Hadrian Wall Adventure

Trail covered:    Pennine WayGreenhead - Chollerford (30km)

Wildcamping:      There are loughs surrounded by trees, where pitching a tent is easy.  Locals               

                  said you can camp anywhere above the trees, which gives a lot of options.

Complete Gallery: PHOTOS

I had enough.  I had to leave the city to explore some wilderness.  Well trust me it is hard to call English nature wilderness.  But the Northumberland park for sure offers the closest experience to a wild environment in the whole North East England.

I set of early, with the dusk and got on a bus in Newcastle, which took me all the way to Greenhead, where I commenced my hike.  I got to the place that I pinned on the map and just rushed to the closest entrance to the Northumberland National park.

Greenhead is a very small village and to my surprise it hosts a youth hostel.  Before I set off I wanted to just sit down and have a cup of tea as I didn't get much sleep (the English party lifestyle won't let you have much of it) but there was nowhere to go.  Even though the youth hostel seemed like the only establishment where you could get something, half seven in the morning is just way too early.

I also wanted ask about the most convenient way to start the hike as the signage was not so clear.  But after I went through many fields I finally got to the long awaited Pennine way trail.  I started my hike with inspecting the Thirlwall Castle ruins and from there the direction was pretty clear.  Just head east.

Most of the hike lead through random farmer's sheep and cow fields but was absolutely astonishing.  Exactly what I needed after some time being stranded in the city.  The most amazing thing is the idea of following a wall that is 2000 years old.  And the wall stretches from the very west to the very east of England past Newcastle all the way to Wallsend.  Obviously with little interruptions but the most intact part of the wall goes from Greenshead to Chollerford, where I ended my hike (about 30km stretch).

Even though it is not allowed, I pitched my tent by the beautiful Crag Lough, about halfway through my hike, watched an amazing sunset and slept through a night with no one bothering me
.  All freshened up by the sleepover in the wilderness I set off for the rest of the hike.

If only I had a bit more time. I definitely would hike the whole trail all the way back to Newcastle.  Well maybe next time!

BIKE MY WAY 'ROUND

2. Realising Where I am

Cold. Damp. Loud.  

That's how I'd describe every morning. That is what in fact wakes me up every morning.  But somehow I don't mind. There's nothing like being woken up by a strike of fresh air and the angry ocean waves beating the sandy beach and rocks. I unzip my sleeping bag, suck it up that it's cold, and crawl out of my tent to see where I ended up this time.

Be it a campground, a ditch by the side of a road, or a house of a kind stranger that let me hide from the rain.  I am on the road, cycling.  The adventure of waking up on places I've never been to before and not knowing where will I be next is something that keeps me going. 

Cycling made me truly realise how beautiful the Pacific Coast is.  I never have thought that it can get any better than from what I've seen on my previous travels.  The elevation, corners, steep cliffs just off the sides of the roads and views that are not visible from a car make it very special and somehow more intimate.  You get to feel and truly realise where you are.  

“It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them.” Ernest Hemingway

I have cycled more than 550 miles now and getting to a midpoint of my journey that hasn't really been properly established yet.   I am enjoying every single mile of this trip and to an extent don't even pay attention where I am on the map.  The biggest enlightenment for me so far was picking up the ability to learn to enjoy every place I'm at no matter what the weather is like and how far away I am from my final destination.  I am on the road and that's all that matters for me. 

Help me support a good cause:

www.justgiving.com/bikemywayround

BIKE MY WAY 'ROUND

1.Setting Off for a Big Journey

For the past six months or so I have been getting myself ready for a big mission.  I have been training and collecting experience for my long time goal that I have been wanting to tick on my bucket list.  

That is to cycle across America.  

I will be cycling for charity to raise awareness of environmental issues and education.  I selected Cool Earth charity to volunteer for and support them in their unique mission to halt rainforest destruction.  My goal is to fundraise $1000 (USD).  

The number 1000 has become a lot more significant for me as I'm planning on covering over a 1000 miles on a $1000 budget.  I would be very delighted if you helped me to reach this goal and helped me do Good by preserving a good portion of rain forests and supporting communities inhabiting them.

My journey will begin in Vancouver on 10th March 2015. My first destination will be Victoria BC, from where I'll travel to WA, OR, and CA, rimming the Pacific Coast.  All by myself on a very limited budget.  

Here's where you can make a difference:

https://www.justgiving.com/bikemywayround

Thank you for your support.

I will be posting my progress here.

Jonas

How I took some cheesy cliché photos

Mt. Seymour

22nd December 2014

I decided that after a busy week I'm going to hike up mount Seymour to watch the sunrise.  I picked up Klara at 6.30am and we took off for the 'hard drive'.  In about half an hour we reached the Seymour parking lot and just hurtled up to the very top to catch the sun coming up.  There's nothing like enjoying your morning cuppa gazing at the sun coming up above the clouds that are choking the whole Lower Mainland.  As soon as we started eating our breakfast, the Gray Jays noticed us and came to pester us while taking our cheesy cliché photos so we had a little fun with them.  Good morning, it was indeed!

