stlucia.blogg.se

I started this blog when I first went on an exchange to Brisbane, Australia. During that experience, I discovered my love for culture, travelling and adventures. This blog has followed me since and been my forum for pictures and stories from Tanzania, South Africa, Ireland, Fiji, Malaysia, Singapore, Europe etc.

A RAINY DAY

Publicerad 2011-07-07 21:27:24 i Allmänt,

It's been raining heavily the last two days. So much that the trail has been cancelled in the afternoon and my residental riders have choosen not to ride as much either. Understandable. We usually get happy as well when the guests choose not to ride in heavy rain. So happy we were yday. Until Bertie told us to move all the faols to new fields. It took 1.5 hrs leading them uphill on a slippy road to their new home. I have tried 5 different pair of raining pants from the box with clothes to borrow. None of them are water proof. Grrr...
An uncommon day of sunshine over An sibin (which means illegal drinking place in irish).
'
AND. I can almost not forgive myself for not presenting an sibins three stars until now. But here they are!
Baby Cherkin, always with something in her mouth
Superfat yellow labrador Misty who always wants to be cuddled with
And, the brightest star of them all, Piunta! I'm planning on bringing this precious dog home. She'll easily fit in my suitcase. This bird wished she had wings. But if she did. We wouldnt have any birds on the farm.
Awwwww Piunta! (Irish word for pint). I guess she figured sleeping on a big bag och saw dust would bring her a bit closer to the sky. Lovely dog!
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A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING

Publicerad 2011-07-04 20:18:01 i Allmänt,

Just uploading a few pics from the last weeks.
Picture of the property (and half Pjunta)
The horses on the summer field
The first group I had as the front guide.
Me an Aoife are trying to jump the dogs, fat Misty is obiously cheating...
The Park Hotel, 5 star hotel with wonderful view. Amelia, one of the new girls is just on her way out.
'
This week, Im not on the trail. For once. Still heavy work, but less paid. Prefer being on the trail. I am guiding two very nice tjeck people on the smallest horse in the stable (Hurricane). He makes me feel like a giant but is very cute and extremely fast. Like. A Hurricane! All the guests are very nice this week, although the once on the trail thinks its too much riding and the once on the residentals think its too little. Always something. We practice our buissness smile every night in front of the mirror though so we'll work something out most of the times =)
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SURPRISE!

Publicerad 2011-07-01 20:59:49 i Allmänt,

Got an amazing surprise this week. See who came to visit me on a very spontaneous trip to the green land.
Auntie Gitta and Janne! Gitta will hate me for uploading this pic, but......but........I had to =)
Had my fist real irish coffee with them on the very local pub. Very very nice!
Its now Friday night, which means that I have (again) succesfully been leading my group of people to the final destination just next to the Atlantic. Withouht getting lost. Again! And this time I didn't even have a back guide who knew the ways. Im very proud of myself. Noone fell in the lake on Tuesday either although I had no clue what I was doing and where I was going to avoid the deep river in it. Haha! (Thanks Paddy). Had Paddy again all week long except Monday morning when I had little Hurricane who makes me look like a giant.
My non english speaking group seemed pretty happy with their week. No complaints and good weather. So. All good. We'll see who will lead the trail next week.
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LONDON & WIMBELDON

Publicerad 2011-06-25 21:04:12 i Allmänt,

Haven't had the opportunity to upload pictures from London yet and since it seems to be at least another half an hour until dinner is ready, I'll make an attempt to upload some of them.
During the first few days, I did a lot of sightsing, just exploring London and take tourity photos of all the famous spots:
Picadilly under re construction
Saw the queen as well, lucky hey!?
Change of guards outside Buckingham
Big ben from another angel
Met up with Paige, Kristina and Robin, my neighbours in Australia who unexpectedly happened to be in London same day as me.
Notting hill weekday market, just as in the movie!
Ro and me in London
The winner of Wimbeldon 2011?
Ro and her sister and brother with one of the players
Tower bridge, me and Ro
Just for fun. Kalmar as in my hometown for those who dont know
The pace for GMT time
One last nice view of London.
'
London is far to big for me. Too busy. Too many people running to catch trains that leaves every 2nd minute. Too much waiting in lines. Toooo many people!
Im happy to be back on the Irish countryside.
On the trail again, with a group where only one person speakes english. I tell my stories, ask them every now and then if they understand and they smile and say yes but I know they are nicely lying to me. Haha!
On Paddy again at least. We make a good team for the week! The roads are new. Again. Guess its pointless learning them since they chance every week so I'll stick to my newly made notes.
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LAST WEEK UPDATE

