Last day in Oz

(11.5.08 CS house in Turangi, NZ 10pm)
(10. 27.08) I woke up at 10am. Sarah made us omelets and we hit the road. We were suppose to climbing in the Blue Mountains but instead went to the beach to go kayak surfing. We picked up a friend of hers on the way. The kayaks were short sit inside kind and you use a skirt to keep the water out. It was my first time in a skirted kayak. Sarah told me if I flipped over and could get upright to just kick out of the skirt. I paddled out to the surf break on the outside where the surf was breaking about 6-8 foot while Sarah and her friend stayed on the inside and played in the white wash. There were only about 6 surfers out and one other surf kayaker, but he had a sit on top kayak with foot straps. I caught a few good waves but wasn’t able to steer to well once on the waves. A big set came and I barely paddle over the first one and as tried to punch thru the second I got flipped over end over end. I sat upside down for a second waiting for the surf stop pushing the kayak before I tried to flip back over. I had remained calm but as soon as I tried to flip upright and the kayak didn’t respond at all….. I FREAKED OUT!! I began kicking on the bottom of the kayak trying to get out of the skirting. When the skirting only got tighter around my hips as I kicked I really freaked! I was now in full panic. I grabbed for the side of kayak to try to pull my head around for some air but was unsuccessful and only got a sip of air and mouthful of water. I was gasping, kicking and thinking to myself that I was going to die. I grabbed again for the side and was able pull out far enough for just a second to get a breath. The problem was I was hysterical at this point and my breathing was erratic and hyper. I tried for another breathe but couldn’t get one. Each time I had to release the side of the kayak before lunging and pulling to the side again for another attempt. The waves were calm now and it became easier to sneak breaths. I started trying to call for help. But wasn’t very successful in the half second that I had to get air and try screaming at the same time. Finally a surfer and the other guy on a kayak came and flipped my kayak over. I was still full inside the skirt. They asked if I were ok and why I didn’t try asking for help. I explained I was trying but I couldn’t exactly breathe and that was higher on my priority list. I thanked them again and again and I paddled back in the shore. I was completely freaked out and nervous as hell that I was gonna flip again on way in through the white wash. When I got to close enough to shore I tried to pull the skirting off the kayak and even then I still struggled. I finally got it and hurried up to the beach. Sarah and her friend missed the entire episode but after I explained what happened she asked why I didn’t kick out. I told her it tried and explained how. “Oh, she said, you’re suppose to pull the tab at the front of the skirt and then kick out of the kayak with the skirt still on you” she explained. I had been trying to kick myself out of the skirt, which would have never happened. I had actually tucked the tab in when I put the skirt on, which is why I had such a hard time getting it off when I came in. I was done in the water for the day so I sat on the beach while they swam. I skipped out on the lunch she had packed due to the fact that my stomach was full of saltwater and we loaded the kayaks and took them home. After dropping the kayaks off we picked another of Sarah’s friends up and went to the indoor rock climbing gym. They climb every Monday there together because Monday is ladies night and girls climb free. It was my first time in a rock climbing gym and I had a good time. I climbed a couple of 14-19 routes and then I noticed two guys trying to complete a dyno. A dyno (short for dynamic) is when you have to launch upwards to grab a hold. They finally completed it and I told Sarah I wanted to give it a go. She said I was nuts but she belayed me anyways. The two guys saw me struggling so they came over and told me where my feet and hand should be. I tried about 6 or 8 times and even touched the hold two times but finally decided to take break so my body could rest. I belayed Sarah on another route and tried the dyno again. It was my mission to get it. This time her friend belayed me so Sarah could take some pics. She never belayed anyone on a dyno and she let me drop completely to the ground, catching the line at the last second to break my fall. A guy at the gym stepped in to belay me after that. I had formed blisters on three fingers and my arms and legs were starting to shake so I gave it another rest. After belaying the girls Sarah talked me into trying another climb and giving the dyno a rest. I climbed a pretty hard climb with an over hang that really gave me some trouble. When I came down I decided to give the dyno a final go. My arms were worn out from the last climb but I actually grabbed the hold twice! Both times my hand slipped off and couldn’t keep the hold. Realizing my muscles were gone I put my ego aside and gave up on it. I did however find a new challenge: Jacobs Ladder. Jacobs Ladder was a two wires running down from the ceiling with 6 logs spaced out further and further apart as you go up. The challenge was that you were to pull yourself up from log to log with out slipping off or grabbing one of the wires. It takes a great deal of upper body strength, balance and patience. The guy before me was only able to make it to the second log. After two attempts on the first and second log, I made it all the way to the top my third go! The girls finish with some blundering but my hands were raw so I just watched. Next morning (10.28.08) Sarah woke me up at 7am so she could go to work. I went in with her and Danielle met me there for breakfast. I packed a box of presents and extra clothes to send home so my bag would have some extra room and Danielle took me to the airport to catch my flight to Aotearao. When I went to check in I was told that my flight had been cancelled and I would have to take a 5pm flight. They gave me a 20$ food voucher and sent me on my way. This meant I had 5 hours to kill I the airport so I got online and checked emails then used the remainder of the time to catch up on my blog. I finally checked in and caught my flight. When asked on the immigration form if I’d ever been sentenced to a year or more in jail I check “No” which is kinda true since my five years was suspended. I had no problem at immigrations when I arrived to Aotearoa and I caught a bus to Jamie house, my Auckland CS host.

