Thoughts on...

London Street art

2011-03-06T13:08:00.000-08:00

Before A got a job last week, I set her the challenge to find something cool and free for us to do one weekend, and she sure came up with a winner - The Alternative London Tour - a guided, two hour walking tour that runs at various times during the week and weekend. We turned up on a rainy Saturday afternoon at Spitalfield Markets to be guided around the the back streets of East London by our friendly tour guide Gary. Not only did we get to see some amazing street art, but he also told us about some of the history of the area and how it got to be what it is today. I've always been fascinated by street art - I truly believe it is an art and can also really help to regenerate areas of the concrete jungle. I find it interesting that it's so controversial - that some people can't seem to seperate tagging from genuine art. This tour restored my faith in the creativity and uniqueness of London, which I think can sometimes be hard to dig out in this city. I'll definitely be looking up and around more when I'm out and about in London.

Lights and lagoons

2011-03-03T12:55:00.000-08:00

Little sister A recently moved to London town, and a few months back when she was preparing to haul ass over here, I suggested we plan a short trip away for just after she arrived - I thought it would be a great chance for us to have our first adventure together and introduce her to the joy of quick trips to new countries that are so easy when you live in London. Iceland Air had been having a few promotions due to the downturn in the Icealandic economy (sucks for Iceland, yay for us) and I managed to book return flights to Reykjavik, three nights in a hotel and a Northern Lights tour for £269 each.

Reykjavik is a small city, where the people are friendly and everything is easy. Three days was plenty of time to see what we wanted to and I didn't find it as expensive as I'd thought it would be - for most things, it was pretty on par with what you'd pay in London. Our flight there was on a Wednesday evening but we just went straight to our hotel from the airport as it was a fairly late flight. Plus the beers we had at Wetherspoons in Heathrow combined with Julia Roberts in Eat Pray Love on the flight made us a bit sleepy. We booked to stay at Hotel Cabin, which lived up to it's name as the rooms were like what I imagine rooms on a cruise ship to be like - very small and compact - I am pretty sure they used the services of some kind of expert in how to get the most out of a 2m by 3m space to design the rooms - everything you needed, but no room for anything else.

We began our first day in Reykjavik with a buffet breakfast (is there a better start to the day?) and wandered into town. It was cold but the sky was blue and the sun was shining - a welcome change from London. We spent the morning wandering around the main shopping area, drinking coffee and checking out a few sights like the partly frozen Tjornin lake, the giant 3D map of Iceland in the town hall (not as exciting as it sounds), the National Gallery (containing some random art - a pile of clothes being one of them) and the Hallgrímskirkja, a church where you could get a lift to the top for some spectacular views. After that, we decided to sample some traditional food, and made our way to Bæjarins bestu where the likes of Bill Clinton and Metallica's James Hetfield have enjoyed a hot dog with everything (mustard, ketchup, friend onion, raw onion and remolaði, a mayonnaise-based sauce with sweet relish). It was also voted by The Guardian in 2006 as the second best fast food stand in Europe. They were pretty good - and cheap - so we had two each. For some reason, Reyjavik seems to be the home of a lot of 'the best' places - the cafe we visited that morning came second place in the World Barista competition and we also came across the best t-shirt store in the world as well.

After hot dog heaven, we found a pub where we enjoyed a pitcher of beer and then headed for the nearby hot pools which had....wait for it....a waterslide. And not just any water slide - one with black out sections and glowing stars. Ok, so I know I am probably too old for waterslides and A took a bit of convincing but I still think they are some of the best fun you can have sober. Come to think ot it, they might be even better when you're not sober. After working up an appetite on the slides, we headed back into town for dinner at Icelandic Bar to experience some even more traditional Icelandic food - and we were not disappointed. We shared an amazing entree of smoked arctic charr, smoked eel and lumpfish roe - to die for. We then shared a reindeer burger, which tasted just like a beef burger, and a delicious traditional fish stew, plokkfiskur, made with cod, potato, onion and curry powder and served (in a jar) with rye bread. Then it was off to 'chase the goose' as the tour guide put it, and seek the elusive Northern Lights. We were picked up from the hotel, herded on to a bus and driven out to a nearby lake in the middle of nowhere to wait in the cold for the lights. Our enthusiasm and excitement soon faded - despite it being apparently perfect conditions, they didn't show and after a couple of hours, we went back to the hotel and to bed. We knew it wasn't guaranteed, but needless to say we were a bit disappointed.

After a sleep in the next day, we walked to the Perlan (The Pearl) for some panoramic views, to get windblown and have a stranger change the settings on my camera that I now can't change back. We went to Icelandic Fish and Chips for lunch for, yup, you guessed it - fresh fish and chips, served with some yummy dips, then back into town to wander around the shops looking at woolly hats, lava jewelerry and t-shirts that said 'ég tala ekki íslensku' - I'll leave you to google that one! We also tried a kleiner - a pretty average Icelandic donut. Are you seeing the food theme here yet? If it's a speciality, I'll eat it.

Back at the hotel we had a few vodkas before heading out again for another attempt at the Northern lights - purely in the name of keeping our body temperature at an elevated level of course. We went to a couple of spots this time and after waiting for a little while, it paid off - surreal green swirls of light that changed and moved, got brighter and then faded with every second. A truly amazing experience, especially as the trip I planned to Alaska in 2009 to see them, fell through. I got some blurry pictures, but I was there to see them, not to photograph them, and that was enough for me. We returned to the hotel, happy but too tired to head out to the bars and party it up, Reykjavik style, as we'd planned. Which is probably just as well as we decided to have a drink in the hotel bar before bed, costing us about £10 per drink.

Our return flight was booked for late afternoon the next day, so we headed for the Blue Lagoon for the morning on the way to the airport. It was surprisngly uncrowded and we whiled away our last few hours in Iceland lazily swimming around the pale blue, geothermal water, getting massaged in a waterfall, slopping mineral mud on our faces and relaxing in the steam baths - a perfect way to end the trip. And we thought we'd better have another hot dog before we left too - skál!

The Winter Wonderland that is London

2010-12-06T15:04:00.000-08:00

It's well and truly winter here in London - looking at the weather report for tomorrow - a high of 1 and a low of -1. And freezing fog - what is this, Gotham City?

It's definitely not my favourite time of year weather-wise, and it's my first really cold winter in quite some time. The last full winter I had was in Perth, which isn't really a winter like it is over here. Before that it was Sydney, again, still not as cold as it is here, so that means my last proper winter was mid 2006 when I was working in Thredbo in New South Wales on the mountain. So it's been a while. And I haven't been looking forward to it. There are however, a few good things about winter, so in order to buck the spirits up, let's make a list! Because lists make everyone happy.

Awesome things about winter:

Boots - gumboots are super cool and there are some great patterned ones out there at the moment. They can get pretty pricey though, so I haven't found myself a pair I like that fits with my budget yet. I do however have a nice pair of black leather boots which are keeping me pretty warm and dry. I don't even want to talk about uggs. Ugh!
Pubs - not that I need an excuse, but what's better than a cosy pub, preferably with a fire and a roast dinner. Maybe even a hot apple cider....which brings me to....
Winter Pimms and other hot alcoholic beverages - hot mulled cider is so nice on a cold night, especially as I am not such a fan of mulled wine. Winter Pimms has so far eluded me....but I will find it and I will DRINK it! I enjoyed some lovely 'Christmas Punch' at the Manchester Christmas Markets a couple of weekends ago. I'm still not totally sure what was in it and the name is suitably vague. It was pretty damn good though.
A new winter coat - I was totally prepared to have to shell out £60 + for a new winter coat, but on a Camden market mission one Saturday, I went to Traid and found myself a nice 80% wool, long, black winter coat for....wait for it.....£25! Score.
Soup - I love soup at any time of the year, but it's that much nicer in winter. And so easy to make too. So far I've made two batches from scratch - broccoli and cauliflower and good old fashioned vegetable. I also do the ready made stuff too. Pea and mint is highly underrated.
Slippers and pyjamas - I practically live in these in winter. Especially when I am working from home. Thank goodness my colleagues can't see me - it would ruin the high professional esteem in which then hold me.Really. My slippers are actually sort of woollen socks I was given as a gift, but they have plastic dots on the bottom so I don't slip....in my slippers.

Snow - ok so it's cold, And wet. And it makes getting to work on the tube a nightmare. But it's pretty. And fun to play in. Check out the little beauty my flatmate and I made during the particularly snowy week that was last week.
Gloves - I just bought myself some pretty cool gloves. Purple. Fingerless....BUT they have a little flap for your fingers. Are they mittens? Or are they fingerless gloves? By gosh, they're both!
Ice skating - London has a few ice skating rinks around the place and I will definitely be heading for one in the next month or so. And there are many exciting locations to choose from such as the London Eye, the Natural History Museum, Somerset House and....Westfield.
Planning trips away to warmer shores - in approximately 57 hours (just a rough guesstimate), I am off to Morocco for 10 days. Warmer weather and tripping around again....bliss.

And just one more for good luck....Christmas! I always think I am one of those people who doesn't make a big deal about Christmas. But I actually get insanely excited about it. This year, I'm having a few friends over to my place for a pot luck lunch, complete with turkey, secret Santa and a Christmas tree. Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch check it out......

Being laid up

2010-10-04T10:10:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I had the very painful experience of having my two lower wisdom teeth removed. Although the actual procedure wasn't painful - I was sedated so happily, have no memory of the actual extraction - I have been cooped up at home for the last four days. I have barely left the house in this time, mainly due to my freakish, somewhat chipmunk like appearance, with quite swollen cheeks, and although I have some lovely painkillers, I've had to find some interesting ways to keep myself entertained.

So here are my top ten saviours of the last few days and would highly recommend them to anyone stuck at home for a few days, for whatever reason.

Smash - considering I fancy myself as somewhat of a decent cook, I don't usually resort to instant things, but instant mashed potato is my new best friend, especially given that chewing is difficult and I can't open my mouth enough to fit more than a teaspoon in there at the moment. My favourite combos are wholegrain mustard with butter and cheese with sweet chilli sauce.
Audiobooks on iTunes - I recently downloaded a book I've been waiting to be released into paperback - a bestselling thriller, so not exactly life altering reading, but good all the same.
Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? Remember this awesome game from the 90s? I figured out how to download the original MS DOS version and have been playing it quite a bit. It's fun AND I'm learning. I was just promoted from Rookie to Sleuth thank you very much!

Source: www.cookdandbombd.co.uk

My flatmates - giving me sympathetic looks, buying me stuff I need while they're out, lending me magazines, feeding me homemade pumpkin soup and letting me have sole ownership of the TV remote - legends!
Skins - a UK television series that I can watch for free online. It's good, if a little disturbing at times - the things these high school students get up to seem a little scandalous, even for someone my age! I'm a bit slow on the uptake though - I just finished series one, which premiered back in 2007!
Ben and Jerry's - enough said. Chocolate Fudge Brownie I love you.

