Yeah, sorry about the terrible title to this blog. But I'll keep the blog short and sweet.
Today, I went diving here in Coffs Harbour, Australia. And let me tell you how phenomenol it is! The visibility was about 20 meters! And here is some of the things I got to swim with today!
-A Sea turtle. (he was just at 20 meters away though so it was tough to see)
-A couple Moray Eels
-A lion fish. . .By far my favorite fish. They are most beautiful.
-A couple Eagle Rays, or rays of some sort for that matter.
-On the boat ride out and back we saw some humpback whales!
-Oh yeah, how could I forget. . .I also swam not more than 5 meters away from 5 grey nurse sharks! And let me tell you, it is a very humbling experiance, although not very scary at all. Sharks, I think, are much scarier in an aquarium. But here, they just minded their own buisiness, as I minded mine. They are very graceful creatures, and were quite fun to look at!
So, just thought I'd brag a little bit about the awesome Scuba dives I've just completed, and now, I need to go eat!
P.S. Eric and I are getting closer!
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Coff's Harbour
Well, here it is on the 30th, and Eric has officialy flown into this country to meet up with me. Well, this is quite a big country as we didn't entirely understand when we were making our plans to meet. Well, do to a little miscommunication (or lack of communication) between Pat, Eric, and me, Eric is now about a 20 hour drive north of Pat and I, and we were not able to pick him up from the Airport like I had originally planned to do. So, thus begins the adventure of trying to meet up! I think that'll be fun in itself!
In the mean time, Pat has been trying to figure out what to do with his remaining days here. He's constantly hitting himself for not spending more time here, as 3 weeks just wasn't enough! Like I said, Australia is a big country! Anyway, pat and I have been debating whether or not to B-line it up to Cairns to meet Eric, or if we should continue our "slower" pace up the coast. Then we stopped in Coffs Harbour, where it has all begun to spiral out of control!
Coffs Harbour is a really fun city with loads of Ocean things to do! Well, pat and I went into a dive shop to see if we could get a dive in. One Discover Scuba course for Pat turned into a full fledged open water certification for the next 4 days. So, while I was trying to convince pat of going further north so we could meet eric, it has turned into being stuck here for 4 days! But we do have a dive planned for friday which I'm pretty excited about!
In the meantime, Pat and I drove through Dorrigo natl. Park and saw some really intersting things. When one thinks of Australia, they generally think of the Outback. Well, as I recently found out, Australia is home to many other climates then just Desert. In fact, we spent two full days exploring Rain forest! The Flora and Fauna was unlike I have ever seen! Giant Eucalyptus trees being strangled by vines. Birds with beaks as long as my forearm. Ants with pincers the size of my fingernail. And spiders that would give anybody a spook! (In fact, we tried feeding one of the spiders with one of the ants! They fought a lot, and it turns out that the Ant won! Kind of, it just didn't get eaten, but it was still stuck in a web!)
Another great thing is the amount of camping we've been doing! Sure enough, it is car camping, but nontheless great fun! And a whole lot cheaper than paying for Hostels every night. If you've been reading eric's blog at all, then you'll see that he found it was cheaper to drive 10 mins to a place where no one is there, and just camp! Well, pat and I have found the same thing, except here, we just find beaches or beautiful lookouts, pitch a tent and call it good! It is quite an experiance, literally living out of a car!
And once again, my excuse. I haven't found my camera yet, but went camera shopping today. Didn't find anything to my liking quite yet, but trust me I'm working on it! What is terrible is all the pictures from Sydney with Pat and me, are gone! Plus a few extras from New Zealand. So sad.
Till next time! Miss you all!
In the mean time, Pat has been trying to figure out what to do with his remaining days here. He's constantly hitting himself for not spending more time here, as 3 weeks just wasn't enough! Like I said, Australia is a big country! Anyway, pat and I have been debating whether or not to B-line it up to Cairns to meet Eric, or if we should continue our "slower" pace up the coast. Then we stopped in Coffs Harbour, where it has all begun to spiral out of control!
Coffs Harbour is a really fun city with loads of Ocean things to do! Well, pat and I went into a dive shop to see if we could get a dive in. One Discover Scuba course for Pat turned into a full fledged open water certification for the next 4 days. So, while I was trying to convince pat of going further north so we could meet eric, it has turned into being stuck here for 4 days! But we do have a dive planned for friday which I'm pretty excited about!
