My Fabric yoyo spanish dancer

I try as much as possible not to get really stressed out but sometimes it just cannot be avoided. To relax myself I do not think of any kind of work nor do I think of my charity work which I do during my spare time instead I craft. My creativity seems to be at its best when I try to de-stress. And inspired by my recent trip to Peru where I had an adventure of a lifetime (did the Inca Trail Hike for 4 days and 3 nights with family) I created this Fabric yoyo spanish dancer. It took me 2 days to figure out how to connect the fabric yoyos I have stashed in a plastic bag for almost 2 years now to create this doll and am very amused and loving the result. 

It stands 16cms tall and has wiggly eyes. Using Shiva paintsticks I created her nose and smiling lips. I am thinking of creating a spanish dancer with a skirt and a male spanish dancer in the near future.

[Traveler's Journal] - Flashback - 07/2014 - Peru - Peru - Inca Trek - Peru

While I was packing my clothes for the Macchu Picchu Inca Trek in Peru, I realized that I actually packed 4 pairs of shoes. One pair was the hiking shoes for the actual trek. I had a pair of sandals to wear to rest my feet after the trek.  I had a pair of walking rubber shoes comfortable enough to wear when we go visit other sites in Lima, Cusco and Santiago when I do a stopover on my way back to Sydney and a pair of casual leather shoes. At least I only had to pack 3 of them as I will be wearing one pair during flights.

When we do the trek I will only be wearing the hiking shoes and no other shoes will be in my bag. The rest will be left behind in my luggage.

I created a Windowed Pouch

After one month of not being able to do any kind of crafting (they were busy days the past 4 weeks) I finally found the time again to make use of my creativity. I did this pouch with a heart-shaped window. Was not really sure what to put inside as I wanted to make a small doll with a blanket etc but since I have not done it yet I decided to put some of my snack foods from the cabinet. Does not look too bad either except that the heart-shape needs an improvement.

I think this will make good presents for Christmas. And if I use a non-Christmas fabric once the contents are gone, you can use it to store your small treasures. 

[Traveler's Journal] - Flashback - 07/2014 - Peru - Peru Inca Trek - Once in a Lifetime Adventure

The past few months I have been busy preparing myself and family for an upcoming 'once in a lifetime' adventure in Peru. We will be doing the 4-days-3 nights Inca Trek to Machu Picchu. Our weekends have been spent practicing via bushwalking, going uphill and downhill just to keep ourselves fit and ready for the 42kms walk in July and was told we have to do a total of about 10,000 steps going uphill. We created a Bushwalking Club. We did a lot of bushwalking around the Blue Mountains Area and Royal National Parks and experienced unbelievable sights and sceneries which we probably would'nt have the chance to see if not for our weekly bushwalking. Check out my articles (articles written before this article) where I highlighted where we went and the pictures taken while doing the walk. This is the trail we will be following during the 4D/3N Inca trek and we can no longer hold on to our excitement

Aside from our weekend bushwalking practices, we have also started to collect the things we need to bring in our trip. We were advised of the minimum requirement of what things to bring especially when you are trekking such as first aid kits, clothes and for sleeping. One important thing to consider is the weight of the items we will be bringing as we will be carrying these items ourselves while hiking and/or climbing. I would not want to bring heavy stuff. 

So far these are what I think are the items I would need for a comfortable hike. I also have my rainjacket which I can squeeze into my backpack if it does not rain. I still am waiting for my walking poles which I just ordered a couple of days ago.

And these are the first aid items - a first aid kit, plasters for blisters, sunscreen, insect repellents, panadol in case we have a headache and imodium for stomach problems. It is better to be prepared as there will not be any small stores along the way. We have to bring what we think we will need during the trek and fingers crossed it will be a smooth trek.

I have ordered some dry quick pants and t-shirts and waiting for them to arrive. Hopefully they would fit.

[Traveler's Journal] - Bushwalking and Hiking - 05/2014 - Australia - Sydney NSW - Royal National Park - Grand Canyon Blackheath

Blackheath’s Grand Canyon is an iconic walking track in the World Heritage-listed Blue Mountains. On this 4.5hr bushwalk we descended deep into the phenomenal ‘slot formation’ canyon.  We were surrounded by sheer cliffs, lush ferns and ancient rainforest. Every metre we descended represented roughly 1 million years in geological time. We explored waterfalls and creeks at a relaxed pace and saw how water has carved out a subterranean stream over time. We had a great time discovering the history of this heritage track, and learned about local Australian wildlife that resided in this area while also appreciating the changing and spectacular landscapes along the way. This bushwalking was the highlight of all our bushwalking weekend practices. 

[Traveler's Journal] - Flashback - 05/2014 - Australia - Blue Mountains NSW - Three Sisters at Echo Point Blue Mountains

A picture of the Three Sisters which I took while hiking from Echo Point towards this spot.

[Traveler's Journal] - Bushwalking and Hiking - 05/2014 - Australia - Blue Mountains NSW - Scenic World Circuit Katoomba

We did the full Scenic World circuit today which took us about 5 hours and the climax was the super steep Grand Staircase with 900 steps. This was from the bottom to the top of the Three sisters. You can look out at the scenic vista before descending the valley via the 800-plus steel and stone steps originally constructed in 1909. Admire the beauty of the fabulous Three Sisters from the ground up. 

When I have the time, I will sort more pictures and post them and most especially with our Inca Trek and future Bushwalking adventures as we plan to continue on even after the Inca Trek and we seem to be getting more family members to join us. 😁♥♥ 😁

[Traveler's Journal] - Bushwalking and Hiking - 05/2014 - Australia - Sydney NSW - Royal National Park - Mermaid Pools Tahmoor

This is where we spent our Sunday - 18-May-2014 - in Mermaid Pools Tahmoor (near Bargo). This was another 5 hours full circuit. Halfway there we saw this very beautiful Mermaid Falls from the top and it took us about another hour to get to the spot. I think this was the most difficult of all bushwalking we have done so far as there was no consistent track, we climbed big rocks and the grasses were quite high. 

[Traveler's Journal] - Bushwalking and Hiking - 05/2014 - Australia - Sydney NSW - Royal National Park - Honeymooners Track

This weekend we did the Honeymooners Track at Royal National Park which was a 3-hour full circuit walk. There was a flight of steps that we had to go through for about half an hour going down which brought us to the Audley fishing area. To go back up was another half-an-hour but for me going up is more difficult compared to going down so it took me longer. Another ten minutes added to the half-an-hour estimate.

We had a rest after the climb before proceeding back for another hour's walk to where we started. The view on this trail was picture perfect and this time there were just 4 of us as other members of the family could not make it.

Stone Crafting

Was feeling bored last night when I decided it was time to use the stones I had in the garage which has been lying idle for years now. This time and happiness #12 although not fully finished yet as I want to put moveable eyes, here are the stones I painted last night. Through these stones, the "Libatok family" is born and expect to see more of them in the very near future.

And tonight I transferred  an image of flowers onto this rock through decoupaged, sealed it for protection and called it "Mum's rock" for Happiness #13.

To see larger images of the Libatok family, please click here.

[Traveler's Journal] - Bushwalking and Hiking - 04/2014 - Australia - Sydney NSW - Bondi to Coogee Walk

We prefer to do our walking practices on Saturdays in order to have a full rest on Sundays and make it to work on Mondays. I think everyone knows about the Bondi to Coogee walk. This Saturday we were fortunate to start early. There were less people doing the walk and we were able to get a free parking still at Bronte.

This is what I enjoy most with our bushwalking runs in preparation for our Peru trip. I get to see some awesome sceneries which would have been impossible for me to see and experience.