grimaced slightly, knowing that he was probably right.

"You should switch to baking," I suggested. "Definitely a lot safer."

Henry laughed, shaking his head.

"Alright, well, my next question is: have you ever had any bad baking mishaps?" He asked. "It might not compare to action stunts, but I'd imagine there's the potential for some nasty injuries."

"There is, but luckily I've always been pretty careful. A few minor burns and the odd slice of a knife, but nothing too serious. I have seen some pretty nasty stuff over the years though. Like once..." I paused for a second. "Wait, do you want to hear this? It's pretty bad."

"Yeah, go on," Henry nodded. "I think I can handle it."

"Okay, so, one of the bakeries I worked in for a while made a lot of things like doughnuts and churros so we had a deep fryer." My skin started to crawl just thinking of the memory and from the look on Henry's face he seemed to regret agreeing to hear about it, but I continued. "One day, my co-worker was cleaning the counter next to it, scrubbing really hard on a super sticky spot and her hand slipped and shot right into the boiling hot oil.”

"Oh my god," Henry squeezed his eyes shut, his fist clenching as if he was experiencing the pain himself. "That's horrible. Were you there? Was she okay?"

"I was," I nodded. "It was like it happened in slow motion and she didn't even scream, I guess from the shock, but I was hysterical. I kept expecting her skin to just slide off any minute like you see in the movies, but thank goodness it wasn't quite that bad."

"I think I'm going to have nightmares just hearing that story," Henry cringed. "Has it scared you off ever going near a deep fryer again?"

"I haven't had to use them much since that job actually, but it definitely made me very cautious," I admitted with a wrinkle of my nose. "What about you? Any nasty injuries on set?"

"No, I've been lucky as well. The stunt teams are all very good at their jobs so other than a few near misses with a sword here and there, I've never been in any real danger."

"Do you actually use real swords?"

"For the most part," Henry nodded. "For the Blaviken fight scene in the Witcher we used swords that were cut in half and then CGI edited in afterwards because we did it all in one take and there were a lot of moving parts that made it more dangerous."

"You filmed it all in one take?"

We were on a fairly steep incline and I was feeling the effect. My words struggled to come out as I fought to catch my breath and I was happy to give Henry some more time to talk before I had to answer any more questions.

"We did," He smiled proudly. "For the flow of the scene, it just made the most sense, but it was difficult. The cameramen couldn't see where they were going at all, they just had to use their memory with someone guiding them from behind so everyone had to hit all the marks just right to make sure there were no collisions. And with it all being one take, if anyone made a mistake or the timing was off at all then we had to stop the whole thing and start from the beginning."

"Wow, that's...impressive."

Henry caught my slight gasp for breath and looking at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Do you need to rest for a moment?"

I nodded and we both stopped walking as I pulled my inhaler out of my bum bag. I took a quick puff followed by a few slow breaths until I had managed to steady my breathing.

"Sorry about that. My asthma has been playing up the last few days and that hill just took it out of me..."

I felt silly getting winded while he was so unfazed, but he waved me off.

"Don't apologize," He insisted. "We can take a break whenever you need. There's been a lot of hills and I didn't even think about your asthma so I'm sorry for that."

"No need to be sorry. I haven't left the house at all since I brought your cake over last week so it's good for me to exercise," I assured him as I started walking again, much to Kal's delight as he charged off ahead of us again. "Anyway, back to your sword fight. That must have taken so much practice!"

"It definitely did," Henry nodded. "Hours and hours of it. It's like training for a big dance number really, everyone has to hit their marks exactly right, but we pulled it off first try."

I couldn't help, but smile at the pride in his voice.

"That's amazing. It must have felt incredible when you finished and knew you'd nailed it."

"Absolutely," He grinned. "So, if your asthma gets in the way of certain exercises, how do you stay so in shape?"

I felt my cheeks heat up at the subtle compliment, but he was looking ahead and keeping an eye on Kal so luckily he didn't notice.

"I do yoga," I told him. "Not the most exciting, but it is a lot harder than it looks. I thought it would be easy, but the day after my first class I could barely move at all."

"I've heard that a lot about yoga," He chuckled. "Even from big body builder guys at the gym, they try yoga thinking they'll smash the class, but they end up coming out just as sweaty as when they lift weights."

I'd had to defend my love of yoga to many people over the years. As Henry pointed out, my options for keeping fit were quite hampered by my weak lungs so I didn't have loads of choices, but I did end up really enjoying yoga and seeing plenty of physical benefits from the classes. It was annoying to have to constantly insist that it was in fact a workout worth doing so it was refreshing that someone with Henry's gym experience understood right away.

"It's pretty tough," I smiled. "Even though I'm sure you'd find it easy. I imagine with those muscles you could probably lift a car over your head without any struggle."

Henry laughed at that, shaking his head.

"Not quite a car," Henry smirked. "But speaking of strength, are you a good climber?"

I raised an eyebrow at that question as I noticed him looking off to the side of the trail at a small rock wall that was about Henry's height.

"Why? What have you got planned?"

"There's an excellent view if we take a brief detour," He explained. "But you'd have to climb that little cliff."

I looked at it a bit more intently than I had before and it seemed easy enough. It wasn't all that high and the edge was rough enough that it wouldn't be too hard to get a grip on.

"I think I can do it," I shrugged. "But what about Kal?"

"I'll lift him up. He's much lighter than a car."

He shot me a wink and I actually, literally giggled like some kind of flirtatious fangirl. It slipped out before I could stop it and, despite Henry either not noticing my embarrassing behaviour or just politely ignoring it, my cheeks went bright red again.

He led the way over to the wall and whistled for Kal who bounded over happily. The big dog didn't even flinch when Henry scooped him up and plopped him down on the top of the little cliff and he sat down obediently when he was commanded to 'stay'.

"You go up first and I'll spot you," Henry instructed.

I nodded and went up to the wall. It was pretty easy to find a good spot to hold so I grabbed on and hoisted myself up. It wasn't that far to go so I only needed to get my feet a little bit higher before I could push up and get my hands on the ground at the top. I could feel the warmth of Henry's body hovering behind me and perhaps it was the distraction of realizing how close he was or just that my running shoes didn't have the right grip for this kind of activity, but as I got my hands on the top of the cliff, my foot slipped off the wall before I could push myself up properly. I didn't fall very far though as Henry's hand was right there, ready to catch me as it collided with my bum.

