Thanks to Barbara McMahon of the Guardian for bringing this amusing story of a British man living in Perth, Australia, who put his entire life up for auction on eBay following the break-up of his marriage. He has found that it was not worth as much as he had hoped.
Ian Usher, a 44-year-old salesman, held a seven-day online auction of his home, friends and job. Hoax bids pushed the price beyond A$2m but yesterday an Australian bidder agreed to pay A$399,300 (£192,276), A$100,000 below his target.
Usher, originally from Darlington, Co Durham, insisted yesterday he was “not disappointed” by the outcome.
In the opening hours of the sale 70 bids were registered and the price of his life in Oz stood at A$1.7m (£820,000). “I feel pretty good, shell-shocked really,” he said at the time. “It’s going much better than I’d anticipated.”
Heartbroken after his marriage breakdown two years ago, Usher decided to get rid of everything he owned so that he could start a new life.
The single lot included Usher’s former marital home outside Perth, car and motorbike as well as all the toys necessary to enjoy the Australian lifestyle: a jetski, kite-surfing equipment, a mountain bike and the obligatory barbecue. It also contained a two-week trial run at Usher’s job as a rug shop assistant and an introduction to his friends, offering the successful bidder a ready-made life.
Usher now plans to go travelling with just his wallet, his passport and the clothes on his back: “I’m ready to move on.”
What can we say – going from one extreme to another?!!
I picked this up in yesterday’s Sunday Telegraph – an article written by the Telegraph’s health correspondent, Laura Donnelly – three immediate thoughts – don’t get ill in England and have to go to hospital – keep up the vigilance and due diligence and care and attention to detail whilst practicing your extreme sport – and if you have an accident whilst practicing your extreme sport in England and have to go to hospital……well good luck is all I can muster!
‘Hospital acquired infections or medical errors are more likely to cause death than extreme sports such as high altitude mountaineering and bungee jumping research has found.
The risks from infection, mistakes over drugs and failings in care mean that nearly one in 100 patients admitted to an NHS hospital will die an avoidable death, compared with one in 1,000 of those taking part in dangerous sports.
The findings define health care as a “hazardous activity” for patients and compare it unfavourably with air travel and the nuclear power industry, both of which carry a one in 100,000 risk.
The research, which was compiled by the NHS National Patient Safety Agency and the health care charity, the Health Foundation, reveals that up to 104,000 patients die each year as a result of poor infection management and basic medical errors.
The report was presented at a health managers’ conference in Manchester to mark the start of a new NHS safety campaign. Stephen Ramsden, chief executive of the Luton and Dunstable Hospital Foundation Trust and director of the new campaign, said the aim was to “awaken the consciences” of those NHS managers who had not done enough to make patient safety their priority.
His hospital and 23 others are piloting a scheme intended to cut risk through measures including an “early warning” scoring system to detect the first signs that a patient is deteriorating, and pre-surgery equipment assessment.
The mountain bikers that will wear the Maple Leaf at this summer’s Olympic Games in China are not taking any chances. The four-member team, led by 2004 Olympic silver medallist Marie-Helene Premont of Chateau-Richer, Que., will train in Canada and won’t arrive in Beijing until a few days before their races.
It’s a move veteran racer Seamus McGrath of Millgrove, Ont., supports. He wants to avoid the searing heat and choking pollution expected to swirl around the Laoshan Mountain Bike Course as long as possible. “You can control everything at home,” McGrath said during a telephone conference call Friday. “You can control your diet, you get good sleep, good training. Basically you don’t want to change too much before the Olympic Games. Go with what you know.”
Also named to the team by the Canadian Cycling Association was Catharine Pendrel of Kamloops, B.C., and Geoff Kabush of Victoria. Premont is currently ranked third in the world by the International Cycling Union. The 31-year-old has won a medal at all five World Cup races this season and was fourth at the recent world championships in Italy. Premont may have slipped under the radar heading into Athens but knows she will be on everyone’s screen this year.
Pendrel, 28, has been a consistent top-10 performer on the World Cup the past two seasons. She is currently ranked 12th in the world. She rode the 4.6-kilometre Olympic course at last year’s test event, finishing seventh despite extremely hot and moist conditions
“I think it’s a good course for me,” said Pendrel. “It is very physically demanding. There is absolutely no rest on it. It’s pretty similar terrain to Kamloops, lots of steep climbs, dry, hard-packed soil. I think that will bode even better for the Canadians.”
