85 Simple Tricks for Improving Your Life Today

I was thinking the other day about what I have learned on my travels and from life and thought that I would write a blog post on a few and share them. I hope you enjoy them and put some of them to use as there are some gems that can help anyone improve! :)

1) Say yes more- Life brings about many more opportunities from saying yes.

2) Always remember peoples names

3) Treat others how you would like to be treated

4) Remember your please and thank yous…this will get you a long way.

5) Every time you meet someone new, pretend it is your long lost friend from 10 years ago.

6) Smile more- it costs nothing

7) Dress to impress

8) Floss your teeth

9) Take more photos and videos of everything you do

10) Never lose your temper, leaders are always in control.

11) Surprise friends and loved ones with gifts for no reason

12) Take responsibility for your actions

13) Pursue your dreams, nothing is impossible.

14) The world is a lot smaller than you think.

15) Always look for the positives in every situation

16) Remember to laugh more, a good sense of humour cures most things

17) Expect the best and that is what you normally will get

18) Travel- it broadens your mind more than anything else can

19) Get a mentor in different areas of life so you can learn from them.

20) Create a Bucketlist of things you want to experience before you die, and do them.

21) Follow what you want to do, not what society says you should do

22) Save at least 10% of every paycheck

23) Have goals and write them down so you are accountable to complete them

24) Only read the news headlines, it is all biased anyway

25) Watch Documentaries

26) Read personal development books

27) Take mini-retirements from life instead of waiting to do it when you ‘retire’…do it while you’re young and you still can.

28) Always live in top class places so you have an epic house to come home to

29) During a job interview, at the end when they ask do you have any questions?….ask “Do you have any reservations about not giving me this job?”

30) Life is about people and experiences, not material possessions

31) Feel the fear and do it anyway whatever it maybe.

32) Hug people more when seeing old friends or meeting someone new…everybody loves a hug

33) Go through and donate all the stuff you do not use at least once a year

34) Don’t take your health for granted, you never know when it might get taken away

35) Let people know how you feel about them, life is to short

36) Think big thoughts, relish small pleasures

37) Learn how to read a financial report and manage money

38) Compliment at least 3 people every day

39) Exercise is key to a healthy mind, body and soul

40) Wear a great watch, belt and shoes

41) Tell close ones what you want to happen at your funeral in case anything happens

42) Learn to listen better, opportunity knocks softly sometimes

43) Learn a second language (Spanish or Chinese)

44) Stop watching mindless T.V. and get outside and enjoy the moment

45) Strive for excellence not perfection

46) What other people think of you is none of your business

47) Avoid negative people

48) Be original and different

49) Have good posture, enter a room with purpose and confidence, it gets you many places.

50) Do something kind for strangers and expect nothing in return

51) Show respect for all living things

52) Relax-nothing is as important as it seems

53) Commit yourself to self-improvement

54) Don’t have any regrets, learn from the bad and move on

55) Don’t major in minor things

56) Keep good company and your promises

57) Drink more water.

58) Hire people smarter than you

59) Be modest, a lot was accomplished before you were born

60) Enjoy more sunsets, sunrises and looking at the stars

61) Don’t whinge (complain for the Americans out there)

62) Overnight success usually take about 10 years

63) Have a vision board of the life you want to have

64) Negotiate everything, everything is negotiable

65) Under promise, over deliver

66) Learn to say no when appropriate

67) Success is the ability to lead the lifestyle you want whenever you want with the people who you love and care for.

68) Take 20minute power naps

69) Don’t say you don’t have enough time or are busy, you have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Thomas Edison

70) Don’t delay on an idea, take action NOW

71) “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

72) Be decisive even if it means sometimes you will be wrong

73) Be grateful every day for everything you have

74) Wash your hands more often

75) Attitude is everything, take charge of yours and don’t let someone else choose it for you

76) Begin each day with your favorite music

77) Get your priorities straight

78) Sleep when your dead, get up 30minutes earlier for 1 year and you add seven and one half days to your life

79) Call your family more

80) Read a book a week and you will be 52 books smarter than your friends in one year alone.