Both of us froze for a moment. The warmth of his hand felt like it was burning a hole through the yoga pants I was wearing and my brain instantly felt the need to focus on the fact that his massive hand covered almost the entirety of the cheek it was currently cupping. As the shock of the contact wore off, I quickly found my footing again and dragged myself up so I was sitting on the edge at the top.

"Two metres apart, Mr. Cavill!"

He was standing there with his hand still out where it had been, looking just as surprised as I was, but as I scolded him his shock quickly morphed into a smirk.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to," He assured me as he grabbed onto the wall and pulled himself up with an ease that made my attempt look quite sad. "But I must say, that yoga is definitely working for you."

My jaw dropped at his comment, but after a moment I couldn't help but grin. Even if I didn't have muscles like Henry, I did put a lot of effort into my body and my bum had come a long way from the flat board that it used to be and I was proud of it.

"Thank you," I said as I pulled myself up to my feet. "But please, keep your hands off of my bum...At least while we're out in public."

Now it was Henry's turn to be shocked by my comment and my turn to smirk as I turned and headed off towards the little path we were next to with Henry and Kal hot on my heels.

****

The path we ended up on was another steep hill which Henry profusely apologized for once he realized, but I assured him I was fine. It was a beautiful trail and it wasn't long until we ended up in the clearing that he was steering us towards. As promised, the view was amazing and absolutely worth the trek.

"Wow," I gasped quietly, looking out over the ocean. "This is incredible."

"It's one of my favourite places on this whole island," Henry admitted. "I don't think many people know about it as it's not a main viewpoint, but Charlie and I used to run wild all over this place and we stumbled across it when I was only about twelve."

"What a great find," I complimented him, still in awe. "It's beautiful. Thank you for sharing it with me."

"Of course," He smiled. "You're practically a local now so you need to know all the best spots."

I laughed weakly at his description of me as a local even though it was probably true. I’d been here for months and wouldn't be leaving any time soon.

"Well, I can't think of anywhere that would beat this. Can we stay for a while?"

"Sure," He shrugged. "I don't have anywhere to be."

I smiled and went to the edge before sitting down and letting my legs dangle over. It wasn't a straight drop down, there was a big ledge sticking out only a few feet down so it was safe, but gave me a sense of freedom as I looked out at the wide open space in front of me. Henry whistled for Kal and gave him some water from his bottle before joining me, but keeping a respectful distance.

"So," Henry broke our comfortable silence a few minutes into our pit stop. "After all those questions, I realized I've never asked you what your bakery was called."

I felt my stomach drop at that question. He probably thought it was a pretty easy one, but my hands went all tingly and clammy and I was almost positive all the colour had drained from my face. I stayed silent for a moment as I thought it over. I could have lied and told him anything, really. He'd never know. But deep down I knew it wasn't a subject that I could avoid forever so I took a deep breath and answered.

"Lola's."

As I predicted, he gave me a confused look and pressed for answers.

"Lola's? Is that your middle name or something?"

Again, I was tempted to lie and pretended he'd guessed right, but if I wanted to continue our friendship, I had to be honest.

"No, it was the name of my best friend." My voice was quiet, but it didn't crack or waiver so that was an improvement. "She died last year."

I saw Henry turn to look at me out of the corner of my eye, clearly at a loss for words, but I kept my gaze off on the horizon.

"I'm very sorry to hear that," He said after a moment of quiet. "How did she die? If you don't mind me asking."

I didn't mind, but it was hard to talk about. I'd gone the route of burying my emotions rather than dealing with them when she passed so it was usually a topic I just steered clear of completely.

"She overdosed," I told him, still not looking over at him in an attempt to hide the tears that were brimming in my eyes. "She was always into partying, much more than I was, but she never really did drugs until she started dating this new guy. Suddenly she was talking about all the things she was trying and a few weeks later she was dead. Apparently he was a dealer and he'd tried cutting his supply with something dodgy so he could make more profit."

"That's horrible..." Henry's voice was soft and cautious and it made my eyes fill even more. "I'm so sorry, Brooke."

"Thanks," I choked out. "Sorry, this is super heavy. I don't mean to dump it all on you."

I wiped my eyes and tried to sort myself out a bit, but he shook his head.

"I'm happy to listen," He insisted. "How long were you friends?"

"Since we were three," I smiled. "We met in nursery school and were instant friends. Her name was Laura, but I called her Lola from the day that we met, I thought it suited her better."

"Wow, that's a long time."

"It was," I nodded. "She was like a sister to me. Cassie and I are really close, but Lola and I just clicked instantly. No one understood me like she did and she absolutely always had my back. She was the one who gave me the idea to open my own bakery. She'd been saying it for years so when she died, I knew I had to give it shot. You know, to honour her. It made closing down so much harder because I feel like I've let her down."

"I would be willing to bet a lot of money that that isn't the case at all," Henry smiled reassuringly. "I bet she's watching over you, proud that you gave it a good shot and completely relieved that you did what was best for your health."

I teared up again as he spoke, knowing deep down that he was right. Lola wouldn't be disappointed that I failed for reasons that were out of my control and if she was alive she would have dragged me to Jersey herself if it was the safest place for me to be. I hadn't voiced my guilt to anyone else though so no one had the chance to tell me I was being silly and hearing it made at least a tiny bit of my regret melt away.

"You're probably right," I agreed, wiping my eyes again as a few tears slipped down my cheeks. "Sorry, it's just hard to talk about and it's her birthday in a couple of weeks so it's even more of a sensitive subject."

"No need to be sorry," He assured me again. "It sounds like it's still quite fresh, but whenever you want to talk about it I'm more than happy to listen."

I pulled my bottom lip into my mouth, biting hard to try to fight back the floods of tears I could feel rising. It was very touching how kind he was being when plenty of people would have run for the hills as soon as they realized what a nerve they'd struck with such a simple question. I glanced over at him, trying to find the strength to thank him without a sob bursting free, when he tentatively held out his hand, placing it palm up in the dirt between us. A few more tears escaped at the gesture, but a smile slid onto my face as well as I reached out and placed my hand in his.

We stayed like that for a long time. Hand in hand, but almost two metres apart as we looked out over the ocean with Kal settled in the dirt between us. It was refreshing and calming as was almost every moment that Henry and I had shared. Eventually, we realized that it was getting quite late and we should head back before we ended up walking back in the dark, but the comfort I'd felt in that time with him lingered even as we headed home.