Publicerad 2011-06-25 20:36:15 i Allmänt,

Back in Ireland. Before the London update. Let's catch up a bit on last weeks pictures. The Burren trail looks a bit different from the front...as you can see.
My horse for that week, Paddy
Mullagh mor, which means "fat mountain". The mountains are shaped by the wind which always blows from the same direction. Looks like the shell of a big snail.
Irish house on the countryside. Maybe not very typical but beautiful.
'
Internet is very slow right now so that will have to be it. Im starving and extremely tired after been travelling since 5am this morning. Train to stratford, bus to stantsed, flight to shannon. Waiting 2.5 hrs on the airport for pickup, car to mt shannon. Gahhh! I want food. And sleep!
'
Anyway.Inez had some sad news for me when I got back... Our two kittens, Scnockta (snow in irish) and Bo (cow in irish) died last week. I miss them so much! Miss hearing thei mjauing when working in the stable.. Buuu!
But. Life goes on.


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LONDON SIGHTSING

Publicerad 2011-06-20 19:13:18 i Allmänt,

Have now been spending 2 days in London, ticking of the touristy list of things to see and do. I must say London is far too big for me! I miss my green mountains in Ireland already, living in a village with only 300 inhabitants. haha! But I've been pretty active so far. Been ticking of Big ben, tower bridge, oxford street, piccadilly circus, camden town, buckingham palace plus change of guards, leicester square, speakers corner and green park. Running out of ideas.
\
However, got a lucky surprise earlier when I discovered my neighbour in Australia and her french bf is in town. So Im gonna meet up with them later tonight for a drink. Then I just have to hang out by myself one day until Ro arrives. A friend from SA has been here the first two days to keep me busy so I havent been lonely. It has all been good!
\
If you have any ideas of non expensive things to do, let me know! (I could come up with thousands of things to do for millionares) but think more.....backpacking student without any income ;)
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WIMBELDON

Publicerad 2011-06-17 22:38:35 i Allmänt,

I have now succesfully brought my first tourist group to the final destination. Have some great pics but unfortunately I have thousands of things to do so I cant upload them for you now. Two of our group memebers cried again when leaving. Must be a damn good tour guide. One could think so when getting 155E in tip at least ;) 55 more than I earn during the whole week. Even the complaining german girl left a good tip. So. After 12 days work non stop, hardly time for eating, hardly time for sleeping, I insist that I deserve one week off. Plane leaves at 21.55 to London tomw. Im excited! Although, I have to spend 12 hrs on Shannon (smallest airport in the world) because the guests needs to go there early and they refuse to drop me off later. Better bring a good book. Unfortunately I have no space in my bag to bring my computer so have to leave that one out this time. Doesnt really matter though, although it would have been nice to watch some movies during my 12 hrs waiting. But. After living in Tanzania, Im damn good at waiting anyway so Im sure I'll survive!
So. Wimbeldon next!
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I'M A TOUR GUIDE!

Publicerad 2011-06-13 21:02:13 i Allmänt,

Have now compleeted my second day in the trails without getting lost. Must say I am very proud of myself. (Although, I have Efva helping from the back in case I wouldn't know the way). Still proud though... This group is nothing compared to our last one. On Monday, it was raining constantly for the 3 hours we rode. This extremely annoying girl kept asking how long time we had left (first time after 30 min) and let everyone know that she was cold and wet and and and......
Today, we had excellent weather with sunshine the whole day (my first day in Ireland without rain) and I was hoping she could keep her mouth shut. But. No. instead, she goes on "How much time do we have left? My horse is to big. He is too fast. He is too bumpy. My leg hurts" And bla bla bla (I dont even listen anymore)! If you go on a 6 days riding trail....WHAT do you expect???? Luckily, I have to American over positive women and with them having a positive attitude to everything ("We love the rain, lets continue this afternoon!"), its hard for the others to be negative. One of the Americans had been on 4 trail rides before in other countries, and she said me and Efva were the best tourguides she ever had! Pretty high score for being my first week hey!
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LONDON PLANS

