| Home sweet home. |
[Sep. 6th, 2005|01:20 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  accomplished | ] |
So, I'm home.
It's been hard to be too sad about my trip ending as I've been smothered with e-mails, calls, text messages and person-to-person exclamations of how happy my friends are that I'm home. I'm genuinely very touched! It's wonderful to see my friends again, and a huge relief to see that some things in my neighbourhood have changed in the last seven months – a few charming new shops, some general neighbourhood tidying etc.
My best friend Katie came to meet me at the airport this morning; a very welcome smiling face in the sea of strangers. We just about hugged the life out of each other! In the evening I met up with my other best friend, Philippa for a couple of drinks. We even went to Questors where I was unsurprised to be greeted with "Gosh, we haven't seen you for a while," by many people. That's the way time passes in my theatre; so many people come and go that they notice you're gone, but have no idea when it was they last saw you. When I remarked that it had been seven months and I'd been over to the other side of the world, they looked utterly shocked!
It's fantastic to be driving in my little manual-gear Peugeot 206 again! When I was driving in the USA, it was always in automatic cars, and, obviously, on the right (wrong to me! Great pun, I know) side of the road. To add to my worries, I didn't have my actual license with me, and knew that if a cop decided to pull me over I'd be headed straight for jail. As I'm sure you can imagine, driving in the USA was not a particularly relaxing or enjoyable experience. I can be somewhat of a speed fiend and I had to keep religiously below the speed limit at all times. I ended up driving so carefully and meticulously my passengers would let out slightly frustrated sighs and twitch their fingers in impatience. Now that I'm back in familiar territory, I'm back to being a fast (but safe!), confident, assertive driver who sings along to the radio, chats to her passengers and leans back relaxed in her driving seat rather than clenching the steering wheel with both hands and fixing my eyes silently and exclusively on the road ahead.
I was so happy to be able to "dress up" when I went out this evening. I have a sudden appreciation for all my other clothes, shoes and bags! Stiletto heels in particular (I only took one pair travelling with me)! I went out wearing my pink trousers, my black and white stiletto-heeled-sneakers (they look better than they sound) and my black and pale pink Playboy bunny shirt. It was great! I'm planning all these fancy outfits to wear for the next few weeks in the evenings. I have missed dressing up so much. I've missed my boots a ridiculous amount!
I guess the only slight downers on my good mood are that I have put on rather a lot of weight, my tan is barely noticeable and my hair looks very unremarkable after not having had it styled in so long. This basically means that I look considerably less glamorous than I did when I left, seven months ago, and no one’s going to be wowed when they see me again. But just think, now I have all this life experience! Weirdly I generally feel far happier in my own skin now, although my pudgy ankles have totally freaked me out. I could always rely on my legs (or from the knees down, at least) to be relatively slim, but it seems they've spread a bit. I'm hoping it's just swelling from the long plane ride and that tomorrow they'll have slimmed down again. I just haven't actually looked at my ankles in ages, I've been clad in jeans and sneakers/flip flops for ... god. I don't know. A very long time!
When I get myself sorted (I have a huge amount of unpacking/putting away), I'll be uploading all my photos to my smugmug gallery, complete with proper separate galleries for different places, and commentry for each picture. As I'm sure you can appreciate, it's an extremely demanding task as I believe I have well over 500 photos. All I ask is that you be a bit patient, but don't give up on me altogether. I will upload them at some stage!
To all of you who read this journal; thank you. It really meant a lot to me to read your comments and know that my friends were interested in what I was doing. I hope that you'll continue to be as interested in my life even though the pace will change considerably now I'm back in England, and the excitement will be a very different kind as I start university at the end of September. For those of you who don't know, I'll be studying English Literature and Theatre Studies at the University of Warwick. I will always be reachable through e-mail, just go to my profile and click the e-mail link there if you don't have it! |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 4th, 2005|09:20 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  hopeful | ] |
My throat is so swollen and raw it hurts every time I swallow and occasionally when I breathe, I can't breathe through my nose and my head feels like it's being sat on. And I have a 10+ hour flight to endure. Joy of joys.
I wonder if it's a partially psychosomatic thing -- I know that the end of my travels are practically upon me, and therefore my immune system has just totally given up?
