My First Days in Oz!

I'm in AUSTRALIA!!!!!!

I've spent the past two days with Donna and her family.  Donna was visiting relatives in Wisconsin over 10 years ago when she needed an alternative place to stay.  My friend Jen (from the Osceola area) and her family took her in.  When Jen learned of me needing a place to stay, she immediately suggested Donna, and I was welcomed into her home.  Sometimes I'm not good at receiving from people (I'm much more of a giver), but it's good to know that one day, like Donna, I'll be able to "pay it forward" as well!  Again, I'm so lucky you set us up, Jen!!

I'm living in Canberra for an undetermined amount of time.

On August 19th, I'll be flying from Sydney to Parkes to visit my parent's old friends and my old neighbors growing up.  The Gibby's moved from dairy farming next to our farm in Verona in the early '90's to Montana.  I have many happy family memories of heading out west to visit on family vacations.  From Montana, the family moved to Australia when their daughter, Season, married an Aussie.  Season may or may not have babysat me before she left Wisconsin, and she'll be picking me up from the airport and getting me settled in when I arrive.  How very cool it will be to see everyone again!

Today is my birthday!  Donna's son is having a birthday party today (his birthday was July 26th), and I was added in to the celebrations.  Donna made me a gluten free/dairy free chocolate cake.  I was also surprised upon waking by being serenaded with "Happy Birthday to You" followed by a few traditional Australian gifts.  How sweet!  Donna has her mom and two Aunts visiting from Perth (the equivalent distance of flying from NY to CA), so we're a full house right now.  And about 20 guests will be here for Eddie's birthday later today.

Just got to talk to my family and Sasha.  So nice to get some birthday wishes; it's weird having my birthday here in Australia but it's still the 28th at home.  Mom got up and first thing sent me an email!

The party is starting in an hour, so it's time to shower and get out of my PJs!

So much to do, so little time...

Wellington

This has been quite the week as I gear up for a flight to Australia on Friday.  I'm exhausted!  But it's a good tired- lots of good things.  I’ll have to finish posting pictures from my South Island trip until I get settled in my next place.

Last night I babysat Victor and began to pack once he went to bed.  I realized that I really hate packing, rushed or not.  I was smart enough to start early, but I still had that familiar feeling of dread over whether I’d get it all in my bag, if I’d be overweight at the airport, etc.  But it did feel good to get most of the way there with room to spare.

I just got back from Waikanae, a local coastal village just north of Paekakariki.  There I met my friend Brittany who was kind enough to drive down from Palmerston North to say goodbye.  She has been an amazing friend, even if we were only able to see each other a handful of times since my arrival!  It was also interesting for me to see how our friendship bloomed.  The first time we got together post-bus was felt a little awkward, but each subsequent lunch date was more and more fun.  I’ll really miss her.  We found a great local café for some fish chowder and a bowl of chips (fries).  We loved it, had great conversation, and had a spectacular goodbye outing.   I think we both left recharged for the week ahead.

This visit with Brittany got me thinking about goodbyes.  I actually love them, in a way.  Saying goodbyes at my last job (Surpass) in Osceola is easily my best memory of the place.  I was emotional all day and the tears were flowing the majority of my last two hours there, but it really showed me that I developed some incredible relationships and that the feelings were mutual.  I’ve kept in touch with so many and even have gotten closer to some of the people I worked with after leaving!

I’ll have three different people to visit in the village tomorrow plus my last meal with the family.  Ready or not, here I come, Australia!

“Life is a path.

If you follow your heart

it will lead you in the right direction.”

Months 6 & 7 Reflections

I spent this past weekend with an incredible Irish family from Belfast.  We met under unique circumstances.  I met Caitlin (pronounced “Catch-leen”) months ago on a beach in Napier, NZ.  She was travelling with her mom, and I was alone.  When I saw them taking pictures of each other with the beach in the background, I approached and asked if I could take their picture.  We then talked for the next 30 minutes, exchanging contact information at the end since I would soon be moving to the Wellington area where she was living with her family.  

