My Adventures

Down Under Diaries: Seattle Year One – An Aussie’s Honest Take

G’day, folks! So, me and the missus, we’ve been living in Seattle, Washington, for a year now, after chucking a sickie to leave sunny Oz. It’s been a real eye-opener, a proper mixed bag, ya know?

The Good Oil:

Everything’s Fair Dinkum New: From seeing snow (a bloody novelty!) to exploring all these new spots, it’s been a ripper adventure.
National Parks? Bloody Oath!: Crikey, these national parks are somethin’ else! We’ve hit up Yosemite, Zion, Olympic, Rainier, and Bryce Canyon. As a trail runner, it’s like winning the lotto. The scenery’s bonza, absolutely unreal.
What’s On? Heaps!: There’s always somethin’ happenin’ here. Gigs (Killswitch Engage, Motionless in White, the lot), sports (still barracking for the NRL, mind you), races, events – you name it.
Work’s Sweet: The pay’s decent, and there’s heaps of opportunities in my field. Can’t complain!
Weather? She’s all good mate: Was expecting constant rain and cold when we first thought of moving here,  but it’s actually sweet as.

The Not-So-Good Bits:

Tipping? it bloody sucks: Yeah, this tipping thing’s still a bit of a head-scratcher. Still tryin’ to get my head around it.
Social Issues? Bit Rough: Homelessness, social security, and safety – it’s a bit confronting, to be honest. Redmond’s alright, but downtown Seattle and other places are a different story. Found a bloody gun in an iHop, and saw someone who’d probably overdosed on a morning run. Bit of a shocker.
People? A Bit Stand-Offish: People aren’t as friendly as back home. On the trails, you’d usually get at least a nod, but here? Forget about saying g’day. Maybe it’s just a city thing.
Prices? Bloody Expensive!: Eating out? Jeez, it’s pricey. Makes ya miss the local pub feed and a $5 schooner.
FOMO? Bit of a Pisser: The “fear of missing out” thing, especially with trail running races, is a pain in the backside. Getting into those big races like Hardrock or Western States is near impossible.
Missin’ the Mates: Being away from family and mates is tough, no doubt about it.
Public Transport? A Bit Rubbish: For a place with all that railroad history, the public transport system is a bit of a letdown.

The Bottom Line

It’s been a bloody rollercoaster, this first year in Seattle. We’ve had some unreal experiences, and we’re still getting used to the place. We’re grateful for the opportunities and adventures, and we’re just takin’ it as it comes. And that’s the bottom line, cause Stone Cold said so!

Four Days, Three Nights, and One Close Call: Our Yosemite Odyssey

The siren’s wail pierced the crisp mountain air, a stark contrast to the serenity that had defined the past few days. As I watched the ambulance carry my friend Joe away, I couldn’t help but reflect on the whirlwind adventure that had brought us to this point.

Our four-day odyssey began with boundless optimism. Kelli, Joe, and I, fueled by a shared love for the outdoors, set off from the Big Old Flat car park, our eyes fixed on the imposing figure of El Capitan. The first day was a grueling ascent, our lungs burning as we climbed over 1,000 meters. Reaching the base of the iconic rock face was a moment of triumph, but our celebrations were short-lived as we battled swarms of mosquitoes to find a suitable campsite.

Day two dawned with renewed vigor. We tackled the challenging climb to the summit of El Capitan, the world shrinking beneath us as we reached the peak. The exhilaration was palpable, and we rewarded ourselves with a refreshing dip in the icy waters of Yosemite Falls. As the sun began its descent, casting a golden glow over the valley, we found a perfect campsite, a stark contrast to the previous night’s ordeal.

On the third day, we deviated from our planned route, opting for a less traveled path through the valley. It was a decision that would prove fateful. The terrain was demanding, and the relentless sun took its toll on us, particularly Joe. By the end of the day, it was clear he was struggling, his skin pale and his movements sluggish.

