Back!

Wow, well...it's been a long, long, long time since I've blogged. It's not that nothing has been going on, it's just that I have not been very motivated to write and I have been very, very busy.

Here are a few key points from the past several months:

• I got my private pilots license
• I changed flight schools and am now flying in Spruce Creek. It's closer, cheaper and I really enjoy my instructor. He has a lot of real world knowledge and seems to make the instrument training more understandable and manageable.
• I passed my instrument written exam and have just a few more hours before my check ride
• I went on holiday to South Africa...now my favorite place I've traveled to...so much so that I'm going back in 2009 and might possibly buy a house there.
• My grandfather passed away. It was expected, but not really...if that makes any sense. It was also a long, short road. Regardless...I'm sure he's much happier than he was living with a body that was deteriorating and not allowing him to live life as he wanted.

As I mentioned above, it's not long before I get my instrument rating and then from there I will finish up my commercial rating. I think I will probably finish up with everything in January. From there I will have to find some way to build hours in order to get a 'real' flying job. Most people become flight instructors, but this is plan B for me (anyone who has ever driven me around in a car can understand why I might not be too happy being passenger in a helicopter being flown by someone who has no clue what they are doing). At this point I'm hoping for a job flying tours or maybe photo flights...hell I don't know...anyone know someone with a helicopter that might give me a job??

Oh, I'm quite excited about my flight yesterday. It might not seem like much, but I landed at Daytona International Airport at max speed (90k) solely by instrument (ILS)...not looking past the control panel until I was approximately 20ft off the ground. This was the first time I've flown the heli that fast so the approach was a bit more intimidating than normal. I did good though. :o)

Today is NYE so Happy New Year to everyone! Ian's mom will be landing this afternoon for her long weekend visit. We will be going out to the Ranch for a sleep over. Mary Beth is preparing a big Moroccan dinner. Then on Thursday I will be taking my grandmother to a block party/meet and greet in her neighborhood (fun, fun).

I'm looking forward to a very productive 2009. I have lots of things in my life that I want to work on and improve. I know that the resolutions are always the same and usually short lived, but I'm going to try harder and actually ask my friends for help. I'm not a strong as always thought I was.

So, here's to a good new year!! Much love to all!!

Best Saturday ever!

Saturday started with a bright and early trip down to Orlando Executive Airport for my inaugural flight as a licensed Private Pilot. Against mine and my instructors better judgment, Ian talked me into flying him up to Deep Woods Ranch. It's not that it's too far or beyond my capabilities...the instructors at my school just thought it would be best to do it with an instructor first in case something unusual came up. The day before the flight I designed my flight plan and decided it would be fine...I didn't' have to traverse any major airspace and I have GPS (or so I thought).

Fast forward to Ian and I in the helicopter. I'm doing my preflight and programming my GPS to what I thought was Deep Woods Ranch...well, it turns out that since it's a private airport it's not loaded into the GPS so I would have to trust my flight plan and actually use my chart in order to locate the tiny airstrip located somewhere amongst the National Forest (insert panic here).

It came up at the party the night before that we'd be flying up so Justin said that he would be there to take pictures...cool! So Ian texted him to let him know when we were airborne.

Oh, I forgot to mention that while I was getting dressed I had the brilliant idea that we could scatter Maizee's ashes (yeah, I know it's been around 2 years, but we were waiting for that perfect moment to come along).

So, back in the air. I start to follow my flight plan and would you believe that my navigational skills were smack on! My calculated timing between way points was as close to exact as possible...I actually amazed myself. We passed by Locals Tower and could see the roof of the hangar just ahead. I told Kim that I would do a flyby before landing so I came around and flew down the runway and there were about 15 people out in front of the hanger yelling and cheering me on! It was awesome to have all those people there to support me and who thought I was cool ;o).

After shutting down we chilled for a bit and had a cup of coffee before taking a few people on rides. Almost everyone who got a ride had never even been in a helicopter before so it was awesome to be the one to share that experience with them!

It's time to head back now so Ian gets in the helicopter and gets Maizee ready for her release. I climb to 600 feet and fly back down the runway. Ian releases Maizee for an eternity at the Ranch with my Mom. :o) It was cool that I could be the pilot, but I didn't get to see it so thank you so much for the awesome pictures Justin!! I will post a few as soon as I get them.

When we got back to the airport my instructor presented me with a bottle of wine, a balloon and an awkward Norwegian hug :o).

From here Ian took me to lunch at Bahama Breeze where the food was awesome and I was able to enjoy my favorite Mojito. What a great way to end a great morning...except, it doesn't end here.

Mary Beth is selling a house that has a pool out back. I don't know how long it's been since the house has been occupied, but the pool is totally green and infested with hundreds, if not thousands of tadpoles in different stages of development. The pool boy was scheduled to come out on Monday to shock the pool. Mary Beth thought it would be really cool if we could save the tadpoles from their looming fate. So we showed up armed with nets and buckets and managed to save several hundred. We relocated the lucky ones to a tiny pond out at the Ranch. I feel really bad that we couldn't save them all. I'm hoping that many of them finished developing over the rest of the weekend and made it to safety before being burned to death by nasty pool chemicals.

And finally from here we made our way to meet Hannah & Joe and Kay & Ron for sushi dinner at my favorite Thai restaurant.

