Navigation Workshop

Next time I go unemployed in Scotland I'll pick a better time of the year. Because what use is it to have plenty of time on your hands if you can't use it properly? If it was summer I'd grab my backpack and be off walking around Scotland. I really haven't thought this through properly. And cuddling up at home is not a great option either, since my current home is cold, even equipped with hat, scarf, blanket, and tea.

So, in order to get out and socialize I signed up for a Meetup group, the Scottish Hillwalking and Activities group, that organize hillwalking, rockclimbing and other social events in and around Glasgow. So far I've joined two events, a beginner's rockclimbing class in a climbing hall that is a converted church, and a navigation weekend workshop in the Scottish highlands. The climbing class was very nice and relatively cheap, and if I go there a few more times I might be eventually confident enough to belay other people without letting them fall.

The navigation workshop happened last weekend in Crianlarich, a little village in the highlands, on the route of the West Highland Way (WHW) which, in 2011, had been the first multiday walk I did. We actually skipped this part of the WHW because it went along a road and we wanted to save our energy for the prettier parts. Last weekend however, I did walk around the area, to practice using a map and a compass. The workshop consisted of a theory session in the morning, in the Crianlarich Youth Hostel, and a practice session in the afternoon, on the hill. Scotland showed itself from its worst side. While it was only cold and windy with knee-deep snow on Saturday (we left the trails in order to simulate getting lost and because the instructor doesn't really like trails), it rained, snowed, and sleeted during the whole Sunday. My boots finally gave up the ghost and were soaked with icy water by the end of the day.

But being a nerd I really liked the compass/map part of the ordeal, and even when I hadn't been able to feel my toes for a few hours I could still smile when I actually ended up where I had planned to end up just by using the compass. There's so much more to a compass than a needle showing to magnetic north! With some practice and experience (and a good map) you can use the compass to identify your position when you get lost even when you can't see far. You can climb mountains that don't have any paths at all, or find the quickest way off the mountain if the weather turns bad. The only problem is that using a compass is much more fun in conditions where you don't really need one. From the little experience I gained over the last weekend I can say that in shitty weather I rather follow anyone who seems to have an idea which way to go than get my hands cold by using my compass.

All in all it was a very nice weekend. I met friendly people, I finally found an excuse to get new boots, and in the end, we all indulged in huge portions of fish and chips at the chippy in Tyndrum.

A rare sunny day in Edinburgh

Calton Hill with the National and the Nelson Monument.

The Edinburgh Castle

View from Castle Hill.

Stairs from Royal Mile down to Grassmarket.

Some random guy jumping in my picture.

Scottish Parliament. Went to a whisky tasting here, saw a bunch of whisky industry representatives among which at least one who starred in the movie "The Angel's Share".

Holyrood Palace and Abbey with Salisbury Crags in the background. I remember sitting up there many years ago.

Some thug attempting to steal a royal pruning device.

Hamerstorf Morning

The New Christmas

I'm spending Christmas with my family at my parents' house, the house I grew up in. Everything seemed to be like every year until my brother arrived yesterday and we had to have the talk. About video games under the Christmas tree. Which were not appreciated last year and will not be allowed this year. 

As a compromise, he moved the living room TV to his bedroom for the duration of the week he is spending here, since this device is apparently the only one that is capable of being connected with the playstation. Now he can blow off people's heads in the privacy of his room. 

Before a different TV could be organized to fill the empty spot, however, my mum did this:

 

The TV spot filled with heaps of gifts, which, admittedly, are more decorative, there is no room left for a replacement TV, and for the first time since the beginning of time we won't be watching TV on Christmas!

But what to do instead? Talk? Play boardgames? Yesterday, we went to the Christmas market in Uelzen with the almost complete family (just one brother still missing). That was fun, especially since my parents paid for all the Glühweins and Bratwursts and sweets, AND my dad drove. But back home again, my dad still looked a bit forlorn, sitting in front of the TV spot, missing the seven o'clock news, looking at Christmas gifts instead, and listening to the radio. Since this is all the excitement that happens in our little village I promise to report about new developments in the TV crisis as soon as they arise.

