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BUSC Snowsports trip Easter 2011 - By Adam |
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It’s been a couple of years since I graduated from uni but I know from old trips that you only need to be loosely associated with a uni to be welcome on tour. BUSC (British University Snowsports Committee) is one of many organisations that organise ski/snowboard trips for thousands of students each year. When you think of thousands of students put together in any place for any reason, you would expect laughs, mayhem and madness. These things are never as mad as you imagine they could be but that really didn’t take anything from the trip. Although I have just received a text from BUSC saying ‘We apologise for the delay in returning deposits. This is due to an unprecedented amount of damage caused to accommodation’. I guess it was pretty mad.
A great time was had by all (well maybe not ‘Aids Face’, I’ll explain later). I was in a room of guys, all boarders, excellent crack! Aids Face is a name we give to one of the guys who destroyed his face by the sun on the 1st day, poor guy had the worse luck all week, bad times for him, good laughs for us.
The resort was Tigness in the French Alps and with an extended lift pass you could also ski Val D’isire. The trip was at the end of the season so the snow wasn’t great, but good enough and with the dozens of routes available with the extended pass you could ski different areas every day, the routes in Val D were particularly good.
BUSC organised the events, during the day there were big air, half-pipe competitions as well as charity bikini ski (with bouts of nudity!!). At night there was always something happening, big club nights etc on every night. The 1st night there was a big outdoor rave-up, ruined by a knob-head beat-boxer who got a new mate kicked out, he only threw a snowball at him. What did he expect standing on a balcony in front of 2 thousand students surrounded by tonnes of snow?
The second night I’d bought the optional mountain meal, with great memories of previous mountain meals getting pissed up on top of the mountain then boarding back down to the resort in the dark guided only by burning torches. The mountain meal wasn’t actually up on the mountain, in fact we were supposed to toboggan down to it, but the snow melted so we couldn’t. However, a cool tipi and many bottles of wine and memories of people snorting whipped cream and licking a goats skin hanging outside.
The Fenicular is an underground tube that takes you up to a café/bar on the mountain in Tignes , we went on the Wednesday and walking out of the underground shuttle out onto the peak of a mountain, we had the most spectacular sight I’ve ever seen, a glorious sunset (soppy I know but YOU WEREN’T THERE MAN!!). The music was BANGIN! The filthiest Dub Step I’ve ever heard, I’ve never had the filthiness of a bass actually pop my ear drums before. 2 many frontmen and ending with High Rankin, when a dj plays a set while drinking JD from the bottle you know it’s going to be good.
By now, although the lads were have a good time together, there was a surprising lack of action with the ladies, it was only later when someone pointed out there was an 8:1 ratio of guys to girls it kind of made sense. A bit of a sausage fest. The Thursday wasn’t great, one massive room playing the same music by the same djs and same annoying beat-boxer (starting to get bored by them now) and some decent house up in a small room. I did see a guy get knocked clean out afterwards, livened up the night.
It was starting to look like BUSC were really just milking the money from us as each gig was really expensive and what they put on just wasn’t as good as it could be. I went on an ‘On the pieste’ tour a couple years back and it was much more low-key, but because of the people you’re with you can have an epic time still. After hearing the last night was at the same venue with the same music and dj’s we decided to sack it off and have our own night out in town. It involved a massive pre-lash, Aids Face being sick over the balcony and ended up with a rave in a grimy underground bar. Result.
Has student life changed much in the last couple of years? The banter is the same, the chants, the rivalry is still the same, the drinking games though have evolved and become even more imaginative which was what cause carnage on the standard pre-lash!
Final thoughts On these kinds of trips, it’s not about the big events, it’s not even so much about the skiing, it’s about the fantastic time you can have with like-minded friends and strangers. I didn’t die or brake anything which is a bonus, spent a night in the chalet of some other random people in a different town, I’m a slightly better boarder and saw boobs on a ski slope so can’t complain really. Would I go again? Definitely!
