Pamplona - It's go time
Thursday, 9 July 2009
It's 5am. The alarm has just gone off. Blurry eyed, we all stumble out of our beds and head for the car.
6.40am. We arrive in Pamplona and park the wagon. It is only now that the it is starting to register. In just over an hour, Reuben and I will be standing on a crowded street, waiting for the annual running of the bulls to start.
7.30am. Reuben and I make our way through the barriers, and enter the already packed street. We are informed by a seasoned runner, that in 25mins the Police barrier would be removed and we could take up a starting position anywhere on the course. Our preferred starting point, after Dead man's corner - tight right angle corner where bulls often loose their footing (point 4 on this map)
7.50am. Time check. The crowd is cheering, camera flashes are flickering, our hearts pounding at a million miles an hour, with the anxiety levels rising every second. Was this possibly the last dumb thing I will ever do?
8am. Go time! The first rocket is fired, shortly followed by the second. The bulls are on their way. Moments later the first wave of people rounded the corner. Reubs and I gave each other a look, then started legging it. The bulls came thundering past us, and we headed to the side to stay away from them, and their horns. Adding to the danger, people were loosing the footing all over the place and created further obstacles to move around. The end was close, and we could see the stadium entrance. The road narrowed, and people pushed their way through the emerging bottleneck and out into the safety of the open arena. The bulls were now in their holding pen.
8.05am. Breathing a sigh of relief, we congratulated each other on not becoming a victim, unlike fellow runners, who just one day later, would show how dangerous this festival actually is.
8.10am. Just when anxiety levels began normalising, the first of six smaller bulls is released into the arena to cause chaos amongst the people that have now gathered. After enduring the challenge of this first bull, we retreated to the safety of the barrier - adrenalin levels depleted.
10am. After watching the last 5 bulls have their fun with the crowd, we make tracks back to the car. Exhausted and hungry, we return back to San Sebastian for a brief kip, then hit the beach for the afternoon sun.
Putting life in extreme risk - tick
Labels: bulls, festivals, Spain, Travel
posted by Tim @ 3:18 pm,
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Hard Rock Calling
Saturday, 27 June 2009
Summer in London means concerts galore. Whilst we did not make the pilgrimage this year to Glastonbury, we did head to Hyde Park for Hard Rock Calling.
So who was playing? The likes of Neil Young, Ben Harper, Fleet Foxes, Sea Sick Steve and, the Pretenders that's who.
We were treated with a special guest appearance by Paul McCartney during Neil Young's encore, which was pretty sweet.
We were also treated to some outstanding dance moves from 'stop war start peace' guy who seemed to be really enjoying himself.
So what was the weather like? Well, it started off hot and sunny, then like a typical London summer day the clouds rolled in and the rain began to pelt down on us. No dramas though, before long the sun was back out and the ponchos packed away.
Rain aside,the music was good and we'd say that Fleet Foxes were still the act of the day.
posted by Tim @ 9:35 pm,
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Easter trip to the Lakes District
Tuesday, 14 April 2009
Easter rolled around. It was time to escape the madness of the city and explore a part of the UK. Destination, Keswick.
Keswick is a small town located in the north east of the UK, and is one of the towns in the Lake District.
After a few hours in the car, we arrived and settled in at the house we had rented for the weekend. A nice place, and comfortably housed all eight of us that had made the mission.
Apart from visiting the world's largest coloured pencil, we gorged ourselves on giant Cumberland sausages, hiked up a hill and generally took in the tranquillity of this quaint town.
Definitely the city break we needed.
Labels: city break, UK
posted by Tim @ 6:06 pm,
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Start spreading the news
Monday, 2 February 2009
We're leaving today. New York. The city that never sleeps. This was the destination of our first USA adventure - not counting the glorious stop over in the Air NZ transfer terminal in LAX.
We had popped over the pond to welcome in my 29th birthday. As with the UK, NYC was cold at this time of the year, but we did not let this ruin or mission.
We checked into the aptly named Wellington hotel, located on 7th ave and close to all the sites we wanted to see.
NYC is amazing! Everything is big, in the way that you'd expect American things to be. The buildings are amazing and grand. They make you feel so very small. We took in a view from the 'top of the rock', a viewing platform at the top of the Rockefeller Centre. Needless to say, the view was breathtaking.