Kabush, 31, and McGrath, 32, are both international veterans. Kabush won a World Cup bronze medal earlier this season. McGrath was ninth in the Athens Olympics and won a bronze at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in 2006.
Sean O’Donnell, the high performance manager for the Canadian Cycling Association, said both the men and women have podium potential. “We are very excited by these four athletes that are going to Beijing, I think we go into Beijing, on both the women’s and men’s side, with a strong chance of earning at least one medal in each event. It’s a very strong team, an experienced team. I think that bodes well for Canada.”
Many of the riders got their first taste of the air around Beijing at last year’s test event and were not impressed. American rider Adam Craig dropped out of the race, saying the pollution resulted in him “coughing, hacking, spitting up all sorts of gross stuff and feeling nauseous.”
Kabush said you can adapt to the heat but “there is no acclamation to pollution. I think the strategy for a lot of us is just going to be to avoid that as long as possible.”
When the team arrives they will use air filters in their rooms and possibly wear masks while training. To battle the heat, riders will don ice vests to cool their body temperatures before their events and will race dressed in light-weight, breathable clothing. Some Olympic athletes plan to train in countries near China prior to the Games.
The women’s cross country race is August 22 and the men’s race on August 23.
Not quite sure whether the video below will be anything like the course in Bejing but hopefully it will whet your appetite – bring the games on! Thanks to qcguy4 who put this video out on You Tube.
Here is a brief video from sammienator on YouTube of snow boarding from Cardrona in New Zealand followed by notice of the World Cup snowboarding competition to be held there in September 2008.
Snow Sports New Zealand will again host the FIS World Cup snowboard competition at Cardrona Alpine Ski Resort on September 6-7.
It is the second year in a row Cardrona has secured a stop on the World Cup snowboard circuit, which takes place in 20 venues in 15 countries.
Up to 450 athletes take part in the circuit, with at least 100 expected to attend the New Zealand event, which is the first on the World Cup 2008-09 tour before it heads to South America.
The competition then moves to the northern hemisphere and finishes in Italy in March next year.
Snow Sports NZ will also host an FIS Continental Cup slopestyle event on September 3 at Cardrona.
That competition is one level below World Cup competition and will be the only southern hemisphere slopestyle event at which snowboarders will be able to earn FIS points to improve their world rankings.
It looks as though they will be ready for a great event.
OK so I guess you will have all seen Erik Eck’s accidental record when he was swept into the air by a freak thermal in Hawaii which didn’t put him down again onto terra firma for another 39 seconds. Well here is his own account of what happened, what he was thinking and the outcome of that record flight. Thanks to Polyz and YouTube for putting this together.
If you are down south and happen to find yourself in need of a little rock climbing or mountain bike riding we are delighted to suggest that you might try out Hurricane Creek Park, located between the Vinemont and Falkville communities in Cullman Park, Alabama.
With rock climbing, hiking trails and a new mountain bike race course, Hurricane Creek Park has evolved into one-stop adventure for outdoor enthusiasts.
While flying a plane over north Alabama, William “Buddy” Rodgers noticed a canyon that sits at the foot of Lacon Mountain — a place he immediately fell in love with. In 1961, Rodgers took a trip to Cullman County to purchase the land he named Hurricane Creek Park. Rodgers ran Hurricane Creek Park for over 40 years as a day-hike picnic area. But in 2003, Rodgers handed the park over the State of Alabama Wildlife and Fisheries — which has handed operation responsibilities over to Cullman Parks and Recreation.
Since taking over operations at Hurricane Creek Park, Cullman Parks and Recreation have upgraded the facilities — creating a natural wildlife habitat with attractions unlike any other state park in Alabama.
“The park has changed a lot since we took it over,” said John Hunt, the parks director. “Right now, there’s not another place like this in the state. You would have to travel a long way to find another park where you can do this stuff. We’re still working on a few things. But there’s still a lot of fun things to do down here.”