Memorable quotes: ‘Dude, you’re a pro? I’m so much fucking better than you!’ ‘This is such an emotional song’ – While listening to Avril Lavigne’s ‘Skater Boi’. AHHH I didn’t even mention La Folie Duece! An unbelievable bar in the mountains at Val D, too much to talk about in this post, I’ll write a separate one just for it… It’s that good!!
-- Adam
Backpacking in Australia: Part 4 - By Hayley Hobbs |
Fraser Island:
Hi guys, so here is the 4th instalment in my series on backpacking in Oz! We left Airlie Beach on the Greyhound bus and endured another overnight journey to our next location; Fraser Island! We arrived at a place called Hervey Bay which is where most people stop before starting the tours of the island; so again, there were plenty of people around to have a laugh with before we set off. We stayed in a hostel overnight to catch up on some well-earned rest, and in the morning everyone who was in Harvey Bay for the Fraser Island tour was divided up into groups of 9. This time myself and all of my friends were together! Before we could set off on our next adventure we had to watch a safety video as we decided to give the self-drive tour a go, meaning we would be sharing the driving of our very own jeep! Exciting times!
Fraser Island is a small landmass off the Queensland coast and is the biggest sand island in the world. We were really lucky to have visited when we did as after our trip they cancelled the self-drive tours due to safety issues and concerns about the sand and steep invisible drops offs. There had been some bad accidents in the past, so cancelling them was the only option. We even got breathalysed by the police on the 75 mile highway….aka the beach! We spent the first night on the island with an aboriginal tribe! There camp looked like something out of a movie. No one was there to meet us when we arrived so we walked into the camp looking for people and ended up walking into someone’s house (well, wooden shack) to find that the owner was asleep, so we had to wake him up! The tribe spoke English and were really friendly, but there didn’t appear to be any children in the family. We put our tents up and lit a camp fire to relax in front of while he told us stories. After a few drinks he took us down to the beach and showed us tricks with the sand where he made it light up, it was magical! When it was time for bed I didn’t dare go to the camp toilets on my own as they were full of spiders. In the end we decided to go to the toilet in pairs so one person could watch the spiders while the other person went to the toilet. I kept a look out while one of my friends was on the loo, but I must have done a rubbish job as when I turned around there was a huge spider dangling in front of her face! Eeekk! Anyway, during the day time we drove our jeep to different points on the island for sightseeing. One of the best locations was Indian Head; a huge sand mountain! From here we had excellent views down to the sea and could spot sharks on the water as it was so clear!
We spend the second night on the island at a tourist camp site in a different part of the island along with lots of other tourists. However, this camp site was a bit more strict than the aboriginal one. We weren’t allowed to have a camp fire at our tents and had to make our food on another part of the camp site. The reason for this was to stop dingos and snakes from getting close to the tents as both are dangerous to humans!
On the last day we woke up and went to Lake Mackenzie. We had an itinerary which said to go for at least an hour to fully appreciate it, but quite a few of the people we had met said to go earlier and spend as much time there as possible, so we decided to wake up early the next morning. Unfortunately we woke to a flat tire on the jeep, which the boys fixed, but it took a couple of hours off our time. When we eventually got there it was very beautiful and deserted as we were the first people to arrive. The water was so clear and shallow; it was the perfect way to end our Fraser Island trip before we boarded the ferry back to Hervey Bay. Once back on the mainland we caught the Greyhound bus to our next stop; Agnes Water (aka 1770).
Best things about Fraser Island: The self-drive jeep was the best bit, but they don’t do that anymore due to safety concerns. The Aboriginal camp was also awesome!
Worst things about Fraser Island: The Spiders in the camp toilets! Also the camp fire issues and dingoes in the tourist camp.
Tips: ALWAYS go to the toilet in pairs and use sleeping bag liners to stop the spiders from sharing your bed! Also don’t leave food lying around as the dingoes will take it. If a dingo comes near you don’t touch it and walk away slowly. Oh yeah, and take a powerful torch.