Paddling Oz

(11.5.08 CS house in Turangi, NZ 9:30pm)
Next morning (10.25.08) I woke up at 6am and caught a ride with one of Matt’s friends: Harvie, to the Gold Coast Relay Cup. It’s a 40K outrigger relay race on one mans, two mans and surfski’s. On the way I found out that Harvie is a well know photographer in the paddling world and has several published books of his photography. He told me he was going to Vaka Eiva in Rarotonga which is a big outrigger race series in November. When I told him I would be in Aotearoa (New Zealand) at that time he told me I’d be an idiot not to go over for it. We got to the race really early because Harvie was driving one of the officials boats, so I walked across the street and had some pancakes for breakfast. I got a text from Matt asking me if I wanted to race, because he thought he might have a 4th person and we could all four paddle his boat and register for the “short course”. 2 member team is long course, 4 members is short course. I was stoked but also concerned about the fact that I just downed a huge stack of pancakes and coffee, on top of the fact that I hadn’t really been training. The 4th guy ended up flaking but Matt and his partner just told me not to register and they’d let me jump in and paddle a few legs. The other issue was, since I didn’t think I was gonna be racing in the race I had booked a flight for Newcastle so I could paddle in a race the following day and there would be no way for me to complete the relay and get to the airport on time. The solution was that I would just paddle the first half of the relay then jump off the escort boat and swim to shore where Matt’s wife would pick me up and drive me back to Kathy’s beach house. I bought a Australian Canoe Club rash guard; they were the club putting the race on and the club Matt paddles for. Matt also gave me his shirt from the race. Matt took off on the canoe to head to the starting line and Ian and I jumped on the escort boat. As soon as we got out of the harbor I was told to put a life jacket on. I thought this was odd but followed the suggestion. I soon found out why. Coming in the harbor mouth were waves breaking at least 12 feet high, probably a lil bigger. The boat driver turned the boat around and said he was gonna wait for all the canoes to get out of the way so he didn’t run anyone over. After about five minutes we went for it again. As we neared the open ocean a huge wave jacked up in front of the boat and the driver punched it to push through. Right as we came over the top of it a jet ski on our side turned right under our boat and we came smashing down on them. There were three people on the ski, the passengers saw us last second and braced but the driver never saw us coming and took the bow of our boat to his head. We completely smashed and tore off the front cover of the ski and the drivers head was bleeding pretty bad. They swam to another ski and our driver high tailed back into the harbor. I wondered what he was doing? Why he didn’t try to help or let them on our boat. When we got back in he told me to check the front of the boat for damage. I leaned over the front rail and seeing none he headed back out. We passed the ski on the way and the two passengers were on the rescue sled of another ski while the driver was on his ski, bloody faced, driving slowly looking the water for something. I was again shocked that he didn’t even stop to talk to them? ( http://www.tweednews.com.au/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3789082 ) We got to the line right as the flag dropped for the race to start. Matt had a solid start and was even leading in the beginning but he soon faded back to about 5th. He signaled for a change and Ian jumped in. After Ian I gave it a go. I felt sooo weak, as if I wasn’t even moving. I gave it all I had but with no warm up, just frozen arms from the air and water I really felt like I was going slow. My third time on the boat I finally felt like I was in a groove but as I got back on the escort boat they pulled in to let me jump off for shore. Since the waves were breaking sooo far out he couldn’t pull the boat in very close. I was already dead tired from paddling my third 15 minute piece but I jumped off the boat and began to swim. It had to be at least a quarter of mile but closer to a half mile off shore. I tried to body surf some waves but my arms were jello and I pretty much kept reverting to a side stroke or just resting on my back, kicking my feet. About this time I became really concerned about all the stories you here about how bad the sharks are in Australia!! Luckily the lifesavers (Australian lifeguards) saw me jump off the boat and attempt to swim in and they sent a zodiac out to “rescue” me. “G’Day Mate” he said. “Hey howz it” I replied “How you doing” he