Conquer my fear of heights

There are alot of things that scare me. Spiders, things touching my feet in water, the prospect of being stuck in a crappy job all my life, any horror film (no matter how low budget)and the list goes on.

I have always hated my fear of heights. If I am on a plane and it hits turbulence, alittle part of me dies inside. I think the main problem with my fear is a lack of trust. I blame those hilarious friends I had as a child who thought it was a brilliant idea to pretend to push me off a cliff and then say 'saved ya life'.

So I have been gradually taking steps to overcome my fear. I climbed the pyramid and sat on the edge of the cliff and dangled my feet over the edge (much to the disbelief of my good friend who had spent various plane trips with me trying to calm me down). Then, in my first week in Auckland, I went bungy jumping. According to the instructor, I was one of the funniest people he had ever seen jump. Blood curdling screams rapidly turned into maniacal laughter and as soon as I was hoisted back up, I ran to hug every stranger in sight.

2 months later and a free skydive fell into my lap. Why not, I thought. I always said I would never pay to be terrified and in danger but if its free, then I would be silly to not do it. I've got to say, it was probably the most brilliant thing I have ever done. Again, complete panic to begin with but sheer awesome by the end. And I've got to say, It was actually alot easier to do than bungy.

I think I'm getting there.


BEFORE (Terrified)


AFTER (So dang happy)



There is just one problem... Now I want more!

- Get back to my roots

I'm going to tell you a little bit about my family :)

My mum is a kiwi and my dad is an aussie. They met on Thursday Island when mum was working as a bar girl. Telstra worker meets beer provider. Romantic...

Being a telecom technician in Weipa (all the way up nowhere), Dad had to go away often. Being a pregnant woman in Weipa, mum was shipped down to Cairns often. When these two scenarios happen at the same time, you get a cranky kiwi who just wants her mummy.

THIS is why I was born in New Zealand. I love Serendipity.

Alas, my mother did return to Australia soon after my birth so I have never really lived in my birth country.

For the life of me, I cannot wrap my head around this.


and THAT is why 19 hours from now, I will board a plane with a measly backpack of my belongings and get my New Zealand on!


This is gonna be flippin sweet.







- Get back to my roots - In Progress...

- Climb Walsh's Pyramid.

I have lived in Cairns and Gordonvale for most of my life and have never climbed this thing.



At 922 meters, Walsh's Pyramid is the biggest natural pyramid in the world (Thankyou Cairns Post for that useless and probably false piece of information).

When I was about 13 my family tried it as a bonding experience but decided that dad couldn't put up with the whinging at half way and called it quits. Round two (SEVEN YEARS LATER) nearly got me again. I'd lay alot of the blame in this sign that some blessed angel took apon themselves to create:




This is the single most soul destroying thing to have ever been spraypainted. Anywhere. I think at this point I had already vomited and knew all too well that the hardest climb was yet to come.


BUT... I climbed it. At the moment I'd say I am in a pretty considerable amount of pain but it was well worth it for views like this at 8am:





-Climb Walsh's Pyramid - Check!

- Visit a Concentration Camp

I think this is an important list item just because we need to look back at our history and understand how the hell evil like this happens.


"Arbeit Macht Frei" - "Work sets you free" Total shite.

I chose to go to the Sachenhausen camp on the outskirts of Berlin. Sachenhausen was one of the first concentration camps. It was mainly reserved for political prisoners but was also used as a halfway for Jewish, Gypsy and homosexual prisoners to be sent to other camps such as Auschwitz and even served as abit of a tester as to what kind of evil was possible on a larger scale.

It was a pretty intense day folks. With alot of my list items, I'm not really satisfied in one sitting but I can honestly say that this is not something I want to do again. It was incredibly interesting and by all means an important piece of history to understand but when it got to this point:



(A temporary morgue)

And especially this point:




(medical testing tables)

It all just became too much for me.


Visit a Concentration Camp - Check :(

- Visit Stonehenge

Stonehenge is something that always interested me, mainly because the logistics of the henge boggle the mind.
For instance, 30 of the stones are believed to have been brought in from a quarry 40km away. At the time of construction, each stone was around 4.1 meters high, 2.1 meters wide and weighed around 25 tons. There is also another center circle of stones which weigh up to 50 tons each.

We can only speculate as to how the Brits managed to construct the Stonehenge, arranging the stones not only vertically but also my some unknown force of skill, being able to balance these great hulks horizontally above the vertical tiers.

Its not even like we know why they did this! Of course everyone has their theories; pagan ritual, magnetic bullshit and of course, aliens. This is what makes Stonehenge so amazing. Its sheer size, its construction, the reasoning behind it is all mind boggling.


I must admit, I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to get very close to the stones but I was not disappointed. Considering the fact that for many years tourists would chip off a piece of stone as a souvenir, a rope separating our greedy fingers from this treasure is an easy sacrifice to make.

I should note however that the rope is taken down for events such as winter and summer solstice. I am yet to decide where I will spend winter solstice 2012 (very important) so perhaps Stonehenge needs another visit.

Visit Stonehenge - Check!

- Get pissed on Guinness in Ireland.

Tastiest mustache in the world.




Get pissed on Guinness in Ireland - Check!

- Start travelling. Never stop travelling.

I think I have my parents' intense disgust of braindead tv to thank for my love of travel. When other kids were watching the Simpsons or (god forbid) south park, my parents chose the news, nature documentaries or at a stretch, getaway. Ever since, I have been been transfixed to the notion of sweeping the corners of the globe.

This time last year I decided that I couldn't wait any longer. I scraped together some money and visited England, Ireland, Scotland and Germany.

A nice start I think.


Start Travelling - Check!