Freeride mourning

The classic 1998 Airwalk Freerides


have finally gotta go after causing harm on a daily basis this week, all because last season I didn't dry the liner out properly so they have a immovable wrinkle :( such a sad way to end your life after so many years..


I am sad to see them go but the antiques are not worth actual blood.. So, out with the old and in with the new.. burton imperials!


Which leads me onto why I'm writing this post, if you are considering buying new boots, then please consider the following..
As you will see from the above my new boots are men's.. Having been specifically told in the shop that these are not the boots for me & I should definitely buy women's boots as they are shorter in height & therefore take into consideration the length of my calf muscle (shop assistants words.. "Women have longer calf muscles therefore need shorter height boots for comfort, men have short calf muscles therefore can wear higher boots") I continued to question this thought process by asking what the other differences are.. Are they narrower in the foot, ankle area as women tend to have more skinny ankles & narrower feet.. The answer was no.. So other than having the option of 'pink' & some 'faux fur' on my boots I am being restricted to a very narrow selection simply on the basis of the boot height? Yes, this is correct..
So, considering all of the above, why have I still purchased men's boots & not followed the advice of the 'experienced' shop assistant? Well the reason for that is because its rubbish! Both men and women can have short & long calf muscles (more technically its called - short flex muscle fibres or long flex muscle fibres) and if you want to know what kind of boot to buy this is what you should be measuring NOT by assuming because it says 'women's on it that you are buying the right thing. You will be astounded at the progression in your riding if you buy a fairly stiff boot day a 6, 7 or 8/10 (assuming you're not a beginner) with the right height build & good ankle support (you don't want any heel lift at all)..it makes the ride more comfortable, less tiring & the body to board sensitivity 100x improved...
- Posted whilst on the road

Location:Chamonix, France

Chamonix hospital

Not amused..
I appreciate that when one visits another country you should make every effort to learn a little of the language, but unless you are fluent this would never be of assistance in an unusual situation such as serious illness & hospital visits..
So, here we are sat in the waiting room of the Mont Blanc hospital where so far we have been treated well but with no explanations as to what's happening, how long we will be here.. In the meantime Ripley (dog) is locked in the apartment back in les houches :( whilst I debate how long he can be left for, when I should go back to check on him & whether I should leave here..
The lead up to this scenario was being given a medical centre telephone number by reception, calling them to find they speak no English (fair enough), going back to reception to ask them to call to make an appointment for us, to be told no, they can not do this? No explanation as to why not?! Call the tourist office, get a number for another doctor, phone them, they are infact a dentist, call the tourist office back get another number, no English again. Call the tourist office back again.. Get told to go to Chamonix hospital emergency dept - arrive there, see most amazing, brilliant & thorough doctor, get charged €50 for the privilege (well worth it though), get given a long letter and sent to another emergency hospital 30mins away where I now sit patiently in the waiting room whilst J has numerous tests, 8 viles of blood, drips, x-ray, urine test.. Right now they are putting a very large needle into her spine to extract fluid to test (this is their second attempt as the 1st caused her to pass out).. But what is wrong I hear you asking.. The answer is currently at 21:33 having started the doctor escapade at 09:00 and having been up all night, we still have no idea.. The only thing I do know is this spinal fluid test has ruled out menigitis.. But until then we get to wait it out & enjoy the face masks!


And staring at the tariffs chart is pretty impressive (we have been here for hours) I wonder what it will cost??


. Will be interesting to see the final bill, thank goodness for EHIC and travel insurance!
On a positive note.. J's got a nice room for the night even if it is rather plain


- Posted whilst on the road

Location:Chamonix, France

North Face boot explosion

Really? North Face I have lost my confidence in you.. I have now sent them a message.. Lets see how they respond?!
This happened Day 1 - Chamonix town centre.. Not exactly doing anything hard core..





From a cold footed me- Posted whilst on the road

Location:Chamonix

Wrapping paper

Did anyone want help opening their birthday presents?





