Sunny Days Ahead

So I'm lovin' the sunshine and the long summer days here. To be honest, I'm not super sad that there's a drought here. I'm really sorry - but I'm from rainy Vancouver. I love always looking out the window and seeing blue skies. I also don't mind the 30+ degrees weather. It's interesting though bathing with a bucket in the shower to collect "grey water." The "grey water" can then be used to water the grass. There's also a "grey water" system to re-use the washing machine water. There's all sorts of water restrictions - no watering grass, no washing cars, etc. So there's a bit of incentive to install these grey water systems. A handful of people have somewhat green grass. I went by a church the other day that actually had a sign that said that it had a specially installed irrigation system. If you can't justify why you have green grass, people get suspicious and there's even a "dob" (i.e. tattletale) line that you can call in to rat out your neighbours.

I had a good first week at work. I've been doing lots of reading on microbicides, sexual health, contraceptives etc. It's rather interesting spending a good chunk of my day reading articles on sex. I'm suppose to find a collection of articles on young women and sexual health to post on the website - ummm... you have to be careful with search engines. ;) never know what might turn up...

Last Friday was AUSTRALIA DAY! What did that mean to me? A three day weekend! Hurray! And I also went to two BBQ's that day. No shortage of food. I'm suppose to be on a diet to eat better and healthier -but I temporarily suspended that for the day.

I went for a nice walk w/ a new friend of mine the other day and I saw HEAPS of kangaroos. It doesn't really faze the Aussies here, but I still find it a novelty. I love watching kangaroos jump. And well, run away from me.

Not really much else to report. I'm just having a good time here. Work is good. CHurch is good. I'm trying to organize a games night next Sat night with some new friends from church. I plan to start a Settlers of Catan following here. I'm just adjusting to life in Canberra. I don't know what else to say. Maybe if you guys have questions for me....

First Day on the Job

So today, I started the first day of my PAYING job. :D Yes, you heard correct, I got a paying job. Hurray! I work for the Australian Reproductive Health Alliance www.arha.org.au (to be known as ARHA going forward). ARHA is a NGO that lobbys and advocates for reproductive and sexual health, women's rights to be included on government development agendas - so that includes all aspects of family planning. Which is pretty interesting for me - b/c I'm not sure what I think about all the various options of family planning that they advocate for. It's going to be a neat learning experience. In terms of what I actually do - I"ll be working a few days a week on the microbicide campaign (we're working towards creating a symposium where we'll invite politicians aka "pollies" in Australia, pharmaceuticals, and other stakeholders to come learn more about microbicide - a more recent development in HIV/AIDS prevention). And I'll also be working a few days a week on a young women's sexual health conference coming up in July. And I'm also suppose to help w/ website maintenance - yeah... I learned how to use some stuff in Dreamweaver today... cool... So I'm doing all sorts of stuff that I really enjoy and am really interested in. Today, I spent most of the day just reading up on reproductive health and the benefits of it.

Cool colleagues as far as I can tell. I am once again in an office with more women than men. That's okay, my time at the Leukemia Society has prepared me. And there are even 2 pregnant women. ;) I'm waiting for the mood swings... ;)

Other than that, I'm just settling into living in Canberra. Found a gym to join and started preparing my lunch meals. Unfortunately, I don't have my mom to cook all my lunch leftovers anymore so I've had to start cooking myself. :( I think she'd be proud of me though. I've found a church to join - I met some board games enthusiasts and I plan to convert them into Settlers of Catan fans. (I brought the game with me). And I'm going plenty clubbing in Canberra and returning at ungodly hours in the morning. Good times! :D

Alright, that's it from me. Got go to bed now so I can get up early and go running.