To be continued…
--Hayley
Backpacking in Australia: Part 3 - By Hayley Hobbs |
Airlie Beach/Whitsundays Islands
Airlie Beach:
Hey guys, thanks so much for reading my last post and thanks for the comments some of you left! So to pick up where I left off we took the Greyhound bus over night from Cairns to Airlie Beach which took about 8 hours. Luckily I managed to sleep the entire way due to being absolutely exhausted after the Cairns/Cape T section of our trip. As soon as we got to Airlie Beach we were hit by the extreme humidity! We checked into a hostel which we had booked while we were in Cairns and we were instantly impressed by the little log cabins which were accessed via a walk way over the sand. It was such a lovely place and so different from the concrete hostel we had stayed in at Cape Tribulation! The place was full of people who were about to set off on the Whitsunday’s island trip, so there was plenty of people to have a laugh with.
Whitsundays Islands:
We left for our trip to the islands on a condor, which is a type of boat with a sail. We were all brave enough to have a little go of being in charge of the boat, but to be honest I didn’t really want to, I just wanted to sunbath! Something that I would later regret as unfortunately I managed to get burnt! In the evenings we had BBQs for our dinner on top deck as a group and got very drunk. There was quite a few insects to contend with while we were on the boat including flies which were biting us through the stinger suits (suits we wore to prevent jellyfish stings) when they were damp. I managed to keep the midges at bay however as I wore my ‘jungle formula’! One of the best parts of the Whitsundays Islands was stopping at different islands to do snorkelling. We stopped on the barrier reef and looked at the coral which was beautiful. Unfortunately our group got split up onto different boats, which was a shame as we would have preferred to experience it all together, but we still enjoyed ourselves! The boat we were on had about 23 other people, so we had plenty of people to talk to. Our sleeping arrangement involved us bedding down under the stars. There were bunk beds available below deck, but they made me feel a claustrophobic so we decided to sleep on the deck instead.
Anyway, the islands were beautiful; white sand and blue sea just like I imagined it to be. The sand is so pure and pale because it is made up of 99% silica. It is also incredibly fine and gets everywhere! We were warned to keep our cameras and phones away from it because if any got inside, that would be it! One of our guides told us that it is so rare that it’s illegal to take the sand off the islands!
While we were visiting the islands they would stop the condor at some of them so we could jump off and go for a swim in the crystal clear water. There weren’t any settlements on the islands, so we spent all of our time sunbathing on the isolated beaches…it was like paradise. Our guides spoke quite a lot about conserving the coral and warned us not to accidently damage it by knocking it with your flippers. It was so beautiful and colourful. We also saw some turtles as we were swimming around the coral, we swam right above them and got a great view! They were really hard to spot as they were camouflaged so well against the coral. Towards the end of our trip we pulled up at an island to have a swim as a group and found our friends who had been on the other boat. I was a bit worried about getting into the water again as someone on their boat had been bitten by shark on the hand! Apparently it had gone for his camera! I didn’t like being in the water after that so I decided to get out, just to be on the safe side!
Back to Airlie Beach:
After our trip around the islands we came back to Airlie Beach and stayed for another 2 nights in the hostel. One of my friends flew back to England as her two week holiday had come to an end, while the rest of us caught the Greyhound bus to Frasier Island, our next stop!
Best things about Airlie Beach/Whitsundays:The best bits about this part of our trip has got to be the beautiful islands, crystal clear water and the snorkelling.
Worst things about Airlie Beach/Whitsundays: After the ‘incident’ I was a bit scared of sharks so missed out on seeing some of the coral. I also felt really claustrophobia below deck in the bunk beds so had to sleep on the deck, which wasn’t ideal.
Tips: Be careful with your camera/phone on the beaches as the sand would break anything electrical if it got inside. As we still had to do a lot of walking you will need sturdy boots, not flip flops! Make sure you get some jungle formula and spray it on your pjs, this will keep the midges away from you while you’re asleep!
