Dog sledding

It seems about the right time of year to throw this one in. I've been busy packing and working late, so I haven't been up to much.

A few years ago when I was passing through Canada, I spent a few weeks skiing near Banff and Lake Louise in Alberta in the Canadian Rockies. I'd always wanted to try dog-sledding and found a fantastic company called Snowy Owl near Canmore. The thing I liked best about this company (apart from the gorgeous location of their tours) was their ethical stance on their dogs. It was easy to tell that the dogs were well cared for and lived for the job. They were straining on their leads from the time they were taken out of the transport to when they were tied up to the sleds. While they were running, they were far more comfortable than the person sitting in the sled. In this position you feel every bump straight through your tailbone. Driving the sled was a little better, but this meant you were responsible for staying upright and convincing the dogs to stop.

One of the funniest aspects of doing the morning tour, was watching the dogs try to go to the toilet. The other dogs would be pulling away at the sled, racing along, when suddenly one of the dogs would decide to squat and put the brakes on. He'd get dragged along for a bit, until the other dogs finally got the message and slowed down.

We did our sledding on a trail in a valley high in the mountains. With gorgeous scenery all the way, we had plenty of opportunities to stop for photos. The dogs were friendly and we were allowed to pat them, much to their delight and mine. I would definitely do this again!

The First Emperor

On Sunday I escaped the heat with my brother at the NSW Art Gallery, where we saw The First Emperor exhibition. There was a bit of a crowd and a 15 minute wait in the line, but this was pretty bearable, especially as the air-conditioning was a welcome relief from the heat and humidity outside.

The exhibition is small but well presented and informative. It gives you a taste for more, and I now very much want to go to China to see the entire collection of entombed ceramic warriors. You get to see one of each type of warrior, from kneeling archers to charioteers and their horses. There are a good range of bronze artefacts, including the half life-size bronze horses and chariot, which are inlaid with gold and quite stunning. The best thing about the exhibition is the story, which captures you through the excellent presentation of reading panels. Well worth going to! Check out the video below for the full story. The exibition is open until 13 March.

Buying a used car

I'm not surprised that used car salesmen have a bad reputation, because frankly some of them deserve it. You'd think in this day and age it would be rare for one to be condescending to women. First guy I saw refused to budge on his inflated price. He told me that he couldn't do that because the floods in Queensland were pushing up demand for used cars. I don't see why pressure on car sales in Queensland should make me buy an overpriced car that I would immediately lose money on. The people in Queensland wouldn't benefit, it'd just be more money in this guy's pocket. The salesman had a full lot of cars, so it didn't look like Queensland dealers were taking away too many of his options. Just before I left I said I would be looking at other cars and would get back to him. He lost me when he said I should go and talk it over with my father. Aghhh! My father is senile and wouldn't even recognise the make of the car I was looking at.

Fortunately later today, I found a car that seemed a reasonable deal (it was even within the guide price suggested by Redbook) from a dealer of luxury vehicles. Someone must have traded their humble wheels for a Range Rover. The dealer was polite, respectful and didn't say a single dodgy thing. He even agreed to a reduced price. These things had a lot to do with me agreeing to buy his car. I have to admit, it was also nice to shop for a car inside an air-conditioned building on a 40 degree day.

I'm tempted to call the first salesman of the day to give him some tips on public relations and dealing with female customers...

Thunder canyon

Another brilliant canyon and a veerrry long day. There's no easy way to enter Thunder Canyon. You can enter by staying on the top of Lightning Ridge to the end, doing an easy abseil and then entering the creek. Another alternative is dropping off the ridge a little earlier and scrambling down some ledges. We took the third option and went straight into the creek rather than moving along the ridge. We quickly entered thick scrub, the kind where a machete would be handy. Worst of all the scrub included blade grass and a few of us were quick to pick up some significant cuts. It was impossible to walk in the creek, so we bashed our way through, making slow progress until the creek began to open up. 



Photos by Deb



We soon forgave our leader when we entered the canyon proper. Thunder Canyon is stunning, as is the end of Claustral Canyon (Thunder Gorge) where we finished the trip. Picture steep walls, narrow passages, deep water and challenging obstacles. I've never spent so much time sliding down rocks on my bum before. I eased my way down sections without the aid of ropes that I never would have contemplated if I hadn't seen someone do it before me. We also had two sections where we just used hand lines to help us down rather than abseiling. I've never done that before and was surprised at how secure I felt. Doing a canyon backwards to exit Thunder Canyon was challenging at points. A few scrambles and a couple of difficult climbs (for me anyway) and we were out.

I got to see glow worms in a cave that we had to swim into, and I had my best ever abseil. We dropped twenty metres through an opening down into a deep pool of water in a cave. I was thrilled :)