This trip has been such an amazing, life changing experience. They say you go on trips like mine to "find yourself". Well, I think that's laying it on a little thick, but I've certainly established a few things about myself I was only somewhat aware of before this year. I feel more settled, confident and content with myself. I've had good times and bad times, and lived through it all -- and the bad times are just a different kind of experience that I don't regret one bit. Everything that's happened has been a part of a great patchwork quilt of growing up. I wouldn't change anything, even the fact that I've lost a few items, because it's taught me you can be far too attached to material things. They are just things after all. And no, I'm not going to turn into a crazy hippy and start singing kum-by-yah or whatever it is, I just genuinely don't stress about things I can't change anymore. If it's gone, it's gone, just move on with your life and buy even more stuff to replace it!
(kidding!)
Anyway. I'll land in London on Monday at 11am. I'll probably sleep for a few days, but I would love to hear from my friends anyway (I promise not to be too grumpy if you wake me up), and will definitely be up for being taken out for drinks and meals when the mood strikes you! Remember I'm a penniless student now!
Thank you to all my friends all over the world who read my blog and commented, or sent me e-mails, or called me while I was travelling. When you travel alone, it can often be wonderful to have a bit of contact from those you love even though you can't see them. You all mean a great deal to me and you enriched my journey by being such a fantastic support and encouragement network when it all got a bit much!
So now, to London, and the conclusion of my epic adventure! |
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| Family. |
[Sep. 2nd, 2005|09:57 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  drained | ] |
It's been great to see my family again. It was my dad's birthday today, so we drove out to Malibu to have a long, late, lazy lunch on the beach. We = my parents, my brothers, my elder brother's girlfriend and me. I was positively starving as I'd not eaten in 24 hours, but once my food came I could barely eat half of it. I have a rather bad case of flu at the moment, my glands are swollen up like golf balls and everything aches. I would never believe it if I hadn't had proof of it today, but my appetite has almost entirely disappeared!
Tomorrow is my elder brother Adam's 26th birthday and we're due to have a big fancy dinner with his girlfriend Kellee's family in the evening, which should be very nice. My whole family has met Kellee's family, but due to the fact I was only in Huntington Beach for such a short time when I was last here, I've not met any of them. I hope they will forgive my uncharacteristic quietness. It takes a lot to subdue me, but it would appear that flu, exhaustion and the prospect of my trip being totally over have done it.
Ah well. To bed! |
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| I don't want it to end! |
[Sep. 1st, 2005|12:47 pm] |
I fly to LA today to see the family I've not seen for seven months.
And four days later, I will land in Heathrow, London.
How is it already September? |
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| Green Day! |
[Aug. 31st, 2005|10:12 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  jubilant | ] |
Last night, as a big surprise and by pure luck, I got to go to a Green Day concert. I've never been to a real "rock concert" before, and it just so happens that Green Day were the first band I ever really fell in love with, so it seems fitting that the first concert I go to should be one of their's. Not only did I get to go, I got in absolutely free and right into the pit. I was right in the front row, being mooshed up against the railing throughout the concert. So close I could see the beads of sweat on the performers' brows!
Opening for Green Day was a band called Jimmy Eats World. They seemed really good, but there was a big problem with the sound, and none of us in the pit could hear or understand a single word the lead singer said/sang. The vocals only seemed to be being played at the back of the open air pavillion and leading out onto the lawn, so there were frequently happy screams from behind us, but none from in front. We kept saying "We can't hear you, we can't hear you!" to which he replied, away from the mic, "You can't hear me?" and then proceeded to question us through the mic "Mrmphle mururumphle mmmppph?" Silly boy. Fortunately during the break between the artists, some wonderful techies came and fixed it. Yay!
When Green Day finally came on... oh my. They truly gave an incredible performance -- Billie Joe (the lead singer) has such boundless energy! And he's got an amazing voice -- a few times he held a note extra long just for fun, and I couldn't believe how clear and even it was, and how long he was able to sustain it for! He's also far shorter than I realised, like a little pixie man! They sang a couple of new songs off their new album (I didn't know them all, so it was nice to hear a few unfamiliar tunes), as well as a number of old favourites. Longview, She, Minority, When September Ends and American Idiot were particularly spectacular, but they sang so many more, I can't even remember them all. As well as some really fun fantastic lighting, they had loud explosions of pyrotechnics.