81) Eat 30grams of protein upon waking up

82) Work to live, not live to work

83) There are many more ways to earn money than we are taught at school with the 9-5 routine

84) Go big or go home

85) Find you passion and follow it

Why these essential facts on Social Media will change your business

Marketing and promoting products is imperative to success in any business. In the 21st century, where people live in the world of the internet, have access to any information at the tip of their fingers, want to send and receive information instantly – Social Media serves as an effective marketing tool. Infact, it has now become essential for business houses to make their presence in the web world. Social media marketing has manifold benefits that are highly impactful if used strategically in any business, whether it’s small or big, established or growing, local or global.

Various Social Media tools such as blogs, articles, forums, micro blogging, websites, etc. are most common. Social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, LiveJournal, MySpace, MyLife, Linkedln have been listed as some of the most visited sites. The main idea is to stay visible on the internet consistently. Search Engine Optimization (SEO), the process that affects the visibility of a website or a web page on the search results is most important for a business owner to maximize his business prospects.  Ensuring SEO is essential to increase business prospects. This makes content development most important. Mere presence on the web or having a website is never enough. You need to develop your content so that it has appropriate keywords or terms to attract targeted audience.

What are the advantages of social media marketing?

1)  The greatest advantage of social media marketing is its cost effectiveness. It enables you to attract a large mass of customers at a time with none or minimal investments. All you need to ensure is content development so that you attract maximum traffic and stabilize your web presence and popularity.

2) SEO provides high quality business leads, making it popular among B2B marketers. According to a popular survey, 57% of B2B marketers have experienced huge impact on their lead generation target with SEO. Research by HubSpot indicates that:

  • SEO leads have a higher close rate compared to referrals, paid leads or, social media or outbound leads.
  • SEO leads and direct traffic leads have a 15% close rate.
  • Referrals have a 9% close rate
  • The remaining two have a close rate of 4% and 2% respectively.

3) Instant communication between client and supplier makes it possible to ensure customer satisfaction that is most important for any business. Using software that help to analyze your performance or compare your performance with competitors through statistical data enables you to survive the competition by devising strategies for improvement.

5) It’s also possible to capture popular customer trends or preferences. This way you can remodel you business plan to meet market demands.

Communication allows a strong relation of trust between the buyer and the seller so that business continues and attracts more customers following the goodwill that has been created.

Large corporate houses as well as small businesses are becoming increasingly involved in social media as a business activity. Using the tools creatively and keeping customers engaged through your presence on the web world can be an important step in promoting your business product, sales and services in a world where change is constant and where customers, ranging from individual buyers to small business owners or larger corporate structures, are becoming increasingly inclined towards the internet for information and purchase.

5 Fun Activities to do in Queenstown, New Zealand…

Queenstown New Zealand is one of the most unique parts of the world that I have ever visited and lived in. It is jaw droppingly beautiful and you certainly have to keep reminding yourself to look up every day to admire the wonderful mountains and terrain. It was recently voted a winner for the Travellers choice 2012 on Tripadvisor for the South Pacific competing with the likes of Melbourne and Sydney.

You have many sides to Queenstown even though it is nicknamed the ‘Adventure Capital of the world’. I have decided to put together a list of the top 5 things to do while here in Queenstown in no particular order and have incorporated a bit of adventure, relaxation and activities exclusive to the Queenstown area.

1) Queenstown Hill

The walk up Queenstown hill is stunning and breathtaking in more than a few ways. It takes about an hour to walk to the top and about half the time coming down. It is quite a steep walk and has look out points along the way so you certainly want to bring your camera. The view from the top is epic, looking down on Queenstown and the lake and around at the surrounding mountains it really is a beautiful sight and well worth the effort getting up there when you get to the top!

