Rise Up

Just listening to Dave Dobbyn's "Loyal" on the telly on the memorial day service for Christchurch. It is such a beautiful song that it always puts a wee tear in my eye. It is also a lovely song for the situation here in Christchurch.

While he was playing it panned to a huge airplane banner for the Chch group Rise up. I suddenly remembered a song that I wrote a few years ago called "Rise Up". It occurred to me that this also could be transferred to the situation.

Here are the lyrics. If anyone is interested in hearing it (and can tell me how and where I can post it on line, as I have a recording) I will put it up so you can hear it. Of course not all of it is appropriate for the earthquake, so don't take it literally. I did write it about 8 years ago. However, the sentiment for the song was always one of hope and rebuilding (in the case of the song it was yourself and making your life mean something but I think a bit of it can be translated to be for the hope for the city. Rise up and be counted. Anyhoo, if anyone if interested in a listen, let me know how I can post it on the internet (it's a winamp file) and I will put it somewhere.

Rise Up,
Written by me

I never thought i'd go this way
It wasn't on the cards
but I'm happy that I dealt this hand
Won't you give my best regards
to Broadway and the big bright lights
I'm headed out that way
I'm listening to the satellites
sometimes I hear them say

You've got to rise up
Rise up and be counted
don't be afraid don't shy away
You've got to rise up
Rise up and be counted
Make the most of every day

A touch of solar solitude
Is the blueprint for the mind
Carry with you all the tools you need
A quintessestial life design
Sun breaks through the rain cloud
Rainbows light the darkest sky
Endless beauty of reality
A crazy haze of calm surprise

So Rise up
Rise up and be counted
Don't be afraid don't shy away
You've got to rise up
Rise up and be counted
Make the most of every day

Take a chance
You don't have to search for cover
It will be ok
In stronger hands
there'll be less demands
Trust in each other

Rise up
Rise up and be counted
Don't be afraid
don't shy away
You've got to rise up
Rise up and be counted
Make the most of every day x2

So apparently it takes a disaster to get me back writing on here. And even then it has taken almost 3 weeks to write (has it only been that long? I actually had to stop there and check that because it felt like it had been at least a month).

So, I guess time to immortalise my account of what happened on February 22nd 2011. The day that Christchurch changed forever.

I was on placement at Burwood Primary, and had just gone out to the field with my supervising teacher, Cathy to do duty. It was the second day of my placement and I was absolutely loving it. The kids were great, Cathy was great and I had a feeling it was going to be a great term! I was also really looking forward to going to camp with them. So here we were chatting away to each other on the field, and I think I was starting to talk about the series of Oral Language lessons that I was going to start teaching as of the next day.

However, I never got the chance, as the earth literally split apart before my very eyes (about 10 metres away), and I dropped to the ground and ushered the few kids that were out there (lunch had only just begun). It was 12.51pm, and I knew I had just experienced a big big earthquake, but had of course absolutely no idea how much it would change the city. At that point though, I wasn't thinking about any of that. I had switched to carer mode and consoled terrified crying children for the next couple of hours, before thinking "I should really check on my family". A lot of people that were in a building that day, said the thing that they will remember forever was the noise. Being outside, I didn't get the noise, but I will never froget those frightened children and what they were saying. It was just too mature. Two kids' words will always stay with me. Amongst the concern for pets' safety and wanting their Mum or Dad, one wee girl in my class said "I've already lost my dad, I don't want to lose my Mum as well!". It was at moments like that when I almost lost my strong exterior and bowed down to the tears that I knew were in me somewhere. Somehow though, I found the strength for the kids.

The other one was also a girl from my class, and I was accompanying over to the toilet, and I asked her how she was doing. She said "I have to be strong for the little ones". I held her hand and said "yes but you don't have to be strong in front of me. That's what I'm here for." She broke down into tears and I put my arm around her.

Slowly, parents started picking up kids. Our area was badly damaged and so I heard accounts of parents having had to walk from the other side of town to get there. Accounts of the severity were also starting to creep in and I overheard a guy saying "possible multiple fatalities...the central city is really bad."

I think that's when my own thoughts starting creeping in. Cathy went back to the classroom (an absolute mess but still standing) and retrieved my bag with my phone in it so I could contact my family. Some of my them worked in the CBD. I started to get a bit scared. The phone system was understandably overloaded but I managed to get a message to and from my Mum and sister, so I knew at least that they were ok.