Publicerad 2011-06-11 21:06:11 i Allmänt,

It has been a long day today. No rides but a lot of cleaning and oiling of tacks and preparing for the coming weeks. 10 new guests have arrived today. 8 more tomw. Busy busy week! Everyone are stressed out. We hardly have enough sadles etc. Appearantly, I will be on the trail coming week as well, which means I'll be riding yet another 200 km  (hopefully as a back guide so I can take better notes of the tracks). Bad thing. It's going to rain 2 inches tomw and my rain pants are not very waterproof at all. Good thing. Being on trail pays more than being on residental rides and its gonna be as busy for everyone this week, so Im happy! Just waiting for dinner now. Doubt it will be any left overs after the 10 guests are finished with theirs. Gonna be even worse coming week. Luckily I have a Wimbeldon trip to London booked so I can fatten up a bit again then=)
This is were Im living right now. In a smelly stable haha!
And this is one of the 6 weeks old kittens tht came to the farm a few days ago <3
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200 km ON THE HORSEBACK

Publicerad 2011-06-10 22:12:16 i Allmänt,

It's friday night. I have now been riding almost 200 km in Clare, western Ireland. Abt 6 hrs a day the last 6 days. My bum hurts! haha! Have been riding in pouring rain, bright sunshine, through mud and water and have had the most spectacular views you can ever imagine. Will share some of the pictures here:
My horse Victor, taking a break on the top of a mountain
Pretty ok view...
Friday morning when collecting the horses from the field...
The tower at the cliffs of Moher
The cliffs of Moher
The burren trail ride
A ferry tree. In Ireland, some trees are protected. Usually they are found on open fields with a little fence around to protect it from animals. It is believed that you'll get bad luck if you break a branch on it and it's good luck to tie something to it.
Crossing the lake. Highlight of the trip for everyone in the front haha!
Eating lunch in the trailer on Tuesday when we were riding 6 hrs in pouring rain! Lunch is always very much appreciated in the middle of the day.
Well. Internet here is not running very quick so that will have to be it for now. My first group of tourists have finished off and two of them were crying when we said goodbye so I guess we made a pretty good job=) Had an amazing group, all other people will have a hard time to beat these guys. There is a reputation that next group will consist of 6 asians. That could be...hmmm....interesting ha!
'
For now. I think its bedtime for me!
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SINGING IN THE RAIN

Publicerad 2011-06-07 22:03:24 i Allmänt,

Gosh! Yet another day of confusing trail rides. 6 hrs. IN POURING RAIN! Thanks for that Ireland. I think that heatwaved passed on very quickly! The American guy Mike (one of the guests) happily told us all after 1.5 hrs in the wet and cold and horrible rain "only 4.5 hrs left!". As a tour guide. I just have to smile and pretend that I like it. ut gaaah! Can I write my complaints here instead! I thought I was gonna die! My waterproof rainpants are def NOT waterproof. Have to find myself another pair since the weather is just gonna get worse the coming days.
After abt 4hrs riding, we had to cross a lake. Pretty wide. I would think it took abt 5 min to get through it. Not a funny thing to be in the back on the smallest horse when crossing a fairly deep lake. Haha! My feet were already swimming when Kerstin (the leader) decided to canter the last bit and I got all the water from 28 other horse legs smashed into my face.
Ok. I have complained enough now. I had a warm shower eventually. And dry clothes. Now. Im gonna go and search for an extra blanket for the night since Irelands heatwave has been changed to a winterwave.
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PICTURE CATCH UP

Publicerad 2011-06-06 20:31:09 i Allmänt,

So, finally managed to put some pics onto my computer. Home from the second day of trailride. My bum hurts! Have been six hrs on the horseback today and I was writing down every little turn we took in the trail. BUT. Ofcourse. When we got back, Kerstin (german) told me that even todays trail ride is going to be changed until the next time. How the fuck am I going to remeber all this???!!!
Anyway. Here are some picturs from yday's and today's trails...
Kerstin telling our group abt the red lake who became red after a very loyal king sacrifices his one and only eye to a storyteller. When he washed his eye hole in the lake, it turned red. According to the legend...
Another story...which actually is true. In this overgrown caravan, an old lady used to live by her self. Hardly never leaving her house other than in emergancy cases. She used to sit in her garden playing fluet when the horses came. Anyway. One day, she was out training one of her donkeys and had done a forbidden thing. She had wrapped the collar around her hand and the donkey got frightened and started to run. He dragged the lady behind him and people tried to stop him but noone succeded. The old lady ended up in coma for three months and died eventually. Since then...the garden has pretty much overgrown....
My horse for the week. Lazy Victor
Why do brushed horses always do like this? Grrr
'
Well. At least some pics to start with. Its raining almost every day, but its like sippering down so at least we dont get flooded as in zanzibar. Dinner is almost done. I better be there to get some!!
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TRAIL RIDE DAY 1

