Animal Count

I have seen 1 porcupine

over 50 Bald Eagles

 1 Humpback Whale

4 Beavers

 1 Bear

There have been many more animals I have seen, but I do not have photos of them quite yet. Anywho, On another note, I came across some hula hoopers late at night. They caught my attention due to light up hula hoops, rad, yes, did I join? Yes! Was it a good idea? Yes. Anyways, I have myself a hula hoop now thanks to one of my new friends.

I have visited the St. Theresa Shrine which is absolutely beautiful and I heard of it from a book which I got from my lover boy (Thank you baybee! you a sweetheart and a half). Such a peaceful place! I got to see a few seals bob their head up from the ocean blue and then I went past that area and came across that purty whale blowing water up the gazoo. It made me do a little dance, you see, cause I have never seen a whale in the wild.... YESSSSSSSS!

How can I forget about the beautiful hike I went on the other day in another part of town. The trees were massive and the roots were also pretty massive. It ended on a nice lovely beach area. The tide was low so the hike was a nice little moon sliver as we went from surviving the trees to the beach walk along the rocks. We came across a kayak and two campers and minced words with them. They were lucky enough to be kayaking around a pod of about 12 orcas earlier. Orcas are whales and I am extremely jealous of these two campers, I soooo want to be kayaking with a pod of orcas! Maybe I should add that on this hike I put a plant that is poisenous to humans in my mouth (if humans eat it), I had no idea, I'm a genius.... not, no worries, I be playing it much safer, no more plants in my mouth anymore.

Well, peace homies, let the sun shine please.

Alaska Bound..

I'm in Alaska.

It rains here.

Sometimes the sun shines.

And

I'm not sure why I packed 5 pairs of shorts and flip flops.

Rain. everyday, all the way.

The moment the rain stops, run out side, barefoot...

Going on a Seaplane for the first time ever!

 You Waterfall gypsy girl, wiggle your toes in that water.

 I saw my first bear.... how beary cool :)

 The bear and I....

 Eating king salmon, like a champ.

Glacier magic.

Rawr, watch out nature..

Oh my mushrooms.

First week...

I arrived here May 10, 2012 

          Getting here last Thursday was soo incredibly depressing it makes me weep like a weeping willow to think about it. So lets just say all you family and especially you my lover boy mean the world to me and leaving this third time for a new expedition was extremely hard and depressing once I stepped through that security gate in Salt Lake City that eventually dragged me out to Juneau, Alaska. Did I mention it was rainy the first four days as well, talk about dreary weather to go with my dreary mood (it rains at least a little bit each and every day, thanks mother nature). After adapting over the past few days, I have been less depressed and more distracted. I have three lovely ladies I live with and we are special. We enjoy sleeping, eating, working with bamboo and things that change color, and doing random and exciting activities throughout the rainy days of Alaska. We practice the habits of sleeping and eating most often though, we are what some people would like call, professionals.

So lately, since I have arrived in the state of Alaska…..

I have gone grocery shopping three times and I’m ready to cook myself a feast. Yes! Been working hard at the shop and, good news, I can sell things, for real. I love bamboo and I like to bamboozle people or help them get “leid”. I do this by giving peeps lei’s made out of bamboo or by making them do the limbo in the Cariloha store I work at. (True Story). That is all you get to know about my job at this moment.

I did a seaplane tour the other day that went over five glaciers, yes I said five glaciers in a sea plane. This means we got in the plane which was on water and took off on water then landed in water, just like on TV. It’s like I was in the Walmart section “as seen on TV,” but without the Walmart part.  Another highlight of this seaplane tour is that… I saw a bear, a beary cool, beary black, beary rad freakin bear. I feel beary happy and I got a photo the bear and I which is even better. So, Hells Yeahs! Anyways ,on another note, I ate my first piece of seafood out here as well, Smoked King Salmon and it was good, so good, I ate it all, like a champ.

