well first day with nomad and what a day to start on... i had a nice breakfast at dunes lodge stocking up on food resources as it were... breakfast was free there lol! english breakfast, cereal, toast, tea, juice, everything - was really nice... nomad, instead of me going there, actually agreed to come and pick me up from the lodge! so i spent a nice morning packing up my life again and watching footie highlights (wasnt that a wkd brazil croatia game!) and 10 things i hate about you :o) and at about 10.30 i was picked up! i said that i would like to do some quadbiking and apparently a group of them were making a trip and gray took me straight out to meet them and WOW!!!! we had some quick intro's where i didnt actually get much information but i got brief impressions... none are 18 thats for sure!!! i think the youngest is andrew at 23!!! theres also a couple monique and pu, two much older ladies in their 40's/50's probably called ilona and viv (i think they are german) but theyre very young at heart i think... got involved in everything, and then one older man who's name i didnt catch!!! so not really the group i was expecting or hoping for i spose but they do all seem like a really lively and kindly, helpful bunch so i'm sure it should be a laugh anyway. so back to today we all got equipped with proper bad ass helmets and seated on our big quadbikes, had a quick lesson which involved "follow me, this is brake, this is go and turn the handlebars to steer!"... we were all slightly nervous to say the least! but off we went starting slow at first... up and down we went over and around the dunes, then we stopped! i'd found out that the rest of the group were doing a combo drive which involved a sand-boarding stop and as this was only like a ten quid more i thought go for it!!! oooooo but when i saw the slope we were going to be throwing ourselves down head first on a piece of greased up ply wood i thought uh oh wrong choice!!! it was (and i kid you not) about a 50 degree angle!!! pu went first... the way to do it apparently is sit on the board, hold the front up (or you get MAJOR mouthfulls of sand) pull your feet up and be pushed - very technical! then i went - i screamed big time aaaaaaaaaaall the way down and half way back up the other side... amazing and sooo much fun!!! the trek back however was not - the sand was really really slippery and i was steep and i just kept walking and walking and not getting anywhere - we all arrived at the top totally out of breath but certainly exhilerated!!!! i went down another time and then thought oh man i dont know how much more of this i can do!!!! the guide though then said i'll come and pick you up at the bottom and i thought nice one and down i went!!! i got to the bottom but i was FLYING down for some reason too fast (i think i mustve been on a very thin board) because i got down to the bottom and my board snapped and i went flying - proper bond movie stuff lol ;o) grazed my arm a bit but no permenent damage and well worth it!!! the ride back up wasnt bad either hee hee... he was really revving up his engine speeding on up... i was holding on for dear life, hair blowing in wind, letting out the odd scream :o$ that felt totally like the moment in the day after tomorrow (bond) when he and the girl are on the motorbike flying through the town... only difference - no pierce brosnan :o( and better scenery!!! the scenery i tell you was something that i am NEVER gonna see again in my life i am sure of it!!! we didnt take camera's because it was too sandy to risk but we all got one pic on a bike and one on the board so a memoir anyway! back on the bikes and the guide let rip this time... off we went at such a pace; i think we were going at 50 miles an hour or so (seriously...) was sooooooo amazing i cant put it into words... one of the best most fun experiences of my life!!!! we didnt really have time to stop and look properly at the scenery as if you turned round for too long you drove smack bang into the back of the person in front, as i so kindly did to andrew lol: woops! but i'll try and describe. the sky was aquamarine blue with not a cloud in it, the dunes were gold/yellow/browny/grey/white all in one rolling around and around and it seemed as though the sky and skyline were clearer and almost fake they were so bang on... there wasnt a haze in sight i really was just one sec golden and then BANG bright bright blue... as i said i have never and undoubtedly will never see anything like that again... and the quadbiking: woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! that was quite something as well... visors down on helmets, coat FLYING behind me, accelerating the bike hard up big big dunes, leaning it back round and wooooooooooshhhhhhhhhhhhh all the way back down so fast... it was INCREDIBLE! the biggest buzz!!!! on and on it went for 2 hours... didnt get boring AT ALL but i did need the toilet and i tell ya bouncing around on bumpy sand (and by this time slightly stoney) ground was not by any means comfortable on the bladder so i spent the last 15 mins of it standing up which did actually feel quite cool in a silly toy boy racer way ;o) all you fast car freaks out there (j/james/dad slightly/katie etc) you would have loved it sooooo much! once we got back to the lodge which is very nice we had showers and you wouldnt believe the amount of sand that came off me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the lodge was nice and i got a really nice room and i saw the nomad overland bus for the first time... pretty cosy but you got safes and apparently the bottom luggage compartment turns into a kitchen which is pretty cool lol! i havent seen these joys as i only arrived after quadbiking... looks like i will later for supper though :oD well i'd better be off for now and i dont know when i'll next get to a computer... andrew says last time it was WELL over a week :oS but i'll be keeping a written journal very carefully which i will type up on here whenever i get the chance so keep your eyes peeled!!! lots and lots of love to you all m xxxxxxxxxxxx miss ya!