My July 2018: From Peru to England and the Faroes

July means summer holiday, and that means travels, non-stop travels, and a little bit of work in between! I haven’t even had time to relax this month, let alone sleep – but it has been great!

The last week in Peru

July began with a bang on the second part of our weekend trip south of Lima. We headed to Islas Ballestas, the Galapagos of Peru, with so much incredible wildlife! We saw sea lions, penguins, ginormous crabs and countless birds! Afterwards, we headed to the beautiful national park Reserva de Paracas, where we dipped our feet in the bright blue Pacific, went hunting for archaeological artefacts in the desert and saw beautiful cliff formations and a red beach – oh, and flamingos!!! Unfortunately, the trip ended rather badly as our driver drove harzardously and almost hit a truck on the highway, and he also forgot to fill up the petrol, so we got stuck in the middle of the highway late at night in a sketchy area….

The last week in Peru was spent working at the pyramid Huaca Pucllana in Lima. It was our last week there and I was sad to say goodbye to everyone by the end, as they had all became great friends. I had a lot of fun working there and hope to go back someday! But the worst part of it all was saying goodbye to Pablo, our adorable hostel kittie! Hopefully he will be there the next time I visit Lima 😀

Food poisoning in Toronto

On the way home from Peru, Brandon and I had a long stopover in Toronto – just like I had last year with Amanda! But unfortunately, this time I didn’t enjoy it, as I had been hit bad by food poisoning. It happened as soon as I laid down on the three seats I’d been lucky enough to get on the 8-hour flight. I tried to sleep throughout the flight, but I woke up constantly having to puke and what’s worse. And when we got to Toronto, I felt so terrible that I couldn’t drag myself around the city much. I felt really bad for Brandon as I wanted him to experience the city, but food poisoning is no joke.

A spontaneous trip to Tunbridge Wells

Two days after arriving home from Peru, I flew off again – this time to England. My Australian friend Bethann was ending her Europe trip in Tunbridge Wells where her aunt lives, and since I hadn’t seen her for 2,5 years (last time was for New Years 2015/16 in Dublin!), I decided to go see her there! Her aunt Rebekah opened her home to me and I spent two great and relaxing days there with Bethann, Rebekah, her son Cortice and adorable kittie Dakota. It was also good to see the English countryside again – there’s just something magical about it!

Harbour party in Hov

I flew back to Denmark via Jutland to visit my family for a day before going back to work. I just happened to be there on the one day of the year where Hov is actually the place to be! Once a year, the town hosts a harbour party, which is a lot of fun to participate in, so I got to enjoy it a bit with my family before having to leave them again.

Athra Gathering ’18

Once a year, Stone Age enthusiasts from all over the world come to the Land of Legends for an amazing gathering; a week-long event completely focusing on Mesolithic living! Naturally, because I love the Stone Age (and especially the Mesolithic) so much, I had to attend the event, and it worked out perfectly as I was also working there that week. The best part of the week was sleeping under the stars during the warm nights! I had a lot of fun with all the other Stone Age nerds and made many new friends who I can’t wait to see again next year at the gathering!

Preparing to leave Copenhagen

Since I’m moving away from Copenhagen in August, I spent the days that I was home in July seeing as many people as possible! I even got to see Zille, a friend who now lives in South Africa but was visiting her family, and Steve, who recently moved from Tasmania to Malmö, a Swedish city located just across the Öresund strait! It was great to see them again and to spend some time with my friends in Copenhagen before I have to say goodbye to them all.

The summer trip to the Faroe Islands

On July 26th, I packed my tent, sleeping bag and a bunch of warm clothes and headed north to the Faroe Islands with Amanda. As you might know if you’ve been following this blog, I absolutely love the Faroe Islands (it’s my favourite place on Earth!), so this was actually my NINTH trip – I know, right! Next time I will just move there, hehe.

We spent the first part of the trip camping by Lake Leitisvatn, hiking up beautiful cliffs, chasing waterfalls, attending the national celebrations at Ólavsøka, partying with friends and visiting a new island, Svínoy. The last part of the trip was in August, so I will write more about that in next month’s update!

Destinations visited in July 2018

• Islas Ballestas, Reserva de Paracas and Lima, Peru
• Toronto, Canada
• Copenhagen, Lejre and Hov, Denmark
• Tunbridge Wells, England
• Vágar, Streymoy, Eysturoy, Borðoy, Viðoy, Svínoy & Sandoy, Faroe Islands

Highlights

• Seeing sea lions and penguins on Islas Ballestas!
• Attending the harbour party in Hov with my family.
• Hanging out with Bethann in Tunbridge Wells.
• The awesome Stone Age gathering!
• Seeing old friends in Copenhagen.
• Attending Ólavsøka for the first time with great friends!
• Discovering the Old School Café in Hvannasund!
• Visiting Svínoy for the first time.

Challenges

• The bus ride from hell in Peru…
• Saying goodbye to Pablo, the hostel cat in Lima <3
• Food poisoning on the flight from Peru to Toronto – and not being able to enjoy the long stopover in Toronto.
• Transportation mess in Gatwick Airport trying to get to Tunbridge Wells after a cancelled train in the middle of the night – but I got there safely in the end thanks to friendly service workers!

Most popular post

• The summer of 2018: Travels and the big move – Everything that I’m doing this summer!

The other posts

• My June 2018: Summer in Montreal and Peru – All about last months travels and exams!
• Roadtrip through the world heritage southern end of Öland – The last post from my time on idyllic Öland!
• Roadtrip in Greece, day 1-2: Delphi and Meteora – Better late than never! The first of many posts from my May trip to Greece.
• Field trip to north Jutland: Stone Age settlements by the Limfjord – Another late post about an April trip to the beautiful Limfjord region.

Most popular Instagram picture

Alpacas are always popular – and this picture of my new alpaca friend and I was in particular!

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Et opslag delt af Mel (@north.trotter)

Coming up in August 2018

August is a month of family and friends! It started off in the Faroe Islands at the last part of the trip, where I spent time with my Faroese friends and families. The day after I came back to Copenhagen, my family came over to move all of my stuff out of my apartment – as I’m finally moving away from the city!

The rest of the month will be spent trying to see as many people as possible here in Denmark before moving to Greenland, but with a week in between to visit family in England.

At the end of the month, I’m going on an exciting excavation of a kitchen midden from the Ertebølle Culture (5500-4000 BC) before spending the last few days of August relaxing with my family and packing for my next big adventure that begins on September 1st!