Source: www.mysupermarket.co.uk

DVDs - thanks to my LoveFilm subscription and borrowing from friends, I had quite a stash. I got to watch Boy, as one of my friend's parents sent it to him from home. Such an amazing film and really made me miss New Zealand, and remember fondly growing up in the 80s, in Petone. You egg.
Trivial Pursuit - Family Edition, so you can win quicker if you opt for the kids questions. This is a new discovery in the flat and I am sure will be a good source of entertainment for many cold evenings to come.
Online shopping - I probably got a bit carried away with this one. I bought myself a high vis backpack cover for cycling and some winter boots....as well as four dresses, two tops and a pair of pants.Oops.
Friends - who, although they laughed at me in my drugged and swollen state, also took me home from the hospital, took care of me, checked up on me, brought me flowers and watched DVDs, ate porridge and played Trivial Pursuit with me - thanks you guys!

So suffice to say, without all these things, I would've gone mad - and although my weekend was relaxing and cheap, I am thoroughly bored and hoping the swelling will have gone down enough to return to work tomorrow.

The London Commute

2010-10-04T09:10:00.000-07:00

Work has been really busy for me lately - hence my lack of posting over the last month.....ok, couple of months. One good thing about working long hours however, is avoiding the rush on the tube. I've always been a fan of the tube - it's quick, it's easy, it's convenient....when it runs a 'good service' that is. However, I live on the busiest tube line in London, the Northern line, and because of the point at which I get on, the tube is usually pretty crowded - and that's on a good day. On a bad day, someone will push their own mother onto the tracks to get onto the train - even though the next one is only a minute behind. I tend to just keep my head down, my elbows out and grit my teeth for the duration of the journey. Sometimes the trip can make for some interesting entertainment though - some recent events include the driver who came over the loudspeaker to inform us that "someone's got their bits in the door - everybody, mind your bits!" or the drunk who wished everyone many happy returns at 8am on my packed carriage. My favourites are when people get into space fights ("that was my foot!", "move down please!", "there's no more room!") and then spend the rest of the journey having to stare each down with about 2cms between them while everyone else waits for one to swing a punch or call the other a bitch. Hey, you've got amuse yourself somehow!

I have begun to hate the daily commute with a vengeance and usually I find the best way to deal with it is just to zone out and bury myself in my book. However, quite unexpectedly, I have recently started cycling to work.

Cycling is something I've really missed since leaving Vancouver but I wasn't planning on being a cycle commuter in London as, let's face it, it's pretty scary - if you think tube commuters can be rude, try London drivers. A few people I know had been involved in accidents so that made me a bit reluctant. I hadn't got around to getting a bike but my friend was returning home to New Zealand a couple of months ago and offered me hers, with almost everything I needed included, for a tidy sum of £30. So once I'd taken that off her hands, I started to look into how I would go about doing the commute. In London, there has been a recent push toward cycle commuting, with the mayor, Boris Johnson, introducing the Barclays Cycle Hire Scheme, where for an access fee and usage charges, depending on rental duration, you can hire (and return) bikes at various docking stations around the city. As I had my own bike, I didn't need to participate in this, but was pleased to discover, that as part of this new cycling initiative, a new cycle 'super highway' (bright blue painted cycle lanes on major routes into the city) had been launched that ran the majority of the route I needed to take to work. So off I went, on a Monday about three weeks ago, and joined the cycle to work trend - not that I would call it trendy, I've discovered there is no way to look cool in a hi vis cycling vest and helmet! I was initially surprised at the number of people cycling, and found it actually made it easier for me, as I could just join the pack at busy intersections where I was unsure what to do. It only took me a couple of days before I felt comfortable - I guess all the cycling I did in Vancouver made me a pretty confident cyclist - and now I cruise to work in about 25 minutes, with my iPod in ("Danger Mouse!" my friend exclaimed when I told him this) and can even negotiate around the three part Elephant and Castle roundabout in rush hour - go me! So not only does it save me time in the morning, it's good exercise, environmentally friendly and a really enjoyable start to my morning, it also saves me about 60% on my usual tube fares. So now I'm in the process of kitting myself out with a few winter essentials - a high vis, waterproof backpack cover and some good cycling gloves - and converting people to the cycling revolution. Although I must admit, I don't think I'm going to be one of the hardcore few who keep cycling through the winter - I plan on doing it as much as I can until the proper harsh weather sets in and then.....back to the hell that is the tube until Spring I think! Ah well, enjoy it while it lasts I say.

Getting my ocean fix - a weekend in Norfolk

2010-07-26T13:48:00.000-07:00

The evolution of reading

2010-07-19T10:24:00.000-07:00

I grew up in a house filled with books and my parents are avid readers, so I've had a love of reading for as long as I can remember. Some of my favourite books when I was a kid included Where the Wild Things Are, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Patchwork Cat, Cops and Robbers, Fungus the Bogeyman.....I could go on.

Although I love it, reading is something that I go through stages of doing a lot of and not so much of, depending on what I'm doing. While travelling I read a lot - I took five or six books with me and continually swapped them at hostels and with other travellers. It sure made for a heavy bag, but the idea of being without a book on some of those long bus rides was not inviting. I've managed to continue this habit here in London, mainly because I spend 30 minutes on the tube each way to work. I'll usually see at least one person on my carriage with one of those Kindle things. I must admit, I view them with disdain - it's probably not particularly environmentally friendly of me, but I think one of the greatest pleasures of reading is the actual book. The feel and smell of them. So many of my childhood books were wrecked with love - probably because I took most of them to bed with me. The idea of using an electronic tool to read a book just doesn't appeal to me. Although I must admit I seldom buy newspapers or magazines anymore since it's almost all available online. And on a Sunday morning when I want to read the papers, can I really face getting up, getting dressed and walking the ten minutes to the corner store to get the Sunday Times and come back and get into bed with it? As with most people, I am not a pretty sight on a Sunday morning - see, I'm not just thinking of myself here. It would be nice though - there's something about letting the sun stream through the curtains as you sit there with a cup of tea and the paper dismantled and spread out around you. But when I can lean out of bed and pick up my laptop and have it instantly at my finger tips, why bother? And no smudgy fingers.

One thing about London that is conducive toward a society of keen readers is that the books are relatively cheap here. Many of the high street bookstores offer '3 for 2' deals and with Amazon having both new and used books online, you can always find a good deal there. I am still a big fan of books being lent, exchanged and handed on.....and this makes me slightly more environmentally friendly (take THAT Oprah!) - it's always great to share a good read with someone else. I was pretty happy yesterday to find a local store with £1 second hand books and bought My Year of Meat, by Ruth L. Ozeki, which my cousin recommended to me recently. The best books I've read recently would have to be Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman (a great selection by my Dad who has always had an incredible knack for being able to pick books for me that I've never heard of but end up loving), The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb and Sydney Bridge Upside Down (Dad again), a wonderfully written book by a New Zealand author David Ballantyne, first published in 1968, it has been out of print for 30 years until recently but very artfully written. All of these books are currently in the hands of friends. One of the books I carted around South America with me was The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield - I finished the book right at the beginning of my trip but the edition of the book was somewhat unique and it was such a great story, I carried it on the rest of my trip so I could send it to my sister when I got back. In this modern age, I'll happily use the internet for my news, weather, jobs, flatmates and movie times, but as far as reading goes - give me a good book any day.

My summinter holiday

2010-07-11T13:42:00.000-07:00

Right now it's summertime in London, which is awesome. It doesn't get dark till 10pm, there is an abundence of enticing beer gardens, the Clapham Common is covered with half naked people, Pimms and bbq become my staple diet and everyone is just generally so much happier. Usually at this time of year, people go away for one, or several, holidays. My summer holiday was a visit back to New Zealand. Where it's winter. So I like to think of it as my summinter holiday.

I went back mainly for my cousin's wedding, the one who was proposed to by sheep. Considering I have not been back at work long, and I'm still recovering financially from South America, two weeks was all the time that could be spared off, so I headed off on an almost 36 hour journey for the land of chocolate fish, jandals and Flight of the Conchords. Initially, I must admit, I wasn't really excited about the prospect of going home - it's such a long way to go for such a short time and the weather in London was amazing just before I left. Of course I was looking forward to seeing family and friends, but I was last home in February of last year, and in my mind, not that long ago.

I had a great time - I spent almost a week in Canterbury on the family farm, the wedding was near Rakaia, almost at the base of Mt Hutt, so I got to enjoy some of the spectacular scenery New Zealand is famous for and the wedding itself was lovely. I also spent five days in Wellington, my home city. A lot of my friends there now seem to be doing the settling down thing. One particular evening, of the five girls there, I realised I was the only single one - all of them were either buying/selling houses, living with long term partners, thinking about babies, renovating, divorcing....and I suddenly wondered when we all got so grown up. I still use the expression 'when I grow up'. Apparently, I'm already there. I also saw two of my friends who are pregnant, one of which I was bridesmaid for a few years ago, so that was pretty special. For some reason I get insanely excited being around pregnant woman. Weird I know, but I can't help it!

By the time I left New Zealand, I had made the most of my two week summinter holiday - there was plenty of booze and food involved and I relished the cheap sauvingnon blanc, incredible lamb and perfect flat whites. And I actually left feeling quite sad, which I was surprised about - and I don't think it was domestic bliss envy. London is home for me right now, but I've always felt that I have one foot back home and this was well and truly confirmed on this trip back. Maybe it won't be as long as I thought until I'm back for good....we'll see.

A damn fine chocolate mousse recipe

2010-06-01T13:10:00.000-07:00

I love chocolate mousse. And I love this recipe because, a: if doesn't take long, b: you can make it somewhat healthy and c: it is goooo-oooood!

100g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
300ml double cream (I used low fat single cream)
2 tbsp Amaretto or other liqueur (optional) (I used cassis)
1 large egg white
50g caster sugar
handful of amaretti biscuits, to garnish (yuck! I ommited these)
white or dark chocolate shavings, to garnish

Break the chocolate into small pieces and set aside. Maybe sample a little, just to make sure it hasn't gone bad. In a small saucepan, heat half of the cream until it begins to boil. Turn off the heat, add the chocolate pieces and stir until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Again, just to be safe, it's best to make sure it tastes ok.
Pour the mixture into a bowl set over a large bowl of iced water and add the rest of the cream and Amaretto, if using - I reckon next time I'd give Frangelico a go - it tastes awesome in hot chocolate. Using a handheld electric whisk, beat the mixture to soft peaks - now this took a lot longer than expected, probably because of the low fat cream, so this 4-minute-mousse recipe became more of a 20-minutes-and-I'm-not-seein'-no-peaks kinda mousse recipe. But when you do get those peaks, remove the bowl from the iced water.
Meanwhile, whisk the egg white with a handheld electric beater until stiff peak. I'm not really sure what is meant by 'meanwhile' - I don't know about anyone else but I can't be whipping soft peaks and stiff peaks at the same time! Add the sugar, a tablespoon at a time, and continue whisking to a soft meringue. Carefully fold the meringue through the chocolate mixture, then spoon or pipe into chilled serving glasses.
This recipe is meant to make 4 mousses, but I put them into smaller dishes, and I think I ended up with 7.
Place the amaretti into a bowl and lightly crush with the tip of a rolling pin. Sprinkle over the chocolate mousse and garnish with chocolate shavings, if you like - I just went for the chocolate shavings. I mean, who needs to go messing that up with almond?? Serve immediately or chill for up to two days.

These set pretty quick - they just need about half an hour in the fridge. They are super good and I reckon, if you make them a bit smaller like I did, not more thatn 150 calories each - if anyone cares. They sure don't taste like that though!

