27 February 2024
In 2020 the Foundation held a fund-raising raffle with the first prize being a trip to the Annapurna range of mountains in Nepal. The prize was donated by travel partners the Peregrine Travel Centre WA, now based in the Carine Quarter, and Intrepid Travels based in Melbourne. Unfortunately, as we know, COVID caused all overseas travel to be halted. After a few false starts, the winners managed to finally start their trekking adventure.
Harry Jockel and his partner Teagan sent us an update and we are delighted to hear that they had a fantastic time. In Harry’s words “ A bit belated, but last year in October my partner Teagan and I, were given the opportunity to travel to Nepal and take a crack at the Annapurna Circuit.”
“It was an amazing, challenging experience that I can't recommend enough. Over 11 days we trekked a total of 155km with 10,550m elevation and reached a max altitude of 5,416m at Thorong La Pass. The trek takes you from rice fields and lush forests to the high-altitude Himalayas. We had some challenging weather at the start, copping the end of the monsoon season, but it cleared up and every day as we ascended the views got better and better.
“The mountains are breathtaking,and it feels completely surreal going from flat Western Australia to sitting at a teahouse, sipping on ginger tea while looking over at the Annapurna range. We visited some fascinating towns and learned a lot about Nepalese culture.
The trek was run by Intrepid; the guides were fantastic, everything was really well organised and we had a great group of people, which made the trek all the better. We received lots of good, relevant advice and tips from Mike Wood of Peregrine Travel regarding the gear to take and how to deal with the altitude. (Ed: Mike is a very experienced Himalayan trekking guide and founding Chair of the Foundation, a current Board member and a volunteer guide.)
If anyone is considering the trek, I would highly recommend it. I can't wait to get back to Nepal. Teagan and I went on to trek to Everest Base Camp and Teagan did the full Three Passes circuit.”
Our thanks to Intrepid and Peregrine Travel for donating this amazing prize. Another trip is up for grabs in our upcoming raffle in April – so keep an eye out for tickets!