Being in the pit was quite the experience. There were some really nice people, but also quite a few extremely pushy (both in the literal and figurative sense of the word) individuals who I would have cheerfully smacked if I could have extracted my arms to do so! I didn't realise just how tense or how pummelled my body had been (pushing back against those surging against me, tiptoeing, pushing against the railing, avoiding those who were crowd surfing and pulled over my head by the security guards) until the crowds dispersed and I suddenly felt as if I had been thoroughly beaten up! I could hardly walk, and, after being propped up by a bouncing, extremely hot crowd in extremely hot, humid weather, I found that I was literally soaked from head to toe (more with other people's sweat than my own). Nice, eh? A few times the security guards would take a bottle of water and pour it into the mouths of those at the front of the crowd. With me, I got a mouthful of water in my mouth, and then another mouthful's worth down my cleavage. Didn't really help with the whole damp-clothes thing much!
So. I screamed, I cheered, I sang along, I pounded the air with my fist or a suitably energetic "rock on" salute. It was a pretty mind blowing event. If I could change anything, it would just be for less people in the pit (or less pushy people), some sort of air conditioning (although it was a semi-outdoor venue, so I guess that would have been hard) and for cameras to be allowed. I am pretty disappointed that I couldn't take a single photo of my favourite band, but c'est la vie! I saw them with my own eyes -- that's a million times better than a photograph! |
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| Update from the breakfast table. |
[Aug. 27th, 2005|10:35 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  awake | ] |
I'm now in rural Pennsylvania, sitting at the breakfast table with Brian and Tania. Brian and I got in late Thursday night. I spent Friday at home while they were at work (and their two adorable boys were at daycare) with their cat Scratchy predominantly on my lap. For perhaps the combined total of an hour that day (except when I showered), the cat wasn't in my lap. Somehow it managed to get into my room when it wasn't on my lap and peed in my suitcase. Brian just smirked and said it was him, not the cat. How charming!
We were due to go to RenFest today (Renaissance Faire), but it's been raining quite a lot and I'm not sure if we're still going. I hope we are, but it does really entirely depend on the weather, as it's an outside event and they cancel it if the ground is too soggy.
Brian just told me to get ready because we are going. Whee! |
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| Pittsburgh! |
[Aug. 24th, 2005|08:10 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  relaxed | ] |
I've been having a wonderful time in Pittsburgh with Chuck and Annette. I spent two days just vegging out around the house while they were at work, watching some US comedy shows that Chuck had on DVD -- Seinfeld and Arrested Development mostly -- and going out to eat with them when we got home. It's been lovely to be able to sleep in as long as I like in a big comfy bed!
I've not been alone every day, though. Also inhabiting the house are four absolutely adorable guinea pigs; Kijafa, Kahlua, Bailey and Jack (all female, all named after alcohol!). For anyone who didn't know it, guinea pigs make ridiculously cute noises when they're happy. A sort of gurgling chirpy purring noise. They're also extremely affectionate and amenable to handling (due to being very well socialised from early ages). I've only been pooped on once, and I had a towel on my lap at the time so I don't mind at all!
Today, Wednesday, Chuck and Annette both took the day off work. Chuck had an interview early in the morning, so decided to go back to the house to catch up on some sleep after lunch, while Annette and I went off to the National Aviary. The aviary was very nice with some very unusual birds, but rather smaller than I would have imagined (we got round the whole thing in less than 45 minutes). We then visited the Mattress Factory, which is an old converted factory that now serves as a modern art gallery. One of the floors is dedicated to displays in the dark with blocks of light; rather surreal and takes a long time for your eyes to adjust. The most "impressive" of the three displays was without doubt the most disappointing, as we sat for over 10 minutes in the dark and saw only a faint blurry blob moving around. Fortunately Annette is fabulous company, so we kept each other entertained!
We then returned to the house, picked up Chuck and drove to the cinema to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I have to admit, for all the hype, I had expected a much better film than the one we saw. The acting was, for the most part, flat and unresponsive, and for reasons beyond my comprehension a strange family moral was tacked carelessly onto the end. It was neither a light, children's movie nor a dark, thought-provoking adult's one, and it certainly wasn't one I could say would appeal to all ages.
