I am a type 1 diabetic; constant and passionate traveler. I have briefly been to Europe, lived in NZ, and backpacked through Southeast Asia and did a short trip to Australia and the Cook Island, and backbacked through South America. More adventure here we come!! Fiji? Check. Where next??
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Pictures from my Travels Thus Far
Starlight Symphony for One
The perfect evening – not too cold, not too hot. Sprawled out on the grass, I’m not sure how the evening will turn out. The field is set-up to expect an extremely large crowd, the speakers are rigged up and playing music for the people arriving early before the show, and I’ve found a nice little patch of grass to lay on. I grabbed the book I’m reading to pass the time since it’s only about
(I arrived early because I didn’t really have any other place I needed to be. It’s crazy. I don’t know how many other times in my life I will have the luxury of not really having anywhere I need to be. Every morning I wake up and decide what I’m going to do based upon the whim of the moment. What an indulgence!)
I’m sitting in Auckland Domain, one of many parks in
I finish the crappy chic lit book that I’m reading (My Life on a Plate by
The show ends up being extremely enjoyable and not all orchestra music I’ve never heard of. They have a variety of stars, who I can only assume are popular and well-known to the Kiwis, joining in with the orchestra. The Prime Minister welcomed us to the show (to think I haven’t even been here 2 weeks and I’m at the same place as the PM!). There was a children’s chorus, a special Starlight Chorus, and others. They had the Kiwi Idols (yes, they have that crazy show here in NZ too) come up on stage to sing Simon and Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water. The Lady Killers sang a cover of Geri Halloway’s “It’s Raining Men” which I’ve never seen at an orchestra performance before, but it was fun. They also did some NZ songs that I was one of the few in the audience that didn’t know the tunes.
During the first half, they played a waltz so that all of
As the evening began to wrap up, I heard the 1812 Overture, the Star War’s theme was played with the laser light show, and they did a fireworks show. After the fireworks, I got my stuff together so I wouldn’t miss the bus and started to head off the field. The orchestra played the NZ National Anthem to close the night. For the first time in my life, I found myself in a country where I was surrounded by people happily singing along to their national anthem and I didn’t have a clue how the song went or a single word. It was one of those moments where I felt excited to be experiencing such an event and at the same time missing
A very fun and entertaining evening – and of course, better than free (since I was able to mooch off the neighbors)! Perfect for a backpacker’s budget.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Almost Speechless ...
Sitting on
I’ve been in
After the tour, Andi and I set down at a lovely stone-ish gray table, outside in the sun to have a chat. As the sun gleams in my eyes, I’m contemplating if it is rude to continue this job interview with my sunglasses on. Andi offers me some water, which I’m excited to learn they have sparkling water available, and gratefully accept. I decide I should probably take my sunglasses off while we’re talking, realizing I should have sat on the opposite side of the table. Andi tells me about the
The final part of my quasi-interview, (why can’t all job interviews be so laid back and easy?) is a tour of the island with Andi. He drives me to the neighboring vineyard, Mudbrick. While he explains how
From the ferry, I decide to walk back in to town (despite my heels screaming at me not to do so, as they are breaking in a new pair of shoes that are most uncomfortable) and lay on the beach for the rest of the afternoon. It’s not even 3 o’clock yet, what’s the hurry? I have five days left before I start work at
Friday, February 16, 2007
Exploring Auckland ...
Another crazy thing I’ve noticed about people down here is that they are barefoot often and at places I’d never think of going without shoes. Not only do they walk down the street shoeless, they stroll casually through the grocery store and hop on the bus, too. No shoes, no shirt, no service is clearly not a rule down in these parts. …
I’ve been walking non-stop and it has yet to show off in dropping pounds. (One can hope it will pay off eventually…) Since I arrived on Monday evening, I have spent every afternoon out and about seeing the sights of
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Adjusting to the Kiwi World…
They drive on the opposite side of the road, for starters. I am constantly looking the wrong way when I want to cross the road. I’ve only been honked at twice and haven’t had a near miss just yet. They supposedly speak English ~ but they use all sorts of weird words and its more similar to British or Aussie English than it is American. Over here, when they are speaking of thongs, they are talking about flip flops. A jumper is a sweater. The currency is different -- $1 and $2 amounts are coins not bills (I’m pretty sure that is typical of most countries outside of the
Right now, I’m staying in a nice and quiet suburb of
So that’s life down here in
Ps. There are not yet any pictures up because my laptop can’t connect to the internet at the hostel and I uploaded all the pics to my laptop and deleted them from the SD card before I realized I couldn’t get wireless. Hopefully the pics will be up soon!
Monday, February 12, 2007
Pinch me: I can’t believe I’ve become a Backpacker!