More pics of NZ

1) View of the area surrounding Mt. Cook village - nice hike up to the Sealy Tarns - like the Grouse grind, but no gondola down... ;)
2) Mt Cook - the water looks an amazing blue, doesn't it?
3) Milford Sound
4) Yet another mountain range from Key Summit which is on the Routeburn Track (you can just do the key summit as a short hike from the road and not do the entire track which takes a few days)
5) An amazing view of the mountains and valleys from that crazy hike I went on around Queenstown
6) Another shot from my Queenstown hike. Note smile on face b/c that picture was taken in the morning before I got lost
7) Another shot from that same hike
8) A view of Queenstown from the top of the gondola lift.

I hope you like the pictures. Honestly, they don't really do justice to seeing it with your own eyes.

Pics of New Zealand - Batch 1

Description:
1) This picture was totally staged... we decided to be cheap and just buy beer to drink at the hostel in Wanaka. I'm quite a fan of Monteith's beer.
2) Up on Franz Josef glacier -come too close to me and I'll hit you with my ice pick. ;)
3) In a crevasse (or is it crevice?) on Franz Josef glacier
4) The ferry ride from Wellington to Picton - gosh, that looks a lot like the Vancouver to Victoria trip and ferry, doesn't it?
5) Headed towards the Franz Josef glacier
6) Sunbathe, kayak, sunbathe, kayak - the ingredients to a perfect day
7) The '"Beehive" - a lot of offices are located there in Wellington, the capital of NZ. The PM's office is on the top floor. Apparently there's a swimming pool in the basement. We weren't taken there on the tour...
8) We rode the cablecar up to get a nice view of Wellington

Farewell New Zealand

Well, here I am on my last night in NZ and I'm just chilling at an internet cafe. I'll probably go to bed soon b/c I like to go for one last run. It's my favourite way of seeing a city - on foot. And I plan to run through Christchurch before my flight back to Oz tomorrow.

Thank you for all your well wishes and concerns over my hike. As of today - I was still pulling out little thorns and splinters out of my hand. Ouch! Not super pleasant but I am very thankful that I survived.

The next day, I headed for the dreadfully boring town of Te Anau. Don't get me wrong, Te Anau is great as a jumping off point for hikes and treks, etc. but the town itself. Yep... Friday night was WEAK! I ended up going to bed early. I had wanted to kayak in Milford Sound but it was all booked out. So I ended up doing a hiking option + cruise on Milford Sound. For all the hype about Milford... I actually was a bit disappointed. Yep, the fjords were cool and stuff but yeah... I enjoyed the cruise anyway. I was dreading spending Friday night in Te Anau. I got invited to drink w/ a couple of 50yrs+ Aussie ladies at the Youth Hostel though. They were old enough to be my MOM! ;) But I never say no to G &T. So they left me sufficiently buzzed and then I guzzled the rest of my bottle of wine before going to bed very happy.

I was desperate to get out of Te Anau so I invited myself to join a Scottish couple driving back to Queenstown. I was thankful to get back to Qtown - city of great bars and restaurants. I went for a beautiful run along the lake in Qtown and had exceptional Thai food before joining the 50+ ladies again for a drink. Then I took some Japanese backpackers out to the bars for a fun night of dancing. :D Hurray for Qtown.

THe next day I was headed to Mt. Cook - the highest mountain in NZ. I totally, totally lucked out with the weather. I got CLEAR shots of Mt Cook - not a cloud in sight! And I hiked both days I was there. Absolutely gorgeous! And don't worry - I was fine on the hikes. They keep those trails up to snuff b/c tons of Japanese tourists come through there and you can't have little rich Japanese tourists tripping or getting lost on the trails. ;)

I spent last night watching the stars come out. It was literally the biggest theatre in the world so to speak. ;) I watched the sky go from light blue to black and watched the stars come out one by one, until there were too many to count. I daresay it was a spiritual moment for me too. I felt so much peace. I just sat there - laying on a bench for 2 hours.

Anywho - I better be going. I will post pics once I get back to Oz tomorrow. And boy, do I have a lot of awesome pics. New Zealand rocks!

