Katie can't sit still

Working, Oh Wellington!

kmccabe — Sun, 9 Dec 2007 12:29:00 GMT

Its been a while since I've updated, so i will try to fit it all in!

Paul and I have gotten ourselves a house ( subleting from college students who are home for the summer) in Newtown, which is about a 5 minute drive or bus ride from city center. The rent is cheap ,and the people we live with are ok...2 czech dudes, 2 english girls and one chinese girl. It gets a bit crowded, but we make it work. I got a job as a relief worker for day care centers in wellington, but the work wasnt steady and very unreliable...so i got a job at the wellington regional aquatic center!

i teach swim lessons at the WRAC, and i am in the water for about 6 hours a day...i've been there a week and already destroyed my bathingsuit ( or Togs as they call them here) adn most of my skin as well. i now only use baby oil as moisturiser!

everyone at the pool is really nice and very helpful, and its fun being the one with an accent! its good work and i also have to train to be a lifeguard here...thats next week. i have to get back in shape, and i also have been practicing a 5 meter dive ( thats 17 feet, folks) to the bottom of the pool. yikes! its scary, but its fun too. I will also become a certified diving instructor there as well!

its strange for it to be so hot here and also christmas at the same time. we've been trying to get to the beaches as much as possible, and are enjoying the sunny days.

Wellington NZ

kmccabe — Thu, 8 Nov 2007 15:19:00 GMT

We arrived in wellington on november 5th, guy fawkes day. as we drove into the city, the fireworks were going off, and we pretended it was for us!

we checked into downtown backpackers, which was actually an old hotel and part of the historic trust in the city. it was too big and impersonal for us, so we moved to rosemere backpackers, which is also in a better location in teh city. we like this city very much, as it has a "cool" vibe, and lots of funky people. its near the water and mountians (that describes most of this country, though) and its very easily navigable on foot. the weather has been good to us, but its a very windy city here! its a bit colder in nz overall than either one of us expected, and we are chilly with our t-shirts, sandals, and light sweatshirts.

we opened bank accounts ( very easy), got our tax numbers, and are now on the job hunt. i think it will be easy for both of us to get jobs, and our goal is to be employed within a week or two! we plan on staying in wellington for a few months as well. so far so good!

Beyond Auckland

kmccabe — Thu, 8 Nov 2007 14:59:00 GMT

Ok, so I know its been a while since i've updated...we have been travelling a lot and not all the places have good internet, or any internet at all! so i am going to catch you up from my last entry. ( as for the photos...i am finding it very hard to connect my camera to computers here...i need to burn them to a cd and do it that way...talk about hassle!)

So, we bought a car in Auckland from a very nice english couple, kevin and emily. its a 1988 toyota corona, automatic, ( we just put 200 k on it the other day) and runs ok. we paid $750 nzd for it, which is a steal! we even installed a new stereo ( which we paid about 20 nzd for, bargain!) ourselves, which we were very proud of.

once we got the car, we promptly drove straight out of auckland, which is an ok city, but it just didnt do it for us. we drove north and ended up in a region called bay of islands, in a town called paihia ( sounds like, "pie-heeyah"). its a touristy vacation town right on the water, and we stayed at a hostel called the mousetrap! it was a cool, quiet little place that had lovely gardens in the backyard. there was one bar in the entire town that all the backpackers go to, and its called the 'salty bar'. on the second night there, the salty bar held a karaoke competition, so naturally i did it! i blew the crowd away with my rendition of "proud mary", but the requirement was that you had to perform 2 songs, and since the song book was severely lacking in choices, i did dionne warwicks' 'say a little prayer', thinking, i know that song, no problem. well, i got onstage and surprise! it was the techno version of the song( who even knew one existed!) so natrually, i bombed that. oh well! all the contestants got a free drink, so all's well that ends well!