At four o'clock, the numbers of children had started to dwindle, and so Cathy said that I could go home. Our farewell was strange, as we didn't know whether I would be coming back, although I really wanted to. Having gone through something like that with the kids, I felt a strange loyalty and desire to return, even though it had only been one and a half days. Walking through the school, I saw how much of a mess it was. Ashphalt was buckled and cracked everywhere you looked and emotion was starting to get me. I just had to hold it in long enough to get to the car. I was on the other side of the city and I had no idea of the state of the roads. All I knew was that everyone on them was trying to get home or to their family. Or out of the city altogether (although i'm not sure if the exodus had begun by that point.)

I had been calm and collected for the kids. As soon as I got into the car, I started sobbing, big huge sobs that I couldn't control. The drive was slow, a crawl speed, and everywhere I saw destruction; buildings down, holes in the road, huge areas of liquefaction and waterlogged streets. I was listening to the radio so I started to get a little idea of the extent. The scariest part was after seeing these huge holes in the road (and cars stuck in them) I had to drive along a road that was completely flooded. I had no idea what I was driving over or through, and to make it worse, my car was almost completely out of petrol and I was worried that I would get stuck one way or the other. Slowly, I made it to my flat. There was a cordon over my street, so I explained that I lived just up there and he let me through. My reaction when I got home was strange. The place was a mess. Everything was on the floor. It looked wrecked. One of my flatmates had been home for a while and had cleaned up a little, but it still looked pretty bad when I got there. He left for his girlfriend's house, and I was on my own. There was no power or water so I couldn't watch the news. I had a half open pack of biscuits and I sat there, shivering in a duvet robotically eating them. My other flatmate came home, and I explained that I couldn't be in the flat; that I needed to get to my parents' house. I now knew that the death toll was likely to be pretty large and people had been crushed in the city. My Dad and brother worked in town. I needed to know that they were ok. I had sent off a text message to Mum but hadn't heard back. I had no petrol in the car, and really did not think that I could make it over there. He suggested that I borrow his car to get there. I'm so glad that he told me to take it and make the decision for me. I really don't think that I could have done it on my own.

Driving across town on the motorway, the sights changed. On the other side of the city, it had been apparent devastation, but here you could barely tell that anything had happened. Walking up my parents' driveway, I was so anxious to see them, that the moment of disappointment when I reached the door handle and found it locked was huge. I stood there for a few seconds angry and upset that they weren't there when I needed them the most, but then I got it together and realised that there was only one place they could be. I walked the two minutes to my brother's house, and sighed a huge sigh of relief when I saw them all there safe and sound. I broke down a little when I got there, and my brother gave me a huge hug (a lovely thing as he is not usually a huggy type). My Dad said "she needs a wine" which was very true and I got to play with my little nephew which lifted all our spirits. We stayed there because they had a gas barbecue. We were just finishing off our dinner, when the power came back on. The next stage had begun.

I call this stage, watching scenes of destruction on TV while not quite being able to comprehend that this is the same city that you live in. I was glued to the TV for the next few days. Scenes of utter chaos in the centre city, video captured by people in the central city. My experience had been traumatic for sure, but nothing compared with being in the central city, with buildings coming down, dust and rubble everywhere. I realised then just how lucky I had been that I hadn't been in the city.

Colombo St before quake
Colombo St after quake
City before quake
City after quake
Cathedral before quake
Cathedral after quake
A few days of that, and I just needed to help! My flat still had no power or water, but my parents' had both, so I stayed there and helped out in a welfare centre nearby. Just doing something was keeping me and my mind largely occupied. Unless you were allowed to be in the city centre it is still completely off limits. Apparently 75% of the CBD will be destroyed. There are still large areas without power, water and sewage, 3 weeks on. The roads are cut up and closed everywhere you look. The most devastating part of course is the loss of life. So far 166 and possibly more to come.

I have survivor guilt. My flat has surfaced largely unscathed. I don't know any of the people identified as part of the death toll (although I know people that do) and I heave a huge sigh of relief each time I read that list and don't recognise any of the names. I haven't lost my job (although it is in the cordon so it is off limits at the moment).

I was so looking forward to going back to Burwood school, and seeing the kids again. Unfortunately that was not to be as it is pretty damaged. Grad school has swapped schools so I get the most out of the placement. I understand their reasoning, for sure. It makes sense. I am sad though that I won't get the chance to see the kids again. I start Monday.

Right now, I am in Whangaparoa (an hour north of Auckland) staying with my sister to get away from the aftershocks. I have found myself getting more and more anxious and jittery with each aftershock. I felt so silly to be complaining about anything when I was so lucky. But really, I wasn't coping too well. I didn't quite realise it, but helping others was just a way of keeping my own feelings at bay. I'm ok, and feel lucky, but the enormity of losing my city and the grief over the deaths of those unfortunate ones (even though I don't know them) coupled with the aftershocks mean that I needed to get away. I'm glad I did. I feeling rested, and should be able to cope with Christchurch when I return on Sunday.