After the movie we came home and had some dinner while Chuck played some D&D with a few friends of his. I introduced Annette to the wonderful jam doughnut shot -- Chambord topped with Baileys. They have a truly fantastic alcohol selection here, I thought I might as well let them know how to use it! At 9pm we're heading out to watch a free movie played 'on the hill' (?) -- Napoleon Dynamite. As Pittsburgh full of students, they seem to have a lot of deals at restaurants etc catering to the small-budgeted few, which is very nice indeed.
Tomorrow I'm meeting up with Mike for lunch, and then on to Brian and Tania's in the evening. |
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| YAY! |
[Aug. 22nd, 2005|05:30 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  giddy | ] |
THEY FOUND MY BACKPACK! Against all the odds! And my suitcase arrived this morning! YAY!
I am incredibly happy!
I've put all my GenCon photos online here. Enjoy! I will be posting my comic anecdotes in my journal very soon. (I've already started writing my experiences up in an online community forum, where most of the people I spent time with at GenCon frequent.)
Life is gooooooood! Chuck and Annette are taking me out for dinner tonight! |
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| The definition of 'bad day'. |
[Aug. 22nd, 2005|12:55 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  tired | ] |
After a surprisingly fun few days, it seems a shame that my last one in Indianapolis was such a disaster. Due to a late night drinking/card-game-playing/chatting session in one of the hotel suite rooms, I didn't get to sleep until about 4:30-5am, and then my alarm rang out at 7:30am. I checked out of my room but moved my suitcase and rucksack (back pack for the American readers) into the suite so that I could collect it later.
Somewhere between leaving it in the suite in the morning and returning to collect it in the afternoon, my rucksack disappeared from that room. The best guess is that someone saw it when the door was open for housekeeping to come in, they snuck in, grabbed the bag nearest the door and took off with it. (Nothing else from the room appears to be missing.) Unfortunately for them (and for me), it had nothing of any material worth in there, just things with a lot of sentimental value. My 10+ rolls of film from 7 months of travelling, my other 3 full memory cards for my digital camera, my notebook, my paper journal with all the messages and contact details from everyone I've met travelling. The likelihood of me getting it back is slim to nil, but the hotel staff are supposedly on lookout and the lost and found desk has been alerted.
To make a bad day worse, my pink suitcase did not make it all the way to Pittsburgh. It is, I believe, sitting in Cincinnati airport. God only knows why. When my friend Chuck and his girlfriend Annette came to pick me up, I had only my beloved Spike doll and my handbag as luggage.
Ugh!
At least I am now in great company again with lots of home comforts all around. I think tomorrow will largely be spent relaxing, and then Annette and Chuck are going to show me around some of Pittsburgh when they get home from work. Annette's a vegetarian too so she knows a lot of good places to eat with good variety -- it makes a wonderful change!
I won't lie and say I wasn't upset when I discovered my rucksack was missing (and then discovered my suitcase was missing too -- isn't that the worst kind of kick-you-when-you're-down irony?!), but there are worse things that can happen. Good things: I still have all my appendages, my family are safe and healthy, I chose to carry my Spike doll and put my perfume in my rucksack rather than my SLR camera.
Although I think I'm probably still in a futile optimistic state of denial, keep your fingers crossed that I get all my stuff back in one piece! |
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| Indianapolis! |
[Aug. 20th, 2005|04:25 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | amused | ] |
Hi all! I'm writing this from Indianapolis. I'm here attending the GenCon (gaming) convention which has been one of the most crazy experiences in all my travelling! Although I am generally a strong force against placing too much belief in stereotypes, the fact is that most stereotypes have at least some basis in truth. In this case, there are some 'gamers' who very fully and happily live up to their stereotype as decidedly odd and rather socially inept!
Fortunately for me, the people I know well and have been spending most of my time with are great fun and intelligent people. They've also been quick to protect me from the strange guys who seem to think that staring constantly at my breasts or making poor and squirm-inducing attempts at hitting on me are a likely way to get into my good books.
I'm endlessly amused by the fascination with my accent. It's somewhat warped as I'm surrounded by American and have picked up a twang, while using Kiwi and Ozzie slang. I am one big English-speaking mixed-culture mess!