I wore real shoes, like the running kind and they gave me blisters two days ago. So yesterday I wanted to go on a hike to the tram and take the tram down to work. This hike is about three miles up to the tram and I now know that it is also covered with snow for about half of those three miles. I decided to wear my vibram five toe shoes. These shoes and awesome, it’s like walking barefoot with a huge slightly sturdy barefoot foot beneath you and I like them a lot. What I learned is that walking in snow with them after so long is not a good idea. I made it to the tram after a slight panic attack and a slide down part of the mountain because I slipped after going the wrong way. But like I said, I did make it to the top and also, I do not have frostbite even though I was really worried I was going to get it. Lesson learned, I should get some hiking shoes. And the snow was deep, I sunk down to my thighs at some points, fellow snow lovers of Utah, I have found the snow we never got this past season.

On another fine note, my roommates and I went out to get pizza tonight and on the way home we went to a water fountain, at this fountain there was a man who skipped drunkenly over to us and lifted up his shirt on the fountain wall. He had a tattoo of a gun and went “bang bew bang bew bang” with it (sound affects were included) and then said “oh, you want more,” and then he reached his hand down his pants to whip out his wanker. We turned around giggling hysterically, me with my pepper spray in hand ready to defend us. He did not like this and yelled “FOOOOOOOK you, Foooooook you.” Alaska men have class, right, lover boy, I love you and baby, you have class. 

What's Happening.....

So I know I have not been recently updating this blog very much. I'm at a stump currently. I'm home, going to school and trying to find a sturdy job so I can save up money to travel again. Until then, I will not be posting on here because I have made this blog mostly for traveling and will update it when I travel. If you want to see what I am up too lately, you can read my other blog...

http://twistitlikeagypsy.blogspot.com/

check check check it out.. and follow if you like.

So until my next expedition somewhere.. you can find me updating my other blog. I also hope to post some travel stuff about the U.S.A. because I have noticed that quite a bit of my bloggers are from outside the U.S.A. So I will try to keep you updated on the U.S.A. hopefully soon. If you have any questions feel free to post on this blog :)

Back in Utah

I am back at home and it has been about a month and a half now. I am back in school and working my weekend winter wonderland job. I sure do love being able to snowboard, but lately, I have been missing the ocean and the warmth that I had for while I was living in Fiji. I love the food here and it's making me gain weight, but totally worth it, I promise.

Been snowboarding about 3-4 times a week, going to school 2 days a week and I am trying to find another job right now too since my bank account was depleted to zero from all my travels (so worth it). I really really really want to go to the snowbird spa and I will, as soon as I get enough money. I need to roll in the snow and jump in the hot tub up there!

Here is some lovely pics of my home sweet home.

Up on the Mountain

Watching the Sunset while driving.

Farewell to Fiji

Some last photos at my favorite place: The Beachhouse

Some Awesome New Zealand things I did.

Yep. This would be me doing the highest Bungee in New Zealand. Awesome right!?

Craters of the Moon.

Huka Falls
OGO New Zealand... Yes. At long last I was able to see what it's like to be a hamster in a ball.

After a long long ride...Fiji-Australia-New Zealand-Fiji-United States

Day 144: December 8, 2010

1. Went to bed early, or at least tried, but was up most of the night because the bar outside was soo loud. It felt like people were yelling right outside my window.. they probably were.

2. Woke up, feeling good, it was bungee jump day on December 6 and I was ready.

3. I did it, and survived. Yesss. I did the highest bungee jump in New Zealand and the highest swing in the world.. It’s kind of a big deal.

4. I ate another massive burger to celebrate with a girl I met at the bungee jump.

5. We also decided to celebrate by going to the ice bar. A bar that is made out of ice in queenstown. Sounds cool yeah? it was, I have picturessssss.

6. Had an early night to bed because the next day, I was heading to Franz Joseph.. I wanted to go to pancake rocks, but its not going to happen this trip.

7. Made it to Franz Joseph and hiked up to the glacier. It was sooo coool. I don’t think I have ever seen a glacier before so thank you mister Franz Joseph.