In the meantime, Pat and I drove through Dorrigo natl. Park and saw some really intersting things. When one thinks of Australia, they generally think of the Outback. Well, as I recently found out, Australia is home to many other climates then just Desert. In fact, we spent two full days exploring Rain forest! The Flora and Fauna was unlike I have ever seen! Giant Eucalyptus trees being strangled by vines. Birds with beaks as long as my forearm. Ants with pincers the size of my fingernail. And spiders that would give anybody a spook! (In fact, we tried feeding one of the spiders with one of the ants! They fought a lot, and it turns out that the Ant won! Kind of, it just didn't get eaten, but it was still stuck in a web!)
Another great thing is the amount of camping we've been doing! Sure enough, it is car camping, but nontheless great fun! And a whole lot cheaper than paying for Hostels every night. If you've been reading eric's blog at all, then you'll see that he found it was cheaper to drive 10 mins to a place where no one is there, and just camp! Well, pat and I have found the same thing, except here, we just find beaches or beautiful lookouts, pitch a tent and call it good! It is quite an experiance, literally living out of a car!
And once again, my excuse. I haven't found my camera yet, but went camera shopping today. Didn't find anything to my liking quite yet, but trust me I'm working on it! What is terrible is all the pictures from Sydney with Pat and me, are gone! Plus a few extras from New Zealand. So sad.
Till next time! Miss you all!
Thursday, May 24, 2007
The New England Highway - Good times and Bad
So Pat and I have decided to get out of Sydney. Sydney was a fantastic city with lots and lots to do. Well, we looked into the best way to travel up the coast, and by comparing buses to renting cars to buying cars to trains to hitching, the obvious solution presented itself. Buying a car IS the cheapest option. Buying a car cost exactly the same amount as renting it would've been. And it only cost a little more than taking a train or a bus, but now we have the option of going where ever we please. It is quite nice! And no, we haven't given this car a name yet. We're working on it though.
So, instead of going all the way up the coast to Brisbane, we decided to go inland a little bit and check out some of the "off the beaten track" areas of Australia. We started off by going to the blue mountains which are an absolutely gorgeous national park. There are sandstone cliffs that are hundreds of feet tall and perfectly vertical. And lookouts all over the place! I wish I could show you! (That story a little later. . .)
So from the Blue Mountains we traveled up the Old Western highway, and turned onto the New England Highway. These highways pass through some really fun small towns as well as some larger Bozeman sized towns. Right now we are in Armidale which is about the size of Bozeman, and has the University of New England. So really, it has a Bozeman feel to it.
Plus, by getting out of the city, we've been able to save quite a bit of money on sleeping costs! In fact, we have become "vagrants" over the past few days. Living in the car, and when we need to sleep, we've just been finding rest areas to pitch the tent in. It has been quite fun! The problem is finding showers though! :) Oh yeah, and it's been really cold. For Pat at least. He didn't bring a sleeping bag with him so we've been fashioning sleeping bags out of blankets, switching sleeping pads, and slept in the car. Finally we went shopping for a bag!
Also on the New England Highway we saw our first kangaroos! Funny little creatures and surprisingly agile. Instead of jumping over a wire fence, they'd jump through it! Quite impressive.
The Kangaroos were in wine country, so we stopped and did some wine tasting. We went to a GREAT winery called cruikshanks, that makes the best port wine I've had. (In fact the only port I've had until now) I suggest you look them up if you want wine, and maybe order some!
And finally, that day we drove to Tamworth and looked at a giant 12 meter tall golden guitar. Of course it was such a tacky touristy thing that I had to take a picture. Well, that is the point that I found out that I couldn't find my camera. I had thought I left it in my polar fleece. Not there. Maybe in the pants I changed from at the first winery. Not there. We tore apart the car. Not there! So I tried calling the first winery we went to to see if I had dropped it there. Well, I ran out of credit on my phone. So I had to go top up and buy a new sim card for Australia. Well, after stopping at about 10 different electronics stores and gas stations, I finally found the sim card I needed. So I tried calling the winery, but had to activate my sim card to use my phone. And guess what! When I tried activating the card, the phone companies system was down. So I tried on the Internet. System still down. Everything I did from that golden guitar onwards went terribly awry! And I still don't know where my camera is!
So, I only have a couple minutes left, so I should get going. But as soon as my camera reappears (hopefully) I'll get some pictures up that I've been promising for about the last month now! See ya!