How we did some Surfing in Oregon

A Throwback to August 2014

- Beginning of the Journey -

Oswald West State Park, Oregon

Our #driveourwayround adventure started off by getting to the coast of Oregon, where we had the last sentimental encounter with the Pacific ocean for a while.  Arriving to Seaside, OR, the first thing we stumbled upon was a surf shop and that made us to come up with an idea of renting surfboards and just enjoy the time there.  The waters of North-West Pacific are chillier than Alpine rivers; therefore, there is no chance you could surf without a wetsuit.

All geared up we set off for Short Sand beach in Oswald West State Park, OR.  Beautiful beach with a short hike to get to there.  Although carrying the boards was a challenge. As we both are beginners we had to carry the heavy soft tops and it wasn’t that long of a walk but a good 10 minute hike.  I passed on the theoretical knowledge I gained on Hawaii on to Kachna, to explain the very basics.  Him being such a hulk he luckily grasped it quite quickly and was even able to catch some of the waves.  It was a good fun being there on a little hidden beach that was recommended by locals.  The beach might be  500m long and is surrounded by tall rocks and forests. 

After a long day of surfing we got to a creepy campground run entirely by an old lady that welcomed us limping out of her shed not even saying a word.  She might have been in her late 50s and probably lived through the great American hippie era.  She wore a long green cape, had long grey hair and without a word, she showed us a spot and only responded to a question “So how much is it?”.  After that she pulled out a little notepad and headed back to our car to get the details.  So being all set, just having the tent already waiting and upright we cooked a dinner of 6 massive burger on our little backyard grill and surrounded by the great Pacific fog fell asleep on the grass just somewhere between our car and the tent. Good times!

How I Sought to Get Cured from my Cough - Pemberton, BC

Upper Lillooet Provincial Park

Keyhole Hotsprings

December 15th 

I felt really sick for the past two weeks.  Therefore, I decided to finally do something about it. I really like being cured the natural way, without any help of useless pills and other prescriptions so I took the risk of asking the nature to help me out a bit.  

The Keyhole Hot-Springs are located about two hours drive north-west from Pemberton, BC, out of which about 40km is on a very rough, gravely forest service road.  I remember when we went there last year it was about 49km and a half an hour hike.  Over the summer the plant construction did, however, change the conditions a bit and now everyone seeking the pleasure of bathing in a purely natural hot water has to hike for about another 2km down to the valley. Normally the hike would take about an hour but considering the icy conditions and snow, due to which the provincial park is actually "closed" to public since november, and the fact that we arrived around 5pm and had descent to the valley in the dark, it took us about 2 hours. But it was worth it! 

We camped on the bank surrounded by hot pools, which made the freezing cold that we faced in the morning a bit less serious.  It's very easy to get up and get out of your warmed up sleeping bag when you know that it doesn't take much to escape the shivers you get on an icy morning.  There were about four pools, where 2 of them had an ideal temperature. Not too cold, not too hot.   The soothing feeling of defeating the cold, cough and getting an experience that anywhere else in the world would be hard to get.  I remembered Yellowstone National Park, where none of the hot-springs are actually open to public to bathe in so would probably ended up with a fat ticket for attempting to dip yourself in a pool there.  Good thing that not many people know about this hidden gem and that it actually takes an effort to get here so that only the determined and nature loving people can enjoy this.

On our way back, after the strenuous climb back to the service forest road, we got an unpleasant surprise of a flat tire on my wandering machine.  Luckily, it was still half inflated and I decided to take the risk of driving it to Pemberton, where I'll get a chance to inflate my spare wheel to actually be able to use it.  We made it safe and sound and this only added a little more adventurous finish.

Watch a Video:

Throwback to Mexico - How I wandered around the Yucatan Peninsula

See PHOTO ALBUM

January 2014

It is almost a year now since Klara and me had that idea of leaving the poor winter behind and chase the migrating birds somewhere warmer.  I've heard awesome stories from people going to Cancún and how this is the place you wanna be at while going for your winter vacation.  So all revved up we couldn't wait for celebrating the New Years Eve on the beautiful beaches that we knew from pictures online that lure you to visit the party capital of Mexico - Cancún.

We didn't spend a single day in Cancún. It kinda threw the same party atmosphere on us that you see anywhere else in the 'western' world.  Drunk Brits, party American teenagers and occasional confused German tourists.  Nothing new to us.  So we rented a sweet ride and set off for the adventure down south.  Playa del Carmen, same stuff but smaller - there's not even any public beach there. So we carried on in our southbound expedition.

Yucatan is the centre of Maya civilisation and that's why there's so much more to being there than drinking the same tequila as you get anywhere else, and siting beside the pool and playing it cool. Places like Tulum, although it's also on the verge of being devoured by tourism, Mahahual and the magical Mosquitero peninsula, and west from there Chetumal, Calakmul and plenty of other places that we didn't manage to visit in the ten days we spent there. 

By meeting very generous locals that seemingly didn't have much to offer, yet were extremely rich in having the freedom of not being "consumed" , finding white-sand beaches, where we didn't meet a single person for days, we again realised it doesn't take much effort to discover a paradise.  Swimming with turtles in cenotes, the mysterious bottomless holes that Mayas worshiped and that kept them alive by supplying fresh water, enjoying local cuisine in family restaurants so good it gives you diarrhoea, camping far away from the civilisation, somewhere in the middle of a vast green ocean of jungle, seeing a flock of real wild parrots - that's the real Mexican experience, alas, not discovered and it even seems like avoided by many.