By Chloe on Tuesday, 26 August 2008 1:48 PM

 Well I made it!!! I am very proud and excited to say that I managed to stay with the trek and to really enjoy it. After my last blog my attitude changed and I was actually enjoying myself. Yes there were still some hard days and yes I still struggled but there was a different attitude about it!!! I was happy to be there and happy to be in the team.

Today we packed up our last tent, sleeping mat and bag, strapped our bags on and headed for home. We had a lovely stroll (well kind of a stroll pushed by Zac into a trot) around the edge of the mountainside, where my footsteps weren´t being watched as my eyes were looking for the perfect stone. (There were so many minerals in the mountains that all the shiny stones were drawing my attencion away from my steps). Anyway after I found the perfect stone (about 6 times) I enjoyed the walk. It was a beautiful day the sun was shiny and as we looked over our shoulders at the last picturs of the magnificent mountain range it seemed sad to be saying goodbye! After our...

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By Chloe on Wednesday, 20 August 2008 10:22 PM

Wow this was a big decision to make, I had to decide that I could and wanted to continue on. I had to fully appreciate why I am here. I wrote this letter on our free day at the hot springs. Contemplating my true reasons for being here...

 

I do want to be here. Why do I want to be here? Because I chose this. I chose to be in this beautiful countryside. When I first found out I had won I ran into the mailroom and jumped around yelling `Im going to Peru, Im going to Peru`. This is not a trip I would of organised on my own. But one that I want to make the most of. I knew that I would be faced with personal struggles and difficult questions. This is one of them. Do you still want to go on? One of the issues I wanted to face was that I give up too easily. I join the gym, go for a few weeks then give up. I get up early to exercise then after a week I give up. I make excuses Im too tired, I had a late night, my knee hurts! When the going gets tough I give up. I DONT WANT TO GIVE UP THIS TIME. I know I can do this. I have already done 6 walks and a few of them were really hard but I did them. I can physically do this, its the mental part I have to work with. This is definately a mind game and for me the easiest thing would be to drop out. But that is taking the easy way out. I did this to challenge myself, I did this to learn more about myself, I did this so I could grow! I didnt do this because it would be easy and I had to do it. This whole journey was meant to be a away to push myself and to help others.

...

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By Chloe on Tuesday, 19 August 2008 9:24 AM

We are sitting in a tent with snow and rain pouring down around us. It is our 5th day into the trek and I am feeling really homesick and not really enjoying it very much at the moment. It is so much harder that I thought t would be, this is no stroll through the mountains. 4500m high and you can hardly breathe, I get exhausted just walking a few metres!!!

The first mountain after we left our first camp was quite large and it was hard but I managed it!. It was very steep and very rocky but I felt great once I had reached the top. It was a sence of achievement and I felt proud that I had done it. However this was not the end, once you reach the pass after hours of walking up up up, you go down down down and walk for another few hours around winding tracks threading through mountains into camp. That wasnt so hard, but it is a long day of about 6hrs of walking. I enjoyed this day and saw some fantastic views and our camp was beside a spectacular lake. I crashed into bed straight away though. It was a long day...

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By Chloe on Friday, 15 August 2008 9:50 AM

What a journey, after many many many hours of flying, transfers, stop overs and bus rides we have finally arrived at Huaraz. And wow what an eye opener this village is. First of all I have never been to a third world country like this before and to see all those people living with no electricity, heat or power it makes me really appreciate what we have. I just want to help them all but unfortunately there is no chance of that. It makes me upset but it is their way of life.

Our hotel is quite cute up on the hill with fantastic views from our bedroom window of snow capped peaks wherever you look. I have never seen a view like it and it is so amazing to look up at those mountains everyday. It took a while to get used to the lack of oxygen in the air and just climbing up a flight of stairs had me puffing!!! But after a few days of roaming the streets and shopping at the wonderful markets (they were fantastic and I have already filled a bag of pressies,well most for me anyway).

We climbed our first mountain...

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By Chloe on Thursday, 24 July 2008 1:15 PM

 



Wow what an event. It began with a few hiccups but turned into a night where I just let it all go (well not too much) and just enjoyed myself. I was IN the moment, I was there and I was enjoying the pleasure that everyone else was getting. I had created this night for everyone there, I was the one responsible for the smiles , the laughs, the cheers, the dancing.

              

It is way to hard to describe how that feels. I have never felt such a sense of achievement as I did at 11.30 pm that Thursday night. I felt so powerful in what I had done. I felt like I could go and climb that mountain the...

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By Chloe on Tuesday, 1 July 2008 9:46 AM

Well I have been a little slack in keeping you all informed of my ventures!! I have been very active, and very busy, and very tired, but I'm enjoying myself (most of the time). It has been a struggle trying to get my ticket sales up (I'm an accountant not a marketer…) but we are doing the best we can. My sister, her friend and myself all made Casino Tombee du Jour t-shirts and went parading around town handing out flyers which was lots of fun. I have to remember to enjoy myself throughout the whole process or otherwise I think I would go crazy. So…I am enjoying myself and I am looking forward to my event and I would definitely love it if you could all come along and enjoy the evening as well! In regards to my training…….AAARRRGGGHHH getting up at 5.30 am 3 days a week to go run along the freezing cold beach in a singlet with your boot camp instructer yelling...

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By Chloe on Monday, 28 April 2008 4:01 PM

The countdown is on... only a few months to prepare myself for the adventure of a lifetime, and to pull off the casino event of the year! I feel so privileged to have been given this opportunity to prove to myself and to others that women have their own power to achieve exceptional outcomes. I know this is going to open up so many doors for me on a personal and professional level and I look forward to sharing my journey with all of you. Having the opportunity to work with such successful and strong women is an absolute amazing experience, and one that I hope to learn so much from.

I am so excited about my event, but also so scared at the same time. I know it is going to be one of the biggest things I have ever pulled off. I still have so much to organise and put together, but I know it is going to be such a great night and everyone is going to have so much fun.