I wish I could take credit for this recipe.....well I'm gonna take credit for some of it, but it was originally written by Mr F-Word himself, Gordon Brown. But he said it was ok for me to use it when we had dinner last week*

*The dinner may or may not have taken place in my head

The amazingness that is the internet

2010-05-26T14:29:00.001-07:00

Not having internet at home for the last couple of months has really made me realise just how reliant we are on our wee computers - mine being especially wee as it's a netbook. Since my return from South America, I`ve had a lot of stuff to organise and, although organising makes me happy (totally sad, I know), it has been extremely frustrating how much I really required the internet to do said organising.

Thinking about it today, there's a lot of stuff I`ve needed the internet for over the last 3 months:

1. Looking for a job - pretty much the only way to get a job these days is through online job boards and emailing your CV to agencies. 200 + job applications and five weeks later I finally landed a good one
2. Finding a flat - Gumtree is one of the only decent places to find what you`re looking for in London, and then most of the time you have to email people with what can only be described as something akin to an online dating profile: "I like cooking, going to the gym and a enjoying a glass of wine with friends"
3. All online banking in the four countries I've now accumulated accounts in - trying to get my Canadian tax refund to the UK was a bit of a hassle and in the end I had to use Western Union. Suffice to say I will never be using them again - their website says 'Can sending money be easy? Yes!'. Well, I say 'Apparently not!'
4. I've bought a new camera - I broke my last one on the last day of my trip, in Mexico, while trying to take a picture of myself in a hammock (having to take your own picture most of the time being one of the joys of travelling alone) - as well as a few books and DVDs from Amazon
5. I`ve used it to buy tickets to, funnily enough, events with a distinctly Kiwi theme, such as Flight of the Conchords, Toast NZ and Fat Freddy's Drop
6. Put all my photos up online from South America - well done to anyone who looked at them all - you get a gold star
7. Booking flights for the blink-and-you'll-miss-it trip back to good ol' Aotearoa for a family wedding
8. Setting up direct debits for the gym, my phone bill, various household bills and most recently, for Love Film - now I don`t even have to leave the house to get a DVD!
10. Skyping family and friends - what a wonderful invention. Except when, due to time differences, I talk to one of my friend's who's fresh-faced and glammed up for a night out when I've literally just rolled out of bed, hungover and still wearing yesterday`s eye make up half way down my face.
10. Looking up random facts, such as Jay Kay, who currently holds the record for the fastest lap on the 'Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car' segment on Top Gear, is in fact that guy from Jamiroquai. Or showing my flatmate the literal music video of Total Eclipse of the Heart (that still cracks me up every time)
11. And yesterday I needed to buy some roofing felt for the hole I melted in the roof when I had a bbq (don't ask) and I could go online, find my nearest hardware store, order it online to be delivered, or even see how many rolls were in stock at my local store (12 in case you were wondering) which I could then reserve to collect - how's that for roofing felt certainty?

So thank you internet, I don't know what I would do without you - seriously, the bathroom would be flooded, I'd never speak to my mum, my bills would never get paid and I wouldn't be able to entertain my friends with random YouTube videos. So this my shout out to you, internet - I got yo' back anytime.

Mexican goodness

2010-05-16T07:53:00.000-07:00

I flew into Cancun for the final week of my trip, but considering that I wasn't an American teenager, I planned to leave as soon as possible. The airport was a bit of a nightmare with a huge wait in the customs queue and then the information desk told me I could get a bus to the centre of town for US$5, but when I got outside, there only seemed to be shuttles for $15. Here I was, thinking I was being super smart, and basically told the guy I thought he was trying to con me and I was off in search of the $5 bus. Turns out the $5 bus had stopped running for the day (what kind of information desk was this?) and I had to go back to the same guy and ask him if he'd take me for 120 pesos (about $10) as that was all I had in cash. I made it to a local hostel with a really friendly owner, and headed out to look for some Mexican food (first things first and all that). Amongst all the chain restaurants with Budweiser on tap, I stumbled on a really small Mexican canteen with the most amazing (and cheap) fish tacos. I chatted with a local who told me about the area, his daughters who lived overseas and bought me a bracelet from one of the street sellers. Then a young guy who was playing with the band came and sat with me to practice his English and invited me to go to a party with him. Already I had a good feeling about Mexico. I had a horrible night's sleep that night however, as the guy on the top bunk next to me was snoring for England. Literally. I think he may have won some sort of award.

The next morning I went to the bus station to get a bus to Merida. I had the choice of a cheap bus which took seven hours and had no toilet, or an expensive bus with a toilet that only took four hours. Guess which one I picked. When I arrived in Merida, I had trouble getting a taxi to the hostel as there was a carnavale on in the town and a lot of the streets were closed. After getting four different prices from four different drivers, I managed to negotiate a good price to get dropped off a block from the hostel - my Spanish was really coming along! The hostel was excellent, really well set up and I spent the next three days checking out the carnavale, eating way too much Mexican food, drinking rum with cool randoms from the hostel, reading in hammocks strung over the pool, and just generally having a relaxing time - starting to feel the wind down of my trip now. I made the mistake of checking the weather in London - COLD.

Merida is a really cool colonial town. It's a city really - it has the same population as my hometown, Wellington - but it had a small town feeling. It's based around a main town square and the locals are so friendly - many times as I was walking around, people would come and ask me where I wanted to go, or tell me where the supermarket was or what the name of the street I was on. The carnavale was interesting - it was at the same time as the Rio one, so it was like that with the parades and performers, but it was very commercialised - everything was sponsored by Sol or Corona and a lot of the MCs seemed to just get on stage and chant 'Corona, cerveza, Corona, cerveza' and the crowd went nuts when Coke threw free plastic cups to everyone.

After Merida, I signed up to do a tour of Chichen Itsa, the Mayan ruins. The tour was good value as it picked me up from the hostel, spent the day at Chichen Itsa and dropped me in Playa del Carmen, a beach resort town about an hour south of Cancun, where I planned to spend my last few days chilling out before flying to London. Chichen Itsa was pretty impressive. I was glad that you couldn't climb on the ruins anymore, like you used to be able to - it definitely made for better pictures, although it was really hard to get one without any people in it - typical tourist destination. But wow, those Mayans were smart cookies - way ahead of their time.

When I arrived in Playa del Carmen, I got a bicycle taxi to my hostel from the bus station and met a girl from the Gold Coast. We went out for frozen margaritas and she told me she thought my Spanish was really good - score. The hostel was really loud with a few weirdos and no proper communal area so I changed to a better one.....which had a Walmart across the road - awesome. I went to Tulum for the day to see more ruins - this spot is really beautiful as it's right by the ocean, so there's swaying palms and clear blue sea amongst all the crumbling buildings. I bought a really nice silver ring for under half what the guy was originally asking - I told him he was dreaming - I made nachos and went to Taco Mania, drunk lots of Coronas and margaritas, watched Avatar in 3D (amazing), and, even though the weather wasn't amazing, I managed a full day of sunning myself on the beach, getting a tan that would hardly see the light of day in London.

On my last night, I went out for dinner and met some American guys and ended up spending the evening with them. I was somewhat of a novelty to them I think, and they seemed genuinely amazed and impressed with all the travelling I had done on my own over the last few months and my lifestyle in general. And I have to say, I am really proud of myself for doing my trip the way I wanted to do it, and even though it was scary and lonely sometimes, I did it and had an absolutely incredible time - met great people, saw beautiful places and experienced so much. Of course I am sad it's all come to an end and it's back to real life, but at the same time, I'm looking forward to the next chapter of my life back in London.

If absence makes the heart grow fonder

2010-05-16T06:59:00.000-07:00

Ok so due to some serious technology issues with my computer which could not be resolved by turning it off and turning it back on again and my flat taking FOREVER to get the internet sorted, I have not been updating this blog as regularly as I would have liked.

I have lots of exciting things to write about as I am now living in London - and have been for almost 3 months. It really doesn't feel like South America was that long ago. I am going to get my final blog up about Mexico (becasue I can't just leave it incomplete like that - it makes me feel funny) and then this blog is gonna change a bit - from intrepid backpacking adventures to more musings about life in general, commentaries on things I love (and don't love) about living in London, as well some travel and foodie stuff thrown in the mix too.

So if you're reading this, and you like my blogs, please follow me. I need more followers as I'd love to pursue this as a little side career . And I promise I won't make you drink the Kool Aid.

The strangeness of Havana

2010-03-15T14:40:00.000-07:00

Before I went to Havana, the capital of Cuba, a good friend of mine said to me, 'It's not what you expect'. This was a remark I didn't really consider....until I'd experienced it.

There are a few things I learnt very quickly - don't go without a guidebook, it's probably not the best place to travel alone, don't go if you can't speak any Spanish and don't expect to be welcomed by the general populations. I think most Cubans make the assumption that if you're white, you are an American and therefore you are viewed with some disdain. A lot of the time I felt like they would happily take my money, but I didn't exactly feel like a wanted visitor to their country. I make it sound really bad - let me explain.

Firstly, Cuba has no hostels - not so great when you're travelling on your own. The options for accommodation are resort style hotels, which are expensive and crawling with American tourists, or casas. Casas are Cuban family homes where the owners rent out rooms. These are government regulated and heavily taxed. Staying in a casa is a cheaper and a much more authentic accommodation experience in Cuba. I stayed in a beautiful house with a lovely couple. They spoke almost no English, so my Spanish was really tested and we didn't exactly sit around swapping our life stories - unfortunate as I'm sure they would've had some interesting experiences to share. When I first arrived, there was no-one else staying there, I had no map and they had given me directions to Plaza la Revolucion and the tourist bus in Spanish. But being the savvy traveller that I am, I managed to get there ok. My casa was located in Havana Vedado, which is well out of the main touristy area of Old Havana - a good place to go out at night apparently, but definitely not frequented by many Westerners. Walking around by myself, I got a lot of attention - especially from men. I got stared at, hissed at, kissed at and whistled at. This is something I have experienced all over South America, being a blond, white woman travelling on my own, but I found it to be by far the worst in Cuba, which was something I didn't expect.

I quickly discovered however, that Havana, although a tourist destination, does not cater particularly well for tourists. They have one of those hop-on-hop-off tour buses that goes around town on three different routes, however the stop where I boarded the bus had no route information and when I asked on the bus, they said they had no printed route maps. So I was wondering how I was going to work out where I could go and when, because I didn't have a guide book either. When I got to Havana Veija (Old Havana), it took me quite some time to find somewhere I could get a map from, and I had to pay for it.

Another thing about Havana is that it is almost impossible to self-cater, or to eat very healthily. In fact, none of the food I ate was what I expected and it was a bit of a guessing game. The supermarkets are basically ration stores - there are queues outside, everything inside is behind counters, making it a bit difficult if you aren't a fluent Spanish speaker and in many of them, you can only use the local currency. Which brings me to the dual economy of Cuba - there is one currency for tourists and one for nationals, which makes things a bit confusing and often overpriced. Cuba was by far the most expensive place I visited on my trip - even pricier than Brazil. But back to the food. I spent most of the time eating pizza at the takeaway store down the road from my casa, or eating eclairs form the bakery (mostly because they were only 25c each). The one time I did go out for dinner, and ordered roast pork, what I got was fatty, chewy pieces of oily meat on a plate with a piece of lettuce. Truly disgusting. I did however have an amazing dinner at my casa one night - lobster, rice and beans, sweet potato and salad. I also had a fantatic bowl of pasta for lunch one day, which cost CUC$1.50, compared to the CUC$4.50 for the greasy pork - see what I mean about it being a guessing game.