2) Onsen Pools

Onsen Pools is a great relaxing experience and is situated about a 10mins drive from Queenstown; they provide a pick up and drop of service if you do not have a car. Once  you are there you are shown to your private pool. The room has a retractable roof which is awesome and you have epic views of the Shotover river and surrounding mountains and is is stupidly relaxing while lying in the Spa. An hour is about perfect and the Spa, staff and whole experience were all great! (www.onsen.co.nz)

 

3) The Nevis Bungy and Swing

This has to be one of the best experiences I have ever had when it comes to adrenaline activities! It i deemed the highest Bungy in NZ and the largest swing in the world and both are awesome in their own right! This is definitely a must do for all you adrenaline junkies! Epic experience! (www.bungy.co.nz/the-nevis/the-nevis-swing)

4) Day trip to Glenorchy and Arrowtown

A day trip out to both of these beautiful quaint little towns will not leave you disappointed. The drives out to them both especially Glenorchy are wonderful and you can admire the amazing mountain views, both are great to take a trip out to to wander around and have some lunch or an afternoon there. From Glenorchy you can ‘tramp’ aka: Hike part of the Routeburn walk where you can encounter awesome waterfalls and rivers. Arrowtown is like stepping back in time and has some great cafes and shops to explore and is well maintained. Would recommend no more than an afternoon here after you have walked the few streets and learned some NZ history about how the village first evolved. (www.glenorchyinfocentre.co.nz) and (www.arrowtown.com)

5) Skyline Gondola

The Gondola is a must while visiting Queenstown! The views from the top are again surreal and you are able to take a bite to eat or have a drink while taking in the views of Queenstown and the Remarkables. You are able to ‘Luge’ while up at the top of the mountain and wanted to do something fun and adventurous. The restaurant also has an all you can eat buffet which is rather good and then you can take the Gondola back down when you are finished. Enjoy! :)

(www.skyline.co.nz/queenstown/)

 

Paulo Coelho and The Alchemist…

Paulo Coelho is one of my favourite authors of all time. Having read all of his books I would certainly recommend people to read at least one of them: the Alchemist. Below is a bit about Coelho and the Alchemist.

Paulo Coelho was born in Rio De Janiero, Brazil. At a young age he was passionate to become a writer however his parents were very much against his choice of profession so they chose to have him sent to a mental organization. It was in the age when non-conformists were provided with medical health care; it was measured to be the best thing to do to remedy Coelho and put him back on track. He succeeded to discharge from the institution three times until he was finally unconfined at the age of twenty.

After starting to study Law the writing bug bit him again so he finished his studies and moved as a hippie across South America, North America, Central America and Europe for a year. He came back to Brazil and worked as a songwriter for Elis Regina Carvalho Costa, Rita Lee and Raul Santos Seixas. He went on to labor as a columnist, drama director and artist before he revolved to permanent script writing.

Coelho initiated his writing career with the Hell Archives and then wrote The Pilgrimage. Other books followed such as: The Alchemist, Brida, By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept, The Fifth Mountain, Veronika Decides to Die, The Devil and Miss Prym, Eleven Minutes, Like the Flowing River, The Valkyries and The Witch of Portobello. By the time he wrote Brida, The Alchemist became an unsurpassed seller. Three of his books are true to life: The Pilgrimage, The Valkyries and Aleph. He has written collections of compositions and other fictions in Maktub and The Manual of the Warrior of Light. He has sold over 100 million copies of his writings in more than 150 countries and his writings have been interpreted in 71 dialects. He also remains the best-selling Portuguese-language writer and was bestowed with the ‘Honorable Award of the President of the Republic’ in 2006.

The Alchemist is a humble tale based on simple, yet philosophical realities. It was formerly printed in 1988 in Portuguese and has been translated into approximately 70 dialects.
The novel the Alchemist expresses the story of Santiago, an Andalusian marshal boy, who has the courage to follow his passion. Santiago has a periodic nightmare about finding his treasure at the Pyramids of Egypt. As he journeys from his birthplace of Spain, he come across a king, a wanderer, an Englishman, and an alchemist, all of whom provide guidance on the road to inner peace. What starts out as a hunt for gold develops into an unearthing of the treasure found within. Paulo Coelho’s intention in writing this novel is to encourage us to never sidestep our purpose, and urge people to always follow their imaginings. It’s only by following our dreams that we can come nearer to our purpose and personal legend.

Paulo Coelho’s exquisite yet simple writing weaves a hopeful and truly breathtaking narrative on life, love and dreams. It is certainly an inspirational novel and is about always listening to one’s heart and never giving up on one’s dreams. Coelho remarkably unites the realms of mysticism and reality, using hauntingly beautiful symbolism to convey his philosophy of embracing one’s destiny, refusing to conform to society and denying complacency. The book forces you to question yourself; where you are in life and where you intend to go. It exhorts you to never stop exploring, for that is the very essence of the human spirit. Once we have the courage to follow our dreams, the universe conspires to help us on our path, urging us on towards fulfilling our true potential.