I can not remember ever having such an uplifting, happy day in my entire life! Thanks to all of you who were able to share it with me!! I'm still trying to wipe the perma-smile off my face!!

Just around the corner

Well...after a 3 month roller coaster ride it finally looks like I'm ready to do my check ride for my Private Pilots License. It is a big personal hurdle, but a small one in the grand scheme of things. I'm hoping to get the test done next week. It consists of an oral and practical exam. I'm not 100% ready this second, but am pretty confident that I will be ready next week...just need to hope that I don't fuck up.

Next on the docket is my instrument rating. Apparently this one is quite difficult. I'm signed up for a ground course that runs for a week from Sept 9 - 12. It's from 6 - 10 pm...10 pm being my bed time so I'm not sure how this is going to work out for me. I'm currently looking for a place to shack up in Orlando that week so I don't have to drive home late at night then get up early in the morning for work. If I can find a place I will try to do morning flights and work in the afternoon and then class at night. It's only for a week so I'm thinking I will survive.

Anyone trust me for a ride???

Flying solo

Well, I'm flying solo! It's quite exciting and quite boring at the same time. Ian's a bit disappointed that I'm not more excited, but oh well...that's just me. I have accumulated 3 hours solo time, but continue to get hosed by the afternoon thunderstorms. I'm on the schedule to do my dual cross country and both solo cross countries this weekend. I will be flying from Orlando Executive to Titusville back to Apopka then back to Orlando. I have to admit that it's all quite intimidating. It would totally suck to get lost and end up having to call Roar to come find my ass. Also, radio work at different airports is a bit of a challenge. I'm hoping to do my duel and solo back to back so that everything will be fresh in my mind.

Flying solo in our practice area is a tad boring. All I'm allowed to practice is normal take offs and normal landings and hovering. Not that I don't need the take off and landing practice, but after an hour it gets a bit monotonous. Another thing about flying solo is that I'm becoming more and more aware of what's on the ground. Before I didn't think too much about it because I knew that if we had an engine failure that Roar would be there to save us. Now, it's up to me and there aren't really a lot of outs on the east side of the practice area. God help me if I have an engine failure over there. It's all roof tops and power lines.

So, please help me pray to the weather Gods that I have decent cross country this weekend.

Who's gonna solo??

Me!! That's right, I'm going to solo tomorrow (weather permitting)!! I passed my pre-solo check ride with Keith as well as the oral. I did my best straight in autorotations ever! My hover autos sucked, but hey...I can work on that. I also landed the helicopter on a freakin' dolly! Keep in mind, my heli parking skills parallel that of my car parking skills. I about peed myself when Keith told me that I was going to land on this tiny little dolly without hurting the helicopter, tractor (which was attached to the dolly) or killing us. But, holy crap, I did it!! I may actually become a helicopter pilot yet!

YAY me!! :o)

Progressing outside of my comfort zone

Life seems to be coming at me at a million miles an hour these days. I have gone from spending my afternoons at the gym or helping my grandparents and being bored with myself and life to flying helicopters and studying and being busy as hell in just a short couple of months. How crazy is that??

At first, just learning how to not kill myself in the helicopter was WAY outside of my comfort zone. Now I'm more comfortable and have been plugging away at the maneuvers that I will eventually need to master. But, it seems every time I find my comfort zone something else gets thrown at me...the biggest just this week. It seems that Roar thinks I'm about ready to solo. Wow...I don't really feel like I'm ready to solo. Not to mention that, but in order to solo I have to be checked out by another instructor. This really sucks and is freaking me out because a) I don't really like new people, b) I don't like being put on the spot and having to perform, c) I'm totally shy and completely lack self confidence and d) did I mention that I don't do well with new people, oh and e) I'm a complete klutz and will most certainly do something stupid and make an asshole out of myself. I'm starting to hyperventilate just thinking about it all. Maybe I'm not cut out to be a pilot? Seriously...I do stupid shit all the time.

Next thing, It appears that I'm ready to do my dual cross country as well. This isn't as bad as soloing because Roar will be in the heli with me and will be able to point the way when I start veering off towards Cuba or something. My navigational skills aren't the best...especially in a helicopter. Whenever I take focus away from flying, say to look for a check point, my flying skills go out the window. I either start to gain altitude, lose altitude or slow down to near 0 airspeed...none of which is safe. I wonder if other people deal with the same things?

Well, I guess if it wasn't challenging me I'd be bored and would have quit by now (actually, I think I've quit and started again about 20 times now).

Random thoughs

Sitting here between flights I was just thinking that my blogs need more visual aides. So here's one...me kickin' it old school.

Funny...(funny ha ha)

I have a rather large pool of pilots in my immediate circles. I figured that would be beneficial to me when learning all my ground school crap, but as I've come to realize...not so much. On several occasions now I have asked several of them to help me with different issue (nothing that I thought was too difficult like aerodynamics, weather, etc...basically standard navigation and understanding of airport information) and would you believe that they've all struggled with the answers. I'm expected to retain all this (obviously) meaningless stuff simply for a test.

Oh well. I'm going to try to get my written out of the way next week so I can purge all of the useless information from my brain so I have more room for important stuff like 80s song lyrics, margarita recipes, directions to every good sushi restaurant in town and happy hour times at the local bars!