Now it sounds like it was all bad. It really wasn't - checking out Plaza la Revolucion and the Revolutionary museum was pretty fascinating (if a bit one sided), walking around Havana Veija was cool - there are some beautiful old buildings, however the minute you got out of the central tourist area, things started to get very run down, very quickly. Staying in a casa was a real experience, checking out an Afro-Cuban all women musical show one night (surprisingly not touristy at all) and I spent one day on some gorgeous beaches just outside of Havana. I also visited the famous Real Fabrica de Tabacos Partagas and watched cigars being rolled.....the drunk Havana Club rum and smoked on the roof top patio of my casa (when in Rome...).

So my conclusion is that there are highlights for sure. And I have spoken to a few people who stayed in Cuba for longer than I did, and ventured outside of Havana and their consensus seemed to be that it's the kind of place that takes a little while to warm up to, but it gets better. It certainly wasn't like what I thought it would be and I probably got the biggest culture shock of my entire trip here, which I definitely wasn't anticipating - although I'm not exactly sure what my expectations were. It certainly is an example of Communism really not working, and causing major problems in the country. But it definitely opened my eyes a bit and I learnt a few interesting things - like that Cuban people can't sell their houses, they can only swap them with someone with a house of a similar size. Weird.

I am undecided on my final thoughts on Cuba. On the whole, I found it to be a bit frustrating and confusing, but perhaps if I had stayed longer, or got outside of the capital, or wasn't on my own, I would've enjoyed it more. Would I go back? I'm going to leave that as a maybe.....but by the end of my time in Havana, I was definitely glad to be at the airport and on my way to my next, and final, destination - Mexico....

Colombia - the jewel of South America (just keep it quiet, ok?)

2010-03-02T12:53:00.000-08:00

The slogan for the Colombian tourist organisation is 'the only risk is wanting to stay' and I found it to be very true indeed. Colombia was a country I wanted to visit, even before my South American adventure began, however I wasn't sure if it was a realistic option. Mainly because, being a woman travelling on my own, I wasn't sure how safe I would be. But as I travelled I seemed to meet more and more people who told me how amazing Colombia was - very beautiful and relatively safe. So I did a bit of research of my own, and talked to everyone I could that had been there and I learned that Colombia is really trying to boost their tourism industry by making their country more tourist friendly - having better services for travellers, making it safer and of course, through advertising. Another traveller told me that it has become a safer place, even just in the last few years due too a few of the bigger drug cartels being busted. So feeling emboldened by my solo travel thus far, I decided to do it. I'd read that travel by night bus was not the safest (as I write this, some friends I met while travelling Colombia just told me they got robbed at gunpoint, on a night bus between Cali and Ecuador) so I decided to fly around Colombia. Avianca offers a cheap air pass whereby if you book a flight in or out of the country with them, you can book domestic flights with them for just US$70 per flight (except for a couple of destinations that cost US$140). I did some reading up on Colombia and decided where I would go in the two weeks I had. I decided to fly into the capital, Bogota, but nothing to see or do really stood out for me, so I headed straight for Salento, via Pereira. Salento is a small town located in the Zona Cafetera (the coffee zone) and as anyone who knows me will contest - I love my coffee, and I am somewhat of a coffee snob. I stayed in a hostel in a wonderful old plantation house (funnily enough, called Plantation House) which was owned by a very chatty British man, and his Colombian wife. They also owned a small coffee farm down the road, and the owner will quite happily take you on a tour (for a small fee of course) where you can see the coffee growing, and when it's the right season, see it being picked, dried and ground. There was free coffee in the hostel (which I totally overdosed on) and you could buy it to take home. The town is a lovely rural town in a picturesque setting of rolling hills. The quaint town square is surrounded with brightly painted buildings, there are restaurants where you can get a three course almuerzo (set lunch) for 6,000 pesos (about US$3), the locals all say 'hola' to you as you walk the country lanes and it's in close proximity to the Valle de Cocora, where giant wax palms grow, surrounded by little else. To get there, you go to the main square, get in a Jeep Willy and when it fills up (often with about eight people), off you go. When it drops you off, it's a five hour hike to the top of the hill but it was worth it. I got to see some hummingbirds up close, drink some weird tea that was served with cheese, and the view on the walk down from the top was amazing - hundreds of these tall wax palms swaying in the breeze. Salento, funnily enough, was where I met quite a few chicks travelling on their own - the only place I'd come across more was in Brazil. It was also the place where I was introduced to the awesomeness that is the game of tejo - a game involving throwing a metal disc at clay embedded with gunpowder, which explodes if you hit it. I don't usually have a talent for sports of any kind - but for this, I did. I think I need to find a local team and join up. Is it an Olympic sport? I may have found my niche.

After Salento, I flew to Santa Marta on the Carribean Coast. I went straight from the airport to the small fishing village of Taganga, minus my bag because it got left behind again - thankfully only for about 5 hours this time. I spent five days in Taganga, mainly relaxing and doing the PADI open water scuba diving course - something I've wanted to do since the first time I went diving in Thailand in 2004 and Colombia is one of the cheapest places in the world to do it, at a bargain US$300. Taganga was a very chilled little town with plenty of backpackers around and almost as many fresh juice stalls on the main road, where they'd whip up a combo of exotic fruits I'd never heard of for a ridiculously cheap price- a great way to start the day! After I'd been certified (as a scuba diver that is) I headed for

Tayrona National Park. To get to the park, you have to drive for about an hour from Taganga (in a van filled to the brim with backpackers, driven by a bung eyed, slightly sleazy Colombian who spoke no english) and then hike into the jungle for another hour and a half. But man, was it worth it. Beautiful beaches lined with coconut palms, crystalline blue water, and the only decisions that need to be made are whether to sleep in a a tent or in a hammock, and what to order for dinner from the one little cafe. I spent four great days here lying on the beach, trying to crack open coconuts in order to fill them with rum, hiking to the top of a massive hill, in jandals, to see some ancient ruins and.....not too much else. How's the serenity.

After my week on the Carribean coast, I flew to Cali. Cali is near the west coast of Colombia and has a reputation as a party city but I wasn't feeling so well when I arrived on a Saturday, so I didn't go out that night and I only stayed one more night, which was a Sunday and the hostel was almost completely empty. So I caught up on a few DVDs I've been wanting to see. Woah there - easy does it.

People ask me all the time what my favourite place in South America is, and I find it a pretty tough question to answer, but in the end I have to say Colombia. Despite the fact that the New Zealand travel advice website lists many of the places I visited in Colombia as being 'high risk' and the country in general as having a high incidence of kidnapping and a risk of terrorism, I never felt anymore threatened than I did anywhere else. The people are friendly, the landscape is beautiful, it's less well-trodden than all the other countries I'd been to so I felt like I was getting a bit more off the beaten track and there's great variety - whether you want to party, lie on a beach, hike, drink coffee, eat.....it's all there. And the more I saw of the country, the more I added to my list for next time - Cartagena, Medellin, Bogota - I will be back again for sure! Havana however, my next destination, was a different story altogether......

Beautiful Brasil

2010-02-02T11:50:00.000-08:00

The first three things I noticed about Brasil: it`s hot, it`s expensive and man, is Portugese hard!

I started my two weeks in Brasil by crossing the border from Argentina. This was a lot easier than my last border crossing - I just got a taxi from one hostel to one on the other side and the taxi driver simply passed my passport through the window at each border, they took a look at me, gave me a stamp and we drove on. It was a bit of a pricey experience (about US$25) but it was either a nice comfortable, quick taxi ride. Or a mission on three buses with a backpack, which could quite easily have taken all day. Being a budget counscious traveller (read: tight arse) I would usually have taken the bus option, but I don`t think I could have handled another hellish border crossing experience. I may just have stayed in Argentina.

I actually preferred Iguacu Falls from the Brasilian side. Although in Argentina you get up close and personal with the water, on the other side you get much more of an idea of the scale of the falls - which is MAS-SIVE - very impressive and beautiful. Niagara Falls has got nothing on these bad boys. This side was also a bit more organised, slightly cheaper, didn´t take a whole day to navigate and didn`t have nearly as many bloody tour groups. The only draw back was being chased by wasps at the cafe.

After a couple of days in Iguaca, I got the bus to Florianopolis (an 18 hour bus ride, on a less comfortable and more expensive bus than Argentina - welcome to Brasil). Florianopolis is situated on an island off the coast, connected to the mainland by a bridge. It`s stunningly beautiful with clear blue water, decent surf, white sand and a chilled out, beach town atmosphere - my kind of place. I stayed in a hostel that could only be described as an party hostel - and it was awesome. So I spent four days hanging out with a really good bunch of people (including more Kiwis than I have met anywhere else on my trip so far, and strangely, half of Melbourne seemed to be there too), relaxing on the beach and drinking very strong caipirinias. I also spent a day white water rafting for the first time, which was fantastic. It was a bit of a struggle to organise (we`re on Brasilian time now, man) and to get there, but luckily I went with some people who spoke Portugese. Score.
I would have liked to have stayed longer in Floripa (as it`s affectionately known) - in fact, when I originally checked in just for two nights, the guy on reception said "I`ll check you in for three nights. Trust me" and oh, how right he was. I`ve been flying by the seat of my pants so far on this trip and staying where I pleased for however long I pleased (one of the benefits of travelling on my own) but as I had recently booked a flight to Colombia from Rio, I had to sacrifice a day in Rio to stay an extra day in Floripa and I could sacrifice no more. So I got my last ever (thank the sweet baby Jesus) overnight bus to Rio de Janeiro. I sat next to a very nice man on the bus and, although he spoke no English, we had a nice chat about where I should visit in Rio and he showed me some pictures on his laptop and pointed then out to me in my guidebook. Thanks Ivo!

I arrived in Rio de Janeiro at about 8am and being the gung-ho backpacker that I am, I decided to do a

favela tour at 9.30am. A favela is like a slum or shanty town and there are more than one hundred in Rio alone. Now, you may question my motives (and sanity) in my decision to visit a favela but my reasoning is this: first, I selected an organisation that was approved by the community it ran tours to, and I made sure that some of my money went back into the community to help them - this particular organisation ran a daycare centre within the favela. Second, I think it`s an important part of traveling to not just be a tourist who enjoys the good stuff places have to offer, but also to learn more about the cultures and ways of life of different groups of people and do what you can (however small) to help. Our guide, Marcelo, was very passionate about this favela (Rocinha) and as we walked around the community, he showed us the good and bad sides. There is an incredible amount of gang related gun violence and drugs, which is very sad, and there is some work that can be done to help (thanks to Marcelo and organisations like his) but some things are unlikely to change (thanks, in part, to a pretty corrupt police force). But moslty, it´s just normal people, living normal lives - they have jobs and families just like everyone else. There were plenty of drug dealers around and brick walls imbedded with bullets, but I never felt unsafe. One of the best parts was visiting an art studio where I bought a canvas from one of the local artists.