I came to GenCon with extremely little knowledge of anything that was on display there, and therefore didn't expect to want to buy anything. I was surprised and delighted by coming across one thing I just couldn't leave without -- a small poseable plastic Spike (from the TV show "Buffy") doll! He is my new favourite possession and lives in my bag. Turns out it was a bit of a faux pas to rip open the packaging and actually play with my toy (as opposed to sitting it on a shelf and preserving it as a collector's item), but I honestly couldn't care less.
Mostly I've been having a great deal of fun (even when I had creepy guys hit on me, at least I had funny stories to tell my friends!), and will update soon with photos. Tomorrow I fly to Pittsburgh! |
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| Seattle. |
[Aug. 15th, 2005|07:18 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | cheerful | ] |
So, when in Seattle, Erin, her friend Meghan and I went to a restaurant called Claim Jumper. It had, without doubt, the largest portions of food I have ever seen. It also had a chocolate cake called the "Motherlode" cake -- six layers of chocolate and ganash. Erin and I managed a layer each before collapsing in groans! I took a photo of the uncut cake they have in their display counter -- it's literally at least a foot tall. It is the mother of all chocolate cakes.
Meghan has a huge music collection and burned a load of albums to disc for me, as well as filling my iPod with lots of new awesome music. It's very nice to have a change from the music I've been listening to for the past 6 months!
The following day, Erin and I drove into central Seattle. We had a wander around the Pike Place Market. I was drawn to a fabulous chocolate stand that gave us lots of free samples -- my absolute favourites were the Cabernet Cherries; dried black cherries coated with wine-infused dark chocolate. DELICIOUS. (Unfortunately I left my half-eaten bag in the car when we got to Missoula, and by the time I went to them the next day they were a melted bag of mush. Still yummy though!)
After the Pike Place Market, Erin and I took the monorail to the Space Needle. We went all the way to the top and wandered around, but unfortunately Mount Ranier wasn't visible due to low cloud. The Space Needle reminds me a lot of the Sky Tower in Auckland. There is a similar looking building in Sydney, although I can't remember the name of it. I think we need a weird UFO-crashed-into-the-Eiffel-Tower looking building in the UK too!
After grabbing some lunch, we decided to drive on to Missoula, so that's pretty much all the update you need! Today I went and got my hair done, and it looks exactly the same as before but with orangy streaks in it. Ah well! |
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| Montana!!! |
[Aug. 14th, 2005|09:41 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | jubilant | ] |
I'm in Erin and her fiance David's house -- and am having the most awesome time! They live in Missoula, Montana. Erin and I made the 8 hour drive from Seattle last night. It was a very fun road trip, and my first experience driving in America. It was occasionally scary (what with it being high speeds on the right hand side of the road in the middle of the night with no street lamps!) but mostly pretty enjoyable. I've really missed driving!
We just got back from the most amazing dinner at a little family run Italian restaurant. It was without doubt some of the finest food I've ever eaten. Worth coming to Missoula just for that! I've been having a total blast with Erin and David, and now I'm going to scamper off so I can properly watch the movie.
Oh oh! I now also have a verizon phone that works spectacularly. To all my American friends reading this -- I can now talk to you on the phone either for free (if you're verizon too) or for a far more reasonable rate, so send me an e-mail if you want the number! |
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| LA and onwards... |
[Aug. 11th, 2005|11:51 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | content | ] |
I just returned from a concert at the Hollywood Bowl, where my elder brother's fabulous girlfriend was singing with her choir. LA is pretty much as I remembered it. We even went to the same places I'd visited in Hollywood Boulevard -- I can now say that Hollywood (or the Boulevard at least) is comfortably familiar territory to me now! It was surreal to see my brother again after almost exactly a year (see ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) 29days for my account of my trip around the States last August/September), but he seems to be even happier and healthier than last time: someone even called him a local, which he greeted with a large grin.
Time seems to be moving so quickly, I can't believe that it'll be less than a month til I'm back in London again. Very scary thought.
Tomorrow I fly up to Seattle to see my wonderful friend Erin. We have a few days there before driving back to her home town of Missoula, Montana. I absolutely cannot wait to see Seattle and the scenery in the drive to Missoula as it's supposed to be quite uncommonly beautiful up there.