inquired. “I’m good, you” I answered. “Ya good, you want a ride” he finally got to business. “ya that would be great” I gave in and attempted to climb aboard. My arms were sooo dead that they I could get my weight out of the water and they had to help pull me in. Once on shore I explained the situation and headed to the road to meet Matt’s wife. She gave me a lift to Kathy’s where I took a shower and got ready to go to the airport. Kathy and Emily gave me a ride to the airport and we stopped for lunch on the way. It was a quick 1 hour flight to Newcastle but we sat on the runway for about 20 minutes before we took off. Once I got there I called Chris, my CS host and told him I just arrived and apologized for being late. To add insult to injury the baggage carousel broke half way through the passengers getting our bags and we had to wait another 20 minutes till they got it going again. Luckily Chris brought his thesis he was working on for graduation with him and had been proofing it in the car the whole time, so he didn’t mind all the delays. He gave me a quick tour of Newcastle and showed me some of the local surf breaks on the way to his house. At home he made pasta with pesto, sun dried tomatoes, olives and feta. I was sooo stoked! I went to bed early and next morning (10.26.08) I woke up at 7am so I get to the race. Chris gave me a ride to the race and took off to go “surfing” actually he’s a body boarder but he calls it surfing. They had the roads blocked off because they were having a community run for breast cancer so a lot of the paddlers weren’t able to get down to the race. The ten o’clock start was pushed back to noon. Todd at Pacific dragons had arranged a boat to be brought up from Sydney for me to use in the race. Finally the roads opened and I helped off load the canoes from the girl’s car that had brought them down. I had a white Australian made Pegasus for the race and I took it out for a quick practice run to make sure my seat and camelback where in a good position. The race consisted of three 5K sprint races. The short course was just two 5K’s I signed up for the short course, since I’m classed as a Novice A on Maui and I hadn’t been training. For the first race the short and long course were the same and I came in 4th or 5th, not knowing if they were doing short or long course however. James, who came in second, tried talking me into switching and doing the long course but the conditions were kinda crap so I decided to pass. For the second race we all took off from the same spot but at the turn buoy the short course guys headed back to the start of the first course to finish while the long course guys made a 180 and headed for a down wind section. At the turn buoy, the 4 people in front of me turned for the long course and I was the first person to head in to complete the short course. I felt kinda bad at that point, and questioned whether I should have been on the long course. I kept telling myself not to look back, but my curiosity finally got the best of me and I looked back to see where the next paddler behind me was. He was wayyyyyyyy back. I had the race by a long shot, but I didn’t feel so good. When I crossed the finish line people cheered and said congrats but I felt as if they were secretly saying “whose this guy coming over here from Hawaii and doing the short course?” I stuck around and got my certificate for first place and Chris picked me back up. I took him to lunch and then returned to his house to pack. When I looked at bus schedule online to see what time the bus left for Sydney I found that the rail was closed for maintenance. I asked Chris what that meant and he told me they would have buses running for the sections that were closed and I would just buy the same ticket at the train station. We went to the station and I had missed the bus by 2 minutes, but he said I flew to the next station I might be able to catch the bus. Chris hauled ass over there and as I was walking out from buying my ticket the last person was climbing on the bus. I had just made it! I took the bus to a train station and then the train took me the rest of the way to Epping to meet Sarah at her church, as she was just finishing up from service. We went to dinner at a Japanese restaurant with some of her friends and again the spicy tuna roll was made with cooked tuna fish. It still baffles me. I spent the night at Sarah’s house and next morning

The Importance of being Earnest

(11.5.08 CS house in Turangi, NZ 9pm)