I feel this book is one that people must read at least twice, I have read it more times than I can remember after I read it in one day and then preceded to read it as soon as I had put it down. It has so many different aspects in it that you can relate to in our lives that it really is an all time classic! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do and please let me know your thoughts on it. :)

Couchsurfing…What is Couchsurfing.org?…

Couchsurfing (www.couchsurfing.org ) has been a very influential thing in my life thus far having first signed up to it in February 2007. I found out about it from a random guy on Gumtree when i was looking for advice from people who have toured around the States. My housemate Dave and I found the site and instantly thought that the idea of having loads of people from around the world come and visit us was awesome and the next day we had our first Couchsurfer coming to stay and on some nights we had 13 people stay. ;) Little did we know how much of an impact it would have on our lives.

What is Couchsurfing then I hear you ask?

CouchSurfing is a corporation that is the world’s largest hospitality exchange and social travel network, connecting a global community of travelers, adventure seekers and lifelong learners dedicated to sharing their cultures, hospitality and authentic experiences. Couchsurfing was founded by a guy called Casey Fenton in 1999 and it became public in 2004 and is run from San Francisco. It was a non-profit organisation up until last year where it turned into a B Corporation ( a new type of corporation which uses the power of business to solve social and environmental problems).

CouchSurfing connects more than 4 million members in 86,000 cities via its website and mobile applications. It is free to register and you create a profile like Facebook listing your interests and you have the options of either listing yourself to either:

  1. Meet people in your area for a coffee/drink, or join an event such as a weekly meetup group, sport group or language exchange, you can search for people with similar interests, age (just a number ;) and location.
  2. Hosting people- Here you can host people for however long you like in your spare room or couch who are currently visiting your area.
  3. Surf- Stay with somebody when you are travelling in another city.and get a locals knowledge in the area you are visiting and discover things you would not normally know about.

I have had some epic experiences from Couchsurfing having hosted over 350 people in 6 countries and met well over 500 people through it! Most of my close friends I have met through CS and even though I have mainly hosted I have stayed in mansions as well as average couch’s around the world (awesome experience in Montevideo, Uruguay…hosted by a dog) ;)

The mission statement of CouchSurfing is:

Create Inspiring Experiences….At CouchSurfing International, we envision a world where everyone can explore and create meaningful connections with the people and places they encounter. Building meaningful connections across cultures enables us to respond to diversity with curiosity, appreciation and respect. The appreciation of diversity spreads tolerance and creates a global community.

What about hosting or staying with some weird people?

This is usually the first question most people ask and there are three methods designed to increase security and trust, which are all visible on member profiles for potential hosts and surfers:

  1. Personal references, which hosts and surfers have the option to leave after having used the service.
  2. An optional credit card verification system, allowing members to “lock in” their name and mailing address by making a credit card payment and entering a code that CouchSurfing mails to an address of their choice.
  3. A personal vouching system, whereby a member that had been vouched for three times — originally starting with the founders of the site — might in turn vouch for any number of other members he knew or had met through CouchSurfing, and trusts.

Out of all the amazing experiences that I have encountered I would say discovering CS is definitely one of them! I have met so many amazing people from around the world and had experiences that I never would have had staying in a 5* hotel or other accomodation. So why not? If your interested in discovering new cultures and how other people live then sign up for free now and see if you have a similar epic experiences! :)

Website: http://www.couchsurfing.org/

My profile on CS: http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lordhickey/

4-Hour Body – The Slow-Carb Diet…

I started the Slow Carb diet after I read Tim Ferris’s book the The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman
and in it is one chapter where he talks about and shows how he lost ’20 Pounds Of Body Fat in 30days’….sounds intriguing right?

I thought I must give this a go and have been on it continually for the last 5months.along with the ‘Geek to Freak workout’ http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/04/29/from-geek-to-freak-how-i-gained-34-lbs-of-muscle-in-4-weeks/ and seen some awesome results myself as well!

