#so. today marks 10 years from the first time i try to kms. and it’s. it’s a very bad day. but at the same time i’m so proud of myself. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

morethanboomtschk · 3 years

Text

Alan Oldham: The Art of Techno Futurism

Alan Oldham is just that – a forward thinking futurist and former radio jockey whose work has long fused the not-so-distant worlds of art and music. Creating illustrations under his own name and spinning under the moniker DJ T-1000, Oldham’s status as a sci-fi visionary has made him one of the most unique and important figures to come out of the Detroit techno movement. “Detroit techno, in my view, was originally about futurism,” he says. “Futuristic black music. Look no further than Juan Atkins for that. A lot of old sci-fi movies and TV shows portrayed a future that had no blacks in it. Detroit techno was a statement that black people would be around in the far future. You can also connect Sun Ra and Mothership Connection-era Parliament/Funkadelic to that aesthetic.”

In the tradition of Sun Ra’s Arkestral manuevers and P-Funk’s explorations of funk’s outer limits, Oldham brings forth elements of science fiction, cultural awareness, higher levels of consciousness and even mythology to forge a sensibility from a future state of existence – with nods to realism interwoven. He believes those talents are innate. “I'm a natural,” says Oldham. “I had an art class in high school, but that's about it. I've been drawing since I was born.” His style – sharp, angular, forward and revolutionary – reflects both the evolution of his craft and his consistency. “My style has matured a bit, especially with my move to paintings,” he says. “But essentially, it's the same as it's always been.”

youtube

Oldham began his artistic career as a comic book illustrator, writing for small companies such as Hot Comics, Amazing Comics, Renegade Press, Caliber Comics and a few others. “I started out like everybody else, trying to draw superheroes and trying to get in at Marvel or DC by aping their basic style,” he recalls. “I came up with my own rip-offs of characters, then a few originals of my own. But once I stopped trying to draw like other people, I was able to get in on the indie comics scene of the late ’80s. Anime and manga influences were coming in. It wasn’t so much the basic Marvel or DC styles anymore. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles famously came from that scene, so it was a gold mine back then. Anybody could do anything and it would sell. You could come out with a black and white comic and sell 50,000 copies. We did over 15,000 on Johnny Gambit #1.” - Johnny Gambit is an indie comic book Oldham created at Visual Noise, a studio he put together in the late ‘80s as a place to ink and letter the comic. The name was recently resurrected for an art show Oldham mounted at the Record Loft in Berlin, where he is currently based. Yet in 1986 in Detroit, Derrick May took notice of Johnny Gambit and Oldham’s advanced illustrative style – and he introduced Oldham to the developing techno sound stemming from the Motor City.

youtube

“When I went to Wayne State University years ago, there was a place on campus called Student Center,” Oldham remembers. “We all used to hang out there between classes. Some semesters I had long gaps between day and evening classes, so I was there a lot. I was drawing Johnny Gambit at the time and I would have my art supplies with me. Derrick May used to work at this video arcade right off campus on Woodward, and lived a block away from WSU, so I began to run into him. I had known Derrick since we were kids, by the way. Like 10-11 years old. Anyway, he was coming through Student Center when he saw me working on Johnny Gambit. He said he was starting this new label and he asked me to do the label art for it. He offered me $50 for both sides, so I did the designs. $50 was a lot of money in 1986. The record turned out to be ‘Nude Photo’ b/w ‘The Dance’ and it turned out to be very famous.”

It would become the first of dozens of album illustrations for the Detroit techno community. “Derrick had this buddy who needed a logo for his label called KMS,” says Oldham. “So he brought Kevin Saunderson down to Student Center one day, and I met him. I ended up doing the first KMS logo, the one that’s on ‘Truth of Self-Evidence,’ ‘Bounce Your Body to the Box,’ etc. And it just went on from there.” - Oldham was landing gig after gig. In 1987, one of those gigs brought him to a different world: radio. An intern at WDET (a Detroit Public Radio station) the summer prior, he was then offered his own show, which was aptly called “Fast Forward,” holding true to Oldham’s futuristic approach to life. “Fast Forward” had become Detroit’s first-ever all-electronic radio program and ran between 1987-1992. Oldham had a graveyard shift initially – 3 AM to 6 AM – but his audience was vast, as he played everything from classic favourites to burgeoning techno beats from colleagues and friends.

youtube

Some of the music given to him for his radio show was from Jeff Mills and Mike Banks, who had just formed Underground Resistance, and they recruited Oldham for yet another gig – this time in the area of public relations for the newfound collective. “Jeff Mills was another childhood friend,” Oldham describes. “Mills lived down the street from this kid I used to draw with. This kid’s dad had this high-rise at 1600 Lafayette that we used to gather at to play Monopoly every week and Jeff was in the group. Years later, Jeff had hooked up with Mike Banks to form UR. By this time, I had my radio show on WDET, and they used to feed me reel-to-reels and white labels to play on the air.

“By 1991, UR was getting stronger and they needed PR help. I minored in English and learned to write press releases in school, so I started doing that for UR for gas money. We were all crammed into Banks’ mom’s basement. Rob Hood was in the group, too, designing flyers, pasting up stuff. This was pre-Mac, of course.”

Oldham’s involvement with Underground Resistance led to his introduction to DJing. “When Jeff left UR in ’92 and they had an Australian Tour all lined up, Banks asked me to be the replacement tour DJ,” he says. “Everybody had code names in UR, so that's when DJ T-1000 was born. I went at it with gusto, ’cause it was my big break. And that was that.” - However, the development of DJ T-1000 also led to the temporary demise of Oldham’s comic illustrations. “Once I got into DJing and traveling every weekend and making music, doing comics took a back seat,” he says. “But with the slow demise of the music business as I once knew it, I’m back to the first love, making comics and art again.”

youtube

His travels and constant connections resulted in Oldham creating art for an impressive roster including Derrick May, Miss Djax, Ben Sims, Richie Hawtin, Astralwerks, Third Ear Recordings, Opilec Music, Steve Bug, Cisco Ferreira (The Advent), Delsin Records, AW Recordings and many others. “Because of my work for Djax-Up-Beats, robots have become a theme in my artwork,” Oldham says. “People know me for that, so I decided to continue the theme in my big canvases. Big booties, stiletto heels, spaceships and robots.” Oldham’s art garnered international attention through the DJs and labels, especially in Europe, where there was (and still is) a deep fascination with Detroit techno. “When I started emphasizing on doing gallery shows in Europe, the techno art got even more popular,” he says. Although he felt something special stirring out of the Detroit techno movement, Oldham knew his calling was overseas. “All that interest from Europe… for me, just the chance to get out of Detroit and see the world and make so many international friends was a very big thing, and still is,” he says.

Today, Oldham travels the world showcasing his art, as well as his music. He continues to spread the futuristic message of Detroit techno on an international level through his talents. “My number one goal with both my art and music is to impact my audience in a positive way,” he says. “No negativity, just mood and cool. I’ve got paintings hanging in people’s homes and studios, and my music in their iPods. I want to push my aesthetic out there and leave my mark.”

This article was published on the Red Bull Music Academy website in November 2014. Written by Ashley Zlatopolsky.

#Alan Oldham #DJ T-1000 #Detroit #Techno #History #Artists #Electronic Music #Music #Long Reads #Rewind

2 notes · View notes

reading-writing-revolution · 4 years

Text

This is truly magnificent analysis. It's a bit of a long read, but it is ABSOLUTELY magically clarifying. I'll include my thoughts in a follow-up because this is perfectly in line with something I've been thinking about for a while.

Buckle up, this one is a bit of a roller coaster.

Let’s talk population density.

Do you know the population density of the zip code you live in?

What about the population density of where you spent your formative years?

That’s a bit of a rhetorical question, because I’m guessing the answer is no. I certainly didn’t, so I’d be impressed and surprised if I asked someone this question in casual conversation and they rattled off the number to me.

I’d never thought about population density until I traveled to India in 2018. We flew into Mumbai which has a population density of 75,000 people per sq. mi. To give you some perspective, NYC has 27,000 per sq. mi. (post originally said 10,431people but that is per sq. km. not mi.) and as most of my friends are familiar with King of The Hammers, in Johnson Valley, when Hammertown doesn’t exist, it has a population density of 15.2 people per sq. mi.

Mumbai has the highest population density of any city in the world, and until you’ve experienced it, it’s hard to describe. If you have ever been in the first 10 rows of a sold-out standing room only concert, that is as close as I can relate to how people move through the streets of Mumbai. There is literally no such thing as personal space. Not for you, not for your vehicle. I think one of the most fascinating things our entire group realized in Mumbai is whatever you do, do NOT stop. Merge in, merge out, but sudden stops cause pile ups of humans, vehicles, etc. Everything is in fluid motion, when you step into the stream you go with the current, when you need to leave the stream you move to the edges and hop out. What was also interesting was the lack of rage or frustration we saw, and the lack of accidents! I don’t think I saw two people yell at each other the entire time we were there. Same with car accidents, I saw one slight bumper brush. Nothing worth stopping over, as every car had marks from similar encounters.

You would think with so much closeness fights would break out often, accidents would be on every corner. But something strange happens. There is no space for the individual in that type of population density. If you wanted to stop and be mad or outraged, you would literally be trampled. So you move with the flow, or you step outside of it. One person cannot go against the current and be successful, individual needs simply cannot matter for society to function in that type of population density. This is different from NYC where you do see individuals disagree on street corners. Because even as dense as NYC is there is room for the individual. Even our most densely populated cities are nothing compared to other countries. America has space and the individual has rights.

When this country was founded the population density of even our biggest cities was a fraction of large cities in Europe. Which is why our constitution so heavily outlines the liberties and freedoms of the individual compared to places like England where their population density even today is 10 times that of the United States as a whole.

Ever since news of the pandemic broke I’ve found myself fascinated with population density in the US. This fascination started because it seemed obvious to me that the transmission of COVID would happen far faster in our highest population density areas of the country. Wikipedia has a list of cities by population density. Here’s how the top 20 most dense cities breaks down: 9 in New Jersey (NYC metro area),4 in CA (LA metro area), 3 in NY (NYC metro area), 2 in Florida (Miami metro area), 1 in Mass (Boston metro area), and 1 in Kentucky (Louisville). Except for Kentucky these population dense areas directly correlate to the highest areas of infection in the country.

But my fascination with population density didn’t stop at the pandemic. I wanted to understand population densities of different areas. I started looking up places I’d lived and visited that felt both dense and sparse population wise. It should come as no surprise that cities are always the most dense and rural areas are always the most sparse.

Then as the mask debate started unfolding in my newsfeed, I found myself loosely assigning a population density to people as they made their stance on masks known. Those that lived in higher population densities were usually more for masks than those who lived in less population dense areas.

Again, this made sense. Those that live in cities encounter more people in a day going about their routine. If they live in high-density housing, they share elevators, stairwells, mailrooms, lobbies, etc. The needs of the individual matter less the higher the density, so fighting the mask goes against the stream. You can do it, but it’s not easy.

Those I know that live more rural were less inclined to want to wear masks. I’ve found a general rule of thumb in casual conversation is if you can walk to your nearest market (even if it’s a gas station or 7/11), you understand the need for a mask. If you MUST drive to your nearest market, you likely don’t have to encounter many people in a day if you choose not to, and masks feel like just another unnecessary restriction imposed by the government. The individual has more freedoms and rejects government oversight more the lower the population density.

At some point this year I saw some people sharing an image of the US broken up by red states (Republican) vs. blue states (Democrat), compared to a map of COVID cases. At the time, the blue states almost directly correlated to where the highest COVID outbreaks were happening. The conclusion those sharing this map were trying to draw was that COVID was political and made up by the political leaders of blue states. It was largely those living in unaffected areas sharing this map and drawing these conclusions.

What I took from these images was that the higher the density the more likely an area was to be run by Democrats. Which lead me down a rabbit hole. Apparently, someone named Dave Troy noticed the same thing, and wrote an interesting article based on the 2012 election between Obama and Romney. 98% of the 50 most dense counties voted Obama. 98% of the 50 least dense counties voted Romney.

And this Dave guy sounds like someone I would enjoy having a discussion with. Because this data drew him to the same question I had. Where is the crossover point in population density between those that vote Republican vs. those that vote Democrat? The data says that at about 800 people per sq. mi. people switch from voting primarily Republican to voting primarily Democrat. Below 800 people per sq. mi. there is a 66% chance that you voted Republican in 2012. The data doesn’t appear much different in the following years.

So why does this matter? Because how you were raised and how you live has a huge impact on what matters to you from your politicians and your government.

Those I know that grew up in less dense areas had to be self-reliant. When calling 911 means you’re likely waiting 20 minutes or longer for police, an ambulance, or a fire truck. You have to be able to defend yourself, handle your own first aid, and rely on your neighbors to help in critical emergency situations. When I tell people in Southern California that where I grew up had volunteer firefighters and EMTs they don’t believe me.

The more rural you are, the less you rely on government entities for your day-to-day needs. The most rural have well water, septic systems, take their trash to the dump, if it snows, they have a vehicle that can plow, and the truly rural use propane for power and heat. They are not reliant on most services provided by the public utilities. They use guns as tools to protect their animals and their family from prey and from vermin. They do not really encounter homeless people, as even the poorest can usually find a shack to live out of and require a vehicle to get around. These people in less dense areas do not depend on the government to solve their problems. They’d prefer government stay out of their lives completely. Less taxes, less oversight, less being told what to do. To the rural, it seems like every time the government interferes in their life, they lose another freedom, and their quality of life diminishes.

Those I know that grew up in more dense areas are used to calling 911 to handle emergencies. Their streets are swept in the summer and plowed in the winter. Their trash is picked up on the same day weekly. They don’t have space for cars and tools, so they tend to take public transportation or walk. They call someone when something breaks that requires tools they don’t own. They are used to encountering the homeless on the streets as part of their daily life. The truly poor and homeless usually end up in cities as the services to help the sick, mentally ill and the poorest among us are more available in dense areas. So the wealthy interact with the poor in cities far more than they do in rural areas. Those in higher density areas are willing to pay for government services because they are a regular part of their daily lives and make life more manageable. Without these services, the quality of life they know would not exist.

This got me thinking about some research I did a few years ago, when I learned that the average American only lives 18 miles from their mother. Those in NY and PA only live on average 8 miles from their mothers. From Kentucky to Louisiana the average is 6 miles. Less than 20% of Americans live more than a few hours drive from mom. The further you move from home depends greatly on your education and income. For the most part, the wealthier you are, the more you can pay for child and elder care, making it easier to travel further from home. Also, the more educated, the more likely you are to travel to utilize your education in a specialized career field.

So what does this have to do with population density? Most Americans never leave the population density we were raised in. Why does this matter? Because that means most Americans can’t understand or relate to the needs of those that live in population densities that differ from their own.

My friends that have been raised in cities see guns primarily as a source of violence. My friends that live rurally see guns as a necessary tool for their way of life. My friends that have been raised rurally don’t understand the need for taxes and government services, where they come from you take care of your own problems. My friends that live in cities, could not imagine a life without public utilities and governmental oversight of social problems.

Neither are wrong. Their needs and perspective are just vastly different.

I also realized that I’m probably in a small percentage of the American population. I have spent the last 20 years living more than 2500 miles from my closest family members, which puts me into the 20% category plus I was raised and lived in both high density population areas and low density population areas throughout my life.

Here’s my life by population density:

Age: 0-10 Zip: 14613 Pop Dens: 7323.5 people per sq. mi.

Age: 11-18 Zip: 14468 Pop Dens: 345 people per sq. mi.

Age: 18-22 Zip: 14850 Pop Dens: 5,722 people per sq. mi.

Age: 25-32 Zip: 92606 Pop Dens: 4,913 people per sq. mi.

Age: 33-43 Zip: 91773/91750 Pop Dens 2,163/1245 people per sq. mi.

I went to inner city schools as a young child. I was upset that my mother could not put my hair in corn rows with the pretty beads like my friends wore. I learned civil rights songs taught to me by our bi-racial music teacher and came home and sang them for my disapproving father who was raised in Shinglehouse, PA with a population density of 26.5 people per sq. mi.

Then at the age of 11 my family moved out of the city and into the country. We lived on 20+ acres of land and the population was 98% white. I didn’t walk to school anymore, heck, we didn’t really walk to our neighbor’s house because country roads don’t have sidewalks.

Then I went away to college for 4 years where I lived part of that time on the 11th floor of a tower, with a shared elevator, lobby, and I didn’t own a car. I walked everywhere, took the bus or would grab a ride from my few friends with cars if it wasn’t feasible to take public transportation.

After college I moved to Southern California. I spent my first 10 years as an adult mostly living in condos and townhomes in wealthier higher density areas, where I would say the majority leaned slightly left, but there was a fiscally conservative undertone. But I spent most weekends taking my Jeep to lower population density areas to live a life more closely to what I had on the farm growing up. Less government oversights. No one ticketing my Jeep for a few stickers as a commercial vehicle, etc.

Currently, I live in Los Angeles County, one of the highest populations in the country. But I live in one of the lowest density zip codes within that county. We have horse property and rodeos, and one of the only country bars in Southern California. Our population is almost completely split down the middle between left and right. I don’t have a sidewalk but a half a mile down the road they do. I can walk to the 7/11 and the subway around the corner but need to drive to the closest grocery store.

I’ve come to realize that just about every polarizing debate I see my friends having; I can see both sides of the argument. And I’m starting to suspect it’s because I’ve lived in both their worlds. I can relate and understand their needs and where they are coming from because I’ve experienced each of their way of life to a certain extent. Most in this country are raised one way and live that way for life. And how we want to live really comes down to the population density in which we have existed.

I truly believe our population density experience matters more to our political views than education, income, race, gender or sexuality.