The next morning (10.22.08) that was all the excuse I needed to call her and cancel. If she would have never given me an out I would have got up went paddling, but at 4am sleeping seemed a much better plan. I woke up around 10:30am and called a cab to take me to a mtg in the city that started at noon. After the meeting I walked to the mall and had lunch and then went to the City Hall to look at their city art exhibit and see the view of the town from the clock tower. Then I headed back to the Museum/Gallery area of the city. They had quite a few cool pieces at the GOMA: "King" was a room with 16 different full length TV screens playing videos of people singing Michael Jackson songs. So they were all separately filmed but played back at the exact same time together. It was interesting. At the Brisbane Art Museum I found a replica “Black Square” painting. It wasn’t meant to copy the original “Black Square” by Kasimir Severinovic Malevich but it was most likely inspired by it. For those of you not from Hawaii, one of my favorite bands is a band from Oahu called Black Square (www.myspace.com/blacksquare) Erin called me when she got off work and we made plans to hang out in the city and grab dinner or drinks. I stayed and check the internet at the adjacent library and then went for a walk down by South bank. I saw a lot of activity going and coming from QPAC (Queensland Performing Arts Centre) so walked inside to see what shows were playing. When Erin called I asked if she was interested in seeing a play and she agreed. She grabbed some sushi on here way and we grinded really quick before the show started. I was surprised when the spicy tuna roll had tuna fish inside. I know they all have tuna fish inside but I mean tuna fish like what you buy in a can at the grocery store, not raw Ahi! It was a lil strange. The play we watch was “The importance of being Earnest” and it was really well performed. After the play she gave me a quick walking tour of South bank which was originally developed for the World Expo in 1988. They have since turned the area into a really nice park with lots of lil shops and restaurants. They even have a tropical beach built right next to the river. Seriously I thought I was back in Maui for a minute. We eventually took a train back home and went to bed. Next morning (10.23.08) I caught a train to the airport to meet Kathy the lady that was going to host me down in the Gold Coast. She was another friend that Danielle hooked me up with. She happened to be coming to Brisbane to pick her daughter Emily up from the airport so she offered to give me a ride back down as well. I rode in the back of the car with a two year old pulling at my hair and wiping her hands all over my clothes after eating chips. She was Kathy’s other daughters child. We finally arrived to their house, which was a beautiful house out in the country with a nice big yard and trampoline. I dropped my bags and made my way outside to play on the tramp. I called Jessi to see if she wanted to hang out. Jessi was one of the girls that Leia turned me onto. Leai was a girl I given surf lessons to on Maui about a month before my vacation that was also from the Gold Coast but still traveling around the world. Jessi came to pick me up and took me to Surfers Paradise, a very touristy part of the Gold Coast where the Indy would be starting the following day. I was pretty much over it as soon as we got there, but we sat down at a bar and had some food and drinks for a while. I let Jessi wear my long sleeve shirt because it was kinda cold and I walked to the quicksilver shop to buy an Aussie hoodie. It was 90$ Aus so I figured that was probably only like 60$ US so I bought it. The price was most likely waaaay inflated since we were pretty much in the Waikiki of Australia. I Emily to see what she had going on and she was free, so I asked if she wanted to watch a movie at the house and told the girls that I needed to get home so we left. On the way home Jessi’s friend got a call from her boyfriend saying he was locked out of the house and needed us to bring him a key. Jessi and I waited in the car and after a few minutes I suggested that would pass the time by making out and she went for it. We made plans to hang out again the next day they dropped me back off. When Emily put the movie in, we were surprised to find that someone had recorded over the DVD with a basketball game from the Olympics. So we watched TV for a little bit then went to bed. Next morning (10.24.08) I woke up and caught a ride with Kathy into her other house, which she was renovating by the beach. I had posted a post on a bulletin board on an Aussie Paddling site trying to find a partner for the Gold Coast Relay cup and Matt Carter had given me a call letting me know that he didn’t have a partner for me he would be more than happy to take me out for a paddle on one man’s. Matt picked me up at Kathy’s beach house and took me for a paddle. Matt was the retailer in Oz for Pegasus so he let me use his pink Pegasus and he took out his surfski. We paddled out of the river into the open ocean headed south. There no