My goal at the start of it was to lose a bit of weight from 85kg and to convert it into muscle and tick my Bucketlist Number 4 of weighing around 82kg and being ripped as hell! (http://lifeisexperiences.com/?p=112) I was going by the mirror more than the weight.and knew it was not going to be easy.

Below Tim Ferris explains the principles behind the experiment and why it is necessary to carry out the following to make it a success.

*It is possible to lose 20 pounds of body fat in 30 days by optimizing any of three factors: exercise, diet, or a drug/supplement regimen. Twenty pounds for most people means moving down at least two clothing sizes, whether that’s going from a size 14 dress to a size 10 or from an XXL shirt to a large. The waist and hips show an even more dramatic reduction in circumference.

By April 6, 2007, as an example, I had cut from nearly 180 pounds to 165 pounds in six weeks, while adding about 10 pounds of muscle, which means I lost approximately 25 pounds of fat. The changes aren’t subtle.
The diet that I’ll introduce in this chapter-the Slow-Carb Diet-is the only diet besides the rather extreme Cyclical Ketogenic Diet (CKD) that has produced veins across my abdomen, which is the last place I lose fat. There are just five simple rules to follow:

RULE 1: AVOID “WHITE” CARBOHYDRATES.

Avoid any carbohydrate that is, or can be, white. The following foods are prohibited, except for within 30 minutes of finishing a resistance-training workout like those described in the “From Geek to Freak” or “Occam’s Protocol” chapters: all bread, rice (including brown), cereal, potatoes, pasta, tortillas, and fried food with breading. If you avoid eating the aforementioned foods and anything else white, you’ll be safe.
Just for fun, another reason to avoid the whities: chlorine dioxide, one of the chemicals used to bleach flour (even if later made brown again, a common trick), combines with residual protein in most of these foods to form alloxan. Researchers use alloxan in lab rats to induce diabetes. That’s right-it’s used to produce diabetes. This is bad news if you eat anything white or “enriched.”
Don’t eat white stuff unless you want to get fatter.

RULE 2: EAT THE SAME FEW MEALS OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

The most successful dieters, regardless of whether their goal is muscle gain or fat-loss, eat the same few meals over and over again. There are 47,000 products in the average U.S. grocery store, but only a handful of them won’t make you fat.
Mix and match from the following list, constructing each meal with one pick from each of the three groups. I’ve starred the choices that produce the fastest fat-loss for me:

Proteins
*Egg whites with 1–2 whole eggs for flavor (or, if organic, 2–5 whole eggs, including yolks)
*Chicken breast or thigh
*Black beans
*Beef (preferably grass-fed)
Pork
*Fish

Legumes
*Lentils (also called “dal” or “daal”)
Pinto beans
Red beans
Soybeans

Vegetables
*Spinach
*Mixed vegetables (including broccoli, cauliflower, or any other cruciferous vegetables)
*Sauerkraut, kimchee (full explanation of these later in “Damage Control”)
Asparagus
Peas
Broccoli
Green beans

Eat as much as you like of the above food items, but keep it simple. Pick three or four meals and repeat them. Almost all restaurants can give you a salad or vegetables in place of french fries, potatoes, or rice.

RULE 3: DON’T DRINK CALORIES.

Drink massive quantities of water and as much unsweetened tea, coffee (with no more than two tablespoons of cream; I suggest using cinnamon instead), or other no-calorie/low-calorie beverages as you like. Do not drink milk (including soy milk), normal soft drinks, or fruit juice.

RULE 4: DON’T EAT FRUIT.

Humans don’t need fruit six days a week, and they certainly don’t need it year-round. If your ancestors were from Europe, for example, how much fruit did they eat in the winter 500 years ago? Think they had Florida oranges in December? Not a chance. But you’re still here, so the lineage somehow survived.
The only exceptions to the no-fruit rule are tomatoes and avocadoes, and the latter should be eaten in moderation (no more than one cup or one meal per day). Otherwise, just say no to fruit and its principal sugar, fructose, which is converted to glycerol phosphate more efficiently than almost all other carbohydrates. Glycerol phosphate p triglycerides (via the liver) p fat storage. There are a few biochemical exceptions to this, but avoiding fruit six days per week is the most reliable policy.
But what’s this “six days a week” business? It’s the seventh day that allows you, if you so desire, to eat peach crepes and banana bread until you go into a coma.