- Posted whilst on the road

Location:Chamonix

Canine adVANture part 3

So.. The last you heard was setting up ripley for bed.. Well, at 11,12,1am and for almost every hour after that you may think its amusing but we saw this:



We on the other hand did not find it so amusing, first time maybe but not so much afterwards, so currently writing, knackered probably having achieved about 3 hours sleep between us with another 400miles to go in the full knowledge that ripley will probably sleep all day! Little monkey! You could never be truly cross though, just need to look at his face to get past that feeling..


This breakfast will help..


& a little roll around





- Posted whilst on the road

Location:Another Aire

Canine adVANture part 2b

Luxury camping for us tonight... Lorry motorway side rest area!! Our view..


But we're pretty isolated in our spot


Just trying to make a lovely bed for Ripley..


He teased us by getting straight in & looked like he loved it..


but now its quite late, we've been up forever & just done 498miles & this is what we have in store for us this evening..



I reckon getting some decent sleep might be a miracle but we will report back tomorrow on our success/failure in this department
- Posted whilst on the road (literally)

Canine adVANture part 2

Well we have made it to the eurotunnel, not with ease I might add.. 7am departure, 1 dog poo stop, 3 dog puke clean up stops, make it for the right check in time with 10mins to spare, utilise the dog parking..


And exercise area.. Very well thought out with fresh water, poo bags & bins, agility course etc


Followed the signs from the car park when it said proceed next to our letter 'D' through the barriers, parked up only to then be told that we had missed our boarding slot! annoying but only 30mins until the next one..


And an opportunity for another walk around..


Time to go.. Such a simple way to travel & hopefully less chance of motion sickness than the ferry?!


- Posted whilst on the road (literally!)

Location:Eurotunnel Folkstone

The great canine adVANture to Chamonix - Part 1, preparations

Preparations.. 
Who knew there was so much to do to prepare for an overseas skiing trip with a dog..specifically, Ripley (golden retriever), currently aged 7 months and a little bit of a monkey (as you can see from the pic.. (FYI we are PARKED & no he does not travel in the front).
When your dog has been chronically car-sick from day one, what better holiday to arrange than one which involves driving a minimum of 762 miles each way in a VW camper (route planner says 11hrs 40mins, i suggest it will be substantially longer than this when you add puppy toilet breaks, walks, vomit cleaning up etc but we will report back in due course). Though we have purchased industrial strength anti-sickness pills from the Vets at a whopping £10 per tablet! (they better work!).

Wisely, we have decided to break up the journey with an overnight stay in the van on the way and a few nights in order to 'mooch' back towards the UK. Bearing in mind the car-sickness we have also committed to taking the Eurotunnel to avoid finding out if he also gets sea-sick!!
Our destination, is Les Houches ski resort (just round the corner from Chamonix) as this is one of the few places that offers self catering apartments that accepts dogs (additional charge of 60 euros a wk), close to the ski bus and some chair lifts and not in the middle of nowhere.
The plan is to make a straight run down sucking up the 80 euros in toll charges and return avoiding the toll roads and via the scenic route taking us through Switzerland & Germany before heading back into France.

On the basis that we are sleeping overnight in the van its been a challenge trying to figure out where Ripley is going to sleep.. thank goodness he's not fully grown yet as we can just squeeze his travel crate in between the front seats as in a SWB VW theres not enough room for a large breed to sleep in the passenger footwell and theres no room between seats & RIB altair bed.. (for the first time we are considering adding a SCA pop top roof.. for when he outgrows his crate)

Lastly is his travel comfort aside to water, food etc.. this journey we have opted for an RAC dog harness which you can see he fits into already (its an XL!)

Wish us luck.. for it is only 1 day until we depart.. nothings packed, nothings ready (well, except for the dogs stuff) but its amazing what you can turn around when a little pressure is added! We will report back from the road.

For those considering  travelling to France for the first time with your dog some of the items you need are as follows:

- Pet passport (from Vet @ approx £75-00)
- Rabies injection
- Microchipping
- Tapeworm treatment

(Guidance on what you need to do with your dog can be found here https://www.gov.uk/take-pet-abroad)

Have a look online to see where the nearest vet is in the country you're visiting as you will need to visit a vet for a tapeworm treatment a minimum of 24hrs max 5 days before being allowed to return to the UK.