(And I only got 2 comments on my last post. . .you all are slacking as much as I am! Thanks though to the two people that did comment. ;) )
So, instead of going all the way up the coast to Brisbane, we decided to go inland a little bit and check out some of the "off the beaten track" areas of Australia. We started off by going to the blue mountains which are an absolutely gorgeous national park. There are sandstone cliffs that are hundreds of feet tall and perfectly vertical. And lookouts all over the place! I wish I could show you! (That story a little later. . .)
So from the Blue Mountains we traveled up the Old Western highway, and turned onto the New England Highway. These highways pass through some really fun small towns as well as some larger Bozeman sized towns. Right now we are in Armidale which is about the size of Bozeman, and has the University of New England. So really, it has a Bozeman feel to it.
Plus, by getting out of the city, we've been able to save quite a bit of money on sleeping costs! In fact, we have become "vagrants" over the past few days. Living in the car, and when we need to sleep, we've just been finding rest areas to pitch the tent in. It has been quite fun! The problem is finding showers though! :) Oh yeah, and it's been really cold. For Pat at least. He didn't bring a sleeping bag with him so we've been fashioning sleeping bags out of blankets, switching sleeping pads, and slept in the car. Finally we went shopping for a bag!
Also on the New England Highway we saw our first kangaroos! Funny little creatures and surprisingly agile. Instead of jumping over a wire fence, they'd jump through it! Quite impressive.
The Kangaroos were in wine country, so we stopped and did some wine tasting. We went to a GREAT winery called cruikshanks, that makes the best port wine I've had. (In fact the only port I've had until now) I suggest you look them up if you want wine, and maybe order some!
And finally, that day we drove to Tamworth and looked at a giant 12 meter tall golden guitar. Of course it was such a tacky touristy thing that I had to take a picture. Well, that is the point that I found out that I couldn't find my camera. I had thought I left it in my polar fleece. Not there. Maybe in the pants I changed from at the first winery. Not there. We tore apart the car. Not there! So I tried calling the first winery we went to to see if I had dropped it there. Well, I ran out of credit on my phone. So I had to go top up and buy a new sim card for Australia. Well, after stopping at about 10 different electronics stores and gas stations, I finally found the sim card I needed. So I tried calling the winery, but had to activate my sim card to use my phone. And guess what! When I tried activating the card, the phone companies system was down. So I tried on the Internet. System still down. Everything I did from that golden guitar onwards went terribly awry! And I still don't know where my camera is!
So, I only have a couple minutes left, so I should get going. But as soon as my camera reappears (hopefully) I'll get some pictures up that I've been promising for about the last month now! See ya!
(And I only got 2 comments on my last post. . .you all are slacking as much as I am! Thanks though to the two people that did comment. ;) )
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Sydney - Too freaking fun!
Hey there everyone! It's been a while, and that's just because I've been having way too much fun here in Sydney, Australia! This town rocks! Well, at least it is the best big city I've ever been to in my life. There are tons of fun Museums, beaches, and lots of places to drink beers! In fact, as I got here and met up with Pat, we immediatlely booked three nights in a Hostel. The hostel itself is kind of a dive, but by booking three nights, you get 15 free beers at 15 different bars around the city. At first, we looked at the map of the where the beers are located, and sure enough, they are spread ALL OVER the place. So at first we were pretty bummed about that, but once the scavenger hunt began it begun to get really fun! We have been all over Sydney now looking for our free beers and in the mean time, we've seen most of what the city has to offer. I could really spend a lot more time here than I think we have though. We've been to the Opera House, been over the Sydney Harbour Bridge, been to the Maritime Museum, Been to Bondi (Pronounced Bond-ee) beach, and seen some of the best Architecture and art and fountains of my life. There is one fountain that emulates a whirlpool. It is one of the strangest effects that I've seen water do. Now, I realize I don't have pictures on this blog (as per my usual excuse in these blogs) but I am on free internet right now. . .(who can complain about that?) and they don't have a USB port to do the picture thing. So, I'll hopefully find the time to post some photos of this wonderful city later!
On another note, this city would be a parkour persons dream! Don't know what parkour is? Do a Google search! It is more or less free style walking. Or, it could also be a Unicycler's dream! There are all kinds of walls to balance on, buildings to climb, rails to balance, fountains to play in, and people to watch here! I suppose if I were to move to a big city, so far Sydney would be it! (Don't worry though, I still don't want to move to a big city.)
