2011 has been a pretty big year for me (I’m including the last 3 months of 2010 in this as it’s when I left England and I don’t want to exclude that part of my first trip). So much has happened and I have experienced and learnt so much that I thought it was worth doing a bit of a round up. (In no particular order.)
Places I have been:
- Adelaide, Mount Arapiles, The Grampians, Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road in Australia.
- Auckland, Rotorua, Taupo, Mount Ruapehu, southern Northland, the Bay of Islands and Wellington in New Zealand.
- Santiago, Valparaiso and San Pedro de Atacama in Chile
- London, Gloucestershire and Hampshire in England; Meribel in France
- Cochabamba, Chapare, La Paz, Sucre, Oruro, Uyuni, the Cordillera Quimsa Cruzin Bolivia (amongst others).
Things I have done:
- Rock climbed in five different countries at 20 different crags
- Skied an active volcano
- Celebrated the marriage of both my siblings and my best friend (and been a bridesmaid each time)
- Become an aunt for the first time
- Had a cold for about seven months
- Hiked to an altitude of 5100m
- Helped to look after and become very attached to around 30 amazing children
- Done my first multi-day hike
- Mountain biked down “the world’s most dangerous road”
- Lived in a refuge for teenage boys
- Paragliding
- Visited some of the major sites of the world (the Great Ocean Road, The Andes Mountain Range, the Uyuni salt flats, the Atacama desert, lake Titikaka)
And, most importantly, this is what I have learnt during 2011:
- I love rock climbing
- Patience really is a virtue
- To trad climb (well, there’s still a long way to go, but I made a start)
- I can get fit!
- I can sleep better when camping than I do in a bed
- I might have commitment issues…
- That I LOVE rock climbing
- I can run and could probably learn to love it
- That sometimes you just have to let things (and people) go
- That the ‘dating game’ really isn’t that straight forward
- Perhaps I could do the whole motherhood lark
- To take things as they come…something always works out in the end
- I LOVE ROCK CLIMBING
I hope you’ve all had as wonderful a year as I have and I look forward to continuing to share experiences and thoughts with you in the coming you.
HAPPY 2012 EVERYONE!
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