The great adVANture - part deux

Tuesday 12th June
Route: Voss - Myrdal - Flam
Activity: Flam scenic train - 520NK




Wednesday 13th June
Route: Voss - Hardanger National park - Veringsfossen waterfall - Latefossen waterfall - Nesvik - (ferry) Hjelmeland
Ferry: Nesvik - Hjelmeland 89NK
Mileage: 182.4
Campsite: Wild camping, Hjelmeland
Activity: Hardangervidda Natursenter












Thursday 14th June
Route: Hjelmeland - Preikestolen (Jorpeland)
Mileage: 38.9
Campsite: Preikestolen camping - 270NK (incl. hook up)
Activity: Hike to Pulpit rock (604m / 8km)




















- Posted from the road..

Location:Preikestolvegen,Jørpeland,Norway

The great adVANture

2 VWs road trip round Scandinavia..
Monday 28th May
Eurotunnel 07:50
Drive: Calais, France - Bremen, Germany
Mileage: 395miles
Campsite: Camping am Stadwaldsee - 12 euros




Tuesday 29th May
Route: Bremen, Germany - Hoor, Sweden (via Copenhagen)
Ferry: Puttgarden - Rodby - 79 euros
Mileage: 333.7 miles
Campsite: Grottbyn, Sweden - 250SK








Wednesday 30th May
Route: Hoor - Molle - Kulla Peninsula - Gothenburg, Sweden
Mileage:
Campsite: Lilleby Hausbad Camping, Torslanda, Gothenburg - 150SK




















Thursday 31st May
Route: Gothenburg city centre
Mileage: 25 miles
Friday 1st June
Route: Gothenburg - Vitlycke - Lillehammer, Norway
Mileage: 324
Campsite: Rybakken Campsite, Oyer - 250 NK
Activity: Vitlycke - rock paintings & discovery centre




























Saturday 2nd June
Route: Lillehammer town centre
Campsite: Rybakken Campsite, Oyer - 250 NK
Sunday 3rd June
Route: Lillehammer - Namsos
Mileage: 311.1
Campsite: Namsos camping - 270 NK
Shower: 10NK (4mins)
Activity: V.long walk up to the 1994 Winter Olympics site & a ride up the ski jump chairlift..
















Monday 4th June
Route: Namsos - Arctic circle - Bognes (ferry) - Ballengen
Ferry: Bognes - Skarberget 126NK
Mileage: 436
Campsite: Ballengen camping 150NK












Tuesday 5th June
Route: Ballengen - Narvik - Myre
Mileage: 157
Campsite: Oppmyre camping, Myre 210NK (incl. hook up)
















Wednesday 6th June
Route: Myre - Sto - Svolvaer
Mileage: 128.7
Campsite: Wild camping, Augusten fjord
Activity: Whale & Puffin watching boat trip - Arctic Whale Tours
















Thursday 7th June
Route: Svolvaer - Skutvik (ferry) - Lassemoen
Ferry: Svolvaer - Skutvik 1hr 45mins 393NK
Campsite: Harran Camping 150NK (+ 40 NK hook up)
Shower: 10NK 5mins








Friday 8th June
Route: Lassemoen - Lom
Mileage: 299.1
Campsite: Nordal Turistcenter 210NK (incl. hook up)
Washing machine/dryer: 50NK each




Saturday 9th June
Route: Lom - Vang via scenic route Rv55
Mileage: 147.2
Campsite: Vang Camping 160NK (no electric)
Shower: 10NK
Activity: Jotunheimen National Park, Galdhopiggen (1850m) drive up to Summer ski centre, cycle back down...












Sunday 10th June
Route: Vang - Voss
Mileage: 28.4
Campsite: Voss Camping 210NK (incl. hook up)
Shower: 10NK
Washing/dryer: 25NK each




Monday 11th June
Route: Voss
Campsite: Voss camping
Activity: Fjord kayak day trip, Naeroyfjord - Nordic Venture - 995NK

Location:Norway