RULE 5: TAKE ONE DAY OFF PER WEEK.

I recommend Saturdays as your Dieters Gone Wild (DGW) day. I am allowed to eat whatever I want on Saturdays, and I go out of my way to eat ice cream, Snickers, Take 5, and all of my other vices in excess. If I drank beer, I’d have a few pints of Paulaner Hefe-Weizen.

Start the diet at least five days before your designated cheat day. If you choose Saturday, for example, I would suggest starting your diet on a Monday.*

Below is the 5 basic guidelines that Tim advises which summaries the whole diet.

Rule 1: Avoid “white” carbohydrates (or anything that can be white).
Rule 2: Eat the same few meals over and over again.
Rule 3: Don’t drink calories.
Rule 4: Don’t eat fruit.
Rule 5: Take one day off per week and go nuts.

At the start I found the meals did get mundane however after you have them for a while you do get used to them and after a cheat day you really do not want to eat any more crap! The hardest thing was not eating fruit as I love it so much however the cheat day really does help you out and you look forward to it!

Here is a photo that I had taken after I had finished the diet! :)

Anyone else tried the Slow-Carb diet? What did you get out of it?

3 Incredible lessons on how to travel and work abroad….

I recently did a guest post for my good friend Ian Robinson on his blog www.howtotravelandwork.com << check it out, and have posted it below! See what you think!

A lot of people always think ‘How will I be able to work and travel’? Working and travelling is something that many people would love to do in life, however there is a stigma that people sometimes never get around to it or make an excuse for not doing it (time is not right, go next year, unable to afford it etc). When really all you need is your ‘WHY’ you want to work and travel–is it for the adventures, different experiences, learning about new cultures and job skills, new friends or a new perspective on life.

 

 

It is all about feeling the fear and doing it anyway…get out there and with the will power and initiative then anyone can do it…I have been doing it for the last 5 years.

Here are 3 quick tips for when working and travelling…

 

1) Network, Network, Network…before you go or as soon as you arrive, use sites such as www.couchsurfing.org, www.meetup.com, gumtree.com, tripadvisor.com, Transitionabroad.comEscapeartist.com, virtualtourist.com, www.triptrotting.com for any information and advice from people that have been in your similar shoes. Ask them about potential work in the destination you are heading to and put feelers out for what work is available depending on your sector. Networking is the biggest tool when looking for new work in my point of view.

2) Use sites such as www.monster.com and www.seek.com and www.linkedin.com so that your cv is open and available for potential employers to get in touch with you. Otherwise depending on the line of work you are looking for you might want to use www.localist.com to then get a list of all the bars/restaurants and business’s in the area and then blast your way through them with a copy and paste email and cover letter and you will be more than likely to get something asap to keep you going while you search elsewhere!

3) When in a new city get out to the bars and other meetup places and get your face known so that you are meeting people who have lived in that destination and know what work is available, each person on average has a network of 250 people, meet just 4 new people in a day and then you have a 1000 person network at your disposal for potential work. ;)

I have always lived my dream and made steps towards the bigger picture and found work pretty quick through the steps above, e.g. Turned up in NZ wanting to get paid to watch every game of the Rugby World Cup including the Final with zero contacts and achieved it!

Find out your ‘why’ and take action on it, learn from it and get out there and just do it! Enjoy the journey, have fun and say yes more! :)

p.s. If you need that extra push then here is a list of all the main travel sites for plane tickets so there is no excuses! ;)

www.expedia.com (Best one)
www.kayak.com
www.cheapflights.com
www.sidestep.com* outside US suggestion.
www.orbitz.com
www.priceline.com -(Bid for your ticket)
www.Cfares.com (American site)
www.Skyauction.com (auction bid for your next adventure)
www.Tam.com (Latin America)
www.lata.org (Latin America)

5 Must See Places to Visit for Auckland, New Zealand

Auckland city which is also known as the ‘City of Sails’ is the largest and most cosmopolitan city of New Zealand with a population of about 1.4million people. Although it is quite a large city it has a small town vibe to it with everything within access and a friendly feeling to it.