As for the future. I'm in Christchurch til the end of the year at least, with my course. But I think I will stay. A large part of my family is there and I do love my city. At this point we just have to stay positive, and as this photo that I found says, "We will rebuild".

Time for a change?

Is there anything about yourself that you're a little bit sensitive about? That you know isn't perfect but you struggle to change it. No I'm not talking about weight although that can definitely be a sensitive topic.

The issue that I am struggling with is the volume of my voice. I've always known that I have had a loud voice, and growing up as the youngest of 6 children, it was one of the ways that you were able to be heard. As I've gotten older, occasionally people have commented on my loud voice, and for some reason it has always been one of the most sensitive issues for me and it always upsets me. You'd think that the mere fact that I know I have a loud voice, would mean that it wouldn't bother me. But for some reason it does. I wish my volume was softer, and I have tried many many times to be quieter, but what happens is that when I get comfortable with people or a situation, my volume naturally goes up. I'm naturally a chatty, bubbly and happy person. My moods are pretty even and happy. You know what you're going to get when you see me. I enjoy people's company and I'm pretty certain that people enjoy mine. But for some reason, when someone comments on my loud voice, I take it really personal, and take it as an attack on who I am, even though I know that it isn't. Automatically I decide "well then I won't speak at all!". I temporarily go very into myself, and sad.

So, how do I create a balance? How do I reduce the volume of my voice and not reduce my personality, which, I do actually, for the most part really like. Is it something that you can consciously work on, or is it like a laugh, something that is innate?

I'm not sure anymore. I have been aware of this aspect of me, and been trying to change it for as long as I can remember. I haven't changed so far.

By the way, it has been mentioned that I lower my voice volume as part of professional competence as a trainee teacher. I get that a lower volume in a classroom means that the kids are quieter, but should my volume in the staffroom be an issue? I would love your thoughts and ideas on this.

9ft pregnant ladies, Ludo and Dorothy

So I had a week's holiday last week, and it was well needed and enjoyed. I was actually incredibly productive and managed to achieve a lot of "to do's" as well as relaxation and rest.

I caught up with friends and family, and it was fantastic to not have any worries about school and just enjoy. So I was at my sister's house drinking cider, eating our obligatory nachos (yum yum) and generally chatting, when the discussion of the latest installation at the Art Gallery came up. I'm not a huge Art Gallery patron. In fact, I almost never go there, and the last time I actively made sure I went to an exhibition was for an incrdible black and white photography exhibition which was incredible. Her name was Ans Westra, and she is originally from Holland. If you want to see more about her, I found this:

http://www.fhegalleries.com/artists/showArticle.php?file=answestra.xml

So anyway, this time it was for an exhibition that looked at bodies in different contexts and size, and was a series of amazing displays of people that looked incredibly real, right down to the goosebumps or veins under the skin, but had been totally created. It was absolutely phenomenal. His name is Ron Mueck and I highly recommend that you go and see this exhibition. It's on in the Christchurch Art Gallery for the next 3 months or so. What made this so incredible was the way that he played with dimensions and perspectives and on most of the sculptures, the body was naked so as not to distract from the absolute beauty and intricacy of the art. There was a 9 ft full term pregnant woman in absolute proportion, looking shattered and deflated as she reached the end of her pregnancy. There were tiny gossiping old woman, giant babies complete with an umblilico cord, and a wild man with a look of utter fear on his face, as he knew he was trapped in a world where he did not belong. You can see some of these sculptures at this website:

http://hubpages.com/hub/Awesome_Sculptures_Of_Ron_Mueck

Giant Pregnant woman. I actually took a lot of photos of this exhibition myself, but am too lazy to upload them

Now when I looked at this website, it was the first time I had actually looked him up, and I decided that besides being an absolutely exceptional artist and sculptor, he gains even more legend status in my mind for being the voice Ludo from one of my absolute favourite movies of all time, Labyrinth. It actually makes sense really, as he was a model maker, so it actually ties very clearly with his exhibition.

"Ludo....friend"

Anyway, Ron Mueck, you are my new hero. I also think that Seth McFarlane, creator and voice of most of the characters on Family Guy is incredible. I love that show, and love how they just poke fun at everything, including Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. I actually saw it again, with my sister and her kids the other day, as the Art Gallery was showing it for free just after we arrived. Not wanting to offend the gods of Serendipity we went and watched it (me for the 4th or 5th time) but for the kids and my sis, for the first. It was great. I love that movie. Seeing the end again though, reminded me of this Family Guy parody:



Oh how I laughed.

