Malta/France - Le Tour de France Part 2

From South to North and from East to West, after 3000+ kilometres on the bike, we can now confidently say, Tour de France on the bikes - tick!

Taking in the phenomenal chateaux and sights of Beziers

The last three week have included Aurelie's sisters 30^th birthday, a trip to Malta, some more time lapping up the joys of Provence, and part 2 of the ‘Tour de France’. This time it was a trip to the West Coast to the globally renowned wine regions of Bordeaux.

Claire (Aurelie’s sister) 30^th birthday landed conveniently a couple of days after we returned from Part 1 of our tour de France. It was a dress up which made for a very entertaining night with some very creative costumes on display. 

Aurelie’s Cleopatra ensemble was definitely a highlight. Shane’s attempts at re-creating the original Karate Kid probably didn’t quite hit the spot, as the majority thought he looked more like a cross between a Chinese samurai and an English convict. In any case, it was certainly an entertaining night, with Claire’s better half, Fabrice, who turned himself into a Bob Marley replica, taking the votes for best dressed on the night.

Some interesting characters preparing to kickstart the festivities

The following day, we set off for the best part of a week in Malta, a beautiful little Mediterranean island off the Southern tip of Italy. The combination of Roman, English and local historical influence made for some very impressive scenery and architecture.

 Shane checking out some of the historical highlights of Malta

However, in all honesty, what we were really there for was for some R&R and indulgence. Profiting from the freshly cooked seafood, cheap local beverages and time on the beach or in the pool, was definitely at the very top of our itinerary. This, with the helped of Shane’s friend from Australia David (Kenno), we definitely achieved. Beautiful and relaxing location that we’d definitely go back to given the opportunity.

 Arriving at the island of Comino, an island just off the mainland of Malta

Returning to France, summer appeared to be finally on its way. The tourists are starting to arrive as Provence starts to flourish due to the warmer weather, long days, incredible landscapes and super fresh local produce such as cherries, melon, lavender and vino.

With part 2 of our tour de France only a couple of days away, Shane got a good warm-up cycling with Aurelie’s father Jean-Paul. 80kms on the Saturday, followed up with 105km on the Sunday morning with the cycle club, that included a trek up the Mt Ventoux. Aurelie joined in for this one to the dismay of the egos of the majority of the cycling club, as she quickly showed them up pedalling away from them as soon as the mountains arrived.

 Cruising past France's equivalent to the Collosseum, the main arena in Nimes

Part 2 of the Tour de France started with us setting off from Mazan on an afternoon that peaked at 37 degrees. Fortunately we had a pool waiting for us at the end of day 1, to help refresh and recover. Day 2 we arrived on the South Coast, halted for a moment by a snake that crossed our path that Aurelie was only moments away from running over, then arrived at our beachside destination with another 100+ kms under our belt.

Aurelie stopped in her tracks by a snake...this is France, not Australia isn't it!! 

Unfortunately this was when the weather, just like on Part 1 of our tour, took a turn for the worse! Coincidentally, it was the South West coast (which was exactly where we were) which was the worst affected, with rain, hail and flooding causing significant destruction around the area. Temperatures also plummeted and we awoke to rain, with a forecast of a maximum of 15 degrees, unheard in the South of France at this time of year!

Fortunately we avoided the worst of the conditions and soldiered on, still taking great pleasure in the history, beauty and diversity of this region. After another 3 consecutive 100+ km days as we traversed the base of the Pyrenees, we made it to visit the home of friends, who are living in what can only be described as a mini chateaux. The sprawling gardens, mountain top views. And extremely generous hosts, Diane and Tom and their two girls Lucy and Coco, made for a great couple of days and a great way to break up our tour.

 Aurelie, Diane and Tom are greeted by blue skies at the base of the Pyrenees

We then made our way up the West Coast to a very popular tourist destination on the West Coast called Arcachon, famous for its incredibly fresh Oysters, which we duly sampled. Only downside again was the weather, we certainly didn’t get the relaxing afternoon on the beach that we envisaged. It was then across to Bordeaux, our final destination of the tour to visit and sample some of the locally produced wine.

 Chateau du Pape Clement, just on the outskirts of Bordeaux

After the early morning train from Bordeaux to Avignon, we rolled back into Mazan, fighting fit but just a little tender around the ‘derriere’ region! Part 2 of the Tour de France took in exactly 963kms in 9 days and provided us with exactly what we were after in terms of getting a true insight into France, it's history and it's culture.