As a society we are so wrapped up in left vs. right. Liberal vs. conservative. We figure out which we identify with and lump every social/political issue we agree with into “our” category, and everyone we disagree with into “their” category. I don’t see this really helping us hear each other any better. It more results in people trying to prove why they are right.

Since I’ve started considering people’s population density experiences in life (if I know them and have a reasonable idea) I have found a new filter with which to view information that is far more conducive to understanding their point of view than the filters we currently use.

Mark Twain once wrote, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”

And while I think there’s some truth to that, travel in Mark Twain’s day and age is different than how we travel today. For instance, when I go to Baja, I like to stay in the small towns and eat at the local restaurants. But I have many friends that only go to all inclusive resorts, or stay in tourist areas, never venturing outside of the luxury they are there to enjoy. They don’t spend time in the rural areas seeing what life is really like. Traveling with ULTRA4 and for off road has kept me outside of most tourist areas. Where there’s only one place to stay and you have to explore local eating options. Seeing the countryside and how people live both in US and in Europe. I prefer to travel this way.

Many of us with the means to travel prefer to vacation how we live. The more rural we live day to day, the less spending a week in NYC sounds like fun. But going camping in the woods likely appeals to us. And those that live in cities, tend to not choose wilderness adventures for their downtime. The travel to help us see how other people live that existed in Twain’s time doesn’t really happen in our service oriented society where restaurants and hotels are abundant most places. We can eat at the same restaurants and sleep at the same hotels from one side of the country to the other. We’ve stopped getting outside of our own bubbles even when we travel.

I don’t know what we can do that would expose us to other ways of life like travel in Twain’s age did. But we probably need to figure it out to stop the divide from separating this country further.

From the beginning of 1900s through the Vietnam War between 7 and 9 percent of Americans were in military service. Today less than 0.5% of Americans serve in the military. That was one way that we used to expose Americans to life outside of what they grew up with. College is another way, but as costs have risen, more students continue to live at home and attend community colleges or local universities vs. leaving home to experience a different way of life between 18 and 22.

I find myself thinking about kids who go off to the army or away to college. They are forced outside their comfort zones. Some thrive there, some don’t. But they learn a different way of existing, at least for a little while. The type of travel Mark Twain is talking about. Part of me wonders if we shouldn’t offer some sort of service requirement for our youth between say 18 and 20 that requires them to get involved in something to help the country, away from where they were raised, military or civil service. If they were raised in a city, working on rural projects. If they were raised rurally, working on urban projects. Just to have a frame of reference for how diverse this country truly is and how different our needs are based on that diversity. But this is a topic for another day. You’ve already been too kind reading this far.

I don’t have the answers. But I’m glad I’ve finally put down some of the thoughts I’ve had floating around in my head regarding population density. Kudos to those of you that stuck it out.

If you’re like me and are curious about your own population density experiences, I’ve included a link in the comments where you can throw in zip codes and see what your exposure has been.

https://medium.com/@davetroy/is-population-density-the-key-to-understanding-voting-behavior-191acc302a2b

7 notes · View notes

lockdownuk · 4 years

Text

Lockdown Diary Part 7

A personal account during the lockdown in the UK due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

23/03/2020 8:30pm Boris Johnson, UK Prime Minister, gives a live address to the nation to, effectively, put the country on lockdown to stem the spread of the deadly coronavirus strain, Covid-19.

Many of us have been self-isolating for days but this latest development within the UK in reaction to the pandemic feels very serious and very scary. I decided to keep a simple diary and where better but online.

Day 181: Typing on day 182. I received an email from someone at DSM who had got my CV from Helen Proctor (she was the manager that interviewed me along with the founder) and wants me to interview for a IT business consultant role for a shoe firm (Loakes) in Kettering. I called the chap and had a quick chat and arranged it for Wednesday.

A few beers, as it’s Friday, and caught up via video chat with Foggy and Irish Mike (Foggy’s on quarantine having holidayed in the south of France). It was a late one and they were both pissed, but nice to chat. Andy and Ham were meant to join but were no shows - Ham had his sister’s funeral this week - might explain it.

Day 182: I messaged Ham - he went round his folk’s house after work last night as his two sisters were there. I have to admit, I am ignorant of all of Ham’s brothers and Sisters so he may well have meant one was Preaya in an urn.

Someone on the Oundle Chatter FB group asked about Google Hangouts (on behalf of her son who is attending college and they have online classes using it. I am now about to look into it for her. Why did I get involved. It’s 8pm on a Saturday, ffs!

Update, I researched it and messaged her - seems I hit a nail on the head and she seemed suitably grateful. Booze and pizza coming right up (at 9:15pm)

Day 183: Up at just before 2pm - I drank shed loads last night and went to bed after 4am. Faffed about but did manage my stair climb, a 10km walk and I am now making a roast dinner-ish tea (chicken breast stuffed with red leicester and wrapped in bacon) with all the veg and yorkies (I am trying to empty the freezer as it needs defrosting).

Day 184: I posted on FB that today was half a leap year of lockdown (that’s wrong, should have been yesterday). Rachel replied that it isn’t lockdown anymore. I replied that it is for me but that got me thinking - are we officially in lockdown still? Checked, and we are. Posted that on the same thread and Badger replied that the current level of lockdown has been uprated to level 4, whatever that actually means. Rachel’s post worries me - 1. ‘cos it’s indictative of the far-too-relaxed attitude and, 2. I wasn’t even sure even though I’m still observing the same lockdown behaviour that I was before Boris made his announce on March 23rd. Scary how facts bleed into fiction.

Jim contacted me today, asked me to call. I did so, he says I’ll be asked to return to work (from home) on the 5th October (two weeks). Shirley from HR will be in contact. I’ll believe when I see the email from her!

Day 185: Boris announced a tightening of the relaxed lockdown including pubs shutting at 10pm. None of it really affects me since I’m still in as full a lockdown as when it started.

Received an email from John Morton at DSM for an interview at Loakes tomorrow (Wed) at 09:30am.

Received a Facebook message from the editor at Oundle Chronicle - he wants to do a short article about the photos I take and post on the Oundle Chatter fb group.

Day 186: Interview went ok.

Called Dad and Rita to let them know that I received an email from RCI confirming that I will be back at work on the 5th of October.

In the evening, Facebook had posts concerning somebody walking round Creed Road with a knife in his hand, and the police getting involved!

Day 187: Spend spend spend. Paid my speeding fine today £357, my water bill £147, bought two new duvet cover sets and two new sheets £58, a new pair of walking boots (my relatively new Hi-Tec are leaking and falling apart) £75. Oh, and the car insurance renews day after tomorrow, £230. Thank fucking fuck I’m being taken off furlough!

Day 188: Friday and I’m going to have a few beers and watch a couple of films. I’ve been trawling through Seinfeld and am most the way through S3, and it’s brilliant. The Kramer character is mentally good. One episode had the actress who played Janice in Friends - that episode is a classic - which also included an scene whereby the cast are all exclaiming ‘Saturday night’ similar to the Friends TikTok trend. Got a call this morning about a service delivery lead role for EPM, a education service provider, based in Huntingdon. It’s a good role, very involved, reporting directly to the head of IT. But it’s only £32k pa. I replied to the email the recruiter subsequently sent to say I am interested but that salary is less than £5k pa than I am on now as a 2nd line support techie! Lastly, I am well on my way to doing 500,000 steps in September!

Day 189: I was woken by the doorbell - a delivery of one of the duvet cover sets. On the door mat was a missed parcel delivery note from Ryal Mail (I have to get whatever it is from Warmington PO) and a note from next door (No. 34) asking for me to turn my music down at 10.30pm. That’s fair enough but....10.30pm! What are they, 80 years old? I have felt low today. There is no rhyme nor reason as to my moods suffice to say I am not of the happiest dispostion on a permanent basis, resigned to being alone. In fact, I have come to terms with the fact I’ll die alone but, it seems, some days I cope with it a lot worse than others. On that cheery note, it’s 8.45 pm on a Saturday night so, I am about to launch into some beers, weed and pizza. I think tonight I’ll seek out the second John Wick film - watch the first last night - so fucking good. You gotta love Keanu!

Day 190: Hopefully the last Sunday of having an enforced no-work-on-Monday so I’m going to have a beer or two (it’s now 8:20pm - just cracked open a Bud), watch American Sniper and eat Chilli and naan bread and onion rings. I did a 12 km walk today - I recall a time when 40-45 minuts walking was enough. Today’s walk was 2 hours! I know it’s only walking but I feel fitter than I have for years; still unfit, but fitter. Day 191: Well, I enjoyed the decadence of boozing last night but it meant getting up at after midday! Still managed two walks, trip to Tesco’s in Hampton after picking up the mystery parcel from Warmington PO. It was two unknown bottles of beer for a marketing campaign I entered a few days ago! I have to not open the beers until I receive instruction whereby I’ll be joining in with other drinkers in video chat! Day 192: Smahed 500k steps for September with one day to go! Cleaned the kitchen - I’m going to do the whole house over the next few days while I have the free time since I’m back to work on Monday. The lad from next door called round this eveing to ask if I got the note. When I said yes, he told me they (he and his partner) can still hear music. FFS! I asked where their bedroom was, it’s along side mine, so I guess it’s the TV sound that is travelling up and disturbing them. Great, fuck knows what I should do if I want to watch anything after 10:30pm. I suppose going back to work is good timing..I shall be going to bed around that time myself, especially if I want to get up early to get a walk in before starting at 09.00 am.

Day 193: Typing on day 194. Only managed one walk today, before 9.00am. It made a great change walking that early. I then set about doing housework (which I started yesterday) - I want to clean the house from top to bottom before going back to work. i.e. while I have time during the working week. I did the Kitchen yesterday and the whole lounge today. It’s fucking knackering. I managed 519k steps in September, works out at 9.6 miles per day, which is good and, also, annoying. I have taken delivery and laundered all my new bedding. It’s brushed cotton lushness, can’t wait to try it. Last ‘happy hour’ of (this current) furlough, so I had beers (and a fucking spicey sausage casserole)...hence penning this a day late.

Day 194: I didn’t get out of bed until nearly 2pm, FFS. Spome with Ricky Roberts about kayaking, it sound sliek something I could take up but, I would need to join the boat club to have somewhere to get in and out!

Day 195: Sueanne from work called to let me know she’s taking over from Jim ‘til new yer and that the team are looking forward to my return - lovely. Dad called, he and Rita are fine as usual - lovely.

Day 196: Got up fater 2pm. I was seriously fucking wasted last night. Had a video chat with Fog - just checked, it ended at 02.04am and I did a lot more drinking and smoking after that. I still managed a 9.7km walk and am now going to settle down to a few (just a few!) beers, shepherds pie and watch Casino. Day 197: Quiet Sunday with some bizarre results in Super Sunday in the prem. Man U lost at home to Spurs 1-6 and Liverpool were thrashed at Villa Park, 7-2. Work tomorrow, feeling a little apprehensive, not sure why. Got to go to the office (to reset password) at 09.00am

Day 198: Back to work. It went OK. I had to go to the office so that my a/c could be enabled and password reset and t get VPN working. There were a few problems but I was back home and logged in OK in the afternoon. Saw Mark in the office - he’s lost weight and was telling me about a cycling accident - I knew about it, but I didn’t realise he had been in hospital and had a plate put in his shoulder. He also has the exact same issue with codeine as me! I am pleased to be back at work but it’s different - no Jim and Sueanne in charge is the main thing. I’m just going to keep my head down; it’ll be for the best.

Day 199: Second day back at work and I’m (trying to) crack on with it. It’s all coming back... New walking boots arrived today (I have them on as I type); I reckon I’ll be OK to walk in them with no breaking in. That’s just as well as my evening walk took me by the marina and the path between the lock, the small bridge and, especially, the larger bridge into the field at the bottom of Basset Ford Road was flooded, no way my boots will be dry for tomorrow. I did my stair climb before work, 3.5 km walk at lunchtime and then a long, second one, as mentioned, later. I want to try and do a short walk before work in future, hopefully. On the way back from the lunchtime walk, I saw the lad from next door who thanked for me keeping the music down as per the note he left, so, that’s all good.

Day 200: I’ve started a work diary, à la ENDC....nowhere as urgently required but I just think it’s a good idea.

I wore my new boots for the lunchtime walk (3.6km) and they’re fine. However, I didn’t use them in the evening, they niggled the left foot a bit, so some breaking in is required. My usual ones were just about dry enough having been sat on the radiator! Day 201: Popped into the office today to pick up my full headset dongle, did a quick shop at Asda. So, only one walk today. I have not yet managed to get a walk in before work, just the stair climb, so missed out on a lunchtime walk today since I was shopping. Did 8.5km in the evening. Bought a card online for K’s birthday. Not sure why, we seem not to be communicating - I haven’t heard from her for over a month now which, as mentioned before, I shouldn’t find as hard as I do. The card’s pretty cool though, a quip about just getting a card as a present would involve non-essential travel. Now I am back at work, I want a to do loist app. I recall a smart one that was a linear/curved affair that I saw on Producthunt but, fuck me, I couldn’t find it after over an hour looking. Then I checked Google apps and there it was (Lightpad.ai) - I was chuffed and relieved. The lad from oundle School has been trying to get hold of me via Messenger (he tells me by email) so he can interview for the article in the Chronicle. He has pencilled in Saturday at 6pm.Fuck knows if it will go ahead, the whole thing is sketchy. Day 202: First week back at work over and done. I ordered some stuff from Amazon (slippers and socks) and they offered a free trial of Prime, which is the norm, but, seeing as I have had a free trial under that a/c, I assumed it would error, as I have seen before. This time it didn’t! So, tonight, I just about to have some beers, eat pizza and watch The Gentlemen,. It was suggested by Miles on FB when I asked for recommendations. It’s been on my to-watch list since its release. I need some cheering up, I’m having a low ebb today.Day 203: Typing on day 204. The Gentlemen was pretty good. I had lots of beers and smoke and went to bed fucking late, gone 4am. Up at lunchtime. I was meant to be going up Foggy’s for a few beers and to listen to Cobblers vs Posh but I sacked that off. I went for a walk at tea time when it got dark fucking quick and pissed down. I didn’t mind ‘cos Posh won 0-2. I watched two films in the evening: Master and Commander: Far Side of the World and Official Secrets. Both excellent. Day 204: Another late night, so up at just before 2pm. 12.64 km walk! I’m going to make stirfry and watch Knives Out...taking advantage of Amazon Prime.Day 205: I didn’t watch Knives Out last night, Amazon Prime was playing up. Tonight, however, after uninstalling and reinstalling the LG app, it’s working again. But, rather than a film, I have started watching The Boys series. 3/4 through the first episode and I’m kinda hooked. Another long walk tonight (I didn’t go out before work or at lunchtime), over 5 miles. My new boots are a marvel...they’re still new - I can tell I’ve got a little bit of wearing in still to do, but, pretty much from the off, I can walk long distances in them. I’m impressed. I think, because they are so light, they may be susceptible to the cold, especially now I can walk for longer periods without hypo-ing. The snow and frost will be the test.Day 206: Bit of a frustrating day at work. I am pleased I have a diary of events to update, that’s all I will say on this potentially public diary. Had a chat with Mark about certain aspects of the day, it was a good chat whereby he agreed with some of my gripes. In the evening I took part in a Ipsos marketing test of two beers with a whole bunch of people online. Ultimately, you have to choose one of two beers you prefer and answer questions why. It’s then revelaed which beer you chose. The beer I iked best was Stella but 4.6%, I think that’s the next product iine for them. You don’t get to find out the other beer. I shoudl recieve a £15 amazon voucher for partaking. If that actually happens, I’m going to buy a pair of gaiters. My new boots are fab (although I did turn my ankle last night) but their insides don’t half attract gravel and debris.Day 207: A productive day incorporating ToDoist with work and GCal, I have sacked off Lightpad.ai (it was too cumbersome moving tasks between dates) - so I managed to tick a few things off the task list as a result (responding to Jo Broom’s voicemail, chasing an eye appointmen, for example). Tim came round and did the garden, nice chinwag. I saw little Derek the other day, as well, he’s not coping great with the whole pandemic atm, certainly now lockdown has relaxed, he’s not as social as before. Day 208: Had a chat with Sueanne today, which is not unusal, and I was asking about creating KBs...she remarked how well, and quickly, I getting up to speed. It pleased me. I am having battered fishcakes, potato wedges and peas for tea. I am looking forward to it the most ridiculous amount (it’s cooking as I type). I shall eat as I watch more of the rather excellent The Boys. Seinfeld is on the back burner atm. Day 209: Emily Folgate’s room mate at uni has tested positive for Covid19! Marc’s avoiding the pub and I am glad I didn’t pop up there last Saturday! Bumped into Ash and Dee when i walked past the vets, chatted for 5 mins, it was really nice to see them. The lady next door (38) stopped me outside to say she recently realised that it was me who posts photos to FB, and said they’re ‘amazing’! End of week 2 back at work. As I type, I’m on my first beer, about to have many more and a smoke, half way through The Trial of the Chicago 7 on Netflix. Living the dream! Day 210: Things got messy last night. Sugar levels were a mess. I couldn’t even make it upstairs at one point, laid down on the long rug nursing a big bottle of coke. Got up at around 1pm and did usual shit, now having a beer, spicy sausage casserole in the oven (and it is fucking spicy) and I’ll pick a film to watch in a bit. Posh won, 2-0 at home to Oxford, up to 4th, one point behind Lincoln.

#diary #Tumblr diary #lockdown #covid19 #lockdownuk

1 note · View note

surveys-at-your-service · 4 years

Text

Survey #235

“the monster you made is wearing the crown; i’ll be the king and you be the clown.”