I bought a new Cingular brand sim card for my phone, only to discover that my phone still says "roaming" because I bought it in Australia. As was the problem with my UK sim card, I can't seem to receive any text messages nor calls from certain phones. I'm not sure if it's adding charges or not, but I may go ahead and buy a cheap Verizon brand US phone in Seattle anyway. When I get home, I'll have to get a new UK mobile. I will at that time then have 3 mobile phones and 4 sim cards (and one of each lost). Talk about a victim of mobile phone technology! |
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| Ugh. |
[Aug. 9th, 2005|10:34 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  grumpy | ] |
Not in the best mood.
I booked myself on a round-the-island tour yesterday, which I was told was due to pick me up outside a particular hotel at 8.15am. Turns out it was supposed to pick me up at 9.25am at a different hotel. I am told this at 9.45am, after sitting in the same spot patiently waiting for and hour and a half (I tried calling the office that sends out the buses to be told that it was coming at 9.25am, and then on my second call that it had been and gone to a different hotel). To say I'm annoyed would be a fair bit of an understatement.
I've been booked on a shorter trip that doesn't go round the whole island and doesn't see the volcano but does go for a hike through the middle of the rainforest. The very last thing I want to do right now is go for a 2 hour 'fairly difficult' hike through the rainforest, but I want to do something and everything else was booked up, so that's what I'll be doing all afternoon.
Grrrrrrrrr. Stupid travel agents. Trying very hard not to let it annoy me too much. The likelihood of me ever returning to Hawaii to see it properly is rather slim, but you never know what the future may hold. |
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| Paradise improves! |
[Aug. 7th, 2005|09:51 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | enthralled | ] |
I had a far better day today!
I went for a very leisurely stroll through Waikiki, had lunch at a nice little cafe and found a public stretch of beach right by a hotel that rented out sun loungers and umbrellas. Hooray! Perfect for me!
Before I got to the beach, however, I came across a David and Goliath store on a section of road I accidentally happened upon. Now, I truly believed that nothing could tempt me to spend any more of my limited budget... but I was wrong. A David and Goliath store?! I absolutely love their stuff and have only been able to find an extremely small selection of stuff to order online at home. I was simultaneously in heaven and hell -- to buy, or not to buy?! Fortunately for me, although David and Goliath are (in my opinion) a fantastic brand with really cute designs, they keep their garments in a very reasonable price range. Hooray! See below for (one of!) the tops that I bought!
When I did make it to the beach I lay with my head in the shade and my body exposed to the sun, with a "front row seat". It was pretty wonderful; just reading my book and listening to the waves lapping a mere metre or two from my feet. For a while my heart did start to pound again (perhaps I'm allergic to my sun tan oil?) but it eventually calmed down. At one point I abandoned my lounger to go and get some water, and ended up having to walk across the beach, into the hotel and into the little store there to purchase it. Those among you who know me at all will know that I don't have the greatest body image, so it was quite an achievement for me to wander around in just my bikini. No mothers hid their children's eyes, no one screamed or fainted or went blind -- I feel quite liberated! If I can walk around in a bikini and not die of embarrassment (or cause heart-attacks from shock), I can do anything!
When the sun had started to go down and the guys were folding up their loungers, I strolled all the way back along the beach towards my hostel, where a large stage and frame had been erected. Every Saturday and Sunday there is a free film screening right on the beach. Isn't that lovely? Tonight's offering was Chocolat (which I've seen before but enjoy well enough). It was a wonderful atmosphere as the beach filled with hundreds of people lit by the setting sun. The sky was quite uncommonly striking tonight, literally awash with colour. When the sun had nearly completely set, a tiny sliver of moon peeped out with a solitary star dotted as if it had slid quickly down the curve of the moon and off the end. It was one of the prettiest things I've ever seen. I don't think my photos of it do it any justice, but I was utterly enchanted by the positioning of the only visible star in the sky. As the movie progressed, the moon and it's little slip-sliding friend slithered down the sky until they disappeared beyond the horizon.
A magical evening!
( Photos, because I couldn't resist! ) |
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| Not quite a heavenly first day in "paradise"... |
[Aug. 6th, 2005|06:52 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  incredulous at myself | ] |
When I finally tumbled out of bed this morning, I headed straight for the beach. Bright-eyed and excited at the prospect of lying down doing nothing all day and getting a tan as my reward. Ha!