Part 2 of the Tour de France below:

Day	Depart	Arrive	Distance (km)	Cum. Total (km)	Comments
1	Mazan	Gallargues Le Montueux	110	110	Nimes – very impressive historical city
2	Gallargues Le Montueux	Vias (Agde)	110	220	Coastal village, beautiful area
3	Vias (Agde)	Castelnaudary	129	349	Chateaux des Bezieres & Carcassone were big highlights
4	Castelnaudary	Saint-Gaudens	141	490	Cold, wet & windy. Beautiful landscape
5	Saint-Gaudens	Aubertin	139	629	Base of Pyrenees
6	Aubertin	Mont de Marsan	101	730	Longer day than expected! 1st puncture in over 2,500kms!
7	Mont de Marsan	Arcachon	133	863	Coastal town, very nice.
8	Arcachon	Bordeaux	73	936	Famous for its vino with good reason!
9	Avignon	Mazan	37	973	Train Bordeaux to Avignon

Our schedule continues to move along at a rate of knots. We fly to London, our first time back in London since 2006, then onto Scotland for a wedding and then back to France to see the professional cyclists in the Tour de France as they climb the Mt Ventoux on Bastille Day (Frances national day - 14^th July).

It’s going to be another big couple of weeks….LG!!!

Kenya - the local experience

The last couple of weeks have been full of astonishing encounters.

This attractive looking buffalo was the 1st of the big five spotted in the wild

We've settled comfortably into our newly adopted Kenyan lifestyle, with time spent at the orphanage, continued exploration of the breathtaking surroundings and commenced running daily with the Kenyans..they really are freaks of athletes!!

4th February was D-day for the orphanage that we are working at. This was the date of the inspection by child government officers to become an officially registered children's home which ultimately went extremely well. This deadline provided a great incentive to complete various projects. Shane kept his carpentry skills up to date by building a shelf in the boys’ room so that they could put their clothes away. We also continued with gardening and assisting with the daily chores, spent quality time with the kids and made sure to learn all their names (still struggling with this!!). Football is the main topic of conversation between Shane and the boys even though they all support Manchester Utd (Shane is an Arsenal fan), whilst the younger girls are constantly all over Aurelie trying to braid her hair. We think that we'll be satisfied leaving knowing that we've made some sort of impression on Faraja childrens home.

Little Kefa is definitely one of Shane's favourites at the Orphanage 

Our explorations have also continued. A trip to Lake Navaisha for a couple of days was a big highlight.The trip included an early morning boat safari which provided some close encounters with a number of hippos and Naivasha's wide variety of birdlife. It also took us to Crescent Island, a private game sanctuary, where we got up close and personal to zebras, wildebeests, buffalos, gazelles, antelopes, waterbuck and giraffes in their natural environment.

 A couple of hippos shying away from the attention

From here, we rented a couple of bikes and made our way to Hells Gate National Park (setting for The Lion King movie). Our 20km bike ride took us past flocks of zebras, gazelles, warthogs, and baboons. 

 

A flock of Zebras stirred up by our presence 

A young Massai guide also took us on a spectacular gorge walk and introduced us to the Massai culture. We were told that Hell's Gate National park not too long ago attracted the attention of US Movie Makers. Parts of the movie "Tomb Raider II" staring Angelina Jolie were shot here. When we asked this local chap if he met Angelina, he said yes, but he was young and all he remembered was that she had big 'lips'...funny man!

A little ray of sunlight lit up this pretty impressive Gorge

A climb up Mount Longonot was next. A dormant volcano located southeast of Lake Naivasha. The 3.5km climb to the craters rim was challenging but beautiful. From there we hiked the 7.5km around the crater which provided spectacular views of the surrounding plains of the Great Rift Valley. Inside the crater (diameter 1.6 km) was an impenetrable forest, unfortunately no lava bubbling below in this volcano!

Aurelie standing proudly on the upper rim of the Volcano at in excess of 2700m

Being based in Ngong, we were due for a hike up the well renowned Ngong Hills. Although the Ngong Hills are made of four peaks, we could only make it to the second one for security reasons. Many hikers have reported being robbed or mugged on the southern hills over the last few years. However the views all round were magnificent, making the effort (and concern) worthwhile.

We also spent a day exploring Maasai Land, which included 5.15am start and a 9 1/2 hour hike to the summit of a mountain immersed at the heart of the savanna. Tony, our local Maasai guide, took us through an unbeaten path, past wandering cattle, concerned goats and distant giraffes. We also said hello to Maasai locals and visited an isolated Maasai school. The kids appeared to be both exited and scared to see ‘mzungus - white people. The hike to the top was very rewarding and offered a breathtaking 360 degree view of the surrounding mounts and hills.

 

Shane, Ben, Aurelie and Tony soaking up 360 degree views across the savana

The way back turned out to be tough! The sun was now at its highest, and with our water bottles empty and throbbing feet from the hike across uneven surface, the finish of this adventure could not come quick enough!

We've also fortunately discovered that Ngong is the training home to a number of Kenya’s top distance runners, including marathon world record holder Patrick Makau. Seemingly, Ngong is very good for training because it offers the advantage of both high altitude training around Ngong, and lower altitude training down into Maasai land which allows higher quality speed work.

One of the highlights of Aurelie’s Kenyan experience thus far has been her now daily training sessions with a group of Olympic, international and developing Kenyan athletes.
 