Tired, so very tired

I don't know how I did it. When I was in college there were some semesters when I got up at 5am to be at school in downtown ATL by 8am. I would be in school all day then go to work the night shift at a medical supply company. I would get out of work at mid-night. Sometime in between all of that I found time to do homework and study (oh, and skydive and have a boy friend).

Now, I get up at 6:30...work half a day...drive to Orlando, make a flight or two...drive home...study some...and go to bed by 10 or so (well, I was up till 11:30 studying the other night) and am totally wiped out! I am so tired. I can't concentrate, there's no way I'm retaining what I am studying and I keep having retard moments when I'm in the helicopter. I think maybe I should get back on the caffeine. Or, maybe I should just quit my job and move closer to the airport. Or better yet, I could be a heli school bum...I could buy a RV and park it in the schools parking lot. I could sweep the parking lot for extra $$.

Whacked

I never thought I was a hypochondriac (but I guess most people who are, don't). For years now I've had "symptoms" that I've pretty much attributed to getting older and hormonal changes. Over the years I've had several blood tests that have all come back negative so I just kinda blew it all off.

Over the past several months all the ideas of possible issues have been surfacing again. My acupuncturist said that she thought I had a thyroid issue and said that most of the test are inaccurate. At a party I was talking to several other women who've been diagnosed with thyroid issues and their symptoms seemed very similar to mine so I started to research hypothyroidism on the internet. I know that's kind of dumb because if you look hard enough you can probably match your "symptoms" to any disease or illness out there. But, I did it anyway and found out that I'm the poster child for hypothyroidism! I gathered all my notes and list of symptoms and made my way to my Primary Care Physician. She ordered a plethora of blood and urine tests and told me to come back in a week. The lab people told me that my doctor would have the labs the next day so I made my appointment to go back to my doctor just short of a week.

When I arrived, the office had not yet received my labs so they had to get online and download them from the lab. The nice PA sat down with me and went over them and basically said that everything was not only in the normal range, but almost perfect. I just couldn't believe it and went home thinking I was whacked in the head. I guess all my "symptoms" were related to old age, lack of taking proper care of myself, etc and not my thyroid or even hormonal. :o(

A couple days later I received a phone call from the nurse at the office. She regretted to inform me (if only she knew) that when I was in earlier that week that all my labs had not been accounted for and that they just received some more results that showed elevation of something in my thyroid!! Not that I'm happy about being "sick"...but YAY!!! Now I know why I've been porking up and dealing with the other long list of symptoms associated with hypothyroidism!! I've got an appointment with the endocrinologist in a couple of weeks.

It's a really good feeling to find out that you actually have an issue and are not insane or a hypochondriac!

Trials and tribulations

Well, training is coming along. I've got around 11 hours or so now. With every hurdled cleared there is another waiting in the wings. My current frustration is throttle control. Some helicopters (I think most actually, but don't quote me) have a governor that adjusts the throttle as needed. The helicopter that I'm learning on does not. With every turn, with every altitude adjustment, with just about everything move the throttle must be adjusted. There's a low RPM horn that signals you if the RPM has dropped below the optimum level. Right now this horn is pretty much going off the entire time I'm flying. My brain understands what adjustments are needed and when...it's just getting my body to follow. To add insult to injury, there are so many things that you are doing at once that when I lose my focus because of the throttle..everything else seems to go to shit. gggrrrrrrr. At the beginning of my training I thought that the cyclic was the most challenging control to master...I think I'm going to have to take that back and say that it's throttle control. Serious FRUSTRATION!

Other than that, I fly a helicopter much like I drive a car. I'm a bit of a swerver and I can't park to save my life. I also had a bit of taxi way phobia, but seem to have gotten a little better with that one on my last flight. If it wasn't for throttle control I think I would have conquered the taxi way! My take offs have been pretty decent, but landings and set down have been a challenge. Saturday I'm going to get the "short bus" lesson on landing, which basically means we are going to do everything in slow motion so I can get the pictures (that's one thing I like about helicopters...the versatility! I bet I couldn't get the slow version of landing in a plane unless we were practicing engine out landings).

The book work is coming along, albeit boring. I totally couldn't get through the chapter on weather last night...kept catching myself going in and out of consciousness (damn ADD!). I'm sure that all of this will come with time. Just trying to keep you all updated of my progress.

Gettin' hosed

What's with the wind? You'd think I lived in Florida or something...oh wait, I do. :o( I guess I picked the wrong (windy) season to start helicopter training. So far my first two flights have been cancelled due to high and gusty winds. Helicopters can fly in the winds, no problem...it's just training in windy conditions is not ideal. It's like being on student status again...sitting on my ass watching all the up jumpers jump. Oh well, maybe today will be better.

All signed up

I have lessons scheduled for every day this week. Unfortunately, the wind is looking a little iffy today but hopefully it will calm by this afternoon or tomorrow. My text book is a little scientifically over my head...but I'm sure that if I have the right tutor it will click. It's been years since I've had to study! Need to bust out the index cards and make some flash cards!!

Next step, Done!

Welp, just got home from getting my FAA Medical Certificate. I have to admit it was a bit of a joke. The doctor took my blood pressure, listened to my heart and lungs, looked down my throat and it one ear and charged me $90. The entire process took maybe 10 minutes. Oh well, it was a necessity.

Some of you have asked for a link to the training facility I will be using...so, here it is - Air Orlando. I will be setting up my first lesson with Roar next week. My plan is to go balls to the wall so be prepared to be bombarded with overly excited training blogs.