we stayed in paihia for 3 nights, and then drove to cape reinga. cape reinga is the second northernmost point in nz, ( the 1st you cannot drive to) and it is a very sacred place for the maori people, as they beleived that is where your spirit leaves the earth when you die. it was very beautiful, and we had fun taking pictures there. we left cape reinga and drove south on the west coast to a small town called ahipara, and stayed at a really nice quiet hostel called the endless summer lodge. it was right on the beach, and it is located at the end of "90 mile beach" which stretches all the way down the west coast of the northland. there was not much to do, and we met a nice canadian couple and hung out with them for the two nights we stayed there.

from ahipara, we drove south with the intention of making it to wellington in a few days. we knew we had to drive through auckland, and would stop sometime after we got through there.

before we got to auckland, we noticed that our brakes were GRINDING and sounded terrible, so we pulled into a garage in a town called orewa, and had to spend a night while they got repaired. i guess thats what happens when you buy a car for 750 bucks! we stayed at this horrible hostel called "pillows" and it was freezing, and there were no sheets on teh beds, so we wrapped up in all our clothes and towels. we were happy to get out of there!

after orewa, we drove southeast to a town called rotorua ( sounds like "roto-ru-wa") and it is a trendy tourist place because of the natural hot springs and volcanic activity found there. you know you've arrived there because the entire place smells like rotten eggs, due to the huge amount of sulphur in the air! gross! there is a nice public park with free hot springs, and there are even parts of the land that have boiling mud pools and yellow sulphurus rocks everywhere...very strange. we were there for 2 nights, and needed to keep moving south towards wellington.

we left rotorua, and drove southwest across the north island towards the west coast in a city called new plymouth. it was a nice city, which was sandwiched between a huge voclanic mountian ( mt egmont aka. mt taranaki) and the ocean. we spent one night at "shotestrings' backpackers, where paul and i discovered a mutual love for the game of scrabble! we decided to spend a night at a hostel at the base of taranki that boasted itself to be off the grid, making all of its own power (solar, wind, and water). we spend two nights there, and it was nice because we were the only ones there! we went for a hike on the mountian, ( well the base of it) to a waterfall in the middle of the woods. very cool!

we tried to leave new plymouth, but had to get our brakes fixed again ( this time our rear brakes) and so we spend another night at shoestrings backpackers. once the car was ok, we jetted out of new plymouth and headed straight for wellington!

Auckland, NEW ZEALAND

kmccabe — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 13:52:00 GMT

Kia Ora!

So on Friday morning, i woke up at 4 am, and got ready for my taxi to arrive at 5 am. taxi man promptly arrived and whisked me away to Sydney kingsford smith. while checking in for my flight, the woman at the counter asked for the flight confirmation of my onward departure from new zealand. i hadnt printed it out yet, because i thought, gee, its in april, why print it out now...but the woman wouldnt give me my boarding pass until she could enter in my flight details for the onward flight. luckily, i booked it with qantas, and so i only had to go to the qantas desk to get them to print one out for me. thank god i arrived at the airport with time to spare!

i got my boarding pass, and headed to my gate. i got on the plane, and could barely contain my excitement! in just a few hours, i would be in new zealand with paul!

customs was a breeze, and i got my work permit, no problem. i got my bags and waited for paul! i saw him only after a few minutes, as our flights landed within 15 minutes of each other. we got through border security, got on a bus, and headed to our hostel, the fat camel. they served a free (teeny tiny) meal each night, and we were able to have our own room, not a shared dorm with 10 other people ,so that was nice. it was great to see him and be able to trade our stories of our trips and adventures.

right now we are in a different hostel, in a better location, ( even thoguh auckland is a tiny city, and we are anxious to get a car and leave...we are sure that there is more to see than a city that reminds both of us of dublin...)we are staying at ACB backpackers on queen street in midtown auckland. its a huge place, more like a hotel, but our room has NO WINDOWS so its really hot in there and hard to wake up in the morning because its always pitch black with the lights off! today was a bank holiday here, so i have to wait till tomorrow to sort out my tax number and getting a car, and all that jazz. we've gone food shopping and are living very cheaply off bread, butter, beans and some tea. i expect we will lose some pounds before we get out of here! we are happy to be together and excited to move on out of the city. all the "adrenaline" sports are very expensive, and we are not too pressed to do them yet. we are excited to get jobs and settle somewhere, as we have been constantly unpackng and packing our bags, and its getting tiring. all in all, its been pretty chilly here, with drizzly rain most days, and it will be like that for the rest of the week. so far so good though, and its only been 3 days! more soon!

