Walking down the hill toward Prainha, south of Rio

Surfing in Rio de Janeiro

March 22, 2013June 20, 2014 Matt Edwards 2871 Views 4 Comments Beaches, Favelas, Surf Bus, Surfing

It’s a humid morning in Rio, and still cool but with the promise of oppressive heat in the air. My fiance and I wander through the jungle-city streets with our surfboards, attracting only cursory glances from early morning risers and those who are yet to go home after a night of partying. We reach the bus stop and there are a few others standing around I can’t quite help feeling slightly awkward. It’s been years since, as a grommet with no drivers licence, I’d caught buses with my surfboard back in Sydney. But then the big orange surf bus comes thundering down the street with impressive punctuality for Brazil. The see us with the boards and stop. The door opens and the sounds of Bob Marley waft out into the Rio morning. The driver, looking not unlike Otto from the Simpsons, gives us a friendly “Oi” and waves us aboard.

Dancing on the tabletops inside Lowenbrau tent

Adventures

Oktoberfest in Munich

March 20, 2013March 16, 2015 Matt Edwards 2633 Views 2 Comments Beer, Lederhosen, Oktoberfest, Parties, Wiesn

Oktoberfest is one of those traditions that seems so crazy that it’s almost unbelievable that it even exists. For a couple of weeks in late September (yes you heard me right) the otherwise stately Munich becomes a heaving mass of lederhosen-clad beer-swilling hairy men and buxom wenches in dirndls, from all corners of the planet. Yes it’s possible to enjoy Oktoberfest elsewhere (especially if you ask Germans from other cities) but for the foreigner, there is no other experience like being at Munich Wiesn, in one of several beer drinking tents, dancing on the tables and having a right old laugh. It’s exhilirating and horrifying in equal measure.

Things heat up as the dogs head down the hill

Adventures Travel Incidents

Dogsledding in Finnish Lapland

March 19, 2013January 12, 2015 Matt Edwards 1872 Views 3 Comments Dogsledding, Reindeer, Snow

We arrived at the farm early one morning to find hundreds of dogs in kennels going quite beserk at the prospect of going sledding with strangers. Wow, what an exhilirating way to travel the white tundra! The dogs would race like crazy along the flat or downhill, and you had to work hard to keep the sled under control. Respite would come as the dogs headed uphill, huffing and puffing and not stopping until they had reached the top. Alex rode the sled in front of ours and our dogs followed his- usually.

Adventures

Chasing the Northern Lights – Aurora Borealis

March 12, 2013June 20, 2014 Matt Edwards 1647 Views 2 Comments Aurora, Aurora Borealis, Hurtigruten, Northern Lights

It’s funny that with arctic locations, the peak season for visitors is generally the middle of summer. While I accept that midsummer in these cold parts of the globe is crazy good fun due to parties, saunas and the general excitement of the local people who become set free from the extreme climate that traps them for most of the year, I never really understood why you would visit a cold, icy, mountainous part of the world and then try to avoid the cold, ice and mountains. Sure, in the colder months the North is dark and forboding and the extremely good looking inhabitants are obscured by excessive clothing. But on the plus side, you experience life as it is most of the year in these parts…. and you “might” even get to see the Northern Lights.