I spent my remaining time in Rio (all of three days) eating Brasilian barbeque (so good), attempting to samba (so bad), checking out Christ the Redeemer, hanging at the beach (Copacabana was a bit dirty so I went to Leblon instead) and drinking fantastic and fresh tropical juice blends....and more caipirinias of course. The it was off to Ilha Grande, an island about four hours south east of Rio. The island is car free and therefore is very chilled out and somewhat unspoilt, with an odd fondness for Reggae. I spent three days here doing much the same as I did in Floripa. On one day I did a boat tour to some far flung beaches as well as Laguna Azur and Laguna Verde (guess what colours they were!) and snorkelled a bunch, and even swam with a turtle - a bit of a dream come true. I did, however, not see any monkeys. I seem to miss them wherever I go that they are supposed to be! Stupid monkeys. I also spent a morning hiking to Lopes Mendes beach and I have never sweated so much in my life. Oh the humidity!

After a somewhat relaxing few days on an idyllic island of secluded beaches (I say somewhat, as I should have listened to the inner voice that said "You`re on an island, it`s probably not a good idea to eat chicken - where do you think it came from?"), I got the boat and bus back to Rio. My flight to Bogota, Colombia was the following morning at 6am so I decided to not shell out for a hostel and stay up all night. I returned to the hostel I had been staying at in Copacabana to collect my backpack, and no-one seemed to notice that I just hung around. I watched some movies and managed two hours sleep on the couch, before getting the receptionist to call me a cab at 3am. Nice work.

And now Colombia.....the land of coffee and cocaine.....but oh so much more.....

Why I love Argentina

2010-01-15T08:55:00.000-08:00

Ok, so Argentina is not exactly what I would call authentic South America and I found it quite different to Peru and Bolivia. It´s definitely a lot more westernised than the previous two countries but it was nice to get a change of scene. After my nightmare border crossing from Bolivia, I proceeded to Salta for new year. The hostel I stayed in wasn´t much but they did have a pool and they did have a new year´s eve party - 150 pesos for bbq and unlimited (yes, that´s right, unlimited) alcohol. If there´s one thing Argentinians (or is that Argentines?) do well, it´s bbq, or asado. Great cuts of meet, cooked to perfection and not over priced. Sorry vegetarians out there but it´s amazing! I didn´t see too much else in Salta as I was only there for two days over the new year period and a lot of stuff was closed (even McDonalds, which - shame on me - I really wanted the next day, after the unlimited alcohol). I got an overnight bus from there to Mendoza on January 1st. Another things Argentina does well is long bus journeys. The buses are so comfortable, and on this ride, we got meals, DVDs (in English - yay!) and, wait for it, bingo! Yup - the waiter that delivered our meals to our seats, also doubled as a bingo caller. A great way for me to practise my Spanish numbers. However, while I was asleep on this bus, someone stole my alarm clock and light. More inconvenient than anything else - perhaps they had trouble getting up in the morning and needed it more than me.

Mendoza was absolutely a highlight for me. After hectically trying to fit things in before Christmas, and then between Christmas and new year, I was ready to chill out. I stayed in a fantastic hostel - small, with a pool, hammocks, and best of all, free wine five nights a week. I met some great people here and relaxed for a few days - I liked it so much I even stayed a fourth night - the longest I´ve stayed in one place on this trip. Mendoza is a wine region, famous for Malbec, so I got together a group of people from the hostel and we spent a day cycling around a few wineries and sampling the local tipple. Thankfully, we didn´t get robbed at gunpoint like two guys I met the day before.

After Mendoza, I headed for Buenos Aires. I spent a very hot four days here - did a great free walking tour of the city, met some Kiwi guys from Otago, went to a steak restaurant where I ate the best steak of my life, walked around colourful local neighbourhoods, ate lots of dulce de leche and emapanadas (but not together), had coffee at the famous Cafe Tortoni, watched locals tango in the streets and even went to an Andy Warhol exhibiton.

From Buenos Aires, I headed for Iguazu Falls, right on the border between Argentina and Brazil. Since this was my last overnight bus trip in Argentina, I decided to splash out and get the next class up on the bus, which meant I got wine with my hot dinner, followed by coffee and champagne (which was a bit of a weird order), a super comfy chair that reclined just that little bit extra and a nice pillow and blanket. Luxury for a backpacker. Iguazu Falls was amazing. I spent a day there doing all the walking paths and the boat ride that takes you right under some of the falls - I got absolutely soaked. The hoards of tour groups were a bit of a downer, but that´s to be expected. I went back the next day to do the Macuco trail, a 3.5 km trail into the jungle within the national park. The hike went to a waterfall with a swimming hole at the end. I was hoping to see capuchin monkeys, but unfortunately I didn´t. I did, however, see three toucans together in a tree - that was pretty incredible.

I´ve now crossed the border into Brazil to see the falls from the other side and I´m looking forward to the next two weeks of beaches and sun as I head up to coast to Rio de Janeiro. I´m hoping I´ll be ok given that I don´t speak any Portuguese!

Adventures in Bolivia

2009-12-31T08:04:00.000-08:00

My two weeks in Bolivia was filled with adventure in one form or another - however a lot of it was transport related.

Firstly, La Paz. All of South America has crazy traffic, but La Paz is more hectic than the rest. Cars are literally bumper to bumper, people make lanes where there are no lanes, and people use their horns constantly. My first and second day in La Paz was spent checking out the witches markets (dried llama foetuses anyone?), buying presents and trying to organise a jungle expedition. My third day was spent mountain biking down Death Road, the world´s most dangerous road. It was a lot of fun and only a little scary - there are no longer cars on the road so it´s more the danger of sliding over one of the sheer cliffs as you come careening down the hill. I´m glad the tour guides waited until after we´d done the ride to tell us about the tourists who had died - some recently.

From La Paz, I flew to Santa Cruz with a couple of people I met on my tour of Peru. I´d booked a hostel online, however when we showed up, they said they were full, wouldn´t acknowledge the booking I´d made or deposit I´d paid and we had to squish into one room with two beds. After visiting the office to pay for the 3 day trip into Amboro National Park (part of the Amazon Basin) I had to go and buy the ugliest shoes known to man on the insistence of our tour guide (apparently we needed them for climbing on wet rocks). They were those kind of sandals with the velcro straps. The kind of sandals some people wear with socks. The kind of sandals I make fun of people for wearing. Needless to say, they went straight in the bin once the tour was over and I tried hard to avoid there being any photos of me wearing them. The jungle trip was certainly an adventure. Just getting into the park was a feat in itself. We went by van, jeep, boat, horse and cart, waded across rivers and hiked. It took us a full day just to get to the gates of the park. And then it started to rain. And didn´t stop. We spent the second day hiking to a waterfall - we waded across countless rivers and climbed waterfalls, all in the pouring rain. Just call me Indiana Jones. After lunch, our guides suggested we do a further 3 hour hike to another waterfall, making the total trek back, 5 hours. Something I have learnt is that Bolivians don´t really have much of a sense of time. When they say "oh, it´s about 20 minutes away", that can mean anything from 45 minutes to an hour and a half. The first waterfall was apparently 2 hours away - it took us about 7 hours to get there and back. The jungle was pretty amazing - very lush, green and tropical with vines and huge trees. And huge mosquitos. We didn´t see as much wildife as I had hoped - no toucans or monkeys, but we did see a frog and a snake and some beautiful butterflies. We were supposed to trek further into the jungle but there was too much rain, so we camped in the same place and then spent the last day trekking out again, in the same way as we trekked in. Definitely an adventure although not exactly what I had hoped for.

The next adventure was trying to get to Sucre for Christmas. We thought it would be very simple to be able to get an overnight bus. Oh how wrong we were. The tickets were only sold on the day of the trip, so one of my friends went to the bus station at 6am to get tickets for that night. Sold out. Everything was booked up, even flights. We discovered that there was another group of 3 staying at the hostel who were also trying to get to Sucre, so we hired a van to take us. And this is where the nightmare began. Bolivia has one paved road. We were not on it. We drove for 18 hours (it was meant to be 15) on a windy and bumpy dirt road. No sleep was to be had by anyone. I have never been happier to arrive somewhere. Christmas was a relaxed affair - we decided to splash out and stay at quite a nice hotel and we spent the day watching Christmas movies on cable tv (when we could find English ones) and eating a lot - pretty standard really. We even found a restaurant that did a turkey lunch - not very Bolivian I know.

Sucre is where I left the girls I´d been travelling with for the last week and headed to Uyuni. Getting there was a 14 hour mission on 2 buses. I arrived at 2am and luckily befriended some American guys on the bus so I didn´t have to walk to my hostel alone. The next morning, I left for a 3 day tour of the salt flats. What an amazing experience - one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. The weather was perfect - there had been a little bit of rain the day before meaning that the was a few inches of water on the salar, making for beautiful reflections of the sky. We stayed in a salt hotel and also saw red and green lakes and millions of flamingoes. Then came a tough 24 hours. My tour returned to Uyuni (a 9 hour bumpy 4WD ride) at about 6pm and at 11pm I got a train to Villazon, the small town on the border between Bolivia and Argentina. The train was supposed to arrive at 7am, but for some reason, it stopped at a station for 3 hours at 4am (something to do with rain I think - although since when that´s affected trains, I´m not sure), so it was 3 hours late. I was very glad I´d gotten a ´first class´ticket (a reclinable seat, a blanket and pillow, and breakfast). When I got off the train, I headed for the border. My guide book said it ´couldn´t be easier´ to cross to Argentina here. Yeah right. First I had to get my Bolivian exit stamp - there was a line so long it double backed on itself and after 45 minutes, I hadn´t moved. I heard that other travellers had been paying the guard at the front to stamp their passports. So I bribed an immigration official with 5 pesos and I got my stamp. Then I got in the line for the Argentinian immigration.....and spent 5 hours in that line. At one point I actually thought I would never get to the front. This was followed by a 7 hour bus ride to finally arrive in Sucre.

So Bolivia was definitely choccas full of adventure for me, and now that I´m in Argentina, I am looking forward to some down time. Bring on the wine and steaks!

The 0 - 10 of Peru

2009-12-19T11:14:00.000-08:00

My 23 days in Peru are up, and as I sit in the sweltering tropical heat of Santa Cruz, Bolvia, I reflect on my time in Peru....

0: good coffees I had and times I was lost (yay me!).

1: scary bugs I saw (a big spider at a homestay on Amantani Island - not including the dead tarantula on the Inca trail), horrible bus rides (12 hours, 1 stop, dirty bus, even dirtier toilets), meals of alpaca, times I put my togs on, ate McDonalds, had altitude sickness, drank Inca Cola (tastes like bubble-gum) and number of hostels I stayed in (on my tour, we stayed in ´hotels´, however they were very basic).

2: times I dressed in Peruvian costume (the one and only time...ever, I assure you), boat trips I did, local communities I stayed in, number of backpacker braclets I accumulated and number of times I washed my clothes in the bathroom sink of my accommodation.

3: nights I spent in a tent, times I felt lonely, orchids I saw on the Inca trail, books I read, times I had a dodgy tummy, things I´ve lost (my torch - however, not a great loss, see 5 below - a bracelet and a postcard), times I´ve danced and number of different kinds of Peruvian beer I drank.

4: days it took me to hike the Inca trail from the 82km mark to Machu Picchu (about 45 kms I think - with a lot of steep uphill and downhill) and number of Kiwis I met.

5: number of awesome people on my Intrepid tour (ok, so that was the whole group), times my solar powered torch ran out, times I heard the Cranberries (I´m sure pop music in Peru is stuck in 1996) and number of Plaza des Armas I saw.