What is your favorite move franchise? The Lion King. What was the last fast food you ate? I had a hot dog from Sonic and one of those pretzel twists things. What is the saddest book you’ve ever read? Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo. Do you prefer heroes or villains? Villains. Duh. They're like, always more interesting. What is something you think is overrated? Uhhh coffee, for one. But like what you like. What political cause are you most passionate about? Gay rights. What country would you most like to visit? South Africa. Have you ever considered having children? Literally the only period where I wanted kids was later into Jason's and my relationship. Hell, I wanted three while he was always like "onLY TWO." Now, I don't want a single one, ever. I would be an awful mother for many reasons. If you ever took field trips as a child, which was your favorite? The zoo with Dad, my then-best friend, and her mom. One and only time I've seen meerkats. I was so excited I almost cried. Do you have any weird family traditions? It's not like, a tradition, I think, but we have a unique thing where saying "I love you mostest period" is something Mom, Dad, and my sisters have used for all my life. It's a way of saying "I love you more than you could ever love me, no arguments." Now Sara's been dragged into it lmao. Have you ever considered acting? Nope. Who was the last person you slept next to? Sara. Do you think you can be in love and still cheat on your S.O.? You can't "be in love" with a person and fucking cheat on them, no. Do you subscribe to any streaming services? We have Netflix. Idk about anything else. Have you ever been in a physical fight? No. What is the most embarrassing thing anyone has on video of you? I don't even wanna know. Did you ever get lost as a child? Yep, in a Wal-Mart lmao. This old lady helped me find my fam. What is your favorite condiment? Honey mustard. Or ketchup. Depends. Have you ever had an existential crisis? Very surprisingly, not really. Do you like country music? Begone, demon. It's still so weird to me that I loved it as a kid, but I really just grew up with it. What color are the eyes of the person you love? Brown. What is your favorite kind of flower? I looooove orchids. What town were you born in? Not the best thing to share on the Internet, eh? Do you know how to play any card games? I only vaguely understood/understand Magic: The Gathering. It's honestly really fun, but very complex in rules. It was Jason's thing so he got me into it. I miss my PS3 working because I used to have the "Duels of the Planeswalkers" on there, and doing it digitally is much easier and helpful. I loved it mostly because the art is fucking incredible. It was an old little aspiration to wind up designing the art some day and I don't think I ever saw Jason more excited. What is something about your childhood that you miss? Being more into video games than I am now alskdjf;awe. I'm more of a viewer of let's plays now than an active gamer; meanwhile, as a kid, video games were my favorite things in the world. Did you ever have MySpace? Do you miss those days? Yeah, I had one. Honestly though I can barely remember it (other than the song on my page was "Pocketful of Sunshime" lmaooooo as well meerkat-flooded), so it doesn't matter. What is the best television show you’ve ever watched? Meerkat Manor is my favorite show of all time, but as a proper show could have been better. AP made up their own shit and deviated from the KMP facts A LOT (guess what: Mozart killed a competitor's litter before; not exactly MM's her, right?), and not only was that confusing, but just annoying. Give me the real shit; don't just tweak stuff for dramatic effect. I could list a novel of lies in the series. Now, what I feel is the best show without a meerkat bias and just has an overall good plot. I kinda wanna say Supernatural, but the boys dying five million times got old. Possibly Fullmetal Alchemist. Are there any songs you can’t listen to because they bring back memories? I 110% refuse to hear "Stairway to Heaven." Have you ever saved someone’s life? Funny this is brought up after recent events. My sweetheart online bud had a cerebral aneurysm while having an extremely difficult time talking to me, and no one was home quite yet. Her final message was concerning and she didn't reply to me for a while, so I wound up messaging her again after a bit, and her boyfriend heard the b.net notification sound. Saw it was me and asked what was up. Told him, and he figured out she wasn't sleeping on the couch, she was passed out. He told me he never would have known if I hadn't said something. So does that count, even though I didn't like, physically save her? Have you ever broken any major bones? No. Are there any websites you’ve used for over 10 years? Good question? Idk. WAIT HOLD THE FUCK UP, KM's 10th birthday is coming up real soon. Wow. I know YouTube has been much longer. Idr when I joined deviantART. Maybe there's more, I dunno. Do you have any siblings? If so, what are their ages? My two immediate are 22 (ew) and 26 (double ew). Anything exciting taking place today? No, today was A N X I E T Y !! ! ! !! !! What are you craving? Okay so I have been MEGA in "the mood" lately and it's frustrating especially because I don't masturbate so I have like nO OUTLET. Who did you last hit? Nobody saving for when I was a kid repeatedly slapped my sister's arm for doing something I don't remember. How do you do in school? It depends on the subject, but in anything, I am a MASSIVE procrastinator, and I need to fix that. Schoolwork, good good, homework in the library, good good, but when I'm at home, I cannot seem to convince myself to work. As Sara puts it, home is like my "safe" place, and I don't want to bring school into it. Adjusting to school life again after like... two whole years or so of doing NOTHING at all, almost every day all day, is very difficult. I'm SO glad I picked school again, it's just a lot for a person who was so isolated and void of responsibilities to get used to. What’s your biggest goal? Right now, continue to improve my mental health. Fight social anxiety and AvPD. Who have you texted today? Just Sara. Who do you aspire to be like when you grow up? In most ways, especially in kindness, wisdom, relentless determination, passion, creativity, etc. etc. etc. etc., Mark. I think it's obvious he's Role-Model #1. I would loooove to be like Jane Goddall and Steve Irwin, too, feeling with such ferocious potency for animals and how they should be respected and loved. UM AND ALSO, EUGENIA COONEY IS THE SWEETEST PERSON ON THE ENTIRE GODDAMN EARTH AND I WOULD LOVE TO BE AS FRIENDLY AND PRECIOUS AS SHE IS. Oh, and then there's Shane Dawson. I relate to him SO much. He is the most selfless angel that seems SO down-to-earth and relatable as hell. I feel like he could be like, my best friend. Ahhhhhhh there are so many more, I love talking about my inspirations, but I'll chill here. Do you know if you want to go to college or not? I'm in college right now, and I desperately want it to stay that way. I'm fucking going somewhere in my life, and the education it provides will bring me closer to that. College is far from mandatory for everyone, but I feel it is beneficial for me. Do you like grapefruits? I haven't had one in a LONG time, so I don't really remember how they taste. I just know sour. What do you think of guys who wear eyeliner? *drools in Darkiplier* the fuck do you think Do you like online games? Only World of Warcraft, really. Who’s one person you care about more than yourself? Okay, real talk, and I hope this is everybody's answer. No one. I'm putting my goddamn self and my mental peace first for the rest of my life. Are there any pets you’re wishing for? I want another ball python. When’s the last time you used hand sanitizer? Two days ago when Mom and I stopped somewhere to eat. Wearing anything that isn’t yours? No. What type of bread did you use on the last sandwich you made? White. How many doors are in your house? Uhhh six. What was the last compliment you received, that made you smile? Sara said she was really proud of me, and to me, that's one of the biggest compliments you CAN give me. Think you need to lose weight? How much? ugh When was the last time you watched a VHS movie? I don't have a clue. We kept our VHS longer than most, though. We had too many movies on it. What event would you go back in time to see, if you could? Ummmm I dunno. Do you remember the last thing you said you wanted? To hug Sara. Who was the last friend you hung out with&what’d you do together? Sara stayed for a week. We did a lot. Who is the person, other than a spouse, that you are closest to? Sara. If you watched it, who was your favorite Hey Arnold! character? Oh my god, I hated that stupid show, but one of my sisters liked it. Have any good school pictures? or do they all just suck? There is literally ONE picture from elementary school where I think I looked pretty. Do you like trying on clothes or not? & Why? NO. I try to avoid it if I can. It's just annoying to change clothes for like five seconds. What are your thoughts on marriage? It's sweet, but I've come to find it... kinda needless for the most part? Like I know it has financial pluses and the symbolism is beautiful, but it's just that: symbolism originating from fantasies (imo, don't scream at me). It only adds pressure to stay in a dying relationship and makes splitting much more complicated. BUT, even with all that said, I personally want to get married someday, but only if I am *sure* about this person. It's the symbolism I like. That and it's so ingrained into my head that that's the "end goal" of relationships, so I'm pretty much just conditioned to want it. How long have you lived in the current place you’re living? Two years. Do you plan on moving anytime soon, if so where? I want to, but I am not in the financial position or at a level of independence where I'm ready for that. Are you more of a follower, or a leader? Be honest. This may alter with the situation, but mostly, I'm definitely a follower. Are your dreams/nightmares in black&white or color? I've heard of this condition before and it really intrigues me. I dream in color. Have you ever wanted to be some sort of hero outside of video games? I mean, define "hero." Like an action superhero in a literal way, nooooo. I'd die on Day #1, lmao. As a hero/inspiration as a person, of course; who doesn't? Will you admit that you’re at least somewhat superficial? I mean, probably in some places? How often do you go to the mall closest to you? Almost never ever. Our mall sucks and has experienced too many shootings. Do you still count with your fingers, even if only every so often? Yep. Like, always. Have you ever gone on a road trip with just friends? No. Well, I went to the beach with my friend and her mom, but just for a day or two because my separation anxiety from Mom got too bad oof. Without trying, do you act differently around different friends? Depends on the friend. I don't "fake it," just how reserved I am can move around. What was the last thing you drew/wrote on your own or someone else's skin? Probably a butterfly on my wrists when I was actively part of the Butterfly Project community. The last time you spent money, what was it on & how much did you spend? $1.25 for a drink at school. What’s the most money you’ve ever spent on one piece of clothing? Idk, but definitely not a lot. In elementary school, were you more of the bully or the bullied? Thankfully, neither. Do you like when a spouse is clingy, or can you not stand that? I'm sure to a certain degree it would be annoying, but for the most part, hell, I think it's attractive. Especially since I NEED validation you like me. How much do you say you walk in a week outside of school &/or work? Just around my house if you exclude school. Is there anything you wish your parents did differently in raising you? I wish they'd given us chores. Wish Mom didn't spank us. What would you do if the last person you texted asked you out? Lol yo we JUST broke up like an hour ago. We're not ready to get back together yet, obviously. Don't worry a bit, we're both cool. Still best friends, even. To compress a long story, needed personal growth and distance have brought us to returning to just friends. For now, at least. Have you ever received a scholarship? I think so... but not like a huge one, I believe. Who was the last person who got frustrated with you? Most likely Mom. When was the last time you mopped your kitchen floor? I myself have never mopped it. Or maybe once. What is your favorite work of art? I mentioned the Denialism painting in my last survey. What was the last appointment or plan you had to cancel? Plan, my next one with my psychiatrist. What spur-of-the-moment decision that you’ve made has had the biggest impact on your life? I don't know if any have truly changed my life. The ones that did (that I remember) were pondered over. Do you know anyone who is (or has been) a refugee? I don't think so, What is your best friend’s worst habit? She doesn't have faith in herself for ANYTHING lj;ljalwie Do you like spinach and artichoke dip? alksd;fjwei no Have you ever felt like you were about to pass out, but didn’t? Yep, a couple times. What was the name of one of your childhood imaginary friends? I didn't have any. What’s your favorite phase of the moon? Full. Do you wish you were richer? I physically refuse to be anything less than stable, hopefully even above that, once I'm independent. We've been poor all my life and it is fuck-ing HARD. It's stressful as a motherfucker and I am done with it. Very. What’s a middle name you like? Quinn. Fits a lot. I planned on giving that middle name to my hypothetical daughter. Are you scared of spiders? y e a h Do you weigh the same as your mom? No. Were you a Mary-Kate and Ashley fan? Like the average 90s/early 2000s kid. Coffee mugs, teacups, or water bottles? Uh, aesthetically? Teacups, probably. Bubblegum or cotton candy? Gum. I like the taste and texture of cotton candy, it is just RIDICULOUSLY sweet. It bothers my sensitive teeth sometimes. Do you prefer to drink soda from cans, bottles or cups? Cans. They get the coldest. Game you were best at in P.E./gym? Idk, I didn't excel at any. What do you have for breakfast on an average day? I'll typically just have a meal replacement shake or a Pop-Tart. Favorite non-chocolate candy? Sour Punch Straws (gotta be red). Favorite book you had to read for school? The Outsiders. Most frequently worn pair of shoes? My flip-flops, 'cuz they're easy to just slip on. Ideal weather? Cool but not windy (a light breeze is fine) with a partly-cloudy sky. Obsession from childhood? Webkinz. Favorite crystal? Dragon's breath opal. Favorite activity to do in warm weather? Swim or stay the fuck inside. Favorite activity to do in cold weather? Taking pictures in the snow. Five songs to describe you? "Get Up" by Mother Mother, "That's What You Get" by Paramore, uhhh... I don't feel like thinking over this any longer. My iPod isn't near me to scan through what I have, so yeah. Best way for someone to bond with you? Let's have deep philosophical talks about like the meaning of life 'n shit. Top 5 favorite Vines? Oh my god, this is impossible. To name some that come to mind first, in no order: "It's Wednesday, m'dudes *insert mating call*", "I cOUld'vE dROPPED My croiSSANt," "this is why mom doesn't FUCKING LOVE YOU," that one at a club where a girl is doing smoke tricks and the dude just goes "check that out" (or "wow," idr) or something similar (I couldn't find it), and omfg I adore that Snoop Dogg one with the little boy just semi-dancing to that iconic song???? I LOVE IT??????? Man, there are so so many more. Very honorable mention: "a d a m". Ads you have stuck in your head? None, thankfully. What is the first meme you remember seeing? Uhhh maybe Happy Bunny? Idk. Sci-fi, fantasy, or superheroes? Fantasy. Favorite type of cheese? American. What saying or quote do you live by? There's a lot I've picked up on and cling to. #1 is perhaps "Deal with life, or life deals with you." What are you currently stressed about? Some... things I realized about myself that disgust me. Favorite fairy tale? Shrek is a goddamn fairy tale and I will fight to the death against anyone who claims otherwise. Favorite tradition? I don't really have one anymore, but I remember as a kid, I would NEVER let Mom forget to throw some "reindeer food" outside for them lol. Talent you’re proud of having? One that warrants pride, exactly? Not just random talents? Well, uhhh. I suppose writing. I mean it modestly, I really do, but as a kid, my teachers all the way through high school always thought I was cheating or a parent did my papers at home. Some were only convinced by me writing in the classroom. I don't feel as good about my writing as I did in high school, but I am sill proud of excelling in it and taking writing anywhere seriously. If you were a video game character, what would your catchphrase be? I mean, name the game and genre here. Probably like "what the fuck" at like, everything, because I already do that. If you were an anime character, what genre of anime would it be? Like, based on my current life? I dunno. A sad and repetitive one with some bright days to it. Ohhh, and the color scheme and lighting vary with my mental state. Yo that would be dope. Character you relate to? lmao THRALL from WoW for being like "can y'all bastards just chill tf out" until he goes off to an isolated land away from civilization bc he's seen enough shit. Also compelled to help. Any good luck charms? I don't believe in those. Least favorite flavor of food or drink? As far as consistent flavors go, normally cherry or grape. Left or right handed? I'm a righty. Favorite potato food? Fries, when I wish they weren't. Earth tones or jewel tones? Jewel. How many phone numbers do you have memorized? Literally just Mom's. Not even mine.

#survey #quiz #questions #random #bored

10 notes · View notes

wecityguidecom · 4 years

Text

Datca Peninsula and Knidos Ancient City

Datca Peninsula is a hidden heaven of Turkey and also the home of the Knidos Ancient City where is having 4000 years of history. If you are looking for a place where you can see historical places while on holiday, the Datca Peninsula is the answer. Datca Peninsula is also the home of several small but very authentic villages with charming nature.

Where is the Datca Peninsula?

Datca Peninsula is located at the edge of the south-western part of Turkey. The length of the Datca Peninsula is around 75 km from Hisaronu village after the Marmaris. That means there are a lot of places to discover during your holiday at the Datca Peninsula. You find all the places mentioned in this post on the map given below. This map will be updated within couple of days. How to Go to the Datca Peninsula? Going to the Datca Peninsula means to go to the Datca. There are a lot of small villages through the Datca Peninsula but Datca is the biggest settlement of the Datca Peninsula with is 20.000 of the population. Datca maybe not like other major tourist spots of Turkey but it has its own unique properties that attract people. Because of its own beauty especially during the summer, its populations spike up to almost 100000 people. But it is still quiet and worth to see and spent some time.

You wanted to dive right away, didn't you? (Source). If you want to go to Datca, the shortest way is taking a flight to the Dalaman airport and arranging a private transfer to the Datca. Of course, there are multiple intercity bus lines to the Datca from major cities of Turkey like Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Bursa, Eskisehir and more. But keep in mind going to Datca with bus takes at least 12 hours from Istanbul. Also, don't forget to arrange your transfer before your arrival and get confirmation about it. Where to Stay in Datca Peninsula? Datca isn't a big place. Where you stay ou will always be close to the beaches. I stayed at Bademli Konak Hotel once and it was quite fine, the price for the bed and breakfast. The hotel was just 5-10 minutes' walk away from the beaches which is great. If you book a hotel very close to the beaches get ready for the noisy night. I'm strongly suggesting booking a hotel like this one. There are two beaches in Datca, Taslik and Kumluk beaches, so it is better to stay close to them, check the map above!

Kumluk beach will be full of people during the summer (Source). If you are looking for more quiet and alone time in the Datca Peninsula, of course, there are different places to stay. You can check places from booking.com to find a place to stay at Emecik, Kızlan, Resadiye, Karakoy, Mesudiye, Yaka and Yazikoy. These are all small villages. So, don't expect a five-star hotel quality places to stay. You will find couple of small lodgings runs by the local families. But the food especially breakfast will be fascinating. Because most of those local families grow their own food, not chemically exposed and mutated.