I did it!!

My first flight was yesterday and it went well. I was actually given more control than I expected. There are three major controls in the helicopter that the pilot must use during flight. They are: (1) Collective pitch control. (2) Anti Torque Pedals or Tail Rotor Control. (3) Cyclic Stick Control. The collective is a lever located to your left side. This control controls rpm and altitude. The pedals turn and prevent turns and the cyclic is the stick between your legs that can control small altitude adjustments and turns. We went on a short flight from Orlando Executive Airport to downtown Orlando. During this flight I took control of the cyclic and tried to keep us at 600 ft and on heading (it's so not as easy as it sounds!). Then we came back to the airport and played around with hovering. I got to try each of the 3 controls individually. The cyclic was the most challenging...you don't think that you're even touching the thing and the helicopter is going every which way. It became rather amusing. Ian was off on the side watching and could totally tell when I was in control. Anyway, I can totally bored you all with all the details, but I will leave it here. It was fun, scary, and very challenging...I wasn't a natural like I expected, but oh well. Nothing worth doing comes easy.


This school is a little different than Bristow. It's a little more self guided and is smaller with more family like feel. I will be starting as soon, I get my medical Thursday and hopefully be in the air for my next lesson next week!!

I'm going flying, I'm going flying!!

That's right, I'm taking the next step! Monday afternoon at 2:00 I'm heading to the Orlando Executive Airport for my introduction and first flight with Roar (skydiver friend who is also an instructor at the school, Air Orlando). Hopefully, if all goes well, I will start school really soon. I don't know what the admissions is like there, but I WILL start as soon as possible.

I can not express how excited I'm am!!!!! :o)

Dreams, Goals, Aspirations: Ambition

This past weekend was our 6 year anniversary so we packed up the car and headed over to Tampa for a little escape and some roller coaster fun at Busch Gardens. We got a room at a nice B&B and made reservations for dinner at a place on the water (my camera totally hosed me and deleted all my pictures and started to give me an error message so no supporting pics for this blog).

Over dinner Ian and I got in a deep discussion about life and aspirations (mine mainly). I've known for a long time that I'm stuck in a rut. I work in a dead end job that has been sucking the life out of me for years and I don't really have any extra curricular activities that really get me excited anymore. Don't get me wrong...there ARE things that I dream about and would love to do...I've just never been one to follow my heart and that's where this blog is heading. Ever since I graduated from High School I've had a full-time job. I've always been responsible, I've always been good with my money and work hard to have the material things that I want and need. This, I suppose, was the way I was raised.

Whenever I consider things that I can (should) be doing to make my life more meaningful, I usually end up talking myself out of it. Where will I find the time, where will the money come from, what if I fail? I know everyone must ask themselves the same questions when making a big life decision, but I've never gotten past the what ifs. I know it's possible, I see people do it all the time...hell, I live with a man who is living his dream.

So, here it is. For as long as I remember I have wanted to fly helicopters (most of you probably already know this). My dream job used to be to fly for a TV station doing traffic reports. I've since changed that dream because I don't care much for the media or their (lack of) morals. I would HATE to be that helicopter flying around the DZ after an accident or around someone's home after a family member was murdered. Anyway, I digress, I still want to fly. And, one of the best helicopter schools in the country is less than an hour from my house and training takes less than a year...it is expensive though and I may suck at it. But with some help and support of my friends and loved ones...maybe I will make this dream come true. I've filled out the application, started retrieving my transcripts, and plan to sit down and talk to Trond (who is a current student at the academy). The wheels are in motion! Wish me luck! and kick me in the ass if/when I start to run away.

Random acts of kindness

I just got back from the mail box. Even though I rarely receive anything worth wild I still love checking the mail. I think this comes from my childhood; my grandmother and I were pen pals and she always included a little spending money each each letter. I couldn't wait for that extra cash to buy who knows what (candy probably). That was many, many years ago (I wish I still had all those letters, damn) and I can't remember the last time anyone sent me money so I find it odd that I still like checking the mailbox, which is almost always filled with request from others for me to send them money...hum.

Anyway, I digress. Today the mailbox was jam packed full of all kinds of catalogs, letters and one big padded envelope address to me. I don't remember ordering anything and it's not my birthday so I assume that it's something someone sent in hopes of me paying for it. Remember the CDs clubs that would randomly send you a pack of CDs and expect you to pay for them or send them back, which was a total PITA? Well, that's what I expected so I saved that envelope for last. Another strange thing came in the mail today as well...I think it's like the 3rd time I've gotten the same stupid thing...have no clue who the lady is or how she got my name and address, but it's one of those chain letters that asks you to mail a dollar to 6 people on the list then add your name and send it to all your buddies. Whatever...file 13!

Back to the big padded envelope. I open it up to find a Vegetarian Cook Book...awesome!!

After racking my brain I remembered Kyle and his wife Jen stayed with us one night during the Shamrock Showdown. Jen was noticing my cookbooks and mentioned that she had one similar to one that I already had, but hers was for Main-Courses. I told her I had a difficult time coming up with main-courses that didn't seem like side dishes. I guess she remembered and bought the book for me. How sweet! There was no card or note so I'm glad I remembered that conversation.

I like stuff! And, it's my turn to cook dinner, so great timing too!!

