I stepped on a turbot. EDIT* Got to hang with a forest fire last night.

We have finally arrived in Spain! In Figueres, the town where Dali was born and lived no less! Unfortunately, we did not know this and leave to go WOOFing tomorrow so we’ll have to check out the museum and other things when we return in two weeks. 

Did some classic site-seeing in Nimes.

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_de_Diane

These guys were setting off fire crackers and scared the shit out of me. 

Prepare for and deal with the amount of cat photos that are bound appear on here. I get so excited when I find kittiessss

These are probably some of my favourite pictures that I have taken so far. Cicada exoskeletons + macro lens = mmmmm. 

** Before I go on I will explain that super enticing title there. This is actually an old post that I didn’t get a chance to finish before we headed to the farm for WWOOFing. We ended up coming back early for many reasons that I will explain later but the main reason, unbeknownst to us, was that there was a raging forest fire on its way. AH

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/07/22/spain-wildfires.html

When we got back to Figueres we laid down for a little siesta and when I woke up I noticed the sky was red and purple, it was 5 in the afternoon so very unusual. I went out on the back balcony and it smelled like someone was having a rocking BBQ. I went to the front balcony and it smelled really strong. I was super confused and came back in the house and noticed my feet were covered with ash. I went back outside and noticed that ash was literally raining from the sky. Zach and I went for a walk to try and find the source thinking a building was on fire but couldn’t find anything. The sky was absolutely filled with smoke and there were little burnt leaves raining down everywhere. Later on our host finally got some information that it was this massive out of control forest fire. The winds were insane too so it was spreading quickly and proving very difficult to put out. 

We are counting our blessings that we left the farm when we did or who knows what could have happened. The farm was located pretty well in the centre of the fires and it was an extremely dry area. I have e-mailed the farm but have yet to hear back. 

Last night we were instructed to stay inside and close up all the windows and doors. Pretty intense experience, I must say. Things seem much calmer today. The sky is clearer and we are able to open the windows. Aye, Aye, Aye. 

I must admit the haze created really nice lighting for these photos though.

So I realize the rest of this post will not seem as exciting now that I have interjected that little bit of information but bear with me.

After Nimes we headed to Montpellier and stayed with a really awesome chick named Joanne. She had cats and that was GREAT. She was also a fantastic cook and just all around good host and person.

This is (freak) Nasti.

The closest I get to tattooing Z.

This is Baby.

While we were in Montpellier there was a music festival happening and they offered some free shows. We caught an awesome cello and piano performance and tried to hit up a jazz show but failed on the buses. Luckily, that same day was France’s Independence Day so there was an outrageous fireworks show that we watched instead. 

We stumbled upon this wicked music themed playground while out for a walk. Unfortunately, things weren’t as noisy as we would have liked but still a cool concept. 

Our next stop after Montpellier was this island town called Sete. It is on a huge stretch of coastline which we were excited for. Unfortunately, a big disappointment. The beach was nice to look at but out of the water was scorching and severely windy and in the water it was freezing cold. So we didn’t stick around long.

And yes this is indeed where I stepped on a turbot(fish). How does one step on a fish, you ask? Well, when a fish is completely flat and hangs out in shallow waters it is just begging to be stepped on. This scared the living shit out of me. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbot

Sadly, this beach trip is also where my underwater camera has seemed to bite the dust. All it gives me now are these super confusing images that change as I scroll past them.

We found this awesome little fish pond on a walk back to the hostel. Actually, it was huge. A ton of fish and 2 giant koi. 

I don’t get what it is about Hostelling International hostels sucking and being at the top of these massive hills. 

Some tasty homemade tastes.

Some pretty things while we wait for our train to Figueres, Spain. 

I got a nice series of close-up photos of Zach singing but I think I will give them their own separate post. 

First glimpse of mountains!

We stayed in Figueres for one night and then took a bus to a little town called Espolla. It was a really nice drive through the Spanish countryside. There we waited for the people from the farm to come pick us up. They finally arrived and told us they had to go into Figueres and wouldn’t be back for about 3 hours. Okay, whatever, I don’t hate you yet. We’ll wait. It wasn’t so bad because there was a nice little public pool near by so we just swam for a while. 