And in this spirit I generically but genuinely wish everyone a merry Christmas, happy Hannukkah, and stable stomachs for the upcoming feasts.

MONA in Hobart

The MONA is a collection of "new and old art", and the main tourist attraction of Hobart, Tasmania's capital. It is privately owned by David Walsh, a professional poker player and really rich guy who has been in the (Tasmanian) news lately because the Tasmanian government changed their tax law and wanted to backdate it so that Walsh's poker winnings from the past 10 years could be taxed.

Anyway, the museum is a fun place, and Mr. Walsh seems to be obsessed with genitals. I took pictures of the works of art that touched/amused/impressed me.

I really liked Jon Pylypchuk's installation, funny little guys humping trees:

You asked me to come and see your routine, you call this a fucking routine? 2006

Jon Pylypchuk

 Also, Balint Zsako's watercolors which are full of penises and boobs:

Group of Balint Zsako Works 2006–9

Balint Zsako

 

 

This is a bike and paint.

Fahrrad mit Farbe 1995-2003

Roman Signer

These 30 Madonna fans were asked to sing one of her albums solo and a cappella. They do with such passion and facial expression that watching and listening to this must be really painful to other Madonna fans since it is massively ridiculous. I found it hilarious. Apparently, the artist did that to Michael Jackson and John Lennon as well.

 

Queen (a Portrait of Madonna) 2005

Candice Breitz

 Scary:

unwritten #8 2008

Vernon Ah Kee

 

These are real live fish. One is hiding under the knife.

Untitled 1991/2011

Jannis Kounellis

A library full of books with blank pages. They had to put up a sign so that visitors won't write into the open books on the tables.

Untitled (White Library) 2004-6

Wilfredo Prieto

Last day

Luggage storage in Melbourne is expensive and costs between $10 and $12 per day at the airport or bus terminal, and $5 - $8 per day at some hostels. Since I didn't want to bring all my stuff to Tasmania (I should have brought my dancing shoes though...) I got around these storage expenses by sending a parcel with extra clothes, dancing shoes, etc. to the Melbourne general post office, poste restante, where parcels can be picked up up to one month later. That cost me $8 in total.

So, I returned from Tasmania to Melbourne last night, and today, I had only a few hours to get my parcel, pack my backpack, meet up with friends from Germany (!), and get to the airport to fly home. But everything would be fine if the post didn't mess up. Last time I did the poste restante thing they couldn't find my parcel at first, and I had to insist on them searching for it again before they found it. But they did find it. And this time, I had sent it from Melbourne to Melbourne, so it couldn't possibly have gotten lost, right?

The lady at the mail collection counter was slightly less rude than the gentleman I dealt with last time, however, she, too, disappeared for a few minutes in the back, returned, and told me they didn't have my parcel. After insisting that a package sent from 1 km north almost one month ago surely must have reached its destination by now she went and looked again, and voilà, she found it.

This was less complicated than I expected and left me two hours happily spent with packing.

What would you do with 20 hours free of distraction?

That's how much time I'm going to spend tomorrow on flights with Thai Airways and without in-flight entertainment. And I was looking forward to seeing how many movies I could fit in during this period of time!

Go over my CV? Meditate? Write a short-story? Brush up on my French?

Unless I get an upgrade to business class I'm open to suggestions. And no, I usually don't sleep in planes.

Aussie Cuteness

Spending my last hours in Tasmania I'm delighted to overhear the locals mangle their language quite adorably. You've probably heard the Australians being called Aussies. Similarly, Tasmania becomes Tassie, Launceston is Launie, breakfast is brekkies, barbecue is barbie, and the Woolworths supermarket is Woollies :)

One week to go!

Cygnet is the name of a small town in the Huon Valley south of Hobart where I'll be spending a few days chilling and recovering from all the camping and walking excitement. Then, it's a weekend of dancing in Hobart. And after that, heat up the Gluehwein, light the candles, put the cookies in the oven, I'm coming home!

Walking Anxiety #1 - Fear of Pain

In the past 15 months I have done six multi-day walks in Scotland, England, Iceland, and Australia. On one of my last walks there were actually people looking up to me and my walking experience when I had been a rookie myself just a few months ago!

