Happy 2nd Birthday Dreadlocks!

On Saturday my dreads turned 24 months old. People without dreads might find it strange that I know exactly when my dreadlock's Birthday is, or the fact I even consider them to have a Birthday. Majority of people with dreads keep track of the age of their dreads for many reasons. For me they have become a part of who I am and each dread has changed over time (becoming thicker, misshaped, twisted or other funky lumps and bumps which I love because you can run your hands through your hair and know exactly which dread it is you're holding!)

I have put together a timeline of my dreads from when I first started them. Unfortunately I don't have that many photos of my hair so you can't see the major changes my dreads have gone through. A few interesting things I've done over the past year was 'tip dying' the ends of my dreads bright fushia pink (I've done it twice in the past - it's all washed out right now), sewing in little charms (yep you can sew them in like in arts and crafts). Some beads have fallen out and now my dreads are getting too thick to add new ones. Another cool thing is because my dreads have become longer I can now braid it back like you could with 'normal' hair - this has come in handy with work because you can 'hide' your dreads and not make them as obvious, although dreads are a lot more common these days and becoming more accepted.

October 2011 - Overnight trip on the Trisuli River in Nepal. My dreads were only a few days old.

November 2011. Orientation day at Coast Mountain Photography in Whistler. Dreads ~ 6+ weeks (Photo By James Allan)

Photo taken by Andrea Hunter during winter in Whistler 2011/2012

Typical Blue Bird day on Whistler Mountain - March 2012

Bungee jumping at Whistler Bungee during winter 2012

Photo boating on the Sjoa River in Norway during summer 2012.

Hiking in some 'backyard' mountains in Heidal with my best friend Erika - Sep 2012

Glacier trekking in Norway - June 2013

Mushroom picking with my friend Anna in Sweden - July 2013

Almost as if the dreads were never there (they are well hidden behind my bandana) - The Hauge, July 2013

Whistler Winter

I promised myself last year I would write more frequently about my adventures but since I left India I failed with that so sorry for disappearing all winter.

Usually I never have a so called 'winter' as I try and stay as close to the river as possible but I decided to do my first winter season in Whistler, Canada after being in Nepal and India.

I have only really tried skiing once when I was about 10 and got a job as a photographer with Coast Mountain Photography in Whistler, but for my job I needed to be able to ski to get from location to location on the mountain. I allowed myself 2 weeks before starting work to learn to ski (I figured I learnt to kayak pretty quickly so if I was motivated I would be able to do this before I started work). 

I pretty much got thrown in the deep end with skiing. When I first got to Whistler I was living with 4 Swedes, 2 Aussies, 3 Canadians, 1 girl from the UK and a South African. The Swedes took me up the mountain and got me on the skis straight away and it was all learning by trial and error. My first day on the mountain I fell over so, so many times then each day the falls got less and less until eventually over winter I progressed to the black runs then the ungroomed powder runs with my friend Colin. Another thing that helped me learn fast was that there were some pretty amazing skiers and snowboarders at Coast that at the end of each day at work they would challenge me by taking me down harder runs and giving me pointers.

 

 

Working at Coast was a really good experience for me. I got really confident using manual mode on my camera and it was fantastic having some really experienced photographers critique my work which helped me over the season become better with getting the exposure and lighting right for my photos. 

As well as working with on mountain photography I also spend part of the winter helping Coast out at Whistler Bungee...... as your about to guess that meant I also went Bungee Jumping!

People who know me well know I'm usually up for anything adventurous - but as long as I'm in control! I jumped 4 times during winter and every time I did it I could never jump off the platform straight away. Jumping backwards was the worst out of all the ways I tried (swan diving and tandem). I did it backwards twice and both times I needed a push off the bridge!

Once I was off the bridge everything is fine and my fear is gone but it's just taking that initial step off the platform which always makes me feel sick in the pit of my stomach:) Later on in the season I moved out of my house full of people and moved in with 3 other people (and an amazing dog called Bella) and took one of my housemates for a jump at Bungee and she loved it but also felt the same as me - doesn't matter if you have jumped once it doesn't get any easier if you are not quite comfortable with heights!

Other great parts of winter in Whistler were the fact I got to see bands and DJs play live such as the Jezabels, Stanton Warriors, Krusha, Crissy Criss, Cat Empire, Swollen Members and Michael Franti. I got to see some of these bands at Telus Fest which was at the end of April just before Whistler Mountain closed and was lucky to get a media pass to this event which allowed me to have access backstage so I could take photos.

I will post some of these in my next post!