The Hike of My Life

So yesterday I had the hike of my life. I think I came pretty close to making it into the papers as a missing hiker. All I can say is THANK GOD that I made it out alive...

I arrived in Queenstown 2 nights ago. It's a great little town. People think it's quite commercial and yes it is, I guess, but it's freakin' cool. It's an absolutely beautiful town on the lake surrounded by the mountains. Anyway, I thought it'd be cool to go for a 6-8 hour hike on my own. I left at about 9am and decided not to exhaust myself right at the start so I hopped on the gondola to get me up the side of the mountain. I hiked for a bit and made it to the summit of Ben Lomond by lunch time. That was totally fine. I'd keep looking over my shoulder to take in the increasingly impressive view of the lake and mountains below. It was stunning.

I'm starting to fall more and more in love with New Zealand. When I first got here, I found it a bit bland b/c it was so "un-exotic" compared to Asia and it reminded me of Canada. But actually now, I think New Zealand would be a country that I'd come back to. I'd want to come back w/ "someone special" of course that I could go hiking, kayaking, and gasp... maybe even camping with. The weather is pretty messed up in New Zealand, you can't plan anything based on the weather forecast, but it's absolutely stunning. I do my best to stay away during long bus rides b/c the scenery is breathtaking.

Anyways... I digress...

So I got to the bottom of the summit by about 12:30pm and I was ready to push onto the second leg of the hike. I think everyone just hikes back from the saddle back to the gondola and rides it back down. But I thought I'd be adventurous and keep going and loop around another mountain. I was on my own and the trail marking wasn't particularly good. There would be a pole every little bit. Eventually, I hit a sheep pasture and I looked at my map (my crap map) and thought that I should just follow the sheep pasture fence. Yep, I lost about an hour following the sheep pasture fence. I thought to myself - gosh, this is an awful trail. It's so poorly marked and uneven. And then I got to an intersection in the fence and it went straight up the side of the mountain at some ridiculous angle... hmmm.... I don't think this is the way...

I went up a bit, to try to get a view... nope... I went down to get a view... I could see the river that was on my map... maybe if I could just get down to the river... no... hmmm... better be safer than sorry... and just walk back the same way that I came. I started following the fence back, dodging sheep turd at every step and "bah-ing" at the livestock. One hour wasted...

Oh... there's the trail marker... so I started following it again and again, poorly marked. The trail was quite overgrown. But I kept going b/c the views were absolutely stunning. The scenery and vegetation changed for the third time in the row and there were wild mountain flowers, etc. But I kept losing the trail and the pole markers became less and less frequent.

I eventually found myself on this horse riding trail so now I was dodging horse crap at every step. I had to get past a few cows on the trail. But I kept losing the trail and there were so many freakin' thorn bushes on the past. I kept going and going. I think at various points, I was following cow trails b/c I was just looking for cow dung and flattened grass. I think I left the trail way behind me at some point b/c the trails would get steep and I'd have to keep going around these awful prickly plants and bushes. At one point, I crossed the face of a very steep ledge... hmmm... I don't think this is the trail.

It took me awhile but then I realised that I was thoroughly lost. I knew which direction to go in but I couldn't see any trail for the life of me. That and I was too afraid to go back - that stone ledge was terrifying. I thought - well, maybe if I can get to the river below. Yep, the river is much farther away than it seems. That didn't stop me from trying to slide down this sand face of the mountain, drop through a tree to soften the fall. Gosh - I can't believe that I didn't break or twist anything. I could see the river but it was so far away. That's when I started screaming for help. I was terrified. It was only 3 in the afternoon, and I knew that the hostel wouldn't notice me gone until at least 7, but I didn't want to stay on the side of that freakin' mountain. The first batch of white water rafters that went by in the river simply waved at me. I climbed around a bit and became more and more terrified. I've always read those awful stories in the newspapers about hikers that go off on their own and go missing, get rescued the next day, or worse, die. I was so panicked at that point. That and all the crazy climbing had sucked so much energy out of me. I was out of water. I brought 1.5L with me and it was pretty much gone. That and I was starting to cough up phlem w/ blood in it at one point... :(