6: times I dropped my camera on the Inca trail (I´m surprised it´s still working), times I didn´t want to tip guides and drivers (didn´t I pay enough for this already?), number of Incan ruins I saw, different kinds of Pisco I´ve tried and average number of hours sleep I got a night (so many early starts).

7: US$ for a pedicure in Cuzco, total days I went without a shower (not in a row though - ew!).

8: times my camera batteries went flat (can´t wait to get a new one) and number of Nazca lines I saw (I think - I was feeling a bit ill and suffering from vertigo in the tiny plane).

9: times I´ve tried to read my Rough Guide book and decide where I´m going and times people said ´but it´s the rainy season´

10 plus: flamingoes, penguins, seals and alpacas I´ve seen, great meals I ate, number of people who tried to sell me stuff, times I wanted to eat a salad so bad, days I didn´t write in my journal, times I wish I´d learnt proper Spanish before I left, squat toilets I used, number of breakfasts that were bread and jam and the number of incredible, beautiful, funny and amazing things I saw and experienced.

Let´s see if Bolivia can top THAT!

When things go tits up while travelling

2009-12-01T14:45:00.000-08:00

There´s always a few hiccups when you´re travelling. Like the time I accidently washed my passport in Berlin and had to get a new one in the space of a few hours as I was due to leave the country. Or the time I spent all my cash in France and then discovered my ATM card wouldn´t work. Or the time(s) the old van I was driving arond Australia broke down in the middle of the outback. It´s all part of the experience right? Well, this trip has been no different. My first two weeks of travelling went pretty smoothly....the worst thing that happened was arriving at my hostel in Montreal to discover that it had been closed for the last 3 weeks because the building next door started to fall down. Fortunately it was re-opening that day, so all it meant for me was a few hours without any power (good time to go for a walk), no hot shower that night and a pretty empty hostel.

And then I left Canada. I had one of those crazy cheap flights that goes to a dozen random places before arriving at the final destination, and takes 3 days to get there. Ok it wasn´t quite that bad - almost 24 hours of travel time, flying from Montreal to Toronto to San Salvador to Lima. I checked my bag in all the way to Lima at Montreal Airport, double checked with the counter staff that all I had to do was pick it up in Lima and was assured that it would and ignored the sinking feeling that it wasn´t going to make it - I thought to myself, hey they´re professionals, what could go wrong? Then, when I was the last person standing at the baggage carousel in Lima with a forlorn look on my face, I realised I should have trusted my instincts and taken some underwear and toiletries out of my bag before checking it. To cut a long story short, for 2 days the airline didn´t even know where my bag was and seemed in no hurry to find it. After many phone calls and a few stressful moments, I finally got it back after 3 days - just in time as I left Lima the next day. I was wearing my warmest and dirties clothes for the flight because Montreal was cold and I planned on doing washing as soon as I arrived in Peru. The airline gave me money to spend on neccesary stuff so at least I could get the basics. Crisis over....and on to the next. Getting out of a taxi outside my hotel the following day, I clipped the mirror of a passing car with the taxi door and broke it. I couldn´t really communicate with the driver with my limited Spanish aside from ´lo siento signor´ but the guide from my tour, that had started the previous day, was fortunately on hand. The driver of the car I hit wanted me to give him US$150 as it was a new car and he would have to replace the whole mirror. My guide talked him down to US$80...so I was pretty lucky in the end I guess. And it´s only money after all. I am hoping that I´ve had my quota of bad luck for this trip and that the next 3 months will go smoothly. I´m loading up on good travelling karma!

Aside from these minor set backs, Peru has been great and I´ve already done so much - experienced loads of good food and drink - my favourites have been ceviche (raw fish marinated in chili and lime) and chicha (a drink made from purple corn, tastes a bit like Ribena), I´ve seen penguins on the Ballestas Islands, tasted all sorts of kinds of Pisco (a spirit a bit like tequila), flown over the Nazca lines in a very small plane (I was very brave and sweating profusely), seen enough mummies and skeletons to last a lifetime, met some awesome people from assorted countries, marvelled at some massive sand dunes from a lake oasis at the bottom, and slept a record 7 hours on an overnight bus. Chomping at the bit for the Inca trail.....6 days and counting!

Highlights of Ontario and Quebec

2009-12-01T14:08:00.000-08:00

Two free beers and a bottle opener at the Steamwhistle Brewery in Toronto

Trying to get the perfect photo of me at Niagara Falls

A Korean guy introducing himself to me because he´d just been to New Zealand and wanted to tell me how much he loved it there

When I was freezing after a day of walking all over Toronto, having the best hot chocolate at Soma in the Distillery District - with spices, orange, chili and ginger

Free wine and cheese at my hostel

Discussing Kiwi music with a friend of a friend over jugs of beer - strangers one minute, mates the next

Kensington Markets - best place for people watching, giant burritos and hippy murals

Catching up with an old roommate from Sydney who I hadn´t seen in 4 years, at a bar with mismatched chairs and fairy lights - my favourite kind of bar

Walking around Old Montreal....beautiful buildings, cobbled streets

Taking a break from walking round the city by reading books and warming up in Chapters

Walking to the top of Mont Royale for the view over the city

Enjoying a smoked meat sandwich at Schwartz´s and poutine at Frite Alors! on Rue St Laurent - food is a big part of travel for me

Going to a bar on my own and sitting next to a dude from Wellington at the bar

No pics this time as my internet time is limited.....because I´m in Peru! Well and truly on the road now.

Highlights of Alberta

2009-11-19T17:56:00.000-08:00

So my journey begins.....for my first week, I hung out in Alberta - here are a few of the best bits:

Driving from Banff to Lake Louise in a blizzard, parking and wondering if I'd be able to find the rental car again in all the snow.

$8 steak sandwiches at in The Elk and Oarsman in Banff.

Bow Lake – surrounded by snow, and so peaceful and still.

Seeing a wolf and a big horned sheep on the drive to Radium Hot Springs….and then getting in the hot springs.....aaaaaahhhh.

Reminiscing with a friend in Banff about the good times we both had when we lived in London a few years ago.

Eating a bear claw – chocolate, nuts and caramel – oh yeah.

Hiking the 2.3 kms up Tunnel Mountain on a gorgeous clear day and looking at the view over Banff and the mountains.

The bus ride from Banff to Calgary – the mountains in the pink light of the morning, against a clear blue sky.

Doing a ghost walking tour of Calgary – freezing, but fun - and cheap!

Walking around Calgary and seeing random pieces of street art and so many cool posters.

Spending an afternoon in the Glenbow Museum in Calgary looking at stuff like a giant fiberglass replica of a baby and an exhibition on war brides in Canada. They even had a Maori warrior!

Sitting in Broken City on a Saturday afternoon with a glass of red wine, listening to some jazz guys jamming.

Meeting up with the sister of a friend, and her tell me she was jealous of my life and all the travelling I've done - it's nice to be reminded sometimes, especially when it gets hard to say goodbye to people and you have to carry everything you own on your back.

Stay tuned for highlights from the east coast of Canada!

Halloween

2009-11-07T12:50:00.000-08:00

So Halloween....it's kind of a big deal around here. Growing up in New Zealand, Halloween was not really observed. I remember trying to go trick or treating once with my neighbour when we were about 11 and not really getting a lot out of it. We did make a pretty good trick though - a paper bag filled with assorted pantry items including flour, vinegar and green food colouring. No-one had any candy to give us but no-one wanted to put their hand in the bag either so we put it on the road for a car to run over. It stained the road pretty good. So that's my experience of Halloween up till now pretty much. As our culture has become more Americanised, Halloween has become more prolific, with it becoming more popular to go begging for candy - or lollies in New Zealand - around your neighbourhood and to get dressed up for Halloween parties. Living in Vancouver, it was great to be able to participate in a real North American Halloween. People decorate their houses, there are carved jack o' lanterns everywhere (something I'd only seen in movies up till now - I wish I'd had a go at carving one) and trick or treating is commonplace. At work, many people decorated their work areas and, best of all, there was candy everywhere. People had bowls of the stuff on their desks. Awesome. It would've been pretty fun to have been home that night so I could have given out candy to the kids, but I went to a party in a recently renovated theatre in Castlegar, a small town about 8 hours drive north-east of Vancouver. It was a great night - so many interesting costumes, including a guy dressed as toast and an entire dead bridal party. People really went all out. I dressed as Pizzazz from The Misfits (any fans of the 80s cartoon Jem out there?) and my cosutme was totally rad. Yes, that's right - rad.

One thing that's strange however - as soon as October 31st is over, Halloween is done, just like that - BAM! No more decorations, candy is all half price and......the Christmas decorations go up - yes, already - one holiday over, next one please.

Marriage

2009-10-20T20:25:00.000-07:00

I'm getting to that age where quite a few of my friends are starting to get married and start families. If I’m not getting news of an engagement, a wedding, a pregnancy or a baby, it’s a slow week. Personally, I like to think that I am not fussed on marriage. But that's a lie. Well, it’s not a lie but marriage and having a wedding are two different things. Don’t get me wrong, I am not exactly the type who’s been dreaming about my fairytale wedding since I was a little girl. That’s definitely not my style. But I would love to have a wedding – simply because it’s an excuse to get dressed up and get all your friends together for a day of celebrating something cool. I love that wedding dance video that I mentioned in a previous blog and it's that sort of thing that makes me excited about going to weddings, and maybe having one in the future. As for the marriage side of things – I guess what I look forward to is finding someone to share my life with on a long term basis. I don’t think it’s necessary to actually be married in order to make a life with someone, or have a family. I think I would be perfectly happy to be with someone long term without getting married if we were totally in love, had made an enduring commitment to each other and were working towards the same life goals. If they had an aversion to getting married, for the right reasons, I would be ok with that.

I am lucky enough that my parents are still together – they celebrated their 32^nd wedding anniversary last month, but their years together have certainly had their ups and downs and I’m sure they would be the first people to say that having rings and a marriage license doesn’t make your relationship any more secure, or better, than if you didn’t. I feel like I have strong role models in my parents however, but I do understand that many of the people I know have parents who are divorced, or who have not seen the best side of marriage, so I can appreciate that it’s not for some people. My aunt has been with her partner for about 22 years now – both were married before, and they have chosen not to get married. I couldn’t imagine them being with anyone else, and for all intents and purposes, they are married – they share a home and their lives and have made a long term commitment to each other.

My one sticking point is the proposal. I am a total sucker for romantic proposal stories and whenever I hear people have gotten engaged, the first thing I want to know is the when, where and how of it (usually the who and why are usually pretty obvious). My cousin got engaged to her Otago farmer boyfriend last week. He wrote ‘Marry me Jemma’ in bailage in one of their paddocks, let the sheep in to eat it, and then drove her out to see it from hill top. Now THAT’S a proposal.

If I ever do end up with someone who asks me to marry them, I hope that they know me well enough to know that I must have a good proposal story to tell – it doesn’t have to be expensive, or on a grand scale, just something original, romantic and memorable. Now, that’s not asking too much is it? If it’s not up to par, I might just say no!

One of my oldest friends is marrying her partner at Ohope Beach in Whakatane this weekend. I so wish I could be there - I love the air of celebration at weddings, dressing up, amazing food, free wine, catching up with friends and the awesome happy vibe - but alas it's a little far for me to travel. I have asked a friend to do a reading on my behalf, so I'll be there in spirit. Big ups to Bonnie and Chris.....I'll be thinking of you on the day.