 Aurelie mixing it with Kenyan's elite distance runners on an early morning run

Aurelie had a restless sleep the night before her first early morning training session which was meant to be a 10km 'cruise' that turned into 18km of torture! However, she's now adapted to the altitude here (approx 2,000m) and looks forward to kicking off the day trying to keep up with the Kenyans as they traverse across the rocky, red clay, dirt tracks. Rio 2016...lookout!!

Our orphanage campaign concludes this week and our travels re-commence. Malindi (beach town on the Indian Ocean), Maasai Mara safari and the arrival of Shane's sister await over the next couple of weeks.
 

Exciting times continue!

Kenya - First taste of Africa

Welcome to Africa!!

 

It's not every day that you get to pat a cheetah!! 

From the South of France to Nairobi, Kenya…it’s difficult to imagine that there could be a bigger contrast from almost every perspective.

Our first 10 days in Africa has comprised of an introduction to some of the poverty and harsh realities of African life, some hard work, a bit of culture shock and already some magical scenery and exploration.

After 3 great weeks with Aurelie’s parents recharging our batteries over Christmas and New Year, we’ve thrown the backpacks on again and parted for Africa. First up on our African itinerary was a month in Kenya, volunteering at a local orphanage called Faraja Children's Home, situated 40 minutes from Nairobi (capital of Kenya) in a village called Ngong.

Upon our arrival, we were immediately introduced to our Kenyan host family. Four other volunteers (all females), two of whom were volunteering on a HIV/AIDS program and the other two were volunteering at a different orphanage in the area, were also staying with us. Bunks beds, no hot water, no oven or microwave, a diet of beans for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and seven girls with Shane under one roof is going to make this a very interesting month!

With seemingly no time to waste, we were taken to Faraja, a 3 bedroom orphanage, barely bigger than our house in Sydney. It is home to 38 children aged between 2 - 17. We had very little idea of what to expect and arrived with an open mind but the intensity and extent of the poverty that we were confronted with shocked us! All the kids have been left homeless due to either not having parents alive or violent upbringings. Some of the stories that we have heard throughout this first week in Africa have been quite horrific!

Aurelie carb loading on 'Githeri' - a traditional Kenyan meal

In spite of this, our first impression of the kids really has been one of amazement. They greeted us with massive smiles, high fives, hugs and welcomed us into their home. You wouldn’t have believed that they were in the situation that they were. We also got a great appreciation for what kids of a very young age in this environment can do! All kids have their daily chores with kids as young as 3 and 4 years old scrubbing floors, hand washing clothes, gardening, cleaning and basically fending for themselves. Not surprisingly there is not a semblance of a mobile phone, an ipod or a DS in sight!

 

Afternoon chores...Joy, Nancy and Theresia hand washing the kids clothes

Inspired by this, it was time to role up our sleeves. There’s no shortage of projects that need doing so we will certainly be kept busy throughout our stay. The first week or so has included digging out a vegie patch, cleaning, painting doors, building a shoe shelf to house 38 pairs of gumboots, and a large bookshelf for their education area. Shane who has had the help of another Australian Johnny (carpenter from Melb), were pretty happy with their handy work given everything was done by hand as power tools seemingly don‘t exist in this part of the world…!

 

Shane, Johnny and a dozen carpentry apprentices showing off their handy work!

Our exploration of what Africa has to offer is also under way. We spent a full day visiting animal orphanages around Nairobi. First up was the chance to feed a giraffe. We discovered that it was not only there necks that were enormous…their tongues were also pretty big too! We then visited an elephant orphanage housing baby elephants whose parents had been attacked by poachers. We got close enough to touch them and pat their heads.

 

 Aurelie getting up close and personal with a baby elephant

We also squeezed in a visit to a local park in Nairobi where we were covered by little monkey’s, very cute these little guys and certainly not shy!

 

Shane, Aurelie and a couple of curious locals flocked by monkeys

The ultimate in our animal adventuring was a refuge for all varieties of African animals. We had the pleasure of seeing Buffalo’s, hyena’s, baboons, lions feeding, leopards and last but not least cheetahs. As we strolled around, Shane was tapped on the shoulder and asked, any interest in patting a cheetah?! After coming to an ‘arrangement’, and being assured that she was a friendly cheetah, next thing we knew, we were walking straight into the cage where we camped down next to the big cat and gave her a little tickle behind the ears! Money really does talk in this part of the world, that’s for sure!

Having met an inspirational 22 year old American who has made Kenya his home over the past 18 months, we decided to take him up on his offer of an exploration of the local Savanna. Being already impressed by the beauty of the surrounds, midway into the hike, we were presented with a flock of at least a dozen Giraffes in their natural environment only 10 minutes from where we are staying! They towered above us from a distance of less than 10 metres away and surprisingly, they seemed just as intrigued with us as we were with them!

Aurelie, Tony, Shane and a curious observer in the Savanna!

Amazing stuff and a great taste of what’s install over these next 3 months here!

Another busy couple of weeks ahead at the orphanage. We’ve also got a couple of little adventures coming up combined with the task of tracking down some Kenyan athletes…exciting times!!