Skiing in Alpe D'Huez

So it is now Sunday, which means we can now nearly start our 4 week countdown for leaving the UK for 5 months and I am really feeling holiday blues. As I returned from Alpe D’Huez in the French Alps on Saturday and the weather here is miserable, with an obscene amount of rain, causing ridiculous floods, causing lives to be ruined, so all in all not a good start to the week.

Anyway I had a fantastic time in Alpe D’Huez with my mum and dad. The chalet hotel we stayed in, Le Christina was a fantastic location, located right by the main lift (DMC) to the top of the mountain, so ski-in, ski-out and a very short walk to the town and also the oldest hotel in the resort, although you couldn’t tell.

The weather conditions were a mix, we had 2 days of lots of sunshine, 2 days of half sunshine half cloud and a snowy day and a VERY snowy day, which ended up being the last day of the holiday and there was such a white-out it meant that skiing just wasn’t possible. So instead the three of us headed down to the local pool, which was included on our lift pass and went swimming, did I fail to mention this was outside. So we went swimming outside in a blizzard, all rather bizarre really! The experience was interesting but I’m not sure it could be described as enjoyable. The water was colder than expected and I very quickly got brain-freeze. However, despite ridiculous conditions my insane mother hopped out the pool, into the snow and then proceeded to roll around, if that is not the definition of crazy I don’t know what is. However, not one to be beaten I soon did the same, but only managed to get onto my knees before the reality kicked in and I quickly ended up back in the pool. Our visit to the swimming pool was short lived. We then headed to a Italian restaurant, Pinochio and enjoyed quite a bit of red wine.

During the week we also skiied down the longest black run in Europe, Sarenne which is 16km.

I was also happy to hear that Alpe D'Huez had a Folie Douche, now I'm not sure if you've heard of this but it's awesome. It's a chain now and I went to the one in Val D'Isere a few years back. It's basically a restaurant/bar/clubby place usually set at the top of a chair lift and everyone drinks mulled wine, mulled cider or beer and dances in ski boots if you'd believe on the top of tables and then skis down afterwards.

We also had some great hot chocolate and some amazing food, in some incredible little French restaurants.

We also got to see these views everyday!!!

Hmmm our yummy Duck Pizza 

And I know I have probably over done it on the picture front, so why not throw in a few more...

Hope you enjoy! And again any questions, do not hesitate to message me!

Recommended: Kat & Andy's South American Travels: Pinguinos and the End of the Earth...

Seeing as this is my travelling blog, I would thoroughly recommend that anyone who is interested in travelling around South America, to read my friend Kat's blog. It gives you a great insight, and makes someone like me what to become a permanent nomad!



Kat & Andy's South American Travels: Pinguinos and the End of the Earth...: Wednesday was Penguin day. Having been given the luxury of a 9.30 start (at least an hour later than any other day so far on this trip!) we ...

Travelling Plans for 2014

So the flights are all booked and the plans are well underway thank you to Roy at Travel Nation (based in Brighton and would definitely recommend them as a company)!

Nathan and I leave the UK on Tuesday 18th March at 20.15 and fly to Singapore, with a short 2 hour stopover in Dubai. We will be staying with Nick and Vicky Trueman in their new house in Singapore for 4 days, before heading off to Perth (Australia) on the 24th March to stay with Judi and Arthur (Mum’s cousin) for a few days, before settling down somewhere to find a job in either Perth, Fremantle or Margaret River for around 6 weeks. After this we are planning to hire a campervan and travel in an anti-clockwise direction around Australia and visiting friends, family along the way.

Whilst on our tour, we are also planning on skydiving, watching an Aussie Rules game, camping Outback, surfing, driving Great Ocean Road, snorkling in the Great Barrier Reef, visiting the Whitsunday Islands and many many more fun things.

We then both leave from Sydney on the 3rd July, but when Nath travels back to the UK, I become a time traveller and travel back in time to Los Angeles. Where I will celebrate Independence Day (July 4th), just need to find a fun party to go to now!! From there, I leave LA on the 5th July to fly to San Jose (Costa Rica), with a very short stopover in Fort Lauderdale.

I then will proceed to spend 5 weeks on a Raleigh International Expedition before leaving Costa Rica on 11th August, with a stopover in Dallas to go to Vancouver (Canada) where I will stay with my auntie, uncle and cousins. Finally then on the 18th August I will hopefully return home to find myself a job, however the ending of this fun adventure is subject to change!!

This means Nathan and I have 5 weeks Tuesday (and counting) until we leave and we still have way too much to organise. Let me know whether you have any tips or ideas of places we can visit!!

Mauritius

A very happy belated new year all!

So I had a very busy Christmas, working up until midday on Christmas Eve at my office job and then I worked Christmas Eve evening and Christmas day at the pub, so as you can imagine I wasn’t the happiest person about, until I had finished work. However after some champagne and Christmas dinner I soon cheered up and even produced a fun quiz for the family, the Tomlinsons and Nath which soon got quite competitive. All it all it was a lovely festive day and by the end of it, I was exhausted.

New Year’s Eve quickly came round, to which Mum, Dad, Adrian and I flew out to Mauritius to be with Granny and Granda, Dad’s sister Alison, Avron and my cousins Ross and Joel to welcome in 2014. It was the most amazing holiday and would recommend the island to anyone, so thank you Granny and Granda for such an incredible treat.

Whilst we were there we witnessed a Cyclone, which didn’t directly hit Mauritius itself, however we still experienced torrential rain and lots of wind. But this hardly dampened our spirits like it would be in UK, the weather was still hot and humid and we got a fair bit of sun.

We stayed at Le Mauritia, located on the North of the Island in an area called Grand Baie, not far from the capital Port Louis. For those of you who have yet to visit Mauritius, the main language spoken is either French or Creole and the country is located, not far from South Africa and Madagascar and is in the Indian Ocean. So if you are travelling from the UK, you are looking at around a 12 hour flight.

We spent most of the week in the sea, taking full advantage of the water sports; water-skiing, paddle-boarding, wind-surfing and sailing. It was a perfect area for beginners to learn, as the hotel was situated in a bay, so even if it was windy, the bay was still quite calm.

We also had a great day out on the East of the island on a Catamaran, where we went parasailing and to say it was incredible was an understatement, the views were just incredible and you could see the reef, where the colour of the sea went from bright blue, to dark blue.

The food in the hotel was lovely and there was great variation every day, and I managed to control myself and stuck to mainly only one helping. There was lots of fish, including sushi, lots of different meats, salads, cheeses fruits, pastas and then pizzas, so whatever you wanted it was there.

All in all, an amazing holiday and it was so great getting to see my family (from South Africa) and spend some good quality time with them.

Until next time xo