The somewhat somber mood that had fallen on us was soon forgotten and the laughter and fun returned as we continued asking questions and talked about everything from what we do if we could be invisible for a day to how much we both wanted a family and children of our own.

We ended up down by the beach just as the sun was setting and paused by the pier to watch it. It was a pretty breath taking sight and by the time I got home I was feeling giddy from the magical day that I'd had. Henry was shaping up to be pretty much everything I hadn't realized that I'd wanted. I'd been so busy in the last year, grieving the loss of my friend and then trying to start and run a business that dating hadn't even been on my mind, but now, after sharing so many heartwarming moments with someone who made me feel as warm inside as he did, it was something I couldn't help, but think about a lot.

I was in the middle of filling Cassie in on my day's adventures as I rather inelegantly shovelled some food into my mouth when my phone beeped on the table. I saw Henry's name pop up on the screen and my heart melted at what I saw when I opened the message.

Henry: 

Henry: I took this picture earlier and I can't get over how beautiful it is...

Henry: And by 'it' I mean you, the sunset pales in comparison

[lanformant]

Going Viral in Los Angeles

Written by Dante Augello. COVID 19, or Coronavirus. Probably the most excitement over being forced to do nothing I have ever seen. From the start of the outbreak, all I saw was a new flu virus coming out of China. I didn’t pay any mind to it, because as most of us know, that’s not actually very new at all. The last one, which I think was swine flu, wasn’t very notable, and neither was bird flu. Not many people around me got sick, no country wide shut-down, and no wide spread toilet paper hoarding that I can remember either. However, there are always those who over react to any new flu outbreak, and I think I see why after experiencing this first hand. I don’t think it is so much the fear of getting sick.  I wasn’t around when SARS ripped through some of the world, which was containable because it was less virulent as coronavirus. I have no experience with any other pandemics. but I see that most of the panic comes from an ingrained desire not to have to stand in line at a grocery store that may not have what you need and still need to search for everyday essentials. Things that we take for granted and unknowingly increase our quality of life. After realizing this painfully obvious reason for panic I felt almost childish for not coming to the thought of it earlier. I tried not to beat myself up too much though, because who could know really? How could we have known it would get this bad so fast? Or that this was the one sickness that would break the world again? Maybe some did, but most of us didn’t.“I had no idea that grocery stores could just RUN OUT of stuff, there’s always so much stuff in there.” 

First of all, after regretfully treating this outbreak as a passing incident, I understand that it is no joke. Not just because the symptoms of coronavirus are horrible, or because the death toll rising, but mostly because I completely underestimated the reaction to it.

Not to say sickness and death are not important, but that part of it hasn’t affected most of us… yet. What has, however affected everyone is; no more toilet paper, medicine, food, a line to the grocery store with nothing you need left inside it, and worst of all for a lot of people, no more work or school.

How, are we supposed to make money? Kids aren’t in school. Who takes care of them when we actually do have work? And how do we take care of them or ourselves with no money still? These things cause mountains of stress and anxiety for the everyday person.

It definitely does for me. I paid no attention until it was too late. All the sudden I was in the grocery store and there was a frenzy of crazed shoppers. some tried to take my cart right as I was filling it. I thought, “All I want is to do my shopping everyone!  

I’m not trying to do what you are doing, don’t involve me in your stress and panic.” I found out fast that we are all in this together. For better or for worse, whether we like it or not, we have no toilet paper, because the Hollywood Blvd. Spiderman just punched out Superman to get the last pack. I had no idea that grocery stores could just RUN OUT of stuff, there’s always so much stuff in there.

I was dumbfounded and unfortunately had to just suck it up and leave. Its ok though, there will be more stuff next week right, when it all dies down? How could everyone buy everything and then need another WHOLE grocery store worth of products? NOPE. It’s still all gone. Then the coup de gras, the gnarliest most grotesque part of all this shutdown bullshit starts. The lines to the grocery store. I truly was not expecting any of this.

Maybe I’m naïve. maybe I just didn’t do my research, but it’s too late now. We’re in it and we can’t get out. not any time soon anyways. We have arrived at the deepest level of the abyss. So, what if anything can we do?

Well it seems some people have it all figured out, not so surprisingly. There were obviously thousands if not millions of people who got to the grocery stores before me. Few people are working and the kids aren’t in school. It doesn’t seem like anyone is out partying. There are much fewer tourists, however surprisingly I have seen a few. There are scores of misinformed people with masks on smugly walking through the city, wrongly believing that it will help keep them 100% virus free. I even saw a few improvised disaster ready vans speeding around Hollywood, and out in some driveways. Showing off their end of days style.

Unfortunately, everything we are doing will only work temporarily and a lot of it isn’t helping at all. Staying indoors can help a little, and so can shutting down businesses and schools, but in the long run, it isn’t practical. Eventually we will need to work and we will need our kids in schools to do that. This need will come long before coronavirus is out of the country. eventually we will all need toilet paper, food, and medicine, or there will be riots in the streets. Not to say that riots are a high probability. Everyone will probably get what they need from the grocery stores eventually.

“It feels like a big city sized trap, and it’s hard to relate to anyone because they are all hiding.“

Wearing face masks and definitely putting a scarf over your face does not help keep you safe from viruses enough to make it a priority. On the bright side it seems like everyone is pretty much following the rules. It’s actually awe inspiring to experience this kind of human cooperation, and I am happy to have seen it in my lifetime. However, when we realize that the virus isn’t going away any time soon, I predict that it will all fade away slowly. Especially if this lasts for more than two months.

Who has that much savings to make it through two months? Not me. Especially in my neighborhood where drug dealers make a killing off of tourists. Now there are none. These criminals can’t collect unemployment. What will they do to supplement their income? Eventually there will be more rule breakers, and that could be bad news for us. It may bring the virus back. It could mean political issues that were not seen as important becoming unprecedented problems. Until then we will see how well it is handled with the current restrictions.

Living in the midst of all this, I don’t know how long I can stay sane. I would love to go to the gym or the park and get some exercise, but I’m not allowed to. I would love to enjoy a hiking trail, but they are mostly closed. It would be great to see a movie maybe, considering I have all this time off, but I can’t do that either. Some of my favorite bars and restaurants are closed. It feels like a big city sized trap, and it’s hard to relate to anyone because they are all hiding.