Publicerad 2011-06-05 21:37:38 i Allmänt,

Actually been on the first day of the trail today. Im massively concerned about how I will remember the trails cause there are so many turns and now I'll have to learn a new one every day. And. Every trail last for 6 hrs! Gaaaahhh! Will bring a pen and paper tomw and make myself a little map. That is probably the only way for me to have a chance. Will also have to memorize some legends and stories abt different places, but that should be the easy part.
'
My horse for this ride is named Vicor, luckily, since most other horses have Irish impossible names. At least I will remember the name of my horse haha! Took some pics, but unfortunately forgot my camera in the room and now Im to lazy to go and pick it up. Will show you. Eventually... And luckily, I seem to remember how to ride as well=) People usually arrive here on a saturday, and then go trail riding for 6 days, starting on Sunday. Will be sleeping out between thursday and friday somewhere. All other night we will come back to sleep on the farm. The views are just stunning!
'
The only thing I dont like is the lack of food. We always have to eat after the guests and usually, there is not enough food for all of us. So, everybody who wants to send me food packages (since there is no shops around) please do =)
'
Well. Im gonna head to bed and practice the legends of the connemara mountains!
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WHITEGATE

Publicerad 2011-06-04 20:41:05 i Allmänt,

Has been a long day of travelling, despite the size of the country. Took a bus from Dublin to Limerick at half 9 this morning. In Limerick, I changed to a connection bus to Whitegate. Lugguage was no problem at all, luckily! There is only one bus per week going to Whitegate, and it's always on Saturdays. So. For people who might come to visit, keep that in mind! ;)
Everybody on the bus to Whitegate knew eachother. Its just a very small village where 300 people lives. They have 2 extremely small sops and one gas station. Thats it! The bus driver told us all 'Just shout when you want to get off!' Haha, I had no idea so I stayed on the bus until te last stop. Nicola from Irish horse riding came to pick me up there and off we went to the farm. There was mountains all around and gosh, its so beautiful! Will take some pics the coming days to show you.
Another French girl came the same day as I did. She hardly speaks any english. I am sharing a dorm with her and another German girl who returns to the farm every year. Apart from them, there are another french and another two german girls working here. But I think the staff will kind of change during the coming days.
'
They currently have 48 horses here. They are so beautiful! Cant wait to ride, but I guess it will be a couple of days before that happens.
Well, thats it for now. App dinner is ready and Im starving so Im not gonna wait another second!
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DUBLIN CITY AND DUN LAOGHAIRE

Publicerad 2011-06-03 22:55:48 i Allmänt,

Some pics from todays day trip and Dublin city:
Famous Molly Malone
Spot the lepricon!
Pretty common view in Dublin. People travelling by horse.
.
After some more city sightsing, we took the train to Dún Laoghaire, Dublin's riviera. The sun was shining and it was hotter than ever on Ireland. People looked so happy. Appearantly, they only get abt 10 days like this in one year. I guess I was lucky to experience one=)
Well. Thats pretty much it for now. Tomw morning Ill try to sneak on the bus to the westcoast with my huge bag. You cant book extra lugguage in advance so we'll see how it goes. According to the others here, it shouldn't be a problem. So. Hopefully. I will arrive in Limerick at around noon and then get a connection bus to Whitegate where Bertie and Nicola from the equestrian centre will pick me up.
So siked!
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GLENDALOUGH

Publicerad 2011-06-03 11:15:17 i Allmänt,

I have recieved complaints about me not writing in English. So I hope this update will make people happy again=) People in Ireland are very happy at the moment because a heat wave has been reaching the country. The sun is shining and....and....it's about 20 degrees instead of 10! Exhausting heat wave! I'm dying!
No. I'm just kidding. I still borrow Ro's hot water bottle and spoon it hard every night. It's freezing compared to Swedish summer. Despite the heat wave.
Anyway, me and Ro happily drove to Glendalough under yday's clear blue sky. Glendaloug is a glacial valley with ruins from year 500. The place got destroyed by the Brittish in 1398. Ireland is really a place for people who likes history. I find it interesting. But both me and Ro kind of preferred to do a long hike around Glendaloug instead. So....we did:
Some of the old ruins...
Me and Ro after abt 3 hrs hike around the lakes. Almost at the top...
On the top of our second hike. Ended up doing 2 3.5hrs hikes in 4 hours and 20 min. We should win a hiking award price!
BAM!
Hiking day one over. Love it! I belong in the mountains. They make me happy!
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HOWTH