Eventually, another batch of white water rafters went by down in the river. I screamed at the top of my lungs until I was hoarse. They did stop and pulled to a side bank to see if I was okay. We shouted back and forth - we could barely hear each other. The rafter just told me to climb back up to the ridge and follow it back west. I was like... "uh... okay..." So they left and proceeded to climb back up the ridge - up the sand face... god, I was so exhausted. I could see what I thought was a trail just above my head and I got excited except that I had to get through a whole area of those god-forsaken thorn and prickly plants. Like it was a freakin' plantation of them or something. There followed one of the most painful moments and survival instinctual moments of my life. The plants literally came up to my head so I had a hard time pushing them aside. My new strategy was to simply close my eyes and throw myself onto the plants and crawl over them. A billion pricks on my legs, stomachs, arms, hands... My hands are still pretty torn up today. It was so awful but I had to keep going up the side of the mountain b/c my life depended on it.

I eventually got up to what I thought was a path. I think it was just another cow track. I had to stop every few minutes to sit down - parched and exhausted. It was probably just after 5pm at this point. I didn't even know how I'd get back from Arthur's Point (the terminus) back into town. I was told it was 1.5 hour walk and it'd hard to catch a lift b/c there wasn't much traffic. I kept walking and walking until I saw a white haired woman up ahead.

"Uh.... do you have any water please..." I shouted hoarsely. She turned around and said yes and started walking back towards me. The "trail" that I was on joined with a proper trail. I have no idea where I was. She asked where I had come from - and I'm like - "the side of the mountain." She gave me all the water she had and sat w/ me while I caught my breath. Her name is Celia - but I call her angel. So I walked back w/ her to the car park and then she drove me back into town. I spent the car ride pulling out splinters and thorns in my hands and clothes. I got in just before 6pm.

OMG - I can't believe that I survived. Two Lift Energy drinks later (essentially Red Bulls) and I was ready to keep going to about 1:30am this morning. ;) I did enjoy telling my story to everyone back at the hostel, but I don't think I fully grasp the danger that I was in. It was so crazy.... so yeah, then I went out and had a big night drinking w/ a bunch of people that I met in Franz Josef. :D Good times...

So that was THE HIKE OF MY LIFE! I'll post pictures from that hike once I get back to Australia next Thursday. I'm feeling a bit freaked out about hikes now... I don't think I'll ever go hiking on my own again. My hands are still pretty torn up so I'm not sure if the all day kayak in Milford Sound tomorrow is going to happen. I might just suck it up and tough it out. I'll keep you posted.

p.s. - it'd be nice if people who posted "anonymously" included their names. :D Thanks!

New Zealand reminds me of Canada...

Hey there folks,
Just thought I'd update you on my travels here in New Zealand. Wellington (capital of NZ) was a blast. I hung out w/ a girl (Patti) that I met at a job interview in Australia. I went on a city tour w/ her and her b/f. Good times - the Parliament House, cable car ride up to the top of the city, and the big National Museum. Just your regular tourist fare and then I hung out w/ her other friend and they all made dinner. I contributed by washing the spinach. ;) Yes, I am VERY helpful in the kitchen. It was cool hanging out w/ Jenny (Patti's friend) who is an overseas born Chinese. Apparently, Chinese people are very consistent all over the world. Chinese people in NZ also drive champagne coloured toyota camrys. Apparently, I'm suppose to check out www.engrish.com I will when I don't have to pay $1 for 10 minutes here for internet.

Then i headed on a nice long ferry ride to Picton - sort of reminded me of going to Victoria. I had lunch in a lovely place called Picton before heading to Nelson - which apparently is the sunniest city in NZ. That's a big call... I did get some lovely sunshine during my stay there.