The long journey home

It’s Monday morning here in Sydney. I’m sitting all alone in my hotel room. I actually had a place to stay last night with one of Ian’s friends, but after the long day of driving and flying I was not feeling very sociable so I got a room. As it turns out I may have completely hosed myself. If I can’t get in touch with Mark Kirkby’s wife, Sandy, before check out time I’m going to have to stay another expensive night here in the hotel. Sandy is at George’s house today and will be my only way into the house. Since I have a ton of luggage I will either need to be stationed here in the hotel or at George’s place. I catch my flight home tomorrow (Tuesday) morning at 10:50am. From here I have another layover in China (I won’t be leaving the airport this time) and then another layover in LA. I arrive bright and early (6am) into Orlando the morning of the 5th. I will be taking DOTS back to DeLand and then back to work.

Our last day in New Zealand was filled with wild life adventures. Our first stop was the Royal Albatross reserve. We were lucky enough to be there during chick season. There were two nests within view distance of the observatory. We were even luckier to see a parent feeding one of the chicks. I forget how old the chicks were, but at their age the parents only come back every couple of days to feed their young. One of the parents just happened to arrive as our group did. Ian may have some good video, but my pictures didn’t turn out that great because of the distance. This is a blurry picture of the Albatross chick and parent...


Our next stop was Bushy Beach where there are some Yellow Eyed Penguin nests. This beach is not a reserve…it’s just a place to hopefully view the endangered penguins as they come ashore after their long day of feeding out at sea. We were lucky enough to see 5 penguins…none close enough to get a good picture, but enough to say, “hey, I’ve seen the endangered yellow eyed penguin in person!!”. This is a picture of a penguin behind a plant (seriously)...


Our final encounter was with the blue penguins. This wasn’t a reserve, but also wasn’t a random place for viewing either. This is an area where the penguins come ashore about the same time every night to next. There are well over a hundred birds and they are very predicable so the country built a grand stand of sorts for viewing. The penguins have become quite accustomed to this so they are not turned off by people. Ian and I got there a tad early so we were a little anxious by time the first “raft” (this is what they call each group of birds that are traveling back to land together) of birds came ashore. There were maybe 20 birds that came ashore. They made their way up the shore, across the road and under the fence to their nesting boxes. The neighborhood chicks as well as some friendly neighborhood rabbits greeted them. We stayed long enough to see two rafts come ashore. Apparently there are nearly 300 birds that nest off the shores in this area. On our way back to the camper van we saw a stay penguin or two making their way across the parking lot…how freakin’ cute!

Oh, I just wanted to add a few animals to the livestock list. They also farm Elk, Alpaca and Ostrich. None of which I got pictures of, damn it.

Our trip to New Zealand was awesome! Did I mention that we didn’t have enough time?? I could probably spend a month there and still not have enough time.

First meal....

Today I am back in Sydney. Ian and I arrived last night. He took the first train out to Tokyo and I opted to stay at a hotel near the airport. Ian had made arrangements for me to stay with a friend of his, George, but I was feeling a tad crabby and unsociable so I stayed the night in a hotel.

This morning I made my way to George's place. Mark Kirkby and his wife Sandy have been staying here for the past week or so...so I hooked up with Sandy this morning at the apartment. When I arrived, she was on her way down to the beach. I stayed behind to check email and make arrangements for my return.

After a while I walked down to the beach for some lunch. I found this nice little placed called Tucker. I had an awesome wrap with a side of chips (french fries to us in the states) and a nice bottle of Pinot Noir. This has been my second ever meal out alone...the first being in China. This was a much nicer experience. The food was amazing (everything tasted soooo goood...it was almost as if I was high). I was also reading a book called, "eat pray love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. So far the book is awesome. Lara...as I'm reading this book I feel as if you've written it. If you haven't read it...it's a must!!

We are waiting for the boys (George and Mark) to return from the DZ so we can go grab some dinner.

I leave tomorrow morning around 11 am to head home. I'm in the process of authoring another post about our last day in NZ...hopefully I will finish before I leave tomorrow so stay tuned!

See you all when I return home!

Wrote this the other day, but just now getting it posted

This is just going to be a quick one. Internet on this side of the island has been a challenge. I’m typing this in Word and have no clue if I’ll actually get it uploaded tonight or not. It’s Friday night and we are in Dunedin. Today we drove here from Curio Bay. We spent the night there right off the beach. It was quite nice, but I haven’t had a shower today. Oh, speaking of shower. On the way here we noticed a horrible odor in our camper van. When Ian went to investigate he found that our “grey water” tank had backed up into our shower (ew). Turns out he didn’t really empty it at our last dump station so the only place for it to go when it gets full is back into the camper van. Fortunately this is not like sewage water or anything…just the water that goes down the drain in the sink and shower. Ian said that he saw a slice of carrot floating around the floor of our shower.

OK, back to today. On our journey we stopped to see some caves, but they were closed (damn it). The next on our list was some waterfall. It was a short hike (nature walk) and a decent view.


The next stop was for Jacks Blowhole. The walk was beautiful, but the blowhole wasn’t really happening. The seas today were very calm, about water ski-able.



Our final stop was Nugget Point. This turned out to be the grand finale. We had a nice walk up to a lighthouse and from the point were able to see a ton of seals and birds. It was raining on us, but totally worth the walk.



Tomorrow we have a reservation to go to an Albatross reserve and I’m hoping to go to the Penguin sanctuary as well.