8. Stayed at a backpackers in the franz joseph town.. up in glacier territory.. pretty cool eh. I thought so, I felt in my element cause I was in the mountains and it was a wee bit cold.

9. Now I am on a bus again.. I swear about a third or maybe even half of my new Zealand trip is on a bus. That kind of sucks, but at least the drive is soo beautiful, so its okay. I wish I had an ATV to cruise around NZ on, that would be rad.

10. I’m heading to Christchurch yet again and hoping I can make my way up to Kaikora.. (I spelled that wrong) because I want to go whale watching ASAP.

11. I have to get to the north island.. ASAP I fly out of NZ in a week, so yeah. I sure do love the South Island, everything about it, except the expensive bus fares I keep paying.

Day 146: December 10, 2010

1. Stayed in Christchurch and decided I was going to start a new food thing, rice.. chicken flavor. I got it, and it was disgusting.. luckily one of the other backpackers cooked to much food for themselves (lamb and rice) and so they shared.. I lucked out. It was the best food I had so far in New Zealand. Just like a real home cooked meal. Yep.

2. The Christmas tree in Christchurch has some phone booths that are labeled Santa Line. So you can call Santa. That is so cool!

3. Well, I got up early so I could head to Kaikora yesterday. Hooray for another bus ride.

4. In kaikora, I heard there was good whale watching. What I did not hear is that it can cost anywhere from $160-500 dollars.. Um.. yeah. I did not budget for that.. So that sucked. However, I still found a way to spend my day.

5. I walked down to the seal colony and on the way I passed the boat ramp for the locals, two fisherman were going out and they asked if I would like to come out on the boat with them and go cray fishing for about a half hour. I figured why not, I got no plans and no money, I’ll for sure go.

6. We caught crayfish.. Turns out. You leave a cage with a dead fish attached overnight.. and during the night the crayfish (also known as lobster) move to it because they like dead fish. Yep.. So we caught some crayfishes.. and a sand shark. We threw the sand shark back in the water. It was the first time I got to hold a shark.. and save its like.. I am kinda a hero.. or at least I like to think so.

7. We were just out for a short half hour, but that was awesome.

8. I continued walking down the beach to the seal colony. When I got to them.. I did not even notice that I was about 5 feet from a seal until it started growling at me. Seals have a bubble and they will bite. So after being a stupid idiot and getting too close to the seals I backed off and watched from the distance.. Most the time.

9. I did a nice hike up around the coast that took about 5 hours and it was really nice. I saw two seal colony’s and a whole lot of birds.. they love it there.

10. It was a nice relaxing day full of crayfish, seals, and at night time. I ate my corn flakes and milk.. and well I got a ka-bob from another backpacker who had yet cooked too much food. That was nice.. I like to have my meat when traveling. It’s so scarce, because its usually expensive.. and my cooking skills are so bad without my better half.

11. Next stop, Picton. I have to get on the ferry tomorrow morning, but I did not book it. I think I should be alright. I hope.

12. Well, I definitely should have booked the ferry. I was able to make it on and use my flexi pass, but I think it is only because I started crying because I did not know I had to book it 26 hours ahead of time. That was frustrating, but hey, it all worked out.

13. Ferry ride on the interislander was nice, windy, and nice.

14. It took about 3 hours to get over to the north island.

15. Goodbye south island.. I will miss you cause you are beautiful.

16. I’m staying in Wellington tonight.

17. I hope I make it in time to see the giant squid at the museum.

18. I didn’t make it, I tried, but no luck.

19. I made pasta with two other girls I met in queenstown. We crossed paths again and were staying at the same hostel sooo we decided to go get some stuff to make pasta and all went in on that. It was such a good meal.

20. I girl snored in my dorm.. I hate that… I mean seriously… have some respect for the other people in the dorm. Nobody likes someone who snores.

Day 148: December 12, 2010

1. Went to Taupo. And I wanted to skydive, but hey it was skydive and be completely broke and in the hole, or survive and not be broke, I decided it was a better idea to not be broke so I didn’t do it.. and I suppose I was barely okay with it since I have skydived before.. but still, I was bummed.