One of the hardest things about this was getting used to a different routine without work, which even though I don’t particular like work, it has left me depressed, lost, feeling purposeless and useless. I look at my bank account and the anxiety creeps in. I don’t know what to do, and I assume many of you feel the same.

Thankfully, there are some new rules put in place for late payments on rent and utilities, but we most likely have to pay it eventually. If that debt adds up for too long… how will I pay it? What about everything else we pay for monthly? will they be as lenient? It’s hard to say where all this will leave us, but I think staying positive is important. At least to keep me from spending all this time hiding in a bottle of despair and uncertainty.

[lifeinmywheels]

Road Trip

Sean and I were supposed to fly to Oregon for a week in August to see his family. Even though we had heard great things about flying Southwest Airlines during the pandemic, we still felt a little uneasy so we decided to drive. On our road trip we got to stop at six national parks. I have an all access pass that allows me and whoever I’m traveling with to enter national parks for free.

No national park can be completely accessible. Nature was not made for people like me with a mobility aid. I saw what I could at our stops and an incredibly lucky to have gotten to experience what I did. Sean was there making sure I was safe and had help every step of the way.

We stopped at White Sands National Park, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, Crater Lake National Park, Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, and Carlsbad National Park.

White Sands

The sand dunes were so big and soft. All of these parks have nature that I would have never imagined. We got to the park right after they opened so it wasn’t busy yet and it wasn’t hot yet either. I couldn’t climb up the huge sand dunes but that’s fine with me. They do rent out those sledding saucers or you can take your own thing to use to sled down the sand dunes, and I hated to miss out on that. There’s always at least one wheelchair accessible trail which in the case of sand being involved there wasn’t so much of a trail as it was a boardwalk. The park can be driven in an hour without stopping. There are restroom houses and picnic table areas too.

Sequoia and Kings Canyon.

We drove into Sequoia national Park around 7 or 8 in the morning, but getting up to the Sequoia trees took another hour and a half drive up winding mountain-side roads. One of my most favorite stops and the spark of my interest in seeing this park was where I could drive through a fallen over sequoia tree (the picture is on my Instagram account). There were also a lot of wheelchair accessible lookouts and paved trails. There was at least one entire handicap accessible parking lot with accessible restrooms which I didn’t use. There is not plumbing in national parks so just be warned if you do use the restrooms. We drove out the Kings Canyon side of the park and even saw a young bear before driving down the mountains.

Crater Lake

By the time that we got here we had already been driving for four days and were very close to our destination so we wanted to get out to see and leave. This park was extremely beautiful and not as wheelchair accessible as or as much as other parks are. The park more hiking centered and those hikes can be long, steep, and not accessible. There are some stairs at popular overlook areas too. I did not see any accessible restrooms and don’t remember seeing restrooms at all actually besides at the entrance points. I really try to avoid public restrooms and really just use them when my bladder is in a dire situation; plus the fact that Sean has to help me with transfers makes the public restroom situation more complicated.

Arches

We stopped here at the end of our day of driving. By this time many people had been in quarantine from the Covid pandemic for months so people were eager to enjoy the outdoors. The number of people on the trails combined with the heat did not make it very comfortable, especially when most people were not wearing masks. We stayed socially distanced the best we could and sanitized as often as possible throughout the drive including this stop. Most people would crowd in the shady areas so we also avoided those making our frequent stops in the park short. There were restroom houses in the parking lots of popular trailheads. The parking lots fill up pretty fast and can stay full for hours; it’s best to do what you stopped for like hike or use the restroom and go so someone else can enjoy it too.

Canyonlands

We got a Canyonlands before the sun came up and if you ever go you may not want to go in the morning. It was very cloudy so most of the pictures taken were not super clear until it got brighter out. Canyonlands with beautiful along with everything around. All of the other hikers and guests at the park were wearing masks which was very comforting compared to Arches the day before. Also, there some cliff sides I could definitely have gotten to sit at but Sean didn’t like the idea of picking me up on the side of a cliff so that did not happen.

Carlsbad Caverns

Again, we got to Carlsbad Caverns before they even opened to make sure we could get in. The website said that they normally sell out of tickets by 9:30 AM. I had never been so deep down in earth before probably. There was an elevator to take anyone who may need the accommodation down all the way to the start of the big caverns and the entire trail was paved and had railings which is very very nice. The caverns were something I would have never expected would be there in the middle of nowhere.

[gregkatepetegowest]

Truckee + Tahoe

Apologies for the delay to our loyal followers! My ghost writer took a minute to edit and add his commentary (is it Greg or Pete I'm referring to? You'll never know).

Our drive from Mammoth to Tahoe was just over three hours, easy! We had booked a ski in/ski out condo on Northstar. Technically located in Truckee, Northstar is about a 15-minute drive to Lake Tahoe and to downtown Truckee. We could also walk from our condo down to the Northstar Village, which had several shops and dining options (and a Starbucks).

Pete, Greg, and I arrived just after 4 pm, dropped our bags and then went for a hike. We found a trail that meandered up the mountain and wondered if we were on a hiking trail or mountain bike trail. If you have not been to a ski resort in the summer that allows mountain biking, you probably don’t know that people FLY down these trails so we were very interested in figuring out exactly what kind of trail we were walking on with the dog to avoid being mowed down. Unbeknownst to us, the resort was coming out of the post COVID fog the following day at 9 am by re-opening the gondola and bike trails for the first time since last year, which is why we were the only trio out there (Google told us this as we were trying to look up Northstar hiking trail maps).

