Just one more.

Alright, I lied. THIS will be the last post of the blog. And I knew it all along. Despicable, I know. Just thought I'd do a little update after being home for sort of 24 hours.

Everything is more or less how I left it. A few new things around the house but that's it. I'm also now living in a house which will most likely be a renovation site for quite a long while. Great. It's a mess, but it's home.

For now I'm really happy to be here. It's the same but I'm not sure whether this will turn out to be a good or a bad thing.

One of the things I've noticed is that it gets dark exceptionally later than it does in North America. Ok, sure, it's winter there and summer here which is like, totally opposite and whatever, but like, it doesn't get dark here until like, 8.30! I'm not sure if you're aware, but the sun hates North America so much it decides to leave at about 4. Also, I've been driving a few times since I've been back and I'm getting a bit confused as to which way the cars/ my car is meant to be going. I'm not gonna lie, this scares me. I didn't think it'd affect me so much seeing as

A) I used to always look the 'wrong' way when crossing the road in North America. Still did till the day I left! and

B) I didn't drive there. Nor did I want to.

I've got a lot of coffee and/or beach dates in the coming weeks to keep me busy which is good. I also need to get a J.O.B too... but that can wait a few days.

It's a bit weird being in a place that's so warm too. I haven't worn less than 2 layers in months!

As you can tell, not too many 'deep' thoughts from me this time. I'm not really in the mood. Plus there's nothing left to say.

So this is REALLY it then. I swear. I just thought I'd do something similar to when movies have like, little extra bits near the end of the credits where only like, the 'dedicated' people (read nerds) stay and see it. I do this by the way, not at the movies though, but on DVD's. I always fast-forward through the credits just in case (NERD ALERT!).

So if you're reading this, thanks again. Now I know who TRULY follows this. Ha. Now please re-read the last paragraph of the previous post. Thank you. That is all.

Holy shit, I'm going home today.

There's some kind of weird symmetry about me being in Vancouver right now. My journey began and will end here. I left Vancouver and arrived in Vancouver by train. I flew from Sydney and now I'm waiting to fly to Sydney. I guess you could say I've come full circle. Retracing my steps back home. Well, I mean, you COULD say that...if you wanted to.

I honestly never thought this day would come. It always seemed so far away but now it's right here, staring me in the face. I still can't believe it. I just feel like I'm leaving for somewhere, anywhere that's not NZ. I guess it'll hit me sometime during my flight back or, if I'm REALLY slow, as I get off the plane. Ha.

I guess now would be a good time for some kind of reflective summary of everything I've learned, seen, done and experienced. But to be honest, there's just too much to say.

I've seen a president inaugurated, I've witnessed extreme poverty in Cuba, hell, I've even seen it throughout North America, I've experienced New Years in Time Square and I saw one of the Gallagher brothers beat up on stage. Obviously among so many other things.

I guess the one thing I can take away from this entire journey is to always have faith in people. More often than not, they'll come through for you.

Everyone has a story to tell. Everyone has something to offer. And oftentimes, they're willing to help even if you don't ask or even if it means they have to go out of their way.

I've seen a lot of cities but I've come to the realisation that a city is just that - a city. It's the people that make and shape your experiences of it. The people are the beating heart, the breathing lungs and the blood that flows through the veins of a city. They give it charm, soul, character.

I think what I'll remember most is not the places I've been but the people I've met. I mean, sure, having photos of landmarks and pretty scenery is one thing but they don't capture fully that beauty and extra shine that people that people can add to a place.


Even though I'm pretty much broke right now, I wouldn't trade these last six months for the world. I've made a lot of friends, hopefully for life. People that I've had the extreme pleasure of sharing my experiences with and sharing in theirs too. There's been a few of ups and downs along the way but we always managed to stick together.