Travelling alone

2009-10-08T19:57:00.000-07:00

As I said in my previous blog, I am off to South and Central America for a couple of months at the end of November and, at this stage, it looks as though I'll be travelling on my own. I must admit, this is a bit of a daunting prospect and isn't exactly ideal, but it's something I feel ok about. I've wanted to travel South America ever since I've wanted to come to Canada, which first became a possibility back in 2005, but due to life and things and stuff, it didn't start to become an actuality until last year.

I haven't really done much travelling on my own before. I backpacked around Europe four years ago with a girlfriend and I've spent a few days here and there on my own, but I haven't been anywhere, by myself, in a potentially dangerous and non-English speaking country before. I'd rather be travelling with someone, and that's not just because of the safety issue - I'd love to be able to share my experiences and adventures with someone. I still laugh and reminisce about the things that happened when we travelled Europe with the friend I went with, and I think I will miss being able to share the trip with someone close to me. But, as the same friend pointed out, I am choosing to do this because I really want to see South America and if I didn't, I wouldn't be going. This is something that is certainly going to put me out of my comfort zone, which in itself is something I am always keen to do.

I've scoured the internet to see what other women think about travelling on their own in that part of the world and it seems to me that if you are pretty sensible and travel savvy, which I like to think I am, and make yourself aware of the potential dangers, they can be avoided fairly easily. I've read that it's a good idea to wear a band on your ring finger and invent a husband or boyfriend - apparently if you 'belong' to another man, you are less likely to get harassed (sexism abounds). I am prepared that as a western, blonde woman, I will probably get a bit of attention - I guess I just have to practice saying "Por favor, déjame en paz" (Please, leave me alone). Of course, I get the stories about the friend of a friend who got mugged and raped by a taxi driver, or the girl who befriended a seemingly helpful man on a bus and had all her money stolen but as far as I'm concerned, this could happen anywhere and to anyone, and I don't want to let the possibility of negative things happening prevent me from doing what I really want. Before I drove around Australia in a clapped out van, almost everyone asked me if I'd seen the movie Wolf Creek. and despite the fact that the van broke down in the outback several times, I didn't meet any murderous bushmen.

Of course I am looking forward to the freedom of travelling on my own - being able to go where I want, when I want and how I want, being able to make last minute changes to plans and not having to make sure it's ok with someone else. One of the aspects of this trip I am looking forward to the most is meeting new people along the way - like-minded travelling types - and being on your own makes it more of a priority and somewhat easier to make new friends. So bring it on, I say - new challenges and new adventures!

Things I will miss about Vancouver

2009-09-27T13:17:00.000-07:00

After much thought and consideration, I've decided to leave Vancouver in November for some more travelling. I am really looking forward to spending 2 weeks seeing a bit more of Canada, and then it's on to South and Central America for 2-3 months...but there are definitely some things I will miss about Vancouver....here comes another list:

1. Riding my bike over the Cambie bridge to work every morning - beautiful.
2. Potluck dinners.
3. The wonderful friends I have made, who helped me make a life here.
4. The patio on a sunny afternoon and the vegetable garden at my place.
5. The biking culture here - everyone has a bike, the bike lanes and streets are excellent, and of course, Critical Mass.
6. Fireball - tastes like heaven, burns like hell.
7. Cheap and fresh fruit and veggies.
8. Food - Foundation's fantastic veggie fare, Slickety Jim's bennies, The Dutch Wooden Shoe Cafe's amazing pannekoek and Budgie's Burritos.
9. Craigslist - anything you want, you can get....and I mean ANYTHING.
10. Being able to see the mountains from right in the middle of downtown - pretty amazing when there's snow on them.
11. Great thrift stores.
12. Awesome hiking and lakes so close to the city.
13. How helpful and friendly people are...most of the time.
14. The smiley bus drivers - yes, these mythical creatures do exisit in Vancouver.
15. Danger Knife. Although I'm taking this particular backyard game with me, and I plan to spread it to the far corners of the earth. All you need is a frisbee, 2 poles, a section of grass and a couple of friends with drinks.

And just because I'm starting to second guess myself....

A few things I won't miss:

1. Tax never being included in prices and having to tip for everything.
2. Not being able to get a flat white.
3. Expensive alcohol...in fact, expensive everything.
4. The difficulty of finding somewhere to watch a rugby game.
5. All the homeless people.

So as you can see, the things I will miss about Vancouver (and there are so many more than what I've listed here) outnumber the things I won't....and hey, I will still have 2 months left of my visa come February when I will most likely finish my trekking about....so Vancouver may not have seen the last of me yet!

Wasting valuable company time

2009-09-13T21:27:00.000-07:00

Because it's almost Monday....and because I have a lot of downtime in my job and, let's face it, I'm a big fan of lists and the movie High Fidelity - I am going to give you my Top Five Entertaining Websites for Wasting Time at Work.

www.fmylife.com
Think you're having a bad day? There are so many other people having worse days than you. Other peoples' pain makes me feel better.

www.failblog.org
Random pics and videos of...well...epic fails.

www.funnyordie.com
This website is the brainchild of Will Ferrell, Judd Apatow and a couple of other funny dudes. My personal favourites are, The Landlord with Will Ferrell and the series of Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis videos.

www.textsfromlastnight.com
We've all sent random and/or inappropriate texts after a few drinks....now they're on the internet for all to see - be careful who you drunk dial. Apparently they're turning this site into a sitcom....only in the US of A.

www.craigslist.org/about/best /all
Craigslist is a website in Canada where you can buy and sell stuff, find a ride somewhere, or a place to live, meet random people - and laugh at their ads. Gotta love the guy who's looking for an 'assistant to help in texting duties'.

Have a great week!

Guest blogging

2009-09-03T11:08:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in a while as I was chosen to be a guest blogger for one of the regular blogs on www.stuff.co.nz which is pretty exciting. So I've been working on a blog about flatting over the last week and it went up yesterday. Check it out at:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/blogs/the-girls-guide/2827954/Share-and-share-alike

A traveller's budget

2009-08-19T21:04:00.000-07:00

Vancouver is a pretty expensive city to live in. It’s not that I don’t have a well paying job…well, it’s not exceptionally well paying, but it’s ok. The problem is that the cost of living is higher and the wages are lower than what I was used to in the last city I lived in, Perth in Western Australia. Now, I am tempted to cry recession, and I guess that's part of it but, as I was told when I first arrived here, living in Vancouver is a lifestyle choice. It’s a fantastic place to live, and this means rent and everyday things are more expensive, and it doesn’t have the higher wages of a bigger city like Toronto. And, of course, I am saving to go travelling – the story of my life. Whenever I get on my feet in a new place, I almost immediately start saving to leave it. It’s not that I don’t enjoy where I am, but I know I will leave at some point (especially when I am only on a one year visa) and I enjoy the lifestyle whereby I live somewhere for about nine months of the year, and then spend the other three travelling. It's worked out pretty well for me the last five years.

I have recently decided that I will most likely leave Vancouver when my contract ends in November and travel round Canada, South America, Mexico and Cuba for a few months. I say most likely because I constantly change my mind, and I am a big believer that situations and circumstances can affect decisions, so things are never certain. What this means however, is that I have to try and stick to my budget a bit better than I have been. I’m usually pretty good – I get out in cash what I have to spend for the week, I get groceries for the week, try and eat dinner at home as much as I can and I take my lunch to work. I’ve been saving since I started working in Vancouver, but it’s always been a bit of a struggle and I often end up dipping into my savings, or spending money for the following week when I run out of cash, especially when things like weekends away or un-missable events pop up. Last week I decided to see if I could make it ten days and only spend $30, which was what I had left in my wallet. Today is Day 9 and I think I’ve done pretty well and haven’t been bored at all. I’ve discovered there is a lot of free stuff to do in Vancouver. Here are the highlights:

Day 2: I discovered that Carousel Theatre, a theatre for young people, was putting on a free outdoor production of Macbeth on Granville Island. Now this required me to buy dinner but I got some pretty tasty sushi and popped the change from $10 into the donation bucket for the Shakespeare performance as I was very impressed. Well done Carousel Theatre teens – you rock.

Day 3: I was invited to a barbeque at a friend’s place. I made a salad with stuff from the fridge and the veggie garden to take.

Day 4 (Friday): I arrived home from work to find my roommate preparing for a last minute dinner party, which she promptly invited me to join. I ate an amazing dinner I didn’t have to cook (complete with dessert) and enjoyed excellent company. Since I didn’t contribute anything edible, I washed up after. Thanks Amanda!

Day 5 (Saturday): I baked muffins with ingredients from the cupboard and the blackberries from the huge bush in our driveway. In the evening, I bought a 6 pack of ciders ($14) and watched a downloaded movie with some friends.

Day 6 (Sunday): It was a beautiful sunny day, I had a coffee in trendy Yaletown ($3) and a wander round. The café I went to had free samples of all their muffins – score! Then I rode my bike around the waterfront for a few hours in the sun, and even packed my lunch.

Day 8: Home sick from work. Got sunburnt on my patio. Had a potluck dinner with my roommates - more good food and excellent company.

Day 10: I've been invited to a taco and decoration making night at a friend’s place – the decorations are for a party we’re all going to on Saturday with a Martian theme.

And then Day 11 is pay day….and I can go a tiny bit nuts.

Other free activities I amused myself with - watching downloaded tv episodes, organising my ipod, Skyping and speaking to various friends overseas, used the free gym in my office building, research for my trip and reading. I even had a free movie ticket I didn't get around to using! Ok so maybe I cheated a little bit. I did buy $40 worth of groceries to get me through the week (a girl’s gotta eat!) and I might’ve put some new hiking shoes on my New Zealand credit card (they were half price and I need them for the Inca Trail)….but I reckon I still did pretty damn good. Yay for sunshine and free times in Vancouver!

Picture source: M. Fuller

Facebook

2009-08-14T18:42:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I love Facebook. I am the first one to admit it. My network of friends and family spans the globe so, for me, it's an easy way to keep in touch with everyone. It's also a great time filling activity when I am bored at work- much like this blog. I wouldn't call myself a Facebook addict per se (I can stop anytime I want, I swear!) - I don't usually update my status more than once a day (it's not Twitter and I don't pretend that anyone is THAT interested in what I'm doing) and it's the only social networking site I belong to. However, there are some things about Facebook that bug me.

The people that have 1,814 friends. No - you don't. I am pretty selective with the people I add on Facebook and consider them all to be actual friends, hence why I don't have anything close to that number. If I get a 'friend request' or I'm considering adding someone to my 'friends', I ask myself "Would I get together with them, if we were in the same city, for a catch up?". If the answer is no, then they're not really my friend - and why would I want them to be able to see things like my personal photos? I find it a bit weird when random people I went to school with, but hardly knew, add me just because they want to see what I look like now, or want to know what I'm up to. Don't get me wrong, if they want to reconnect, then great - but sometimes you know it's just because they're being nosy.

Sometimes on Facebook, you're gonna see something you don't wanna see. Exes will turn up in pictures, friends will tag you in embarrassing photos, pictures of a friend's trip to some exotic place will make you sick with jealousy and someone will think it's funny to post a photo of one of their friends, drunk and with their genitals out. And sometimes relationships can be affected by what people decide to post. Thankfully (so far), I've never had a boyfriend 'do' anything horrible on Facebook but this article talks about the very thing. In saying that though, I think you'd have to going out with an asshole to begin with. Either that or someone very paranoid.

