First Real Adventure in 2009

My friend and I will be heading to Mt Bogong (1986m) this weekend. It's the highest mountain in Victoria which I last visited in winter back in 2005. It's going to be tough walking 6-7 hours uphill, half of which will be in a bit of snow. But this will be a good test of my fitness three weeks before the big Overland Track in Tasmania.

Planning to test the brand new 4-season Thermarest and the new ice axe. Weather permitting, camp will be made at the base of the final climb to the summit plateau. There's an ambitious plan to pitch the tents on the very exposed summit but that will be disastrous if weather conditions suddenly change for the worse.

Hope it's going to be a fun trip!

Old Coca Cola Ads

I drove all the way to Bright (300km+) from Melbourne on Sunday to see the famous autumn leaves. Unfortunately, I was two weeks too late and most of the leaves have fallen and there wasn't much to be seen. I should have been there on Gala Day on the 2 May but I had to go overseas for a week and a half... Oh well, I'll make sure I'll return to the beautiful town earlier in autumn next year.

On the return journey back to Melbourne, I stopped at an antique store just outside Bright and spent nearly an hour there looking through several rooms of treasures. There was just so many interesting things to look at in this store. I ended up finding two old Coca Cola ads from the 50s and 60s. Not too disappointed after all!

Back in Melbourne - First Run!

After spending 10 days in Hong Kong not doing any exercise and dining out for nearly all lunches and dinners, I finally came back to Melbourne on Sunday.

Surprisingly, I still weigh the same. I was expecting to put on 2-3kg because everyday over there I was binge eating delicious but fattening food. I decided to go for a 5.2km run in the afternoon to see how terribly unfit I was.

Again surprisingly, I actually matched and arguably exceeded my pretty modest standards. I wasn't feeling too out of breath, muscles are perfectly fine and I actually sprinted the last section to get home.

Hopefully it's a sign that the "new blood" (donated blood recently) is recharged, the muscles are ready, the mind is focused to take on the upcoming winter hiking trips.

Keeping Fit in Hong Kong

It's been four days since I've been in Hong Kong to attend my sister's wedding. I have tried my best to exercise as much as I can given that the big winter trips are coming up once I get back to Melbourne. The packs are going to be heavy and the walking will be steep and difficult. I will try my best to go running, cycling and walking with a heavy pack as much as possible once I get back. This winter, there's the challenging Overland Track in Tasmania (Aug) and most likely the very difficult trip scaling Ruapehu in NZ (Sep).

Which is why I have been trying my best exercising here in HK. I've discovered that HK is really really small and it's very quick and easy to simply walk to your next destination. The other day after lunch, I walked from Sheung Wan to Causeway Bay (five MRT stations) in just over half an hour. It is all flat and paved, with plenty of shops that blast Antarctic air out to the footpath to keep me cool. Two days ago, I walked home to Upper Central from Sai Wan. None of these are more than 5km long and very easy. In fact, to walk from the western end (Sai Wan) to the eastern end (Chai Wan) is only 15km, which can't possibly take more than 3-4 hours to finish. I think if I mention that to the locals, they will think I'm insane... One thing I don't understand is why there's a mega shopping centre on Victoria Peak instead of just a quiet scenic lookout. It was an eye opener the other day walking there from home where I was met with thousands of people, cars, shops, tourists, dogs and restaurants. Oh, how I miss hiking back home in Australia!