During my time in Paekakariki, I was still struck with loneliness, though not as bad as before in Rangiwahia.  I discovered that nannying was just not conducive to meeting people.  Paekakariki was a huge improvement from where I started out, but it was still a very small community.  I did what I could to meet people, but it was still a struggle and one that I had little patience for after being so isolated for so long before my move.   The best thing I did for myself in trying to meet people in this area was joining a yoga class which I loved.  I had always wanted to try it but had been intimidated.  I discovered that I could adjust the moves to my skill level and that it left my body feeling great for days.

Looking back after this weekend, I wonder why I didn’t try to get in touch with Caitlin sooner.  I think I was focusing on trying to meet people in this area, and I neglected to branch out as much as I could have.  And she was essentially a stranger, and in a way I think I was also burnt out on putting myself out there so much since I’ve arrived.   But what is important is that we did connect, and I can happily say that I’ll be leaving NZ on an incredible high.  Perfect timing after all.

I met Cailin, her husband Patrick, and their two young girls (Phoebe and Hannah) in Wellington.  From there, we drove to a lookout on top of Mt. Victoria, drove along the coast and then headed to their home on the outskirts of the city.  After a nice meal, Caitlin and I joined a few of her friends for dessert, wine, and conversation- my idea of a perfect evening!  The next day, we had a fabulous brunch (the first time I had French toast since leaving home!).  We drove to Greytown, a small town with a fabulous chocolate shop.  I ate roughly a bar of chocolate in little teeny samples, and it was amazing.  They had all kinds of unique combinations such as their best seller, Lime Chili.  Then we headed to Martinborough, a famous winery town for a playground stop for the kids and time in a local café.

I know I’ve talked about how amazing it is to meet people since I’ve been travelling solo, but meeting this family reminded me yet again how lucky I am to be here.  We talked for hours about travel, politics, and about both of our experiences.  They had been in NZ for 14 months and had plenty of ups and downs of their own.  They helped me to see how brave I was for travelling on my own and for sticking it out when most people would have left long ago.  We talked about how this perspective will be something I’ll always draw on and that it helped me to learn things about myself that I would never have been able to had I stayed where I was.  Caitlin and I both realized that from our experiences, we’ll both me much more apt to reach out and help someone new to a job, a neighborhood, etc because we knew what it was like to feel lonely in a new place.

I met Caitlin in a very random way as I’ve met a few of my closest friends here.  I still keep in touch with Brittany, the girl I met on a bus when I was heading to Taupo in January!  It is a reminder to me that you can meet friends in unusual ways if you’re willing to put yourself out there.  This successful meeting brings me back to becoming best friends with my roommate, Sasha, from Freshman year of college , of meeting my first friends in Osceola and at Surpass, and all the random encounters I’ve had here where I’ve walked away feeling energized by engaging with new people.  Just this weekend, for instance, I had a Scottish man tell me at the train station that I sounded just like Julia Goulia, Drew Barrymore’s character in the Wedding Singer.  Awesome.

Truly, I could not be more lucky to have spent time with Caitlin and her family.  I’ve struggled to meet people that I could identify with, and they were the first people that I really felt that instant understanding and connection I had been longing for.  They’ve invited me to their house Thursday night before my flight for a nice meal, and Patrick will drop me off at the airport early the next morning.  They have given me the gift of leaving NZ for AU in a very positive place!

Wellington from Mt. Victoria

Crossing Coasts

And from Franz Josef, we took a bus to Greymouth.  On the way, we stopped in Hokitika which I loved.  It is known for its whitebait fritters, one of the Kiwi foods I wanted to check off my list before leaving the country.  Whitebait are very small, white fish.  The fritter was enjoyed!

Just a casual scenery stop along the way to Greymouth

A train stop at Arthur's Pass

We took the TranzAlpine train from Greymouth (on the west coast) to Christchurch (on the east coast).  In NZ, you're never more than a few hours from the beach!  Christchurch was hit with a large earthquake in Februray 2011, killing almost 200 people.  Aftershocks have continued to this day, but we luckily didn't experience one.  We stayed in Christchurch for a very short time, but it was very difficult to see the devestation in the city.  We arrived in the evening and were on a bus to Kaikoura by 7am the next morning.