There are plenty of things to do in Auckland for everyone, whether it be sailing across to one of the beautiful islands such as Waiheke or Rangitoto, sailing on the America’s Cup Yacht, going kayaking and fishing or walking or jumping off the tallest building in the southern hemisphere the Skytower, there is fun for everyone.

 

Auckland city from the bridge

 

Below I have listed the top things I recommend to do when visiting Auckland in no particular order! :

1) Island hopping: Take a sailing trip or ferry to Waiheke island for the day and explore the great beaches and secret bays on the island as well as checking out one of the 30 or so Wineries there and sitback and enjoy the views over a glass of wine! Just a 30minute Ferry Ride from Auckland Harbour, it is definitely a great day trip! http://www.fullers.co.nz/

B) Take the ferry to Rangitoto island which is a volcanic island which last erupted 600 years ago, it offers great views at the summit of the island and back towards Auckland and beyond. There is also walking trails, bird-watching and fishing opportunities.

 

2) Check out the Skytower: The largest tower in the Southern Hemisphere at 328metres, the Skytower is an impressive landmark to visit to say the least. Whether it be having dinner at Orbit the revolving restaurant, shooting in the lift to the top of the observation tower to enjoy the 360degree view, taking a SkyWalk on the outside of it or even taking the Skyjump off it! (www.skyjump.co.nz). Definitely worth it on a great day or clear night! Orbit Restaurant: (http://www.skycityauckland.co.nz/Restaurants/Orbit.html)

 

3) Waitakere Ranges: Take a scenic drive to the Waitakere Ranges to see Piha Beach (www.piha.co.nz) amongst others and enjoy the amazing views, great hiking trails and good surf at some of the beaches!

Otherwise a road Trip around the Coromandel is also another great day trip with breath taking sites along the way! Both are great trips! (www.thecoromandel.com)

 

 

4) Popular spots in Auckland: Check out Mission Bay (www.missionbay.co.nz) and St Heliers for a great view of Rangitoto, good cafe culture, and good old Fish and Chips. Also there is the cafes and bars in the Viaduct Harbour and eateries in the Wynyard Quarter (www.waterfrontauckland.co.nz) which is a relatively new area since the Rugby World Cup. For a hike and great views of Auckland check out one of Auckland 49 volcanoes, I would recommend One Tree Hill in Cornwall park which is beautiful and then also Mount Eden.

 

5) Auckland Museum and Art Gallery: Auckland Museum and Art Gallery are both quality places to visit, the Museum is free if you say you live here and allows you to discover the history and culture of New Zealand through a well structured layout. The Art Gallery has the most extensive collection of national and international art in New Zealand with over 15,000 artworks and are currently showing the Degas to Dalí exhibition. www.aucklandmuseum.comwww.aucklandartgallery.com

I hope you enjoy your time in Auckland and some of the great places above and I appreciate any feedback you might have! cheers! :)

Auckland at sunset

O’Hagans Irish Pub 5km Running Race Series, Viaduct Harbour, Auckland.

The O’Hagans 5km Fun Run Series in Auckland is a social out and back race situated at the America’s Cup Viaduct in the center of the city which occurs every Tuesday evening at 6pm from October through until the end of May. I first found out about it in late 2011 after running a 10km in the Auckland domain which occurs every Thursday and somebody told me about the O’Hagans 5km run if I am looking for a good social run.

Always being up for something new I turned up the next Tuesday and have run it quite a few times now and have enjoyed every one of them. It is a well run race where you meet at the back of the pub and pay $7 to enter and receive your number which entitles you to a Free Beer/Wine or soft drink at the end of the race! This sounded great to me from the start  having never been to anything like that in England or even heard of it and certainly something to look forward to at the end!