Each cove and beaches of Datca worth to see (Source). If you coming to Turkey from a country where its currency higher than Turkish Lira like Euro, Dolar or Sterlin I'm strongly suggesting you rent a car from Dalaman airport and be your own driver. Because at the Datca Peninsula there are so many places to see it is always better to have your own car. There are a couple of worldwide known car rental companies at the airport so it not a problem. You can use your car except for going to the Knidos Ancient City. Because there is a better way to go there :) Just wait a bit longer and continue to read :) When to Visit the Datca Peninsula? The temperature at Datca Peninsula is between 22 to 32 Celcius between May and October. Generally, a local tourist spends their holiday in July and August. So these months will be very crowded. It will better for you to plan your trip to Datca on May-June or September-October. As long as you booked in advance there won't be any problem but the traffic will be mess between July and August especially within the city center and Marmaris road. You can check the Datca weather information from here.

Places to See in Datca Peninsula

Datca Beaches You will now understand why you need to rent a car during your time in Datca. One side of the Datca Peninsula is the Aegean sea and the other side of it is the Mediterranean sea. I'm writing the list of the beaches below you can find the position of all on the map of the post given above. Kumluk beach (Datca center) Taslik beach (Datca center) Kizlanalti beach (Close to the Kızlan village) Gebekum Natural Park Kargı cove (South of the Datca center) Kizilbuk (Close to the Hayitbuk village) Hayitbuku (Hayitbuk village) Ovabuku (Mesudiye village) Palamutbuku (Palamutbuku village) Knidos Ancient City beach There is not even a single factory or processing plant at the Datca Peninsula. That means no pollution, just nature. Each of the places on the list given above is a perfect place to spend a day. Trees, sun, nature and more, even you can camp at any of them except Knidos Ancient City. You will find facilities for food and drink, also for the toilet. Probably no one will overcharge you try to scam at those places. As I told you before the Datca Peninsula is the hidden heaven of the Turkey and not very popular, yet...

Places like Kizilbuk will be quiet and calm between September and October (Source). Datca Old Town Very north of the Datca with its narrow stone-lined streets adorned with bougainvilleas, Datca Old Town offers a visual feast to its visitors. Also, Can Yucel who was a very famous Turkish writer spent some part of his life at the Datca Old Town. Datca Old Town's history is dating back to the 11th century. You will learn more information about him at the Can Yucel house on the Can Yucel street. I marked the street on the map given above :) There are active archeological studies over the area. Also, you can have breakfast or lunch at the Datca Old Town. There are a couple of nice places to spend some time during the day. I think that the Datca Old Town worth to see, probably a couple of hours will be enough.

Don't forget to inhale the fragrance of flowers (Source). Kizlan Windmills You will see the Kizlan Windmills while you are going to the Datca center. They will be on your right at the Kizlan village junction. There are a couple of windmills on the Kizlan village and some of them are waiting for renovation. If you rent a car to come to the Datca turn at the Kizlan junction and visit the Kizlan windmills. All of the windmills are owned by the people. That's why they are still waiting for renovation. But one of the bough by the Datca Governorship renovated and rent it to the private person to build a cafeteria for the visitors. You can visit the windmill and see the operating system of it. You can also visit the partly damaged ones but always be careful. They can be collapse anytime.

Knidos Ancient City

I just left the most beautiful, most impressive and most perfect thing to end about the Datca Peninsula, Knidos Ancient City. Knidos or Cnidus is one of the biggest ancient cities in the souther-west part of Turkey. Knidos Ancient City is famous for its statues built for the Dionysus, Athena, and Aphrodite. From Datca center, Knidos Ancient City is around 35 km away. But driving to the ancient city will be a little tiring for you because of the forest roads and also be a little dangerous if you are not enough experienced. I will tell the best to go there in a minute :) I just embed a YouTube video below about Knidos Ancient City. It is in Turkish but I think it will be helpful to take a quick look at the Knidos Ancient City from above and dream the life of the people thousands of years ago. History of Knidos Ancient City I just want to give you a brief history of the Knidos. Because I always believe that knowing something about a place before you will help you to understand and live the discovery experience better. Knidos, where is also known as Cnidus, was a Greek city of ancient Caria. It was also the part of the Doric or Dorian Hexapolis. It is believed that the first foundation of the Knidos was very close to the Datca city center around 4th century BC. When you go to the Knidos Ancient City you will and you may see on the video above it is located on a located where is the passing point between Agean and Mediterranean sea. Historians believe that there was a bridge over the see to reach the Tekir Peninsula (Cape Deveboynu or Cape Krio). But today this passage is full of soil and you can directly to the Cape. You will also see two harbors at the Knidos Ancient City one of them is small and the other one is bigger.

The archaeological studies in the Knidos Ancient City continue (Source). I don't remember where but I read that the population of Knidos Ancient City may be up to 100.000 people during its peak. Even during the Byzantine rule over the area, it was possible that there was a serious population because many Christian remains found over the site. Artemidorus, a minor character in the Shakespeare play “Julius Caesar”, was from Knidos. Also, Eudoxus, the astronomer, Ctesias, the writer on Persian history, and Sostratus, the builder of the celebrated Pharos at Alexandria, were also the most remarkable of the Knidians mentioned in history. Excavation and Loot of the Knidos Ancient City The first expedition to the Knidos Ancient City carried out by the Dilettante Society in 1812 and the excavations started by Charles Newton in 1858 under the allowance of the Ottoman Empire. Most of the historical artifacts found on these excavations stolen by Newton and taken back to the United Kingdom. He also even given a sir title after this mission. You can see the Lion of Knidos at the entrance of the British Museum. I always believe that the artifact like this should be given back to its original country and let be seen in their original place.

Lion of Knidos at the entrance of the British Museum (Source). After Charles Newton, Iris Love who was an American archaeologist carried about 10 years long excavation studies over the Knidos Ancient City. He was trying to find the lost Aphrodite statue. Knidos partly damaged during this excavation and his studies stopped by the government. Today, excavation studies are carrying out by the Selcuk University in Konya, Turkey. If you go to the Knidos Ancient City you will see the holes opened by the Iris Love, even today. Despite of everything it lived and suffered, Knidos Ancient City still offers you a lot to see and experience.

Knidos Ancient City theatre is a quite big one (Source). How to Go to the Knidos Ancient City? You have two ways to go to Knidos Ancient City. The first is to rent a car if you are not already rented one follow this route. Route signs will help to find the Knidos Ancient City and the trip will take around 1 hour and 35 km. But I'm strongly suggesting to take the second option, from the sea! Yes, from the sea :) You can join the daily boat tours departing from the Datca center. I marked the departure point on the map above. There are several boats leaving from Datca harbor and stops at a couple of coves and lets you to swim for a half-hour then moves to the next one until you arrive at the Knidos Ancient City. If you have enough money you can even rent your own boat to go where you want, not only Knidos Ancient City. Generally, boats leave around 09.00 and comebacks around 18.00. So you should spare a day for this attraction. As you can see from the video below joining a boat tour would be a great idea :) There two types of boat tours; short and long tours. Yours should be the long tour to go to the Knidos Ancient City. Prices vary every summer but it should be around 80-100 Turkish Lira per person. They will also offer you a lunch included with the ticket price but not the drinks. Lunch will be fish or meat and pasta. It is also free to bring your own foods and drinks but they won't allow using their refrigerator :) Things to See in the Knidos Ancient City Probably you will discover the Knidos Ancient City by yourself but I just want to help you a little. There are couple of must-to-see things at the Knidos Ancient City. The first one is the Dionysos terrace and the Stoa building. Because of the geographic properties of Knidos, the city was built step-by-step and there were terraces on each step and the Dionysos terrace is one of them. The second one is Liman avenue. From the staring of the 4th BC, Knidos started a new type of urban planning system. Based on these systems they built seven avenues from north to south and all they merged with one main avenue from west to east. Liman street is the first one of the north to west avenues. Also, there is a chapel at the west of the Liman street which should be seen. You will also find the remains of the Karneios Karneios Karneios at the middle terrace located at the intersection of the West to East avenue and Liman Avenue. It is possible to see the Altar and other structural remains of the Apollon Karneios Temple. There are of course other important things to see but I'm leaving them to you :) Also you can buy almonds and natural soap from the local villagers around the Knidos Ancient City. You will see them as soon as you get off from the boat.

Remains of the Apollon Temple at the Knidos Ancient City (Source). Knidos Ancient City Entrance Fee and Hours The entrance fee of the Knidos Ancient is 12 Turkish Lira. If you have a museum pass which can be buy from here, free. The ticket price is very cheap for a place like this. It is possible to visit between 08.30 to 19.30 from 1 April to 1 October and between 08.30 to 17.30 from 1 October to 1 April.

Things to Do in the Datca Peninsula

I'm writing a list of the thigins to do in the Datca Peninsula. Try to make as many of them to maximize your Datca Peninsula experience. Join short and longboat tour Swim at least 5 different coves and beaches Visit the Kizlan Windmills Eat the pan ice cream Eat seafood on the Kumluk beach at night Spend a day at the Knidos Ancient City Buy almond and soap from the local villagers at Knidos Ancient City Join the mini-concert of the singers at one of the local bars If you are planning to visit the Datca Peninsula and Knidos Ancient City I hope that this post will be helpful for you. Please share your questions and thoughts in the comment section to help others. Also, don't forget to share this post with your friends :) Read the full article

#datcapeninsula #knidos #knidosancientcity

2 notes · View notes

roswellroamer · 4 years

Text

Day 17. Punakaiki to Kaiteriteri. 285km.

As the night went on, I wondered if it was storming. Regular intervals of low thunderous rumbles turned out to be just a rising tide and some waves crashing against the substantial sea wall erected just behind the Punakaiki beach motel where it appears there used to be a road closer to the water. I had closed the windows and gone on my own personal pest control missions in the nicely appointed apartment by the beach. Still I counted over a dozen bites on each ankle this day. 🦟 Welcome to the buggy west coast. The sun was trying to claim the day as we wheeled out at 9 and headed north from Punakaiki. The first overlook, not far past the Tavern where we had enjoyed a nightcap was a wow. Mist shrouded the further bays up the beach and the Hawaiian like forest cling to the cliffs etched out by a chip and seal snake winding in and out of the shoreline's wrinkles. Picture above. Further along the road was almost unbelievably windy. Ted said that he found online this section from Greymouth to Westport was one of the world's best motorcycle roads. I believe it. So twisty, with elevation changes, loops around bays and over rivers with ocean rocks with flowers planted to enhance the already speccy views. After gaining our breath, we detoured about 6 kms into Westport in search of fuel. We found it then on to Gibby's cafe for some coffee, sausage roll and a cheese roll (a la Invercargill) and why not, a gingerbread man! Pic above. Two nice older couples at the next table and a couple twenty something fellas with two cute dogs got to talking with us and they were very supportive of the current political situation in the US. Nice. 🇺🇸 We headed inland and through the lower and upper Buller gorges. Again no clear apex marked at a pass but the roads today were simply all a dreamy day for a biker. About a half hour of twisty roads brought us to Berlin's cafe. Four bikes parked out front were a good sign. Turns out one of the bikers was a gal who misjudged a passing maneuver on her BMW GS and busted a few parts off the handlebars including her front brakes which were pumping hydraulic fluid when pulled. Reservoir must've sheared off. She was fine but the bike wasn't rideable. A ginger beer was downed and a little Wi-Fi used. The next town of Murchison seemed to be super busy and couldn't figure it out. As we passed the cafe, that couldn't have been it. Cars parked on both sides of the street for 200m. Then, a festival of sorts on the right came into view. Carnival rides, food tents and farm machinery on display. Looked like fun but we kept riding. In fact I flipped open my visor and was promptly met by a fairly large bee who found himself jammed into my left temple and against the helmet. I would've thought that the 60-70kph impact would've killed him. Well, it did but not before giving me a good thorough stinging just to the left of my left eye. Oh well. I'm sure there will be repercussions tomorrrow. 🐝 More good roads and then heading downhill towards the east side of the island and past the Buller Gorge Swingbridge.

Finally descending into farmland again we turned north and followed a series of pretty rivers and canyons angling northward. Today would be our furthest north stop. Staying two nights we would have time to explore tomorrow, the extent of the Abel Tasman NP and the Golden Bay and Farewell Spit dunes extending to the very northern tip of the South Island. A couple of GPS generated bypass turns (due to adventurous setting) had us over a small bridge and tiny farm roads that wound along the river with good pavement underneath. We then had even more tight turns heading into Kaiteriteri and then up the hill to the Kimi Ora Eco resort. A bit of a splurge, this aptly named spot has its own garden for food, solar farm for power and is a bit fancy. Checking in to basically a two bedroom apartment up the hill with a view over the bay loaded with moored boats and people swimming on the beach. Very scenic setting. Had to go check out the hot tub(s) and the pool all with a view. Made an appointment at The Views, their vegetarian restaurant in the main lodge. The meal was excellent. Picture above but didn't show the chocolate mud cake with vanilla bean ice cream and raspberry drizzle. Walked back up the hill to the unit and now I can't believe I'm about to be done and current with the blog! I'm so glad to have this as a reference in the future but I sorta dread sitting down to spend 1 to 1 1/2 hours each day to put down the thoughts, do the homework, select the 10 pics. But as this is the final week of the ride the end is in sight and it is definitely worth the effort. Not sure when or how I will use it in the future but the volume of occurrences, sights, little things, meals, stories is tremendous. Even after a couple days let alone years the memories tend to if not fade at least blend a bit. Many of the above experiences would be lost to me if not captured here so, on we shall continue! Enjoying A/C again. Modern conveniences... 😴

#newzealand #advrider #motoadventure #kaiteriteri #westport #punakaiki

1 note · View note

softietc · 5 years

Text

wednesday 1st may // 2019

First and foremost, I’m going to apologise for my lack of posts recently. I’ve not been in the best place and this blog has not been on my mind in the slightest.

Secondly, I cried in front of D today, kms.

Right, so basically the past few weeks have been absolutely awful for me mentally and emotionally, with the last three days being the worst. On top of that, English has been stressing me out due to how out of my comfort zone creative writing is.

After class today D called me to his desk by calling me ‘Miss W’ (But he actually used my surname, W is my last initial) and wiggled his finger like you do when your asking someone to come to you. Considering that I had quite an awful day, I probably looked distressed. D asked if I was okay and at first I lied and told him that I was fine, he then looked me dead in the eye and told me to be honest with him before he repeated the question. Have you ever been in a situation where you feel like you could cry but you’re not going to, however the minute someone asks whats up yo start bawling? Well, that’s what happened. I just started weeping

I explained everything to him; my emotional situation and how I was stressing over the creative writing. We spoke about school stuff from a few years ago for about 10 minutes before he got out a printed copy of my creative writing assignment, which he had marked. I’m going to copy out what I wrote and what he wrote so you can get the picture.

His voice is the melody form a music box, soothing me. There isn’t a single thing that compares to hearing him talk; the words are like vanilla custard, sweet in their own ordinary way. I always find myself gazing at him from a distance, from across the classrooms, from across the canteen. Spending my days hopeful, living in the intoxicating few seconds that our eyes would meet. His eyes. They are a deep, earthy brown - the colour of the earth after torrential rains; but there is something else in them, something glistening. Glistening like an old copper penny being examined in the warmth next to powerful flames. At times, when his gaze falls upon mine, it’s as if every ounce of breath is taken from my lungs and left to float between us. However, it feels like he is staring through me, just as he would be if I wasn’t there, or if he knew all of the thoughts that I kept secret.

That is what I had written for the assignment, D’s response was;

Detail and use of language and devices is exceptionally strong throughout, in terms of quality this is faultless.

However, the limited nature of it means that you wouldn't score as high as you’re capable of. You need to sustain this level of sophistication beyond just one paragraph. You could have developed this theme of unrequited love into an internal monologue of trying to go about your normal day (so literally have your narrator travel through their day at school) and then have it interspersed with snatched glances and meetings that again leave the narrator feeling hollow yet strangely content.

Getting his feedback made me so happy, that i started crying again as he was talking to me, just hearing him tell me that my writing is flawless and that I have potential as a writer if I get out of my head and stop stressing over it cheers me up so much. Also D’s description of what the narrative could have been is the definition of the teacher crush community - it kills me.

Anyway that’s pretty much it. I’m sorry about how long this is but I felt like I should post it because it’s about D. Thank you for reading -W

#tc #tcc #teacher crush #teacher crush community #teacher x student #teacher #english teacher crush #teacher crush imagine #teacher crush imagines #crush confessions #teacher crush confessions #teacherxstudent #tc confessions

25 notes · View notes

mybrainmeat · 4 years

Text

A beginner's guide to Hiking the Kumano Kodo Nakahechi Route

If you are planning to hike the Kumano Kodo Pilgrimage, you’re in for some fantastic historical sights, stunning views, and close-up encounters with various wildlife.

I had the fortune to join a friend for the full 72km Nakahechi Route from Takajiri-oji right through to Kumano Nachi Taisha just as the Pandemic lockdowns were lifting across Japan in June 2020.

At this time there were very few people to encounter on the trail or at the shrines and towns. The recent lockdown also meant a lot of usual stops for shopping and accommodation had limited options due to the tourism industry being so severely affected.

The 1000-year-old path is not without its challenges, so a little bit of preparation goes a long way;

When to travel

Most years, spring and Autumn are the preferred times to travel the route to avoid the heat. We chose to begin the pilgrimage on the first day of June 2020 - the day that the government officially lifted the lockdown in Japan. June is early Summer in Japan and temperatures start creeping into the 30-degree region. June is also the beginning of the rainy season (known locally as Tsuyu meaning “Plum Rain”), and the combination of hot weather and heavy rain makes it a less popular period for attempting the Kumano Kodo. Fortunately, we enjoyed a week of perfect weather with just a single overcast day.

