Shenanigans around the globe

To continue on with day 4 on the whole30...dinner was delicious, it helped sate the rage monster...for a short while. It then exploded, I'm lucky to be alive (not as lucky as the Aussie one to still be alive - in my defence his rage monster was just as bad). A restless, warm night ensued with little sleep and lots of tossing followed by being wide awake at 4:30...I had to be up at 5 anyway for work That leads me onto day 5: The rage is contained. I sat next to a woman eating a banana, so loudly I was almost impressed and not once did I think about punching her in the face...that said a woman's damp jacket kept touching my bare arm on the tram and I wanted to rip it out her grasp and throw it out the window. The withdrawal headaches are settling in now, I fear the Aussie one might not make it through the night, he's currently slumped on the couch. I guess that's my cue to go make dinner (pan fried salmon, broccoli & sweet potato). Why is food such a major feature...

I'm currently on day 4 of the whole30 elimination diet and as I'm filled with rage (hormonal related as well diet related as I'm day 1 of something else) I thought I'd share my experience, i'll write as i go along. First let me explain what the whole30 is, basically you eliminate dairy, legumes, grains, alcohol, all sugar and all processed foods from your diet for 30 days and then reintroduce them gradually to see how your body reacts to them. I get bloated regularly and I'm never too sure on the cause so thought this would help. The Aussie one and myself have been eating pretty poorly recently, lots of oven foods (chicken goujons, garlic bread etc) and take-out, so decided to "reset" our mind sets and relationship to food. We are both hoping to the lose weight during this process but my main goal is to become healthier and energised (also you aren't allowed to weigh yourself). Basically its paleo (meat, veg and fruit) without being allowed to ma...

On Monday (the 7th) the real work began, I had to do an emergency first response refresher as my certification had lapsed. The day was spent, watching a DVD, reading theory and applying it in practice scenarios. It was a lot of CPR and the like. The class room has aircon but that didn't prevent me from becoming a sweaty mess doing CPR for at least 15 minutes and then repeatedly in different situations ( like finding Angus - my instructor - on the floor with his legs up on a fallen over table and covered in chairs with the word blood written on his leg and arm) the bruises on my knees stayed for weeks. Always turn exams over...I did the first page no problem only to be told I'd answered 11 questions wrong...highly embarrassing for a trained nurse, turned out it was 1 wrong and 10 I missed on the back which I then completed. I then started the theory for the rescue diver course. Tuesday was full of fun diving. Wednesday I started rescue, the morning was spent doing theory a...

I was welcomed to the Philippines by Wilson, my lovely taxi driver, and his love of 90s pop music. The 3.5 hour  drive to Maya was soundtracked by Aqua, the Vengaboys and who ever it was who sang hey macarina! (You can dance that dance to any song FYI). The views were spectacular, the ocean was visible for the majority of the ride and when it wasn't leafy green forest areas were. The car had air-con which was lovely as it's a very humid heat, staying steady at 28 degrees most days and only dropping a few degrees when the sun goes down. Makes for a very sweaty Hemy. After a short boat ride I arrived to the beautiful island Malapascua, just in time for the interns meeting at 5. I was almost late at I could not get the padlock off my door, luckily one of the crew was with me and after struggling with it for a good 5 minutes I was in! I also got a bit lost on the way back as the island has lots of narrow passageways and I wasn't sure of what turns to make as I'd gotten a ...

So I'm off on another adventure, this one of the aquatic variety. I'm going to a wee tropical island called Malapascua in the Philippines for an eight week Dive Master internship. I'm pretty nervous as this will be my first solo trip that involves flying and crossing borders...also because I've wanted to do this since I first scuba dived (dove?) in Egypt in 2006 (or maybe it was 2007) and fell in love with the underwater world. That first dive (well the 3 on that day) gave me a sense of calm and a great appreciation of this planet we're on, more than anything else has. Except when a tiger shark swam underneath me (quite far down), definitely didn't feel super calm then. That lead to me getting my Open Water diving certificate in 2008 - total brag but that was the only exam i've got 100% on. Unfortunately due to financial and location issues I've only done one dive since - a pier dive with my dad in 2009 in Victoria (Australia) where local boys fishing ...

Recently my (middle) sister and I went to Basel, Switzerland for a couple nights. It's the first time we have gone away just the two of us so it was long over-due. After a turbulent flight and bumpy landing, which included almost losing my hand (she doesn't like flying) we were in Basel airport. Which is an airport with exits to three countries - France, Germany and of course Switzerland. We had a cozy studio apartment just a stroll away from the Rhine and a wee walk from the town centre. The host had left us a lovely welcome in the form of mini bounties on our pillows, so after our swift tiny snack it was time to explore and make the most of our 48 hour trip. We meandered along the river - coffee and pastry in hand - taking in the beautiful architecture and pointing out our favourite houses, passing nursery groups lead by men (a sight I've not come across before) and many joggers. All the building are in muted colours, with accentuating darker shutters and balconi...

Found an old journal and within it I wrote blog style posts while on my round the world trip so I thought I'd copy them into this blog. From Vancouver we flew to Fiji. 3rd stop - Fiji Wave of heat. Clouds of mosquitoes. Nadi Bay Hotel. Celebrating New Years with a funny/sleazy kiwi man and Sna. Creepy man in room 7 who will wait for me for sexy time - American style... wonder if he's still waiting. Cocktails. Spending three hours swimming in the pool with a German guy and an Alaskan army dude. Prim and proper frogs everywhere. First bikini waxes. Cats joining us for dinner, perching behind us on our chairs. Constant dampness from sweat, sunscreen, insect repellent, pool water, seawater and rain. One lousy fan. Anti-itch cream. The ultimate lei. Being barefoot for a solid two weeks. Sunshine at Coralview. Crab races (no. 3 always wins). Drunk Australians...Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Oi! Oi! Oi! Playing shithead. Comparing insect bites. Lazing in hammocks eating coconut....