Earthquakes, Birthdays, Sickness, School and Moving House

So exactly two weeks ago, at 4.35am on the morning of the 4th of September, we had an earthquake. A pretty huge earthquake as well, measuring 7.1 on the Richter Scale, and the same as the devastating one in Haiti that killed so many people.

I was feeling incredibly sick and had welcomed Mum and Dad home from their European trip on Friday afternoon, with a fever and general unwellness. I took my sorry body off to bed. I was feeling incredibly happy that I had had my 30th birthday party the week before, as I really was too sick to have it on my actual birthday, being the 4th September. I slept fitfully, and woke up several times during the night.

I was jolted out of bed however, at 4.35am, to the biggest and scariest earthquake I had ever felt. I ran into Mum and Dad's bed, and stood in a doorway with Mum for what felt like minutes, but was probably only 40 seconds or so. And then it was over. Our power went out, and we spent the next wee while listening to the transistor radio to find out what had happened.

Quickly we found out that the epicentre was in Darfield, a mere 30 km away from Christchurch and had occurred on a fault line that no one even knew was active! Our power came on at 9.30am, and I spent the rest of the day glued to the special news coverage and wrapped in a blanket, looking at the scenes of destruction in my city, and feeling incredibly spacy and surreal. Our house wasn't damaged so it was weird to see the complete chaos and damage around the city. Christchurch was put into a state of emergency, and the city centre completely closed off. Schools were announced closed, and although they came live from the same damaged shop, and showed the same few photos in those early hours, I just couldn't tear my eyes off the screen.

Of course, I was feeling terriblly ill, and when Mum finally took my temperature (boy was I glad I was staying there and that they had come home the night before) it was 104 degree celcius.

My birthday of course kind of got swept under the carnage a little. Mum and Dad gave me a fabulous present of 2 helicopter rides which is absolutely amazing, and a couple other of my siblings gave me some presents as well. It was just, what with the earthquake and me feeling so sick, I kinda forgot about it.

The next day, the family came over for lunch, for Father's day and also my birthday, but I was too sick to get out of bed, so I just stayed in my room, still glued to the news.

My fever went down over the next few days, but I was bedbound for 10 days, developing early pneumonia and generally feeling quite rubbish. I was quite happy schools in ChCh were cancelled for a week, because there would have been no way I would have been there anyway.

Last weekend I was supposed to move into my new flat (which is also my old flat as this will be the third time I have moved into this place) but I postponed it til tomorrow.

So slowly, little old Christchurch has been getting back on track. The damage to the city is extensive, but in patches. Some areas have no damage at all, and some are completely wrecked. We're all thankful that it didn't happen a few hours earlier or later, when lots of people would have been on the street. No one died, and that in itself is a miracle, as the same disaster killed so many in Haiti.

So there we have it. One more week of school placement left. I have absolutely loved it and I will really miss the kids quite a lot. I have liked the age level (age 5-7) so much more than I thought I would. I'm completely shattered at the end of the week, but I have come through it with a sense of real achievement and pride from what I have achieved.

So onwards and upwards. I've become a bit of a social recluse recently, because of the pressure of the course. I miss hanging out with my friends and sister as much as I did, but it's only for a year.

So that's me. Caught up in a nutshell. I have been terrible at updating this recently, so hope that catches up anyone with what I have been up to recently.

School Placement

So I've made it through the first 3 weeks of the course, and I am absolutely loving it! We have been teaching a reading programme one on one for the last two weeks, which was great, and a great introduction to teaching.

Starting Monday, it all goes up an extra level, with my first placement, this tme at Spreydon Primary. I have a Year 1-2 class and I am really excited about getting into it.

Grad school is starting to consume my life a little, and already the social life is starting to slow down. I'm trying to make sure I have time for swimming to keep up my fitness and quiz, but not too much else.

I'm becoming more boring in front of my very eyes. But it's for a good cause. And it's only for a year or so.

First Week

So I started Grad school on Monday and it was definitely the right decision. Straight away, the vibe has been positive and while it is going to be an intense year (social bye bye for now) it will be worth it.

There are 34 of us in our intake (there was 35 but one guy left on day 3). 12 Secondary and 22 Primary. At the moment we are all together, as we're doing basic stuff like literacy, which is important for everyone.

On Day two we had to prepare a 4 minute talk for our peers which was incredibly nervewracking, and tomorrow we all go to Shirley Intermediate to start the first of 10 literacy lessons with a Year 8 (11-12 year old) student. In two weeks time we will be on our first teaching practice. It has been intense, but it is only just a year (or just over) and it pretty much ensures that I'll be a good, and well trained teacher (their style is totally different to anything else in the country but as it is so heavily practical produces great teachers) and should guarantee us a job (not necessarily permanent straight away).