2. Did a lot of hiking at craters of the moon, wairaki terraces, huka falls, and a bridge area that releases water (it’s in a scene of lord of the rings.. dude).

3. Then I went to a honey bee place and learned about bee’s.. they are crazy creatures.. and new Zealand has a lot of them.

4. I saw mount doom.. in taupo.. yeah.. the one that is in lord of the rings. Haha. Cool.

5. Next stop Rotoruwa.. and im going to zorb.. or ogo. Yesssssssssssss..

6. OGO was awesome. I did that and the fishpipe.. twice each.

7. I did it once by myself down the hill with water and then blindfolded with two of the people that worked there.

8. I love OGO.. yep.

9. Next stop Auckland… So I can go stay with warwick and desleigh (this awesome couple I met in Fiji out at the blue lagoon). They are being nice enough to let me stay with them. Yessssss. They rock.

Day 149: December 15, 2010

1. Time to go back to Fiji and well, I can honestly say, I am glad to go back to soak up some sunshine and see some crystal clear water! (clearly I am not going back to Suva, and I am almost positive I never will unless forced).

2. Warwick and Desleigh (people I stayed with in Auckland) were some of the nicest people I have ever met. They gave me a bed to sleep in, let me wash my clothes, eat their food and even made me meals, the picked me up from the bus stop and they helped me survive as my bank account hit zero. Without them, I don’t know how I would have made it home healthy. I literally would have starved, unless I ate grass and twigs or something. They did so much for me and I wish that I could have given them stuff in return. I set up their Christmas tree and played with their puppy, but I wish I could have done so much more and had more to give. Love those two! Hope I cross paths with them again!

3. Good morning Fiji, Please ship me to the Beachhouse ASAP!

4. At long last I have made it to the beachhouse, slightly gone through my luggage and have my rum to bring home for Christmas gifts. I am not quite sure how I am getting my luggage home… but it will get home with me. Yep. I plan on that.

5. It’s raining and there is lightning, but its really pretty and I like it.

Day 150: December 16, 2010

1. Last day in Fiji, Last day overseas. It is really weird.. to think I am leaving all this. I am very much ready to go home, I miss my family, my boyfriend, his family, my friends, and snow, but I am so nervous. I have slightly forgotten what America is like since I have been over here. The way of life is much the same in one aspect, people eat, work, sleep, etc.. but people are soo much more different, especially here in Fiji.. Fiji time is something that is natural where as.. No Fiji time in the US really unless you make fiji time for yourself. Anyways, I’m rambling. I’m just nervous, but excited.. so nervous excited. I’m ready for snow, I’m ready for home, I ready for friends and family and lover to be back in my life. ASAP.

2. First stop LAX, next stop SLC.

3. This is the longest Thursday of my entire life.. talk about a 44 hour long Thursday.

4. I’m so anxious.

5. CULTURE SHOCK .. CULTURE SHOCK .. in LAX. Everybody has turned into robots.. and im scared.. LAX has robotic people (people on iphones & labtops everywhere).. its freaking my out.

6. Let me get to SLC..

7. At last.. hello Utah..

8. Get me out of the airport please.. I’m sooo nervous be surrounded by millions and gazillions of return missionaries families… get meee out…. Toooo many people….. and I’m scared.

9. At last, First sign of human life that I know.. Loverrrrrrrrrrrrr boy..

10. I will be taking people in small doses now that I am home.. one person at a time, please. Vinaka.

Home sweet home: (2 days later): December 20, 2010.

I’m slowly, but surely getting use to the USA again.. and Utah.. I love the snow and walmart. Mountain dew tastes soo good and Mexican food is delicious. Cheesy potatoes warm my soul (thank you reese for making me a whole thing of it, it has made my weekend as I eat them every meal I can). I feel like it’s Christmas. It’s good to be home. Time for Snowboarding now!