Tag Archives: Sights

Black Tusk

29 Jul

Three weekends of partying in a row is pretty usual in the summer months but I needed a break. I called up my buddy Luke and we decided to get into the back country. Luke picked me up at 5am Saturday morning in his Jeep Cherokee and we were out of the city by the time the sun came up. 1.5 hours later we were at the trail head with our gear strapped to our backs and started up the path. The trail up to the Lake is nothing to write home about with countless switchbacks for the entire 9km. We got to the end of the trail and I was blown away by Garibaldi Lake. It was a gorgeous turquoise blue without a single ripple on it.

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Garibaldi Lake

Luke and I set up our camp and went right to the lake to cool down from the mornings hike. We made a make-shift cooler in the lake to cool our beers down and spent the day relaxing in the sun and jumping off the dock.

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Garibaldi Lake

We got up early the next day and started out on the trail up the mountain. Black Tusk has always been a bucket list item for me and to quote Sir Edmund Hillary today was the day I was going to knock the bastard off. This part of the hike was stunning as you are surrounded by lush meadows, wild flowers, streams and the back drop of the coastal mountains.

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Taylor Meadows

As you get near the top all sign of life disappears as a warning that the Tusk is not to be taken lightly. The terrain turns to shale and every step forward you slide a little back. Before you know it you are starring the last obstacle in the face, the dreaded chimney.

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Just below the Tusk

My heart was pumping with adrenaline as I started the climb knowing that any loose hold would send me barreling into Luke and take us both off the side of the mountain. We both managed just fine and were left speechless at the top. We took our time taking it all in, then came the obvious question of how are we supposed to get down?

 

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Black Tusk Summit

 

Until next time my foggy friends!

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Coachella 2013

3 Jul

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Professional Babes

14 Jan

I touched down in Brussels and it was a little colder than I was accustomed to in Africa, luckily I had my trusty beard to keep my face warm. After a little confusion I met up with my friend Claire who I had met in University. Claire is in Brussels playing professional volleyball for Barbar d’X-Elles. Claire gave me a tour around the city that hit the main sites including Grand Place, St. Machael and St. Gudula Cathedral and then famous Manneken Pis. We then hit the true sites of Brussels and stopped for some frites and beers. No stop in Brussels can be complete without *moules frites so we wrangled up Erin and Britt from the team and went out to a place called Au Vieux Bruxelles. The restaurant has been serving plates since 1882 so you know they weren’t going to mess anything up. The girls were all amazing in taking in this bearded bum even though they were a little nervous about having a hippie in the house. A huge thanks to them all and here is a quick story on the girls from TV Brussels.

http://www.tvbrussel.be/fr/node/21916

Foggy

*A big bowl of mussels with fries on the side.

Britt and Erin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dollar Bills

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Tanzania

23 Nov

Some footage shot over my few weeks in the beautiful Tanzania.

Foggy

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Fishing on the Nile

31 Oct

I met Peter and Warren rafting the day before who were up from South Africa selling wine for their wineries. Warren was the marketing manager at Guardian Peak and Peter’s family ran De Westhof Estate. That night we spent testing their products and they invited me along to go fishing the next day. We met captain Rob and set out to catch some *Nile Perch. It was a pretty sophisticated fishing trip as the boys brought some wine and cheese to enjoy out on the water. Lake Victoria has been extremely over fished and we were warned that pulling anything out would be difficult. That didn’t stop big Peter though from pulling out a whopping 20Kg Perch. I tried to pay the boys in the end for my part of the boat fees but Peter said no way as I had a lot longer trip in front of me.

Huge Cheers to you boys!

Foggy

*Nile Perch is a huge fish found in Lake Victoria and the Nile that can weigh up to 200Kg.

Lake Victoria

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Queen Elizabeth National Park

27 Oct

I did a quick trip through the south western part of Uganda and came across the Queen Elizabeth National Park. The park is definitely worth a look and try and stay in the town of Ishasha where you will hang out with the Ugandan army protecting the DRC-Uganda border which is 100 metres away from where you sleep.

Foggy

 

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A Drinker’s Guide to London

15 Oct

Eight Bells

Great family run neighborhood pub located at 89 Fulham High Street, London, Greater London SW6 3JS, United Kingdom. This place had a great atmosphere to it and drinks were all very cheap. Great bar to put your arm around your mate and belt out the classics it has going over the speakers.

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The Penthouse

Located at 1 Leicester Square, London WC2H 7NA, United Kingdom on the 6th floor. It has a great view of Big Ben and the London Eye but it is a little too clubby for me. Drinks will run you about 6 pounds and are nothing special. If you are looking to dress up and hit the dance floor, saddle up the elevator to this joint.

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The Whitehorse

At 1-3 Parsons Green, London SW6 4UL, United Kingdom, this pub is for the toffy. It is a great looking pub with a dark mahogany finish on everything. We had some great food here but if you want a good day out with the boys this is not the spot for you. We spotted more baby carriages than girls (hard to believe but true), so a great spot for a family but we decided to move on.