Our trip is coming to an end. We fly back to Sydney on Sunday. Ian flies back to the states that night and I leave on Tuesday. There is so much to see and do here that I wish I had another month…9 days just wasn’t’ quite enough.

Today - Wednesday

Today we did the Fly By Wire and Skyline Luge...both were awesomely fun and I have pictures from neither. :o(

We really wanted to do the "hamster ball" ride, but that's only in the north island. Also, we wanted to do a Cessna flight and cruise into Milford Sound, but the weather has totally hosed us. Looks like it's not going to happen on this trip...I'm bummed but Ian is totally distraught. I think we are going to head down to Invercargill tomorrow.

The weather temp has been quite mild. I thought I'd be the totally wussy, but Ian's the one who's been whining the most...seriously!

BTW, did I mention how expensive it is here??? Holy shit...everything is insane! I almost don't want to eat and I've gone to boxed wine (it's cheap, there's lots of it and it travels well in the camper van).

Ok...I'm out...but one last pic....not sure if I've posted one of the camper van yet.


Oh, we'll have to have all of you over for a picture viewing....home movie watching night....

A couple of quick pics

Internet is iffy again so my posts are going to be few and far between.

Here are a couple of pics just for the fun of it...

First one is me driving...a big ass camper van (yes Justin, I'm avoiding the gas stations), with a stick shift on the wrong side of the road. :o)

The next one is for Lara. There is this camper van rental company called Wicked that rents these vans, each with a different paint job. Most of them are funny...some deep...some political...



The next one is for Justin...no explanation necessary....

Still driving

Currently sitting on the side of a beautiful mountain called Treble Cone. It’s a ski resort in the winter and a paragliding/ground launching site in the summer. Ian is out playing with his canopy so I figured this would be an excellent time to catch up on my blogging.

Our first night we spent in a town called Greymouth. We parked our camper van in a slot right next to the sea. That nights sleep was awesome. The winds were blowing at a good steady 35+mph with gust up to around 50 mph. The next morning we got up and took a walk out on the beach. The shore was covered with stone rather than sand. The sky was grey, but the view was amazing.



From here we drove to Franz Joseph Glacier where we did a nice afternoon hike.


So far the food here has been less than desirable, but I have high hopes for Queenstown and Invercargill. Also, the food (as well as everything else) way, way expensive! I paid $18.00 for a veggie burger!!

The night we spent in Franz Joseph it rained – heavy rain – all night, which gave us another awesome nights sleep. I’m actually getting quite used to the camper van and the motor parks. We don’t shower in the campervan…it’s totally useless, but having a toilet is great! The motor parks have everything you need, internet, amazingly clean showers and toilets, game rooms, kitchens, etc.

Last night we tried to make it to Wanaka, but ended up about an hour short. We found a remote camper park that was very private with an amazing view. It was super cold, which gave us another great nights sleep.

Today we made it to Wanaka and tried to get a flight out to Milford Sound, but got hosed by the weather. It looks like the weather out there might suck through the week. We plan to say for a day or two in Queenstown so that may (hopefully) give us another option to get out to the Sound.

New Zealand seems to be big on live stock. We’ve seen cows, goats, horses, donkeys, deer (yes, they raise deer for meat) and an ass load of sheep. I’ve never seen so many varieties of sheep…there are big ones, small ones, some with long nappy hair, some with short curly hair, snow white ones, beige ones, some with black faces and some just roaming free range road side.


So far the trip is going well. I’m having a great time, but am about over the driving part. But this should fix itself over then next day or so. Then we will be on the road again on our way to Invercargill.

I have some more pics on my camera and will upload them soon...

NZ

We are finally in NZ. Been here two days now. Both days has been consumed by a lot of driving. The camper van is going to take some getting used to, but it is nice to have some place to pee at any point of any day! :o)

Today we visited Franz Joseph Glacier. It was absolutely beautiful. We hiked up pretty close until the terrain became a little on the rough side and my ears were about frozen off. It was shorts weather at the beginning of the hike, but freezing at the end.

Turns out I blew up my power converter in China. Ian's converter doesn't take the block style plugs because the plug hole is recessed so I can't charge many of my electronics (phone, ipod, camera). Because I can't charge my camera I'm not going to be able to upload any pictures until I get home :o(.

I'm tired. Will try to get on and blog more when I have more energy.

Thanks for reading!

AUS Airport

Finally made it to Australia. Getting off the plane I get a text message from Ian saying that he was lost and was going to be late picking me up…no big deal I thought because I still needed to pick up my luggage and make it through customs.

I present my passport and customs form to the customs agent. The only thing I had not filled in was the address where I was staying while in AUS. The agent asked me how long I was there for and I explained that it was a day layover on my way to NZ. I told her that I was meeting my husband and he made our overnight stay arrangements, but I was unaware of what those arrangements were. She said, “no problem mate” and sent me on my way.

While I was waiting for my baggage a guard came around with a dog that sniffed me up and down. I didn’t think this was an issue till she came back to me three times…the last time she asked the dog “did you find it?”. Hummm I thought.

I get my bags and head out to the customs screening area. As I was walking through the gate a woman pointed me to another agent and said that he would take care of me. How nice I thought. Little did I know what I was about to get in to.

We walked over to an area away from the rest of the screeners. The guy said that he just wanted to check my baggage, which didn’t seem unusual because of the security that we have to deal with in the states. I know I’ve had my purse check for residue a number of times.