Other than that, I think I'll talk on the pluses of traveling with a companion. So, I met Pat two days ago here in Sydney, and I've just been loving every minute of traveling with him so far! Normally I'd be more or less bymyself exploring the city and looking at museums and walking the city streets gets awefully boring by yourself rather quickly. Every now and then you can meet someone in a Hostel and spend a few hours with them, but hardly ever do you spend a whole day with someone let alone a few weeks. (Yes, I think I got lucky meeting Martin a few months ago!) But now that I have Pat to travel with, we are laughing and talking and joking all day, at the same time as doing the touristy things! It just brings a smile to my face being able to hang out in the Sydney Aquarium, looking at sharks and being able to point out certain things to someone else! So, yeah, In the end I would say that one shouldn't be afraid of traveling by themselves if that is the only option they have, but traveling with someone sure makes things fun!
Well, I wish I could put up some pictures, because I think I've gotten some really fun ones, but alas, you'll have to wait until I'm not having SO much fun doing other things, that I can find a Internet Cafe and spend some quality time blogging! hehe. Till next time!
On another note, this city would be a parkour persons dream! Don't know what parkour is? Do a Google search! It is more or less free style walking. Or, it could also be a Unicycler's dream! There are all kinds of walls to balance on, buildings to climb, rails to balance, fountains to play in, and people to watch here! I suppose if I were to move to a big city, so far Sydney would be it! (Don't worry though, I still don't want to move to a big city.)
Other than that, I think I'll talk on the pluses of traveling with a companion. So, I met Pat two days ago here in Sydney, and I've just been loving every minute of traveling with him so far! Normally I'd be more or less bymyself exploring the city and looking at museums and walking the city streets gets awefully boring by yourself rather quickly. Every now and then you can meet someone in a Hostel and spend a few hours with them, but hardly ever do you spend a whole day with someone let alone a few weeks. (Yes, I think I got lucky meeting Martin a few months ago!) But now that I have Pat to travel with, we are laughing and talking and joking all day, at the same time as doing the touristy things! It just brings a smile to my face being able to hang out in the Sydney Aquarium, looking at sharks and being able to point out certain things to someone else! So, yeah, In the end I would say that one shouldn't be afraid of traveling by themselves if that is the only option they have, but traveling with someone sure makes things fun!
Well, I wish I could put up some pictures, because I think I've gotten some really fun ones, but alas, you'll have to wait until I'm not having SO much fun doing other things, that I can find a Internet Cafe and spend some quality time blogging! hehe. Till next time!
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Christchurch - Playing the Waiting game
Hey all, I've arrived back in Christchurch for the last time on this particular voyage of mine. And a few things have happened since, that I deemed worth blogging about.
First I had to say good bye to Kris, Bruce, and Ayva. This was an especially sad time for me since I had such a good time staying with them. So thank you very much Kris and Bruce! It was a blast, and I'm looking forward to August when you come visit in Bozeman! Remember my home is your home!
So, on my way to Christchurch, I found out that the fastest way to get here from Nelson is to travel through Lewis Pass. Lewis pass is one of the roads that my mother and Linnea and I didn't have time to drive on during their time here. And it's too bad, because it was a absolutely stunning drive. Although, it didn't seem that there were many places to turn off from to wander off the road. There was this pull off though where I got this picture. Notice the snow in the mountains. Yes, it is actually starting to get cold down here in New Zealand. I haven't put on a pair of shorts in the last month actually.
(Another reason I'm looking forward to Australia) But this turn off was quite beautiful, and made me realize once again what I am about to leave behind. It made me sad that I'm leaving New Zealand, and anxious to come back some time down the road to do the things that I ended up missing. Such as spending more time at the Milford Sound area, and making it to Dunedin and Invercargill. I never saw any penguins down here either, so I'll have to come back for that. But in the mean time, I'm happy to be leaving! It's time now. I have plenty of life left to make it back! :) (Speaking of which. . .I thought of a saying that really bothers me. Everyone says "it's a once in a lifetime opportunity" Well, I don't think that's ever true! If you don't want it to be once in a lifetime, don't make it once in a lifetime. You can always do something twice if you put your mind to it.)
And finally, I have broke down and sold Larry. This is the final parting shot I got of my friend as I walked away! Sure enough, I had to cut my sale price by about a third of what I wanted for him, but in the end, I think it is O.K. The person I sold him to said he was going to get him all fixed up before trying to sell him to someone else during the busy season. So, Larry is in good hands! I hope he's happy with his new owner.