There's been a lot of talk about change in the last 18 months. We've all felt it, we've all done it and we've all witnessed it. I'm not just talking about Obama here, I'm talking about a transformation of the self. An evolution. A metamorphosis. I've done a lot of that in the last six months. Change that isn't self-evident now, but I feel will most likely manifest itself at a later point in time. I think this the reason behind why everyone who has already made it back to their respective homes is so utterly bored. We've all changed and our homes can't or haven't been able to accommodate it. From what I can tell it's gonna be frustrating trying to get into a routine again and trying to reintegrate into society. But I'm willing to give it a shot. Well, I really have no choice do I?


A few remarks on North America? Alright. It's a weird continent. Full of contrast, contradiction and ...colourful characters. In a way I'm glad that I've covered this continent first. I'm also really proud that I've covered pretty much an entire continent being as young as I am. It served more as a training ground though, a lesson in traveling. Everything was pretty easy to figure out and everything was more or less the same as back home. It just costs a lot more. Covering this continent first also means that I don't have to come back here for a while. Ha. Not that I don't like North America, I mean, I don't hate it but it's just a place where I could never see myself living, working or raising a family. Most people here seem to be in a hurry and are very career-oriented -exhausting themselves everyday just in the hopes of moving one rung up the proverbial ladder. Not so much now though, seeing as no one here has a job but still, it's the American mindset and as you all know, or should by now, that's not how I roll.

What I was most surprised about though, was how genuinely friendly and polite North Americans are. Well, expecially Americans and especially New Yorkers. Of course, not everyone is like that but that's not limited to just America. It's a global thing.

Well, I should be boarding my flight soon. So I guess soon we'll definitely be back in Nu Zild again, mate. Oh, and by the way, I've decided to call this the 'North American' edition. Because, if you've picked up any of the hints throughout the course of this blog, (or I could have just blatantly said it somewhere - damn me and my lack of subtlety!) there will be plenty more traveling, and blogging to be done. In the meantime, let me tell you what's in store for me until that time comes. Studying and working. Not much to blog about there, and even if there were, this would be the wrong place to do it. I'll need to set up a blog entitled: "Studying and working is fucking lame."

On another note, I came to the realisation early on that keeping a blog is pretty much like a full-time job -except you don't get paid. But it's a labour of love. Sometimes though, to be honest, I can't be bothered writing anything and sometimes I just don't want to stop. I guess that's what happens when you're a self-proclaimed 'writer'. You have your moments of, I guess you could call it inspiration and a lot more moments when there's just... nothing. Case in point: I actually didn't write any of this in Vancouver. It was either written in my hotel room in Seattle or on the train to Vancouver. I had planned to write this at the airport because it seemed kind of fitting (plus, I'm gonna be there for 8+ hours just chillin. What am I gonna do now, me? Good one. Good job). But that's what I mean, sometimes I just want to write. The post directly before this one though, I did NOT for the life of me, want to write. But I felt obligated to. You can probably tell that I was a bit frustrated and just wanted to end the misery as soon as I could. See? A labour of love. I fight through the pain and uninspiredness for you guys. You three or so people who read this. You know who you are. I know who you are. Creepy.

Anyways, youse fullas, I guess this is it. We've come to the end. I just want to say thanks for reading and sticking with me through this whole thing. Hopefully you'll join me on my future travels. This is an open invitation to anyone, but if money is an obstacle, then hey, there's always the option of following this blog.

Alaska - the land of beauty. The land of danger. The land of unmet expectations.

I want to dispel a few myths before we continue. Firstly, in a 'near death experience your life does not flash before your eyes, nor does everything go in slow-motion. Secondly, it's always a good idea to have insurance.


Well, I don't know if what I experienced was a quote 'near death experience'. Possibly more like a 'potentially dangerous situation'.

I guess what I'm trying to say, is that I got into a car accident. OK, that probably wasn't the best set up in history (probably the worst) I admit. But we managed to get to the point, didn't we?

