A Day Hike to the Blue Lakes National Park

One nice summer day, we decided to go for a hike to the Blue Lakes National Park located just 8 km drive from the nearest city - Elizovo. It is famous for its Alpine lakes, which are in the middle of the ancient crater of volcano. The bottom of each is covered with never melting ice, making an illusion of blue colour of the water in a sunny day. To go there, you have to hike up and up 28 km. Usually, it is a weekend trip, but we had just one day free, so decided to challenge ourselves and go for a day hike. So, having packed our day backpacks with a snacks and some stuff for a lunch we left the car park at around 10 am. After first 7 km, we approached a base camp, with some wooden shelters and campsite.

 After a little rest and chat with the park ranger we continued our walk. The trail led us higher and higher and we enjoyed beautiful view of the mountains on the way. 

 6 km after we took a short rest. Here the most challenging part has begun. We had to cross the creek and climb up for another kilometre. Many years ago the creek water brought many large stones there and left some on the trail. Actually, it is hard to call a trail, you just climb up to the rock where the creek begins. (It looks like this from the down). But when we finally made it, our efforts were rewarded.

 A beautiful view of the alpine valley, yammy berries, cute funny ground hog squirrels running around and, on top of it, the Blue Lakes. There were 4 or 5 of them, each had unique size and shape. The water was icy cold, so we just washed our hot faces, but I have seen some people bathing there. Crazy.

It is actually quite cold there, especially at night and there are no wood, so people do not camp there. And the snow melts only in a very hot summer. We made a fire and cooked lunch. Curious group hog squirrels came to us to check out our food. There are many tourists there and if someone leaves his food unattended, it will disappear in a minute. After lunch we took a little rest and started to get ready for the way back. Suddenly the dog of my friend (she took a poodle with her) became worried and restless. In a second we realized why. On the remote slope of the valley there was a bear! A big, wild, brown bear was gracefully going down the slope in around 100 meters from us. The wind blew from him, so obviously he could not smell humans. Luckily, we knew what to do and did not panic. Much. Quickly but without a rush, we made or way back to the exit from the valley and down the river. The bear probably even did not see us, they are quite short-sighted. The rest of the journey went without any events, we successfully reached the car and went home. It was a great hike and good memories. 

Surfing at the Spit

One sunny day I got up and thought: "Hmmm, I have been living in Australia for 6 months already and never tried surfing, what a shame". After googling the relevant info, I picked up one surf school in the Gold Coast which does surf lessons in the Spit for affordable price. I have already heard from my friends-surfers that this place is good for beginners."Well, at least it is not a Surfers Paradise, where there are so many potential victims and gazers", I thought and gave a call these guys. Luckily they had a place available that day for me and booked me in. So, after a couple of hours here I am, in the rush-shirt, with a foam beginner's surfboard on the beach. After a short briefing on the beach, we, a group of 6, went to the water. First couple of times my body could not understand what it had to do, but when the instructor came and helped me to catch my first wave - it was amazing. What I realised, it is all about the timing - you have to predict when the wave comes and jump onto the board and start paddling right before it comes and covers you. This two hour lesson went so fast. The arms and legs were sore, I have got some scratches from the sand, sun burnt face (water washes sunscreen off in a minute) and red from ocean water eyes. BUT! I was so happy that I managed to stand up and "surf" towards the beach. When you catch a wave, feel its power and control it  - it is the best feeling ever.

P.S. I think I became addicted to it, now saving money for my first surfboard.
P.P.S. Sorry, no pictures for this post.
P.P.P.S. Check out my article http://www.weekendnotes.com/surfing-at-the-spit/

Climbing to Avacha Volcano

Located only 25 km from the city, 2774 meters high Avacha volcano is one of the most accessible and  favourite tourist spots. It is an active volcano, its latest eruption was in 1991. Since recent times there is some volcanic activity in the form of fumaroles.

 There are three base camps at the foot of the mountain where you can book a bed and a share kitchen or you can put up a tent for free. As this place is 900 m above sea level, there are no trees and wood, so you have to take a gas stove with you. Beware of the ground hog squirrels - these little cute rodents seem very friendly, but if you leave any food unattended, they eat it at no time.

The climb usually takes up to 6 hours and a couple of hours down, depending on the weather and trail conditions. A reasonable level of fitness is required, but I have seen small kids and 80 year old people climbing there. You probably might need trekking poles and last 100 meters you will have to use a rope, hanging from the top. In summer, the most popular time, the trail can be easily seen and there are many climbers going up or down, so the guide's services are not essential. However, you should not forget about personal safety and common sense. Mountains do not forgive reckless people.

From the summit you can enjoy the ocean and city view, but most of the time they will be covered by clouds. It is not recommended to stay on the top very long because of the fumaroles' sulphur smoke. Though it is nice to sit in the warm slag near the crater and have some snack.

According to Wikipedia, trek or trekking is a long journey undertaken on foot in areas where common means of transport is generally not available. Trekking is not mountaineering; it is days of walking, along with adventure, and, I can add, burning muscles and great fun.

Climbing to Viluchinsky Volcano

You might not believe me, but in June there is much snow in Kamchatka volcanoes. So one sunny summer day two of my friends and myself decided to go climbing there. Having left the city early morning we arrived to the foot of volcano in the afternoon, having wasted much time changing punched tyres. (Three at a time!) We made our way to the 80 m waterfall, falling from the slopes of the volcano to the glacier.  Imagine, the snow there never melts. Then, we started to climb up to the left of the waterfall. Fortunately, there was still much snow, so it was quite easy to climb. In terms of equipment, we had just one ski pole each and one alpenstock. We took some nice pictures during the climb. But the surprise waited us on  the top - there was no trail through the thick bush. Having a rest and some snacks we continued out trip, but the weather has changed dramatically. Only two hundred meters were left from the top, but we were exhausted and cold and decided to go down. It took us around 6 hours to go up and down, if not the weather, we would have reached the summit.

Burleigh Heads National Park

I have been there several times, but the most enjoyable time was with my friend on the Halloween night. Probably it was not the best place to go, but the night view from the Tumgun lookout was amazing. It was the first National Park I have visited in Australia, by the way.
Read more about Burleigh Heads National Park and what you can do there in my article: http://www.weekendnotes.com/burleigh-heads-national-park/