So that's it really. I'm very glad I chose to do this. It totally feels like the right time in my life to be doing this. Everyone on the course is lovely and I am going to make some great new friends I think.

Living wise, I am house sitting at Mum and Dad's for the next month, and then very much looking forward to setting up a flat and getting my stuff out of storage (haven't seen a lot of it in over 5 years, I can't remember what I own anymore).

Today I am going to concentrate on sorting out what I'm doing for tomorrow's lesson and get that sorted. Conveniently it is raining outside so I'm not going to feel like I'm missing out too much.

Home Again

So I've been home for a week, and what a relaxing uneventful week it has been. I start Grad School next week, so that will be a huge change so am just enjoying doing not a lot at the moment.

So the flight and travel home, although long was fine. At LA airport, there were a whole bunch of American students, all about 18 or 19, who were coming to New Zealand for a semester to study. I started chatting to some of them, and told them to ask whatever questions they liked. One of them piped up with

"Do they chicken in New Zealand, cos I don't really like lamb?" to which I couldn't help but have a wee laugh, and explained to her that although Lamb is one of our major exports, we eat pretty much everything that we do.

I had forgotten to ask for an aisle seat, which was annoying but as I slept so much anyway (amazing for me as I normally don't) it wasn't too much of a problem.

Coming off the plane in Auckland, I almost cried tears of joy, as they played this song as we were walking off:

Singing quietly to myself as I walked down the aisle, the flight attendant gave me a big smile and "Welcome Home" which totally made my day.

Although I still had to get to Christchurch on one more flight, and clear customs, I was home and it was awesome to be met by Mum and Dad at the airport. I love international arrival lounges at airports. I think that they are one of the happiest places in the world.

So I'm home. I had a fantastic time but am very much glad to be back and looking forward to Monday.

Not seeing Calgary, and Astral Harvest

So I was sitting at the station, deep into my book, when I noticed a figure appear out of my peripheral vision, sit next to me, and nonchalantly mutter "What's up".

Pulling myself out my book, I realised that it was Rach, and I gave her a big hug and we wandered out to her car.

I wasn't actually staying in Calgary much, as the following morning, myself, Rach and her girlfriend Steph were heading to a music festival. However, we went to a couple of their friends' houses and were treated to wine, pizza and a great game called Washers (which I'm totally going to recreate in NZ) and although my back was giving me serous grief, it was a great evening.

The following day was Canada Day, so for the long weekend, we were headed out to an electronic music festival. Now, this is really not my type of music. Not even a little bit. I find the doof doof beats really get incredibly annoying after appoximately 2.5 seconds, and the base carries everywhere, making it impossible to sleep at night. I am much more of a live music girl, but in spite of all that, and not being able to move that much, I had a great time there, and met some awesome people.

Rach at the Festival

Rach and Steph

There were a couple of good workshops as well, during the day, including a brilliant one called Laughter Yoga, where, as the name suggests, you simply laugh in a variety of exercises for an hour. It was awesome and everyone had a huge smile on their face afterwards. The festival did not have anywhere near as many workshops as Confest, an amazing festival I have gone to a couple of times in Australia, but it was pretty cool.

We camped in this awesome pull out trailer thing called Lionel, next to some good friends of Rach and Steph's, called Nate and Carey. Nate is a DJ and actually his set (which we all went down to listen to) was amazing. A little less doof doofy and more musical and I chair danced for the whole hour and a half. I also took lots of photos which kept me amused.

Rach standing outside our trailer Lionel

Nate Djing his very cool set
my bucket chair where I danced to Nate's set

My back even got better on the last day, as I took it pretty easy, and now it is pretty much healed and back to it's normal lower state of pain.

Rach and Steph were incredibly generous and kind to me, buying me wine and sharing their food with me, as they knew I was broke. It was great to see Rach (whom I met first in London but is from NZ)and to get to know Steph a little better (I met her in Auckland when they were living there and I visited Rach).

All in all it was a great (but very tiring) festival. I didn't get too much sleep because the bass really did carry all the way to me, but I countered it by putting on headphones and listening to The Black Seeds (NZ funky reggae/dub), which by the way, is an excellent counter music if to want to sleep during doof doof music festivals.

So, I had a great time, didn't get to see any of Calgary, but more importantly, got to hang out with Rach, Steph and some of their friends which was very very cool.

hula Hooping Girl
beautiful Belly Dancers in the parade
Cute little boy ever looks concerned as big weird creatures surrounds him
So here I sit, in their little lounge, at midnight, supposed to be packing, but procrastinating on here instead. Tomorrow I begin the long trek home. All in all, including travel/waiting and flying I had about a 26+ time frame ahead of me before I reach Christchurch.