After our walk, we headed down to the village in search of food. Additional Google research told us that few places were open and most closed at 8 pm (this was a Thursday). We tried to head to a sports bar but arrived to find it had gone out of business. We didn’t let this stop us and walked a pizza joint, Rubicon, which we knew was open. Being one of two restaurants open in the village, Rubicon was very busy. Most people were waiting for outdoor patio seating and we assumed this was COVID related. Since we have been sitting inside in Nashville for a month or so (AND VACCINATED, TY), we told the hostess we would be happy to sit anywhere. We walked inside and were seated at a high top table in the bar area. Within 30 seconds we realized… No air conditioning! Apparently, this is a thing in Northern California because it “doesn’t get that hot” there. To be fair, it has been unseasonably hot in the entire country the last couple of weeks and the temp drops significantly at night in the mountains. But when you’re sitting inside, near the kitchen of a pizza establishment and it’s 85 degrees outside, with no AC, you’re going to sweat. So that’s what we did. We had an awesome server/bartender (this is not a sarcastic comment). His name was Trevor and he fit the mold of a stereotypical California ski bum. He didn’t come over right away (but we really weren’t waiting long) and then felt the need to profusely apologize for “making us wait”, which was hilarious. Apparently, he had been on vacation for seven days and, in that short time, forgot how the server sections at Rubicon worked (prayers for me when I return to work after a 5 week sabbatical). At least that is what he told us. Anyway, we got salads like the responsible people we are (but split fries, hehe) and Trevor gave us the ���local discount”, which was 10% off. Overall a win and worth the sweating.

After dinner, we hustled back to the house because Pete’s buddy, Andy, was due to arrive from San Francisco any moment. We spent the evening catching up with all windows and the front door open because, again, no AC in the condo, and made a plan for tomorrow morning’s hike.

Day two in Truckee/Tahoe started with breakfast made by yours truly. Pete and Andy worked until noon or so and I think I wrote a blog post and walked Greg or something of that nature. After the guys wrapped up their work, we headed out for a hike picked by Pedro which was eight miles (!) with a scenic view of Lake Tahoe at the turnaround point. The trail was mostly shaded which was really nice and the view was gorgeous. We left Greg behind for this hike due to the length and heat. After the hike, we showered up and headed into downtown Truckee for drinks/dinner/meeting up with Shawna (my friend/roommate from Baltimore) and her boyfriend, Ralph, who had also driven up from San Francisco. Shawna and Ralph weren’t due into town until 8 pm so we headed to a dive bar, the Tourist Club, and had a drink and “played” pool. I used quotations for playing pool because Pete just worked over Andy and I, which is pretty much what I knew would happen. Finally, Shawna and Ralph arrived after surviving the SF traffic and we headed to Best Pies Pizzeria & Restaurant. At dinner, we encountered another spacey Tahoe server that forgot to visit our patio table. After waiting 20 minutes or so, Pete went inside to address the situation. Our server, Noah, eventually made it over to our table. He looked to be about 17 years old and it was his first night on the job. A future Tahoe ski bum, without a doubt. Luckily, a true veteran server, Amanda, was training him. She came over multiple times to apologize and tell us what a little pain in the ass he was for her night. The pizza was amazing, so we took it easy on young Noah.

After dinner, we headed back to the house to let Shawna and Ralph get settled and unwind.

Saturday morning Shawna and Ralph prepared a breakfast feast. Pete was very excited to have someone cook him bacon! From there, the guys went to play disc golf and Shawna and I walked Greg and then hit the pool at the resort. Stupidly, we didn’t look into pool COVID regulations. We were supposedly to make a reservation, which we didn’t, but somehow the girl at the desk let us in anyway. Of course, I assumed there would be free towels there – WRONG! Was I about to pay $1 to rent a towel for 45 minutes? Nope. So we swam around and air-dried and laughed about how unprepared we were. Every other group had coolers packed with snacks/lunch/beverages/etc., but we came empty handed. I did buy an overpriced water while there and then stared at the couple in the lounge chairs in front of us who had a whole spread of cheeses and crackers on their table. UGH. After disc golf and the pool, we headed to the lake to kayak. Pete had booked us kayaks for a two-hour paddle. The lake is incredible. So clear and just beautiful. Lake Tahoe is the second deepest Lake in the United States, but the water is so clear that it can be deceiving. Shawna kept claiming she was paddling in shallow water and sticking her paddle down into the water to see if she could touch the bottom with it (she could not). Twenty minutes into the paddle, I was feeling the buuurn in my shoulders. We paddled for almost two hours straight, only taking a break to lounge and swim for a bit before paddling back. We were all pretty burnt out by this point so we headed back to the house and grilled chicken and veggies for dinner and just hung out from there.

The next morning, we were all a little slow moving, but breakfast was had and we packed up all our crap, hugged our friends and hit the road to Chiloquin (Crater Lake).

[peter-horrocks]

Inside France review of 2020

People around the world will be thinking that 2020 has been the most testing and unpredictable of years in our lifetime. Yet despite the turmoil, for some it was a good year, though undoubtedly tinged with a sense of sadness, bewilderment as to how insensitive and selfish many humans can be and admiration for how amazing many people are too. On a personal front this was a good year in many ways, though my perspective is not your average as the previous year I was fighting a battle with cancer and practically anything is better than that.

“Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present.” Albert Camus

My best photo of 2020 taken on a bike ride up the Gorge du Loup near Grasse

The obvious dominant subject of 2020 was Covid 19 and I have great empathy for those adversely affected and directly involved. The virus popped up out of no-where and its impact has been incessant ever since. When I first became aware of it I asked my physiotherapist what she thought and if her son who was working in Tokyo was concerned. “Oh Corona, comme la bierre, boff!!” was her flippant reply. And I think that is where most people were at.

I’ve read a number of good books about the plague and how it spread, including Ken Follet’s brilliant World Without End and more recently I enjoyed the French classic La Peste by Albert Camus, French version. Transmission is key and human habits are why it spreads and our inability to adapt and accept change are our shortcomings, poor governance adds frustration. Thank goodness there are also those we acclaim as heroes too. It is so difficult battling an unseen entity which affects some badly but not others and which adapts too, as we all know now.

Home made mask

The media feeds on it and frankly, if I had a euro for every time I’ve seen a cotton bud thrust up someone’s nose on the news (what is news about that!!!) my pockets would be bulging, and of course now its needles in the arm time. Everyone’s become an expert or they’ve chosen to be ostrich’s and stuck their head firmly in the sand, and you can’t blame them really. The tension is palpable when it comes to masks in places where they are obligatory, I can’t help feeling angry when I see people not wearing them or with their noses poking out, as they often seem to have that smug look about them, like they are sooo independent-minded. It frustrates me to feel judgemental but its that wilful selfish thing that makes me angry, that sullen unwillingness to be part of the collective, as if we could survive regardless as an island, though obviously, we wouldn’t last a minute.