So now, I'm just hanging out in Christchurch till I fly to Sydney on Wednesday! It's a short post, but it'll do for now! See ya!
First I had to say good bye to Kris, Bruce, and Ayva. This was an especially sad time for me since I had such a good time staying with them. So thank you very much Kris and Bruce! It was a blast, and I'm looking forward to August when you come visit in Bozeman! Remember my home is your home!
So, on my way to Christchurch, I found out that the fastest way to get here from Nelson is to travel through Lewis Pass. Lewis pass is one of the roads that my mother and Linnea and I didn't have time to drive on during their time here. And it's too bad, because it was a absolutely stunning drive. Although, it didn't seem that there were many places to turn off from to wander off the road. There was this pull off though where I got this picture. Notice the snow in the mountains. Yes, it is actually starting to get cold down here in New Zealand. I haven't put on a pair of shorts in the last month actually.
(Another reason I'm looking forward to Australia) But this turn off was quite beautiful, and made me realize once again what I am about to leave behind. It made me sad that I'm leaving New Zealand, and anxious to come back some time down the road to do the things that I ended up missing. Such as spending more time at the Milford Sound area, and making it to Dunedin and Invercargill. I never saw any penguins down here either, so I'll have to come back for that. But in the mean time, I'm happy to be leaving! It's time now. I have plenty of life left to make it back! :) (Speaking of which. . .I thought of a saying that really bothers me. Everyone says "it's a once in a lifetime opportunity" Well, I don't think that's ever true! If you don't want it to be once in a lifetime, don't make it once in a lifetime. You can always do something twice if you put your mind to it.)
And finally, I have broke down and sold Larry. This is the final parting shot I got of my friend as I walked away! Sure enough, I had to cut my sale price by about a third of what I wanted for him, but in the end, I think it is O.K. The person I sold him to said he was going to get him all fixed up before trying to sell him to someone else during the busy season. So, Larry is in good hands! I hope he's happy with his new owner.So now, I'm just hanging out in Christchurch till I fly to Sydney on Wednesday! It's a short post, but it'll do for now! See ya!
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Selling Cars - Not as easy as buying them. . .
Well, as my stay in New Zealand comes to an end, I have decided that it is time to get rid of the oh so reliable Larry. At least I decided this about 2 weeks ago, in the middle of my skydive training. So what would anyone do that wants to sell their car in two weeks do? Well, they'd post fliers at every single hostel in town, 14 of them to be exact. They'd put up ads online, 2 backpacker sites to be exact. And they'd even go to a few dealers in town to see how much money they could possibly, at a last resort, get from a car. Oh, and they'd wash and clean the car, of course.
Now, with that said, I've found that the most effective way to sell a car is to sell it to unsuspecting Hitchhikers! I've done all the above things, and for the past two weeks, I have only just now gotten a reply on someone that may be interested! But also, in the past two weeks, I have picked up three hitchhikes, and two of them were interested in buying. One of those two is following through and looking at the car this Friday. So, forget the fliers, forget the internet, and instead pick someone up that is looking for a lending hand! They may be able to return the favor!
Also, in my endeavor to sell my car, I have learned a few things about Larry that I never knew, and am glad I never had to find out! First, I'll start with the Dealer that I brought Larry to. The dealer took one look at the car, and more or less said "you'd have to pay ME to take that off your hands!" I was gutted! Larry is worth more than that! Well, he took a little closer look, and noticed that the front tyres (yes, that is how they spell tires in NZ. Actually in Thailand and Kenya too for that matter. Oh and they call Math maths. But that is a different story) are in not the best condition! He then told me that if I had a spare, I should slap that on right away, because if I got in an accident with those tyres, even if it wasn't my fault, I would be blamed. So, he was nice enough to loan me his garage and jack to put on my nice looking spare tyre. The spare was a little low on air, so I just drove to the petrol station across the street, and filled it up. No problem, right? Wrong. . .
Enter the next day. I get up to start working on making my car even more presentable to potential buyers that are consistently not calling me. Today is the day that I go to find a car wash. So, I go outside to jump in, and during my daily walk to the passenger side of the car (I walk to that side every day because I still insist that the driver should get in on the left hand side of the car!) I noticed that the spare had gone flat overnight! Doh! It had a slow leak that I was unaware of! So, I open the boot (trunk) of the car to get the jack to start changing the tyre back. Lo and behold, no jack! SWEET! So, I borrow a jack from Kris' car, and jack up my car. Then I try to take of the lug nuts. Sure enough, my tyre yron (get it? Tire Iron) is the wrong size! I try Kris' Tyre Iron. . .also the wrong size. I look more in my boot, and find, you guessed it, my foot! Oh, wait. . .I looked in the trunk and found another Tire Iron. Finally, this one fit the lug nuts.