 

 

The race starts off outside of the pub at the market place on the side of the road, Phil the organiser explains the route for any newbies and the race starts with a few bends of the Waitemata Plaza, right at the Vodafone building and out to the turn around point and back the same way that you came. (See the route at the bottom)

I would say it takes a few races to be able to run at your optimum as it takes a short time to get to know the course and where to cross and which bends are coming next etc. After a few runs you will be able to shave off quite a few seconds of your time I do not doubt as on my first race I was just looking to run with somebody of similar pace to show me what the direction is and have since taken 25seconds off! You run by the sea at one point which overlooks the Harbour Bridge at one point so you can also be enjoying the view. ;)

 

 

After you have recovered from the race which finishes next to the pub then you just hand in your race number behind the bar to receive your free beverage of your choice! It is a very enjoyable race with a good social bunch of people afterwards and is something which I would recommend people to give it a go when in Auckland. They even have spot prizes at 7pm with bottles of wine given out and a $100 bar tab up for grabs!! :) bargain! Enjoy!

The results are posted on the website below usually a day or two after and the bottom link is the map of the course! :)

Results: http://www.coolrunning.co.nz/

Map: ohagans-course-map

 

 

 

Adventure Experience of a lifetime! Mototaxi Junket 2011: Asuncion Paraguay to Cuzco Peru in a Tuk-Tuk.

It all began back in 2007 when our worlds collided through www.couchsurfing.org and Mr Red came to stay in London with Mr Pink and I. We all wanted to go on an adventure as soon as we had no commitments, the world was our oyster and we wanted to do something extreme and out there and we found the site www.theadventurists.com. We then made a pact there and then that we would do an adventure for charity in a Tuk-Tuk somewhere in the World within five years. (For those of you who do not know what a Tuk-Tuk is….please see the picture below that it is basically a shitty motorbike with a sofa on the back not made for adventuring!)

 

 

Four years later I get a phone call from Mr Red while on a mini retirement from life in Brazil and he tells me ‘It is time’, he has awesomely signed us up to an adventure from Asuncion, Paraguay to Cuzco, Peru (Over 3000km more or less) in a Tuk-Tuk or Mototaxi!! We all agree to meet with Mr Pink who was currently in Colombia a month before so we could check it all out, raise the money for Practical action the charity and get our ‘outfits together and have a catchup before the challenge ahead.

 

The Unroute!…3000km more or less ;)

 

A few days before the big day we found some amazing all in one suits from the Bogota black market and instantly bought them as we were looking for outfits that would keep us warm and also allow us to strip down when necessary. On the morning of the big day as we were putting shorts on with our ‘Tellytubby’ outfits we thought why don’t we challenge ourselves and only wear boxer shorts underneath, take our outfit, passports and cards plus Mr Blues outfit who we were meeting in Asuncion, Paraguay and nothing more or less!!

 

 

So it was done, we set sail from Colombia known as ‘The Colours’ (no real names allowed) or the ‘Tellytubbies’ with our few items (see picture above- no maps, no nothing) for Asuncion, Paraguay via Buenos Aires for 8 or so hours for Christmas day and then spent 4 days in Montevideo. On Christmas day eve where one of the colours was robbed with our passports and wallets however he managed to negotiate our passports back and we still had one wallet left so were able to continue! It was meant to be! This was only the beginning of what was to come! haha.

 

The Colours on the front page of the Paraguayan news ;)

I could write a mini book on everything that followed, from tackling security at the airport, hiding each others passports in sick bags and breaching international flight regulations and not getting arrested it as it was Christmas day. Jumping in an immigration booth and stamping each others passports, stopping the streets of Paraguay with Police escort so all the teams can have a curtain raiser to the bigday, jumping across borders illegally with only one of us having an international driving license (wallets stolen). From leaving Paraguay just asking which way North was to Peru as we had no maps, not having any accomodation booked for any nights and choosing to sleep on stone cold floors in the middle off nowhere with pet monkeys in the kitchen. Being on multiple news stations and on the front pages across Colombia, Paraguay, Bolivia and Peru would just be touching the surface of it all!

 

 

So here it is! I think this video produced and edited by Mr Red sums up the adventure fantastically well and gives you a good insight into what it was like. This is the Tuk Tuk adventure we did from Asuncion, Paraguay to Cusco, Peru! One of the most amazing experiences I have done ever with just fancy dress, cards and passports and any items we were given or picked up along the way! :)  I hope your enjoy it and please just click the link below which takes you through to see the video and feel free to leave any comments! :)