Merry Christmas to everyone, I hope Santa has been good to you this year!
Being on the other side of the world at Christmas time feels funny. They don’t really do it like we do. If you didn’t know it was ‘the season to be jolly’ it might feel like any other summers day. All week we’d been trying to make ourselves feel Christmassy; tinsel in the cab, Christmas songs on the radio and even a little Christmas tree from the 2 dollar shop. Nothing seemed to be doing the trick. We still missed our family and friends, the cold, crazy Christmas shoppers and even brussel sprouts.
On Christmas day we decided to trade in the traditional turkey and trimmings to do Christmas how the kiwis do it.
A blog from Barham (Back in OZ). Day 134 “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving…” Albert Einstein
I must have started trying to write this blog a thousand times. It is now very late even by my standards. However in this instance the delay is not due to having to write in the back of Martha as she hurtles along. I am now safely back in Blighty on a comfy sofa, tea in hand, laptop on my lap with a rapidly emptying biscuit barrel. It is because I still can’t quite comprehend what the hell just happened.
England saved the first test in Brisbane. I realise the third test is now underway but even so. To see the English cricket team bat with the mental strength of their Australian counterparts on foreign soil and smash numerous records has left me immensely proud but lost for words. Steve and I had the pleasure of witnessing this on Day 134 and my penultimate day on FTFE at the WACA in Brisbane and in its own right will go down as incredible experience. Singing with the Barmy Army to the glum faced but amused Aussies to the tune of Yellow Submarine, “Your next Queen is Camilla Parker Bowles” amongst many others as England dominated the day will live long in the memory of this proud Englishman. Read more →
After a big old day of driving yesterday, rest was on all our minds. No chance! After finally getting to bed at gone midnight it seemed almost pointless going to sleep as my alarm clock was set to silly o’clock (4.15am)!! But why I hear you ask… to swim with dolphins on Christmas Eve of course!
High Point: Swimming with hundreds of dolphins. It’s not often in life you get to do something so incredibly special on Christmas Eve, and we lapped it up realising how lucky we were. It is extreme sensory overload as hundreds of the excitable fellas jump and circle the divers.
Noisy Point: The only way to keep the dolphins entertained is to make as many ridiculous noises as possible. I sang Christmas carols in a very nigh pitched voice, which the dolphins seemed to like.
Risk enjoyment level: 1/10 (Jamie is dominating at the moment and making far too much noise about it)
Random Christmas celebration: We swung by the local fire station in Abel Tasman to say hello. Confused friendly faces as they thought we were some sort of surprise for their Christmas party
Jamie Abela reporting for duty. Hello Martha you beautiful young thing. So today was all about big scenery. BIG SCENERY. The Stage 6 crew awoke after a special night of celebration to a wonderfully glorious blazing blue sky day and Lake Tekapo was there for the taking. Thanks to the outstanding generosity of Richard Rayward and the awesome gang at Tekapo Air Safaris the crew were able to take to the sky for a scenic flight over New Zealand’s Southern Alps with magnificent views over Lake Tekapo, Lake Pukaki, the Franz Josef and Fox glaciers and the big monster that is Mount Cook (12,316 feet). The scenery made our eyeballs explode and Steve and I needed a dip in the lake to cool off our excitement levels.
After chatting and snapping with the local reporter, we eagerly jumped back on board Martha for the next adventure on Stage 6. Domination Queenstown was almost complete. We’d jumped, fallen, propelled, jet boated, and sweated. We stared death in the face, and survived. There was just one more bridge to hurl ourselves off…
The Kawarau Bridge became the world’s first commercial bungy site in 1988 and a trip to the adrenalin capital is not complete without ticking off the original. At 43 metres it doesn’t have the same fear factor as the Nevis, or the health risk of the Ferg, but what it does have is bus loads of photo hungry tourists and a need for style. Kate B was on official camera duty as the rest of Team Extreme harnessed up and got in line to put on a bungy domination workshop. A couple of perfect swan dives and crazy backwards pin drops later and we hit the road, FTFE – 1, Queenstown – 0.
Caveat: Although we are raising money for three fantastic charities: MacMillan Nurses, The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation and the Fire Fighters Charity, we are also trying to make this loads of fun. Plus 100% of all money raised goes to the charities as this trip is self funded.
Fun: enjoyment, amusement, or light-hearted pleasure.
Fear: an unpleasant emotion caused by the threat of danger, pain, or harm.
If you wanted to pick somewhere for the extremes of both of the above emotions, the best place in world is Queenstown. My name is Chris Hallward, I have vertigo and this is my story.
On 15th December, Hina Gandhi and Fuad accepted a cheque for £1,000 at the Lloyd’s Market Charity Awards. Each year Lloyds of London invites individuals to apply for a £1,000 award for their chosen charity. Hina, a good friend of Amy’s, didn’t hesitate to nominate Follow That Fire Engine. Hina has been extremely supportive since she learned about the FTFE concept, she said “I was keen to support them with this fantastic idea and I took on a ‘behind the scenes role’ in support of marketing and administration (and generally advising/helping with anything Amy asked me to turn my hand to!). I have been able to apply my marketing skills and creative thinking to support them at various stages.” Read more →
Fact: New Zealand has a LOT of bridges. We thought we’d see how many there are between Franz Josef and Queenstown (it was a slow start to the day). Ladies and Gents – would you believe there are about 92. I say ‘about’ as I think I missed a couple when I was being shouted at to hurry up and play my go on risk (thanks Chris). Anyway… Read more →
Small world point : the friend of one of the guys in the Franz Josef Experience Centre was driving Martha, the ambulance the crew met on stage two in Mongolia
Franz Josef is famous for its glacier which is 12km long, it descends from the Southern Alps to less than 300m above sea level. We decided to do a full day trek to explore what this incredible mass of ice has to offer… when in Rome and all that. The walk promised an “experience of the most spectacular glacier environment available to the general public anywhere in the world.”