Our final day began with a mix of determination and trepidation. Half Dome loomed before us, a daunting challenge, but we were focused on reaching the summit. As we climbed higher, Joe’s condition worsened. His energy levels were depleted, and he was showing signs of severe dehydration. The once exhilarating climb turned into a harrowing ordeal. With each passing hour, it became increasingly clear that we needed professional help. Making the difficult decision to call for a rescue was heartbreaking, but it was the only option.

The ambulance arrived, and as they whisked Joe away, a wave of relief washed over us. While the adventure had taken a perilous turn, the memories we made will forever be etched in our minds. Yosemite, with its stunning beauty and unforgiving wilderness, had taught us a valuable lesson about the importance of preparation, teamwork, and listening to our bodies.

From Vegemite to Venti: From Sydney to Seattle: The Beginning of my Expat Life

TLDR: It’s Feb 2024 and I’m moving to the United States to become an Expat!

G’day from Seattle to all my mates back home in Australia. Today, I’m not just sharing a travel story, I’m living it. That’s right, I’ve officially taken the plunge and swapped Vegemite for Venti, crocs for gators, XL to XXXXL. As of 26 Feb 2024, Kelli and I have moved to Seattle, Washington to begin our expat lives.

Why?

So why the big move, you ask? The truth is, it wasn’t one specific reason, but a whole heap of them! A part of me has always craved new experiences, and let’s face it, Australia is fantastic, but there’s a whole other world out there to explore. It’s all largely linked to my other recent post Making the Most of Now. 

This was actually one of my longest plans to come to fruition. I can still recall clearly when I was still working at Woolworths and went for a walk around the block with a mate/colleague and I realised that I wanted to try something, not just an industry, but a culture, a society and way of thinking. I wanted to be working somewhere ‘cool’. I wanted to see what it’s like working at a ‘hip’ place. I want to see what running and other adventures are out there. 

How did I make it happen?

So from that day of roughly 2.5 years ago, I hatched a plan and started to make it happen. First, I had to figure out what I wanted and why; cool companies, trail running, big national parks and a way to make it happen fast. United States – boom. Yosemites, Google, Amazon, but making it happen fast wasn’t an option…. Long story short, working rights are tough to get, so I had to go the long way around and find a job at an Multinational company operating in Australia and pray that they give me an international transfer. I’m not really the religious type, so I found an opportunity at Amazon AU and made sure I performed and did what I could to get the transfer. Skip forward 2.5 years, to Feb 2024.

Moving to Seattle, WA, United States

Pros and Cons thus far

Sydney / Australia Pros
Seattle / United States Pros
  1. Home of the NRL
  2. Things Feel Cheaper: No Tipping and tax included in prices make buying things and eating out very simple.
  3. Culture and Society feels more environmentally aware (although still have a long way to go)
  4. Feels safer
  1. There’s just more of everything. Food, people, portions and destinations to explore
  2. People are very into everything: Sports, politics, pop-culture, you name it
  3. There a way to make a lot of money over here, I just haven’t found it yet…
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Adventure is Out There!

My ever-growing travel map of the US and beyond. Come say ‘Hi’!

Trail Running and Lord of the Rings Locations in Wellington NZ

A beyond-awesome time in Wellington New Zealand. Although I was only there for 4 days – there was so much to do and explore for adventure and food lovers.

Highlights

  • Lord of the Rings Locations and Weta Cave tour
  • Surrounding Mountains for Trail running, hiking and mountain biking
  •  Cycling – building and expanding more cycling lanes
  • Food and coffee options
  • Affordable – from house prices to food. Rent seemed expensive but hotels were pretty good.

Wellington NZ - Travel Map

Trail Running the Great North Walk; Newcastle to Sydney ~250Kms

Day 0 - Newcastle to Wakefield ~35K

The Great North Walk is a 250Km walking track which runs from Sydney to Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia. My wife and I’s current house in Macquarie Park literally backs onto the Lane Cove National Park which the GNW (Great North Walk) passes through.

I have walked and run many sections of this great trail and owed it the respect it deserves to traverse the whole thing. With some inspiration from The Backyard Adventurer and no plans for the June long weekend, I decided it was finally time to attempt it – in just 3 days (+ an afternoon).