Publicerad 2011-06-02 12:49:47 i Allmänt,

Igår sysselsatte jag mig själv i några timmar på morgonen då Ro var iväg och jobbade. Innan hon började hann vi dock med en morgonpromenad runt hennes universitet (University Collage Dublin) som jag måste säga ar mkt fint. Det verkar som att alla universitet världen över har fattat detta med att löparspår, gröna ängar, tennisbanor, pooler etc etc som främjar fysisk aktivitet ska finnas på ett universitetsområde. Alla utom Stockholms universitet och KI då förståss...
'
När Ro väl kom hem igen åkte vi ut till den lilla fiskebyn Howth och vandrade runt Baily Lighthouse. Helt fantastiskt att ett sådant ställe kan ligga just vid utkanten av Dublin.
Jag och Ro på vandrigen runt Baily Lighthouse
The lighthouse itself.
'
På kvällen var vi ute med Ro's klasskompisar som alla just tagit ut sin examen på en irländsk pub. Trevlig stämning, men kanske inte jättekul för min del eftersom snacket enbart handlade om deras senaste tentor och examensarbeten. Kan af ticka av Irländsk pub från listan.
'
För tillfället sitter jag och är lite förtvivlad över att man inte får ha med sig väskor på bussen till Whitegate dit jag ska på lördag. Vet inte riktigt hur jag och min jätteväska ska ta oss till västra sidan. Ev får jag väl hyra en bil... Hmm.. Dåligt. Men det ska nog lösa sig på ett eller annat sätt!
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DUBLIN

Publicerad 2011-06-01 12:34:10 i Allmänt,

j
Sooo, min kamera dog redan efter första kortet på min Irländska sightsing tur igår. Otur. Men här är i alla fall en bild på Roisins hus lite utanför Dublin. Ett ganska typiskt townhouse. Väldigt sött! Under gårdagen vandrade vi runt lite i Dublin som jag måste säga är otroligt fint! Hela stan är lite som gamla stan med gamla byggnader och extremt mkt historia.
Jag har åxå upptäckt hur billigt shopping kan vara här. I framtiden tror jag jag skulle tjäna på att ta ett flyg till Dublin, shoppa på Pennys och flyga hem. Typ, strumpbyxor kostar mellan 5-20 sek. De som vanligtvis kostar 99 sek hemma. Galet!
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Anyway, mitt nya nummer är: +353857581034. Den svenska telefonen funkar med fantastiskt nog, men jag antar den irländska är billigare att ringa/messa till.
Ro är och jobbar några timmar nu. När hon kommer tillbaka ska vi åka ut nånstans och vandra runt lite. är så dålig på att komma ihåg namn på ställen, får uppdatera mig + se till att min kamera funkar denna gången! Ikväll blir det lite utgång för att fira Ro's betyg som kom idag.
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TAKING OFF

Publicerad 2011-05-29 23:07:45 i Allmänt,

En natt kvar innan avgång. Börjar egentligen inte jobba förrän 4 juni, men ska besöka Roisin i Dublin några dagar innan jag beger mig till västkusten, hästarna och bergen. Ser så sjukt mkt fram emot allting, även om det kanske är en ganska vågad chansning, med tanke på att jag inte har något kontrakt, knappt får någon lön och inte vet vem jag ska jobba med. Men, man måste ju våga chansa ibland. Skiter det sig så gör det men då får jag väl hitta på nåt annat!
'
När man väl sitter där på dödsbädden, med rullator, pillerburk och löständer. Då är det ju ändå bättre att ångra något man gjorde. Än något man Inte gjorde. Eller hur!?
'
IRELAND; HERE I COME! =D
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GALWAY

Publicerad 2011-05-25 18:40:11 i Allmänt,

Har fått förfrågan om websidan till Irland. Den hittar ni här: http://www.irishhorseriding.com/index.php
Ju mer jag läser om det, desto mer exalterad blir jag! Kan redan skymta nästa äventyr i horisonten och askan verkar lägga sig.
Mitt hem de kommande tre månaderna. Connemara mountains, Galway, Ireland!
Gaaaahhh! Någonting säger mig att jag kommer älska att springa, rida och rulla upp och ner för dessa underbara bergstoppar!
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Emmie

Flying high but staying grounded. Travelling, adventures, exploring and adrenaline is my life. I write about places most people want to visit but never do; and about my triathlon lifestyle. I live after: The distance between your dreams and reality is called action.

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