En route to the beach, I stopped for some lunch (I got up quite late!) at a place called Lulu's. Lulu's looked promising, but my glass of pineapple juice was stingy and warm, and my Cobb salad (which I requested with tofu instead of chiken and bacon) came laden with bacon anyway (I just picked it off). Determined not to be soured so early in my first day, I went to the Cold Stone Cremery and ordered myself an ice cream mix called a "Tropical Sunrise" in a big waffle cone. (I had forgotten that when in America, I have to always look for the biggest sizes in clothes -- and even then it frequently doesn't fit! -- and the smallest sizes in food servings.) A little overwhelmed by the massive melting foodstuff I held in my hand, I wandered down to the actual beach and sat on a bench to eat it. I thought it would be a good idea to drink the melted tangerine sorbet, but forgot that the waffle was held in a paper cone that had collected a huge amount of sorbet itself... consequently in a few short moments my vest top was splattered with bright orange drips. Perfect.
I ditched the cone, stripped the top off and went to lie down in my bikini on my towel. The sand is gritty, not clean and soft and white as you might expect. And the beach was totally and utterly packed. I had put some sun tan oil on before I left the hostel (it supposedly as sun protection in it too), and so everywhere I came close to even just brushing the sand was rapidly coated in it. Oh well, I thought, and lay down to sunbathe anyway.
After about five minutes -- literally, just five -- I started to feel uncomfortable. After 10, I was in a state of mild panic. Despite lying back and trying to relax, my head and heart had started to pound in a way that seems natural only in a situation where you've just finished a marathon or climbed Everest. Originally I had planned to lie for an hour on my back, and an hour on my front... I swiftly changed that to 30 minutes each way and then to 15 when my insanely pumping heart was causing me to feel the sort of misery I have only ever felt before in the gym. Lying in the sun, getting a tan -- isn't that supposed to be the most relaxing, lazy thing a person can do? Why was I feeling as though I was being punished? It was literally torture. After a while lying on my front (marginally better due to the sun out of my face, but a hundred times more uncomfortable) trying to read my book, I realised that the words were blurring and I really should get out of the sun before I passed out. I got up, clumsily grabbed my towel, wrapped it around me and made my way inland to shade. My head spun and I had to sit very quickly on a bench, panting like a desperate, drowning woman who'd just been saved.
(On a little bit of research since, it turns out I gave myself mild heat stroke/dehydration. I've had a few bottles of water and feel much better now!)
When I'd managed to calm my breathing and heart rate a little, I went across the road and into the first store I saw selling Hawaiian shirts. I didn't want to go back to the hostel for a new t-shirt and I couldn't very well go around with just my towel on, but I felt like I should probably cover up a bit. I had my addled, dizzy state of mind taken advantage of by the shopkeeper, and am now the proud owner of a huge, hideous, expensive blue and white flowery shirt. I look like I'm wearing a tent. In the store I noticed my face in a mirror; it was, all over, a dark purple. Mm, nice.
I went quickly to buy and drink a large bottle of water, then I wandered around until I found a pharmacy where I bought Factor 45 sun block for my face tomorrow and some aloe vera gel for my face today. On my subsequent wanderings I came across a nice little salon offering a very decent rate for a manicure and a pedicure. I don't think I could have walked away even if I'd wanted to. I was feeling hot and sick and wearing a giant blue tent -- I wanted some pampering! I am so glad I decided to indulge. The staff and other customers were friendly and a receptive audience to my woes (laughing in all the right places -- no one makes misfortune funny like I do!), and I sat in a wonderful massage chair for half an hour with my feet in a spa. By the end of that half hour I really did start to feel like I was in paradise! My feet are now tipped with a lustrous dark cherry coloured polish, accented by a tiny hibiscus flower on each big toe. My fingernails are a lighter, brighter shade of pretty metallic pink.
So... I am happy. But I don't know if I can brave lying in the sun tomorrow!
PS. My face is surprisingly normal coloured now. Just a bit pink in the cheeks. My head is still throbbing, but not as bad as it was before. Am I hopeless or what? Who goes to Hawaii and on their very first day manages to make an utter fool out of themselves? |
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| HAWAII! |
[Aug. 6th, 2005|12:42 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | delighted | ] |
I am in HAWAII! How fantastic is that? And it's hot! It's hot and humid, even in the middle of the night. I can't wait for the morning!