Fitness

For reference, my hiking partner and I are both in our mid 30’s and of average fitness. Our winter seasons are spent working desk jobs and enjoying too much beer in ski towns, so summer is a period where we try to shed some of the bad habits and get more active. Neither of us had ever experienced anything longer than an overnight hike before this. Nevertheless, I would describe the Kumano Kodo as being a very beginner-friendly multi-day hike experience. There are so many populated areas along the way that it’s quite unlikely you will succumb to the elements and have your bones picked clean by the local fauna.

Packing Guide for four nights/five days

We both carried 60L hiking packs as we were also carrying camping equipment such as tents, sleeping bags, sleeping roll, cooking equipment etc. These added up to 15kg of weight with water included which made some of the steep passes quite a challenge in our poorly conditioned state.

For other beginners who would like to do the Nakahechi Route for themselves, below is an outline of what we packed and where we purchased our items locally. Note that the below is not necessarily the best advice; it is merely what two inexperienced and budget-savvy guys chose.

10-15kg camping setup (per person)

We purchased most of our camping gear from either Hard Off or Second Street. They both stock second hand and budget retail gear and are chain stores available in most large towns throughout Japan.

60L Backpack - 5,500 yen from Hard Off

I went for a large backpack because we were packing camping gear. Most people stay at guest houses each evening and only need a day pack for water, snacks, etc.

One person tent - 1,370 yen from 2nd Street

This tent was reeeeeeaallly cheap. I’m glad it didn’t rain.

Sleeping Bag - 1,500 yen from 2nd Street

Cheapest of the cheap sleeping bags. Not good for cold weather. Great for keeping the boogeyman away from your toes.

Sleeping Roll - 9,000 yen from Alpen Outdoor

I splashed out because I wanted a sleeping roll which packs down really small. Also hoped extra cost meant extra comfort, but it was still quite terrible to wake upon in the middle of the night.

Rain Cover for Backpack - 1,000 yen from Hard Off

Just in case it rained. A cheaper option is to put a bin liner in your Backpack.

Gas Stove & Gas & Lighter - 5,000 yen from Alpen Outdoor

Simple but effective. A little bulky compared to models in the 10,000 yen range and it uses larger gas canisters but got plenty of cooks and cups of coffee out of it.

Pots & Cup - 900 yen from 2nd Street

These were incredibly cheap, and we instantly burned the hell out of everything we tried to cook. Great for boiling water. Will carbonise anything else. A decent Teflon camping pot set will be on my Xmas list.

Umbrella - 1,000 yen from Uniqlo

A simple alternative for keeping dry if you don’t want to purchase waterproof pants and jacket, which tend to get pricey when they are both waterproof and breathable.

Clothing

We stopped at Uniqlo for super cheap, light clothing. Nothing special, no fancy brands or special weaves. It was all comfortable for our needs.

3 x Tee shirts - 1,000 yen each from Uniqlo

2 x shorts - 1,000 yen each from Uniqlo

1 x Gym pants - 1,500 yen from Uniqlo

Great for changing into after washing up each day and keeping bugs away from the ankles.

1 x light hoodie - 2,000 yen from Uniqlo

1 x light windbreaker - a Nike running Jacket I already owned

I never used this, but it packed down tiny so no problem.

5 x socks - 2,000 yen total from Uniqlo

These were cheap, cotton, ankle socks. I know cotton is basically the devil; however, I applied antiperspirant cream to my feet each morning to prevent my shoes from turning into the Bog of Eternal Stench and had no problems.

5 x undies

Personal preference. We ended up swimming on a couple of afternoons, so I found it easier to just rock life “commando” for a day or two rather than suffer wearing or carrying damp undies for hours.

1 x Shoes - Salomon AlphaCross 8,000 yen from Amazon

Hiking boots may be a better option due to the unstable terrain - my hiking companion almost rolled his ankle into the next century a couple of times. That said, these trail runners were comfortable and dry, and the traction was excellent everywhere except for the sections with wet, mossy rocks. Might as well have been wearing banana peels on my feet during those parts of the path.

1 x Jandals - already owned

For letting the piggy wiggies breath after a long day in the shoes.

1 x set of thermals - already owned

Totally unnecessary in June. Don’t be like me.

Sun hat and Sunnies - already owned

For looking cool at the club. A wide brim hat would be a better choice for the trail.

Food and water

You should encounter drink vending machines and food shops at least once each day, so it’s not necessary to go overboard with supplies - especially if you’ve booked accommodations which provide dinner, breakfast, or a packed lunch.

As we specifically planned to camp on a couple of evenings, and we had a brand new gas stove to try out, we brought extra food to cook up so we could feel like self-sufficient mountain men.

We packed:

Rice which we mixed with grains and seasoning and refrigerated for rice balls on the trail. Warning: google how to prepare rice for eating later, so you don’t DIE.

Instant ramen and canned tuna, which we cooked up for dinner both nights that we camped.

Eggs and spam which we cooked and promptly burned for breakfast the morning after our first camp

Bananas, trail mix, CalorieMates, and Protein Jelly drinks as snacks

Instant Coffee and Teabags

Around 2-3 litres of water

Special mentions

Wipes in case of emergency poopage

Bluetooth speaker for fighting off the Daru Spirits during the steep sections (special mention to Prodigy’s Fat of the Land album for getting us to the top of Echizen Toge Pass on day four).

We forgot Insect Repellant and received some gnarly bites on the legs

Itinerary

(5 days, approx 80km / 4160m total elevation gain)

Our Itinerary was modified mid-travel because the Info Desk in Hongu advised that all accommodations and shops were likely closed at Koguchi. This village is where people typically rest overnight before tackling the demanding Echizen Toge Pass on the Ogumotori-goe section which is the most gruelling climb of the Nakahechi Route. As such, we incorporated the climb into the end of our 4th day rather than the beginning of our 5th.

Day One

Takajiri-oji Trailhead > Chikatsuyu-oji - approx 13.5km

After being dropped off at the Trailhead by bus, we nosed about and took a few photos at the entrance before starting the ascent. It didn’t take a great deal of time to start building a sweat as the steps slowly took us up to the 400m mark, and I could feel a bit of self doubt (henceforth known as Daru Spirits) setting in as my lack of fitness made itself clear. Fortunately, there were a couple of interesting shrines on the way up which offered a chance to take off the packs and have a few sips of water.

Only a short while into this first climb we encountered our first slithery friend as we startled a nearby snake beside the track who in turn startled a few of my hairs into turning grey.

Once on the ridge line the pace was quite easy right through until Takahara 4km further. Here we enjoyed idyllic scenes of stepped rice paddies dropping down into the valley while a nearby water wheel lazily turned under a weak stream.

Another relatively tough climb directly out of Takahara - mostly due to the heat - and we were back under the forest canopy.

In between enjoying the shrines and the forest views along the trail there were also plenty of interesting creatures spotted including more slitheries, and some red crabs which were definitely completely lost.

We camped at the Iris Park Campground which added a couple of extra km of walking as it is located over the hill from the main village. It was a great spot next to a river with plenty of amenities including cabins, sento bath facilities, power outlets, covered bbq areas, and - inexplicably - some sort of menagerie.

Day Two

Chikatsuyu-oji > Hongu - approx 25km

After a surprisingly shit sleep in our $15 tents, we cooked up some spam and eggs for breakfast to fuel the finely tuned machines that are our bodies then hit the trail again.

Today was to be a big 25km trek to Hongu where the first major shrine “Kumano Hongu Taisha” is located, and it was another hot one pushing 30 degrees with 85% humidity.

An hour or two out of Chikatsuyu there was an impressive shrine with stunning Cedar trees lining the stairway and a rest stop displaying a traditional grass “raincoat”.

TIP: Don’t try this thing on with short sleeves or you’ll rash up like a baby’s ass in summer.

The trail followed the road for some time making it an easy journey - except for the moment we didn’t notice a recently-squished snake on the road until we almost trod on it and squealed in sheer terror.

The easy times were short lived though, as we entered the Detour Pass and started climbing, Daru Spirits started flying at us from every angle; between the steep staircases and sections exposed to the blazing sun, the Daru almost got the better of us. Fortunately, after a hard fought battle we reached the peak and promptly collapsed in the shade knowing that the worst was behind us for now.

Our feet were definitely feeling tender after this lengthy hike which involved clearing three passes in total, each with steep elevation. After the Detour Pass near Jagata-jizo, there was an excellent spot to relax on the stoney shore of a small stream, have a bite and cool the feet off in the chilly water.

As we were descending the final pass of the day, we had set a brisk pace through the trees and I accidentally stepped on a snake which was having a nap on the path. Needless to say it was none too happy about having its slumber rudely interrupted and it made a bee-line for my companion close behind who gave a yell and looked about ready to throw himself off the path to avoid the slithery vengeance. We proceeded a little more cautiously afterwards, but between all the sticks that look a lot like snakes, and all the snakes that look a lot like sticks it was a jumpy last few kilometers.

Once we arrived in Hongu we picked up a celebratory beer - had a kanpai to celebrate surviving our snake encounter - and booked a dorm at the Kumano Backpackers. The owner offered excellent local advice about where to find river swimming spots, camping, and refilling drink bottles on the road ahead.

Day Three

Rest Day - approx 7km

We stayed a second night at Kumano Backpackers and used our free time to properly explore the Kumano Hongu Taisha Shrine, the impressive Otorii, and we also caught the bus to check out the nearby Yunomine Onsen town.

We learned on this day that our intended destination of Koguchi for the following evening was likely closed - which meant we may not be able to top up on clean water, fresh food, or book accommodation. This meant we were looking at a much bigger day of walking and would need to clear the Echizen-toge pass the same day to reach the next stop - Jizo-jaya Teahouse - which hopefully had operational vending machines for fresh drinks and a good camping spot.

We spent the evening preparing our rice for additional trail snacks, purchased an extra 2L water and looked forward to carrying the heaviest load of the whole trip up the largest mountain.

Day Four

Ukegawa Trailhead > Jizo-Jaya Teahouse Remains - approx 19km

Well rested, we caught an early bus to the Ukegawa trailhead, which saved us an hour or so of walking along the highway. From here it was an easy 12.5km to Koguchi where we stopped for a lunch break.

Upon arriving, it turned out the local shop was, in fact, open and the incredibly kind lady working there gave us a hearty Ganbatte! after topping up our water bottles with fresh, icey water and offering a snack for the road ahead.

Under the Koguchi bridge was a spectacular swimming hole with a plethora of fingerlings ready to nibble on any weary feet dipped into the water. We stopped here for two hours to enjoy a refreshing swim and a brief nap before downing a CalorieMate, Banana, Rice Ball, and an Energy Jelly (for good measure).

Soon enough, it was time to saddle up again and tackle the 800m Echizen Toge Pass.

This was a long hike up, and many times we saw the sky appear in the trees ahead and felt we must be near the top, only for the track to turn once again and present us with another indeterminable number of stairs. We found ourselves making steady progress by focussing on counting down the official markers every 500m, and picking an easy line up the stairs which avoided making large strides. Since the steps were often haphazardly sized stones it was a good mental distraction to pick a path a few meters ahead as you climbed to avoid strenuous steps.

As we neared the top, we took a water break, connected the bluetooth speaker and queued up The Prodigy to get us pumped for the final few hundred meters.

And then we were there - and we felt great! A quick water break, a photo-op, and then down the other side of the pass.

That evening we camped at Jizo-Jaya Teahouse - a fantastic rest stop with power and an indoor seating area for travellers. The shelter was located a short 1600m walk after completing the Pass.

As well as offering more drink vending machines, the rest house area had a tranquil stream perfect for washing off the day’s sweat and grime.

Day Five

Jizo-Jaya Teahouse Remains > Kumano Nachi Taisha Shrine - approx 8km

We made an early start to complete the final unchallenging 8km of the Nakahechi Route. The descent into the valley where the second Major Shrine is located offers a rewarding view.

After exploring the temple grounds for an hour or two and collecting some souvenir junk, we descended the Daimon Zaka and caught the bus to Nachi Station, then a short train ride to Shingu to visit the third shrine - Kumano Hayatama Taisha.

At Shingu we booked a traditional style hotel room, took off the packs for good and called it a week.

Final Thoughts

Bring a copy of the official Kumano Travel guide with you, The information inside is amazing.

Be sure to stop and read the information signs at the various points of interest during the pilgrimage. No photos of the Jizo and Oji shrines are included in this post because I felt they were best enjoyed in person as a rewarding place to rest during the journey.

Sleeping in a tent on a thin matt is pretty uncomfortable - book a guesthouse well in advance if you want the traditional experience.

Bring a notebook so you can stamp the pages at each shrine along the way.

Every toilet I encountered along the way was in great condition and extremely clean. If you can hold it in until you reach proper facilities you’ll thank yourself.

Stay hydrated and don’t push yourself too hard on the steep sections.

Don’t rush on the downhill side - it’s easy to injure yourself on the uneven paths.

Phone service can be limited especially in the last couple of valleys.

Beware of the Daru!

#japan #nakahechi #hiking #camping #japansummer #summer #travel #japantrip #guide

0 notes

thebestintoronto · 5 years

Text

The ultimate Ontario itinerary: A 10-day Road Trip in Ontario

Follow me on a 10-day road trip in Ontario! This itinerary is taking in some of the most beautiful landscapes of southern Ontario: the bustling city of Toronto, the gushing Niagara Falls and a canoe camping getaway in Killarney Provincial Park you’ll never forget!

I fell head over heels for Canada the first time I stepped foot in this country. That was in 2012 and it was my first big backpacking adventure. Then, British Columbia and Alberta dominated my itinerary, but I figured out pretty quickly, that I wanted to see more of this wonderfully diverse country.

Four years later, I had the opportunity to explore a different province – I would embark on a road trip through Ontario for 10 days. When I put the itinerary together, it was not hard to get ideas together. I wanted to see Toronto and the Niagara Falls, but also get off the beaten path and into the forest, and finally try canoe camping.

The bigger problem with Canada, quite literally, is its size. Even though Ontario is just one province, it covers such a huge area, that it becomes impossible to see everything in one trip. And so, I focussed on southern Ontario this time, keeping places like Algonquin Provincial park on my bucket list for a future adventure.

Yet, I managed to squeeze a lot into my 10-day road trip around Ontario; from the bustling city of Toronto to the quiet corners of Killarney Provincial Park – here is my suggested itinerary for 10 days in Ontario.

How to get around Ontario

I would have been lost without a rental car. While there are buses crisscrossing the province (especially towards the many national and provincial parks), their services can be limited. For the ultimate flexibility, I recommend hiring a car, getting a SatNav and hitting the road!

My road trip began in Sudbury. Rather than starting and finishing in Toronto, I decided to fly further up north to Sudbury and get a one-way car rental from there to Toronto. This is a little more expensive, but the amount of driving it saves you is worth the expense!

Distances in Canada are massive and coming over from Europe it can be quite a shock to look up routes and driving times. Note, that this itinerary includes a decent amount of driving!

My 10-day Ontario itinerary

Killarney (2 days)

2-hour drive from Sudbury Airport, 132km

From Sudbury, I drove south to Killarney, a quaint town on the shores of Georgian Bay. Not many people live here year-round, but there are lots of holiday cottages, and many people come to Killarney by boat – some even all the way from the US, crossing Lake Huron and into Georgian Bay. It is quieter here than in other holiday regions in Ontario; likely, because it is quite a long drive away from Toronto.

Killarney is all about the outdoors. The picturesque harbour town is not so much the draw, as is the wilderness around it. And so I embarked on two mini-adventure starting right at the doorstep of my waterfront hotel, the Killarney Mountain Lodge.

On day one, I explore on foot – the Eastern Lighthouse is a mere 45-minute walk away from the hotel, even though it takes me much longer to reach it. Too pretty are the views of the Great Lakes, too peaceful the atmosphere to walk past the many beautiful viewpoints. I stop often to take pictures or to just sit still and breathe, the sun tickling my nose. Even though it is still early in the day, the sun is strong and makes me sweat a little on this easy walk. The trail is marked with little arrows on the ground or orange flags in the trees, pay attention to those and you won’t lose your way.

The next day, I join one of the boat tours offered by the hotel. From the water, the landscape changes yet again. I now see the low hills that surround the village, giving the hotel its name. The region was once dominated by a high mountain range, slowly carried off by the glaciers on top. Today they’re mostly covered in lush green forests, but here and there the bright white rock shines through the trees.

We sail past beautiful lodges – summer cottages that are worth millions of dollars – and chat about native fishing rights in the Great Lakes. Quickly we leave the big open water of the Georgian Bay behind and enter smaller bays, navigating smaller islands around Killarney.

I reach behind me to stick my hand into the water. It’s cold – maybe not the right time for a dip in the water…

Canoe camping in Killarney Provincial Park (2 days)

10-minute drive from Killarney, several hours of paddling

From Killarney, I make my way to Killarney Provincial Park, a short drive back up the highway. I meet my local guide Mike at Killarney Outfitters, an outdoor shop that rents out canoeing and kayaking equipment, but also offers fully-guided tours around the Great Lakes or the lakes of the Provincial Park.

Mike and I set off with everything we need for two days – the Provincial Park is far off the beaten track, and as soon as we leave behind the main beach at George Lake, we’re on our own. And it’s bear country.

Our goal for the day is Killarney Lake, the third in a wide-spread system of lakes among the mountains of the park. After crossing George Lake, we carry our canoes across a short portage to Freeland Lake, and a longer portage into Killarney Lake after that. While we meet few others on the lake, it is necessary to acquire an overnight permit for the park in advance. There is a limited amount of campsites dotted along the shores of the lakes, and you may only camp if you have the respective permit. You won’t be allocated a specific campsite, so the earlier you leave George Lake, the higher are your chances to get a good spot. We manage to find a beautiful campsite, a sheltered clearing in a light forest, surrounded on three sides by water, and pitch our tents. This would be our home for the next two nights.