Sydney, Australia part 2

kmccabe — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 19:17:00 GMT

Good evening, or good morning, depending on where you are!

I arrived in Sydney again yesterday. I left Fremantle hungover and tired, and unfortunately, i only slept for about 45 minutes for the 5 hour flight. I just couldnt do it. I arrived in Sydney and got a cab to my hotel, and its the weirdest place ever. i have a single room with a tv, fridge, toaster, kettle, and a little table and chair but...no bathroom! the shower and toilet are somehwere else down the hall. its a strange place, like a cross between a hotel and hostel. oh well! its in a good location, with the bus stop directly in front of the door. i wandered around newtown last night, and got some food and a bottle of strongbow australian cider, and hunkered down with my chicken burger and cider and some house and passed out until 10 am today. i took a harbor ferry cruise around the north of sydney harbor, which was nice but uneventful. i then went to the australian wildlife park and got to see wallabies, koalas and other "ozzie" animals. i then went nextdoor to the aquarium, which was spectacular. they have the largest coral reef display in the world ( so they say) and have an underwater tunnel where you can walk with sharks and stingrays and fish swimming next to and above you. it was mesmerizing, and breathtaking. that is in darling harbour, about a 20-30 minute walk from the harbour bridge/sydn.opera house, so i walked back and now i am trying to head home, but i decided to hit the net and do a quick update. i am very excited to see paul and to finally get to new zealand! i feel like i have been away for so long sometimes, but i havent even been gone for a month yet! see you in new zealand!

Fremantle, WA

kmccabe — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 18:13:00 GMT

After another flight....5 hours to perth! ( qantas was really nice though with personal tvs in each seat and yummy food) i arrived on teh otehr side of australia. I got my bag and got the hell out of the airport! louise was there with a guy from teh old firestation hostel to pick me up in a very classy white van. we drove to the hostel, which, surprise, used to be a firestation. its a big comfy homey place with lots of interesting people. my time here can be summed up as; relaxing and fun. fremantle is one of the oldest towns in australia, and it is also where quigley down under goes in the movie of the same name. its a cool and quiet laid back artsy town with lots of seconhand bookshops, coffee shops and art galleries. there are about 4 beaches around here and they are all lovely. its beautiful to say that i swam in the indian ocean! it was a bit scary with the shark helicopters flying overhead, but no sharks were around. one guy we were with did get his man bits stung by a jellyfish though, and one of the canadian girls we were with had to pee in a cup so he could neutralize the sting! priceless. i succeeded in drawing almost everyone's caricatures, and they were all thrilled and i was even amazed at how well i had captured everone's likenesses...maybe because all the people here are caricatures to me, small bits of large personalities jammed into two weeks for me to discover. anyway, i met some great people and i wish i could be staying longer, once again. leaving is an interesting thing to do and its hard on your soul. no wonder why people have a hard time going places...because leaving is the hardest thing to do.

Sydney, Australia

kmccabe — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 18:08:00 GMT

Right. In the airport in Nadi, fiji, my heart was heavy and i felt like i had just broken up with someone for no reason. i was in a haze and felt strange to be leaving fiji so soon. I was sitting near my gate, waiting for my flight, when an american girl from chicago recognized me from the flight from LA. we got to talking, and discovered we had paralell lives...complete with irish boyfriends, being 25(26) years old, and having similar travel plans. We stuck together, and while in sydney, i ended up cancelling my reservation at my hostel to stay with her and her american transplant friends living in Chippendale! we spent the afternoon and eveing walking around downtown stydney, saw the harbour bridge, the opera house, the rocks, and feeling jet lagged, and overwhelmed being in a big city after being in fiji. that evening we drank lovely australian wine with her friends from chicago, and they let me stay the night and let me take a REAL shower and do laundry! meeting nice people leaves a softness in your heart. i left early the next morning for yet another flight to perth with qantas airlines...