Friday morning, I wake up and can’t believe I’m really in the CI. The striking view from the hillside allows me the opportunity to wonder at the beauty of this island. The palm trees reach high and never stop. The mountainous backdrop makes me feel like I’m in a movie. I lazily slept in, but no one really pays any attention to the hours, island time is incredibly free. Not only do you get it done when you feel like it, you’re free from cell phones (they don’t get reception here) and e-mail. There is no internet connection at the hostel and it costs about $10/hour in town for a slow connection. Rartonga is not on the trans-pacific cable lines. Oh well. This place is so exquisite I’m wishing I’d decided to spend more than 3 ½ days here. After breakfast, I finish my book and go for a swim in our lovely pool attached to the hillside complex. Next, I decided to go for a walk on the beach. I walked onto the beach at the bottom of the hill and I truly believed I walked for two hours without seeing a soul. I took gobs of pictures and strolled slowly along, attempting to take it all in but knowing I wouldn’t be able to. When I find a nice sandy spot (there is lots of coral/rock that makes parts of the water hard to wade into), and wade in. The ocean is very shallow, I think it made be connected to the reef off the coast. The waves do not crest anywhere near shore, but out at the reef which I think is about 5 km off the coast. (I decided it was too dangerous for my little experience of surfing to attempt it in the CI.) Reading and swimming away my afternoon, it seems like I’m in a dream. I rarely see people, if at all. The views are amazing and I shoot loads of pictures and try to work my magic as an amateur photographer. After spending hours away, I was hungry and knew it was time to re-apply my 45 SPH sunblock. The sun’s rays are so intense that I had a slight burn on my lower back (hard to put sunblock there by yourself). Friday evening, I went into town with several other backpackers to Nu Bar. When we left, it was a pleasant evening and Friday is apparently the big party night ~ it’s the only evening that bars are open past 12 pm. While everyone else was eating (they had a $10 steak special and I had already eaten back at the hostel before being invited out) it began to rain. In the pacific, rain is either light and short or comes down like a monsoon and last for an inconveniently long time. As the main form of travel on the island is on a scooter, its also quite assured you will get drenched. While most of the others were either leaving to catch a plane to Tahiti at the airport (around the corner) or decided to return to the hostel, four of us decided to adventure onwards into town. The bus does not run frequently, and 2 of us had come on the bus and 2 on the scooter. Ryan (a Scot) and Howard (a Brit) were nice enough to let me ride with Tristan on the scooter into town in the monsoon while they waited to hitchhike. Regardless, all four of us were soaked through by the time we arrived at Banana Court, one of two main bars. My skirt and tank took their time drying as we enjoyed the “local” beer. It says it’s the beer of New Zealand, but its exported from Hawaii? Ryan & Howard were so wonderfully polite as to allow me to take the ride back to the hostel on the scooter with Tristan, while they took the 2 am bus home. After a fabulously wet evening, I awoke on Saturday to more rain. No one at the hostel is particularly prone to doing anything. We played cards, scatagories, and such to enjoy our rainy day. Late on Saturday afternoon, the rain breaks and we get to see clouds of mist hanging lovingly on the mountain peak. Saturday night is all you can eat curry night at a place in town, so about ½ of us head into town to enjoy some yummy Indian food. Tristan was nice enough to share his $5 bottle of wine that is a “blend” of wines from Oz, and the evening remains dry ~ yippie! Everyone is so friendly and full of superb traveling stories. Sunday morning a majority of the backpackers pull out their finest and most appropriate clothing, awaking early, to go to church. I know it sounds unlikely, but its true. The Christian service is offered in the local language ~ Maori. The singing is angelic as the locals praise the heavens with their sounds. They speak a few words of the service in English and its primarily directed at the tourists who occupy the balcony of the church. After the service, next door is a free lunch buffet (the major draw for most of the backpackers who are as cheap as they come). We say a prayer over our food with the minister (who wears a tropical print shirt under his suit jacket) and dig in. It has a full spread of local foods. I tried some sort of coconut jello-y thingy, coconut upside down cake-y, papaya, and some other items I had no idea what they are called with some fresh mango juice. While I’m waiting in line for juices for my friends, I make a new little buddy. He barely can reach my knee but just latches on as we move through the line. He is just adorable and while he doesn’t speak a word, he slows me down considerably as he clings to my leg and just smiles up at me. He was just so adorable! After church and buffet, I have just enough time to go for one more swim in the rocky/corally ocean nearest to the hillside. It’s just fabulous. I can’t believe I’ve spent my three and a half days here in Rartonga already. The one consolation to leaving Rartonga, is knowing that I’m headed to Auckland, New Zealand and I have the window seat!! J J
Cliché, but true: Cook Islands, Paradise!
Disastrous departure?
Sunday, February 4, 2007
So Many Things to Get Done ...
- polish off my first aid/med kit with a smattering of items
- get travel toiletries
- a small battery alarm clock
- a prong converter for the laptop
- a travel journal
- something to do that will keep me occupied for the trip that's only going to take about 20 hours. Right now, I have 2 magazines and 1 book ~ I will certainly need a whole lot more to keep me occupied.
Besides some shopping for myself, I have to get a wedding gift for my dear cousins who are about to tie the knot in Tampa. I have tons of people to visit with before I leave, cleaning up and packing away the remnants of my stuff, I need to create a new playlist for my iPod, moving out and cleaning up the downstairs apartment, and finding a moment to ensure I'm sane before I leave. So little time left, tons to do....