Heading to Franz Josef

There was nothing to do in Franz Josef without visiting the glacier, but NZ never fails to disappoint on the journey to your destination!  Franz Josef is on the west coast of the South Island, and it's unique in all the world to have a glacier so accessible.  The region is also a temperate rain forest.

A waterfall stop on the bus to Franz Josef

The incredible west coast

My one shot in Franz Josef of the setting sun

Wanaka

A close up of a type of eucalyptus tree (aka gum tree)- I think, anyway!

The plan from Queenstown had been to do a 1/2 day hike on the Franz Josef glacier, but to my dismay, the hike had been closed due to a massive hole at the start of the trek.  The helicopter drop off wasn't in the budget, so we found ourselves with an unexpected free day.  We decided to go to Wanaka, another ski town that was along the way.

We had an overcast day, but we still managed to enjoy ourselves on a walk around Lake Wanaka.  I also enjoyed the "Cheeky Monkey" cafe and an whole foods shop called "Soul Food" for an omelet breakfast before leaving!

This funny little seabird is a type of Cormorant called a "Little Shag" 

Milford Sound

Views from the Milford Sound cruise

I am including a few shots of the waterfall because it's quite incredible how large it seems when you're close to it (and it is a huge waterfall!), but how SMALL it looks when you see it in between two huge mountains!

The drive to Milford Sound

 We took a 4 hour bus ride from Queenstown to see the infamous Milford Sound, rumored to be some of the most beautiful sights in the South Island.   Personally speaking, I am impatient and not always good at appreciating life's journeys because I want to be at the destination!  However, when we're talking travel in the South Island, the route is as good or better than the endpoint.  

This is really tough to see, but our bus took us through a tunnel in the mountain...I was not all that comfortable with this!  If you look at the bottom left corner, you can just make out the road and follow that line to the small tunnel opening almost midway across the picture.

Mirror Lake- I adored this location; some of the most gorgeous scenery I've ever seen!

Queenstown

I spent two weeks travelling with my college friend Lucas who was kind enough to come for a visit.  After meeting him at the airport in Wellington, we spent the remainder of the day having some low-key time in the city after his very long flight.  I had really been wanting to see a movie (going to a movie once by myself was okay, but I was wanting to go with a friend this time!), and I was happy to oblige when he suggested we hit the cinema.  There wasn’t much showing, and I managed to talk him into Snow White and the Huntsman which was great.  The next morning, we took an early flight from Wellington to Queenstown to start our trip.  Queenstown is where bungy jumping started, and it’s a very popular skiing destination.  It was beautiful!!!!  This was my second favorite place in New Zealand so far; it had a great atmosphere, beautiful mountains, and tons of great shops/restaurants.  

A snapshot of the first bungy bridge from the bus as we left Queenstown

We were very lucky.  Unbeknownst to me until days before, Lucas’ trip was planned for the entire duration of the NZ school holidays (they have 4 terms and have 2 weeks off between term 2 and 3).  I didn’t book accommodation ahead of time because I didn’t think we’d have any problems, but with Queenstown being a huge Winter destination for tourists and Kiwi’s alike, we barely got cheap rooms.  We lucked out, and someone had just opted to move their booking, leaving two nights in a great hostel open for us!

I always like asking locals for eating recommendations, and we were not disappointed hitting up Fergburger, a local burger place.  It was packed every time we walked past it.  I tried a wild Fiordland deer burger, and it was excellent.  Deer farming is common here, and it started when the meat from their wild deer population exceeded consumption demand.  The next night we went to a Vietnamese place that was also delicious, and because we were willing to wait an hour for our food, they gave us free drinks and dessert which was an added bonus.