We also sussed out Times Square, caught the Staten Island ferry to see lady liberty, strolled central park, and most importantly, ate a hotdog from a street hotdog vendor.
We by no means have seen and done everything this amazing city has to offer, and feel another trip will be scheduled for round two.
Needless to say, New York is truly a must see place.
posted by Tim @ 8:54 pm,
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It's time for a run Santa
Saturday, 6 December 2008
Early on Saturday morning, Team Schubie and the Morgans got up, braved the freezing cold temperatures and got into the xmas spirit by donning santa suits and running around Battersea Park with 2,000 other santas, for disability snowsport.
We climbed into our 'one-size-fits-all' santa suits and found that the crotch went to our knees and the waist was so big you could fit 3-4 people in the santa pants! Lucky for us we had been pre-warned that the suits were massively oversized and had armed ourselves with loads of safety pins.
At 10am we were off amidst hundreds of jolly santas. Who would've thought you'd see so many smiles, laughter and joking around from people about to embark on a 6km run? Soon it was all on: the rubgy ball was passed around (loosely), cameras were clicking and the vibe was merry. People of all shapes, sizes and ages were running - even a dog sporting a santa beard took part!
There was a slight mishap with a pole (while taking action shots) and we did temporarily lose a member of the team, but all was well when the 'triangle' came out in full force, crossing the finishing line at around 40 mins. While waiting outside for the local pub to open, we were met by curious looks, waves and beeping horns - it seems that everyone was happy to see a group of sants looking to quench their thirst!
posted by Em @ 1:00 pm,
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Yasus, Yamus and Effaristo Crete
Thursday, 14 August 2008
The long awaited summer holiday had arrived, and so our lust affair with Crete began. After a dodgy(ish) flight and a confusing bus service, we had arrived in Rethymno City to soaring temperatures and a pretty impressive beach - ahhh bliss!
We stayed with Tor and Dom in a little village called Messi, about 14km out of the main city. It was good to get into rural life that came with an overprotective 'spinning dog', a language we could barely understand and even the token old man and his donkey living across the road!
There are too many highlights, but there's a few:
- Gyros - tzaziki, shaved pork, onions, tomatoes and fries wrapped up in pita bread. Cheap as chips and very tasty
- Arkadi Monestary - a beautiful old monastery that was going to be invaded by the Turks, so they decided to blow themselves up before the Turks could
- Georgeopoulis - a morning of snorkelling then hiring paddleboats to go down 'Turtle Lake' to feed the turtles. Special mention to the little white church at the end of the rocky pier - did we or didn't we ...
- Spilli beach - we were told to swim where the locals swim and only jump off rocks that the locals jump off. This secluded beach had 6-8m high rocks that young kids were jumping off. Initimidating to do it, but worth it
- Preveli and Plakias beaches - scooter #1/4 got us there and only just got us back, but it was totally worth the trip. As was seeing the ANZAC monument, very impressive with a stunning backdrop
- Gramvousa - the mighty fortress with a hundred million steps to climb to reach it, but with a view worth more than a hundred million dollars.
As well as: hanging out with Dom in his office (the beach); meeting Tor and lots of new faces in the old town maze; vague recollections of a big night that started in hostel rethymno and ended up crashed out on the beach with slices of pizza; and of course the introduction to Raki - serbian styles (some would describe this as a cross between tequila and meths!).
posted by Em @ 7:16 pm,
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Sun, glorious sun
Thursday, 31 July 2008
OK, so a long haul flights are almost as fun as going to the dentist when you have bad teeth, however, London has turned on the elusive sunshine for us since we have been back in the northern hemisphere. Kinda makes it hard to try and look for jobs, however, these tasks need to be done. CVs are up-to-date, and we have phone numbers. All we need now is the calls and the offers to roll in - guess we better apply for work first!
We finally managed to book our mini travel break to Crete. We are off on Sunday and despite the thought of getting on another plane, it will be good to go and bask in the golden glory before the English winter sets in. Stay tuned for pics of Crete.
posted by Tim @ 12:10 pm,
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