I must admit I had to quell a silly girlish hope that when I arrived through customs some friendly bustling Hawaiian would come over and pop a flowery wreath around my neck. There were friendly buslting Hawaiians with flowery wreaths outside the airport, but they only had enough wreaths for a specific number of people on their tour buses. Ah well. Next time!
I still can't believe I'm in Hawaii. I've wanted to come here since I was 13 and did some research on it for a silly school IT project. By night, it looks like pretty much any other city that I've driven through when it's dark -- the drive from the airport to my hostel (the Waikiki Beachside Hostel, if you're curious) actually remined me quite vividly (in layout, style of buildings) of a combination of a specific area in London and parts of Gisbourne (north island, New Zealand). My familiar nerves at being driven around on the right hand side of the road returned, but I'm sure they'll mellow out the more driving I do in the US. I was delighted to spot a Jamba Juice and a Krispy Kreme en route to my accommodation -- I know I'm in an American state now!
My last few days in Australia were a bit fraught with various concerns, but that's all behind me now. For the next five days it's complete and utter stress-free chill-on-a-beach-in-Hawaii time.
Aloha! |
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| Brief! |
[Aug. 5th, 2005|03:17 am] |
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Sat on a bus for 22 hours to get from Hervey Bay to Sydney. Am pretty exhausted and ill, so am going straight to bed. I fly to Auckland tomorrow, and Hawaii the day after that -- hopefully some tropical sun will sort me out! |
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| Fraser mishap. |
[Aug. 1st, 2005|04:18 pm] |
I am on Fraser Island and loving it -- so much to tell, but so little time on these dinky net kiosks!
This entry is just one for bad news -- I managed to lose my phone somewhere on a walk and have absolutely no idea how or where it might be. It could be sitting on a rock somewhere or buried in the deep sand on the beach; I just don't know. Basically, don't call me or send me text messages as my Oz number is now void. If you do need to contact me, e-mail is now the only reliable way, and if you leave a number (all my numbers went with the phone) I'll try to call you back from a payphone. |
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| Hervey Bay. |
[Jul. 30th, 2005|04:57 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | sleepy | ] |
I feel like my head is full of cotton wool. I hate long bus journeys! It's so impossible to get comfortable, to get more than about 15 minutes sleep snatched here and there before your body starts protesting about the bizarre position you've been forced to contort it into. I got on the bus from Airlie Beach at 8pm yesterday and arrived here in Hervey Bay at 9am this morning. After I finish writing this, I'm going straight back to bed!
In Airlie Beach, I took a boat trip out around the Whitsunday islands. There are few things as fun as speeding across the water in a big jet boat with the sun shining and the sea an almost unnatural aquamarine. I ended up sitting with two lovely guys from Sydney, Ian and Jason, and Ian and I shrieked and laughed every time the boat went over a harsh bump (ie. for most of the trip!). We went snorkelling off one of the islands, and it was quite a different experience to the one far out on the reef. The water here was far more cloudy (due to recent rain, apparently) and I was swimming with a 'noodle' rather than a life jacket, both of which led to me feeling quite unsettled in the water. My breathing was crazy and erratic when I was out on the reef, but I nearly made myself pass out yesterday! The coral was far shallower than out on the reef (I kept coming very close to inadvertantly touching it), and the fish fewer and far between. As happened the first time, I ended up swimming off far away from the other snorkellers until I found hundreds of fish swarming about... and quite lost track of time! It seems that every time I start to relax a little and get more comfortable in the water, I inhale a mouthful of sea water. Not much fun in itself, but a generally enjoyable experience. Coral is still fascinating, no matter how cloudy the water or terrified the snorkeller!
We all boarded the boat again and set out for lunch on Whitsunday Island, the largest of the some 74 Whitsunday Islands. The water there was fascinating where it hit the freshwater -- a vivid blue aquamarine right next to an equally vivid jade green. And white sand... white sand as far as the eye could see! Sand so full of silica, in fact, that it literally squeaks when you walk on it.
I got a little sunburned while relaxing there, but nothing too extreme... although it did make sleeping on the Greyhound bus that much more difficult!
( The photos I promised in the other entry! ) |
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