My almost Arctic adventure to Iceland Part 1

Well, I have definitely been busy in the last few months so I will try and do a few posts about different legs of my trip.


So firstly its off to Iceland where I spent nearly 3 amazing weeks. So firstly I decided to take the slow but relaxing way to Iceland on a Smyril line ferry (mind you it took me nearly the whole ferry journey to realise it wasn't Smyrll) that departed from Hirtshals in the North of Denmark and takes 3 and a half days to reach Seydisfjourdur in the East of Iceland with a half say stopover in the gorgeous Faroe Islands capital of Torshav. I stayed in a 4 bed shared cabin with luckily only 3 of us as it is squishy that was very comfortable and had a TV with a lot of English programs to while away the hours.


So after 3 nights on a ferry and a bit of confusion to what time it actually was I finally arrived in Iceland at 10am on the 6th September. After the horrible but quite short walk to my hostel, I learnt that I couldn't check in for another 7 hrs and I was in a town with a population of 500 people, none of which seem to actually walk around there town. So I did the only thing you can possibly do in a town like this, and that was to walk back out of it. After tramping along the side of the road for half an hour I found a trail and decided it would be smart to avoid said muddy trail whilst wearing white Volleys. But after coming across a gravel track I decided what the hell and I preceded to follow the grey gravel road through the gorgeous valley hills to a waterfall that I didn't even realise existed. Inspired by the beauty and spying another waterfall in the distance I decided to keep going and risk it cause it didn't seem too bad. Boy was I wrong, when I soon realised that there are hundreds of trickling streams that you have to cross whilst walking across a very soggy bog. I ended up abandoning my quest as my shoes were taking on a tinge of mud and were soaked through and being only 1pm I still had many an hour to kill before I could do much about it. Needless to say there wasn't much else to do, so when 5pm came I was well and truly ready to crash with some Danish cider.


The next day I realised that booking a flight out of tiny town at 7pm at night was the worst thing I could have done. I ended up spending nearly 11hrs in the Egilstadur Airport where they only have 4 flights out a day, all of them to Reykjavik and I was there for the take off of every single one. But eventually I made it to Iceland's Capital and a very quirky hostel so I could begin my SEEDS adventure the next day.

This is the Waterfall that was so worth getting muddy for! 

Torshav-Capital of the Faroe Islands

View of some of the 17 Faroe Islands

I hope you enjoyed my rant and I will post more Icelandic blogs very soon. I'm thinking a food inspired one next :-P

Turtles, Snorkeling and Two Weeks Of Paradise

So I just spent the last two weeks in the gorgeous Perhentian Islands off the North East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia. I was lucky enough to enjoy two weeks volunteering with the Help Our Penyu Turtle Project on the main Perhentian Island in a small resort completely isolated by land. Bubbles Dive Resort is located on a beautiful secluded bay away from the rat race.

The main goal of my visit was to help the Turtles. So this pretty much involved the other volunteers and I taking it in turns to do either a Turtle Watch (8pm-3am) or a Poacher Watch (3am-8am). For the un-initiated this means you walk up and down the beach about every hour checking for tracks and nesting Turtles. And as Bubbles is the third largest nesting site for the Green Turtle then you have an extremely good chance of seeing one. I was initially quite concerned that I would miss the tracks but I soon learnt that there is no chance of this as they are usually up to a metre wide and look a bit like a bulldozer going up the beach.

So once you find a Turtle it turns into the waiting game as it can take on average about 2 ½- 3 hrs to complete the process. So first the Turtle will dig out a body pit with their front flippers then they will use their back flippers a bit like a scoop to delicately dig out a chamber for there eggs. Once satisfied with the depth of the chamber (usually an arms length deep) she begins to lay her eggs which can range from 2 (a very odd occasion) to 150. So by now she could have been working on this nest for more than an hour. So then begins the cover up. First she uses her back flippers again to softly cover the eggs with sand then she begins to move forward with her front flippers, flicking all the sand behind her so she ends up creating a fake body pit to distract predators about 2 metres in front of the eggs. Through this entire process we are recording everything from Track measurements, to the size of the turtles shell and then the times for each step.

