December 2019
Volcanoes, Guitars, Aeroplanes and Motorbikes
10/12/19 13:19 Filed in: Guitar
When I was a young kid there were four things I wanted to do at some point in my life. One was learn the guitar, another was to fly in a plane and I wanted a motorbike. Lastly, but not least, I wanted to climb onto and into a volcano. I've got a couple of guitars, I've flown countless time and I've had a couple of motorbikes (and want to return to that too). I've also climbed up (or been driven up) few volcanoes.
Seeing the people in New Zealand on White Island (Whakaari) it is horrible to see what has happened, but I understand the desire they had to go and see a volcano, preferably an active one. I'm sure they'd have preferred it a little less active, but they probably wouldn't have wanted to go there if it had been dormant. Then it would just be a hill.
Arenal, Costa Rica
Arenal
I've been up a few active volcanoes and a few dormant ones. My most disappointing one was Arenal in Costa Rica, because for years it had been bubbling away reliably putting on a lovely show at night with the lava plopping up into the air. But I got there about a year after it had stopped - and I don't think it has restarted again yet. The locals want it back as the tourists come for the volcano (and the natural heated waters - albeit in awful naff attractions). The two best volcanoes I've been to were active in so much as there was a great deal of steam and sulphur coming out of the craters which I walked into. These were El Chichon in Chiapas, Southern Mexico and Mount Sibayak in Northern Sumatra, Indonesia.
Mount Sibayak
Sibayak
Sibayak
The first one, El Chichon, I went into with mates from work back in 1996. It was an epic day which I have described previously (click here). The latter was several years ago when I was travelling in Malaysia, Borneo and Sumatra. I expressly went to Berastagi so that I could climb one of the volcanoes - either Mount Sibayak or Mount Sinabung. As it happened, on the day I chose Sibayak as there was a trail which went right by my hotel and it should have been a bit shorter. It turned out to be a more difficult walk than I expected as for every thirty metres you went up it seemed you went down another twenty before going up again. It was really tiring. But when I got up I was rewarded by colourful lakes, steaming vents and sulphur. It was everything a volcano should be–minus the lava and pyroclasts. Still, it felt safe and I was glad to have put the effort in. As it happened the other volcano, Mt. Sinabung, exploded about ten days after I was there causing 10,000 people to be evacuated. There but for the grace of whatshisface and all that.
Irazu
Vesuvius and the other dormant volcanoes I went to in Costa Rica were all impressive - especially the latter ones with the beautiful lakes in the crater - but being dormant or extinct they weren't the same. I can understand the desire to go to an active volcano and would do it again and again given the chance.
Anyway, about that motorbike…
Seeing the people in New Zealand on White Island (Whakaari) it is horrible to see what has happened, but I understand the desire they had to go and see a volcano, preferably an active one. I'm sure they'd have preferred it a little less active, but they probably wouldn't have wanted to go there if it had been dormant. Then it would just be a hill.
Arenal, Costa Rica
Arenal
I've been up a few active volcanoes and a few dormant ones. My most disappointing one was Arenal in Costa Rica, because for years it had been bubbling away reliably putting on a lovely show at night with the lava plopping up into the air. But I got there about a year after it had stopped - and I don't think it has restarted again yet. The locals want it back as the tourists come for the volcano (and the natural heated waters - albeit in awful naff attractions). The two best volcanoes I've been to were active in so much as there was a great deal of steam and sulphur coming out of the craters which I walked into. These were El Chichon in Chiapas, Southern Mexico and Mount Sibayak in Northern Sumatra, Indonesia.
Mount Sibayak
Sibayak
Sibayak
The first one, El Chichon, I went into with mates from work back in 1996. It was an epic day which I have described previously (click here). The latter was several years ago when I was travelling in Malaysia, Borneo and Sumatra. I expressly went to Berastagi so that I could climb one of the volcanoes - either Mount Sibayak or Mount Sinabung. As it happened, on the day I chose Sibayak as there was a trail which went right by my hotel and it should have been a bit shorter. It turned out to be a more difficult walk than I expected as for every thirty metres you went up it seemed you went down another twenty before going up again. It was really tiring. But when I got up I was rewarded by colourful lakes, steaming vents and sulphur. It was everything a volcano should be–minus the lava and pyroclasts. Still, it felt safe and I was glad to have put the effort in. As it happened the other volcano, Mt. Sinabung, exploded about ten days after I was there causing 10,000 people to be evacuated. There but for the grace of whatshisface and all that.