So I removed the "new" tire, put on the old one, and let the car come to a rest again. Now, I can finally take Larry to the car wash! So, I'm not going to lie. Larry has what I like to call "character." Meaning he has a lot of duct tape holding him together. Well duct tape doesn't make for very good weather sealing as I demonstrated today! Sure enough, here I am in the car wash, taking a shower! Not intentionally of course. I went to one of those hands free car washes, and as I'm sitting there cleaning the ash tray in the car, water is spraying into the door at mach 3! Water is dripping from the windshield right on to my lap! You should've seen me holding my hands at all the cracks and seams of my car trying to keep the water from spraying into my face! I'll bet the car behind me was laughing it's head off at larry! :)
So hopefully when I show Larry, it'll be a bright sunshiny day! And hopefully I can either sell it to another backpacker who is looking for adventure in their car, or some type of boy racer that wants a fixer up! Ahh, good 'ole larry! My hat is off to you my old friend! Now good riddance! :)
And yes, I do realize that there are once again no pictures on this blog. Have you ever noticed when you become "local" in a particular place, the magic of everyday things seem to disappear, even though it still exists? Well that is exactly what has happened to me this past month. I've been in the same location where I haven't felt it important to carry my camera. But then I'll see something fascinating, or experience something bizzare, and have no way of sharing the images with you all! So I feel really bad about that, so I'm gonna work on improving my style in these next few days. On that note, I saw a lady that had 8 great danes on the dog beach the other day. 6 of them were spotted like Dalmations. I really wish I had my camera with me that day! Oh well.
Now, with that said, I've found that the most effective way to sell a car is to sell it to unsuspecting Hitchhikers! I've done all the above things, and for the past two weeks, I have only just now gotten a reply on someone that may be interested! But also, in the past two weeks, I have picked up three hitchhikes, and two of them were interested in buying. One of those two is following through and looking at the car this Friday. So, forget the fliers, forget the internet, and instead pick someone up that is looking for a lending hand! They may be able to return the favor!
Also, in my endeavor to sell my car, I have learned a few things about Larry that I never knew, and am glad I never had to find out! First, I'll start with the Dealer that I brought Larry to. The dealer took one look at the car, and more or less said "you'd have to pay ME to take that off your hands!" I was gutted! Larry is worth more than that! Well, he took a little closer look, and noticed that the front tyres (yes, that is how they spell tires in NZ. Actually in Thailand and Kenya too for that matter. Oh and they call Math maths. But that is a different story) are in not the best condition! He then told me that if I had a spare, I should slap that on right away, because if I got in an accident with those tyres, even if it wasn't my fault, I would be blamed. So, he was nice enough to loan me his garage and jack to put on my nice looking spare tyre. The spare was a little low on air, so I just drove to the petrol station across the street, and filled it up. No problem, right? Wrong. . .
Enter the next day. I get up to start working on making my car even more presentable to potential buyers that are consistently not calling me. Today is the day that I go to find a car wash. So, I go outside to jump in, and during my daily walk to the passenger side of the car (I walk to that side every day because I still insist that the driver should get in on the left hand side of the car!) I noticed that the spare had gone flat overnight! Doh! It had a slow leak that I was unaware of! So, I open the boot (trunk) of the car to get the jack to start changing the tyre back. Lo and behold, no jack! SWEET! So, I borrow a jack from Kris' car, and jack up my car. Then I try to take of the lug nuts. Sure enough, my tyre yron (get it? Tire Iron) is the wrong size! I try Kris' Tyre Iron. . .also the wrong size. I look more in my boot, and find, you guessed it, my foot! Oh, wait. . .I looked in the trunk and found another Tire Iron. Finally, this one fit the lug nuts.