The first thing the inspector did was go through my purse. He started setting some items such as my camera and an envelope of paper work aside. Meanwhile he was asking me 10,000 questions about where I’ve been, where I was going, what I was doing, who I was meeting, why the short stay, why the route through China, how did I pay for my ticket, what did I do for a living, etc. They he went over my customs form with me. He asked if I understood all the questions…especially number 1 and number 5 (1 being the question about food, drugs, plants, etc and 5 being whether I had more than $10,000 US on my person (this one made me giggle)).

From here he explained that he was going to have to empty everything from all of my bags and scan each piece of luggage. The entire time I was standing there the guy was as nice as can be and explained that I was flagged because of the unusual route through China, the short stay in AUS and the fact that my baggage claim tag numbers were not in consecutive order.

So, I had two bags that I was barely able to close in the first place that had to be completely emptied out…I actually thought he was kidding about that until I was standing there with clothes, shoes, underwear, everything scattered all over this table. While we were doing all of this the guard’s supervisor came over and started asking me all the same questions all over again. They couldn’t quite understand my travel sequence.

We finally got all the screening of my luggage done (one bag we were unable to get zipped back up, but that wasn’t a big deal…just amusing). The last bag was my back pack. I told him that my computer and accessories were in there. He asked what was in my computer…”uh pictures, music? I don’t really understand your question”. Then he opened up the front pouch and found my Luna Bars, Airbourne and sleeping pills (uh oh). I didn’t think anything of it, but he looked at me like I was a piece of shit, pulled out my customs form and a reread number 1. I was like, oops I didn’t think about that and he started shaking his head saying this is not good. Now I’m starting to panic a little.

He made me stand there freaking out for about ten minutes while he tried to get his supervisor over to see my "stash". The supervisor finally made his way over and told the guy that it was fine to let me go....whew!

This entire ordeal took over 30 min. I got out and told Ian...he said that JC got caught with an apple and was charged $200 for not claiming it! So, all in all I guess I got off pretty easy...least it wasn't China!

Detained...

Coming soon...detained in the AUS airport! Weird how stuff like this always happens to me!

It's 6am and we're off to the airport to catch our flight to NZ.

Lunch debacle

OK...the never ending blog. I just got back from lunch and what and adventure! As I mentioned earlier, NO ONE speaks English. My first attempt I tried to find a restaurant recommended by Adrianne's UPS buddies, but no one knew what I was talking about so I ventured over to a seafood place I saw earlier. The hostess didn't speak much English but got enough out to tell me that they did not have a menu in English, but invited me over to the holding tanks to point out what I wanted to eat....uhhh, NO WAY!! So I ventured back to my hotel to eat at one of the many restaurants located there. Oh, I forgot to mention that if I don't eat I get a little nutso (most of you who know me already know this from experience!). During my search for food I was frantically texting Ian telling how much I was done with China and wanted out. I think I hit the local places just at lunch time because there were literally hundreds of people standing around waiting for tables. The first hostess I visited didn't speak a word of English and was too busy to find someone else to help...by this time I was getting a little delirious and was about in tears and ready to give up my search for food.

I finally pulled myself together and ventured to one last place. Again, the hostess didn't speak English but grabbed 3 other girls to help out. They were all giggling at me but at least trying to help. I have no clue what they were saying amongst themselves but whatever it was sure pissed off one of the guys waiting for a table. Before I knew what was going on he was up in their faces screaming something in Chinese...again, I have no clue what he was saying, but I discovered that "shit" must be a universal word because that was every 3rd word out of his mouth.

Regardless of his rantings, the girls took me directly to a table and within 5 mins I had some little munchies in front of me to tide me over till my lunch came. The food was nothing to write home about, but at least it filled the hole!

I'm off to the airport soon to catch my next flight. I'm probably done blogging till I reach NZ.

Minority report

OK. Back from sight seeing. Wow, what an experience. I was a total spectacle out there walking around. People just stopped and stared at me (actually gawked would probably be a better term).

I took a few pictures but nothing worthy of busting out all the accessories in order to download them now. The town reminds me a lot of Jacksonville...nothing special, just a river and some buildings.

No one in this town speaks English...not the hotel staff, not the people at the airport, not the taxi drivers...it's a bit challenging to get what you want. My grandmother really wants a Chinese lantern...do you think I can find one? Hell no! Do you think anyone knows what I'm talking about when I ask?? Hell no! I finally gave up and headed back to the hotel for a drink. The bar tender didn't speak English either (go figure). I couldn't order anything that she knew of so I ended up with a shot of vodka in a glass. After that I decided to just buy a bottle of wine and take back to my room.

Here I sit, getting liquored up in my Chinese hotel room...

I'm a big girl now...LOL

Safely in my hotel in China. My hotel room over looks the Pearl River…tried to take a picture, but the sun is totally in my way and it’s very, very hazy. I will try again later.

The cab ride here was a little more than I could bear. I got a little car sick and started to second guess leaving the airport. Now that I’m here and showered I’m quite happy that I made the long nauseating drive out here. Unfortunately I can not get onto my blog site…I hope it’s just an error that will pass soon so I can upload all this stuff.

I’m about to head out to see what there is to see. I will see only what I can see on foot as there is no way in hell I’m getting back into another cab until I have to go back to the airport.