We decided to hire a car in Anchorage and drive up to Fairbanks (about 350 miles/ 500 and something km away) because Anchorage was pretty boring. We also wanted to go up and see if we could see the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) (more on that later) (parenthesis!) and hopefully some wildlife on the way (more on that later too). Anyways, we hit an icy patch on the road just outside Cantwell (just over halfway between Anchorage and Fairbanks), did a 360 and hit a snow bank. Luckily there weren't any other cars around at the time but if we had spun out less than a minute later than we did, we probably would have hit a truck coming the opposite way. See what I mean about potentially dangerous!? This was what I was trying to get at from the start!
So anyways, the car was working fine still and thanks to a helpful Alaskan (I assume) couple we were able to secure what was left of the front bumper so that it didn't drag. We made it to Cantwell with me feeling a little happy, to be honest. I wasn't too worried about the cost. "Can't be more than $600, right?" I laugh at myself in retrospect. It actually ended up costing 10x that amount. USD. Apparently parts are hard to come across in Alaska and have to be shipped in which is such shit.

Long story short. I'm now officially broke. Good thing I'm going home really soon huh?


We made it to Cantwell hoping that there was a mechanic there but apparently the only one in the area was old and probably wouldn't be able to make it out to have a look at the car. In any case he would probably tell us to go to Fairbanks. The truck driver that was behind us was at the petrol station too and he said that if that snow bank were any lower we would have most likely flipped. POTENTIAL DANGER! Oh, neither of us are hurt by the way. Just my wallet.

The rest of this story isn't that interesting. We made it to Fairbanks without the use of a car, we spent the rest of our time there trying to sort out this car thing and then we flew to Anchorage and then on to Seattle.

Seeing as we're out of Alaska now, I feel safe to do a little summary thing of the entire trip. Overall it was pretty disappointing. I had so many expectations which weren't met. I guess that was the problem. No research + high expectations = disappointment. I didn't do any of the things that were on my list. I didn't see any wildlife besides two Bald Eagles and a squirelly thing (possibly a squirrel). I didn't go snowshoeing, or snowmobiling OR dog sledding. I didn't see the Norther Lights. Alaska IS a beautiful place though, one of the few places in North America that warrants a second visit. During Summer of course. That's pretty much all I have to say about it, to be honest.

A quick update/ probably won't have internet access for a while

Ok, so we made it to Anchorage. The flight was more like a bus ride than what you would usually expect. We made a few stops on the way where we let people off and other people got on. People going to Anchorage, like us (final destination?), had to just sit on the plane while we waited to take off. It was a little weird. Probably doesn't sound as weird as it actually was, based on this description though... It was weird ok?

Anchorage is well, a lot bigger than Juneau. With a population of around 277, 000 it has more than half of the entire population of the state of Alaska. Which, by the way is celebrating it's 50th year of statehood. Hooray.

Also, we've managed to hire a car which opens up a lot of options. So in the morning we're headed up to Fairbanks via Wasilla ("Hi Sarah Palin!") and Talkeetna. Once we reach Fairbanks, depending on the time, we'll head up to Chena Hot Springs where we may or may not be able to see the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis if you wanna get technical) (I always want to get technical) but lately it's been pretty quiet. They have like, this gauge where it guages the likelyhood of seeing the lights and right now, it's like, a 1 on a scale of 10 (10 being the highest/ greatest likelyhood of seeing it) so I'm not expecting much.

On the wildlife front, from what I can tell from talking to a few locals, there only seems to be Moose around this time of year but who knows? In any case, a Moose is still fine with me. Sometimes they just wander through town to go shopping for some supplies but as yet, I haven't seen any. It just seems like one of those stories where people say that these crazy things happen but they never do when you're around and then you end up questioning them and how crazy they are. Crazy.

Well, I guess that's it for now. Oh, also, our hostel doesn't have wireless so we've had to go to like, coffee shops and shit to use theirs. I dunno, I just assumed that every hostel has wifi. Apparently not. It's a bit annoying too cos the hostel is a good 6 or 7 blocks from the closest wifi place. I also feel kinda guilty for coming to these places and using their internet for ages. I mean, sure, we buy things and whatnot but I mean, it's like, "I'll trade you like, $3 for a coffee/ tea and use of your internet for 2 and a half hours. Deal? Deal."