We’ve all been finding our way of coping and for some, it is much more difficult than others. At first, it was almost amusing to find oneself running from the back end of the apartment to the front balcony and back, repeat, for an hour in an effort to keep fit during tight confinement. We exchanged improvised mask ideas; I had a ski snood with a coffee filter stuffed down it! Initially, we were told the masks didn’t really work. The truth was they didn’t have enough of them and even worse here in France they had recently binned the reserve stock, so they were trying to hide their embarrassment. In fairness, that apart, the French government seem to have handled managing the virus relatively well so far though now there are vaccination issues aggravated by a vaccine sceptic population and slow bureaucracy.

There was something marvellous about discovering how well you could keep connected with friends and loved ones through WhatsApp video in particular. I hadn’t felt so connected to my elder brother living in South Africa ever. But when he died of a heart attack out walking in the hills with his friends over there the reality hit hard. A big delay in getting him back to the UK, a bigger delay for his wife to follow on and no opportunity to share in the grieving in the direct company of my family. There were seven of us brothers and sisters and I am by far the youngest, it is sad, strange and destabilising being down to six.

Additional anxiety was for my younger daughter who is a recently qualified doctor as is the man in her life. Both were having a small break before taking up their proper postings in the summer. They were enjoying hiking in the wilds of Scotland and a holiday with family in Asia and looking forward to more carefree travel after so many years of medical studies. They both bravely and unselfishly volunteered to work in one of the worst Covid affected hospitals in the UK. Heavily involved with the thankless task of informing families of their loss by video conference and in the testing of the recently approved Oxford vaccine, they were literally in the thick of it. Within two weeks of starting as volunteers, they both caught the virus, thankfully not badly and after an isolation period, they were straight back onto the wards. They have both taken up their proper posts now, in London, as the third wave comes crashing through. Understandably they are tired and don’t want to talk about it, it is very difficult, especially for them.

My elder daughter got caught up in things too. She was on a humanitarian posting in Nepal when the outbreak struck and only got out on the last plane to leave Kathmandu for the UK. Having a day off she had gone hang gliding in the morning, a first for her, an amazing thrill, she had just sent me photographs showing her flying, of stupendous views of the local lake and the Annapurna mountain range. Only to return and be told she had to pack and leave immediately. The next photo was of a night-time, deserted, frightening-looking Kathmandu where she managed to find one of the last hotels still open, a rough one. To say I was relieved when she got home and met up at the airport with her sister who similarly got the last plane out of Shri Lanka is an understatement. Thankfully, she managed to see out the first wave and much of the summer with the family of her friend who owns a nice property in the countryside near the sea, well away from it all.

Kathmandu in lockdown taken by my daughter

My anxiety and personal need were a desire to help them. Being stuck here in France and relatively at risk myself my options were limited. My main concern was for their mental health as my guess was that Covid was likely to affect everybodies. Shortly after my cancer treatment, my French wife’s sister gave me a couple of books by a French author, meditation master and philosopher Fabrice Midal. One was an introduction to meditation for westerners, non-religious and based on attention, more of an awakening and relevant to actually living life actively, not at all mind closing and definitely not relaxation. I found it very wise and tried the meditation in addition to my gentle yoga which is for my relaxation when I’m not out for a walk, playing football or cycling up a mountain. I still meditate and have found it fascinating, paying attention to the functioning of the most important thing of all, the one we nearly all neglect, the brain. Its no cure for anything but I found it a good exercise and felt it may help my girls.

Meditation book by Fabrice Midal, in french.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t exist in English. So I contacted the author and asked if he would mind me translating it, explaining that I thought it would help my daughters. To my surprise, he promptly replied and agreed saying he could probably then use it to publish it online. So, I set about translating it and explained what I was doing to my daughters and the eldest volunteered to proofread. Its nearly done and I can say that my eldest daughter found it very helpful and the youngest has at least read some of it. I had never translated a whole book before and I found it an interesting experience especially as a philosopher weighs his words and each one counts. Fabrice Midal appears regularly on French television as he is one of the country’s leading philosophers and authors. I have read a fair bit of Greek philosophy and have always had some interest in the subject as I find it helps make sense of life, up to now I was not aware of any contemporary philosophers worth reading. I have found him to be a real ray of light, someone I can relate to and admire and learn from. I think he deserves to be read more throughout the world; he is a man of the moment in my opinion. I never thought I’d see the day when I would sit on a meditation cushion, I don’t buy into the way most of it is practised at all, but I’m glad to have found one that suits me and I’m very glad to have been able to help my daughters if only in a small way.

Brexit end game After an anxious wait it's done and dusted, well nearly. I have made my permanent residency application, which was relatively simple and not too onerous, and I have a holding number and a statement that my rights in France continue as before. The only problem is a final processing delay of at least three months so still waiting to cross the t’s and dot the i’s when the administration is ready.

The mood in France Given the circumstances its not too bad and whist the government has its detractors they are less visible due to the various constraints at the moment and the more pressing business of dealing with the Covid crisis. There is moaning when things are obviously wrong but there does seem to be reactivity too as well as a good degree of solidarity, responsibility and helpfulness.

Best cultural moments Well, there haven’t been any as everything is shut and even when a few things like cinemas were open there was nothing much good on and certainly nothing worth risking being indoors with other people.

First day on the beach at Fréjus after lockdown number one

Best experience Stepping back out onto the football pitch in Saint Cezaire-Sur-Siagne was enormous for me. During my cancer treatment, I never thought I would be able to play football again. It’s a very simple thing kicking a ball around with fellow human beings, but I’ve always loved it to bits. Also in between lockdowns we managed to get down to the beach at Fréjus a couple of times in the morning when there were few people around and it was a real tonic to be able to enjoy the sea and sun, it was equally uplifting to be able to ride up into the mountains on my bike occassionally though hard getting the muscles going again each time.

Looking down towards the Gorge du Loup

Precious family moments The top was a visit from my elder daughter who managed to stay with us for a couple of weeks before getting back to the UK on the last flight before the second lockdown. A huge pickup, I enjoyed catching up with her work teaching online and coaching and being able to be there for her as well as visiting some nice places outdoors, especially the observatory at Caussols. 

And we also managed a lovely stay in a chalet in the high French Alps at Les Menuires in August along with my French wife’s daughters, son in law and five grandchildren, the sun shone on the verdant valley by day and the stars lit up our evening walks up the mountain, it was quite magical and great fun, I felt privileged to be part of it.