It has been a fabulous trip! I have caught up with some amazing friends and made some great new ones. Having said that, I'm looking forward to my room, not having to pack my bag every few days and seeing my friends and family back in New Zealand.

She'll be coming round the (Rocky) Mountains when she comes

So I'm a little belated in my entries. The internet in the past 10 days or so has been non existent. I've been in a few isolated spots, which have been beautiful.

So when I left you last, I hoped to have the best sleep ever, but unfortunately it was probably one of the worst on the trip so far! So loud, with drunken revellers all night, it was also super stuffy in the dorm. Although I put my headphones in, I probably only got a couple of hours sleep total.

Anyway, so I get up and get ready to meet my tour bus of the Rockies. It was called Moose Travel and was ostensibly a hop-on-hop-off bus, although I did it in the minimum time frame. There were 18 of us on the bus, and although the people changed a little bit, the number stayed the same.

Jack, our tour guide relaxing


It was a great trip! The weather, for the most part, was pretty beautiful, our tour guide Jack was pretty cool, and the others on the bus were pretty cool. And we saw BEARS!!!! 4 of them!!!! 2 Grizzly and 2 Black! Very cool.

Black Bear
Grizzly
Bear in the wild (from outside the van)
A baby Grizzly
The first day we headed to Lake Shuswap which was a pretty little lake where, as we were walking down to the shore, a deer just happened to be wandering past some houses. It was very cool and pretty strange for me.

The next day was a highlight for me. We stopped at this amazing mirror lake in a place called Revelstoke where we kayaked, something that I love to do. It was so peaceful and just gorgeous there.

The beautiful place we kayaked
Kayaking

We made our way to Banff for the night, although we didn't arrive early enough to see any of the town. Next morning it was up and away along the Columbian icefield, where the weather had packed it in a little. We stopped at Lake Louise which was pretty despite the rain, and then we went to Athabasca glacier, which as someone that has hiked Franz Josef Glacier in New Zealand, was mildly disappointed with it. The area was beautiful, although the weather did put a slight dampner on the day unfortunately.

Lake Louise.

Athabasca Glacier

However, it cleared up, and we ended up staying in this gorgeous wilderness lodge in Athabasca Falls about 30 km from Jasper. It was a gorgeous wee spot, and I had the most comfortable sleep I had had in a long time.

On the last day, on our way back to Banff, we stopped at Lake Moraine (truly gorgeous) and had lunch in a secluded little lookout spot in an area called Peyto Lake. It was beautiful!


Lake Morraine
Our little secluded lunch spot, Lake Peyto

The Rockies really were quite beautiful, and I am so glad that I got (if only a little bit) to see them. I'd like to come back and spend some more time here, as it is quite lovely here.\

Our Moose Group

We got back to Banff, again too late to see the town, and had a bit of a goodbye drinking session with the others from the bus. Our room was incredible, with a jacuzzi in the lounge, although stupidly there was also a bunk bed in the lounge so we couldn't really use it.

The next day, I was all ready to get to my bus, and saying goodbye to a couple of people from the bus, I then hauled my pack on to my back as I'd done a hundred times this trip. Unfortunately this time I must have done something different, because as I lifted it, suddenly my entire back went into spasm, and going into a hunchback, I could barely move, and had to sit down. I was in absolute agony, as I must have severely pulled the muscles in my back. Being forced to taxi the short distance to the station, I was in a fair amount of pain, and the painkillers were just not cutting it.

I was to bus to Calgary and have 4 hours to look around the city. However, fate had other ideas (which ended up being great) as the bus was delayed by two hours, which meant that the Greyhound guy refunded our fare, and I started chatting to a cool girl from Winnipeg. Finally getting to Calgary station, I decided to just sit and wait the remaining two hours for my friend Rach to pick me up (not that my back would let me do anything else anyway).

Vancouver Vancouver

Wandering along the beach looking out towards downtown Vancouver

Not quite the same ring to it as New York New York, but I couldn't think of a single cheesy movie or song title with Vancouver in it. Anyone?

So I made it to Canada! Only 15 days in this lovely country though, so I will have to return. I can't believe that I will be home in under 2 weeks. This trip has gone so fast!

So the bus trip from Seattle was fairly uneventful, and the customs incredibly easy. No trouble there at all. I had arranged for my friend Megan to meet me at the bus station, but when I got there she was no where to be seen. My bus had been half an hour late, but I figured she would have checked with one of the staff. After looking around and not seeing her, I gave her a call.

"I was there but I left after half an hour" she said. We must have missed each other by minutes. Apparently the staff wouldn't tell her if my bus had come in and so she decided to make her way back to her place in case I had decided to make my way there. She gave me some directions, and it was actually very simple to reach her.