Juneau-a-go-go

Alright, lets begin with the most important/ interesting thing that's happened here in Juneau. No, as far as I know, there's been no more news on the apparent volcanic activity in the Juneau area. This is much more important. I became an overnight celebrity in the town of Juneau, population approx 30, 000. I made it into the frickin newspaper.




Photo: Juggling can be a winter sport, too
Juneau Empire

Simon Wong, left, shows off his snow juggling skills to his sister, Lian, on Wednesday near Marine Park. They are visiting from Auckland, New Zealand.



Not much else to say about that, really. A slow news day I guess. (Also, in the photo it looks like I've just got one snowball but really, the rest are just out of shot! I swear! Ha.) I'm pretty happy nonetheless. I have my souvenir from Juneau, cos god knows everything here is so frickin expensive! I mean, seriously, $75 for a PRINT of a painting? I'm sorry, that's just ridiculous. If it was the original, signed and dated, then maybe you could get away with it, but dude, $75? Also, the native artifacts are pretty expensive too. Which, I guess makes sense but $200 for a small carving is pretty ridiculous too, dude. I thought New York was expensive, but man, Alaska can get pretty dang pricey too.

The hostel. It's ok, but the other night a group of like, 20 kids and a few adults have been here for a few days now. But luckily for us, we're getting kicked out of the hostel tomorrow (they have this policy where you can only stay for 5 days every 3 months which kinda makes no sense, but ok). It also gets pretty annoying that we have to be out between 9 and 5 every day. Especially on a day like today when it's snowing like crazy outside... I guess it's a good and bad thing though. It means we get a lot of things done but if we have no plans like today, the time seems to go pretty slow. I mean, Juneau (and from what I can tell, everywhere else on this godforsaken continent) have closed down for the winter which is kind of annoying. Yet for some reason I'm surprised by it every time.

Note to self: Summer. Summer is when things are alive.

The weather hasn't been all bad though. Yesterday was pretty nice. We headed out to Mendenhall Glacier which was pretty extraordinary. I mean, you'd think that any self-respecting kiwi would have seen one before - Franz Josef and Fox etc. But no, not me. I'll get onto that though. I promise. Not much to say about that really. It was blue. It was pretty. It was cold. Well, not really that cold, not really that pretty, not really that blue. We did a hike where the snow sometimes got up to our knees. It was kinda intense. Especially when I almost fell into a hole. Woah.

Oh, also, I almost forgot. I totally saw another Bald Eagle swoop down and grab some kind of meat...thing from the side of a dumpster. Kinda gross, yet majestic. And of course I was too slow to take a photo so I have no physical proof of it but you gotta believe me. You just gotta!

Right, I think that's it yous fulla's. Oh, besides the fact that I'm going HOME in 11 DAYS. That is frickin, ridiculously nuts.

Bloggin on a ferry

So, I’m on a ferry to Juneau right now. Just chillin. And adding to the ‘places I’ve blogged’ list. Plane, train, bus, airport and now ferry. Wicked. Also, I’ve been saying ‘wicked’ a lot in the last few days. I have no idea why...

We almost didn’t make it here to be honest. Well, when I say ‘we’ I mean my sister. I made it to the ferry terminal with plenty of time to spare, not to mention a few extra friends. My sister on the other hand, arrived at the terminal with 5 minutes or so to spare before the ferry was meant to set sail. It’s a long story and one that I’d rather not get into but it involves aeroplanes, passports, hitchhiking and a lot of luck. I wasn’t really nervous though, mostly because technology kept me up to date with what was going on. Thank you technology. Once again you save the day. Also, thank you Sheri. You’re my hero.

Not much to report from the ferry thus far. We boarded at 6pm when it was already dark. The lights are pretty though. I'm pretty sure we’ve passed Vancouver already which is awesome. There’s also this outside covered bit on the top of the boat where we’re planning to sleep for the rest of this trip. It’s an amazing little place – and before you ask, no, it doesn’t get that cold up there. The shelter – sort of like a half dome- is facing the stern of the boat (aka back of the boat) (sorry, I thought I’d throw some nautical terms in here. It seems appropriate) so all the wind coming from the bow (aka front of the boat) is going over the shelter if you get what I mean. Also, you’re pretty much sleeping under the stars (which you can see amazingly well). There are also heat lamps.