To be continued…
--Hayley
flies which were biting us through the stinger suits (suits we wore to prevent jellyfish stings) Oh dear - lol
Sounds like you had fun though : )
Pleased ur enjoying the posts guys, hope its helpful for you to Plan your own trip to Oz.
Sounds like you had a trip of a lift time, waiting eagerly for the next post x
Hi Hayley, what a brilliant post! The sailing sounds amazing! Can't wait for your next post! x
Backpacking in Australia: Part 2 - By Hayley Hobbs |
Cairns/Cape tribulation
Cairns:
Thanks to everyone for reading my last post on how I began my trip of a lifetime to Australia. To pick up from where I left off, we flew into Cairns on the Sunday a bit tired from our long and stressful journey. However, as soon as we arrived in Cairns we knew it had all been worth it. Cairns was a really nice city, very green and not at all like your average concrete jungle. It has so many quirky points! The weirdest one has got to be all the bats! We could see loads of them hanging from the trees and flying around in the sunlight, which seemed odd as UK bats are all nocturnal (as far as I know). There was also a huge pool in the middle of the city where people congregated to chat and cool down by the water. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t great, which felt like a huge disappointment as Australia is supposed to be known for its sunshine! The weather wasn’t just a bit rubbish, it was really odd. Being from the UK I am used to waking up to rain, hiding under my umbrella all day, and falling asleep to the sound of the rain on my window. But this is not how it worked in Oz! It chucked it down for 30 minutes, then 45 minutes later you wouldn’t even know it had rained! Anyway, before setting off to our next location: Cape Tribulation, we decided to spend a day trying our hands at white water rafting! We travelled south of Cairns to the Tully River and spent the day hanging onto our raft and getting soaked, it was awesome!
Cape Tribulation:
We booked ourselves onto an organised tour bus up to our next stop: Cape Tribulation. The journey was approximately 4 hours long without stopping anywhere on the way. However, our bus stopped at a few places for sightseeing, so it took us quite a while to get there. We stopped at a zoo near Port Douglas on the way and one of the highlights of the zoo has got to be getting our picture taken holding a koala. They hang on so tight! We also stopped at Mossman Gorge which was very beautiful; the river was crystal clear but icy cold! Our driver gave us some important tips on which leaves we shouldn’t touch as some were poisonous! Only in Oz could they make poisonous leaves! He also showed us some ants whose bums taste like citrus and dared us to lick them, which eventually we did, and we were amazed that they tasted like sherbet! After this we went slightly north and stopped at the Daintree River to look for crocodiles. I managed to spot one!
Cape T is a rainforest so as expected it was really hot and humid in there; however it is a very popular attraction and catered for tourists with hostels and activities. There were a fair few big spiders, which were the first ones we had seen since we had arrived in Oz. The hostel was probably the worst one we had stayed in so far; it had concrete floors and walls and tons of cobwebs around the windows. Eventually we decided we couldn’t cope with the room and asked to be moved. Our next room was still basic, but a bit more comfortable. During our 2 day stay we did jungle surfing using zip wires across the trees, which was pretty scary but really fun! I was quite nervous at the start, but quickly got into it and really enjoyed myself!
After our stay we drove back to Cairns on the same organised tour bus. We got back at 7pm but we didn’t have any time to relax because at midnight we got on an 8 hour ride on a Greyhound bus, as you can imagine we were exhausted! Luckily I slept the whole way to our next destination…
Best things about Cairns/Cape T: The best bits about the Cairns/Cape T part of our tour has got to be the Jungle surfing and white water rafting! It’s also really good that we managed to book all sightseeing and transport as one package to keep it simple and easy to keep track of our money. The all-girls hostel in Cairns was also really good – the owners of the hostel were very friendly and the hostel is in a good location for sightseeing.
Worst things about Cairns/Cape T: The worst thing has got to be PJs hostel as it was very basic, but you have to keep in mind it was in the middle of the rainforest!
