Recent adventures

In the past 12 months, I’ve…

• Cheered along with 110,000 other spectators as GreenEDGE team member Simon Gerrans won the 2012 Tour Down Under in Adelaide
• Trailed well behind cycling legend Eddy Merckx while pedalling past Barossa vineyards during the Bupa Challenge
• Applauded the first sunrise of 2012 from the hill at Woodfordia
• Swum with sea turtles on the Great Barrier Reef
• Spent a couple moderately restful nights in a circa-1830 penitentiary
• Biked Maria Island’s unsealed vehicular tracks, snorkelled her marine reserve, and ascended her dizzying dolerite columns
• Shared a patch of sand with Bennetts wallabies at Wineglass Bay
• Cycled from Launceston to a bush camp north of Triabunna, sea kayaked in Coles Bay, hiked in two national parks, and whizzed down Mount Wellington during Tasmanian Expeditions’ weeklong Cycle, Kayak, and Walk Tasmania tour
• Watched, gobsmacked, as competitors in Evandale’s National Penny Farthing Championships hurled themselves upon precariously high antique bicycles and raced around corners
• Run through a grove of Californian Coast Redwoods and mountain biked beneath a canopy of Douglas Fir in Rotorua’s Whakarewarewa Forest
• Shweebed, swooped, and screamed in Rotorua
• Rafted Tutea Falls, the world’s highest commercially rafted waterfall
• Giggled nervously while easing my way into a shark-filled oceanarium at the New Zealand National Aquarium in Napier
• Explored New Zealand’s rolling, emerald perfection via quad bike
• Been spared a run-in with frisky cows while cycling a coastal section of the Hawke’s Bay Trails
• Witnessed the recognition rituals of Australian gannets at Cape Kidnappers Gannet Reserve, home of the world’s largest and most accessible gannet population
• Stumbled up 922m Walshs Pyramid, the steepest section of the annual Great Pyramid Race
• Listened to pied currawongs, blue-winged kookaburras, and opera singers in Undara Volcanic National Park
• Forgotten my fatigue while moving through Mt Gower’s sublime mist forest
• Explored the planet’s southernmost coral reef
• Hiked to the summit of Mt Vaea, Robert Louis Stevenson’s final resting place
• Indulged in a feast of Samoan specialties, all made with the freshest coconut cream
• Snorkeled coral reefs located within a few strokes of Savaii’s lovely beaches
• Woken with an uninterrupted view of the sunrise from an oceanfront (three steps from the water) fale on Savaii
• Watched a fautasi team earn and celebrate victory during a Teuila Festival race
• Held a remnant of a shooting star in the Outback town of Charleville
• Run 40km on the morning of my 40th birthday
• Biked a short but satisfying section of the Blue Ridge Parkway
• Perfected a recipe for the Ultimate S’more
• Sought relief from Fort Lauderdale’s soaring mid-day temps in a snowball fight-friendly ice skating rink
• Passed a steamy summer afternoon climbing two Virginia mountains with my Dad
• Spied bears while ambling towards scoops of homemade blackberry ice cream in Shenandoah National Park
• Splashed fellow kayakers while cruising down the James River
• Attempted to surf in North Carolina’s Outer Banks
• Witnessed eight black bears in the space of an hour while motoring through the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge
• Gushed at the voluminous spectacle of Yosemite’s waterfalls
• Developed a greater appreciation of pinot noir from a somewhat famous Santa Barbara Wine Country bar stool
• Participated in the Australian Mountain Running Championships …just for fun, though
• Found many a Nemo in Tioman Marine Park, Malaysia
• Completed the jungle section of the SAS International Eco-Challenge with no major injuries (and no king cobra sightings!)
• Proved inept at ‘pulling tea’ in Kuala Lumpur
• Scaled Mt Barney’s East Peak with the help of a fantastic guide
• Hit the Razorback trail running in Alpine National Park
• Earned my Easter chocolate during a run around Wild Horse Mountain
• Snorkelled beside whale sharks and leopard sharks in Ningaloo Marine Park
• Hiked the sun-drenched gorges of Cape Range National Park
• Tried to ignore my sweaty palms while scaling a 61m karri tree near Pemberton, WA
• Cycled 230km from Manjimup to Margaret River as part of the three-day Great West Getaway
• Abseiled and climbed in the Glass House Mountains
• Witnessed turtle hatchlings racing towards the waters surrounding Lady Elliot Island
• Sandboarded Moreton Island’s dunes and snorkelled the Tangalooma Wrecks
• Danced (a little) and run (lots) along World Heritage trails in Lamington National Park
• Checked out pet-friendly campsites
• Looked for black bears at the Peaks of Otter