Muskoka County & Haliburton Forest (1 day)

5-6-hour drive from Killarney PP to Haliburton Forest, 350km

This was by far the longest drive of my trip, and it felt like forever doing it on my own. Most of the way I followed a monotonous highway, but by the time I reached Horseshoe Lake, my SatNav directed me off the main road and into Muskoka County. This region is a popular holiday region for Torontonians and is world-famous for being the home of the comfortable Muskoka chairs.

The roads get smaller and smaller (in Canadian terms) until I finally find myself at the edge of Haliburton Forest, a privately-owned forest near Algonquin Provincial Park. I check in at Haliburton Forest and Wild Life Reserve, which is run by the same family who owned the land around it; 100,000 acres of forest and it only keeps growing. They bought the land with the specific aim to make a living off sustainable forestry, while at the same time protecting the biodiversity of this very special forest.

By the time I reached the lodge, I had just about enough time to join the annual end-of-season BBQ, watch the locals line dance and have a few beers in the sunset.

The next day I explored the forest. Near the lodge, there is a wolf centre, where you can learn about the local wolf packs, and if you’re lucky, even spot some of them nearby. On a canopy tour, I learnt more about the challenges of caring for this forest and get close up with the giant trees at its heart. The tour included a brief walk through the forest, a quick canoe ride across a lake, and finally, a long walk high up among the treetops, on a purpose-built course with viewing platforms.

Accommodation at Haliburton Forest is in two- or three-bedroom cottages as well as log cabins more suitable for groups. If you can, I highly recommend spending more time here and maybe even venture into Algonquin Provincial Park for a few days!

Niagara Falls (1 day)

4-5-hour road trip, 380 km

After exploring Haliburton Forest in the morning, I made my way down south. You can either drive all the way to Niagara Falls in one day or stop overnight in Toronto and drive to the waterfalls the next morning. Either way, you will have a full day exploring the area around the Niagara Falls, as it is just a short drive from Toronto.

Niagara Falls Helicopter Flight

My first glimpse of Niagara Falls was from the air – a helicopter flight over the waterfalls is a brilliant way to really grasp their size and impact on the area. You can clearly see the difference between the Canadian and the US-American side, but also the greenery supported by the large river delta leading up to the falls. Flights with Niagara Helicopters cost from £85 (CAD$ 145) and last about 12 minutes.

Niagara Falls Boat Tour

The second unmissable way to experience the Niagara Falls is as close up as possible – on a boat tour with Hornblower Niagara Cruises. Equipped with a thin red rain poncho you can choose to spend time in the protected lounge or the outer observation deck – guess which one I chose!

The boat tour lasts about 20 minutes and costs around £17. The route goes past the Bridal Veil Falls and the American side of the Niagara Falls, until you reach the famous horseshoe-shaped waterfalls on the Canadian side. The boat does not just stop in front of them, but goes right into the spray and the mist, leaving you wet, poncho or not. Make sure you pack away your camera and bring waterproof pouches. A GoPro is an ideal camera to take photos of the Falls and yourself up close.

The small town of Niagara on the Lake is an ideal way to end your day, not only because you will find less touristy restaurants than by the Falls, but also because the area is rich in vineyards waiting to be explored!

Of course, you can’t drink too much, since you’re driving, but even just tasting a sip of the famous Ontario ice wine is worth the detour!

There are also guided tours from Toronto that save you driving and include both, a Niagara Falls experience and a winery tour. Check it out here.

Toronto (3 days – or forever)

1.5-hour road trip, 130km

The final stop of my Ontario road trip was Toronto. I actually spend over a week here, to really get to know the city, but I think three days is enough to give you a taste of the city. I suggest, that each day you discover a different side of Toronto.

Day 1: Toronto Sightseeing

Spend your first day in Toronto like a real tourist. Whether you hit up the museums, like the Bata Shoe Museum or the fantastic Royal Ontario Museum, visit the top of the CN Tower or the stadium of the Toronto Blue Jays, there is an attraction for everyone!

My personal favourite was the sunset cruise with the Tall Ship Kajama which opens up a completely different perspective of the Toronto skyline.

Day 2: Toronto for Hipsters

Toronto is an incredibly cool city, and your trip would not be complete without learning some bits and pieces about the local street art culture, hanging out in coffee shops, strolling across the markets and vintage shop until you drop!

My favourite areas for shopping were Kensington Market and West Queen West, an uber-trendy part of town, where you can find one vintage shop after the other. The Distillery District was also very nice for shopping and restaurants, but overall a bit more touristy than the other neighbourhoods.

I went on a street art tour around Queen Street West and Spadina Avenue with Daniel from Tourguys, who explained everything from the key players of street art in the city to the legal situation of graffiti in Toronto. He took me to back alleys and lanes, pointed out street art that is well hidden in the busy city landscape and told me the stories behind the artpieces. I can only recommend doing this tour!

The best thing about Toronto for hipsters is the abundance of cool coffee shops, either to work in or simply cure your hangover (from drinking or shopping). I wrote an article about my favourite coffee shops here.

Day 3: Get outside in Toronto

Finally, Toronto might be a bustling urban jungle, but it is also surrounded by some wonderful nature! Here are some ideas to get outside in Toronto:

Rent a bicycle and make your way to Toronto Island. The views across to the city are amazing, and there are many bike paths to explore. You could also rent a kayak or canoe and paddle around the shore of the island.

Take a bus towards Cliffside and hike through Scarborough Bluffs Park. The park northeast of central Toronto is famous for its crystal clear waters and bright white cliffs overlooking it!

Make your way to Woodbine Beach and rent a SUP board from WSUP Toronto. On the board you can paddle towards the Toronto skyline, try some yoga poses or simply relax in the sun away from the beach crowds.

My road trip to Ontario was an incredible adventure and I still can’t believe how much you can see in just 10 days. Still, the route I described here only covers a small area of southern Ontario, so if you’ve got more time, make sure to cover even more ground!

Traveling solo through this incredibly beautiful province with the kindest people and most serene landscapes made me fall in love with Canada all over again. I wish I could have had more time to see even more, spend another night or two in the tent and find more lakes to jump into, but alas the dream was over way too fast.

Canada, you did it again!

The post “ The ultimate Ontario itinerary: A 10-day Road Trip in Ontario “ was originally seen on Watch Me See by Kathi

Vitamin Therapy Toronto - The IV Lounge

0 notes

microsstinatir-blog · 5 years

Photo

Hiking the Greenstone Caples Track – a great alternative for the Routeburn Track

Welcome to this article about the Greenstone & Caples Track. If you have come to this article to read more about this amazing hike, you’ve come to the right place. I’ve written a complete hiking guide of the Greenstone Caples Track for you below and hope you’ll find it useful. I’ve hiked this trail in 2018 and a few weeks later I hiked The Routeburn Track for the second time in my life. Even though I have to admit that the Routeburn Track is stunning, the Greenstone Caples Track proved to be a worthy alternative for the Routeburn Track. It’s almost as scenic, much cheaper, way less crowded and well worth your time. So sit down, relax and enjoy my article below.

How I got to know about the Greenstone Caples Track

Ever since my first visit to New Zealand back in 2002 I knew I’d come back in the future. It took a while, but I returned in 2011 and again in 2018. The latter two trips were mostly dedicated to hiking New Zealand’s famous trails. In 2011 I mostly hiked The New Zealand Great Walks but on my most recent trip, I decided to get off the beaten path a bit more and explore some lesser known trails. I had already hiked The Routeburn Track and The Kepler Track back in 2011 and was now looking for some alternatives that would be less crowded but as scenic. A few years ago, a New Zealand friend of mine, who actually lives nearby my hometown in The Netherlands, pointed out to me that the Greenstone Caples Track is a great alternative to the famous Routeburn Track but less the crowds. I immediately wrote that down in my notebook with ‘hikes I want to make one day’ and knew that during my next trip to New Zealand, this one would be on the top of my hiking list, together with the Angelus Hut hike in Nelson Lakes National Park. This is how I found out about the Greenstone & Caples Tracks (which can in fact also be hiked separately) and when spending three months in New Zealand in 2018 I knew this was going to be my number 1 bucket list item. Planning a trip to New Zealand? Make sure to also read my complete travel guide for New Zealand here!

About the Greenstone Caples Track

If you wish to hike the full round, the Greenstone Caples Track is 4 days in length. Department of Conservation classifies it as an easier tramping track, meaning that it’s a generally well formed tack for comfortable overnight tramping/hiking trips. You cannot book the huts beforehand and need to purchase a Backcountry Hut Pass or Backcountry Hut Tickets beforehand, which you can do for example at the DOC Office in Queenstown. The DOC Huts on this track are serviced in summer months, have mattresses and running water. You’ll need to bring your own food, cooking material, sleeping bag and anything else you may need on this trip. As opposed to the Great Walks, stoves are not provided so you’ll need to carry those as well. The Greenstone Caples Track will take you through two valleys and is a loop walk, so you’ll eventually get back to the trailhead, unless you decide to combine this trail with the Routeburn Track. The trailhead is at Greenstone Road End, 86 kilometers from Queenstown. As I wanted to get an early start I decided to stay overnight in nearby Glenorchy which is about an hour from the Greenstone Road End. The trail is generally well marked and not too difficult. I solo-hiked it and found it rather easy compared to other mult-day hikes in New Zealand. There were some minor unbridged stream crossings along the way as well as some knee-deep mud sections, but nothing major to worry about.

How to get to the Greenstone Track

Before I’ll give you a detailed day to day description as well as alternative hikes, I’ll tell you more about how to get to the Greenstone and Caples Track. Most trampers will start this hike from the Greenstone Road End, along the shores of Lake Wakatipu. You can also start from the Howden Hut on the Routeburn Track, but more on that later at the alternative routes section. If you are driving, then it’s 86 kilometers from Queenstown or 35 kilometers from Glenorchy. From Queenstown it’s about a two hours drive, from Glenorchy one hour. The majority of the road past Glenorchy is on a gravel road and past Kinloch there will be various rivers to ford. If you have a rental vehicle, make sure to check whether you are insured for river crossings, most likely you won’t be though. While I drove it on the way over to the Greenstone Road End the crossings were okay, however on the way back it got a bit more trickier as it had been raining and the fords got wider and deeper. In case of heavy rain, the fords may become impassable. If you don’t have your own vehicle, you can use the service of a track transport operation service such as Info & Track who have organized transport all around Queenstown. I have not personally used them so cannot recommend them from my own experience, however they are advertised on the Greenstone Caples Track brochure by DOC.

In which direction should you hike the Greenstone & Caples Tracks?

Since the main track is a loop track, you can hike it either way. However, I ran into a guy who had hiked it before and he advised me to hike it anti-clockwise, so starting with the Caples Valley. This is the narrower one whereas the Greenstone Valley is wider. As I wanted to take advantage of the good weather I had, I decided to stick to his suggestion. The track is also described by DOC this way, however there is no need to walk it anti clock-wise. Below you will find a detailed day-to-day description of my hike!

Day 1: Greenstone Road end to Mid Caples Hut (2-3 hrs, 9 km)

Day one of the Greenstone Caples Track leads you along the Caples River. In this part of the valley you’ll find a lot of stock so don’t feel worried if you feel something is looking at you. After you’ve passed the confluence of the Greenstone and Caples Rivers, follow the Caples Track to your right. The trail will stick to the bush edge most of the time but in some parts, you’ll walk along with the cows in the grassy parts. Tip: do not forget to look behind you every now and then. The views of the mountains behind you are truly stunning and turned out to be some of the best views of the whole track. The walk to Mid-Caples Hut is relatively short (it took me about 3 hours, the mentioned 2 hours are rather fast I’d say) plus time for pictures. After the first two hours it became cloudy but luckily I had already enjoyed some amazing views. Just before you get to the hut, you’ll cross an incredibly scenic gorge with bright blue water. I decided to first drop my gear at the hut and head back to the gorge for pictures later, as I wanted to make sure I’d had a bed for the night. It actually turned out to be pretty quiet at the hut, there eventually were less than 10 people for the evening. Note: the location of the hut is incredibly scenic, however the sandflies are a pain. If you decide to head out after your arrival, cover your arms and legs and be prepared for a sandfly attack!

Day 2: Mid Caples to McKellar Hut (6-7 hrs, 22 km)

The only (somewhat) alpine section of the Greenstone Caples Track awaits you on day two, when you cross McKellar Saddle into the next valley. I started my day early as this is generally a rule when I hike solo without cell phone connection (read more here about tips for safe solo hiking as a female). The first section of today’s hike will take you through the forest and you’ll gradually climb up to McKellar Saddle. From here the views are stunning, I had overcast but I can imagine it’s even more beautiful on a clear day. As the saddle pretty much marks the half way point of day 2, I decided to grab lunch here. The majority of the walk on the saddle is on boardwalks in order to protect the fragile nature. The highest point is at 945 mts and after the saddle you’ll gradually walk down to the Greenstone Valley floor. Just before McKellar Lake you’ll get to a junction, from here you can hike to the Howden Hut on the Routeburn Track (more on that below) or McKellar Hut, the final destination for today. DOC describes the McKellar Hut as one hour away from the track junction, however it took me a little longer. Once again the views are amazing and the location of the hut is awesome.

Day 3: McKellar Hut to Greenstone Hut (6 – 7 hrs, 18 km)

You’ve now reached the Greenstone Valley which is much wider than the Caples Valley. The hike from McKellar Hut to Greenstone Hut is across the bottom of the valley and stunning all the way. There’s a few minor rivers to be crossed as well as an old landslide you’ll walk across. The Greenstone Hut is a 10 minute walk away from the track and is quite a but busier than the huts for the previous nights, since people who hike the Te Araroa Track (New Zealand’s long distance tramp) can also overnight here. I arrived at the Greenstone Hut mid afternoon and spent an awesome few hours enjoying the sunshine and overlooking the amazing views in the distance. Note that the hut was full well by the middle of the afternoon so arriving early is wise.

Day 4: Geenstone Hut to Greenstone Road end (3-5 hrs, 12 km)

I woke up after a rainy night and decided to quickly pack my bags and hike the final section of the Greenstone Caples Track. The first part of the hike was quite dry and led me through the forest most of the time. Slip Flat is a large open area and according to the track brochure, there should be an emergency bridge to cross the creek. The creek indeed turned out to be rather large so I decided to find the emergency bridge upstream. It seemed like there was a trail afterwards, but somehow I lost it and I got a bit confused. If you decide to go for the emergency bridge, my suggestion for you is to follow the creek back to the original track rather than trying to find your own way. There were many ‘sort of trails’ which I thought were right but eventually it took me quite a while to find the main trail back. I later realized they may have been stock tracks which confused me. The final part was rainy and wet and I decided to hike quickly back to my car, as I wanted to make sure to get out in case the rivers on the Greenstone Road would become impassable (I was a bit worried as I didn’t have vehicle with high clearance and there’s no cell phone connection in the area). If the weather would have been good, I’d have done the additional walk to Lake Rere but given the downpour, I figured it wouldn’t be worth it in the end. After I got back to my car I changed into a dry outfit and decided to hit the road in order to get the crossings over and done with. Two of them had become rather deep and I was glad I got through them okay.

Greenstone Caples Track Map and Brochure

You can pick up a copy of the Greenstone Caples Track Map and Brochure at the Queenstown DOC office. They will also be able to provide you will all necessary information regarding the track as well as potential closures etc. You don’t really need a topographical map as the track is well marked with orange poles and signs in some places. Other than losing the track for a moment after the emergency bridge, I found it rather easy to find. With the Routeburn Track becoming more and more popular, I heard this is becoming a more hiked alternative for the Routeburn Track as it doesn’t require advance reservations and staying at the huts is cheaper than the Great Walk Huts.

Routeburn Greenstone Track

It’s possible to combine the Greenstone track with a section of the Routeburn Track. If you wish to do so from the Greenstone Valley, my suggested itinerary would be: Day 1: Greenstone Road End – Greenstone Hut Day 2: Greenstone Hut – McKellar Hut Day 3. McKellar Hut – Howden Hut or onwards to The Divide Day 4: Howden Hut – Lake Mackenzie Hut (you can also combine day 3+4 into one long day) Day 5: Lake Mackenzie Hut – Routeburn Falls Hut Day 6: Routeburn Falls Hut – Routeburn Shelter Note that reservations for all huts on the Routeburn Track are required and need to be made well in advance. I hiked it in March 2018 and booked it in November 2018 and most of the spots were already booked up.

Lake Mackenzie on the Routeburn Track

Routeburn Caples Track

You may also combine the Routeburn Track with the Caples Track. In this case, my recommended route would be:

Day 1: Greenstone Road End – Mid Caples Hut Day 2: Mid Caples Hut – Howden Hut Day 3: Howden Hut – Mackenzie Hut Day 4: Mackenzie Hut – Routeburn Falls Hut Day 5: Routeburn Falls Hut – Routeburn Shelter If you wish to end at The Divide, you can overnight in Howden Hut and from there hike to The Divide. From here, you can catch a bus back to Queenstown or combine it with an excursion to Milford Sound like me and my friend did when we hiked the Routeburn Track.

Things to consider when hiking the Greenstone & Caples Track

As I mentioned, it’s a generally easy multi-day tramp if you are an experienced hiker and are physically fit. Do not forget to pack all I mentioned above as well as raingear, since you are hiking in one of the wettest parts of New Zealand. As it’s way less busy than The Great Walks, you may find yourself alone most of the time. At least, I did. If you’d like to hike in solitude, your best bet is to get up early before everyone else does. I only ran into a handful of people each day (maybe not even) and would just see other people at night in the huts. If you want to camp on the Greenstone Caples Track, you can do so at along the bush edge and 50 meters from the track. More information and rules for campers can be found on the track brochure.

What’s the weather on the Greenstone Caples Track

This part of New Zealand is among the wettest in the country, meaning that you will most likely get wet. Parts of it lead you through Fiordland National Park, which is known for it’s insane rainfall. During this same trip I also did the Routeburn Track and the Hump Ridge Track, both located in Fiordland National Park and I got soaked to the bone most of the time. I don’t want to discourage you, moreover be realistic. I had two days of sunshine, one day of overcast and one day of rain on the Greenstone Caples Track. Not a bad score if you ask me!