Selling my Dordogne property

I’ve finally given up on the idea that I might do something with my property in the Dordogne one day, so I’m selling it. It is composed of a beautiful big barn which I had re-roofed and opened some window openings at the start of a conversion (which I had planning for, now lapsed, but easy to re-new). Also a ruined small farmhouse. There is electricity and water but no drains (I did get permission for a septic tank but we never got round to installing it). Both are set on 1 hectare of land, mainly secluded, just one neighbour masked by trees and bushes on my side. 3km from the village of Montagrier near Périgueux. Price is 120,000 euros. If you know anyone who might be interested please let me know.

Classic 2cv It has been very enjoyable working with Classic 2cv again this year. We have brought lots of rusting old parts back to life and supplied enthusiasts far and wide with the means to keep their charming old French cars on the road. I have learned a lot and continue to grow in experience on the classic car front. Oddly its thrived during lockdowns as folk have channelled their time and energy into restoration of their cars.

So, as we head into the new year after a year like no other, the future looks uncertain, climate change and a biodiversity crisis are looming large in addition to the Covid virus. It feels important to survive, work, make the most of things, care about loved ones and to try and help.

Best wishes

Peter H

[peteandsiobhan]

Leaving Lockdown Costa Rica & Entering empty England

Corona to COVID-19 with Siobhan & Pete March/April 2020

Part 1 Costa Rica here we come

We departed for a 2-week adventure holiday to Costa Rica a few hours later than originally scheduled, in the afternoon of Saturday 14th March 2020. Heathrow airport was buzzing as usual, we had a little bottle of hand sanitiser, but no protection and no social distancing was occurring. After a boozy breakfast we giggled immaturely at the sight of a singular seemingly more paranoid passenger in full hazmat suit, looking like an extra in E.T.

We were aware at this time of Corona virus starting to take hold of Italy, lock downs in China, very few British cases and hardly any outbreaks outside of China Italy, Iran and France. At this point, news informed us to continue as normal, not travel to outbreak countries, to self-isolate for 2 weeks on return from these Countries and that the virus was flu like symptoms which can be deadly for the old and vulnerable (those with underlying health issues ranging from Cancer to Diabetes), for the young or healthy, the implication was the virus was easily beaten.    

   Slight delays to our departure across the North Atlantic Ocean were accredited to Donny Trump’s announced ban from midnight Friday 13th on EU flights entering the US (excluding the UK, thankfully), which meant merging multiple flights to Atlanta, Georgia. The delay meant we would miss our connecting flight to San Jose and would have to stay in Atlanta for a night rather than San Jose. On Announcing our arrival in Atlanta, the pilot who was rather confused and concerned, informed passengers the CDC would be boarding the plane and to stay seated. We asked the beautifully cool, smooth accented airhostess, who sat next to us cooing over the baby on the front row, what the CDC was and what was about to happen. 

‘Centre for Disease Control’. The airhostess’s little girl was in New York and soon to celebrate her first birthday, she immediately started worrying about getting quarantined, turned around, or maybe even tested. Several ridiculously huge uniformed, plastic masked men walked down the aisle, with their loaded guns, handing out paper forms for us to complete and return. The men requested everyone to go home and isolate for two weeks and check for symptoms. We were each given poorly printed leaflets, which included details of symptoms, requesting again for isolation, except for us who were wished a good onward journey. 

That weird rush of America filled all our senses, from the colour of the light, the accents, guns, and general factor 50 vibes, as we tiredly tried to find the Delta desk to figure out where to stay and next flights out of Atlanta. We were greeted by a cheerful yet stressed, smiley yet take no shit, well humoured team of middle-aged ladies, who sorted us out with free vouchers for a hotel and new flights – advising that our luggage would be transferred automatically to the new flight tomorrow. Boom! There were lots of Europeans trying to get home and rearranging flights etc, we just seemed to breeze through, after realising the call centre were really struggling and the ladies on the desk had it under control. We cancelled our night in San Jose with an extremely helpful, understanding Airbnb host, and set all the alarms after a little steak dinner at a hotel within walking distance from the airport, we were advised $50 per person per day spends on food and drink would later be reimbursed on application.

It was then we read that Atlanta was where the CDC is based (It was here that we discovered the CDC’s head quarters is based in Atlanta), and where ALL of Americas Corona tests were sent for analysis and a result. Felt like we had fallen out of a tree into a bees nest, movies like Outbreak and Contagion sprang to mind. We were keen to leave and get to our paradise. Airhostesses were wearing gloves on the next flight, headed South over the Gulf of Mexico, and kindly gave us a free bottle of red wine, after Pete explained our missed flight, happy days. We hung out with Americans at the other end in San Jose, whilst awaiting our ride to the cloud Forest in Monteverde. The Americans seemed chilled, happy to be on holiday and excited about their plans for diving, exploring, beach life and all the animals and birds. We spoke about Corona, how it may kick off in New York, where one couple lived, the bartender would be screwed if the bar closed, his veterinary wife seemed sceptical of any impact on her business. We agreed to look out for each other the following week in Manuel Antonio and casually joked about how we would be lucky to get trapped in Costa Rica, which none of us envisioned to be possible. Three cases of Corona virus in northern Costa Rica, from American tourists who were isolated and being looked after.

Part 2 Monteverde mountains and cloud forest creatures foraging

Montverde is out of this world. We were welcomed to our glass box hut tucked away in the forest by a beautiful orange puff chested brown bird and an Agouti (aka wish pig). We decided to detach from the world news, friends on WhatsApp groups and make the most of our trip. Night Safari seemed like a well-polished tourist trip, with fewer groups than usual, as tourists had begun to cancel trips or return home. We ran around in the early evening dusk, when all the animals and birds go nuts, with a charming guide, who showed us all sorts, from scorpions that glow in UV light like psy trance ravers to young 2 toed sloths climbing down their tree to take their once weekly poo on the ground. We saw a Hairy female Tarantula, Armadillos, sleeping birds, poisonous tree viper snakes, the classic red eyed frog (teeny tiny!). Best comment came from another guide, who as Pete was getting closer to a green viper snake for a wildlife picture shoot, wisely informed us that not only was the viper deadly poisonous and leaps when threatened, but this tree like all the trees and all the forest are connected and move as one.     Ziplining through the mountain tops with a group of young American tropical biologist students, and a pair of talking parrots was immense. Flying alongside large birds of prey, feeling free and pumped full of adrenalin with stunning views of such diverse bright colourful flora and fauna, was invigorating and fun as fuck. The final Tarzan swing was a jaw dropping moment of pure thrills. We went first and recorded the students screaming behind us, who were made up to have a record of their bravery. This, along with pretty much everything else closed 2 days later.

