Adventures With New Friends! // Portland, England (Ep 1 of 4)

For the past six months I've been stuck on the tiny island of Jersey which was essentially locked down due to the pandemic. During that time my brother Conor and I have been seeking out new adventures on the spectacular granite sea cliffs of Jersey, learning how to climb. And although we're new to climbing, an opportunity has arisen to load up the Kombi and jump on a boat to Portland. This will be a jam-packed week of adventure and good times Long time ago I fell in love with this person. As we prepare to take a huge step out of the comfort zone. Of course you guys are invited too so subscribe, buckle up and let's go exploring. Everything's sorted. Chica, I'm sorry you can't come with us this time. I wish I could bring Alaska with me on this adventure but this time I can't. Instead I'm bringing my brother Conor who has already moved his stuff into the Kombi. As soon as I found out about this opportunity to go to Portland I didn't even check my balance. Even if I could afford it I was just like yes sport climbing, adventure, my brother and just some great people. Like yes I need to be a part of this. Also joining the Kombi is Jackie and this dude Richie. Together we're joining up with the members of the Jersey Rock Climbing Club and escaping the island for an adventure. They were an hour late so I've had a few beers and a couple of whiskeys. Funny, funny. Mate I've had enough of this man and the mechanic. Well it was like it was 11 30 at night and we were rebuilding the the drive shaft. Yeah. So we had it like all all apart and yeah not exactly what you want to be doing the night before. No, no, no, no. But it's moving, it's going. Yeah we're going, we're rock and rolling mate. There's more of you to push. There's more of us to push. You alright? I'm alright. That's right. First time off the island in how long? I don't know. 12 years. Spiritually I never leave. First time ever. As islanders us Jersey folk are quite accustomed to getting on planes and ferries. We literally can't leave our country without doing so. However we've all been stuck on this island for much longer than we're used to and for some of us this was the first time that we'd been further than a few miles from home for well over a year. Needless to say the mood on the boat was great and we were all stoked to be heading out for an adventure. By the time we reached England it was approaching midnight. It was far too late to check in anywhere so the plan was to wild camp and sleep four of us in this combi. But Jackie had already decided to ditch the combi and find another place to sleep. So there was going to be four people sleeping in here but what happened to you Jackie? I think I was told there wasn't much space but I wasn't sure. Then when we hopped into the van I did think okay there wasn't... I don't know what I was expecting like bunk beds set up or something but yeah it was a bit... I also heard about Richie snoring which I didn't want to deal with. Jackie's been stolen. It was either Jackie or Richie and I plugged for Jackie as a better option. How you doing down there Richie? Just don't wake up in the middle of the night and lift your head. He's gonna smack his head on that. You're guaranteed to smack your head. I took off my glasses. Five hours later. How you doing? It's ready for you. Oh you're a... you're a top. Where do I place my order for coffee? I can do black Americano or black Americano. So in the morning we woke up on the Isle of Portland which is about as different from the American and Australian version of Portland as you can imagine. It's a minute island, little more than a few square miles in size and it's a central part of the World Heritage Jurassic Coast in England's southern county of Dorset. It also happens to be blessed with some truly majestic limestone cliffs. It just so happens that this morning we woke up by a very nice crag which is easily accessible to lots of people, i.e. beginner friendly, so this would be a nice one to get us warmed up. This will be our first time sport climbing and attempting to lead. I'm so excited. It's so good to be off the island. It's so nice to be here on the English coast. Yeah let's bring it on, I can't wait. I'm so excited. Yeah just so excited, so happy especially the weather's just so beautiful. So yeah I just really want to push myself and try see if I can do as hard as a route as possible really. You're gonna send it mate? Yeah I'm gonna send it big time yeah. How was it mate? Mate it's so good. Sweating up there? Yeah I am sweating. Oh wow that's so cool. Trippy isn't it? Yeah. You can see how it helps your neck though so you don't have to look up all the time. Yeah no that's nice. Cool school. Looking right at the sun. Ouch. The cuttings was an excellent crag for our first attempts at leading a sport climb to get us used to the different feel of this famous British limestone rock and to practice the clipping and anchor techniques on easier climbs so we could avoid injury on the harder climbs to come. Or at least that was the theory. That was so good. So pumped. So stoked to be here in the sunshine, in the gunshine, having the best time. After our first day's adventuring, about 20 minutes inland into the county of Dorset, we made base camp in a typical British campsite, also known as a field. Nice touch of facilities when you've been out climbing all day. Pretty basic setup. Did they order that for you? Double mattress pillow. Very luxurious mate. I don't know, you know, I've got to have that at my age. I might have Jack in there at the end of the week. Who's this, your boyfriend? Jack has to wear this. We like to play role play, he's the maid. Obviously. King ox and yeah, just get up to all sorts of fun really. This is kinky. What else have we got? Sleeping bag, sleeping mat, pillow. That's all you need isn't it mate? A bit of duty free from the ferry. You've been everywhere in this tent right? This is it. Alps, Yosemite, people's gardens. Yeah, as long as it's just like that. A really beautiful towel. That's alright. That's so nasty. I usually dry my dishes with that thing. So I guess towel wasn't on your packing list. No, I forgot. Okay, well, this cloth it is mate. How about it? Still to come on this Combi Life miniseries, we explore the true magnitude of Portland's immense beauty as Jackie plucks up the courage to tackle her first ever lead climb and Portland's big sea cliffs give us a serious run for our money. Be sure to keep watching, this adventure gets insane. Until next time, happy travels.