Absent for a year, hello, what's new!

(Yosemite National Park)

Oh hey Active Em followers, long time no see! Apparently my last blog post was over a year ago, oops. I have been quite busy though since then. I’ll give you a quick run down and then I will tell you about what I have in mind for this blog going forward, sound okay? Okay cool. 

So my last blog post was about Koh Lanta, Thailand. I stopped writing blog posts whilst travelling because I was always exhausted at the end of the day and just wanted to sleep, and also too busy having fun. After visiting Koh Lanta we headed up to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand. From there, we went to Vietnam, calling at Ho Chi Minh City, Hoi An, Hanoi and Sapa. After Vietnam was Malaysia, where I got eaten alive by bed bugs in a hostel in Kuala Lumpar, we went to Penang and then back to Kuala Lumpar for a Dota 2 International gaming competition (that was Ant’s thing – just saying). We then headed to Singapore where we had a crazy 48 hours. Next, the Philippines, specifically Palawan. There we met the legends Will and Ruksar who we had a great week with, and they convinced us to have a go at scuba diving. So, after Palawan we headed over to Bali. We spent a week in Ubud before heading to the north coast to do our open water diving course in Amed. Then, to Gili Air and Nusa Lembongan for diving with manta rays. 

We left South East Asia to head over to Australia, where we hung out in Brisbane for a few weeks annoying my lovely family (thanks again for having us!). After that we road tripped from Brisbane to Melbourne in a campervan which was very fun but very hot. We had to cut the journey a little bit short in Gundagai when temperatures reached 45 degrees c. and there was a total fire ban. Oh and Ant got woken up by wasp sting so that was the tipping point.  We ventured down to Melbourne to stay with Ant’s family and we annoyed them for a few weeks (thanks to them too!). We also tagged along on their family holiday to Bright where we met the lovely family Van der Schans. They very kindly invited us to stay at their house which is close to the Great Ocean Road. We spent three days making our away along the Great Ocean Road which we really enjoyed but we didn’t see the 12 Apostles. The queues and parking situations were a bit stupid, anyway there aren’t even 12 anymore! 

From Australia we went to New Zealand which I can confirm is my favourite country on the planet. We hired a car for the month that we were there and toured around. We spent two weeks on the North Island and two weeks on the South Island. There was so much to see and do, and so much hiking. New Zealand isn’t the cheapest destination so hiking was a very good option for us because it’s free! We also did some Lord of the Rings type activities, we visited the Hobbiton film set, Weta Studios and we even walked past Mount Doom. It was pretty epic. Other highlights included the Tongariro Alpine Crossing would HIGHLY recommend to those of you who enjoy the outdoors, would not recommend if you hate walking. The Abel Tasman National Park was unbelievably amazing. We saw whales in Kaikoura, we saw Matt Jeffreys (big shout out to Matt! An old school friend who moved to NZ a few years ago), we went bouldering at Castle Hill. That’s not even all of it but if you are looking for an adventure of epic proportions I would say New Zealand is the place to go. 

Okay so from New Zealand we headed over to Hawaii (Big Island) where we had five days. Then to San Francisco, and then Yosemite National Park. We spent a week exploring the park and on one day we got to climb our first ever multi pitch route at Manure Pile Buttress with the amazing Greg Coit. If you are looking for a climbing instructor or guide, Greg is the person you want. Greg works for the  Yosemite Mountaineering School & Guide Service. He was very patient with me every time I said “Grrr I hate climbing!” and then at the top I was like “I love climbing!” That morning of climbing absolutely finished me off and I spent all of the next day lying on the sofa eating Oreos. Before we came home we visited our dear friend Matty and his lovely family in Massachusetts. Thank you to them for letting us stay and Isobel for taking us on a bar crawl, Isobel is a cool Mom. We returned home at the beginning of April for Ant’s brother Matthew and now sister-in-law Natalie’s wedding in York. 

As you can imagine, it was very strange for us being back in the UK. We stayed in York for three weeks dog sitting while the newlyweds were on their honeymoon – so we did feel like we were still adventuring. Once we returned to Cheshire and I had done my Masters by Research application, everything felt very weird. Neither of us were working and we didn’t really know what to do with ourselves. 

So what do you do in that situation? You go and buy a van obviously. At the start of June we purchased a 2010 Renault Trafic disabled passenger van and we begun the process of converting it into a camper that we have named Hugo. We spent most of our time doing this whilst we were waiting to find out if Ant had got the job he had been interviewed for. By the end of June we had a functioning pull out bed, two ring gas hob and a tap that is powered by electrical pump. We also have storage space, an electric cool box (so like a mini-fridge). We still have work to do on it (we might get some done over Christmas) but it’s awesome and we have taken it on a few trips. Went to Snowdonia National Park, the Peak District, Northumberland, and I have been to the Lake District by myself. We had plans for an epic Scottish road trip in August but due to unforeseen circumstances (Ant falling off a bouldering wall badly and dislocating his elbow) that trip had to be put on hold – hopefully we will do that in the Spring of 2020. 

We have also moved to Harrogate, North Yorkshire as Ant got a job there as a software engineer (I’m not saying where in case somebody tries to stalk him) and I have started a Masters by Research at Leeds Beckett University. We moved at the start of August, right in the middle of elbow-gate, much to the joy of Nick and Helen Ant’s parents after we had been making their house in Cheshire untidy for the best part of three months. 

I am now ten weeks into my Masters by Research degree. I am doing research into ‘everyday’ women’s experiences of rock climbing. This is sort of a sociological/historical study, aiming to find out how women’s experiences have changed over time and what sort of factors impact how they experience climbing. I won’t go into it too much now because there is another blog post to come, which is mostly to provide climbing centre customers with information about observations that I will be making there, but will also explain what I am doing in a little bit more detail. 

That brings me to where I am now, currently in YHA Keswick in the Lake District (too cold to stay in Hugo the van) on research business. I thought that I would give myself the day off today and I have finally got around to writing a blog post. I have lots lined up for you. It only makes sense that since it has been a year since my last post, that this blog will change a little bit. Over Christmas Ant is tasked with giving this site a make-over. Sorry that it looks the boring same old now. I would love feedback from you on the sort of content that you might enjoy/find interesting. For now I have thoughts on writing about climbing, the Women’s Climbing Symposium that I went to last weekend with Hannah Morris (go check out her You Tube channel), van life?!, research life. Let me know if there’s anything else you want me to write about. 

That’s about it for now, you’re pretty up to date. We’re trying to up our climbing game and we have some exciting things lined up for 2020. Let’s see what next year will bring (hopefully not another elbow dislocation). 

Ciao for now, Em. 

Insta: @active.em.blog
Twitter: @active_em_blog 

 Sunset over Hawaii from Mauna Kea 

 Rock Climbing with Mon at Railay Beach, Krabi, Thailand

Huka Falls, New Zealand 

 Castle Hill, New Zealand

Sue the Campervan, Australia

Will with the infamous Tanduay Rhum in Palawan, the Philippines, ft. Ruksar's shoulder

 Hiking in Sapa, Vietnam

 Matty and Ant, Durham, New Hampshire, USA

 Sperm Whale, Kaikoura, New Zealand 

 Brisbane, Australia 

 Steph, Monty and me, Queensland, Australia

 Sabang, Palawan, the Philippines

 Dan, Ian and Ant featuring Ant's destroyed legs after he fell off a mountain bike, Bright, Australia

 Hobbiton, New Zealand

Hugo the van and Ant, Snowdonia National Park, Wales

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