The students were getting one last adventure in before returning to the US, against their will, they had been threatened by universities with loss of credits, pulled funding and project shutdowns. We encouraged them to rebel and stay to finish their projects and studies which will no doubt help with the protection and knowledge of such wonderous places on our planet. We spent the afternoons and evenings walking and exploring the beautiful mountainside, village homes had very English like gardens with rhododendrons, there was a big artist presence and the most stunning sunsets. One on such evening sunset gazing, we were asked to sit one seat apart as part of the new Costa Rican tradition, we were confused and complied wearily, unaware the government had been issuing corona spread reduction advice. On the recommendation of our Airbnb host, handily an ex tour operator, worryingly an ex whaler, we went over to the other mountain Santa Elena, for a national park exploratory hiking day. We didn’t anticipate the accent Japanese meets hippy messages around the first hike and got fully immersed in the advice and vibes which were curing and calming. The jungle was dense, enchanting and beautiful, with birds that seemed to call back to us, mimicking our whistles, whilst others sang in harmony with each other and some calls were straight out of Star Wars. The winding paths took us high enough to see the Arenal volcano and low down in the valley streams. Something quite magical about this place, a place where the past and future faded and the present was filled with wonder, respect, admiration and appreciation of all nature has to offer.  There were very few others in the entire national park, which closed the following day.

Whilst we were blissfully unaware of the escalation and seriousness of Corona virus spreading, we started to receive messages from friends advising us to come home. We decided we were probably safer in Costa Rica than Europe, and that getting early flights back would be stressful and expensive. We found an ancient strangler tree, now hollow after 400 years of growing around its host tree, which since died and crumbled away. There were around eight or so other tourists admiring the spectacle and climbing the inner maze of its curly wurly like structure. There was talk of Panama closing its boarders, but no concerns over being in groups together, or returning to Europe early. We received an Airbnb notification to say anyone who booked our next apartment advising anyone who was booked between 17th March to 13th April must cancel their bookings. Lucky for us, Pete miss interpreted this to refer to the date the booking was made, rather than the dates booked. We responded to confirm we would arrive soon, as planned.   We left the quaint Quaker mountain town and headed to the coast to the paradise beaches of Manual Antonio, famed for surfing, excited, energised and fully relaxed. We were so grateful to our host, we gifted him with a Liverpool football shirt for his new baby daughter, for which he was delighted.   

Part 3 Surf’s up in Manuel Antonio

Tucans, spider monkeys, lizards, iguanas, wish pigs and stunning tropical sea views welcomed us to our apartment in Manuel Antonio. The pool, Jacuzzi and beautiful open areas in full bloom were guest free; the place was eerily quiet. Bonus! All this space to ourselves, bliss. 

The magnificent beach was a few minutes down the hill, past empty bars and restaurants, closed stores and shut up tourist attractions. The heat of the morning was immense, cooling off in the sea felt like pure luxury. We had all this room, all this space on what should have been a crammed tourist hot spot. We felt spoiled, privileged and elated! We planned to kick back, check out some of the surf schools in the afternoon and make some solid plans for the coming days. 

We spotted a police van on the beach on the far left in the distance, guessing a theft or accident perhaps? A large authoritarian boat and a smaller one appeared in the bay, as lifeguards began speaking to people on the beach methodically. When they reached us, they explained the government had closed not only this beach, but all beaches in the country from now and until at least June. They politely asked us to leave, to return to our hotel and to stay there. We went to the nearest bar to eat, drink and check the news. We met an English couple, who were worried too, and shocked to learn the beach had been closed. We met them later that night for dinner and bumped into them once more a few days later. They explained a car had crashed into the shop under their flat in London, destabilising the whole structure! More drama. They were weighing up their options of where to stay for lock down Britain on their return in a day or so. Yikes.

We returned to the villa to find the owner, a Canadian woman panicking, flustered, explaining she would close after we and one other couple left in few days and imposed upon us that we should check with airlines and make plans to return home. Jeez Louise, this woman was bumming us out. Our airline requested we avoid contacting them until 72 hours before our flight home, we had ages yet! Everyone seemed to leave the area, leaving even fewer tourists. Pete and I spent our time eating in empty restaurants, drinking in empty bars, enjoying the wildlife from our veranda and floating on the inflatable donut in the pool, and admiring the stunning sunsets, trying to snap the sun melting into the sea and playing Yahtzee. This must be what famous people experience, in terms of closed only to them restaurants and bars.

Lucky for us we bonded instantly with an old American man who was leaving to stay with a friend nearby to see this thing out, rather than risk returning stateside. He was fascinated with us, as he grew up in the UK and even had a Bristolian connection somehow.  As he departed, he smoothly passed Pete a bag of mighty fine weed, asking subtly if its something we would enjoy, explaining he couldn’t take it where he was going. All felt a bit James Bond, what a dude! Score. As we explored Manuel Antonio, and admired the beach from afar, admired the water sports and adventures no longer available, we vowed that one day we would return.

We nervously checked with our third and final, destination in Uvita, our most luxurious booking of the holiday, of the check in times. The response was slow but came back positively, thankfully. By this point everywhere was closed and we were one of two couples left. 

The Uber driver turned up and instantly cancelled our booking, issuing us a refund, then agreeing to take us, cash in hand, outside of the Uber app. It was a long drive, with a roadblock police check point on route.  

Part 4 Toucan time, UVITA!

Wow! This place is insane. Nestled on a mountain side with sea view, sprawling tropical plants and trees decorate and frame each glance in every direction. The heat enveloped us from head to toe as the diverse jazz orchestra sounds of the jungle reverberated, bouncing energetically and harmoniously, waking all our senses. The open-air restaurant framed with curvy interwoven majestic strangler trees, led to small, yet dramatic infinity pool on a cliff edge. There were far more staff than tourists, we were one of 4 couples soon to be 3. Exhausted and relived, we were led to our stilted jungle bungalow. MADE IT. LUXURY.