Irazu
Vesuvius and the other dormant volcanoes I went to in Costa Rica were all impressive - especially the latter ones with the beautiful lakes in the crater - but being dormant or extinct they weren't the same. I can understand the desire to go to an active volcano and would do it again and again given the chance.
Anyway, about that motorbike…
Comments
A Fine Line
07/12/19 14:08 Filed in: Work
Doing a delivery job is a bit of a lottery every day. Imagine all the bad driving you see every day and then put yourself on the road for 200 miles plus each day, whilst having to stop regularly on every type of road and track you can think of. That's interesting enough on any day, but in the winter when the days shorten the difficulty is multiplied painfully by the early fall of dusk and then night. At the moment come 4pm it is very hard to read numbers or names of houses/businesses and when you are looking at delivering twenty or so an hour in a suburban environment you are suddenly down to 12-14. Which can add hours and stress to your working day. As for finding isolated houses on unlit country roads… well that's harder still (not to mention slowing down and parking up on narrow roads to make your delivery (or just to read a house name)). Oh, then theres the cold, the wind, the wet. The ice. Yep, winter stinks.
Yesterday I was driving around 4:15pm on the road south of Llanwrst which is a National Speed Limit road. And I was doing around 50mph with only one vehicle ahead. So far, so standard. Then I see the reverse lights come on the black van in front of me. On a National Speed Limit road! And they didn't have hazard lights on. I did well to even realise what it was doing. I swerved out a little to give it room. In the horrible dusk light I then saw across the middle of the road step ladders. So there was the explanation for his sudden reversing. I had to swerve again to miss them. I actually just clipped the top of the ladder and in the mirrors saw it rocking slightly in the road. I was terribly lucky not to damage the van seriously (or even 'just' get a flat) or veer into the oncoming reversing van. Anyway, I breathed a sigh of relief and got on with the last few drops of my day in the dark thankful. I hope the guy who didn't secure his ladder properly has unusable ladders, but I dare say they'll be usable still. At least next Friday maybe he won't be in a rush to get home and he'll do a better job.
The day before one of my colleagues fell when she was getting out of her van. She smashed her arm and feared it was broken. After six hours in A&E she was relieved to find she'd only dislocated her elbow. At least that means she'll be out of work for a week or two rather than months. There but for the grace of… well, we all each day could have this type of thing happen to us. Trips, falls, dogs, all sorts of hazards are so much more dangerous in the dark. Not so often step ladders.
It's nice to be lucky. And hopefully that luck can hold out.
Stay safe out there people. And please secure any roof loads.
Yesterday I was driving around 4:15pm on the road south of Llanwrst which is a National Speed Limit road. And I was doing around 50mph with only one vehicle ahead. So far, so standard. Then I see the reverse lights come on the black van in front of me. On a National Speed Limit road! And they didn't have hazard lights on. I did well to even realise what it was doing. I swerved out a little to give it room. In the horrible dusk light I then saw across the middle of the road step ladders. So there was the explanation for his sudden reversing. I had to swerve again to miss them. I actually just clipped the top of the ladder and in the mirrors saw it rocking slightly in the road. I was terribly lucky not to damage the van seriously (or even 'just' get a flat) or veer into the oncoming reversing van. Anyway, I breathed a sigh of relief and got on with the last few drops of my day in the dark thankful. I hope the guy who didn't secure his ladder properly has unusable ladders, but I dare say they'll be usable still. At least next Friday maybe he won't be in a rush to get home and he'll do a better job.
The day before one of my colleagues fell when she was getting out of her van. She smashed her arm and feared it was broken. After six hours in A&E she was relieved to find she'd only dislocated her elbow. At least that means she'll be out of work for a week or two rather than months. There but for the grace of… well, we all each day could have this type of thing happen to us. Trips, falls, dogs, all sorts of hazards are so much more dangerous in the dark. Not so often step ladders.
It's nice to be lucky. And hopefully that luck can hold out.
Stay safe out there people. And please secure any roof loads.