I went for a run on the first day and happened upon a run clinic which was cool. I joined in with them and found out that there was a 7K run on Saturday afternoon. I joined in on Saturday and it was awesome. I came pretty close to being last but hey - I was running w/ hard core runners. And it was a brutal 7K. Literally, it was up and down a freakin' mountain. I had to hike up at one part b/c I couldn't run straight up a hill.

On Friday, I went for an amazing all day kayaking trip in Abel Tasman park. Beautiful golden sands, turquoise waters, and calm seas. I love kayaking. I hope to do it again on this trip at some point. Saturday - besides the run, I went to the weekend market and ate a 1Kg bag of cherries on my own. Yum! And just hung out. I went out to check out the night life in Nelson and was pretty disappointed... but what can you expect from a city of 50,000 people. Nelson is a lovely place regardless and it's one of those places I could retire to perhaps.

Today was another hard core day. I booked a full day hike up Franz Josef glacier. Yes! You can hike all day on a glacier here. It was pretty full on. They gave us ice talons for our shoes, dressed us up in their Gortex jacket and over trousers and part way up, we had ice picks. The guide would literally be carving out steps for us to go up and down at various points. It was absolutely amazing.

I can't wait to post pictures for you.

Overall, New Zealand is a very nice place to visit. It's got great outdoors stuff to do. Everyone is friendly and it's super super easy to get around. The hostels that I've been staying at have been really decent as well. And it also helps that every dollars goes an extra 15 cents further, which has led to ridiculous amounts of shopping. The country hasn't really wowed me yet so much as my other adventures in Asia, but New Zealand is very nice, quaint, green, and sometimes miserable weather wise. Like I said before - it really reminds me of Canada, except that it's more compact. And to their credit - there is such a diversity in vegetation. It's really quite amazing.

In other news, I have obtained a full time job in Canberra. I just got notice of that by email a few days ago. I'll tell you more about it once I know the job entails. ;) I'm very excited about that. I can't wait to have income again. Now I can go shopping some more and not feel guilty. Just kidding. Sort of.

Anyway, I have to go drink beer now so I'll catch you fine folks later.

The Best New Year's Ever

So just a quick update: I did make it to the fireworks. It was sort of crazy. I walked all over town trying to get a spot in view of the Harbour Bridge. In the end, I had to watch it from behind this overpass and every once in awhile, the subway car would go by and block everyone's view and we would boo. ;) The fireworks were alright. It was just sort of surreal being there with all those people. And they even had fireworks going off from the top of the buildings lining the harbour. It was very cool. Afterwards, I went clubbing for a bit. Yeah, not a whole lot of sleep that night.

The next day, I headed to the coolest event ever: FIELD DAY Check out the website. I think the info is from last year's event but you get the idea... http://www.fuzzy.com.au/coming_up.asp?eventId=80 It's essentially a dance party that runs from 11am-11pm on New Year's Day in this big park in the middle of the city. There were over 40,000 people there last year. 3 big stages and hours upon hours of dance, electronica, techno, industrial, you name it.... it was absolutely amazing. I danced for hours upon end only breaking to drink. ;) It seemed like all of Sydney's coolest 20-30's yrs old were there just having the time of their life. Sydney people definitely know how to party and boy can they dress. Aussies hand down dress way trendier than North Americans (sorry...) I don't know how people could keep up. Well, I think I know how... b/c at one point, I was offered ectasy. You can all breathe a sigh of relief... I didn't take any. But I'll be honest. I was really curious. But I was worried what sort of effects it might have on me the first time around. Anyway, after getting sunburnt all afternoon, we got rained out and I went home after about 6-7 hours of dancing. Like I said, it was the coolest ever... Vancouver needs FIELD DAY!

Anyway, I'm in Wellington, New Zealand right now and it's freakin' cold. Its 12 degrees and everything is closed b/c it's a public holiday. Gotta go find me some grub now... HAPPY NEW YEAR!