Mana Island, FIJI

kmccabe — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 17:56:00 GMT

So, after a long time of not entering anything here....I will try to put together where/what I've been doing since LA. Here is the fiji section of my life!

I left LA on Sunday night, exhausted and mildly jetlagged, but mostly from the great tour Maytal gave me. LAX was a very crowded aiprort, and was overwhelming for someone who is already overwhelmed enough! The lines for security were SO LONG, and i really just barely made my flight. by teh time i made it to the gate, i boarded the plane and we took off within 30 minutes!! I was exhausted, and Air Pacific did a nice job entertaining us with lots of movies and food. The woman who sat next to me told me I slept for hte entire night, only waking up when they served us breakfast. Sweet! We arrived to a very hot, sticky fiji, at 5 am, two days later! Customs was a breeze, especially with lots of people siging and playing native music to us as we waited in line. once through, i waited for my bag for an agonizing 45 minutes ( my first introduction to "fiji time"...which basically means slooooow) and then set off to meet my pickup from my hostel. Vera, her name, encouraged me to book a trip on an island off of the main island. Nadi is not very nice and tehre is not much to do there, so i took her advice and got out of there! for $250 fiji dollars i got a return boat trip, and 3 days with all meals included on mana island, about an hour away from Nadi. on mana, i stayed at ratu kini hostel, which housed about 30 people, and there was another hostel next to us, with about 15 people. there was no electricity during the day, and there was little to do except walk, read, tan, sleep, swim, snorkel, drink. it was great. i went snorkelling with 2 danish girls imet, and it was the most beautiful thing i had ever seen. we had fires on the beach, late nights drinking 'fiji bitter", laughs, and i met some amazing people from denmark, england, and spain. it was the scariest thing i had done but also the most rewarding thing i have done. as i left for the mainland on thursday afternoon, i saw mana island get smaller and smaller and i felt a sadness in my heart for a very special place.

but....off to australia!

Los Angeles

kmccabe — Sat, 6 Oct 2007 06:43:00 GMT

So I made it to la...it was a great trip, and it was a whirlwind tour of the city with my friend Maytal. she was a great tourguide, and i was able to see hollywood, the hollywood sign, santa monica, and all the handprints and footprints at manns chinese theatre!

My going away party!

kmccabe — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 07:53:00 GMT

Last night was my "last night out in boston"...fun times. We went to Jake Ivory's, and the Red Sox won the American League Championship! Needless to say, everyone was in good form. We even met a Russian Dude named Vlad. I obviously made a "vlad the impaler" joke.

Facts and Figures

kmccabe — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 23:50:00 GMT

Here's what I've figured so far:

Total hours on a plane: 25 hours and 16 minutes ( not counting my flight from Sydney to Perth and back again!)

Total miles travelled: 11,757 (again, not counting Sydney to Perth and back again)!!

I won't even add up the hours I've probably spent sitting in front of a computer planning this trip...

For those of you wondering, "Sydney to Perth...?" Louise changed her plans and will be staying in Perth instead of going to Sydney...so...I will too! Aaahhh...the luxury of not having a job!

Gallery: Pre-trip Katie

kmccabe — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 03:33:00 GMT

um, its me

One more thing before I go...

kmccabe — Sun, 9 Sep 2007 21:40:00 GMT

Getting ready to go...a few words come to mind.

Anxious: That I will run out of money. That I will get lost,hurt,robbed...that I won't have fun (crazy, I know, but the fear is still there).

Excitement: for being able to get out of here! for being able to go so far away. for being able to spend so much time with Paul. for being able to do something that many people never get the opportunity to do.

Stressed: What should I bring? How much will this cost? I need to make so many phone calls...when I write it all down, it doesn't seem like much, but...

Leaving behind my family and friends makes me feel something that I can't describe. I felt it in a smaller dose when I left for Dublin in 2006, but at that time, I was so excited to go away and see Paul. I also knew that I had 90 days, my trip had a shorter expiration date. This trip will expire at some point, but I also know that so much will change while I am away. In the end, the sacrifices I make will all result in nothing but goodness. I am excited to go. I am ready.