Amsterdam in Pictures!

Well what can I say about our lovely trip to Amsterdam!! Firstly would you believe it's the first time we've been on a plane together, and our first trip to Europe! Hard to believe considering we always seem to be running around like headless chooks to different countries, just never at the same time!

Typical Canal

Amsterdam was gorgeous a lot prettier than I imagined, albeit really wet!! The heavens completely opened up on us a couple of times but when it was dry.....lovely!!!

Our hotel was right beside the flower markets. Mid week though they were fairly quiet. Still saw a lovely range of flowers though.

Kenny doing what he does best!!

bike parking tower!

Now if it's one thing you can't miss it's the bicycles!! I've never seen a city so catered to being bicycle friendly to the point where its all a bit manic.

Have to say though that one of our highlights was watching this woman struggling with her full size Cello and super impressed when she managed to get on her bike and ride away!! Oh and she was also wearing heels!! IMPRESSIVE!

The Seven bridges

'Seven Bridges' is one of my favourite canal photos I took, it really captures the intensity of the canal structure in Amsterdam and how much the city uses it, plus its really pretty. Make sure you click on it to see the photo full size.

Classic bridge

A Canal boat cruise really is a must in this City, its really the only way to truely appreciate it's beauty. And after hours of walking around a great way to give the feet a break.

Lifting bridge

Fresh Corn on the Cob

We managed to find the local farmers markets too where the smell of fresh corn drizzled in butter was just too much to go past!!

Our final afternoon was spent sitting in cafe watching the world go past ( on bicycles of course) and enjoying a glass of wine and some nibblies.

Iceland - Grimsvotn Volcano!!

What an incredible last day!!! We headed over to the glaciers on the other side of Reykjavik to do some serious driver training....and crikey that was fun. Started off driving ever so carefully, really worried about damaging these incredibly expensive trucks...then after being yelled at profusely by Gisli I began to realise how indestructible these trucks practically are!

We spent most of the day burning around learning how to get 'unstuck' in the snow. How to drive safely over minor crevasses, most importantly though I guess what NOT to do!!

After a days training and seeing as we were in the area we decided to head up to the active volcano to say g'day!! it'd be rude not considering we were in the area!

small step for woman kind

big step for scrapping layout!!! 

We stopped off numerous times to have a look at the ground, couldn't see too far ahead of us as the higher we got the thicker the fog.....a very strange atmosphere! It was quite exciting seeing the changes to the glacier the closer we got to the volcano. You need to remember, we're ON A GLACIER that is usually completely WHITE!!! All that black muddy stuff you see is actually ash!!!

The amazing thing was you could dig into the ground and feel how warm it was! Really bizarre!

Emil showing us
where not to stand!

The closer we got to the crater the more crevasses appeared we even found these gorgeous ice caverns, the fun bit was crossing over the ice bridge to get to the other side!!




Luckily there were no trolls hiding underneath and we managed to pass safely.




We got to the top and kept walking out, probably a lot further than we should of , but it seemed like a good idea at the time ;o)



We crossed larger crevasses still and then we spotted her!! The top!

The frozen lake completely blasted away and there still bubbling away in the middle is the top of the volcano, seems small and insignificant in this photo but it really was massive, and just mind blowing to think that the hole above it was completely frozen and level with the rest of the top!!

Managed to grab a quick photo of me before we legged it....we heard ice crashing down underneath us so figured it was time to move!! Love my big puffer jacket, had to borrow it of one of the guys as it was FREEZING up there!






Spent the night in this little geologists hut at the bottom of the glacier, it even had a matching toilet!!

So ..... had an absolutely thrilling week, full of all sorts of emotions. Pretty knackered when I got home, had a nice hot shower and was brushing my hair in the mirror when I think I caught a glimpse of a woman I used to know; strong, active, confident. Maybe she's still there after all??!! Will have to make the time to get to know her again J

Iceland - Antarctica Training

What a week!!! I’ve been lucky enough to meet and train with some of the amazing people that Kenny has worked with going to the Poles. I also got to know the most incredible female explorer, Felicity Aston.  Look her up here to get an idea of what some women are capable of....truely inspirational! Make sure you show your daughters, nothing is out of reach for them!