She lives in a very cool suburb of Vancouver called Kitsilano in possibly one of the tiniest flats I have ever seen, so I was very grateful that she let me stay with her.

It was cool to hang out with her. We cooked some dinner and then the next day, as she had the day off, we went to an awesome coffee shop to hang out, drink coffee and play backgammon. Deciding that her backgammon board was too tiny and annoying to play on, we hit the thrift stores to try and replace it. Although we found the most gorgeous board, we decided that $20 was too much to spend, although she did buy another couple of games, and so wine and board games were the order of the day.

Hanging out with Megan

Vancouver is a beautiful city. Surrounded by water, there are lots of cool little hangouts. Granville Island is one of them. A cool food market overlooking downtown which sits on the other side of the water, it was great to sit and listen to buskers, and watch the world go by. One busker in particular caught my attention, as his voice was just awesome. Not being able to place who his voice sounded like, it wasn't til he played Paolo Nutini that he solved the mystery for me. I ended up buying a CD of his music and I'm very glad I did.

The fantastic busker Stephen Spender playing in Granville Island

The weather was lovely, and so I wandered along the beach, meandering my way back towards Megan's place and to a place called Kit's Beach near her flat.

I was supposed to meet up with a friend Trent whom I had met in the animal sanctuary in Bolivia. Megan had already expressed that she was looking forward to having the place to herself, and so when he had to postpone, I decided to go out anyway. Megan had told me of a cool arthouse cinema within walking distance to her, so off I trotted, and for a mere $7, I was treated to a double feature of two Canadian films I hadn't heard of, called "Chloe" and "The Necessities of life". Both were good, and so it was a good night, although it still would have been cool to hang out with Trent.

Next day, I finally left the sanctuary of Kitsilano and headed downtown, wandering around. Meeting up with Megan, a couple of her friends, and also Trent and a friend of his, we played pub quiz (oh how I've missed my weekly dose!) and it was an awesome night!

Quiz night with Megan, Trent and some of their friends

Today Megan and I had brunch, coffee and then I bade her farewell, and swapped to my hostel for one night before my Rockies tour tomorrow. I'm doing a four day tour before heading to Calgary to hang out with one last friend. And then that's it! The trip is so close to being finished!

But it isn't yet, and today I finished my time in Vancouver by hiring a bicycle and cycling through Stanley Park, one of the biggest urban parks in the world. It was very cool, and because it is situated on the water (like so much of Vancouver) it had some pretty beautiful views as well.

Hanging out with my bike
The Red Buddha and me
A beautiful lake inside Stanley park which is rapidly decreasing as the forest takes over

And so now I am almost going to go to bed at the extremely early time of 10pm. I haven't been sleeping well, so I am very excited to hopefully get a good night's sleep tonight. (edit: worst night's sleep ever! So loud, hot and uncomfortable)

Only a couple more travel blog entries left, and then back to boring mundanity. Well new mundanity, since I will be a student again in a few short weeks.

As per normal, photos to come once I get the time.

Sleepless in Seattle

Well actually I slept quite well (which is a thing that is becoming more of a rarity on this trip as my back has been behaving quite badly) but I'll stick with the cheesy blog titles for now.

So we dropped off the rental car at the airport about 5pm, and Nina was being picked up by her friends, but me and Uli had to make our own way to our respective places. Which was totally fine. Nina very quickly let us use her iphone to check the internet to work out the buses, and I was in such a rush that I chose a route with the shortest amount of changes but didn't check the total time it would take me. As it turns out, now knowing the city a little bit better, it was a ridiculous route. I first of all had to wait a good 40 mins for the first bus (and I fully acknowledge that I should have used the public phones at the airport to call my friend, but I didn't want to miss my bus. Having only one route to get to my friend's house, I decided to stick with it. Getting dropped off the first bus to wait for the second, I realised that we were deep deep in the suburban wilderness of Seattle. There was no one to ask. Getting on the next bus, it was 7pm, and when I asked the bus driver how long it would take, he said that it would take just under an hour. Asking if I could borrow his cell phone to ring my friend, he said "that's going a bit far". Accepting this as fair, I asked the only other person on the bus who said that she would, but she was probably the only person without a cell phone in Seattle. I asked a couple more people (offering them a couple of bucks, but knowing that in the states everyone is on a contract so it costs them nothing extra) and they looked at me like I was crazy.The said "I don't think so" with an air of such disdain that you would have thought I had just asked them to jump off a cliff. Anyway, frustrated, tired, hungry and a little concerned that my friend would be worried about me, I finally got off the bus about 8pm, and found the apartment. Now if I hadn't been so tired I would have realised that there was a call button on the outside of the apartment. However this guy who was on his cell phone at the door, was covering this and when I asked him "do you need a cell phone to ring in? I don't have one" he replied "I don't know what to tell you" and walked off. Thinking I needed a cell phone, I asked about 4 more people to use their phone, all of them saying no, and finally exhausted, I found a kind person in the supermarket who let me use hers. After realising that I could have saved myself the trouble and just used the call button, I felt a bit stupid, but nonetheless it was great to see my friend Danica and meet her boyfriend Erik. Telling them the story about how no one would let me use their phone, they were surprised but guessed that people weren't listening to me, but are so used to being accosted by homeless people for change, that they just say no.