And sometimes it can turn into a bit of a rescue mission as on one occasion I had to get the saw out and cut down a branch as she started to panic when she couldn't find her way out between two trees. So you can see why Sea Turtles need all the help they can get when you take into account all the horrible things can happen to them. In the two weeks I was there, one nest was eaten nearly entirely by a Monitor Lizard only days out from hatching (luckily there were still some left as I got to release some of these hatchlings, so cute :-p ), then 4 chambers were eaten by Red Ants and these were also only days away from hatching, so you can imagine how disgusting it is to find poor babies being eaten alive by ants.



But then if all that excitement is not enough then we all got to lead at least one Snorkel Tour which takes us and the other tourists to some gorgeous locations. Including Coral Garden with a gorgeous array of Tropical fish and even the odd Bumphead Parrotfish and Blue Spotted Yellow Stingray, then its onto Turtle Bay, where yes you guessed it you get to see some Turtles in there feeding grounds. After all that excitement its off to Shark Bay where you get to swim with Black Tipped Reef Sharks which get up to about 2m long. I really enjoyed these Snorkel Tours although the abilities of the guests can range from expert divers to never having swam in there life so you can really make a big impact on some of these guests. Then you've got jungle trekking, the odd use of your handy man skills, a traditional Malay Dinner in the village and then a beach clean to round out the two weeks.


The food was unlimited so every meal time you can pig out to your hearts content with a mix of Asian and Western food. Then with a full belly and a tired body its usually time for a nap in a hammock. I also saw some pretty intense storms. Usually when it rains in Malaysia it pours so you get massive winds blowing you away whilst huge droplets of rain pound you from the East. And it pretty much always happens when you’re eating dinner in the open sided restaurant so everyone dashes to pull down the plastic walls and runs from the tables next to the open sides. Probably the worst part for me was all the injuries sustained. I still have a water logged ear and my feet have so many wounds I don't know what to do with them plus the cold showers weren't that pleasant.


I really enjoyed the experience and I would recommend it to anyone who has an interest in Conservation (especially Turtles) and doesn’t mind living in a Tropical Island Resort for a while away from the grind (although there is wifi so you can't escape that much). If you want more information head to http://www.helpourpenyu.com/

Thanks to Dan, Hailey, Al and the other vols for making it a great two weeks :-)

An Update on Beauty Freebies!

So I had my Birthday last week and went on a hunt to get all my Birthday goodies. I missed out on some that were expected and got some extra ones too. So here is an updated list of some of the things you could get if you want to put the time in on your special day.

• I went into Boost Juice and got my choice of any drink on presenting my Boost Vibe Club Card. They gave me a large one and it was so good and took ages to drink. You just need to go instore to pick up a card then activate it online 

• Planet Chocolate was one of the best goodies. I just printed out this voucher and took it instore to get my choice of any of the Chocolate Poffertjes. I chose the Strawberries with Liquid Chocolate and they were so yummy and you get so many you just have to share. Unfortunately there are only a few locations in Victoria at the moment.

• On my birthday Noodle Box deposited 10 Noodle Dollars onto my card and gave me a week to spend it. I got the Large Pad Thai which is enough to feed at least two. So if you don't feel like cooking on your birthday I would recommend getting one of the Noodle Box Loyalty cards. 

• Brumbys gave me a cupcake treat although the sweetness of the icing makes it more suitable to give to the kids. Just print out the voucher.

• Baskin Robbins free scoop of Ice cream is a good one as they send it a few weeks before so you get about three weeks to use it. I got the Toasted Coconut which was so good. Mmmnn!!!

• Subway gave me a free Six-inch sub and a drink but just make sure you choose the store you want to pick it up at is correct as you don't want to find that you need to drive far on your birthday.

• I also received $50 off vouchers from both Flight Centre and STA Travel as well as a $5 off voucher from Priceline to use at my local store. And a Buy 1 get 1 free meal to Taco Bell.

• I did not receive anything from Ferguson Plare or Nivea and was not a Muffin Break Member so I could not get my free muffin.

All in all not a bad score if you want to stuff yourself on your Birthday like I did. :-)

And the winner is....

Thanks to everyone for entering my competition and giving me a hand with the votes.
Using random.org the winner is

Teresa

I will contact Teresa and get your prize out to you.

Congrats :-)

Get Yourself Some Birthday Goodies

So its my birthday later this month and I will be celebrating it by going out to all my favorite stores and picking up some great Birthday freebies. So I thought I would share some of them below so you can enjoy some of the benefits too.