When Rodgers ran Hurricane Creek Park, hiking was the main attraction. But now that’s just one of the many things visitors can enjoy.
The park’s newest attraction is its mountain bike race course (MBR) — a series of trails and ramps that are unlike anything else in the southeast. Created by Hurricane Creek Park professional guide John McCrary, the MBR has been constructed at the northern end of the park. Along with the twists and turns of the mountain bike trails that have been cut along the hillside, there is a wooden playground for expert riders at the center of the course.
Built by McCrary, the wooden platform — that is approximately 15-foot tall — gives riders an opportunity to test their skills at narrow bridges, steep ramps and 12-foot jumps. “I still haven’t completed the entire course,” said McCrary, who built the platform, ramps and jumps by hand. “This is kind of my work of art, so I want it to be perfect. To find something like this, you probably have to drive to West Virginia. There’s definitely nothing else like it in Alabama.”
According to McCrary, one of the most popular attractions at Hurricane Creek Park is rock climbing. McCrary is a trained professional with over 18 years of experience in climbing an mountaineering. He teaches climbing to beginners at the park — to both individuals and groups. “Rock climbing is our most popular activity,” McCrary said. “We have different groups come here from all over. Our busiest time is in the fall and spring, but we still have groups come during the summer.”
While rock climbing, mountain biking and hiking are three features adventure enthusiasts would enjoy, Hurricane Creek Park also offers activities for people looking for rest and relaxation. In 2005, Hurricane Creek Park was added as a Site 32 on the North Alabama Birding Trail.
Without doubt, whatever your skill level, this would be a great day out for all the family.
Sandboarding is said to be the “latest” board sport following closely in surfing and snowboarding footsteps.
On the popular BBC series, Ski Sunday, Graham Bell and Ed Leigh discussed sandboarding. In fact Ed Leigh gave it a go and was most unimpressed – though a comment on the BBC blog mentioned that perhaps his board hadn’t been waxed satisfactorily.
Here in southern Africa it is looked on as the latest and most fun sport. Although the environmentalists aren’t too sure. They say that people carving up the great dunes in Namibia are doing untold damage to the fragile eco-system and they are trying to bring a stop to the increasing number of boarders – or at best, to at least control the sport.
It is perhaps not true to say that sandboarding is a new sport. Some sources claim that the ancient Egyptians as well as the Chinese were not averse to the idea of sliding down dunes on planks of hardened pottery or wood! Whether this is true or not black and white photographs do exist showing upright sandboarding dating back to the 1940’s.
For the next 20 years enthusiasts used anything they could lay their hands on to ride the dunes – from pieces of cardboard, trays, car hoods, surfboards and even water skies!
By the mid-1970’s sandboarding was gaining in popularity, but snowboarding became the rage and sandboarding was pushed aside for the next 12 years.
However, not entirely – countries that have no snow had a major disadvantage!!! Places like the Mojave Desert in America lacked snow but certainly had plenty of sand and wonderful sand dunes.
Early sandboards were slow and inconsistent performers and to ensure that this fledgling sport survived developers looked to the snowboarding industry for guidance. They helped to such an extent that one could now say that sandboards were developed by the finest snowboard designers!
With the help of the Internet, sandboarders have come together from around the world to share their experiences. People from all parts of America, Australia, New Zealand, Namibia, Egypt, France, Italy, Germany, Hungary, Holland, Belgium, England, Japan, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Canada, and South Africa.
I am confused. We have just been rapped over the knuckles for using someone’s article on the world’s most extreme waves – despite crediting the original authors.
Have I misunderstood something here? People use our content all the time, but as long as we are credited I thought that was the way this wonderful media worked. Using someone else’s information and crediting the orignial author spreads your own blog further afield – further than just your efforts to circulate it can do. Or am I wrong? As Yul Brynner said in The King And I – “It’s a puzzlement!”
I am always pleased to see someone using our stuff. It means it’s worth repeating – and that’s cool!
To see several people using it is awesome.
We have once before used someone’s article and although giving her name the link didn’t work. She very politely contacted us and asked us to add the link another time. Without hesitation we went straight back to that particular blog and added it then and there. If someone has written a wonderful article they are due full credit. Not the next time – immediately.