From Queenstown, we took a bus trip to Milford Sound…

Earthquake #2

The evening before my South Island adventure, I had a major scare.  I decided to get some extra sleep so I was ready for my early morning train into Wellington to meet Lucas at the airport.  I was either asleep or almost there, and my bed started moving.  Jolted out of my sleepy haze, I didn't panic.  I was quicker to realize it was an earthquake v. the first time I experienced the sensation which pleased me.  I laid there waiting to see if I should get out of bed or just try to keep sleeping.  The shaking continued, and I had a moment of panic that I should get up and move to a safer location.  At the exact moment I feared I was going to experience a big one, the mirror in my room came crashing down.  It hit the dresser followed by the floor very loudly.  That was all it took.  Adrenalin pumping, heart racing, I leapt out of bed and into the doorway.  As I stood there, I saw Victor being raced out of his bed to a safer location, fueling my nerves.  And then the world stopped moving...talk about sigh of relief!

The earthquake I felt was a 7 on the Richter scale.  It was deep out to sea, so it would have felt worse if it were on land.  It felt like much longer, but it probably only lasted around 15 seconds.  My heart is pounding just recalling the incident!  No need to experience any more, that's for sure.

The funny part of all this was that about a month prior, I accidently opened one of the family's large water jugs for Victor, not realizing that it was actually their "earthquake water" in the event of a major catastrophe.  I was very paranoid that they wouldn't replace it fast enough, and reminded them more than once to buy a new one. Just after my panic hit, I had the thought "Thank God they replaced their earthquake water!"

And we're back!

The view of Paekakariki from "Paekakariki Hill"

Happy news- my laptop is now functional again after a very generous friend-of-a-friend got me sorted for $120.  It has been incredibly hard not having my computer available- no music, virtually no emails, and most of all, no blogging!  Even if no one reads my travelling thoughts, I'm finding that this is a such a great outlet for me as I process my experience.

My computer malfunction happened at a really unfortunate time.  Things got a bit hairy here, and I could have really used Skype.  But I made it through.

To give you the short of it, about a month ago I decided that nannying wasn't working for me.  I had decided to give it a shot again after my first experience because I thought it would be much better in a different location with more receptive children.  And Victor has been great- he's so good natured and I've enjoyed walking around the village and reading stories together.  When I started with the second family, I tried to be very up front about my unhappiness with always being "on call" and asked to work with little notice with the first family.  We discussed the hours I would be needed, and I was happy with what was expected of me.  But I begin to realize after a few incidents that I was beginning to be treated a little too much like family, and I wasn't being allowed to say "no" when I was asked to work beyond my typical hours.  This realization, among other things, lead me to give notice that I was leaving.  Despite not having a contract and giving a month's notice of my departure, the family took it very badly, so badly that I feared returning to their house and was devising escape plans to get me to a safer location.  Although I have yet to receive an apology, I believe they recognized that they overreacted and did try to mend things somewhat.  It has been very uncomfortable for me in the house, and I am ready to move on.  I am not happy about what happened, but I'm proud of myself for standing up for what was right for me.  It's hard for me to understand how people can be so hurtful when I've always operated with a "treat others as you would like to be treated" mentality.  I recognize that they made a mistake and I am willing to forgive that, but it was not okay how I was treated and I am not willing to put up with that.


And with that unexpected turn of events, I've decided to go to Australia!  


On July 27th, I fly to Sydney, Australia. From there, I hop on a Greyhound bus and head to Canberra, the capitol city.  My friend Jen from the Osceola area was an incredible support while this was happening, and she put me in touch with friends of hers in Canberra.  Ironically, I'll be arriving a day after her friend Donna's son turns one.  They're celebrating his birthday on July 29th...my birthday.  So I'll be turning 27 with some kind strangers crashing a one-year-old's birthday party.  I don't know that it'll top my list of best birthday's, but you know, it's funny enough that it just might be up there.


I'm ready for a drama-free Aussie adventure :)


More blogging to come...I can't wait to post my South Island pictures!

Broken laptop

Hello! I've really missed updating my blog. I have a reason...my laptop broke! It's been hard not having it available. I miss Skype especially. I am having someone look at it and will know more in about two weeks. At the moment, I'm taking great pictures and having a blast with my college roommate Lucas exploring the south island of nz. I'm using his iPad to type out this entry, so it'll be a few weeks before I can get back to my usual updates. I'll have a lot to share! Stay cool and more hopefully soon!