Chasing Emma
chasing bucket list adventures and experiences
Tag: Outback Adventure
Bucket List: Explore Red Bank Gorge
Posted on May 4, 2019 by Emma Jayne
Exploring the West MacDonnell Ranges in Outback Australia to find Red Bank Gorge and go for a swim and a hike.
Category: Adventure, Outdoors, Red CentreTags: bucket list, Central Australia, Outback Adventure, Red Bank Gorge, Red Centre, Red Centre NT, the outback
About Me
Hi there! I’m Emma, an Aussie with a bucket-list and a goal to check every item off my list. Join me on my bucket-list adventure as we experience as much of the world as possible.
Despite my brief trips to Darwin, the urge to explore was building in me. But the question was, where should I go? I don't remember what exactly I was doing when I made my decision, but I somehow came across some photos of New Zealand and my heart just stopped. That was where I wanted to go.
I took myself to the same travel agency that my friend and I had gone to 3 years earlier to book our cruise and met Alex who was to become my travel agent for the next couple of years. I told her I wanted to go to New Zealand but I wasn't sure how to go about gwtting there. She pulled out a range of magazines and flyers advertising various group travel options including can Contiki. Contiki was a brand that I had heard of. In fact, a number of my friends had travelled with Contiki and they had nothing but positive things to say about it, so I thought "why not?" and booked myself onto a 2 and a 1/2 week tour through the North and South islands of New Zealand.
I learnt a lot of things about myself on this trip, mostly that I wasn't a party animal, and seeing as partying in a key component of Contiki tours, Contiki wasn't the right travel tour for me. Nevertheless, I ended up doing a whole range of things on that trip that I probably wouldn't have done if I'd been by myself. For example, I went zorbing, skydiving, canyoning, white water rafting and kayaking on a freezing, deep, dark black lake with one hell of a flu. I made some truly amazing friends on that trip and I can safely say that I walked away from it knowing that that style of travel wasn't quite what I was after, but it certainly served the purpose that it needed to, namely, I developed more confidence in myself and learnt that I can do scary things.
#newzealand #newzealandtravel #travelmemories #traveltb #tbt #adventure #wearetravelgirls #bucketlist
How many times have I done this the same hike over the past 2 month? Does it count as a different hike if the sunrise view is different every time?
#girlswhohike #hiking #hikrlife #redcentre
When I finished uni I went straight into work. I didn't take a break because I couldn't afford to. While I had worked all through uni I certainly hadn't been able to save as much money as I had hoped, particularly in my last year of study when I had to go on two very large (unpaid) placements in schools. Lucky for me, during my 1st year of teaching I was often being sent up to darwin to undertake further professional learning in development, and while I was committed to working between the hours of 8am and 4:20pm, the evenings were mine and I sought out adventure.
#adventure #tbt #travelthroback #cageofdeath #travelmemories
I made a commitment to myself at the start of the year that I would prioritize my physical and mental health over my job. It's not really something I've ever been good at, and seeing as I was starting a new job I knew it was going to be important. For a long time my actively acknowledged life moto was: "if you're going to do it, you might as well do it properly." It sounds good on paper but if you are a worry wort perfectionist like me who has exceedingly high expectations of herself, its not great. Its actually a rather crushing pressure to be carrying.
So back to the opening statement of this post. I have not been doing a great job at prioritizing my physical and mental health. I let myself bring work home and work on into thw night and on weekends, and I've found myself trapped in a fog of negativity. I've developed lower back and foot pain and have started having panic attacks. But yesterday I went for a run along the dry river bed and it was liberating. I didn't run the whole track, but I did run about 80% of it, and proved to myself that it is possible. It was like a light switched on for me, just a small one, and it is making the fog easier to navigate. The new goal is to run the river track 3 times this week. Let's go!
#anxiety #running #runningfrommyproblems #goals #sunset #fitness #mentalhealth
Two years into my double bachelor degree I started to crave an adventure. I was completing a double degree which was equivalent to a bachelor of arts and a bachelor of teaching. The first two years were the most boring two years of study of my life (that's a bachelor of arts for you). I was seriously contemplating dropping out. I needed a break.
One of my friends was also at a bit of a cross roads, and during one of our regular catch ups we started fantasising about going on a cruise. In our minds a cruise was a luxurious way to travel to exotic destinations for a relatively affordable price. I was a full time uni student working a cleaning job part time and she was living by herself (rent is the worst here) and had a minimum wage job. It seemed perfect.
We went to our travel agency and booked a 10 day cruise with P&O over the January uni holidays. The cruise involved two sea days leaving and going into Sydney, but the rest of the cruise promised waking up to a new island everyday. The itinerary included Mystery Island, Port Vila, Lifou and Isle of Pines.
During our port days we explored the islands and did heaps of snorkeling
When I think back to this cruise, it's with mixed feelings. I had a really good time but I discovered that the cruise life was not for me. Being trapped on a boat and only having a couple of hours to explore a destination was not the right type of travel for me.
#travelmemories #tbt #cruise #pocruises #wearetravelgirls
Sunday morning drives and hikes withe puppy friends 🤗 #hiking #sundaydrive #redcentrent