So I removed the "new" tire, put on the old one, and let the car come to a rest again. Now, I can finally take Larry to the car wash! So, I'm not going to lie. Larry has what I like to call "character." Meaning he has a lot of duct tape holding him together. Well duct tape doesn't make for very good weather sealing as I demonstrated today! Sure enough, here I am in the car wash, taking a shower! Not intentionally of course. I went to one of those hands free car washes, and as I'm sitting there cleaning the ash tray in the car, water is spraying into the door at mach 3! Water is dripping from the windshield right on to my lap! You should've seen me holding my hands at all the cracks and seams of my car trying to keep the water from spraying into my face! I'll bet the car behind me was laughing it's head off at larry! :)
So hopefully when I show Larry, it'll be a bright sunshiny day! And hopefully I can either sell it to another backpacker who is looking for adventure in their car, or some type of boy racer that wants a fixer up! Ahh, good 'ole larry! My hat is off to you my old friend! Now good riddance! :)
And yes, I do realize that there are once again no pictures on this blog. Have you ever noticed when you become "local" in a particular place, the magic of everyday things seem to disappear, even though it still exists? Well that is exactly what has happened to me this past month. I've been in the same location where I haven't felt it important to carry my camera. But then I'll see something fascinating, or experience something bizzare, and have no way of sharing the images with you all! So I feel really bad about that, so I'm gonna work on improving my style in these next few days. On that note, I saw a lady that had 8 great danes on the dog beach the other day. 6 of them were spotted like Dalmations. I really wish I had my camera with me that day! Oh well.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
I've become "local"
O.K. so the title isn't entirely true. I haven't become a local in the sense that I still have a crazy "Canadian" accent, but if you take a look at myspace, you'll notice a few new additions. One of which is my world travel map. As you can see, over Nelson there is now a little yellow arrow saying that I've lived here.
Well, it's true. When I arrived I had only planned on spending a week or so with Kris and Bruce, and from there I was going to head to queenstown to work on my skydiving certification. Well, when I found out that Skydiving here was about half the price as it was in queenstown, I was sold. So I asked if it was O.K. with Kris and Bruce, and they said sure! So I don't know how long you have to be in one area to say that you've lived there, but I think a month is about good. So I've officially lived in another place!
Now, I also LOVE putting up these blogs. It's a great way to keep in touch with everyone. However, I've been aching because I know I have a video of me Skydiving that is just waiting to be finished up and given to me. I've been just DYING to put this video online for all of you to see, but alas, since the weather has literally rained for the past week nonstop, I haven't been to the drop zone, meaning I haven't been able to finish training, meaning no video for me yet, finally meaning no video for you yet! :) Funny how that works isn't it. Our lives are so dependent on the weather. So, since I haven't gotten the video and not a whole lot of exciting NEW things are happening in my life, I've been slacking on the whole Blog thing.
I do have to admit though that this month in Nelson has done wonders for my psyche. Before coming here I was just getting off the plane from Africa. Now, I don't know if you all remember what I was going through there, but I went to Africa at the 3-months of traveling, and I got back at about the 4-months of traveling. Well, all the traveling websites say this is the time that you will be most homesick. Stick with it, and it will get better. I agree with that whole heartedly! So going to Africa, I was DYING of homesickness. While in Africa, I was DYING of homesickness, and as soon as I got back to New Zealand, the feeling hadn't gone away. I realize now that the feeling was largely due to the fact that I was sick of figuring out where I was going to sleep a particular night, what I was going to eat a particular night and I was definitely sick of telling my life story to every new person I met! So, enter skydiving, and the oh so wonderful Kris and Bruce. Since Skydiving has started, it has given me a reason to stay in one place for an extended amount of time and recharge my batteries. Plus, since I was so homesick, I decided on a date to be home by. So those two things combined have more or less gotten rid of my homesickness. I mean, don't get me wrong. I still miss Bozeman like no other, but now that there is a date that I have in mind for getting back, I have something to look forward to, and it doesn't seem so far away!
On a side note, for your viewing pleasure, I thought I'd post this video on my blog since one of my jump masters was one of the people in this jump! It's pretty incredible!
Also, during my recharging time, I've met some of the best people I'll meet on my adventures. Given, you meet interesting people every day of traveling, but the ones you meet you don't necessarily get to KNOW! Since I've been skydiving, I have really gotten to KNOW and truly befriend my jumpmasters and fellow students! In fact, I can't wait to meet up with them again to see how we have all progressed with skydiving a few years down the road!
This break has been exactly what I needed, and I am so happy to have friends here that I was able to take a break with. And to add to that, I have gotten a girlfriend while I'm here! :) No, don't be frightened...She's about 1 year old! It's little Ayva! It is absolutely hilarious how Ayva acts around me now! She is always showing off, and whenever she does something cool, she looks for me and smiles! This morning, when Kris brought Ayva over to say hi to me, Ayva practically leapt out of her mothers arms into mine! It was priceless! Unfortunately for her, I have to break up with her in 2 weeks time, when I am off on the next leg of my journey!