Part 2

I’m About 3/4s of the way to China. If my calculations are correct it is around 3:00 pm in Florida. It’s around 4:00 am on my watch and we are scheduled to land around 6:40 am. Here's a Google Earth tracking shot of my flight that Justin emailed me....


I had a bit of a panic attack half way between Orlando and LA. I was tired and wanted my bed and missed my kitties and Morgan. That has mostly passed, but I’m sure it won’t be the last.

The flight thus far has been pretty bearable. Getting to the flight was a bit of a trek, however, I had to walk outside to the other side of the airport to check in and go through security again. Then, at the gate they loaded us into these big ass busses like cattle. I was the only American on the bus. This was a strange feeling….can’t remember every being in the minority like that. I’m totally paranoid (guess it goes along with my OCD) so I felt like everyone was staring at and talking about me. I think I’m gonna have to get liquored up in China so I don’t totally lose it! The bus trip seemed like a long, long ride, but once at the plane we were quickly loaded.

My seat is at the front of the plane (Boeing 777) with no one sitting next to me. We were immediately served dinner (at 4:00 am my time….note, I have not slept yet). The food was unidentifiable, some sort of Chinese flare, but tasted quite good.

So far I’ve taken 2 halves and 1 whole Ambien, which has awarded me approximately 6 hours sleep total. I’m feeling pretty good, but am ready to get out of this tin can. I could use a shower and some sunshine.

Trip to NZ, part 1

Here I sit on my first leg of my journey. I got to the airport early enough to enjoy one of my favorite treats, Carvel soft chocolate ice cream with chocolate sprinkles….mmmm yummy! I remember that when I first moved to DeLand we had a Carvel right down town (those were the days)…now the closest one is at the Millennia mall about an hour away.

When I checked in for my flight I was told that I was on standby for first class. I didn’t think that would be a problem because we forked over 150,000 miles to get my first class tickets. When I got to the gate I saw on the information screen that I had fallen to number 8 on the standby list (there were only 4 seats available). I talked to the counter agent and he basically told me that medallion members had priority of me, even though I technically paid for my seat. WTF?? And even though he wanted to help me, he couldn’t make any changes to what the computer was spitting out. It’s pretty amazing to see the class system work. Ian gets treated like a king whenever he flies because he’s a platinum medallion member and I get treated like scum because I’m a paying customer…go figure.

So, here I sit. The exit rows are always great to get…the seats in front of the exit rows, not so much. My seat won’t recline and the seat in front of me is totally reclined so I hve a very narrow space between my chest and the back of the seat in front of me a I can’t open my computer fully.

OK, enough bitching…I’m on my way to New Zealand! Luckily the middle seat between the window guy and me is empty so we have room for our stuff to over flow. Food and drinks should be flowing soon. This is not a dinner flight, but we were given a menu to order food from. They even have bar type drinks. I think I might enjoy a “Mile High” Mojito!

Doggie Bling

So I just picked Morgan up from her new groomer. As with her old groomer she came home sporting a cute neck bandanna...this one, pink, is a tad girly...but hey, at least now everyone knows she's a girl.

After unloading her from the car I wanted to check her ears because they said they cleaned them really good. As I grabbed her ear flap I felt something rough, which made me immediately think that she had another injury that would probably require another expensive vet trip. But as I looked down I saw that it's wasn't a cut or even a band aid...it was sparkely flower bling! No freakin' way!

WTF???

This is insane!! Please read me.

Send warm thoughts

to China! This is where I will be spending 15 hours in a couple of weeks, "Worst Winter Weather in 5 Decades...".

Then again, I might not even make it to Guangzhou...China Southern Airlines has totally screwed my tickets by cancelling 2 of my legs (both legs out of Guangzhou). I think it's a conspiracy to keep the cold wussy Western woman hostage in a non-English speaking communist country!!

Keep your fingers crossed for me!

I know, I'm a "blog-loser"...

Haven't blogged for a while. It's not that nothing has been going on, it's just such an effort for me to write. And, once I start I feel like it's too boring to read. Anyway, I will try harder this year.

I'm heading off to New Zealand in February. Should be exciting. I'm going to have to put my big girl pants on for this one. I leave Orlando on February 19th and arrive in Australia to meet Ian on February 21st (or maybe the 22nd...with all the time changes and date line crossing I'm not really sure). I have a 15 hour layover in Guangzhou China...this is where the big girl pants come into play. I'm not the kind of person who does well alone. I can't remember ever eating out alone or going to the movies alone. Plus, the language barrier scares the shit out of me. I almost had a panic attack trying to maneuver through the Italian airport by myself. Against Ian's better judgment I've decided to make my way out of the airport and see some sights. I can't see myself sitting in the Crown Room (Ian got me business class tickets!! Thanks baby!) for 15 hours straight!! I can't even sit in my house for 15 hours straight!

Originally I planned to get a private tour guide, but the cost became too much when you factor in the Visa, ride to and from the airport, the actual tour, tip, lunch, etc. So I've decided to get a hotel room smack in the middle of town. This will give me the opportunity to get a shower and some food, then I can get out and walk around on my own. It's winter there and the temps are in the 30s and 40s now, so I'm not sure how much sight seeing I'll really do, but I'm gonna try!

I also have a full day in Sydney by myself after Ian heads home. I haven't decided what I'm going to do there, but that doesn't worry me as much. At least I speak the language!