The red truck was my baby to play with for the week!!

My week started off at the Arctic Trucks factory, I was introduced to the trucks we were going to be using in Antarctica and we had a reminder lesson on basic climbing skills. Then the real fun began as we headed up to the glaciers to throw a truck down a crevasse!

Check out the 'monster truck' fueling stop, could you imagine seeing this at the local BP???

As for my week, it consisted of a lot of 'firsts'

The first time I saw glaciers ....beautiful!

The first time I looked down a crevasse ....nerve-wracking!

More importantly the first time I abseiled down a crevasse .... exhilarating!!

Top of crevasse

The idea was to practice rescue techniques should the worse happen and we lose a truck down a crevasse. The guys from Arctic Trucks had already been out and found a large crevasse to use, they were hoping that the truck would crash though the crevasse and maybe reveal a cathedral crevasse underneath as well as total the truck to give us a really good rescue scenario. 3 times we threw this damn truck down the crevasse and each time it ended upright on its wheels, looking like it had been driven in!!! NOT what we were hoping for!!! But it did give us a good laugh though.

Crash Attempt 1

Crash Attempt 2

Crash Attempt 3

Never known a truck fight so hard to live!! In the end the guys ended up just turning it over...hehehehe

We learnt how to abseil down safely and use specialized rescue equipment to cut people out of the car, quite an intense training session and hopefully the skills I learnt out here will never be needed!

After a long cold day we headed back down the glacier to a 'country cottage' to spend the night, the best part was a hot tub outside powered naturally but the hot springs in the area, the perfect way to end a busy day. Oh and a nice glass of red!!

Royal Wedding

Oh could she be anymore beautiful!!!!! I've had a good cry watching this wedding, gorgeous service....don't you love a good wedding!!!!

More Holiday Videos

And heres the best video, saved for last....and man and his dog, finally Kenny gets his 'water' dog :o)

Our Holidays!

Well we've been back for a couple of weeks now but been soooo busy I've only just motivated myself to post about our week away! Kenny hired a 6 berth campervan so we could take our boy away comfortably and after deciding we didnt have enough time to head to Ireland we decided to head up to the Lakes district instead.

We had reasonable weather at Lake Windemere ....

Spring is here....baby coos in the forest!!!!

You can always tell when spring reaches the forest, its been glorious blue skies about, the views in the forest become breath-taking again, and new baby animals begin to appear!!! First on the scene are some little calves, they're just gorgeous!! It's like a little cow creche, they all play together and have 2 naps a day...mid-morning and mid-afternoon, so cute!! It's just the mama cows you have to watch out for!!

It's my birthday!!

Well what a fun weekend!!! On Saturday Kenny went out with the boys to play on his trail bike (something he doesn't get to do often) I spent the afternoon with the boy and had a couple of visits from my lovely neighbours with flowers and chocolates for my birthday. In the evening we went out for dinner with a large group of friends to wish Carol all the best for her 6 mth tour of duty in Afghanistan, may she come home safely!!!

On Sunday Kenny had organised a pre-birthday surprise which was an absolute blast! We went to Go-Ape tree-top adventure park (yes we are the romantic couple aren't we!) (I took him zorbing last year!) lots of swinging, climbing and balancing....well attempted balancing, check out the vids!

Really must blog more

First a bone to chew on.....INDOORS!!

Well I've finally gotten around to downloading photos off the camera!!! Had to post some photos of Samurai's b'day. He turned 12 at the beginning of February and we made a right fuss of him on the day. Can't believe my little mans been with me for 12 years!! Seems like yesterday I was picking him out of his litter at 6 weeks of age and 2kgs weight. He's been my best friend and closest companion ever since.

I made him a special birthday cake - a Victoria Sponge with jam and cream and his name dusted in icing on top.

Does it look like he wants a piece???

Took him ages to take it off the plate, I've trained him too well and he wouldn't touch it as its on a 'people plate' and not a doggie bowl.

Eventually he went for the grab and ended up taking it to his bowl.....awwww bless!! Very happy dog!

Hope you enjoyed your birthday Samurai, mummy and daddy love you lots!!!xxxx