So I shall redo the wave blog and see if I can’t make it even more awesome than the previous one!!! But it leaves an unpleasant feeling in the pit of your stomach to be ticked off – especially as I said the article was so good that I couldn’t possibly better it!
I think when you book an extreme vacation you should be thinking more along the lines of what amazing adventure sport you can get up to, mountain you can climb, ocean you can conquer – rather than taking this vacation in a country in the midst of proabably its worst political crisis ever!
You got a fairly good breakdown several days ago as to what things are like here in Zim. It is scary. It is frightening. It is probably the last place anyone should have gone on holiday! But being a Zimbabwean this is our annual pilgrimage to see family and friends, to give ourselves that dose of the bush that we need so badly and miss so desperately in the civilised first world, and to revel in the wide-open spaces and endless horizons. When we booked the tickets way back last year, the elections were meant to be in March and well and truly over by now…
But the reality here is something else. Deciding that it would be better to err on the side of caution we have elected to remain in Harare over the next few days. The thought of heading for one of our favourite places like Kariba on the northern border or Nyanga in the Eastern Highlands would entail a 5-hour journey through the fabled rural areas where a lot of the worst atrocities are occurring. To everybody’s horror though, these atrocities are now occurring on a daily basis right here in the heart of Harare.
We arrived on Wednesday18th June and were able to change our money at ZW$6 billion to one. 2 days ago we changed again at ZW$15.2 billion to one US. Today it would probably be 20. The freefall is out of control. I have just heard on the BBC (from John Simpson who is here in the country and reporting on this election) that he was with a friend shopping in one of the supermarkets – which have very little in them anyway apart from fresh produce, and that the price of a bag of apples changed from the moment of taking them off the rack – to getting them to the till! This is no exaggeration. We had to return one 4-pack of loo paper because the same thing happened with us! You do NOT want excess zim dollars on you because within hours they have devalued by half if not more.
The largest note here at the moment is ZW$25 billion. This was worth about US$3.00 two days ago. Today it is worth US$1.50.
My mind blanks when presented with figures like this. A meal in a restaurant can cost you trillions. Imagine that?!
But that’s not the worst of it. Actually being able to find the necessities you need is an art. We call it “foraging” and I must say you do get good at it pretty quickly! You have a contact for meat here, sugar over there, maize meal (the staple diet) behind that house, wine (VERY necessary!) over the other side of town… and so it goes on.
So not only an extreme vacation but also an extreme shopping experience.
However, this is the lighter side of the country and one that you quickly adapt to. It’s the fear on the faces of everyone that is so tragic. And you find yourselves constantly fearful too, watching everything out of the corner of your eye, never directly looking at a young youth on the street, stopping for no-one (no matter how guilty you feel about this), and hurrying back within your security gates as quickly as you can.
Bush telegraph works well here. The moment there is trouble somewhere: a riot, stone throwing, plastering government posters on cars at intersections, axe wielding youths or anything along those lines someone from somewhere will sms you saying “don’t go in this direction…” There is a 9p.m. curfew on travelling at night.
The staff houses are filling up with relatives from the country who are coming in with horrendous tales of beatings, rape and torture – even children aren’t spared. Houses are being burned down – and this is winter. Everything inside the house is lost – blankets, clothing, pots and pans, what little food that might be stashed there.
This is despotism with impunity.
And the world mulls over it all talking about sanctions and that things must be left to the regional countries. Well, this poor country has been waiting for regional intervention for 8 years – why the west thinks they might do something this time I don’t know. Smaller countries surrounding Zimbabwe are now voicing disapproval – but Thabo Mbeki of South Africa is the man everyone is waiting for and he does nothing – despite the fact that his own ANC party is now vociferously against the situation here.
And this is an extreme sport site – not an extreme politics site! The next time I give you news on this beautiful country it will be more light-hearted I assure you! There is so much to do here. So many exciting things to do and see. And as soon as we are able to leave town I shall start documenting them!
It can be described as nothing else than boys with their toys but this is a fabulous clip of just that – thanks guillam11 and YouTube – extreme footage of a trimaran pulling two kiteboarders in its wake as it powers its way across the ocean flat out. Sorry its a bit long but its worth it – did I mention the helicopter?!
Extreme Sports 