I've always liked the idea of traveling light, being able to carry everything I need, and thus figuring out what it is that I actually need. But I was in awe of people who actually walked all day long with their huge backpacks. Just thinking of a backpack gave me back pain. I have a history of back pain due to my slightly bent spine in combination with a lack of regular exercise.

Therefore, my biggest fear about walking was the fear of back pain.

I don't really know how I overcame this fear, but when Kat suggested to walk the West Highland Way I happily and adventurously agreed. Was it my love for Scotland, the challenge, or the prospect of purchasing a backpack that got me excited? Probably all of it. And it turned out that walking the West Highland Way has been one of my best vacations ever. I didn't have back pain, because I had a great backpack and didn't carry too much extra stuff (although with my current experience I'd bring even less if I was to walk it again).

I didn't get back pain, I got foot pain instead.

Not used to this kind of exertion both my Achilles tendons started to hurt on the third day and hurt for the rest of the walk. So in the end, I did experience pain, but, to my surprise, it didn't make me miserable or spoiled my walk. A few painkillers eased the pain a little bit, and I was still having a great time! Because the landscapes were still beautiful, the fellow hikers still entertaining, the pubs still warm, and the pints still cold. Being in pain while walking was way less of a problem than it had appeared to in my imagination.

Naturally, before my second multi-day walk, in England's Lake District, I was a bit worried about my feet. Reasonably worried though, not irrationally anxious. So I strengthened my ankles beforehand, regularly stretched my feet, and used walking sticks to take the pressure off my joints. This time, my feet were fine, even though the walk might have been even a bit harder at times.

So I guess it's good to question one's anxieties from time to time. Shit happens, but bad things are never as bad as you think they might be.

Walking on Freycinet Peninsular

Once the Australian walking bug had bitten me I wasn't to be stopped anymore and headed off to my next hike just a few days after the last. I took the bus to the Freycinet national park and walked a circuit with two nights camping. The pictures of the first two days turned out to be a bit misty due to smoke from bushfires in the area.

Australia is big, Tasmania is small. After one hour of walking I ran into The Boys, two gentlemen I had met on the Overland Track. Apart from them I didn't see many people, especially once I left the day use area. I ended up at Cooks Beach where there was only one other person, who I had a nice chat with and who shared some of his candy-snakes with me. Later, another couple joined us at the campsite, but it was still lonely enough.

The next day I refilled all my water containers because I wouldn't have water for the next 30 hours. Unfortunately, there was a mountain to cross, and I'd rather haven't had to carry the three extra kilos. But to cross it I had to. On top of the mountain I was panting like a hippo and met one of those annoying trail runners who disrespectfully run your multi-day walk in just one day and thus make it look EASY. But he was actually pretty nice. It took me 7 hours to reach the next campsite which was located at picturesque Wineglass Bay. At the campsite, there were a few anglers, but I found a lonely spot behind the foredune. I was joined by wallabies, all kinds of birds, and two possums who made a lot of noise at night when they played with my pots which I had left outside. Also, I found a biggish spider in my tent which I didn't dare to catch and throw out because I didn't know whether or not it could kill me. The idea to kill it first didn't cross my mind at the time because it was too big not to be considered a sentient being. Someone told me later that these spiders aren't able to kill people but their bites cause big ugly ulcers, so good call to leave it alone.

The last day the sky had cleared up and I could take the standard pictures of Tasmania's East Coast signature view, the Wineglass Bay from Wineglass Bay Lookout. There, I ran into a group of guys I had shared a dorm with in Hobart.

Freycinet peninsular. I walked from the car park via Hazards Beach to Cooks Beach, from there via Mt. Graham to Wineglass Bay and back to the car park.

Blue wren

Right before Hazards Beach.

Hazards Beach.

Sunset at Cooks Beach.

Cooks Beach.

View from Cooks Beach campsite.

Oyster catchers.

It took me 7 hours because of that stupid mountain.

View from the top of Mt. Graham.

Don't I own this boulder?

Wallaby with joey.

 

Wineglass Bay with the Hazards in the background.

Wineglass Bay seen from the lookout.