I’m really looking forward to tomorrow though. Hopefully we get to see some whales or some shit like that. Apparently it’s not uncommon to see such animals including sea lions, whales, otters and birds. Rumour has it though that we’re gonna be running into a storm tomorrow which to be honest, is pretty shit. Also, word is spreading that one of the mountains in Juneau is gonna blow any day now. We’re gonna be in Juneau any day now. ...Wicked? Possibly.

So yeah, like I said, not much to report. Not much to report on Seattle either. It didn’t really leave a big impression on me. Usually a city has a distinct charm about it. Not this one. Though maybe being charmless is what is so charming about Seattle? To me though, it just seems a bit...disjointed. From what I can see, there isn’t a single vision to the city – there’s building built wherever there’s space; it’s pretty much all under construction right now and some things seems kinda run down as if Seattle was still kinda holding onto the glory of when it held the World’s Fair all those decades ago (sorry, I haven’t done any research for this piece ...not that I do any research on any other piece. No internet on the ferry, see. Apparently there was prior to January 1st this year but they’re a changing internet provider which apparently takes a few months... but that is neither here, nor there). Also, there are a lot of homeless people around. The only thing that I liked in Seattle was my hostel and the Pike Place Market. Both were pretty, well, wicked.

That’s pretty much all I have to say right now. It’s kind of a weird place to leave things, but that’s just how it goes sometimes ok? Besides, this won’t be posted on the interweb (oh, how I miss you internet) until we get to Juneau, if Juneau hasn’t been destroyed by that volcano. In which case, I’m not sure when you will get to read this. Anyways, consider this post officially shelved. Until such further time as I see fit to continue with my right to blog.

BLOGGING!


Bloggin on a ferry cont....

Captains log:
We’ve made it to our first stop –Ketchikan after about 38 hours on this godforsaken ferry. No, I’m kidding, the ferry is alright; the food is a bit pricey though but we kinda have no choice. That’s the problem with not having any foresight. We probably should have brought some food with us. Knowing me though our ‘rations’ wouldn’t have lasted the whole trip anyways.

Right, so, when booking this ferry there was one very important thing that I forgot. Seasickness. We went through about 2 and a half hours of open water yesterday. Which, if you know anything about the sea/ boating/ maritime related things, generally means you’re gonna run into some pretty rough waters. To make a long story short, spending $10 on breakfast was a complete waste of money. I’m hoping we don’t run into any more of that today.

Approximately 17 hours to go.

Also, a lot of young American teens have boarded the vessel. No trouble from them so far.


UPDATE!

We've arrived in Juneau! It's a quaint little town. Not many people around which seems to be the recurring theme during my Winter travels. Snow also seems to be a recurring sight.

The rest of the trip from Ketchikan was pretty uneventful, besides all those dang kids making trouble for everyone.

Luckily also, there wasn't any more open water to sail through. We met a few cool people on the way over too. A few native Alaskan's and a few moving to Alaska for work (which, in the last week or so seems to be a really popular thing to be doing).

Anyways, today was mainly spent wandering around Juneau (our hostel kicks us out from 9 - 5 every day. We also have to do chores apparently, but we're only paying $10 a night so I guess that's reasonable) and planning the rest of the week. We also visited an historic trail - a mining area I think. There were a few creepy, decrepit and dilapidated buildings which were cool yet, well, creepy. Also, as we wandered through the sometimes foot-deep snow we came across a beach. That's right, a beach. It was pretty odd. The snow just stopped and at that point, the beach began. That's a combo of terrain that I would never put together in my wildest dreams. It works pretty well though. Also, I can tick 'Bald Eagle' off my 'Alaskan wildlife to see' list. Also hopefully to be ticked off in the next day or two are whales - Humpbacks and Orca's and possibly some other form of sea mammal - sea lions? Otters? Who knows!?