So, I know there aren't a lot of pictures, and not a lot of exciting "new" things to talk about, but I guess in the long scheme of things, a month is nothing really, and I'll be back out soon enough! Until then, you can just look forward to my skydiving video, and maybe a few more posts with nothing more but words of traveling wisdom. . .or something along those lines.
P.S. It's official. Eric has purchased his ticket to come visit me now, so I'll be traveling with him from May 30th until I decide to come stateside. Yay! I have somewhat of a plan! It's nice!
Well, it's true. When I arrived I had only planned on spending a week or so with Kris and Bruce, and from there I was going to head to queenstown to work on my skydiving certification. Well, when I found out that Skydiving here was about half the price as it was in queenstown, I was sold. So I asked if it was O.K. with Kris and Bruce, and they said sure! So I don't know how long you have to be in one area to say that you've lived there, but I think a month is about good. So I've officially lived in another place!
Now, I also LOVE putting up these blogs. It's a great way to keep in touch with everyone. However, I've been aching because I know I have a video of me Skydiving that is just waiting to be finished up and given to me. I've been just DYING to put this video online for all of you to see, but alas, since the weather has literally rained for the past week nonstop, I haven't been to the drop zone, meaning I haven't been able to finish training, meaning no video for me yet, finally meaning no video for you yet! :) Funny how that works isn't it. Our lives are so dependent on the weather. So, since I haven't gotten the video and not a whole lot of exciting NEW things are happening in my life, I've been slacking on the whole Blog thing.
I do have to admit though that this month in Nelson has done wonders for my psyche. Before coming here I was just getting off the plane from Africa. Now, I don't know if you all remember what I was going through there, but I went to Africa at the 3-months of traveling, and I got back at about the 4-months of traveling. Well, all the traveling websites say this is the time that you will be most homesick. Stick with it, and it will get better. I agree with that whole heartedly! So going to Africa, I was DYING of homesickness. While in Africa, I was DYING of homesickness, and as soon as I got back to New Zealand, the feeling hadn't gone away. I realize now that the feeling was largely due to the fact that I was sick of figuring out where I was going to sleep a particular night, what I was going to eat a particular night and I was definitely sick of telling my life story to every new person I met! So, enter skydiving, and the oh so wonderful Kris and Bruce. Since Skydiving has started, it has given me a reason to stay in one place for an extended amount of time and recharge my batteries. Plus, since I was so homesick, I decided on a date to be home by. So those two things combined have more or less gotten rid of my homesickness. I mean, don't get me wrong. I still miss Bozeman like no other, but now that there is a date that I have in mind for getting back, I have something to look forward to, and it doesn't seem so far away!
On a side note, for your viewing pleasure, I thought I'd post this video on my blog since one of my jump masters was one of the people in this jump! It's pretty incredible!
Also, during my recharging time, I've met some of the best people I'll meet on my adventures. Given, you meet interesting people every day of traveling, but the ones you meet you don't necessarily get to KNOW! Since I've been skydiving, I have really gotten to KNOW and truly befriend my jumpmasters and fellow students! In fact, I can't wait to meet up with them again to see how we have all progressed with skydiving a few years down the road!
This break has been exactly what I needed, and I am so happy to have friends here that I was able to take a break with. And to add to that, I have gotten a girlfriend while I'm here! :) No, don't be frightened...She's about 1 year old! It's little Ayva! It is absolutely hilarious how Ayva acts around me now! She is always showing off, and whenever she does something cool, she looks for me and smiles! This morning, when Kris brought Ayva over to say hi to me, Ayva practically leapt out of her mothers arms into mine! It was priceless! Unfortunately for her, I have to break up with her in 2 weeks time, when I am off on the next leg of my journey!
So, I know there aren't a lot of pictures, and not a lot of exciting "new" things to talk about, but I guess in the long scheme of things, a month is nothing really, and I'll be back out soon enough! Until then, you can just look forward to my skydiving video, and maybe a few more posts with nothing more but words of traveling wisdom. . .or something along those lines.
P.S. It's official. Eric has purchased his ticket to come visit me now, so I'll be traveling with him from May 30th until I decide to come stateside. Yay! I have somewhat of a plan! It's nice!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)