wind but a decent swell so getting out of the river mouth was pretty exciting. We paddled at a medium pace and talked story the whole time. After about 30 minutes we turned and headed back. We caught a few waves at the surf spot and paddled back into the river. Matt let me try his surfski and I had a really hard time keeping it upright in the beginning due to the choppy water on the inside of the surf break. Once I got back into the river though I had it under control. I’ve never really paddled a surfski before and I was amazed at how fast it goes. For those that aren’t familiar a surfski is a racing kayak. I paddle a ocean kayak for work everyday, but it’s heavy and bulky. These surfski’s are made of fiberglass or carbon fiber, super long and narrow and built for one thing: speed! After using his surfski I joked with him that he had just ruined my Outrigger Canoe paddling career, I was gonna go back to Maui and start racing surfski’s! After our paddle Matt took me to pick up Jessi and then dropped us off at the Carnolla Wildlife Sanctuary. Jessi took me there so I could see kangaroo’s and koalas! It was a really nice sanctuary, kinda like a huge park but there were animals everywhere. The kangaroos weren’t caged, they just went where they wanted but the other animals: dingoes, koalas, Tasmanian devils, snakes, birds, possums, alligators were all in fenced off sections. We went to a few wildlife exhibits where the park rangers talked abut the animals and then let you interact with them afterwards. Of course I took heaps of pictures. “Heaps” is what the Aussies say for “a lot”. I’ve learned a lot of Aussie slang. Jessi and I got a lil inappropriate late in the afternoon, well for a family environment anyways. That’s all I’ll say here, if you want the rest of the story you’ll have to ask. Oh then we fed parrots!!! In Oz they have wild parrots just flying around like we have pigeons in big cities. It’s kinda crazy, cause you’ll just see a McCall or Cockatoo chillen on a power line. After the wildlife sanctuary I went back to Jessi’s mom’s house to meet my future mother in law and family. I think she liked me. Then we caught a movie at the cinema: My Best Friends Girl with Dane Cook and Kate Hudson. It is absolutely historical, you must go watch it!! After the movie there was some “not to be talked about here” activities then I caught a cab home.

Climbing in Oz

(Burleigh Head, Gold Coast, Oz 12:30pm 10.25.08)
Next morning (10.19.08) I had to wake up early to catch a train to a bus which would take me up the coast to Palm Beach. Danielle set me up with her friend Sarah to go rock climbing for the day. I was suppose to meet Sarah in a small town close to Palm Beach at 8:30am since we were meeting her friends at 10:30am but I missed my bus and had a to take a later one which got me there about 9:15am. Sarah had suggested that we could get breakfast and eat out by the beach but when I called to tell her I was gonna be late she said we’d have to just eat at home. When I got on the bus I told the driver which street I needed to get off and told him I wasn’t familiar with the area. He just gave me a really short “yeah” as if to say don’t bother me. I fell asleep on the bus and when I woke up I noticed that we just passed a sign for the town I was supposed to be getting off in. I moved to the front seat opposite of the driver and reminded him of the street I needed and again he just said “yeah”, as if he understood the first time so why was I bothering him again. I noticed a cute girl sitting about 10 rows back and thought about whether or not I should hit on here but decided against it since there was no where it could really go. About 15 minutes later he pulled over and said “hey mate, sorry your stop was about 8 streets back” I called Sarah and let her know I was in town but that I had been missed the street and she came to look for me. 8 Streets was actually about 1 ½ miles so it was a good thing she had a car. When she picked me up I was surprised by how cute she was. Danielle has said she was cute and showed me a picture but the picture didn’t do her justice. She took me back to the house she was staying at and made me breakfast then we hit the road. After a short, 20 min, drive we pulled into a beach park and Sarah noticed one of her friends sitting in the grass waiting for us. Her name was Miz, and just so happened to be the cute girl from the bus. I asked her if she was on the bus, just to confirm, then I explained to them both that I had been checking her out and had thought about making a move. She admitted that she was checking me out too. We waited for Sarah’s two other friends to show up and then took a short hike to the climbing spot. Sara set the lines at the top and then abseiled down. We did several routes, ranging from 12 