Conclusion and disclaimer

Looking back on this hike, I found it one of the highlights of my most recent trip to New Zealand. The track was incredible scenic, quiet and not too difficult. Yes, the Routeburn may be more famous, but looking back on it, I’d rather to this one again. Note that this blog contains affiliate links and that I may earn a small commission if you decide to buy or book anything through one of these links. This is of course at no extra cost to you.

The post Greenstone Caples Track: a great alternative for The Routeburn Track appeared first on we12travel.com.

#greenstone"

0 notes

debbiehross · 7 years

Text

The Sporades - From Skopelos to Athens

June 20th

Skopelos is famous for being the island where the musical Mama Mia was filmed in 2008. Although much of the film was set in neighbouring Skiathos, California, and on a set in the UK, the Islanders are very happy to ignore that little fact, and there are many Mama Mia tours, bars and tavernas here.

Skopelos - A Mama Mia bay - love the lushness of the landscape here.

We were guilty of breaking into Abba songs at the least provocation. It must have been in the air – and we started planning a little video of Abba faves, that we were going to film as we scaled to the top of the mountain where the tiny church sits. A bit like a remake ?!

Entering Loutraki with the town of Glossa above.

The Port town of Loutraki is situated on the NorWestern end of Skopelos. We spent a night here, after a full day of sunning, swimming, paddle boarding and singing Abba songs.

The erosion around the coastline is quite noticeable, and Kosta showed us where an entire village had fallen into the sea a few hundred years ago just near the entrance to Loutraki.

The old town of Glossa sits safely high upon the hill above the harbour and we were told it was well worth the climb/ride to enjoy the view. During the middle ages these islands were easy prey for pirates. The inhabitants moved inland to fortified villages, and this is why many of the old towns are high up on the hillsides. (The port areas being more recently occupied in the 19th century).

Vicki and I trying out the E-bikes on the wharf.

Having only two E-Bikes, 5 of us walked and 2 e-biked, swapping half way. It was a steep climb, and Leslee and I waited at one corner for the walkers to appear. Thankfully so did a taxi, and Dimitri the driver took the overheated and exhausted climbers to the Taverna at the top.

The taverna perched above the port. Glorious views.

After a delicious meal while we soaked up the view, we handed the waitress a card and asked her to call Dimitri the taxi driver for us – She smiled and nodded, then turned around and yelled out loudly “Dimeeeeetriiii”!!!. We all burst into laughter as Dimitri’s head popped around the corner. It wasn’t the same Dimitri – but never mind – getting back to the boat was an easier ride down the hill and we were tired and replete.

Chris and John returning to the boat on the bikes.

Our plans to film an ascent to the Mama Mia church were dashed when Captain Kosta informed us of the huge climb it would be, and that there was no bay to comfortably anchor in, and that it would be a lot of motoring to the Northern tip of the island. Ok – we get it – no stars to be born today.

Instead we spent the morning in a beautiful bay on the southern end of the island (where a beach scene from the movie had been shot), called Kastraini. A gorgeous pebble beach, surrounded by lush green trees. I can picture the exact scene from the movie. And I now have a wooden bowl full of different coloured marble stones as a centerpiece on the coffee table to remind me of this idyllic spot.

Later that afternoon we motored to Stafilos Beach. Yet another bay with the most incredibly clear deep water. More of the same, which we never tire of as the beaches and bays all have their own unique character. And we love spotting the beautiful villas set above the water, some with the most divine gardens.

Approaching Skopelos Port from the sea was a beautiful sight. The town was a wash with the evening light, rising up from the harbour - an amphitheater of white and terracotta. We decided an early morning exploratory walk would be a must-do.

G & T’s before heading ashore.

It was dinner ashore again. We set off to find a good restaurant (which we did – in a beautiful garden setting further into town). As always the shops were a huge distraction on the way, crammed with gorgeous things. We gals are enjoying buying linen garments that are made here in Greece and Italy at a fraction of what we would be paying at home. It’s just too tempting. Leslee is great to shop with and manages to hunt out little gems from every store.

Our walk the next morning was full of photo opportunities. Everywhere you looked there was another image to capture. Here are a few...

Yay - The full team!

Leaving Skopelos Port.

We stocked up on more supplies here in Skopelos before heading out of the port to spend the day at a little beach on Alonnisos Island . The team are now becoming very proficient at paddle boarding and it’s a great form of exercise if you paddle hard, with tummy muscles pulled in. Uggggh! Vicky even trying headstands on the board – smarty pants!

Go Vicky ! - Hold the board steady Alan!

Very Cool Aunty Leslee!!

Later we headed in to a tiny bay on the island of Peristeri called Vasiliko. It faces Alonnisos, and an old Goat herders’ house sits alone in the bay. We stern lined to the old concrete wharf there. No one was in the house, but a few goats clambered around outside. An oily calm night - not a breathe of wind.

Vicky having her morning swim - creating ripples.

As it was nearing the weekend, it was necessary for us to start heading South away from the Sporades so as to be in Athens on Alimos Marina for Sunday night. The Clarkes had an early morning flight on Monday, and John and Vicky were leaving in the afternoon for Santorini. So our team motored South in the morning, spending the day swimming at Skantzoura Island which marked the half way point to Skiros island.

Hesham managed to catch a fish that resembled a cod, and another octopus. He again prepared his Stefado for lunch, with calamari and salad. Delicious.

The further south we went, the more arid the landscape became. Gone were the lush green tree covered hills of the Sporades. We were now heading into Cyclades territory.

In the late afternoon we pulled into the island of Skiross. To the port of Linaria, and another gorgeous hillside town to explore. This time we took two taxis, as it was a good 10 kms away on the other side of the island.

The cars can only drive as far as a small square, so we walked the rest of the way. Up, up, and around, and up some more, and along small winding narrow streets, until we found a tiny taverna perched above a street looking out to the sea. Yay. It looked deserted – but we stumbled in, got a table at the edge (as no one was there) and ended up having the best meal we’d had to date. Little plates of deliciousness. The place did end up becoming full of people later on. We’d just managed to time it right.

Thirsty hungry work all that walking !

Saturday morning saw us motoring off fairly early as it would be a long stretch to get to Kea for the night.

We stopped for lunch and a swim at Kalamos beach. We were at the beginning of a heat wave, with tempreratures predicted to reach into the late 30”s and into the 40 ‘s.

A beautiful still day for paddle boarding and swimming. Vicky appeared back from her SUP paddle with a magnificent piece of wearable art around her neck. She’d found it lying on the shore perfecty formed into a lei by the tides. Natures very own recycled art piece.

Well we thought it was very chic!

Once in the little port of Kea called Vourkari, the pre-race nerves started to set in (Americas Cup nerves that is). The races began at 8pm Greek time - much more civilized than our poor friends in NZ who had to get up very early to watch). We ate dinner on board – which was delivered to us by a local taverna owner – a friend of Kosta’s.

Look how nervous we all looked .... so anxious. (we needn't have been!)

What a race. We are all so excited. We won one and Oracle won one! Uggggh. The nerves.

We crossed the road to a little bar and had a celebratory drink. Team NZ are looking great! We’re feeling quietly optimistic.

Leslee and Chris - love this pic!

Sunday morning we taxied up to the town of Ioulis for breakfast and a walk around. This little island has a huge history dating back to Neolithic times, and still has some remains from this era – c4000BC.

Fab place for break, and above was the view!

Vicky and i with yellow wall.

Lit a candle in a tiny little church for our loved ones past and present. Tears.

This little island of kea played a strategic part in the the first world war. I’ve included an extract taken from “West Aegean” by Rod & Lucinda Heikell :

“ The Wreck of HMHS Britannic – A few miles NW of Ay Nikoloas lies the wreck of the sister ship to the Titanic. She sank following an explosion on 21st November 1916. She was on duty as a hospital ship heading up to Limnos to evacuate some 3,600 soldiers from the disastrous Gallipoli campaign of the first world war. The ship is thought to have hit a mine, and sank within an hour of the explosion, but of the 1,100 odd on board all but 30 survived. With the fishermen of Kea first on the scene to help. One survivor thought to be a nurse, was Violet Jessop, who was also on board the Titanic on that fateful first voyage four years earlier.” .... What are the odds??

The Temple of Poseidon.

Before heading into Athens for the night, we stopped at the huge bay of Sounion, with the Temple of Poseidon looming over us. Quite magnificent. The temple was built in 444BC.

Captain Kosta - very happy to see that his son (Adam) , who is Captain on this huge super yacht, had pulled in nest to us! (Ha - So thats why we were berthed in Alimos!?!)

Once in the Alimos Marina – we again planned the evening around watching the Cup races. On board that night we watched the next two wins (One to go) – we were so thrilled. Went to a huge restaurant/bar for our final dinner together as a group. It was starting to sink in that we may just be going to take the cup back. All very excited.

Do we look excited or what!

Monday morning was a time of farewells, laundry, filling up with water and diesel. The Clarkes caught an early flight back home to NZ. They had come all that way for a 10 day holiday with us. So much fun. Vicky and John went into Athens for the day before catching a ferry to Santorini, while we took Leslee into Glyfada for a shop and to show her the “Ponsonby” of Athens.

That night - The final race – it was just Chris, Leslee and I watching. We got a distressed Whats-App call from Vicki who was trying to get cover on Santorini with no luck. So we did a video call with me holding the phone to the TV for the entire race so they could see and hear it all – it worked .

AND WE WON!!!!!!! What an amazing result. Brilliant. So proud of Team NZ.

3 notes · View notes

roswellroamer · 5 years

Text

Tuuthebe Lodge to Sedia Riverside Hotel, Maun, Botswana. 354km. 5/3/19

Today we fended for ourselves in terms of breakfast. The accommodations weren't as spartan as Gavin had feared and the lodge provided some coffee, milk, yogurt and cereals. About a third of the cereal was donated to the 10 ducks that are living in a pond adjacent to the rooms. As soon as I exited my door, they all came waddling over. We had a leisurely morning and mounted our Africa Twins at 9. Today was a tar road day but fuel was a question mark. We took the road to Rakops which wound in long lazy slight curves through some impressive grasslands. Dotted with thatch huts and loads of livestock. Every km or so we are changing sides of the road and/or slowing down for goats, donkeys and cows. The. Off to our left appeared a salt pan. It may have been sand but the consensus is that it was salt. There were some livestock grazing around and on it. I was surprised the off roaders didn't veer left onto it to check it out. That was just fine by me. We stopped on a roadside turnout picnic area and once again a bit disappointed with the amount of trash around. Piles of glass bottles and lots of other garbage abound along the road. It doesn't seem too many folks are concerned with their aim or even finding a trash can. The African trees really are different. Not talking about the iconic Baobab but in general. They are more sparse and have almost a horizontal layered quality about them. You see it in classic shots that remind you of this continent. But seeing it every day as you cruise by at speed really drives it home and makes me realize how different even the little things are over here. Good and bad, I am trying to take it in and hope to document some of what I see here.

We headed to Rakops (after passing Mopipi, couldn't resist that name) in search of fuel for the 243 km's left were too much for the two bars of fuel showing on our five bar (plus reserve when the last bar flashes) display on the AT. We turned off into the town and had a lot of looks once again. Don't think there are that many bikers and not many with our coloring cruising their streets. We took a complete loop and had missed a gas station that was supposed to be there. On the second loop through again we asked some guys in a truck and they told us where to find it. We did in that next loop through again waving to the friendly town folk. We pulled in to the station. All sand, no road. Then we found that the station was out of gas. Oh well. The truck was supposed to arrive at 1 but who know when it would actually get there. We went to a butcher shop but quickly exited as the meat looked a bit "dodgy". Donkey was suspected... We then found a lodge just on the main road and ordered up cheese and tomato toasted sandwiches and Coke for everyone. After a little lunch we opted to dump 3-4 liters into each bike to give us 3/5 fuel bars. Based on the group's experience we should have been able to make it to Maun. (Pronounced "Mah-Oon"). We slowed our average speed to about 100km/hr and hoped we would make it. We did have some fuel left in the 3 jerry cans in case someone ran out. A couple turns and some excellent roads wound us towards and then into Maun. Busy, lots of people and the first bigger buildings, big box stores and traffic. We pulled in to the first station, another Cal-Tex station and everyone made it. After some ice cream and drinks we headed to the hotel. The biggest sandnof the day presented in their driveway. One of the SA guys who was here in their last trip to Maun dropped his bike in the unexpectedly deep sand in 2011. No one dropped it today, however. 🤗

We gathered at the pool bar and quickly depleted their supply of St. Louis (Botswanan) beer. After a bit I found my room and jumped into the very nice pool. We got ready for dinner and half the crew got a buffet. It was OK. A la crate items looked a bit better. Chicken and sirloin were the entrees in the buffet. After dinner we set it to retrace the infamous steps of the Skulls In The Desert evening from 8 years ago. We went to one bar the guys thought was the place. It was the Old Bridge Backpackers. We had a drink and then they decided it wasn't it. Still a nice place by the river. Then we took the cabs to the Okavango River Lodge. As we pulled in it was quickly determined this was definitely not the place. It didn't matter since we decided to stay and closed the place down and had a nice time. The owner knows someone who works in the place we are going tomorrow so we'll pass along a message. Maun is the gateway to the vast Okavango delta and we have to get up early for a 45' flight out over it to spy the animals and natural beauty of this area. Great day. 😴

1 note · View note

jobsearchtips02 · 4 years

Text

How Tesla defined a new era for the global auto industry

By Edward Taylor, Norihiko Shirouzu and Joseph White

FRANKFURT/BEIJING/DETROIT (Reuters) – Tesla Inc’s rapid rise to become the world’s most valuable carmaker could mark the start of a new era for the global auto industry, defined by a Silicon Valley approach to software that is overtaking old-school manufacturing know-how.

Tesla’s ascent took many investors by surprise. But executives at Daimler AG, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, had a close-up view starting in 2009 of how Tesla and its chief executive Elon Musk were taking a new approach to building vehicles that challenged the established system.

Daimler, which bears the name of the man who invented the modern car 134 years ago, bought a nearly 10% Tesla stake in May 2009 in a deal which provided a $50 million lifeline for the struggling start-up.

That investment gave Mercedes engineers an inside view of how Musk was willing to launch technology that wasn’t perfect, and then repeatedly upgrade it, using smartphone style over-the-air updates, paying little regard to early profitability.

Mercedes engineers helped Tesla develop its Model S luxury sedan in exchange for access to Tesla’s partially hand-assembled battery packs, but in 2014 Daimler decided to sell their stake amid doubts Tesla’s approach could be industrialized at scale.

Tesla would go on to pioneer new approaches in manufacturing, designs in software and electronic architecture which enable it to introduce innovations faster than rivals, leaving analysts to draw comparisons with Apple.

Three people directly involved with the Mercedes side of the collaboration said the brief partnership highlighted the collision of old and new engineering cultures: the German obsession with long-term safety and control, which rewarded evolution, and the Silicon Valley carmaker’s experimental approach which embraced radical thinking and fast innovation.

“Elon Musk has been walking on the edge of a razorblade in terms of the aggression with which he pushes some technologies,” said a former Mercedes engineer who worked on the partnership.

By contrast, Mercedes and other established automakers are still not comfortable about releasing a new technology, such as partially automated driving, without years of testing.

Tesla did not respond to requests for comment.

Investors favor the Tesla model, in an industry undergoing fundamental and dizzying change even though the U.S. carmaker will face an onslaught of competing electric vehicles from established automakers during the next few years.

They are putting their money on Musk and his company, even though Mercedes-Benz alone sold 935,089 cars in the first half of 2020, dwarfing the 179,050 delivered by Tesla in the same period.

Today, Tesla is worth nearly $304.6 billion, more than six times Daimler’s 41.5-billion-euro ($47.7 billion) market capitalization. See GRAPHIC: https://tmsnrt.rs/3fRM9Yu

TWO CULTURES COLLIDE

Daimler and Tesla began collaborating after Mercedes engineers, who were developing a second-generation electric Smart car, bought a Tesla Roadster. They were impressed by the way Tesla packaged batteries, so arranged a visit to Silicon Valley to meet Musk in January 2009 and ordered 1,000 battery packs.

The collaboration expanded. At a joint press conference in the Mercedes-Benz museum in Stuttgart in May 2009, Tesla said the partnership would “accelerate bringing our Tesla Model S to production and ensure that it is a superlative vehicle”.

For its part, Mercedes wanted to use Tesla’s batteries to power an electric version of its compact Mercedes-Benz B-Class. The Tesla Model S would hit the road in 2012. An electric B-Class, arrived in showrooms two years later.

Despite having batteries supplied by Tesla, the Mercedes had a shorter operating range after Daimler engineers configured the B-class more conservatively to address their concerns about long-term battery degradation and the risk of overheating, a second Daimler staffer who worked on the joint projects told Reuters.

German engineers found that Tesla engineers had not done long-term stress tests on its battery. “We had to devise our own programme of stress tests,” the second Daimler engineer said.

Before starting production of a new car, Daimler engineers specify a “Lastenheft” – a blueprint laying out the properties of each component for suppliers. Significant changes cannot be made once the design is frozen.

“This is also the way you can guarantee that we will be profitable during mass production. Tesla was not as concerned about this aspect,” the second Daimler source said.

Daimler’s engineers suggested the underbody of the Model S needed reinforcing to prevent debris from the road puncturing a battery pack, the first Daimler engineer said.

To quash doubts about safety and security, following a series of battery fires, Tesla raised the ride height of its vehicles, using an over-the-air update, and a few months later, in March 2014, said it would add a triple underbody shield to new Model S cars and offered to retrofit existing cars.