I went up to Newcastle very early Friday Morning to work from and old mate (Rolly’s) house before setting on a sneaky ~35K ‘warm up’ run.

Strava Link

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Day 1 - Wakefield to Cedar Brush Creek ~75K

This was a real tough day. Trail markings went missing when I needed them most, elevation was double what I had expected, only 11 hours of light. But that’s what adventure is – overcoming the unexpected. Originally I had planned for Yarramalong but decided to pack it it 10K’s early and tidy those up the next morning after a solid dinner with the Wife at Angel Sussurri’s.

Strava Link

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Day 2 - Cedar Brush Creek to Patonga ~80K

A frosty morning made it difficult to start but I started with a bang – finishing off the previous night’s leftovers I ran back to town at ~5:30min/km pace and felt awesome. Tucked into some breakfast and set off again. 

There were some tough trails between Yarramalong and Summersby but it was nice, away from cars and I was lost with the spirit of adventure. Met up with Kelli for some a quick look in at the Harvest Festival events in town but had to quickly jet off as I knew I had a big day ahead.

Landed in Mooney Mooney bridge where my number 1 was going to bring me lunch…. but she wasn’t there. Turned out the 5am morning starts were a bit much and she needed a much needed nap… oh well, onwards! I saw a snake, got a horrible bleeding nose but soldiered on until kilometre 63 where my knee decided to breakdown. I marched on and took some nurofen to finish off the day but knew the final day of adventure would have to be postponed with my knew unable to carry me. “True strength is knowing when to call it” – The Fish.

Strava Link

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GNW Day 2
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Day 3 - Brooklyn to Sydney ~80K

Exactly 1 week later, a deep tissue massage and a rare visit to the physio – I had mentally told myself that I was ready to take on the final segment: Brooklyn to Sydney Cove. The Sign said 77kms but we all know how they lie. I knew it was going to be a tough day out so I set off on the very first train to Hawkesbury River station on the 5:20am from Epping and arrived to start just before 6am, then disaster struck.

On the train I realised I had forgotten my carefully prepared breakfast and coffee! I ate through most of my snacks before even starting but knowing that I could get a replenishment it would be okay. I also made an emergency pit stop at the local Cafe in Cowan to grab a quick bite and a brew and I was back on track.

I had to mentally push myself after leaving Cowan with some small niggles in the same knee that gave out the week before, telling myself it would be okay and keeping my mind on the job at hand helped get me through. As well as Joe Abercrombe’s book – The Blade Itself. I made good progress and sped up just as I was arriving in Thornleigh to meet Kelli who had already ordered a giant dish of sweet and sour pork. Fuel of champions.

I set off on my most local trails for which I’m probably the local legend on 50% or more of them and met up with my good mate Leighlan who had agreed to pace me the final 20Ks – legend. It really started to hit home as we were running past the Woolwich pub that I’d just (about) finished a 270K run from Newcastle to Sydney, nothing could stop me now! We smashed through the final few kms, finishing just before full darkness – arriving at Woolwich Ferry Wharf at around 6pm. A ferry ride into Circular Quay to meet Kelli and the final destination!

Strava Link

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Day 3
MetricsDay 0Day 1Day 2Day 3Total
Distance32.576.580.079.8268.9
Time (Moving)03:17:2310:34:5310:53:4410:40:4035:26:40
Pace06:0408:1808:1008:0107:55
Ascent Metres (m)5463,2262,2202,7838,775

The Adventure

Those who know me might know that I’m a bit of a sucker for adventure and done just a little bit of cycle touring (wayyy back in 2018 – https://thetravellingbeancounter.wordpress.com). I had dreamed up this baby a little while after getting back from Japan – the idea of cycling from (new) hometown to (original) hometown. With a good mate’s wedding the weekend following, the stars finally aligned and I set off on the 2nd of December.