Tips: If you’re planning a trip to Oz and are thinking of going to Cape T you really need to wear proper walking shoes, as you need your feet covered to protect you against standing on spiders and poisonous leaves. Also, don’t swim in any lakes or rivers unless you’re told they are safe because you don’t know what might be in there!
To be continued.....
--Hayley
Backpacking in Australia: Part 1 - By Hayley Hobbs |
Planning the trip of a lifetime…
I have always been the adventurous type and after working in Greece in 2008 and France 2008/2009, I decided to do a bit more travelling, this time without the working so that I could get to see more of the country I was in! I always fancied visiting Australia and when a friend of mine said she was going in November 2009 I decided to go with her. The problem was that I had not long been back from France so I didn’t have much time to save for the trip, and flights to Oz are pretty expensive; especially during the winter as it is their summer and therefore high season. So I decided that the solution was to go back to work and save up then I could follow her out in January 2010 for 2 months of sun, sea and Fosters!
I booked my flights as soon as I was able which cost around £1000 (see I told you they weren’t cheap!), and soon after another two of my friends decided to fly out with me for 2 weeks! Everything was working out perfectly! I found out which hostel my friend was going to be in and booked us all in the same hostel for the first 5 nights. The friend who was already out there organised the greyhound bus for us which would get us from Cairns to Sydney. It would also give us the added bonus of being able to hop on and off as much as we wanted at different stops along the way for some sightseeing.
So I bought a backpack, packed as lightly as possible and couldn’t wait to head to Oz!
The beginning of my travels to Australia
January came around and it was finally time to start my travels. As you may remember we had a lot of bad weather during January 2010, piles of snow causing a lot of flights to be cancelled throughout the UK as well as countless other instances of disruption and general mayhem! Myself and my two friends jumped into our lift to Newcastle airport: it was early afternoon we were due to fly at 3pm from Newcastle to London Heathrow, then at 8.45pm from Heathrow to Abu Dhabi, from Abu Dhabi to Sydney, and finally from Sydney to Cairns where I would meet my friends - phew!
We got to Newcastle airport and had a few glasses of wine only to be told that the flight was going to be delayed by an hour. Luckily we had left a few hours in-between in case of delays so we carried on drinking relaxed in the knowledge that we would still be ok time wise. An hour went by and the flight was delayed again, and again. At this point we were panicking as if we didn’t get to London in time we would miss the main flight to Australia! Eventually the flight ended up getting cancelled altogether, but the flight from London to Australia departed. So that night I ended up sleeping in Willington a small town in County Durham instead of in a hotel room in Abu Dhabi…not a good start.
I found out that the next available flight was going to be on Friday, the day I was meant to be arriving in Oz; this was not ideal, but if I wanted to get to Australia this was my only option! The next day it was still -20 and snowing heavily so we decided to play it safe and get the train to London Heathrow. We had a few hiccups along the way in the form of the train stopped for 30 minutes on the tack due to the weather, but we finally got there. We stayed overnight in a hotel and decided to venture out the next day for a look around London. We enjoyed a lovely relaxing day and travelled back to our hotel, however, our relaxation was about to come to an end! As we arrived back to the hotel that afternoon the fire brigade were outside and everyone had been evacuated, we couldn’t believe it! What else could go wrong!? We had expected to be wearing our bikinis by this point, not foil fire blankets, but we had to laugh…
That night we finally boarded and were on our way. We arrived in Cairns Australia on the Sunday, we pulled up at the hostel and the BBQ was on and the Fosters was cold - well you wouldn’t want a warm beer would ya ;)
We finally started to believe that this was going to be the trip of a life time!
To be continued.....
--Hayley
Sounds like you had an amazing time, im sooo jealous, I haven't been skiing for ages!
It's a bit of a shame that everything was so expensive. In the long run if they lower their prices I bet they would make more money coz more people would be interested in going. But that's something you can say about a lot of things...
Can't wait for your post on Folie Duece!
xx