• Boost Juice have a great loyalty card program and one of the benefits is if you head instore on your Birthday you get a free Boost Juice. And with so many locations around Oz there's bound to be a store near you.
• Planet Chocolate is a great food outlet that has some very tasty looking treats and sweets. And if you are lucky enough to live near one of there stores you must go in and get your Free Chocolate Poffertjes on your Birthday. Unfortunately there are only a few locations in Victoria at the moment.

• Nivea have been sending out a Birthday pack to VIP club members on there birthday,. Apparently random newsletter subscribers are selected to join the club so it worth registering and they might just select you to get a nice Nivea Surprise in your mail box.
• Noodle Box have just started a new loyalty card program. You get $5 of Noodle dollars when you activate the card and on your birthday you get another $10 so just for joining you can get one free regular box. And with 81 stores across Oz their should be one near you.
• Brumbys have stores everywhere. And if you love enjoying a cupcake treat then make sure you print out this great voucher.
• Baskin Robbins give you a free scoop of Ice cream on your birthday if you sign up to there Birthday club. But they have fewer locations now so not accessible to everyone.
• Ferguson Plarre are a very tasty bakehouse in Victoria and if you sign up to there Birthday Club you get a free gift plus a chance to win a $100 birthday cake which would be a great surprise for anyone.
• Muffin Break also apparently give you a Muffin on your birthday if you join their loyalty program

• Subway also give you a free lunch on your birthday when you join the Subway Eat Fresh Club as well as other offers they send on a regular basis

So these are just some of the goodies I can think of off the top of my head but I'm sure there is many more. If you have anymore that I haven't mentioned feel free to comment below. Have a Happy free food filled Birthday. :-

Meet the Newest Libra Cadet Recruit

So I have been selected to be a Libra Cadet and promote the wonders of Libra's new tampons with everything Australian woman want.
The great new features are

• A new twist wrap for easy opening
• A tappered tip, slim design and a knot string so they're easy to use
• Wavy grooves to maximise protection
• A click lock box so you don't have dirty tampons rolling around your handbag
• And funky printed wraps to keep life fun

To celebrate I am having a giveaway. I decided to go with the theme and I will be coming up with a Period Survival pack complete with a few goodies to make that time of the month a little more bearable.

To enter to win this pack all you have to do is
1. Become a Follower of this Blog via Google Friend Connect. Then leave me a comment below saying you've done so with a way of contacting you if you are the winner (Twitter, Google Friend Connect, email).

For extra entries

1. Visit http://apps.facebook.com/libracadets/?fwd=cadets/profile/49 and give me a vote for the Peoples Choice Award.

2. Retweet the following "RT to win-Support @KEPPERS on her quest as a Libra Cadet and give her a vote at http://apps.facebook.com/libracadets/?fwd=cadets/profile/49"


EDIT: I have slightly switched around the entry requirements but all previous entries count

Make sure you leave a comment with your Google or Twitter username if you are doing extra entries.

This giveaway will end on Monday the 16th May 2011 at 11.59pm (AEST). The winner will be selected using random.org and notified via the method they have provided me in there comment. Australian Residents Only.

Good luck and I will keep you up to date with my sampling activities.

Book Review-Torment By Lauren Kate

I have decided to embrace it and write a book review.


At them moment there is a never ending supply of teen paranormal. Ranging from the Vampire, to the gifted and everything in between. In this instance Torment is the angelic second installment in Lauren Kate's Fallen series.
If you haven't had the pleasure to read Fallen it introduces us to our too main characters Luce and Daniel. And is a story of eternal love between an angel on the good side (Daniel) and a girl that just keeps re-appearing in his life every 17 years before dying with there first kiss. But this time Luce is different and her love could result in the end of our peaceful existence.


In the second tale it's all about Luce finding out about her past lives and trying to stay safe in a new school filled with interesting characters and a whole lot of Nephilim (children of fallen angels). Luce manages to get in a few troublesome situations and questions her love for Daniel. The ending will have you wanting Passion to be released pronto but alas we must wait.


This a great story and will have you hooked like many other paranormal series out at the moment. It is full of action, interesting characters and makes you wonder what is really out there. It is a well written story that most girls will enjoy (even some older ones like me).


If you haven't already get into this series because I give it 9 out of 10.


:-)