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Stats

SportDateTitleTimeDistanceElevation
RideFri, 02/12/2022Day 1: Sydney to Warners Bay5:57:24147.40 km1,381 m
RideSat, 03/12/2022Day 2: Newcastle to Scone6:49:35168.59 km1,579 m
RideSun, 04/12/2022Day 3 – Scone to Tamworth6:08:54142.22 km1,107 m

Highlights (and Lowlights):

  • Highlight: Fueling up at Manly bowls before starting for my Finance Christmas party at Amazon. Also noting the bike way atleast 80% lighter than what I was riding around Japan on
  • Lowlight: Crazy traffic and psycho drivers from Manly to Palm Beach Ferry
  • Highlight: KFC with Rolly on arrival into Newcastle
  • Lowlight: Gear cable snapping literally halfway into the 2nd day
  • Highlight: “Day for it” good weather all round, especially when going through the Hunter Valley
  • Highlight: Powering up the Great Dividing Ranges without stopping until reaching the top
  • Lowlight: Currabubula Markets had millions of cars on the small rural roads when I was so close to home
  • Highlight: Accomplishing the trip! Especially with no injuries (besides an aching gooch and dead quads).
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Day 1, Mon 11th of April 2022 - Planning: 1 part strategic 1 part stupid

First international travel for ~3years. April 2019 we were in the north island of New Zealand.

We decided to book our trip the day after the most difficult race of my life (to date: 10/04/2022); The Tamworth Trail Blazer 60K with ~3,800m elevation gain. After pushing 165 heart beats per minute for 531 minutes pushing out ~5,700 calories and taking home both the course record, first place and days worth of pain to follow, maybe it was 2 parts stupid, 1 part strategic… 

It was a great day and I was too high on adrenaline to feel it but I was chafing and cramping so much that the next few days on planes I thought would be a good time to recover. The worst part was the chafing… definitely going to fix that for my next ultras in May and July – it actually formed a scab on the flight over the Singapore. 

Post-COVID Airports

This was actually the time when domestic airports were absolutely insanely understaffed and security lines went outside the terminals – mayhem. Luckily the international terminal wasn’t so bad (LINK). After flying strictly domestically the last 3 years you forget some of the procedures going international: taking out liquids (100ml max), passport photo not looking like you, 3hr check-in rules, etc. But you also forget the glamour of the lounges, luxury shops, duty free (~50% shops open).

The Flight

Actually not that bad… and we were flying economy on Scoot. Worst part was the screaming babies but sitting down for hours on end, watching F1’s and Kimetsu no Yaiba S2, really not that bad. It probably helped that I was still exhausted from the run that I could actually sleep every few hours.
Total rest time: 24.5h
Tamworth to Sydney: 1hr
Sydney to Singapore: 7.5hrs
Singapore to Athens: 11hrs

Places and Maps

Planning Map

Highlights from each area:

Athens

  • Acropolis – especially the Erechtheion. Private tour guide was great. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey YouTube video guide just as good!
  • Food – Mousakka, Anchovies, bakeries, everything
  • Acropolis Museum was a bit of a let down. The Greek inventions museum was awesome though.

Meteora

  • Literally everything; Monasteries, food, people
  • E-Bike Sunset Tour
  • Hiking, turtles, tracks, photos
  • Via Cordatta
  • Hotel – buffet breakfast

Kefalonia

  • Cycling up Mt Ainos
  • Melisanni Cave
  • Shipwreck beach – although we had average weather

Rome

  • Appian way run
  • Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood is everywhere. Borgia tower, Mausoleum of Augusto, Coliseum, etc 
  • Food – Pasta has never been so good. Gelato – Wasabi chocolate
  • Disappointment: air quality from street smokers

Naples

  • Pizza and portion sizes
  • The Tunnel Tour followed by the Catacombs
  • Pompeii was huge
  • Disappointing: trash and rubbish everywhere and Visuvio was covered in fog. Japanese food was also horrible. 

Santorini

  • Sunset hike from Thira to the north
  • The Lost Atlantis
  • Disappointing – roads are not made for walking or cycling. Need better infrastructure. Prices also very high, recommend going to Lidl.