We went out to dinner and had a great night, and then the next morning, determined to have a great day, I got on the bus and wandered to Pike Place Market. Which was, by the way, awesome. It's a famous market, and I wandered around for a while before, stopping to watch the famous Pike Place Fish Market where they throw the fish from one side of the area to the counter. It is a bit of a smelly place, but it was very cool.

Pike Place Market

about to throw the fish to the counter amidst many onlookers

Meeting Danica for lunch at a Russian place (Erik and Danica had decided to take me on a foodies tour of Seattle), I wandered down to Pioneer Square where I took a fascinating and very funny tour of the underground. Very cool.

In the immortal words of Mr Bowie "down down underground"

Meeting up with Danica afterward, we met Erik in a Korean BBQ restaurant where we were provided with the meat, and we cooked it on a grill at the table. I say "we" but really, other than a photo opportunity for me, Erik cooked pretty much everything.

Pretending to cook.

Erik the real chef of the night takes over

Danica had taken the next couple of days off, and so we had a great two days together, doing cool things such as going to a gorgeous view of the city, seeing the troll under the bridge, and taking a chocolate factory tour of this amazing chocolate company who produce fair trade and organic chocolate with flavours such as Chai Tea, and Coconut Curry. We also went to a HUGE thrift store where I bought books 9 and 10 (my bag is getting very heavy now, so I am hoping that that is it, bookwise).

The city of Seattle as seen with the lovely Danica

The Fremont Troll who lives under the bridge

Thursday night, I caught up with a friend Justin (and his amazing yellow car!), from New Zealand, which was great. We went to dinner with some of his dance buddies and at some point had a heated debate about the merits of Ebook vs real book (I am totally for real and he was fighting on the Ebook side.)

Justin and his amazing yellow spaceship car

Next day, met up with another kiwi friend, Mark in the afternoon and on the bus I was running late so I decided to give the Seattleites one more chance to be nice to me and lend me their phone so I could let Mark know I was running late, and the girl in front was so nice and did. Where was she when I needed her the other day? Went to the university where he is studying to drop some stuff off and then had a couple of drinks before meeting up with one of his friends later on. We also went to a drag show which normally isn't totally my thing, but it was pretty good. I realised how much Cher actually does look like a drag queen because the man impersonating her was the spitting image!

I know that it is hard to believe but this is a man and not Cher

Saturday was my last full day in Seattle. It was the Fremont Fair and parade for Summer Solstice and it was amazing. Unfortunately we were slightly too late for the nude cyclists all dressed in body paint, but the parade was just awesome. Met up with Mark afterwards, and hung out, and the phone connection was so bad that I couldn't get hold of Justin who was also there. Had an amazing time at the fair, people watching, eating the free samples for lunch(one of them was hummus and pita bread chips-Yum!) and wandering through the market. I was coveting this awesome clock made out of forks and spoons, but had decided that I couldn't really afford it, when Danica surprised me by buying it for me! I tried to refuse as it should have been me getting her a gift to show my gratitude for letting me stay and showing me an awesome time in Seattle, but I let her buy it for me, buying Danica and Mark dinner instead. It made me feel a little better. The clock is awesome though!

All I saw of the naked bikers

Some of the cool parade




Pigging out on the free hummus and Pita with Mark

my new wall clock

The next day, Danica and I left nice and early to make it to the bus station for my bus to Vancouver. Unfortunately fate had different ideas. Someone had decided that it was an awesome idea to bash the wire door opener of the apartment parking lot, so it wouldn't open despite all our efforts. We still had time for a taxi so we called, but 25 minutes later, it still hadn't arrived, so we called another. Of course 5 minutes later both arrived at the same time. Taking one, not sure if I took the first or the last I explained that I had a bus to catch in 15 minutes. Although he said the Greyhound would be late, he was amazing, and drove very skillfully, weaving his way to the station. I made it just in time for the bus, only to sit and wait 15 minutes for it to depart.

But, I didn't mind. I had made it to the bus and the adventure to Canada was underway.

Sorry for the novel(again). Did I mention what a great time I had in Seattle!