to 19 on their grading scale. There are apparently 3 or 4 different ways to grade climbing routes depending on what system you use. The views from the top of route were amazing!! You could look out over a large lake and the forest. After our climbs we went for a swim in the lake. Well they went for a swim, but as soon as I stuck my toes in I made up my mind that I would just sun bathe on the rocks. The water seemed pretty cold but I did eventually, slowly, make my way in and went swimming. After our swim we parted ways with the others and went back to the house Sarah was house sitting at. We got to go food from an Indian restaurant and walked across the street to eat at the beach. Sarah saved my life by pulling me back as I started across the street. I have a bad habit of walking out in front of cars since I look the wrong way before crossing the street, since they drive on the opposite side here. After dinner we went back to the house and watched movie. Next morning (10.20.08) we woke up at headed back to Epping, a suburb of Sydney. Sarah had to interview a guy for the café she works at and Danielle met me there for breakfast. After breakfast I went with Danielle around Sydney while she went to appointments and ran errands, before heading back to her house. I took a nap outside on here veranda and then woke up to meet Sarah at the bus station. We met one her friends in the city and went to the Noodle Market for dinner. After the dinner we made our way to a small lil bar for some live Jazz music. Around 10:30 we left and I headed back to Danielle’s for the night. She still had the two CS’er from Estonia so I slept on the couch on the veranda. Next morning (10.21.08) I woke up at 3:30 am to catch the 4:03am train by Danielle’s house to the Kings Cross station in Sydney. It got in at 4:40 am and I got picked up by the coach for the South Eastern Sydney Canoe Club women’s division. I was surprised when I got off the train up to the street that there were people still out from the night before. Apparently Kings Cross is the Red Light district and there were quiet a few prostitutes around. 10 minutes later we pulled up to a Boat and Yacht Club where they store their canoes. I was also surprised when I looked around and saw that I was the only male. We ended up taking out two boats, 6 in one and 5 in the one I was in. We paddled down to the Opera house and back and coach gave me a visitor paddler’s tour of the harbor, pointing out historical or interesting things along the way. We got off the water at 7am and Danielle met me at Kings Cross and took me to the Airport so I could catch my flight to Brisbane. She had to go that way to meet a friend that had just flown in from New Zealand anyways. I arrived in Brisbane at noon and found a mtg that started at 2:30 right down the street from the train station. I made my way to an internet shop and try to sort out my couch for the night. I had found a host a few days earlier but hadn’t heard back from him about the directions to his house. I emailed him from Sydney the night before and again that morning from the Sydney Airport still had no reply. I decided to search in Brisbane again and sent out around 20 emails stating my situation and that I needed a couch for the night. Within an hour I had already received two phone calls. I decided to stay with Erin but she was busy with a work function till 8:30pm so after the mtg I made my way back to the internet café. I passed some time hitting on the girl that worked there and then decided to explore a lil bit of the city. I walked to some museums on the other side of the river but they all closed at 5:30pm. It began to pour rain so I took refuge in the library for a half hour and when it looked as if it were gonna start to break I headed out. Barefoot I trekked through the city back to the travel agencies where I had left my bags. As I crossed over the bridge a break in the clouds let enough light through to produce an amazing rainbow over the city. It was still raining pretty hard so I didn’t take out my camera. However a few minutes later I looked back at the sun shinning down on the city streets and couldn’t resist the shot. I paused for a few minutes in the rain to take some pictures and then kept on to the shop. I used their internet again for a half hour before they closed at 7pm and then headed to a restaurant on the corner to grab dinner till it was time to meet Erin. I sat down with two girls from Denmark and ate dinner while finished theirs and had drinks. Erin came by at 8:30 and we took a train back to her house. We chatted for a little bit and I made plans to paddle in the a.m. with club in the city. The girl was gonna pick me up at 4:40am but she told me if jet lag got the best of me and I wanted to cancel, just call her before 4:20 am.