So, the farm….as you’ll see it is incredibly beautiful there. I would have loved to have been on a camping trip but we weren’t. The main people working there were supposedly biologists who were studying butterflies and watching over an endangered species of cattle. I was really excited for the experience of working with scientists and learning about these animals and what it takes to protect a species etc etc. The first night was okay, we set up our tent and came a bit late for dinner so we missed out. Everyone seemed really kind and friendly. Work started at 7 the next morning. We got brought to a field and had to drag brush out of it by hand to this pile for 6 hrs straight, the best part, on no breakfast. Then walk an hour uphill back to the farm. Okay maybe we didn’t have time for food, okay there will be a tractor tomorrow yayaya. The work was doable, it definitely sent you into a nice endorphin-fueled meditative state after a while but it wasn’t what I came there to do. WWOOFing is supposed to be a learning experience as I understand it. Zach’s free labour red flag flew up pretty quickly but I was trying to stay optimistic. Same thing the next morning, no breakfast then out to work for 6hrs straight doing the exact same thing. This time with a tractor but still intense work under a Spanish sun on no food. We joked that everyone at the farms job was to spot rainbows and play with the dogs. We weren’t far off haha When one of the other wwoofers asked Zach what his job was she was surprised to hear what we had done and that it was the same thing for 6 hrs because her jobs for the day were to screw some wood together building a toilet, wash the dogs and play with a 3 year old. EEEEHEHEHEEHEE

I started to get quite ill. I think it was just the shitty food and really random sleeping schedule. Up at 630, breakfast if you had time to find some for yourself, work for six hours, lunch of starch and oil at 2, SIESTA (nap time), then dinner at 10 then straight to bed. My body said ‘fuck off’. 

There were other little things off about the place. It was incredibly disorganized. Lots of double standards from the people in charge. It was of utmost importance to stick to routine but then lunch was often late by an hour. We didn’t feel included or accepted. They would often speak in Spanish even though surrounded by mostly English speaking people. We luckily were able to avoid the awkward ‘We hate it here, please drive us back into town’ conversation because I did end up quite sick and right on time when someone was doing a trip into town. So we grabbed a ride back to Espolla.

I am really disappointed because I had high hopes but we got to hang out in the Pyrenees mountains for a few days and know a bit more about the steps I’ll take when setting up with a farm in the future.

It was meant to be that we left when we did as I said earlier. 

The red circle with the yellow dot in the centre is roughly where the farm is located and the A to the left and the other red dot to the right is where the main fires have been spreading from. The red dot at the bottom is where we currently are staying and we are being heavily affected by the fires. 

Feeling really lucky.

Enough negativity though, here are some pretty photos from the farm!

Can’t decide which I like better haha

Little Z being a trooper hauling brush.

This little chick was probably one of the best things about this wwoofing experience. She was 3 and a half and British. Enough said. Buuuut also she understood Spanish but didn’t speak it and had the most ecstatic laugh.

This little guy was another one of those best parts of the experience.

Cows! They were just free to roam anywhere. It was pretty cool. 

Trying to give some perspective of the size of these mountains if you’ll notice the person in the bottom left hand corner.

This was amazing, I wish I had gotten it on video. She was watching me eat sunflower seeds and laughing when I spit out the shell. I asked if she wanted to try and she did. She just chewed the shit out of it and spit it back out all over her face. 

Don’t get me wrong these dinners were good but to eat out once every one or two weeks not everyday. Blargh.

Oh ya, we got stuck in Espolla after leaving the farm and had to sleep there until we could catch a bus the next day. Very happy to have our tent.

We have now caught back up to Figueres where we are now. Here are some more photos from the walk we took looking for the fire.

Super random outdoor gym.

Figueres, the home of Salvador Dali! AHHHHH. This was such a pleasant surprise to stumble upon. We are checking out the museum tomorrow. I cannot wait! 

This building was beautiful! It already had this incredible ombre thing happening and then the yellow haze made it that much better. 

K, I’m done.