Why do they have so many things you can 'become a fan' of on Facebook? Obviously I get that there are fan pages for bands, celebrities, television shows and the like - these are normal things to be a fan of. But the option to become fans of things like sunshine, naps, sex, flipping the pillow over to the cool side, cuddles and getting paid? I mean, who is not a fan of those things?And what exactly is discussed on these pages? Yes, you like it. There's nothing else to say people!

Facebook, I love you really. Check out this video about the realities of Facebook by Idiots of Ants and this website about having your parents as friends on Facebook. Mum and Dad - please don't comment on this.

Picture source: www.8ball.co.uk

Man on Wire

2009-08-10T20:27:00.000-07:00

I watched an excellent documentary last night. Man on Wire tells the story of a French street performer, Phillipe Petit, who, in 1974, illegally strung a cable between the two towers of the World Trade Center in New York and walked across it. The film is about the planning and lead up to the walk, the various people involved, and the execution itself.

Very interestingly, most of the footage was filmed in the year prior to the walk (it wasn't made clear in the documentary who actually filmed those parts) and the rest of it is interviews with Petit and his friends who assisted him, and some who betrayed him, with a little reenactment.

I really enjoyed the film, however it definitely left me wanting to know more. It's presented as a heist film, and ends with the walk, but I found myself wanting to know what happened to Petit and the others involved afterwards. It's no secret that Petit didn't fall to his death in the crossing, seeing as he is featured in the interviews right from the beginning of the documentary, and he's a fantastic storyteller - very animated. However, he does come across as somewhat blind with passion - he says at the beginning that he was in a dentist's office in 1968 when he saw a magazine article about the construction of the World Trade Center, and decided then and there that he would one day walk a hire wire between the towers. It seems as though his judgement may have been somewhat clouded by his vision.

There were definitely some emotional scenes in the film, which I wasn't expecting, and a strong focus on the relationships between Petit and the friends who assisted him. One thing I found particularly interesting is that there is no mention of 9/11. Although many online discussions seem to wonder why this is, I think it's entirely appropriate - one has nothing to do with the other - this incredible (albeit crazy) feat needs to be seen in it's own light. I'd also to know why the film was only made last year, almost 25 years after the event.

This film has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which means all 141 reviews of it are positive, which is pretty incredible, and it won an Academy Award last year. I would definitely recommend seeing it - it's certainly thought provoking and something to be discussed afterwards.

If you've seen it, let me know what you thought.

Picture source: Alan Welner (www.msnbc.msn.com)

A long weekend away

2009-08-05T19:55:00.001-07:00

It was BC Day here on Monday. Know what that is? Me neither, but it means I had Monday off work. I also took the Friday off and went camping in Tofino on Vancouver Island.

Tofino is a small town on the west coast of Vancouver Island. It takes about an hour and a half by ferry from Vancouver, and then it's another three hour drive to Tofino. Tofino itself only has 2,000 people so it's pretty small, but there are heaps of beaches all along the coast and it gets pretty busy in summer.

Today I am going to share with you with some pretty interesting stuff I discovered on my trip to Tofino.

Among the wildlife you need to be aware of are wolves, bears and COUGARS - yes, cougars. This means you have to animal proof everything and not leave any food or smelly items in your tent or at your campsite, this includes stuff like soap. And apparently gray buckets. Not sure why that is but apprently they attract bears. It can get confusing though because if you're attacked by a bear, you shouldn't maintain eye contact, but if you're attacked by a cougar, you should. Now in the event of any such attack, I am pretty sure I'd get them mixed up. Luckily, the closest encounter I came to any of the wildlife was getting stung on the finger by a wasp.

I watched an interesting video at the Wickaninnish Interpretive Centre called 'The Intertidal Zone' - does that sound like an action movie title to anyone else? The following day I walked around Schooner Cove at low tide to check out the creatures that habit the in between tide period - there was definitely a lot of action going on! So many star fish and sea anemones in amazing colours.

Tofino is a well known surf spot - one of the best in Canada. The weather and the swell weren't good enough to brave the waters so I didn't surf while I was there, but it was cool to watch the surfers. I also suspect the water was pretty cold too, as most of them were wearing full body wet suits.

Coombs, a small town just outside of Nanaimo where you get off the ferry, features some goats that live on the grass covered roof of the market. Awesome.

Although the weather in Tofino itself wasn't great when I was there, it was perfect on the first and last days when I was heading to and from the ferry. On the way to Tofino, I happened upon a perfect river for swimming and on the way back to the ferry, went for a swim in the very warm Sproat Lake. As far as tourism slogans go, British Columbia's one is pretty accurate - Super, Natural BC

Oh and Big Daddy's Fish Fry in Tofino has some of the best fish and chips I've had in ages!

Cougar picture source: http://www.travel-vancouver-island.com, all other pictures are mine

Best stuff from the internet last week

2009-07-27T21:01:00.000-07:00

The trailer for the movie Whip It - Ellen Page, roller derby, a kick ass soundtrack and it's directed by Drew Barrymore - what more could you want?

Vancouver is in the middle of a heat wave at the moment and we were treated to an amazing show from mother nature. Check out what my Saturday was like.

I know this has been everywhere, but this is what every wedding should be like. Wouldn't be my choice of song but what a fantastic way to celebrate with your mates on your wedding day.

This article about the best nude beaches and events in the world.....maybe because I went to one of the beaches at the weekend and participated in one of the events recently....or maybe just because being naked is awesome.

I discovered, completely by accident, that one of my new favourite bands, Arcade Fire, does the beautiful theme song in the Where The Wild Things Are trailer. Take a listen to 'Wake Up' here.

Have a great week!

Local legends

2009-07-23T19:52:00.000-07:00

I saw this article the other day about debunking 'scientific' myths and it got me thinking about urban legends. You know, the stories that went round when you were a kid about well known people, or the tales that served as a warning not to do something. Here are some of the ones I remember:

The one about the guy who took drugs that caused him to think that he was a carrot and he grated himself to death - the mental picture of this was pretty disgusting....and I never questioned it at the time, but how exactly would this happen? Did he just rub himself up against the grater? Please tell me someone else remembers that one.

That the guy from the IHC ads, Roly Heihei, drowned in the swimming pool that featured in the ad he appeared in.

Chewing your hair gave you hair balls....thanks Mum.

When you 'pash' someone, their saliva remains in your system for 3 months - I remember being told this one in a 4th form science class, and everyone turning to look at the girl who had 'got with' about ten guys at the school dance the week before and seeing her expression of horror.

Another one from tv - Vesi, the guy from the stay in school ad - at leasst I think that's what it was for - ("Vesi's chicken eh", "Give him another ten", "Yeah, another ten") - committed suicide because he got so many hassles for doing that ad.

The chain letters that went round - I always felt compelled to send them to the eight people I was required to so I would avoid the impending doom that would result if I didn't. And this was the days before computers were mainstream so I had to write each one out by hand. I remember once being really panicked that I'd never manage to write out all the copies and get them posted before the three day bad luck deadline.

The rumour Jason Gunn was a crack head. I'm still not sure that one's entirely false. Especially after that Jason's Tinny House sketch he did.

Do you have any that you remember from when you were a kid?

Picture source: www.liveupdater.com

Funny t-shirts

2009-07-14T11:40:00.001-07:00

I was walking down the street in Vancouver the other day and I saw a guy wearing this t-shirt:

Source: http://www.mrvintage.co.nz/

I'm pretty sure I was the only person in the close proximity of that guy who got the joke.

If you don't know, back in '99, New Zealand television personaliy Mickey Havoc named Gore as the gay capital of New Zealand. Statistics proved in '97 that there are, in fact, only three gay couples living in Gore.

Anyway, here are some of the best t-shirts I've seen around the place:

Source: www.weirdo.com.au

Source: www.lookatmeshirts.com

Source: www.lookatmeshirts.com

Source: www.lookatmeshirts.com

And some sweet as Kiwi ones:

Source: www.mrvintage.co.nz

Source: www.billitees.co.nz

Source: www.mrvintage.co.nz

We've come a long way since 'Jesus is my homeboy'

Urban slang

2009-07-13T14:58:00.001-07:00

One of my favourite websites at the moment is www.urbandictionary.com

I like to use it when I'm surfing the web and I see stuff like "Ahhemmgee, this pic is totes embar. But, beeteedubs, you look totes presh!" - WTF?

Here are some of the gems I've found recently that resonate with me:

Air jerk: Making a 'jerking off' motion with one's hand to express disgust, disinterest or disbelief, while simulatenously rolling one's eyes. Similar to concept of playing air guitar.

I love to do this when talking about someone I think is a douche....which leads to my next one:

Douchebaguette: A female douchebag. A woman who exhibits characteristics of a douchebag.

Just 'cos I'm in Canada

Running latte: Showing up late to work because you stopped for coffee along the way.

If only it was a flat white....

Brown chicken, brown cow: an onomatopaeic imitation of the guitar riff commonly heard in 1970's porn movies. For example, Jim: "Hey, where are Abby and Jake?" Matt: "Brown chicken, brown cow."

I just thought this one was classic. Mainly because I had to say it out loud at my desk at work in order to fully understand it.

Alt-tabbin': An act of quickly switching the current application to something work-appropriate when the boss walks in. For example, "My boss almost caught me on Facebook at work, good thing I was Alt-Tabbin"

Because this is what I do for 7 hours a day.

Facebook binge: The act of going on Facebook 'just to check it for a few minutes' and suddenly finding that it's 3 or 4 hours later and you have no idea where your afternoon went. Commonly occurs when 'quickly checking Facebook' is used as a break in studying/tidying/other necessary but dull tasks.

What can I say....

Canadians

2009-07-08T10:59:00.001-07:00

As a relative newcomer to Canada, there are certain things that have struck me about Canadians - some of them sterotypical, some of them less so:

1. They actually do say 'eh', although not in exactly the same way as Kiwis say it. Canadians tend to tack it on to the end of a sentence as a statement such as "I know, eh", rather than using it to illicit a response, like Kiwis do: "That's your drink eh?"

2. I'm not sure if this is a Vancouver thing, but there seem to be a higher proportion of vegetarian and organic enthusiasts here. We have a vegetable garden at our place and I live with two vegetarians (one of which is a sometime vegan - depending on if there's cheese around) and my other housemate, although not a card carrying vegetarian, seems to eat an awful lot of tofu

3. If you say thank you for anything, Canadians always say "You're welcome". ALWAYS

4. Two of the most common words used by Canadians: "douche" and "awesome"

5. Although a Canadian friend once lamented to me that she "had never said ooot and aboot" in her life, after having her accent imitated by an Australian, I can see how people would make this, albeit exagerated, mockery - they sort of say "aoot and aboout"

6. Canadians are more offended than I am when they mistake me for an Australian. This happens every few days. They proudly ask me where in Australia I am from (props to them for picking up that I don't have a Canadian accent), I politely reply I am actually from New Zealand, and the look of mortification on their face is something akin to if they had just asked how my new puppy was doing and I had replied that he'd been run over by a car that morning - cue the "Oh my god, I am SO sorry!". Luckily, as I spent almost 3 years living in Australia, I assure them I am not offended. Well, not TOO offended.