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Walkabout

Aussies they are everywhere on this planet so instead of fighting it just give up and join them. With two locations one at Temple Station, Temple Place, London WC2R 2PH, United Kingdom and the second at 11 Henrietta Street, London, Greater London WC2E 8PY, United Kingdom. With a huge variety of Kangaroo on the menu this is an Aussie home away from home. They have a great burger and a beer deal that will set you back 6.95£. This place gets a little loose at night so if you are looking to enjoy your feed in peace head there for lunch.

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O’neill’s

Located at 33-37 Wardour Street, London W1D 6PU, United Kingdom this is your typical Irish Pub. Food is good and the price of a beer is reasonable for downtown London. With 3 floors to choose from this place was packed on a Sunday night. They serve quite a lot of beers that run from Budweiser to Guiness. It is hard to go wrong with an Irish pub so if you have a short time in London this is an easy choice.

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The Live and Let Live Pub

Located at 35-37 North End Road London, Greater London W14 8SZ, United Kingdom this is your typical dodgy pub. With a crowd inside that is less than inviting we only stayed for one pint. A beer ran you about £3.50 but you thought at sometimes it might cost you the rest of the change in your wallet if you weren’t too careful. A fun experience but I don’t think I will be back.

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Oktoberfest Pub

Always wanted to cheers a stein in Munich during Oktoberfest but never had the chance? Now Munich is located at 678-680 Fulham Road, London SW6 5SA, United Kingdom. With pork knuckles and bratwurst on the menu this place gives the Oktoberfest experience without the air fare. A great vibe inside with many people in great spirits!

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Lockside Lounge

At 75-89 West Yard, Camden Lock Place, Camden Town, Greater London NW1 8AF, United Kingdom. This is a great lounge to meet your friends after a long day in the office; the only problem is you won’t be able to hear your conversations with each other. They had a good selection of beer but for a bunch of boys looking to catch up with each other this is not the spot. As the night went on though and the place filled out the music got the people on the dance floor and it turned out alright.

London

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Foggy’s Back!

11 Oct

Everyone’s least favourite travel blogger is back! Check out the new video put together by my good friend Andrew Noon, hope you enjoy!

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LA Riot

1 May

I decided to do a three-day layover in LA en route home. I contacted Zach, a friend I had met in Mozambique two summers ago and he let me crash at his place. His place was in West Hollywood and it took a while to get out there using the old public transit system. I managed to make it out to 11 bar with Zach and his boyfriend Bill and was introduced to show tunes night.

The next day Bill picked me up and we hiked up to the Hollywood sign. We managed to get lost on the way up but eventually made it to the top of LA. It was a little surreal to be so close to such an iconic sign, as tacky as it is. On the way back down we managed to take a wrong turn again and had to do a steep decent into somebody’s backyard, I think my urban abseiling came in handy! We rewarded ourselves with a beer at Barney’s Beanery before continuing our drive through Hollywood and Beverly Hills.

Bill dropped me off and I ventured out to Dodgers Stadium to see LA vs.Atlanta. I noticed there was an all you can eat section and bought a ticket immediately. $33 gets you a seat plus as many dodger dogs, nachos, peanuts and pop corn you can fit in over nine innings (and people wonder why North Americans are so overweight).

The next night ticked off another large item on the old bucket list. Emily (Zach’s roommate) and I went to Jones bar for dinner and then went to see a show at the Whisky a Go Go, for you music lovers out there this is the bar The Doors and Motley Crue got their start. Those being two of my favourite bands I had always wanted to have a drink in the place.

My quick stint in LA was definitely a success, but that is mostly because of the great company I had. A huge thank you to Zach, Bill and Emily for taking the time and being a tourist with me. I will hopefully see you later in the summer!

Foggy

LA

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Byron to Bondi in a box van

20 Apr

Shawn and I went for a fruitless surf where we didn’t manage to get up on one wave. We went back to try and stream the Canucks game and saw I had tons of missed messages from Drea saying they had left Byron without me. I gave them a call and said it was cool and I would catch the bus down but they turned around and drove over an hour to come back and get me. Shawn and I had a quick beer so I could endure the wrath that was about to be thrust upon me. The girls arrived back in Byron and Shawn and I gave each other a big hug. It sucks that I didn’t get to spend more time with him but that is life on the road. I was met with some glares that could have killed and I jumped right into the penalty box in the back of the van. Needless to say it wasn’t the smoothest way to start the road trip. We drove down to Southwest Rocks and arrived at night due to the detour caused by me. We had a few beers at a pub and I felt I was making my way out of the doghouse. We decided to sleep on the side of the road and I assumed the fetal position in the front seat and went to bed.

The next day we drove down to Seal Rocks where we were met with a torrential downpour. The campground was half under water but they took the price down a little for us so we parked the van and took out the cards. It was a pretty amazing place even though it was raining so hard and it reminded me a lot of my new years in NZ. The next day we pushed through the flooding streets to make it into Sydney. I said goodbye to Drea and Anne and wandered to grab a bus out to Bondi Beach. Driving down the coast was a pretty amazing way to see the country; I just hope if you try to do it that you get a few rays of sun. Thanks girls for driving and I will see you back home!

Foggy

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