Musk was able to make adjustments quickly thanks to Tesla’s ability to burn through more cash during development.

“At Mercedes you can make such adjustments every three years at best,” the engineer said.

The Model S, a four-door electric sedan would go on to outsell the flagship Mercedes-Benz S-Class in the United States in May 2013, and outstrip S-Class deliveries globally by 2017.

MUSK: INNOVATE OR GO

Musk’s relentless focus on innovation explains, in part, why he has disrupted the traditional auto world. In an interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sp8smJFaKYE at the 2020 Air Warfare Symposium, published on YouTube, he was asked about the importance of innovation among his employees.

“We certainly need those that do advanced engineering to be innovative,” Musk said. “The incentive structure is set up … such that innovation is rewarded. Making mistakes along the way does not come with a big penalty. But failure to try to innovate at all … comes with a big penalty. You will be fired.”

Established automakers are playing catch-up to Tesla, designing their own software operating systems and dedicated electric cars.

Mercedes will release its EQS next year – a four-door limousine built on a dedicated electric vehicle platform, with an operating range of 700 km. A new version of the Mercedes S-Class, which will have combustion and hybrid powertrains and semi-autonomous driver assistance systems, is due this year.

From an investor perspective, traditional players face billions of dollars in restructuring costs as they transform product lines and factories to move away from internal combustion technology

“No one is going to give an OEM (established automaker) a five-year window to say … you can totally retool your business, and I am going to buy in and fund this journey,” said Mark Wakefield, co-leader of automotive and industrials practice at consulting firm AlixPartners.

Start-ups, however, get time from investors to learn, make mistakes and grow, he added.

Investors are betting on Tesla’s ability to scale up manufacturing just as they once backed Toyota Motor Corp, which defined the auto industry’s last era with its mastery of highly efficient, high-quality lean production.

Toyota overtook the market capitalization of former industry leader General Motors in 1996, though it wasn’t until 2008 that it sold more vehicles than its Detroit rival.

The Japanese giant also cultivated ties with Tesla, with the U.S. startup helping it design an electrified RAV4 compact sports utility vehicle under a 2010 deal.

Toyota was impressed by the speed with which Tesla came up with the new design, but ultimately decided Tesla’s methods were not suitable for mass production by a mainstream manufacturer when Toyota’s standards for product quality and durability were applied, two company insiders familiar with the partnership said.

Toyota said the joint project involved cooperation on the development of electric cars, parts and production system.

“Toyota accomplished what the project set out to achieve, and it ended in October 2014 after Tesla delivered roughly 2,500 electric powertrain systems over three years” for an electrified RAV4 crossover SUVs, a spokeswoman said.

Both the Toyota and Daimler collaborations were agreed before the Volkswagen emissions-cheating scandal in 2015, which prompted a global regulatory backlash and forced carmakers to step up investments in electric cars.

“That was all before dieselgate, which changed the economics of electric and combustion-engined cars,” a senior Daimler manager said. “Tesla has a lead. Let’s see if they can scale up.”

(Reporting By Edward Taylor, Nori Shirouzu and Joe White; Additional reporting by Paul Lienert; Editing by Joe White and Pravin Char)

from Job Search Tips https://jobsearchtips.net/how-tesla-defined-a-new-era-for-the-global-auto-industry/

0 notes

richardpettersen · 4 years

Text

Richard Pettersen | COVID-19 and falling oil prices will not halt EVs – and this is why

As counter-intuitive as it may seem, EVs will keep on growing in 2020 – mainly thanks to fleets.

The price of crude oil has fallen by 44% over the last month, from $57.50 to just $26.70 yesterday – a decrease of no less than 53.6%. As the coronavirus threatens the world economy, it also jeopardises the demand for oil. In these nerve-wrecking times for the oil producing countries, Russia has blown up its OPEC+ alliance with Saudi Arabia by stating it would not be sticking to any quota as they fear such limitations would give the American oil producers the upper hand. Feeling betrayed by their former ally, the Saudis engaged in a price war.

The effect was immediately visible at fuel pumps across the planet, although not to the extent one would expect. The fuel price in Europe depends largely on taxes, so the price crash was less marked than elsewhere in the world. In Belgium, for instance, petrol and diesel prices have fallen by 19 and 13% respectively since 19 February 2020. In France and Germany, the price of both fuels dropped just 10% on average in the same period. In the UK, however, petrol and diesel decreased by a mere 3%.

Richard Pettersen

Electrification under threat

In any case, this price war could be good news for an economy that struggles to fight off a recession. Especially countries like Germany, France and Italy, which are home to large oil and oil derivative consuming industries, might get a temporary relief. Still, the economic blow administered by the coronavirus is unlikely to be compensated by lower oil prices – not by far. Besides, the consensus is that in the mid-term, oil prices will go up again and remain quite stable further down the line as developed countries switch their combustion engines for electric powertrains and developing countries are ever hungrier for fuel.

There is reason to assume that COVID-19 and lower oil prices could be bad news for EVs, though. From the buyer perspective, lower oil prices and the subsequent drop in fuel prices at the pump mean there is less incentive to opt for a plug-in hybrid or a battery-electric vehicle, even though electricity is still cheaper. Moreover, as EVs are more expensive than ICE vehicles, consumers and corporates alike might be less inclined to spend the extra euro in these adverse times where every expense is questioned – even thougn the long-term benefits are clear..

Move towards subscription models

Not everyone agrees, though. “If oil prices come down by more than 50% and this translates in just 3% of profit at the fuel pump in the UK, this won’t incentivise people to stick to ICE vehicles. On the contrary, they might perceive this as being unfair and greedy and even feel more inclined to buy an EV as electricity is cheap,” says Dean Bowkett of Bowkett Auto Consulting.

“I do not see the electrification slowing down in new car sales this year. In 2019, the market share of EVs doubled and I expect the number will double again in 2020 – not in volume, but in percentage. What might change, however, is vehicle ownership. In tumultuous times, people tend to limit their expenses and liabilities. With vehicle subscription programmes, you pay as you go. No fixed costs, you are only charged for the actual use of the vehicle”, he adds.

According to Bowkett, EV subscription programmes like Evezy in the UK are thriving. The demand is greater than the offer today and COVID-19 is unlikely to change things for the better: battery cells mainly come from China and most OEMs are closing down their plants for the next weeks.

Survival of the fittest

Indeed, OEMs are halting the assembly lines in most of their European, North American and Mexican plants. The loss of revenue caused by the pandemic puts the OEMs in dire straits as they have already made massive investments in the electrification of their range. If the market is shrinking – Bowkett wouldn’t be surprised to see the total EU27+UK+EFTA sales drop to 13 million units this year, i.e. a contraction of 15% – and losses accumulate, carmakers will have to make further sacrifices, be creative and rethink how they build, market and sell cars.

Richard T Pettersen

More than ever, it could become a matter of Darwinism. “In the wake of the financial crisis in 2008, we saw brands like Volvo Cars and JLR being bought by large Asian companies. European and American OEMs had to be bailed out by their local government,” explains Bowkett. “We could see similar things happening this year. The circumstances are at least as worrying, because this is much more than a financial crisis. Some OEMs might not survive, others will be bought by stronger OEMs.”

Navigant Research principal analyst Sam Abuelsamid finds the situation for the carmakers less dramatical. “Compared to 2008, they are generally in a much better situation financially,” he says. “They mostly have a reasonable cash balance, and the Detroit automakers in particular have done a lot of restructuring, including buying out a lot of older white-collar employees as they try to shift toward new skill sets to support electrification, automation, and mobility,” (source: wired.com).

As to the European OEMs, VW Group earned a record net profit of €19 billion in 2019. PSA made €3.58 billion, its new and now deeply affected partner FCA returned €4.3 billion. Daimler posted €2.7 billion in net earnings last year. Renault posted a small loss (€144 million) in 2019 but earned €3.3 billion in 2018 and €3.85 billion in 2017. That should suffice to survive a setback of a few months.

Slow-down or acceleration of EVs

In spite of what seems to be sufficient financial buffer, an industry that is faced with even more challenges is likely to cut jobs, close down factories and trim the number of models and engines on offer to increase standardisation. Economic logic would dictate that only the models that create enough margin survive the cut.

Smaller, cheaper models could be axed – something that has already started before COVID-19. So could some entry-level EVs. Still, there is the 95g target imposed by the EU, forcing carmakers to commit to a large-scale electrification across their line-up. OEMs are already starting to lobby for a relaxation of this target. If Europe decides to cut OEMs some slack nonetheless, they will for sure sell less EVs this year.

Fortunately, BMW and VW Group have already stated they are against such a relaxation. Arguably, they are the ones best prepared for the switch to BEVs and PHEVs: VW is preparing the start of production of the VW ID3 and a multitude of plug-in hybrid models, BMW is already the worldwide market leader in PHEVs.

Fleets will save the EV

According to Transport & Environment’s Julia Poliscanova, we mustn’t forget that the CO2 target, which was agreed in 2008, is a fleet average target. “So, falling car sales do not automatically affect compliance. What would impact compliance is if the type of vehicles sold changes. Secondly, the electric car market saw a record growth across Europe in the first two months of 2020. Every 15th car sold in Germany in February had a plug, amounting to a record 7% of new sales. France recorded an even more impressive 9% sales share, with similar explosions in Italy and Spain.”

“Since the EV market is driven by the company car and fleets market, and that market is in turn driven by the total cost of ownership and fiscal rules, we would expect demand for EVs to remain solid. All of this means carmakers are actually on track to achieve the CO2 target of 95g/km on the 95% of their 2020 sales.”

#Richard Pettersen #Richard T Pettersen

0 notes

kashmirbikers · 4 years

Text

5 important tips to rent a bike in Kashmir

There are numerous angles to bike on rent in Leh Ladakh which continues coming as inquiries from a large number of us. In this article today, I might want to address a portion of the worries or questions identified with rent a bicycle in Leh and furthermore will simply address some different perspectives or tips for a bicycle excursion to Leh Ladakh.

Along these lines in this article, I will examine a large portion of the regularly posed inquiry with regards to bike rent in Kashmir.

Along these lines, how about we start !!

5 Important Tips to Rent Bike in Leh Ladakh and Ride with Pillion

5 Important Tips to bike rental in Kashmir and Ride with Pillion

In the event that, you enjoyed it and thought that it was useful, if it's not too much trouble don't hesitate to impart it to your loved ones to help them as well.

How about we rapidly jump into the subtleties:

1. Would I be able to bike rental in Kashmir?

2. Are outside rent bicycles permitted in Leh Ladakh?

Would I be able to bullet on rent in Kashmir and travel to Ladakh?

3. Would I be able to rent a bicycle in Leh and drop in Srinagar or the other way around?

4. Would I be able to do Leh Ladakh stumble on bicycle with pillion?

a. Be OK with long separation rides with pillion

b. Ride a well-looked after bicycle

c. Travel with light baggage

d. Be delicate on your motorbike

e. You should have a bicycle in charge constantly

5. Would I be able to utilize low controlled Bike for Leh – Ladakh trip?

6. Extra: How to get ready for Bike ride to Ladakh?

1. Would I be able to Rent Bike in Leh Ladakh?

Truly, you can rent Kashmir bike rentals in Leh and Fort Road in Leh is brimming with such shops that rent bicycles in Leh. Contingent on the condition, model, make and vacationer surge you can get bicycles beginning from Rs 800 to Rs 1600. As opposed to booking via telephone, it is in every case much better to visit 4-5 shops over yonder and get significantly subsequent to checking the bicycle conditions.

I will propose you read this without a doubt to comprehend barely any tips on rent bicycles in Manali or Leh: How to Hire or Rent a Bike or Motorcycle in Manali or Leh

So as to rent a bicycle in Leh Ladakh alongside current Bike Union Prices, you can likewise check the DoW Community string: Leh Ladakh Bike Rental Rates 2019-20 and Reliable Shops

Would I be able to Rent Bike in Leh - Ladakh?

2. Are outside rent bicycles permitted in Leh – Ladakh?

Powerful 2014, bicycle association of Leh Ladakh had glided around where bicycles rent outside Leh are not taken into account touring purposes inside Ladakh (much like outside Leh taxis) with the exception of Tso Moriri and Tso Kar lakes which should be possible while going to Manali from Leh.

Private bicycles are totally permitted and according to the principles, it must be either on your name or on your dad's name. On the off chance that you are taking another person's bicycle at that point present convey a legitimate NOC from the proprietor of the bicycle which will help you in different conditions outside Leh also, assuming any.

You can utilize the outside rent bicycle to reach Leh yet then for venturing out to Pangong Tso and Nubra Valley, you should rent a bicycle in Leh as it were.

Would I be able to rent a bicycle in Manali and travel to Ladakh?

Two or three years back, according to reports, this standard had gone significantly stricter. A portion of the Manali bicycle rental folks have formalized an arrangement that for the days Manali bicycle is stopped in Leh and Leh bicycle is rent, they will charge half of the rent of their bicycle subject to the showcase of legitimate rent receipts from Leh Bike Rental folks.

Thus, affirm with Manali rental folks first about this signoff before you procure a bicycle in Leh. For Srinagar Bike rentals, yet not certain but rather they guarantee that their bicycles are permitted however I for one uncertainty on the grounds that even Srinagar Taxis are not taken into account touring in Leh so I presume comparable ramifications would be therefor Bike rent in Srinagar as well.

To find out about this standard and current circumstance, if it's not too much trouble allude the connection in DoW Community: Bikes Rented Outside Leh Banned in Ladakh

Are outside rent bicycles permitted in Leh - Ladakh?

3. Would I be able to rent a bicycle in Leh and drop in Manali or Srinagar or the other way around?

Indeed, the oneway bicycle rental is very expensive and leaves a major mark in the pocket for you, at times like 12K for simply the pickup from Manali or from Srinagar separated from the day by day rent you pay for the bicycle. Thus, consistently be certain on the off chance that you are prepared to make that speculation/consumption or not or if at all it merits the cash spent for you or not.

My proposal is that except if you are an in-your-face biker and can't live up without the energy of biking or riding in Leh, it isn't that insightful to spend that a lot of cash only for the pickup of a bicycle from Leh or Manali or Srinagar.

Would I be able to rent a bicycle in Leh and drop in Manali or Srinagar or the other way around?

4. Would I be able to do Leh – Ladakh stumble on bicycle with pillion?

This is a serious significant inquiry and many times individuals pose to this yet my answer is consistently as far as a tradeoff of picking between solace of riding and riding with your accomplice to spare expense OR sentiment of riding together with your life or soul accomplice or closest companion ;)…

Like a bicycle ride to Spiti Valley, there are part of variables that drive an effective outing to Leh – Ladakh on bicycle with pillion which are as separation of movement every day in your touring plan, the condition, and intensity of your bicycle, gear you carry on your bicycle including additional fuel, size of your pillion or your very own size ;), your own abilities to ride a bicycle and looking after balance.

Despite the fact that each factor contributes towards to just a single objective that is the solace of the ride you experience. I ought to have secured this point under one definite article yet that should be possible later…

Henceforth, discussing these here quickly.

a. Be alright with long separation rides with pillion

Since you will travel or be riding a great deal pretty much consistently in your Ladakh trip, on a normal 7-8 Hrs for each day, it is significant that you just as your pillion are OK with such long rides together and don't gripe about such long separations of movement. In this way, continuance and enthusiasm levels must be high.

b. Ride a well-looked after bicycle

You have an awesome state of the bicycle that won't dump you in no-where when placed burden on it and furthermore enough power in bicycle, in any event, 150cc, however ideal is 180+, so your pillion doesn't have to get down at each other soak turn or harsh fix which will be in wealth and afterward you ask him/her to pursue bicycle on such high elevation with less acclimatized body 😀

c. Travel with light gear

You convey as light gear as could be expected under the circumstances or only enough to finish the 10-11+ ride to Ladakh might be in a solitary pair of pants or riding coat. Equalization it out for you and convey just enough what is required absolute minimum to diminish the heap and increment each millimeter of solace.

While riding in Ladakh to places like Pan gong Tso or Nubra Valley, better drop all the superfluous baggage at the in/visitor house storeroom in Leh itself to shed more load for certain days in any event.

d. Be delicate on your motorbike

You have to pass judgment on your own measure just as the size of your pillion to comprehend in the event that you all fit enough well without choking out the bicycle control in fields as it will unquestionably choke to a degree in the Himalayas particularly in high height. Possibly go for a test ride of 200+ KMs daily with it to get a vibe of it before your Ladakh trip.

e. You should have a bicycle in charge constantly

Last yet not the least, you have every one of the aptitudes of keeping up the equalization of bicycle on tricky streets, spouting water intersections, slush extends, control on bends as your pillion moves, and so on with a pillion sitting at your back with all that gear, you can envision 🙂 …

Would I be able to do Leh - Ladakh stumble on bicycle with pillion?

5. Would I be able to utilize low controlled Bike for Leh – Ladakh trip?

Well however it isn't required to have an all the more dominant bicycle like Bullet/RE yet constantly desirable over have more capacity to have substantially more solace on occasion.

Indeed, even 100cc or 110cc or 125cc will have the option to do a bicycle outing to Leh – Ladakh and numerous individuals have done in the past too. Be that as it may, it won't be that simple consistently and there will be places where it may or will battle where it will be required to push physically, particularly I accept on the off chance that you stall out in some water crossing or in slush extends.

Try not to push the bicycle past its cutoff on the off chance that you stall out rather utilize your own physical capacity to get it out else you can get your grasp plates consumed. At last, in the event that you are resolved, prepared for the test and enthusiastic enough at that point, obviously, you can do a bicycle excursion to Leh – Ladakh in a 100cc or 110cc or 125cc bicycle too the same number of individuals have done it in the past 🙂

#kashmir bike rentals #bullet on rent #bike rental in kashmir #bike on rent

0 notes